To Track Or Not To Track Reading
How complicated. I stopped some months ago and felt SO RELIEVED. But now I find myself doing it again. It feels different this time, but is it?
That was from a journal entry some months ago. What a tiresome loop I kept finding myself in. But I think I’ve finally found my way out.
I’m writing this article because I so often searched the internet for something like this and not many things came up. There are so many blog posts, articles, and videos on why you should or how to track your reading, but I just wanted to find some like-minded people who are sick of it. I wanted to quit and feel validated for doing so. I wanted fortitude to not go back to tracking my reading just because that’s what I see other readers doing online all the time.
Now there is another group of people that have a space in all of this. That is the group of people who, when asked if/how they track their reading, cock their head and say, “Huh?”. Or else they proudly proclaim, “Never have; never will.” I envy these people a bit. They sound so free. But I have tasted the sweet nectar of tracking, of knowing stats and being able to reference the list and see patterns. I’ve made a habit of it. And although I’ve started finding it more and more annoying, quitting completely was really hard.
I first started tracking the books I read in a composition notebook. I would only write down the title, author, and maybe the series number. I started because one time I accidentally borrowed a book from the library that I had already read before. That happened once, when I was probably 14 years old, and I’ve been stuck with this tracking demon on my back every since. There wasn’t even any monetary investment involved! Just time, and not even much. I returned it to the library after, like, 4 chapters of the uncannily familiar story.
When I started working in a bookstore when I was 18 years old, I learned of Goodreads. A bunch of the other booksellers were using it and they extolled its tools and benefits so I signed up too. I opened up my notebook and logged every single book online, even books I remembered from before my written list. I used it for a few years, but then I noticed I didn’t really like it. It was time-consuming – – finding the right edition, logging, tracking progress, making different “shelves” — and I constantly got caught up in adding books to my “to-read” shelf. Some days I spent more time on Goodreads than actually reading.
Also, the recommendations were crap. I wonder if algorithms will ever truly understand the vibes of books, which is how I like them — the common denominator is never as simple as just vampires or romance or any trope or genre. It’s more tone, style, adventure… I myself don’t even understand what enables me to get on with a book. Decades of tracking and I still don’t even know. So, like, what was the point?
I eventually deleted my Goodreads account. And then I signed up again and endeavored to re-log every single book I ever read. Then I changed my password to a crazy difficult one so I would stop logging on, but I still did. So then I deleted it again.
I also rewrote every title and author again into a new notebook, thinking paper and pen was the simple algorithm (and ad-free!) way to go. Then that notebook ran out of pages so I copied it all into a new, bigger notebook.
Then I learned of Story Graph. Ooh, they recommend books based on mood. It’s not owned by Amazon. There’s very little “feed”. Maybe this would be different. Oh, look at all the graphs and easy-to-see stats! And Reading Challenges to join or create. It was so enticing. I signed up, again transferring my back-log of books. It was on this website that I surpassed reading 1,000 books. What an accomplishment! Look at that! Maybe now, since I reached such a milestone, I could finally cease to track my reading.
Because I was tired of the hassle, the admin work. I was tired of dates and pages and did I finish or abandon it? and did that non-fiction artisanal piece or full-cast audio production even count as a book? and what about rereads? and do I even enjoy trying to complete these challenges? I longed for simpler times… If my 14-year-old self didn’t re-borrow that library book would I have ever stumbled onto this tumultuous path?
I enviously watched my husband read what he wants when he wants. And who knows if he remembers every book he’s ever read. Does it matter? As Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “I cannot remember the books I’ve read any more than the meals I have eaten; even so, they have made me.”
For a while, I stopped actively using Story Graph. I stopped updating, tracking, and logging. I I figured I could be free of the burden of updating, but still know it would be there if I ever wanted to reference it.
Until a podcast I listened to sent out a survey to their listeners filled with questions that could only be answered if one had tracked their reading for the past year. How many books? Most read genre? How many rereads? Et cetera. I wanted to participate! So I started tracking my reading again at the beginning of this calendar year so I could answer the survey questions at the end of the year (if the podcast still decided to do it). What a weak reason, right? Do I enjoy tormenting myself?
I think I only made it to May or June before I quit tracking again. Each time I stopped, I got a taste of freedom, and it was easier and easier to realize I preferred the times I wasn’t tracking. The simple truth is that I don’t want to track my reading. I just want to read. Or not. I think I’ve read a lot and I hope to continue reading lots for the rest of my life. I’ve rarely referenced my lists and have never again unwittingly re-borrowed or re-bought a book. If a book is important enough to me and recommendable to others, I will remember it. And if not? Well, there’s always something new to read.
I no longer own any of the notebooks with written book lists. I no longer have any dedicated accounts or use any websites to track my reading regularly. There are a few exceptions, I guess. Like when I participate in my library’s Reading Programs (I log books directly on the library’s website). Or how when I read on my Kobo, it automatically saves books I read in the order I read them (but again, I don’t really look back at it).
It’s been a few months since I’ve stopped tracking books or attempting reading challenges and it feels really great. Reading is as spontaneous, fun, and freeing for me as it was for the first 14 years of my life, ha.
Is anyone else out there also fed up with reading trackers and challenges? I’d love to read your thoughts in the comments section on this one.