How to Keep Track of Books I Want to Read
Looking for the all-time reading trackers to go on track of the books yous've read and the books you want to read? Keeping a reading log is i of the best decisions any reader tin can brand, and volition easily and quickly improve your reading life. Then if you're ready to investigate the best reading trackers, read on!
What Is a Reading Tracker?
Get-go, you may be wondering what a reading tracker even is. The concept itself is pretty self-explanatory, but substantially it's simply a way to keep runway of the books you read (or the books you want to read in the future).
Only reading trackers come in many different forms. There are apps y'all can apply, plenty of printables and bullet journal spreads, spreadsheets, and pretty much any other method you can dream up. Some methods are ameliorate than others, though, so today nosotros're going to talk almost a few of the best options for tracking your reading!
Looking for means to catalog all the books y'all own? Check out these incredible home library apps!
Why Use a Reading Tracker?
So why should you use a reading tracker? Having a organization for tracking the books y'all read is helpful on many levels, and tin also be a lot of fun!
First, tracking your reading tin can assist you focus on reading more instead of worrying about feeling disorganized. Less time worrying near organization ways more time for reading.
It can also save you from the awful feeling of forgetting a book y'all actually want to call up, and not being able to discover it later! I can't tell you how many times I used to forget the title of a book I loved and then had to try to find books over again from a vague description. Now, because of keeping a reading log, this happens far less frequently since I know exactly where I tin find the books I've read before.
And, if you lot utilize a reading tracker that allows you to take notes, so yous can also easily find your thoughts on specific books….even years after y'all've read them. No more thinking "Oh yes…I read that volume, but I don't retrieve whether information technology was any good."
Of form, tracking your reading can also help you when you're setting reading goals or trying to stay on track to encounter your reading goals. Plus, information technology's besides simply a lot of fun to come across the books you've read add upward over time…and to be able to look back at your year (or more) of reading and see everything you loved!
7 Amazing Reading Trackers for Readers
There are many different reading tracking methods, but if you're set up to try tracking your reading then hither are some of the best methods to try.
1. Book Tracking Spreadsheet
1 of my favorite book tracking methods is to use a spreadsheet to proceed rail of the books I've read. I love this method because I can hands access my reading log from any device and from anywhere, and since it is stored in the cloud I know I won't accidentally lose it!
Spreadsheets are besides an excellent method to use because you have complete control over your data (different using an app, where your data may disappear if something happens to the app or if it shuts downward…like Shelfari did in 2016).
With a reading tracking spreadsheet, you tin can also choose what information y'all want to include and remove any extraneous items you don't want to track. It'southward your ain individual database, so you can do whatever you desire with it!
That leads me to the next reason you might choose to use a book reading spreadsheet: your information is private. Many online reading trackers are "social," which means your books, reviews, ratings, etc. are bachelor for anyone in the public to encounter. Social reading trackers can exist fun, simply some people prefer to keep their book records private or share them with only a few people. If this is yous, then a Google Sheets book tracker could be the mode to go.
But are there any downsides to using a reading log spreadsheet? One of the biggest downsides is that it can exist a bit time-consuming to gear up at first, especially if you don't know what you're doing with Excel/Google Sheets.
Simply fortunately for you, you tin bypass this issue by getting the exact reading tracker spreadsheet I use! I've done the setup work for you lot so you tin can simply enter the information on the books y'all read to outset edifice your own reading listing spreadsheet. Plus, I've prepare it upwardly so you automatically get some absurd statistics about the books you lot read…including how many books y'all've read, how many pages you've read, how many books you read in diverse genres, and more!
Get the reading tracker spreadsheet now to start tracking your reading!
two. Goodreads
When you're looking to keep track of the books you read, ane of the more than pop options is to utilize the reading tracking features on Goodreads. You likely already use Goodreads when you're looking upwards new books or searching for summaries, simply if you haven't even so tried out their volume tracking capabilities and so now is the time to do so!
Essentially, this tracking method allows you to input the books you read into "shelves," which you can and so view or sort to hands discover books you've read (or want to read). When you first create an account, y'all'll automatically be given three shelves: "Read," "Currently Reading," and "Desire to Read". Even so, yous can also add extra shelves to go along your reading more organized or to ready your own system of shelves for tracking.
