I've been tracking what I read on and off over the years. I used online and offline methods. The latest thing I used was Bookwyrm. Then one day the instance I was on went offline unexpectedly and lost several months of backups. Which meant that I lost a good portion of tracked reads, inlcuding short reviews.
Of course I know that I should have kept an offline record, but at the same time I am not devastated by the loss. It's just a few sentences about books I've read. And those short reviews probably weren't and aren't of any interest to anyone anyway. So no hard feelings on my side at all.
However, the outage brought a thought back into the front of my mind: Do I want a page on my website about the books I read? As you can see here, the answer to this question eventually turned out to be yes. At least for the time being.
What I will not do is log the start and finish dates. I will file each book under the year I've finished it in. There will be a star rating (see below) and probably a very short... review of sorts. I will not have clever insights or intellectual things to say. Just a bit about what I liked, or something like that. But read for yourself. If you understand what I'm writing. Because I will review in the same language as I read the book in. Enjoy!
The star rating will work like so:
- ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ - One of my all time faves
- ⭐⭐⭐⭐ - I enjoyed and liked it a lot
- ⭐⭐⭐ - I enjoyed and liked it
- ⭐⭐ - It's ok, I guess
- ⭐ - I didn't like it at all
2026
Mark Cooper-Jones, Jay Forman: This Way up. When maps go wrong (and why it matters).
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Review
This is an entertaining, educational, at times funny, and at other times very serious book about maps, what can go wrong with them, and why, and how, and the people behind them. Some of those stories are lighthearted, some are dead serious and tragic. All are good and definitely worth knowing. This book is as much about maps as it is about history, current times, and the possible future. I recommend.
A few weeks before I bought this book, on a whim on a hot summer day when I had a few hours to kill before some other thing, I got pointed towards the Map Men. That's the authors as they call themselves on Youtube. They make great videos about maps of various kinds. They are hilarious. You should watch them play a game of geoguesser or two against one another. It's so funny.
Anyway, I was particularly pointed towards the audio version of this non-audio book. I bookmarked it and wanted to have a listen at some later date. I'm not going to do that now that I have bought and read the paper edition. But what I have heard listening to the excerpt I would recommend that, too, if you prefer audio books.
Donna Leon: Die dunkle Stunde der Serenissima. Commissario Brunettis elfter Fall.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Review
Als ich diese Seite hier baue und diesen Text schreibe, ist es schon Monate her, dass ich das Buch gelesen habe. Passenderweise in Italien im Urlaub. Ich habe es innerhalb weniger Tage gelesen, wie ich das mit jedem Brunetti mache, wenn ich den Kopf dafür habe. Ich kann mich aber leider an keine Details mehr erinnern, weshalb das hier überhaupt keine richtige Review ist. Aber die 4 Sterne sprechen für sich, oder?
Donna Leon: Das Gesetz der Lagune. Commissario Brunettis zehnter Fall.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Review (Achtung: Spoiler)
Obwohl es länger her ist als das nächste Buch, dass ich dieses Buch fertig gelesen habe, (obviously) wenn auch nur ca. 1 Tag, kann ich mich hier an deutlich mehr Details erinnern. Das liegt vor allem daran, dass ich es viel spannender fand. So spannend, dass ich monatelang nicht drin gelesen habe. Ich hatte wirklich Angst um die Charaktere. Und tatsächlich kommen nicht alle lebend aus der Sache raus. Und bei anderen hinterlassen die Ereignisse große Spuren, die sogar noch im nächsten Buch zu spüren sind.