Forgotten books

Two a week??

I have found that as one ages, authors and title names do not stick in my memory. Those I read years ago I remember, only a few days ago I had an example. A friend had been to Guernsey and I asked her if she had read ‘ The Book of Ebenezer le Plage’ a fascinating book telling tge life of an islander written in a sort of patois but very understandable and interesting. I First read it in the 1970s so of course it is long out of print but I this morning I received a second hand copy for just £4 , I am thrilled to bits. I seldom read books more than once, they have to be really memorable. I did re read Edna O’Brian’s ‘Country Girls’, a cracking good read, not long ago.

My library fortunately tells me if I have read a book and very often of four chosen, two I have already read!

Yes, same for me - but not for much loved books, usually classics, which seem to get better with re-reading. So I can sit in the dentist's chair and mentally go away and 're-read' the whole of Pride and Prejudice , which makes the dentist experience so much easier. Jane Austen never lets me down, and I have several times re-read Jane Eyer too, and enjoyed it each time. On the other hand when I re-read Wuthering Heights I could not understand why I'd liked it the first time! Melodrama to me. If you like Jane Austen I do recommend you also try Elizabeth Gaskell. She is not the same of course, but she writes brilliantly, and is more aware of the social context of her characters. Many people have enjoyed her book Cranford, but not read any of her other books. I recommend Wives and Daughters and North and South, if you have not read her before. Some of her other books had a big social impact in the past (as did Dickens) but can make painful reading. So start with one of the ones I suggest here - very readable and engaging.

Oh, what a relief! I’m far from alone!

I fortunately rarely forget which books I’ve read (I’m sure it will come) although I can be hazy on the content of some.

I do, however, loathe when a book has different titles in the UK and US, as I’ve been caught out a few times - I’ve learned to quickly scan the plot b fore buying now.

That's the advantage of me having a Kindle. When our book club says 'let's read so and so' , it reminds me I already have it in my library and have read it. It causes lots of hilarity in the club.
Glad it's not just me.
I think keeping a note book could also be a very good idea.

There are loads of apps that let you scan the barcode or enter the ISBN of books, so you can keep a list as you, and also add all those from your bookshelves. The good thing about apps is you can then carry your list everywhere, and check before you buy ot borrow a book.

I do remember some of the classics I read as a young woman. I've enjoyed rereading some of them in my older age. Currently I'm revisiting 1984 by George Orwell. It's terrific, but nothing like what I remembered from before!

As Aveline said, such a relief to know it's not just me 😊

How great to know it’s not just me who really enjoys reading a book but then can’t remember much about it to tell anyone. Was surprised to learn recently that my 45 year old daughter is the same.

I had this problem, I've started keeping a notebook with the name of the book and a synopsis to jog my memory

I use BookBuddy app -free. You can add books, review for your own information and note any you may loan out. Great.

Now I have a Kindle, it kindly tells me if I’ve already got the book I’m looking at in my library.

I don’t have a clue what most of the books I’ve read are about, I tend to read very light fiction, and the plots of romantic books are often very similar. If I suddenly remember the plot when I’m halfway through a detective novel, I stop reading it.

I am the same, but this means that I can read books that I know I enjoyed before without remembering too much about the plot. I have read the Dorothy Dunnett series’, Lymond and oh what is his name? Over and over again.

Amazon not smaxin……am having a mare with predictive text lol

That should say Amazon not Amazon lol, flippin predictive text !

I use Good reads and U can log all the books I ve read on there, also Smaxin still telly ou if you try to order a book again that you ve ordered previously

Milest0ne

At our library when the books are checked out , the screen shows up when a book has been already been borrowed

That’s a good idea!

When I asked the librarian the name of a book I’d borrowed about a month ago, he told me that the system had been changed/upgraded and the archives were lost. So unhelpful 😡

I worked in a public library, and we used to be very irritated by one person in particular, who would put her large black biro straggly initials on the pages.

i read at least two books a week, sometimes more as my disability has me in the loo every 15 min during the night, i have about 300 books on my kindle, i don't read books more than once and if i start a book and get to about chapter 4/5 and can't get into the story i give up, i do remember the stories but can never remember the name of the book...lol

At our library when the books are checked out , the screen shows up when a book has been already been borrowed

I'm not recommending this but my late mum used to spend most of her time reading and had the same problem so she started writing her initials in pencil at the back of the books she was taking back to the library so she could always check whether she'd already read them. Saved her going home for the wknd and finding all 4 new books had already been read.

I read lots of books that I can’t remember after I have finished it, but one I still remember I read about 60 years ago was called Sleep in the Woods. Set in New Zealand I believe and main character called Rose. Not sure why I remember this book after all this time, there must have been something about it

I was just thinking the same thing. I’ve nearly finished reading ‘The Bastard of Istanbul’ which to me seems a very entwined story and is only now becoming clear to me. I’m going to re read it

It is better to read rubbish than not to read at all and it depends on what you consider to be rubbish doesn't it.