My Reading Journal Journey Part 2

Hello Lovelies and welcome to part 2 of My Reading Journal Journey. You can find part 1 HERE. Sorry this was delayed; I had intended for this to be posted the day after part 1 but I had some things going on that took my focus away from the blog.

Today I’m going to be sharing with you the reading journal that I’ve been using for the last 3 years as well as 3 new-to-me reading journals that I’ll be trying out over the next 3 months.  Because of everything that’s been going on, I am 3 months behind in getting started. I had intended to test out 12 reading journals (3 each quarter) and since I don’t want to use more than 3 quarterly, I’ll pick out the 3 that I don’t think I’ll use and do either a separate post or maybe an Instagram post about those.

I know that it’s going to seem like I’m wasting the journals by only using them 3 months at a time, but I will actually use them up next year so there’s not going to be any waste. In addition, some of the reading journals have a small amount of review forms, which will be easy to use within the allotted period.

In this post, I’ll be sharing my full thoughts for 1 reading journal (The Reading Log) and my first impression thoughts as well as the contents of the other 3.

The journals have either been gifted to me by the publisher/creator, gifted to me from friends, or I’ve purchased them myself. I will leave a link to the original site and/or Amazon. If I’m using affiliate links, they will be mentioned beside the link. 

Reading Log by smART bookx

Website: Amazon | Price: $5.99 | Source: Purchased | Dimensions: 8x10

 Contains:

-100 Review Forms

-Table of Contents—allows you to fill in the book title as well as tick the genre (6 genres are filled in and three are left blank for you to fill in) I write small enough that I’m able to include the author’s name and sometimes the series.

-The Big Read Top 100 Voted Fiction Books—this is a list of classics and modern books.

-Notes Page (lined)

-Loan Record—to record loaned and borrowed books

 Review Form Contains:

-Format (paperback, hardback, e-book, audiobook)

-Title

-Author

-Publisher

-Page Count

-Pub. Date

-Fiction or Non-fiction (with space to fill in genre)

-Start/Finish Date

-Source (bought, loaned, from)

-Inspiration Tree (why it was read, inspired you to, recommend it to)

-Rating System (plot, characters, ease of reading, overall)

-My Review Section (lined)

-Quote Block

 My Thoughts: I’ve been using this brand of reading journal for the last 3-4 years and, while it’s worked for what I’ve needed the actual review section is on the smallish side (there’s 17 lines) and I end up writing in any blank space available so my review thoughts end up looking like a Regency letter. I also rarely use the quote section (I generally keep my bookish quotes in a separate book) so I also use that space to write more of my thoughts. I do write small, so I am able to get a lot of my thoughts down on the page.

 I do like that this is customizable to a point. In the blank spots in the genre section of the Contents, I added in the format (audio, e-book, print) so it makes it easy to glance at for my stats I also color-code the titles for subgenre. While there’s no dedicated space for narrator or series, the Title block is big enough to add those details. I will also swap out the Page Count for book length if it’s an audio. I generally use the one-page Notes section in the back of the book to track my reading challenges. I use the blank, inside cover to keep track of my favorite books of the year; again, it’s a quick way to access stats that I look for.

 This has a soft, floppy cover, and the book lays flat allowing for easy writing. The page quality is nice but, occasionally, there is minimal bleed though. I often use Paper Mate Flair felt tip pens and have no issues with them bleeding though, although I did have issues with the Wal-Mart store brand felt tip pens. Depending on the color, some highlighters do bleed through (I’ve tried several brands and, for some reason, the greens and pinks in all brands do bleed through slightly).

 I could have done without the Book List and the Loan Record; they’re just not something that I use although I imagine the Loan Record will come in handy for some. I do like that they have several cover designs to choose from—I’ve used both the Antique Books cover as well as the Classic Books cover.

 Overall, for the price point ($5.99), this has been a great reading journal. It’s easy to store, holds up well, and is customizable enough to allow me to use it for what I need. A place to add a series tracker would be nice so I wasn’t constantly switching between two books to look up series info. It also would have been nice to have more space for my reviews; they could have easily assigned the back of the page for more review space and extended the book. 

My Reading Life: A Book Journal Created by Anne Bogel from Modern Mrs. Darcy blog (Ten Peaks Press)

Website: Modern Mrs. Darcy (contains a listing of where to buy) | Price: $14.99 (on Amazon) | Source: Publisher | Dimensions: 5.25 x 0.75 x 7.25 inches

Contains:

-100 Review Forms

-Table of Contents (with blank spaces to fill in book titles)

-Quote Pages

-Introduction from Creator

-How to Use the Journal

-Reader Questionnaires (several)

-Reading Habit Tracker

-Book Lists (several)

-TBR List (7 pages)

-Reading Tips (several pages)

-Favorite Books Log (2 pages, lined)

-Favorite Authors Log (2 pages, lined)

-Favorite Quotes Log (4 pages, dot grid)

-Borrowed/Loaned Log  (2 pages)

-Books Given/Received Log (2 pages)

-Favorite Books Log

-Index

 Review Form Contains:

-Title

-Author

-Genre

-Length

-Publisher

-Year Published

-Themes

-Fiction/ Nonfiction

-Start/Finish

-How I Discovered This Book

-Memorable Quotes

-Thoughts & Impressions

-Rating Section (enjoyment, craft, overall)

-Recommendation Section

 My Thoughts: the first thing that I noticed about this book was that it was
super small. The pages are the size of the new mass-market romance books. From first glance, there seems to be a lot of ‘extras’ in this book that I, personally, don’t need (there’s 21 pages of book recommendations, 11 pages of reading tips/guides). The review forms are a little small and this is a dot grid page.

