The Finished Books Tag

I grabbed this tag from Destiny! If you’re not following Destiny yet, you should fix that ASAP, because she’s a wonderful soul, has amazing blog posts, loves spooky goodness, and I feel so honored I get to call her my friend! 💜

🍁 Do you keep a list of the books you have read? 🍁

Yes and no. I do have my ‘read’ shelf on my GoodReads, but that’s the only place. I also try to do monthly wrap ups, here on my blog, but as I mentioned in my August 2020 Wrap Up, I’ve been a ghost with them since early spring of 2020. So the best way to see what all I’m reading or have read is to check out my ‘read’ shelf.

🍁 If you record statistics, what statistics do you record? 🍁

I know so many friends and fellow readers who use spread sheets and graphs, but I’m not one of them. It’s embarrassing to say I’m not on that bandwagon… yet. The only thing I keep track of is where I get my books from. So I have this constellation notebook with categories like NetGalley, Indie book stores, friends & family, etc… I like to know where my funds are being put into and then I usually determine if I need a “buying ban” or if I need to shift my funds towards more Indie book stores or kindle editions of books.

I know a lot of fellow readers tend to use Brock’s spread sheets and graphs. So I wanted make sure I linked his video for you to check out. Also, check out his channel in general! He has some really great content and I especially loved his ‘The Joy of Little Free Libraries‘!

🍁 Do you give star ratings for books, and if so, what do you score books out of? How do you come about this score? 🍁

I do rate books! I usually rate them out of five stars. Even though I do think many of the books I read have a half star, I usually take extra time to round up that half star to a full star. Not just for the GoodReads rating system (because why would they give us the one thing that makes sense in a rating system), but for my own benefit of when I feel indecisive on how I truly feel about that particular book. For example, if I have a book that’s 2.5 stars, I’ll take extra time to sit on if I had a positive or negative reading experience with that book. This usually leads me to reexamine my notes and reexamine my thoughts. I hope this all makes sense!

As for how I come to my scores, let me just show you all what my GoodReads bio and what my review policy should also reflect:

My rating system:
★★★★★ This book stole my soul
★★★★☆ I really loved this book!
★★★☆☆ This book was enjoyable
★★☆☆☆ I didn’t like this book, but enjoyed/appreciated some aspects
★☆☆☆☆ This book was not for me

🍁 Do you review books? 🍁

I try to. There is a small handful of books I haven’t had a chance to review, which could be from a plethora of reasons. However, I do try to make reviews a top priority especially if it’s an arc.

🍁 Where do you put your finished books? 🍁

I always prioritize arcs over anything else. So those have their own individual stack (if they’re physical arcs) that’s always next to my laptop. Unless they’re e-arcs, then I usually have calendar reminders of which e-arcs need to be written up. This leads to having multiple tabs open on my laptop. However, for books that have already been released, they have their own stack and section. I’m currently working on getting baskets so I can keep them more organized. Once I have those baskets, they’ll officially have a new home and won’t take up space in other spots around my reading area.

🍁 Do you have any other rituals for when you have finished a book? 🍁

I do! I usually immediately mark the book/s as ‘read’ on GoodReads and then add content/trigger warnings with my ‘full review coming soon!’ comment. I also mark off that book from my tbr list. I keep a hand-written copy of my tbr on a sticky note and then I’ll check mark it off. I’ll also start a draft of a review for my blog and then mark on my large calendar when I want to have the review posted by.

I tag anyone who wants to!

Okay, friends! I hope you enjoyed this little tag! Make sure you go follow Destiny and check out Brock’s content! Until next time, I hope your reading five star reads, I love you! 🧡