Two ways to get your reading journal
Not sure which to pick? Print the ready-made journal if you want to start reading tonight. Use the creator if you want the pages to match the way you actually read.
Create your own reading journal
Tell the maker how you read and it builds the journal around you. Pick your genre and the book review pages change to match, choose how much you like to write, then pick the pages that go in and download it all as one PDF.
- Review pages that suit your genre, from suspects and clues to key ideas worth keeping
- Add trackers, challenges, quotes, wrap-ups and a year in books review
- Choose your theme, paper size and how many of each page you need
- Ink saver mode for cheaper printing
Free printable bullet journal reading pages
Already know what you want? This ready-made set is 17 pages bullet journal style and prints as it comes, with no setup at all.
- Book quotes pages
- Reading logs
- Book trackers
- Book review pages
- Library book tracker
- And more
Print the bullet journal pages if you like the hand-drawn look and want to start tonight. Use the creator if you want the pages built around the way you actually read.
This 17-page free printable reading journal includes book quotes, reading logs, book trackers, book reviews, library book tracker and more.
Book Journal PDF
These are the pages included in the 17 page reading journal. You can download each page or the entire 17 page book journal:
Keeping a book journal will encourage you to track your reading over time and keep a long-term book log. We offer a free DIY reading journal PDF. It has 17 pages, but you might not need to print some of them, and there might be other pages that you will want to print multiple copies of, such as the reading log printables.
Click below to open the free printable reading journal. You can also make your own DIY reading journal by printing any of the templates on this page. If you do that, you will be able to customize each printable, whereas if you print the PDF book journal, you will not be able to customize it. Once you have printed all the pages you want, insert them into a binder, or use a planner with removable pages. See also book review template.
How to Make a Digital Reading Journal PDF Free of Charge
How to Use This Digital Reading Journal
This digital reading journal is a ready-to-use PDF that you can easily download and start using on your favorite device. Follow the steps below to get started:
Step 1: Download the PDF
- Click the Download button above to save the digital reading journal to your device.
- Make sure you save the file in a location where you can easily find it later (e.g., your Downloads folder or a dedicated reading journal folder).
Step 2: Open the PDF
- Use a PDF viewer or note-taking app on your device to open the journal. Here are some great options:
- iOS/Mac users: GoodNotes, Notability, or Apple Books.
- Android users: Xodo, Samsung Notes, or Adobe Acrobat Reader.
- Windows users: Adobe Acrobat Reader or any PDF viewer.
- Import the file into your app if necessary:
- For apps like GoodNotes or Notability, use the Import feature to add the PDF to your library.
Step 3: Start Writing
- If you’re using an app that supports annotation (like GoodNotes or Xodo), you can:
- Write directly on the PDF using a stylus or your finger.
- Type your entries using the app’s text tool.
- Highlight or underline key parts using the app’s annotation features.
- If you’re using a simple PDF viewer, you can still use the journal by printing it out and writing on the physical copy.
Step 4: Organize and Save Your Progress
- Save your work regularly in your app to ensure nothing gets lost.
- To keep everything organized, consider:
- Saving a copy of the journal every month or year.
- Creating folders to group journals by reading goals or time periods.
A reading journal is where you keep what a book made you think, rather than just the fact that you finished it. I started one after realizing I could remember loving a novel without being able to say a single thing about it, and the difference two minutes of writing makes is out of all proportion to the effort.
There are two ways to get one on this page, and both download as a PDF you can print or write on digitally. The maker builds a journal around the way you actually read, so the questions on each page change with the kind of books you pick up. The ready-made set is a free book journal template in bullet journal style that you use as it comes, and you can download the whole reading journal PDF in one go.
What is a reading journal?
A reading journal is a book about the books you read. Reading journals at their simplest hold the title, the author and what you made of it. Kept properly it also holds the lines you want to keep, the characters you argued with, the ideas you want to act on, and a running list of what you have finished and what you still want to get to.
Reading and journaling go together so naturally that the words get used interchangeably, so it is worth being clear about how a journal differs from the other things people keep. A reading log records that reading happened, with a date and a page count, and an entry takes seconds. A book tracker is a list of what you have finished, often with a rating. A reading journal is the one where you write. If a log answers what did I read, a journal answers what did I think.
None of them cancels the others out. Plenty of people keep a log for the count and a journal for the thinking, which is why the ready-made set below has reading log pages inside it.
