How to Track Your Reading (Without Goodreads)
Tracking your reading means keeping a record of what you've read, what you're reading now, and what you want to read next. You can do it with a notebook, a spreadsheet, or an app — the best method is the one you'll actually use.
This is the hub for everything reading-tracking related. If you want a quick answer on a specific part of the practice, jump to the section that's relevant. If you want the full picture, read straight through.
Why track your reading at all?
The most common argument against tracking is that it turns reading into a performance. Annual reading challenges, public shelves, star ratings displayed for all to see — these can make reading feel like a competition, which is roughly the opposite of why most people read.
That's a real problem with certain platforms, not with tracking itself. Tracking for yourself — privately, without goals attached — is a completely different practice.
What it actually gives you:
Memory. A reading log is a record of what you've read in your life. Without one, books blur together. You know you read something by that author a few years ago but can't remember the title. The log tells you.
Pattern recognition. A year's worth of reading data shows you what you actually read — genres, periods, nationalities, formats — versus what you think you read. Most people are surprised by how narrow their reading is once it's documented. This is useful information.
Backlog management. A TBR list (to-be-read) keeps your intentions visible. Without one, the pile grows indefinitely and you end up frozen in front of your shelves unable to decide. A list makes the decision easier.
Duplicate prevention. If you know what you've read, you stop buying books you've already read.
| Feature | Physical Journal | Spreadsheet | Tracker App | Library App |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Effort to maintain | Low (if you journal) | Medium | Low | Low |
| Searchable | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Mobile access | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Cover images | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Physical catalog | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ |
| Lending tracking | ✗ | ~ | ✗ | ✓ |
| Barcode scanning | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ |
| Social features | ✗ | ✗ | Goodreads/StoryGraph | ✗ |
✓ yes · ~ partial · ✗ no/unavailable — Library apps integrate reading tracking with physical catalog management
Four methods for tracking
1. A physical reading journal or notebook
A dedicated notebook where you record books as you finish them. Entry per book: title, author, date finished, a line or two of notes. Some people write longer — a proper review, key passages, what moved them. Others keep it to the basics.
Advantages: No app required. Works offline, always. Has a satisfying physical presence. Easy to personalize.
Disadvantages: Not searchable. Filling in a year gap manually is tedious. Hard to scan for patterns without doing it manually. Not accessible when you're away from home and need to remember whether you've read something.
Best for: people who keep journals anyway and want reading as part of the practice.
2. A spreadsheet
A Google Sheet or Excel file with rows for each book: title, author, genre, date started, date finished, rating, format, notes.
Advantages: Searchable. Sortable. Easy to add custom columns — I track which country each book is set in, which a notebook doesn't allow. You can build year-in-review stats yourself with a few formulas.
Disadvantages: No cover images. No barcode scanning — every entry is manual. Clunky on mobile. No integration with your physical library. Doesn't connect to what's on your shelves.
Best for: people comfortable with spreadsheets who want maximum control and don't mind manual entry.
3. A reading tracker app
Goodreads, StoryGraph, and similar apps are built specifically for tracking reading progress. They integrate with book databases, so you can search and add books quickly rather than typing manually.
Advantages: Cover images, reviews, recommendations, community features. Good for people who want reading as a social practice.
Disadvantages: Goodreads is owned by Amazon and hasn't had a meaningful update in years. Both apps are built around reading progress and social features — they don't manage your physical library, don't track lending, and don't know about books you own but haven't read yet. For a detailed comparison, see Goodreads vs StoryGraph vs Plumerie: which should you use?.
4. A personal library app with reading tracking
Apps like Plumerie track your physical collection and your reading status. The library and the reading log are the same thing: when you mark a book as read, it's marked as read in your catalog. You don't maintain separate systems for "what I own" and "what I've read."
Advantages: Everything in one place. Lending tracking is integrated. You can see unread books you own and plan reading from your actual collection rather than a wishlist. Barcode scanning makes adding books fast.
Best for: People who care about managing their physical collection as much as tracking their reading — and who want both in one place without Goodreads' social feed or Amazon's data collection.
What to track
The minimum useful reading log:
- Title and author — the obvious ones
- Date finished — so you can look back at what you read in a given year
- Format — physical, ebook, audiobook; this affects how you'll remember the experience
Optional but valuable:
- Date started — useful if you want to know how long you take to finish books
- Rating — even a simple 1–5 helps you remember whether you'd recommend something
- Notes — a sentence or two about what struck you; you'll be glad you wrote it down
- Who recommended it — useful for knowing whose taste aligns with yours
Don't feel obligated to use all of these. A log you maintain consistently with four fields beats a log you abandon after three entries because the template was too demanding.
The TBR problem
Every tracking system has to answer the question of what to do with books you own but haven't read yet. This is the TBR (to-be-read) list — a fundamental part of how personal libraries work.
Without a system, TBR piles grow without bound. You buy faster than you read, the pile looms, you feel vaguely guilty every time you walk past it, and it stops functioning as a useful guide to what to read next. For a full treatment of this, see TBR list: what it is and how to actually use one.
The short version: your TBR list should be curated, not exhaustive. Every book you've ever thought about reading is not your TBR. Your TBR is the books you genuinely intend to read in the next year or two — a realistic, manageable number. For most readers, that's 20–40 books.
The Goodreads exit
A meaningful number of readers have been leaving Goodreads in recent years — slowly, then more purposefully as Amazon's ownership has become more visible and the interface has continued to stagnate. The most common alternative for reading tracking is StoryGraph; for physical library management, Plumerie.
If you're considering leaving: your data is portable. Goodreads lets you export your shelves as a CSV file (Settings → Import/Export → Export Library). The export includes titles, authors, dates, shelves, and ratings. From there you can import to StoryGraph, to a spreadsheet, or into Plumerie. It takes about ten minutes.
For a full comparison of reading tracker apps and what each does well, see the best reading tracker apps for physical book lovers.
Choosing your system
No tracking system is permanent. Start with what's lowest friction for you right now — even a notebook — and change if it stops working. The system that fits your life at 35 might not fit it at 45.
The only firm recommendation: start. Even imperfect tracking beats no tracking. A log with gaps and inconsistencies is still useful. A list you abandoned after six months still contains information. The perfect setup is the enemy of starting.
Plumerie tracks what you own, what you've read, and what you've lent out — all from the same catalog. Mark books as read in one tap, browse your collection by reading status, and never lose track of a loan. No social feed, no algorithm. Try it free →