Reading Journal Ideas: 46 Pages and What to Write

What is a reading journal?

A reading journal is a notebook, binder or file where you write a few lines about each book you read: what it was, what you thought and what you want to remember. It is less about counting books and more about keeping them.

People often mix it up with two other tools. They overlap, but each one answers a different question.

You can keep all three in one notebook. Many readers log the days in a printable reading log, color a spine on a book tracker bookshelf when a book is done, and save the journal pages for the books worth a few lines.

What should you put in a reading journal?

Put in three kinds of pages: a short page for each book you finish, a few collection pages that grow over time, such as quotes or new words, and one or two lists, such as books to read next. That is enough for a first notebook.

A simple order for a new journal:

1. An index page. Leave the first page blank and number the pages as you go, so you can find a book later.
2. A books-read list. One line per book: number, title, author, month finished.
3. A to-be-read list (TBR). Books you want to read next, with who recommended them.
4. Book pages. One page or half a page per finished book, using the template below.
5. A quotes page. Lines you want to keep, with the book and page number.

Add the rest of the ideas below only when you miss them. A journal you keep for a year is worth more than a beautiful setup you stop using in February.

46 reading journal ideas

Pick three or four to start. The numbers are only there so you can come back to an idea; there is no order to follow.

Pages for each book

1. A one-page book review: title, author, dates, rating and a short paragraph.
2. A half-page entry for books you liked but do not need a full page for.
3. The 5-line entry (template below) for busy weeks.
4. First and last impressions: two lines when you start a book, two when you finish.
5. A character map: names in circles, with lines and one word for how they are connected.
6. A setting sketch: a rough map or a few lines describing where the story happens.
7. Plot in six sentences: beginning, problem, three turns, ending.
8. Questions while reading: what you wonder at page 50, answered (or not) by the last page.
9. A nonfiction notes page: the main idea, three points and one thing to try.
10. A "would I reread it?" box with a yes, no or maybe and one reason.

Quotes, words and characters

11. Favorite quotes, with the page number so you can find them again.
12. Opening lines you liked, one per book.
13. New words with a short meaning in your own words.
14. Characters you would like to meet, and what you would ask them.
15. Characters you could not stand, and why.
16. Funny lines that made you laugh out loud.
17. Ideas to remember from nonfiction, written as one sentence each.

Trackers and stats

18. Books-read numbered list for the year.
19. A bookshelf to color in, one spine per finished book. The book tracker prints one with 12, 24, 52 or 100 spines.
20. A pages or minutes tracker with a box for each day of the month.
21. Genre pie chart you fill in at the end of the year.
22. Format count: print, e-book and audiobook.
23. Star ratings at a glance, a grid of titles with their stars.
24. Where you read: bed, bus, park, waiting room.
25. Reading challenge progress, one box per prompt.

Monthly and yearly spreads

26. A monthly spread: the books you plan to read, the books you finished and a favorite of the month.
27. A month in review: best book, best quote and what you want to read next.
28. A seasonal reading list, such as cozy winter books or summer holiday books.
29. Year goals page: a number, a theme or three kinds of books you want to try.
30. Year in review: top five books, longest book, biggest surprise.
31. A book-a-week strip with 52 small boxes for a reading challenge.
32. A reading bingo card glued in, with titles written in the squares.

Lists: TBR, DNF, favorites and series

33. TBR (to be read) with the source of each tip.
34. DNF (did not finish) with the page you stopped on and why. It saves you from picking it up again by mistake.
35. All-time favorites, kept short, ten at most.
36. Series tracker: book numbers in order, ticked as you go.
37. Authors to read more of.
38. Books to gift, with the person in mind.
39. Books lent out, to whom and when.
40. Books from the library, with due dates.

Ideas for kids and students

41. Draw your favorite scene and write one sentence under it.
42. Three stars and a wish: three things you liked and one you would change.
43. Rate it with faces from frowning to grinning, for younger readers.
44. A letter to a character or to the author.
45. Summary in 20 words, a good warm-up for school book reports.
46. New words box with a picture for each word.

For kids aged about 6 to 10, one drawing and one sentence per book is plenty. Older students can use the 5-line entry and add a page of evidence and quotes when a book is for class.

What should you write after each book?

Write five short lines while the book is still fresh, ideally the day you finish it. Write from memory first, then check names and page numbers.

The 5-line reading journal template

1. Book: title, author, the dates you started and finished.
2. Rating: stars out of five and one word for the book.
3. A line to keep: one quote or moment, with its page number.
4. What stayed with you: two sentences, in your own words.
5. Next: who you would give it to, or what you want to read next because of it.

