utter randomonium

WG 2009-40 is about the tools of the trade (of book blogging, that is). What keeps me organized and inspired? To be perfectly honest, there isn’t a whole lot of organization involved in my reading life. When I finish my current book, provided I don’t have anything time sensitive on the agenda (such as an ARC to review or a bookring to pass along), I just look at the shelf and see what I feel like reading next. The finished book is either put back on the shelf (which is extremely rare), or placed in a canvas totebag for sharing at the next BC in DC meeting. If no one at the meet shows any interest, it ends up in a box in my car for wild release. That’s about it.

Oh wait, I take that back. I did recently get organized with respect to my literary listening habits. My audiobooks come (almost) exclusively from the library. Though the collection in the county-wide system is excellent, I’ve discovered that my local branch is pretty flighty when it comes to organizing their audio collection: the children’s and fiction audiobooks are shelved in their own separate sections, while the young adult and nonfiction audiobooks are shelved with the regular books. The books are routinely mis-shelved, and the catalog is the furthest from reality I’ve ever witnessed in a library. In addition, the last two books I returned were reshelved without being listed as returned in the system, meaning if I hadn’t noticed it I would have been charged late fees on books I’d already brought back.

Eventually I got sick of dealing with it and decided to abuse the hold system instead. I created a list of audiobooks I’d like to listen to and when I start a new one, I put the next one in the list on hold. No fruitless browsing, no irritation at trying to find a book that’s not there.

Inspiration is never a problem. I love to read, to the point where I feel naked if I don’t have at least one book on the go (usually two, if you count audiobooks). When I’m done, I post a review on my blog. I accept that sometimes I don’t have much to say.

As for keeping track of books I’ve read, I record them on Listography, Lists of Bests, and my BookCrossing bookshelf. My reviews, however, I keep stored at GoodReads because it’s reasonably easy to navigate. I’ve recently discovered that not all the books I’ve reviewed have ended up as blog posts, but I think that was before I discovered the joys of scheduled posting.

And that’s about it. I guess in the end I don’t really consider myself a book blogger. Book reviews just happen to comprise the vast majority of my blog posts. :)