Yes. With Goodreads. I don't recommend it if you aren't already invested. I like having a list of books I've read that I can refer back to.

I use Goodreads. Enjoy looking back at my bookshelf featuring the covers of the books.

Nice one yeah, I've dabbled with Goodreads here and there in the past but I've never used it consistently.

I'm interested to hear why you wouldn't recommend the site to newcomers now?

Yeah, really satisfying being able to see those at a glance that way!

Sounds like you just need a Goodreads account and a kindle Highlights.

Yeah, does that integration work pretty well?

I've got a bit of a penchant for self-hosting and I'm curious to see if other people use open-source/proprietary tools.

I see your point about a simple solution though, nice to keep things clean and easy that way.

I like keeping track of what I've read and see the reading trends I have. There's also that little sense of accomplishment of checking off a book as 'read', same as checking something off a to-do list. Having a reading goal has helped me read more

I don't like Goodreads, it's always felt bad to use and it feels like it's intentionally designed that way.

Just got Storygraph and spent a while putting in my read books, very happy with it so far. I don't really have a reason to track my books read, just thought it would be a fun thing to look back on occasionally and hopefully find new suggestions.

It's incredibly buggy, slow to update, gives bad recommendations (even with my 4k ratings), and is essentially just a data mine for Amazon.

https://bookriot.com/2023-reading-log/

I like this because you can get super specific with what you're tracking and it's not a data mine.

I use Goodreads. I like being able to quickly access the app and add a book to my "Want to Read" shelf if I hear or see something about it. You can record what you've read, you can search by author, you can track which books you have read in a series, you can see what book is next in a series, etc. I also like reading their blogs to get ideas on new books to read.

I was given a spreadsheet that tracked a bunch of data about each book, manually submitting when I’ve finished is like a little treat at the end and it helps me track what I’m subconsciously not reading too.

For example, it made me realise I very rarely read African authors so I made an active decision to buy some fiction from prominent authors from that continent.

Like most that have posted, I've got a Goodreads. It's a good place to go back and see what I've read and what I want to read.

I also use StoryGraphs which to me is more data oriented. I can see how many books I've read in a month, how many pages I've read in a month, there's a graph with the number of pages I've read each day (I input my data daily).

Ultimately, I'm curious to see the data.

I did goodreads for a while but got sick of it and the social aspect of it. Found a cute print out that is a pretty stack of books and you just write in the name of the books you read on each spine. You can color it too. This has been a fun cute way for me to track 😌

I currently use Goodreads. The little reading goal tracker keeps me motivated to make reading a priority. I like that there is a social aspect to the app too. Like, you can write a review or your thoughts on the book, and sometimes other users will comment giving you the opportunity to engage in discussion. Although, I’m really just a lurker right now.

The Storygraph is a good alternative to Goodreads though. It lets you track things like pacing, mood, and genre, and puts that data into pie charts. It’s also not affiliated with Amazon, which is a sell for some folks.

I’ve tried building an excel spreadsheet to track more elements that Storygraph doesn’t. But, I always fail to maintain that.

And then finally, I usually write my thoughts about a book in my journal.

I used to use GoodReads to track my reading, my main focus in the past was to log and rate books I read for work. I was a coach and I liked to give book referrals to my clients this was a great way to keep track of the books I read and give exact titles and authors.

I've retired and now I get to read for fun. I recently switched to StoryGraph and love all the graphs created by my reading list. I read a lot more books than I used to and I don't want to get into a rut by reading too many of the same types of books. The graphs help as do all the challenges the site offers.

I recently created a challenge for myself to read fiction and nonfiction books by authors from 195 countries. I'm using a journal to keep track of these books since I expect it will take me several years to complete.

Wow okay cool, Storygraph looks really interesting! That's definitely an option I'll consider, thanks for sharing. Those additional features around sharing with friends looks really nicely implemented.

Have you found the suggestions to be pretty decent?

I must say I agree with you on Goodreads... One thing that really, really annoys me way more than it should is the seemingly endless drove of cringeworthy/low-effort "quotes" put on there by people themselves. It's always painful to try and find a memorable passage from an author/book and it's sandwiched between Tumblr-level musings.

Feels good to get that off my chest, phew.

Nope.

I read when I feel like it to enjoy it. I’m not here to monitor or challenge myself like I believe in a self help book.

I love to read and I learned to DNF after a few pages if I don’t enjoy the style or anything.

Life is short baby, life is hard enough to put myself through something painfully boring.

But ! Keeping track of what I’ve read sure, I like seeing what I’ve read and remember those books

Yeah I think that act of submitting some notes or a summary as you describe is a nice opportunity to sort of reflect on a book and mentally put it back on the shelf.

It's funny you mention that particular insight you had, it's great to challenge your reading habits that way. I am toying with the idea of also tracking things like an author's gender/home country to see what type of literature I'm consuming in that sense too.

