A new year means new reading goals! And good news: New Berlin Public library is ready to assist you with setting and meeting your reading goals this year! (Obviously, we’ve got all the books; but have you checked out the reading challenges we have going on right now? We’ve got some for kids and for adults!) Whether you read 2 books or 50 books this calendar year, it is a good idea to have some way to keep track of what books you are working through.
Book tracking is a method or tool used to help readers keep track of what they’ve read or what they want to read in the future. It can help keep a reading list organized, provide insight into reading habits, and even motivate you to meet reading goals. Book tracking and journaling has gained popularity in recent years, and so have the vast number of ways to track reading progress and aspirations. New book tracking methods can be as simple or as involved as you want and need them to be, and can be digital or with physical pen and paper.
In this post, we will touch on the many benefits to tracking reading, some widely used methods, and a variety of ways you can get started tracking your reading in 2025.
Why you should track your reading
Boost your motivation
Even if you have a very simple reading goal for 2025, tracking your reading in a tangible way will help boost motivation to continue momentum. Seeing how far you’ve come, whether you track minutes, pages, or even just titles, will encourage you to keep moving towards the goal.
Enhance your comprehension and analytical skills
Tracking what you read provides deeper engagement with the materials you select. Even with the simplest of tracking methods, you will be able to reflect on reading patterns and habits, preferred genres, and progress in challenges. Giving yourself space and time to think about what you are reading will improve comprehension and retention. It can also help you reflect on what your preferences seem to be, or find areas you want to read more of.
Make better recommendations and TBR (To Be Read) lists
When I began tracking my reading, I was well into 2024, and reading so many books I found it difficult to remember which ones I liked or didn’t. I also found myself losing track of what books I had already read, and which books I wanted to recommend to others. Once I began tracking my reading (for me, that simply included a picture of the book cover, a star rating and the date), not only was I able to jog my memory enough to recommend books to others, I was also able to keep better track of my “To Be Read” List as well as make better use of my digital holds on library apps like Libby.
How to track your reading
There are many ways to track your reading and it can seem a little overwhelming. However, the good news is that there is sure to be a method that will be just right for you! Whether choosing a digital or hard-copy method, you might choose to track as much or as little information about the book as you want. Some examples of information tracked can include; title, author, publication date, length, genre, the time you began reading it, and the time you finished reading it. Whatever information you decide to track, considering why you want the information or how you will use it later is useful in deciding what to track and what to ignore.
Tracking methods
· Digital Apps: Users can download the app, create an account, and start tracking reading progress immediately! Examples of some include:
- Goodreads: a social media platform (and a subsidiary of Amazon) that allows users to track reading progress, connect with other readers, and discover new books. Users can also create virtual bookshelves, set reading goals and get personalized book recommendations based on reading history.
- The Storygraph: A competitor to Goodreads, Storygraph is a website and app that helps users track their reading habits and find book recommendations. It provides statistics and automatically generates an annual-wrap up that includes statistics, graphs and a collage of book covers.
- Bookly: Another tracking app that helps users track reading progress and organize book lists and thoughts about the readings. It offers a free version and a PRO version, the latter of which includes unlimited tracking, customized insights and cloud storage for syncing digital libraries.
- Google Sheets or Excel: These can easily serve as your go-to book-tracking program if you don’t want or need any frills or fancy interfaces. Simply choose what information you want to record and add/sort as you wish.
· Physical Book Tracking:
- List: It may be old fashioned, but it’s tried and true! For those wanting a hard-copy way to track, nothing is as simple as keeping a log or list. In fact, you can check out our new Year-Long Adult Reading Challenge, and download and print a simple list to help get you motivated!
- Book Journaling: It is versatile because users can have the freedom to be as minimal or extravagant as they want! In addition to bibliographic information, book journaling can also include a scoring system, picture of the cover, and a TBR list.
There are so many reasons to track reading progress. Whether you want to discover your reading habits, list titles you’ve finished and or ones you did not, organize titles you wish to read, find motivation for reading goals and challenges, or detail what you thought about a book, tracking reading can help keep you on top of your reading goals in 2025.
Start today!
If you would like to get started with simple book journaling, be sure to register for the Book Journaling Workshop at the library on January 16! This program is open to all adults and will provide details about what book journaling is, how to get started, as well as provide basic supplies and journals for attendees.
Even if you can’t join us on January 16, be sure to check out our Year-Long Reading Challenge and set your reading goals for 2025 now!