Reading Logs and Tracking Progress

 

Welcome back Bookworms!

Today I thought I would talk a little bit about how I log my reading and how I have tracked my reading progress in the past. And what I am probably going to try in the future. 

I basically stopped reading for fun when I was in my undergrad. But my final year I started a bookstagram and I was off. I even started a book blog (it no longer exists). And for a time that was how I kept track. What I was posting and reviewing was all that I did to keep track of what I was reading. But that didn't last long. 

And I also stopped reading for a long while after that. I was in the middle of my Masters program and working multiple jobs. I didn't have the time or energy to read. But once I graduated and found the time I picked it up and haven't stopped since. 

It was around that time that a colleague turned me on to NetGalley. As it is a big part of my job reading and knowing what was coming became important and a big plus to the job. But with ARCs it became more important to keep track of what I was reading. Some had deadlines and I wanted to make myself more appealing so I could get the ARCs of highly anticipated titles. 

Which leads us to my current book logging system on Notion.  I was using a template I had found on reddit but ending up making my own. That is the beauty of Notion, you can customize it to heck. Which can also be overwhelming and consuming. which is why Templates are great cause you don't have to think about it. 

Now mine is kinda a mess and neglected, which if you don't know is because I haven't read in almost 2 months. I talked about it in a previous post, which you can find here. 

What follows are some screen shots of my Notion spread for my reading log. 

This is what I first see when I open this spread. On the left is my calendar where I keep track of what book reviews I need to write and post. I usually go by initials of the titles so I can quick reference them. 

On the right is where I have my currently reading list. It's pretty empty since I added in the one title just so you could see it. And there are a lot of pixel art through out because it is one of my favorite styles. 

On the left hand side is my read section. You can see that they have my ratings on them. I love how it looks with all the covers. It was my favorite part of this spread. 

And on the right is my TBR list. This was actually newer but the titles that end up on this list to be forgotten. 

This is one page I really liked but ended up never referencing. It just helps keep one field I have organized. 

And finally this is how I have the book pages set up.  It is what I found works best for me and has exactly what I need.

Now don't get me wrong. I love this. I worked really hard to make it and work out the formulas and tricky things. But after a while I found it hard to keep up with it because I wasn't always near my laptop or computer to keep track of my notes and so on. It is really great for when I am reading eBooks but only them. 

And since I have recently gotten back into bullet journaling I am interested in creating some spreads in that for me to keep track of what I am reading since I almost always have my journal on me. 

I have started a small notebook where I have been writing any short and quick notes on what I am currently reading, but especially for my ARCs. But that is very basic and is mainly become just a list of all the books I have read and plan to read. 

I really want to make some pretty spreads and make those book cover pictures/stickers and just have fun with it. I want to enjoy it again and if that means fun stickers, so be it. 

So for know that's how I track my reading! 

Thanks for reading! How do you track your reading? 

Chelsea