Way back in 2007, a blogger (or possibly two) known as Arukiyomi created a free, downloadable spreadsheet that quickly became the gold standard for the community. It was a simple but powerful solution. You would download the file, input your age, and mark off the books you had read. The spreadsheet would then instantly calculate your completion percentage and, perhaps most dauntingly, the number of books you needed to read per year to finish the list before you died.

Are you looking to conquer the famous "1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die" list?

A basic list is fine, but a powerful spreadsheet includes metadata that helps you make smart choices. Add these columns for deeper analysis:

Using charts and graphs, you can see your reading habits evolve over time. How to Structure Your 1001 Books Spreadsheet

What started as a personal project quickly became the gold standard for tracking the challenge. Over the years, Arukiyomi continued to refine and expand the spreadsheet, eventually adding that includes all the books from multiple editions, as well as advanced tracking and filtering features. For a time, the full version was available by donation to support his work.

Search for "1001 Books to Read Before You Die CSV" or "GitHub 1001 books list." Several literary data enthusiasts have already converted the list (up to recent editions) into machine-readable formats. You can import this directly into Google Sheets or Excel.

=SUMIF(I:I, "Completed", H:H) (assuming column H is Page Count). Drop-Down Menus (Data Validation)

Last name first (e.g., Austen, Jane ) for seamless alphabetical sorting.

Are you tracking the or a combined list of all editions ?

Set the column to change colors automatically: light red for Not Started , yellow for In Progress , and soft green for Completed .

One major challenge with the 1001 Books list is that the list changes. Peter Boxall’s book has undergone several updates (2006, 2008, 2010, 2012, and beyond). Newer editions regularly drop older, more obscure titles to make room for contemporary releases.

Creating a spreadsheet to track your reading list is easier than you think. Here's a step-by-step guide to get you started: