Are Your Book Ratings Biased Early In The Year?

Are Your Book Ratings Biased Early in the Year?


During the first month of this year, I noticed that I was waffling over my ratings for a few books I really loved. Should I go for the 5 star? Can I even hand out a 5 star rating in the first weeks of the year? What if I give the book 5 stars, but find lots of books later in the year that I love even more?

This type of bias actually exists in sports and is supported by research

This phenomenon is prevalent in subjective Olympic sports (such as gymnastics, diving, and figure skating). For a finals competition, athletes usually perform in order based on their preliminary round scores, with the top-seeded athlete going last. Even if the athlete who goes first does a perfect routine or dive, the judges might avoid awarding a perfect score because they could (and likely will) see greater things from later athletes. 

This judging bias took center stage during the Women’s Gymnastics Team Competition in the 2012 London Olympics, when the U.S.’s Jordyn Wieber (the reigning World All-Around Champion) failed to qualify for the individual all-around based on her team competition scores. Ex-Olympic Head Coach and gymnastics guru Bela Karolyi (of 1996 “YOU CAN DO IT, KERRI!!!!!” fame) blamed the U.S. coaching staff for having her perform too early in the team competition line-up and thus subjecting her to this early performer judging bias. You can read more about this in Slate and check out actual research supporting the existence of this type of judging bias.

Can this apply to books as well?

I read two books that were candidates for 5 star ratings in January, which has never happened to me so early in the year. I ended up going ahead with a 5 star rating for My Name is Lucy Barton, but sticking with 4.5 stars for Only Love Can Break Your Heart. As I was considering my rating for My Name is Lucy Barton, I questioned whether it was too early in the year to award a book 5 stars. All the “what ifs” I mentioned earlier ran through my head. I ended up forcing myself to go with it because I didn’t want to allow silly timing issues to affect my rating.

But, then I did the exact opposite with Only Love Can Break Your Heart. Why? Was it because I read My Name is Lucy Barton first and was skittish about giving a second 5 star rating so close to the first? Was it because there was one tiny thing about this book’s ending that was a concrete and tangible reason I could cite for withholding that last half star? I’m really not sure…

Obviously, the type of seeding issues you see in sports (with top scorers from previous rounds performing last) do not apply to book release dates. But, can we as book reviewers still suffer from wanting to “hold out” top ratings until later in the year when we’ve seen a better representation of what’s out there?

Are you stingy with 5 star ratings at the beginning of the year? Why or why not?




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53 Comments

  1. Diane wrote:

    I think I’m generous with my ratings:) When I give a 5 it’s typically a book that sticks with me long after the final page.

    Posted 2.16.16 Reply
    • admin wrote:

      That’s my aim…that all 5 star books will be ones that stick with me a long time, but I’m sometimes surprised by what sticks with me and what doesn’t.

      Posted 2.17.16 Reply
  2. I’m with Diane that I generally tend to hold back on fives most of the year (and, honestly, I hate ratings to begin with so I really only use them to help me sort things out on my spreadsheet). I wish I had a five to give this year at all!

    Posted 2.16.16 Reply
    • admin wrote:

      Since I’m just responding to this and I now know you finally found your 5 – yay!!

      Posted 2.17.16 Reply
  3. carrie wrote:

    I love this topic. I’ll go through periods where I’ve read three or four 4 to 5 star reads in a row, and i’ll think i’m being too generous. but then i’ll also go through periods when nothing i read makes it over 3 stars. I recently read You by Caroline Kepnes and did not like it. I love thrillers and i thought i would like this book, but i didn’t. I’m starting to think i wasn’t in “the mood” for a book like that at the time and that might have swayed why i didn’t take to it at all. I try as much as possible to read the book i’m in the mood for because I know that will give me the best frame of mind to judge how much i really enjoyed it.

    Posted 2.16.16 Reply
    • admin wrote:

      I totally agree that mood (and the other things you have taking up intellectual space in your brain at the time) play a huge part in how you can end up feeling about a book. And I’m with you that if I have chunks of similar ratings, I always wonder if I’m being fair!

