Check out my updated header, where I’ve changed the photo to showcase my current collection of BoBs (Books of Books).

Please excuse a bit of self-indulgence as I share my journey of journaling books.

In May 1973, when we moved to Salem, Oregon, I started keeping track of the books I read, using an old steno pad. I quickly graduated to composition notebooks, finally settling on green stone paper notebooks in January 2020, which, while not particularly attractive, house wonderfully smooth writing paper. (I have a thing for smooth writing paper and pens, but that’s a post for another day — bet you can’t wait, eh?). It’s a task I have never regretted, and as soon as I close the cover of a book (or turn off my Kindle), I immediately add the title to the notebook, along with a Goodreads entry. I estimate that I have over 5,000 books noted in this collection of BoBs. It’s great fun to look back over what I’ve read and how my reading tastes have evolved, although upon reflection, they haven’t changed too much (looking at you, gothic novels), except by adding some new genres and topics.

It’s also amusing to see how much my handwriting has changed. Below is a photo of my first page in August 1973, and on the right is my current page. I am always surprised by how much I can remember just by seeing the book title, along with an occasional note about where I was while reading it (I still remember reading Flowers in the Attic on a beach in Lake Tahoe).

If you don’t keep track of your reading, start doing so; you will never regret it, and it’s a valuable tool for refreshing your memory on what you enjoyed over the years.

And taking a page from readers’ advisor extraordinaire, Joyce Saricks, I put them in the fireproof safe when we travel. One can’t be too careful with critical historical records.