diff --git a/bookwyrm/migrations/0083_auto_20210816_2022.py b/bookwyrm/migrations/0083_auto_20210816_2022.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..ecf2778b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/bookwyrm/migrations/0083_auto_20210816_2022.py
@@ -0,0 +1,56 @@
+# Generated by Django 3.2.4 on 2021-08-16 20:22
+
+import bookwyrm.models.fields
+from django.db import migrations
+
+
+class Migration(migrations.Migration):
+
+    dependencies = [
+        ("bookwyrm", "0082_auto_20210806_2324"),
+    ]
+
+    operations = [
+        migrations.AddField(
+            model_name="comment",
+            name="reading_status",
+            field=bookwyrm.models.fields.CharField(
+                blank=True,
+                choices=[
+                    ("to-read", "Toread"),
+                    ("reading", "Reading"),
+                    ("read", "Read"),
+                ],
+                max_length=255,
+                null=True,
+            ),
+        ),
+        migrations.AddField(
+            model_name="quotation",
+            name="reading_status",
+            field=bookwyrm.models.fields.CharField(
+                blank=True,
+                choices=[
+                    ("to-read", "Toread"),
+                    ("reading", "Reading"),
+                    ("read", "Read"),
+                ],
+                max_length=255,
+                null=True,
+            ),
+        ),
+        migrations.AddField(
+            model_name="review",
+            name="reading_status",
+            field=bookwyrm.models.fields.CharField(
+                blank=True,
+                choices=[
+                    ("to-read", "Toread"),
+                    ("reading", "Reading"),
+                    ("read", "Read"),
+                ],
+                max_length=255,
+                null=True,
+            ),
+        ),
+    ]
diff --git a/bookwyrm/models/status.py b/bookwyrm/models/status.py
index 5d40be20..9274a581 100644
--- a/bookwyrm/models/status.py
+++ b/bookwyrm/models/status.py
@@ -235,6 +235,11 @@ class GeneratedNote(Status):
     pure_type = "Note"
 
 
+ReadingStatusChoices = models.TextChoices(
+    "ReadingStatusChoices", ["to-read", "reading", "read"]
+)
+
+
 class BookStatus(Status):
     """Shared fields for comments, quotes, reviews"""
 
@@ -243,7 +248,13 @@ class BookStatus(Status):
     )
     pure_type = "Note"
 
+    reading_status = fields.CharField(
+        max_length=255, choices=ReadingStatusChoices.choices, null=True, blank=True
+    )
+
     class Meta:
+        """not a real model, sorry"""
+
         abstract = True