Keeping Track of the Books You Read

The Leeds Library, UK. Photo by Michael D. Beckwith. Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0.

I enjoy lists. Yes, I’m one of those people who finds satisfaction in a well-ordered, neat and tidy list.  I find that even the simple act of writing things down helps me clarify my thoughts, and it frees up brain space because I don’t have to spend time worrying that I’ll forget something.

Perhaps you’re a list enthusiast too; I’d wager that a lot of people are. Why else would listicles (a word that, I have to say, makes me cringe a little) be so tempting and so popular on the internet? In a 2013 article from The New Yorker, Maria Konnikova writes about the reasons why our brains are irresistibly drawn to list-based articles.