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Prompted: A Year of Book Journaling Ideas

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Kelly Jensen

Editor

Kelly is a former librarian and a long-time blogger at STACKED. She's the editor/author of (DON'T) CALL ME CRAZY: 33 VOICES START THE CONVERSATION ABOUT MENTAL HEALTH and the editor/author of HERE WE ARE: FEMINISM FOR THE REAL WORLD. Her next book, BODY TALK, will publish in Fall 2020. Follow her on Instagram @heykellyjensen.

View All posts by Kelly Jensen

Is one of your goals in the coming year to write more? Or maybe it’s less about writing for the sake of writing and more about writing for the sake of better understanding your thoughts, your experiences, and what it is you’re consuming. Whatever the reason, one of the most powerful ways that readers can connect with what they’re reading, as well as with themselves, is through book journaling. If you’ve never heard of book journaling and your interest is piqued by it, I’ve pulled together a list of 52 book journaling ideas to give you a prompt for every week of the year.

This list of 52 book journaling ideas is meant to help get your mind rolling about words, reading, books, and other aspects of a well-read life, whatever that looks like for you. There’s no need for anything fancy to give book journaling a try. Pick up a favorite notebook you’ve got lying around—if you’re like so many others, chances are there are about six you’re saving for just the right reason…and this is that reason. Maybe this is your opportunity to hop aboard Bookstagram and journal via the visual social media platform. Or maybe, just maybe, you’ll begin your own blog to talk about all things books. Consider book journaling a type of meditative or mindfulness practice.

There’s no right way or wrong way to explore these topics. Use them exactly as is or use them as jumping off points to explore something completely different. Your journal might simply be a sentence or two, or it might lead to pages and pages of words. Neither is better. There’s no specific order to the prompts, so begin with what feels right and always feel free to jump around. You can also always revisit topics and journal about them repeatedly. What you say one week might look completely different the next.

52 Weeks of Book Journaling Ideas

  1. What was your favorite book as a child?
  2. Do you participate in reading challenges? Why or why not?
  3. What book did you read in school that you hated?
  4. How do you read series books?
  5. Do you have a preferred reading position? What is it? Are there any reading positions that you don’t like?
  6. How do you prefer to shelve your books?
  7. What’s your best bookstore memory?
  8. What’s your best library memory?
  9. Are you in a book club? If so, what do you like about it? If not, what would your dream book club look like?
  10. What’s your favorite sound to hear while reading?
  11. What are your favorite names from books?
  • Did you have a school library growing up? If so, what do you remember about it? If not, what would your dream school library have looked like?
  • What does a book smell like?
  • If you could live inside any book, what would you choose?
  • Do you peek at what other people are reading in public?
  • What is your favorite book to gift to other people?
  • Are there any books that bring up sad memories for you?
  • Are there any books that have made you laugh to the point of tears?
  • If you could go back in time and give your 12-year-old self any book, what would it be?
  • Do you read magazines? If so, why? If not, what would make you pick one up?
  • Do you prefer reading in one season more than any others?
  • What does your dream reading space look like?
  • Do you listen to audiobooks? What makes them appeal to you? If you don’t listen to audiobooks, why not?
  • What are some of your favorite quotes?
  • Do you read the newspaper? Why or why not? If you do, any particular newspapers you enjoy more than others? Do you prefer digital or print?
  • What book have you always wanted to read but haven’t yet?
  • Do you lend out your books? Are there rules for those who borrow from you?
  • If you could have a sleepover in a bookstore, what would that night look like? Who would be there? What would you do?
  • What real literary place (a setting, a museum, a landmark, etc.) do you most want to visit?
  • What’s the most challenging book you’ve ever read?
  • Have you ever met a favorite author? What was it like? If not, who might you want to meet?
  • What is your favorite first line from a book?
  • What makes a book cover stand out to you?
  • Who is your favorite comic book superhero? If you don’t have one, what character from any work of fiction do you consider a superhero?
  • Do you own any special editions or collector’s editions of books?
  • What do you do when you’re stuck in a reading rut?
  • Is the book always better than the movie?
  • What famous person from any time of history would you love to hear narrate a book? What book would they read?
  • Do you have any books that you borrowed from someone and haven’t returned?
  • Do you have any bookish holiday traditions OR bookish traditions you created beyond the holidays that you celebrate?
  • Are you able to quit books or does the DNF fill you with dread? Why or why not?
  • What is your favorite book of all time?
  • How have your reading habits changed as you’ve grown up?
  • What character from a book do you feel is most like you?
  • Have you ever read a book you thought you’d dislike, only to discover you loved it?
  • What is your reading superpower?
  • How do you motivate yourself to read?
  • What do you use as a bookmark? Does it hold any significance to you?
  • What book have you pretended to read? If you’ve never pretended to read a book, what book would you pretend to have read?
  • Do you keep a TBR? How do you choose what to include? Where do you keep it?
  • Where is the best place you’ve ever read?
  • How do you make time to read during a busy season?

    If these prompts excite you and you’d like to delve even deeper into thinking about your reading life or expanding your literary horizons, you’ll want to check out Lit Chat, Book Riot’s own deck of conversation starters about reading and life.