5 of the best apps to track your reading and discover new books • TechCrunch

As 2022 draws to a close, you may be looking for the best reads of the year that you may have missed, or you may be starting to compile a list of books you want to read in the new year. There are plenty of apps designed to help you track your reading and discover new books. So we have compiled a list of the best ones to help you choose the right one for you.

Some of the apps on this list are somewhat new, while others have been around for a few years. Amazon-owned Goodreads, arguably the most popular book-related app, is not included in this list as we focus on newer, lesser-known platforms.

StoryGraph

StoryGraph is an Android and iOS app that lets you track your reading and get personalized recommendations. You can mix and match the app’s set of filters to find your next perfect read. The app offers many reading challenges, like reading a book from every country in the world or reading a book a week in several genres. StoryGraph also includes a built-in reading log and annual reading and page goals.

The app’s rating system is unique as it gives users a series of questions which the platform will then use to recommend a book to another user. For example, if you say the book you’re reading would be good for someone who enjoys emotional, fast-paced novels, StoryGraph may recommend that book to someone looking for such a read. The rating system also allows you to rate using full, half or quarter stars, unlike Goodreads, which only allows you to rate on a full star system.

StoryGraph is great for people who want something similar to Goodreads. The app is free, but also offers a $4.99 per month subscription plan that unlocks additional features, such as advanced statistics and more personalized suggestions.

Tertulia

Tertulia is a somewhat new iPhone app that differentiates itself from other similar book discovery platforms by using machine learning to analyze online discussions to see what books people are talking about. The app starts by asking you to specify the types of books you want to read. You can choose to get recommendations from people you follow on Twitter, as well as fiction authors, feminist voices, journalists, book reviewers, scientists and more. Then the app will offer you daily recommendations tailored to your interests, which will improve as you interact with books on the app.

The app lets you browse currently popular books, while helping you keep track of what you want to read. If you find a book you’re interested in, you can purchase it directly from the app if you live in the United States. Tertulia’s app is easy to use and offers an intuitive browsing experience.

Tertulia is great for people who want to find out which books are currently popular on social media, podcasts, and the web. The application is free and will soon be launched on Android.

basmo

Basmo is an Android and iOS app designed to help you build a reading habit while tracking your books. The app is primarily for people who want to become a better and more efficient reader. Basmo tracks the time you spend reading and gives you an overview of your overall reading progress. You can also create a custom reading schedule to help you easily reach your goals one page at a time.

As you read, you can use Basmo to digitally jot down your thoughts and ideas about the parts of a book that you find interesting. You can also scan and highlight your favorite passages as you read. Once you finish a book, you can track how you felt. For example, you can rate whether the book made you excited, happy, angry, bored, or confused.

The app is great for people who don’t care about the social or community aspects of reading and instead want to focus on their goals and progress. Basmo is free with standard features. The app also offers a $5 per month subscription which unlocks unlimited features and additional features.

Reader

Readerly is an Android and iOS book discovery app that helps you track your reading and find new books. Unlike all the other apps in this roundup, Readerly doesn’t include a five-star rating system. Instead, the app provides context with each review that shows you how much your tastes overlap with the reviewer, the books you’ve both read, and the topics you both love. The goal is to prevent you from possibly skipping over a book you might actually like, regardless of its rating on another platform.

The app also moves away from long reviews and instead offers Gists, which is the app’s short review format. Gists essentially force users to write a TL version; DR of a review in 200 characters or less. The Gists are then transformed into an Instagram Stories-like format. Once you’ve created your Gist, you can add additional slides with your quotes, characters, or other additional information that you think others might find useful. In terms of book discovery, the app will bring up Gists of readers with similar reading tastes to yours.

Readerly is great for people who want to try out a unique book discovery platform. The app is free and also offers a monthly subscription fee of $2.99 ​​for users who want to support the new platform and receive personalized assessments.

TBR library

TBR Bookshelf is a relatively new iOS app that primarily caters to #BookTok, a popular TikTok sub-community focused on popular books and literature. The app offers a simple and clean user interface. Like other book tracking apps, TBR Bookshelf lets you track the books you’ve read, want to read, and are currently reading. The app’s rating system allows you to describe your favorite characters and quotes. You can also note whether you have re-read a book or haven’t finished a book at all.

The app has specific rating categories for different genres that go beyond star ratings. For example, if you’re rating a self-help book, you can give it separate ratings based on its inspiration and usefulness. Or, if you’re reviewing a classic book, you can give it different ratings based on how heartfelt and interesting it is.

TBR Bookshelf is a good app for people who are part of #BookTok, as many features are aimed at these users. The app is free, but also offers a $4.99 monthly subscription that unlocks additional features, including seasonal ratings, book reading lists, and TV show and movie adaptation ratings.