kitewithfish (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
kitewithfish) wrote2021-12-29 07:44 pm
kitewithfish) wrote2021-12-29 07:44 pm
Entry tags:
Reading Thoughts
(A computer crash ate the last attempt to put this all down and that is something I am trying to avoid this time!)
So, I have been thinking about doing a reading notebook this year - I kind of want to be a bit more deliberate about writing down what I have read, and what I thought about it.
I fell down a rabbit hole last night on Youtube, watching videos made by bullet journal influencers (a thing that exists!) about their own book journals and the elaborate art projects and data collection that they are planning on using to set lofty goals for their reading in the new year. Bullet journalling seems to have turned into art journals in the last few years, as far as I can tell? There is watercolors and scrapbooking and lots and lots of washi tape. I last checked in to the bullet journal system in about January of 2020 bc I did want to be a little more thoughtful about things, and I've modified it enough that it's hardly like the minimalist lists that were part of the initial structure. It is quite useful to have some mechanisms to check out what you're working on and if it's working out for you.
That said, I have some clear thoughts about what I do NOT want in a reading journal:
- Annuality - I am not making a reading journal for 2022, I am just setting up a journal to write down what I am reading and how I think about it, it will not turn over in 2023 automatically.
-Star based rating systems - I might use one as a joke, but I think they are a bit dumb.
-Goals - I am not trying to hit 50 books or whatever. I might count things up at the end of the year, I might not, it hardly matters. I have Storygraph for stats if I really want them.
Things I do want:
-A Ravelry-like vibe - On Ravelry, you're working on your version of a project, with your needles and yarn, and while I see lots of people's other projects based on a similar pattern, it's not about a competition or making the socks for an audience. It's for me to wear them. The reading journal is for me, an aide memoire.
-A way to track publishing - I am going to count fic over 50K as a book, so fic v. self published v. traditional publishing is something I want to track.
-A To Be Read section - I keep buying books and forgetting to read them or getting distracted. I want some structure there to keep hold of things.
-Books are entered as they are started - I want to record what books I start and don't finish or set aside. Those are also interesting.
-Short book reviews - maybe a few sentences, very simple and breezy, about books that I do finish and want to talk about.
-genre - some way of tracking that
There is a part of me that is honestly just as interested in writing up all the media I enjoy in a similar way - not just which books I have read, but which movies and tv series and when I watched them and what I think of them. That seems like it might be a big goal to enter into all at once, tho, so I am going to put a hold on that for now.
So, I have been thinking about doing a reading notebook this year - I kind of want to be a bit more deliberate about writing down what I have read, and what I thought about it.
I fell down a rabbit hole last night on Youtube, watching videos made by bullet journal influencers (a thing that exists!) about their own book journals and the elaborate art projects and data collection that they are planning on using to set lofty goals for their reading in the new year. Bullet journalling seems to have turned into art journals in the last few years, as far as I can tell? There is watercolors and scrapbooking and lots and lots of washi tape. I last checked in to the bullet journal system in about January of 2020 bc I did want to be a little more thoughtful about things, and I've modified it enough that it's hardly like the minimalist lists that were part of the initial structure. It is quite useful to have some mechanisms to check out what you're working on and if it's working out for you.
That said, I have some clear thoughts about what I do NOT want in a reading journal:
- Annuality - I am not making a reading journal for 2022, I am just setting up a journal to write down what I am reading and how I think about it, it will not turn over in 2023 automatically.
-Star based rating systems - I might use one as a joke, but I think they are a bit dumb.
-Goals - I am not trying to hit 50 books or whatever. I might count things up at the end of the year, I might not, it hardly matters. I have Storygraph for stats if I really want them.
Things I do want:
-A Ravelry-like vibe - On Ravelry, you're working on your version of a project, with your needles and yarn, and while I see lots of people's other projects based on a similar pattern, it's not about a competition or making the socks for an audience. It's for me to wear them. The reading journal is for me, an aide memoire.
-A way to track publishing - I am going to count fic over 50K as a book, so fic v. self published v. traditional publishing is something I want to track.
-A To Be Read section - I keep buying books and forgetting to read them or getting distracted. I want some structure there to keep hold of things.
-Books are entered as they are started - I want to record what books I start and don't finish or set aside. Those are also interesting.
-Short book reviews - maybe a few sentences, very simple and breezy, about books that I do finish and want to talk about.
-genre - some way of tracking that
There is a part of me that is honestly just as interested in writing up all the media I enjoy in a similar way - not just which books I have read, but which movies and tv series and when I watched them and what I think of them. That seems like it might be a big goal to enter into all at once, tho, so I am going to put a hold on that for now.