A few years ago I created an excel file of all the books I’ve read (that I could remember). It’s kind of nerdy, but hey, I love reading and making lists–I blame Dad. I remember being intrigued by reading Dad’s list of books read that he kept in his journal.
I’ve had some fun recently transferring my excel list to a cool website called LibraryThing. Check out my library. It’s got cool tagging features (Search my tags for “reading” to see what I’m currently working on. Or search “unread” to see all the books I’ve acquired but haven’t yet got around to reading.) and book recommendation and community features. I think the “cover view” is kind of cool:
I’ve got 317 books in my catalog, 239 tagged as read.
The author cloud is kind of cool, too:
Create your own library. It’d be fun to see what you have read or are currently reading. It’s also fun trying to remember all the books you’ve read.
Very cool! I love the author tag cloud.
It looks like I have a project to do. I remember writing out my list a couple years ago, so hopefully I still have it somewhere.
And after seeing your list, I’m a little embarrassed to admit that I’m reading a book called “Bad luck and Trouble,” another Jack Reacher action thriller by Lee Childs. Dad sends his recent books on to me every once in a while, and I’ve been known to read a couple of them. They do hook you.
I wish I were a bigger reader! I would not have much of a list at all. Books and bookstores and libraries always intrigue me, but seem daunting at the same time. Like, WHERE TO START!?
Seth–let me know when you’ve created your library.
Sara–some recommendations:
Not necessarily “chick lit” (you know, all the books with pink binding and stylized pictures of women’s legs, shopping bags, cell phones, (see: Nanny Diaries, Confessions of a Shopaholic, Bridget Jones Diary, etc.) but some books I think you’d enjoy:
Life of Pi, Yann Martel
Never Let Me Go, Kazuo Ishiguro
Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen
Runaway, Alice Munro
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, Jonathan Safran Foer
Housekeeping, Marilyn Robinson
Or, ask your blog community friends for recommendations…don’t be overwhelmed, just start.