I started my bullet journal in 2022 and was pretty inconsistent in keeping up with my yearly and monthly statistics. I didn’t start actually trying until 2024, when I completed my journal for the whole year! I’m trying to stay motivated through 2025, so, if you’re looking for some inspiration, here were some of my favorite spreads from last year that I’m definitely using again this year. Most of the spreads were inspired by photos I found on Pinterest, which I have linked.
- Yearly Statistics
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Every year, I will put an overall statistics page before anything else. This helps me keep track of how many books I’ve read, how many pages I’ve read, and the percentages of specific genres that I’ve read throughout the year. It’s always super fun to fill out, and it helps me look back to see my progress! These spreads also help me figure out what general theme I’d like to do for the other spreads.
- Top 24 of 2024
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This is a yearly to-be-read (TBR) list that I have for myself if I’m not sure what I want to read during specific months. It’s usually filled with my most anticipated reads or books that have been on my shelf for a while that I really want to get to.
- Series Tracker
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These spreads look different every year, but most of the time they have boxes that can be checked off to show the progress I’ve made through a specific series! I fall victim to starting a lot of fantasy trilogies or romance stand-alones that follow a friend group, so this spread helps me stick to the series that I’m in the middle of rather than starting more.
- Book Bingo
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This spread is exactly like a real bingo game, but with reading prompts that I wouldn’t normally include, such as a Goodreads winning title, a banned book, and even a book that Rory Gilmore has read on Gilmore Girls. It’s fun to place an image of the book that follows the prompt onto the corresponding square and see if I can reach “bingo” over the course of the year!
- Book Monopoly
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I’m totally guilty of asking friends to pick books for me to read by riddling off the full synopses of a few books from my TBR, which can irritate them. This spread is exactly like the game Monopoly, but the “tiles” are based on reading prompts. I still have spaces for “asking a friend”, but this way it’s fun for all of my friends and for myself! I also have chance cards that I made, which have even more specific prompts with cute doodles to spice things up.
- Monthly Spreads
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Each month gets four pages in my reading journal. I have the cover page, a page with a book quote, my reading statistics for that month (which is very similar to the yearly statistics page), and a calendar that shows on which days I read which book. It’s super fun to look back and see which books I chose and how many I read during that particular month. It also allows me to step out of the yearly theme and pick a different aesthetic that fits more closely with each month. The beauty of this is that if I’m busy or don’t want to do a specific month, I can just skip it and move on to the next month!
The biggest thing I have to say about bullet journaling is that you don’t need to constantly keep up with it. If you’re creative and want to bullet journal as a hobby but are scared that you’ll be too inconsistent or want to scrap the whole thing, remember that bullet journaling is not about perfection. I have favorite spreads and spreads that I definitely wish I didn’t do, so just remember that it’s all a learning process and it’s supposed to be fun.
If you want to follow me on Pinterest to see where the majority of my inspiration comes from, I have plenty of pins that you can look through. Happy journaling!