I used to eat books for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Not to improve myself, just to experience something new and exciting. Last year I read twelve. This year I want twenty, not because twenty is a better number but because I want the appetite back.

I tried tracking it. My hand-written lists never worked: a list has no goal. Everything else was an app. Goodreads has become a social network. Notion templates felt like homework. And I did not want to optimize my reading – I wanted to remember that I loved it.

What works for me is already on the table. I print my goals for the year. I print mood boards and mementos. My brain lives in a Moleskine. So I made the tracker a sheet of paper: twenty numbered rows, title, author, format, rating, most of them empty. The empty rows are the point. Each one says the next book waits.

If that is you too: print it blank and fill it in by hand, or keep it in your browser and print it when it is full. Stick it in a journal, tape it to the wall. No account, no fees, nothing leaves your browser. Curated lists if you want a place to start, or start with nothing.