One of the things I have been mulling over of late is how I keep track of books I have read. Sure I could just keep track on my blog but it isn’t sufficient for my purposes. Years ago I used the extremely simple database software that came along with Apple Works, Apple’s sorry attempt to rival Microsoft in office software. It is a flat file database which means searching stinks. The only nice thing about it that it has neatly delineated fields. I looked into a more robust database but Access does not work on a Mac and FileMaker is too expensive and too big for my needs.
I could use LibraryThing especially since the book status feature was added. But, surprise, I don’t own every book I read and I want my LibraryThing library to be a record of the books I own.
During my just completed systems analysis class, we talked about rapid prototyping–creating barely functional pieces of a systems solution so users can see what they’ve been talking with the analyst about and validate the system requirements and all that good stuff. We talked about inexpensive and easy to use tools for prototyping because you don’t want to spend a lot of time or money since it is not meant to be a finished product. One of the tools was Microsoft Excel. In order to provide an example, the professor posted a sample Excel document that he had spent about half an hour making. When you opened the document it had a button that when pushed opened another page that would theoretically have report information on it. It was spiffy. He said that Excel could do lots of things. I had no idea. I have only ever used it for very basic spreadsheets or to avoid fiddling around with Word tables. Those of you out there who may be Excel experts, feel free to say “duh.”
What does this have to do with keeping track of books? Well, one of the joys of being a student is cheap software. I have Microsoft Office for Mac through school for next to nothing. Feeling geeky, I thought I’d see what I could do with Excel for tracking books I have read. For your viewing pleasure, here are my results so far: books-read (WordPress wouldn’t accept an xls file extentsion so I saved it as a pdf which means you can’t see the drop down menus and that the format is a bit off, but you can still get the picture). It’s pretty basic (but I had fun making the drop down menus which are so easy) and I know there must be some spiffy things I can do, so I have reserved a copy of Excel for Dummies at the library. It might too beginner, so if you know of a good advanced book for Excel, please let me know.
Excel may or may not be ultimately satisfying. If it doesn’t work out, at least I will have learned more about it which could come in handy for work. And if it does end up suiting my needs, well, there will be more geeky fun ahead.
All this begs me to ask the question, how do you keep track of the books you have read? And, what information do you track?
http://www.goodreads.com
Its an awesome place to keep track of books you’ve read, want to read or anything in between
One of my initial intentions for starting my blog was to use it to keep track of my 100 Books to Read list. But gradually its function expanded.
I use my blog to keep track of Books, DVDs and Films consumed in a year. These days, I use it to note down the books I bought – with dates purchased, and whether I actually read them within the same year.
The hyperlink makes it easier to cross-reference data through easy click, so it helps me organise stuff.
But I also have written records that I kept for years. For every book, I note down:
1) Title & Author
2) Date Started
3) Dated Completed
It’s important for me to complete books, because I have too many half-read books around!
Many, many years ago, I would keep a tag in all my books where I would note down MY NAME, title, author, date purchased. Kind of like a bookplate, but more OCD.
Last night I took “The Chronicles of Prydain” off the bookshelf and I have the tag inside that states I bought the series way back in 1998, September 21. Ten years, and still unread!
I think something like this is possible on a blog but it will take a lot of doing especially with the limited amount of flexibility that WordPress provides. I have a Timeline page, but it contains very little information – no notes, grades, etc.
Excel is powerful enough for things like this. There is a plugin that people in the medical sciences use for creating a bibliography of technical literature. It is called Endnote, and it could be made to do the above things though the visualization might be different (non-tabular). I _hate_ Endnote though.
One more option is to create the same table on a webpage. Googlepages and GoogleDocs provides free webspace for this, and you can conveniently link to them from your blog. Because it is Google, you can afford to be (somewhat) lax about backups and other maintenance issues. They have a WYSIWIG interface, so no html coding would be necessary. It can look pretty good, but will lack the connectivity and database search functions that Excel can provide.
I am surprised that Apple’s suite of tools does not provide anything that outperforms Excel. If you do find something good, please let us know. I am looking for something similar but for a different purpose – I want to create a list of birds, according to species, date seen, time seen, weather that day, notes, and such-like.
