Reading journal, reading log or book journal?
The terms overlap. A reading log is usually the bare record: which book, which dates, how many pages or minutes. Teachers often ask for one as proof of reading. A reading journal or book journal adds your thoughts: what you liked, quotes, questions, who you’d recommend the book to.
Most readers end up with a mix of both. The log part feeds your stats and yearly goal; the journal part is what you’ll enjoy rereading a year from now, when you barely remember the plot of a novel you read in spring.
What to put in a reading journal
This template covers the essentials. Use the required fields for every book and the optional ones when you feel like it.
| Field | Required? | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Title and author | yes | Where the Crawdads Sing, Delia Owens |
| Started / finished | yes | March 3 / March 21 |
| Page count, format | yes | 384 pages, paperback |
| Rating | yes | 4 out of 5 |
| Status | yes | read, did not finish, paused |
| Genre | optional | literary fiction, mystery |
| Favorite quote with page | optional | p. 112: “…” |
| Three sentences on the book | optional | What it’s about, what worked, what didn’t |
| Recommended by / passed on to | optional | book club, my sister |
Reading journal prompts
If your mind goes blank after the last page, fixed prompts help. Pick two and answer each in one sentence:
- Which scene will you remember a month from now?
- Which character would you have coffee with – and which one never?
- Did the book change your mind about anything?
- Who would you recommend it to, and why?
- What would you have written differently?
- Would you reread it?
Logging reading sessions
If you also note when and how long you read, patterns appear: do you read more in the evening than in the morning? More on weekends? A simple session log has four columns: date, minutes, from page, to page. Minutes and pages give you your pace, for example 30 pages in 40 minutes.
On paper this is tedious because you forget the start time. That’s where an app shines: start the timer, read, stop, enter the page – it does the math.
Notebook, spreadsheet or app?
Each format has its place. What matters is the one you’ll actually keep up:
| Notebook | Spreadsheet | App | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Adding a book | by hand | by hand | barcode or search |
| Timing your reading | watch the clock | enter afterwards | timer |
| Stats | count yourself | build formulas | automatic |
| Look and feel | free, creative | plain | covers and charts |
| Always with you | not really | on the computer | on your phone |
How to stick with it
The hard part isn’t starting, it’s month three. These habits help:
- Write the entry right after the last chapter, not “later”
- Keep the required fields small – a short entry beats no entry
- Log books you didn’t finish, too: they say a lot about your taste
- Flip back through your list once a month
- At year’s end, pick your favorite, your surprise and your letdown of the year
Reading logs for kids and school
For young readers, a title, the date, a drawing or sentence about a favorite part and a smiley rating are plenty. Making it fun matters more than making it complete. If the school provides its own reading log template, use that one.