I Took the Stars Off ALMA

Until this week, every book I recommended on ALMA had five stars next to it. Every single one. A thriller, a quiet literary novel, a romantasy: five stars, five stars, five stars.

I looked at that row of identical little stars and realised they weren't saying anything. A rating that never changes isn't a rating. It's decoration. Worse, it's the exact kind of decoration ALMA was supposed to be an escape from.

So I took them off.

The thing I was trying to get away from

ALMA started with a simple frustration: finding a good book had become strangely difficult. There were endless lists, rankings, algorithms and five-star reviews, and none of them felt like a person telling me what they actually thought.

And then, without really noticing, I'd added one more five-star badge to the pile. It made the page look tidy. It made every book look equally certain. It didn't help a single reader decide anything.

What goes there instead

A sentence. Sometimes two. On every pick there's now a short note on why the book is here, and who I think it's for. That's harder to write than five stars, which is exactly why it's worth more.

A star asks you to trust a number. A sentence gives you something to disagree with. If I say a book is dark and clever and you know you want something gentle this week, you can skip it, and I'd rather you did. A recommendation should earn its place, and the way it earns it is by being specific.

How the picks actually get chosen

Every week I look at what people are actually reading right now: the bestseller lists, the books everyone's suddenly talking about, the new releases. Then I choose a few I'd genuinely put in front of a friend. Popular isn't the same as good, so plenty of books that are everywhere don't make it.

This week, three made it.

This week's three

Dead Beat is number one on the New York Times list this week, and it's the third Ninth House book. It's here for anyone who likes their fantasy dark and set somewhere that looks ordinary from the outside. One honest warning: start with Ninth House if you haven't, or you'll be lost.

Exit Party is Emily St. John Mandel's new novel, and if you read Station Eleven you already know why it's on this list. A man disappears from a party in Los Angeles, a double appears, and the night stops making sense. It's for readers who like a novel that bends a little under their feet.

Big Little Truths is the sequel to Big Little Lies, and the publisher is right that you don't need the first book to read it. It's here for anyone who loves a small community full of things nobody is saying out loud.

Tell me if I got it wrong

That's the part I like best about trading stars for sentences. If you read one of these and think I've got it completely wrong, you can tell me, in the comments below or in an email, and we can actually talk about it. You can't argue with five stars. You can argue with me.

See all of this week's picks

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