How do you track your reading and reviews and everything? What about your to-read list?I have a pretty good system--a notebook. The only problem is, it's almost full. If I write small, it should last through the end of the month, which would be really nice because not only does it give me time, but this particular reading journal started with May 2006, so if I can get to the end of April, it will be 3 complete years.
My system is, when you open it one way, it's my "have read" list. I write down the name of all the books I read. When I post the review, I put in a little check mark. This is how I ensure that I review everything I read. If you flip the book over and open it the other way, it's my to-read list and then I just cross off titles as I read them. Eventually, the two lists meet in the middle.Reasons that I love this notebook:
Unruled paper. Seriously, I do not like lines.
You can't tell which is the front and which is the back. The front and back covers are identical and there's no upper margin on the paper, because the paper is unlined.The size. It's only 5 x 3, which means it doesn't take up any room in my bag. I like doing this on paper instead of online (notice how I haven't touched GoodReads in months? Yeah.) I find titles I want to read everywhere and the book is handy for jotting them down. Also, I read everywhere, so I finish books everywhere. I get an abnormal amount of pleasure from adding them to the list as soon as I finish.
The spiral things are plastic so they don't get bent out of shape the fact it's spiral allows me to keep the book open when I'm doing housekeeping stuff for the blog.The reason I'm asking is... this notebook is discontinued. I can't find another Roll-a-bind book that's the same size with all blank pages. Yes, they make slightly bigger ones with "blank" pages, but there's this little bit at the top to label the page, which means it will be at the bottom when I flip the book over. (Yes, I'm anal. DUDE, I'm a LIBRARIAN. We put stuff in order for a living.)
The first 2 reasons (indistinguishable front and back, blank pages) are the most important qualities, which rules out my usual favorite, Moleskine. (The back cover has a pocket and is embossed. Even though they do come with blank pages.)
The spiral, while nice, isn't a deal breaker. I do want it to stay small, but I'm not stuck on the 5 x 3, but I will say, no bigger than 5 x 7.
I have a closet full of lined Moleskines left over from school that I know I will suck it up and use, but, what's your system?
The first picture is of one of the covers, my "have read" side. The second is of my "to read" side. The third is showing a page spread from the "have read" side, the last picture is a page spread of the "to read" side...
