How to Create a “Sustainable” Reading Log Using Notion

Keeping a reading log helps you reflect on what you’ve read and can lead to personal growth. In this article, I’ll walk beginners through an easy way to track your reading using Notion. The key point is: how do you create a template you can actually stick with? I hope you find these tips helpful.

Contents

Why I Decided to Start a Reading Log
What Is Notion, Anyway?
Why I Chose Notion for My Reading Log
Here’s How I Do It
Why Not Start Your Own Reading Log?

Why I Decided to Start a Reading Log

Let me start by sharing why I wanted to keep a reading log in the first place. There are three main reasons.

First, I noticed I’d been reading less lately. As a writer and editor, I felt I needed to read more to stay sharp.

Second, I wanted to improve my output skills. Years ago, a creator I respect once told me, “Whenever you experience a work, try to think about why you found it interesting.” That advice became a habit for me. But I realized that just thinking about it wasn’t enough—I needed to write things down to organize my thoughts more clearly.

And third, if I don’t write things down, I tend to forget them! I once read that “if you don’t put things into words, they’re hard to remember,” which really resonated with me—especially since I’ve been getting more forgetful lately…

So, about six months ago, I started keeping a reading log (or “reading notes”).

Not just book impressions—don’t you also find it hard to remember your experiences or the taste of food unless you put them into words? I’m not very good at just “remembering things as they are.”

What Is Notion, Anyway?

The tool I chose for my reading log is Notion. Notion has been around since 2016, so you might already know it. On the other hand, maybe you’ve heard the name but aren’t sure what it does. So, let me give you a quick overview.

In short, Notion is like a digital version of a personal organizer. You can create and combine different types of pages—notes, calendars, tables, and more—all in one place. You can use public templates or build your own from scratch, just like adding new refills to a paper planner.

Of course, you can use Notion as a simple notepad if you want. Notion has tons of features, which might seem overwhelming at first. But honestly, you don’t need to learn everything. Just use it in whatever way works best for you.

→ Official Notion Website

This is the Notion app for Mac. There’s a lot of info out there about Notion, but I think it helps to think of it as a handy digital organizer—at least at first.

Why I Chose Notion for My Reading Log

I spent some time deciding which tool to use for my reading log. As an Apple fan, I considered using the standard Notes app. But I wanted something that would let me organize things like author names and genres in a more structured way.

That’s how I ended up with Notion—it lets you customize forms and fields exactly how you want.

Notion is also available for Mac, Windows, iPhone, iPad—you name it. Being able to add or review my notes on any device is a huge plus.

Sure, you could also post your thoughts on social media or a blog. But when you’re writing for others, it can feel awkward to be critical or casual, and you might feel pressured to write in a certain way.

With Notion, there’s no need to worry about what others think. You can write as much or as little as you want. Sometimes I only write about 100 characters for a book, and that’s totally fine—it’s just for me. The fact that it’s so easy and low-pressure is probably why I’ve been able to stick with it. Also, I’d already been using Notion before, so I was happy with how it works.

Now that I’ve been logging my reading for six months, I’m convinced I made the right choice.

There’s a Notion app for iPhone and iPad. If you suddenly think, “What was the name of that book again?” while chatting with someone, you can look it up right away on your phone.

Here’s How I Do It

Let me walk you through exactly how I set up my reading log. I’ll explain things with Notion beginners in mind. I mostly use the Mac app, but the basic process is the same on Windows, iPhone, iPad, or even the web browser version.

When you open Notion, there might already be a “Reading List” template in the sidebar (the default items may vary by user). You can also search for templates in Notion, and you’ll find a few pre-made ones for reading logs. But I prefer to build my own from scratch.

Templates often have a lot of fields—ISBN, links, and so on. That can be fun to organize, but if there are too many things to fill out, it starts to feel like a chore. So, I decided to keep my log as simple as possible, with just the essentials.

You might think, “Starting from scratch sounds tough!”—but it’s really not. I’ll walk you through the steps with screenshots.

Since I use my Mac in Japanese, all the text in the screenshots is in Japanese. However, the position of menus and buttons should be almost the same in the English version, so I hope you’ll still find them helpful.

You’ll need to create an account to start using Notion. If you’re using it for personal purposes, just choose whatever signup method you like (Notion is also used by teams in businesses, but I won’t cover that here).

This is what the Notion screen looks like. Let’s start by creating a new reading log. Click the “New Page” icon in the top left.

A new page will open. Click the [⋯] button at the bottom of the screen, then select “Table” from the menu.

If you hover over this area of the table, a button labeled “Open in Side Peek” will appear. Click it.

A panel will slide in from the right. At the very top, enter the book’s title.

Let’s add more fields. First, create an “Author” field. Click “Add a Property” and choose “Text.”

A new field will appear. Name it “Author” or whatever you like.

Author has been added! Next, let’s add a field for reading status. This should let you select from multiple options. Click “Add a Property” again, and this time choose “Select.

”Label the field “Reading Status” or something similar.

When entering choices, try adding “Finished Reading” first. Once you’ve entered an option, it’ll show up in the menu for future entries.

If you add options like “Not Started,” “Reading,” and “Finished Reading,” you’ll cover most cases.

Next, let’s make a field to register the book cover. Click “Add a Property” again and select “Files & Media.

”Name the field “Cover.” Click it to select and upload a file. You can take your own photo or download a cover image from Amazon, for example.

Write your impressions in the lower section. Since no one else will see it, feel free to write however you like.

If you don’t want to use the “Add Comment” section above your impressions, you can hide it. Click the [⋯] in the top right, and choose “Customize Page.”

Find the “Comments (Top of Page)” section and select “Hide.”

Now the display is nice and clean! You can add more fields to suit your needs.

When you close the panel, it’ll look like this. You can drag fields to rearrange them.

Next, let’s make a view that shows covers in a gallery. Click the [+] button next to “Table View” and select “Gallery View.”

Gallery View has been added. “View” just means a different way to display your data. Now you can switch between Table View and Gallery View. At first, book covers might not show up, so let’s fix that. In the “View Options” on the right, find “Layout” and select “Gallery.”

Now your book covers will be displayed. You can also turn on “Fit Image to Frame” if you want.

This is my actual reading log (I’ve blurred out my impressions for privacy, haha). I have fields for “Date Started” and “Recommendation Level,” for example. Since I sometimes abandon books before finishing, I didn’t add a “Date Finished” field. I hope this gives you some ideas!

Why Not Start Your Own Reading Log?

What do you think? Are you interested in starting a reading log yourself?

Feel free to simplify the template even more. The most important thing is that it’s easy and enjoyable to use. The real value of a reading log is in sticking with it.

You can also use this method to track movies or manga. In fact, I’m thinking about making a movie log myself.

Oh, one last thing—I forgot to mention, Notion is free! There are paid plans, but for what I’ve described here, the free version is plenty. Why not give it a try?

→ Official Notion Website