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Showing posts with label reading journal. Show all posts
Showing posts with label reading journal. Show all posts

10 January 2021

Faith Journal Page


 Hello and welcome to 2021!!!

So many people keep journals, myself included,  and every year I look for a journal that gives me what I want.  In 2020, I kept adding to the existing one that I was using and decided for 2021 I was going to make some of my own pages.  I worked on a faith page because I wanted a place to reflect on good things, which is what I try to use my journal to accomplish anyway.  


My journal is a combination of art, books, events, prayers, faith, gratitude, and BT.  I try to write down a BT for every single day.  What is a BT?  It is the BEST THING that happened that day.  Try doing that, it completely changes your outlook on how your day went.  I don't think I said "I had a bad day" one day in 2020 since I started.  


I am going to share with you the page that I made today.  Use it if you like, change it up, do your own thing, and may you have the greatest year ever!!!


Download a copy here.



25 December 2020

How is your reading challenge going?

Hello to you fellow readers!


 Here we are approaching the onset of winter. I am ok with winter as long as I have enough clothes to keep warm.  I love snow if it snows like it means it and not spit snow. I hate nothing more than snow that just messes up things and then leaves and you get nothing out of it (snowcream, snowman, or photos). 

Winter is the perfect weather to just grab a book, curl up in your favorite chair with your favorite cat, and spend the day in another world.  

 

I only did one reading challenge this year and it was the one I created.   I am not sure exactly why because usually I have three or four going at once.  Covid has changed so much this year and I guess this is just another thing that I let slip by during the quarantine, healthy at home, and all the jazz.  


My reading goal was 100 books read and as of today, December 21, 2020, I have read 124, so there is one goal complete!!! In the next week, I will compile my reading stats and share those with you, but for today you get my complete reading challenge.




Have you made new reading habits or completed a challenge in 2020?  Share here or on my Facebook page, Read with Michelle in 2020.   





 

 

17 December 2020

Book Journal System---Michelle Style

 I have kept a paper book journal since 1996 (and a digital one for stat purposes since 2011), and I have edited it a lot over the last 25 years.  At the bottom of this post, you will find the actual log that I have used for about five years.    I finally think I have found a formula that works perfectly for me, so much so that I had a rubber stamp printed with exactly this text on it so that I could stamp it in a Moleskin journal (they are my favorite journal books).  While I did not create the original layout, I have had added to it, changed it, and made it my own.  I am sharing it with you today in case you want to use this version or get inspired to create your dream reading log too.  Maybe you just want to keep a Moleskin (I am telling you they are the BEST) with just the title and the dates read. My 1996 journal looks exactly like that, a title and a date, nothing else.  That little pet postage stamp journal has been tortured over the last 25 years as I perfected what I wanted to retain in a reading journal.  


I would love to know how you keep a log of your reading life. Please don't hesitate to reach out and let me know.  


My reading journal page can be found here.  Below you will have a snippet of what you will find on the download (there are three entries on a page with the download).  



14 December 2020

2021 Read with Michelle Book Challenge

 Good day to you all.  I hope this finds all of you doing great and planning out those 2021 reads.


Every year I do multiple challenges and create my own too, but for the first time ever I am sharing my challenge with you.  There is only one rule....... you do what you want to do.  While I do hope you like some of the categories I have chosen, my goal is to help you be the reader you want to be. If you don't like a category, feel free to change it.  If you fill there are too many, mark out six of them.  If you want one book for each category, on one book to cover multiple categories, all of that is fine. You are in charge of your reading challenge.  I am hoping my challenge ignites that spark in you, and I would love your feedback too!!


You can download the form here.  




Missed the 2020 challenge?  Click here to download.  


27 November 2020

Happy Thanksgiving

 Thank you for reading with me in 2020.  It has been a long year in some aspects, but short in others.  My reading life has been pretty much on par with what it usually is, numbers wise. I am hoping when I do the break-down of all next month that I have expanded on some categories and jumped out of my usual WWII genre a little more often.  

