As I grow older, and as I have ADHD, my memory is not so good these days. For that reason, I look for ways to record my reading, so I can see what I've read in the last couple decades, and some from before that. I like to go back and look at what I've already read. I also use these book journals to be sure I don't buy a book I've already read years before!
I have, since the late 1990s, found three book journals for recording my reading. Here are my reviews of them.
The first one I found is Bookography: The Journal and Journey of my Well-Read Life, from Levenger, a website for readers and writers, with all sorts of gadgets, paper, pens, and other items related to reading and writing (www.levenger.com). This record is letter-sized (8.5 x 11). It is bound with Levenger's clever disk binding, with a special hole-punch and disk arrangement, making the record ultimately flexible in the way you can arrange the pages. That is a key to the use of this particular format.
There is an introduction, instructing the user on how to use this journal. This format is divided into several sections: List of Candidates (books you want to read), Library of Candidates (your TBR or TRQ), Now Reading (what you're reading at the moment), Apres Reading (first reactions to having read the book), Living Library (those you've read, and liked, and wish to keep, perhaps to re-read), and Castaways (the ones you simply could not finish). Each page, which is the record of the individual book, reflects these divisions. As the user progresses through these stages with each book, he or she fills in the page, section by section.
As the user fills in the page, he or she migrates the page through the divisions of the journal, which are marked by dividers. Each page will find its final place in either the Living Library section, or among the Castaways. Information recorded includes title, author, date acquired/read, why you want to read the book, how it fits into each of the divisions of the record, and any other aspect the user cares to mention.
For the way I operate, this format is confusing and cumbersome. It is not easy to use, and therefore, I did not use it effectively. It just doesn't fit my personal style. One thing offputting to me is that, while the back of each page has ample note space for recording my reactions to a book, the format requires flipping back and forth from the front of the page, the starting place for notes on specific aspects of the book, to the back of the page for more space in which to continue to record these reactions. It's a great idea, and may work for some people. It just doesn't work for me.
The second format I encountered is one I picked up at a local independent bookseller. It is Book Lover's Journal, produced by Cachet Products, Inc., of Fairfield, New Jersey. They may not be in business any more. This record is small, 5 inches by 8 inches. There is little room to record a reaction to a book, and the front of the page is one individual record, and the back of the page is another record. This forces each review to be too brief for my taste.
Information asked for on each record page is title, author, publisher, date, where bought or borrowed from, recommended by, date read, recommended to, subject, and comments. My chief complaint, again, is the lack of enough space to write what I consider to be a good, informative, full review.
The third and last journal format is one more suited to my style. It is the Premium Reading Journal, by Clever Fox. I found this one on Amazon.com. It is also smaller than the Levenger journal, this one being 5x8. The accompanying material says this journal is of European manufacture. The whole package is elegance itself: the journal is in book form, with a traditional binding. It comes in a lovely little box that closes magnetically. There is a brochure which describes in detail how to use this journal. In the box is a ribbon, to be placed under the journal, for ease in lifting the journal out of the box! That is elegance.
For all that elegance, I found the price quite reasonable, and I'm a direct descendant of Massachusetts Puritans, with a strong streak of that penny-pinching New England thrift in my bones.
The journal begins with an index. The user writes the journal page number and the title of the book reviewed on that page. The user can rate the book from one to five stars in the third column of the index. Next is the To Be Read (TBR) list, where the user writes the title of the book in the first column, and, in the next three, records whether the book is a "want" or a "have," and whether the user finally got around to reading it. Next is a section "to help you track your daily reading habit and ensure you regularly read all year long." You get the sense that They're Watching You! The user simply places a check mark in the box under each month and day.
In the next section, the user records his or her favorite authors, with name, the user's favorite book or series by that author, other books in the series (if it is in a series), and what the user likes about the author's books. The next two-page spread presents a reading challenge, where the user enters their selection under a variety of criteria, for example, a book by an author from a marginalized community, or a graphic novel. Next, under Literary Highlights, the user can comment on such aspects of reading as the Most Unexpected Gem they found in their reading, or the Most Immersive Worldbuilding. After that comes My Favorite Quotes, where the user can record bon mots from their reading, with the quotation, the book, the author, and the page number on which the quotation appears.
Then comes the list of books the user just could not force themselves to finish, giving the book, the author, the last page read, and the reason they stopped reading it. Here's the place where the user can -- in a sentence or two -- let the author of dreck have it with both barrels. One must have one's standards.
The comes the meat of the journal: the area where the user records each book they have read. This section consists of two-page spreads for the user's reviews. At the top of the left-hand page is a section for recording the basic information: author, title, genre, year published, number of pages, whether fiction or non-fiction, and format (book, audiobook, or e-book). The user may also enter the date begun and the date finished, and may fill in a pie chart for rating the writing, characters, plot, readability, setting, and enjoyment, and can also indicate how many stars they give each book. The pie chart is skewed toward fiction, but may also be used for non-fiction. The segments of the pie chart are graduated, so the user can indicate how good or how bad each aspect on the pie chart seemed to them. On the rest of the left-hand page, the user may record their first impressions of the book, how the book may have challenged their beliefs or ideas, and the key takeaway they'll remember about the book. On the right-hand page is ample space for "Thoughts and Notes." The layout of the two-page spread in this section means the user does not have to keep flipping the page back and forth to fill in everything. This journal is definitely more suited to my style.
There certainly are other book journals out there, in a variety of formats. I don't think I'll be looking anymore, unless it comes to pass that I can't get the Clever Fox journal anymore. I'm probably going to have to buy one each year!
Happy reading!
