Discussion: Am I Becoming Too Harsh of a Critic?

Hey guys and welcome back to my blog! I'm Genni and today I'll be sharing with you  a dilemma I am having. I've recently noticed that I have become a much harsher critic when rating books that I was just a couple months ago. I used to chalk this up to me just becoming a more versatile reader and knowing what I love, but now I am not so sure. 

Am I just growing as a reader? Or have I suddenly becoming a harsher critic for another reason? Has my rating scale changed?

I think the answer to that last question is yes. I used to give out four stars to any book that I enjoyed but didn't wow me. Now, I give out three stars for that. A four star book for me is now a book that I have not only enjoyed, but stood out from the crowd in certain ways. Maybe the book is more diverse, or it exceeded my expectations by having less YA cliches. A five star book? Well, that's practically impossible now. Not only do I have to thoroughly enjoy myself, I expect some character development and a plot that I have practically no flaws with. 

You can see the way I've become harsher in my rating on my goodreads page. Last year, I had 25 books that made in on my 2015 favorites shelf. I have a mere two books on my 2016 favorites shelf right now. Maybe I just haven't been picking up the right books, but I don't think that is it. Looking book at some of my 'favorites' last year, I've seen books that I don't remember that well and didn't leave a lasting impact on me. If the book didn't do that for me, then I don't think it should be under 'favorite' shelf. 

Looking at my stats this year, I have rated half of the books I've read (18/36, for all you math people) three stars or less. Only 42/123 books I read last year have a rating of three stars or less. That is 34 percent of my reading, or around 1 out of every 3 books. Now, one out of every two books I read will get a rating of three stars or less. 

But I am NOT having a bad reading year. I've enjoyed both of my latest reads, even though they each only received 3 stars. Just because something got three stars doesn't make it bad, it just means the book was good, not great. 

So I am going to go with this: I am growing as a reader, and with that I am not only becoming a harsher critic, but my rating scale is going to change along with me. Just because I gave something four stars a year ago doesn't necessarily mean that I would give it the same rating now. I am happy with what I am reading, even if it doesn't necessarily look that way with statistics.

 What about you guys? Has your rating system ever changed? 

Thanks guys for stopping by and I'll see you soon with another post!

Happy Reading!

Genni @ Ready, Set, Read!