*Links to the CAWPILE Creator’s YouTube channel be found at the end of this post <3.
The C.A.W.P.I.L.E. rating system was created by Book Roast (Gintare, also known as G). A YouTuber and Instagramer, G’s content has a focus on books and the joy of reading. The C.A.W.P.I.L.E. spreadsheet is available for free and G has linked it on her channel videos. The spreadsheet also allows for more in depth information and statistics to be recorded but this post is just going to focus on the rating system.
Personally, I have been using the C.A.W.P.I.L.E. system for the past four years and have found it to be instrumental in aiding my final thought breakdown after I finish a book. So, what does C.A.W.P.I.L.E. stand for? Firstly it should be noted that C.A.W.P.I.L.E. can be applied differently to non-fiction vs. fiction reads. Let’s start by examining the standard fiction breakdown.
C – characters. Were the characters well developed? Did you like the characters? Were you supposed to like them?
A – atmosphere. Did you feel as if you were in the world of the book? (E.g. if the book was set in a forest, did you feel as if you were in the forest while reading?)
W – writing style. Did you like the writing style? Did the writing style affect your enjoyment of the book?
P – plot. Did the plot of the book make sense? Was it well-paced?
I – intrigue. Did you find the book intriguing? Did it manage to grab and hold your interest? If not, then why? Did you find it hard to come back to the book after putting it down?
L – logic. Did the book make sense? Did the actions or decisions made by the characters make sense? Did the developments in the story make sense within the world the story was set in?
E – enjoyment. How much did you enjoy the book? Thinking back on your experience reading the book, is there anything you would have changed about the book?
The non-fiction C.A.W.P.I.L.E. breakdown is similar but does have some key differences.
C – credibilty/research. Was the information presented in the book backed up by credible sources? Did the author cite information from more than one source?
A – authenticity/uniqueness. Did the book have it’s own unique points, or was it simply repeating information that is already widely known?
W – writing/readabilty. Was the information presented in the book easy to digest/understand? Did the writing style affect your enjoyment of the book?
P – personal impact. How did the book impact you? Do you feel you have a better understanding/awareness of the topic of the book?
I – intrigue. Were you interested in what the book had to say?
L – logic/informativeness. Was the information presented in the book layed out in a logical way? Did you learn anything from reading the book?
E – enjoyment. Did you enjoy the book?
How these categories work is that when you uses the spreadsheet (or you can do the maths yourself if you really want to), you rate each category by giving it a score from 0 – 10. you can use whole numbers e.g., 1, 2, 3, etc. or you can use decimals e.g., 2.5, 4.75, etc. either way the spreadsheet will then calculate the average of these numbers and give you a final score from 0 – 10. The final number then corrisponds to a star rating.
To give an example, say you rated a book C – 7, W – 6, A- 7, P – 8, I – 7, L – 6, E – 7 your overall rating would be 6.86. This places the book into the 3 star category, or 3.5 stars if you prefer to use half stars.
If you’ve read this far and you still have questions about the C.A.W.P.I.L.E. rating system then there’s no better place to go than to the creater herself! I have included G’s video where she runs us through CAPILE Version 3, and gives an in-depth guide as to how you can get a copy of the spreadsheet and how to use it.
*please note that when creating your own copy of the spreadsheet, you MUST right-click and create a copy of the file into your own Google Drive.
Let me know if you also use the CAWPILE rating method, and if not how do you rate your books? Until next time xxx.
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