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Theresa
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Jan 04, 2011 12:58PM
I have been steadily going through my handwritten log of books I've read so that I can add them here. I've been kind of disheartened about how many books I have totally forgotten about. Titles and authors do nothing to jog my memory. It's as if I never read the books, yet I know I have because I don't log anything that I haven't finished. I guess I just feel bad because I know how much work goes into writing a book. And then to have it forgotten.... Must be early winter blues.
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I know what you mean. When I was looking through my lists for my Top 10 of the decade I was disconcerted at how many I had given a good or very good rating to that I really couldn't remember what they were about. If a book were mediocre it wouldn't seem so bad, but these were ones I really liked. It may have something to do with reading a lot...quantity rather than quality of reading (not the quality of the books, but of my reading).
When I write down the books that I read I put a brief (2 or 3 sentences) about what the book was about, just for this reason! I read so many books that sometimes they run together. This helps jog my memory, sometimes :)
I completely agree. When I'm going over my lists, if I've given a book a high rating but can't remember a single thing about it, I generally disqualify it for a Top 10 list. Amazing (and disheartening)how many fit that category.
Theresa wrote: "I have been steadily going through my handwritten log of books I've read so that I can add them here. I've been kind of disheartened about how many books I have totally forgotten about. Titles an..."Funny you mention this, was just reading Nick Hornby's The Polysyllabic Spree and he talks about this very thing among other silly things "book" people Inexplicably do. lol
OK, I wasn't going to admit this, but now seems like a good time. Last night I bought a book that I've already read, but didn't know it until I looked it up here on Goodreads. *hanging my head in shame* I'm really looking forward to reading it...again, lol.
Stacey wrote: "OK, I wasn't going to admit this, but now seems like a good time. Last night I bought a book that I've already read, but didn't know it until I looked it up here on Goodreads. *hanging my head in s..."THAT is funny! ;)
Stacey, my husband did that. Bought a 'big' book for a long vacation and realized he had already read it. But not before any bookstore was far, far away. Had to read some of mine - that's how he read The Hunger Game series and liked them very much.goodreads
The book is Little Bee by Chris Cleave. I gave it 3 stars, but since I don't remember reading it maybe it will get a higher rating.
Stacey wrote: "The book is Little Bee by Chris Cleave. I gave it 3 stars, but since I don't remember reading it maybe it will get a higher rating."I have a few packed away in boxes that I found when I moved this past summer and know I've read them, but can't remember what they were about. I don't know if I liked them or if I just kept them because they're by Canadian authors and I felt obligated to keep them. I'm thinking of re-reading them to see if they jog my memory.
I'm guilty of buying a copy of a book that I own and haven't read. I've downloaded Bookcrawler to my iPhone and I think that's supposed to be a solution to that, but now I have to enter all of my books!
Laurel wrote: "I'm guilty of buying a copy of a book that I own and haven't read. I've downloaded Bookcrawler to my iPhone and I think that's supposed to be a solution to that, but now I have to enter all of my ..."Entering all of your books...time consuming! When I started GR, I only posted the books I started from that time on. It was overwhelming to go back!
Yeah, that's what I did too. Although as I've been adding friends from here, I've been doing the book comparisons & giving my rating of their books that I have also read. So that's adding to my books.
Liz wrote: "Yeah, that's what I did too. Although as I've been adding friends from here, I've been doing the book comparisons & giving my rating of their books that I have also read. So that's adding to my bo..."That's a good idea.
Theresa I'm so glad that you've raised this problem - I thought it was just me and middle-age!Last night was my RLBC and the member who keeps tabs and scores on what we've read over the past 10 years brought out her sheaf of papers to show a new member what we've read - she read out a number of titles and authors and I truly could not remember some of them, although I'd given them high marks.
Glad I'm not alone in this, LOL
Sue J wrote: "Theresa I'm so glad that you've raised this problem - I thought it was just me and middle-age!Last night was my RLBC and the member who keeps tabs and scores on what we've read over the past 10 y..."
I know. Then I feel even worse when I look up the description of the book and STILL can't remember. But I will embrace the explanation that it has more to do with all of the books I read than with age.
I'm so glad to know that I'm not the only one! Some books, no matter how enjoyable, are just forgettable! I hate that and used to write a little synopsis of the books I read, but that just got to be too time consuming.Stacey: Don't feel bad...not only have I bought a book I had already read, I have been half-way through a book and had my husband say, "You've read that before. Don't you remember this happens and that happens..." Man, if he wasn't right! Never would have known! Oh well, at least I get to enjoy lots of books more than once!
There's nothing like enjoying a book twice for the first time.
