How to start a reading journal

Paper or phone

Both work. A paper notebook is pleasant to write in and to leaf through. A phone is always with you and lets you search. Choose the one you will actually open. You can combine them: quick notes on the phone, a longer entry on paper when you finish a book.

Log every book

The simplest page is a list. For each book, write:

• the title and author;
• the dates you started and finished;
• whether you finished it or stopped;
• a rating, if you like ratings.

Even this short list shows a lot after a year: how many books you read, which ones took months and which took a weekend.

In Pagetime, much of the log fills itself in. Each reading session is saved with its date and length, and the Stats tab lists them under “All sessions”. The book screen shows how long the book took or, for a book you stopped, how long it was with you. A finished book gets a rating in half-stars, which shows on the shelf, and you can sort what you have read by rating.

Write a few lines when you finish

When you finish a book, write while it is fresh. A few questions help:

• What was it about, in one sentence?
• What stayed with you: a scene, an idea, a character?
• Who would you recommend it to?

Three or four sentences are enough. The guide to questions to ask about a book has more to choose from.

When a book is finished in Pagetime, a “Book finished” sheet opens with a rating, a field for a thought about the book, which is saved with its notes, and “Share book card”. The card shows the dates, how many days and sessions the book took, your reading time and rating, and which book of the year it was. It is made on your phone and works without an account or subscription.

Keep quotes and thoughts as you read

A journal entry written at the end is easier with notes made along the way: a quote with its page, a thought in a few words. The guide to taking notes while reading shows how to do it without losing your place, and the one on saving quotes from physical books covers photographing a page.

In Pagetime, notes from all your books are in the Notes tab, where you can search them and filter by favorites or by kind.

Add a page for each month and year

Once a month, write down what you read and what stood out. At the end of the year, pick your favorites. These pages are the ones people reread most.

Pagetime’s Stats tab has a summary of each month: reading time, books finished and added, and notes written. The Year in review shows your reading time and the books you finished; the rest of it needs a subscription. More on yearly goals in the guide on how many books you can read in a year.

Take your journal with you

In settings, under “Your notes”, Pagetime saves all your notes as one Markdown file, organized by book, with dates and pages. It opens in any notes app, including Obsidian, and it is free. With a subscription, Pagetime can also keep your notes up to date as Markdown files in a folder you choose.

The free version holds up to 5 books and includes 20 page scans with text recognition in total. Deleting a note does not restore a used scan. Notes and the timer work offline without an account; sync is free after signing in. A subscription removes the book and scan limits and unlocks your full stats history, year in review and folder export. Pagetime is coming to iPhone and Android; you can leave your email below to hear when it is available. Until then, a notebook and a line per book are a fine start.

This independent guide is published by Pagetime and is not authorized, sponsored or endorsed by Apple Inc. or Google LLC.