I started tracking my reading this year, I ended up making myself a Google spreadsheet with a form that feeds into it because I struggled to find a tracker app that I liked that tracked the things I wanted to track

I intend to also start a physical diary for notes but I like seeing the raw data, for example I've noticed my wpm drops for books I don't enjoy as much as others

Ah I see, that's too bad!

I just had a quick Google and I saw there are nice Export options at least, so you could quickly generate a .csv file if you ever wanted to backup/migrate your data and use a different tool. It sounds like you've put a lot of effort into it!

Haaaate Goodreads. I love just the default apple app “reading list”, maybe it’s with android too.

I did it to keep track of how many books I read per year and it allows you to create whatever categories you like (I like to track how many women authors I read, classics, and non-fiction). You can also make a “to read” list by scanning the books barcode or just adding manually. It’s incredibly no-frills and I’ve been using it for years!

Wow yeah, I'm sure you'll get some awesome insights if you diligently keep on top of it like that. How do you find inputting the data, is that easy enough and not too taxing?

I use goodreads and just recently started using Bookly. It's super cool to see my reading stats.

Yeah I know exactly what you mean and it's something I want to be really conscious of... I think going overboard on tracking, one would run the risk of sucking a lot of joy away that comes from the fuzzy/organic nature of reading.

I really like your perspective for sure.

I think given the times we live in, a lot of people these days have a (quite unhealthy) impulse to quantify everything. I don't want to indulge that impulse too greedily or have it become a chore... one of my favourite bits from Ralph Waldo Emerson is a nice reminder to not get caught up on obsessively tracking/monitoring:

“I cannot remember the books I've read any more than the meals I have eaten; even so, they have made me.”

Thanks for sharing, I'm sure your clients must have really appreciated your efforts, it sounds like you went above and beyond.

I'm interested to hear you're enjoying StoryGraph too, like a few other users have mentioned. I think I'll check it out as a potential options and have a play around with it.

I like the sound of your challenge too, what a great idea! Enjoy your literary journey around the world.

So the thing with their export feature (which is required by the eu) is that it's buggy and they made it hard for others. When I tried to import it to two different places, less than 10% of my books followed. Adding by hand thousands of books is a huge time investment. At this point, when I do it I'll probably move them to Gemini or something similar rather than trust another website like Goodreads.

If it’s for your own reference and study, why not just create a simple table within whatever word processing program you use? You can modify it to suit your objectives.

I have a very pretty journal a friend gave me that I keep a running list in. Title, year, author. I really don't know why. I've just always kept a list. I have another journal I copy quotes and lyrics into if they're especially meaningful to me.

Yeah, I think what you've described can be really helpful for a lot of people... I like the idea of being able to put books into a queue sort of, because I'm forever finding things I'd like to read and then forgetting!

Nice, thanks for sharing! Got to love some spreadsheet magic, pretty neat they update that on a regular basis to incorporate new functionality.

Yeah, totally, for ages. And books owned, bought, discarded also. Started with an excel file, still on going.

Started just with books ordered, or books I wanted to order, and more and more it is useful to me to keep track of what I own and have read. I am bad at titles and author names, and it is helps me remember books I only remember vague things about.

I also keep track on goodreads and calibre (many many extra columns, and empty book records also).

I do not keep track of how much or stats or that sort of stuff, just list of what I read and when.

Nah. Amazon has added video game achievements to their Kindle app for iOS (and, presumably, Android, too) and it tracks a fair number of things... but it seems like such a banal thing to me.

I value more how many pages I can get through than how many hours I spend -- and perhaps more importantly, what stays with me after I'm done, as time erodes my memories of the fine details. God knows there are plenty of books out there I've invested far, far too many minutes of my life into that I'd forgotten entirely the subsequent week.

Thank you. I'm having so much fun now that I have more time to read and don't have to read for work.

Goodreads is a hot mess.

It’s clunky and hard to use.

Can you share the print out? Looking for some motivation for one

I've been keeping track since October 2003! I do it old school and use the same Moleskine notebook I've had since 2005. I first got the idea from a family friend when I was a kid. She told me she'd been keeping track since she was a little girl, and I just thought it was so cool to have a record like that. Every time I finish a book, I look back through my notebook and see what I was reading on the same day in previous years. It also helps me read more because I get that extra satisfaction of making a new record.

the highlights are stored on the device as a txt file, and are uploaded to goodreads if you have wifi on. I enjoy it. I backup the txt like once a year just in case I somehow destroy my kindle in the interrim.

no, for me that feels kinda...pointless. i just read books. i don't know what i'd do with that info. no bad vibes towards people who do, but i'd never bother.

