Do you list every book you've read in Goodreads or other sites?

[Sirtel]

As I never read books I don't own (I don't read library or subscription books), calibre does just fine for me to find my next read. I don't listen to audiobooks and very, very seldom read paper books.

[sansoleil]

No. I've only just started using StoryGraph, and as I'm primarily using it for the tailored recommendations, I'm only tracking what I read going forward to reflect my current taste.

If I add data for every book I've ever read, it's going to skew the data--Twilight, for instance, was a 5-star book when I read it at 16. I doubt it'd hold up now. Over time my tastes willl continue to change... but SG won't be trying to cope with years of front-loaded data when it does.

[Sirtel]

Hmm. I've often read posts about tastes changing. This is not something I've experienced myself; I still like mostly the same genres and types of books I've always liked, even as a teenager (there are a few exceptions - I no longer read children's books, and I had a period in my late teens/early twenties when I devoured classics, something I later permanently lost interest in). Maybe this is because I started to read very early (I don't remember learning to read at all) and by the time I was 10 I had already read many adult books.

Or maybe I just never grew up.

[icallaci]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

Hmm. I've often read posts about tastes changing. This is not something I've experienced myself; I still like mostly the same genres and types of books I've always liked, even as a teenager (there are a few exceptions - I no longer read children's books, and I had a period in my late teens/early twenties when I devoured classics, something I later permanently lost interest in).

The only time I experienced a change in my reading preferences was after I sat on a jury in a murder trial. Before that, I loved murder mysteries of all types. After I saw the photos, heard witness testimony, and watched the family of the deceased, I lost my interest in this genre of books. It is no longer entertainment for me.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by icallaci

The only time I experienced a change in my reading preferences was after I sat on a jury in a murder trial. Before that, I loved murder mysteries of all types. After I saw the photos, heard witness testimony, and watched the family of the deceased, I lost my interest in this genre of books. It is no longer entertainment for me.

Yeah, I get that. I lost interest in any fiction with animal characters after I volunteered at a shelter for a decade or so. I still have pets at home, but I no longer want to read any fiction about animals.

Not that fiction with animals was ever my favorite genre, but I didn't have any particular reluctance to read it either, before that.

[maddz]

My tastes have changed over the years, but not to the extent of dropping specific genres. What has changed is my author mix; re-reading books I read 30 years ago makes me cringe at points - why on earth did I read that rubbish?

[sansoleil]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

Hmm. I've often read posts about tastes changing. This is not something I've experienced myself; I still like mostly the same genres and types of books I've always liked, even as a teenager (there are a few exceptions - I no longer read children's books, and I had a period in my late teens/early twenties when I devoured classics, something I later permanently lost interest in). Maybe this is because I started to read very early (I don't remember learning to read at all) and by the time I was 10 I had already read many adult books.

Or maybe I just never grew up.

I don't think that has anything to do with it; I was likewise a bookworm from before my earliest memories (not accounting for an extended slump in adulthood). I do, however, think Edward Cullen being far sexier to a teenage girl than a woman with children might have something to do with it.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by sansoleil

I don't think that has anything to do with it; I was likewise a bookworm from before my earliest memories (not accounting for an extended slump in adulthood). I do, however, think Edward Cullen being far sexier to a teenage girl than a woman with children might have something to do with it.

I dunno. I was in my teens when I watched Knight Rider (the original series) via Finnish TV, for example, and I guess I found Hasselhoff sexy, but that was not the main reason I watched it; I watched it for KITT. And when I bought the DVD set in my forties and watched it again, I still loved it, exactly as I had in my teens, although I no longer found Hasselhoff particularly sexy. KITT was as cute as ever, though. Yeah, of course I'm aware Knight Rider is as far from quality TV as Earth from the Andromeda Galaxy, but that has never stopped me from enjoying something.

That is what I meant about my tastes not changing. I've never loved something purely because the main character was sexy; I must also love the story, the world, other characters and so on. Otherwise I'm bored, no matter how sexy the leading male is.

[maddz]

I think for me when I do a re-read of something I last read 30 years ago, it's a toss-up whether the suck-fairy has visited or not... What I thought fresh and exciting before I was 30 is now tired and stale because the trope has been done to death since then and you can see the plot holes.

It takes a good author to make sure there are no plot holes you can drive a train through sideways and to make your umpteenth read as fresh as your first. I still like the same genres, but not necessarily the same books.

[Sirtel]

For my part, I'm more bothered by poorly done characters than by plot holes. I can still enjoy stuff with large plot holes if it has interesting characters/relationships/worldbuilding, and done to death genre tropes don't bother me either if the book is well written otherwise. I mean I notice them, but I'm still able to enjoy the book.

[drofgnal]

I tried for a while even going back and trying to remember everything I read prior to the digital age. Amazon posts it automatically now. Although every now and then, I have airport mode on when I finish a book and I don't remember to go back and put it in or turn off airport mode and go through the last page again for amazon to pick it up. So most is there, but i don't lose sleep over it.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by maddz

I think for me when I do a re-read of something I last read 30 years ago, it's a toss-up whether the suck-fairy has visited or not... What I thought fresh and exciting before I was 30 is now tired and stale because the trope has been done to death since then and you can see the plot holes.

I've found that amusing at times when I realize the older book I am reading is, as far as I know, the original source for the trope.

I also find amusing the way that quite a few authors are bandwagon jumpers so you get one decent book and then a flood of imitators. See the number of magical academy books since Harry Potter as a horrible example.

As for plot holes? I tend not to let them bother me unless they are bad enough to drag me out of the story. I find deus ex machina to be much more annoying.

[kyteflyer]

Originally Posted by graycyn

Hard nope. I don't even do it in Calibre.

…

I hate stats, so I never look at them on my Kobo. I don't want my reading to become stat-based, or tracking-based or anything but what it is, i.e. I read what I want, when I want, as quickly or as slowly as I want.

Not a social reader really.

A thousand times this. I don’t read as if it were a competition, thats just mad. I read for enjoyment and if I feel like I have to reach a certain target, it removes that enjoyment. I did begin by listing everything, but I did that to get back into the reading habit I had established as a child.

I am even considering dumping my GR account, simply because I never use it.

[Freeshadow]

Originally Posted by Apache

This is my opinion also. I read for enjoyment and have no desire to keep track of what I read except what my brain can still track.
Apache

That.
Books are for reading.
Don't mind who has the longer... reading list.

[issybird]

I’m seeing people disparaging the social aspect of Goodreads and inferring competitiveness and I’m finding it a little nasty. It’s not as if people who do use reading social media (cough, cough) mock those who aren’t tracking their books.

As for the social aspect…. If you can identify people whose reading tastes are akin to yours, that’s a good thing. If they recommend a book you can expect to like it and if they pan a book, you know to give it a miss. That’s a win.

As for competitiveness, I’m not aware of people in a race with others; goals are just a tool to get more out of your reading. I personally at the end of the year like to think I’ve developed a mild competency in a particular subject or two; at a minimum, goals encourage me to engage a little more with challenging books. If this be competitiveness, make the most of it.

I’m feeling judginess here, to the extent that I think some might try to remove the motes from their own eyes. The Goodreads trackers are just getting on with their reading.