I’ve never liked rating books because there are just too many parameters to consider. Margaret Atwood and Frank Herbert are my comfort authors; I adore their work and know I can never go wrong with them. Then there are books that have left me completely speechless because of the emotions they provoked in me: Tolstoy’s The Death of Ivan Ilych and Dostoevsky’s The Meek One (from the White Nights edition) come to mind. And, of course, the timeless classics: Homer, Ovid. Those works transport me to another era, which are so powerful in challenging my preconceived biases. Some, like Faulkner and Milton, I’ve loved for their sheer brilliance and masterful writing.

But if you praise everything, then nothing truly stands out. It wouldn’t be genuine from my part if I didn’t mention the ones I absolutely despised reading or that simply didn’t resonate with me, like Pride and Prejudice and Tom Sawyer, for instance.

That’s why I’ve decided on this simple system.

❤️ means I absolutely adored the book.
💔 means it broke my heart: I didn’t enjoy it or it wasn’t what I expected.