The question that every reader faces: Should I track or not track my reading? The next questions might be: Why is tracking important? How do I track my reading?
It’s January! A perfect time to start tracking for the reading year!
Why Should I Track My Reading?
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It’s my strong opinion that tracking your reading leads to a more satisfactory reading life.
Tracking informs your reading. It can help you discover the genres, themes, settings, formats, and structures you enjoy and inform future reading choices. For example, I always track my nonfiction total because I have set a percentage target I’d like to achieve eventually.
In a practical sense, tracking helps me find certain books. For instance, if I want to recommend an “uplit” book, I can look back at my spreadsheet or my Goodreads shelf if I’ve set up tracking for that information.
Your tracking can be simple or elaborate.
Of course, the myriad possibilities for tracking can be overwhelming, so you need to carefully consider what’s important for you. What I track this year might change next year. For example, whenever I write a post about settings (books set in New York City, books set in Paris, books set in libraries, etc.), I can easily retrieve titles if I’ve tracked for it.
Tracking Methods
- Apps such as Goodreads or StoryGraph
- A Google or Excel spreadsheet
- A specific reading journal (like this one) or create your own using a standard spiral notebook or a Leuchtturm bullet journal)
- Take a picture of each cover (or a screenshot if reading digitally) and keep an album of book covers for the year in your photo app
- Create a #hashtag for your personal use on Instagram
- Organize/store the books you buy and read in a year on a certain shelf or in a certain section of your library. You can also use a three-tier rolling cart like this one.
What is your favorite method of tracking books?
I use Goodreads, StoryGraph, and an Excel Spreadsheet. I keep a list of books I read during the month (with star rating) and I also take notes on the books I read in a small 4×6 spiral (to aide me in writing reviews). At the end of the month when I write my blog wrap up post, I enter data into Goodreads, Storygraph, and my Excel spreadsheet. I have learned to reconcile the numbers monthly or otherwise it’s too difficult to track discrepancies over several months.
If I were not blogging, I would simply use Goodreads. Did you know that you can make as many shelves as you like on Goodreads? You can also make “exclusive” shelves that do not affect your other shelves. For example, I have an exclusive one for DNFs so that I can track them but they do not count towards my total books read. If you have questions on how to use Goodreads (or StoryGraph) I’m happy to answer them in comments.
What Data to Track?
The good news is that you can track whatever interests you to create a meaningful and satisfying reading life. Here is a list of possible data that someone might want to track. The sky’s the limit as far as tracking. Track as little or as much as you like. In this post, I share about tracking my own reading in 2023.
- Total number of books read (Goodreads or Storygraph will keep this total and list for you if you set up a Reading Challenge Goal)
- Genres (Storygraph will track this for you)
- Subgenres, micro genres, or categories (for example, if you read Historical Fiction, you might want to track how many of those are WWII; or you might want to track the books you read with a “found family” theme; you might track how many middle grade books you read, how many travel or cookbooks you read, book club reads, etc.) If you are on Goodreads, you can check the shelves of other readers for ideas.
- Women authors, “own voices” authors, debut authors, etc.
- Settings, locations, countries
- Recommendation source (How did you hear about this book?)
- Publisher, imprint (did you know that publishers and imprints have reading personalities? You might be surprised to learn that most of your favorite books are from a certain publisher or imprint.)
- Star rating
- Book source (library, friend, purchase, gift, etc.
- DNF “Did Not Finish”: how many books did you set aside and not finish?)
- Format (audio, print, digital, graphic)
If you track your reading, what do you track?
Overwhelming? Helpful?
You don’t need to track at all! Some readers feel that tracking is cumbersome and adds a layer of pressure to a hobby that is intended to be relaxing, fun, and escapist. Other readers are mood readers and want to read what strikes them in the moment and not to meet a target.
If you do track or what to start tracking, I hope this information has been helpful
QOTD:
Let’s discuss! Tell me about your tracking or about not tracking!
Happy Reading Book Buddies!
“Ah, how good it is to be among people who are reading.”
~Rainer Maria Rilke
“I love the world of words, where life and literature connect.”
~Denise J Hughes
“Reading good books ruins you for enjoying bad ones.”
~Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
“I read because books are a form of transportation, of teaching, and of connection! Books take us to places we’ve never been, they teach us about our world, and they help us to understand human experience.”
~Madeleine Riley, Top Shelf Text
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Hi, Carol! In answer to your question, I don’t track. I tried logging in the back of my planner last year and I ended up stopping for two reasons. 1. It was becoming a little bit of a hassle for me, especially because I often read little MG books. 2. My mindset for tracking isn’t what I want it to be. When tracking, I feel more of a pressure to read/finish books, and I want reading to be something I do for pleasure. Also, it can be easy to compare my numbers with others, which is not good for me to do. I use GoodReads to review and it does track a bit of my reading, but I don’t log every book I read.
