Why trace my reading in the spreadsheets – Modern Mrs. Darcy

Anne and the team refer to me as the “Queen of the spreadsheet”. That is partly because I do some metrics informing for the modern lady Darcy, but also because she uses spreadsheets for all. However, I did not start tracking my reading through spreadsheets until 2018, all thanks to a modern class of the reading club of Mrs. Darcy.

Inspiration for the book newspaper

In 2018, Anne led a class called Books for book lovers (I keep seeing again) for MMD Book Club. She shared her direct method of writing the books she wanted to read and then noticed when she finished them. He also talked about writing the source of recommendation where he heard for the first time about a book so he can start learning over time what are his best sources. She also shared some Favorite supplies as pen and markersThat is one of my favorite themes.

I almost started a reading diary after seeing this class, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized that a spreadsheet would work better for me, mainly for the next two reasons:

1. I could continue adding books to the spreadsheet over the years to have a large and easy to search document that could classify and filter data as I would like.
2. I could use the spreadsheet to create some beautiful graphics and graphics at the end of the year, including visits year after year.

Here are a couple of examples …

Favorite data that stubble

Here are some examples of reading data that tracks on my spreadsheet …

1. Fountain: As noted above, this was the Anne Council of the class and has helped me discover which are the best sources of recommendation for me. There has also been a charming lateral benefit. One of my favorite things about the MMD Book Club is to review the forum called Reading this week. I have many great recommendations there. When I add a book to my TBR, I notice the source and once I have read (I have often loved) the book, I send you to the recommendation a direct message on the member site of the Reading Club thanking. This has begun many wonderful conversations!
2. Tropos: This is a new category for my tracking. It is easy to identify the trope for some genres such as romance (enemies to lovers, the love of the second chance, the false relationship) and the mystery (amateur detective, the police procedure, the closed room). It has been fun to try to identify issues in other genres such as multiple timelines, heroes trip, magical realism, family drama and more. I can’t wait until the end of the year when I can build a table that shows what tropes the highest stars had!
3. Publication footprint: I make sure you notice the specific publication imprint so that you can see the patterns of which they are my favorites. For example, I will not list Simon & Schuster, which is the parent company; Instead, I notice the division/imprint as Atria, Avid Reader Press or Gallery. I also include this information when I add a book to my tbr because I definitely have some favorite footprints at this time, which helps me decide what to read next. Some of my favorites are Minotaur, Pamela Dorman Books, Riverhead, Flatiron and entangled: Red Tower.

How to start

1. First, think about whether a spreadsheet, a newspaper or an application such as The storygraph It is suitable for you. (In fact, I use the three!) Some questions to ask are: Do you like to customize what data it tracks? Do you like to see metrics and graphics or do you prefer to write reviews? Do you want to easily find what you have read in the past or is it not a priority?
2. Second, if you decide that you want to try the spreadsheets, I think the easiest thing is to do is Search Etsy for “Reading Tracker” And choose a Google Doc template that works for you. I use This creator spreadsheet with Ali.

The monitoring of my reading on a spreadsheet brings me a lot of joy, as well as many ideas about my reading. I will be forever grateful that the MMD Book Club I was inspired to start this practice!

Does your reading track? Are you a spreadsheet fan? Please share comments.

P.S. Why the grades of the stars are important, and when not and Diary tools book for each reader.

About the author

Donna Hetchler Help with our numbers, maintaining a high level of the business. Its favorite gender is the mystery. You can find Donna on Instagram @dhetch.