After finishing my book yesterday, I faithfully logged the title and author into my old Record Book, which lists books I have read since 1964 when I started keeping track of my reading. When I first started, I used index cards and filed them in a little wooden card box. In 1968, I met a friend who was very influential at that point in my life. He kept a Record Book listing all the books he had read–entering only the title, author, and year read. He always used a black ballpoint pen and his handwritten entries were small and neat. So I bought myself a small black and red Record Book, and began my list by going back through my cards. 1964 was the beginning, although the list for that year is incomplete. (I had started keeping track mid-year and didn’t try to remember what I had been reading BEFORE that time.)

So yesterday, when I finished reading Frederick Manfred: A Daughter Remembers, I added it to the list in my old record book. Then I went to the computer and added it to my fancy Excel spreadsheet list of books I’ve read. That’s the list that can tell me instantly how many books I’ve read since 1964, how many mysteries I’ve read, or which author I’ve reread the most times. I love it, but I won’t stop logging my reads into my old Record Book!