I got storygraph this year because I've been really a whole lot of fanfic over the last few years and I want to focus on published works again. It's so much better to use than Goodreads imo - I tried Goodreads several times and I just never kept up with it. I've been using storygraph for ages because it's just for book tracking, not all the other things Goodreads does. It also gives you a breakdown of genre and stuff.

I have a set of journals and I write in the name of the book, author, and date I finished it. Been keeping that off and on since the 90s. There are stretches of years where I stopped writing the books down for one reason or another, and then it restarts again. So it’s not perfect. But it’s simple and works for me.

yes via goodreads. i read a lot so it really helps me remember books i’ve finished and what i thought of them

I've used Goodreads in the past but I've ultimately settled for StoryGraph. I find it has a nice and easy to use interface, and I love that I can get little graphics with data.

Wow, 20 years! That's a pretty nice gift from your family friend.

I guess by now you've used multiple notebooks? Or do you just use a line or so per entry?

Yeah totally, I'm really enjoying reading the thread and seeing how differently people approach even the concept of tracking! Super interesting how people vary in their preferences and habits.

You raise a good point around the purpose of tracking, I guess that's another one where people vary.

I use StoryGraph for tracking and then post reviews on IG. I will also take notes on my phone for quotes that resonate with me or topics I want to read more about later.

Nope. I have enough trouble finding time to read the books let alone keeping a spreadsheet for posterity.

That sounds really nice! I've mostly been thinking about digital ways of storing data, but after reading some of the ideas in this thread I'll seriously consider some nice analogue options too.

I’m still stuck in limbo between goodreads and Storygraph. I use my reviews and notes there for reference bc I have a Booktube/booktok focused on horror/thriller and I like to make reviews and recs as well rounded as possible.

I’m also someone who forgets a LOT about a book as soon as I finish it so notes are helpful! I also annotate my books for this purpose as well.

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I have an Excel spreadsheet. The columns include the book title, author, country of origin, genre, date first published, and the dates I’ve read it. I also colour code the row in green for the books I finished and yellow for the ones I did not complete.

I track my reading activity for 2 reasons.

1. I love statistics and numbers

2. It motivates me to read more. I love seeing my numbers go up and I hate downward trends so if I see one starting I read more.

I use Story graph it gives you some awesome graphs and it's easy to use. And I also use timejot and habits apps on Android.

Yep i track my reading. I use Storygraph

I just write it down with a pencil on paper by year, month, title, and author. Occasionally I add a 🙂if I especially liked it, something like this 😬 if it scared me or creeped me out, or ☹️ if I was disappointed. I started keeping track in June of 2017. Since then I’ve read 390 different books. I’ve read a few series of books more than once.

Maybe it's an age thing? I'm 42 so the internet didn't start being a real thing until I was in my teens. I was reading Stephen King when I was 6 so I didn't grow up with the mindset of reading being a thing to keep track of, other than having books on a shelf. That's my tracking, I think haha

I leave the books I have read in my bookshelves for reference. I am forgetful, and like to recheck my facts. But also it helps me to realize when I need a break. I read alot of textbooks as well, sometimes I have to remind myself that I need to go outside.

Edit: "you've read 51 books this year. Maybe go on a date or something."

My friend keeps a hand written journal of everything she's read. She gets most of her books from the library and more than once accidentally bought something on Kindle and got partway in and realized she'd already read it. She's someone who's really a fan of fancy stationary and pens, so everything is color coded etc and she uses it as a reference to keep track of authors she does or does not like. I'm lazy and buy everything on Kindle so I can just look at my library.

My approach is similar. Every year I get a moleskine planner. In the blank notes pages I write book and author. I’ve been doing it since 2012. And of course save all my planners.

I use StoryGraph as well and love it by and far, even though I only use the free version. I'd say for recommendations, its not as good as Goodreads I've heard. Personally, I've had to adjust my preferences a couple times to really get some good recommendations.

Yes. I just track through Goodreads cause it's easy and convenient. I track pretty much all that stuff in my life and hobbies. I have also wanted to start reading more so it's a good way to keep me motivated to see how much I've read and to see progress on goals and such. I set a goal to read 20 books this year and have already read 8.

I use Goodreads.

I started Goodreads 7-8 years ago, and added tags for each year for starters. That helped me feel like I didn't have to "catch up." I could track my current reads that way, and then if I came across other books I remembered reading in the past, I could mark them as Read, with no year tag. Somehow having the year tags made it seem easier to start. Otherwise, it felt like I was going to have to put in all of my past books before I could even start. That's probably a new problem though.

