As I mentioned in yesterday’s post, I’m ready to move on from Goodreads. I’ve been eyeing other fish in the sea of reading trackers. The apps here have potential, but they either made a poor first impression for me or fizzled out quickly when I realized we weren’t compatible.
The Rebounds
These reading tracker apps were not for me (at least in their current version) and I deleted them within days of initial download. My reasons were petty at times (e.g. reading timers stress me out, buggy, aesthetics) and sometimes more serious (e.g. no Goodreads import, exaltation of AI, confusing navigation). Other people love these apps (that’s how I heard about them in the first place), so if something sparks your interest here, please read other reviews elsewhere!
Loved:
You can have virtual reading hangouts around a bonfire! I think BookBuds would be a great option for those looking for reading accountability trying to build a reading habit, and those wanting to feel connected with long distance reader friends. Others might also like the reading timer, cute icons (I mean, look at that lil guy!), and simple navigation.
Didn’t love:
BookBuds is just an app (no web browser access) and it currently doesn’t have a Goodreads import option. It was also pretty buggy and simplistic even though its a few years old, and it’s only available as an Apple app.
Why I ended it:
The lack of Goodreads import made it a no-go for me, but BookBuds could be a fun way to stay connected with friends who live far away. If I was just starting an online reading tracker, I would definitely consider it. It’s less overwhelming to onboard than others and the interface is cute and simple. I would be willing to try BookBuds again later if they add import functionality, especially import from the reading tracker I end up going with.
Loved:
The most intriguing aspect of this app is that they have quarterly readathons where you can set a time-based reading goal and win prizes for achieving it. The Bookly app is very focused on reading speed and offers data on your reading speed and strategies for increasing it. They also have some solid annotation tools and articles on annotation strategies, which could be a useful resource for students.
Didn’t love:
My understanding is that only the paid version (Pro) gives you reading stats. Also, the emphasis on reading speed is not my…speed. That said, reading speed is critical for timed, standardized test-taking, so Bookly could be a very useful tool for students, and I might need to revisit it with that in mind later.
Why I ended it:
Reading timers sap my joy and I already read too fast. Increasing reading volume and speed is important for improving reading skills and test scores, but these are not an area of concern for me. I do think Bookly could be a good tool to support some of my high school students, but the paywall limits accessibility.
Loved:
Bookmory helps you create cute, shareable graphics of quotes from what you’re reading, and the app seems intuitive and easy to navigate. Not only does Bookmory allow for Goodreads importing, but also imports from StoryGraph and about 10 other reading trackers. It has a built-in reading timer and annotating tools (again, not priorities for me, but worth mentioning).
Didn’t love:
Bookmory is just an app with no web browser access, and it doesn’t back up your reading data/log automatically unless you pay for Premium. To import your library, you need to upload a CSV file, which can be a little more cumbersome when you don’t have the option of downloading/uploading on a web browser. (Sorry, my big thumbs hate my tiny phone screen.)
Why I ended it:
Bookmory is a solid option, but to me, it’s not particularly unique or distinctive when compared with some of the others I explored.
Loved:
Bookshelf seems relatively easy to use and navigate, and it supports imports from Goodreads, StoryGraph, Kindle, and others. You can filter book recommendations by mood, pace, type, length, etc.
Didn’t love:
The Bookshelf app gave me the ick. They lead their app description with “Bookshelf is your AI-enhanced reading companion” which makes me shudder. It allows you to generate AI summaries of books…why? So you can basically skip reading it? It reminds me of what happened before the events of Fahrenheit 451.
“Then, in the twentieth century, speed up your camera. Books cut shorter. Condensations. Digests, Tabloids. Everything boils down to the gag, the snap ending…Classics cut to fit fifteen-minute radio shows, then cut again to fill a two-minute book column, winding up at last as a ten- or twelve-line dictionary resume…But many were those whose sole knowledge of Hamlet…was a one-page digest in a book that claimed: now at last you can read all the classics; keep up with your neighbors. Do you see? Out of the nursery into the college and back to the nursery; there’s your intellectual pattern for the past five centuries or more.” (Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, published in 1953)
I also have a lot of concerns about the ethics and copyright issues with feeding these books to generative AI. (Generative AI is extremely exploitative of writers and other creators and wreaking havoc on the book industry right now.) The app also offers reviews and quizzes on what you read, and if working in education has taught me anything, reading quizzes are lethal to reading for pleasure.