      Posted 2.17.16 Reply
  4. I don’t think I’m stingy with my ratings but is it possible to really know? I don’t think about what month it is when I read a book.

    Posted 2.16.16 Reply
    • admin wrote:

      I wish I didn’t think about the month, but I totally found myself doing that in January! Turns out I needn’t have worried b/c my multiple 5 stars in January made up for my lack of 5 stars so far in Feb 🙁

      Posted 2.17.16 Reply
  5. Athira wrote:

    I find that I don’t compare books when I rate them – unless it is a series, in which case, I do assign relative ratings. Most times, I just try to see what I felt about the book – loved it truly madly deeply? liked it for the most part? out of sight out of mind? etc

    Posted 2.16.16 Reply
    • admin wrote:

      I’d like to not compare books, but I do find myself comparing books that are similar sub-genres. For example, Southern coming of age stories, multi-generational family epics, etc.

      Posted 2.17.16 Reply
  6. This is an interesting topic as it relates to sports and books. I think I am more excited at the beginning of the year about books. So, probably love them more than reading them in Nov., for example. Ratings are subjective, so I don’t think there is a problem with rating a book too high. Also, if you rate one to low, you can go back and change the rating. (I did that once.) I don’t think I would go back and lower a rating though. Some of my five-star books (in hind sight), are not a memorable or great as others.

    Posted 2.16.16 Reply
    • admin wrote:

      That’s an interesting point about being more excited at the beginning of the year. Could it also work in reverse – like you’re really excited so some books may not live up to expectations? I feel like books that wow me by surprise get some extra points for the surprise factor with me.

      Posted 2.17.16 Reply
  7. Carmen wrote:

    Hmmm…I think you have addressed a good issue. I don’t think I’m biased regarding books ratings. I assign the ratings based on how much I liked the book. That said, since I started blogging most books fall in the four or three star category, rarely going higher. I save higher ratings for when I connect with a book on an emotional level (e.g. I cried, etc), that’s how I know that the author hit a home run. My ratings, however, are unaffected by the time of the year because until up to last year, I used to read exclusively from my TBR list, which tend to be more or less composed of safe bets; I only place in the book pile what I really want to read.

    Posted 2.16.16 Reply
    • admin wrote:

      I agree that we probably have become more critical readers since we started blogging. I know I have. And I’ve seen more, so books I would’ve loved in the past may feel tired now.

      And – yes, reading backlist will definitely make the book’s release date irrelevant in ratings!

      Posted 2.17.16 Reply
  8. I use pretty much the same criteria for each book when I rate it. I don’t compare books between each other, or when in the year I read them. If a book completely hooks me, and I can’t find anything that I disliked, and it makes me think about it long after I’ve closed it……that is a 5 star. It doesn’t matter if I read three in a row, or I only have one all year, I rate them based on how they made me feel while (and after) I was reading them. I’m a pretty tough critic when it comes to giving out 5 star reviews, but unlike in sports where there can only be one top finisher, I usually only end up with a handful every year when I use this method.

    Posted 2.16.16 Reply
  9. I’ve wondered about ratings a lot over the last few months and whether I’m being fair to different genres. Would a cozy mystery that was amazing for its genre be 5-stars, but a book of the caliber of A Little Life might only be 4 stars? As far as timing and whether it is the beginning of the year or the end of the year, I don’t think it really matters. Would Only Love Can Break Your Heart be 5 stars if you read it in June instead of February? The book wouldn’t have changed at all, so the rating to me should be about the same no matter when it was read. BUT, I do place ratings with my experience of the book and what I talked about earlier with moods. My feelings of the book might be better in June instead of February because the sun might be shining, the birds, singing, blah blah. I don’t give as many 5 stars as I used to, and I don’t understand the 6 to 10 star ratings at all; it’s all I can do to manage 1 to 5 stars. lol

    Posted 2.16.16 Reply
  10. Kenya wrote:

    I definitely think that my generosity with rating varies depending on many things: my own mood, how much I like the type of book it is, and how many times I almost caught a case of feelings while reading it. I do not have a set rubric for review, so it’s all based on the experience of the book and reading it. How much I like a book also depends on how much I liked the book I just finished and how excited I am to get to the next one on the TBR list. I said all that to say that I don’t think it goes by the time of year (though time of year can’t help but influence some of the other factors) but it definitely isn’t always consistent either. Great topic!

