A reading journal is anywhere you write down what a book did to you: the lines you want to keep, what you thought of them, and how the reading went. The way to keep one going is to write small and often, a quote and a sentence while you read and a few lines when you finish. Below are twenty prompts to start from, and how Excerpta keeps the answers on a timeline for each book.
Guide
What to Write in a Reading Journal
Twenty prompts for before, during, and after a book, and a place to keep the answers right next to the lines that started them.
Middlemarch
George Eliot
What do we live for, if it is not to make life less difficult to each other?
The whole book in one line.
Very PleasantDorothea Brooke
Dorothea deserved better than Casaubon, and she knows it by chapter 20.
64 Pages
Keeping One in Excerpta
-
Keep the Line
Photograph the page and tap the paragraph, or type it in. It lands on the book with its page.
-
Say How It Felt
Pick how it left you feeling, then the exact feeling. Add a note and the character who said it too.
-
Look Back
Every book keeps its own timeline, and the Calendar and Stats show how the year went, mood included.
Twenty Prompts
Pick one or two, not all twenty. A journal you write a line in every few days beats one you mean to fill in properly later.
Before You Start
- Why this book, and why now?
- What do you expect it to be about, and what are you hoping it isn't?
- Where did you hear about it, and from whom?
- Where and when will you read it?
- What's the last book like it you loved, or didn't?
While You Read
- Which line made you stop? Copy it down.
- What did you think in the second after you read it?
- Which character would you most like to argue with?
- What's confusing you, and what do you think is going on?
- How did today's reading leave you feeling?
- Where are you reading, and does it suit the book?
- What would you ask the author right now?
- What have you guessed that you want to check later?
When You Finish
- In one sentence, what was it about?
- Which line will you still remember in a year?
- Did it change your mind about anything?
- Who would you give it to, and who would you warn off?
- How did your first guesses hold up?
- What will you read next because of it?
- How many stars, and why not one more?
Where Each Answer Goes
The Lines
Prompts 6 and 15. Scanned from the page, with the page number.
What You Thought
A note on the quote, or a note of its own on the book's timeline.
How It Felt
Five levels and thirty-eight feelings. They can go to Apple Health too.
Where You Read
Photos of where you were, gathered into Reading Nooks.
Stars and a Review
Half or quarter stars, and as long a review as you like.
Second Readings
A reread gets its own timeline, so you can see what changed.
Paper or Phone?
A paper journal is lovely, and plenty of readers wouldn't swap it. It's also slow to search, easy to leave at home, and it can't hold the exact line you were reading without copying it out by hand. Excerpta keeps the entries with the book they belong to, photographs the line for you, and exports everything as Markdown whenever you want it on paper, in Obsidian, or anywhere else.
Questions
What is a reading journal?
A place to write down what you read and what it did to you: quotes, thoughts, how it felt, and where you were.
Do I have to write a lot?
No. A line and a sentence is plenty. The point is to keep going, not to write essays.
Can I keep one for library books?
Yes. You photograph the page, so nothing is written in the book.
Is it private?
Yes. There's no account: your journal lives on your phone and in your own iCloud.
Can I get it out again?
Any time. Export writes one Markdown file per book, and export is always free.
Where can I get Excerpta?
On the App Store, for iPhone and iPad.
More guides.
Your next favorite quote is waiting to be remembered.
For iPhone and iPad.
Download on the App Store