That takes about five minutes. On a good day, add one or two of the prompts below.

12 prompts for a reading journal entry

1. What did you expect from this book, and what did you get?
2. Which moment would you tell a friend about first?
3. Which character changed the most, and what changed them?
4. What question did the book leave you with?
5. Where did you put the book down because you needed a break?
6. What would you have done in the main character's place?
7. What did this book teach you, or remind you of?
8. Which line would you underline if it were your copy?
9. How did the ending make you feel, and did it fit the book?
10. What would you ask the author if you could?
11. Which other book did this one remind you of?
12. In a year, what do you think you will remember about it?

For a single printed page per book, the book tracker prints a reading journal page with spaces for the dates, rating, a favorite quote, characters, your thoughts and who you would recommend it to, or four shorter entries on one sheet. Fill it on screen or print it blank to write by hand.

Worked example: one reading journal entry

Maya finishes Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen on a Sunday evening. She uses the 5-line template on half a page of a plain notebook.

• Book: Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen. Started March 2, finished March 21.
• Rating: 4 of 5 stars. Word: sharp.
• A line to keep: the famous opening sentence about a single man with a good fortune, page 1. "Funny on the second read."
• What stayed with you: "I liked Elizabeth more once she admitted she had been wrong. The letter scene changed how I saw the whole first half."
• Next: "Give to Sam. Try another Austen in the summer."

Then she turns to her lists. She adds the book to her books-read list as number 7, crosses it off her TBR and writes Persuasion on the TBR with "Maya, after P&P". Last, she colors spine 7 on her printed bookshelf. Total time: about eight minutes.

Should you keep a paper or a digital reading journal?

Keep the one you will actually open. Paper is better for drawing, lists and slow thinking; digital is better for searching and for readers who track everything on their phone.

A mix works well: an app or a reading list maker for the TBR and the yearly count, and paper for the book pages. Whatever you pick, write the rules on the first page, such as "a book page only for books I finish".

Which reading journal fits your situation?

If you are in a book club, write your question on the book's page before the meeting. The book club questions guide has 70 open questions for any book and a printable card.

If you keep a general journal too, you do not need two notebooks. Start the reading section at the back of your everyday journal. The guide on how to start journaling covers the habit side: one cue, one prompt, one sentence. Bullet journal fans can borrow the index and collection pages from the bullet journal ideas guide.

What are common reading journal mistakes?

• Setting up too much at once. Ten trackers on page one turn the journal into a chore. Start with a list, a TBR and book pages.
• Decorating before reading. A plain notebook and one pen is enough. Spreads can wait until you know which pages you use.
• Writing a full review of every book. Use the 5-line entry and keep full pages for the books you loved or hated.
• Waiting too long. A week after you finish, most details are gone. Write the five lines the same day, even in your phone.
• Copying only quotes. A quote with no note of why it mattered is hard to use later. Add one line of your own.
• Quitting after a gap. If you skip three books, do not catch up. Add them to the books-read list with one word each and start fresh with the next book.
• Logging books you hate finishing. A DNF entry is a fine record. Stop the book, note the page and move on.

What does research say about reading journals?

There are no large trials of reading journals themselves, so the evidence below is about their parts: reading for pleasure, writing about what you read, recalling it and recording progress.

• Reading for pleasure: a meta-analysis of 99 studies with 7,669 participants, from preschool to university, found moderate to strong links between how much people read in their free time and reading comprehension, technical reading and spelling (Mol and Bus, 2011). The studies are mostly correlational, so better readers may simply read more.
• Writing about what you read: a meta-analysis of experiments with elementary and secondary students found that writing about material they had read improved their comprehension of it (Graham and Hebert, 2011). That was school writing about school texts, not leisure journals.
• Writing from memory: in an experiment with students reading prose passages, those who wrote down what they remembered recalled more a week later than those who spent the time rereading (Roediger and Karpicke, 2006). This is why the template says to write from memory first.
• Recording progress: across 138 studies, monitoring progress helped people reach goals, more so when it was physically recorded (Harkin et al., 2016). Those studies covered many kinds of goals, not reading specifically.

What this cannot promise: that a journal will make you read more, raise a grade or improve your memory. Treat it as a way to keep the books you read, and enjoy it for that.

Where to go from here

Open a notebook tonight, write a books-read list on the first page and the five lines for the last book you finished. For printed pages, use the book tracker journal page. For a list of books to fill it with, try the 2027 reading challenge or a reading bingo card.

If the harder part is reading itself, the 30-day reading habit plan starts with a few minutes a day, or you can build a reading plan around your own evenings. More guides and tools are on the reading topic hub.