Book journal or reading journal?
These are the same thing under two names. Some people say book journal because the subject is books, others say reading journal because the habit is reading, and plenty of people write book reading journal or reading journal book and mean exactly the same notebook. Everything on this page works whichever word you use.
If there is a shade of difference in practice, it is emphasis. People who say book journal tend to keep a page per book, with the cover drawn or printed at the top and a review underneath. People who say reading journal more often keep something continuous, with monthly spreads and a running log alongside the individual reviews. The maker builds either, because you choose which pages go in and how many of each.
What to put in a reading journal
The most common reason a journal gets abandoned is that the first page asks for too much. Start with less than you think you need and add pages when you find yourself wanting them.
A book review page is the core of it, and the book journaling templates that work all start there. Title, author, when you started and finished, and a rating you actually understand. Then the part that matters: a few lines on what happened, a favorite character or idea, and one line you want to keep. That is enough to bring a book back to you years later. The book journal PDF below covers all of it, and the same reading journal printable works on paper or on a tablet.
Around that, most people want somewhere to write down what they intend to read next, a book log journal page to record what they have finished, and something visual that shows progress. The maker offers a to be read list, a books I have read log, a bookshelf you color in as you finish each one, a reading challenge, a bingo card, a favorite quotes page, a series tracker, a borrowed and lent page, monthly wrap-ups, a five-star reads page, a did not finish page, and a year in books review at the end.
You do not need all of that, and that is the point of choosing. If you want a fuller book review page on its own, there is a dedicated book review template with more room for a single title.
Reading journal ideas and book journal ideas
If you are staring at a blank reading notebook, the hardest part is deciding what each spread should be. Most book journaling ideas come down to a handful of reading journal spreads that keep earning their place:
A year in books opening spread, with the number you are aiming for and the genres you want more of, so the journal starts with an intention rather than a blank page. A bookshelf spread, where each finished book gets a spine you color in and write the title along. This is the one people photograph, and it is the single best argument for keeping a book diary at all, because progress you can see is progress you keep making.
A monthly wrap-up with the best thing you read, the biggest disappointment, and the line of the month. A quotes page kept loose rather than tied to particular books. A did not finish page, which sounds negative and is in fact liberating, because writing down why you put something down stops you feeling you have to pick it up again.
For a bookish bullet journal, these reading journal pages and book journal pages all work drawn by hand in a plain notebook for reading on dot grid paper. If you would rather not draw them, the free printable reading journal set below is done in that style already, and the same printable reading journal works digitally, and there are more layouts in the bullet journal printables and the bullet journal tracker templates.
Book journals for readers who read a lot
A reading journal for book lovers who get through a lot of books is not the prettiest one, they are the ones asking questions worth answering for the kind of books you read. A generic notes box is where a book journal page goes to die.
That is why the maker asks what you mostly read before it builds anything. A mystery reader gets suspects, clues you spotted, your prediction and whether you were right. A romance reader gets tropes, the moment it clicked, and whether the ending earned it. Someone reading nonfiction gets the main argument, ideas worth keeping, and what they are not convinced by. A business or personal growth reader gets one thing to do differently, a first step, and a space to record what actually happened when they tried it.
You also choose how much you want to write. A quick entry fits two books to a page. A standard entry takes a page. A deep dive runs to two pages with room for lines worth keeping and who you would hand the book to.
Book club journal
A book club journal is a reading journal with one extra job: remembering what other people thought, not just you. Keep the normal review page and add a few lines before the meeting for what you want to raise, and a few after for the thing somebody said that changed your mind.
The pages that earn their keep here are the quotes page, because you will want to point at the passage rather than paraphrase it, and the did not finish page, because book clubs generate more abandoned books than any other kind of reading. Journaling books you did not choose yourself is often more interesting than journaling the ones you did.
Digital reading journal PDF
Everything on this page works as a digital reading journal as well as a printed one. The file you download is a PDF, so you can open it in a note-taking app and write on the pages with a stylus instead of printing anything. A free digital reading journal costs you nothing but the app you already have, and it weighs nothing in a bag.
Which app to use
On an iPad, GoodNotes and Notability are the two most people settle on, and both let you import a PDF and write straight onto it. On Android, Xodo and Samsung Notes do the same job. On a computer, any PDF reader with annotation support will work, though writing with a mouse is joyless and typing into the pages is the better option there.
