5 Star Books: 2012 vs 2022

[@esmayrosalyne]

Honestly, 2012 Sarah had pretty good taste!! I love The Night Circus (let me know when you want to re-read and I will 100% join!), Graceling, The Kite Runner and A Clash of Kings as well!! Also, I had never heard of Chime before, but now I am intrigued. I am definitely less of a 5-star strumpet than I used to be. Looking back at 5 years ago (when I got back into reading seriously again), I burned through a lot of the hyped YA fantasy romances and just completely devoured them. They will probably not get 5 stars from me now, but nobody can take away the joy I experienced just getting sucked into those stories. These days I give 5 stars to books that either really managed to get me in that 'I want to do nothing but read this book' mood or books that leave a big emotional impact on me. Great video Sarah, this was tons of fun!! 🤩

[@TheBookCure]

Thanks, Esmay! And yes, I shouldn’t be too hard on 2012 Sarah - she wasn’t that bad. 😉

[@BookishChas]

This is really fascinating Sarah! I wish I’d kept track of my reading that far back. It’s interesting to see what has changed and what stayed the same. A Clash of Kings is such a great book.

[@ammalyrical5646]

This is a fun concept. I wasn't really tracking my reading back then but I still know which books I read around that time and I remember most of them A LOT. Because either they were university textbooks (and I still have those on my shelves) or I read them in secondary school and did extensive book reports on them. I'm a really slow reader and outside of Narnia and HP I didn't read a lot during my first set of years at university. I read The Name of Wind when I was severely depressed and loved it then reread it later and I still think it's amazing. What is happening, though, is that I didn't use to rate books until I found BookTube around 2016 and I'm now falling back to that mindset because rating doesn't really mean much. The books I tend to end up loving the most are either books I analyzed deeply, discussed a lot, or left an impact of awe upon first read. Piranesi is one of those. I've made videos in the past and I do still have one up about the Dutch books I've read that have had the longest lasting impact (or something akin to that. I know I didn't title that vid with 'loved most'). I did it for English books too, but that one is definitely no longer up to date, because, again, I've read Piranesi and some other amazing books since that hadn't even released back then. And now something else: You know cannibalism doesn't mean something eats humans, right? It's means members of a species eat other members of their own species. So those horses would be cannibalistic if they eat that same kind of mythological horse. If they eat humans they're just dangerous predators.

[@TheBookCure]

I can see how leaving the ratings behind can be freeing. I don’t know that I’ll ever be able to leave it completely, but it is nice to just judge a book by the way it makes you feel and not have it fit into a strict system. And I could definitely have been clearer about the horses! They do in fact eat each other, regular horses, and people. Just terrifying predators in every way 😅

[@ammalyrical5646]

@@TheBookCure that are indeed some terrifying horses. I've seen that mistake happen in a book, but on purpose. There was a country with human eating giants and the humans called them cannibals but they didn't actually eat each other, just intruding humans. And the ones with magic tasted extra special. It's not actually a big part of the book those so the book isn't horrendous or horror because of it. It is, in fact, a piratey fantasy romance (Dance of a Burning Sea, boot two in the Mousai series by E.J. Mellow). I like the 3rd one the least because the way the concept was executed didn't really fit with the genre because the stakes it needed to have are completely negated through the fact it's a romance. Anyway, that didn't have anything to do with either the video or these comments but I'll leave it in anyway. And maybe the rating thing is just about how you grew up. I was taught to analyze books and verbalize my opinions and even though I knew ratings existed and the teacher even mentioned ratings and how het held completely opposite opinions to what certain reviewers said, it never occurred to me to do it. I often run into the issue that it's too limiting and I don't really think the rating with half stars would change that. Giving numerical values to opinions is just a bit strange to my brain on the spectrum. I haven't fully stopped rating books but I don't put weight on it anymore for myself. I also never saw a point in including it in review videos so I didn't really do it. I might've a couple of times but it just didn't feel right to me. Like it doesn't actually add anything to a review video since just like opinions star ratings are subjective and don't really mean a thing. People value it way more if they can discuss about opinions. Plus some of my fave ever books I didn't give five stars at all so it's not even that telling. My brain can be too random to make rating make full sense.

