I read ALOT. To the point that I forget the majority of books I read, and the ones I do remember seem to blur into one at times. I've tried things like Goodreads and other online sites to track my reading, but there is nothing like writing down your thoughts on a piece of paper.
I'm a massive fan of the Bullet Journal system, it keeps things simple but allows you to adapt the style to meet your needs. I decided that I wanted to create a bullet journal just for my reading. I knew I wanted to include reviews and overviews of the year. I spent a long time researching and found that Stacie from Parker and Me did an amazing set up of her reading log. I tweaked and changed a few bits to make it suitable for me and then couldn't wait to get started.
The products I have used for my journal are: Leuchtturm1917 dotted journal, Perks of Being a Wallflower sticker (from my blogger secret santa!), Faber Castell Pitt Artist Pens, Djeco brush pens, Crayola Pencils and Stabilo Fineliners.
I love the colour of my journal and the sticker is a perfect touch as it's a quote from my favourite book. I don't like to use too much colour in my book as I'm not the most artistic, so I've just used some brush pens to create some featured bits on each page.
I wanted to include some statistics of my reading. I am someone that gets stuck in a rut and reads the same type of book time after time. I'm also someone that by the looks of things, seems to stick with reading the same gender of author (which has really surprised me). So looking at where I am at across the year makes it easier for me to challenge myself and step out of my comfort zones.
I then knew that I wanted some in depth reviews. I intend to carry my journal with me at work and having a rough idea of what the book is like and space to put what titles it reminds me of really helps when customers are looking for recommendations. I'm also lucky to receive plenty of advance reading copies. These tend to get read a month or so in advance, so having a synopsis and a review is great for me to refresh my memory. It's also good to be able to note if they were award winners or books of the month at my work.
I'm also adding a customer recommends at the start of the journal. I have some fantastic regular customers who are always suggesting books they know I will love. Having a space to keep track of these is going to be perfect.
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