Keepers Updated October 19, 2026
The Rise and Fall of the Artificial State

Is it worth it?

The Rise and Fall of the Artificial State

Jill Lepore · History · 336 pages · Aug 25, 2026

64Not yet

Goodreads 4.04Keeper Score 64

Skip it for now. It scores 64, well short of the 85 a Keeper needs. The weakest part is staying power.

Where the 64 comes from

Critics26/40

Critic score 88. A 70 earns nothing and a 98 earns all 40 points.

Audience11/20

Audience score 81. A 60 earns nothing and a 98 earns all 20 points.

Track record14/15

These Truths and If Then; New York Burning won the Bancroft Prize.

Staying power13/25

A month out with 640 ratings. Too early to call.

26 + 11 + 14 + 13 = 64

Image: Apple

Scores used: Book Marks 5 rave, 2 positive, 1 mixed (8 reviews), read as 88. Goodreads 4.04 (641 ratings), read as 81. Numbers checked September 27, 2026. See the main source.

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How the score works

Albums, games, films, shows and books

  • Critics, 40. The published aggregate from Metacritic, OpenCritic, Album of the Year or Rotten Tomatoes. For books, Book Marks grades every major review rave, positive, mixed or pan; we read those as 100, 75, 50 and 25 and take the average. Almost everything reviewed lands between 70 and 98, so a 70 earns nothing and a 98 earns all 40.
  • Audience, 20. What people who paid for it say, from user scores, Steam reviews and, for books, the Goodreads average times 20. A 60 earns nothing and a 98 earns all 20.
  • Track record, 15. Whether the people who made it have made things that lasted before. Debuts start lower on purpose.
  • Staying power, 25. What happens after launch week: chart runs, players who stick around, renewals, sales that keep going, prize shortlists.

A Keeper is our bet on what lasts. Some releases show it right away: the reviews, the players and the people behind them all point the same way, the way they did for Elden Ring. For albums, games, films, shows and books, 85 or above is a Keeper and 75 to 84 is worth your time. Things and tech need 80. We score everything again as time goes by, and a Keeper that fades loses the label. Nobody pays to be here or pays for a score. Every score links to where its numbers came from. Each one has a link to find it on Amazon, and as an Amazon Associate, Keepers earns from qualifying purchases.

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