How to Track Your Thriller Reading: Free Tips + a Printable Journal & Google Sheets Tracker
As a thriller reader, I wanted a better way to keep track of the books I read, the twists I never saw coming, and the suspects I kept changing my mind about. That inspired me to create the Thriller Reader's Journal and Tracker—tools designed to make the reading experience more organised, memorable, and fun for fellow thriller lovers.
You probably know the problem: three months after finishing a book, you can't remember whether it was the one with the unreliable narrator or the one with the twist you guessed on page 60. A simple reading log fixes that, and a good one does more than list titles. It helps you spot what you actually enjoy, pick your next read faster and write spoiler-free recommendations for friends.
This guide covers how to track your thriller reading, step by step, with free tips you can use in any notebook or spreadsheet. At the end I also share the two tools I made for this: The Thriller Reader's Journal by Abi Rambler, a printable thriller reading journal, and The Thriller Reader's Tracker, a reading tracker for thriller readers built in Google Sheets.
What should a thriller reading log include?
Start with the basics. For every book, note:
- Title and author
- Subgenre: psychological, domestic, crime, mystery, gothic, legal, spy and so on. Over time this shows you which kind of thriller you keep coming back to.
- Format: paperback, hardcover, ebook, audiobook or library copy.
- Start and finish dates, and page count: these give you honest reading stats and a "how fast did I read this?" number.
- Status: to be read, reading, finished or did not finish (DNF).
- Your rating: more on how to make this more useful below.
Don't forget the books you gave up on. A DNF tells you as much about your taste as a five-star read does.
How to rate thrillers without just giving everything four stars
A single star rating can't tell a slow-burn gothic mystery apart from a breakneck page-turner, and thrillers are good at different things. Try scoring a few separate qualities instead, each from 1 to 5:
- Pacing: 1 is a slow crawl, 5 is "I couldn't put it down".
- Suspense: how tense did it get? Did you read it with the lights on?
- Plot twists: 1 is "saw it coming from page 10", 5 is "jaw on the floor".
- Atmosphere: the setting and mood, from a creepy house to a snowed-in hotel.
- Character depth: did you care what happened to these people?
After a dozen or so books you'll start to see a pattern. Maybe you forgive a slow start if the atmosphere is great, or you rate fast-paced books higher no matter what. That pattern is the most useful thing in your whole log, because it tells you what to pick up next.
The Thriller Scorecard page from my printable journal.
How to track plot twists without spoiling anything
Twists are the whole point of the genre, so they deserve their own tracking. Here's a simple method:
- Make a prediction while you read. Around the halfway point, jot down who you suspect and why.
- Check yourself at the end. Did you guess it? Partly? Not at all? A simple Yes / Partly / No works well.
- Keep the details in one place. Write the actual twist and your reaction in a clearly marked "spoilers" spot, and keep every other note spoiler-free. That way you can share your reviews without ruining anything.
Over time you'll get a "twists I called" tally, which is a surprisingly fun stat. It also shows which authors can still fool you.
How to write a spoiler-free thriller review
You don't need to write an essay. A short, consistent format is easier to keep up and easier for friends to read. Try:
- One sentence that describes the book without revealing the plot
- Three words that sum up the mood
- Perfect for readers who like...
- Skip it if you dislike...
- Content warnings, so other readers know what to expect
If you'd like to see this in action, my spoiler-free review of The Only One Left follows this idea.
Track the narrator, too
Unreliable narrators are a thriller staple. Marking each book's narrator as reliable, unreliable or multiple narrators sounds minor, but it's a quick way to see whether you actually love unreliable narrators or only think you do.
The Plot Twist Tracker page, with a spoiler warning at the top.
Keep a TBR list that actually helps
A to-be-read list works better with a bit of structure. Note each book's priority (high, medium, low), where you heard about it (a friend, Instagram, a blog, a book club) and whether you've bought it, ordered it, borrowed it or put a library hold on it. When you finish a book, move it into your reading log so nothing sits in two places.
Looking for ideas to fill that list? Try 10 Thrillers With Twists You Won't See Coming or 8 Domestic Thrillers Where the Real Danger Is at Home.
Set reading goals that go beyond "number of books"
A book count is fine, but a few extra goals make the year more interesting:
- Pages read
- New-to-you authors
- Thriller subgenres you've explored
- Reviews you've written
- A themed challenge, such as 30 prompts like "a locked-room mystery" or "a book with an unreliable narrator"
Check in on your goals monthly. It takes five minutes and it keeps the list from going stale.
Paper or spreadsheet: which is better for tracking your reading?
Honestly, the best system is the one you'll keep using. Here's how the two compare:
| Paper journal | Spreadsheet | |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | Slowing down, writing by hand, a book-by-book keepsake | Stats, charts, searching and sorting |
| Math and stats | You count and add things up yourself | Totals and averages work themselves out |
| Where you use it | At your reading spot, no battery needed | On your phone or laptop |
| Possible downside | Harder to see the big picture across many books | Less of a personal, hand-written feel |
You can also use both: write the reflective parts by hand and let a spreadsheet handle the numbers. That's why I made one of each.
The Thriller Reader's Journal by Abi Rambler: a printable thriller reading journal (A4 PDF)
I love the idea of putting my thoughts on paper, especially when a book leaves me with a dozen theories and questions. The journal gives me space to rate suspense, note suspicious characters, record predictions, and reflect on the ending without losing those little details after I finish reading.
