Book Review Journal

Victoria's Journal

Finally! The most awaited Book Review Journal is out!

This have been in my brain dump page since last year, but I just can't find time to put it all together (oh excuse all the excuses!). And now, I am all set to venture to another avenue of writing and blogging skills by launching this new category on my blog -- the Book Review Journal.



From this post, I already showed you a little peek on the planning phase. The first thing I did was buy a separate notebook or journal for this project. I got this very sleek and elegant Victoria's Journal at National Bookstore at a very affordable price. If you are a stationary/notebook/journal/planner junkie (like me), you should get one of these and write your life story in it.

Set-up

The method that I am applying to my Book Review Journal is similar to that of the Bullet Journal. If you haven't read or tried Bullet Journal, this is the current hype among planning and organizing bloggers and have confessed that it is a very reliable and effective planning solution to everyday tasks.

Moving on...the first page of the Book Review Journal is the Index. As you go along writing your new posts, you also get to update the Index so that you will easily find them. Your Index will serve as the Table of Contents when your journal is finally done. So far, I have listed down the current Index to my Book Review Journal

The 2016 Book List

This is my reading challenge list for this year. As you can see, I plan to take the light reading mode aiming for 12 books only (1 book per month). Below is the list that I made and I am very pleased to say that I am reading on the right track finishing 2 books now. And of course, as part of my plan, I will be writing a book review on the books that I have read.

Oh, I forgot to tell you that this list is not yet finished. I am still lacking 5 books to complete the list of 12 books. Any suggestions so far???

Book Wish List

The next page is already allotted for the Book Wish List. As written on this page, these are the books that I would like to read in the future, or maybe this year if I finish early my Reading Challenge List. As a matter of fact, I already have 3 books waiting to be written in this page. I will just keep you updated on this page in the days to come.

The Book Review Criteria

Next to the Book Wish List is The Book Review Criteria. This is now going to be my guide in writing the book reviews on the books that I have read so far. As you can see, the criteria lists down the very basic information about the book, like who wrote it and who published it, the number of pages, and what type of book was it. I also included very relevant questions like:

• How I discovered or acquired this book - I believe that this is an important aspect of the book review because it will help you remember how did you learn about this book that triggered your curiosity to just grab a copy and read through it all. Do I make sense here? Oh well.....
• When and Where Read - Some people buy and read books to keep them company on a very long flight (uhhh.. like traveling from Earth to Mars). No, really, you have to include this in your book review journal because this will help you remember that very moment you got enthralled on the characters and smitten by the plot while sipping your Margarita by the beach or simply waiting for your plane to land after 16 hours of flying the boring skies.Get me?
• Noteworthy experiences while reading this book - Hmm...what else can you possibly write here. Well, for one, did the character ever get into you that you missed eating for a couple of days? Or maybe you imagined (or illusioned) that you are Anastasia Steele? Or did you ever imagine riding a mythical creature and forgot that you are actually riding a bus and just totally lost track of the bus stop? Crazy right? Anything goes and happens when you read a very entertaining book.
• Check Out Author's Other Books? - If you happen to read a book series (triology or tetralogy or even more) then you will surely want to check out or read the author's succeding books so that you will have a closure of some sort when all things happen to end (whether you like it or not). Well, of course, some authors also tried writing other genre other than their usual book series. so, you might want to check this out too (nonetheless, I must warn you that most persons are quite disappointed when their favorite author suddenly changed or switched genres in writing). Anyway, after finishing The Girl Who Kicked The Hornets' Nest and Miss Perigrine's Home for Peculiar Children, I am already adding other books by the same authors to my Book Wish List.
• Rating Scale - Ahh.. the Rating Scale. For this particular endeavor, you simply indicate a score from 0 to 10, 10 being exceptional, on how you find the book in terms of:
• Quality of Writing
• Pace
• Plot Development
• Characters
• Enjoyability
• Insightfulness
• Ease of reading
• Photos/Illustrations

Aside from just putting a score to these criteria, I would like to elaborate further on why I am giving a score of 5 instead of 8 or 9 to a certain criteria. I just would like to rationale on these terms, in case the Authors will come upon this blog and will question my book review journal. :)

Still a continuation of the Book Review Criteria is the page on Notes and Opinions. This will basically illustrate the content of the book that will include your point of view and how did this book influenced your feelings and thinking habits. Do you have a favorite quote or great lines in this book? You can add it in this section and even make a mantra out of it.

And lastly, the very famous Star Ratings. Just how many stars are you willing to give this book as an Overall Rating? You're no expert, but your rating does matter. Do I need to explain further?

That's it! For now, I have come up with these sections in my Book Review Journal. My brain gears are still in motion and will certainly add more pages. Just keep in touch and don't miss a post from this blog.

Remember, reading books will always warm your heart, change a point of view, allows you to get away from reality for a couple of hours, entertain or educate you, and even alleviate your sufferings. always make time to read and practice to learn through your readings.

Have you tried reviewing a book? 

What are your thoughts on this Book Review Journal?