How to Make a Reading List in Notion

Quick summary

A Notion reading list is a structured table database that lets you track books by title, author, status, and date — all in one organized workspace. This step-by-step guide shows you how to create and manage a reading list in Notion using built-in database properties.

Steps

1. Open a Notion page and type /table, then select Table view from the menu.
2. Name your database Reading List.
3. Click the Name column and rename it to Book Title.
4. Click Add property to add new columns, then add an Author column and keep it as a Text property.
5. Rename the new column to Author.
6. Add a Status column and set it as a Status property.
7. Add a Date column to track when you started or finished each book.
8. Add your first book by filling in the Book Title, Author, Status, and Date fields.
9. Update the Status column as you move through your reading list.
10. Continue adding books by clicking + New page and update each row whenever your reading progress changes.