I need you opinion for my next reading journal!

After months of this ideas haunting my mind, I'm finally in the process of bringing it to reality. My newest reading journal is in the works!

It's built for ARC and ALC readers — review deadlines, publication dates, keeping track of what you owe and where you posted it. The unglamorous half of getting books early.

Here's my problem: I read maybe a dozen ARCs a year — by choice, I can't handle the pressure of more. Some of you read a hundred. I'm not going to guess my way to a journal that actually works for you.

So I made a survey. Five minutes, completely anonymous, and every question is something I wanna be sure to get right!  — how big the journal should be, what belongs on the review page, whether a calendar is worth the pages it takes up.

Take the survey →

At the end there's a link where you can grab a free printable page from the journal once it's designed, if you wish. Completely optional — your answers count either way.

Thank you for this. It will really help me shape this journal just right! 

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by Tynga at Tuesday, August 18, 2026

 Reading Journal  Leave your mark

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3 Ways to Print Your Reading Journal Book Cover Images

Starting a book journal is so exciting — but it can also feel a little daunting. In this journaling tips

series, I want to demystify one piece of the process at a time, to make your journey as smooth as possible.

One of the most common questions I get from readers who pick up my journal is, "How do you print the book covers?" So let's go over your options today.

A quick note: this applies to reading journals in general, though I'll be using Tynga Publishing reading journals as my example throughout.

Option 1- Mini Photo Printers

Plenty of book journal enthusiasts swear by mini photo printers. Their 2” x 3” peel-and-stick photos fit snugly onto the review pages of Tynga Publishing journals, which makes this probably the easiest method to get started with.

A few popular options: Canon's Ivy 2 to HP's Sprocket and Liene's. Here's how it stacks up.

Pros:

• Quick and easy — most come with their own app and walk you through the whole process
• High-quality images
• Peel-and-stick photo paper available, so there's no separate glue step

Cons:

• The price — these run $100+, and depending on how much you print, it may not be worth it
• The peel-and-stick paper adds up fast — you're looking at nearly $1 per photo
• Sizing is rigid. Printing smaller images (like for your reading challenge tracker) gets complicated, and printing anything larger isn't possible at all

Option 2 — Home Printers

This is the option I personally use, and I find it's both the cheapest and the most customizable. It takes a bit more effort, but I've put together a beginner-friendly guide walking you through using Canva to print your images at exactly the size you need.

Home printers prices have very wide range of budgets, which allows you to select the perfect tool for your budget. I personally use mid level printer, the Canon Pixma TR7620a Home Office Printer, but honestly, even the cheapest printers will give you acceptable results — just make sure you pick one with color capability if you want color covers.

A home printer also means ink, and there are ways to save there too. I use off-brand refills at $28 for 830 color pages. There might be cheaper options out there, but I'm happy with this quality.

If budget is your main concern, regular printer paper paired with scrapbooking glue tape works beautifully — I used this method for well over a year before discovering something even more fun: peel-and-stick printer paper.

Right now I'm using Waterproof Printable Vinyl Sticker Paper for inkjet printers in a glossy finish (currently sold out where I bought mine, but I paid $16 for 20 sheets). I've also got my eye on Uinkit's glossy sticky photo paper — just $26 for 100 sheets, which is hard to beat. If glossy isn't your vibe, they also carry a matte version for a slightly higher price.

Pros:

• The cheapest option I've found. You can fit 9 standard cover images onto a single sheet — factoring in ink and paper, that's roughly 3 cents per 2” x 3” cover
• Flexible — use regular paper, matte sticker paper, glossy sticker paper, or even standard photo paper, whatever suits you
• Print any size you need — with my Canva guide, you're not locked into one dimension
• High image quality potential, depending on your printer and paper choice

Cons:

• More hands-on — you can't just tap print and walk away
• You'll need to cut around each image, since it prints on a full 8.5" x 11" sheet

Option 3 — Retail Print Labs & Photo Kiosks

If you'd rather skip owning any equipment at all, your local pharmacy or big-box store's photo counter — think Walgreens, CVS, Costco, or Walmart — is worth a look. Upload your images through their app or website, then pick up same-day in-store or have them mailed to you.

