Skip to content

Ask HN: Alternatives to Goodreads?

2 pointshelghardt2 comments
On HN

I find Goodreads very useful, especially following avid readers to get good book suggestions. I also reading the reviews and comments. One annoying thing is how to manage your bookshelf. I don’t know how, but it feels like it could be done better. Some ideas:

1. Rank what to read next 2. Opt out of the strict top level shelves/categories: Want to read, Read, Currently reading. I want to make my own high-level shelves. 3. It is bit annoying managing shelves in Kindle and on Goodreads. I have not found a way to keep things synced.

I think blending reviews/samples/shelving/prioritizing/note taking/buying the book/etc. could be done differently. Any ideas to expand on?

Comments

Yep, there are a lot for book tracking. Most people don't like Goodreads for anything except book tracking; I've interviewed a ton of readers for my website and haven't found anyone positive about the book suggestions yet...

I think the best for replacing Goodreads book tracking functions are: https://hardcover.app/ https://app.thestorygraph.com/

Story Graph is the lending contender as they are quite popular.

I'd love a tool to help me manage my Kindle books directly. I am sure Amazon makes that near impossible when I looked into it.

Build your own tool if there isn't one. I used to think it's impossible as I barely know web dev, but in 2023, with the help of ChatGPT, I managed to build my own private Goodreads alternative in less than two months.

AboutSource Built by g1lg1l

Hackerly is an independent reader for Hacker News, built on the public HN API. Not affiliated with Y Combinator.