EDIT: Just wondering, to what extent do people take ratings and reviews into account when considering whether to read a book?
If they've won a prize, or have been listed for one, I take that pretty seriously. I don't even know what the criteria is for many of these prizes, but knowing a book was nominated for the Man Booker puts it in my sights! I go onto Goodreads to look at reviews sometimes but I don't take the reviews very seriously. I'm far more inclined to take the review of someone on this forum and take it into consideration, then a person on Goodreads. Simply - the people on this forum are alike to me in a lot of ways so I trust their judgement as to what interests them, or disinterests, what they struggled with, and what they liked. People reviewing on goodreads are likely to come from every outpost of the world, which is super cool, except it doesn't guide me in choosing a book. The same way as when a friend recommends a book to me, I'll happily take on their recommendation because it's for me, I guess. And if my friend enjoyed it, and I'm in some ways similar to my friend, perhaps I will too.
As I say this, I'm reading Cloudstreet on the recommendation of Brenden nearly two years ago (and several times since lol). And I'm also reading "Fighting Hislam" by Susan Carland for an assignment (but also for pleasure). The goodreads reviews, in my opinion, don't truly reflect the nature of this book so far. It's more academic than what I first imagined, and to me it seems like the people reviewing it online aren't interested in the academics behind it, whereas for me, it's the reason I'm reading it. So, viewpoint is everything.