Is it too early to start planning and setting reading goals for 2025? Probably, but it’s already the fourth day of December. I feel that the month may fly by before I’ve had time to blink.

Last year was the first year I set a reading goal. I began with a goal of fifty-two books—a book a week. As of yesterday, I have read 113 books. And I wrote in my book journal about every one. I really enjoyed the process. When I set up my book journal at the beginning of the year, I had all sorts of stuff in it and found that some of the things just weren’t relevant to me. I included five or six reading challenges, none of which I really followed. However, keeping statistics (books completed and genres, etc.) was revealing. I knew I tended to read a LOT of novels set in the Regency period, most of which involved either romance or mystery (or both). I found that I favored certain authors in the Regency genre. Keeping the statistics did help me broaden my reading.

I have purchased some printable reading and book journals and two bound journals. None of these completely suit me. One of the problems with the printables is the size. I do not want a letter-size journal. I use the classic Happy Planner for my daily planner/calendar, and I wanted that 7 by 9.25 inch size for my reading journal. I could resize the page in the printing app, but sometimes that meant the writing on the page was too small, or the space for writing responses was not optimal. And of course, there were things on the page that I didn’t care about tracking. A bound journal does not allow for additional pages or rearranging them if desired. So, I pulled out my dot grid refill paper, black felt-tip pen, and ruler and began designing. My pages are pretty plain right now, and I may embellish them later.

First, I made a list of what I wanted in the journal:

• 2025 Reading Goals
• Books I’ve Read
• Books I Want to Read
• Monthly Statistics
• Favorite Books of the Month
• Favorite Book of the Year
• Book Club Picks
• Book Notes/Reviews
• Reading Challenges
• A Year-end Reflection

My reading goals for 2025 are

1. Read at least 100 books
2. Read or reread at one classic a month
3. Read or listen to at least six nonfiction books this year
4. Complete at least one book challenge

Next, I created the Books I’ve Read pages. It’s a simple table with four columns

• Title and author
• Genre
• Format (book, e-book, audiobook)
• Finished

This gives me an “at-a-glance” option to see the books I’ve read as well as a way to count them in a hurry. Another at-a-glance table lists the books I want to read with two columns for the title and author and a check box for whether I’ve read it or not.

After making individual pages for each month this year, I combined my statistics page into one chart:

It took some “doing” to get it like I wanted it. There is a rather liberal use of the Wite-out correction tape on this page.

I plan to make a kind of collage of my favorite books for each month. I love the StoryGraph app for creating collages of books read during the month. I can cut out the images I want to use and adhere them to my page.

Finally, I have a page designed for book notes:

I will add pages for reading challenges, should I decide to participate, and a final page for reflection. I am waiting on a composition notebook style cover. I also plan to make dividers for each section, just so I can find my place easier. I imagine I will also embellish some of the pages and add some creative pages as I go.

So–here’s to looking forward to another year of reading!