I loved my experience with my 2023 reading response notebook so much, I had to do one again this year!

If you want to learn more about the inspiration behind my reading notebook and what my first version contained, check out this post.

My 2024 edition is a little bit different.

First, I did away with the response section of the notebook. I prefer to keep notes on my phone as I read and then turn those into a review here on the blog.

Recently I’ve also started digitally annotating my ebooks. As I highlight quotes, I note my reaction, thoughts, or questions that come up.

Both of these note taking systems are just easier for me to keep up with and more beneficial to my reading experience than the reading response was.

This year’s notebook will still focus on the functional element that I fell in love with last year. I think I’ll always be a function over fashion kinda girl.

My reading notebook helped me so much last year by being super efficient in its lists. And I’ve added quite a few new ones to this year’s edition to make it even better!

What’s in my 2024 reading notebook:

I’ve always kept notebooks with all sorts of book lists, recommendations, and reading life ideas. What was revolutionary for me last year was including a table of contents at the beginning.

I have no idea why I didn’t implement this sooner but adding that makes having a reading notebook so efficient. I can find things easily and stay organized. There aren’t just various notes all over the place on all different pages.

Having a table of contents also means I don’t have to have it all figured out at the start of the notebook. It can be added onto and grow with me as I experience my reading year and new ideas or lists to track come up.

Below is what I’m starting my 2024 reading year out with so far in my table of contents.

I can already see I got a little carried away with the preplanning. In the middle of last year I had 23 items in my table of contents. This year I’m starting with 38. Some of these pages may be reallocated to other uses – particularly the annotation related lists.

That’s ok. Progress over perfection friends!

My Table of Contents Breakdown:

1. 2024 Reading Life Goals
2. What Kind of Reader Am I? (a question to reflect on quarterly)
3. My Why as a Reader (a question to reflect on quarterly)
4. Monthly Wrap Ups
5. List of New Authors
6. List/Tally for Most Read Authors of the Year
7. Series in Progress (cross off as complete)
8. List of 5-star reads
9. List of 6-star reads
10. List of 4.5-star reads
11. List of 4-star reads
12. List of 3.5-star reads
13. List of 3-star reads
14. List of 2.5-star and under reads
15. Seasonal TBRs
16. Seasonal TBR Planning
17. Seasonal TBR Wrap Up Notes
18. Kindle Unlimited Reads (tracking my KU reading goal)
19. List of New Bookish Experiences
20. A Dose of Romance Book Club Picks
21. Nonfiction Reads for the Blog Monthly
22. List of Nonfiction Reads
23. 2024 Buddy reads
24. Series Readalong Book Clubs
25. List of Annotated Books (digital, physical, audio)
26. List to Consider Annotating
27. List of Annotation Supplies I Like and Those to Try
28. Notes and Ideas for an Annotating System
29. Book Suggestions for Others
30. Readathons – Icelands in January (tracking)
31. Readathons – The Romance Readathon in September
32. Library Card Info
33. Reading Life Questions List
34. Quarterly Reading Life Check Ins (1st and 3rd)
35. Mid Year Reading Life Check In
36. 2024 Reading Life Reflections
37. List of Romances Where Spice and Story Balance
38. Steam Level Tracking

How It Works

I usually update my notebook throughout the month, but I also have a goal to go through it at the end of each month to double check that all the lists are up to date. I’m making a small check off chart to track that.

This practice served me really well last year in not getting too behind. When that has happened in the past I tend to get overwhelmed and ultimately stop using the notebook.

I plan to incorporate a stats box on my monthly wrap up pages to track format, average rating, my favorite book of the month, new authors, and diverse authors. The hope is that will make those stats easier to add up at the end of the year.

I’m also debating tracking diverse which books were traditionally, indie, or self published, and where I got the book from (Libby, Hoopla, KU, CloudLibrary, already owned, bought, etc).

We’ll see how it goes. If I add too many things to track at once I can get overwhelmed and like I mentioned above, I stop using it – maybe I can work on that all or nothing thinking there too ?

What’s New and Why

I added several new lists to this year’s reading notebook.

This came about thanks to my end of 2023 reading year reflections. Basically I looked at the stats I enjoy knowing and sharing and tried to come up with ways to make it easier on myself to track in 2024.

So far I broke down my star ratings by list and added a tally page for most read authors.

Most of my lists are pretty self explanatory. I did leave room to encourage more reflection on my reading life in my notebook with the quarterly reflection pages and the seasonal TBR planning and wrap up sections.

I also want to check in with myself on a quarterly basis on the questions of “what kind of reader am I” and mostly importantly “my why as a reader”.

My hope is that practice will keep me on track with my goal of reading deeper this year. It will give me the opportunity to adjust my approach as the year goes on. I want my reading life on a path to best support my real life however that changes over this year.

Some new lists that may just be for fun are my new bookish experiences, the list for reading life questions, tracking steam level, and keeping a list of romance books that achieve the balance of plot and steam that I love so much.

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Do you keep a reading notebook? Is it full of lists or more of a journal? Let me know the items in your table of contents that you can’t live without!