I started keeping track of the books I’ve read at the beginning of 1979. At first I used a simple 3 x 5 card file. In 1993 when my books database outgrew the largest file box I could find, I transferred it to Microsoft Access. The software has had a couple of upgrades since then, but the database design—a flat table along with some forms and queries—has remained essentially unchanged. This morning the database reached a milestone when I entered book number 1500.
One thousand five hundred books over a 31-year period works out to about four books a month. But the figure is a bit misleading because for the first 10 years or so I averaged only about one book a month. It wasn’t until 1997 that I read more than a book a week for a whole year. Since I retired in 2002 my reading has increased, and I currently read between 90 and 100 books a year. While my totals are nothing to compare with those of Larry McMurtry, who detailed his reading life in the appropriately titled Books: A Memoir, they do mean that I spend a fair amount of time looking for books to read.
I use a variety of sources to find books: recommendations, book reviews, Amazon.com, the library’s new book shelves, and trips to the bookstore. But my database, which now has more than 650 authors, is often my best source. I give each author a rating and record the title and copyright date for each book. Then, for my favorite authors, it’s simple enough to search online for any of their books I might have missed. My database helped me identify a couple of William G. Tapply mysteries featuring Boston lawyer Brady Coyne that I hadn’t read.
In addition to recording basic information like author, title, number of pages, copyright date, date read, and whether the book is fiction or nonfiction, I also write a comment about the book. Often, for less memorable books, the comment is more help in remembering a particular book than the combination of its author, title, and the date I read it. For example, in May I read She Was by Janis Hallowell, the fictional story of a respected woman dentist in Denver whose past as a Vietnam-era bomber catches up with her. Not a bad read, but now, some 40 books later, taking the extra step to write a comment is the only reason I can tell you much about it.
So what is book number 1500? It’s Greg Palmer’s memoir, Cheese Deluxe, about growing up on Mercer Island in Washington state. The focus is on his senior year of high school in 1965, when he worked as a cook at the Samoa Drive-In. I hadn’t read anything by Palmer and didn’t know that he is fairly well known for his PBS documentaries. But generally I like memoirs and will read just about anything with a local setting. So when I found out about the book, I got it at the Kitsap Regional Library and it ended up as number 1500. It will take a few years, but the next goal is to reach 2000.
Fun Facts:
- Fiction/Nonfiction split: 1117/383
- Most books read in one year: 103 (tie: 2003, 2004)
- Fewest books read in one year: 6 (1986)
- Pages read: 464,055
- Book number 1000: Skinny Dip by Carl Hiaasen
- Frequently read authors: Larry McMurtry (30 books), Bill Pronzini (29), J. A. Jance (28), William G. Tapply (26), Earl Emerson (23), Mary Daheim (23), John Grisham (22), Stuart Woods (22), Michael Connelly (20), Sue Grafton (20), Robert K. Tanenbaum (20)
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