You Don’t Have to Be Artistic to Keep a Beautiful Reading Journal 📚

    You are green with envy over the beautiful handmade reading journals you've seen on social media, but you don't feel artistic enough to create your own? Let me hold your hand while I say this — and not in a sarcastic way — you can do it. And I'm gonna help you!

What does your reading journal actually need?

That one is fairly easy, and it depends entirely on your own interests. The possibilities are endless, and Pinterest is full of inspirational spreads you can borrow ideas from. Don’t let all those options cause decision paralysis though, start with one or two and add them as you go.

Some of my favorite features include:

• A colorable reading log (very easy to draw! We can all draw rectangles 🙂‍↕️)
• Reading Challenges (Read the Rainbow, A to Z, Favorite Tropes, and so many more options!)
• Bookish Bingos (You don't even have to come up with your own ideas, there are premade ones available online, you can even get a free one from me when you subscribe to my newsletter)
• Yearly favorite book brackets (Once again, you only need to draw rectangle, and you can draw inspiration for layout on Pinterest)
• A DNF log 

But Tynga, what about the review page itself? 

You only need to ask yourself, "which information would I like to know — at a glance — when revisiting the books I've immortalized in my journal?"

I would say the basics are:

• Space for the book cover image if you want to print them
• Title and author name
• Series title and number
• Page count / listening time (for audiobooks)
• Format — Print? E-book? Audiobook?
• Dates read — I like to include both the start and finish dates.

As for the more interesting bits?

• Genre
• POV — Single? Duo? Multi?
• Favorite Character
• Tropes — This helps me soooo much when creating content! 
• Favorite moment
• Favorite Quote
• Ratings, of course! Stars is the go-to, but I also include tears and spice in mine 🤭
• Audiobook narration—solo, dual, or duet?

I have a confession for you... The task of hand-drawing a journal from a bullet journal seemed daunting to me. I'm good at graphic design, but not so good at free drawing. So I started looking at pre-made reading journals, but there was one feature I absolutely wanted and couldn’t find anywhere: a checkbox for audiobook narration type.

I have a very active lifestyle and I read a lot of audiobooks. To me, the narration style is super important, it influences my decision to read the sequel in audio or not, and it's important when I create content. I couldn't find a reading journal with that feature on the market though, so I created my own. 😅

But what if you have limited time on your hands?

Journal keeping doesn't need to consume your time and become your entire personality. You don't need to spend hours scrapbooking and decorating spreads to keep a record of your reading history. If you love art & crafts and it's your vibe, more power to you, but if you're a busy gremlin, a pre-made journal might be just the thing you need. 

A tip I can give you is to keep your reading journal near you while reading. You can fill in the basic book info when you start it and write down anything you want to remember while reading. I note things like tropes and micro-tropes as soon as I encounter them (otherwise I forget! 🤣), a quote that I need to keep, a moment that made me swoon... That way, when I finish reading my book, my review page is basically already filled in. 

Your Reading Journal Only Has to Work for You

Start small. Choose the information you genuinely want to remember, add one or two trackers that make you excited, and let your journal grow alongside your reading life. Your first pages do not need to look like the elaborate handmade spreads you see online — and they certainly do not need to be perfect.

If drawing, decorating, and scrapbooking are part of the fun for you, browse Pinterest shamelessly and make the ideas your own. If designing every page sounds like one more task your busy life does not need, a pre-made reading journal can give you the structure and aesthetic without all the setup.

The point is not to prove that you’re artistic. It is to preserve the books that made you laugh, cry, swoon, rage, or stare silently at the wall for several minutes after finishing them, and remember those feelings when you flip through the pages 5 years from now.

So grab a notebook, open a printable, or choose a journal that already feels like you — and begin with your next book.

Need a place to begin?

Browse my guided reading journals, or join the newsletter to get the free printables to get you started!

by Tynga at Thursday, June 25, 2026

 For Beginners, Journaling Tips, Printables, Reading Challenges, Reading Journals, Reading Life  Leave your mark

Hey, I'm Tynga! Montreal-based mom of two and lifelong book lover. I started this blog in 2009 reviewing PNR and UF, and over the years my shelves expanded into Romantasy, Dark Romance, and Dark Rom-Com. This blog is the archive. These days, my bookish life lives mostly on TikTok. I also create reading journals through Tynga Publishing — designed by a reader, for readers.

Tiktok | Instagram | My Reading Journals

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