How to keep a book journal

I should probably change the title of this, I was going to, but I thought, "no, this is how I got to my journal, so it is my story."  As in life, my story may not work for you and that is fine.  Whatever system (that is if you even want a system) you choose is what is best for you.  I just want to give you advice....you don't have to stick with the system you choose.  I started my book journal in 1996, and it has evolved drastically.  As a matter of a fact, I am about to have a new stamp made because I have decided to change it up one more time.  

In 1995, I bought a book at the US Post Office store in Little Rock, Arkansas.  I paid way too much for the book, especially since I didn't journal, but it was adorable and I wanted to do something with this adorable book.  I needed to do something special because I am telling you, it was not a cheap book. 

I used this book for a few years until I decided to keep more stats and then I added more information.  I found a book stat chart on the internet and made a similar one in Excel.  I realized quickly that you can do lots with Excel and I started a journal there, I still kept up my paper one, but this one had numbers. I don't even like numbers, but I loved this part.

My Excel sheet

After adding formulas to count my books for me and a few other columns of stats, I edited my paper journal chart once more and decided that I couldn't print off my Excel journal anymore. I wanted a journal similar to where I started, a journal in an already bound book.  This is when I developed my stamp.   I ordered it from rubberstamps.net (they have made a lot of custom stamps for me, they are quick and very good).  

Here is that first book, a very expensive (like $25) pet stamp journal book

The insides of the pet stamp journal

The pet stamp journal book took me to 2013 to fill because I wasn't keeping much information on my books at that time.

These are inserts I clipped to other journal books of the first chart that was created in Excel

2014-2021 stamp

This last one is the new stamp that I just created.  I was hoping for a simple layout that tracked the DNF books and was in the order of Goodreads as far as the information.   The empty box next to Borrowed is where I will write the library or person's name that loaned me the book, I did add a heading because it was too cluttered. I was going to put "source", but I had little room to write.  

I would love to see what you fellow readers do to track your books, please share.  

Fellow book nerds END-OF-YEAR stats

 Hello to you fellow readers.  

I have created an end-of-year book stat sheet for you.  This features your top 10 books of the year and your final reading stats. 

 If you didn't keep up with your reading stats and want to in 2022, don't worry, I will be posting tips and tricks soon. I have been keeping a book journal since 1996 and I have changed it many times and finally, I have the perfect stats book for me.  More on that later....even if you aren't interested in stats, you might be interested in your top 10 books of 2021.  

Download a copy of the stat sheet here.