A Year of Bookish Journaling: My Thoughts on Reading Bujos

Back in 2021, I decided to try book/reading journal. In the past I’ve used planners such as Always Fully Booked Planner or other planners simply meant for tracking your yearly reading. To shake things up a bit I decided to convert a bookish Happy Planner notebook into a Bullet journal (bujo). I decided I wanted to switch things up and track my reading habits in a creative style. But ultimately halfway through the year I kind up just gave up. I don’t know if I was just lazy, lost my creative spark, or was unhappy with how it was turning out.

In 2023, I decided to try again using of my many journals I have in my stationery collection. I found a blank dot-grid journal with a hard cover and got to work. Surfing through journaling videos on YouTube, finding inspiration through Pinterest, and looking at past journals got me inspired to start over again. I decided to keep my spreads simplistic, but creative and kept track of what I read throughout the year as well as goals I wanted to set for myself.

I decided to not make any TBR spreads because being a mood reader. TBR lists have never really benefited me and I choose what I read on a whim most of the time. It made journaling more carefree for me and I focus on the books I wanted to read the most and pace my myself without pressure. The setup for each month and the initial pages (including the books read spread below) took the longest, but the payoff was so worth as I flipped through the journal at the beginning of 2024 to view my yearly wrap-up.

I think a reading journal could be beneficial for anyone and it can be as intricate or simplistic as you can make it. The only con I would have to notate is the time for setup and layouts. I found I, myself didn’t really mind as I find journaling very relaxing and to be a form of self-care. There are many ways to track the reading through various apps such as Goodreads or Storygraph, but putting it down on paper is a whole different feeling.

It may be old-school, but to have a visual source on paper allowed me to see what types of books I gravitated to, when I was in reading slumps, what types of books were missing from my reading habits, and much more. In a way it’s allowed me to connect to to the book journaling community and get back in touch with my crafty side in new ways. I’ve made mistakes and gotten messy (as in the words of Miss Frizzle), but I’m okay with that, and the learning process is all a part of the journey. Plus it gives me a chance to full utilize all the stationery supplies I’ve (unfortunately) been hoarding and it has allowed me to declutter my collection!

I can’t wait to try some new journaling styles in my 2024 planner and experimenting with different themes. To see more of my reading journal spreads, you can visit my Bookstagram page. If you have any bookish Bullet journaling tips, please let me know. Do you have a bookish planner or use a reading journal? Let me know you thoughts in the comment section below.