I love tracking my reading habits! I use online tools, but I prefer to use pen and paper. However, I am super messy and bad at organizing, so it’s hard for me to neatly track my reading. Enter the reading journal! The best reading journals are specifically designed to help organize and log your reading, and keep you motivated to complete your reading goals.
Here I have compiled 25 amazing reading log journals. These journals are either tailored specifically for tracking reading or can easily be adapted to fit your specific reading journal needs! Do you have a very specific journal taste? Well, these journals come in different sizes, styles, and price ranges, so there’s a journal for everyone and anyone. And maybe a few gift ideas for readers on your holiday shopping list, too
15 Reading Journals for Adults
Read Harder (A Reading Log) Created by Book Riot
That’s right! Your favorite place to read about bookish things made a journal to help you write about your bookish endeavors. Filled with perfectly designed logs, and reading challenges, it’s the perfect journal to track your stats, favorites, and get inspiration for when you’re in a reading slump!
The Book Lovers Journal Created by Rene J Smith
This is a journal that is designed for readers by readers. With an easy-to-use and cleverly designed layout, you can record any bookish things you want, including what you thought or any extra notes you had. Also, there’s a great checklist that has tons of must-read books you can use! And get inspiration from if you haven’t read them all yet.
What I Read Mini Journal Created by Potter Gift
A compact journal that’s perfect for readers who find themselves on the go. But don’t let the small size fool you! This reading journal is stuffed with space for reviews, lists, and great quotes to keep you engaged and organized.
Bibliophile, Readers Journal Created by Jane Mount
If you are looking for a journal with beautiful illustrations to keep you motivated, have I got the one for you. Not only does it have a great reading log layout, but it also has illustrations of classics to inspire you. This is a Guided Reading Journal, making it extra helpful to those who need help being organized.
My Book Journal, A 100-Book Reading Diary For Bibliophiles Created by Inc. Sterling Publishing
Not only is this journal adorable, but it’s also filled with monthly challenges, recommended reading, and book club question suggestions. It has a wonderful layout so you can take note of your thoughts on up to 100 books. It’s perfect for not only tracking your reading, but also to find books you’ll enjoy outside of your favorite genres.
Book Marks (Guided Journal) A Reading Tracker Created by Book Riot
Another incredible journal designed by your friends here at Book Riot. This journal has an open design that you can adapt to what you need out of a reading journal. It’s full of open pages, a favorites page, reading logs, and book bingo, so there’s something for everyone to make whatever reading logs work for you.
Reading Journal: For Book Lovers Created by Potter Gift
If you are someone who loves reading checklists, this journal is full of them. There are checklists for books from almost every genre. This journal also has ample space to record your thoughts on books, and also space to track your bookish favorites. Favorite authors, genres, quotes, and much more. A great little journal.
Reading Journal Created by Satanio Mairez
A great journal to log all of your favorites, as well as a good streamlined spot to review them. This journal is perfect for those who want a simple no-muss no-fuss space to record their reading history. Includes reading logs, book wishlists, and review pages. A lovely little book.
My Bibliophile: A Reading Journal for Book Lovers Created by Potter Gift
This is a great journal for recording books you want to read and books you have read alike. It has a lot of great checklists and ample room to record what you want to read and look for in the future. This journal is perfect for those people who are just starting the bibliophile lifestyle.
Reading Log Created by smART bookx
This is a great little reading log notebook with 100 pages to hold all your reading records and reviews. And it even has a list of 100 books to read in the back if you need a little bit of inspiration.
Journals Unlimited: Write it Down Created by Journals Unlimited
Since this journal is made out of recycled materials, it’s perfect for the environmentally conscious bookworm on your holiday shopping lists. It’s full of empty list pages and has review spots so you can keep track of what books have been amazing this year, and which ones are not for you. With 200 pages, it’s sure to last you a long time.
Moleskine Passion Book Journal Created by Moleskin Journals
If you want a more classic feel to your reading logs, this could be a perfect fit for you! The leather-bound journal makes you feel like an old-timey scholar, but the included fun stickers are there to spice up your reviews. It’s also got a pocket in the back so you can store any extra bits you have for your reading log. The layout is nice and streamlined, making it easy to log and review your reading. We love to see it.
Book Journal Created by The Hidden Book Nook
A lovely little journal with everything from an index, a rating system, and some amazing quotes from books. This is the perfect log for those who maybe haven’t used a reading journal before, but sure would like to try it out.
Reading Log: Reading Journal Created by Readers Journal
This is the perfect reading journal for a reader who reads a lot. It has space to record up to 120 reviews about books. It has a loose structure, with lots of room to review, rate, and track your reading. While simple in its design it’s great for those who just want a way to jot down their thoughts on a book and move on to reading the next one.
