Welcome to Monday . . . in the Read With Us LOUNGE!
Y’know . . .it’s really lovely to have a virtual lounge for us all to gather in! This week, I’m up north, and as I write this post I’m . . . watching the flames of our campfire, listening to the loons calling on the lake, and thinking about s’mores later on. How about you? Where are you today . . . as you join us here in the Read With Us LOUNGE?
Today, I’m thinking about . . . documenting (or NOT documenting) what we read. Some readers Like To Keep Track. Some readers Like To Count. Some readers Like To Make A Statement . . . about how and where they Keep Track. Some readers Couldn’t Give a Flying F^ck. And, of course, none of these categories are better or more worthy than any other of these categories. (No rules. Just fun.) It’s all about personal preference and personal need here in the Read With Us LOUNGE.
As for me, I use the Goodreads app to track books I’ve read and for sharing reviews. Is it perfect? Nah. Is it useful? For me, yeah. Is it owned (now) by Jeff Bezos and, thus, suspect? Oh, you betcha. But, after much Mulling It Over and several rounds of Considering Other Options, I’ve decided that – for me – it is my best option.
There are all sorts of “features” available on Goodreads, most of which I don’t use. You can keep lists (books I’ve read, books I want to read, books I started-but-didn’t-finish, etc.). You can track your historical record of reads. You can write and share reviews. You can purchase books (Jeff Bezos; what can I say?). You can make “friends” and follow them. You can count the number of books you read each year. You can vote for your “fan-favorite” books in multiple categories every year. Basically . . . like with any social media adjacent site these days, you can pick your favorite options and roll with it.
I use Goodreads to keep track of the books I’ve read, and to share my reviews. Which is kind of necessary for me, since I read a lot of Advance Reader Copies of books and need an outlet to share them.
I do something else, too, though. I keep informal, digital “notes” on my laptop (and sometimes my phone’s Notes app) for every book I read.
WHY? Inquiring friends always want to know . . . Because that does sound an awfully lot like . . . school, y’know?
Well. my notes are not quite THAT detailed or serious! But several years ago (2018 or so??? maybe earlier???) I realized that I was becoming a “chain reader” — picking up one book just as I finished another. I never gave myself any space or time to even consider or think about what I had just read, and I often couldn’t even remember what it was I DID just read. So I decided to give myself a little breather between books, and I intentionally slowed my reading down. Where I used to read over 100 books each year, I found myself more comfortable with 60-70. And I found that if I took a few notes as I read (a brief synopsis, a list of characters, my thoughts – which started to turn into reviews, and a quick jotting of any phrases or quotes I particularly liked), I cemented the books more clearly in my mind — and settled them into my memory a little more. While I don’t share my notes on Goodreads (although that is an option), I do share my reviews. I keep my notes in digital files for myself.
This system works really well for me, and I’ve discovered that I really do have better focus and recall of the books I read when I keep a bit of a “list” — and write reviews (which we may discuss here at some point down the road). I still can’t remember all the books I read – but at least I have a system to remind myself these days.
So I pose these questions for all of you in the LOUNGE today . . .
- How do you feel about this whole documentation . . . concept . . .when it comes to keeping track of what you read. (For FUN, I might add.)
- Have you found a documentation method that works for YOU? Can you tell us about your process? Are you pleased with it?
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The Read With Us LOUNGE is now open for the summer!
Grab a book. Find a comfy spot to read with us for awhile.
No rules!
Just fun!
And be sure to visit Bonny and Carole today to see what they’re talking about in the LOUNGE.
I do keep track – just for fun and just for me. I have a pretty little notebook/journal where I write down the title, author, date I finished and my rating (1-5 stars) and sometimes a comment (great characters, or fun recipes, that sort of thing). It’s a way for me to look back and see what I’ve read (fiction, non-fiction, memoir, poetry, etc.) and also how many books in a year. I don’t set goals, I’m just curious. It’s also a handy reference for when I talk with my friend Leslie – we often chat about books and what we’ve read and what we recommend (we did this just yesterday afternoon!).
I also keep track on goodreads, but that’s because I found myself rereading books from the library without realizing it. This way I have a record and can easily look back and see if I’ve read the book before. I like to write reviews as my way of keeping notes (what I liked, what i didn’t, etc.) but that’s it. I’m not interested in making lots of friends, or joining groups on goodreads. I’d rather read than get sucked into the whole process around it.
I have stepped away from Goodreads. I just always wished for more from the application. I have likewise slowed down my reading… and it was the best thing I could do for me! I take a bit of time after finishing a book to write down (in an analog journal) my initial thoughts once I finish. I do not write down the cast of characters, but that is a fantastic idea. I then will go through the bits of the book I have “clipped” and might add a few quotes. I also give the book a rating. All that being said, I am not a fantastic book review writer… at all. I so admire those (You, Bonny, and Carole) that have the ability to break down a novel into a bit of something to entice me to read it. I would like to be a better review writer… but if I never get there, I am very okay with that.