I keep an Excel spreadsheet too. It’s fairly sparse; I note author and title, the month I read a book, whether or not it was released that year, and if it was a translation. These are just personal curiosities, not used for anything remotely scientific. I have different tabs for every year. (Wow, I’m starting to annoy myself.)
I also double up at Goodreads for the social side of reading, though I get a bit of an anxiety attack when I have to rate a book. I recently gave Lois Duncan more stars than Junot Diaz and lost all lit-cred I ever owned.
I have a LibraryThing account as well; it’s a great static record of the books I own or have loaned to friends.
There’s probably too much overlap here, but I enjoy each medium for its unique purpose.
I have kept a complete bibliographic listing for every book I have read over the past 15 years or so.
I do it in monthly segments…. January, February, March…. like that, and under each month, I list the books I have read.
This is especially important for books I re-read. I love re-reading. And the list lets me know when it was I last read the thing.
I keep a sloppy list of books I’ve read on Excel. So far its been the simplest, most manipulable database for me. I need to be a bit more detailed about it so that the information becomes a little more meaningful. You’ve inspired me to start getting more organized!
Good luck, I hope you find a solution that works for you.
Tina, thanks for the suggestion. I will check it out.
Dark Orpheus, I like you book tag idea. I know I have books I bought as a teenager but haven’t read, not many, but a few. I’m not even going to say how long ago that was!
Polaris, thanks for the information. I will definitely check out what Google has to offer. I didn’t even think of that. Good to know I should avoid Endnote. I’m going to see if there are any OpenSource goodies out there too. I’ll report back.
Zan, it’s the enjoyment of the medium that matters. I think your lit cred is just fine
Cip, I envy your fifteen years of records! I have ten years and I kick myself for not ever thinking of keeping track from the day I could hold a pencil!
Verbivore, I’m trying to be more meaningful too in my documentation with whatever new method I choose. It’s spring and I always get inspired in spring to be more organized
This will be my 13th year of keeping reading records, and I am almost ashamed to admit, I just write out a list on loose leaf I keep in a folder! SO high tech! I keep track of Title, Author, and original language – that’s about it, except when I was reading Proust I noted start and finish dates (it took 2 years). I’m thinking that an Excel spreadsheet would be a good experiment, though. It looks good.
What I find most interesting about lists is the objective record of when I read a book. Sometimes it feels like I’ve just read something, it’s so fresh in my mind, but when I look for it I realize I read it 4 years ago. There’s also the opposite effect; I see a book listed last year that I have nearly no memory of reading!
I keep track of the books I’ve read on my blog and on LibraryThing. I understand what you mean about the dilemma of using this for books that you don’t own. I have been tagging the books I don’t own with “borrowed.” I haven’t been exactly thrilled with this system, so I may just check out something like you’ve done here. Thanks!
I just use a Microsoft Word document, and that’s all I need, really — I keep track of title, author, date published, and when I began and finished reading. I’ve only been doing this for a couple years now, though. I live a pretty low-tech life!
I’m so impressed! I don’t keep track at all, and whilst that used to be fine twenty years ago before my memory got shot to pieces, it means I often have the disconcerting experience of picking up a book I’ve read and remembering nothing about it. I was invited to join good reads and did so, and have yet to find a moment to file a single book. Oops! Good luck with finding exactly the right thing for you, Stefanie!
I like your excel sheet. I don’t really keep records of the books I read except for on my blog and even then I find I don’t post reviews for every single book I read (questioning myself on that right now). I think back to all my years of reading and cringe and not having made lists upon lists! I love lists! Sigh. Excel – of course! Why didn’t I think of that?
I’m super low-tech on this as well. Since 1997, I’ve kept a journal where I write the title, author, and exact start and end dates for each book I read. I then write some comments about my impressions of the book. Most of the comments are a paragraph or two at most, but others go on for two pages or more. I also put a star next to each book I especially admired and want to return to.
I call this journal “The Books in My Life,” taken from a book of the same name by Henry Miller. In parantheses under the title, I’ve written: “Guiding Principles: Intellect, Wisdom, Beauty & Form”—the main qualities I look for when judging the books I read, the things that contribute ultimately to whether I’ve enjoyed the book.
