My Reading Journal Journey (Part 1)

Hello Lovelies and welcome to the first addition of My Reading Journal Journey. This is going to be a series of posts where I search out my perfect reading journal, if it’s out there.

I’m not going to lie, I’m a little picky about what I want in a reading journal. Years ago, when I had the time, I used to create my own out of a large, lined journal. I think I got so used to creating it to fit what I was looking for and what I needed, that I made myself extremely selective when it comes to already created book journals.

As a reviewer, there’s a lot of items that I look for in a reading journal that a standard reader probably doesn’t. When writing my reviews, I like to have all the book information on hand and keeping it in a tidy little reading journal saves me a lot of time.

Realistically, I know that I’m not going to find a reading journal that ticks every single box on my wish list. There’s not going to be one that includes a box to check off when posted to GoodReads or Social Media or has a dedicated space to write the date which the review is scheduled on the blog or the contact information for the publicist that sent the book.

Hopefully, over the next year, I’ll be able to find a reading journal that’s perfect for me, even if I have to add some of my own customizations. Hopefully, this series will help you figure out what you’re looking for in a reading journal as well. 

So what do I look for in a reading journal? Space! The main thing I need is a lot of space for my thoughts and notes. I’d prefer to have that space in college ruled lines. I have a tendency to write super small (it drove my teachers and professors crazy), so when I have a dot grid format my writing tends to go even smaller.  

I’m also looking for a loaded review form that contains the following:

-Title

-Author

-Series and number

-Publisher

-Release Date

-Genre

-Format (print, audio, e-book)

-Source (preferably blank so I can write in where the book came from)

-Length

-Narrator

-Start Finish/Date

-Rating System (either blank or a 5-star system)

Here’s the addition items I’d like my perfect review journal to contain:

-A Numbered Index (that I can fill in with the book title so I can have a quick glance and know that book’s on what page)

-A Stats Page (or the space in the front of the book to create one—again, this comes down to quick accessibility)

-A Reading Goals/Challenges Spot (I don’t need a space to mark down each book, I just need a space to write down the title of the goal/challenge and the final tally)

-A Section for Notes (this is in addition to the review notes. There’s several things that I like to keep track of so a Notes section is a must.

These are things that I’d like my perfect book journal to have but not necessary:

-A Book-to-film/series Section

-A Favorite Bookstore Section

-Favorite Narrators Section

This year, I’ll be testing out a series of book review journals and sharing my thoughts with you. Tomorrow I’ll be taking a look at the first 4 I’ll be trying out! See you then! 

Do you use a reading journal?

If so, what do you look for in your reading journal?

If not, are you thinking about trying one out?