[@onfaerystories]

What a great concept! Makes me want to look back at my 5-star reads from 2015 (that's when I joined Goodreads and started adding my books in - I used to read 15-20 books a year between 2015-2017, then it jumped to 35+ between 2018-2019, and from 2020 onward I've read around 75 books a year, and that's because I found the Fantasy part of booktube, which rekindled my love of Fantasy and put so many amazing books on my radar!). I've juste added Howl's Moving Castle to my TBR despite not having watched the movie yet (I'm not a big movie watcher 😅). Same for Fight Club, I've never been attracted to it because I'm not into violent bloody stories, but one word from you might convince me to add it to the list (I guess I just don't really know what it's about). 👀

[@onfaerystories]

So I looked it up, and pretty much all my 5⭐ are still all-time favourites today: an abridged version of Les Misérables (currently reading the whole thing and it just confirms even more that Hugo is my favourite author / I've reached "Cosette's part" - I've also read and loved The Hunchback of Notre-Dame, Ninety-Three, two novellas, two poetry collections, and wish to read every single of his books), Alice in Wonderland (I count both parts as one book), Peter Pan (my favourite children's book which really isn't for children), The Giver by Lois Lowry, and Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins (that was a reread - I honestly think I would still love it just as much, but at the same time I'm now married and I've had deeper life experiences, so I wonder! I know I would still love the very end though unlike some people, I thought *spoiler* Peeta completed Katniss perfectly, to be honest - she just needed space to heal before getting vulnerable in that way).

[@Danny_Matson]

Great video! I love the idea of reassessing your past reading self. I'd love to see you do a similar breakdown for other years. Or maybe like "The best book I read each year for the last ten years" (with a runner up or two for each year too :P). I'm definitely more reserved with my stars. I want so badly to find five star books, but I have about a 10% success rate. p.s. I totally agree with you on the Night Circus and A Song for Achilles. Those two books are so, so good.

[@calista3371]

I love this video. I too loved The Fault in our Stars. I still remember where I was when I was reading it. Great idea and thank you!!!! 2012 I also read The Night Circus and it's one of my favorite books of all time. I was reading books of Rumi poetry, The Help and Fablehaven to name a few things. I also read A Midsummer Night's Dream, but I would read that yearly. Another all time Fav.

[@TheBookCure]

Thanks so much! I can’t wait to 5 star all the remaining HOB volumes 🙃🙃

[@Imaginetheday1967]

Very interesting idea and video! I went back and looked at my 2014 Goodreads list (when I started tracking my reading) and looked at my 5 star reads. I gave 18% of my books 5 stars, which is probably still about right. Most of them hold up. I also had The Night Circus and Daughter of Smoke and Bone, and yes, I would still give them 5 stars. I don't know that Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell would get 5 stars from me today. I remember it well, but I don't tend to give 5 stars to those kinds of books anymore. I also gave 5 stars to The Sea of Tranquility (YA) and The Secret Hum of a Daisy (MG). I remember loving them, but don't remember the details well enough to say for sure. I know I've always wanted to reread TSOT, so it has stuck with me in that way. Out of 13 books, I'd say no to 1, maybe to 2, and yes to the other 10. I'm pretty happy with that.

[@TheBookCure]

Let’s make it happen! 2023 = year of rereading favourites!

[@dougsundseth6904]

Watching this more than a year after release, but such is KZbin. I took a look at what I've read this year, and I'm running ~17% 5-star reads, and that's including rereads. Given that there is an inherent selection bias (I don't read books I don't think I will like, obviously, and I don't reread books that I didn't like a lot), I think that means I'm fairly chary in my ratings. But then, my ratings are mostly for me. I have a problem of seeing a book with a good blurb and buying it, even when I didn't necessarily like the last book from the same author that also had a good blurb. And I read a lot of books, so it's easy to forget that I really liked a series while I'm going through other stuff. When I'm binge-buying books, I now try to look through my old ratings and reviews so that I can remember just what I thought the last time I read that author or series. The result is that anything other than a rating that is an honest representation of my experience is actively harmful to me. Doesn't mean that I give a really fair rating every time, but it does help.

