Did I really read that?

Yesterday I spent some time reorganizing some of my bookstuff. I keep a notebook of xeroxed book covers of books that I've read but for some reason did not keep (uninteresting, library books, etc.). I came across a page for "The Unbearable Lightness of Being." I have absolutely no memory of reading that book. I was really surprised at myself. Does this happen to anyone else?

Just yesterday, when browsing another LT member's bookshelf, I came across The Day After Tomorrow by Alan Folsom and thought the cover looked familiar. I wound up reading three different summaries of the book, all of which sounded familiar, while pondering if I had read it (it all sounded familiar, but yet so distant). Eventually, something jogged my memory that not only had a I read this book about a decade (or more) ago, but that I thought it a very, very good book.

I was afraid it was just me!

I was going through some back entries of LJ awhile ago and found this whole discussion about Neverwhere and how boring I thought it was - apparently I thought it was so boring, I completely forgot I read it.

A little different.

I've been convinced for 30 years that I read Jane Eyre. Even while reading The Eyre Affair, I had no doubt.

Recently there was a release of a Classic Comic Jane Eyre, and it occurred to me that that's what I read so many years ago (over and over, as a matter of fact) We had a whole set of these in the '70's, but I have never read the book.

sad...

Oh man, way too many times! Especially searching around here on LT, I'll come across a book that I'll just be *sure* I read, I recognize the plot and everything... And then looking deeper I'll realize that it's just a book I've seen a lot at the bookstore, or one my mom had but I never read.

My mom had a whole box full of Classics Illustrated - but she kept them hidden, and wouldn't let me read them. She was afraid I wouldn't read the originals.

I'm with you. I have found books and when I started reading them realized that I already did.

I was talking with a patron the other day about a book that I recommended. He said he had started it and then he realized that he had already read it. He then told me that he was reading a 300 page book once

Oops. A little misplacement of the fingers while typing will cause the enter key to respond before one finishes typing. Anyway, the patron got to page 280 before he realized he had already read it. Ouch!

I just finished reading Pillars of the Earth again, but hadn't read since it was originally released (almost 20 yrs ago??)....I distinctly remember reading it, and have always told everyone how much I liked it, but BOY....did I NOT remember a lot. Really glad I re-read.

In fact, one of the things I've really started doing since joining LT is re-reading, or considering re-reading books from before. I used to take the attitude "why should I read it again if I've already read it", but now I realize there's so much in any good book, that one nevers gets the first time. It's like saying "I love ginger ice-cream, so since I've already eaten a full bowl, I shouldn't have any more. NOT". So yes,IWW, we all have those moments...let's just celebrate them by reading the book again.

I knew my son would be reading The Great Gatsby this semester and was sure that I had also read it in HS but couldn’t remember much about it. So I checked a copy out of the library and did some speed reading and concluded that nope, never mind, never read it. A week later I was chatting on the phone with my sister who was visiting our Mom for the weekend. She mentioned that she had found and was reading a book of mine from HS, all nicely annotated by me and it was, of course, The Great Gatsby.

Same thing happened to my sister. I found her college copy of The Iliad noted and highlighted When I told her about it she was surprised, she didn't remember
reading it. When I showed it to her she still didn't remember reading it. Still it sure was fun for us to see what she had written and to go back in time. I guess that is why I don't mind writing in my books.

I used to sell on really bad books to my local second- hand bookshop. But the problem with books that you just skim through is that they don't stick in the memory, & I regularly used to end up buying them back a couple of years later when they were more battered but just as unreadable.

Sometimes I confuse movies and the books they stem from. I will be certain that I've read a certain book but when I delve deeper it is the movie I saw and I haven't read the book at all.

#11, 12, I think this happens because in school, especially in college, we have to rush through the books so very quickly. I know that most of my literature classes had me reading at least one or two books a week. With everything else going on in my coursework, I have only vague memories of most of them.

Since I started listing my books on LT, I realized that I don't remember anything at all about 15-20% of the books I know I have read. Some of them are on my list to re-read and some of them are probably not worth re-reading.

Most of the book that I read, I remember a majority of what happened. Usually I re-read them just to make sure I didn't miss anything unless I find that the book is not worth my time. Either way, I retain most of the information from all of the books that I read.

Sorta different, but anyone who sees my catalogue can see I'm a Nancy Drew fan. Bigtime. And I've read soooo many of them that sometimes the plots get mixed up in my mind. There are a lot of ND's that are similar to each other plot-wise, especially across series (ones from the newer Girl Detective that are similar to older Mystery Stories), and I can't even count the number of times it's confused me. I've added books to my catalogue that I could've *sworn* I'd read, the plot sounded so familiar!! Then, going through other ND books, I realize it was actually a different one I'd read.