Moving on from Goodreads - my new reading journal and notebook

Recently I wrote about how I had fallen out of love with Goodreads, and had started tracking my reading in a different way. So today I would like to introduce you to my new physical reading and book journal!

How I chose my reading tracker journal

I spent a lot of time looking for a reading journal. I wanted something that wasn't too intimidating, and one that didn't oblige you to write a full page review for each book. I wanted the basic info - title, author, dates read, a rating system and ideally a place to write a few notes. I wanted to be able to customise it, especially to add extra information about books that I had really enjoyed.

I eventually settled on this one - a simple book rating tracker. I like that it is small and light, has plenty of space for lots of books, and although there are only a few lines for each book you can add more space by covering up some of the review slots. It is quite expensive for what it is, and I will need to strengthen the flimsy cover at some point, but on the whole it is just what I was after.

What I intend to use it for

My main goal is to both help me remember more about the books that I've read and to be a place to make short notes on any topics that I might want to explore further. For example, one book that I read briefly mentioned the concept of psychogeography and when I looked it up I found it all really interesting! Even though it was only a few weeks ago, there's no way that I would have remembered the title of the book that introduced it to me.

How I've been using it so far

I'm only a few books in, but I'm already pleased with it. I've found that most books make enough of an impression on me that I want to fill up several of the individual book rating sections. This is messing with the pre-printed numbering system a little bit so I need to find a way to make a better table of contents.

I've been using washi tape and stickers to try and give a flavour of each book. For example, romance books get a heart sticker, books with a baking theme might get a cupcake. I've been printing out some of my favourite quotes from the book and sticking them in, I've also added maps and photographs of things mentioned in the books.

I'm really enjoying flipping through to refresh my memory on the books that I've read, and that's only going to become more enjoyable as it slowly fills up.