Most reading journals fail on page one: too many fields, too much decorating, and one skipped book makes the whole thing feel behind. These templates are plain on purpose. They should take less time to fill in than the book took to read.
A reading journal template is a printable page layout for recording books: what you read, when, what you thought and what’s next. Below you can choose from eight free pages (a book log, a review page, a year of 52 spines, a to-be-read list, reading bingo, favorite quotes, a monthly wrap-up and a cover), in US Letter or A4, and print them straight away.
Make your reading journal
Prints blank pages to fill in by hand. To save a PDF, choose “Save as PDF” in the print window. Nothing you type is stored or sent.
Quick takeaways
- Start with the book log and the review page. Add the rest once the habit sticks.
- Print one review page per book you want to remember, not per book you read.
- Fill in the log the day you finish a book, while it’s still in your head.
- The year-in-books page is the fun one: color a spine per book.
- Keep everything in a binder or a folder so pages can be added as you go.
What is a reading journal template?
A reading journal template is a ready-made page for tracking your reading, so you don’t have to draw columns and headings yourself. Printable templates suit anyone who wants a reading record without the setup of a hand-drawn journal. You print what you need, fill it in by hand and add pages as the year goes on.
A notebook-based reading journal and a printable one do the same job. The difference is setup time. If you’d rather design your own spreads in a notebook, the reading journal ideas guide has 40 page ideas to draw. If you want to start tonight, print these.
Which pages should a reading journal include?
Most people need two pages: a book log for everything they finish and a review page for the books worth remembering. A to-be-read list stops good recommendations from getting lost. The tracker, bingo, quotes and monthly pages are optional extras that make it more fun.
| Page | What it’s for | How often |
|---|---|---|
| Book log | Title, author, dates and a star rating for each book finished | Every book |
| Book review | Genre, format, one-sentence summary, what stayed with you, a favorite line | Books worth remembering |
| Year in books | 52 numbered spines on four shelves to color in | Every book |
| To be read | Books you want to read and who recommended them | Whenever someone mentions one |
| Reading bingo | 25 reading challenges, like a translated book or a reread | All year |
| Favorite quotes | Six boxes for lines you want to keep, with book and page | While reading |
| Monthly wrap-up | Books finished, favorite, did-not-finish, a 31-day reading tracker | End of each month |
| Cover | “Reading journal” with your name and year | Once |
Fifty-two spines works out at a book a week. That’s a lot for many readers, so leave the rest uncolored without guilt. The page is a record, not a target.
How do you use a printable reading journal?
Print the pages you picked, punch holes and keep them in a small binder, or trim them and glue them into a notebook. Fill in the book log the day you finish a book, add a review page for the ones you want to remember and print more pages when you run out.
- Print. Use the button above. To make a PDF instead, choose “Save as PDF” in the print window.
- Choose a home. A binder lets you add pages. A notebook keeps it all in one place: trim the page margins and glue them in.
- Start from today. Don’t go back and log last year unless you want to.
- Log on the day you finish. Title, author, dates, rating. Thirty seconds.
- Review only the good ones. Or the ones that annoyed you. Strong feelings make the best entries.
- Wrap up monthly. Ten minutes at the end of the month with the wrap-up page.
The year-in-books spines are numbered, so color them in order. By December the shelf shows your year at a glance, including the slow months.
What should you write on a book review page?
Write one sentence on what the book is about, a few lines on what stayed with you, and one line you want to remember with its page number. Skip plot summaries: you can look those up. Your reaction is the part you can’t get back later.
Here’s a short example entry, for a classic most people know:
- Title: Frankenstein. Author: Mary Shelley.
- In one sentence: A scientist builds a living creature, abandons it and spends the rest of his life running from what he made.
- What stayed with me: The creature is more reasonable than its maker, so by the end the “monster” is the one you feel sorry for.
- Who would I give it to? Anyone who thinks they know the story from the movies.
For quotes you want to keep and come back to, a commonplace book goes further than a quotes page. It collects passages from everything you read, sorted by subject.
Reading journal prompts
If a review page feels blank, answer one of these questions instead. They work for any book, fiction or nonfiction, and take five minutes.
- What made you pick this book up?
- Which character would you least like to be stuck in an elevator with?
- Where were you when you read the best chapter?
- What did this book get right about people?
- What would you change about the ending?
- Which line would you underline if it were your copy?
- What did you learn that you didn’t expect to?
- Who does this book remind you of?
- Did you finish it? If not, where did you stop, and why?
- How did you feel on the last page?
- What will you read next because of this one?
- If this book were a place, what would it smell like?
For more ways to keep a journal of any kind, see the guide to types of journaling.
Reading journal template questions
Are these reading journal templates free?
Yes. There’s no sign-up and no email needed. Pick your pages, print them or save a PDF from the print window.
What size are the templates?
US Letter (8.5 by 11 inches) or A4. Choose before you print. To fit an A5 notebook, print on A4 and trim, or set your printer to print two pages per sheet.
Can I use these templates digitally?
They’re designed for paper. You can save a PDF from the print window and write on it in a note-taking app that opens PDFs, such as one you’d use with a stylus.
What’s the difference between a reading journal and a book journal?
Nothing, really. Both names describe a notebook or set of pages for recording what you read.
How many books should I log in a year?
As many as you read. The year page has 52 spines, a book a week, but an empty shelf at the end of the year still records a year of reading.
Otis Fenn
Otis covers planning methods, notebooks, pens and apps, so you don't buy three of each. Otis is a pen name Mike writes under. About our writers
