Book Club :: Book Ratings for 2024-2025

Book Ratings for 2024-2025 Book Club Reading Year

Two years may not make a streak, but it looks to be headed that way. And this is the type of streak we love. We are getting pretty good at this book selection process. For the second year, half of the books we selected ended up with an overall score of 4 or better.

As I mentioned in last year’s ratings post, I think the secret is that most of us are pitching books that we’ve actually read. While we don’t make it a requirement, we do disclose if we’ve read it, and so we can take that into account if we want to when we vote.

2024-2025 Book Ratings

The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store by James McBride (3.64; High – 4.25; Low – 3)

Table for Two by Amor Towles (4.57; High – 5; Low – 3)

I Will Never See The World Again by Ahmet Altan (4; High – 5; Low – DNR/1)

Weyward by Emilia Hart (3.36; High – 4; Low – 2)

The Demon of Unrest by Erik Larson (3.8; High – 4.5; Low – DNR/1)

The Frozen River by Arial Lawhon (3.61; High – 4; Low – 3)

Booth by Karen Joy Fowler (4.41; High – 5; Low – 3.75)

The Woman They Could Not Silence by Kate Moore (4; High – 4.25; Low – 3.75)

Rabbit, Run by John Updike (3.25*; High – 5; Low – DNF/1)

Tom Lake by Ann Patchett (4.19; High – 5; Low – 3.5)

Notes About Our Book Ratings

Over the years, we’ve struggled with how to incorporate DNF (did not finish) or DNR (did not read) ratings. We used to subtract a quarter of a point from the overall score. And, we’ve wavered on whether they should impact the score at all.

Sometimes life happens and there just isn’t time to read or finish a book. In these cases, DNR/DNFs can always be updated. But other times a book just doesn’t hook you and you choose not to read or finish it.

A couple of years ago, we reviewed our scoring scale and decided that DNF/DNR books would receive a score of “1” from that member.

This leads me to my (*) – Rabbit, Run (which in full transparency, I pitched) received a 4.09 average rating from the members who read it. Three members opted not to finish or read it, so that significantly hurt the overall score.