Pros:

• No equipment, ink, or paper to buy and store
• Prints are typically inexpensive — often $0.25–$0.35 per standard small photo
• Lab-quality results with zero guesswork on your end

Cons:

• Sizing is limited to their standard photo dimensions, so you may need to get creative arranging multiple covers per print, or trim down afterward
• No peel-and-stick — you'll still need glue or tape
• Requires a trip out, or a few days' wait if ordering for mail delivery

**Please note that I haven't tried this method.

A couple of honorable mentions: custom sticker printing services like Sticker Mule or StickerYou will turn a whole sheet of your cover images into ready peel-and stick stickers without you touching a printer — though there's usually a minimum order and shipping wait. And if you print covers rarely, a copy shop like FedEx Office or even your local library's printer is a no-commitment, pay-per-page option.

Whichever method you land on, there's no single "right" way to do this — only the one that fits your budget, your patience, and how much your covers mean to you. If you haven't already, check out my step-by-step Canva sizing guide to pair the second printing option.

Got a method I didn't cover? Drop it in the comments — I'd love to add it here.

Take me to the step-by-step guide to printing book cover images at exactly the right size.

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by Tynga at Tuesday, July 28, 2026

 Journaling Tips, printing, Reading Journal  Leave your mark

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Back to Where It All Began...

Well… hello again. 🖤

It's been a while, right?

Tynga’s Reviews began in 2009, back when book blogging was the center of my reading world. For years, this little corner of the internet was where I shared reviews, discovered new authors, talked endlessly about fictional characters, connected with readers who understood exactly why finishing a good book could ruin an entire day, and I hosted bookish events so big I still don't know how I managed it. 😅

Life and parenting got in the way (I now have two teenage daughters, can you believe it?!), the blog eventually grew quiet, but I never stopped reading.

The way I shared my reading life simply changed.

Over the last few years, I’ve been talking about books primarily through BookTok, with a side of Bookstagram. My reading tastes have also wandered deeper into romance, dark romance, romantasy, why-choose stories, morally grey characters, and the occasional book that leaves me emotionally compromised for several business days.

I'd like to honor my first love once again though...

What You’ll Find Here Now

The blog will once again feature regular book reviews, including reviews I wrote on Goodreads in the past months. 

Alongside those reviews, I’ll occasionally share other bookish content, including:

• Reading journal ideas and tips

• Book recommendations (Dark Rom Com, Dark Romance, Romantasy, and the occasional sports romance)

• Audiobook discussions

• Reading challenges and printables

• Thoughts about tropes, ratings, fictional obsessions, and the beautifully chaotic life of a reader

I’m not trying to turn this into a rigid posting machine. I honestly can't go back to the frenetic rhythm I used to maintain here, but I simply want Tynga’s Reviews to become a useful, welcoming place for readers again — a space to share longer thoughts that do not always fit into a TikTok caption.

From Book Reviews to Reading Journals

My reading life also led me somewhere I never expected: creating my own reading journals.

After decades of reviewing books, I knew exactly what I wanted to remember about them — and I couldn't find an existing journal that captured it all.

I wanted space for tropes, favorite moments, spice, romance and tears ratings, a checkbox for audiobook narration type (!!!), fictional crushes, and all the little details that make each bookish journey a unique one.

That eventually became Tynga Publishing, where I create guided reading journals designed especially for dark romance, romantasy, and my latest baby is for the cozy readers. 🤍

You’ll see the journals around the blog, but reviews will remain the main engine. This is still a place to talk honestly about books—what worked, what did not, and which fictional characters deserve permanent residency in my thoughts.

Whether You’re Returning or New Here…

Thank you for finding your way to this little corner of the bookish internet.

Perhaps you followed Tynga’s Reviews years ago. Perhaps you know me from TikTok or Instagram. Or perhaps you arrived here because you searched for a book review at two in the morning after finishing something devastating and needed someone else to understand.

However you got here, welcome.

Tynga’s Reviews is alive again.

And this time, it has quite a few more morally grey men, a great deal more spice, and three reading journals waiting nearby to document the damage.

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by Tynga at Saturday, June 20, 2026

 Blog Update, Pinned, Reading Journal  Leave your mark

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