 This seems to be a book journal that’s for someone that’s just starting to get into reading and only wants to share a brief reaction to the book. I’m not sure this is something that would be suited for me, as a reviewer, to use. 

 

The Bookish Sleuth Mystery Reader’s Journal & Planner (2022) Created by Sara Rosett

 Website: Amazon | Price: $28.99 | Source: Gifted | Dimensions: 5.5 x 0.66 x 8.5 inches

 Contains:

-72 Review Forms

 -Table of Contents

-Yearly Book Tracker Grid

-Books to Read Section (36 books)

-Series to Read Section (36 books)

-Wishlist

-Recommended List

-DNF List

-Monthly Spread Planner with Bookish dates

-Review Form

 Review Form Contains:

-Title

–Author

-Genre

-Series

-Series #

-Page Count

-Hours

-Format

-Star Rating System

-Date Started/Finished

-DNF Checkbox

-Main Character(s)

-Supporting Characters

–Setting

-Whodunit

-Tags/Category

-Feeling/Mood/Tone

 This is a guided book review journal so the following is included instead of a place for a review.

-Thoughts on Plot/Theme

-Thoughts on Mystery

-Thoughts on Characters

-Why I Read This Book

-Favorite Quotes

-Things I Liked

-Things I Didn’t Like

-Recommend This To

My Thoughts: This is such a unique reading journal—I don’t think I’ve seen a mystery specific reading journal before—and Sara Rosette did an amazing job creating this one
.

I’ve already started using this one—I’ve added a list of mystery ARCs and release dates to the Books to Read section, I’ve also marked their release dates on the monthly calendars as well as added some specific things I need to tick off once the reviews are posted (where to send the reviews, reminder to add to GoodReads).

There were some specific things that I like my reading journals to have (book index, publisher section) that weren’t included but they were easily added. I do need to go in and add a ‘source’ section, just so I won’t forget where the book came from so I can send the review link to the appropriate place.  I will say that the Books to Read section, Series to Read section, Wishlist section, Recommended List, and DNF list are super small, which doesn’t bother me since I do write rather small.

The only thing I’m not sure about is the guided review format. There are a few sections that I won’t use (Why I Read This Book, Favorite Quote, Recommend This To) so I’ll probably end up using those sections for extra review space. Sadly, there’s not a dedicated ‘Notes’ section, but there is a blank page before each month starts that can be used to jot things down. There’s also a few blank pages at the end of the book.

 

The Reading Journal from Lit Joy Crate

Website: LitJoy Crate | Price: $24.99 | Source: Gifted | Dimensions: 8.5 inch X 6.5 inch

 Contains:

-100 Review Forms

-Table of Contents

-Reader Profile

-Reading Goals (2 pages)

-Books to Read (3 sections)

-Reading Recommendations (3 pages)

-Bookshelves (10 pages)

-Thoughts & Feeling Pages

-Literary Artwork & Quotes

-Blank Dot Grid Pages

–Literary Locations & Map  

-Favorite Audiobooks Section (2 pages)

-Book Club Picks (2 pages)

-DNF section (2 pages)

-Books to Movie Adaptations (6 pages)

-Favorite Book Quotes (4 pages)

-Books by Season Section (add 6 books per season)

-Reading Resources Section | Ribbon Bookmark

Review Form Contains:

-Title

-Author

-Genre

-Format (text\audio)

-Year Published

- # of Pages

-Start/Finish Date

-Recommend Section

-Book Made Me Fill Section

-5-Star Rating System

-Lined Section for Thoughts

-Quote Block

Thoughts: This is the reading journal that I’ve been the most excited about using. It’s aesthetically pleasing, very sturdy, and is printed on decent paper. It has a lot of the things that I look for in a reading journal. Of course, there’s still things that’s missing on the review form that I’ll have to add in but the actual review space is a decent size (if more space is needed I can always use the quote box). There’s a lot of extras in this one that will make it fun to use, and they are extras that I will use. I also like that this one will allow me to get a little creative as there’s bit to color in

The journal comes in a sturdy storage box, which is a plus.

Those are the three journals that I will be using over the next three months. I’ll have an update posted sometime in June with my thoughts on these ones. Will I have found the perfect reading journal? Does it exist? We shall see! 

Have you tried any of the Reading Journals listed here?

Did one catch your fancy?

What reading journal are you using?

 Let me know down in the comment section.