If you're just starting out and hit a month where you're really busy and can't keep up with your reading journal, it's ok to modify how you do that month. You can just make a list of the books you read and not any reviews, you can skip the month, you can do whatever you want because it's supposed to be fun! I had to skip June and July because of moving this year and that's ok.
Also always good to remember for slower readers: you don't have to have one journal per year! I originally didn't think I read enough to make one until I realized I can just have two or more years in one journal and that's totally fine. Just because most influencers do something a certain way doesn't mean you have to, you can always adapt things to work for you
I'm just starting out with trying to read again and wanted a book to do reviews and thoughts and I don't really have much stationary but instead of buying a notebook I'm using a cheap composition notebook since I stock up during back to school sales just to see if I enjoy it. It may not stand the test of time but it's a start and if I want in the future I can always rewrite everything in a better notebook.
A tip from someone who has done really long term projects like temperature blankets for knitting/crochet and making color & writing swatches for well over 200 pens & even more markers... and especially as someone who will listen to a TON of audiobooks while doing other things like driving or my work and other hobbies... *You can keep quick and dirty digital notes or a quick and dirty planning journal for your nice journal* and then do the pretty & well-thought-out part when you have the time to sit down and dedicate to it. It's the holiday crunch time now in late November when I'm commenting. I'm not doing a whole lot else other than making Christmas gifts, but you bet I'm listening to tons of audiobooks, catching up on tv shows and movies I've been meaning to watch, and ticking off YTers from my list of people I've been recommended to check out. (That's what I'm doing here.) I don't have time to write out deep thoughts and make sure everything is formatted and up to my standard... but I do have time to dictate myself some notes or quickly type thoughts into my notes app. I also utilize Good Reads a lot since you can keep your reviews private. I got into journaling because of my knitting/crochet/embroidery/other art & design that I needed to track/keep notes on/brainstorm for and now its spilling over into my other hobbies. It helps keep my head clear which makes life far less exhausting. Oh! Another tip I picked up from another YTer is design your headers on the computer and print them on washi tape sticker paper. Brilliant! Great for those of us with arthritis or who are afraid of making big mistakes like misspelling something or slipping up, and just great for those of us who need to try a few layouts visually before deciding. 10/10 recommend a planning journal for your real journal if you're one of those. Also, you might be neurospicy too.
I recently deleted my goodreads account and want to start journaling my ‘books read’ list, as I work on a personal challenge to read 1,000 books. This video was very helpful, I’m a new subscriber 🙂
I always tell friends to start cheap for their first one. My very first one was a $1 spiral notebook. 😂 There are some truly stunning journals out there but until you're sure you love journaling spare yourself the expense in case you abandon it after a couple of months and then feel bad. And remember theres no bujo police, I think we can easily get caught up in wanting them to be perfect. If I hate a spread, I'll cover it up with patterned paper and make something else.
@@books-on-a-wire I was going to ask that! How to store and maybe catalogue all the finished ones. And does anyone put reading spreads in their normal journal or BUJO?
For me, starting a reading journal was linked closely to a personal challenge - reading all the books I had bought and not yet read. So starting with a list of all those books (already on my shelves), plus a tracker, was a very easy way to roll into using a reading journal. I picked a notebook that I had been "saving for a special occasion" for ages, looked at some amazing UA-cam videos for inspiration (like you, Erin!) and just... started. ♥ It's honestly just been so much fun.
I couldn’t possibly love this more Sofie - starting with what you have in every sense! 😍 how many of your books have you moved from unread to read since then?
@@ErinSmith Thank you! ♥14 books so far! ... But I have also bought 16 new books in the meantime, so I'm not sure the challenge is working. :D Thank you for the wonderful videos, you're a major inspiration.
If I set up a month and don't use it, I just write myself a note saying it's okay not to use spreads and move on. I set up a Slytherin spread last year as we were planning a Harry Potter themed Scotland trip and I didn't read a single book all month! So I used it as memory keeping and that's okay.
I use my reading journal to help me remember what I've read, especially for book series that I've started but then got distracted from. It helps me remember what happened in the previous book before continuing with the series, for example. Also I really enjoy writing reviews for what I've read. It helps me pick out what I did or did not enjoy about books and this enhances my own creative writing; using my reading journal to reflect on other people's stories to improve my own, if that makes sense!
My reading journal is partly a creative outlet (I don’t decorate or do art in my bullet journal) and partly a way for me to put down my thoughts about books. I keep a list of all the books I read, but I don’t make a collage or write reviews for every book, only for those I feel strongly enough about. Less than one-third of the books I’ve read so far this year have got their own review/collage/etc and that’s the way I like it!
personally the square format has been AMAZING for me! also, i found out that a way for me to keep up with journaling is doing monthly "reflexions", since i'm not the reviewer type, and it works wonderfully for me!
for the new notebook paralysis, i always scribble the SHT out of the first page to officially break it in. I then use it as a marker testing page if i need to check color/if something is dried/etc! make the first page intentionally a mess and it eases that stress!
As a person who really wants to get into reading journals and regular BUJOs, I find it all overwhelming. Your videos are very pleasant and non-intimidating. I also SOOO appreciate you are up front about "time management" and showing the reality of how much time it can take to make things and you don't have to be so detailed etc. So amazingly informative and inspiring. Keep them up!
I started my very first bullet journal in August. I was hesitant before because i thought it would be tedious. I also don't create a review page for every book i read, but i do keep track of them
Yours is a beautiful, inspirational book journal. I suffered from new notebook paralysis, but I wanted to start one this year. In 2022 and 2023, I read more than 50 books. each year. This year, I'm only on my 15th book. I need to keep a reading journal because often I read a book too early for my book club discussion and I need to remember the characters, significant events, and quotes and things that resonated with me. Anyway, to tackle my perfectionist paralysis, I took a $1.25 black and white composition book. The size (24.7cm x 19.0cm) was perfect because I read Kristin Hannah's wonderful book, The Women, about the nurses who served in Vietnam. I typed up some notes on the Vietnam war to complement my reading. I taped them in my composition book and then taped a picture of the book and wrote my summary and thoughts. Hey, it's my book journal and if I read another novel about Vietnam, I'll have good reference notes.
I really like the idea of a travelers notebook for those who don’t read much and/or read slower. And for those who aren’t interested in doing huge reviews. I might have to get one for my own reading journal!
Just wanted to warn in case some people don't know: erasable pens that erase with friction actually more often than not erase with the _heat_ created by the friction - which means that they can fade over time a lot faster than other pens, especially if you live in a warm area or leave your journal out in the sun. Just something to keep in mind if you want your writing to last
I just started a reading/media journal. Because I'm a super slow reader (a book takes me about 2 months lol) I'm including my other interests of movies and tv-shows and doing review pages for them too ♥
I'm using an online reading tracking app to keep track of the books i read which is great but I've also realized that i prefer to write my reviews privately just for myself. i also enjoy writing and crafting stuff by my hands more than doing things digitally. So i'm not really surprised to see your videos when i first started looking into reading journals. this video is very informative! i was unsure of how to set up and start things so your suggestions and the comments here are super helpful. 💛 i dont think im going to take my reading journal super serious - just something fun when i have some time and to log my reviews on my favourite books ive enjoyed. i dont want to burnout on it but keep it more like a 'diary' format so i'd write in it every now and then.
This year was really hard for me to read, I've been in a heavy reading slump. But who cares, I'll continue using my reading journal when I overcome the slump.
I always get over new notebook/sketchbook paralysis by designing a welcome page! They dont have to be fancy or anything, can be as simple as writing your name/the name of the notebook and the start and finishing dates. This means you have a basic and familliar first page everytime to get you started
I’ve been following your channel for a couple of months. I must say: you’re so talented, versatile and “engaging” that made me, an addicted reader (re reading some like Moby Dick or 100 years of solitude), make notes about what I’m reading in my planner… maybe 1 step to get a dedicated notebook Thank you so much.
I use an 8 inch square for my book journal but I started with an A5. I also did a book a page with heavy emphasis on junk journaling, which was why I switched to the bigger book but as with my bullet journal I learned what worked and what didn’t and now I changed to a more minimalist with a larger cover photo and I actually type out my writing since my handwriting is horrid and I like to make sure there are no spelling errors. I actually posted two of my journals on my other channel and many commented saying they thought me typing out my thoughts wasn’t their favorite. However, while yes it’s not as personal without the handwriting this is my journal and I wanted it to look neat 😂. Love this video. I feel like it’s a great entry point for any who are new to this!