Every year I prepare a spread sheet of my books read with all kinds of stats (I will share that with you next month), but for this year I decided to do a little journal page for my regular journal.  I thought I could insert this like I would a card or something.  When I was making it I thought I would share it with the folks that read with me this year.  It is a Book Nerd End of Year Stats sheet.  Find it here, but below you will see a sneak peak of my stats sheet.  Enjoy and thanks for reading with me.


01 May 2020

Book tracker bookshelf

Happy Friday!!!

I found something on the internet that might make you happy.  I have drawn one of my own before, but there is no way it can top the beauty of this one.  I have looked and looked for this girl's website because she had some great stuff, but I cannot find it.  I did find her Facebook (Her page is Three.Six.Five Projects) page and it hasn't been updated for some time so she may no longer be making cool things, but I wanted to show her some virtual love because this tracker is fabulous!!!

I would love to hear if you have found any book tracker charts online that you love, please share. 

24 April 2020

A book journal and other musings

Good Morning from Kentucky!

We are working hard on staying healthy at home but with all the cheesecake and cookie-baking, along with all the pots of macaroni and cheese, we are running out of butter.  It is not a desperate situation yet, but we are getting close.  What is getting to a desperate level is the lack of cleaning wipes.  I don't use them to clean the house, but I do use them to clean my Cricut mats, have you ever tried that?  They are great for cleaning off little bits of paper and reviving the stickiness of the mat.  If you have a better method, I am all ears because I cannot buy these wipes anywhere.

I wanted to talk to you today about reading not so much about cleaning wipes.  I have been keeping a reading journal since 1996.  This was necessary for me because I read so many books I could not remember what each book was about, not even to mention the title or author's name.  At first, I just recorded the name of the book and the author's name along with the dates read.  I started adding a smiley face if I enjoyed the read and did not record any abandoned books.  This was the source of my recordings for about 15 years.  As a matter of fact, most of it was recorded in a single journal book that I started in 1996.  I have done a post with it before, but it is worth a revisit, here is that very first reading journal. (My handwriting is atrocious)




Once I got an e-reader my reading doubled from what it had been and I needed a better system. I started a graph for my book part and an excel spreadsheet too.




The spreadsheet calculates how many books I have read for that year, how many of all time, how many of that year were paper, ebook or audio, and how many of all time were paper, ebook, and audio.  I love the stats part.  This system does not give me a clue as to what the book was about, it is purely for that stats thing I love.


My paper journal evolved around that time as well, I started keeping more details and looking online for a good system.  I discovered Modern Mrs. Darcy's blog.  She had a free journal that she gave you, I took it and redid it for the things that I wished to retain.  I made this one in pages and printed it on cardstock, then bound it in a book that I wished to retain forever.  I used it for a few years but decided I really wanted to have it in a journal type book with a leather cover. I took apart a leather bound book amd inserted my own pages, but it still wasn't what I wanted.

 I looked into having a moleskin book printed with my journal blocks, but that was too expensive.  I mentioned it to my friend Amy that I needed a system and she said: "make a stamp".  PERFECT!! That is just what I did. I got the stamp on Amazon for $15....worth every dime.  Here is what that looks like, both the stamp and how it looks stamped on my page.



I am currently using a leather-bound owl book with deckle pages and it is working out great for me.

If only I could stamp straight.   Nope, I shall always do things a little off kilter.


16 September 2018

I have no time to read

I have no time to read, ugg, I used to say this and I hated it.  There has to be a way to better manage my time. I started doing many things in my life to "get things done" and while I am always busy, I feel I maximize the time to the best of my ability (for now at least--it is ever changing).

Before I tell you how I cram time in for reading you need to know that I have a strict schedule I follow for household chores and unless there is emergency cleaning to do, it helps carve out more reading time.  I have covered my weekly cleaning schedule here if you are interested.

I do the same thing every single day because I am one of those people that do better with a routine.  My daily schedule allows more reading time because my goal is 100 pages a day and I achieve it almost every day.

