Still enjoying those GBA books
but some of those were children's books, so a little shorter than others :) Some of the books were non-fiction too, and got me wondering, how do I make sure the score I give a non-fiction book isn't biased by my feelings on the subject.
Imagine two such books. I agree with both authors in some chapters, and disagree in others. And I'm keeping score...
One score is given for whether the book keeps my interest. It's hard for an author to keep my interest when he tells me my opinion (still worse my education) is value-less. Another score comes from dialog (fiction) and distraction (non-fiction). If a non-fiction author moves into lengthy diatribes against something which is not part of his thesis, it might count as distraction. "Coherence" might lose points if opinion is argued as fact. And then there's the score for "Is this book applicable/useful to self/others." It's probably a bad sign if I couch my answer with "only applicable if you never disagree."
Don't get me wrong. Both books are good and I enjoyed reading them. But one treats me, my background and my experience with respect while the other doesn't. I value much and disagree with some of what I've read in both, and I think the scoring chart gives me a way to quantify that. So... I still don't like ratings, but I do like being able to base them on a well-chosen list of questions.
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