I would recommend creating a column of type "Comma separated text that show in the tag browser". Then you can put dates in it; multiple even, separating them by comma's. So, if you read a book in 2014, and then re-read it in 2016, you can put "2014,2016" in the column. The tag browser will show 1 item for each date.
Adding a "If read column is set" rule, in the "Look and Feel->Column coloring" dialog, you can have an entire row change color if the Read column has at least one value. In my case, each read book is marked in red. (Hah! Pun!
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