I started reading more when retired in 2020, during Covid isolation. In 2021 I decided to start a “Books” doc in Google Drive. That way I can capture titles/authors in case friends ask for recommendations. Tis easy to ref from home or the cellphone. Also allows me to track how many books, but of course some books are smaller than others.
2 Likes
Goodreads is great for that!
5 Likes
Yes! Right next to Cutting for Stone.
1 Like
I have been using goodreads to keep track for over 10 years now. Great so I don’t accidentally reread something by mistake.
4 Likes
I’ve thought about it, but it looks like a lot of work with all the reviewing and such. I’m probably more likely to keep up a simple doc like @Colorado_mom does.
You don’t have to review. I just keep my lists there - reading, want to read, read -sometimes read reviews and enter the book give sways opportunities!
I often give 
‘s but I personally don’t write reviews.
7 Likes
You don’t have to do anything but make lists (no need to rate or even indicate when you read it.) Easier than a document as you don’t have to type in the full name and title (it has a great search function to find books).
4 Likes
My top 5:
Lessons in Chemistry
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow and Tomorrow
Once and Future Witches
Olga Dies Dreaming
All the Light We Cannot See (I was late to the party on this one).
7 Likes
Just went through my Amazon list for the year. I did read several books via ePub and hard cover but have no records.
Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow
Lessons in Chemistry
Daisy Jones and the Six
Young Jane Young
The entire Jack Reacher series
Also a couple of hundred romance novels, or so it seems.
6 Likes
@TonyGrace another great book! In case you are interested, Abraham Verghese has a new book coming out in May called The Covenant of Water.
I’m another Goodreads user. As an avid reader, it’s been a great way for me to track books I’ve read and want to read. I’ve been using it for about 10 years.
6 Likes
I check out a lot of books from my library and I ask the system to keep a record of those there. I do buy a few books too but I would say 2/3rds of my reads are from the library. I read about 23 from the library and probably about 10 more I bought or borrowed. So I probably read about 30 this year. That seems about right.
I liked “Demon Copperhead” a lot. I’m a big Kingsolver fan.
I also liked “The Starless Sea” and “The Night Circus” by Erin Morgenstern.
Enjoyed the latest from Kate Atkinson and Ian Rankin too.
I also really liked the latest from Louise Erdrich, “the Sentence”.
Also thought “Crying in H Mart” was very good.
3 Likes
I did not know and definitely interested! I’ll have to keep my eyes out for it.
Give it a try. I don’t friend/follow anyone and like most mentioned I use it for personal record. I keep a list of “Want to Read” to which I add whenever I hear of a good book, then switch it (it’s just a click of a button) to “Read” and give it a rating (also just a click) once I’m done. When the kids were young I would keep a separate “Bookshelf” for books I thought they might like.
I “read” this about the time it came out. I hope you did the audio version too! If not, have a do over!
If anyone hasn’t read it yet, go for the audio! It is done with a full cast of great actors and you swear you are listening to a documentary. The hardest part is stopping yourself from googling this band and these people you don’t remember (because they are, in fact, fictional).
2 Likes
Me too. I read it a few years ago and still think about it.
3 Likes
I am a Goodreads user as well. Such a great way to track the books you have read and want to read!
Like many of you, I loved Lessons in Chemistry, I’m Glad My Mom Died, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow and Tomorrow.
Other 5 star books for me this year were:
We All Want Impossible Things (Catherine Newman)
Migrations (Charlotte McConaghy)
Remarkably Great Creatures (Shelby Van Pelt)- Great on Audible
I read a lot of memoirs, and I usually listen to these via audible. Some of my favorites this year were:
Taste (Stanley Tucci)
The Wreckage of My Presence (Casey Wilson)
Mean Baby (Selma Blair)
Hello Molly (Molly Shannon)
4 Likes
Okay Goodreads people–I opened my old log in, which lists like six books from the past. But also a lot of “friends” – including people I know who would take it seriously and want to converse etc. My question is, is there a way to keep it silent–don’t want to get into commenting and such. Just a list. I have enough social media elsewhere. Do you know if there’s a way to avoid that? Thanks!
I’m another Goodreads user. I’ve read 96 books so far this year and should finish another (maybe) today … so 97.
I do write a review of sorts. I jot down what I like and don’t about a book and anything else I feel the need to note. It helps me remember and comes in handy more often than expected. My IRL bookclub is discussing Killers of the Flower Moon in a couple weeks. I read it 2.5 years ago and don’t plan to reread it. However, I gave it 4 stars at the time. My notes indicate that it started slowly for me and that I truly wished there had been a character list to help me remember the who’s who. Those notes plus a few more pulled up some memory of the book and I can, at least, add something to a discussion.
I have just a few “friends” - my daughters and a small small handful of my reading friends. I get book recommendations in that way … similar to this thread, only I actually know the people.
4 Likes
See that’s my issue–I dont’ want people to start recommending books to me. I don’t mind seeing what they read, but I don’t want to start a bunch of conversations, which then may become “No seriously, you have to read this! You’ll love it!” from people I may know, but don’t want to all the time engage with.
I know that sounds curmudgeonly!
1 Like
Like if I could start over on a blank slate, fine, but not sure I can.
1 Like
Favorite books:
The Great Believers (I’d wanted to read it for several years and, yay, I finally did.)
Ann Patchett’s These Precious Days (Essays) and her The Dutch House
The Hacienda (horror) - a little bit Rebecca and some Haunting of Hill House
When I Walk Through That Door, I Am: An Immigrant Mother’s Quest - narrative epic poem
Razorblade Tears - Trigger warning: violent. I read anything S.A. Cosby writes (solemn vow).
and last but definitely not least
Megan Whalen Turner’s The Queen’s Thief series. First in the series serves as young adult. Continue to the second book and get hooked on the series.
5 Likes
You can start over on a blank slate at Goodreads if you want. You just have to use a new login method. I have two Goodreads accounts, but prefer my library’s system because it automatically records my Borrowing History (I asked it to). I can leave reviews there if I want and can keep my list completely private if I want. Also has the “want to read shelves” feature, etc.
Goodreads will email you what your friends are reading so I would assume it emails my friends what I am reading, too. It emails me new books and solicitations to vote on the year’s best books too even for my private account that doesn’t have any friends. I don’t really use it much any more unless I feel compelled to leave a review I want the world to read. I like being able to do that or to read other people’s reviews after a particularly good (or bad) book.