First, a little housekeeping: A list of books read in the current year has been added to the sidebar, but I don't believe it has assumed its final form. Brief reviews will no longer be included, but I will add links to any reviews or comments as they appear.
Having spent far more tiime than is necessary deciding whether or not to post a list of books and then what or how much to post, a couple of points have become clear:
1. I've been puttering about with LibraryThing and Goodreads for a few years. Both have their advantages and disadvantages, but I increasingly prefer LibraryThing as it allows me to categorize books into collections and categories, keeping track of my impossibly long list of books I might be interested in reading someday, books I own and have or have not read, books I've read and donated or sold or never owned in the first place etc. I also find it easier to both manage and display lists of books on Library Thing, although Goodreads is better in the social aspects of reading. Since, my working list is on LibraryThing, I don't need to keep a list here, but I like having it, and it will provide a convenient way for me to add links to books I have reviewed should I decide to review them.
2. I will still maintain my Goodreads list.
3. I will probably add a "current reading" list to the sidebar as well.
4. I have resumed the habit of my youth, namely of reading many books simultaneously depending on my mood, time, and attention on any given day.
5. I am not really interested in the standard review format. I am not interested in critical analysis, although, as an ex-English Major, I am well versed in that approach. I suppose I am most interested in the ways a book fuels my thoughts or imagination, about philosophical or moral compass, about the vistas that have been opened by reading a particular book. I suppose I have given myself permission to choose whether or not to review a book based solely on the completely personal and arbitrary criteria of what I am thinking about on a given day.
6. I haven't yet decided whether or not to blog about books that do not end up being the subjects of posts. I will however always answer questions about any book.
Comments
3 responses to “Books, Lists and the Question of Reviews”
I am so glad you are doing this.
Mine’s an evolving system as well — I’m going to keep up my separate reading blog, even though my responses/reviews were rather perfunctory last year for the books I did write about. So many just got listed, but at least that way I can remember them — and hope that perhaps someday I’ll add a note or not. I’ve decided that I mainly keep the blog for my own convenience and occasional pleasure — if I garner a few other readers to exchange thoughts with, so much the better. I always enjoy seeing what you’re reading, and I’ve picked a few titles along the way — as if we need more of those on our TBR lists! 😉
I find reviews even by acclaimed reviewers can be so different from my experience, yet spend (waste?) hours reading them. I’d very much like to see what you’re reading, and would read reviews if the genre interests me. I’m all for writing what you feel like writing, period.