One of the most important parts of your reading journal should be your book reviews. Beyond tracking titles and start/finish dates (or if you DNF’d a book!), it’s a space to capture your thoughts, remember your favorite quotes, dig into theories, and create book analyses.
Book Review Ranking Systems
A rating system is so important to keep your book ratings consistent because it will help you rate your books on actual criteria versus assigning them arbitrary scores.
When I first started assigning stars to my books, I had a very vague ranking system that didn’t follow any set of rules, which made it difficult to remember why I liked or didn’t like certain books – sometimes I’d re-read books because I couldn’t remember exactly why I scored them the way I did or what I liked/disliked. Such a huge waste of time!
Here’s how I rate my books – every book I read can earn up to one star for each of these questions:
Did I like the writing style?
Would I recommend this to someone?
Did the book make me feel something (good or bad)?
Would I read this book again?
Did I enjoy the story?
Admittedly, my personal book review ranking system can lead to some super harsh reviews because when I dislike a book, it’s reflected in a 0 or 1-star rating – but I think that’s okay! The reviews are for my eyes only and make sure that I don’t pick up books that I don’t love, while also jogging my memory on the story and what quotes I liked.
Book Review Tips
Beyond the star rating, here’s what I keep in mind when I create a book review, with the below being the most important one.
Don’t forget to have fun! It may seem daunting at first when you haven’t figured out your book review routine, but creating a book review helps you rediscover the magic of the stories you encounter (or makes you relive the horror of the book you just read).
Here are some other tips to keep in mind:
Embrace different formats. Don’t like writing essays? Ditch that format. Use bullet points, sketches, memes, poems – literally whatever you want. It’s YOUR review and you can be as creative as you want!
Be honest and unfiltered. This is your personal space, not a thesis to turn in. Share your likes and dislikes. What made the book fall short for you or what made it want to never put it down?
Give yourself some time for the book to sink in. While it’s unlikely that you’ll miraculously love a book after you’ve already disliked it, giving yourself some time to process your thoughts and feelings will help you write a better review that fully explains why you didn’t like something.
Make book reviews a regular thing. Integrate book reviews into your regular reading routine. The more you write, the more comfortable you’ll be with articulating your thoughts which will lead to richer content and insights into your reading journey.
Stop being so formal. Unless you’re reading a book for school or work, there’s no reason to treat your book review like you’re going to have to present it or create a dissertation. Dive into the good stuff – did something make you cry? Was a scene so spicy that it made you fan yourself? Did you want to punch a character in the face? Write this down – these are the fun details!
Here’s what my book reviews look like (a fully blank version, but I’ll share some of my book reviews in the future!):
Remember – you don’t HAVE to be a scholar to write a book review. If you don’t want to dig into the plot, unravel theories, or explore perspectives, you don’t have to. Some books make me want to dive deep and write down all my thoughts and suspicions… and there are some books that I just feel like writing bullet-point thoughts for.
However you create your book review, let your personality shine through. And, at the end of the year (or when you finish the journal), it’s a great read-through and perfect for your book memories!
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