How to use Planly Book Nook

Your template lives in your own Google Drive, so the first step is making your personal copy.

1. Open the PDF from your Etsy purchase (Etsy → You → Purchases and reviews → Download files).
2. Click the “Make my copy” button. If you're asked, sign in to your Google account.
3. Google shows a “Copy document” screen. Click the blue “Make a copy” button.
4. Your copy opens. Rename it if you like (click the title in the top-left), e.g. “My 2027 Reading Journal”.

SETUP holds the choices you'll pick from on BOOK TRACKER. It comes pre-filled with common genres, so you only need to adjust it.

1. Open SETUP and type your currency symbol under CURRENCY. It's used for book costs.
2. Review MAIN GENRE (Fiction, Non-Fiction, Poetry…) and SUB-GENRE (Fantasy, Mystery, Romance…). Add any that are missing.
3. Check FORMAT (Physical Book, E-book, Audiobook and more).
4. Add your own labels under TAGS/KEYWORDS: book club picks, favorites, a reading challenge, anything you like.

BOOK TRACKER is the heart of the template. Every other tab reads from it.

1. Open BOOK TRACKER. Under BOOK INFORMATION, type the BOOK TITLE and AUTHOR.
2. Choose GENRE, SUB-GENRE, RATINGS (one to five stars), SOURCE (Owned, Borrowed or Waiting for publication) and FORMAT from the dropdowns.
3. Optional details: COST, SOLD, RETURNED DATE (for borrowed books), PUBLICATION DATE (for upcoming releases), RECOMMENDED BY and NAME OF SERIES.
4. Paste a BOOK COVER LINK (a direct image address) so the cover shows in the galleries.
5. Under READER'S NOTES, choose up to four KEYWORD/TAGS and write your PERSONAL NOTES.

Planly Book Nook · Book tracker

READING STATUS and PROGRESS are calculated from your page (or hour) counts, so you never set them by hand.

1. In READING PROGRESS, enter the DATE STARTED when you begin a book.
2. Enter TOTAL PAGES OR HOURS (use hours for audiobooks).
3. Update CURRENT PAGES OR HOURS as you read. PROGRESS and its bar update instantly.
4. When you finish, enter the DATE FINISHED.

Your reading life at a glance. You don't type here, apart from the search boxes.

1. GLOBAL READING STATUS shows BOOKS COMPLETED, CURRENTLY READING and TO READ BOOKS.
2. BOOKS IN GALLERY splits your books into OWNED, BORROWED and WAITING; READING PROGRESS, TOTAL BOOKS, TOTAL PAGES and TOTAL PAGES READ sit alongside.
3. GLOBAL BOOK RATINGS and AVERAGE RATINGS show how you rate what you read.
4. The yearly section breaks the YEAR down by MONTHS: books started, books completed and pages read.
5. BOOK CRITERIA SEARCH: choose SEARCH BY (main genre, sub-genre, format or tags) and a value to get a LIST OF BOOKS. BOOK TITLE SEARCH: pick a title to see its BOOK SUMMARY and notes.

Planly Book Nook · Dashboard

Two gallery tabs turn your log into something lovely to look at.

1. PHOTO GALLERY: choose a title next to TITLE: to see its BOOK SUMMARY (author, genre, ratings, dates, progress and notes). Scroll down to BOOK COLLECTIONS for a wall of your covers.
2. GALLERY: choose a title for its BOOK SUMMARY, then browse the three shelves: OWNED BOOKS, BORROWED BOOKS and BOOKS WAITING FOR PUBLICATION.
3. For each shelf, use ARRANGE YOUR LIBRARY BY: to switch between ORIGINAL ORDER and ALPHABETICAL ORDER.
4. Check the totals for each shelf, plus GLOBAL BOOK RATINGS and GLOBAL READING STATS.

LIBRARY lists every book with its status icon. It's left unprotected so you can sort and filter freely.

1. Open LIBRARY. In ICON SETUP, choose an icon for To Read, Currently Reading and Completed.
2. Check BOOKS COMPLETED and GLOBAL PROGRESS at the top.
3. Use Google Sheets' filter (Data → Create a filter) to sort or filter by FORMAT, GENRE, SUB-GENRE, RATINGS and more.

READING HABITS tracks the days you read and listen, with a goal and a streak for each month.

1. Open READING HABITS and set the YEAR in CALENDAR SETTINGS (it defaults to 2027).
2. For each month, enter your GOALS: how many days you want to read, and how many days you want to listen.
3. Each day, tick the box in the READ row, the LISTENED row, or both.
4. Watch COMPLETED, LEFT, PROGRESS and LONGEST STREAK update, with the WEEKLY OVERVIEW and OVERALL PROGRESS at the top.

The calendar shows your reading days and the dates that matter for your books, with no typing needed.

1. Open CALENDAR. Choose the month and a start day (Sunday or Monday).
2. Days you read or listened (from READING HABITS) show as DAYS WITH READING ACTIVITY.
3. BOOKS TO BE RETURNED appear on their RETURNED DATE, and books WAITING TO PUBLISH on their PUBLICATION DATE.
4. Change the icons in LEGENDS if you'd like different symbols.

A few seconds after each reading session keeps everything accurate.

1. Update CURRENT PAGES OR HOURS on BOOK TRACKER after you read.
2. Tick today's box on READING HABITS.
3. Add new books the moment they land on your list, with 0 current pages.
4. When you finish a book, add the DATE FINISHED, your RATINGS and PERSONAL NOTES while it's fresh.