Reading journal flick through

(and how I did it)

There’s something so romantic about the written review…finishing a book and immediately running to your notepad to let your thoughts seep through the pen ink.

There’s something so cool about that.

Something so delightful that I’m surprised more people aren’t doing it.

recent reviews of mine

I realise I’m a bit late to the party with this one (seeing as we’re already nearing the end of January), but I’m of the opinion that it’s never too late to start a reading journal. If you’re unsure what that is, it’s simply a creative (and fun) way to keep track of your reading habits throughout the year.

Most people prepare their journals for the start of January, and by the time December comes around, they have a notebook packed with fabulous collages and endless notes on books they’ve read each month.

Here are some examples of journal entries I like…

pinterest handles included

In comparison, I’d say my journal this year is a mixture of all of these put together. More stark in contrast perhaps, yet simple.

I have five main pages:

1. Books I want to read this year

2. Monthly favourites

3. Book bingo

4. Alphabet bingo

5. Reading log

Then afterwards, I’ll use the leftover pages to write full written reviews.

flick through

I understand that this may feel somewhat excessive to some…

Why make such a song and dance about reading?

I totally get that.

But I also really enjoy filling it in, and that’s the point.

So, I thought that some of you may benefit from a quick recap on what I used to create my pages. Because I think that you should have a go at making one too!

books I want to read this year

As someone who doesn’t really have the space (or money) to buy a full printer, I decided to get one of these portable mini printers instead. I was worried the journal wouldn’t look as good because it only prints in black&white, but actually, it forced me to get creative with the colourful backgrounds.

I began by researching all of the books on my ‘to read’ list, then prioritised the favourites to print out. It was a bit fiddly with getting the sizing right for the page, but once we got there, it was just a case of cutting and sticking.

As you can see, I’ve already finished two books on the page, so I used a fine line black pen to fill out my star ratings.

monthly favourites

For all of the next designs, I cut out some black card and used it as a backdrop instead of the lined pages of my journal. I then stuck the card down with glue and cemented it in place with washi tape, which worked as a pretty border.

For this one, I spent a long time considering how to incorporate Jan/Feb/Mar etc… onto the page. Since I already owned a letter stamper, I thought it would be neat to simply stamp the initial of each month onto mini rectangles. That way, I could just print the book cover of my favourite read at the end of each month and stick it in.

I also recently purchased these woodland creature stickers, which looked sweet alongside the polka dot washi tape. I wanted to keep a simple blue colour scheme here, since the previous page was very vibrant.

book bingo

This design was particularly fun because I thrifted a bunny hole punch, and managed to incorporate some of the confetti. Once again, I used black card and washi tape for the border to hide any blank space. Then, I looked online for book bingo inspo and printed the ideas I liked the most. I’ll stick a gold star in the corner of any that I complete.

I’ve already managed to tick one off by reading Daisy Jones & The Six, which turned into a TV series.

alphabet bingo

I decided that a theme to match the botanical washi tape would be best for this design, so I stuck with yellow and green cut-outs. Again, I used stamps to spell out the letters of the alphabet. It was quicker than writing them out.

Of course, once I finish a book I’ll add a small picture of the cover onto each letter, just like I have with Clockwork Angel and Daisy Jones.

reading log

Every time I’ve made a reading journal in the past, the log has been my favourite page to fill in. So, I decided to go all out this time by using beads as the main focus. I’ll stick in a pink smiley bead for any physical books I read, a blue for any e-books, and a green for any audiobooks.

I started this page in the same way as the ones previously mentioned, laying out the black card and washi tape first. Then, I used a hot glue gun to put the beads in place. Simple as that!

FYI - I purchased the hot glue gun from Hobbycraft for £5.00 which was very affordable. Standard glue won’t keep the beads in place unfortunately, so I’m afraid it’s a must.

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And there we have it…my reading journal flick through is complete!

Perhaps at the end of 2026 I’ll post an update of my finished journal?

Let me know your thoughts <3