How to Start a Book Log

I am a crazy avid reader. There have been years where I have consumed a hundred books, often more. With all that reading, it would be impossible for me to remember all the books I read. That is where a book log comes in.

A book log is a way to track the number of books you read, when you read them, and what you thought of them. My book log is one of my very favorite notebooks to look back on. I strongly encourage you to keep one too.

In today’s post I’m going to explain the five best reasons to start your very own book log. After that I’ll walk you through an easy, fun way to do that. Let’s go!

1. Easy to Count

First and foremost, a book log is a way to keep track of the number of books you’ve read. You can look back and see how many books you’ve read in a month, or in a year. The number of books you’ve consumed in a certain amount of time might surprise you, but you won’t know until you write them down to keep track!

This can be the start of setting a reading goal for yourself, or (if that doesn’t interest you) for simply having a written record of your reading.

2. Never Losing an Author

Everyone has gone through it. Maybe there’s this book that you know will be great for someone, but you can’t for the life of you remember who the author is, or maybe it’s the title that’s slipping your mind. I mean, let’s face it, even some of the best books have the most forgettable titles, right? How are you supposed to remember them?

With a book log you won’t have to try any more.

I use my book log to hunt up the name of a book or author so often! Sometimes I want to look up other books by that author, and sometimes I want to simply find the same book. Either way, the book log is heaps of help.

3. For Book Recommendations

This point goes along with the last one, but a step further. With a book log, if I’m trying to find a book for someone I know, I can do it a lot faster and probably more accurately than I can without. 

I do this a lot with my little brother, who is as much of a book worm as I am. There was a time when he was asking me for books to read every couple of days. That was when he was right in the middle of reading levels, above the Magic Tree House books, but not quite ready for middle grade novels. It got really hard to find books appropriate for him, and more than anything else I turned to my book log for help. Being able to flip back to when I was reading at his age helped me find a lot of books I had forgotten about.

If people ever turn to you for book suggestions, you will be much more prepared if you can look back through your book log. It makes the task so much simpler.

4. Looking Back

I really really love looking back on my book log. There are a lot of reasons for that. It’s fun for me to read back over the titles that I’ve loved and remember when I read them. It’s also really cool to look back and be able to see what books I was reading at different points in my life.

For example, during the time my sister was going through early readers, I was reading the same books she was (no matter my reading level, I’ve always just picked up whatever was around). I can also find how old I was when I went through a Beverly Cleary phase, or the time I read through every Babysitters Club book I could find.

5. It’s Fun!

This may not seem like a real reason to start a book log, but it’s actually more true than you may think. A book log will get you excited about reading. When you keep one, it’s no longer just about what you are reading right now, but what you read last month, and last year! Your reading life is connected in a new way, and I’m sure once you start you will have no regrets! It’s my favorite bookish activity.

How to Start a Book Log

Keeping a book log does not have to be complicated. I have been keeping mine for years, and the way I do it hasn’t changed much. Try not to worry too much over what to put in yours and where. You’ll find your preference after experimenting for a little while, and the best thing to do now is just start.

I like to use a composition notebook and pencil for my log, but if you want to make yours cuter, experiment with something else. Pens and stickers can add a fun twist to any notebook, and you could even use washi tape for extra color.

I made a list below of suggestions on what to include in your book log.

• The Title and Author

This one is the only thing on the list that is necessary. You’ll need to have these whenever you glance back through your log, so make sure you don’t forget to include them.

• The Date

Recording the date you read a book is also important. The only tricky part is deciding which date you want to write down. When I first started my book log I wrote down the date that I began, and the date that I finished a book. Now, I only write the date I finished it on. If even that sounds like too much hassle, you can opt to just put down the month and year.

• Star Rating

I’ve always enjoyed giving my books star ratings. It makes a quick check to remember what I thought of a certain book. True, some of my ratings from when I was younger are no longer accurate, but they were at the time. I do suggest writing up a quick explanation on what each star would mean. For example, one star may mean you didn’t even finish the book, and five may mean you are thinking about buying the book. Choose whatever works for you.

• Quick Thoughts

You may also want to leave a section in your log for writing any thoughts you had on the book. I don’t do this for every book I read, but sometimes I want to remember who I read a book with, how I felt about the writing, or if there was bad content. Sometimes I write whole paragraphs on a book, but most of the time I just scribble down a sentence or two, if that.

• Quotes

Something else that I love to do is write down book quotes that I liked or connected with. I have found many beautiful lines that I was glad to have a place to write down. When I did this I kept the back section of my notebook reserved just for quotes, but you could also put the quotes with the book they came from.

• Small Symbols

The last suggestion I have is very easy to personalize. I like to use tiny images to keep track of the basic details. For example, I draw a heart to show that I own a book, a circular arrow to show it was a reread, a speaker to show I listened to it on audio, and a diamond to show I read it for school. Some other things to add would be a symbol to show if you got the book from the library, or if you borrowed it from a sibling. Maybe you read books for a book club; make a symbol for that too. Just make sure you make a code so you don’t forget what everything means.

Final Thoughts

Thank you so much for reading! I hope that you found this post helpful to you.

Do you keep a book log? If so, what do you record in it? Tell me about it in the comments!