My rating system is similar to yours, OP. I very, very rarely give 1 or 2 stars. If I DNF I don't feel qualified to judge the book, but if I finished a book and really disliked it then my rule is that I have to explain why. I rarely review, but I think it might be useful in extreme cases to explain why it provoked the reaction it did. I think I've made done this once on Goodreads where there was zero character growth, zero plot development and none of the characters were remotely likeable.

I'd be interested in an international study on this, since the article is implying it's an international issue and yet says a big part of the problem is the American "SAT-passing factory" approach to education.

5* Exceptional,

4* Really great stuff.

3* Yeah it was pretty OK?

2* Bad

1* Probably did not finish.

Yeah, I get that and you're right, I do like the details and imagery I get in my head.

Definitely a polarizing author. I feel like he knows he is nerdier than everyone else, though. Not intellectually superior. Like he researches the crap out of things to write niche books for himself and other semi-autistic weirdos that would bore the normies.

I hear the words I’m reading in my head, but I actually read too fast and find I don’t retain what I read sometimes.

So I have to purposely make myself read slower. And if I don’t understand what I read, I read it very slowly, out loud, pausing to make sure I’m getting it.

I’m curious tho. Have you tried to purposely read faster? What happens? Do you retain the info?

5 - Quite possibly perfect. I adored it. I wouldn’t change a thing.

4 - I really enjoyed it, but there’s a few things I would change.

3 - I equally liked and disliked things

2 - I disliked the majority of it, but there’s were some redeeming qualities

1 - I literally did not like a single thing about this. Terrible.

I’ve never read anything that’s a 1 and only a couple things that were 2s. The majority of stuff I’ve read falls into 4!

Learning to skip subvocalisation is a big part of most speed reading strategies, but it's worth noting that speed reading (not to be confused with just reading fast) is also usually are correlated with lower comprehension (not necessarily bad comprehension - just lower, in the same individual).

>How about in this age they focus on one task that they are failing at now such as reading writing and math.

Reading, writing, and math are still all taught. Nobody is replacing these subjects.

History class is in danger, though, because people don't want children to learn history and would rather they learn lies such as "Black people in America were indentured servants" and "Native people and Pilgrims were friends who got along and the Pilgrims taught the Natives their good Christian ways peacefully".

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>Why skip ahead to other concepts beyond understanding if they don’t have the basics to do so.
>
>Why skip to teach culture of any kind if they can’t read.

Are you suggesting that having BOOKS about other cultures is stopping children from being able to read?

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>Why skip to teaching sexuality and anything related if I haven’t had a period yet and again have No deducing skills to be able to pick a decent human to share sexual acts with.

The book which was the subject of the bomb threat was not being taught. It was not the focus of any lessons, lectures, or homework. It simply existed in the school. It sat on a shelf in the school. A child who read that book would have to do so on their own time.

Neutrally acknowledging that LGBT+ people exist is not "teaching sexuality". Children in a school might have LGBT+ parents, neighbors, relatives, etc. Insisting that this topic is not allowed to be even mentioned, even in the most simple terms of "this exists," helps nobody.

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>Do you think because this is a structure who by the way the white Christian brought here with them is the only structure.
>
>Do you think my culture had a classroom of village kids in it and one ndn lady taught them language in their teepee.

I'm not sure of what you are trying to accuse me of here.

5* - One of the best books I've ever read.

4* - A book I thought was incredible

3* - A book I enjoyed reading

2* - Didn't really enjoy this book

1* - I wish I could go back in time and warn myself not to read this

I'm sure it does. I can read both ways, but I find a read both more enjoyable and I find myself able to really take in the information more thoroughly when I ready with subvocalization.

Oh yeah, I get it. I can actually fairly reasonably speed read, but honestly I enjoy reading slower and mentally listening to the book ya know? It used to bother me, but honestly, why? I find when I read like that I absorb the details so much better than seemingly a lot of people. I'll talk about a book with someone and it's often clear that I took in the little details and maybe even saw more foreshadowing and setup than some people that read much faster.

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It sounds like you misunderstand how bookselling works.

Buying books from a different retailer isn't going to help. It is the publisher who contracts a printer. The publisher is what matters here, buying something off Waterstones rather than Amazon is not really relevant. Amazon will have more junk most likely but it isn't much of a guarantee either way.

Currently reading it now and thoroughly enjoying it!

Something I think Collins does remarkably well is the WORLDBUILDING!

Seriously, anyone interested in the craft needs to look at how she does it because it’s basically a masterclass in effective Infodump.

Not once have I felt that, “alright. Lore, info, next.”

The way her worldbuilding of history and science and region in Panem comes out of the character is so clean and succinct. There’s always a reason for it in the story. And it’s always just enough that you understand, the world grows depth, and then you’re moving on back into the plot right away.

Truly well done!

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I only rate about half the books I read for this reason — that and many books take effort to assess quality. Reviews are much more valuable to a reader IMO, I try to explain what did and didn't work for me, so someone with different tastes can get an understanding of if those things will be an issue for them.

> People absolutely are

Can you show where someone is "absolutely self-identifying as a gold fish", without using right wing sources?

Also check out "Sand". Same world (possibly) but different setting and characters. Only one book and pretty short and sweet.

I hadn't heard its name. Thanks I'll do some (slow) reading about it tomorrow, but do you know if there are any links with subvocalisation and reading speed?

Mine is always on. Even for news papers, comments on Reddit, everything.

This is a very interesting subject. Maybe you already know, but it has a name: subvocalization. It can be physically measured: our speech apparatus makes little movements while we're "hearing" this voice in our heads!

Some claim it actually improves retention of information.

Yes, always.

I'm a very fast reader by wpm when I'm not spending more time on Reddit than actually reading the book, which is rare.

And that is why kids are falling out of love for reading. Gotta pay for it with money they don’t have. And for what? For words on a page that you have to actively read and form images in your head, when you can just watch videos on your phone that immediately deliver the same images but at a quicker pace?

Why don't you befriend me lol