I started Goodreads 7-8 years ago, and added tags for each year for starters. That helped me feel like I didn't have to "catch up." I could track my current reads that way, and then if I came across other books I remembered reading in the past, I could mark them as Read, with no year tag. Somehow having the year tags made it seem easier to start. Otherwise, it felt like I was going to have to put in all of my past books before I could even start. That's probably a new problem though.

Some reasons I like tracking:

1. It kinda feels like an accomplishment, whatever the number is; I like being able to see my work, kind of like a completed checklist

2. I like data; data is fun

3. The social aspects are there; it is interesting to see what my friends are reading, and to get recommendations from them. I've learned what friends I usually agree with on books, and I find that useful for future reading, but also for friendship purposes

4. I mostly read audiobooks from the library. Since I don't have a physical shelf I can look at, there is a possibility I'll forget what I've read. With GR, I can be sure to not:

4a. repeat books*

4b. continue a series that I didn't like**

4c. read an author I've tried a few times and didn't enjoy

4d. not waste time trying again on a book I hated enough to DNF but didn't hate enough to remember hating. Thanks, GR, for remembering for me***

5. I can make recommendations to friends for themselves or their kids, based on the tags I've made -- like find all the books that have both "middle grades" and "historical fiction" or whatever

I've also tried The Storygraph. After almost a year of running it and GR side by side, I liked the pretty charts and fun data, but I didn't like how rigid they were. I want to define my own criteria, you know? The questions that it asks of every book after you read it are not the questions that tell me if I'm going to like a book. They felt like they were very personal to someone else's preferences. I also missed the social aspects of GR. But The Storygraph was certainly prettier and far less glitchy. And I liked the content warnings.

I keep thinking someday I'll export my GR data to Google Sheets or something - for the data. Then keep GR just for social purposes, and maybe delete my tags and just keep the exclusive shelves maybe. I'm the only one who cares about the data detail I've built, and if I want more data, a spreadsheet is probably the way to go.

.......

*yes, this has almost happened, more than once, and Goodreads saved me. Because let's face it, if the description appeals to me the first time, there's a real chance it might pull me in again

**this too. If I come across a book that's a sequel, I always check my Goodreads for how I felt about the one I read

***I have a DNF shelf and a Maybe-Later shelf, so if I quit a book I can tell Future Me the difference between the two. Sometimes it's just not the right time for a certain book, you know? But if it was an awful book that I know I will never want to read, I can mark it that way, so that the book description won't pull me in again