How to Keep a Book Diary or Index
Reader's Companions, Organizers, Lists, and Annotated Calendars
Starting a book diary and sticking with it can add considerable zest and substance to your reading life.
A Book Lover's Diary: The Reader's Companion was published by Firefly Books. It's one of those tactily pleasing books, smooth and caress-able. It has lush, ivory-colored paper and you might be embarrassed to come at it with your Bic or your yellow #2 Eberhard Faber pencil. It almost demands a decent quality writing implement, maybe even a fountain pen if you give in and let this project have its way with you.
There is a section to list what you have read, of course, along with any pithy comments you might have. And a section to list everything you want to read someday - newspaper clippings or scraps of paper with notes can be inserted. There's a section that lists books you want to actually own as opposed to books you only want to read.
Another section keeps track of books you have loaned out so you can rein them back in if you are so inclined. One part is called "Books to Remember", where you can list your favorites or, as the editor suggests, books you might take to that desert island we will all be stranded on someday.
So theoretically, one title could wind up with multiple entries if it started out on your to-read list, migrated to your books-read list, got loaned to your neighbor and wound up being your favorite book of all time. Not to mention the fact that you might have read it in your Book Group - there's a section for that too.
Booknotes: The Booklover's Organizer, edited by Marilyn McDonald, is a good one or run out to your local office supply store, pick up a solid little notebook from the sale table and do your own organizing and list construction.
The point is that the process of keeping one of these diaries can really enrich your reading experience. You'll find yourself leafing through it often, usually whenever you make a new entry, and what you have read in the past stays fresh in your mind.
As your diary fills up with the minutiae of your reading life, you'll want to work on that lifetime reading plan readily available right there on page 18. Or you'll want to read something else by that author you discovered on your vacation in Maine last year. It's all accessible; ust don't write anything you wouldn't want your mother to read.
