Obsidian Book Notes & Journaling Templates

Tracking Books and Keeping a Journal in Obsidian

Reading logs and journals pull the same trick in Obsidian: small structured notes that compound over months. On the reading side, the Book Notes + Reading Tracker keeps one note per book with author, genre, rating, status and dates in frontmatter, while a Bookshelf note builds the shelves from Dataview queries: currently reading, read by rating, to-read. Six example books in mixed states mean every shelf renders from the first open. On the writing side, the Journal / Bullet Journal vault brings rapid logging with the classic bullet notation, a short gratitude section per entry, monthly folders and a monthly reflection ritual, with two full example weeks and a completed reflection included.

They scratch different itches. The tracker is for readers who want their library queryable without handing it to a closed platform; the journal is for building a daily writing habit with just enough structure that entries stay scannable months later. Nothing stops both living in the same vault.

The journal ships bullet journal, long-form and Templater variants of its entry template, and the Templates vs Templater guide explains which engine to pick. If your journal entry is really a daily note with extra sections, start from the daily notes category instead and add the gratitude block there.