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Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Do You Take Notes? - Time to Review it!


As you may have noticed, there hasn't been a lot of reviews posted here at Falling Off The Shelf.  I'm not too happy about this, but I haven't had the time with trying to read all the books that have been barreling through my mailbox!

I've finally (should have started a long time ago!) started to take notes when reading a book, so when it comes time to doing my reviews, I remember more about the book.
This was a really hectic week, with 4 traveling tour books arriving, with just a week to send them each away, so taking notes was a super idea!

Do you take notes, or just write your reviews right after you finish the book?

11 comments:

Laina said...

I take notes. It helps make my reviews clearer, more thought out, and helps me remember things that I think during reading that I may not remember later, when I go to write my review.

Also once in a while they get kinda weird and crack me up XD

James Garcia Jr said...

So far, I haven't been taking notes. I'm still new to this reviewing business, however. I do believe that I will become more disciplined and begin taking them as I review more often.
Thanks for posting.

LibraryGirl said...

I really try to get a book review posted within a day or two of finishing the book and before I start the next book so I haven't been taking notes. There have been some books where I've taken a break in reading because of a change in life schedule and those ones I really wish I had taken notes because I'd forgotten parts of the book already by the time I got back to reading it.

Missy said...

I actually keep a book journal. For each novel, I do a chapter outline (basically one or two sentences summarizing each chapter), specific quotes that I may really like (including page number), and any other comments/notes I may be thinking of at the time. After that, I use the next page in the journal to put down author information, including other works by the author. People call me anal about it, but it's helped me to go back to specific places in the book if I ever need a reference. =)

Jenni @ Falling Off The Shelf said...

Thanks for responding everyone! So far I have seen that's it is helping me. I haven't thought to write quotes or even a chapter outline like you Missy, but that's a really good idea! Your not anal, just...thorough, lol.

Julie@My5monkeys said...

I do notes to..its great to help me focus my thoughts on the book and my feelings.

Donna (Bites) said...

I don't take notes but I don't review books right away, either. It's usually a few days, upwards of a week, before I review a book. My memory's good for remember the parts of the book I wanted to talk about, though so usually I'm not struggling with my reviews that way.

Tea said...

I don't take notes. I feel the most important and significant points of the story will stick with me. Besides, some parts I purposely leave out. I want the reader to find surprises and not spoilers as he or she reads the book. I'm sure you have a better plan.

Samantha LeAnne said...

When I first started blogging, I didn't take notes. I would write the review as soon as I finished the book, but the more I started doing tours and needing to send books out on a time limit, I started sticking a post it to the front of the book and jot things down as I go, whether it be character names, plot points, quotes, etc. It helps a lot! Especially in keeping my stories straight!

Heather R. Holden said...

I almost always take notes--it helps keeps my thoughts together, especially when I slack off from reviewing after reading! I especially like to use post-it notes to mark certain pages/scenes I feel need to be highlighted in a review, whether the reason is good or bad!

Betty: Reflections with Coffee said...

A post-it stuck inside the book is a good idea. I don't care for reviews that give away too many details or surprises or those that re-tell the story. Main issue: did you like it or not, and why?