This article is intended to be a chronological list of books on diaries and journals, including how-to, self-help and discussions of the diary or journal as a genre of literature. For a list of fictional diaries, please see the list of fictional diaries. For a list of diarists, please see list of diarists.

• A Life of One's Own by Joana Field (Marion Milner), 1934.
• At a Journal Workshop by Ira Progoff, 1975.
• The New Diary: How to use a journal for self-guidance and expanded creativity by Tristine Rainer, 1978.
• The Creative Journal: The art of finding yourself by Lucia Capacchione, 1979*'
• Ariadne's Thread: A collection of contemporary women's journals, edited by Lyn Lifshin, 1982.
• A Book of One's Own: People and their diaries by Thomas Mallon, 1984.
• The Journal Book, edited by Toby Fulwiler, 1987. (Collection of essays on using journals in K12 classrooms.)
• Journal to the Self: twenty-two paths to personal growth by Kathleen Adams, 1990.
• A Voice of Her Own: Women and the Journal-Writing Journey by Marlene A. Schiwy, 1996.
• How to Make a Journal of Your Life by Dan Price, 1999.
• Keeping a Journal You Love by Sheila Bender, 2001.
• Leaving a Trace: On Keeping a Journal by Alexandra Johnson, 2002.
• The Decorated Page: Journals, Scrapbooks & Albums Made Simply Beautiful by Gwen Diehn, 2002.
• Write for Life: Healing Body, Mind, and Spirit Through Journal Writing by Sheppard B. Kominars, 2007.
• Narrative Journaling: 28 days to writing more or less happily for the rest of your life, by Charley Kempthorne, 2014
• The Private Life of the Diary: From Pepys to Tweets by Sally Bayley, 2016.

• Diary
• Intensive Journal Method
• List of diarists
• List of fictional diaries
• Literary technique
• Notetaking