It’s no secret that I love to read. It turns out that I have another hobby that came about from my reading habit. Many avid readers like me enjoy keeping a reading journal. I have tracked my books each year for about the past 10 years or more. However, over the past couple of years, I’ve been inspired to move beyond keeping a list in a notebook or a spreadsheet.

You may have heard of “junk journaling”, which is a creative form of art journaling that involves collecting and combining everyday paper items and found materials to create a personalized journal. Unlike traditional scrapbooking, junk journaling has a relaxed, imperfect approach, and the result is a unique personal expression. I have always loved working with paper, washi tape, stickers and other found materials to create collages. Combining this activity with tracking my reading has given me so much pleasure.

In my journal I can make pages showing all of my 5 star reads for the year, or create bingo like pages where I try to match my reading to certain prompts such as “A Cozy Book”, “Book with the word Sisters in the title”, and so on. I even have a page with little tombstone stickers where I note the title of any book I have DNFd (did not finish). There are lots of ways to go with a reading journal and I have fun experimenting. The most important thing that I do is to create a “spread” for each month, using a pretty seasonal collage cover page. These monthly sections track everything I read that month, with various details documented.

I’m no expert or even someone with much artistic talent, but I have a lot of fun choosing seasonally appropriate papers, tapes, and stickers to decorate each monthly theme section. I make cover stickers of the books I have read and stick them onto each monthly page with notes on the length, the format, the genre etc. I also give a star rating beneath each book sticker.

I find this activity so peaceful and relaxing: hours can go by before I realize how long I have been puttering around with my journal.

Many people on Bookstagram or BookTube are avid journal keepers and it is great fun to see how other folks decorate and use their journals to track their reading. The latest “thing” that many book reviewers are doing is “10 Before the End”, which involves making a list of the ten books they want to read before the end of 2026. Of course, I didn’t want to be left behind, so I created my page on that topic too.

As you can see, my poor journal is looking pretty bloated, but I think I have budgeted out my pages to get through December!

Have you heard of junk journaling or keeping a reading journal? There are a ton of ways to decorate one besides using papers, washi, and stickers like I do. You could be completely minimalist and just list your books. Some people use stamp pads, calligraphy, and the super artistic even make their own illustrations.

Keeping a reading journal is a wonderful way to make reading a more meaningful and rewarding experience. Beyond simply recording the titles and authors of books, a reading journal provides a place to capture thoughts, impressions, favorite passages, and personal reactions while a book is still fresh in your mind. It can help you recognize patterns in your reading habits, discover favorite authors and genres, and keep track of books you want to read in the future. Writing about what you read also encourages you to think more deeply about characters, themes, settings, and the author’s message. Over time, your journal becomes a personal record of your reading life, reflecting how your interests and perspectives evolve. It can be especially enjoyable to look back at books that made an impression, revisit memorable stories, and remember why certain books were meaningful. A reading journal turns reading into a lasting collection of experiences rather than simply a list of finished books.