Back in 1994 when I was working in a bookstore, I bought one of these fancy Mudlark journals (I wonder if the company still exists?) that we carried. It's lined and spiral bound and came with an elastic band that wrapped around the right side keeping the journal closed, which I wore out and finally had to discard. It's not quite full, but I'm getting there. Every so often I like to look through and see what I was reading a few years ago. In some cases the list will bring back fond memories, and in others I can't quite remember what the book was about and have to look it up and read the description. It's a pretty bare-bones journal. The year starts each section and I only take note of the date I finished a book, title and author. Now I wish I had written something about each one, but I was too lazy to do that, and now this blog serves that purpose. I would share what I was reading ten years ago, but the list for November is far too embarrassing. Needless to say my tastes have changed drastically (and for the better I'm sure). Actually I think it was just that particular month (or, well, pockets here and there throughout the year...), as otherwise the books are pretty varied, but I'm still not going to share it. I don't mind going back five years, though.
In 2003 I read 53 books, roughly one a week. A quick glance and it looks like I didn't read a single classic, only a few nonfiction titles and a few more mysteries and the rest novels. That fall I was reading:
Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith by Jon Krakauer
Auntie Mame: An Irreverant Escapade by Patrick Dennis (I still remember this one as a fun lark of a book)
Murderers Prefer Blondes, Amanda Matetsky (a fun mystery series set in 1950s NYC)
Moon Tide: A Novel, Dawn Clifton Tripp (I wish she would write more)
The Da Vinci Code, Dan Brown (okay, okay, yes, I admit it, I did read this--it was entertaining at the time, what can I say)
The Secret Life of Bees, Sue Monk Kidd
Something Dangerous, Penny Vincenzi (the second book in the Spoils of Time trilogy--I loved these books)
Not All Tarts Are Apple, Pip Granger
The Fox's Walk, Annabel Davis-Goff (I wish she would write another book, too)
The Olive Season: Amour, A New Life and Olives, Too, Carol Drinkwater (she's written sequels to this--I've read one, and always mean to read the others...)
Butterfield 8, John O'Hara (very dark, this one. I suppose it could be considered a classic)
A World of Love, Elizabeth Bowen (I read this one? I have read a few of Bowen's novels, but I don't recall this one. How sad is that)
I try to write something here about most of the books I finish, which I notice helps set them more firmly in my memory. And if all else fails I can go back and look at an entry and remind myself just what I thought of a book. It's fun looking back, and sometimes I even want to pull a book out to reread it, but there is the occasional book I'd rather not own up having read! Do you keep a journal? Have your reading choices changed over time, and are there a few books you'd rather not tell people you've read?