How do you track reading status?

[Far_Pen_6884]

Hi everyone,

I’ve been considering different ways to keep track of my reading status in my calibre library and would love to hear what others prefer.

I’ve seen a few common approaches:

• A simple Yes/No column (Have I read it or not?)
• A #last_read_date column for tracking when the book was last finished
• A tag-like system where you aggregate multiple read dates, especially useful if you reread books often
• A column with fixed values like "To Be Read (TBR)," "Currently Reading (CR)," "Want To Read (WTR)," "Read," and "Did Not Finish (DNF)"

Personally, I’m thinking I might use a Yes/No column just to quickly mark whether I’ve read a book. Then, I’d complement that with an automated action chain that populates a #last_read_date column as well as a #read_dates tag-like aggregate of dates.

But I’m curious about what others use for their reading status. Do you prefer simple columns, tag/date aggregates, or fixed status labels? And have you found any particular method that works well for managing multiple rereads or tracking progress over time?

There is a similar thread here.

[theducks]

I use a #finished Date column.
In addition:
a 2000 date means abandoned
a 1999 date means I epubsplit (the PI) this into individual books (as needed to fill gaps in my collection. )

2014 dates are mostly when I built my Library documenting my paper library (and did not know WHEN I really finished. many went back to the 70's)

Blank is my out'ta control TBR pile

[Sirtel]

I use a tag and column coloring for marking if the book has been read or not. I don't track dates, either first read or reread ones. I use a different custom column for any other kind of status (to be read soon, to be read later or nothing at all, meaning I'll probably never read those books, given the number of them and the average lifespan of Homo Sapiens).

I don't bother with Currently Reading - this changes every few days and I just mark the book as read when finished. I do back up my reading progress on my Kobo devices whenever I happen to connect them to calibre, which is a few times per month. So that's not really up to date either.

In short, I don't want to make things too complicated or micromanage every tiny detail of my reading life. Reading is a pleasure and relaxation for me, not a competition or something to track to the smallest details. I don't even record the year I read something, it doesn't matter to me. YMMV.

[dunhill]

I use the Goodreads Sync plugin which updates my calibre with the start and end dates of readings.

[BetterRed]

This maybe of interest ==>> Introducing PageBlaze

I don't think it integrates with calibre, even though the developer has written a couple of calibre plugins.

BR

[DNSB]

While I do store the reading stats from my Kobo ereaders more for generating books read and total time spent reading once a month or so. I don't keep track of re-reads. I prefer spending more time reading and less time worrying about my reading statistics—reading is much more enjoyable to me.

[Terisa de morgan]

I have a colum (shows as a tick) that marks a book as read, a colum with the read date (caught from Kobo with Kobo Utilities) and a column with the number of reads and the read dates (increase authomatically with an action chain when a I do a reread).

[thiago.eec]

Originally Posted by Far_Pen_6884

Hi everyone,

I’ve been considering different ways to keep track of my reading status in my calibre library and would love to hear what others prefer.

Check out the Reading Goal plugin. It helps you to keep track of your reading over the years and statistics (with some graphs).

[JSWolf]

I have a Kobo Libra 2 and I use Kobo Utilities to keep track of my reading status. It works very well. Unfortunately you cannot do this with a Kindle.

I also have a column that shows if I've read the book and it shows an icon to show I have read the book.

[MarjaE]

I use a #status column with tags.

These can be extra or wait, or a device that I'm exporting it to, or read, or checked, or some combination.

Yes/No really doesn't cover the nuances of reference books, game rules, etc.

I ended up creating another set of yes/no columns for #keep, #needed, #credibility, and #relevance.

[hobnail]

I have a collection on my kobo named finished. After I finish a book I add it to that collection. Whenever I'm loading new books into my kobo I use the KoboUtilities plugin and select Get collections from device; that adds them to the genre finished. I then select the virtual library named "on device, finished" which has the search expression

(#finished:="yes" or #genre:="finished") and ondevice:="true"

I then do a select all and open the metadata editor and in its Custom metadata tab there's a pull down for the Finished custom column, defined as a yes/no, and I select the green yes check mark. The last is to do a Remove matching books from device.

The finished column shows either a big red X with the word No, or a green check with the word Yes. I have several other virtual libraries that filter the books using the finished column as well as other columns I've added. I don't remember how but whenever I add books to calibre the finished column is set to No.

I no longer use the genre column except for this finished song and dance; I finally figured out that using the tags column is better.