A reading log that gets abandoned is usually not a discipline problem. It is a design problem, and it is checkable before you buy.
A log that tracks minutes turns reading into time served, and a child watching a clock is reading to finish a number, not for pleasure. A log that tracks books, nights, or a simple box ticked keeps the unit closer to what you actually want more of. Look at the sample page and see what column comes first.
A star to color, a sticker, a box to shade — these take seconds and feel like part of the fun. A log that asks for a written sentence about the book every time attaches a writing task to a reading habit, which for a child who finds writing effortful is often enough to kill the log on its own.
A fixed number of rows that can be completed works differently from a rolling chart with no end. A child can see the end of a twenty-row log; a chart that just continues forever gives them nothing to finish, and finishing is most of what makes a log satisfying to keep.
Some logs are built around new titles only, which quietly punishes a child building fluency by reading the same five books repeatedly. If a log has no way to mark a reread, decide in advance whether that will matter to the child using it.
We do not currently sell a paid reading log — the one we have made is a free printable, not a bundle, so there is nothing here to plainly label as ours. The criteria above apply to any log you are looking at, including a paid one of ours if we make one later.
That is a household decision, not a rule anyone can hand you. For a log run at home, most families count them; a school-issued log follows whatever the school decides.
Around five or six with a symbol-based log; by seven or eight, most children can write the title themselves if the log asks for it.
A fixed length that gets completed and then replaced tends to hold attention longer, because there is a moment of actually finishing it.
Part of our guide to Buying guides: for a specific child.