Thanks for sharing Stephanie! I hadn’t considered that tracking might be pressure inducing! Perhaps I need to edit my post to include this perspective! 🙌
I do think it’s very cool that people have such detailed stats though 🙂
I don’t really track, aside from Goodreads telling me my total books read (and I set my yearly goal low so I don’t feel pressure over it). I’m a big mood reader, so I don’t really want to pick up a book just because I feel pressure to meet a goal. Though internally I might know that I want to do something like read more classics or do more rereads, I don’t set a number or a timeline. Even when I wanted to read all the original Nancy Drew books, I just did it at my own pace, when I felt like it. It probably took me over year. I don’t even know!
Your approach sounds well balanced! Thanks for sharing! 🙌
I use Goodreads, a spreadsheet and a journal to track my reading. I love having the spreadsheet to include the information that I want to record such as setting, genre, series, where I got the book from, format, etc. But I found that I also wanted to have a basic list in my journal. I also record notes for books in my journal. I enjoy being able to look at all the books I have read in a year.
Thanks for sharing Gretchen! I’m happy you’ve found a system that works for you! 📚🙌
Tracking pages is too frustrating because every format and edition have so many different page count, Amazon can’t even agree with itself, GoodReads will be 200 pages off in left field 🤣 I track anything except pages
I’ve never tracked pages…I’m glad to know it’s a real problem! 😱Thanks for sharing Athena!
I use Goodreads to log what books I read and I also keep a list of what I read each month in my journal. I don’t really track my reading though as I don’t ever really look at the statistics. I do like reading other people’s tracking posts though.
Thanks for sharing Janette! I’m happy to hear you’ve found something that works for you.
I use GoodReads and have recently started using Storygraph. I love the graphics in Storygraph!
I started SG just to check it out and now I can’t give up the graphics! I’m using both as well.
I use StoryGraph and Goodreads. I think if I wasn’t blogging I’d ditch Goodreads altogether as it just seems to be getting worse and worse.
Because I read so many arcs, GR is easier because on SG I often have to input the book manually. But I love the 1/2 star feature on SG and the graphs 🤷
I’d be in big trouble if I didn’t track my reading. The biggest reason being I read so much I won’t always remember if I’ve read a book, especially if it was years ago. When I discovered Goodreads almost 14 years ago, it clarified those books that are part of a series, keeping me from reading out of order. Lastly, I review every book I read, which preceded my blogging. I love being able to share with friends and family the salient points that they might find helpful, even for myself!
Thanks for sharing Jonetta! You’re proof that tracking is personal just as reading is. One size doesn’t fit all! It’s all part of a carefully curated reading life!
I guess I generally *kind of* “track” my reading using Goodreads, in that I input the books I’ve read, but I’m certainly not super meticulous and punctual about it. I’ve tried using a spreadsheet every now and again (mostly because “oooh graphs in pretty colors!” hahaha), but I can’t seem to stick to it. Put it down to me being a Sagittarius who rebels against routine and tedium or put it down to me having ADHD and the associated anxiety (a much more likely cause, lol), but tracking reading is a task I don’t really enjoy. I think, in part, it’s because, despite being a book blogger, reading is something I still do that is solely *for me.* Tracking it makes me feel like I’m trying to “prove” something to the world or to myself (doesn’t matter which or even if it’s both) and that kinda sucks the joy outta it for me, I guess.
Thanks so much for sharing! I had a career in teaching and tracking data is a part of the job so I guess I fell into tracking naturally! I totally understand your feeling that tracking leads to proving something and can be stressful! It’s important to keep the joy in reading alive and well! It sounds like you’ve found what works for you and that’s what’s important! 📚
I keep a running list in a simple Word document by month of the books I read. If I didn’t, I would, no doubt, check out the same book a second time because I wouldn’t be able to remember I’d read it before — unless it is a book that really makes an impression. It’s absolutely necessary for me to keep a list so I can blog about the books I read at a later date. I’m not as diligent as you, Carol, for I don’t rate the books I read. I’m trying to do better about leaving reviews on Amazon, Goodreads, and the public library website because I know how important that is for authors.
Thanks for sharing Janet! It’s important to find what works for you! 📚
I started tracking just out of curiosity (also to keep me from unintentionally re-reading books with similar titles). And then I got into blogging and became a necessity or I’d never been able to keep my sanity.
I hate Goodreads’ help section, and can’t find the answer easily. How do you do that “exclusive” list thing? I’d like to cut my DNF’s off from the rest like you said.
To do the exclusive shelf on Goodreads, you need to be on the website version, NOT the app. Select My Books. Add a shelf for DNF. Then when it’s added click on edit at the top of that list (in parentheses right next to the Bookshelves heading)….your shelves will come up along with various columns to check….exclusive is one of those columns. Once your dnf is checked, that shelf will not count toward your total just like Want To Read
…I can send screenshots if that will be helpful.
The “edit” link. Too obvious 🙂 Thanks!!
My pleasure! Let me know if you need screenshots!
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Thanks for including my link!
Hm, I hadn’t thought of adding setting as a tag within my Goodreads library. I’m not very diligent about using the tags I do have in truth.
I don’t think I’ll add a shelf for it in Goodreads…just a column in my spreadsheet. I’ll track for this year to see if I like it.
[…] Carol @ Reading Ladies asks if you track your reading. […]
Thanks for the shoutout! 😍