I left formal education 5 years ago. Pregnancy (or maybe the sleep deprivation afterward) turned my brain to mush for a time. While I still loved reading, everything I read floated off into the ether. If it wasn’t written down, it was promptly forgotten.



I don’t know about you, but school supplies make my heart go pitter-patter. I’m an organizer, a record-keeper, and a list-maker to my core. Recently I’ve gathered all my little scrap sheets, and organized them into a unified binder.

This is a Seven Quick Takes post, so I’ll get onto the good stuff {there are free downloadable sheets for you too!}

Reading List

I keep this handy whenever I’m browsing blogs. Whenever I see a review or mention of a cool book, I quickly mark it down so I don’t forget.

KWLA

A long time ago (in a galaxy far, far away) I studied for a master’s in education. While lots of the material is happily forgotten, I retained a pre-reading + mini journaling activity.

Before you open the book, jot down what you already know and what you want to know.

After reading, record what you’ve learned and how you’re going to apply it.

KWLA charts work for fiction too! All great books enrich us with actionable, transformative knowledge.

Non-fiction books make it obvious, with bullet points, pull-out quotes, and end-of-chapter wrap ups. Great fiction becomes part of our soul. It trains our emotions. We internalize it. And that’s the key to any action.

Everything you read can be actionable and applicable. You cannot externalize a lesson or message, without properly internalizing it.

Book Ratings

Alicia talked me into sharing this. You could get cute with star stickers. I’m the least crafty person in existence, so I use a fine-point marker 🙂

Monthly Reads Tracker

This is convenient for me when I post my monthly Quick Lit on the blog. You can also compare your progress to that of previous months. See when you’re having high reading or low reading seasons.

Notes & Quotes

This is my favorite sheet. I print out a few copies of this page for each book. It’s basically the lazy girl’s version of commonplacing.

Lectio Divina

Divine reading, an ancient way of reading and praying Scripture. The Carmelites can explain this way better than I can.

In a nutshell you:

Read – a short passage

Meditate – actively reflect on it in your heart

Pray – talk to God

Contemplate – let go of your own ideas, and listen to God

Prayer Intentions

This seems like an odd place to keep my prayer intentions. But it makes the most sense for me. When else do you have a bit of quiet time to focus on those in need of intercessory prayer? Don’t type in a quick “Prayers!” comment on social media without a plan to actually say those prayers.



If you’d like to download any of these sheets, they are all in the resource library! Subscribe below to get the password. Do you have a home binder or reading journal? What would you add?

