You underline a sentence on page 43 because it says something you’ve felt for years and never put into words. A month later, you want to share it with a friend. You can’t find it, and you’re not even sure which book it was in.
Most of what a book does to us slips away like that. We remember whether we liked it, maybe how it ended, maybe a name or two. The line that stopped us, the chapter we read twice, and the argument we had with the author in our heads are usually gone by the time we start the next book.
A reading journal is where you keep those things. It can be a notebook, a few pages of your bullet journal, or a notes app, and it holds whatever you want to remember about what you read: favorite lines with page numbers, first reactions, questions, ratings, and the ways a story connected to your own life. Readers use one to remember books, to think them through, and to have the conversation about a book that nobody around them is ready to have yet. In school, the same idea is often called a reading response journal.
12 Reading Journal Prompts to Start With
1. Why did you pick up this book now?
Why this helps: The reason you chose a book often says as much about your life at that moment as the book does. Years later, this is the line that tells you where you were when you read it.
Go one step deeper: What were you hoping the book would give you, like comfort, escape, or an answer?
2. What line from this book do you want to keep, and what page is it on?
Why this helps: Favorite lines are the first thing readers want back and the hardest thing to find later. Writing the page number next to it means you can go straight back to the scene.
Go one step deeper: Why this line? Write what it made you think of when you first read it.
3. Without thinking too long, write a few words for how this chapter made you feel.
Why this helps: Quick, gut-level words catch your reaction before you start tidying it up. Over a whole book, these little lists show how the story moved you from start to finish.
Go one step deeper: Which moment in the chapter caused the strongest of those feelings?
4. Which character is most like you, and which one is your opposite?
Why this helps: Seeing yourself in a character, or seeing clearly what you’re not, is one of the fastest ways to understand both the character and yourself.
Go one step deeper: Which of the two would you rather spend an afternoon with?
5. What do you think will happen next, and what makes you think so?
Why this helps: Predictions keep you reading actively. Checking them later shows you how the author set up the story, or how they led you somewhere else on purpose.
Go one step deeper: Come back once you know. Were you right, and how do you feel about it?
6. What confused, annoyed, or puzzled you in what you read today?
Why this helps: Confusion is often where the interesting thinking starts. Naming it can clear it up, and if it doesn’t, you now have a question to watch for as you read.
Go one step deeper: Do you think the author wants you to wonder about it, or did that part just not work?
7. Does anything in this book remind you of something from your own life?
Why this helps: Personal connections are what make a book stay with you after the plot fades. They’re also the part of the experience no review or summary can give back to you.
Go one step deeper: Did the book change how you see that part of your life?
8. What would you ask the author if you could?
Why this helps: A question for the author makes you think about the choices behind the book, not just what happens in it.
Go one step deeper: How do you think they would answer?
9. Which decision by a character would you have made differently?
Why this helps: Arguing with a character’s choice shows you what you value, and makes you think about why the character didn’t value the same thing.
Go one step deeper: How would the rest of the story change if they had made your choice?
10. What didn’t you like about this book, or when did you want to stop reading?
Why this helps: Being honest about what didn’t work is as useful as praising what did. It tells you what you want, and don’t want, from the next book you pick.
Go one step deeper: Was it the book, or the mood you were in when you read it?
11. Sum up this book in one sentence, then in one word.
Why this helps: Squeezing a whole book into one sentence makes you decide what it was really about. The single word is often more revealing than you’d expect.
Go one step deeper: Would someone else who read it pick the same word?
12. Who would you give this book to, and what would you tell them about it?
Why this helps: Picturing a real person makes you think about who the book is for and what it does best. Over time, these answers become a ready-made list of recommendations.
Go one step deeper: Who would you steer away from it, and why?
Choose the closest feeling and we will pick a prompt for it. This finder stays inside the article.
Private: your choices stay on this device.What would help most?
How to Keep a Reading Journal
A reading journal doesn’t need a special notebook or a perfect layout. These steps keep it simple enough to stick with.
- Pick a format you’ll actually use. Any notebook works. If you mostly read on a phone or e-reader, a notes app or document keeps your journal close to the highlights you already save.
- Give each book a starting page. Write the title, the author, the date you started, and why you picked it up. Leave space for the finish date and a rating.
- Keep a pen nearby while you read. Jot down page numbers and a word or two as you go, then write properly at the end of a chapter or a reading session.
- Use one prompt per session. A few lines after you read is enough. You don’t have to write about every chapter.
- Go easy on the summary. You can look up what happens in a book. You can’t look up what you thought about it, so give most of the page to that.
