I got an email recently asking me why the books I review for Friday Forgotten Books never seem to show up in my Current Reading posts. Well, it’s a good question and deserves an answer, so here it is.
It would be logical to think that if I show I’m reading an older book in a current reading post, that it would, within a few weeks, show up as a FFB review, but that’s not usually the case. I was in an APA [an Amateur Publishing Association], for many years, and I published a fanzine, The Perp.
This bi-monthly ‘zine ran about 20 pages and contained some editorial blather and several pages of book reviews, mostly – though not all – of mystery novels and short story collections. I have all of those issues of The Perp on the computer, and those reviews are the source for most of my Friday Forgotten Book posts.
I write some kind of review of most everything I read, whether it’s a “pocket review” in a Current Reading post or a longer review that goes into a file on the computer. If I read something old and write a review for it in my book review files, I may put it in a Friday Forgotten post sooner, but most likely the review will appear a good ways down the road.
Meanwhile, the Current Reading posts are just that, what I’m reading at the time and planning to read next. Not only do I get to share my reading, but it helps me keep track of the books my wife and I read, which is handy for my Books Read lists and reading stats.
Not everything I read finds it’s way into a post. If if I think the book is something no one would be interested in or if I really don’t like a book I won’t review it or mention it.
So that’s the answer.
update: power came on about midnight.
Tip the Wink 
Whether Current Reading books morph into FFBs makes no difference to me. All I know is that FFB is always better when you contribute a review to Patti Abbott.
Thanks,George.
Good answer! Basically, most of the FFB reviews are older reviews of books you read at some point in the past but did not reread.
Sometimes I do reread them for the review, Jeff, but the core is often older stuff. However I’ll run out of those old reviews one of these days and then need to scramble for new reviews.
I pretty much do reviews of everything I read as well, though my older reviews are generally pretty short. Newer reviews are more detailed.
I was writing longer reviews then, but shorter now, so just the opposite with me, Charles.
Sounds like the Northwest got it pretty bad yesterday. No surprise that you had power issues.
Stay safe.
Power came on about midnight, we’d already blown out the candles and so forth, but had missed some light switches, so there was a get up and turn off flurry. This morning the sun is out for the first time in days. It’s still very muddy out, but I have some (late) daffodils to plant. I also need to get the sprinkler lines blown out.
It’s 62 degrees in Western NY–which is 20 degrees above Normal! We’re under a High Wind Warning. Last year at this time, the towns south of Buffalo were contending with seven feet of Lake Effect snow! I love El Nino!
George, we’ll be in the 20s by Saturday night, much earlier than usual, which would be mid-to-late January. We’ve already drained all the outdoor faucets, brought in the hoses, turned off the valves for winter.
Richard, there was a time when I never associated power outages with the West. I thought it was something that happened only in the Third World!