Reading Logs?

Hi friends!
Are you nearing the end of your school year? I am. And I'm reflecting on the year past, evaluating what I want to change for next year. What should I add or subtract? Or modify?

I'm thinking about reading logs. This year I had our third through fifth grade students set a reading goal and record the books they've read on a reading log. Results were mixed. One third grade class read over 1500 books during the course of the year, and several classes read more than 1000.
Of course, many students forgot to write down the books they read, or they lost the paper.

Donalyn Miller doesn't like reading logs.

But I just got home from a workshop with Steven Layne (author of Igniting a Passion for Reading) and he recommends having students keep a reading log of EVERYTHING they read---recipes, magazines, instruction manuals. And he made a huge reading log for himself on butcher paper and hung it up in the hallway so that every passing class could see it. He thought it was valuable for showing kids who think they don't read how much they really do read.

So....I'm still considering what I should do for next year. And I'm busy rewarding the classes who met their reading goals.

Here's what I've created for summer reading...a bingo game that combines a reading log with a reading list. It's in my TPT store for $1.50, with a different bingo game for every grade level.

I created this after reading a Jigsaw Jones book (The Case of the Glow-in-the-Dark Ghost) to a group of first graders. In the book, the librarian had created a reading incentive that was like a board game. So this is what I'm thinking about for next year.

Should I stick with the log? Or make it a game, with author and title suggestions?

What has your experience been with reading logs?

Oh, by the way, if you stop by my TPT store, be sure to download my free printable summer bookmarks for your students to color! They look like this.