What belongs in a reading log
Ask ten readers what they log and you get ten column sets, but a decade of usefulness comes down to six fields. Whatever tool you choose should make these effortless:
- Title and author — obvious, but an app that autofills them (with the cover) removes the single biggest logging chore.
- Date started and date finished — the backbone of the log. These two dates are what let you answer "what was I reading that summer?" and compute everything from books per month to average time-to-finish.
- Rating — even a rough one. Its job is not criticism; it is triage for your future self deciding what to reread, recommend, or avoid.
- Format — print, ebook, or audio. Skip it and your page-count stats lie to you; audiobooks also shift when you read (commutes, chores), which is worth seeing.
- Notes — one to three lines: what it was about, what landed, why you stopped. The difference between a list and a log.
- DNF status — abandoned books belong in the log, with the page you stopped on. A log that only records victories teaches you nothing about your taste.
Nice-to-haves that earn their place once the habit sticks: page count, genre, how you found the book, and reread flags. Anything beyond that tends to become a form you resent filling in.
Your three real options
| Option | Effort per book | Auto metadata | Stats | Privacy | Exit path |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Log app (Leafed) | Seconds — scan barcode or shelf | Yes (covers, authors, pages) | Automatic | On device, no account needed | CSV / JSON export |
| Log app (social: Goodreads, StoryGraph) | Seconds to minutes | Yes | Automatic (some paywalled) | Cloud account required | CSV export |
| Spreadsheet | 1–2 minutes, all typed | No | DIY formulas | As private as the account it lives in | It already is the export |
| Paper / printable log | A minute, by hand | No | None | Total | None (retype it) |
Option 1: a dedicated reading log app
The argument for an app is friction. A log survives on the strength of its worst week — the week you finished three books at 11 p.m. and could not be bothered. An app that logs a book in under ten seconds keeps the record alive through those weeks; a spreadsheet often does not.
Leafed — private log, seconds per entry
Leafed is built around exactly the fields above. Add a book by scanning its barcode — or point the camera at a whole shelf and let it identify the spines — and the title, author, cover, and page count fill themselves in. Read dates, rating, format, and notes take a few taps; shelves (Reading, Finished, DNF, custom) keep the log organized; and if you want more granularity, reading sessions record when and how long you actually read.
Two properties matter specifically for a long-lived log. First, custody: everything lives on your device, works offline, and requires no account — a log spanning decades should not depend on a server staying in business. Second, the exit: your entire log exports as CSV or JSON at any time, so the app is a convenience layer over data that remains yours. Coming from Goodreads or StoryGraph, CSV import rebuilds your historical log in minutes.
Where it loses: a log app is a commitment to one app's structure. If you want exotic columns — translator, edition, purchase price, lending history — a spreadsheet is more flexible. And Leafed has no social layer, so if your log doubles as public reviews, a social tracker fits better; see the full roundup in best book tracker apps (2026).
Social trackers as log apps
Goodreads and StoryGraph both function as reading logs, and if you already live in one, their date and shelf fields cover the basics. The trade-offs: an account is mandatory, your log lives on their servers, Goodreads' personal stats are thin, and some of StoryGraph's live behind its Plus tier. As pure logs they work; they just bundle the log with a social product you may not want.
Option 2: a spreadsheet
The spreadsheet reading log is the power user's choice for good reason. Columns are whatever you decide. Sorting, filtering, and pivot tables answer any question you can phrase. Conditional formatting turns finished dates into a heat map if you like. Nothing is locked in, nothing expires, and the file outlives any company.
The costs are equally concrete: every field is typed by hand, covers and metadata do not exist, mobile entry is genuinely unpleasant, and stats only exist if you build the formulas. A cloud sheet is also only as private as the Google or Microsoft account it syncs through — worth remembering if "private log" is the goal.
If this is your route, do not start from a blank grid. Our free book tracking spreadsheet template ships the column layout above plus the basic stats formulas, ready to copy. And the hybrid path is real: keep the log in Leafed for the daily convenience, export CSV once a season, and run whatever spreadsheet analysis you want on top.