I keep track of what I’ve read on Library Thing and have done so since 2006. One of the things I like about it is that I can download the whole file to my computer for my own use, should something happen to LT. I have a Good Reads account, but rarely use it…I’ve been slowly weaning myself of Amazon things. I think I paid a one time fee a long time ago. Otherwise the account has been free and stable.
The reason I keep track is so I don’t unwittingly indulge in the same book twice. And sometimes I need to refresh my memory about a book. Also it helps me with keeping track of authors and series that I like. I do write reviews, but they are mostly for myself, if others find them helpful that’s good too.
I track what I read on Goodreads and have an account on Storygraph, but I find Goodreads easier to use and to connect with friends. For a while I shared reviews on Goodreads, but that usually stressed me out because I wanted to be able to share a perfectly written review. Now I write my less than perfect reviews in my journal because reading should not be stressful!
I use Goodreads just to track what I have read, what I want to read, and occasionally for reading reviews. I don’t enjoy all the digital falderal around reading. My reading experience is very personal. I also keep a written list at hand for those books that I am anxious to read. I have a few authors that I enjoy so much that I want to read all their newly released books, so that’s what composes the “anxious” list. I don’t enjoy writing reviews unless it is a book that I am passionate about. I have been stepping away from NetGalley for that reason. They do provide “free” books, but I found I was just working for their marketing department for free so those books are really not free! I read fewer books that I did in the past, and I don’t like deadlines which is probably why I don’t enjoy book clubs. These days I do not feel compelled to finish books that do not engage me. Good topic, Kym.
I started keeping a book diary a while back (maybe 15 years ago?) which started just as a list of the books I’d read, chronologically. Like Bonny and Kym, I found I was losing track of the books I’d read. For me, I would be a ways into a book, a few pages, a chapter, a third of the way through, and suddenly realize, “I’ve read this one!” So I started a list. The next time I got a new notebook, I started keeping a chronological list in the front, and had alpha tabs (by author) to record a few notes, a brief personal review (just for me) and a star rating. Just last year, I started keeping a list on Goodreads, because I was jealous of the year end summaries people were sharing. I also have an advanced reader’s copy or two that I should be sharing there. But mostly, Goodreads is just another place to keep my list. It would be better in some ways to have a personal spreadsheet or something, as by now multiple notebooks mean it’s hard to look up books from a decade ago (when did I read that?), but I like having something offline and analog.
I keep track of my reading, but just for me. I have a journal where I write the title & author of each book. I don’t necessarily rate books, but do give a star or two for an exceptional book (A Gentlemen in Moscow, The Correspondent, Sipsworth to name but a few). I don’t keep track of “numbers,” but it is nice to know which books I’ve read … and also to remind myself of an author I enjoyed for future reads.
I also track on Goodreads, much as I hate giving Bezos any more money, but I’m used to it and like that it connects to my Kindle app (same issue with Bezos there). But I’m also on Storygraph. In both cases, I like having a record of what I’ve read and having the ability to share my thoughts with others. But it’s all for me, and while I do keep track of how many books I’ve read each year, it’s not about hitting a number but about reading good books.
I do keep track in Goodreads and then I have a book journal for book club books where I can add notes as needed. I also have another tracker that I fill in 3 spots (really 2 will do so next year changing that up) and 1 spot was to do one of those coloring sheets by genre which I track in a list but never do. I think I joined Storygraph but really don’t have the energy to do more than I’m doing now. My cousin had a book tracker on her blog and I did buy one on Etsy, it’s plastic (I think) and has little hangers which show how many you are up to but I only remember to update it every 3 o 4 books or so.
For years I kept track of books read in a spiral notebook and then along came the internets and Goodreads (pre-bezos). I started in 2007 and have keep track of books there. Mostly, I use it for keep track of titles, but also the year read, the prize lists, # of stars (my rating) and why I read it (book group, etc.). It is a workhorse for this reader and easy to use. My Goodreads, my way. I never look at promos or GR recs, or winners. I call that a win for me. (I am also on StoryGraph in case I some day want to make the jump.)
I use GoodReads to track what I want to read and what I’ve read and to write reviews. Like you, I get a lot of things from NetGalley and need a place to share those reviews for their purposes. I write more in depth reviews than I used to and that has definitely helped me to remember books. I also make little (1 x 1.5) stickers of the book covers of all my reads and I put them in a Field Journal – I love this visual representation of the books I’ve read in a year. I like how I document my reading and, while I do share it all socially on the blog and on TikTok, it’s really more for me and the social stuff is a bonus for content.