I absolutely LOVE that you’ve solved a problem by typing your reviews Nina! That’s an incredible solution for anyone who doesn’t love their handwriting or has trouble putting thoughts in order. Do you print it on regular paper and glue it in? Do you use sticker paper? I need to know more! 😍
@@ErinSmith absolutely! I use velum paper when I have pictures or stickers that I want to peek through, lately I have been using regular paper that I glue with a tape runner after first decorating the page with washi tape and craft paper and stickers (I have a silhouette) as well as distressed ink pads where I will use a brush to add color to my notebooks, archer and olive is great for this medium since their pages are nice and thick. I will then print the cover out, I like the cover picture to be fairly big since yup I do judge a book by its cover hehehe, seriously though, covers these days are so pretty and I try to match the decorations to the cover. I have a shelf with books read at the beginning of the journal as well as a table of contents. Lately I have been thinking about what other stats I may wish to track that I haven’t done in the past. That is where your video really becomes handy!
This was so helpful! I have yet to start my reading journal and I wasn’t sure if I was going to start now or if I was going to start in the new year. But after watching your video I think I’ll start now with some experimental spreads, pages and sections for different types of reviews for each of my books. Thank you so much for the ideas and the inspiration to start! 💜
i have eight different journals but i've never really considered making a reading journal because i very rarely read books, but i go through dozens of fanfictions in a week lol but i really might just make one and update it whenever i actually read a book
As a fanfiction reader myself, I would 100% add some fanfics to my reading journal. Its a different type of medium, but if I fully read a finished fic of more than 100K words, or even some smaller ones, I would consider those 'reads' of the month. The work doesnt have to be officially published, to be considered 'worthy' of a reading journal.
@Minkeeeee a lot of what i read are one shots, but anything above 100k would definitely be reading journal worthy to me and now i'm really tempted to make a reading journal but that will wait until after christmas in case i get any new journals then :D
As someone who did collage reading journals for the last two years but didn't have time this year, I'm really happy to see that you've also experimented with only doing fancy spreads for your absolute faves! Makes me feel better about my journal this year!
I loved the Travellers notebook idea! I wouldn’t have thought of doing a double spread and it actually kind of makes more sense to me. Maybe I’ll have a travellers reading journal in future!!!
You can also overcome the paralysis by making a pen swatch in the back, like you do for your monthlies. Once there's ink in the book, there's no going back and it has to become something. There's no paralysis if it's pretty, because those can become bookshelf decore. I'm making a media journal next year, and I'm currently playing around with layout ideas on my phone, in the Notes app. I have a physical list (from a notepad) of what I'd like to add, then in the app I'm working on layouts.
One thing that could be helpful for notebook paralysis is to do a swatch page at the very end of the journal first. That way you can see how your markers/pens/colored pencils will work with the paper. This helps me know what to use in the journal and is like a ‘draft’ before I start with a layout in the front.
I use a B6 notebook (112 pages) for my reading journal. I had one that came in A & O’s first sub box, and thought, “Hmmm, what am I going to do with this little fellow?” So, after a few years, I made a reading journal, and I love it. I do two reviews per page, and it has lasted me 2 years (2023-2024), although I have had to add a couple of pages. Next year, I will also use a B6, but it will only be for one year and I plan to do one review per page, so that I can decorate a bit.
I am more of a stats person when it comes to my reading so I have a lined journal that I have worked on continously for about four years now since 2021 and it is ever changing with everything year that comes and goes all in one singular journal
I started a reading journal in May of this year, as I had set up a mental health goal to focus more on things I like and that was reading and art. Since I knew I wanted to use lots of different materials, I looked for a journal with thick pages (I found a cheap one from Victoria's Journals that I've really liked, it was less than 10€). I go with a similarish setup every month, but with a different theme. I have great quality university printers I can use so I've loved printing out more pictures and even titles, which is a tip if you want to make more uniform looking pages! Also great if you don't really have money for stickers or washis, but have a printer available. I also make the monthly pages ahead of time, with the uniform theme but left empty for however many books I'll read. Now I've started focusing on writing more about my thoughts and reading process, so I use about a page for one book. I also include some stats: the year published, genres, the page/audio length, where I got it (almost always the library! The best place for readers!), and when I read it, as well as my star rating. I'm thinking of upgrading to a more systematic rating system, since I've gone with vibes until now. If there's a quote I really like from the book, I'll also include that, sometimes printing it so it pops from the page. If you like earthy/vintage colours, I really recommend Stabilo's highlighters! They have a set with great colours, and are easier to find at least for me in Europe. Pigma Micron set is also a good investment, I've had mine for almost ten years.
I’ve been so bad at keeping up with journals (I keep a reading one and one for dramas I’m watching). And this year has been a learning experience. I think years from now I’ll flip through it and be amazed at my journey through it.
I just wanna say that ypu were a big inspiration for me to start journaling. I didn't do many things yet, but your encouraging and supportive videos with easy to understand instructions were a good start. And your style is so cute 💕
This was super helpful!! I just started a new reading journal as I wanted to change the way I kept mine before, I have been keeping the same journal for the past 4 years where I just write the name of the book and sometimes a 5 star rating, but your videos inspired me to go for a bigger and more detailed one! so this video came on the perfect time as I just got my notebook a few days ago
This video reminded me that I used to write down my thoughts about books, including favorite quotes. I loved it! I just stopped when I finished that journal. It's nice to be able to reference it when recommending the book, but also helpful just to process the book a little more and remember favorite things or stuff that bothered me. 😊
I started a preprinted one but ran out of room and was like welllllllllllllllllllll .... hmmm.. so I legit just pitched it in the trash. I want to do the collage pages anyway rather than the preprinted format so this greatly interests me! I'd like to keep track of the series that I start so when I'm ready to jump back into it (sometimes you just need that break), I can have that reference point rather than try to rely on my brain. So many great ideas! So glad I found your channel.
Buying a preprinted reading journal is what I needed. I didn’t really even know you could. Checked Amazon and Etsy and Amazon Choice it is. Plenty of writing room, a few pages for statistics, and the format isn’t by month so it’s a good anytime start. I love the pretty bullet journal setup videos but I’m a planner girl. I prefer the filling it out phase.
So glad you could find something that works for you! If I hadn’t already started before they were released I probably would have got one of the Quirky Cup Collective ones! 😍
That's how I started, and it was awesome! I finished it years ago, but I have so many journals that I think I'll try making my own very simple/minimalist one based on what I liked about that one. 😊
I started out with a lined notebook from rifle paper and just kept a page for upcoming releases, and a page for what books I read that month, and made it pretty with one set of washi stickers and some coloured Muji pens that I'd had for years. Then I tried the Little Inklings Design, Always Fully Booked Planner, which has all the book pages set up for you. I did that for two years but then I wanted to decorate more (and didn't want the planner bit) so I set up a reading journal in a A5 dot grid journal from Yop & Tom (it doesn't lay completely flat though, which got to me). Now I'm starting a new mid-year reading journal in a Notebook Therapy B5 journal because I want more room to decorate spreads.
i used to bullet journal, but life got in the way and I stopped for a while, Now I'm realizing how much the creative aspect was important to me, and I'm looking for ways to get back to that. This video was great inspiration , might get me to read again! Thank you!
I personally use an A6 for my reading journal. I don't use monthly layouts, but I can fit a book to a page with a line of washi tape under the cover, rating, length of reading, page/audiobook length, and medium! I'm considering once I run out of pages that I might upgrade to a travelers or B6.
My friend gave me one that was a traveler's size. It was great! I didn't read as many audiobooks back then, but that's definitely something I need to add when I start my new one! 😍
I started my first reading journal at the start of this year. I was never really a big reader so in January I read 6 books, but after that I fell in love with reading & now read maybe 15 books a month. I had to adapt my spreads a few times. From doing 3 reviews on a page to now needing a full page to write down my thoughts. The best thing is that you can change it if it doesn’t work for you & my piece of advice, make it work for you. If it doesn’t work for you, revise what you need and try again.
I love this Valerie! I also found after a few months I had more to say about each book 😍 I definitely agree about revising and persisting if things aren’t working!
I love the idea of making a spread in your current bujo. Have not thought about it. Seeing I only read a book once a month (or less) this is a perfect experiment. Thank you
I have been a reader all my life and have read a LOT of books but have NEVER kept any kind of record. I will be setting up something to record what I read going forward, but I also need to figure out how to record the books I have read in the past. It will never be complete, but I feel compelled to create some kind of record. All those books are very much with me still. It will prompt lots of re-reading and I plan to write plenty about all the books which will be fun. I have a logistical issue. I'll have to record books read in the past as I remember; there's no way to do it in order. If I tried I think I would get bogged down in the logistics. But I would so love it to have some organizing principle. Wish me luck figuring that one out! I don't need to log hours or numbers of books read or anything like that. Your journals are so lovely and inviting. I don't plan to decorate; I just plan to write. Printing and including covers would be a lot of fun though. Thanks so much for all the ideas and inspiration.
This video is so helpful! I've been considering starting a reading journal - mostly to record my thoughts and feelings about a book so that I can easily look back and remember. My biggest struggle is that I want to make it look pretty but I don't feel that I'm very good at that. After watching your video I've decided to start by just writing, and try decorating when I feel ready.
