Do you ever have that realisation that you can’t remember what books you’ve read? I did and it started bothering me. So I decided to do something about it.
It seems to me that, given the amount of time I spend reading books, it really would be nice if I could recall what books I’ve read, at least relatively recently. In fact, in an ideal world I would like some way of recalling all the books I’ve read. But I often can’t remember even the more recent ones. Not by a long chalk.
I suppose it wouldn’t seem so bad if you were to find that you can’t any longer recall what books you read ten or fifteen years ago. Maybe just five years ago would be OK too. But when this happens with books you read only six months ago perhaps that’s going to be a little irksome, or even downright annoying.
Now, I know I’m no longer someone who can consider themselves to be living in their most youthful years, but I’m not old that I ought to be worrying about go senile. However, it turns out that I can’t even remember the books I’ve read over, say, the last twelve months. Sometimes not even those I really enjoyed.
No doubt there are some clever people out there who can tell me why this sort of thing happens, but, all the same, it got to the point where I decided I needed to do something about this. I needed a solution to my travails.
So, I surveyed the marketplace looking for clever technical solutions. Well, actually, no I didn’t. What I did do was pick up an unused notebook and a pencil, wrote on the first page ‘Books I Have Read’ and the year. Thereafter, every time I finish a book, I make a few notes about it, summarising the content and my thoughts on it. Add the month and year I completed the book and, just like that, I have a handy reference I can flick through whenever I like to remind me what books I’ve read and what I thought of them.
Such a simple solution but so effective. What’s more, I love flicking through it from time to time and experiencing many of those ‘ah ha’ moments where I am reminded that I read a particular book. Some of my comments are also quite amusing, which is an added bonus. I’ve been doing this for two years now and only wish I’d started sooner.
So, how about you, are you suffering with the same forgetfulness affliction? Then why not pop out to shops and pick out a beautiful notebook in which to start making a record of the books you read. I bet in a couple of years time you’ll be so glad you did.
I used to write down titles and authors of books that I have read but then I found Goodreads and for years have been recording my books there. It makes it easy to look them up and see titles and authors
I've got a Goodreads account, though I have to admit I don't use it a great deal. Something of that sort would make a good choice, but I do love having that physical notebook in my hand and being able to flick through it.
I use the app goodreads. There I can connect with other readers (with similar interests) and see their reading list, and I can get book recommendations.
I did briefly consider recording my reads online and I do have a Goodreads account, but what steered me away from that option is there's always the possibility of the site being closed and I do like holding my notebook in my hand and being able to flick through it. It's just like picking up an old book and being able to feel and smell it.