So how does Goodreads book tracking work? To use this reading tracker method, simply search for a volume on the Goodreads site and then click on the triangle adjacent to the dark-green "Want to Read" push button. This allows you to add the book to any of your shelves, and y'all can so give the book a star rating, enter a public review, set the dates of when y'all started and finished reading it, and add other information equally well.
Goodreads works well for readers who desire a more social reviewing procedure, as reviews and shelves are public and there's a whole community here of readers who will interact with yous and with your reading choices. Information technology tin can be quite fun! Goodreads also makes suggestions of what yous might like to read next based on the books you lot've added to your shelves, so this can be a good way to observe your next favorite read too.
Another affair I like most Goodreads is that they practice take an app you can utilize (although sometimes there are a few glitches!). But this means y'all can add to your reading list from your desktop, but you can besides use the app to add new books or go along track of books read. This is so helpful for when y'all're at the library or a bookstore, as you can have an easy-to-admission list of the books you want to read (and likewise avoid buying books you've already read or own).
Additionally, I love that Goodreads has some stats options that allow y'all to meet statistics about your reading. I don't think their stats are as cute or easy to use as the stats from some of the other reading trackers on this listing, merely their "Twelvemonth in Books" feature is definitely pretty cool and does a good job of summing upward your reading from the previous twelvemonth!
Tip: If you want to switch to Goodreads or switch from Goodreads to another reading tracker method (similar to a tracking spreadsheet), y'all can hands import/export book information so you don't have to enter it all manually again!
3. LibraryThing
Another practiced identify to rail your reading is LibraryThing. Similar Goodreads, LibraryThing is a social and public identify for keeping a reading log…and then yous can add all your books for anyone to meet and can as well interact with others on the platform. This is my 2nd favorite way to catalog my "Books I've Read" List (after using my Google Sheets spreadsheet) as this interface is really feature rich and has lots of cool stats to see!
With LibraryThing, yous tin catalog your books online using your calculator or yous can use their reading log app on your phone to access or input books from anywhere. I specially enjoy that you lot can apply the phone app to browse physical books into your itemize, instead of having to input them manually. Information technology saves a lot of time!
The goal of LibraryThing is to create a professional person-quality library catalog for all its users, and so you can use this reading tracker app to track books read, to keep track of all the books you ain, or both. It works by searching over 2,200 libraries, Amazon catalogs, and the Library of Congress so y'all can easily input books with all their information already included (this includes the Dewey Decimal number, publication data, and even the book'south height and weight!).
Other cool features of the LibraryThing reading tracker include that you tin employ their automatically created library catalogs, you tin can create your own catalogs, and that you can tag books with your own tags to help you sort through all the books later. And when you input a new book, there are as well places to add reviews, public comments, private comments, and more!
These are but a few of the incredible features LibraryThing has to offering, but one more aspect we shouldn't neglect to mention is their stats tab. When you click on this tab, information technology will take yous to a whole world of details and trivia about the books you've read and your reading habits. Some of these include nautical chart data on when the books you've read were published, how many awards the books yous've read have received, how many total characters there are across your cataloged books, and what distribution of star ratings you've given to the books yous've read.
But LibraryThing doesn't stop in that location! They'll also tell you what percent of your authors are dead vs. alive, and will give you lot other fun trivia like the meridian of your total books stacked on top of each other when compared to other objects…similar a hobbit, a coach bus, Niagara Falls, and more! As your book listing grows, yous'll get new objects to compare it to. If you like fun stats and dearest to obsessively runway your reading, this is definitely the site for you!
You tin get a costless business relationship on LibraryThing and get started with cataloging your books today. Plus, it's easy to import your books from some other source or consign them if you decide to change how yous keep a reading log, so it's a no-brainer to use this incredible service.
iv. Libib
Libib is another good method for keeping a reading log, and it has a really clean interface and a free app you tin utilize as well. With a gratis standard business relationship at Libib, yous tin can rails up to 5,000 items in up to 100 different "libraries" (aka personal catalogs)!
