Do you keep a reading journal? I do, although to be honest it’s more a glorified list of “have reads” with ratings from “boring” to “excellent” and everything in between. My small reading journal is rather beat-up now, after over 25 years’ use, with a loose spine, loose pages and it needs a rather unglamourous elastic to keep everything safely together. But I love it as it contains memories of many library visits and book purchased locally and further afield on vacation.

The beauty of journals of all sorts are they can be just what you want them to be. They can be elaborate and full of lengthy entries and creative accents and content, or just a simple way to keep track of the books you have borrowed from the library or purchased for your private library, things of note in your day-to-day life etc.

If you’re not a pen-to-paper person (and many are not anymore), there are various digital options. The most popular for bookish folks would be GoodReads.com which is an excellent way to track and share your reading. Earlier this year WPL blogger Laurie P., who is very active on GoodReads, shared her thoughts and tips on how to get started. Click here to read Laurie’s helpful post.

To track your library book borrowing, you can activate your Reading History under “My Account“. Once you have logged in and set-up “Reading History”, the books you borrow at WPL from that day onward will be saved to a list in “My Account” for your future reference. If you need assistance in setting up your Reading History on your WPL account, our staff will be happy to help.

If you’re looking to peruse more about reading journals, Jeffrey Davies at BookRiot.com admits “I am notoriously bad at agendas and journaling”. He shares “Why I Started Keeping a Reading Journal” on BookRiot.com Happy reading and journaling!

— Sandi H.