I started with (and am still using) a pre-printed notebook off of Etsy. Not personalized or anything and I bet the same listing is on Amazon. It has been invaluable to me to learn what I like and don't like, how fast I read, and which layouts/trackers I actually use, all with the help of "training wheels." I'm glad I didn't use a fancy/expensive journal for my first year. I've since found a blank journal that really speaks to me that I am EXCITED to start using for 2025!
I love this video. I also started my reading journal on a whim and played around a lot with spreads. I only started my journal in July last year and I use a B5. I am still using the same journal this year and i have learned so much. I don't use every spread or tracker page i set up and that's okay. it's just fun to play with. ❣
Love your ideas! I started a reading journal this year in a square journal and I absolutely love it! I have a journal and Stickershop and designed my own journals in B5, square and TravelSize with 160gr dotted paper💖
I used to keep a reading journal & kind of fell out of it, but your videos have been making me want to pick it up again!!🫶🏼 thank you for sharing your art/creativity with us!🎨
Same! I think a friend gave me one as a gift, but once I finished it, I just started listing my books in my monthly planner. I number them to keep track of how many I've read for the year, and I'll put a star or heart by my favorites. Then I write a short review for my email list. But I think it would be fun to get back to leaving more detailed reviews for favorite books...including quotes and a rating, especially while it's fresh in my mind! 📚 💛
I still haven't made up my mind about starting a reading journal (although I have a journal about everything thing else up to my cats' dietary plans 😅) Somehow this one comes with so much pressure
I started my reading journal in a bullet journal. Then my bullet journal just kind of turned into a reading journal with like extra bits in it. And I was in a A5. My last paper one was in a B5 which I loved so much. I'm currently using my boox note air 3c as all my journals are digital now. I love the way I can customize all my pages in canva and then use them on it and how I can just use digital stickers and free pictures from the internet without having to spend money on supplies. I frequently change up my page styles and decorations and it's just a load of fun on a color eink tablet. Plus it's easier to journal in bed on. It's great cause it's my ebooks, audiobooks, bullet journal, reading journal, medical journal, and long form journal all in one. It really was my solution to sticking with journaling as I have a cyst in my wrist which causes pain when I write so that's totally gone on my tablet. Plus I can use it for sketching which is sweet.
Notebook Therapy just started offering some Travellers Notebook sized bound notebooks. They also offer a lot of the traditional travellers notebooks where you swap out the smaller booklets. I’ve seen some creators do a month to a booklet with a stats/lists booklet that stays in it all year. At the end if the year, they’ll bind them with a tied ribbon or something like that.
An actual Travelers Company notebook (with or without a leather cover) would be a great start for someone wanting to try journalling of any kind. They are cheap, good paper, come in lined, unlined, grid and dot. They dont have heaps of pages so it won't feel like a waste if you don't finish it. If you do you could invest in the system or feel more comfortable moving into other journals.
i use my reading journal generally to track my reading and i love your setup and stats per month page, i typically read 7-9 books aswell, I use Bookmory to track my reading, However within the "Reading Journal" I've included bujo type weekly pages as I like to keep track of things that happened or are going to happen within the week typically my weeks follow same structures as i work specific days so most of my weeks look the same but i use one section on the weekly spread to write a This week for anything extra that might not be in the norm. I love tracking the pages i read during the day but i track it backwards e.g. last night i read from page 80-100 so on the date marked the 28th I will put the book name and pg 100, as that is the number i started the day on. its a little confusing but means i don't have to calculate anything. after that i have a Trackers section mostly Steps, sleep hours water intake etc. I like keeping that information in the journal too as i find more than one journal somewhat overwhelming. I don't find i have enough time to create the detailed fancy review spreads but i don't mind I find I like pushing myself to read one more book than the month before and its okay if i don't make that but as a typically slow reader (only faster bc i use audible) I love that i can read more than 3 books a month
I also just wanted to add (for my collage/junk journaling types) that there is plenty of cheap/free material out there! I agree that you probably shouldn't buy large orders of washi/stickers and the like right away or all up front, especially not before you even have a journal to put it in. ;) Things to look for: magazines, colored paper, newspaper, photos, scrap fabric, ribbon, dried plants, petals, feathers. Greeting cards, postcards, ticket stubs, maps. Gift wrap, bubble wrap, lace/doilies, origami paper. "Kids" paint, colored pencils, crayons, Crayola markers. Painter's tape, tin foil, playing cards. Menus, booklets, pamphlets. Old school assignments. Envelopes that come in junk mail. A glue stick or scotch tape. It's also perfectly fine to print digital printables that are "meant" to be stickers on normal copy paper :)
My journaling is very minimal. Mostly pen to paper. I've started using stickers this year and I will say that I started with A5, went down to a B6 and now I'm in a regular traveler's notebook size and I quite enjoy that size. I'm going to be in a regular TN size next year and think I'm going to go in a ring binder system (prayerfully) in 2026
Very informative video. I started my first reading journal this year. Very simple, just tracking days I read ja what I read in those days. I write shortly about every book, mostly my feelings about it. I have star rating but again just my feelings. Almost no decoration, only very few stickers. But now I know what I want to track next year. I also plan to make deeper ratings and analyse more when writing.
I have been « starting » a reading journal for some time now. I was not sure what I wanted from it so the journal would not have been « perfect » from the start so I did nothing. I was honest with myself and ruled out some spread I love in other people journal (monthly stats and spread). Fall is coming in my hemisphere and is the perfect time to start a long term reading journal. Thanks for your video, great types and it confirmed what I want to do.
These are nice tips. I keep my reading journal on my iPad mainly (in Goodnotes) and a list of the books I've read and page count in my planner notebook (physical)
Such a well put together video, I love the pastel-y lilac-y aesthetic 💜 It’s only August but I’m grappling with the decision of which new journal from my (thankfully small) collection to use for 2025.
When I finish a book I want to linger in that world a little longer, and I do THAT spread/review immediately when I have the excitement of it. That way it gets finished and I capture more of my emotions about. If I’m backlogged (I often am) I put a post it to save the page for whatever book and can go back for that - it keeps the order.
Tip for those who love the idea of a reading journal but is to paranoid about doing something "wrong", maybe start on Canva and do it digitally. That's what I've been doing and for me personal because I'm not an artist, it's all the fun of a reading journal without any of the things that stress me out.
I've been 'starting' my reading journal since I got the lucky bag from Notebook therapy last year. It has a gorgeous fairytale notebook.. I've yet to put the first mark on a page... I need to start and 'give it a soul' 🥰
I started my first reading journal in january and its been so much fun! Personally, i found that buying cute stickers and washis and new stationary in general motivated me to keep up more. My ambitious ass started doing stats and I started dreading them bc i wasnt used to using storygraph and that made me dread them so im probably not going to continue with that lol. I also found that rating books by feeling is way more efficient for me than specific rating systems like cawpile. (Dont mind me, just an ADHDer yappin abt her experience)
I defenitly read a lot but not as much as like booktubers and other bookstagrammers wich I find to be fine, still I use a B5 notebook not necessarily for collages but this way I can write a bit bigger and add quite some information about the book(I will add it at the bottom in the order I put it on my pages for a slight visualisation) It also gives me space to make bigger squares for my reading goal and reading tracker and it made it way easier to add my reading goal bookshelf it also gave me enough space to add dutchdoors without having not enough space for another tracker or whatever. review pages: cover: Title author genre start end (tropes) not sure if I'm gonna keep that for my 2025 journal since I tend to leave it blank language format: physical, e-book, audiobook from: bought, borrowed, gifted charachters pages review: about 8 lines star rating
I do 3 books per page in my travelers journal reading notebook. I almost never write much details. I like to do mini art sections that represent the covers to help me remember the book. My 5 stars get a full page as well as mini section. Iv been looking for nice notebooks in that size and other then archer and olive haven't found any.
I treat my reading journal pages like a scrapbook.i add pictures of the places or major events that relate to the book. For example, for a murder mystery book I might add some crime tape to the background 😅
I’m using a disc bound reading journal that’s a combination of my own pages and pre-printed ones. I like being able to take things out or move things around as I add more. This is my 3rd year in a reading journal and would love to do a bound book at some point but am too far invested in the discs by now anyway so I just stuck with it
I use ring binders because I like to keep the books alphabetically by author. That way if I want to look up a specific book to recommend it to someone it's easy to find. I would love to add a pic of the cover of the book to each spot along with the rating, title, author and synopsis I've been doing, where can I find pictures of the book covers to print out?
That’s a great idea! 💡 I usually just Google image search the covers - add ‘Goodreads’ to your search and use their image if you’d like it to be a nice crispy file size 💕
Hi! I love your channel! Can you post a link to a video about what to do about markers bleeding through the page that you mentioned, probably on a different video that i just watched. Thanks so much!!
