“The world belongs to those who read.”
I’ve loved reading ever since I was around seven years old, and I would often be found under the sheets way past my bedtime reading Harry Potter by the dimmest of torch light. Now I have a Kindle, the lighting issue isn’t so much of a problem these days, and my literary collection has grown considerably over the last 15 or so years.
It can be so difficult to keep track of what happened in what book, and if you actually finished reading a particular novel or if you only read the first chapter. And long-term readers of my blog will have seen many a book review here, not just to share my recommendations with others, but as a personal reminder to myself about each read, too.
Recently though, I purchased my first ever reading journal from Stafford-based independent Teppi – and I don’t know how I ever survived without one.
Teppi, which is the Icelandic word for ‘blanket’, is a Scandi-inspired lifestyle store founded by friends Lydia and Ella following a trip to Iceland. The duo recently moved into a studio space at Woodings Yard, Stafford, where they’ll have even more space to create their hand bound journals. as well as their slow-styling homeware pieces.
Their reading journals are priced at £9.95, or an extra £3 for a personalised version, where you can add your name or even a book club. The A6 journal has a beautiful tactile cover, coming in blush pink or moss green, with white binding and 32 pages of rustic paper.
Read more: 15 books I read in 2021 -; and you should too
Each journal is bookended with two lovely quotes to inspire your love of reading, including the one at the very top of this post, and another by George R. R. Martin which reads: “I have live a thousand lives and I have loved a thousand loves. I’ve walked on distant worlds and seen the end of time because I read.”
Each page then follows the same format where you can include the title and author of the book as well as the date you finished reading it. There are five blank stars to colour in to offer a star rating, and space to write your favourite character from the book, which is one thing I love reflecting on.
Then, bookworms are invited to share three things they loved about the book, and three words to use to describe the book, followed by space for your thoughts. This part particularly I think would be great for a book club so readers can share their opinions and loves about that months’ book.
I found it really therapeutic to sit with my journal after finishing a novel and making a mindful effort to recall parts of the book, allowing the story to further sink in rather than going ‘in one ear and out the other’, so to speak.
There’s space to document around 60 books, which could last even avid readers 6-12 months, and they’re such a gorgeous way to log the collection of books you’ve made your way through without endless ‘notes’ on your phone, and a really lovely way of looking back on all your favourite reads at the end of the month, or year.
I’ll certainly be repurchasing one of these in moss green when my pink journal is all full up!
