Systems for Tracking Read Books?

[Olivia]

Does anyone have a system they use to track the books they've read?

My grandmother uses an address book to write down what books she's read and make notes on what she thought of it. I've seen how handy this can be for her. She reads so much that she can tend to buy books more than once. It'd also be useful because if a friend asks what you thought about a book but you forgot, you can go see what you wrote down about it.

I've wanted to do something like she does, but am not sure how to go about it... Does anyone else have a system like this in place? If you do, what sort of information have you learned is useful to write down? How exactly do you do it - on the computer with a spreadsheet, with some printouts you made and stuck in a binder, or just in a notebook, what? How do you organize it (alphabetically, by author, by title, by genre...). There is so much to consider - Aaah!!

Even if you haven't done this, what do you think are some good ideas?

[Anna]

I just use a plain journal and organize by which ever month I finish a book. For each month I had a page that just lists all the books with authors then each book has its own page with a brief synopsis and one-line review. At the end of each year I also type a word document listing all the books for that year, I keep thinking I will make a spreadsheet that includes different categories for books but I haven't gotten there yet. I spent a year going back and forth between different structures but this works best for me.

[Kailey]

I keep a notebook in my bag for notes to myself and random things that I do not want to forget. I write down all the books that I read in this book. When it is full and time to get a new one, I go through it. I started putting all the book info into my computer. I just have a formatted word document. That way the computer can keep it alphabetized for me.

[Jamie (The Perpetual Page-Turner), The Founding Bookworm]

Aside from Goodreads, I made a spreadsheet for all my books that I've read in each year and I'll indicate if they were a group read or something like that!

[Adriana]

When I was in high school there was this system in the computer that tracked all the books that you had read since middle school, but unfortunately, after I graduated i haven't been keeping track of any except for here on goodreads. Thanks for the reminder Olivia, i am going to start one ASAP.

[Jen]

I just use Goodreads to track my books. I started a spreadsheet but I haven't updated it in at least six months. I like organizing my 'read' books by date read.

[Ashley]

I just use Goodreads to track my reading. I could do a spreadsheet but that is very tedious work.

[Lianne]

I use GoodReads and have been keeping a list on my blog of the books I've read every year. I wish I had kept track of the books I've read when I was in high school though, I know I read a lot of stuff that I just don't remember now.

[Julia]

I've tried lists in the past of books that I've read, but nothing works better than Goodreads. I have the shelved according to year and thats really good enough for me. After I finish a book I try to mark it as read here pretty soon after the fact, so sometimes I have an exact date.

I am actually remarkably organized (for me) on goodreads with my books. One of the few things in my life thats for sure!

[Amy]

I use Goodreads for most of the information including shelves, whether or not it was a group read, when I started and when I finished.

I also have an Excel spreadsheet with the title, author, if I read it as an ebook, genre, the date I finished, and how many pages.

I love Goodreads, but the Excel spreadsheet is my main way of tracking what I've read.

[Olivia]

Thanks so much everyone for your responses. It sounds like Goodreads is a lot of people's favorite way to track their reading. Being a member here, I've obviously attempted to track my book on here. But I find it tedious.. I don't update my "bookshelf" here often. I've actually kinda given up on it. :/ Maybe I'll try again...

I made a spreadsheet yesterday. Like someone mentioned, making it WAS tedious! But I'm really glad I did because now that it's all made up and started (I already logged most of the books I own/can remember reading on it), I just have to update it once in a while. Which, to me, is much more simple.

To those of you interested in keeping a spreadsheet: I'll email you the one I made if you want to use it. Just send me an email (strangeaslife (at) gmail (dot) com. :)

[Lori]

I really like the idea of tracking my books in an address book. Everything would be ordered alphabetically (either by author or title) and you could get the vital info. I may have to start doing this in addition to keeping track on Goodreads.

[Jacqueline]

Tracking books is an interesting idea. I normally just remember the books I have read. I guess the closest to a system I have is the ones I have read go on a certain bookshelf and the ones I haven't go on another.

[Anna]

I started keeping track when I found that I could no longer remember books I'd read and several times bought a book I had already read.
Goodreads has been great for keeping track but I have found that writing a synopsis helps be digest a book.

[Sonja]

I keep bookshelves here on GoodReads for books that I have read in a particular year as well as genre as well as a shelf for books I despise. This has been the best way for me to keep track of my books and see my own reading patterns.

[Heather]

I also use an excel spreadsheet to track the books I'm reading, the dates I was reading through and how I liked it (or didn't). Each year I create a new sheet and I also have one long one from when I started keeping track back in 2006.

[SarahSaysRead]

I have one of the "book journals". It's a small hardcovered notebook with 3 sections... "Favorite", "Borrowed or Lent", and "Favorite Quotes" I think. Under the favorites section, I just start a list each year to keep track of how many books I read. I just write the title and author, and I add to it every time I finish a book.

I also keep lists on goodreads, and I have a Word file on the computer right now that I update because I'm going about 5 different challenges and it's easier to keep track of that way.

[Sarah]

I do 3 things to keep track...

I list them on goodreads.
I have a word document that lists every book I own (it's about 13 pages) alphabetized by author. When I finish reading a book, I put it in italics.
I have another word document that just lists all the books I have read since summer 2008, organized according to when I finished them. It is also divided into sections according to season... so, fall 2010 will start on the first day of classes, and end when I turn in my last exam... and then winter 2010/11 will start on the first day of winter break and end on the last day of break, etc.