I am confused at this point as a newbie what size is an A5 or an A6 and what size is a B6 or is there a B5? Is there somewhere I can find out the comparisons of sizes? I love your videos and learned so much from your video on setting up your first reading journal. I really liked your advice on setting up a quarterly book if you are not a fast reader or are not sure that you can keep up with a monthly journal. Thanks,Jacqui
I just started book journaling at the end of 2023. I wanted to start minimally so I only bought a journal, a pack of stickers, and some brown paper for backgrounds. I ended up backlogging all of 2023 and only did one page for each month. For 2024 I’ve upped it to two pages a month haha. I’m thinking for 2025 I might start putting reviews for each book, but I’m not sure yet.
I honestly don't know why it never occurred to me to try a bare-bones method for a reading journal. I don't get to read like I used to, but I also find it hard to remember what books I read or loved. I wanted to start one before, but did way too much (only pencil, I believe), so I have the perfect notebook already! Thanks for the inspiration! Edit: typo
Hi Erin! I really liked this video, I started my own reading journal. this year but I have fallen behind, I am always struggle for the monthly themes or cover pages. any tips?
I often like to start with a piece of stationery I’m excited about (or I go through my stationery looking for something that makes me go ‘that’s cute, I forgot I had that’ 🤣) and then build my theme around it with items in similar colours (or colours I think look nice or interesting with it). The video deadlines really help me with that, I just have to do something so the video can go up - ‘done is better than perfect’! Often the layouts I go into without much of a plan surprise me and end up some of my favs!
I'm very much a perfectionist when it comes to reading journals. I get this like weird anxiety when it doesn't work out the way it was "supposed to". For example, last year I got into a really major reading slump. For comparison 2022 I read 47 books. I did pretty good with my reading journal and kept up with it for the most part. I bought a new one for 2023 and made all the set up pages etc but then I literally only read 5 book in that entire year and so all the spreads I made were completely unfilled up and that journal has barely anything in it. Because of this I never started a reading journal this year and now that it's 8 months into the year I've got back into my reading again and want to start a journal but it feels weird to just randomly continue where I left off in my 2023 journal with lots of unfinished empty pages but I don't wanna start a new journal when there are only 4 months left in the year lol. I don't know why my brain thinks like this, maybe I should just get over it lmao.
I can totally understand that 🩷 I wonder if your head would let you reframe it as ‘practice’ if you were to add your current books to the 2023 journal - it’s not a continuation, it’s just using up the spare pages to find out what works for you so you can jump into next year’s journal feeling ready? Might be worth a shot! 💕
An easy way to decote if you either don't want yet or cant get alot of collage stuff, is to to copy the how the fonts with the done on the Cover of the book
How do you get the stickers of the pictures of the books your reading or want to read?I like your concept ut I struggle with planner peace weather it's planning or book reading. It could be due to my adhd and I get bored easily,not sure though. Thanks
If I want to do a LOT at once I’ll save them as images to my computer from Goodreads, resize them in a word processing doc and then print them on sticker paper and cut them out. If I’m just doing a few at a time I use a portable mini printer - I have a Short about that, I’ll link it for you! 🥰 How I print book covers for my reading journal #readingjournal #booktube #shorts ua-cam.com/users/shortstVl2_EljjWE?feature=share
Notebooktherapy hace esos tamaños de libreta de viaje incluso más pequeños que esa que enseñas y es una tienda japonesa, la verdad es que me encantan sus libretas, washi tape, etc.
Do you always finish the books you read? If not, do you still make review spreads for the parts of the book that you read, by mentioning in your personal review the reasons you couldn’t finish the book? I’m awfully curious about this.
I very rarely DNF, but when I do - whether I include the book in my journal varies! Sometimes I’ll include a half-page write up on why I DNFed, but I can usually tell pretty quickly if I’m not going to want to continue reading, and if I didn’t get very far in the book I tend not to include any kind of review spread. It does go on my tracking calendar though, with an X at the end of the line to denote that I didn’t finish the book 💙
I like the idea of a reading journal. but the only thing I track is which books I read each month (1-3) and my rating. I have no use for detailed statistics because I generally stick to the same books and genres and I'm not really interested in stats. Also, for some books I read them to pass the time and I don't want to write a review or don't have the time. So I can't really justify making a reading journal because I won't keep up with it - which is a shame because I'd love to decorate it like my ordinary bullet journal and be creative.
Sounds like a great excuse for a junk journal! 😉 you can play with your stationery just because it’s fun, and if there are any books that happen to match what you have you can make some one-off book-inspired junk journal spreads about them 😍
I use a small notebook, the size of a cell phone, so I take it everywhere and at any time, for example, on public transportation, I can put the book down and write down a thought, or something that caught my attention; or something that I would argue with the author, but I can't because he has been dead for hundreds of years hahahahaha But I would like to have a notebook with my thoughts about books summarized in an orderly way, and easy to find. A while ago I re-read a book I had read when I was 15, and 22 years later, there was a lot I didn't remember; Furthermore, I would have liked to compare my thoughts from that time with my thoughts now, clearly the things that resonated with me at that time are not the same as those that resonate with me now.
How would you do reading spreads for students who aren't so much reviewing a book, but have to take notes for reports or papers. Some professors, especially English, require a lot of reading. I don't need pretty or ratings, maybe not even stats. I've never seen anyone do reading journals like this. Help? Thanks
I'm going to try my hand at it, I'll use an old sketch book I already have. Supply wise it won't be pretty but I'll use markers and construction paper I have it already and then if I keep it up and enjoy it I'll invest in something more for 2025
@@LivinItUp98 it’s possible they’ve changed the paper, but I bought one back when they first became available and all inks (including FWP ink) bleed. Even using EF and F nibs.
If you're just starting out and hit a month where you're really busy and can't keep up with your reading journal, it's ok to modify how you do that month. You can just make a list of the books you read and not any reviews, you can skip the month, you can do whatever you want because it's supposed to be fun! I had to skip June and July because of moving this year and that's ok.
That is SUCH good advice Jess! 😍
Also always good to remember for slower readers: you don't have to have one journal per year! I originally didn't think I read enough to make one until I realized I can just have two or more years in one journal and that's totally fine. Just because most influencers do something a certain way doesn't mean you have to, you can always adapt things to work for you
Yes! Absolutely! That’s a great tip 💕 my first reading journal covered about 18 months!
I'm just starting out with trying to read again and wanted a book to do reviews and thoughts and I don't really have much stationary but instead of buying a notebook I'm using a cheap composition notebook since I stock up during back to school sales just to see if I enjoy it. It may not stand the test of time but it's a start and if I want in the future I can always rewrite everything in a better notebook.
A tip from someone who has done really long term projects like temperature blankets for knitting/crochet and making color & writing swatches for well over 200 pens & even more markers... and especially as someone who will listen to a TON of audiobooks while doing other things like driving or my work and other hobbies...
*You can keep quick and dirty digital notes or a quick and dirty planning journal for your nice journal* and then do the pretty & well-thought-out part when you have the time to sit down and dedicate to it. It's the holiday crunch time now in late November when I'm commenting. I'm not doing a whole lot else other than making Christmas gifts, but you bet I'm listening to tons of audiobooks, catching up on tv shows and movies I've been meaning to watch, and ticking off YTers from my list of people I've been recommended to check out. (That's what I'm doing here.) I don't have time to write out deep thoughts and make sure everything is formatted and up to my standard... but I do have time to dictate myself some notes or quickly type thoughts into my notes app. I also utilize Good Reads a lot since you can keep your reviews private.
I got into journaling because of my knitting/crochet/embroidery/other art & design that I needed to track/keep notes on/brainstorm for and now its spilling over into my other hobbies. It helps keep my head clear which makes life far less exhausting.
Oh! Another tip I picked up from another YTer is design your headers on the computer and print them on washi tape sticker paper. Brilliant! Great for those of us with arthritis or who are afraid of making big mistakes like misspelling something or slipping up, and just great for those of us who need to try a few layouts visually before deciding. 10/10 recommend a planning journal for your real journal if you're one of those. Also, you might be neurospicy too.
I recently deleted my goodreads account and want to start journaling my ‘books read’ list, as I work on a personal challenge to read 1,000 books. This video was very helpful, I’m a new subscriber 🙂
I always tell friends to start cheap for their first one. My very first one was a $1 spiral notebook. 😂 There are some truly stunning journals out there but until you're sure you love journaling spare yourself the expense in case you abandon it after a couple of months and then feel bad. And remember theres no bujo police, I think we can easily get caught up in wanting them to be perfect. If I hate a spread, I'll cover it up with patterned paper and make something else.
This is such good advice! I think starting with a cheap notebook really makes you appreciate your first nice fancy notebook too!
