How do you remember the books you have read?

I have been inspired by this thread to begin keep a list of the books I have read and will start today ( better late than never). I also reread old favourites for comfort these include Wuthering Heights and the Helen Forrester books about her early life in Liverpool with her family. Also like ' a tree grows in Brooklyn' and 'What Katy did' some of the books I read as a teenager I have recently reread and haven't been able to finish as found them a bit silly and frothy I must have been full of romance and fanciful ideas.

I bought a friend a book from Amazon called'The books I have read'. I thought at the time what an excellent idea it was and that I would buy one for myself. I haven't bought one so I just try to remember.

I frequently get half way through a book before realising that it's familiar, but I have such a bad memory I can never remember the ending so it doesn't matter.

The same thing happens with films.

I think too that, if you read a lot and tend towards a particular genre, the same plots tend to recur.

There are some brilliant books (non-fiction) about women explorers. I wish now that I had kept records of them.
When we lived in Gateshead the library there had a big selection and I read lots of them. Mostly from the 19C and before.

Yes, there are! Now that I belong to a book club, I too wish I could remember what they are. One was about a Peruvian highly-born woman whose husband disappeared and she led an expedition into the jungle to find him. It took her 20 years! She started out with all sorts of amazing luggage and 20 bearers, but one by one they died or disappeared.

Perhaps more intrepid traveller than explorer ? but Freya Stark wrote a number of books on her travels.

Yes, those were good.

Yes, maybe travellers .
Isabella Bird was one, she went nearly all over the world.
And there was another woman who travelled among the arab tribes in the Middle East and shacked up with a sheikh..

Tricia and anyone else interested...After reading your post about Isabella Bird I visited Amazon UK to find out more and they have some of her books as free download Kindle editions.

Women's diaries of the Westward Journey is one of the most inspiring books I have read.
It is the story of the women who made the journey in the 19th Century from the American Midwest, to Nevada and California.

I bought it in a bookshop in Oregon in 1983 and was delighted to find it's still available. A good antidote to feeling sorry for yourself!

I just remember them, I love books very much so now if I get a library book I like I order a copy from amazon to keep. I read and re read all my books. My most favourite ever was 'Black Beauty' by Anna Sewell, as a child and as an adult, 'Lark Rise to Candleford' by Flora Thompson as well as 'Cider with Rosie' by Laurie Lee and many others.
I live in a fantasy world where I can escape with my books.

Oh jane thank you for the book recommendation. I have just bought it and I'm so looking forward to reading it. My, 5x Great Grandmother, newly widowed, set off for a new life leaving England for America with her son in 1855. I have often wondered what life was like for her in America at that time.

I have books all over the house and am in the ridiculous position of doubling up on a couple. I realized that when I was trying to find something I fancied to read and thought I'm sure I have just seen that - and guess what!! It is age I think.

I never had toys as a child ( honestly!) just books, mainly bought by an aunt. I remember prior to one Christmas, she put a box in my room with strict instructions for me not to peep. I was eight at the time and could barely contain myself. When finally opened it revealed a treasure trove of books - Little Women, Good Wives, Little Men, Jo's Boys, Black Beauty. And something completely different - The Diary Of A Nobody! Reading has been a lifelong pleasure. I am currently re-reading Graham Greene's Travels With My Aunt.

Ethel You have said exactly what I feel about escaping into another world when reading.

Fortunately I passed my love of reading onto my DS who after sampling a number of creative jobs, moved onto writing for children which he has done for the last 7 years. Job done.

Enjoying this thread. What a happy Christmas louisamay.

I too love this thread as I am introduced to books I would never have come across.

Louisamay my father did the same thing . A box of Everyman classics which I still have including Cranford and the Bronte s and Jane Austen . All secondhand and appalled my mother as she felt it most unsuitable. Kitty all you need is a notebook and pen by your reading stack and as the book is finished or started you add it.. We start getting free diaries at this time of the year and rather than throw them out I use them for my book list .

A dear late friend of mine gave me a lovely notebook, her last gift to me, so when I write down details of my latest book I think of her.

Janeainsworth. Inspired by you I have just ordered Women's Diaries of The Western Journey from Amazon and it's on it's way, apparently.
Can thoroughly recommend Dervla Murphy and Eric Newby (A Short Walk In The Hindu Kush) travel books. Intrepid travellers in the 1970's and 80's. Riveting writing. I still have all their books and can't bear to part with them.

Thanks Penguin for checking on Amazon - it's amazing what books are still available, especially cheap second hand -(I don't have a Kindle).
Another intrepid traveller was Mary Kingsley - she went to the wilds of West Africa and died there of some awful disease. Others mentioned on here:
blog.coxandkings.com/ms-adventure-fearless-female-explorers-from-the-19th-century/

Anyone interested in the experiences of pioneer families travelling west across America would find the story of the Donner Party a gripping read. I got a copy of a book about them from eBay as DS1 and family live not far from the place where they hit trouble. DH and I both read the book before we went last year and visited Donner Lake and the museum.

Although from a loving and caring family books did not feature on their radar. I was always chided for 'having my nose stuck in a book' not because anyone was being unkind they just couldn't understand how anyone would choose to read out of choice. Thank goodness for public libraries. My DH is also an avid reader but my 2 DSs have little interest. So imagine my joy that my DGS loves to read books and is a prolific reader - long may it continue.

I've read all Margaret Drabble's books many times over. She writes so well that even on a second reading you discover another side of the plot or a depth that you missed before. I can usually tell on the first page whether I've read a book before and get annoyed when I have bought it for a second time on amazon and not been able to open the book. Now you can even on line, but not always.
I make a list of authors before I go to England on a visit and write the date of the author's last book I read. But now flying is restricted to one suitcase and cabin luggage and I can't buy books anymore at the airport.
When we go by car I take lot with me for the charity shop. I no longer keep a book which I know I won't read again. I maybe down-sizing soon.