How you guys track your reading?

[Penelope]

As to bookmarks, when we get a large consignment of books at the second hand bookstore where I work, we frequently (yes, frequently) find money having been used as book marks. Very often old foreign currency of European countries which now use the Euro, so we find, deutschmarks, pesetos, lire, francs, etc. Once we found an old English five pound note, a big white one.

However, I didn't come here to talk about bookmarks today, because today, I have been into our bookroom to shelve the books we received as Christmas gifts, so I have needed to make room for them by boxing up ones we no longer want, to take to the shop. We do refer to this room as a library sometimes because all the walls, except the one with the bay window, are lined with bookshelves. Whilst I was thus occupied, I began to think about this interesting thread. How do I categorise our own books, in our own private little library?

Well, I noticed that all of the creative ones are together although I haven't consciously/deliberately shelved them that way so one case is full of cookery books, needwork and crafts, art technique books, you know, How to Paint in oils or watercolour, how to draw with charcoals etc...and gardening and folklore and herbals and dowsing and Buddhism and spirituality......all creative crafts you see.

I tend to keep books, especially novels, only if I have particularly enjoyed them, and I am by no means a literary snob. So, whilst we have a couple of full sets of Charles Dickens, I also have a large collection of his grand-daughter, Monica Dickens, because I love her writing and also a large collection of Catherine Cookson, who is decried as 'not literature' but I love her work. Now I have them on shelves close together because I think they would all get along very well. I have a collection of the works of Carlos Castenada whom I place alongside Lobsang Rampa as they would get along together very well I feel......but.......I just cannot bear to put my collection of Richard Dawkins on the same shelf with them. They just wouldn't get on at all......so, Richard Dawkins' books go with the playwrite Alan Bennett - no connection as to subject....but I feel that both are on the same intellectual level and would like one another and get along famously.

I realise, of course, that this is a rather eccentric way of shelving my books, but it is my library and if I want to use the 'chummy' system as opposed to the dewey system, I may do so, and, you know, it does have a lovely peaceful atmosphere in there.

ps - I do have a Kindle Fire with lots of books downloaded, but I find that if I am reading it in bed and I fall asleep, it falls and hits me on the nose and makes me jump, so I read paperbacks in bed. I use the Kindle mostly to play 'find the object games' with my little four year old grandaughter, Roxana. We both love it for that.......

[heledd]

Penelope, that is so funny. I never thought of that! You made my day. I'm an absolute heathen, I'm afraid, and discard the books once I've read them, unless they are academic ones. For bookmarks, I either just dig ear the page od find some paper which always turns out tobe some notes I really need, so lots of frantic searching through various books. And horror of horrors, if I have a really thick paperback, like Joyce's Ulyssees, I have been known to tear it into a more suitable size for my handbag. My Kindle app is a godsend. Not just for me, but for the people of my poor African village, who now have a library because people in the West are discarding their books

[Penelope]

Heledd, I think you love books for the correct reason, their content. I love books for their own sake - I love the look, smell and feel of them. I particularly love illustrated volumes. I don't think it matters that you disect thick books into more manageable sectors, because paperbacks are inclined to loosen and fall to bits anyway. I like paperbacks, as I said, they are easier on the nose. I loved Dan Brown's bestsellers, The Da Vinci Code and Angels and Demons which I read in paperback but I loved the content so much that I now have them both in illustrated hardback editions. Very frowned upon by the literati, but I think they are the best thing since sliced bread.

Now Ulysees by Joyce might as well have been in Chinese...because I couldn't understand it. I couldn't bear to continue with 'Fifty Shades of Grey' as I just didn't like and wasn't interested in the characters so I only read two chapters or so. But I have ones that I loved reading so much and when I see them on my shelf, I get a warm glow of remembrance, like 'Mr God, This is Anna', and 'The Dice Man' and 'Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance', The Grapes of Wrath, Martin Chuzzlewit, Forever Amber, The Magus by John Fowles, Oranges are not the Only Fruit, A Clockwork Orange....... What a silly mixed up lot of fiction. They are all books that I've read and which have changed me, in that after reading I never quite feel the same again.....But they can't possibly all share the same shelf, their authors would never see eye to eye. So I know where they are but it would be a mystery to anyone else, except perhaps my husband, who seems to be able to follow my reasoning...... if he thinks about it.

[Suzanne]

I have been using the same bookmark for at least 15 years, a cheep paper bookmark from the Philadelphia Museum of Art. I think it cost me 50 cents. I had it laminated after it suffered a bend or two. It is priceless to me and have spent more than 50 cents worth of time and anxiety looking for it when I have misplaced it. The image on the bookmark is not important anymore, it is the memory of the wonderful day with my family when I bought it.

I just went through all my books. What an undertaking! I am happy to have many book loving friends so I had my own free book sale. My friends were welcome to take what they wanted and the rest went to the library. Best friends served first of course.

My rule of thumb, if I read it, it goes. If I read it and loved it, it stays. My mother left me with thousands of books. It took me years, years! to give away and manage these books. I have promised myself I would not do the same to my kids. So when I look at all my book shelves now, I see old friends and I see unread, unexplored potential excitement!

