Let’s Talk Bookish:  The Elusive 5-star Read | 7/25/25

Let’s Talk Bookish is a weekly bookish meme originally created by Rukky @ Eternity Books and hosted by Aria @ Book Nook Bits, where every Friday, bloggers write discussion posts based on a weekly prompt and Dini @ dinipandareads has cohosted since the beginning of 2025.

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This week’s topic is:

July 25: The Elusive 5-star Read

Prompts: What makes a book a 5-star read for you? Do you give books 5 stars easily, or are you more selective with them? What are your all-time favourite “can’t-live-can’t-breathe-without-them” 5-star reads? Is there anything that makes a book automatically 5 stars for you? Or the opposite — what makes you drop to 4 stars?

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What makes a book a 5-star read for you?

This is such a great topic because I have been questioning how I rate my 5 star reads this year. A 5 star year has to make my heart pound, my jaw drop and take me on an emotional journey – not necessarily to make me cry, but I have to be blown away. But lately I wonder if I’m too strict with my 5 star rating?! 🤷🏻‍♀️

Do you give books 5 stars easily, or are you more selective with them?

I do not give them easily but I wonder if I’m too strict because there are books out there that are messy, and not perfect but the vibes are so immaculate. I kind of envy the giving a book 5 stars just for vibes lol.

What are your all-time favourite “can’t-live-can’t-breathe-without-them” 5-star reads?

All time? That’s too hard for me. This is just some random my 5 star reads I have tracked on Goodreads. I used to give them so much more easily before I became a blogger!

• The Awakening L.J. Smith – gave this one 5 stars when I read it as a teenager.
• Catching Fire by. Suzanne Collings
• Daughter of Smoke and Bone by. Laini Taylor
• Kristin Hannah by. The Nightingale
• The Cruel Prince by. Holly Black
• A Court of Silver Flames by. Sarah J Maas
• Heart Forger by. Rin Chupeco
• The Poppy War by. R. F. Kuang
• Bing Me Their Hearts by. Sara Wolf
• The Bridge Kingdom by. Danielle L. Jensen
• Legendborn by. Tracey Deonn
• The Women by. Kristin Hannah (many of her books are 5 star reads for me)

I think it’s interesting to see how my 5 star ratings changed over time. I really lived in a time when Twilight, Hunger Games, Divergent, etc… and those type of books came in my 20’s! I ate those books up so fast. Young Adult has changed so much – the books became LONGER. Kristin Hannah books always get me and almost always a 5 star read. This is a random list, but my 5 stars definitely got fewer the older I got, which is kinda of a bummer and I might be changing the way I rate a 5 star book next year.

Is there anything that makes a book automatically 5 stars for you? Or the opposite — what makes you drop to 4 stars?

5 stars are never automatic these days, but if I was gripped by the story, read it in one setting and my heart is thumping from adrenaline or heartbreak or something and I was engaged with the characters and story overall – then it’s a 5.

Dropping stars is maybe because pacing was a bit off, book was too long without much going on, rushed ending, or something to that effect. Or I wasn’t invested as much as I wanted to be.

July Topics:

July 4: Duologies vs. Trilogies

  Prompts: Do you prefer duologies or trilogies, and why? What are the pros and cons of having two books vs. three books in a series? What are some of your favourite duologies and/or trilogies? Do you think there are benefits to these shorter series, compared to ones with 4+ books, or are fewer books limiting?

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July 11: Book Hype (Melanie @ Melanie’s Book Blog)

  Prompts: Has the hype ever ruined a book for you? Has the hype ever made a book better for you? Do you like lesser-known reads, and finding a gem of a book that no one’s heard of? Or do you prefer to read the more popular, mainstream books? Where are the majority of the books you read, in terms of popularity? 

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July 18: Reading Beyond Books

  Prompts: What do you read other than books? Do you like non-novel forms of literature, like poetry and plays? Do you read a lot of news articles, op-eds, or essays? Do novels make up most of your reading, or is it a mix of those other kinds of writing? Do you ever listen to podcasts in place of audiobooks?

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July 25: The Elusive 5-star Read

  Prompts: What makes a book a 5-star read for you? Do you give books 5 stars easily, or are you more selective with them? What are your all-time favourite “can’t-live-can’t-breathe-without-them” 5-star reads? Is there anything that makes a book automatically 5 stars for you? Or the opposite — what makes you drop to 4 stars?