Stationery Sunday: My Book Journal 2022. (Set-Up and Flip-Through)

 Hello Loves! 

Today for Stationery Sunday I want to share my beautiful Book Journal. 

This year I got to set up a whole new journal to keep track of my reading. For the last four years I had been using the same journal to keep all my reading and bookish thoughts in place. Last year I used it all up and in 2022 I needed a new journal. I decided early on to use this stunning floral notebook I got mid-last year as my Book Journal. 

a) It's beautiful.

b) It's lined. 

c) It's the right sort of thickness for my needs. I could use it all in one year or maybe do a roll over into 2023, who knows, we'll figure that out when the year is ending. 

OK.

Let's dive in. 

Here she is. A thing of beauty. I fell in love with this notebook when I first lay eyes on it. I got from The Happy Wagon and it's designed by Tatiana Abaurre. I got this in set of three notebooks and I even did a haul of it on the blog. 

This one is the thickest of the lot and perfect for a Book Journal. 

I have been using it for two weeks at this point and the page quality is good. I haven't yet used an ink pen in it, so I don't know if it will take, I will let you know when I get around to it. So far I've used gel pens, both black and coloured and they work wonderfully. I am very happy with it. 

Now for the decor. 

I went all out. 

I want my Book Journal to be as pretty as it can. 

I did the first three pages and then on out it won't be this decked up. 

My monthly spreads are pretty simple and clean. 

I had so much fun doing these spreads! 

So cute! 

All things bookish and beautiful. 

I used stickers from Shop ABC and other stickers from random stickers I bought from Amazon. 

The hand painted bookmark is from Painted Petunias and it came damaged in the mail and was lying torn and unused (the artist sent me a new, undamaged one in the mail, which I use and love) so I had to put it somewhere useful and I love how it looks here. The tear though visible isn't as stark and, since it's stuck here, the risk of further damage is at a minimum.

I smile every time I open this journal. 

I had so much fun doing this. 

I literally set this up on January 1st. 

Here's a whole look. 

The girl reading with a stack of books is a sticker from my planner i.e. The Ink Bucket. I thought it went well here. 

This page I decorated just like that since I didn't want to start my journal from the left hand side page. 

So used some bits and bobs to make this page cute. 

Oh and look at Mr. Darcy and Miss Bennett looking fine as ever! This is a notepad from The Book Anatomy that she sent me. 

The girls are of course from La Dolce Vita. 

This is the front page. 

Clean and minimal. 

I started minimal and then, as you have seen, went all out. 

Love the vibe of this page. 

It's so aesthetic. 

The inside is simple and full of my thoughts and often messy handwriting. 

January. 

Clean and simple. 

 I made some reading goals for the month and made myself a tentative TBR. 

More girls. 

And of course I made myself some Reading Resolutions for 2022. 

I will share a whole post on that soon, so keeping it a mystery here. Though you can see a few here. 

HOW I USE MY READING JOURNAL: 

I often get this question and I thought I'd share my simple answer. 

1. I use it, mainly, to keep track of my reading and keep my bookish thoughts in one place. While I do track my reading on places like Good Reads and, of course, on my IG, I do like a physical place to keep my thoughts. It also helps in being a 100% honest with my opinions and thoughts, things I can't/won't say on social media I say in my book journal. You know things like: "What was this writer smoking?" or "Who publishes this sort of crap?" Things I won't say on socials, I say in my journal. :) 

2. I make my TBRs here too. Now whether I religiously stick to a TBR is a whole other thing, but I like making a tentative TBR here. And some months, where I am following some sort of reading theme a TBR keeps my reading so much more organised. 

3. I make goals and resolutions here too. 

4. I also make lists of Books I want to buy. 

5. I also keep a long list of book recommendations I gather from all kinds of sources. 

Articles in magazines. 

Writers. 

People whose opinions I trust. 

Bookstagram. 

Booktubers. 

I keep my journaling simple. 

Books I want to read in a month and a long form documentation of books I've read in a given month. 

A rating. 

And at the end of the year all of my favourites list making happens here too. 

Simple and easy. 

You don't need to complicate your Book Journal. 

I've seen folks make graphs and diagrams and God knows what else...I mean do it if it makes you happy and is something you can sustain over time but mostly I think this is a pretty manageable way to keep your bookish thoughts sane and safe. 

:) 

So start a book journal of your own and keep it simple and aesthetic and fun. 

Seriously pick a journal, pretty or simple. 

Decorate it a bit or a lot. (You do you babe!) 

Make a list. 

Track your reading. 

Add some quotes from the current book you're reading. 

Vent about a bad book. 

Rant about a sad ending. 

Just go wild. 

Have fun. 

I hope this helped. 

:) 

Happy Reading Loves!