Reading Log: Book Tracker Created by Arrow Press
This Log is wonderful for people who not only want to track what they have read, but what they want to read someday. A softcover notebook that’s perfect for those on the go, this journal is full of pages for reviews, wish lists, quotes, and empty checklists to help you stay motivated to read, read, read.
5 Reading Journals Designed for Kids
Reading Log for Kids Created by Belle Journals
A great journal designed specifically for children, this one focuses mostly on logging the books and less about writing down reviews and notes. It’s large and colorful, making it the perfect fit for kids learning to set and meet reading goals. Also worth note: There are tons of different covers so there is sure to be something to grab the attention of a young reader in your life.
BookWorm Journal Created by Potter Gift
This is a great journal for kids who are still reading with the help of their grown-ups. It’s got space for both the kid and the adult to rate the book, and keep track of who did the most reading, so kids just learning to read get to track how many books they read on their own, and with help. It’s also got adorable illustrations of a lovely little worm and recommendations for books that any age group would love to read.
Reading Log for Kids Created by Maxshine
With so many covers to choose from, this journal is perfect for kids with loads of different interests. There’s space to both log the number of books they read, but also plenty of room to review and put down thoughts or questions they had about what they read.
My Very Own Book Journal Created by Ooh Lovely and Jennifer Farley
A wonderful journal for kids and adults alike. It has space to record up to 50 book reviews, as well as space to record new words learned while reading. It also has space to draw thoughts and reviews for more artistically expressive kids.
Reading Journal for Kids Created by Reading Journal Sasha
This journal has a great space to index and log the genre of the books the kids are reading, as well as providing space for kids to give stars and reviews. It also has space to track the start and end date of reading so kids can track how fast at reading they are getting the more they read.
5 Open Journals You Can Transform Into Your Dream Reading Log
Dotted Grid Notebook Created by URSUNSHINE
This is a hardcover leather notebook with a dot grid on the pages. It has 128 pages, so there is plenty of room to arrange and design a reading log that works for you. This journal is also pretty compact, so it’s great for people who travel a lot or have limited journal storage space.
Star Right Bullet Journal Created by Star Right Journals
This journal comes stocked with plenty of accessories for those who love having everything they need in one place. This journal comes complete with stencils, markers, a pen pocket, and 250 pages for all the book reviews and logs you could ever want (it also has three bookmarks to separate your sections). This journal is a great option for people who want to have artsy and colorful reading bullet journals, but don’t feel confident in their artistic ability. A great option for free and open reading recording.
Paperage Dotted Journal Created by PAPERAGE
Another great option for those who want to have the freedom to record their journal how they want. This journal comes in a whole bunch of beautiful and bright colors and is made of a stiff hardback leather binding, so it will hold up even when shoved in the bottom of bags and backpacks. It has a pocket in the back for you to keep any booksmarks, notes, or other things you want to keep on hand.
A5 Bullet Journal Created by Tumbitri Meri
A super pretty and professional-looking notebook that comes in a variety of colors/designs. It’s a dot-grid journal, so there’s room to design whatever reading log works for you. It also comes with a stencil that has its own pocket, two ribbon bookmarks, and a pen holder on the spine. It’s perfect for people who want to make their reading log pages look beautiful while still being able to record everything they need. A wonderful gift for an artsy reader in your life.
Leather Journal Created by Fineline Handmade Leather
If you know someone who always wants to feel like they are living in a fantasy land, this journal is perfect for them. This beautiful leather journal comes with its own cloth bag and equally beautiful pen pouch. This journal has totally blank pages for you to design and organize however you want. A lovely and thoughtful gift.
How to Start a Reading Journal
That concludes the list of the best reading journals and book logs. If you have always wanted to start a reading journal but are nervous, here are some handy tips and tricks:
- Step One: Look at a few different types of journals to find a layout (or lack thereof) that you think will work for you.
- Step Two: Go through and figure out where everything in your notebook is. If you are designing your own, make sure to leave a lot of space for redesign if you change your mind along the way.
- Step Three: Set a reminder to update the journal. If you want to track how much you read a day, set an alert on your phone to update. Find a way to remind yourself to actually use your journal when you finish a book.
- Step Four: If you need inspiration for how to use/organize your reading journal, feel free to steal or borrow from others. There are tons of resources on YouTube, Pinterest, and blogs. Go find what works for you!
- Step Five: Don’t let yourself get discouraged. Sometimes you’ll forget to record, or make a mistake in your numbering/index. Maybe the page you designed doesn’t look as good as you hoped. Don’t let yourself get discouraged. Reading journals are there to help and encourage you, not anybody else. Practice makes perfect, so even if you don’t get it the first time, there are always more books and more journals.
Find even more tips for keeping a reading journal here. Best of luck!
– Mara Franzen
