I’ve been part of Goodreads for many years. I bet I’d be surprised at how many years it is. Maybe I should go and check just what year I posted the first review. One moment please…
It looks like I’ve been writing reviews on books I’ve read since 2008. The stats say I’ve read 740 books, though I know that’s not completely true. There are times when I’m reading that I don’t go into Goodreads when I’m finished. Sometimes I just move on to the next book.
But I’ve been realizing, lately, that I remember very few of the books I’ve read. Even books I’ve read recently. My blog has a side bar that shows parts of my reviews on recently read books. I don’t know how it got there, and I don’t think it posts every book, though I’m not sure.
What I am sure of is that I don’t remember the plots or characters of 99% of the books listed there, even though I read them last month. Sometimes even if I go back in and read my review I still don’t remember it. Usually if I keep researching the book I’ll begin to get some memories, but I don’t often go to that extent.
I wonder if this is a function of my brain, or a function of mediocre books. There are a few I remember, but very few. I just finished another one that took me longer than it should have to finish and that I know I won’t remember in a couple weeks.
How many of you have this problem? And is it really a problem? Does it matter if I don’t remember them once I finish? Have you ever read a book and realized, near the end, that you’ve read it before? Or gone to Goodreads after you completed it to write a review and find you had one there already from a couple years ago? And that your opinion of the books was unchanged?
I used to say reading was one of my favorite hobbies, now I’m lucky if I don’t fall asleep while reading. In fact this morning I dropped the book as I fell asleep, while reading the last pages of the last chapter.
Imagine that.
Pictures of Pen just because. And because she’s an anti-reading dog. She’d rather I play with her, or better yet feed her than hang out with a book.
Change Is Hard 
May 29, 2026 at 2:21 pm
l think I read 3 or 4 books a week, maybe more sometimes. My reading is all on Kindle, because then if I doze off, it remembers where I was. And, Amazon will tell me if I’ve already gotten a book, because I never remember titles – of books or songs. Yes, I’ve read a book and realized at the end of it that I did read it before. I have Goodreads, but I never review a book, so not sure if it keeps track for me or not. And, no, I do not remember much about any book very long after I finish it. Does it matter to me? No, because for me the enjoyment in reading is the process. I will say my choice in books has gone very much to lighter reading in the past couple of years – I feel like I’m on the edge of my seat far too often with our “government”, and no longer want a book to do that to me.
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May 29, 2026 at 2:48 pm
Sometimes I will have a niggling doubt about a book – a friend lent me two books, one of which, while the cover wasn’t familiar, as soon as I read the first page, I was sure. Before Goodreads, I had a book where I wrote the titles, authors and a brief description of the books I had read. Yep… there it was in black and beige… 🙂
I am impressed by those who remember so many details of a book. I’m lucky if I remember the gist and almost always forget how it ends! I’m not stressing over it. I tell myself I enjoyed it whilst I read it and so it goes.
NEXT!
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May 29, 2026 at 2:51 pm
When I look at the list of books I’ve read in recent months, I generally remember something about them, though occasionally there is a title that pulls nothing at all from my memory, other than “I enjoyed it” or “I wouldn’t recommend that one. When the book made enough of an impression that I reviewed it on my blog or even wrote a few sentences about it there, I am more apt to remember it.
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May 29, 2026 at 3:04 pm
That last picture of Penny is adorable.
As for remembering what I read… it all depends. If the book is very light—and sometimes I need that—then, no, I often don’t remember. However, most of what I read is not very light. I like books that explore the human psyche and illuminate me.Those books I tend to remember. I follow some excellent book blogs and podcasts that give me terrific recommendations. Also, I keep a book diary and jot a few lines describing every book I read. It gives me great pleasure to look back on what I have read. But I have to admit that occasionally a title or an author will elude me. 😉
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May 29, 2026 at 3:06 pm
I have been keeping a list–by year and month–of every book I read for several years now. But darn if I didn’t recently read a book that I had just read last year and did not ring any bells with me. Okay, maybe one part I remembered reading, but the rest of the book–not a thing. And I liked the book, too. But no. I read a book and it is gone from my mind.
No, it is not a problem. We have had to think about so much for so many people for so long that I think our brains said, “Enough! You don’t need to remember everything!” Just remember to give Penny a treat for that adorable picture of her.
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May 29, 2026 at 3:09 pm
Me, too! I almost never remember books I’ve read. I’d like to think that’s because I’ve absorbed them and don’t need titles anymore. But one thing I do that helps is I use Apple Books because when I own the books I can copy and save excerpts and easily review some choice pieces. Some books have extensive notes that I review somewhat regularly. One of my longtime favorites is “Their Eyes Were Watching God” by Zora Neale Hurston. The turns of phrases she used is so unique and fun. (Yes, I know the title is supposed to be underlined, but my iPad is resistant to that today.)
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May 29, 2026 at 3:09 pm
Me, too! I almost never remember books I’ve read. I’d like to think that’s because I’ve absorbed them and don’t need titles anymore. But one thing I do that helps is I use Apple Books because when I own the books I can copy and save excerpts and easily review some choice pieces. Some books have extensive notes that I review somewhat regularly. One of my longtime favorites is “Their Eyes Were Watching God” by Zora Neale Hurston. The turns of phrases she used is so unique and fun. (Yes, I know the title is supposed to be underlined, but my iPad is resistant to that today.)
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