I used to finish books and feel proud of the number. Then a year later someone would ask what I thought of one, and I’d realise I couldn’t remember the argument — only that I’d liked it. The number was a lie I was telling myself.
So I started writing a sentence or two after every book. Not a review. Not even notes, really. Just what stuck. One paragraph, sometimes two. Filed under the title.
The change has been bigger than I expected.
Three things it did
- It made reading slower. Knowing I had to say something at the end, I read with the question already open. The book started talking back.
- It made my taste sharper. Looking at the stack of one-paragraph reactions, I can see what I actually respond to — versus what I claim to.
- It built a personal library of ideas. When a friend mentions a topic I’ve read on, I have a paragraph waiting. Not a great paragraph. But better than “I read something about that once.”
The bookshelf on this site is the result. It’s not a recommendation engine. It’s a record of conversations.