Why I've Started a Reading Journal

And how it's helping me recover from burnout.

At the end of last year I asked you, my supportive readers, what sort of things I could write about. As I’m recovering from burnout one of the hardest things for me, at the moment, is generating ideas. I predominantly write about my writing journey but as this had stalled, albeit temporarily, I was a bit stumped.

From all of your ideas so far I’ve written about my chicken adventures, balancing burnout over Christmas and My Agatha Christie Project. (To read them you might need to upgrade your subscription).

Laura-Louise Slattery

kindly suggested that I “could write about other things outside of your writing like other hobbies and interests you have and things you like to do when the burnout does hit”. And one thing I do when burnout hits is read, scroll, journal and create aesthetic videos from my desk! The following essay mentions all of them.

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During September of 2024 I decided to start a reading journal. It was around the time I realised I was knee deep once more in burnout, or perhaps I’d never fully recovered from my previous burnout. I’d been scrolling on my phone desperately searching for something that could capture my attention and that wasn’t the news. When a video made me stop in my tracks.

It was by a TikTok account called willowbiblio (I believe she’s on Instagram too) and she combined journaling with book reviews. It soon became one of my favourite accounts even though our taste in books is very different. There was just something so soothing, so hypnotic about her voiceover book reviews whilst watching her cut, stamp, glue and write in her book journal.

The journal itself looked like a treasure trove. She’d been keeping it since January so by September it was becoming joyously full and incredibly interesting.

I want one of those, I thought to myself. It really spoke to me. I loved the idea of sitting at my desk journaling and reflecting on the book I’d just read.

I’d already been thinking about undertaking a reading project based on Agatha Christie’s vast collection of novels, plays and short stories. And now I could combine that with the creation of a reading journal.

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And so I began. Naturally with a brand new journal purchased especially (I’m currently using a Leuchtturm1917 hardback with 120g paper and it is fabulous).

One of the first things I did was to print off Agatha Christie’s reading list and to glue that in.

In last year’s reading journal and this year’s, I have squares to represent each book that I colour code to show the rating I’ve given it from 1-5.

I have an ongoing list with the total number of books read so far, which details the name and author of the book, when I read it, when it was published and whether it was part of a series or if there is another book published by that author.

And then finally, I devote an entire page to an image of the book (I use a Canon Zoe) alongside my rating and review.

You might be thinking, hey Helen, why are you adding to your workload when you’re going through burnout?

And the answer is this. I firmly believe that this reading journal is helping me recover from burnout.

It makes me read more. Now, me being me, I like to document everything by recording what I’m doing to turn it into video content. My reading journal is no different. Whenever I’m filling in my journal I place my phone above me, gripped into an overhead phone mount with a ring light and press record. I then edit the footage and what took me something like twenty minutes to half an hour is transformed into a 90-second video.

And because I know this means people are watching (not many, but some) I don’t want to not have anything to fill in because I haven’t read anything. Recording the entries in the journal and recording the process of recording the entries for TikTok and YouTube Shorts keeps me accountable and makes me read more. And you know what I’m doing when I’m reading don’t you? That’s right. Resting, recovering and refilling my creative well. It is aiding my burnout recovery.

Plus. PLUS! I am not scrolling as much, I’m not seeking out the news and I’m using the footage to help grow my platform which hopefully is going to help me get a book deal. *taps head* it’s not empty in there you know :)

It makes me slow down. Yes, obviously the very act of reading makes me slow down. I’m exhausted today, for example, so this morning I’ve given myself an hour to finish my latest Poirot (The Big Four). It has made a massive difference to my well-being. In addition, the act of journaling makes me slow down. During that twenty minutes or half an hour, I’m not thinking about anything else except for the book I’ve recently read. I am prone to overthinking (I know that is not a shocking statement to many of you) and oftentimes thoughts just snowball and accumulate as they race round and around inside my head. My reading journal gives my brain time to press pause. Snowball thoughts are exhausting, so a mini mental holiday is hugely beneficial for my mental health.

It helps me with my own writing. By reflecting on the book I’ve just read: what I think works, didn’t work, the different techniques used and so on, I am able to ascertain how I’d like my own novel to sound. First person, third person, a narrator like Hastings (this was a thought I had today), a murder mystery included in a romance/adventure book for young adults? Many things have crossed my mind that will, hopefully, make the two fiction books I’m currently writing a lot more fully formed and thought through.

It encourages me to read books outside my favourite genres and authors that are new to me. It also helps me to read books that I hadn’t considered before inside my favourite genres because I’m seeking more out (and the TikTok algorithm encourages a wider reading collection too). The Maid by Nita Prose, a murder mystery in an American hotel which I really enjoyed, is a prime example. Plus I’m reading more classics. Jane Austen - in the past I’d give up on her books, but because of my reading journal waiting for my thoughts, I persevere and end up really liking them. I also tried The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie but I didn’t particularly enjoy that. If someone recommends a book and it’s not a psychological thriller, a horror or a misery type memoir (my mental health can’t take them) then I’m open to reading it. And I jot it down in my reading journal.

It gives me something tangible to look back on. Oh my, I wish I’d started a reading journal in my teens! I’ve forgotten so many books that I’ve read. But it’s never too late and I’ve started now and hope to keep one for many years to come.

Honestly, it fills me with joy. Sometimes I just flick through the journal admiring everything I’ve written so far and I get a deep sense of satisfaction.

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