Template · Personal
Free reading list template to track books and quotes
Keep every book you want to read, are reading or finished in one table, with genre, rating and the date you finished. A chart shows your year in books, and quotes get their own place.
Reading list · 2026
Add books as you hear about them. Rate them from 1 to 5 when you finish.
Books
| Title | Author | Status | Genre | Rating | Finished |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reading | Fiction | ||||
| To read | Non-fiction | ||||
| Finished | Science | 4 |
- To read 1
- Reading 1
- Finished 1
Favorite quotes
Next up
Free. Barside asks before it adds the template, then makes a new note from it. Needs Barside 1.50 or newer.
Nothing opened? Barside may not be installed yet. Download Barside, then choose Open in Barside again.
A reading list turns "I should read that" into books you actually read. This template keeps the list, your ratings and your favorite lines in one note.
Who it is for
It is for readers who want to read more on purpose: book clubs, students, and anyone with a growing pile of recommendations. It keeps the "to read" pile from becoming guilt. For deeper notes on a single book, use the book notes template.
What is in the reading list template
- Books: a table with Author, Status (to read, reading, finished, stopped), Genre, Rating and Finished.
- Books by status: a donut chart drawn from the table.
- Favorite quotes: a quote block for lines worth keeping.
- Next up: the next two books.
An example
In January, Sam adds twelve books friends recommended, all To read. She starts two at a time and marks them Reading. When she finishes one, she sets Finished, adds the date and a rating of 4, and copies a favorite line into Favorite quotes. By June the chart shows five finished, two reading and one stopped, a book she did not enjoy.
How to use the reading list template
- Choose Open in Barside above. Barside opens and asks before it adds anything.
- Pick the workspace for the note, and leave Keep it in my templates ticked to use the template again.
- Choose Create note. A new note called "Reading list · 2026" opens, ready to fill in.
- Next time, start one from New note from a template, or let Barside make it on a schedule as a repeating note.
No Barside yet? It is free for Windows, Linux and Mac: download Barside, then choose Open in Barside again.
How to read more of what you want
- Add a book the moment someone recommends it.
- Keep Reading to two books at a time.
- Stopping a book you do not enjoy is fine. Mark it Stopped and move on.
- Write a few lines when you finish, in a book notes note.
Make it yours
- Add a Format column: paper, ebook or audio.
- Filter to Finished at the end of the year for your review.
- Save articles too: Barside has a read-it-later inbox with highlights.
FAQ
Questions and answers
Can I track articles as well as books?
Yes, but Barside's Reading inbox is built for articles: save pages, highlight them and read later. Keep this table for books.
Is the reading list template free?
Yes. The template and Barside are both free. Barside Plus is optional and adds cloud backup and sync between computers; templates do not need it.
Does the template work offline?
Adding it needs the internet once, so Barside can fetch it from barside.space. After that, the template and every note made from it live on your computer and work offline.
Can I use it on a Mac?
Yes: Barside for Mac is out. Barside also runs on Windows and Linux. The template page works in any browser, so you can preview it anywhere.