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 5:34 pm
Once I have finished a book it is almost as if..ok well we can shelve that now. 🙂 Penny is sure a pretty gal!
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May 29, 2026 at 6:57 pm
I can’t remember details either. I read mostly to immerse myself in some other world for awhile, enjoy the ride, and then move on to the next. There’s not enough room in my brain for all that stuff.
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May 29, 2026 at 9:55 pm
Back in the day when I took the bus I read a lot and my mom and I used to order books from the library – we could each reserve a book for one week, so we put in a request for each of us to get them back to back. She’d read first so I knew just how much time I needed – if I took the book back, I had to go to the bottom of the list again. A big book was difficult to read in a week sometimes. I have never been able to read in bed or even on a couch curled up – I get too comfortable and fall asleep right away, no matter how good the book is.
Besides library books, my mom and I liked the same authors and visited Waldenbooks about four times a year. We had a running list of all the books we bought/read separated by author, so we didn’t duplicate buying them again – they reissue the book later with a different cover or a different publishing company and you end up buying it again. I can’t believe the cost of paperbacks now – kind of ridiculous. If I have a book with a lot of characters, sometimes I have to write down who’s who in the zoo to keep them straight and characters never have normal names half the time … maybe it’s me?
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May 30, 2026 at 1:11 am
My rule these days … if a book doesn’t grab me, really grab me, by the tenth page … dump it. I love libraries, and love their suggestions and “best read” etc. But as I get older, I’m opting to include things in my life that I WANT in my life, not the things or the books that others want in my life. Mediocre books, or less than mediocre, nope, don’t go there.
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May 30, 2026 at 6:00 am
Yes! I used to suffer until the end. Now I willingly don’t read to the end. Sometimes I get half way thru and stop, realizing, I really don’t care what happens.
Too many books, not enough time, why waste that time on mediocre ones?
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May 30, 2026 at 5:57 am
I’ve found that since I switched to an ereader I have even more trouble remembering what titles I have read, because I don’t see the book lying around the house for a week or so. That’s why I do use goodreads to keep track, so I don’t end up three chapters into a book and think… Hmm, this seems familiar.
I don’t remember much of what I’ve read the past few years. A few stick out in my brain, mostly because I learned something new about history.
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May 30, 2026 at 7:46 am
I started a “shelf” on Good Reads called “couldn’t be bothered to finish”. I agree with many folks commenting here that if a book doesn’t grab you why bother. In recent years I’ve been a Kindle reader for convenience, but also I’ve started exchanging books with friends. Some are memorable, some are not. I fall asleep reading a lot, but that’s okay. Helps settle the mind away from other thoughts and worries.
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May 30, 2026 at 8:04 am
I’ll join the consensus… the books I remember are the ones that grab my attention. The “good” books I might retain a hint of what they are about and let’s not talk about the ones I couldn’t finish. I use my Kindle for the books I read for entertainment, but I still buy a lot of books, mostly sci-fi and photography.
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May 30, 2026 at 12:10 pm
My problem is that I will randomly remember a small bit of a story but can’t remember what book it came from or anything else about it! But I still enjoy reading. We don’t even remember every moment in our lives so it doesn’t surprise me that we can’t remember every book we read.
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May 30, 2026 at 8:46 pm
I think it is a requisite for membership of the over-60 club! My memory has become rather non-existent, I’m afraid. Even if asked the title and author of the book I’m currently reading, I’ll go blank. I might be able to tell you what it is about at least. 😀
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June 1, 2026 at 9:34 pm
What a mug. . .
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June 2, 2026 at 2:51 pm
I usually can’t remember the titles of books I have just read. That is why I am on Goodreads- I look back and it will jog my memory. The plots or characters I remember are only the books that I truly loved, that really stay with me. I think if you read a lot that is just how it goes!
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