- Finish with a short wrap-up. When you close the book for good, add the date, a rating, a favorite line, and one sentence on whether you’d read it again.
- Keep running lists at the back. Books you want to read, books you finished, and books you gave up on all fit on a few pages at the back of the journal.
- Make it look however you like. Some readers add sketches, stickers, and color-coded ratings. Others write plain bullet points. Both count.
If you’re still choosing a journaling style, our guide to types of journaling walks through 19 of them and how to pick one.
More Reading Journal Prompts for Every Book and Reader
Use the table to jump to prompts for where you are in a book or what you’re reading. One prompt per entry is plenty, and you can skip anything that doesn’t fit.
| Where you are | Go to |
|---|---|
| About to start a new book | Prompts 13-18 |
| In the middle of a book | Prompts 19-26 |
| Thinking about the characters | Prompts 27-34 |
| Digging into what a book means | Prompts 35-42 |
| Just finished a book | Prompts 43-50 |
| Wondering what a book says about you | Prompts 51-57 |
| Reading nonfiction | Prompts 58-65 |
| In the mood for something creative | Prompts 66-73 |
| Getting ready for book club | Prompts 74-79 |
| Writing for a class | Prompts 80-87 |
| Looking back on your reading year | Prompts 88-95 |
| Setting up your journal | Prompts 96-103 |
Before You Start a Book
Your first entry can come before the first page. Writing down what you expect now gives you something to compare with once you’ve finished, which is often the most interesting part to reread.
- What do you already know about this book, and where did you hear about it?
- What do the cover and title make you expect?
- Read the back cover or the first page. What questions do you have already?
- What kind of reading mood are you in right now, and does this book seem to fit it?
- Have you read anything else by this author? What do you expect from them this time?
- What would make this book a five-star read for you?
While You’re Reading
These are quick check-ins for the middle of a book, after a chapter or at the end of a reading session. A sentence or two is plenty.
- What happened in this chapter that you didn’t see coming?
- Which scene from today’s reading would you read again, and why?
- How has your opinion of the book changed since you started?
- What is the story making you wonder about right now?
- Is this book a page-turner or a slow read so far? What’s causing that?
- Write down a word, name, or idea you had to look up, and what you found out.
- Where did you stop reading today, and what made you stop there?
- Which question do you most want the book to answer before it ends?
Characters
Characters are often what readers remember longest. These prompts help you look at what drives them, how they change, and why some feel real while others don’t.
- What does the main character want most at the start, and has that changed?
- Which character would you want as a friend, and which one would you avoid?
- Who or what is standing in the main character’s way?
- Which character surprised you, and what did that moment show about them?
- Does a character remind you of someone you know? In what way?
- Which character do you understand but still don’t like?
- Do any of the characters’ names seem chosen for a reason?
- Did the characters act the way real people would? Where did they feel real, and where didn’t they?
Themes and Writing Style
These prompts look at what a book is saying and how the author says it. They suit readers who like to dig into a book, and anyone who has to write about one for class.
- What idea or question keeps coming back in this book?
- What does this book seem to praise, and what does it criticize? Do you agree?
- Why do you think the author chose this title?
- Is there an object, place, or image that keeps showing up? What might it stand for?
- How would you describe the writing in three words?
- How would the story change if a different character told it?
- How does the setting shape what happens and how the story feels?
- Does the ending fit the rest of the book? Why or why not?
After You Finish
The day you finish a book is the best time to write about it. Your reaction is still fresh, and you can say what you really think before reviews and other readers’ opinions start shaping it.
- How would you rate this book out of five, and what kept it from a higher or lower score?
- Was this book what you expected when you started it?
- What moment from this book do you think you’ll still remember a year from now?
- What do you think happens to the characters after the last page?
- Would you read this book again? What would you look for the second time?
- Would you read another book by this author? Why or why not?
- How does this book compare with the last book you read in the same genre?
- If you could change one thing about the book, what would it be?
The Book and Your Life
Some books stay with you because of the plot. Others stay because they said something about your own life. These prompts help you write about the second kind.
- What did this book make you think about that has nothing to do with the story?
- Did any part of the book make you feel understood?
- Would you have read this book differently five years ago, or five years from now?
- What did this book make you want to do, change, or try?
- Where did you read most of this book, and what was going on in your life at the time?
- Did this book challenge something you believe? How?
- What did this book teach you about yourself as a reader?
Nonfiction Books
It’s easy to finish a nonfiction book and forget most of it a week later. Writing as you go helps you hold on to the ideas you want and decide what, if anything, you’ll do with them.
