In an effort to expand the scope of this blog, I'll be discussing more general reading topics from time to time. I'm also in the midst of making some changes to the look. So far, I've rearranged the sidebar items.
When I was in high school, a friend gave me a blank notebook with a picture of a gnome on it. It was called a Gnome Gnotebook and was one of the first blank books, I guess. I'd been keeping track of my reading since 6th grade (1965) because our teacher had us maintain one for school, and I realized I could write the books in the new Gnome Gnotebook, instead of on the looseleaf paper I'd been using, and thus my reading journal was born.
Each year, I start a new page and I alternate colors from year to year, using either green or purple. Notes in the margin re: genre are in blue or red. I've been using Flair pens for this for as long as I've been using the Gnotebook. This is a purple year.
I make note of title and author and note science fiction, mysteries, and non-fiction. I total each year's reading in red on the top right of each year's first page. Rarely have I used more than one page. I don't feel as if I've finished a book until I've noted it in the journal (or should that be gnoted?). I've been doing this for approximately 30 years now and it's become a real ritual. That Gnotebook is one gift I really have used and I can't remember the name of the friend who gave it to me or the occasion. But the Gnotebook lives on.
Do you keep a reading journal? In print? Online? Both? As a reader and a librarian, I'm curious about such things. Please share your journal experiences in the Comments. Thanks.
One year I read over 100 books. I think I did nothing else and was starving off depression but keeping my mind busy. I had a list on a computer once...guess what? Computer crashed! Haha
ReplyDeleteThe last time I read that many books was in 6th grade--110 books! Mostly mysteries (Agatha Christie, Nancy Drew, The Dana Girls.... ) :)
ReplyDeleteThis just reminded me of a book database that I set up on my old laptop. I made a list of books that I wanted to read. I set it up as a database so I could search it based on title or author's name. Once I finished reading the book, I made notes regarding my thoughts on it. Hmm...this makes me think I should transfer it to this computer and start it up again.
ReplyDeleteYou are just too organized. I guess that fits for a librarian and the Dewey Decimal System. But, they don't use that any more. Do they? :-)
I keep a list of books I want to read in author order by genre -- it's 7 pages long typed now. :)
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, the Dewey Decimal System is still in use, by my library system, among others. And yes, I'm a very organized person. I inherited that from my father.
I've kept a book list since 1993 in a funky "Book-Woman" journal. I list just title and author so I could probably continue using the journal for the rest of my life. A year or so back I got a little paranoid that something could happen to the notebook and put the lists on the computer as well, then I got worried that something could happen to the computer, and put the list out on the internet. . .
ReplyDeleteNow that sounds like the way I think. :)
ReplyDeleteI, too, love blogging about books, the literary world, and publishing. You may wish to visit "Musings from Redwing Marsh"
ReplyDeletehttp://redwingmarsh.blogspot.com
I believe I started keeping one during my undergrad years. Definitely by the time I did my MLIS, because I wanted to be able to remember books for reader's advisory. Now I keep one in my blog, since it has a nifty review feature, and make a list at the end of the year. I think I'd definitely recommend it to my kids, though, (when I have them) especially if they're as book-oriented as my husband and I. Maybe I should start keeping a written one again, though. There's something very satisfying about writing them down, but I can type faster than I write, so maybe it's better that way. :)
ReplyDeletehttp://tinylittlelibrarian.blog-city.com
Firstly, what a great blog you have. I discovered it thanks to Bookgirl's nightstand.
ReplyDeleteSecondly, I've kept a book journal pretty much my whole adult life. The "journal" just started as a list on a piece of paper, later it grew into a notebook with 100-word reviews for each book I'd read, now I write proper reviews and publish them online. My reading blog is http://kimbofo.typepad.com/readingmatters
Feel free to drop on by.
Cheers
Kimbofo
Hi, Kimbofo,
ReplyDeleteYou have a nice blog and I tried to leave a comment, but TypePad said they were down for maintenance.
Thanks for visiting.