@@ErinSmith I used it for only a few months before I invested and I haven't gone back. Now my problem is where do I put all the completed ones! 😂
@@books-on-a-wire I was going to ask that! How to store and maybe catalogue all the finished ones. And does anyone put reading spreads in their normal journal or BUJO?
For me, starting a reading journal was linked closely to a personal challenge - reading all the books I had bought and not yet read. So starting with a list of all those books (already on my shelves), plus a tracker, was a very easy way to roll into using a reading journal. I picked a notebook that I had been "saving for a special occasion" for ages, looked at some amazing UA-cam videos for inspiration (like you, Erin!) and just... started. ♥ It's honestly just been so much fun.
I couldn’t possibly love this more Sofie - starting with what you have in every sense! 😍 how many of your books have you moved from unread to read since then?
@@ErinSmith Thank you! ♥14 books so far! ... But I have also bought 16 new books in the meantime, so I'm not sure the challenge is working. :D Thank you for the wonderful videos, you're a major inspiration.
If I set up a month and don't use it, I just write myself a note saying it's okay not to use spreads and move on. I set up a Slytherin spread last year as we were planning a Harry Potter themed Scotland trip and I didn't read a single book all month! So I used it as memory keeping and that's okay.
Absolutely love this - that’s showing yourself so much kindness!!
I use my reading journal to help me remember what I've read, especially for book series that I've started but then got distracted from. It helps me remember what happened in the previous book before continuing with the series, for example. Also I really enjoy writing reviews for what I've read. It helps me pick out what I did or did not enjoy about books and this enhances my own creative writing; using my reading journal to reflect on other people's stories to improve my own, if that makes sense!
My reading journal is partly a creative outlet (I don’t decorate or do art in my bullet journal) and partly a way for me to put down my thoughts about books. I keep a list of all the books I read, but I don’t make a collage or write reviews for every book, only for those I feel strongly enough about. Less than one-third of the books I’ve read so far this year have got their own review/collage/etc and that’s the way I like it!
I love that SO much! You know what you want and you make it happen! 😍
@@ErinSmith i just think life's too short to journal about books that i didn't like 😆
personally the square format has been AMAZING for me! also, i found out that a way for me to keep up with journaling is doing monthly "reflexions", since i'm not the reviewer type, and it works wonderfully for me!
for the new notebook paralysis, i always scribble the SHT out of the first page to officially break it in. I then use it as a marker testing page if i need to check color/if something is dried/etc! make the first page intentionally a mess and it eases that stress!
That’s amazing Kerri! I admire your scribble dedication 😍 I don’t know if I could do that on the first page myself, but definitely the last page!
As a person who really wants to get into reading journals and regular BUJOs, I find it all overwhelming. Your videos are very pleasant and non-intimidating. I also SOOO appreciate you are up front about "time management" and showing the reality of how much time it can take to make things and you don't have to be so detailed etc. So amazingly informative and inspiring. Keep them up!
I started my very first bullet journal in August. I was hesitant before because i thought it would be tedious. I also don't create a review page for every book i read, but i do keep track of them
Yours is a beautiful, inspirational book journal. I suffered from new notebook paralysis, but I wanted to start one this year. In 2022 and 2023, I read more than 50 books. each year. This year, I'm only on my 15th book. I need to keep a reading journal because often I read a book too early for my book club discussion and I need to remember the characters, significant events, and quotes and things that resonated with me. Anyway, to tackle my perfectionist paralysis, I took a $1.25 black and white composition book. The size (24.7cm x 19.0cm) was perfect because I read Kristin Hannah's wonderful book, The Women, about the nurses who served in Vietnam. I typed up some notes on the Vietnam war to complement my reading. I taped them in my composition book and then taped a picture of the book and wrote my summary and thoughts. Hey, it's my book journal and if I read another novel about Vietnam, I'll have good reference notes.
I really like the idea of a travelers notebook for those who don’t read much and/or read slower. And for those who aren’t interested in doing huge reviews. I might have to get one for my own reading journal!
Adding those lil mockup graphics made me want to try one too! 😍
@@ErinSmith I loved that! Being able to actually see the layout was super helpful!
Just wanted to warn in case some people don't know: erasable pens that erase with friction actually more often than not erase with the _heat_ created by the friction - which means that they can fade over time a lot faster than other pens, especially if you live in a warm area or leave your journal out in the sun. Just something to keep in mind if you want your writing to last
Number one reason why I stopped using frixion pens. Because would leave my journal in the sun and what I wrote vanished
You can stick them in the fridge or freezer for a few minutes and the ink will reappear
@@handmadebygemma Interesting, thank you !
I just started a reading/media journal. Because I'm a super slow reader (a book takes me about 2 months lol) I'm including my other interests of movies and tv-shows and doing review pages for them too ♥
I'm using an online reading tracking app to keep track of the books i read which is great but I've also realized that i prefer to write my reviews privately just for myself. i also enjoy writing and crafting stuff by my hands more than doing things digitally.
So i'm not really surprised to see your videos when i first started looking into reading journals.
this video is very informative! i was unsure of how to set up and start things so your suggestions and the comments here are super helpful. 💛
i dont think im going to take my reading journal super serious - just something fun when i have some time and to log my reviews on my favourite books ive enjoyed. i dont want to burnout on it but keep it more like a 'diary' format so i'd write in it every now and then.
This year was really hard for me to read, I've been in a heavy reading slump. But who cares, I'll continue using my reading journal when I overcome the slump.
I really like this approach! It’ll be ready when you are!
I love that you are giving yourself grace ❤
I always get over new notebook/sketchbook paralysis by designing a welcome page! They dont have to be fancy or anything, can be as simple as writing your name/the name of the notebook and the start and finishing dates. This means you have a basic and familliar first page everytime to get you started
I’ve been following your channel for a couple of months. I must say: you’re so talented, versatile and “engaging” that made me, an addicted reader (re reading some like Moby Dick or 100 years of solitude), make notes about what I’m reading in my planner… maybe 1 step to get a dedicated notebook Thank you so much.
I use an 8 inch square for my book journal but I started with an A5. I also did a book a page with heavy emphasis on junk journaling, which was why I switched to the bigger book but as with my bullet journal I learned what worked and what didn’t and now I changed to a more minimalist with a larger cover photo and I actually type out my writing since my handwriting is horrid and I like to make sure there are no spelling errors. I actually posted two of my journals on my other channel and many commented saying they thought me typing out my thoughts wasn’t their favorite. However, while yes it’s not as personal without the handwriting this is my journal and I wanted it to look neat 😂. Love this video. I feel like it’s a great entry point for any who are new to this!
I absolutely LOVE that you’ve solved a problem by typing your reviews Nina! That’s an incredible solution for anyone who doesn’t love their handwriting or has trouble putting thoughts in order. Do you print it on regular paper and glue it in? Do you use sticker paper? I need to know more! 😍
@@ErinSmith absolutely! I use velum paper when I have pictures or stickers that I want to peek through, lately I have been using regular paper that I glue with a tape runner after first decorating the page with washi tape and craft paper and stickers (I have a silhouette) as well as distressed ink pads where I will use a brush to add color to my notebooks, archer and olive is great for this medium since their pages are nice and thick. I will then print the cover out, I like the cover picture to be fairly big since yup I do judge a book by its cover hehehe, seriously though, covers these days are so pretty and I try to match the decorations to the cover. I have a shelf with books read at the beginning of the journal as well as a table of contents. Lately I have been thinking about what other stats I may wish to track that I haven’t done in the past. That is where your video really becomes handy!
notebook therapy also does traveler-size notebooks. They're quite beautiful.
I love my reading journal 😍 i am already planning my next one for 2025! Love to set goals, write down reviews and the creative part of it! 😍
This was so helpful! I have yet to start my reading journal and I wasn’t sure if I was going to start now or if I was going to start in the new year. But after watching your video I think I’ll start now with some experimental spreads, pages and sections for different types of reviews for each of my books. Thank you so much for the ideas and the inspiration to start! 💜
That’s so exciting to hear Ceders! Let me know if you run into any troubles 💕
@@ErinSmith Thank you! I will let you know how it goes 💜
i have eight different journals but i've never really considered making a reading journal because i very rarely read books, but i go through dozens of fanfictions in a week lol but i really might just make one and update it whenever i actually read a book
As a fanfiction reader myself, I would 100% add some fanfics to my reading journal. Its a different type of medium, but if I fully read a finished fic of more than 100K words, or even some smaller ones, I would consider those 'reads' of the month.
The work doesnt have to be officially published, to be considered 'worthy' of a reading journal.
@Minkeeeee a lot of what i read are one shots, but anything above 100k would definitely be reading journal worthy to me and now i'm really tempted to make a reading journal but that will wait until after christmas in case i get any new journals then :D
As someone who did collage reading journals for the last two years but didn't have time this year, I'm really happy to see that you've also experimented with only doing fancy spreads for your absolute faves! Makes me feel better about my journal this year!
