Reading journal template
The reading journal template, and what to write in it
A template is only useful if you can fill it in half-asleep. Below is the layout worth keeping — a book page and a session page — with the reason each field earns its place. Copy it into a notebook, or open the same layout in khoshra, where the totals, streaks and percentages fill themselves in.
Template one — the book page
One per book, written when you start it.
- Title and author
- The spine as it's printed — you'll search this later.
- Started / finished
- Two dates. They quietly become your reading pace.
- Format and source
- Paperback, ebook, audiobook; bought, borrowed, gifted.
- Pages
- The total, so progress can be a percentage rather than a feeling.
- Why this book
- One line. The reason you picked it up is half the memory.
- Rating and verdict
- Stars, plus a sentence you'd say to a friend.
Template two — the session page
One per day you read. Two minutes, no more.
- Date
- One day, one page — the journal's whole rhythm.
- Pages reached
- Where you stopped. Everything else is arithmetic.
- Minutes read
- Timed, not estimated.
- Marginalia
- A quote or a thought, attached to its page number.
- Mood while reading
- Tired, restless, absorbed. It explains the pace later.
- Tags
- A word or two — grief, translation, work — for finding it again.
Notice what isn't in the template: running totals, pages-per-day, percentage complete, streaks, books-this-year. Those are the fields that go stale first on paper, and the ones khoshra derives from the two lines you actually wrote.
Using it as a printable
If you keep paper, rule a page in two halves: the six book fields at the top, then a dated line per session underneath — date, page reached, minutes, one thought. That's the whole template. Add a monthly spread at the back for totals if you enjoy the arithmetic.
Or don't rule anything: the template is drawn for you as a free PDF — a book page, a session log, a monthly review and a year in books.
Next: the printable reading log PDF, how to start a reading journal, what to write in a reading log, what a reading journal is, keeping a book journal, the reading tracker or the reading log.