To get back to books we’re reading I just started the new Kate Atkinson. It’s set in England after WWII and our protagonist is basically suffering PTSD from his time in the war. That’s just the set up so no spoilers. I like it so far but it is not grabbing me like some of her previous novels have. I’m only on the second or third chapter though so I may get grabbed yet.
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Ohh a new Kate Atkinson! Thanks for the heads up. I generally enjoy her books, both the Jackson Brodie series and the standalones. My favorite however might be the short story collection Not the End of the World, though as I recall it received quite mixed reviews.
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To have a quick reference when wanting to recommend a book title to a friend. (I can access Google Drive from computer or cellphone). Surprisingly even a week or two later I can have a hard time recalling the exact title, even if my memory of the book itself is still vivid.
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To check “have I already read it?” when a friend recommends a title to me.
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To help track my retiree goal to read 50-ish books a year, including audio. Actually this year I started marking non-fiction titles (just a “.” prefix), since my new goal is to include more of that.
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I have been tracking my books read since Jan 1, 2011. I started with a notebook, but now use an Excel spreadsheet. I not only see what I have read but I can sort by author to see if I have liked a person’s previous work ( I rate the books and mark DNF ).
I read over 100 books a year and I would never be able to remember all of them. Frequently I am asked by others for book recommendations and I’m happy to provide.
I keep a separate tab for my “ want to read” list.
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I don’t. I read e-books exclusively from my library which tracks my loans, so I could look at that if I wanted to but rarely see a need.
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I honestly forget information about books I’ve read, especially titles and authors. Like I might think " that one about…" but can’t remember title. Not all the time, but often. I started keeping track to make remembering easier. Especially lately, because a lot of even really good literary type books seem to have very vague generic titles!
It’s not a competition thing, it’s a way to recall enjoyable experiences and be able to share recs with family or friends. I could just write them down but the app is simpler.
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I don’t track. Most of my books in recent years have been on Libby from the library. It tells me when I go to check out something I’ve already read.
I just finished reading it - Our Noble Selves - yesterday. Not sure if I’ve read anything else by her, but the topic of the post WWII English festival interested me. It took me a while to get into it but by the time Libby was telling me I only had one day left I wanted to find out what had happened so turned off my WiFi so it wouldn’t be returned before I was done. Not one of the best books I’ve read but I enjoyed it. And apparently she used a lot of true stories about the festival.
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My favorite book by her is “Life After Life”. It’s really good.
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Just finished Swordheart! Really enjoyed it, although there is now a 21-week wait for the second book in the series, lol. I might try some of her others before then.
I tried to use Goodreads forever but just couldn’t remember to use it. And I had in my head that I had to enter all the historical data for books I’d read (which is a lot) – so I gave up.
Just as of Jan 1 this year, I decided I would track my books in Storygraph. I don’t review or do anything else, just enter the name of the book and date finished. I like seeing the data – so I know I’ve read (mostly listened to, actually) 45 books so far this year, and it breaks it down by genre and author, etc.
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Glad you enjoyed it! I went and read a few of the Palladin books - then after reading Daggerbound realized I really should have read the two Clockwork Boys books so I am now doing that.
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Life after Life is a great book. It’s one I recommend. I read Behind the Scenes at the Museum when it first came out years ago and really liked it - but not sure how it holds up.
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The best app, website, form or method is the one that works for you. 
And it’s absolutely not a competition of any sorts! I do like seeing what I’ve read over a years time but I’m the least competitive person out there.
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Agree - any plan (or no plan at all) for tracking books works. Tis all in the eye of the beholder.
For me there is a bit of a competition with self (not at all withothers). Well, I guess it is more of goal I set in retirement to read 50 books per year. A goal, not a hard fast rule - if there are some tough, meaty books… I don’t worry that it hurts my pace. But I do like to know if I got to 50 or not.
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I also just put in the date when I finish a book on Storygraph, not when I start or any other info. Just to give me an idea of what I’ve been reading.
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I remembered another tidbit to my quirky book list method. Favorite titles are bolded… very favorites blue-bold.
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LibraryThing is another site/app for cataloguing books. I have heard good things about it, but I just don’t care to track my reads so can’t give a firsthand recommendation. Might be worth checking out if you are looking for an alternative.
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I discovered tonight that goodreads is actually letting you rate books by quarter stars - so many options now instead of just the 1-5 stars
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I just finished one of the most gutting reads, Things in Nature Merely Grow (Yiyun Li, Pulitzer Prize winner). Yi writes from the abyss of losing both her sons to suicide, one at 16 and the other six years later at 19. Her perspective is raw and unflinching with no belief in resolution or reliance on inadequate words like grief or mourning. This isn’t a book to recommend exactly, but it is an exquisite expression of her devastating reality.
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