Shauna Bickley

Reading Journal

Posted on Sunday 29th November 2020 by Shauna Bickley

Early in the year, I saw a blog post about keeping a reading journal. I’ve always been an avid reader but I’d never thought about a reading journal and decided it was a good time to start.

My first admission is that my reading journal doesn’t resemble what might come to your mind with the word journal. I’m much more of a spreadsheet kind of person and that’s where mine resides. It’s basically a list of the books I’ve read this year, the dates I started and finished each book, and a brief note of my thoughts about it. The notes aren’t anything like the ones I used to make when I was reading to study and take exams, and they serve mostly to remind me about the book and whether I want to read more books by the author.

This year I’ve read quite widely both in genre and trying new authors as well as favourite ones. It’s lovely to read and enjoy a new (to me) author and discover they have a large backlist. It’s also interesting to look back and see the weeks where I’ve had more time and have read several books versus busier weeks where I’ve perhaps only read one — although time and reading speed is a personal thing and not the point of this exercise.

I shall certainly carry on with my reading journal/spreadsheet through the coming months, and if it’s something you have never done I can recommend it as a more positive way of looking back at the year.