About Ratings

In September 2014, a new rating system was implemented to rate reviews posted at The Shady Glade:

Books will be given a rating from 1 to 5 leaves:

These books are books that I would easily recommend to others and/or think about often.

These are books that are good, recommended, and worth reading, but have something missing that make them not worthy of 5 leaves.  These books are good, but probably not re-reads. 

These are books that are just okay, and have both good and bad qualities to them.  I don't regret reading these books, but am not necessarily excited about them.

These are books that that I did not enjoy, but you as a reader might like them more than I did.  This is the rating that I reserve for books where I can see the merit of a book, and how it might be enjoyable to a certain type of reader, but it just wasn't my thing.

I expect these reviews will not show up here very often, just because if I didn't enjoy the book that much, I usually won't take the time to write a review for it.  But in the case that I do write a review for these books, that's what the 1 leaf rating is reserved for.  These are books that I do not recommend in any way.


In addition to a leaf rating, there are 3 additional "awards" a book can earn based on the following criteria:

The Gold Leaf Award

These are books that are rated 5 leaves and have something else about them that just makes them super spectacular, the best of the best.  A gold leaf award is similar to the old 10/10 rating.  These are books that probably will end up being on my Favorites list for awhile to come.

The Sprinkle Award

Sprinkles remind me of cupcakes, and like many cupcakes, these books are all sugar and fluff.  Not much substance there, but it was fun to consume it anyway.  The sprinkle award is granted to books that are not necessarily literary substantial or great, but more for pure entertainment purposes.

The Up All Night Award

This award is given to books that are what I like to call "compulsively readable"; those books you tear through, edge-of-your-seat suspense, can't put down, etc.  In the end, books with this award may only get a 3 leaf rating, but they definitely kept me going all night while I was in the middle of them.

Reviews written prior to September 2014 were rated on the following scale:

10- The best of the best. This book was excellent, I loved it. This rating is given to books I want to read over and over again, those I consistently recommend to others, and those that I think about frequently.

9- I enjoyed the book, and would love to reread it. However, these books have something missing that make them less than a perfect 10.

8- I did enjoy this book, and would recommend it, especially if you really like this type of book.

7- I liked it, but probably won’t read it again. These books may also be ones that I didn’t like as much, but have great illustrations or design to make the book unique.

6- Not a bad book, but it had some flaws. Won’t be reading again. However, you might like it if you like that sort of book.

5- It was okay. Had both good and bad to it.

You’ll notice I’m not going lower than 5. That’s mostly because I am so busy that if the book didn’t merit a 5, I won’t be talking about it. I have better things (and books!) to spend my time on.

And here’s another thing about ratings. Sometimes I may rave (or trash) a book and give it a rating that doesn’t quite match this system. This is partly because I know that others have different tastes than I do. A book I love, someone else might hate. So although I’m trying to regulate things a little more here, I still reserve the right to assign those gut reactions.