Rating Changes

I agonize over the star ratings in my reviews. I don’t even know if anyone out there cares what the rating is, but I do. If I’m going to rate something, I want that rating to reflect my opinion as accurately as possible. The good thing is that the more reviews I do, the better I’m able to compare books with each other. But looking back, I’ve found that I no longer agree with some of my ratings.

Here are the changes that I’ve made:

• A Field Guide to Warblers of North America (Peterson Guide)
  by Jon Dunn and Kimball Garrett
     

  REVIEW. This was one of my original reviews, and is much shorter than one I would write now. I need to just rewrite it. But in the meantime, I went ahead and changed the rating because I was too harsh initially. I could go with either 4 or 4.5, but went with the higher because this guide is incredibly useful.

  My complaints about it involve size (too small, thus making it too thick and reducing picture sizes), and the printing quality of the plates. However, it is full of useful information and illustrations. I think this is one of the few family-specific ID guides every North American birder absolutely needs. It’s still the first resource I turn to for warbler questions.

• Birding For Everyone: Encouraging People of Color to Become Birdwatchers
  by John C. Robinson
     

  REVIEW. My initial rating was based on my opinion that this is an important book for the future of birding. My opinion regarding that has not changed. However, based strictly on the content and organization, I would have given it a much lower score. I think 3.5 to 4 stars is a good range, considering everything.

• Raptors of North America: Natural History and Conservation
  by Noel and Helen Snyder
     

  REVIEW. I’m not sure what I was thinking here. After reading many more bird family books, I find that I keep comparing them to this one. The photography and text are both outstanding. It’s still not the place to turn to for identification or a quick summary of natural history information. But it’s a great read, and lets you really get to know these birds.

• The Sound Approach to Birding
  by Mark Constantine and The Sound Approach
     

  REVIEW. This is a revolutionary book that will increase your understanding and enjoyment of bird sounds. It fully deserves the highest rating.

• A Supremely Bad Idea: Three Mad Birders and Their Quest to See It All
  by Luke Dempsey
     

  REVIEW. I really enjoyed this, but comparing it to some other ratings, I think I need to drop it down a notch.

• Audubon VideoGuide to 505 Birds of North America
     

  REVIEW. This will be less and less relevant as time goes on. The internet is already a better source of bird videos and (especially) photos. And now we have portable applications such as iBird. There may still be a market for a disc-based collection (DVD, or better yet, blu-ray). But this is not that collection – it would need to be completely overhauled and updated.

• A Guide to Bird Watching
  by Joseph J. Hickey
     

  REVIEW. No, this classic won’t make modern birders “better” at their craft. But it is still worth reading for many reasons, foremost among them Hickey’s still-pertinent plea that bird watching be more than simple ticks on a checklist. Definitely worth reading.

There are a few more ratings that I’m less than confident about, but I’ll let them stand for now.

Does anyone find these ratings useful?

Posted by Grant McCreary on October 30th, 2009.