Reading List: Book Tracker

This app is helping me get back to reading, which is something I have always loved to do but found myself not doing so much the past decade as my fingers and thumbs endlessly and mindlessly scrolled on my phone. This app is very intuitive, as well as visually pleasing. I love that I am able to upload or download book covers. It is so much better than just having a list of books. I also greatly appreciate that I am able to add finished books to lists of my own creation. When I finish one, I can add it to my book club list or ones finished in 2024 or both. Yes, this app is free and the developer has been generous as to what is included in the free version. If you don’t want to subscribe to the pro plan, there is the ability to go to Settings, and give money to the tip jar. I just discovered this today and I was happy to be able to tip. This is such a great app and I want to see it keep being updated and growing. Even if the pro plan isn’t for you, I encourage users of the app to leave a tip to help support a great app. There are so many cruddy ones out there that charge an arm and leg. It is great to have this one free or for a relatively small fee to have the pro version.

This app is amazing!! The free version is insane!!!!! You can add unlimited books (?) I’m up to 600 and I see no limit in sight 😂 The paid version is literally just graphs and data that you get, I personally see no value in it, but you do you! You can add books to your TBR, to your Just Read, or to your Started pile. There are many ways to add your books. Either you can scan the barcode on the back, search up the title name and author to find it, or you can manually type in the book if you are that type of person. You can also scan many books at a times, you just have to select the option. When scanned, searched, or inputted manually, there is a book blurb given for each book and where to buy it, along with book genre details and other stuff. You can also create different “piles” or folders of books that can edit with ease. I personally like to organize my books into genre with these folders. The app is a BREEZE to navigate and this app truly is the best out there for FREE! I have seen and used many apps to keep track of which books I have, and all have had flaws. Either I had too many books, or I couldn’t search up the books I already had, or some other flaw that made me unable to use the app. But this app has zero, and I personally challenge you to find one

I started using Reading List maybe 6 months ago. I was searching for a digital way to store my ever evolving tbr list, while compiling lists of books that I have collected (lovingly & haphazardly) for 30 years. I’ve spent many a dollar on paper mementos from bygone eras & yet more times than not, I’m literally lost in a bookstore wondering “Do I have this edition? Do I have it in paperback, hardcover, signed, limited edition?” And yes I’ve bought multiple copies of many (my local library loves to see me donate). So you can understand why when I began cataloging my personal library to a digital format, I downloaded 3 or four free apps to test to see which would best suit my long term needs. After several tries, I kept two, because yeah I like having a backup plan. Reading List was one of my final and now is my only reading list/biblio type app. The developer, Andrew, actually replied to my app user feedback email. And he is responsive on Twitter to followers of the app. In a world where service and help is no longer a courtesy but is usually rendered by ever infuriating automation, it was nice to see the actual human interface of this app, caring for his product. I hope this review though long, helps this young developer’s dream. It certainly helped my disorganized collection of books. Many thanks!