I have a Word doc in which I note titles and authors of all books I hear about that I might like to read. I find titles everywhere--here, in newspaper book reviews, in bibliographies and footnotes of books I am reading etc etc. Usually, I get a book from the library first to see if I want to buy it. I have to do that as I have books in almost every room and no more space! I know many of you can relate to that.

I write them down on little slips of paper...like you, I go read excerpts & reviews. I cross them off if I'm uninterested, and then put the list in my purse in the book pocket (it's more of a bag than a purse). Those I really want, I list on my amazon wishlist.

I have two lists - books to review, either online or at the library, and books to buy. The first are titles I gather from book forums and reading buddies and book reviews like NYT and New Yorker. I keep a notebook with me, and will jot down the title, author and a few choice words to help me remember why I was interested in it. I then either browse them at the bookstore or check them out from the library.

The second list is for books I already know I must have. I buy as I can afford it (sometimes waiting till paperback). I also keep a wish list on Amazon, which my family and friends know about and have used, bless 'em.

karalk, like you, I rarely buy a book that I end up not liking. And like you, I rarely pay full price - I either go to bookfinder, or a chain where I can get a decent discount.

Karalk, I do pretty much the same as you. Except I have put Notepad in my Links toolbar. A habit I got into because is was less burdensome to open on my older computer than Word.

I'm also a fan of The Diane Rehm Show on NPR and she usually interviews a novelist in the last hour of her show. That's how I discovered Neal Stephenson, a current favorite writer, in a round-about way. Her archives are all on-line and can be downloaded as podcasts or listened to with Real Player or Windows Media. Kathy Reichs is on with every new book, for example. Margaret Atwood was on last year. Most every talked about book gets talked about on her show. She even has her own book club.

ye gods - how organized you lot are!

If I see a book I particularly fancy (normally here on RP) I do one of two things - I either think "I must remember that" and promptly forget it the minute I leave the house, or I go straight to Amazon, eBay or ABE and order it.

Lists? Notes in purses? Sheeesh!

It's not as if I don't have enough to read anyway on my TBR bookshelf; if I started noting down books and getting all the ones that appealed to me, I wouldn't be able to afford a holiday this year...!

I seldom buy books, hardbacks are really expensive in the UK and paperbacks are increasing produced on poor quality paper with very small print.
If I read of a book, sometimes here at RP, but more usually from the book sections of the w/end papers or the excellent book programmes on BBC radio, I make a note of it on the back of an envelope and take it to the mobile library.
The librarian blanches, fills in various forms and sometimes I get the books I order several weeks/months later. Often they are brand new copies.
Once I have read a book I would never go out and buy it.
BTW non-American women use their purses for carrying small change/notes. Anything bigger is called a handbag.
Most English men don't carry purses, although I did know a Welsh man who owned one. It was joked about by fellow-workers that it only contained moths.

I am a list maker. I have a 5 x 7 spiral bound notebook that is labeled, "Recommendations from RP - and other sources" which is kept next to the computer screen. I am a bit old-fashioned in that I like to use a pen. Instead of printing out a copy every time I add a title, the notebook pops into my HANDBAG (thank you veer) whenever I am headed for a bookshop or book sale.

But a sidenote.. perhaps my tastes are eccentric, or odd, or simply not quite mainstream, but yesterday in Barnes and Noble, I spent three hours with open notebook and found exactly ONE of the books I was in the mood to read. The others, stuff like Evelyn Waugh's "Scoop", were just not in stock. The one I did find? Graham Greene's "The End of the Affair".

PAM

Chris - that NPR site looks fascinating! I'll be very busy now, going through the archives. Thanks!

I use Librarything.com

Here is a link that might be useful: Librarything

I have a book list in Word that I keep open when I'm online. I regularly download the file to my PDA so I always have it with me when I'm at a bookstore or the library. I also keep my list of books read in an Excel file on my PDA and update it regularly.

I tried to do a computer list, but it was always more trouble than it was worth. Just as easy to write it on paper. And using a notebook helps me keep track of these.

veer, I am not sure how guys would keep their lists - because here they don't use purses/handbags either, tho many do use backpacks or such.

BTW, O/T - one of my favorite bits in The Queen was how she always had her little handbag with her, where ever she went in the palace! What in the world would she need it for - she's got people waiting on her hand and foot. I'm assuming its all part of the tradition?

Oh mummsie - you have made my day. I have already registered on Librarything! What a great idea, and what an easy site to navigate...and then the links to bookmooch.com, etc! On a cold and freezy day, with a fire burning in the fire place, I will be having so much fun!

just to muddy the waters-I don't use a purse or a handbag-I use a shoulder bag-with enough room for wallet (which holds, in a zippered pocket, my small change) keys, phone, lip balm, shopping lists, nail file and a paperback.

I avail myself of the automatic lists on paperback swap and I also cut and paste authors' lists from "Stop, You're Killing Me" and other sites so I can attempt to read series in order. Those I keep in word, and change the color of the font for books I have read.
I only buy certain authors automatically in new hardback-usually online from one of the big three booksellers. I would never buy an unknown author in hardback. Not cost effective. Most books I buy I have all ready read, either from the library or a friend's loan, and then decided I want to own it for easy rereading sometime in the future, so used or paperback is the way to go if I can't get it from paperback swap. I will take a title I find here and order it from the library online. I don't keep a list.