Some reasons I like tracking:

1. It kinda feels like an accomplishment, whatever the number is; I like being able to see my work, kind of like a completed checklist

2. I like data; data is fun

3. The social aspects are there; it is interesting to see what my friends are reading, and to get recommendations from them. I've learned what friends I usually agree with on books, and I find that useful for future reading, but also for friendship purposes

4. I mostly read audiobooks from the library. Since I don't have a physical shelf I can look at, there is a possibility I'll forget what I've read. With GR, I can be sure to not:

4a. repeat books*

4b. continue a series that I didn't like**

4c. read an author I've tried a few times and didn't enjoy

4d. not waste time trying again on a book I hated enough to DNF but didn't hate enough to remember hating. Thanks, GR, for remembering for me***

5. I can make recommendations to friends for themselves or their kids, based on the tags I've made -- like find all the books that have both "middle grades" and "historical fiction" or whatever

I've also tried The Storygraph. After almost a year of running it and GR side by side, I liked the pretty charts and fun data, but I didn't like how rigid they were. I want to define my own criteria, you know? The questions that it asks of every book after you read it are not the questions that tell me if I'm going to like a book. They felt like they were very personal to someone else's preferences. I also missed the social aspects of GR. But The Storygraph was certainly prettier and far less glitchy. And I liked the content warnings.

I keep thinking someday I'll export my GR data to Google Sheets or something - for the data. Then keep GR just for social purposes, and maybe delete my tags and just keep the exclusive shelves maybe. I'm the only one who cares about the data detail I've built, and if I want more data, a spreadsheet is probably the way to go.

.......

*yes, this has almost happened, more than once, and Goodreads saved me. Because let's face it, if the description appeals to me the first time, there's a real chance it might pull me in again

**this too. If I come across a book that's a sequel, I always check my Goodreads for how I felt about the one I read

***I have a DNF shelf and a Maybe-Later shelf, so if I quit a book I can tell Future Me the difference between the two. Sometimes it's just not the right time for a certain book, you know? But if it was an awful book that I know I will never want to read, I can mark it that way, so that the book description won't pull me in again

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I use storygraph!

I do a reading challenge every year, but not for any particular reason. I'm just a very progress oriented person who likes lists and challenges. It's part of the fun!

I've switched to reading in English quite recently, it took me a lot of effort to reach acceptable fluency. Since that time I don't track my activity, here's why. When I was reading in my native language I barely could keep up with my backlog so in most cases I was in a constant rush. Now I need to be more focused hence I enjoy reading itself and don't care about how many pages I've read, what series, which author etc. It's just more mind-healthy

Started tracking on Goodreads for the first time this year, love it! Seeing your percentage slowly climb and keeping track of your progress is gratifying. Excited to look back on a year of reading, all cataloged, come December!

This year I started a document to write mini book reviews. I don’t always like the 5 star rating system or publicly sharing my thoughts, but I do like keeping track because I read a lot and sometimes forget books almost entirely after a few years.

Nothing fancy, but I have a list on my computer with the books I've read each month, and a running tally of how many for the year.

I use Notion as my reading journal. I tend to forget the books I read too so for each book, I created a page and note down a plot summary of each chapter, thoughts and notable quotes. Next time I forget, I just pull it up.

I haven't, but I think I should. So often I want to revisit a book but can't remember many details. If I tracked what I read with a brief summary and why I did or did not like it, it would probably help quite a bit.

I do. In late 2017, someone asked me how much I read. My answer was, “A lot, I guess?!?!?!??” That person mentioned Goodreads. I became curious about how much read and started tracking through Goodreads in 2018. I’ve kept at it ever since for three reasons. First, it’s much easier to find and give recommendations to people when I have them all in one place. Someone will want a book about xx and I’ll remember something I read last year. Second, I believe reading is about comfort and escapism but also about learning and expanding yourself. So, I use my list to make sure I’m branching out from time to time. For instance, right now I am in a paranormal/fantasy rut. I’ve read a lot of that so far this year. Honestly, that’s my go-to comfy place. However, it’s also not the place where my favorites come from (contradictory and odd, I know but that’s me). I know that means I need to shake it up a bit for my next couple books. Third, I like the feeling of accomplishment when I meet my goal (usually about November). I set my goal at a very reasonable level but one that I can quickly get way behind if take too time off for very long.

Goodreads is a good platform for tracking books for ease of use if you are just wanting to track the books. It is very easy to look up info on the books you are thinking of and look at reviews. They also have a feature to let you create a Want to Read list which is a great feature until you start entering into their giveaway drawings. They automatically put any books you register for onto your Want to Read list. Since I go in and throw my name in Willy nilly sometimes (because, why not), my Want to Read list is kinda useless now.

You mentioned using it to look so you ‘can interrogate it and find interesting patterns/insights’. That would probably be the biggest part Goodreads is lacking. Any patterns and insights you gain would be from your own analysis. Now if your creative and meticulous, you can use Goodreads to make it easier for you to do your analysis. Goodreads allows you to create ‘bookshelves’ of your choosing. I’ve always done one for the year. You could probably do multiple bookshelves to group books in different ways to analyze them - genre, length, etc. It could make your list of bookshelves unwieldy rather quickly but is actually a very intriguing idea. Also, unless you put them in the reviews, there’s no way that I know of to keep a list of notes/quotes for the books you’ve read.

