“You can’t” Heraclitus said, “step into the same river twice.”The same also applies to reviewing books on Goodreads.I met my official pledge of 60 books “officially” a couple weeks back, but I had re-read two books already reviewed during the course of the previous month, so I’m actually up to 65 at the moment.Not that this is a contest.Well, it sorta is.But the one thing that keeps coming back to me is that my reviews of the same book change after a couple of years.In general I’m not a re-reader.There are lots of books I want to read for the first time, and there are few, historically, that I’ve gone back and read again.Right now, however, I’m working on a couple of books that require some going back and checking facts.Whenever you write “X does not” you need to make sure X doesn’t.
Reading is a self-rewarding enterprise.I’ve not stopped reading when I don’t post about books, but I’ve been reading bigger books.Despite my academic background and current job as an editor, I’m a slow reader.I always have been.I set my Goodreads goal based on the fact that without commuting I hope to read five books a month.I have to throw in some short ones to make such a goal, and I never count the children’s books (I read The Lorax several times this year) and I can’t count the books I read for work that haven’t yet been published.Nevertheless I keep making my Goodreads pledge—it gives me a goal I can attain—and in a life where meeting goals is becoming more difficult all the time, I appreciate those I enjoy reaching.Enjoy reading.
Goodreads is a community.Some of my friends there comment on my blog posts, which is really neat because almost nobody comments on my blog itself.It’s nice to have that little extra extension.I skim through the reviews that come to my email inbox every day.I like to know what others are reading and I get tips for future goals from the books my Goodreads’ buddies post.And now that November looms—and over its shoulder I can see December—I think of the Modern Mrs. Darcy’s reading challenge.I generally meet that goal by about September.Reading books is like meeting new friends.And some of them, unlike Heraclitus’ river, you can meet twice.