Reading Journal Prompts: 50 Questions to Help You Reflect on Any Book You Read
Introduction:
We all tend to fall into the same trap which is read as many books as you can but the real question is how do we actually remember what we have read?
It's likely that you will easily remember the books that are your favourites, those are the ones that almost feel like a movie in your mind as you read. However, the reality is that our retention levels will drop as the volume of books we read increase.
This is especially true with certain categories such as self-help, self-improvement, productivity, and psychology. Essentially, non-fiction books.
That's why it's crucial to develop a framework to help you remember what you read and one of the best ways is using prompts so we will walk you through 50 of the best prompts to help you retain the lessons from your library.
Our app, Your Chapter, does this seamlessly by tailoring each prompt to any book in your library.
However, if you prefer the traditional pen and paper route then feel free to our guided prompts below.
Structure:
Before jumping into any prompts, it's crucial to have a structure in place as you read. Our suggested approach is as follows:
Download Your Chapter, use an online document tool (i.e. Word) or get a pen and paper.
If you want an easy approach, you can choose a recurring set of questions for every book.
If you want a slightly more personalised experience, you can choose the questions after you have finished your book and tailor it to that.
Either way, all questions should be documented/written on your preferred method.
After you have finished reading, our recommendation is to take a short break (30 minutes to an hour).
Then you can begin answering the questions.
This isn't groundbreaking but it's a simple method that easily turn complicated if you do not follow the core principles.
Prompts to Remember The Book:
Purpose: help you to recall your book
What are the three biggest ideas/lessons from the book?
What chapter stood out the most and why?
What quote will you remember the most?
Which character or author viewpoint stayed with you?
What emotions did this book leave you with?
If you had to explain this book to a friend/family member in one minute, what would you say?
What surprised you?
Summarise the book in one sentence.
Prompts to Understand The Book:
Purpose: helping you move beyond remembering
What problem is this book trying to solve?
Which ideas connect together and why?
Which examples made the biggest impact?
How has your perspective changed?
What did you struggle to understand and why?
What challenged your beliefs? (only if it did)
Prompts to Reflect on Yourself:
Purpose: how did this book impact you
Which parts of the book felt most relevant to your life?
What behaviour do you recognise in yourself?
What habit does this make you want to change or adopt?
Which lesson do you wish you had learned earlier?
What would happen if you ignored every lesson in this book?
Has this book changed any goals?
What conversation do you want to have now?
Which relationships does this book make you think about?
Has this book changed the way you think?
Prompts to Apply What You Learned:
Purpose: how to put what you read into action
Which lesson deserves to become a habit?
How will you know this book has changed you? (only if it has)
Who could benefit from this book and why?
What's one thing you'll do today/this week?
What's one thing you'll stop doing?
What chapter should you revisit?
What will be your first experiment?
What would success look like?
How often will you review your notes?
Fiction Reading Journal Prompts:
What character changed the most?
What character did you relate to and why?
What themes stood out?
Did the ending satisfy you?
What moment surprised you?
What character frustrated you?
What character did you love?
If you could rewrite one chapter, what would change?
Would you recommend this book?
Non-Fiction Reading Journal Prompts:
What's the core lessons?
Which idea could have an impact on your life and why?
What advice contradicts what you've believed?
Which idea/lesson has the biggest upside?
What's one mistake you'll avoid now?
What chapter should everyone read and why?
What quote should everyone remember and why?
What's your biggest takeaway?
Which lesson do you wished you learned five years ago?
Closing Points:
These are just some examples of prompts you can use and they will help you get closer to remembering what you read but close that gap even further then you should aim to personalise your prompts to each book.
That is what Your Chapter does as we help to generate workbooks based on the exact book you have finished.
Feel free to give it a try!