Similar LibraryThing, this service strives to provide a identify for individual readers to create a professional person and organized personal library catalog. Yous tin catalog books, movies, music, or even video games through this system, although I personally have only used it to catalog my books.
When you lot wish to enter a book to your catalog, but create a new library or use an existing one. Be certain to choose whether you wish your library to exist published or not (if yous publish it, it is available for anyone in the public to encounter). You lot can and so enter the book by searching the ISBN or keywords or tin enter information technology manually if it is a rare or antique item. Alternatively, y'all can use the app to easily browse a concrete book and automatically enter it into your catalog!
When you enter a book, be sure to add any tags, notes, set a star rating, or add together it to a group (useful for volume series and then you tin can take all the books show upwardly together in your catalog). Calculation this information makes your library easily searchable, so y'all tin can find books alphabetically by title/author, by published engagement, by tag, or any number of other useful methods.
Your listings will then comprise all this information as well as book thumbnails, summaries, and other automatically pulled data virtually the book so you accept everything you demand at your fingertips. For books you own, you tin also set how many copies you have, what condition the volume is in, and how much yous paid for it. Plus, there's a adept basic stats page you can visit to learn more well-nigh the books you lot've cataloged!
I apply Libib mostly for my own collection of books that I actually own rather than books I've read from the library or borrowed from friends, but if you want to use it equally a way to keep a reading log it definitely has the functionality for this as well. You could even create a library of "read simply not owned" books if y'all like, or add together a tag to all the ones you ain then yous tin can keep them divide from the ones you lot've only read but haven't purchased.
On the whole, this is a really amazing interface for tracking a personal library or tracking your reading. It also has a way to import or export books from Libib, so if you are using another reading tracker and want to switch over to this one you can do information technology easily. Then go ahead and check out this cool tracking option today!
5. Printable Reading Journal
Another popular method for keeping a reading log is to use a printable reading periodical. This allows you to print out the exact pages you want to use, and to print as many of them as you want, so your journal is always exactly what you need.
If you want to try out a printable reading journal, you are welcome to get a copy of my printable reading journal that I created for you for complimentary! Information technology provides several of the near mutual reading journal pages to help you get started in the world of printable reading journals.
Check it out and get started logging your reading today!
6. Physical/Bound Reading Journal
Wondering how to go along track of books read and feeling old school? So using a physical journal to go on your reading log could exist the solution for yous! This is a fun method to use for those who love the physical attribute of keeping their reading log on a shelf…or for those who are artistic and want to create their own reading journal in a bullet periodical format!
There are lots of reading journals to choose from and the one you selection volition depend on your own needs and desires for what you lot desire to track. If you want a pre-formatted journal, and then y'all could consider ones like The Book Lover's Journal, the Ex Libris Individual Reading Journal, or this Reading Journal for Volume Lovers.
However, if you lot adopt customizing what you want to track about each book and having the freedom to create your own lists and sections, then I highly recommend getting a blank bullet journal notebook (similar the Leuchtturm 1917 Periodical) to create your own reading periodical. This is specially fun for those who are artistic, but y'all don't have to be artistic to use this method. If you're looking for pretty designs, y'all tin can purchase inserts from shops on Etsy or similar sites and and then either paste them directly into your notebook or use them as a stencil to trace the design in your journal.
When y'all're wondering how to keep a reading log, the physical format of a reading journal can be a really satisfying way to keep rails of your books. Of grade, you won't have access to automatically created stats with a physical journal…but the customization and artistic aspects of this method make information technology worth it for those who dearest to go along their reading logs on the shelf!
7. Bookshelf Reading Tracker Bookmarks
And last just non least, another reading tracker method you might want to try are these printable bookshelf reading tracker bookmarks!
These bookmarks are offered as a digital download so you can print as many every bit y'all want for your own personal use. They allow you to write titles of books y'all have read on the spines of the books, and yous can color in the books if you would like likewise.
Since this book tracking method is in bookmark class, you will ever have your reading listing to hand by tucking information technology into your latest read. This is a simple and easy way to track your reading, then these are certain to rapidly become your new favorite bookmarks!
Buy the Bookshelf Reading Tracker Bookmarks now!
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How to Keep Track of Books I Want to Read
Source: https://bonafidebookworm.com/reading-tracker/