In April 2000 I began tracking what I read. I started with a little Mead 3x5 spiral notebook, much like one of these:
In it, I simply noted the date/day, title, author and genre. Mind
you, this was before Goodreads was even a thought [that I'm aware of]
and reviews tended to be either word of mouth or by professionals in a
newspaper. I wasn't reviewing but simply recording what I'd read, so
that I wouldn't spend "precious" reading time reading the same thing
over by mistake. That had happened several times in Bible School. As my
mortality was now within my gaze (I did a lot of growing up during those
3 years], I realized that I didn't have time to accidentally re-read
books, and this was before the plague of indie dreck inundated the
reading world. It was also a natural outgrowth of my journaling every
day during those 3 years.
In 2004-5, blogging hit my social group and we all began our own
blogs and for about a year it was an explosion of words. Things began to
wind down and I thought about how else I might make use of blogger. It
was also at this point that my notebook began falling apart and I
realized I needed to replace it. The thought of writing it all down,
AGAIN, was not a nice prospect. So I decided to start typing it, at
least that way it would stay online.
In 2007 I joined Goodreads but didn't really start utilizing it until
2009. Even then, I never made more than a literal handful of friends
and I think it stayed in the single digits. However, in '13, with the
free speech ban, I left GR. I came to booklikes, along with a lot of
other people and made my home.
And let's be honest. In the 2 1/2 years that I've been there, I've
dealt with and dealt out, more drama than in the last 13 1/2 years.
People I've insulted, people insulting me. Some on purpose, some by
accident. Seeing people come, seeing people go.
Making friends. Making a LOT of friends. For those who are
introverted, you know what I mean. Of course, with the uncertainty of
recent times at Booklikes and with Leafmarks shutting down, I've
been wondering if I'd have to move again.
Thankfully, that won't be the case as long as Booklikes stays open. I
am starting to backup my reviews using a separate Calibre Library
filled with empty books, so I'll be able to back them up and not have to
worry about losing them online.
So to wrap up this little maudlin interlude, a lot has changed in 16
years and a lot has stayed the same. And please ignore me as I go up and
down here at Booklikes. I review the books I read, everything else,
well, I guess that is part of being human.
This
review is written with a GPL 3.0 license and the rights contained
therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to
copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions.
Crossposted at Bookstooge.booklikes.blogspot. wordpress.com &
Bookstooge's Reviews on the Road Facebook Group by Bookstooge's Exalted
Permission.
