In Search of the Elusive Reading Tracker

I know it is out there! It just seems to be out of my reach! At the end of the year, people look back and reflect on their year and make resolutions for the New Year, and I am no different. I tend to be an early adopter of ideas, which isn’t always a good thing. I am still looking for that perfect system that makes tracking my reading simple yet, efficient. Once again, I am tweaking ideas from others to try to create something that works for me.

To start, I needed to spend waaaaay a lot of time overthinking. What did others do? Where was that link for that tracking sheet from that website? What worked from previous years? What do I want to track? How can I make things easier, because clearly, it didn’t work this year?

So I made a list of what I want for 2021.

• an easy to complete checklist for what I read
• a checklist regarding posting to our blog
• needs to be something quick
• want something mobile
• something that compiles my stats
• place to put my TBR/Option pile books
• ONE place for everything

When I went to figure out how much I read, there were so many places I had to check because I didn’t consistently write down what I read. I needed something simple – a checklist, rather than typing information I wanted for later reflection. So I concentrated on that list of items I wanted to track and separate. I then created a Google form thinking about those items and what others had done. The results are in the form below and can easily be tweaked when and if I need them.

So the Google Form took care of a lot of the things I wanted.

• checklist
• something quick
• something that can be mobile
• something to compile my stats

Google Forms will take my data to a spreadsheet to share my results. I can compile my stats, and I even sent the form to a specific sheet already created to fill my blog post planning needs. Bing Bang Boom – everything was on one sheet. I can easily add a tab for my TBR/Options pile, but most likely will continue to use Goodreads. I will need to clean up my shelves a bit, but it is workable for now.

Now I am down to three places, and that is manageable. Google forms to fill in my reading, providing my stats. Google spreadsheet to compile my stats and post-planning for the year, and finally Goodreads to organize my TBR/Options pile. The spreadsheet will be where I spent the bulk of my time.

Currently, I am figuring out how to have the responses converted to pie charts and other visuals on another page. The images will allow me to see the specifics of what I have read each month and keep my goals of reading Canadian, reading a balance of forms and promoting own voices in check.

I do not allow the computer to do everything. I need pens and paper when I am brainstorming and journaling. And yep, I have made some changes there too, but perhaps that’s another post. I am sure there will be changes as the year progresses, but I’m ready to give this whirl. I’d love to hear how you track and keep your reading organized.and keep your reading organized.

Happy New Year and Happy Reading!

Laurie

Adding the missing paragraph that gave credit to those who generously shared their ideas so I could create my sheet and Google Form.

The ideas that allowed me to keep things on one sheet and using a Google Form came from @kmcmac74, who has used one in the past. I also used @bookriot’s spreadsheet last year and took ideas from this year’s updated version. Finally, On Monday night’s #MGBookChat @kalventure shared the 2021 Ultimate Book Blogger / Reader Spreadsheet Template. Once again, Twitter and my PLN to push my learning and allow me to track more efficiently next year.