I love Storygraph, I've been using it for over a year and it's great. The recommendations are good and seem to get better the more I put into the app. The tracking of what I'm reading is perfect Not only pages, genres, moods, but you can also put on personal tags to track other things. I like to track new verses used versus library books I'm reading every year.

I use Goodreads and Storygraph.

Goodreads for the connection they have to Kindle ebooks (my preferred way to read) and Storygraph has the cool charts and pie graphs.

I've tracked every book I read since 2015 when I did my first reading challenge. I started because I wanted to know how many "off-list" books I was reading that weren't part of the challenge.

I've continued because I like having that record to look back it. I can sort by rating to figure out what the best book I read that year was, or how many books I've read that I disliked that year, etc. And also I can remember if I actually read a book before vs just saw it in a store or it had a similar title to something I read.

I started on Goodreads but this year I'm using storygraph too and might switch over entirely; I like the additional stats and the ability to give partial stars.

So I don't start re reading a book I've already read. Mainly for lawyer/detective series that have 10-30 entires

Hey wait this Paul M story feels familiar

I tracked in a notebook until about a decade ago when I started using Goodreads. If you use a kindle it tracks automatically, you can self log, and you can friend others ti see what they are reading or follow favorite authors.

How: goodreads

Why: I like statistics and setting reading goals. It’s fun to see my reading journey trough the years: what did I read at what time in my life? How much did I read each year? Did my taste change? Etc.

I mainly use Goodreads to track what I read throughout the year. I also use a notebook to keep track of books I read in a month, along with the rating and format I read them in.

Nope, just one line per entry. It's pretty minimal, just date finished, title, author, and genre.

I use StoryGraph. They don’t use advertising to recommend books.

There’s a set of authors that I loathe. I tried, over and over, to get Amazon to stop showing me their work.

StoryGraph has never recommended their books, even once.

It’s not Amazon affiliated, so it’s not tainted by Amazon advertising. Amazing.

I just started using storygraph and so far I'm loving it. The recommendations are decent, but by following similar readers I've found some great books I otherwise would have missed.

I use reading journals; there are several types available and I like to switch between them and use different ones when I finish up one. I like that they are organized into a biblography section, a rating section, a summary area - this makes it much easier for me to use them.

I track mine, also because at the end of the year I can never remember all the books I've read and I like to make a list of my top 10 books of that year. I use the StoryGrap app for it.

Goodreads is affected by Amazon advertising deals. And they sell your data. Avoid Goodreads.

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I use Librarything, used to be the major Goodreads competitor before Storygraph. It also has interesting graphs, book recommendations (for me these are frighteningly accurate), and lets your import your GR data.

Librarything works differently than Goodreads. When you catalog a book on Librarything, you pick a source to add the information from (they might have your public library). Then your catalog entry is your catalog entry. It will link to Librarything's pages on the book / author but you are much more free to edit your catalog entry how you wish.

Librarything's user base also skews much older - feel like younger people tend to find the UI off-putting.

i started keeping track this year. i use goodreads because it’s the first thing i found. i really like being able to see all that i’ve read

I use StoryGraph and love it. I find the recommendations are decent, but what works even better is I use the feature to find people who have reading tastes similar to mine and then I go look at their 5 star reads. I’ve found some good stuff that way

My discord book club gives points for pages read, so I have a good idea of how many pages I read in a timeframe.

And most of my reads are KU, so I'm able to go back through them to remind myself if I read something or not. I'm too lazy to get a Goodreads account, so sometimes I'll pull a sequel to a book I don't remember DNRing, but I'll remember a few pages in. Wish I could get Amazon to quit recommending books I already read, or that I read and didn't like.

I'm on the Storygraph train! Their buddy reads feature is great and I like being able to see the types of books I read. They also have a better star system than Goodreads.

Nope. Any time I have attmepted to track my reading, I suddenly find that I don't have time to read....even if I had been reading voraciously for the entirety of the last six months. It's got to be some subconcious quirk.

I haven't had a chance to actually check out any recommendations but I've added a couple to my list and a friend saw it and said he thought they were good choices, so there's that at least.

Google spreadsheet

Since Twitter has gone downhill, I've moved over to the Fediverse. You might have heard of the Twitter replacement, Mastodon. There is also a Goodreads replacement called Bookwyrm. I started my own Bookwyrm server since I have a passion for digital libraries and tracking book reading. Also, since Bookwyrm is compatible with Mastodon and the rest of the Fediverse, your reading updates and book reviews can be shared with millions.

https://bookwyrm.tech

GoodReads is also an unwanted treasure chest of creepy guys looking for a cheap thrill!!! It is so disgusting, and it has chased me away from Goodreads!!! Are there other suggestions, or is StoryGraph the best to go with?