[@Paromita_M]

Very nice video. I rate books based on personal enjoyment too but 5 star reads tend to be very rare for me.

[@TheBookCure]

Hopefully you’ll find a couple new ones this year 🥰

[@Stewart000]

I was not great at keeping track of when I finished something back then. But my goodreads implies that I was reading The Farseer trilogy, Alex Cross series (Patterson) & Eona The Last Dragoneye by Alison Goodman. I stand by those 5 star ratings- for me they hold up. I was upset at the time that the Dragoneye series was only a duology- I loved that world & characters. I had been reading a lot of urban fantasy before this & was really looking for books to mix into my TBR that were different. So lucky to accidently pick up a Robin Hobb book!

[@darthandy6161]

I would estimate I give about 40% of my books five stars, and probably 45% four stars. So glad you still 5 Star The Night Circus. It’s not talked about on booktube enough. I loved it, though my sister DNFed it. Hope you do a re-read sometime.

[@TheBookCure]

I’m sure I will do a reread sometime soon. ❤️ Always good to hear that there are other people who enjoy it!

[@readbykyle3082]

You always have such good video ideas. I have no data on what I read in 2012 and probably couldn't give you any concrete things I read that year, but I'd definitely want to see what my results would be of this. Might be the first time I've seen you say anything positive about Martin 🤪

[@TheBookCure]

Is this the trade off? If I’m nice to Martin you’re nice to me? 😝😝 Seriously, thanks for the kind words! 🥰

[@BooksWithBenghisKahn]

Such a cool vid! Totally with you on treasuring Song of Achilles and feeling weird about it going viral recently in the TikTok sphere-but if it meant it reached more people, it’s all for the good. I’m most definitely a 5-star strumpet, so I try to look at my ratings as more of a book journal of how I felt in a particular moment. This will be a very interesting exercise for me to do at various points as well!

[@TheBookCure]

Thank you!! I am happy that SoA has reached a wide audience. Hopefully it means we’ll get another full-length MM book before long. 😍

[@Thecatladybooknook_PennyD]

Yay!! I love this video idea!! It's gotta be almost a perfect book for me to give 5 stars... some sort of emotion, enjoyable, the writing and prose have to be what I like (aka not plain). So I don't give many 5 stars (the past couple years. I changed my criteria.)

[@TheBookCure]

Thanks, Penny! I’m glad you enjoyed it. And I hope you find some 5 star reads this year 🥰

[@Shaad2321]

Great video Sarah! I read night angel back in 2013 and I also loved the series I think I gave two of the books 5 stars!

[@TheBookCure]

Thank you! Good to know we’re both fans.

[@SarahAsYouWish]

Great video idea. We have a lot of overlap in our taste in best books, so I definitely want to pick up several of these that I haven’t read yet.

[@TheBookCure]

Thanks, Sarah. I hope you’re having a great reading month ☺️

[@punkrockcerealbowl]

I wasn’t tracking my reading in 2012 but I do remember I was working at Barnes & Noble and read some absolute bangers at the time. American Gods, Good Omens, A Fire Upon the Deep, and The City & The City. All books I continue to think about. I’ve never been big on ratings so I gave up on stars years ago. I either like it or I don’t 🤷🏻‍♂️

[@TheBookCure]

That’s a good approach. I’ve owned The City & The City for so long - I really should read it.

[@punkrockcerealbowl]

@@TheBookCure I highly recommend it. It’s one of those where I went in thinking it was one thing and it turned out to be different in all the best ways. And I’m still thinking about some of its themes ten years later

[@mondinsel4235]

This is interesting! Sadly, I didn't get into rating before I got my first goodreads account in 2015, so I gave a lot of the books I read as a teen and young adult a rating in retrospective and was hesistant about rating them high since my memories of them were fading. Though I guess I can think of a few I'd might have given 5 stars back when I read them first, like Before I fall or Erebos. Maybe The Hunger Games, Catching Fire definitely. Oh and Mara-Daughter of the Nile which remains a favorite till this day. The Song of Achilles and Howl's Moving Castle are 5 stars books for me as well. Is HMC ground-breaking literature? No. But it's a comfort read and that's a huge deal for me because most of the time comfort reads are allowed to stay in my house. 5 stars indicate for me that they are favorites, but not necessarily that I'd recommend them to everyone and think they are literary gems objectively. 😂

[@TheBookCure]

I absolutely agree - I can 5 star something and acknowledge that it’s not “perfect”.

