The primary purpose of a reading journal is to enhance your reading life by helping you get more out of the books you read. It can help you achieve your reading goals and grow your skills as a writer.
If you want to learn more about what a reading journal is and how to set one up, you check out my previous post here.
There are many benefits to keeping one and here I am going to give you my top ten reasons:
Top 10 Reasons For A Reading Journal:
- remembering what you read – The act of taking notes and writing things down helps seal them into memory. Writing things down also allows you to think more deeply on them. Plus, you’ll be able to revisit the details later. (If you’re like me, you are much more likely to refer back to notes you took than to remember to pick the book back up again later.)
- organizing your notes – A reading journal gives you a single dedicated space to help you organize and catalogue your book life: notes from things you learn, your favorite quotes, your thoughts and feelings about a book, and anything else you want to record.
- accomplish your reading goals – If you have or would like to accomplish reading goals, it can help you measure and track your progress.
- inspiration for your own writing – If you are also a writer, keeping a journal on the things you read can inspire your own writing and help you hone your craft.
- read more actively – Keeping a reading journal encourages you to read more actively, gain a critical eye, and strengthen your own skills.
- better book club discussions – You can also use your reading journal to organize notes from a book club. When you attend discussions, you’ll have things to reference and be more engaged with everyone.
- discover your own preferences – Over time, you’ll discover your own likes, dislikes, styles, tendencies, habits, and trends when it comes to reading. Knowing these can help you with your reading goals or just give you more intimate insight about yourself, your thoughts, and your feelings.
- apply what you read – Whether it’s knowledge, freedom, or excitement, the impact that books have on our lives can be far reaching. By using a reading journal, you can better apply what you have gained to your life overall.
- community – The book community is such a wonderful place. I’ve met so many friends that share my passion for reading. A reading journal is a unique topic of discussion and can allow you to share with friends about our favorites books. Your reading journal can be a personal project that you don’t need to share with anyone. But you can share with your book clubs, groups, or other bookish friends if you’d like. It could be a fun thing to do together with bookish friends and community. There’s a world of other people out there just like us who love books and enjoy keeping a journal about them.
- fun – (My favorite part about reading journals!) We all deserve to take time doing the things we love and that bring joy to our lives. If you love stationary and being creative, a reading journal is the perfect place to express that.
Leave a Reply