It’s the start of a new year and that’s an exciting time. It means it’s time for a new reading challenge. I use Goodreads to track the books I read (in 2024, that was 100 books), but I know others use different tools. However, whatever tool you use, I love being able to go back and check which books I read when. It’s been a great way for me to capture all the books I’ve read. Yet like many of you, my to-be-read pile is always larger than I think it should be. For every book I read, it feels like two jump on to the pile.
This semester, I’m not teaching. One of the things I want to do with this gift of extra time is finish a few book that are lingering on my pile and read a few others. The challenge is how to develop a plan I can stick with, yet that gives me some flexibility and a sense of movement. I don’t want reading to become a job, even though it is, and I want accountability to get through some of these books that have lingered longer than they should have. I wanted a quick, simple tool, so I turned to ChatGPT. I could have done the same thing in Perplexity or CoPilot, but thought I’d share with you the results in case you want to build something similar.
If you’ve spent any time on AI tools, you know that the prompt is key to getting good output. (BTW, I used Canva Beta AI to generate the image above. I really can’t wait for the day the image generators can spell well!). Anyway, my prompt was simple: “Acting as my personal learning assistant, help me develop a plan to read the following books in the next two months: Power Code by Kitty Kay, Co-Intelligence by Ethan Mollick, Burnout Immunity by Kandi Wiens, and The Pursuit of Happiness by Jeffrey Rosen. At the same time I want to finish reading the Ruthless Elimination of Hurry by John Mark Ortberg, and read the Abolition of Man by CS Lewis, Mere Christianity by CS Lewis, Switch on Your Brain by Dr. Caroline Leaf, and Untangle Your Emotions by Jennie Allen. ” This isn’t all of the books I want to read and it’s an odd conglomeration of books for my job at the university and Christian faith/living books. This is simply the starting point, and if I get them read in January and February while writing a book and reading some fiction, I’ll be very happy. Also FYI, ChatGPT misclassified half of them, but that’s easy enough for me to fix.
ChatGPT asked some smart questions about my reading speed, how much time I could dedicate to reading, etc. Then it spit out a generic, “You can read two books a week.” I know that. I wanted a more detailed plan. So I asked for a tracker next, which you can see below. I like checkboxes, so I will turn it into a slightly different format with more of a checkbox for each chapter and day so I can track progress, but overall this works for me. The good news? All of this interaction took about three minutes. It was really fast. The okay news? It requires tweaking, but like most things with AI, it’s a good brainstorming partner if you have an idea of what you want to do.
BTW, if you’re looking for a great tool to track your fiction and other reading, my friend Janine Rosche has created an amazing guide. I highly recommend it to you. You can download it for free when you sign up for her newsletter here. Her newsletter is always great, and if you love contemporary fiction, you have to check out her books!
Also scroll to the end for a beginning of the year fiction giveaway. I was cleaning my office and found some duplicates of great new novels from some of my writing friends. I love their books so much I ended up buying two copies. It’s a great problem to have!
This is what it produced:
Digital Tracker Outline
Weekly Tracker Template (Notion/Trello/Google Sheets)
Columns:
- Week: Specifies the week of the plan (1–8).
- Nonfiction Title: The title of the nonfiction book being read.
- Chapters/Pages to Read: Daily goals broken into chapters/pages.
- Christian Nonfiction Title: The title of the Christian nonfiction book being read.
- Chapters/Pages to Read: Daily goals for this book.
- Progress: A checkbox or progress bar for tracking completion.
- Notes/Insights: A section for reflections, quotes, or ideas from the week’s reading.
Example Entry:
| Week | Nonfiction Title | Chapters/Pages to Read | Christian Nonfiction Title | Chapters/Pages to Read | Progress | Notes/Insights |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Power Code | Chapters 1–5 (40 pages/day) | The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry | Chapters 1–5 (40 pages/day) |  |
Key insight: “Hurry is the enemy of spiritual life.” |
Reflection Template
Daily Reflection Questions
- What is the most impactful idea I read today?
- How does this apply to my life/work/spiritual growth?
- What questions or challenges arise from today’s reading?
Weekly Reflection Template
Title: Week [#] Summary
- Nonfiction Summary: Key takeaways and themes from this week’s reading.
- Christian Nonfiction Summary: Spiritual or practical lessons and applications.
- Application: What actionable steps can I take based on this week’s insights?
- Questions for Further Thought: What concepts or ideas require deeper exploration?
Suggested Tools Setup
Notion:
- Template: Create a “Reading Dashboard” with weekly cards containing:
- Book titles, chapters, pages, and progress bars.
- Reflection sections with daily and weekly prompts.
Trello:
- Board Layout: Create lists for each week with cards for each book.
- Add checklists for daily reading goals and space for notes.
Google Sheets:
- Sheet Setup: Create columns as outlined above.
- Use conditional formatting to visually highlight completed goals.
Context & Clarifications:
- Time Commitment: How much time per day or week can you dedicate to reading?
- Reading Pace: Approximately how many pages can you read in an hour? Do any of these books feel more challenging or slower to read?
- Reading Preferences: Would you like to prioritize certain books over others? Do you prefer alternating between genres (e.g., inspirational, scientific, philosophical)?
- Other Commitments: Are there any days you can dedicate more or less time to reading (e.g., weekends)?
- Preferred Format: Are you using physical books, e-books, or audiobooks? Mixing formats might help you read more efficiently.