Thank you so much to Stephen from Stephen Writes for tagging me! I love the questions and I am nosy so I am always curious about other bloggers’ reading routines.
Do you keep a list of the books you have read?
I do on Goodreads and I have a reading journal. I have been using Goodreads since 2010 and having a record of all the books I have read has been so helpful when it comes to blogging.
If you record statistics, what statistics do you record?
I did not keep track of any stats until I got my hands on the Always Fully Booked planner. I now keep track of format (print, ebook, audio), genre, number of pages, start/finish date, etc. It is interesting to look back on and see what patterns start to form. I always share my yearly stats in December!
Do you give star ratings for books and if so, what do you score books out of and how do you come about this score?
I do not give out star ratings on my blog. I have been meaning to write a blog post sharing my reasons for this, but basically it comes down to the fact that I find star ratings arbitrary. My rating system would be completely different to the rating system of another blogger and that just gets confusing. It is also difficult for me to explain what makes a book a five star vs a four star or why two very different books would receive the same rating.
I do give star ratings on Goodreads but I do not take them too seriously. I just go with my gut and give a rating based on my own personal enjoyment.
Do you review books?
Of course! I rate books here on my blog, on my Goodreads (though I am behind), and on my Instagram.
I do my best to give thoughtful reviews to every book that I read. They are more in-depth here on the blog and short and sweet on my Instagram. These days it seems as though I just give books a star rating on Goodreads, but I am trying to be better about that.
Where do you put your finished books?
Wherever I can find room for them! I have little to no organizational system at this point. I think with all this time I now have on my hands I might try and come up with something that works better for me.
If I didn’t love a book I no longer keep it and usually donate it to a Free Little Library. It is interesting though because I have truly come to understand my readings tastes and it is rare that I buy I book I do not end up enjoying.
I do have a question though. What do you do with ARCs that you do not want to keep? I’m thinking of also donating them to a Free Little Library, but was just curious what others do.
Do you have any other rituals for when you have finished a book?
The first thing I do is mark it as “read” on Goodreads. There is something so satisfying about that! I then write a short review and post it to my Instagram story/feed. I will then fill out my reading journal, which I will later use for reference when writing my review for the blog.
This is was a fun tag and I would love to see everyone’s answers to these questions!