OH AND! I don’t like how they basically ripped off StoryGraph’s logo. Not cool.
Why I ended it:
The quizzes and AI summaries turned me off, so I deleted the Bookshelf app without making an account. (Respectfully, please reevaluate your use of generative AI if you actually love books or anything creative in this world.) Also, P.S. there are multiple Bookshelf apps out there, so maybe people were recommending a different one? Just…please don’t use this one.
Bookwise
I was also encouraged to try Bookwise. I downloaded and tried it (or so I thought), and it wasn’t a reading tracker but an ebook reader for books in the public domain. As I was drafting this blog post, I discovered that there are, I kid you not, at least three or four apps out there with that name. I have no idea which one people were raving about, so I’ve moved on. Maybe this is the one that got away, but I don’t care.
Loved:
While I’m trying to find an alternative, functional organizational system to fully ditch Dewey (perhaps a blog post for another day), I still use Dewey to catalog our library’s nonfiction books, and LibraryThing has been a very helpful tool to find the right Dewey Decimal call numbers. LibraryThing also offers several import options in addition to Goodreads, including importing from Amazon wishlists.
The LibraryThing website has lots of great features and interesting rabbit holes you can explore, and it’s all free. They offer an Early Reviewers program, which unlike NetGalley, seems to be open to anyone. (Of course, like NetGalley, you may not get access to everything you request.) The Local page highlights users, Little Free Libraries, public libraries, and bookstores local to you. (You have the option to make your own zip/city private or public). LibraryThing also offers a customizable widget to display your library on other websites and blogs.
Didn’t love:
The Goodreads import was slow and ultimately unsuccessful (see below). The LibraryThing website and app have outdated user interfaces, and the organization of the website is incredibly confusing. Half of the page names seem to be inside jokes without explanations. The Help page has some answers, but my ADHD brain needed more clarity and structure to appreciate the site. The app, on the other hand, has minimal information or functions. You can’t read book summaries or other people’s reviews, which is a significant drawback for me.
Why I ended it:
I wanted to give LibraryThing a real chance because there’s a lot to like here, but my Goodreads import was a hot mess. It uploaded about two thirds of my library almost immediately, but then stalled out. An hour or two later, I went to bed, and when I checked it the next day (12+ hours later), no progress. Most of the other Goodreads imports I tried were completed in a matter of minutes, or at most, an hour. This one ghosted me.
Loved:
TBR’s yearly reading tracker is visualized as book spines on bookshelves. The bookshelves have grey, numbered spines up to the number of your annual reading goal, and a book spines is colored in and labelled with the title each time you finish reading one. It’s very cute. When you rate a book, you have the option to do genre-specific category ratings. For example, romance books ask you to rate fluff, spice, humor, and tears. If you pay for a Pro subscription, you can access additional book details, including tropes, playlists, and POV.
Didn’t love:
When I tried to mark a book as finished and rate it, the TBR app wouldn’t let me unless I subscribed to the Pro plan. (Sorry, what? No.) The Goodreads import seemed super fast, but I couldn’t see the totals for any of the categories (TBR, Read, etc.) so I couldn’t trust its accuracy. The app kept bugging out after my import to the point that I couldn’t use it. Also, it’s just an app (no web browser access) and it wasn’t always intuitive to navigate. And finally, you have to spend gems to customize the aesthetics of your bookshelves, and I couldn’t figure out if there were other ways to earn gems besides upgrading to Pro, a paid subscription.
Why I ended it:
I can definitely see the appeal of the TBR app, especially for romance readers. However, the app kept crashing out of me after I attempted my Goodreads import, and I couldn’t see how effective the import actually was. And I refuse to pay a subscription to any reading tracker just to rate books, plus the ratings of books on a reading tracker that requires this MUST be skewed.
The Sweethearts
None of the reading trackers above were a good fit for me, but I found five others that have a lot to offer:
- Fable
- Hardcover
- Margins
- Pagebound
- StoryGraph
Over the next five days, I’ll be highlighting each of these with its own detailed post. I was pleasantly surprised by all of them, and if it wasn’t for how annoying it is to update multiple reading trackers each time I start or finish a book (or add one to my TBR), I would consider using all five moving forward.
Disclaimer: I was not compensated by anyone for my opinions, nor am I affiliated with any of these reading trackers except as another reader/user. Information in this post is true to the best of my knowledge at the time of posting. If I have incorrect information, whether due to human error or an app update, please feel free to correct me in the comments!
paige in the library 