    Posted 2.16.16 Reply
  11. Catherine wrote:

    Great topic! I’m not sure if I hold out for later in the year but think I may give a higher score if I read something great after a series of meh or bad books. But yes, I do worry about giving out too many 5 stars overall.

    Posted 2.17.16 Reply
  12. Naomi wrote:

    I really try not think about it too much. I go with my initial reaction, and then I can always go back and change it later if I want. I sometimes do when I come across a book that has stuck with me and I’m still thinking about months or years later.

    Posted 2.17.16 Reply
  13. This is so interesting! I’m SUPER stingy with my 5 stars, but fairly generous with 4 stars… why? I’m not sure. I try not to compare books to each other too much, and just go with my initial gut feeling. It’s weird because sometimes by the end of the year I’m still thinking about that 4 star read and have long forgotten a 5 star read… just goes it show… it’s kind of a crap shoot. I love how you compared this to the Olympics… great post!

    Posted 2.17.16 Reply
  14. I don’t know…. I can certainly see why early performer judging bias might affect book ratings, if a significant part of your rating thought process involves comparing the book to other books that you’ve liked! But, for me, the main difference is that there is no “quota” for star ratings, and any competition between books is indirect. You can give out as many 5-star or 1-star ratings as you want, it isn’t like you’re going to use them all up at once and have to ration them out in December. And there’s no podium at the end of the year where you have to rank the books against each other and there’s only 1 gold medal to give out. So maybe whether there’s any bias against early-year books has more to do with a reviewer’s rating justifications/process rather than with the actual time of publication?

    Posted 2.17.16 Reply
    • Shaina wrote:

      Great point! I do know a blogger that does a Book of the Year bracket competition at the start of the new year where the previous year’s books *do* go head-to-head. Makes things even more fun and tough!

      Posted 2.17.16 Reply
      • admin wrote:

        Who is that blogger?! I want to check that out! And what a great idea!

        Posted 2.17.16 Reply
  15. Shaina wrote:

    Ooh, what an interesting topic, and I love that you bring in the points about how position in performance can bias sports/Olympic ratings.

    I’ve awarded a couple of 5 star reviews so far this year (hooray for such a strong start to my reading year!), and I admit to feeling some doubt about whether I’ll get to the end of the year and still feel the same way after all my February-December reading. I think that, to some extent, ALL star ratings end up biased, whether it’s due to the last thing I read being so great that nothing can live up (or ANYTHING being better than my last book), whether or not I’m tired while I’m reading, whether there were any other distractions going on… There are so many factors that I’m reluctant to pin it all on timing.

    Posted 2.17.16 Reply
    • admin wrote:

      Totally agree about bias probably being in all ratings since they’re so subjective! Yay for such a great start to 2016! I said that in Jan, then Feb went off a cliff.

      And – anytime I can make a connection between two of my favorite obsessions…I will do that, no matter how tenuous! Haha…

      Posted 2.17.16 Reply
  16. I was surprised to see that I only rated 3 books 5 stars last year. Apparently, I am stingy with my 5-star ratings no matter what time of the year. But it’s super interesting what you write; I can see the bias. “What if something better comes along next month?” I try to simply not compare books, because if I did that, my ratings overall would get messy. I try to just go with my first instinct.

    Posted 2.17.16 Reply
    • admin wrote:

      You know, I don’t even know how many 5 star ratings I had last year. I should look at that! But, I’m certain it was more than 3! Maybe I should get stingier!

      And I’d ideally like not to compare books, but I know my head just goes there. Maybe a resolution to work on…

      Posted 2.17.16 Reply
  17. Heather wrote:

    I don’t think about it too much – if I absolutely love a book I’ll give it a 5.
    One thing I have noticed this year though, is that some books that I might have given 5 stars to last year have only got a 4 this year, and some that might have got a 4 have only been a 3.
    My average Goodreads rating was 4.something last year, which seemed quite high and made me think that I’m too free with my 4 and 5 star ratings – that I’m not thinking enough. But now as I sit here writing this, I wonder whether my average rating was so high just because I read some really great books.

