Reading is full of small things worth remembering. The books you couldn’t put down, the quotes you underlined and the stories you still think about months later.

A reading journal can be as simple as a list of books you’ve finished. But it becomes much more useful when it helps you decide what to read next, remember the books you loved and notice how your reading changes over time.

The key is not to track everything for the sake of it. The best reading journal is one you actually enjoy coming back to. That might mean setting reading goals, keeping your TBR organised, writing thoughtful book reviews, working through a reading challenge or simply creating a record of the books that stayed with you.

If you're wondering what to put in a reading journal, these 15 ideas are a good place to start.

1. Create a Reading Wishlist

Most readers have a mental list of books they want to get to eventually. The problem is that it tends to grow much faster than we can remember it.

Keeping a reading wishlist or TBR in one place gives all those recommendations somewhere to live. Add books when you hear about them rather than relying on screenshots, open browser tabs or scattered Notes-app lists.

You can keep it simple with the title and author, or add details such as genre, who recommended it or why it caught your attention.

2. Keep Track of the Books You Already Own

Your TBR and your actual bookshelf aren’t necessarily the same thing.

If you own a mixture of physical books, ebooks and audiobooks, keeping a record of your collection can make it much easier to choose your next read, and prevent accidentally buying something you already own.

It can also be surprisingly satisfying to see your personal library build over time, particularly if you're trying to read more of the books you already have before adding new ones.

3. Record What You're Currently Reading

A dedicated current-read page gives you somewhere to capture the book you're immersed in right now rather than waiting until you've finished it.

You might use it to jot down thoughts, memorable moments or anything you want to remember before writing your final review. For slower or longer reads, it can also be useful simply to have a visual reminder of where you are in the book.

This doesn't have to become homework. A few notes while you're reading are often more useful than trying to reconstruct your entire reaction at the end.

4. Keep a Simple Reading Log

Not every book needs a detailed entry.

A reading log gives you a quick chronological record of what you've read and can be one of the easiest pages to maintain consistently. Over time, it becomes a simple snapshot of your reading life: what you chose, how frequently you were reading and which periods were particularly book-heavy.

If you're someone who enjoys looking back at previous years, this is one of those deceptively simple trackers that becomes more valuable with time.

5. Write Book Reviews You'll Actually Want to Revisit

A good reading journal review doesn't need to resemble a school essay.

The most useful reviews capture enough that your future self can remember how the book felt, not just what happened in it.

That might include your overall rating, favourite elements, characters you loved, anything that disappointed you and a few thoughts you want to remember. If you're reviewing a lot of books, a consistent format also makes it much easier to compare them later.

A digital book library can work particularly well here because your main collection can act as an index, with each book leading to its own review page.

6. Track the Series You're Reading

Book series have a habit of becoming surprisingly difficult to keep straight.

You read the first three books, wait eighteen months for the next release and suddenly can't remember whether you're waiting for book four or book five.

A series tracker gives you one place to record the books in order, which you've finished and what still remains. If you're following several series at once, it becomes even more useful.

For longer series, keeping an overview alongside individual book reviews lets you see both the big picture and your thoughts on each instalment.

7. Record Finished and Unfinished Books

Finished books tend to get all the attention in reading journals, but unfinished books are useful information too.

Sometimes you stop because the timing isn't right. Sometimes the book simply isn't for you. Keeping a record means you can distinguish between something you genuinely want to revisit and something you're happy to leave behind.

It can also help you notice patterns in your reading taste without turning every abandoned book into a failure. Reading is supposed to be enjoyable; finishing every book you start isn't a requirement.

8. Set Reading Goals

Reading goals don't have to mean chasing an enormous number of books.

You might want to read more consistently, explore genres you normally ignore, finish a particular series, make a dent in the books you already own or simply make more time for something you enjoy.

A yearly goal gives you a broad direction, while monthly reading goals make it easier to turn that intention into something practical.

And because reading varies naturally throughout the year, monthly goals give you room to adjust rather than treating one January target as a rigid contract.

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Want to start your own reading journal?

The free Reading Journal Starter Pack includes a Reading Wishlist, Monthly Reading Goals template and Book Review page — three simple pages to help you start planning, tracking and reflecting on your reading.

Download the Free Reading Journal Templates →

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9. Take On a Reading Challenge

A reading challenge can be a fun way to shake up your usual habits.

That might mean setting yourself a number goal — 10, 25, 50 or 100 books, or trying something that changes what you read instead, such as an A–Z challenge or genre challenge.

You could also keep it deliberately low-pressure with a book a month, or make it more ambitious with a book a week.

The point isn't to turn reading into another productivity contest. The best reading challenge gives you a reason to pick up books you might otherwise have overlooked.

10. Track Library Books and Books You've Lent

Borrowing books saves money and bookshelf space, but it comes with one obvious problem: remembering where everything is.

A library book tracker can help you keep an eye on the books you've borrowed and need to return, while a lending tracker does the opposite — recording which of your own books are currently living on someone else's shelf.

Not the most glamorous reading-journal pages, perhaps, but extremely useful ones.

11. Keep a List of New Book Releases

If you follow favourite authors or long-running series, upcoming releases deserve their own space.

Instead of trying to remember a date you saw six months ago on Instagram, keep upcoming titles together and update the list as new books are announced.

It also makes choosing what to read next easier when a release you've been waiting for finally arrives.

12. Choose a Book of the Month

A Book of the Month page gives you a slightly different way to look back on your reading.

Rather than simply recording what you finished, choose the one book that stood out most each month. By the end of the year, you'll have a shortlist of twelve favourites that tells a much more interesting story than a total book count alone.

It's also an easy habit to maintain if you like the idea of reflecting on your reading but don't necessarily want to write long reviews for every book.

13. Save Favourite Books, Authors and Quotes

Not every reading-journal page has to be about productivity or statistics.

Some of the loveliest pages are simply collections of the things you want to remember: authors you'll automatically read again, books you couldn't stop thinking about and sentences you wanted to underline twice.

These pages are often the ones that make a reading journal genuinely enjoyable to revisit years later.

Your journal becomes less of a tracker and more of a personal record of your taste.

14. Create a Monthly Reading Wrap-Up

At the end of each month, zoom out from individual books and look at your reading as a whole.

What did you read? Which book was your favourite? Did you make progress towards your goals? Was there anything you intended to read but didn't?

A monthly wrap-up is also a useful place to notice patterns. Maybe you've been reading more consistently than you realised, gravitating towards a new genre or abandoning more books because your tastes are changing.

You don't need dozens of statistics. Track the things that make your reading more interesting to you.

15. Finish the Year With a Reading Wrap-Up and Reflection

A yearly reading wrap-up brings everything together.

Instead of only asking “How many books did I read?”, look at the year more broadly.

Which books stayed with you? Which authors did you discover? Did you finish the challenges you started? What did you read more (or less) of than expected? Which reading habits would you like to carry into next year?

That's where keeping a journal throughout the year really pays off. Rather than trying to remember twelve months of reading in December, you've already created the record as you went.

Build a Reading Journal That Works for You

You certainly don't need all 15 of these ideas to create a useful reading journal.

Start with the pages that solve a real problem or make reading more enjoyable for you. Perhaps that's simply a TBR and a place for book reviews. Perhaps you love challenges, ratings and end-of-month statistics. Or perhaps you want a complete record of your reading life in one place.

If you'd rather start with the whole system already organised, the Girls Got Goals Digital Reading Journal brings your reading wishlist, book and series libraries, reviews, goals, challenges, monthly tracking, favourites and yearly reflections together in one beautifully connected digital journal.

Explore the Digital Reading Journal →

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