Inside My Reading Journal
Late last year, I decided that I wanted to start a reading journal. I already document my life in several other ways, so why not my beloved books as well? One of my 2024 goals was to improve my book reviewing skills and I think I’ve made some pretty good progress, and now I have somewhere to properly capture them long after Goodreads archives some day. Reading is easily my favourite hobby and it had been throughout my childhood and teenage years, and I’m so glad I’ve returned to myself.
I originally planned to keep my reading journal to myself, but I’ve had an influx of messages across my online platforms asking to see inside it. I’ve got nothing to hide, and I already ‘read publicly’, so I thought I’d share a tour of my book journal here!
Some notes
My reading journal is yet another dot grid notebook from Papier. I chose to create my own format, because I plan to keep things really minimal, but Papier actually sell premade, beautifully designed reading journals too. Ultimately, this is a fun notebook that allows for practicality too. I’m really enjoying making book notes as I read (annotating a book really weirds me out and reminds me too much of studying for English literature exams!) and, in fact, I think it’s elevating the whole experience for me too.
Rating system
How each individual rates books is as unique as they are, and so I wanted to set up a page that encapsulates how I personally, currently apply star ratings to my reads. Plus, it was a great opportunity to draw something cute in my notebook!
Yearly TBR
Every year since 2020, I’ve made a 12-book TBR for the year. I’m a fast reader so will almost always surpass 12 books read in a year, and this just helps me get a little more focused in terms of what I’m reading. I drew out twelve hardback books, then filled in the titles. Once I’ve read the book, I can colour it in with a Tombow brush marker and, if I completed the TBR in time, I could treat myself to a book. I did pretty well with my 2024 TBR! And 2025’s looks to be accidentally themed around history, the moon and trees…
Book bingo card
Another fun spread, I see lots of book Internet people create these. The idea is to create a bingo card of prompts to help you choose your next book: a summer read, a book in the horror genre, a book with purple on the cover… You get the gist. Once all the squares are complete, I can also treat myself to a book.
Book of the year chart
I created this after seeing a friend draw one in her bullet journal, and it’s quite fun. Each month, you select a favourite book, then each quarter you select your favourite, and so on. I read so many books each year that this is surely going to become a useful tool when it comes to reflecting on my top books to recommend.
Reading log
A collection that I’ve migrated entirely from my bullet journal, the reading log is a really basic list of the books I read, along with the date I finished it, and whether or not I shared it to Instagram and NetGalley. This way, I can easily plan content and track my advanced reads.
Monthly TBR and wrap-ups
Because I looove a cut-and-stick journal, I’m also enjoying creating a monthly TBR and wrap-up. This helps to divide my journal into digestible chunks, but also gets me offline and properly using my hands on another hobby.
Book notes
Finally, the bulk of my reading journal is, of course, my book notes. I paste in an image of the cover, add in the title and author, the book format, publisher, book length in pages, and reserve a line for the eventual rating. Beneath, I make my notes and note down my favourite quotes.
Since I know I’ll be asked, my book notes vary hugely from book to book. Sometimes I make notes to myself about the story itself (locations, star signs, historical events), others I’ll pen down questions I have and want to research later, or at times I’ll ponder why the author has made a particular reference to history, science, politics or another topic. For some books, I may even just write my favourite quotes!