I loved the Travellers notebook idea! I wouldn’t have thought of doing a double spread and it actually kind of makes more sense to me. Maybe I’ll have a travellers reading journal in future!!!
I would love to see how you do it, if you do! 😍
When I have a lot to write in a travelers notebook I write sideways! Doesn't have to always be vertical!
You can also overcome the paralysis by making a pen swatch in the back, like you do for your monthlies. Once there's ink in the book, there's no going back and it has to become something. There's no paralysis if it's pretty, because those can become bookshelf decore. I'm making a media journal next year, and I'm currently playing around with layout ideas on my phone, in the Notes app. I have a physical list (from a notepad) of what I'd like to add, then in the app I'm working on layouts.
That’s phenomenal advice! Pen swatches for all!
Thanks to everyone for sharing your tips and tricks from a newbie. I didn't realize how much could go into a reading journal.
One thing that could be helpful for notebook paralysis is to do a swatch page at the very end of the journal first. That way you can see how your markers/pens/colored pencils will work with the paper. This helps me know what to use in the journal and is like a ‘draft’ before I start with a layout in the front.
I use a B6 notebook (112 pages) for my reading journal. I had one that came in A & O’s first sub box, and thought, “Hmmm, what am I going to do with this little fellow?” So, after a few years, I made a reading journal, and I love it. I do two reviews per page, and it has lasted me 2 years (2023-2024), although I have had to add a couple of pages. Next year, I will also use a B6, but it will only be for one year and I plan to do one review per page, so that I can decorate a bit.
That’s incredible Debra! I had a couple of B6s on my shelf but I didn’t consider them for this purpose, you’ve got me rethinking that! 😍
Just wanted to say your hair looks lovely in this video
Thank you so much! 🥰
I am more of a stats person when it comes to my reading so I have a lined journal that I have worked on continously for about four years now since 2021 and it is ever changing with everything year that comes and goes all in one singular journal
You're the best, Erin. Thank you. I'm doing my very first reading journal this year and using a B5. It's so fun!
I started a reading journal in May of this year, as I had set up a mental health goal to focus more on things I like and that was reading and art. Since I knew I wanted to use lots of different materials, I looked for a journal with thick pages (I found a cheap one from Victoria's Journals that I've really liked, it was less than 10€). I go with a similarish setup every month, but with a different theme. I have great quality university printers I can use so I've loved printing out more pictures and even titles, which is a tip if you want to make more uniform looking pages! Also great if you don't really have money for stickers or washis, but have a printer available. I also make the monthly pages ahead of time, with the uniform theme but left empty for however many books I'll read. Now I've started focusing on writing more about my thoughts and reading process, so I use about a page for one book.
I also include some stats: the year published, genres, the page/audio length, where I got it (almost always the library! The best place for readers!), and when I read it, as well as my star rating. I'm thinking of upgrading to a more systematic rating system, since I've gone with vibes until now. If there's a quote I really like from the book, I'll also include that, sometimes printing it so it pops from the page.
If you like earthy/vintage colours, I really recommend Stabilo's highlighters! They have a set with great colours, and are easier to find at least for me in Europe. Pigma Micron set is also a good investment, I've had mine for almost ten years.
I’ve been so bad at keeping up with journals (I keep a reading one and one for dramas I’m watching). And this year has been a learning experience. I think years from now I’ll flip through it and be amazed at my journey through it.
I just wanna say that ypu were a big inspiration for me to start journaling. I didn't do many things yet, but your encouraging and supportive videos with easy to understand instructions were a good start. And your style is so cute 💕
This makes my heart feel so full, thank you! 🥰🥰
This was super helpful!! I just started a new reading journal as I wanted to change the way I kept mine before, I have been keeping the same journal for the past 4 years where I just write the name of the book and sometimes a 5 star rating, but your videos inspired me to go for a bigger and more detailed one! so this video came on the perfect time as I just got my notebook a few days ago
Perfect timing Nia! I’m so glad this helped 🥰 I can’t wait to see what you do with it!
This video reminded me that I used to write down my thoughts about books, including favorite quotes. I loved it! I just stopped when I finished that journal. It's nice to be able to reference it when recommending the book, but also helpful just to process the book a little more and remember favorite things or stuff that bothered me. 😊
I started a preprinted one but ran out of room and was like welllllllllllllllllllll .... hmmm.. so I legit just pitched it in the trash. I want to do the collage pages anyway rather than the preprinted format so this greatly interests me! I'd like to keep track of the series that I start so when I'm ready to jump back into it (sometimes you just need that break), I can have that reference point rather than try to rely on my brain. So many great ideas! So glad I found your channel.
Buying a preprinted reading journal is what I needed. I didn’t really even know you could. Checked Amazon and Etsy and Amazon Choice it is. Plenty of writing room, a few pages for statistics, and the format isn’t by month so it’s a good anytime start.
I love the pretty bullet journal setup videos but I’m a planner girl. I prefer the filling it out phase.
So glad you could find something that works for you! If I hadn’t already started before they were released I probably would have got one of the Quirky Cup Collective ones! 😍
That's how I started, and it was awesome! I finished it years ago, but I have so many journals that I think I'll try making my own very simple/minimalist one based on what I liked about that one. 😊
New at doing this but to it’ll make my read more exciting to keep records ❤
I started out with a lined notebook from rifle paper and just kept a page for upcoming releases, and a page for what books I read that month, and made it pretty with one set of washi stickers and some coloured Muji pens that I'd had for years. Then I tried the Little Inklings Design, Always Fully Booked Planner, which has all the book pages set up for you. I did that for two years but then I wanted to decorate more (and didn't want the planner bit) so I set up a reading journal in a A5 dot grid journal from Yop & Tom (it doesn't lay completely flat though, which got to me). Now I'm starting a new mid-year reading journal in a Notebook Therapy B5 journal because I want more room to decorate spreads.
This is ✨reading journal evolution✨ I love that your approach is evolving with you!
i used to bullet journal, but life got in the way and I stopped for a while, Now I'm realizing how much the creative aspect was important to me, and I'm looking for ways to get back to that. This video was great inspiration , might get me to read again! Thank you!
I’m so glad you found it helpful! 🥰
I personally use an A6 for my reading journal. I don't use monthly layouts, but I can fit a book to a page with a line of washi tape under the cover, rating, length of reading, page/audiobook length, and medium! I'm considering once I run out of pages that I might upgrade to a travelers or B6.
My friend gave me one that was a traveler's size. It was great! I didn't read as many audiobooks back then, but that's definitely something I need to add when I start my new one! 😍
I started my first reading journal at the start of this year. I was never really a big reader so in January I read 6 books, but after that I fell in love with reading & now read maybe 15 books a month. I had to adapt my spreads a few times. From doing 3 reviews on a page to now needing a full page to write down my thoughts. The best thing is that you can change it if it doesn’t work for you & my piece of advice, make it work for you. If it doesn’t work for you, revise what you need and try again.
I love this Valerie! I also found after a few months I had more to say about each book 😍 I definitely agree about revising and persisting if things aren’t working!
I love the idea of making a spread in your current bujo. Have not thought about it. Seeing I only read a book once a month (or less) this is a perfect experiment. Thank you
That makes me so happy to hear!
I have been a reader all my life and have read a LOT of books but have NEVER kept any kind of record. I will be setting up something to record what I read going forward, but I also need to figure out how to record the books I have read in the past. It will never be complete, but I feel compelled to create some kind of record. All those books are very much with me still. It will prompt lots of re-reading and I plan to write plenty about all the books which will be fun. I have a logistical issue. I'll have to record books read in the past as I remember; there's no way to do it in order. If I tried I think I would get bogged down in the logistics. But I would so love it to have some organizing principle. Wish me luck figuring that one out! I don't need to log hours or numbers of books read or anything like that. Your journals are so lovely and inviting. I don't plan to decorate; I just plan to write. Printing and including covers would be a lot of fun though. Thanks so much for all the ideas and inspiration.
This video is so helpful! I've been considering starting a reading journal - mostly to record my thoughts and feelings about a book so that I can easily look back and remember. My biggest struggle is that I want to make it look pretty but I don't feel that I'm very good at that. After watching your video I've decided to start by just writing, and try decorating when I feel ready.
Your comment makes me so happy! You can do it! Your journal will also show your growth and progress and I think that’s so beautiful 😍
youre an absolute angel! such good ideas and knowledge
I started with (and am still using) a pre-printed notebook off of Etsy. Not personalized or anything and I bet the same listing is on Amazon. It has been invaluable to me to learn what I like and don't like, how fast I read, and which layouts/trackers I actually use, all with the help of "training wheels." I'm glad I didn't use a fancy/expensive journal for my first year. I've since found a blank journal that really speaks to me that I am EXCITED to start using for 2025!
