Do you keep a book journal or log?

[grogu]

I'm realizing that I don't remember things like I used to and am considering keeping a reading journal. Not really sure how to go about it or how to integrate it with an e-ink device. These days when people ask me what I thought about a book, I go ummm, it was ... good? I used to be able to recall specific things and actually talk about it.

Do you have a reading journal or log of some sort? What sort of things do you keep in it? Do you do digital or paper or both? Do you find it fun or a bit of a chore?

[Lynx-lynx]

I've found that it's easy enough to make notes on the calibre entry for the ebook. I have a calibre header for read (tick) and year, and any comments i have I put under the book's description. Often I'll just say whether I enjoyed it, and some brief comments.

By doing it this way I keep it all in the one place.

Welcome to mobileread, I see this was your first post

[Katja_hbg]

I use Calibre to keep all data e.g. Percentage of book read, last reading date, my voting, my comments and quotes which I marked in a book.

For reference «outside» Calibre I also have some catalogues. I copy the csv into the first page of a prepared excel. Further pages are updated automatically:
- statistics like books/pages and read/unread per genre, numbers read per month
- list of unread books with filter option
- list of read books with date and voting only

I recommend, if not done yet, have a look into Calibre Catalogue feature as there are a lot of options.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by grogu

I'm realizing that I don't remember things like I used to and am considering keeping a reading journal. Not really sure how to go about it or how to integrate it with an e-ink device. These days when people ask me what I thought about a book, I go ummm, it was ... good? I used to be able to recall specific things and actually talk about it.

Do you have a reading journal or log of some sort? What sort of things do you keep in it? Do you do digital or paper or both? Do you find it fun or a bit of a chore?

Keeping it in calibre seems sensible. I track read/not read, rating and date finished in calibre.

But I also keep track in posts here at MobileRead (see links in my signature) as part of the Annual MobileRead Reading Challenge threads. And also in the "What are you reading" thread.

(I was tracking in the Challenge thread even before I started using calibre!!)

I suppose many people use the GoodReads website to track their reading.

[Sirtel]

I mark a finished book as "read" in calibre and rate it. I don't enter any comments or notes about it, as I usually remember quite well what I thought about it. Should my memory worsen, I 'll probably make a custom column for personal comments. The synopsis is in calibre already.

[drofgnal]

I use Goodreads for this. When I finish a book from amazon, it automatically asks me what I thought and I rate it, usually without comments and it shows up in Goodreads. Sometimes if I get a public domain book from elsewhere, like the library here, i have to go into Goodreads and manually enter the book. I've found though that lately Amazon public domains are pretty good, some with x-ray enabled. I also use Goodreads for reading recommendations as recommendation subform here leaves something to be desired.

[Quoth]

I used goodreads for a while, and then thought why should I give all this personal info to Amazon and the world for free?
Actually I decided mostly it's madness to tell other people about ALL the books you read.
Most books are not important enough to me to keep notes.

[Lynx-lynx]

^^^ yeah I regard the books and authors I read as my business, and no one else's.

An advantage to keeping one's book notes on calibre is that the internet is not required to be active for calibre usage. And of course, I back calibre up once a month ish, so my several thousand plus ebooks, and whatever notes I've made are mine for perpetuity (and not big brother's)

[gmw]

I'm a software developer specialising in database work, so no prizes for guessing that my solution is custom. I wrote a system to catalogue my collection of paper books, and now also cataloguing ebooks, and the catalogue allows for summaries and reviews etc. (I do use Calibre to store my ebook collection - much easier than writing my own interface to my Kobo and so on - but most management etc takes place in my own database.)

I've grown to really like having a database of my own reviews. Memory can be tricky. It's not even an age related thing, it's just slippery - something that those who keep a diary come to understand as they correct their friends and family. Anyway, the point is that writing a brief summary and review at the time I finish both helps to cement the book in my mind and also gives me a more reliable guide for future reference that I have found very helpful.

[spacepope]

I try to but give up. I do write short reviews on Goodreads from time to time, and I feel like that work well as a "book journal". It's cool to go back and see what my old self thought about something.

[Lynx-lynx]

Originally Posted by spacepope

I try to but give up. I do write short reviews on Goodreads from time to time, and I feel like that work well as a "book journal". It's cool to go back and see what my old self thought about something.

How do you remember what you read, and therefore wrote a review about, if you didn't keep a record somewhere?

[issybird]

I use GoodReads as well. I don’t link my Amazon and GR accounts, however; while I’m generally not fussed about data collection, it’s also the “why give Jeff even more access than necessary?” element. And it’s not as if GR uses the abundant data it already has on me to my benefit; a constant irritant is being pitched books that I wouldn’t read even if the only alternative was the back of a cereal box, especially since the recommendations are obviously gendered. But as a quick stop to log my books and rate them and review if I’m in the mood, and see what people whose tastes are akin to mine think, it’s an excellent resource.

[spacepope]

Originally Posted by Lynx-lynx

How do you remember what you read, and therefore wrote a review about, if you didn't keep a record somewhere?

I track what I read on goodreads. When I finish a book, I mark it as "read" on the site, and input a "read" date. You can input multiple "read" dates if you're doing a reread. That's the easiest way for me to track. I've had an account since 2010, apparently

I don't link my goodreads to any ereader I own, I just input what I read manually on the website. Works just fine.

[Dazrin]

I keep a spreadsheet that has most of the information I care about recorded. Goodreads didn't have enough of some information for me. Or rather it didn't have a good way for me to extract the information I wanted.

[Sirtel]

For me reading is absolutely not a social activity and I very seldom visit Goodreads (mainly for correct series info when I can't get that elsewhere), or any other book groups and forums. I have no account there. I don't want to discuss books I read with other people, I don't want to read reviews and opinions, and I don't want to see recommendations. And I don't want to have the books I read - much less my opinion of them - visible to all and sundry (perhaps you can keep your books private on GR, I have no idea). It's not that I read hardcore erotica or the like; I read mostly run-of-the-mill genre fiction, nothing to hide there. It's just a preference.

So I do all my book management in Calibre, which I prefer anyway, as it's perfect for my solitary nerdy nature and my love of tinkering.

(And before someone points out that I hang out on MR, which is a site dedicated to reading - yes, I love discussing ereaders and ebooks about the hardware and software aspects. What I'm not interested in is discussing the content of the books).