How To Create A Simple Reading Journal Set Up
Hi everyone, it’s Delphine (@delphinesjournal) from the Archer And Olive ambassador team. As a slow reader, I’ve always felt intimidated by reading journals, but I finally decided to put my own spin on it, using a traveler’s notebook.
Supplies
- Archer And Olive Notebook (I’m using the Swirling Leaves Traveler's Notebook here)
- Calliographs
- Fineliners
Optional:
- Scissors
- Stickers
- Paper scraps for layering
- Washi tape
- Double sided tape
- Corner rounder
Don’t forget to use my code DELPHINE10 for 10% off your purchase at Archer And Olive!
Choose Your Notebook
Depending on how lengthy you plan your book reviews to be, I believe any notebook size can become a reading journal! I personally opted for the traveler’s notebook, since it felt less intimidating as the book reviews could be shorter.
My Reading Journal Set Up
Before we start, I wanted to mention that you could totally recreate this set up without the washi tapes, stickers and paper scraps I used. I went for a collage style here because I loved the idea of adding book pages as a reading journal, but feel free to go for an even more minimalist set up or draw your own book doodles!
Choosing the spreads I wanted to include was definitely the hardest part of creating this set up, but ultimately the determining factor was aiming for simple spreads that I would actually use throughout the year.
Reading Tracker
A reading tracker has been part of my annual set up for years at this point. This particular layout also serves as an overview of all the books I read in the entire year, since I also include the author, when I read the book and my rating (it was inspired by @leelajournals). I made this tracker over two pages to leave myself plenty of space for the book titles and author’s names (and I was apparently very ambitious).
If you read a lot or if this layout isn’t your cup of tea, you might want to focus strictly on the amount of books you’re reading in a year. If so, you could create little boxes and color them any time you finish a book, or leave the pages of your tracker blank to add photos of book covers!
Books to Read
A “To Be Read” (also known as a “TBR”) spread is such a classic in a bullet journal set up, and for good reason! Whenever a book is recommended by a friend, a colleague or in a video I’ve watched, I add it here and highlight it when I’ve read it. I’ve also been including a similar layout in my annual bullet journal set up (which was inspired by @chardangerfield), but this time, I wanted to regroup all of my spreads related to books together.
2025 Reading Intentions
This is a new spread for me, but I wanted to find a way to reflect on my reading intentions for 2025 beyond the number of books I intended to read. In 2025, what genres do I want to read? Is there a new genre that I want to explore ? What books from Québécois or French authors would I like to read? Which classics should I dive into? The categories were inspired by @elizabethturn and I can’t wait to fill this spread in conjunction with my TBR to expand my reading journey.
2025 Favorites
For my last spread, I decided to create a favorites spread, inspired once again by @elizabethturn. I don’t know yet if I’ll be filling it throughout the year or if I’ll wait until the end of the year to do a recap, but what I do know is that it will be great to look back on! Here are the categories I included:
- Quote;
- Book;
- Ending;
- Couple;
- Character;
- Writing;
- Setting;
- Concept;
- Worst book (I know it’s technically not a favorite, but I thought it would be fun nonetheless);
- Worst writing.
If you’re wondering what comes next ? The answer would be book reviews! You can follow me on Instagram (@delphinesjournal) where I’ll share the updates of my reading journal.
Alternatives
To me, the beauty of bullet journaling is how you can customize it to fit your needs. You can experiment and get inspired by the community, but ultimately you decide what works for you! If the spreads mentioned in this blog aren’t exactly what you’re looking for, here are some alternatives:
- A book bracket to figure out your favorite book of the year;
- A new releases spread;
- Specific trackers (like a series tracker, or a daily reading tracker).
Printable & Video
Please take a look at the printable down below and the Youtube video, where you can see the process of creating the entire reading journal!
If you end up creating your own reading journal set up, please tag @archerandolive, @archerandolive.community, #AOShare and #archerandolive to let us know what spreads you created! You can also read this blog for more reading journal ideas.