Love love love this exploration! 😍
I love this video. I also started my reading journal on a whim and played around a lot with spreads. I only started my journal in July last year and I use a B5. I am still using the same journal this year and i have learned so much. I don't use every spread or tracker page i set up and that's okay. it's just fun to play with. ❣
I am loving this kindness and patience you show yourself Yogz! 😍
I like this, "This has a soul."😁 Thanks for sharing this video.
Thank you for watching! ❤
Love your ideas! I started a reading journal this year in a square journal and I absolutely love it!
I have a journal and Stickershop and designed my own journals in B5, square and TravelSize with 160gr dotted paper💖
I’m so pumped to try a square! 😍▪️
I used to keep a reading journal & kind of fell out of it, but your videos have been making me want to pick it up again!!🫶🏼 thank you for sharing your art/creativity with us!🎨
I’m so glad I can help you get reinspired! ✨
Same! I think a friend gave me one as a gift, but once I finished it, I just started listing my books in my monthly planner. I number them to keep track of how many I've read for the year, and I'll put a star or heart by my favorites. Then I write a short review for my email list. But I think it would be fun to get back to leaving more detailed reviews for favorite books...including quotes and a rating, especially while it's fresh in my mind! 📚 💛
I still haven't made up my mind about starting a reading journal (although I have a journal about everything thing else up to my cats' dietary plans 😅)
Somehow this one comes with so much pressure
I started my reading journal in a bullet journal. Then my bullet journal just kind of turned into a reading journal with like extra bits in it. And I was in a A5. My last paper one was in a B5 which I loved so much. I'm currently using my boox note air 3c as all my journals are digital now. I love the way I can customize all my pages in canva and then use them on it and how I can just use digital stickers and free pictures from the internet without having to spend money on supplies. I frequently change up my page styles and decorations and it's just a load of fun on a color eink tablet. Plus it's easier to journal in bed on. It's great cause it's my ebooks, audiobooks, bullet journal, reading journal, medical journal, and long form journal all in one. It really was my solution to sticking with journaling as I have a cyst in my wrist which causes pain when I write so that's totally gone on my tablet. Plus I can use it for sketching which is sweet.
What an evolution! I love that so much 😍
❤❤Wanna switch it up? “You’re powerful. You can do that!”❤❤
Thanks for another great video!
Notebook Therapy does beautiful Travellers size notebooks too!
Notebook Therapy just started offering some Travellers Notebook sized bound notebooks. They also offer a lot of the traditional travellers notebooks where you swap out the smaller booklets. I’ve seen some creators do a month to a booklet with a stats/lists booklet that stays in it all year. At the end if the year, they’ll bind them with a tied ribbon or something like that.
That’s a great idea!
An actual Travelers Company notebook (with or without a leather cover) would be a great start for someone wanting to try journalling of any kind. They are cheap, good paper, come in lined, unlined, grid and dot. They dont have heaps of pages so it won't feel like a waste if you don't finish it.
If you do you could invest in the system or feel more comfortable moving into other journals.
i use my reading journal generally to track my reading and i love your setup and stats per month page, i typically read 7-9 books aswell, I use Bookmory to track my reading, However within the "Reading Journal" I've included bujo type weekly pages as I like to keep track of things that happened or are going to happen within the week typically my weeks follow same structures as i work specific days so most of my weeks look the same but i use one section on the weekly spread to write a This week for anything extra that might not be in the norm. I love tracking the pages i read during the day but i track it backwards e.g. last night i read from page 80-100 so on the date marked the 28th I will put the book name and pg 100, as that is the number i started the day on. its a little confusing but means i don't have to calculate anything. after that i have a Trackers section mostly Steps, sleep hours water intake etc. I like keeping that information in the journal too as i find more than one journal somewhat overwhelming. I don't find i have enough time to create the detailed fancy review spreads but i don't mind
I find I like pushing myself to read one more book than the month before and its okay if i don't make that but as a typically slow reader (only faster bc i use audible) I love that i can read more than 3 books a month
I also just wanted to add (for my collage/junk journaling types) that there is plenty of cheap/free material out there! I agree that you probably shouldn't buy large orders of washi/stickers and the like right away or all up front, especially not before you even have a journal to put it in. ;) Things to look for:
magazines, colored paper, newspaper, photos, scrap fabric, ribbon, dried plants, petals, feathers. Greeting cards, postcards, ticket stubs, maps. Gift wrap, bubble wrap, lace/doilies, origami paper. "Kids" paint, colored pencils, crayons, Crayola markers. Painter's tape, tin foil, playing cards. Menus, booklets, pamphlets. Old school assignments. Envelopes that come in junk mail. A glue stick or scotch tape. It's also perfectly fine to print digital printables that are "meant" to be stickers on normal copy paper :)
Excellent tip!
My journaling is very minimal. Mostly pen to paper. I've started using stickers this year and I will say that I started with A5, went down to a B6 and now I'm in a regular traveler's notebook size and I quite enjoy that size. I'm going to be in a regular TN size next year and think I'm going to go in a ring binder system (prayerfully) in 2026
Very informative video. I started my first reading journal this year. Very simple, just tracking days I read ja what I read in those days. I write shortly about every book, mostly my feelings about it. I have star rating but again just my feelings. Almost no decoration, only very few stickers. But now I know what I want to track next year. I also plan to make deeper ratings and analyse more when writing.
That’s so lovely! Sounds like you’re having a great time with it! 😍
I"m inspired! There's so much good stuff in this video --- thank you so much for taking the time!
I’m so glad you found it helpful! 🥰
I have been « starting » a reading journal for some time now. I was not sure what I wanted from it so the journal would not have been « perfect » from the start so I did nothing. I was honest with myself and ruled out some spread I love in other people journal (monthly stats and spread). Fall is coming in my hemisphere and is the perfect time to start a long term reading journal. Thanks for your video, great types and it confirmed what I want to do.
I’m so excited for you - cosy journaling season with your new reading journal sounds like a dream!
These are nice tips. I keep my reading journal on my iPad mainly (in Goodnotes) and a list of the books I've read and page count in my planner notebook (physical)
Love a combo digital/paper system! 😍
Your layout is so simple and cute!
I'm so glad you think so!
Such a well put together video, I love the pastel-y lilac-y aesthetic 💜
It’s only August but I’m grappling with the decision of which new journal from my (thankfully small) collection to use for 2025.
I’ve been thinking about this too 🤣 although I think it will be a 2024-2025 volume, I don’t think I’ll make it past October in my current one!
@@ErinSmith I’ve reduced my double spreads so I can finish 2024 hopefully in one journal 🤞🏻
When I finish a book I want to linger in that world a little longer, and I do THAT spread/review immediately when I have the excitement of it. That way it gets finished and I capture more of my emotions about. If I’m backlogged (I often am) I put a post it to save the page for whatever book and can go back for that - it keeps the order.
I love that! I do a lot of post-it page saving too!
Tip for those who love the idea of a reading journal but is to paranoid about doing something "wrong", maybe start on Canva and do it digitally. That's what I've been doing and for me personal because I'm not an artist, it's all the fun of a reading journal without any of the things that stress me out.
Also thank you so much for the video, you have a very calming voice.
Thank you for talking about new notebook paralysis, i am already experiencing that! 😅
I've been 'starting' my reading journal since I got the lucky bag from Notebook therapy last year. It has a gorgeous fairytale notebook.. I've yet to put the first mark on a page... I need to start and 'give it a soul' 🥰
Some excellent advice from a comment from @cvvzdesigns - start with a pen swatch in the back! Bam, you’ve started!
Notebook Therapy has Traveler's size journals. They're very cute, but either come in Cream or Kraft paper inside.
That’s so good to know! I actually love cream paper 😍
I started my first reading journal in january and its been so much fun! Personally, i found that buying cute stickers and washis and new stationary in general motivated me to keep up more. My ambitious ass started doing stats and I started dreading them bc i wasnt used to using storygraph and that made me dread them so im probably not going to continue with that lol. I also found that rating books by feeling is way more efficient for me than specific rating systems like cawpile. (Dont mind me, just an ADHDer yappin abt her experience)
I love this - stats are a lot if you aren’t enjoying them, I love that you’re taking that pressure off yourself!
(Also I yapped for 20 minutes so I get it - you’re always welcome to yap in my comments too!)
@@ErinSmith ☺️🫶🏼
I defenitly read a lot but not as much as like booktubers and other bookstagrammers wich I find to be fine, still I use a B5 notebook not necessarily for collages but this way I can write a bit bigger and add quite some information about the book(I will add it at the bottom in the order I put it on my pages for a slight visualisation) It also gives me space to make bigger squares for my reading goal and reading tracker and it made it way easier to add my reading goal bookshelf it also gave me enough space to add dutchdoors without having not enough space for another tracker or whatever.
review pages:
cover: Title
author
genre
start end
(tropes) not sure if I'm gonna keep that for my 2025 journal since I tend to leave it blank
language
format: physical, e-book, audiobook
from: bought, borrowed, gifted
charachters
pages
review: about 8 lines
star rating
I do 3 books per page in my travelers journal reading notebook. I almost never write much details. I like to do mini art sections that represent the covers to help me remember the book. My 5 stars get a full page as well as mini section. Iv been looking for nice notebooks in that size and other then archer and olive haven't found any.
