Do you keep a record of books you have read?

[posey]

I have been doing this for approx 20 years.
Anyway I was having a good look through it earlier on and found it quite fascinating how my reading tastes have changed, how I had prolific years (when dd was born I had to stop work for 10 weeks before she was born, then read while feeding her which was approx 23 hours per day, so read loads that year.) and years where I read very little ( when dh was very ill and I couldn't concentrate on much)
I had a Ruth Rendall/ Barbara Vine year, a couple of chick lit years...
Nowadays I seem to read fewer books but they are a bit more challenging.
So who else does this? Oh and what it is written in? I have a very nice notebook, bought in a craft Market!

[Piggles]

I did keep note of every book I read when I was about 12/13 for a few months, but it was hard work keeping track really. I used to trot off to the local library for 8 books a week (or sometimes twice a week) and read everything my family/friends owned too. I was racking up probably 50+ books a month sometimes and recording all that author/title/marks out of 10 stuff got dull for me in the end.

I had no real point to it either. I have never been a book snob and enjoy bonkbusters as much as the classics (so didn't want to wankishly parade a list of oh-so worthy books I had read) and I have pretty good recall and only need to look at the first paragraph to know if I have read a book or not (so don't need to prevent duplicate purchases there.)

I don't think it is a strange thing to do (having tried to keep track at one time in my life) but it isn't for me.

I also wouldn't know how to categorise fanfic, which I read far too much of

[Granwen]

We keep a list and mark out of 10!!!!! How pathetic is that??? Lowest mark so far...... 'The Slap'.

[Granwen]

P.S. I'm trying to work my way thro 'Booker' winners...... but they have to be hardback, fondly thinking my chn and g/chn may want to inherit!!!!

[springblossompetals]

I really wish I had! I always have a book on the go but am rubbish at remembering the story afterwards, and have also been known to buy I book I have already read, or already own! I re-read almost everything (I have such a bad memory it's like a new read until I've read it at least twice). Maybe I will start right now!

[DJB]

What a fantastic idea. I know there are times when I sit down with a book I've really been looking forward to reading only to find that I've read it before! Jodi Picoult has to be my favourite author at the moment but I'm even becoming a bit disenamoured with her latest stuff. I need some new inspiration so hopefully I am going to get that from the book club and I'm going to start my list now.

[woodyj]

I never used to keep a record of books I had read or wanted to read. Therefore I wasn?t able to recommend a good book to a friend on the spot or come up with a list of books I had enjoyed at book club. So a friend and I started our own company creating reading journal Apps for iPhone, iPad and PodTouch. This means I now have to hand a portable journal of the books I?ve read and any notes I?ve made or quotes I?ve enjoyed. It also lets add me add books I want to read as a I hear or read about them.

[Pam100127]

My husband has been doing this for years, he gives the books a mark out of 10 then at the end of the year sees who is the winner....some get marked with a fraction ie 8 1/2, and only the very best get 9+. He started doing it with my daughter, when she was reading endless Enid Blyton, and the year she was 8 she read over a 1000 books. Now aged 10 she is reading longer books and while she does ok over a year, she will never make the 1000 again.
My son, just 6 at the end of May, has now read over 160, so far this year, it's a great incentive for him to read out loud to me....because it then has to go on the list...we read ALOT of Mr Men & Little Miss books, but he has now also started on the Seriously Silly books and they are great.

[swanker]

I don't understand how you know if you've read it before, if you just make a note in the order you read them in... ?

But then I do keep my CDs in alphabetical order...

[IDrinkFromTheirSkulls]

Obviously from the number of books I have read but can't remember the names of I should have been doing this since I learnt to read!

[TotallyUtterlyDesperate]

I wish I had done this ages ago, because I have read so much. Recently, I started recording my reading on LibraryThing. I don't always manage to write a review, but I do give each book a star rating.

[LittleBoxes]

I've been doing this since I was a child. I keep a diary and used to put the lists in the back of my diaries, but since the mid-90s I've used a 'reading journal' someone gave me. I often look back at it to see what I was reading when - v. therapeutic.

If you want wanky, see my diary from 1984 (aged 13), written in the form of letters to the heroine of whatever book I was reading at the time

[kellestar]

I have kept one since my last year of primary school, last 20 years. But it's been turned into an online process now. I use librarything mainly, but also have goodreads. I love seeing what fads I go through. I am also amazed by how long ago it was when I last read the book as it still feels so fresh in my mind.

DH has just started reading and now understands why I do, how hard it is to put it down at lights out. He has just started keeping a log and a brief review.