BookScapes #3: October 2023

Journaling + Reading = A Reading Journal

Journaling is a mainstay of my life. It helps me know who-I-think-I-am at any given moment, who-I’ve-been back when, and who-I-want-to-be in some distant future. Like a topographic map, my journal traces the lay of my interior landscape, the hills and dales and watering holes, the arid patches, the pleasant woodland refuges, the arduous mountains. I like what writer and Zen teacher Natalie Goldberg says. Whatever the purpose of your journal might be (a life journal, travel journal, work journal, dream journal, art journal), it’s all the same thing: “What’s important is you’re having a relationship with your mind.” My journal is just me and my mind/soul/heart, having a private conversation.

Reading is an equally important mainstay. I know I share this with most of you, because we likely met through our mutual love of books. We are bookstore devotees, library patrons, garage-sale disciples, and (in the last decade) ardent digital downloaders. Some of us read a book or two a week, others three or four, often all at the same time. We read print, we read pixels, we listen. We read in a favorite chair, in the bathroom, while we drive, while we do chores. We live in books, we learn about the world through books, we collect so many books that our shelves and even our floors sag under their weight. And our reading isn’t confined to books, either. We read the backs of cereal boxes, magazine articles, newspapers, online posts.

You can see where I’m going with this. As a reader and a journal-keeper, I need a reading journal. I started this habit in college, relied on it in grad school, neglected it as a professional academic, and returned to it when I became a fulltime writer. Over the decades, I’ve kept my reading journals in steno pads, spiral notebooks, preformatted purchased journals, and (currently) on my computer. Our reading shapes our minds and our lives, and I treasure this decades-long history as a record of what has shaped mine.

But this isn’t a one-size-fit-all business. Reading journals come in all shapes, sizes, and (these days) media. Your choice, in large part, depends on your reasons for reading.

• If you’re reading for a book club (or maybe two or three!), you’ll want to keep notes about what you like about a book, memorable passages, quotes, favorite/least favorite characters, setting and plot details, what you think about the ending, what you’d like to ask the author, what other club members say about the book. A pretty, preformatted journal might be good for this, one for each club you belong to.

• If you’re reading for a challenge (like one of these), you’ll need to keep a record of titles and authors, genre, publishing information, number of pages read, the dates and amount of time you spend reading, whether you own the book or borrowed it, even the DNFs (the books you did not finish)—plus comments, of course. You might choose a businesslike spiral notebook or a more detailed, extensive digital spreadsheet format, like this one.

• If you’re a reviewer, you’ll be keeping detailed responses to characters, settings, themes and other structural elements of the book, as well as quotes you may want to use in your review. Since you likely submit your reviews in a Word doc, you might want to keep this journal on your computer.

• If you’re pursuing a project, taking a class, learning a craft, planning a trip, beginning extended treatment for a medical condition—if you’re involved in any of these focused, time-bound activities, you may want to create a journal of the books and online resources you need, books recommended to you, a plan for reading/using the materials. A dedicated purse-sized notebook might be good for this.

• If you’re studying an author’s work, a series, a genre, or any group of related print works, a dedicated journal can help you keep track of what you learn, as well as to lead you in new directions. For instance, in Summer, 2022, I decided to read all (31, at the time) of John Sandford’s Lucas Davenport thrillers. I now have a computer file documenting that experience and recording what I learned about the books, the series, and Sandford’s writing habits—as well as his growth, over 30 years, as a writer.

• If you’re a quote-keeper, you might keep a separate notebook (or computer file) for your favorite quotes. I compiled one in a small notebook at an important intersection in my life: lines from the gazillion books I was relying on to get me through a rough patch nearly 40 years ago. When I page through this little journal now, I see the younger woman I was and hear the many voices that encouraged her to become the older woman she is now.

Image by Freepik

These days, I keep my reading journal in a Word doc. I like this because it’s searchable. (And also because my 83-year-old fingers do not appreciate holding a pen for longer than it takes to sign my name.) It’s arranged by book title, with author, publishing info, genre, and format, plus a link to the online publisher’s or retailer’s description. I don’t always read consecutively (books get interrupted with other books, activities), it may take me a month or more to finish a book, so I’m careful about recording dates. And since I’m doing this on the computer, there’s plenty of space for the book cover, notes, quotes, quibbles, and questions. I like to extend my reading, so I often add hot links to online sources: links to an author’s bio, reviews, info about the setting, history, related topics. I mostly (but not exclusively) read on a Kindle app and make frequent use of its Notes-and-Highlights feature, so I can save quotes and note to the journal without retyping. I also maintain an end-of-file alphabetical index, as a visual reminder of the titles I’ve read.

Reading is one of our most precious privileges. Whatever we can do to extend and expand what we learn from books is absolutely worth doing. There’s more to be said on this subject, but to boil it down to five words:

Read richly.
Record regularly.
Repeat.

Now it’s your turn. Since I meet so many of you on my Saturday reading post, I know you’re ardent readers. If you’re keeping a reading journal, please tell us about it—why you keep it, what it’s like, how you use it. If you haven’t yet adopted this practice but think you’d like to, tell us what your reading journal might be like and how you might like to use it. (As Olympic athletes know, virtually imagining ourselves performing an activity can help us actually do it.) Or, if a journal doesn’t fit into your scheme of things, just tell us what you are currently reading.

BookScape Book Bundle. And here’s a little lagniappe for you supporting subscribers (thank you!). On Thursday, Oct. 19, I’ll choose 3-4 books from my stash of author’s copies, sign and personalize them, and send them to a commentator chosen at random. Could be you!