How to keep track of the books you have read
Keep one list of what you finish, and let something else record the time. A notebook or spreadsheet works if you add to it the same day. A reading app counts time, streaks and finished books for you.
Compare the four ways
Four ways to keep track, and what each asks of you
Every method works for someone. What differs is the effort it asks and the way it fails.
- A paper notebook
- Cheapest and most personal. It asks you to write an entry every time you finish a book, and it breaks the week you forget.
- A spreadsheet
- Easy to sort and count. It asks for typing on a phone keyboard, and it breaks when the file lives on one device.
- A tracker website
- Handles covers and shelves for you. It asks for an account and manual updates, and it breaks when you stop opening it.
- A reading app
- Counts without being asked. It asks you to read inside it, and it breaks when your reading is spread over several apps.
Decide what you want to know
A list of finished books
Titles and dates, so you can answer what you read last year.
Time and streaks
Minutes per day show a habit, and a streak shows consistency.
Where you stopped
The page or percentage you reached, on whichever device you used.
What an app can count for you
justRead records your reading sessions, so Statistics shows activity by hour, a 52 week summary and a year heatmap.
Time you spend listening to audiobooks counts as reading time, and Statistics has a Listening category.
A daily goal and a reading streak turn the numbers into a habit.
Your place, highlights and sessions sync between iPhone and iPad through iCloud.
Look back at a month or a year
justRead builds a Recap for any day, week, month or year, with a calendar of the covers you read.
Reading Wrap plays a month or a year as a story of cards, and you can export a card as a poster.
See the details on the reading statistics page and the reading goals page.
What it does not do
justRead has no account and no friend feed, so your record stays private to you.
It counts what you read inside it. Books you finish in other apps are not counted, so keep a short list for those, or bring the books into your ebook library.