Option 3: paper and printable logs
A paper log — a notebook page per month, or a printable template on the fridge — has virtues software cannot match: zero setup, total privacy, and a physical artifact that is pleasant to flip through. For children's reading logs, classroom settings, or readers logging a book or two a month, paper is honestly enough.
Its ceiling arrives fast. Paper cannot be searched, sorted, or summed; "how many books did I read in 2024?" means counting lines. There is no backup, and migrating to anything digital later means retyping history. If you suspect you will ever want stats, start digital and print when you want the artifact — the reverse is painful.
What a good log entry looks like
Abstract advice is easy to nod at and hard to copy, so here is a complete entry using the fields above — the whole thing takes under a minute in any tool:
- Title / author: The Left Hand of Darkness, Ursula K. Le Guin
- Started: July 14 · Finished: July 29
- Format: paperback, 304 pages
- Rating: 5/5
- Notes: "Slow first 60 pages, then the ice crossing rearranged my brain. Reread someday in winter. Found via a footnote in another book."
Notice what the entry does not include: a plot summary (the internet has those), a formal review (this log is for you), or any field you would resent filling in at 11 p.m. Fifteen days, one honest verdict, one line about how the book entered your life. Multiply by a decade and you have something no recommendation algorithm can reconstruct.
Logging ebooks and audiobooks
Mixed-format readers hit two snags. First, page counts stop meaning much — an audiobook "page" is a fiction and ebook pages vary by font size. The fix is to log minutes instead of (or alongside) pages for non-print formats; a log app with sessions, like Leafed, handles this naturally, while a spreadsheet just needs a minutes column. Second, ebooks and audiobooks are easy to finish without ritual — no back cover to close — which is exactly when books slip through unlogged. Tie the log to something else you always do (closing the reading app, ending the commute) and the record stays complete.
It is worth logging format even if you never compute a single stat with it: knowing you only finish nonfiction on audio, or that every five-star this year was print, is the kind of small self-knowledge a log exists to produce.
Keeping the log alive: three habits
- Log at the moment of finishing. Close the back cover, open the log. A backlog of unlogged books is how most logs die — and why per-entry friction matters more than features.
- Log the abandons. A DNF with a one-line reason ("three POVs, cared about none") is some of the most useful data your log will ever hold.
- Review it once a year. A log you never reread is a chore. December is the natural moment — count the year, spot the patterns, pick a direction. If your app computes this for you (Leafed's stats and yearly wrapped do), the review takes ten minutes.
Backfilling the years you never logged
Starting a log today does not mean abandoning everything you read before it. A surprising amount of history can be reconstructed in an evening:
- Old accounts. If you ever used Goodreads or StoryGraph — even briefly in 2019 — export the CSV and import it. Partial history with real dates beats no history.
- Your shelves. The books you own are a record in themselves. Walk them with Leafed's barcode scanner — each back-cover ISBN takes a couple of seconds; mark the ones you have read and estimate the year. Approximate dates are fine — the log's job is memory, not audit.
- Purchase and loan trails. Ebook order history, library checkout lists, and even old photos of holiday reading piles will jog titles you had completely forgotten.
Do not aim for completeness — aim for the books that mattered. An hour of backfilling usually recovers the fifty titles you would actually want in the record, and the log grows forward from there.
Related reading
- Free book tracking spreadsheet template
- Best book tracker apps (2026)
- How to track your reading stats
- Best private & offline book trackers (2026)
FAQ
What should I record in a reading log?
Title, author, date started, date finished, rating, and format are the core. Add short notes and DNF status for a log that actually teaches you something; add page count and genre once the habit is stable.
What is the best app for keeping a reading log?
For a private log, Leafed: seconds per entry via scanning, automatic metadata, on-device storage with no account, and CSV/JSON export. For a social log, Goodreads or StoryGraph cover the same fields inside their communities.
Is a spreadsheet or an app better for a reading log?
Apps win on friction and metadata; spreadsheets win on control and lock-in. An app with CSV export — like Leafed — lets you have both: log in the app, analyze in the sheet.
Can I keep a reading log without an account or subscription?
Yes. Leafed's full log works free with no account, no ads, and no subscription, entirely on your device. An offline spreadsheet or paper log also qualifies — at the cost of manual entry.