I’m Gracie (@graciecreates) from the Archer and Olive ambassador team! In this blog post, I’ll be showing you all of the spreads in my current reading journal & how I add an in a new entry.

Supplies you’ll need: 

• Your journal - I’m using a B6 notebook from Archer & Olive!

• Printouts of your recent reads’ book covers

• Scissors

• Markers & pens

When shopping for supplies at A+O, you can use my code graciecreates for a discount!

Video Tutorial

While this project is super easy to complete, a visual reference can often be very helpful! I’ve created a YouTube video tutorial walking you through all of the steps on how to create this craft if you’d like a visual aid. 

My Reading Journal Set Up

My reading journal has a section at the front for cumulative spreads – I like to keep track of several statistics over the course of the year, and I include them here!

Introduction Page: This page is just my opening spread for the journal. I set the theme for this journal as bright colors with starburst shapes – a theme that I carried throughout every page! I designed this opening page to look like the log cards that go inside library book jackets, and I will include all of the years that are included in this journal. I only started this one in 2025, but as I use it throughout the years, I’ll include the year and number of books I read in that year on this opening page. 

Year in Books: The next spread in my set is my Year in Books. I wanted a place to include the covers of all of the books I read during the year because I thought it would be so satisfying to go back and look at all of the covers at the end of the year. I divided the pages into a grid so that I could print out mini versions of each cover at the same size (0.94 inches wide) and glue them in. 

Book Stats: I love to track statistics of my everyday life, so I had to include a page to track interesting reading stats in my journal! This page includes a simple chart where the columns represent each month of the year and the rows are various statistics to track. The stats I decided to include are: number of books read, number of pages read, and number of chapters read, how many audiobooks vs. physical books were read, and if I sourced the books from the library, from a friend, or bought them new. I round up these statistics at the end of each month!

Book Index: The next page is a simple index or table of contents of each book I read. I like to have multiple places to track things, especially if they are in a different format! This page is similar to my Year in Books page, but it just reads as a simple chart where I track the title and author of each book as well as the starting and ending dates of when I read each book. 

GoodReads Achievements: I’m an avid GoodReads user (it used to be the only thing I would use to track my reading!) and I love to choose books based on various GoodReads recommendations. One way I love to find books is by browsing through the books included in the monthly GoodReads challenges. You can find these by going to your profile, clicking on the 2025 Reading Challenge, and then scrolling down to the “seasonal challenge” section. I fill in a bookmark in this spread every time I unlock one of the seasonal achievements!

Individual Book Entries: The rest of the pages in my reading journal are dedicated to my individual book entries. Each time I finish a book, I fill in one full page for it. I track a number of things here – the title, author, dates read, number of pages and chapters, what format I read the book in, as well as the release date and publisher. I also leave room to give it a review on a 5-star scale and write notes, a review, draw a picture, or anything else I’d like to add. 

Adding a New Entry

Once I’ve finished a new book, it’s time to add it as an entry into my reading journal! To prepare, I start by printing out the cover of the book at 2 different sizes, one smaller for my Year in Books spread (0.94 inches wide), and one larger for the entry page (1.5 inches wide). 

I start my entry by cutting out the smaller book cover and gluing it into the Year in Books spread, and then will add the title, author, and reading dates to my Book Index. If the month has ended, I can also calculate and write in the monthly statistics to my Book Stats spread. If the book has unlocked a GoodReads achievement, I’ll flip to the next page and fill in a bookmark with color & write the name of that achievement inside. 

For the individual entry page, I start by gluing in the cover of the book in the top left corner of the page. I create a simple chart below the cover to track various statistics: dates read, number of pages and chapters, what format I read the book in, as well as the release date and publisher. To the right of the cover, I will hand letter the title of the book, usually in an attempt to emulate the typography on the actual book cover, and write the author’s name. Below the title, I’ll write my rating on a 5-star scale.

Once all of those statistics are written in, it’s time to fill in the bottom section. In this space, I’ll either write a short review of the book, write a quote I wanted to remember from the book, draw a picture of one of the characters, or fill in the space with anything else I was inspired by the book to include. And that’s how I add an entry into my reading journal!

Printable Link

Want a printable version of my reading journal spreads? Here’s a link to print out my “Year in Books” spread & an individual book entry spread!

Looking for more ideas for your reading journal? Check out this blog post from ambassador team member Delphine showing how she sets up her reading journal!

You can find more creative goings-on in my corner of the internet, @graciecreates on Instagram and YouTube, and @groovygraciecreates on TikTok. If you do this project, share with the A&O team on socials! Tag us @archerandolive and use the hashtags #AOShare and #archerandolive