How to set it up
Download the PDF, then import it into your app rather than just opening it, so it lives in your library and saves as you go. In GoodNotes that is Import from the plus menu; in Notability it is Import into a subject you have made. Give it a name you will recognize a year from now, something like Reading Journal and the year.
The one thing worth doing on day one is duplicating the book review page. Most apps let you copy a page and insert it wherever you like, which means a digital book journal never runs out of review pages the way a printed one does. Duplicate a handful up front and you will not have to think about it again.
Digital or paper?
Paper is the better place to sit and think, and a tablet is the better place to keep everything in one file that never gets lost. I keep the reviews on paper because I write more honestly by hand, and the trackers digitally because I update those in odd moments. There is no right answer, and nothing stops you doing both from the same PDF.
If you print instead, put the pages in a binder or a planner with removable pages so you can add more review pages as you go. A binder cover finishes it off.
How to start a reading journal
Start with the book you are reading now rather than trying to reconstruct your history. Backfilling a year of reading is the surest way to give up in week one, and the entries are worse anyway because you are remembering rather than reacting.
Write the entry when you finish the book, not later that week. Keep the first few entries short enough that finishing one feels easy. And let the journal be untidy. It is not a performance, and a page with a scribbled line you loved is worth more than an immaculate spread with nothing personal on it.
If you are keeping one with a child, a reading log is the better starting point, and there is a version built for kids by age and grade.
FAQ
What is a reading journal?
A reading journal is a place to record what you read and what you thought of it. Most hold a page per book with the title, author, dates and a rating, plus room to write about the story, the characters and any lines worth keeping. Many also include a running list of books finished and books you want to read next.
What is the difference between a reading journal and a book journal?
There is no real difference. They are two names for the same thing, and both are used to mean a notebook where you write about the books you read. Book journal tends to suggest a page per book; reading journal tends to suggest something more continuous with monthly spreads alongside the reviews. Everything on this page works either way.
What should I put in a reading journal?
At minimum, a book review page with the title, author, dates and a rating, plus a few lines on what you thought. After that, add only what you will use. A to be read list, a log of what you have finished, and something visual like a bookshelf you color in cover most people. Add quotes, series, monthly wrap-ups or a year in books review if you want them.
How do I start a reading journal?
Start with the book you are reading right now rather than trying to write up everything you have read before. Write the entry as soon as you finish, keep the early entries short, and let it be messy. The habit matters more than the presentation, and a journal that looks perfect but stops in March is worth less than an untidy one you are still keeping in December.
Is this reading journal free?
Yes. You can build your own with the maker and download it as a PDF, or download the ready-made printable set, and both are free with nothing to sign up for.
Can I use it as a digital reading journal?
Yes. Download the PDF and open it in a note-taking app such as GoodNotes, Notability, Xodo or Samsung Notes, then write on the pages with a stylus or type into them. You can duplicate a book review page each time you finish a book so you never run out.
Is there a free digital reading journal PDF?
Yes. Both the maker and the ready-made set download as a PDF, and a PDF works digitally as well as on paper. Open it in GoodNotes, Notability, Xodo or Samsung Notes and write on the pages with a stylus, or type into them. There is nothing to buy and nothing to sign up for.
Can I use the reading journal template in GoodNotes?
Yes. Download the PDF, then use Import in GoodNotes rather than just opening the file, so it saves into your library as you write. Once it is imported you can duplicate the book review page every time you finish a book, so you never run out of pages.
What size paper does it print on?
You can build the journal on US Letter, A4 or A5. A5 suits a smaller binder or planner, and it is the size most people use if they want something they can carry.
How many book review pages should I print?
However many books you expect to read before you next print. Ten is a sensible start for most people, and you can always print more of the same page rather than reprinting the whole journal. If you read a lot, printing the review pages separately from the yearly pages saves paper.
Do I need a special notebook?
No. Print the pages and put them in a binder or a planner with removable pages, or keep the whole thing digitally. If you prefer to draw your own spreads by hand, dot grid paper is the usual choice for a bookish bullet journal.
What is the difference between a reading journal and a reading log?
A reading log records that reading happened, usually with a date, a title and either minutes or pages, and it takes seconds to fill in. A reading journal is where you write about the book. Many people keep both, which is why the printable set on this page includes reading log pages alongside the review pages.
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