I use goodreads for just like, rating and keeping frack of What Books i have read. Then i have a list of notes and thoughts in my phones notes app. I du it for the flex and to sometimes Recommend a book to someone

I wouldn’t recommend it due to the “open social media” aspect.

58 here and have tracked since 2007, so not entirely age-based, but perhaps I'm an exception.

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My list has evolved from paper to Goodreads + a spreadsheet (data redundancy) to Storygraph + spreadsheet.

I dread the day that Storygraph becomes the place to go crap on books you haven't read because you don't like some aspect of the author's politics, which is the primary reason I left Goodreads. At least on the Storygraph the social element is available but feels less in-your-face.

Goodreads still tends to be where I go to read the description, get series info, etc, but I use a fake email when I do.

When I moved to the Storygraph I used a Goodreads export. If I remember correctly, I just had to delete some extraneous columns and (maybe?) re-arrange some others. It was certainly worth doing over recreating the data from scratch, and I didn't have 4000 books!

I agree that Goodreads could do better with recommendations, but I keep wishing that Netflix's recommendations would come up to the Goodreads standard.

Yes goodreads and because

Idk how old you are but kudos to you if you are under 30. I think the goals you have in this endeavor should be implemented by all for it is easy (speaking for myself) to utterly forget books you've read. Only in my 50s have I started to keep track and make notes about my reading material.

I track my reading on an app called Bookly and love it! It gives great data and infographics on your reading.

I have a brain condition where I have terrible short-term memory. After figuring out I'd read this book and that one once I reached the middle, I started a list and have kept it up since 2015. Grouped by year, author, story/book or book series plus where it places in the series (ex: Robin Hobb - Liveship Traders (#3)). Plus small TBR, list of books I'm looking for, and general notes/reminders at the bottom.

My memory is a lot better than it was back then, but the list still comes in handy.

Agreed on all your points. I really only continue to use it because it’s hooked up to my kindle and everything gets added automatically when I finish a book. So it’s low effort, but I still have a record to reference if I’m trying to remember a book I’ve read

I use Goodreads but the percentage make me awkward (don’t know how to explaining it…) And I use my journal to rank my books or dedicate a page for it when I need it :]

I keep track of what I've read and how I rated it. Mostly to know what I've already read, but also just for fun.

I've got a google sheet with 5/6 different tabs on it, a reading log where I can update when I started/finished, whether it's a series or not, author, number of pages, genre/sub genre, physical/eBook, where I got it (library/KU/Purchases etc.) and rating, then a tab for my TBR, a series tracker, then a couple of tabs with charts showing different things. I love data and messing around with excel/sheets and it's good practise for formula's etc

I've kept up a Tumblr blog for a few years that I've used as a means to collect favourite quotes from books I've read. They can be quotes I find profound, relatable, or funny.

It, in a way, helps me track what books I've read because I keep a list for easy quote-finding. The blog really is just for me, even though a decent amount of people follow it. I love revisiting quotes that really speak to me, and it's fun to see the books I've almost forgotten I've read (but enjoyed).

I've been using Goodreads the last couple of years. The recommendations it comes up with are terrible, but otherwise it works perfectly well for me. I can rate and review all the books I've read, add books I want to read, create categories and see how many books and pages I've read each month.

You can just use Goodreads or some of the similar websites to keep track of what you've read.

I am about your age too, and I'm happy that tracking apps exist now because it means I no longer pick up an interesting looking book at a library or used bookstore and get a few dozen pages in before I realize I read it already. I guess if you purchase and keep every book you read it's easier to keep track of but I don't have the space or money for that.

I use Goodreads just to track what I read already, and sometimes add books to my to read list when someone makes a recommendation or I read a review. I ignore all the social and recommendation parts of it.

So much better than goodreads imo

How do you format it? Like a page per year or what? I like your idea.

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I have a notebook in which I write down titles, dates started and finished, a quick summary, and quotes. I like looking back through it and I like the idea of my kids looking through it to see what I found interesting at the time.

I’d definitely advise it, also seeing when books were written, helped me realise I wasn’t covering as many classics as I’d have liked.

I use goodreads but i’m not a massive fan of it. However i do also keep track by writing the books i’ve read and my thoughts about them in a notebook i have purely for this so if i ever do decide to leave goodreads for good i’ll already have my old books recorded on paper. i did try storygraph but ended up deleting it as i didn’t like the fact you couldn’t sort books into shelves like you can on goodreads. i guess i’m not doing that when i’m writing them down but anything i have about books i’ve read online i want to be able to organise them into categories so if someone asks me for a book recommendation i can find them 1 through my carefully curated shelves

Goodreads and Bookly

I've been using an Excel spreadsheet for about 10 years. I start a new tab with each new year. I also have different tabs for random book info like tracking which books I plan to read that are available at the local library or references to books from other media I intend to follow-up on.

