I suppose, I am not the only one, who'd rather not spend time, trying to decide how to decide whether this good book is better than that other good book and if do, how much.

I have ranked light novels a 5. Let's admit the writing isn't great. There are 5star books, that are much better written. But if I return to those simple books again and again, they deserve a five as much as this well written book with great prose and depth of character, that I may reread in a year. If my backlog allows.

In the end rankings on amazon or goodread are personal opinions.

P.s. I was referring to "Restaurant to another World " and "The Hands of the Emperor ". Both 5s. One for the sheer joy and comfort the books bring, the other for it's beauty, scope and hidden depth.

Keep it simple. 1 star= ugh...wish 0 stars were an option. 2 stars= meh, 3 stars = OK, I guess, 4 stars = that's good, would read again, 5 stars = perfection

I suppose, I could break it down farther, but that's enough for me.

I can't talk about IT, but an ending can be unsatisfactory in so many ways. Whether it is a more classic trope, f.e. " it was only a Dream" or turning a comedy into a tragedy, both without proper foreshadowing, or it is too abrupt, all that can throw a reader out of a book, they enjoyed until then.

An ending is very important. I can forgive it, if a book starts a bit slow or is a bit weaker in the middle. I can't forgive a bad ending. In the former case, I can power through to the good parts or just don't finish. No hard feelings, someone surely loves it. But a bad ending, when the rest was fine? That sticks with me and feels like a betrayal. I liked you, you book and then you let me down? Nope. Bye.

Something vast across a number of criteria. Time covered alone is not enough. A slew of characters alone is not enough, although they need to be bigger than life. Continents crossed on their own are not enough. And at the end you have to sit back and go "Wow" because there is so much to think about.

In all honesty I find it hard to consider stories an epic, unless they are really old and still beloved. I define epics in the narrowest way possible. Gilgamesh is an epic. So is the Illiad. Orlando Furioso qualifies as well in my opinion.

Moby Dick was just a novel for me. Not even one I liked. I just miiiight be willing to add Tolkien's Legendarium if we add modern books. I never read "Gone with the Wind" and am not very tempted to ever start, so no opinion there.

I suppose, ASoIaF or the Wheel of Time can qualify due to their scope. Never liked them either, but both series have this...vastness.

That kid looks slightly more enthusiastic than my sister and me in those handmade banana tree costumes.

I try to stick to books, I can't get as ebooks. Or books, that just don't work as ebooks. Lots of pictures or maps? Paper please.

Unfortunately it is also a question of room, whether I choose a physical copy or an ebook.

I am a terrible cook, preferring quick recipes. Usually along the lines of chop stuff, fry it. Add rice or noodles. Done.

But I like cookbooks. Particularly those with pictures, stories about the culture of the recipe or links to novels.

Unfortunately I had to downsize my library and most of my cookbooks got tossed out in the great purge of 2022. At least now, that there is some order restored I can find and read the survivors.

I hope the rest really ended up at a juvenile prison, as promised and perhaps one of the kids there learns to love cooking.