So, since it is Tuesday, and not Wednesday, as I originally thought when I woke up this morning, I thought I would take a tour through some of my tools. Let’s call it Tool Time Tuesday. 

My go-to planner, until the past November, when I found the Wonderland 222, was the Rhodia Goalbook. For bullet journalling, it has the best (for me!) mix of pre-printed pages and  plenty of dot grid pages. And bonus, it’s in French. But when you move on to a new planning system, what to do with the ex-planner, still sitting on the shelf with its shrink wrap intact?

Well, I decided to make a paper reading log. I read 89 books last year, and logged them on Good Reads, but didn’t write reviews, so I may have forgotten the gist of some of the less inspiring books. So this year, I have already decided I was going to try again for 100 (breaking it down to 25 per quarter, to avoid the December read-a-thon in 2021) but with the added project of taking notes or even reviewing some here on the blog. I am not a real reviewer and I don’t play one on TV, but hey, why not? 

But this isn’t about future blog posts, it’s about the Rhodia! So let’s dive in and see why I think this will be a great reading log.

First off, there is an extensive “table of contents”. That is “index” if you speak bullet journal. I think I will plan to at least start listing books I am reading there. Just date, title, and F for fiction and NF for non-fiction.  I may also note there if it is finished or abandoned. Life is too short to finish bad books. Or boring books for that matter. I know I should list the author there as well, and I may try, but space is a premium.

The next section is the columned future log. Each month has a long column. I think I am going to use that to draw arrows and track how long it takes me to finish each book. Some, like The Art of the Short Story, are going to take me all year, by design. Some I will fly through on a weekend day. 

Then there are quarter pages with three months per page. Not sure what I am going to do with them, but the tentative plan is to list abandoned books there with a short reason. I think it’s enough space. 

Finally, the main reason for my love of  the Rhodia as a planner, are the 250 numbered dot-grid pages. For quotes, reviews, and any information I may want to remember. This may be where I notate the medium (paperback? Kindle? Audible?) and any other information about the book or author (maybe other works by the author that I have read or want to read.) I dowloaded a copy of the Modern Mrs. Darcy Reading log for ideas of what to record about each book and it also has a list of classic and award winning books to read, in case I run out of ideas. 

I am trying to read more novels this year, so I am hoping this system will support that goal. Reading novels and taking notes will count toward my 2,021 hours of creative time, so having this physical system is all in line with that big goal. Reading non-fiction is not a stretch for me, but I will try to keep the ratio to 2 fiction to 1 non-fiction this year. But won’t stress if I don’t. I log my daily Ray Bradbury-prescribed reading (one story, one poem, one essay) in my regular planner, with the caveat that this year, I am going the read the same story for a week, and really dig into it, using The Art of the Short Story as a guide. 

(note: although I would love to earn some spending money on this blog, there are no affiliate links, and all products were purchased by me.)