Help!

I submit that plea because I am desperately trying to synchronize my rating scheme to others in the indie writer arena.  For a long time, I had a well-defined system that I used for my own use in evaluating anime.  It was fairly simple and straightforward:

1. Don't even bother with this piece of crap.
2. Not up to snuff, but you might get a kick out of it.
3. A typical, solid, well-produced story.
4. Something above the rest; you really should check it out.
5. If you don't see this, then you are missing out on a rite of passage and any claim to calling yourself civilized.

I know those aren't the exact phrases I used in my prototype anime web site that I never went public with, but they convey the thoughts.  Using the same standards, if you write a professional, well-produced novel on par with others, you would get three stars.  Only the creamiest of the crop ever see five stars.  You're talking To Kill a Mockingbird and Lord of the Rings.

But it seems as if three stars is like a grade of "C" in school.  It's supposed to be average, but everyone expects an "A" or a "B".  Apparently, people in general rate works about one and a half stars higher than I would.  I see sense in my original definitions, but I'm afraid that if I use them in reviewing other indie works that I'll be effectively undercutting what I really think of them relative to everyone else.  I see a lot of five-star reviews, and frankly, I doubt that any of them (including my own works) are worthy of being designated as absolute essentials for anyone professing an education.

With this in mind, I want to poll other indie writers on how they see stars.  (Ha ha!)  What is a typical rating?  What does it take to get five stars?  I want to be objective, but I also want to be fair.