I treat my reading journal pages like a scrapbook.i add pictures of the places or major events that relate to the book. For example, for a murder mystery book I might add some crime tape to the background 😅
Notebook Therapy has some nice traveller size notebooks.
I’ve just had a look - those are CUTE 😍
I’m using a disc bound reading journal that’s a combination of my own pages and pre-printed ones. I like being able to take things out or move things around as I add more. This is my 3rd year in a reading journal and would love to do a bound book at some point but am too far invested in the discs by now anyway so I just stuck with it
I use ring binders because I like to keep the books alphabetically by author. That way if I want to look up a specific book to recommend it to someone it's easy to find. I would love to add a pic of the cover of the book to each spot along with the rating, title, author and synopsis I've been doing, where can I find pictures of the book covers to print out?
That’s a great idea! 💡
I usually just Google image search the covers - add ‘Goodreads’ to your search and use their image if you’d like it to be a nice crispy file size 💕
Great video!! How do you get the small book covers that are in your journal?
I have a short about that, I’ll link it for you! 🥰
ua-cam.com/users/shortstVl2_EljjWE?feature=share
Hi! I love your channel! Can you post a link to a video about what to do about markers bleeding through the page that you mentioned, probably on a different video that i just watched. Thanks so much!!
Absolutely! Here you go 🥰 Bleeding, Ghosting & Your Bullet Journal - how to stop it, avoid it and fix it!
ua-cam.com/video/_Z6kbZmKqFI/v-deo.html
@@ErinSmith Thank you so much!!
I am confused at this point as a newbie what size is an A5 or an A6 and what size is a B6 or is there a B5? Is there somewhere I can find out the comparisons of sizes?
I love your videos and learned so much from your video on setting up your first reading journal. I really liked your advice on setting up a quarterly book if you are not a fast reader or are not sure that you can keep up with a monthly journal.
Thanks,Jacqui
I just started book journaling at the end of 2023. I wanted to start minimally so I only bought a journal, a pack of stickers, and some brown paper for backgrounds. I ended up backlogging all of 2023 and only did one page for each month. For 2024 I’ve upped it to two pages a month haha. I’m thinking for 2025 I might start putting reviews for each book, but I’m not sure yet.
I honestly don't know why it never occurred to me to try a bare-bones method for a reading journal. I don't get to read like I used to, but I also find it hard to remember what books I read or loved. I wanted to start one before, but did way too much (only pencil, I believe), so I have the perfect notebook already!
Thanks for the inspiration!
Edit: typo
I’m so glad I could help! Happy reading journaling 😍
Hi Erin! I really liked this video, I started my own reading journal. this year but I have fallen behind, I am always struggle for the monthly themes or cover pages. any tips?
I often like to start with a piece of stationery I’m excited about (or I go through my stationery looking for something that makes me go ‘that’s cute, I forgot I had that’ 🤣) and then build my theme around it with items in similar colours (or colours I think look nice or interesting with it). The video deadlines really help me with that, I just have to do something so the video can go up - ‘done is better than perfect’! Often the layouts I go into without much of a plan surprise me and end up some of my favs!
@@ErinSmiththank you so much. I will keep this in mind when I do my next one!!!!
I'm very much a perfectionist when it comes to reading journals. I get this like weird anxiety when it doesn't work out the way it was "supposed to".
For example, last year I got into a really major reading slump. For comparison 2022 I read 47 books. I did pretty good with my reading journal and kept up with it for the most part. I bought a new one for 2023 and made all the set up pages etc but then I literally only read 5 book in that entire year and so all the spreads I made were completely unfilled up and that journal has barely anything in it.
Because of this I never started a reading journal this year and now that it's 8 months into the year I've got back into my reading again and want to start a journal but it feels weird to just randomly continue where I left off in my 2023 journal with lots of unfinished empty pages but I don't wanna start a new journal when there are only 4 months left in the year lol.
I don't know why my brain thinks like this, maybe I should just get over it lmao.
I can totally understand that 🩷 I wonder if your head would let you reframe it as ‘practice’ if you were to add your current books to the 2023 journal - it’s not a continuation, it’s just using up the spare pages to find out what works for you so you can jump into next year’s journal feeling ready? Might be worth a shot! 💕
@@ErinSmith This is actually such a good idea thank you!! I shall do this!
An easy way to decote if you either don't want yet or cant get alot of collage stuff, is to to copy the how the fonts with the done on the Cover of the book
Yes! Great tip 😍 I really enjoy doing that myself!
How do you get the stickers of the pictures of the books your reading or want to read?I like your concept ut I struggle with planner peace weather it's planning or book reading. It could be due to my adhd and I get bored easily,not sure though. Thanks
If I want to do a LOT at once I’ll save them as images to my computer from Goodreads, resize them in a word processing doc and then print them on sticker paper and cut them out. If I’m just doing a few at a time I use a portable mini printer - I have a Short about that, I’ll link it for you! 🥰 How I print book covers for my reading journal #readingjournal #booktube #shorts
ua-cam.com/users/shortstVl2_EljjWE?feature=share
Notebooktherapy hace esos tamaños de libreta de viaje incluso más pequeños que esa que enseñas y es una tienda japonesa, la verdad es que me encantan sus libretas, washi tape, etc.
I’ve found I fight notebook paralysis best when I do some pages in the back first instead of starting at the beginning of the book. 😂
💪💪 love this! Whatever takes the pressure off!
Do you always finish the books you read? If not, do you still make review spreads for the parts of the book that you read, by mentioning in your personal review the reasons you couldn’t finish the book? I’m awfully curious about this.
I very rarely DNF, but when I do - whether I include the book in my journal varies! Sometimes I’ll include a half-page write up on why I DNFed, but I can usually tell pretty quickly if I’m not going to want to continue reading, and if I didn’t get very far in the book I tend not to include any kind of review spread. It does go on my tracking calendar though, with an X at the end of the line to denote that I didn’t finish the book 💙
WHERE did you get those illuminated letter stickers, circa 14:32?
Journalsay! But they’re always out of stock 😭 bit.ly/45GappV
I like the idea of a reading journal. but the only thing I track is which books I read each month (1-3) and my rating. I have no use for detailed statistics because I generally stick to the same books and genres and I'm not really interested in stats. Also, for some books I read them to pass the time and I don't want to write a review or don't have the time. So I can't really justify making a reading journal because I won't keep up with it - which is a shame because I'd love to decorate it like my ordinary bullet journal and be creative.
Sounds like a great excuse for a junk journal! 😉 you can play with your stationery just because it’s fun, and if there are any books that happen to match what you have you can make some one-off book-inspired junk journal spreads about them 😍
I use a small notebook, the size of a cell phone, so I take it everywhere and at any time, for example, on public transportation, I can put the book down and write down a thought, or something that caught my attention; or something that I would argue with the author, but I can't because he has been dead for hundreds of years hahahahaha But I would like to have a notebook with my thoughts about books summarized in an orderly way, and easy to find. A while ago I re-read a book I had read when I was 15, and 22 years later, there was a lot I didn't remember; Furthermore, I would have liked to compare my thoughts from that time with my thoughts now, clearly the things that resonated with me at that time are not the same as those that resonate with me now.
Hi Erin, where is the sticker holder book at 16:37 from please?
It’s from Journalsay! It’s super customisable 🥰 bit.ly/46rUUDx
How would you do reading spreads for students who aren't so much reviewing a book, but have to take notes for reports or papers. Some professors, especially English, require a lot of reading. I don't need pretty or ratings, maybe not even stats. I've never seen anyone do reading journals like this. Help? Thanks
I haven’t been a student in a looooong time so I may not be much use here - the ‘study’ UA-cam and IG accounts might have ideas for you though!
I'm going to try my hand at it, I'll use an old sketch book I already have. Supply wise it won't be pretty but I'll use markers and construction paper I have it already and then if I keep it up and enjoy it I'll invest in something more for 2025
I’m so excited for you! I hope you have a wonderful time 😍
Ferris wheel press has/had bullet traveler’s journals
Ooh! I need to check those out!
Ironically, they aren’t fountain pen friendly though 🤷♀️
@@dragonrambles I find it sometimes depends on the inks. Some ghost like crazy some there’s no bleed through
@@LivinItUp98 it’s possible they’ve changed the paper, but I bought one back when they first became available and all inks (including FWP ink) bleed. Even using EF and F nibs.