Welcome to
The Reading Journal, !
Reading is a revolutionary and transformative act. Reading creates new pathways in our brain and . When we explore the inner workings of a beloved (or not-so-beloved) character’s mind, our . Some even show that reading helps you live longer! Have you ever thought what percentage of the authors you read are Latinx? Or, Pacific Islanders? How many main characters have a disability? Or, are queer? Are we reading about different experiences and people? Or, are we inadvertently choosing books that mirror ourselves only?
Marieke Nijcamp beautifully: “Diverse stories allow all of us to listen. They are not merely mirrors, but windows, too. Through those windows we see that we all bring unique experiences to the table. By recognizing that, we may learn to better understand and accept each other.” This is a space that allows you to not only track and journal about what you read, but look at it through a diversity lens. This doc allows you to track author ethnicity, nationality and gender, character ethnicity (if known), LGBTQ+ representation, disability representation and mental Illness representation.
The fields and prompts in this document are not, by any means, an exhaustive list of diversity and representation factors, but rather a starting point. A place to get us started in our journey to read diverse books. You may add as many other tracking points as you want! This is Coda, after all.
So, welcome to your Diverse Reading Tracker and Journal! Keep reading to learn how to use it.
“The whole world opened to me when I learned to read.” - Mary McLeod Bethune This Reading Journal
is a template doc you can use to set up your own reading tracker and journal.
Make a personal copy of this doc so you can customize it the way you want
and I’ll walk you through all the steps you’ll need to set it up.
Once you’re done setting it up, feel free to delete this page, or move it to the bottom.
📚 Bookshelf
On the page you will be able to view all of the books you’ve added to this doc.
You can filter by status, and search for the title.
This is the page you go to when you need to add a book to your TBR () list, a or any Reading .
The page allows you to add missing details to the books you’ve added. 🛋️ Reading Central
is divided in three parts: - on this page are all of the books that you’ve added to your TBR list. Their status is “To Be Read” If you’re not sure what to read next, click on the “🎲 Random Rec” button, and Coda will give a random suggestion from your TBR list.
- on this page are all of the books that you are currently reading. The books on this page have the “Reading” status. Click on each card to update your progress. Don’t forget to put the total number of pages or audiobook length, so the progress bar is accurate. Click on “DNF” to change the book status to “Did Not Finish”. Click on “Done” to change the book status to “Read”. This button also updates the day you finished reading the book to whatever date you push it :).
- on this page you will be able to rate the books you’ve finished. You’ll automatically be taken to this page when you push the “Done” button. Be sure the book you want to rate is selected in the dropdown menu at the top. The first thing you will do is input all of the details of the book (publisher, publication year, genre, target audience, mood, pace, etc). Then, you will rate it. 👇 ⭐ Rating System
I often find that a 5-Star rating system just isn’t granular or multi-faceted enough. That is why I opted to use the ESCAPES Rating System. This from served as an inspiration. Categories in the ESCAPES Rating System
You will rate each category on a scale of 1 to 10, using this table as a guide:
Coda will provide an average of the 6 categories, which is the Overall Rating, and then calculate the Star Rating based on this table:
After that, you will answer a series of Diversity and Representation questions.
Finally, you have a place to jot down your thoughts, favorite quotes, etc.
🤝 Social
This doc also allow you to keep track of your book club meetings and book club picks, as well as your reading challenges.
🍵 Book Club
You can add book club picks on the page. Be sure to include the meeting date, the book (previously added to the ) and the Book Club. The has a countdown to the next meeting, so you are aware of how much time you have to read the next book club pick. There is also a calendar with all of the book club meetings. The is a library of past book club picks. 👀 Reading Challenges
Add the reading challenges you want to complete in the page. You can do this by clicking on the button on the top of that page. That button will add the reading challenge to the table, and an automation will also add the challenge to the table. The, proceed to add all of the reading prompts in the table. As you complete each prompt, change the status to “Done”. 🌷Reading Graph
The page is a gorgeous view of your reading stats. You can toggle the dates using the dropdown menu, so you can view everything, this month’s stats, this week’s stats, last year’s stats, etc.
🥅 Goals
The section allows you to set your yearly reading goal, as well as giving you an overview of the status of your Reading Challenges. Use the slider to set your yearly goal. You will get a breakdown of how many books you have to read per month to achieve this goal.
The slider communicates directly with the page. Take a look at past yearly goals, and current in that page. ⚙️ Customization
The section allows you to customize different fields and lookups. Tinker with it to your heart’s content, after all, this is your doc ❤️.