Note: This post was written before I started using my current tracking system in Notion.
I need to find a new way to track my reading. I keep track of all the books I own, and I’ve been seeing videos on TikTok and posts on other social media platforms highlighting different ways of tracking, mostly through spreadsheets. Well, that’s what I use, and it isn’t working for me anymore.
Now I do track my reading (slowly) on Goodreads, Storygraph, Amazon, and BookBub. But finding a new system will help since my own Google spreadsheets are such a mess. I’m not even joking. I currently have five spreadsheets for tracking, okay, 4. The first is my original, original list, which is now locked. But before it gets all confusing (or maybe it’s confusing already), let me go into what the spreadsheets are.
What spreadsheets am I using?
It’ll be better to provide a list of what spreadsheets I have:
- Master Book List (Locked) – After I used a formula to copy all of the info to another spreadsheet (the Random Generator one), I “locked” this one because I wouldn’t be able to add any more to this list without messing up the formula.
- Master Book List (Random Generator) – The one has all the books on the other Master Booklist sheets, and I added a formula that automatically pulls all new titles added to the Booklist Additions
- Booklist Additions – I’ve been adding to this, and it is so much easier to add and stay on top of my new additions.
- Master Booklist (Unlocked) – I say unlocked, but considering I haven’t made any changes to this one in a while, it’s practically locked itself. All of the books are alphabetized (like in the Locked spreadsheet) by author’s last name, and organizing the new additions takes far more time than simply adding them to the Booklist Additions sheet. So it’s not even worth it to update this one.
Other than the Random Generator and the Booklist Additions sheets, the others don’t work for me anymore. And even then, the Generator and additions spreadsheets serve a purpose, but they’re limited in what I use them for. That’s why I’m looking for something new, something that will allow me to start fresh. And since I’m getting back into reading, this will be a great way to do that.
If you are a reader and want to see what I’ve been reading, here’s where you can find me. All the books I’ve reviewed can be found on Goodreads, Storygraph, and most likely Amazon. BookBub, however, doesn’t have all of the books I’ve reviewed, just because not all books are available on that platform.
- Goodreads – This is my main review platform, partly because I’ve had it the longest and partly because, so far, it has had all the books I’ve read.
- Storygraph – This one is still pretty new, and I’ve been slowly adding all the previous books I’ve read, to help make my stats accurate.
- Amazon – Considering that most of the books I own are Kindle books, it only makes sense to place my reviews on Amazon (and I include books that I own or ones that I checked out from the library for the Presidential Book Challenge)
- BookBub: So not every book I read is on BookBub, and while I find that sad, it’s not the end of the world because I have other platforms. But I do put every book review I can on BookBub.
What are some ways that you use to track reading? What has worked for you, and what hasn’t? I love hearing how other people track things, so tell me all about it in the comments below!
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