I have tried to think about what advice I would want when seeking a book recommendation. Rather than an abstract and cold five-star rating system, I believe something more qualitative and actionable is useful – hence the Book Barometer. (Of course, this is only my perspective, and so it is hugely subjective. What is interesting, revelatory, or engaging to one person may not be to another.)
The way to think about the Book Barometer is to imagine you had a tableful of books in front of you, which would I recommend you reach for first. If you had all the time in the world, I would encourage you to read all of them – to see how their points of view overlap and interweave. But time is finite, and choice is hard, so hopefully these recommendations help you find your next great read.
A label reserved for truly great books. These balance two distinct tensions – being both highly informative, yet easily accessible. And containing new thinking and theory whilst supported by sufficient evidence to be grounded. These are books I recommend reading before anything else.
This is the domain for solidly good books. They are interesting and illuminating, but fall short of balancing the tensions above, often by being a little less accessible to all readers, or not supporting their ideas with sufficient evidence and examples. Nonetheless, books worth a read.
These books are a little poorer than their peers. They are distinctly weak on either of the two tensions. Less likely to break new ground, or present ideas in a new light. Or their arguments and evidence might be lighter or less clear. Not ones to avoid, but not to rush to read either.
These are books you might want to reach for last. Though I respect all authors for the effort and skill to become published, we have to recognise that not all books are created equal. Read them if you want to exhaust the body of knowledge on a topic.