It didn’t start out this way, but I guess this journal sort of serves as my diary. For example, I can look back on today’s date a year ago and see that I was in the midst of being a little disappointed in Henry James’ “The American,” though I was happy to visit Minneapolis and see in person at the Institute of Art the Sargent painting “Luxembourg Gardens at Twilight,” which graces the cover of my Penguin edition of the book. 5 years ago today I record in detail being blown away by “Moby Dick,” still to me the greatest American novel; and 10 years ago today it seems I was enthralled with Garcia Marquez’s “Love in the Time of Cholera,” one of the great love stories ever written. Ah, the memories…
I’ve kept a handwritten list with the basics on every book I’ve read since February 1, 1970. It’s unbelievable to me that it’s been over 38 years and that I haven’t lost the list through all my moves from country to country and back to the U.S.
I’ve backed up my handwritten list from time to time by a Excel spreadsheet but I find that I don’t keep up the spreadsheet nearly as religiously as I do the handwritten list (I’ve copied the list over on more than one occasion and it’s now in a little book that should easily give enough space for the rest of my lifetime).
I started blogging primarily as a way to reinforce in my memory the contents of what I read and that’s worked wonders for me. I write a “review” of at least 500 words for everything that I read these days (the last 189 books, so far) and I remember more about those than I could have hoped for when I started the blog.
I wonder why some of us are so addicted to list-keeping? I wish I knew the answer to that one.
Melanie, 13 years of books is a nice long time. It is interesting how some books we’ve read long ago still seem so fresh in our minds and some we read a few months ago don’t even stay around. Every December when I look back at the year there are inevitably a few books that I have no recollection reading. And if low-tech tracking works for you, no reason to change the system!
Lisa, at least you’ve found a way to keep track even if you don’t like it 100%. I hope you find Excel useful if you decide to try it.
Dorothy, nothing wrong with low-tech. Word is a perfectly fine way to keep track. Part of my problem is I like technology too much. I like to play around with it until I figure it out and then I get bored and want to find something new.
Litlove, thank you. I started keeping track because I found myself wondering if I had read certain books. I’d think I hadn’t and get about 30 pages in and realize I that the feels familiar feeling was because I had indeed read the book and I didn’t really like it all that much the first time and there I was, reading it again!
Thanks Heather! I wonder all the time about what books I read before I began keeping track. I do remember some of them, but most are lost in time.
Oh Rizwan, your journal sounds wonderful, I wouldn’t want to change it either if I were you. So many people keep track of when they start a book. I have never thought of that. But I like the idea. I’ll have to add it to my spreadsheet!
Sam, I have no idea why some of us are so addicted to list-keeping. I have loved lists for a very long time. And your list must be so much fun to browse through! What memories there must be contained within it.
I used to keep track in a journal but since 2002 I’ve been keeping track of the books in an excel file – and it’s very similar to what you have!
I have to keep an excel file because that’s my complete record of books read as I don’t always do a full blog post on every book.
I don’t make a note of the ISBN or page numbers but I do make a note if the book is my copy or if it’s a library copy (makes me want to read more from my stacks) and if it’s a translation.
I’m totally low-tech–I keep a reading journal. After reading your post and everyone’s comments, I feel like a slacker! I need to get some software or something…
Try http://www.bookshelfari.com.
Dan
Bruised Reads
http://oldbooks.wordpress.com
I’m coming late to this. Strangely, it never occurred to me to keep track of what I read until I started hearing about it on blogs. I’ve considered writing it down in a little moleskine, but have never gotten around to it. I have kept a list on my blog since I started blogging, but that’s it. Perhaps this discussion will propel me to start a more permanent list.
By the way, do you know you can have separate tabbed sheets in the same Excel file? You could separate out your books by genre, or by the year you read them. There would probably be a way to bring them all together in a master list as well, though I don’t know the details. Too bad Access doesn’t work on your machine–it’s candy for an INTJ!
I write my list in a Book Journal my friend gave me a few years ago. I’ve been keeping lists since about 1996, when I began to forget what I had read that year. I keep track of title, author and date finished.
I am putting my books on Library Thing, but it’s taking ages, and I really want to remember what I’ve read, not just what I own – though I need to know that too! Keeping a list jogs my memory of what I’ve read, and like Sam, writing on the blog is helping me remember what the book was about.
