Jen at Crazy for Books restarted her weekly Book Blogger Hop to help book bloggers connect with one another, but then couldn't continue, so she handed the hosting responsibilities off to Ramblings of a Coffee Addicted Writer. The only requirements to participate in the Hop are to write and link a post answering the weekly question and then visit other blogs that are also participating to see if you like their blog and would like to follow them.
This week Billy asks: Do you take notes about the book you are reading as you read?
The answer is usually yes, but it really depends on the kind of book I am reading. For novels or novellas, I will make some notes as I go, often to keep track of characters and places, especially ones that have names that look similar to other characters and places. Sometimes I will make notes on themes or recurring motifs in a story, but I only do this rarely, as my experience has been that you usually can't really begin to break down a novel until you've finished it.
On the other hand, I take extensive notes when I am reading collections and anthologies. Actually, that's not quite accurate. Really, what I do is write the review of the book as I read it. As I finish each work of short fiction in a compilation like that, I write a review of the story before moving on to the next one. When I finish the entire book, I have an assortment of reviews that I can stitch together into a cohesive whole.
Previous Book Blogger Hop: 18 People at a Round Table Can Shake Hands With Each Other in Non-Crossing Ways in 280 Different Ways
Subsequent Book Blogger Hop: 282 Is the Smallest Multidigit Palindrome Sandwiched Between Two Twin Primes
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Wow, I honestly assumed that everyone would say that they did not take notes as they read. I will say that it must make book reviews a lot easier if you take enough notes that your review basically writes itself when you're done. I might have to give it a try. Great post.
ReplyDelete@Kimberlee Powe: I've only ever taken notes when I am reading short fiction anthologies or collections. I've never tried it when I was reading a novel, but maybe I should.
DeleteFor me, taking notes is way too distracting.
ReplyDelete@Billy B.: I only do it when I am reading short fiction, mostly because it saves me from having to go back and double check that I have connected the right review language to the correct short work within the collection or anthology I am reviewing.
Delete