Let’s Talk Bookish is a weekly meme hosted by Aria @ Book Nook Bits and Dani @ Literary Lion where we discuss certain topics, share our opinions, and spread the love by visiting each other’s posts.
Do you keep track of the books you read? If so, do you use Goodreads? Storygraph? Another platform?
I do track my reading and have had a Goodreads account since 2010! I have kept track of all the books I have read since then, but I never paid too much attention to stats like page numbers, genre, format, etc. until more recently. I now track my books on Goodreads (mostly because of the number of reviews available there) and on The Storygraph, which I adore and will continue to promote. If you are a stats nerd when it comes to reading, The Storygraph is for you, as it is for me!
I also use a digital reading tracker from Sarah’s Bookshelves, which might be a little bit overkill but I love it. I will say that I struggle more to keep up with this spreadsheet, but I love all of the stats that it gives me. I love the stats and charts that it gives me, but I really appreciate is the “Source” graph. This tells me how many ARCs I have read and where I have received the books from.
Speaking of overkill, I also have a physical reading journal where I print out photos of the covers of the books I read and write a review and some of my overall thoughts. I am currently using this reading journal from Bibliophile, which I love. It is almost full though, so I am in the market for a new one.
Has the way you keep track of your reading changed since you started blogging?
Absolutely! I used Goodreads exclusively before blogging and had no idea what I was missing! I also think that the way readers track their reading has changed a lot over the last five years. Goodreads was pretty much all we had back then, but there are so many more options now. Also, a lot of fellow bloggers have started to create elaborate trackers, which I love!
What are the pros and cons of tracking your reading?
There are a lot of pros, especially for a blogger or anyone who talks about books online. I don’t think I could blog the way that I do if I didn’t track my reading. That said, I don’t think it is necessary to track your reading in as many ways as I do. I only do that because I enjoy it! I do think that tracking your reading can open your eyes to trends in your reading or things about your reading that you might want to change. There is a negative side to that as well. It can be easy to get wrapped up in the numbers and the stats and to feel like you are in competition with yourself, which is never fun! That is why I always keep my Goodreads goal at 52 books- one book a week! This is an achievable goal for me and I never feel stressed about the number of books I have read or feel like I am falling behind.
Do you track your reading? How?
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