Each book I finish is one line (or two if there's a really long title), so I usually go through a page to a page and a half a year.

I hand track everything I read in a word document. I sort it by month, then I use a colour system for rating and also to mark if it's a reread. I then write out a little paragraph for myself summarising what I thought of the book and if it's a new book, if its worth rereading in the future.

There are websites that'd do it all, probably in a more efficient, quicker way but typing it all out myself and picking my own system is fun. Not to mention it's relaxing.

I’ve become a habitual reader over the last 18 months in large part due to the addictive nature of logging my minutes on an app called Beanstack that my kids’ school librarian introduced them to.

I was using goodreads to keep track but ive seen a lot of things saying storygraph is better so thats what i am trying this year

My Mom did this. When she passed away, I grabbed those notebooks and they're the best connection to her I can imagine. I've just started reading again myself after a long hiatus and am starting my own notebook.

I use Goodreads and StoryGraph

Very simply...I record the title/author by year read, although sometimes I forget to put a book on the list...And I only keep a list to see how many I read a year & so I don't get one that I've already read.

Wow. Never even thought of this. I will now do this. Thanks!

This year I started keeping a log of which books I’ve read, mostly just to keep track and keep myself focused on reading daily if possible. I have a legal pad, and after I’ve read enough of a book to decide if I’m going for the whole thing or not, I add it to the pad. Author, book name, date started — date finished. Then to the left of the entry on the left of the margin I write the page count

I don’t track my reading anymore because the moment I start tracking and counting, it becomes competitive and that is not the point of reading for me.

I love librarything lol. I use it strictly to keep track of my books and don't pay attention to the graphs, recs, or anything.. I find books easier to add and catalogue on that site. I like to tag them, too; I don't enjoy tagging things on goodreads (obviously I use goodreads too, but don't enjoy it). I also like that librarything is less Social.

I use Goodreads to track, but I also have an app called Leio that lets you track reading sessions. It communicates progress to Goodreads and also you can add notes and quotes

No, I read for pleasure. I work for pay. I’m not going to turn my pleasurable hobbies into something that has to be counted and quantified to be “worth doing” like it’s my job. I grew up reading before neo-liberalism required everything to be bean counted.

I just use goodreads.

I have empty shelve space and when I finish a book, place it on the shelf. So I am able to physically see what I have read and when and in what order. If I really liked something, I put sticky notes in pages, pulling the edge up over the top.

I have a profile at Bookcrossing that I have used to track my reading since 2004. I list my books by the year. I wouldn't possibly remember all I've read otherwise! My only regret is not starting my list sooner in life.

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I have a yearly “note” in my notes app with the list of books, and the dates I started/finished.

I’m planning on starting a crochet book snake just to have incentive to read a lot and read different genres

I don’t track normally, but I challenged myself in 2020 to read more, and I kept track of what I read using a goodly spreadsheet. It’s kinda cool to go back and look at what I read.

I mostly track when I have to return book to the library.

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I only just started using Goodreads. I made a Childhood Reads bookshelf for listing all the books I can remember reading up to the age of 18 or so. When I discovered I could choose the book edition shown...You would not believe the nostalgic joy in seeing those book covers again. I keep adding more as I remember them.

I use good reads and it’s just for fun. I’m not reading to get through as much as possible. I read when it’s fun at a speed where I comprehend everything. Whether that’s fast or slow.

I always set my goal at 100 books, though lll most likely never reach it. I tend to read large books. My page count is high, though.😁

Yes. I like to look back and see what I read during the year- titles, authors, and number of pages!

I like to write reviews for my future self on Goodreads. I've gone back years later to see what I thought about something, like when it's made into a movie. The only other person who reads them is my sister (and I read hers)

Dark horse apparently but I think Italic has been a delight to use as a Goodreads substitute

Yes. I've been keeping track for about 20 years. I also keep track of movies I watch.

I also use Goodreads.

I’m not very organized and if I used anything other than an app, I’d lose it probably. Goodreads is easy.

My favourite aspect is that I can set a reading challenge for myself for the year. I started this a few years ago because I felt I was watching too much TV. It reminds me when I’m falling behind which I find motivational. I also like to be able to look back over the years and see which were my favourite, or least favourite books.

I gotta say, I love seeing all the love for Storygraph. It’s the superior app.

I’ve been keeping track since 2021, just in notes on my phone.

My only thought/concern? About keeping track is Anthologies where I don’t read every single story. I’ve wondered if that counts as completing it if there’s a handful of stories I skipped/dnf.

I create a unique bookmark on an index card for each book. I include the date read, title, author and a draw a picture. I have stacks of them.