As for keeping lists……how else are we going to know what books we are looking for when we enter a bookstore? I look at all the covers and instantly forget if I’m missing book 1 or 4 of a series, etc, so the lists help me remember what I’m looking for – as well as, I let myself just shop and find books on their own
Maybe because it has to do with words (the books) and pictures (the cover), we need a way to link them somehow in our mind?
Hi, Stefanie
What a nice blog this is.
Happy to meet you, here.
At first I thought, “Oh, how cool!” I’ve got to check this out and start experimenting myself. I think I have a copy of Excel for Dummies somewhere around here. Then I came to my senses and thought, “Who am I kidding? This will be just like my ‘Keep track of our finances,’ ‘keep track of my food intake,’ ‘keep track of my exercise regimes,’ uses of Excel. All gung-ho for about a month, and then, ‘Oh, I can’t be bothered to turn on the computer to do that now. It can wait till tomorrow,’ (which turns into next week, next month, etc.). I’m far better off just keeping track of books with my nice journals and pens.” Maybe I AM getting a little wiser with age!
Iliana, there seem to be several Excel book trackers. Therefore it must work well and I will stick with it and see where it goes. The idea of tracking pages and ISBN is a new one to me. I thought it could be interesting.
Gentle Reader, don’t feel pressured! I’m just a bit obsessive about lists and books, that’s all
Thanks for the suggestion Dan!
Sylvia, I am surprised you have never thought of keeping track of the books you’ve read. What with your beautiful note-keeping and all, I would have expected you had a few filled-up moleskines
Tabs are my best friend in Excel. And it is unfortunate that Access doesn’t work on a Mac. I’m sure I would have way too much fun playing with so maybe I’m better off.
Susan, you are a list-maker after my own heart
Songyeekim, thanks! Nice to meet you too
Emily, I thought all math inclined folk loved Excel
But with a pen collection like yours, I would look for any reason to use them too.
Stephanie,
I have been using Excel to keep track of the books I have finished for about 5 years. Being an experienced excel user, I just naturally fell into using it. I haven’t made the most efficient or effective use, I am sure, but I can add stuff to track each year. I have made some nifty little charts showing me the seasonality of my reading (my lowest number of finished books is usually April). I started using it to track series, because sometimes I would forget what book I was up to if I hadn’t read that series in a long time. I try to use it to show myself milestones in reading goals (such as reading more non-fiction, or reading more by a certain author, or other stuff like that). I have been also been meaning to figure out how to put some of the charts on my blog, but I haven’t gotten around to it. My blog has not been updated in months, due to other stuff going on in my life.
I use Librarything, and also Book Collectorz to track the books I own, athough I have not yet loaded all my books, or used all the reporting features.
Dorie,
Would you be willing to email me your Excel file for keeping track of your books??? This sounds like what ‘ve been wanting to do with mine. I would really appreciate it. I know Excel but not this well. If the columns & sorts & such are already done & all I have to do is fill in the cells with my books that would be a huge help. Thanks!
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Dorie, thanks for sharing your tracking system. I’ve been thinking about how Excel can make charts and how fun that would be to play with. I like your seasonality chart. I will have to try something like that myself
My solution to this problem is to keep it all in a word document. I wanted a solution that wouldn’t take much time so I simply go to google, search for a picture of the book cover, and then I copy that picture into a word document. Next to the picture I will write down when I read the book and I have it listed in chronological order. Fast and efficient in my opinion
I am looking for something that will not only keep track of the books I have read & the books I want to read, but will also keep track of the order of the books in a series. Say I am reading the Sookie Stackhouse Southern Vampire Series by Charlaine Harris (the books the TV show True Blood is based on). If I am new to the series I want to know what order to read the books in. Once I find the order of the list I still want to keep track of the ones I’ve read.
So what method is best for not only keeping track of the order of my series books but also where I am in the series & what comes next???
Thanks for your wonderful posting! Also greatly enjoyed reading the replies. I’ve done some tracking on paper, some online, but nothing consistent. I believe consistency matters more than whatever format one chooses. Many of your respondents inspired me to give it another go.