Mornings: I get up and brush my teeth and drink water and do at least 2 miles.  After I am done with that I settle down with my breakfast, coffee, and a book. I often have Law & Order or Dateline on in the background. I read for almost an hour then spend 20 minutes getting ready for work.  This is DEDICATED reading time and whether I go to work or not that day, I eat breakfast and read...7 days a week, 365 days a year.

Evenings: I read every night before I fall asleep.  There have been evenings when I only get about 10 pages completed and others where I stay up way too late, but I read.


I mainly read on my Kindle Voyage so it goes wherever I go. I can sneak in reading at the spur of the moment, such as:
1. While stuck in traffic on the interstate
2. While soaking in a bath or hot tub
3. While cooking dinner
4. While walking my miles indoors
5. While waiting on hold on the phone
6. When I eat lunch alone at work
7. When I eat supper/dinner alone at home
8. Anytime I am waiting on something or someone
9. I can also read while ironing, drying my hair, waiting for the concert or ballgame to start,  watching tv, folding laundry and brushing my teeth.


Tips to help you maximize reading time:
1. Start with a goal you want to achieve, say reading for 10 minutes a day or 20 pages a day.  Maybe choose a short book to give you a great sense of satisfaction that you completed the book in a week!

2. If you don't like the book don't be afraid to say, "you are not worth my time" and put it away.  My rule is if the book doesn't grab me in about 50 pages, I am done.

3. Maybe keep a list of the books you finish.  I find I get a great sense of satisfaction to see that list grow, and if you like to complete goals then this may work to give you more time to read.

4.  Along the goal lines, maybe join a reading challenge. I do lists to explore other genres of books because I am mainly going to read historical fiction, history or biographies if I don't do a list challenge.  PopSugar is my favorite of all time and I do it every year.

You can find me on Goodreads at www.goodreads.com/michellechampion

06 August 2018

Reading Journal/Book log

One day I purchased a very expensive writing journal at the West Little Rock post office and felt guilty for buying it, we didn't have the money and I didn't keep a journal.  Why would have have given in to such an impulse buy? I was reading a lot and never could remember, what book did I read that time and loved?  Have I read that author?  Didn't I read that book already?  So I turned this impulse buy into one of the greatest ideas I have ever had....a book journal.  My journal is in a box in the garage, so I can't feature it because it is 4am as I type this and I can't go out there :) Here is a photo from the internet.  The book was padded (squishy) and was easy to wipe off and featured lined pages.

I used that high priced kitty journal until every page was full.  I then tried new, dedicated book journals and was not happy.  I did many an internet search trying to find something that would be exactly what I wanted:

1. Title
2. Author
3.  Dates read
4.  Ranking
5.  A few notes on the book

I bought a few on Amazon and they had some components but not all, or were small or would not hold at least 100 books (I wanted each one to last one year).



Finally I found the Modern Mrs. Darcy page and it changed everything.    She will give you her book journal pages for free if you join her website.  I have loved the website.  She gives you book recommendations, time management, book challenges, a wonderful little store and is even an author herself.

I did have to tweak her book journal a bit, to suit the things that I had been tracking since 1996 and the things I wanted to add.  I am just going to include a picture since I did not create the original template,  I just perfected it for me.  I have 3 books per page and I copy on back and front.




In 2011, I started keeping a digital record too because I LOVE the reading stats!  I am trying to see how many books I read before turning 50 so there is a column for running total, for my self imposed challenges, the number of days it takes to read a book, did I like it and what material the book was (ebook, paper, or audio).  At the end of the year I total up the number read, challenges, rank the favorite books, average out the number of days it takes to read a book and total of ebooks/audio and paper.




The last thing that I use is a To Be Read shelf graphic that I made for fun.  I list all the books I want to read and color in the books as I finish.  There are other elements on the page you can color too.  Here is a link to my drawing and a little snapshot of what it looks like.  I like Presidents so there are a few Presidents hanging out on my shelf, along with a Carnival Cruise line whale fluke.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B5dRrA2icRjQQk9xMWJha1FFbGM/view?usp=sharing

Happy day to you and read fast!

Review: The Wildest Sun