Thu
Nov 8 2012 8:23am

Do You Keep Track of Your Yearly Reads?

As the year starts to wind down to a close, readers—at least, some of the more organized ones—begin to make Best Of lists and tally up the amount of books they've read.

And then some others absolutely do not.

Do you keep track of the amount of books you've read in a year? Why do you or don't you?

Photo courtesy of AustinEvan.

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19 comments
Victoria Janssen
1. VictoriaJanssen
I have done it several times, starting in college. I only counted books I read all the way through, and noted ones that were re-reads. It makes for really interesting reading! I used to read my way through all the books by one author in a row sometimes.

I haven't done it in quite a while; I DNF a lot more these days, which makes it less fun to track. Instead I've been trying to keep track of favorite reads each year.
Lizzie R
2. Lizzie R
Thanks to Goodreads now I do. Although I've always been a reader I've never before thought to make a list of what I've read. two years ago I found Goodreads and now it's just so easy to do, except for that damn Want to Read feature that has just replaced the previous To read/currently reading/read button.

I've actually considered opening a Goodreads account for my 4 yr old son 'cos I thought "how amazing would it be to have a list of all the books you've ever read!!!" .

I'm a sucker for organisation and Goodreads just makes it so easy.
Regina Thorne
3. reginathorn
I definitely keep track of what I've read (since I've been known to repurchase my own books from used book stores/library sales!) I used to do it on Excel spreadsheets, but like Lizzie R, I now use Goodreads, which also lets me rate the books AND check on the plot/subject to jog my memory. This year my goal was to read 150 books, and I'm up to 123, though now bogged down in two GIANT novels by George R. R. Martin, so I'm not sure I'll make it to 150!

@LizzieR Goodreads still has the "currently-reading" and "read" shelves - if you click on the little green book icon next to "want to read" it shows you all your shelves, with "currently-reading" and "read" the first two by default.
wsl0612
4. wsl0612
Yes, I've done it for a few years now. Not as organized as I'd like because I didn't think about that when I started :-) But I have notebooks where I write down the month, name of author, name of book and my rating. I used to also write a few notes as to why I did or didn't like it, but I got lazy so now it's either just stars or VG or Meh or Ugh! ;-)
Deanna Bayer
5. debay11
Yes I do. I used to keep my own list. Now I also have my list on Goodreads.com. I love that site. It ia a bookaholics dream site. I use my list when requesting books from my library or favorite book store or for my nook. I also mark books on my library site for future reading along with "to-read" on Goodreads and "my wish list" on Barnes & Noble for books I am unable to find at the library. I read so much that my "read list" is a necessity. I have already read 258 books this year. I can tell you how many books I have read each year.
Lori K
6. LoriK
Yes, every year. On spreadsheets. I'm geeky & OCD that way. I also have a tendency to forget titles so being able to look up what I've read in the past helps me avoid rebuys.
Lizzie R
7. Michelle G.
I accepted the GoodReads challenge this year and set a goal for myself to read 250 books. I'm tracking and will probably exceed so yeah me! I can always tell what my favorite books of the year are because those are the ones that I gave a 5 star review to. For the most part everything gets a 4 star reaview, I enjoy basically everything, but there has to be that something special that tips it over to 5 stars for me and not everything can do that.
Brianna
8. carmenlire
I keep track of the number of books I read each year, and also which ones were rereads. I just rwrite them on a sheet of paper.
Lizzie R
9. Annie O
you know, I've never thought of that. but now that you've mentioned it, maybe i should. I read a LOOOOT of books(imsure we all do.lol) im going to try your idea
Kara
10. keen23
Count me as a Goodreads junkie as well. I love that site. My "To Read" list helps me remember what I want/need to request from the library. I've found that the Recommendations are actually a great way to find new authors, especially those that might be e-book only. Debra Geary is an example of an author that I never would have heard of, if not for Goodreads.

I used to use Librarything, but it just wasn't as user friendly as Goodreads. A very long time ago, I kept a running list in a composition notebook of books that I had finished. This list dated back to around 1990. Then, I moved 6 times in 4 years between 1998 and 2002, and it got lost somewhere in the shuffle. With Goodreads, I'll never lose the list again.
Lizzie R
11. Kristopher
I, too, keep track of the books I have read for the year. It makes it easier at the end of the year to pick a top 10.

www.bolobooks.com
Lizzie R
12. Bethy
I use an Excel sheet. I buy a lot of used books and keep a copy of the alpha author list in my purse to use when shopping. I also have over 700 books on my Kindle which are in categories to track them.
Carmen Pinzon
13. bungluna
Add me to the Goodreads user. I also keep a list on a notebook, a page per month. I used to keep a list of re-reads as well as new-to-me books, but it became embarrasing how I'd read some books over and over again, so I stopped that. I had a goal of 170 books for this year but a surprise move put a stop to that. I'll be happy if I reach 150.
Rae Alley
14. rszalley
I do, but I'm in the minority here. Goodreads makes me twitch...I don't know if it's their partnership with B&N or the fact that their system doesn't feel normal to me. I joined Shelfari several years back when I was first scrounging around for a system other than a spreadsheet to figure it all out. I love the fact I can do reading goals for the year and be told just how I'm doing.
Shauna Comes
15. djshauns
I don't keep yearly lists, although it might be interesting to take it to that level. I do, however, keep a spreadsheet of all the books I've read. The crazy thing is that I could probably compile a list for this year just by scanning through my big master list! Being slightly OCD about it all myself (I'm with you on that one LoriK!), I keep track of title, author, series, what number it is in the series, and whether it is mine or which library it belonged to.

I started about 8 years ago, and I wish sometimes that I'd started it as a kid, just to make it easier to figure out those random books I read as a kid that I try to remember now for book recommendations or just because something reminds me of a book I read once. Plus, I read so much it would be interesting to know exactly how many books I've actually read, since people always ask me. It is also nice to be able to look back and see if I read something or not, plus being able to make sure I don't own a book before I buy or trade for it.
Lizzie R
16. Sierra Dean
I have a colour-coded Excel spreadsheet with data set up to compile a tally of books by genre, format, length and whether or not I'd recommend it.

I also use Goodreads.
Ayana Raine
17. Ayana
I never used to but I started in January of this year. So far? 161 books this year! Problem? I'm not sure if the number is high because I usually read a lot or because I wanted to read a lot this year for my tally. I do usually read 2-3 books a week at the least but who knows? I've been keeping a list of all the books this year and I'll be doing it for 2013 too so I can see how it changes.
Rakisha Kearns-White
18. BrooklynShoeBabe
Yep. When I was in high school, I kept a list in my diary. Now, I use Good Reads. I'm just amazed that I clock in 100 books a year.
Lizzie R
19. Taylor Lynnwood
I use to read hundreds of books a year and buy beautiful book cases with glass doors to house them. At the time I knew what I read and how great each one was. I sold them and bought a Kindle when I moved. I now have racked my brain on and off to remember books that I wanted to read again or pass on to family and friends. Wish that I had kept track in the past.
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