As much as I love book blogging and have no desire to slow down anytime soon, there is one thing that annoys me. It is not exactly a huge problem and I think this falls under the category ‘First World Problems’ but it has been coming an increasing annoyance for me. I’m not talking about the lack of commenting (I know I’m guilty of this) or the struggle to be part of the crowd of first readers, who boost about all the wonderful ARC’s they read. I’m even not complaining about the lack of male book bloggers or the excess of blogs talking about the exact same thing, this is something completely different.
I started book blogging in April 2012 as a way to track my reading journal. I have an autodidactic blog where I previously discussed literature, but I found myself losing focus on what that blog was all about. I transferred most of my literary posts onto this blog and started blogging passionately about the books I’ve read, loved and hated. I love the way this blog documents my reading journey but the problem is the fact that it only covers my journey from 2012 onwards.
I started reading in 2009 when the reading bug hit me hard; in that time I read some fantastic books but they don’t show up on my blog. I’m at a point in blogging were I want to make reference to books I read before I started blogging but I have no post to link it to. This isn’t a huge problem but it is something that has become increasingly annoying.
I’m now at a stage in my book blogging where I want to go back and re-read a lot of those great or interesting books just so I can blog about them. This also means if I ever want to write a blog post on every book that is on the ‘1001 Books you must Read Before you Die’ list (a life goal of mine) then I will have to re-read over 50 of the books on the list. I was just wondering if I’m the only one who feels this way or if anyone has gone to the extreme of re-reading most of the books from their past just to blog about them?
I have read a few amazing classic books that I feel like reading just to blog about it. Like 1984 by George Orwell or No Longer Human by Osamu Dazai, but here’s the problem, what if you don’t actually, physically own those books anymore. DUN DUN DUN! I’m also a book blogger and when I started my blog, I read a bunch of amazing books over the summer that I didn’t blog about because I didn’t have the blog at that time. If that makes sense. Too many blogs in this paragraph.
I’m sure the library will have them. I hate that I don’t have a record of some of those books
I have been a bookaholic since…well, since I could first read. For me to go back and reread all those books before I started blogging 5 years ago would be impossible.
One way I’ve solved this problem in the past is by joining in Lisa’s Flashback Friday http://bookshelffantasies.com/2014/04/24/flashback-friday-self-help/
I also use events like an author readalong (Austen in August, Zoladdiction etc) to read a ‘new’ book by a favourite author, but reference the books I’ve previously read.
I enjoyed reading about how your blog has evolved too.
I think we all start off with one set of intentions, but end up somewhere different. If you’d like to read about my journey you can click on the link http://bronasbooks.blogspot.com.au/2012/06/book-blogger-confessions.html
Another blogger friend (Louise from A Strong Belief in Wicker) is also working her way through a 1001 books to read before you die project, but she keeps getting sidetracked by Paris!
I guess what I’m saying is that there are ways around your first world dilemma but the journey is half the fun 🙂
I think rereading the great ones and then doing something like flashback friday will cover the other not as great books.
Sometimes i desperately want to blog about books I read before i was a blogger, but the truth of the matter is TIME. I don’t have enough of it. Either I can go back and reread and then write or I can move forward with new books. And the second choice is the one I’ve made, but you have raised an interesting problem.
It’s a frustration problem. some of the books need to be reread but I don’t have time either
A couple of years ago I finally started listening to audio books. Listening to a novel you already love is a nice way to revisit the story, and even get a bit of a new perspective.
I think audio books are great, they have helped me through some hard books and gives me reading time at work
I think much of what you write about in this post is what many of us suffer from: obsession. Don’t give in to that little voice that tells you you need to have your blogging life all complete, and consistent, and symmetrical. I tend to be the same way, but realized life was too short to try and tidy things up as it were. In 1994 I started keeping a log of books I finished. Goodreads has made me want to reconstruct all the reading I did in the years prior to 1994, but after I did a bit of that, the mental messiness of not remembering everything made me abandon that. Then I started blogging about books in 2009 and faced some of the dilemmas you write about here, but, at age 44, felt like I didn’t have reading time to waste on making things “complete”.
I guess I’m lucky that I only started reading recently. I have every book added since I started in 2009, I did start written a line or two about the books as well so I have a pretty good record. I don’t feel like I need to reread or review all the books I haven’t blogged about but would be nice to add some of them. I know it is obsessive but as far as obsessions go, it is a good one to have. If anything I would only have a few hundred books I would have to reread, if I weed out the average and overrated then I would only have a small amount to reread.
You could simply journal what you remember of those favorite books. You don’t necessarily have to reread them all. There’s richness in simply reflecting on what stayed with you, and why. 🙂
That is a great idea, I might have to try that for the books that don’t plan to reread