Anne and the team refer to me as the “spreadsheet queen.” That’s partially because I do some metrics reporting for Modern Mrs Darcy but also because I use spreadsheets for everything. However, I didn’t start tracking my reading via spreadsheets until 2018, all thanks to a Modern Mrs Darcy Book Club class.

Book Journaling Inspiration

In 2018, Anne led a class called Book Journaling for Book Lovers (which I continue to rewatch) for MMD Book Club. She shared her straightforward method of writing down the books she wanted to read and then noting when she finished them. She also talked about writing down the recommendation source of where you first heard about a book so you can start to learn over time what your best sources are. She also shared some favorite supplies like pens and highlighters, which is one of my favorite topics.

I almost started a reading journal after watching this class but the more I thought about it, the more I realized a spreadsheet would work better for me, mainly for the following two reasons:

1. I could continue to add books to the spreadsheet over the years so I’d have one big, easily searchable, document where I could sort and filter data however I wanted.
2. I could use the spreadsheet to come up with some pretty charts and graphs at the end of the year, including year over year views.

Here are a couple of examples…

Favorite Data I Track

Here are some examples of reading data I track in my spreadsheet…

1. Source: As noted above, this was Anne’s tip from the class and it’s helped me to figure out what the best recommendation sources are for me. There’s also been a delightful side benefit. One of my favorite things about the MMD Book Club is checking out the forum called Reading This Week. I get SO many great recommendations there. When I add a book to my TBR, I note the source and once I’ve read (and often loved) the book, I send the recommender a direct message on the Book Club member site thanking them. This has started many wonderful conversations!
2. Tropes: This is a new category for my tracking. It’s easy to identify the trope for some genres like romance (enemies to lovers, second chance love, fake relationship) and mystery (amateur sleuth, police procedural, locked room). I’s been fun trying to identify themes in other genres like multiple timelines, hero’s journey, magical realism, family drama, and more. I can’t wait until the end of the year when I can put together a chart showing which tropes had the highest star ratings!
3. Publishing Imprint: I make sure to note the specific publishing imprint so that I can see patterns of which are my favorites. For example, I won’t list Simon & Schuster, which is the parent company; instead I note the division/imprint like Atria, Avid Reader Press, or Gallery. I also include this information when I add a book to my TBR because I definitely have some favorite imprints at this point, which helps me in deciding what to read next. Some of my favorites are Minotaur, Pamela Dorman Books, Riverhead, Flatiron, and Entangled: Red Tower.

How to Get Started

1. First, think about whether a spreadsheet, journal, or an app like The Storygraph is right for you. (I actually use all three!) A few questions to ask yourself are: do you like to customize what data you track? Do you like to see metrics and charts or do you prefer to write out reviews? Do you want to be able to easily search what you’ve read in the past or is that not a priority?
2. Second, if you decide you want to give spreadsheets a try, I think the easiest thing to do is to search on Etsy for “reading tracker” and pick a Google Doc template that works for you. I use this spreadsheet from creator With Ali.

Tracking my reading on a spreadsheet brings me both a lot of joy, as well as many insights into my reading. I will be forever grateful that the MMD Book Club inspired me to start this practice!

Do you track your reading? Are you a spreadsheet aficionado? Please share in the comments.

P.S. Why star ratings matter—and when they don’t and Book journaling tools for every reader.

About the author

Donna Hetchler helps out with our numbers, keeping a high level view of the business. Her go-to genre is mystery. You can find Donna on Instagram @dhetch.