I keep track of interesting titles either through saved links on my PC or through my Amazon wish list. Sometimes I'll look through my wish list and memorize a few titles/authors before going to the bookstore, but I don't keep a written list or take it with me. I enjoy the browsing experience and there is something quite fulfilling about coming across an unknown title in a bookstore or library.

mummsie, I'm with veronicae -- LibraryThing looks fantastic! I, too, have registered and will be moving my "catalog" from my Access database over to LibraryThing. It is easier to use and there is so much more to see and do. Thanks from this bookaholic who buys way too many books but loves every single one of them dearly.

As far as keeping lists of books to buy, I can seldom wait long enough to buy the book to keep a list going. If there are some I don't buy right away, I keep the book in my head. If it leaves my memory then I didn't really want it anyway.

I read a lot of book reviews from various sources and jot down interesting titles on 3 x 5 cards. (I have stacks of these on my dresser at home). To put these on a computer does seem more trouble than it's worth. BTW, I use the same method for music and films I'm interested in.

Ha, Cindy, -- I also wondered about the little handbag the Queen carried around the palace!!! ;-)

I have certain authors that I buy, and then I keep a WORD list of recommendations from RP and others that I want to get from the library. The only thing is I don't print it out very often because I'm still looking for books from the two or three previous lists I've already printed out, as well as the lists I've acquired from "Best Mysteries from 1950," prize winners from previous years, etc. There's no hope for me.

Actually, I've just remembered - there is one book list I carry with me all the time. I have an Excel spreadsheet of all the Booker prize shortlists and winners; I need to refer to it if I'm in a second-hand bookshop. That just lives on my phone, which is also a PDA.

Cindy, you may be surprised to know that I am not totally au fait with Her Majesty's handbag habits, but I should think the reason why she carries one around with her while 'at home' is probably because her house is so big. Not easy to pop upstairs if she has forgotten her hanky, and she would never wipe her nose on her sleeve like some of her more earthy subjects.
Not so long ago while 'doing' the State Opening of Parliament, with all the usual Pomp and Circumstance, the Queen entered the House of Lords, moved up through the Chamber past the ermine clad (and smelling strongly of moth-balls) Peers of the Realm, and took her seat on the throne. She was handed her speech by the Lord Chancellor and felt inside the Handbag for the Royal Spectacles.
They were not there. Horror.
Her speech had to be read by Prince Philip . . . which he did quite well considering he hadn't practiced.
That night the screams coming from the absent-minded Lady-in-Waiting as she hung by her finger nails from a hook in the lowest dungeon in the Tower of London, could be heard throughout the length and breadth of the Kingdom.

BTW if any of our American friends would like to join the elite group who sit in the House of Lords just send a well-filled envelope to 10 Downing Street indicating if you want to be a Life Peer, a Knight of the Realm or maybe a Noble Baroness. Do not hand it to the policeman outside or you may go straight to jail without a chance to pass GO.

Woodnymph....I guess we all have different oppinions of "more trouble than it's worth".
To me, cutting and pasting from one screen to another is MUCH easier than hand writing in a little book or keeping stacks of index cards.
Although I have to say a little book filled with notes secreted in my purse does sound more exciting than a cold list printed from a computer.

I have a small list I keep in my wallet and a larger more general list on a spiral pad on the computer desk. Once I have decided to read a book it then goes on my little list in my wallet.
I only buy books I have already read and know that I will read again and want to own, mostly paperback but sometimes hardbound...new for some authors and used if I am lucky.
In my car I keep a large address book, because it is alphabetized, to keep track of the books I get for my dad at the library.

gbg

Well I just put some of the books on my Word list onto Library Thing. It looks great. I never have my printed out Word list6s or the notebook list with me when I go to the library or bookstore. Maybe this will work!

I don't buy many books, and what I do buy are usually used. I get mostly from the library, or borrow from my friends. When I do buy it is either bercause I'm going on a trip, or it's for my slow reading husband who hates library due dates or it's something really good looking at Costco, the cheapest place to get new books. However, I buy way too many cookbooks!

Veronica, Frances and Granjan ,

Librarything is great fun for booklovers but highly addictive.;-0
As I recall, there are other RPers who use the site as well. Enjoy

I jot down titles that intrigue me--books I heard about on the above-mentioned Diane Rehm show, recommended by friends, from reviews in the NY Times, etc. I keep these in my day planner. At the end of every year, I transfer any lists to my new day planner (if I haven't read the books, that is). I really do use a weekly planner, nicely embossed with my name. Can't live without it.

On a slightly different subject; do you keep a record of what you have read? I inherited a small leather-bound "Book Register," a diary that was my husband's grandmother's. In it she noted the title, author, date and any remarks about what she read, and it's a lovely thing to have.

I am remiss in keeping a written record, other than book group books.

Oh yea, I keep a record of books that I've read in a "special" notebook. Nothing fancy, just designated for that purpose alone. I used to spend a lot of time entering stuff into bibliofil.com but then I learned that I can only download 250 titles into my own computer. Because it takes a bunch of time to enter all of the records I have, I wanted to have my own hard copy from bibliofil but am already over the maximum. So I just stick with good 'ol pen and paper because they never blow a hard drive, get a virus, need to be replaced due to obsolecence or other various difficulties I normally have with computers!
PAM

I've kept a written record, alphabetically by author, of what I have read since 1999; and it is now in three (count them) 6x9" ring binders. I started out with just name, date, and a few comments. Now I find myself writing a short precis on the books, and it keeps getting longer, because I can't remember the early books from the couple of lines I wrote.

I've kept a record since 1994. Just a spiral notebook, listing the title, author, finished or no, and a star rating. It helps me keep track of what I was reading, helps me when I want to make reading recs, and is fun at the end of the year when I can see which books got the most stars for my top list.

I also have a spiral from HS. I wrote a paragraph about each book, its great fun to read it and see what my mind was doing back then!