Record Books for Readers

"Book Books"

If you are like me you read a lot of books.

Sometimes it can get difficult to keep up with what you have read and what you haven't.

That's why years ago (1985 to be exact) I started recording all the books I read. I have a list of every novel I've read for the past 22 years.

BOOKS RECORD BOOK

When I finish a book I write the date, title, author and number of pages down in a notebook.

This "Book Record Book" comes in handy occasionally when I can't remember if I've read a certain title, but it is so much more than that. I find myself frequently just thumbing through the pages, remembering. Not only the books, but as you read the titles you can picture what you were doing at that time in your life. It's almost like a diary. "Read a lot this month. That's when we got snowed in." "Here's the books I read in the hospital waiting room as my nephew was being delivered." "Hey, here's the trip to Cancun!" "Not much these months...Oh yeah, divorce."

If you have children, this is a fun little exercise for them. I got Blake started on it as soon as he started reading. And I let him fill it out. His first book, "Pikachu, I Choose You" and his latest, "The Diary of Anne Frank", show him how far he has come. I think this is something he will treasure as he gets older.

This record book is easy. It's more of an "idea" than an actual list. In fact, I created it this morning for you. Blake's and mine are in nice books we bought at a stationary store (10 years apart.) The one I made for you is nice and you will enjoy using it to record your books. Instructions (such as they are) are below.

But the "meat" of the system is the...

AUTHORS' RECORD BOOK

If you are like me you read a lot of books.

Sometimes it can get difficult to keep up with what you have read and what you haven't. ;)

That's where the Author's Record Book comes in handy. Unlike the Books Record Book this one is made to record only those authors that you truly love. The ones that you have read so many books by that you can no longer remember what you have read and what you need to read.

Instead of recording the books by date, you record them by the author's name and the series they belong to (in any). There is even a way to record the books you have and those you still need. Then take the record book with you when you go to the Library, a book store or a book sale (it's especially good for book sales where you never know what you'll run across.)

This book is particularly useful for those authors who insist on naming all their books with a "theme" (John Sandford's "Prey" books or Sue Grafton's "Alphabet" series, for instance) or the authors who have multiple "series" going at the same time (VC Andrews and Donald E Westlake spring to mind.)

Instructions for use:

Book Book

It's pretty straight forward. Just fill in the blanks. The only question might be the date. I record the date I finish. That's also usually also the date I start the new book.

Author's Book (these are included with the download)

Put Together Instructions:

1. Print out the first two pages once -- to place in the front your binder. Then print out a few of the records page (20 is probably a good start.) You can print more as you need them.

3. Three hole punch them and place them into a binder.

4. (Optional) You can purchase ‘a-z’ tabs at an office supply store or follow the organization method in Usage Instructions #2 below.

Usage Instructions: 1. Fill out an Author’s name on a page. Write it on the line at the far right facing out. This will make it quick and easy to find as you flip thru the pages.

2. If you only have a handful of authors that you read so often that they need to be recorded in this book, tabs are probably unnecessary. Instead use the large circle to enter the first letter of the Author’s last name. This will make organizing and lookup easier. You be the judge of this.

3. Enter the books on the lines. We have provided 40 spots for books plus 2 areas for series. The series areas are to help you stay in order with the lives of your favorite characters.

4. The two boxes on each line are to record the status of your reading:

• Box #1 has an "o" in it. Mark this box if you own the book.

• Box #2 has an "r" in it. Mark this box when you’ve read the book (if you like.)

The purpose of the status boxes is so that you can record the titles of all of your author’s books before you own them (in order for the series) and see at a glance which ones you are lacking. I find this works much better than just recording the ones I have or have read. You can get the information from the fronts of their books or the internet.

Some authors will require more than one page because of the number of books they have written (Robert Heinlein, Lawrence Sanders) or the number or series they have going (Donald Westlake, VC Andrews.)

Here is the download link for the Everyday Complete Record Keeping System for Books.

Download - Book Record Book

Download - Author Record Book

(Right click > save target as)

To read or print the eBook you will need the Adobe Reader.
Download it for free here - Adobe Reader