Friday, September 5, 2014

Discussion Question: How is Your Book Memory?

I admit it, I have horrible book memory.  I read A LOT.  So a couple of books later, it's really hard for me to remember what happened.  Even if I remember the basic plot, most of the time I can't even remember the names of the main characters.  I wish I had a better memory, and maybe if I read less I would remember books better.  The ones I really remember are the ones I read multiple times.  Obviously that makes sense, but I really hate that I have such a sucky memory when it comes to reading.  This makes it hard with so many series because when the new book comes out, most of the time I have to reread, which is very time consuming, or I just power through and hope enough comes back so that I can enjoy the book.  

I really wish that author would include a remember when section in the beginning of each new book in a series, recapping what happened.  Or do a better job of explaining things in the new book, reminding us of who people are, what the major plot points are, etc.  They could easily weave it into the book, but it seems like hardly any authors do this. Do they really think we remember the details of books a year later?  How realistic is that?  

How is your book memory?  Do you reread?  Do you reread the last couple of chapters?  Do you take notes?  Use recaptains?  (I do if the website has the book).  

Posted by:  Pam

8 comments:

  1. I'm not sure how my book memory is. I can remember the plot generally, the characters, things that occurred, whether or not the characters annoyed me, etc. I guess I would say it's decent. Since I started book blogging though, I do a running commentary when reading so I'll remember certain things.

    --Amber

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  2. My book memory is pretty bad as well, especially if there are long stretches of time between books in a series. I'll usually read it and be like, "That happened? She's with him?" Usually after so many pages it starts to come back.

    If I absolutely loved a novel the memories are a bit more clearer.

    Great post, Pam!

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  3. My book memory sucks!!! I'm pretty sure I have book amnesia because I remember nothing. And it doesn't take long to forget either. Like you said, just a couple of books and then poof! Gone. I really wish they would put something at the beginning of books. You know how they do it for TV shows? "Previously on..." They should totally do that with books! It would only have to be a one or two page thing just briefly giving us the rundown and it would make life a lot easier! I definitely don't have time to reread and while I love recaptains, more often then not the book I need a recap of isn't on there. Just happened actually w/The Perilous Sea. I didn't remember anything from The Burning Sky. And there were hardly any clues or reminders throughout the book. :(

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  4. Haha, same! It's not just books in a series that I have a bad book memory of, but it's pretty much every book. I'm constantly looking back in books when I'm reviewing and looking at characters' names. I forget so easily and I feel bad, but if the character isn't memorable, then I probably don't care about their name. Great discussion post! :)

    Tori at Bookish Affairs

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  5. My book memory is horrendous! Which is really annoying when you have to wait forever for a book sequel to release. I usually have to reread every book in the series before I get to it. I haven't used recaptions but maybe I should try that.

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  6. My memory is actually pretty good, so I rarely need much help remembering what happened in the last book unless it's been well over a year. Although, if a book was just mediocre for me then I don't really remember those as well. I did have a little bit of an issue remembering who was who in Split Second, which surprised me. There was really hardly any recap at all though. I used to get annoyed when there was too big of a recap (I think The Vampire Academy has recaps that I just skipped because I read them all in a row), so I think there needs to be an in-between, a recap that's not too short and not too long.

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  7. My book memory SUUUUUUCKS. There have been times I have forgetten details days after reading a book, sometimes even character names. O_O But since it takes me forever to read a book I never have time to reread, unfortunately. If a book is memorable enough, which is should, a lot of the pieces come back as soon as you start a sequel.

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  8. Fortunately I have a pretty decent memory because I never write reviews right after I finish a book and often have to recall things a week or two and a few books later. That being said, it's one thing to recall details a week or two later, and recall details a year later, which is commonplace with the amount of series being published today. And I don't reread or i'd spend all my time rereading for the series I am in the middle of. I usually power through and hope that the author gives me the information I need to jog my memory. And usually this works for me. But I do think it is the author's responsibility to refresh your memory in sequels but I agree that it is not always well done. A summary would be nice for sure. I need to use recaptains more than I do, but even those girls can't recap everything and there are gaps. It was you who suggested writing their own summaries, right? I still think this is a brilliant idea, but I haven't started doing this either hah.

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