College Students! discussion

I've been trying to write reviews for all the books I've read that I've listed on goodreads.

I'm discovering that, quite frankly, I don't remember anything about some of the books I've read.

It's not all that unusual to feel this way about assigned books or books you hated, but I can't remember a single thing about books I have thoroughly enjoyed and even given 5 stars!

Take, for example, To Kill a Mockingbird. I read it in 2006. I remember Scout but I don't remember anything else.

I take pride on the fact that I "read well" as I write on my goodreads profile. Usually I underline and highlight and am a really interactive reader. To just ... completely blank on a number of books I supposedly enjoyed is actually a big scary to me.

Strangely, I went through my copy of TKAM to see if I could still construct a review based off of things I've underlined or highlighted in the book. I didn't. Could this be why I don't remember anything from the book?

I mean, I can quote long passages from Moby Dick, but I can't tell you the plot to To Kill a Mockingbird, which I read at least four years later than my last re-reading of Moby Dick? Obviously, I need to re-read TKAM but then I'm plagued with the thought that every book I've ever read I will eventually need to read again.

So what's normal for you guys? Do you read a book and then forget about it, pretty much, other than whether you liked it or not? If you underline/highlight in books, do you find that you remember more about those texts?

I'm feeling my mortality here. Did you know, at one point in time, it was entirely possible to have read every book in publication? This is way, way back, of course, before the internet and mass-publication and all that, and was probably confined to reading every single book published in one language (unless you knew more than one), but still. To be so versed!

I can only really remember what I can picture in my mind, so abstract things are harder for me to remember, for sure. I'm better with images or cause and effect (i.e. linked to a plot or clear chronological order), so concrete and relational things.

It really depends on the book, I guess. Some things I remember having read them in elementary school. Others, I can't remember even though I just read them a couple years ago. I'm not much for memorizing large swathes of passages long term. I can quickly memorize hundreds of lines for a couple weeks -- months, maybe -- but after that, the exact wordings and phrasings escape me pretty quickly. Eh, it worked long enough for the Sunday School verse memorization contests. Highlighting and underlining make no difference here. If I want to remember something in the long run, I've got to practice it consistently.

I can usually remember, it just depends on how long ago I read them. If we go back to Elementary school then its going to be a bit more difficult. I actually have a more difficult time remembering titles. I'll remember a book and everything that happened in it, and not be able to remember the title. I never mark or highlight my books. I'm really particular about how they look. Unless of course its for school or church, then I do highlight. But never my regular books.

I have a really hard time remembering books, which is really frustrating to me if I liked the book. Actually it's frustrating regardless. I also have a really hard time articulating how I feel about a book, or explaining why I did or didn't like a book. And I'm REALLY horrible about remembering the titles and authors. But I'm a very visual person, so if I do remember something about a book it's usually like seeing a scene from a movie that's been filed away in my memory.

I'm lucky if I can remember if I have read a book let alone plot or characters. I started keeping a journal last year and that helps a lot but I still find myself re-reading books without realizing it. I kinda zone out and sink into books without really absorbing specifics, so even if I really enjoyed a book I might not be able to explain what it was about.

I'm with you, Mandee. I feel so incompetent when all I can say about a book that I loved is "I loved this book!"
I pride myself on being a fast reader and still being able to take it all in, but I think I may try slowing down and highlighting/ making notes about a book as I go along to help me absorb it into the long term memory category. But I'm there with you, Angabel about not being able to remember key points about some books aside from just the main character or something truly outstanding.

That was a very insightful observation Angabel. I'm definitely going to try and work on that next time I read a book (or anything for that matter)

This happens to me all the time! I'll get into a conversation with someone and be like, "I read that book" and then i realize I can barely remember anything about it!

That depends on the book...some books like The Lovely Bones are so haunting I never forget them. But others, like To Kill A Mockingbird I barely remember.