How I listen to the What Should I Read Next Podcasts

A few days ago in my post How a Podcast Got Me Excited About Reading Again I told you about my love for the What Should I Read Next podcast and I promised to tell you about how I listen to, and take notes from, the podcasts. Here's the scoop.

In that post I explained a bit about the podcasts. Here's what I said:

Each week on the podcast Anne talks about books and reading with a guest. Most of the podcasts follow the same format. The guests tell Anne about three books they loved, one book they hated and what they are presently reading. Anne then recommends three books she thinks they might enjoy. That's at least eight books talked about in each episode, but they usually end up talking about way more than eight books.

I listen to the podcasts with my notebook and pencil in hand and record the books mentioned. I put a little heart with either the number 1, 2, or 3 inside it next to the guests 3 favourites. I put on x next to the one they hate, or dislike. I put RN next to the titles they are reading now. I put a circle with either the number 1, 2, or 3 inside it next to the books Anne recommends to them.

Once I have made note of the books mentioned in the podcast I check to see which of the books are available through our public library system and make note of that.

As I am mostly an ebook reader, I first of all check to see which titles mentioned are available through the library on the OverDrive app. (I share more about the app in my post How An App Helped Me Read More) I put an OD by the titles that are available as ebooks, and an "OD+a" if a title is available as an audio book.

Then I check to see which of the remaining books are available at our library or in our provincial library system. I note beside the title which library it is available from.

Whenever I need a new book to read I check through my What Should I Read Next podcast notes for suggestions. Many, many of the books I've read this past year have come from these notes.

I was debating punching all the info I recorded while listening to last year's podcast into a spreadsheet of some sort for easy reference. Then I thought maybe I'd just start doing that with this year's podcasts and not bother with going back to add in last year's podcast info. Then, when I settled in to listen to the first What Should I Read Next Podcast of 2017, I had another idea and I've completely changed how I do things! I'll tell you more about that soon.