Recently, we shared an example of a book journal, and people loved it! Today, we’re walking you through the how-to for creating your own book journal in Day One. Track the books you read, rate and review your favorites (and least favorites!), and take notes to jog your memory. Next time a friend asks for a book recommendation, you’ll be more than ready!
Step 1: Create a New Journal
We’re calling our journal “Book Reviews,” but you can call it anything you like.
Step 2: Create a Book Journal Template
While Day One has plenty of great journal templates for use, there isn’t currently a Book Review template. But don’t fret: all the more opportunity to customize a Book Review template exactly to your needs and preferences! For this example, we’re going to borrow from an existing template — the One Photo template — and make some changes so it’s exactly what we want. Choose the template and hit Edit.
Step 3: Revise the Template to Meet Your Needs
What’s important to you when you reflect on books you’ve read? Do you like to include favorite quotes, a description of the character you related to most, or a quick summary? What about a rating, what you learned from the book, or whether or not you’d recommend it? It’s up to you!
An example book journal template might include:
- Title
- Rating
- What I Took From It
- Quotes
- Cover artwork
Step 4: Add an Image
This is totally optional — but adding an image of the cover artwork will give your book journal entry summary the charm of a curated bookshelf, and might help jog your memory, too.
Step 5: Tag Your Book Journal Entries
Again, this is totally optional — just another way for you to organize your entries as you see fit. We tagged our book journal entries with “Recommend” or “Wouldn’t Recommend,” so that when friends ask for recommendations, we can easily reference our favorites. You could also tag them with their genre, the month in which you read them, or anything else you can think of.
Step 6: Keep Reading (and Journaling)!
Soon, you’ll have a digital bookshelf overflowing with whatever is important to you about the books you’ve read. A book journal is a fun, easy way to keep track of your reading, and a great way to look back on your reading journey especially if you tend to read digitally. It’s a fun way to see at a glance all the knowledge you’ve taken in!
Start A Book Journal Today in the Day One App
The Day One journaling app makes it easy to keep track of the books you read. Download Day One for free today to start your personal digital bookshelf.
About the Author
Phoebe Kranefuss is a freelance writer and marketer based in Madison, Wisconsin. She’s a lifelong journaler and (almost) daily writer. She studied English Literature at Bowdoin College, is currently pursuing her MFA in fiction at University of Wisconsin–Madison, and has written for and worked with healthtechs including Monument, NOCD, and more.