[@robertharcourt7650]

what acool concept for a video Sarah Really enjoyed the video ;)I

[@TheBookCure]

Thank you so much! ☺️

[@coleton7048]

I bought my mom the Daughter of Smoke and Bone trilogy for her birthday a few years back because it sounded super cool, and I wanted to get to it myself. 5 stars from you means it bodes well for me. I like the idea of some Dianna Wynne Jones reading vlogs. You make me really want to read The Kite Runner. I want emotional damage.

[@TheBookCure]

You should read it, but also make of your heart a stone 🙃🙃

[@adamborst]

5 star strumpet over here for sure. Maybe it's just that I read a lot of books that I like. I do give a fair bit of 4 stars as well.

[@TheBookCure]

I’d like to think we know our own tastes well after all this reading time! Hopefully that means 5 stars for everyone. ☺️

[@Rogue_VI]

I loved Night Angel, so I'm not giving you any grief. I ranked them all somewhere in the mid 80s. But I remember almost nothing about this trilogy.

[@TheBookCure]

It’s one of those good-in-the-moment reads! You need a fast-paced fantasy like that every once in a while.

[@kirihara120]

You should definitely reread Howl’s Moving Castle. As much as I enjoy the animation (and Ghibli in general), the overall story in the novel is just better. The changes the animation added in were too focused, unnecessarily, on war.

[@chadia25]

Yes! Kirsten Cashore! She is one of the best YA writers. Like you said, she was ahead of her time. I didn't give stars before last year. I was always just like: I like this, don't like it(dnf) or it was meh.

[@TheBookCure]

That’s a good system! And I love Cashore ❤️

[@novelideea]

I don’t do star ratings but I’d be very stingy probably if I did!

[@TheBookCure]

Hahaha, I think I’m getting stingier with age. We’ll see if it continues on this path.

[@StegoKing]

Brent Weeks is DOPE.

[@mellies.8822]

I'm definitely a five star strumpet, last year I gave 43 five stars (read 75). I rate my personal enjoyment, so I give Dune 5 stars and also The Duchess Deal, because it is perfect for what it wants to do and for what I wanted at that time. I don't like criticizing books for illogical things. I would never rate the Folding Knife less because there are no Mythological creatures and there's no magic for example.

[@lisacole6037]

'Strumpet', lol.....

[@TheBookCure]

Maybe you’re a 5 star strumpet or maybe you just know your taste extremely well 🧐😉

[@duffypratt]

I checked Goodreads which is fairly accurate. I read about a book a week, so about 550-600 since Jan 2012. In that time, I’ve given out 42 five stars, of which 19 were for re-reads. Of the 23 for new reads, I think 8 of them are for Malazan. So, exclude Malazan and re-reads, and my rate is somewhere around 3%. Would Allen approve?

[@TheBookCure]

Woah! That’s awesome, though. Which non-Malazan books got the elusive 5 star treatment?

[@duffypratt]

@@TheBookCure A Step from Heaven by An Na; The Three Musketeers by Dumas; A Treatise of Human Nature by Hume; Everfound by Neal Shusterman; The Tale of Despereaux by DiCamillo; Going to Meet the Man by James Baldwin; Night by Elie Weisel; Shadows Linger by Glen Cook; Infinite Jest by Wallace; The Things they Carried by Tim O'Brien; and The Book of the New Sun by Gene Wolfe. Looking back, I'm surprised I didn't give 5 to Hyperion, but I never go back to revise since I think the star ratings are mostly worthless and just a gauge of my gut feel at the time.