Tracking My Reading

by Scott Rhoades

For the third year in four, I kept track of the books I finished. I think this has officially become a habit. I recommend keeping track to any author, book lover, or journal keeper. For one thing, if you're keeping a list and sharing it at the end of the year with a select group of friends, you'll probably read more. That's always a good thing. The list says a lot about your interests and who you are. And, if you care about books, it helps you see your strengths and weaknesses. For example, my list tells me several things:

• I read a lot this year, considerably more than the other two years, when I thought I did pretty well
  
• I have pretty decent reading habits
• I read a reasonable variety of books

It also points out some glaring holes, like:

• Current bestsellers
• Local authors
• South American, Eastern European, and African authors (all categories I keep meaning to read more)
• I reread quite a bit (although, is it really rereading if you last read a book 20 or 30 years ago or more?), which, considering the number of books I haven't read but want to, can be seen as a flaw in my list
  

Those holes will help me set reading goals for next year. I'm not really a formal goal setter when it comes to reading, but it will point me in certain directions when I choose a new book.

Keeping track of your reading has never been so easy, thanks to goodreads.com, a social network for readers.

The first year I tracked my reading, I made a game of it. I counted every page of every book I finished as one mile for a journey I tracked using Google Maps. I had to finish the book for its pages to count. This was fun, and was a great motivational game. I saw much of the US and Northern Europe. I haven't done it that way since, but I'm not counting it out.

How about you? Do you keep a list of the books you read? What do you get from your lists? Do you use goodreads.com? (If you do, feel free to add me as a friend.)