Collage Time: Reading Journal video

Do you have a Reading Journal? Here’s a bit of backstory on mine and a video on how I made a collage for its cover!

I think it’s about developing a system to create. Once the creative habit is there, the possibilities are endless.

Crystal Moody

I have always been a voracious reader, devouring books like candy. I probably read a lot more in my younger years, but still I would feel really strange if I didn’t have a novel “going” at any given time. A book that I can pick up and dive into when I have time to read (even if it’s not always every day). These days the phone is in the way a lot, but then again, I love listening to audio books, so with a subscription app in the phone, at least I can “read” while out walking or when I’m painting…

Anyway, what I wanted to tell you today is that along with reading, I’ve kept a list of “read books” since I was a kid. Then I had a printed one line reading journal, now I pick the nearest notebook and number each book as I finish it. I write down author, title, and date finished, and sometimes I write a little blurb about the content, a review, or thoughts I had while reading the book. Last year my list was in this simple brown Traveler’s Notebook, and this year I’m staying in the same notebook, although I finally got around to decorating the cover with a bit of bookish collage.

Which means, it’s collage time!

Video: Collage time creating a notebook cover

Here’s my video showing the process of me decorating my Reading Journal or Reading Notes notebook, with lined pages:

I loved creating this notebook cover collage with a “book theme”. It’s always fun to pimp notebook covers and make bought notebooks more “your own”. I hope you enjoyed the video.

I think the result is really kawaii and interesting. The English book I recommend in the video was Strange the Dreamer by Lani Taylor. Here’s the blurb from the book:

The dream chooses the dreamer, not the other way around – and Lazlo Strange, war orphan and junior librarian, has always feared that his dream chose poorly. Since he was five years old, he’s been obsessed with the mythic lost city of Weep, but it would take someone bolder than he to cross half the world in search of it. Then a stunning opportunity presents itself, in the form of a hero called the Godslayer and a band of legendary warriors, and he has to seize his chance or lose his dream forever.

What happened in Weep two hundred years ago to cut it off from the rest of the world? And who is the blue-skinned goddess who appears in Lazlo’s dreams?

I loved this book! I’ve already finished the second one in the series, called Muse of Nightmares. Yum!

Do you have any great books to recommend me? Or wanna tell me about how you record read books? I’m on Good Reads too, but I rarely remember to log in. I do prefer pen and paper over digital many times, because it’s so accessible to take notes rather than turn on the computer. What do you think?

Oh and as promised, here’s the links to the printables I use in the video, to decorate my reading notes notebook.

Reading Journal printables

• Kawaii Book Lover Printables
• For the Love of Books Printable
• More Free Printables – follow my printables board on Pinterest, and follow my entire account to see when I pin new stuff!
• iHanna’s Book Reviews – Oh and as a bonus, here’s a link to all bookreviews I’ve written on the blog, in case you want my recommendations on the best collage books for example?

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