I have long used a scalable and straightforward rating system for just about everything. My view is that most things in life will be OK, some won’t, and some will be great: one big bell curve on which everything must sit.
| Rating | Comment | #Books |
| 1-2 | Terrible | 0 |
| 3-4 | Meh | 4 |
| 5-6 | OK | 6 |
| 7-8 | Good | 12 |
| 9 | Great | 3 |
| 10 | In my top 5 | 0 |
2026 (26)
One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This (2025) by Omar El Akkad: 9/10
Small Things Like These (2024) by Claire Keegan: 9/10
John of John (2026) by Douglas Stuart: 9/10
Follow the Money: How Much Does Britain Cost? (2023) by Paul Johnson: 8/10
The Collector (1963) by John Fowles: 8/10
The Things We Never Say (2026) by Elizabeth Strout: 8/10
The Great Hunt (Book 2, 1990) by Robert Jordan: 8/10
Gardens of the Moon (Book 1, 1999) by Steven Erikson:7/10
American War (2017) by Omar El Akkad: 7/10
My Friends (2025) by Fredrik Backman: 7/10
Black Bag (2026) by Luke Kennard: 7/10
May We Feed the King (2026) by Rebecca Ferry: 7/10
Stoner (1965) by John Williams: 7/10
The Will of the Many (2023) by James Islington: 7/10
The Strength of the Few (2025) by James Islington: 7/10
How Children Fail (1982) by John Holt: 6/10
Patriot (2025) by Alexei Navalny: 6/10
Intermezzo (2024) by Sally Rooney: 6/10
Mindful Soldier (2026) by Ash Alexander-Cooper: 6/10
On the Calculation of Volume (2025) by Solvej Balle: 6/10
On Character (2025) by General Stanley McChrystal: 6/10
Katabasis (2025) by R.F.Kuang: 4/10
Beliefism (2025) by Paul Dolan: 3/10
The War for Kindness (2019) by Jamil Zaki: 3/10
The End of Everything (2026) by M John Harrison: 3/10
War From the Ground Up (2018) by Emile Simpson.
On the Stack
Real Tigers (Book 3, 2016) by Mick Heron: TBC
