Read, Remember, Recommend: A Reading Journal for Book Lovers

This is where I gush like a frickin' waterfall and demand that you pick up this book immediately if not sooner! Forgive my text-speak here but OMG! Where has this book been all my life?! I have purchased and read several "books-about-books" references in the past: 1001 Books to Read Before You Die, Book Lust, The Complete Idiot's Guide to the Ultimate Reading List (all of which are excellent,) but Rachelle Rogers Knight's Read, Remember, Recommend stands out from the crowd.

From well-known awards lists such as Pulitzer and Man Book Prize winners, to lesser known awards such as Indies Choice and Dublin Award winners, Read, Remember, Recommend gives readers almost 150 pages of award winners and books that have made various "notable" lists show more - something for everyone. To the right of each listed book, the author has given the reader space to catalog books owned, recommended, to-be-read, and to-be-purchased.

Read, Remember, Recommend allows the reader to be insanely organized. The remaining pages of the journal are devoted to your to-read, recommendations, loaned books, and journal pages to record the books you read along with dates and page numbers. My only gripe is that there are not enough actual journal pages for the prolific reader. What is given in the book is really just a beginning point for journaling: 47 places for books to be read, 97 places to list books read with dates and page numbers, 67 places to "journal" about books read, 48 places to list books you recommend to others, 32 places to list books loaned and 32 places to list borrowed books - it may sound like a lot, but you could fill these pretty quickly if you're a serious reader.

One of the best features of Read, Remember, Recommend is the "References and Resources" section in the back of the book. Knight has organized 25 pages of web addresses for all manner of literary prizes and awards, as well as online book club sites, book exchange sites, social networking sites for readers, and - my FAVORITE - book blogs! I am thrilled to tell you that many of my favorite book blogs are listed in the literary blogs or lighter book-related blogs section. My blog is not listed, but I can forgive that because this book is FANTASTIC!

Rachelle Rogers Knight's Read, Remember, Recommend is the absolute best journal for readers! The copious checklists and reading suggestions are a book-lover's dream and the literary resources listed in the back of the book are exhaustive and thorough. Bibliomaniacs interested in chronicling their adventures in reading will fall in love with Read, Remember, Recommend! show less

Billed as the ultimate organizing resource for book lovers, Read, Remember, Recommend gives readers one spiral-bound place to keep track of their reading. According to most of the people who've ever worked with me, "organized" is my middle name, so when a publicist for Sourcebooks asked me if I'd like a copy to read and review, I couldn't say no. (Most organized people seldom turn down opportunities to fine-tune their skills.)

When I received the book, the very first thing I did was get in my comfy chair with the book and a pen and start turning the pages. There are six tabbed sections in the book:

1. Awards and Notable Lists
2. To Read
3. Journal Pages
4. Recommendations
5. Loaner Lists
6. Resources

The largest section by far is Awards show more and Notable Lists. This section is invaluable for anyone who loves to read the winners of any major prize in the English-speaking world. I tend to avoid prize winners, yet I'm always interested to see how many of them have slipped through my radar. Each prize is listed by year, with 2010 and 2011 blank so this journal has room to grow. Author and book title are next followed by columns for Own, Recommend, To Read, and Want. I found those columns to be of the "glass half full" variety. There were several books that I read but didn't own and wouldn't recommend to anyone, yet there was no column for me to record any of that.

The second tabbed section, To Read, was much too slim for any sort of rabid reader: ten pages with space for six entries... or sixty books. My wish list at Paperback Swap has 200 books that I want to read, and my reminder list there holds over 300 additional entries. I don't think I've had as few as sixty books I've wanted to read since I was six.

The Journal Pages section could be very useful; however, I read well over 150 books in a year, so this section would be too small for me as well. If you're starting to get the distinct impression that I have reservations about this book, you would be correct. It would be perfectly fine for anyone who reads a dozen or so books per year, but for the dedicated, serious reader, it's just too small. A three-ring binder format would be much better, especially for sections like Journal Pages and To Read.

The Recommendations section would help me keep track of where I learned about certain books, but it, too, was small. I think it would be for many book bloggers.

The Loaner Lists section could come in handy for those who loan out their books. I don't, since I had someone borrow books that were near and dear to me and then subsequently lose them. If you have things like that happen to you and you're passionate about books, you soon learn not to loan them out.

The last section of the book, Resources, is a gold mine. There are URLs for all the book awards, a section listing URLs for book blogs (and almost all book bloggers are going to recognize many of those listed), bookstore blogs, social networking sites for readers, book exchange sites, and book clubs. Not sure of a literary term? Look it up in the glossary in back. Of all the sections in this book, Resources is of the most use to me.

I think Read, Remember, Recommend is an excellent resource for people who enjoy reading and would like a bit of guidance in order for them to read more. For anyone who is a dedicated, voracious reader, the book may be of some use, but several of the tabbed sections are just too small. I would also wonder if the format is the best for voracious readers and bloggers, among whom I count myself. So much of the tracking and recording of my personal reading is done on my computer. I really can't see myself picking up a book to do this when I have spreadsheets and other forms already at my fingertips.

Be that as it may, this idea is spreading. There is already an edition for teens, and editions are in the works for Mystery Lovers, Romance Lovers, Nonfiction Lovers and Kids. What interested me the most was this: "Watch for ebook versions of both journals--track your reading from your computer, iphone, or electronic reader." Now that really interests me! show less

Read, Remember, Recommend by Rachelle Rogers Knight is an excellent organizing journal for passionate readers, but maybe not for book bloggers. As an avid reader with a to-read list in the hundreds, there are not enough pages in this book to house all of my reading wants and needs. An online version of this book may have been a better product, allowing readers to continuously add pages to their loaner and recommendation lists. . . but then wouldn't we call it Good Reads or LibraryThing?

The explanations on how to use the journal at the beginning seemed unnecessary, but could be helpful for a reader who has never kept track of their reading.

However, what is really useful in this journal are the lists -- lists of Pulitzer Prize winners, show more National Book Award winners, and more. There's room to add new book award winners, but again there should be more spaces attributed to this.

The loaner pages and recommendation pages are essential to any reader interested in lending their books to friends, family, and neighbors or recommending specific books to the other readers in their lives. It seems that these sections are thinner than the others, and depending on how many books a reader owns and loans out or recommends, these blank pages should be photocopied before they are filled up.

for more visit www.savvyverseandwit.com show less

Why would you buy this book when you have LlibraryThing which far excedes any catalog system available? Because I just couldn't resist a book about books. I like "The New York Public LibraryLiterature Companion" because it not only lists books but it also lists authors and gives a summary of many of the titles. I did love the computer references at the back, however.

I just love this book. It has so much information on awesome authors and all of the awards that have been given over the years to current. I also follow their website. You can find this book at just about any book store. [b:Read, Remember, Recommend|2051375|Read, Remember, Recommend (A Reading Journal for Book Lovers)|Rachelle Rogers Knight|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1197062018s/2051375.jpg|2755625]

excerpt from detailed review here: http://angeltyuan.blogspot.com/2010/04/review-read-remember-recommend-for.html

A very organized, detailed and pretty checklist+journal for award-winning and "notable" young adult book recommendations. I definitely recommend this journal for people who like reading challenges, collecting/recording reading recommendations, and/or would like to read some good books published in the past that they may not have heard of. Though it doesn't have the limitless storage capacity of the internet, it could be a great companion on laptop-less holiday trips too.