Pretty vs. Practical: How I’m Tracking My Reading (Right Now)

Because One System Wasn’t Enough

Hey book besties, welcome to Bookish Brunch! A mid-week break to catch up. Grab your favorite drink, get comfy, and let's dive into what I’ve been reading, what I’ve been loving and a sprinkle of fun. Share with me in the comments or chat what you’ve been up to!

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Pretty vs. Practical: How I’m Tracking My Reading (Right Now)

There’s functional planning and there’s pretty planning. If you know, you know.

And honestly, I fall somewhere in the middle, when it comes to reading journals and planners. Sometimes I want it to be aesthetic and cozy and full of stickers. Other times, I just need a clean system where I can jot down a quote before I forget it in the next 90 seconds.

That’s how my reading tracker “ecosystem” works. I’m not trying to make it perfect or consistent across platforms. I don’t go back and fill in what I missed. Each system serves a purpose in the moment, and that’s more than enough.

So if you’ve ever felt like you had to choose between functional and cute… maybe you don’t. Here’s what’s been working for me lately:

Digital Journaling in Goodnotes

The return of my cozy hobby.

I’ve tracked my reading for decades. Using sites like GoodReads and Storygraph, notebooks, spreadsheets, bullet journals, Hobonichi Weeks, Notion, Airtable, the whole thing. But ever since I stopped using physical planners in 2021, I haven’t really logged my reading in a physical or creative way.

This year, I missed it. Not the full planner girl routine… just the act of slowing down and making something by hand. That’s when I discovered the digital reading journal kits by Indiga Healer, thanks to Malia from Romance Schmomance. By the way, I encourage you to visit her site and watch her journaling videos. You’ll thank me later.

These are beautiful, realistic-style pages made for Goodnotes (or any note-taking app), and they come with everything you need: functional basics, decor, stickers, and templates that actually look like a real journal. It just lives in your iPad. I’ve been keeping things very minimal in mine, I’m not doing elaborate layouts or anything, but sitting down to put together a spread has become this lovely, relaxing thing I do when I’m in the mood.

For me, this part is less about logging and more about the creative ritual, almost like coloring. I recorded a Plan With Me using one of the monthly kits if you want to peek at how I use it in real time.

Notion for My Data-Loving Core System

Because if I can track it, I will.

You probably already know this, but Notion is my go-to for tracking. It’s where I keep my main reading log, and I built my own Notion template specifically so I could track everything. Tropes, authors, series, genres, release years, you name it, I probably have a way to track it.

I genuinely love this system. It keeps me organized. It lets me look back on stats. It gives me structure. And it’s not hard to use, even adding a quote or notes from a book is super quick once you know where everything goes.

But let’s be real: Notion can feel a bit overwhelming sometimes. Even with a clean setup. Even when everything has a “home.”

And that’s where the next piece of my ecosystem comes in…

Capacities: The Low-Friction Bonus I Didn’t Know I Needed

Capacities is a new-to-me tool I started using this year, and it surprised me with how easy it is to log things.

What I love:

• Super quick to add notes while reading

• Automatically timestamps everything

• Feels light and responsive, even when I’m half-asleep with my Kindle in one hand

It’s not that I couldn’t build this flow in Notion, it’s actually there in my template. But there’s something about how Capacities is designed that just feels like less friction to capture data. Less pressure to organize. It’s perfect for quick reading notes, reactions, or a mid-book quote I don’t want to lose.

Sometimes I’ll use it throughout the book. Sometimes I’ll use it for a few titles here and there. At the end of the month, I’ll copy any notes I want to keep into my Notion tracker so everything’s in one place long-term.

I made a quick tutorial for how I use Capacities if you want to try it.

Bonus: Voice Notes!

Another thing I’ve been playing with this year is recording voice notes to myself in both Capacities and Notion. Sometimes I just want to talk through my thoughts after finishing a book, and voice notes have become my new favorite way to do that.

They’re especially helpful when I know I’ll be continuing a series months later. Listening back to my own voice explaining what happened? Way better than scanning a rambling Goodreads review or having to re-read the previous book (I don’t do this). Highly recommend.

Also you may be interested in my tips for how to remember what you read.

Final Thoughts

I don’t believe in “one system to rule them all.” I believe in the system that works right now. For your mood, your energy, your current reading style.

For me, right now that’s a mix of:

• Capacities for quick, in-the-moment notes

• Notion for structured long-term tracking

• Goodnotes journaling when I want a creative outlet

• Storygraph for basic logging, counts and challenges

Each piece adds something different. And even if they don’t all get filled out perfectly, they all serve a purpose.

So… what’s your reading tracker vibe? Do you switch it up too? Are you a one-system loyalist or a “try everything” kind of reader? Hit reply or leave a comment, I’d love to hear how you keep track of what you read.

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Sharing our love for books as Under the Covers Book Blog since 2011, running the Romanceopoly yearly reading challenge since 2019 and hosting the Reading Under the Covers podcast since 2020. Launched Mysterylandia in 2025.