A Reading Log That Knows Where Each Book Is: How the Reading Ledger Works
A reading log with a To Read list, stages, started and finished dates and ratings: how the Reading Ledger logs each book from your phone, form to sheet
A reading log is worth keeping for as long as it can answer three questions: what is next, what am I in the middle of, and what did I think of the last one. The Reading Ledger is built around those three questions. It is a Google Sheet with a phone form: each time a book is added, opened or closed, the entry travels form to sheet and the list updates from it. Logged in-the-moment, the night the last page is turned and the ending is still fresh, the sheet holds a reading life worth coming back to.
The form that writes to the list
The form is called Log Books, and a link to it sits on the Dashboard under the heading "In-the-moment entry." It asks for the date, which falls back to today when it is left blank; the book, chosen from a dropdown of every title on the list; a new-title question for a book that is not on the list yet; what happened, which is Added, Started or Finished; an amount, used for copies on an Added entry; a rating from 1 to 5, meant for a Finished entry; and a note.
Everything the form collects lands as one row on the Reading Log tab, so the whole history sits in one place, in order.
Three words for three kinds of moment
Added puts a book on the list: bought, borrowed or given. It starts at To Read. Started is the day the book is opened; its Stage becomes Reading and the date goes in its Started column. Finished is the day it is closed; its Stage becomes Finished, the date goes in its Finished column and the rating is copied onto the book.
A rating is optional. A Finished entry with no rating is fine, and the book is still Finished. The latest rating logged is the one the book keeps, so a re-read can earn a new one.
A new title, typed on the phone
A book spotted at the bookshop or handed over at the library is not on the list yet. The new-title question takes its name, the book joins the Items tab as To Read, and the entry is logged against it. Typing the same title again, in any capitals, finds the existing row and never makes a twin.
The Items tab is the list
Every book has one row on the Items tab. The owner's columns are Item, Category (the genre), Where it lives, Format, Author and Notes. The sheet fills in the rest from the log: Rating, Stage, Started, Finished, Added, On Hand and Finished (12 months).
Where it lives can be the nightstand, the bookshelf, an e-reader, an audiobook app or a library loan. Format is the owner's own word for the copy: paperback, hardcover, e-book or audiobook. A book that is added without an amount, a library loan for one, still has its row.
Up Next, Reading Now and what was finished
The Dashboard shows a row of counts across the top: books on the list, and how many sit at To Read, Reading and Finished, with a count of the books finished in the last 12 months. Below it, Up Next lists every book still To Read, ordered by genre, with its author, format and where it lives. With nothing left to read, it says "Your To Read list is empty."
Reading Now lists every book that has been started and not finished, with the date it was started. With nothing open, it says "Nothing open right now. Log Started from your phone when you open a book." Recent Activity shows the latest entries from the log.
Beside Up Next sits Favorite Authors: every author with a book rated 4 or 5, most loved first, with how many of their books earned that rating and the average of every rating their books carry.
Genres and places, in the owner's words
The Customize Forms tab holds two short lists: Where it lives and Categories. They start with Nightstand, Bookshelf, E-reader, Audiobook app and Library loan, and Fiction, Mystery & Thriller, Romance, Fantasy & Sci-Fi, Nonfiction, Memoir, History, Self-Help, Kids & YA and Poetry. They fill the dropdowns on the Items tab, and any of them can be renamed, added to or removed, so the sheet describes the owner's own shelves rather than a template's.
Starting with a sample library, then making it your own
The Reading Ledger arrives filled with a sample library of 40 books across every stage, genre and place, with about four months of log entries, so every list on the Dashboard shows something real. The titles and authors are invented. Clear Sample Data, on the custom Ledger & Light menu, empties the log and the books, keeps the genres and places, and leaves the Items tab ready for the owner's own list.
Owned, not rented
The Reading Ledger is a Google Sheet bought once and kept, living in the owner's own Google Drive with no subscription to renew. Because the log is a list of rows, a reading life that grows simply adds rows to the same sheet, and the history stays in one file.
This article describes how the Reading Ledger works. It keeps the reader's own list, in the reader's own words and ratings.
Common questions
What is the Reading Ledger?
The Reading Ledger is a Google Sheet with a phone form for logging books. Each time a book is added, started or finished, the entry travels form to sheet, and the Items tab and Dashboard update from it.
Can a reading log show what to read next and what is being read now?
Yes. The Dashboard has an Up Next list of every book still at To Read, ordered by genre, and a Reading Now list of every book that has been started and not finished, with the date it was started.
Can the Reading Ledger show favorite authors?
Yes. Favorite Authors on the Dashboard lists every author with a book rated 4 or 5, most loved first, with how many of their books were rated that high and their average rating.
Does the Reading Ledger record ratings and finished dates?
Yes. A Finished entry puts today's date in the book's Finished column and copies the 1 to 5 rating onto the book. A rating is optional, and the latest one logged is the one the book keeps.
Can the genres and places be changed in the Reading Ledger?
Yes. The Customize Forms tab holds two lists, Where it lives and Categories. Either one can be renamed, added to or removed, so the dropdowns describe the reader's own shelves.
Does the Reading Ledger come with sample data?
Yes. It arrives with a sample library of 40 invented books across every stage, genre and place. Clear Sample Data, on the custom Ledger & Light menu, empties the log and the books and keeps the genres and places.