    Posted 2.17.16 Reply
    • admin wrote:

      I do think I’ve become more critical the longer I’ve been blogging…maybe it’s the same for you?

      And, do you DNF a lot? That could make your GR average rating artificially high, since you only end up finishing books that you would rate decently high. I think my GR average last year was 3.7, so not too far off yours. And I do DNF a fair amount.

      Posted 2.17.16 Reply
  18. I rarely give 5 stars at all unless I find it to be exceptional. It doesn’t matter when, to me, as I have to really love it. I do not DNF unless it just isn’t interesting to me whatsoever, and I really try to read four-five chapters before DNFing, cause you never know… I thought this was an interesting post.

    Posted 2.17.16 Reply
    • admin wrote:

      Thank you! I read electronically, so I always try to make it to 25% before DNFing, but obviously that doesn’t happen sometimes. I’ve DNF’d at 2% and 80% before.

      Posted 2.19.16 Reply
  19. I’m tight with handing out 5 stars – in a year of approx. 80 books, I would usually have 4-6 five star reads. One year I got to August before hitting a five-star-worthy-book. So it was a bit of a surprise when the first book I read this year was in five-star territory (Wallace Stegner’s Crossing to Safety)andI admit that I almost didn’t give it five because I thought “Where to from here….?”

    Posted 2.18.16 Reply
    • admin wrote:

      Wow – August is awhile with no 5 stars! I remember last year I felt like it was awhile before I hit a 5 star, but it was late February I think? After reading the comments on this post, I feel like I’m more generous with my 5 star ratings than others…I gave out 15 5 stars last year. Hmm fod for thought…

      Posted 2.19.16 Reply
  20. I have definitely been too generous with my 5-stars so far this year. So much so that I am considering going to a half star system because I’ve been giving 5-stars when I’ve found it to be better than most of the 4-star books I have read. I also find that I give out a lot of 4’s because I see 3 as average, and really don’t rate that many books a 3 because I am very picky about what I pick up and go into books knowing (or at least strongly hoping that I enjoy them). I think I’m going to drop most of my ratings by a half star when I back tract and write my reviews.

    Thanks for writing about this. It’s been a topic on my mind a lot recently.

    Posted 2.18.16 Reply
    • admin wrote:

      I use half stars and really don’t think I could go without them! And, I also think I’m overly generous with 5 stars…I gave out 15 last year, which I just realized! And, looking back, there were definitely a couple that could have been 4 or 4.5 stars instead. I also see 3 as average and know of some others who see 3 as better than average, so I think there’s some variation in how everyone does it.

      And you’re very welcome…I’ve enjoyed seeing how everyone else thinks about this topic!

      Posted 2.19.16 Reply
  21. Gabby wrote:

    I don’t give out many 10/10 ratings, and those are kind of “I know it when I read it” and it doesn’t matter what time of year I find it. Those are the ones that I almost literally can’t put down because they grab me and don’t let go. I’m actually a little more hesitant to drop 8s and 9s early and end up giving 7s instead. It’s an interesting issue to think about!

    Posted 2.18.16 Reply
    • admin wrote:

      That’s interesting. I use a 5 star system, but do give out a lot of 4 stars. Something to think about…

      Posted 2.19.16 Reply
  22. Oh my god yes this is SUCH a thing. I rated Mr. Splitfoot a 4.5, and rounded down to a 4 on goodreads. Just because like… it wasn’t PERFECT. But I also think about it all the time…. and talk about it all the time… I have a little bit of a crush. But am I in love? Idk. I often go back and change ratings after I gain some perspective even though I know that isn’t kosher to a lot of people. I do what I want. And maybe I’ll change Mr. Splitfoot to a 5.

    Posted 2.18.16 Reply
    • admin wrote:

      I think it’s so much easier to go back and increase a rating than to decrease it. I just realized I rated 15 books 5 stars last year and it feels like a lot and, now that some books have marinated awhile, I think they should probably have been 4 or 4.5 stars.

