I’ve been wondering how everyone keeps track of their reading. There are many ways to do so out there, and if you’re an avid reader like I am and suffer from book amnesia, I’d definitely suggest keeping track of your reading somehow.
Tracking Reading Online
Tracking reading online is ideal if you enjoy socializing with others about your reading.
Goodreads is a common way for people to keep track of their reading. I personally use Goodreads to track when I read books for the first time (not my re-reads), track my ratings of books, to find new books, and to find quotes. I don’t use it so much as a social media tool, which it has the capability to be. I just could never get into updating reading statuses and getting into the discussion boards. Plus I’m not a huge fan of their mobile application. Also is anyone else annoyed by all the ads on Goodreads these days? I particularly hate the ads that take up nearly the whole page.
Creating a book blog is also a neat way to keep track of your reading and interacting with other readers. You can create a free blog (a popular choice is Blogger) or go with self-hosting (a popular choice is WordPress). There are so many options! I enjoy sharing my thoughts about books on my blog and reading other book blogs, but I don’t necessarily share every book I read on the blog.
Tracking Reading On Paper
If you enjoy keeping journals or planners, a reading journal may be the right fit for you.
Keeping a reading journal is also a popular method. I keep a reading journal. Currently, I just use a dot grid notebook from Icey Designs. Keeping track of your reading in a blank journal is probably the cheapest way to go. It’s also the easiest way to make the journal yours.
There are also books designed for tracking your reading, like the Moleskine Passions Notebook. These notebooks have sections for you to fill in the title, author, genre, and your overall thoughts. For me personally, it’s way too restrictive. Sometimes I need less than a page to document a book. Other times I need pages. It just all depends. However, there are so many reading journals with different designs out there if you want to give it a try. Just do a search for reading journal on Amazon or Etsy.
Some people also keep track of their reading in calendars, particularly monthly calendars with plain note pages. I think this is a fantastic method for people that read for book clubs or want to try and read a certain number of pages every day. I’m also considering trying this method next. Some of my favorite monthly planners with note pages are the Erin Condren Deluxe Monthly Planners and the Plum Paper Monthly Planners. However, like most paper products, there are many options out there if you just do a search on sites like Amazon or Etsy.
Tracking Reading Digitally
On the flip-side, if you live your life digitally, maybe you would enjoy keeping a digital reading journal. This can easily be done using Microsoft Word. You can even keep track of your reading using a simple table on Microsoft Excel. As a kid, I tried to keep track of all the books in my personal library on Microsoft Excel. I don’t do that anymore because I don’t have an established library in my childhood home. Maybe when I move out, I’ll pick up the practice again.
To keep track of my reading, I mainly use my reading journal, but I also enjoy using Goodreads and of course my blog. How do you keep track of your reading? Are you using any of the above methods or do you have a method I never thought of? I’d love to hear your thoughts. 🙂