I have been using Goodreads for 12 years now and while it is not a great platform as others have mentioned, I love data and stats and their charts of all the books you have read by publication year, the books over time, and the pages over time give me a lot of delight. I don't use Goodreads in any of the social aspects, merely to track my reading and challenge myself.

I also download images of all of the covers of the books I read each year, so I keep that as a reminder each year outside of Goodreads.

Yeah I keep track of my reading on my website so it's easier that way for me.

Can you link to a few you like? I have looked for one but haven’t found a good one

I have weirdly a gratitude journal someone gave me in my 20s that I never used. I realized each page is divided into 3 little sections with a heading an a date so I write title & date and then do a little summary. I’ve been doing it about 3 years and the act of writing about the books feels cathartic for me.

Nope, never. Reading is a solitary part of living to me, but as essential as breathing. Striving to measure it cheapens the experience, in my own, purely personal experience.

A cautionary tale for anyone using Goodreads. After using Goodreads for over a year I couldn’t log into my account one day. When I reached out to the support team, they told me my account was deleted because of an error on their side and it couldn’t be restored. I lost all my reading history, reviews and wishlist so I was quite sad when this happened :-(

Idk I’ve been thinking of tracking my reading but I haven’t found an app or method I like. I’d love to be able to maybe write a short review and search up books I’ve read before. Goodreads is not user friendly.

I do not, but your library system may offer a way to do that. At mine we use a system called BiblioCommons where you can track what you’ve read, comment on books, etc.

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I use Luna - it's a very basic app for tracking but I like basic. Goodreads, Storygraph has too many options for me personally.

Same, I think Bookly has the best UI out of all of them, and offers the most data points when it comes to reading, like reading time, speed. It also has some cool features, like reading reports, infographics reading assistant. It a cool product. Worth a try.

I have started this year with a Notebook where i write down the name of the Book, the day i finished, pages of the book and a 1-10 rating.

Every Month is one Page and at the end of the month i write down the number of Books and pages i read.

I tried it once but it felt super cringe.

Same here (I am 51). I read in English and German, translations make it even harder to keep track of what you have read so far.

I mainly use Goodreads and will keep doing so, because of my goodread friends. Reviews become more valuable when you know the reader and his taste in books.

I dabble in Storygraph, Librarything and Excel, not sure which one I want to use in future for some reading data.

I use goodreads and StoryGraph. Goodreads mainly for tracking and recommendations and StoryGraph for the charts it gives you as you’re reading

I have a few methods;

• Goodreads; I’ve been doing this since 2015 consistently, so keep it up to date. I can see basic stats and track books. I try to review every book.
• Storygraph; Migrated my data last year. They have pretty graphs.
• Notebooks; I have a notebook where I list the books straight for quote taking purposes (noted below), and the other half of the notebook is used for to read book lists.
• Quote taking; Since about… 2006? I’ve taken quotes from books. I now have 17 odd notebooks full of my favourite quotes from every book I’ve ever read. These I will admit are my pride and joy! I’m currently a tad behind, which is why I have my hand written list so I can easily access the next book.
• Book Journal; I haven’t done this in a while but I have a book journal which I fill in for favourite books. I try to draw an image for each book along with the brief review. This is the Moleskine book journal.

That’s incredible and I’m so happy you have that connection with your Mom. It’d be so touching to look through their list and read some of what your Mom read, to try and feel the emotions she felt when reading a story.

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I used to track it via goodreads, but now I don’t. It started to feel like I was competing with myself after a while rather than enjoying the moment of reading so I stopped tracking.

However I know that some people track with excel sheets or even notebooks. X

I keep a reading journal and change it up each year to fit what I'm interested in tracking at the time. Some things remain the same for it: book title, author, date I finished the book, what medium (audiobook, ebook, physical copy), and whether it wad a book I own or borrowed from the library.

The things that changed that I started tracking this year was genre, fiction/nonfiction, and the country that the author is from because I'm trying to read more books published outside of the US this year. I also rate my reads on a 1-5 star scale.

All of this is done in a physical journal and so far I've got 3 years worth of reading and reviews in it. I like having it in a journal instead of using something like goodreads or the story graph (I use that to track what I want to read, but not what I have read) because I use my tracking systems more when it's physical rather than digital.

I have started a Google sheet that lists all of the books I started reading and the date because I start so many more books than I finish and am interested in seeing the comparisons between started and finished books by the end of the year.

Tldr: I use a physical journal to track books I've read and my reviews of them, google docs for books I've started, and the story graph for my TBR

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I track the books I read on GoodReads. I set a reading goal for the year. I can also see what other people are reading, and if any of their books interest me, I’ll add it to my want to read list. GoodReads also has giveaways for both print books and e books.

Every time I read, I click on the book and write what page I'm on. If I'm listening to a book, then I input the percent that I'm on (you can either write the page number or percent).

After you finish a book, there are a few general questions and once you click save, that data gets added. Quick and easy.

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