      Maybe we should institute “tentative” ratings until time passes and we see if we still view the books the same way?!

      Posted 2.19.16 Reply
  23. Michelle wrote:

    Interesting thought but it leads me to ask whether it really matters. Shouldn’t your ratings be based on the book and now how it rates up to other books? Does it matter if your reading includes 100 five-star books if all 100 were excellent and deserved them? I guess I don’t understand that bias because it is not like one compares one book against another when rating it. (I don’t understand it in sports either because it is one person’s performance, not one person against everyone else.)

    Posted 2.19.16 Reply
    • admin wrote:

      I agree with you that ratings should be solely based on that book…but, I think in practicality it’s hard (at least for me) not to let other factors seep in. And I think rather than comparing one book to another, it’s more about comparing the intensity of my feelings toward each book…if that makes any sense.

      I do think it makes sense in sports, though, because the athletes truly are competing against each other.

      Posted 2.19.16 Reply
  24. I would like to think I’m not any stingier than usual at the beginning of the year but I have a sneaking suspicion that I might be. I usually start off the year by reading the ones I missed the year before but regretted not getting around to and they either end up being severely disappointing or fabulous, which doesn’t leave much middle ground. I’m starting to wonder if maybe that means I’m more liberal with my 5-stars….

    Posted 2.19.16 Reply
    • admin wrote:

      I’m with you! I’d like think I’m not biased either, but if I’m honest with myself…

      Posted 2.19.16 Reply
  25. I have such a hard time with starred ratings! I actually don;t put ratings on my reviews for that reason, although I do file away reviews on Goodreads with stars … I just go with how I feel at the time, for the sake of putting on those stars.

    Posted 2.20.16 Reply
    • admin wrote:

      Lots of blogs I follow don’t put ratings on their posts…and I actually don’t either. On my posts, I use a simple Read it or Skip it, but I do use starred ratings in Goodreads. I do know that I like seeing other people’s ratings…it definitely helps me decide whether I want to pick up a book or not.

      Posted 2.21.16 Reply
  26. I am so bad when it comes to ratings. I either start out strict and then regret it later or I’m too easy to please early on and then wonder if I overdid it.

    Posted 2.20.16 Reply
    • admin wrote:

      Haha! Sounds like me…and what led me to this post!

      Posted 2.21.16 Reply
  27. This is a really good question! I’m pretty wishy-washy about ratings right now… I hardly put them on review posts anymore and I’m not even sure if I’m consistent about them in my review spreadsheet. It always feels like comparing apples and oranges. A book like The Royal We was a total delight to read, but is it really “worthy” of a five star compared to a more literary achievement that’s also really well done? I don’t know!

    Posted 2.21.16 Reply
    • admin wrote:

      I totally agree!! The Royal We was a fantastic read for me and exactly what I needed at the time, but I absolutely held off on that 5th star just because it was more of a light, fun book. And, I still waffle over having done that.

      Posted 2.21.16 Reply
  28. I tend to have my five star ratings early and late in the year, with maybe one five star in the middle. It has caused me needless doubt- I know I love those books, but would I have loved this “other” book if I had read it in January or December? I’ve found that’s really irrelevant- my ratings are what they are- if I reread a book later and love it more or less, I’ll change it.
    ~Litha Nelle

    Posted 2.22.16 Reply
    • admin wrote:

      I wonder if the December cluster has to do with the subconscious urge to fit in one last amazing read before putting together that Best Books of the Year list?! I sure feel that!

      Posted 2.22.16 Reply
  29. Care wrote:

    I think I even mentioned this January that I wanted to be stingier. Didn’t know it was a ‘thing’. It is tough especially when I read so many great books one right after the other and I do compare against each other. I consider ratings my way to remember how I felt about the reading experience knowing full well that mood and timing can greatly alter a reaction. SO I temper such when I consider someone else giving a book a 5 or a two. Whatever.

    Posted 2.22.16 Reply
    • admin wrote:

      I’m kind of envious of those people that can avoid comparing books to each other…I just can’t seem to do it!

      Posted 2.22.16 Reply

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