I also buy used books and enjoy finding little tidbits inside them. I find a lot of cards and inscriptions inside used books. These make me a little sad. "Congratulations on your graduation", or "Happy 80th Birthday". Did the recipient not like the book and just give it away, did the recipient die before reading it? Grocery lists are also found in used books, you can tell a lot about a person from their grocery list. I like the thought of holding and reading a book that was once in the hands of someone else.

[VMLM]

My rule of thumb, if I read it, it goes. If I read it and loved it, it stays.

Paradoxically, I tend to follow the exact opposite rule of thumb... If I read it, it stays. If I read it and love it, it goes. The reason for this is that if I've really enjoyed a book, I can't help but recommend it to others, and this inevitably leads to me lending my own copy out to somebody.... and if there's one thing you can be sure never to get back once you've lent it, it's a good book. But I don't really mind, since I like the idea of my books being out in the world somewhere, with people who enjoy them. Of course, I always make sure I can trust the person I'm "lending" the book to actually read it, and I try to get them to pass it on afterwards. In the rare cases where some honest soul actually brings back a book, I just tell them to pass it on to someone else.... As a result, most of the books I have here making a clutter aren't my favorite books, they're the ones I can't seem to get other people to take off my hands.
This is probably another reason why I prefer digital books. I can lend my books without losing them now...

I like the thought of holding and reading a book that was once in the hands of someone else.

Here in Lima, where I live, there's a place downtown where you can buy any used book you can imagine. Back before I had my kindle I used to go there all the time because it was the easiest and cheapest way to get books. Once I found a copy of Proust's Swann's Way... which for me was a cause for celebration because I couldn't find this book ANYWHERE in the city.
Anyway, on the first blank page of the book I found this inscription:

"Es imposible comprobar que determinado camino es correcto.
Solo es posible, en ocasiones, probar que un camino alterno es incorecto.
Con frecuencia es sumamente dificil probar que una alternativa es imposible."

which translates to:

It is impossible to confirm that a given path is the right one.
It is only possible, sometimes, to confirm that an alternate path is incorrect.
Frequently it is extremely difficult to confirm that an alternative is impossible.

The message struck me as extremely profound at the time, and I wondered at who it was that put it there and why. The handwriting is a neat and relaxed, flowing cursive; so I like to imagine it was a woman who wrote it. And it sounds technical.. like something out of a textbook... but who writes something out of a textbook in swann's way? Was it a moment of lucidity? A note she forgot? Did it have special meaning? Maybe a cryptic dedication meant for the recipient of a present?

This sort of thing used to happen a lot (finding stuff written in books), but most books had maybe some unintelligible, intermittently lucid notes hurriedly scrawled somewhere, or a bunch of underlines. One or two had dedications written at the beginning. But only this one stuck with me. Sadly I gave that book away a long time ago...

Penelope: I have to say I like your system .

heledd: How could you possibly rip up a copy of Ulysses?. I shudder at the idea. I get squeamish when I open up a paper back for the first time because I know I'm creasing the spine.. I couldn't bring myself to rip up a book just for easy transport.

[Penelope]

VMLM: You're in Peru!!!! How amazing!!

Is that inscription in Portugese? I know you say Spanish is your mother tongue, but it doesn't look like Spanish to me....

It is impossible to confirm that a given path is the right one.
It is only possible, sometimes, to confirm that an alternate path is incorrect.
Frequently it is extremely difficult to confirm that an alternative is impossible.

It reminds me of what my mother told me when I became engaged to my husband:-

If you marry the right man you will never know
but, if you marry the wrong man you will know straight away.

I am at present reading a translation of the teachings of Gautama Bhudda. Well, it is like a Bible which I keep by my bedside and read a bit every night before I sleep. At the moment, I am reading about the 'path' to enlightenment and the right attitude to the path which is not desiring enlightenment with your ego, because the ego is an illusion and doesn't exist. It is quite a difficult concept to grasp and so your timely quote is quite helpful. Thankyou.

[VMLM]

VMLM: You're in Peru!!!! How amazing!!

Is that inscription in Portugese? I know you say Spanish is your mother tongue, but it doesn't look like Spanish to me....

Nope, that's definitely Spanish, Penelope. I don't actually speak Portuguese .

Peru is a great place to visit, I encourage anybody with a taste for adventure and good food to come over and visit.

I haven't read Buddha's teachings... I keep relegating it to some unforetold future time when I have nothing to do and nothing to study... I don't want to use it as a night-cap or a form of relaxation because it strikes me as one of those books you have to get down and study, and think about to appreciate....

[Penelope]

VMLM - I haven't read Buddha's teachings... I keep relegating it to some unforetold future time

When the right time comes you will find and read them. I can only assimilate the lessons in small babysteps - but I think they percolate through my brain whilst I sleep.

[youkrst]

awesome!

http://www.buddhanet.net/e-learning/history/b_lotus.htm

i'm partial to the blue lotus, bon apetite.

[IanCCat]

Hi Booktalk, *waves*
Personally, when not reading for work I use ereaders a lot at the moment. I do have a variety of favorite bookmarks though, that have changed over the years. Nostalgic letters, cards, that kind of thing.

Ian @ CollectibleCat.com
The Open Catalog of Collectible Books