The Thriller Reader's Journal is a 16-page printable PDF in A4 size. You download it, print the pages you want (as many copies as you like for your own use) and fill them in by hand. Here's what's inside:
- Welcome page with a quick guide to using the journal
- Reading Log for keeping track of every book
- Book Profile for the details of one book
- Thriller Scorecard for rating suspense, pacing, twists and more
- Spoiler-Free Review page you can copy straight onto a post or share with a friend
- Characters & Suspects for keeping tabs on who you trust (and who you shouldn't)
- Plot Twist Tracker with a spoiler warning at the top
- Final Reflection for when you finish a book
- TBR & Wishlist
- 30 Days of Thrillers (Parts I and II): a 30-prompt reading challenge
- Reading Goals, The Year in Books, Series & Sequels Tracker and All-Time Thriller Rankings
Good to know: it's a PDF for printing and writing by hand, in A4 size. Home printers usually can't print right to the paper's edge, so expect a thin white border around the pages. It's for your own personal use.
Price: $3.99 (your local currency may be shown at checkout).
Get the Thriller Reader's Journal on Gumroad →
Or get it on Payhip →
The Thriller Reader's Journal by Abi Rambler: now a paperback on Amazon
If you'd rather not print anything, the journal is also a paperback now: The Thriller Reader's Journal: Track, Rate and Review Every Thriller You Read by Abi Rambler. It's a full-colour, 124-page, 8.5 x 11 inch book with pages to track, rate and review every thriller you read, including the suspect board, prediction vs reveal pages, the thriller scorecard and the plot twist tracker. Check the listing for the current price.
Disclosure: as an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. The Amazon link below is an affiliate link, at no extra cost to you.
The Thriller Reader's Tracker: a Google Sheets reading tracker for thriller readers
I wanted a dashboard that could show me my reading progress at a glance—how many books I've finished, which subgenres I gravitate towards, my ratings, and how close I am to my reading goals. Instead of juggling scattered notes and lists, I wanted one place to organise my reading life and discover patterns in the thrillers I love.
The Thriller Reader's Tracker is a Google Sheets template with seven tabs that work together. You get a PDF with a "Make a copy" link and simple setup steps, and the copy is saved to your own Google Drive, so you can use it right away. All you need is a free Google account.
- 01 Start Here: how to use it, a colour key and how the tabs connect
- 02 Reading Tracker: room for 250 books, with subgenre, format, status, dates, pages and a rating (half stars are fine), plus an automatic "days to finish"
- 03 TBR & Wishlist: priority, where you heard about the book, purchase status and price, with a reminder to move a book to your tracker once you own or read it
- 04 Reading Dashboard: books, pages, average rating and books per month, favourite subgenres, format split and top-rated reads, with charts that update by themselves. Pick any year to look back.
- 05 Thriller Review Journal: room for 50 spoiler-free reviews with scores for pacing, suspense and twists, narrator reliability, "twist predicted?", content warnings and a separate spoiler column
- 06 30-Day Thriller Challenge: 30 prompts with a progress bar
- 07 Reading Goals: yearly targets (books, pages, new-to-you authors, subgenres, reviews, challenge prompts) with automatic progress
Good to know: the tracker is built for Google Sheets (no Excel file is included), so open it in Google Sheets for the charts and dropdowns to work as intended. You can log any book, not only thrillers. It's for your own personal use, so please don't share or resell the file.
Price: $3.99 (your local currency may be shown at checkout).
Get the Thriller Reader's Tracker on Gumroad →
Which one should you pick?
| Printable Journal | Google Sheets Tracker | |
|---|---|---|
| Format | 16-page A4 PDF to print | Google Sheets template, 7 tabs |
| Best if you | like writing by hand and a physical keepsake | like charts, stats and filling things in on your phone or laptop |
| Stats and charts | No, you fill everything in yourself | Yes, the dashboard updates automatically |
| Spoiler-free reviews | Review page and scorecard | Review journal with 50 rows and a spoiler column |
| Challenge | 30 Days of Thrillers (2 pages) | 30-Day Thriller Challenge with progress bar |
| Price | $3.99 | $3.99 |
Can't decide? Use the journal for the books you want to remember in detail and the tracker for the big picture. They're separate products, so you can buy either one or both.
Journal on Gumroad → Tracker on Gumroad →
Frequently asked questions
Do I need a Google account for the tracker?
Yes, a free Google account is enough. You make your own copy of the sheet and it's saved to your Google Drive.
Can I use the tracker for books that aren't thrillers?
Yes. Pick "Other / Outside Thriller" in the subgenre dropdown and the book still counts in your totals, pages, average rating and goals. The thriller-specific scores are optional for those books.
Can I use the tracker in Excel?
The tracker is made for Google Sheets and no Excel file is included, so open it in Google Sheets.
How do I use the journal?
Print the PDF on A4 paper (at home or at a print shop), then fill in the pages by hand. Print extra copies of the pages you use most, such as the scorecard or the review page, for your own use.
Can I share or resell them?
Both are for personal use only, so please don't share, resell or pass on the files.
Where do I find more thriller recommendations?
Browse the thriller books section of the blog, or try my reading-order guides for Riley Sager, Freida McFadden and Dan Brown.
How do you keep track of your thrillers?
Do you use a notebook, an app or a spreadsheet? Tell me in the comments (no spoilers, please!).
Want more thriller picks?
Follow me on Instagram @abi._.rambler for quick reviews and recommendations, and visit my Linktree for links to everything in one place.
The Thriller Reader's Journal and The Thriller Reader's Tracker are my own products, and the links above go to my shop pages.
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