My 2022-2023 reading list challenge and what apps(I hope) will help me conquer my list
Last January I had a goal of starting to conquer reading my endless (what seems like it anyway) TBR to be read book pile.
This past month I decided I would tackle my books again. Since I keep collecting them and not actually reading them. Am I the only one? I hope not.
My goal is to read at least 25 books by the end of December or January 1st. And 52 books by this time next year. It is a hearty goal. Which as of counting today is 50 books. And since I’ve already got more books on the way (call me crazy) I’m sure there will be more. So here are a list of apps I am using to help me with this lofty goal.
First, I subscribe to book of the month club. All you have to do is select a book and review it. You can rate it love, like, or dislike. I honestly never have disliked a book of the month club book selection pick. The only downside is that you can rate a book you’ve read that you did not get from the club but it does not count towards your yearly reading goals.
Then there is Goodreads. Which I’ve been using for years. Although it seems like my reading lists collected more dust over the years. Metaphorically speaking of course. I do love that it connects to kindle.
If you are reading a book not on kindle then you have to add the book manually. I usually do that once I’m finished with the book.
I also love paperback swap which is a website not an app and I don’t believe they have an app although I would love it if they did. Since I collect so many books I figure I would rather trade a book I’ve already read then have it just sitting on my bookshelf collecting literal dust when someone else could enjoy it after me. Plus, you can make lists of books that are on your wish list and trade them. I’ve already saved about twenty dollars doing this.
Fable is a book club app that I recently got. I got it in February or March but didn’t really start joining clubs and utilizing it till last month. I love that you can join clubs and most of the clubs are free. They do have a few clubs that you have to go premium to join. I also love that you can buy the book right on the website (not in the app unfortunately.) But, it will be on your bookshelf in the app. I wish they had the app on kindle though. Because I have to read on my phone. Not a super big deal but it can be a little difficult. I’m sure if you had an Ipad it would sync up with that in the app store. And 20% of the proceeds get donated to the world literacy fund.
Today I found a few new apps that I haven’t really tried yet. But, I have a general overview of them. The first one is Bookly. It was easy to go through my books and scan the barcodes to input my to be read books together, A few of the books are not available with the barcode but when I searched I found them. Plus, you can input multiple books at once so that is a great time saver. The only downside I’ve seen is that it seems like it works best with physical books and not ebooks. Since you can only input the pages you’ve read up to and can’t put a reading percentage like they show you in kindle and fable. So, if you exclusively read ebooks it might not be the best choice for you.
Another downside is you have to pay for the app if you want to add more then 10 books at a time to your collection. But, they do offer a free trial.
Then I got Storygraph. It is similar to Goodreads in tracking the books you want to read, are currently reading, or have finished. The only difference I’ve really noticed is that it gives you actual book recommendations that are streamlined based on your taste. Its a book algorithm. However, I believe you do have to pay for the feature and to see similar books to what you just read. But, you can also select books based on your current mood and genre. They also offer a free month trial. And you can input physical book pages and digital books by percentage. You can also copy your goodreads lists over (although I tried and it didn’t work for me) But, I might try again if I feel the need to.
So this is how I plan on completing 25 books by January 1st and 52 books by August 1st 2023.
