Reading Journal

This journal will help you be a more active and thoughtful reader.

The quote below comes from a 2018 article in The Medium by Justin Mitchell. His article about writing book reports inspired me to start the practice during the pandemic. This personal practice is the inspiration for this journal. I hope you find it as beneficial as I have!

Justin encourages us to write a quick book report whenever we read a worthy tome. The journal is a great place to organize your thoughts. You will improve your reading habits, practice writing, and introduce your friends to new ideas. Most of all, you'll gain the maximum value for your reading time.

"For most Americans, book reports are a distant memory from primary school. Writing reports was a chore, a rite of passage, and a tedious exercise at worst. More than a few of you probably remember struggling to fill the requisite number of pages while fudging the margins and font sizes for advantage. Unless you focused on liberal arts, your book report career probably concluded like mine: in middle school.

Then I hit my 20s and noticed a problem. I habitually skimed books, reading enough for a cocktail-party appropriate description but not internalizing meaning and implications. This was a slight problem when the purpose was entertainment, but skimming became a significant crime against myself if the goal was edification. Why spend so many hours on an activity granting so few fruits for my labor?"

Writing book reports resolves this issue in an interactive and aspirational way. This journal helps the adult book lover focus their thoughts and participate in the lost art of writing a book report.