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 | 1 |
| 5-6 | OK | 12 |
| 7-8 | Good | 12 |
| 9 | Great | 2 |
| 10 | In my top 5 | 0 |
2025 (28)
The Narrow Road to the Deep North (2013) by Richard Flanagan: 9/10
Moral Ambition (2025) by Rutger Bregman: 9/10
Normal People (2018) by Sally Rooney: 8/10
What We Can Know (2025) by Ian McEwan: 8/10
Flashlight (2025) by Susan Choi: 8/10
Wind and Truth (Book 5, 2024) by Brandon Sanderson: 8/10
The Eye of the World (Book 1, 1990) by Robert Jordan: 8/10
Small Boat (2024) by Vincent Delecroix: 7/10
Flesh (2025) by David Szalay: 7/10
Glorious Exploits (2024) by Ferdia Lennon: 7/10
Slow Horses (Book 2, 2010) by Mick Herron: 7/10
Trust (2022) by Hernan Diaz: 7/10
Dust (Book 2, 2013) by Hugh Howey: 7/10
Shift (Book 3, 2016) by Hugh Howey: 7/10
Super Communicators (2024) by Charles Duhigg: 6/10
More Than Words: How to Think About Writing in the Age of AI (2025) by John Warner: 6/10
Anxious People (2019) by Fredrik Backman: 6/10
Dead Lions (Book 1, 2013) by Mick Heron: 6/10
Onyx Storm (Book 3, 2025 ) by Rebecca Yarros: 6/10
Wool (Book 1, 2011) by Hugh Howey: 6/10
The Ministry of Time (2024) by Kaliane Bradley: 6/10
The Rest of Our Lives (2025) by Ben Markovits: 6/10
Audition (2025) by Katie Kitamura: 5/10
How to Know a Person (2023) by David Brooks: 5/10
Kind (2024) by Graham Allcott: 5/10
Range: How Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World (2019) by David Epstein: 5/10
The Secret History (1992) by Donna Tartt: 3/10
The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny (2025) by Kiran Desai: DNF
