What is a reading journal?
A reading journal (or sometimes called a reading planner or book journal) is a place for you to write about the books you read, a notebook that you dedicate to your reading life.
It’s like any other form of a journal, just dedicated to books!
Many people like to use bullet journals to make spreads for organizing their reading life.
Books and their stories become a part of us as we experience them. There’s a unique connection between writer and reader that takes place in the pages.
Having a reading journal allows you to interact more deeply with the things you read and provides the space for books to have a greater impact on your life. It can keep you actively engaged in what you are reading, as you dive deeper and gain more insight through journaling.
Reading journals are also super fun! I love using mine as a creative outlet to decorate with stickers, washi, highlighters, and all my favorite pens.
Plus, there’s something to be said about the act of physically writing things down, which for me is therapeutic.
For those of us who find solace and escapism in books, a reading journal can bring an added element of enjoyment to our reading lives. Like any other journal, keep your reading journals over time and you will have an exciting memento to flip through.
How to Set Up Your Reading Journal:
Ultimately, a reading journal is for your benefit.
Decide what you want to get out of it and what makes it fun and relaxing for you.
Do what feels good and right for you, play around with it, find the joy it brings you, and take time for the books that inspire you.
A reading journal is simply a tool to help you get the most out of your reading life.
And, if you keep up with it, you’ll have an exciting memento to flip through.
Your reading journal can start as a super simple project with only and pen and a piece of paper.
You can start with a few lists and a place to write notes, or you can make it as intricate as you like and add more things as you get into the habit of keeping one.
You can add as much or as little to it, make it flexible to suit your needs.
The best place to start is to get inspiration and decide what your goals are for your reading journal.
What do you want to get out of it? You can find inspiration for reading journal spreads on YouTube, Pinterest, and Instagram.
Just get your notebook and pens, choose a few ideas to start with, and get to writing!
The Journaling Process:
While I’m reading, I like to use page flags or a highlighter (depending on if I own the book or if it’s from the library) to mark anything that I want to record later.
You can also have your journal handy and write things down as you read them.
Personally, I’m too lost in the pages to stop so I just mark it and come back later.
But that’s the beauty of the journal, it’s yours and you can use it however you want.
You can experiment and find what works best for you and what you enjoy most.
No two journals have to be the same, and you may find as you get more experience in keeping one that your style changes over time too.
It was trial and error for me until I found what spreads I liked most, what I wanted to take note of, and how I wanted to organize it.
A reading journal is a creative outlet and it’s meant to be fun and relaxing!
I like to use all my favorite stationary in my journal – pens, highlighters, washi tape, stickers, etc. For me it is a fun place to be creative and not fuss over it needing to be artistic or perfect.
There’s no need to stress about it being perfect handwriting, a artful masterpiece, just enjoy the process.
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