For the last few years — and, I regret to say, only for the past few years — I’ve been keeping a record of the books I read, and I append a little “r” to the title if it’s one that I’ve read before. But lately I’ve begun to think that I need more categories. For instance, the other day I read E. C. Bentley’s delightful Trent’s Last Case, which I had read before — more than thirty years ago. I didn't remember anything about it except that the protagonist’s name was Trent. That’s a very different kind of re-reading that the experience I recently described of returning to books and finding them more impressive than I had originally found them to be. So I probably need more symbols: RF = I read this before but had forgotten it RU = I read this before but had underrated it RO = I read this before but had overrated it R? = Why in the world did I decide to read this again? Further suggestions welcome.
RR – Read before and worth reading again.
One of those life-long partners/ companions.
What about notations for how much of a book one has read? Or for read versus skimmed? Am I the only one who feels that a great deal of my book reading is difficult to describe because, having not read the entirety of a book, I can neither claim to have read it nor accurately report that I haven't?
I know what you mean, David. I remember last year reading *most* of a long novel but not being able to hang in there till the end. What does that count for?
RM–Read before, remembered it, but walked away with a completely different take this time.