- What did you hope to learn from this book before you started?
- List the ideas that surprised you, from memory first, then flip through the book for any you missed.
- What’s one idea from this book you disagree with, and why?
- Did this book teach you something new, or mostly confirm what you already knew?
- What’s one thing you’ll try or change because of this book?
- How would you explain the main idea to a friend in two or three sentences?
- What questions does this book leave unanswered for you?
- Which other books, topics, or people does this book make you want to look up?
Creative Responses
Not every entry has to answer a question. These ideas let you play with a book by writing, drawing, and imagining past the last page.
- Write a letter from one character to another.
- Make a playlist that fits the mood of this book.
- Rewrite a scene from a different character’s point of view.
- Write a new ending, or one more chapter after the last.
- Draw a map of the book’s world or its main setting.
- Cast the movie version. Who would play each main character?
- Write a journal entry as the main character on the worst day of their story.
- Design a new cover and explain what you’d put on it.
Book Club Prompts
Share a few of these with your book club before the meeting so everyone arrives prepared to say something. They’re light enough to be fun and still lead to good conversation.
- If the club could take the main character out for an evening, where would you go?
- Which character would get along best with someone in our group? (Be kind.)
- Which emoji, song, or meme sums up how you feel about this book?
- What’s one question you’d like the whole group to answer about this book?
- Which fits best: a good book you liked, a good book you didn’t like, a bad book you liked anyway, or a bad book you didn’t like?
- Which part of the book do you think the group will disagree about most?
Reading Response Prompts for Students
Many classes use a reading response journal so students think about what they read rather than just retelling it. These prompts work for independent reading and assigned books, and a quote or page number makes any answer stronger.
For younger readers, our journal prompts for kids have more easy writing ideas, and older students can try our journal prompts for high school.
- Summarize what you read today in three sentences, then write one question you still have.
- What does the main character want, and what is getting in the way? Use a quote to show it.
- Predict what will happen next, and give one piece of evidence from the text.
- How does this book connect to your life, to another book, or to something happening in the world?
- Pick a word the author used that stood out to you. Why do you think they chose it?
- What’s the most important event so far, and how did it change the story?
- What lesson do you think the author wants readers to take away?
- Would this book make a good movie or show? Explain why, using two examples from the book.
Looking Back on Your Reading Life
Every so often, look past the book in front of you at your reading as a whole. These prompts work well at the end of a month or a year, or when you can’t decide what to read next.
- What’s your favorite book of all time, and has the answer changed over the years?
- What’s the first book you remember loving?
- Which book did you give up on, and do you regret it?
- What genre do you usually avoid, and what would get you to try it?
- Which books from your childhood would you like to reread?
- Which book made you cry, and which one made you laugh out loud?
- What’s on your to-be-read pile, and which book keeps getting skipped?
- Looking at everything you read this year, what does it say about the year you had?
Reading Journal Page Ideas
These are pages to set up once and fill in as you go. Over time, they turn your reading journal into a record of your reading life that’s fun to flip back through.
- A reading log with the title, author, start and finish dates, format, and rating for every book.
- A to-be-read list, with a note on where you heard about each book.
- A quote collection, with the book and page number for each line.
- A year-in-books page with your own awards, like best ending, most frustrating character, and the book you recommended most.
- A “did not finish” page listing the books you put down and why.
- A timeline of events or a character map for books with big casts or twisty plots.
- A ratings key using stars, colors, or symbols for things like plot, characters, and writing.
- A wish list of books to buy, borrow, or request from the library.
Frequently Asked Questions
What should I write in a reading journal?
Start each book with the title, the author, and the date you began. As you read, write down lines you want to keep with their page numbers, along with quick reactions, questions, and predictions. When you finish, add a rating and a few sentences on what you thought. Keep the summary short and give more space to your own thoughts, since those are the ones you can’t look up later.
What is the difference between a reading journal and a reading log?
A reading log is a list of what you’ve read, usually with dates and ratings. A reading journal also holds what you thought about each book. Many readers keep a log on a page at the front or back of their journal and use the rest of the journal for writing.
Should I write in my reading journal while I read or after?
Both work, and many readers do a bit of each. Notes while you read catch page numbers and small details. A few lines after a session, or at the end of the book, let you think about the bigger picture. A good habit is to jot page numbers as you go and write properly once you put the book down.
Can I keep a reading journal on my phone?
Yes. A notes app or document works well, especially if you read on an e-reader that already saves your highlights. Paper is easier for sketching, tracking, and making stickers. Pick the one you’ll actually open after you read.