Julie A. Wallace

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The Ultimate List of Goodreads Alternatives For 2023

When I introduced everyone to Bookshop in January, I was also learning about some alternatives to using Goodreads to track books for the year. I found a lot of alternatives and have tried a few; here is my takeaway.

What Is Goodreads?

Goodreads is arguably the world’s largest site “for readers and book recommendations.” It’s a social media site owned by Amazon that invites readers to record and recommend books. There’s an app, there are giveaways, groups – all the normal things you find with a social media site.

Throughout the year I track what I’m reading. And, like most of the world, I use Goodreads. I even post what I’ve read every month in my “mission” posts.

But the Goodreads website and app are both clunky. In fact, I recently learned that there have been little to no improvements since Amazon acquired the site. I’ve read about bullying issues in the groups and towards authors, and about people making up fake reviews. Don’t take my word for it, though; here are the articles I checked:

What I Look For In A Goodreads Alternative

There are several things I look for in a Goodreads alternative:

  • The most important thing I look for is easy of use. Is it easy, mindless, and super-simple to navigate?
  • Is there both an app and a website? The older I get the less I want to only have an app. I want both an app and a website so I can sit at my computer and do data entry or browser or whatever. But I love the on-the-go flexibility with an app.
  • Can I scan books directly from the app? Having to search or otherwise hand-key is a pain.
  • Can I import books from Goodreads into this new app? For me this is a must. There’s no way I’m scanning or hand-keying years of reading into a new app.
  • Is that app/website modern or clunky?
  • More than numbers and statistics, are there graphs that visually represent what I’ve read?

Goodreads Alternatives I’ve Used

LibraryThing

I found LibraryThing before I found Goodreads, and it remains my favorite. It is a clunky, too, but I love that it’s still majority held by the founder of the company. As far as I know at this time (March 2023) a small, tight team runs the whole site.

The Home page of Goodreads alternative LIbraryThing
The Home page of my LibraryThing account.

The LibraryThing Home page defaults to an overview of my world. In the center you see “Your Books” which tells me I have 849 books, have written 42 reviews, have 24 collections and have rated 291 different items.

To the left is a simple text menu of different options like recent news, my feed, and recommendations. Further down are things to discover like books, reviews, community (groups,) lists, and more.

There is also a menu at the top of the screen with plenty of options. Here’s the Zeitgeist which gives you stats for all of LibraryThing.

The Zeitgeist page of Goodreads alternative LibraryThing

There is also one place to view all of your books. There are several different views. Here is the view of all of the covers.

One view of my library in Goodreads alternative LibraryThing

And here’s a view of the some of the different tags on my books.

A list of tags and collections associated with my LibraryThing books

There’s even a “local” feature that highlights places near you. I even added a couple of the Little Free Libraries that I know about into Mount Pleasant into the local listings.

The local page on LibraryThing

I’ve been on LibraryThing for a very, very long time and as such, I’ll stay despite the clunkiness. I was there when they were using paid memberships and bought a lifetime membership. And I’m still there now that the site is 100% free.

The StoryGraph

The StoryGraph is (at least for me) a new kid on the block. It’s feisty, entrepreneurial driven, and loaded with cool graphics and statistics. Find me on The StoryGraph.

I LOVE these graphics. This is what I mean by a modern, easy-to-use Goodreads alternative. You can click on any “pie” slice to see the books that fall within the selected category. I love knowing that I read mostly informative, reflective, mysterious, lighthearted, and adventurous books.

A pie chart showing all books read and associated moods in Goodreads alternative The StoryGraph.

The vast majority of the books I read are medium paced.

A pie chart of book pace in The StoryGraph.

And my reading is split between fiction and nonfiction.

A pie chart of fiction vs nonfiction in The StoryGraph.

Look at the different genres!

A bar graph of genres from The StoryGraph.

There are more genres, by the way; the screenshot only shows the top genres.

So what have I learned from The StoryGraph? I love books that are medium-paced novels around 300 pages that are mystery, fantasy, historical, reference, self-help, science fiction, romance, contemporary, or memoir.

As much as I love the graphs, as of March 12, 2023, you can’t scan books into The StoryGraph app. And that’s why probably will not use this as much as LibraryThing.

The StoryGraph also has a strong community, reading challenges, and giveaways. There is a Plus version available, and the programming road map for the future of The StoryGraph is public.

Bookstagram, BookTok & Other Social Media Alternatives to Goodreads

Authors, readers, editors, and others associated and enamored with books and publishing are all over social media. The only issue I’ve had with this Goodreads alternative is that while people are really enthusiastic about books, they aren’t always enthusiastic about the kinds of books I like.

For example, when I first joined TikTok, people were super enthusiastic about A Court of Thorn and Roses by Sarah Maas. I got a copy, read, and was disappointed. I liked the premise, but really hated the blood and guts.

On the other hand, one of the first authors I followed on TikTok was Mary Robinette Kowal. I just enjoyed listening to her talk about her writing process. And then I read The Calculating Stars, fell in love with her writing, and quickly read through (and enthusiastically recommend) the whole series.

Even More Digital Goodreads Alternatives

There are a ton of other digital options if you want to skip or escape from Goodreads. Here are some others. Links are correct as of March 12, 2023.

Analog Goodreads Alternatives

Want to go old school? Here are some analog ways to track what you’re reading or find new books to read.

  • Book Clubs: I’ve never been in a book club; it’s a group activity and boy, I avoid those as much as possible. But I always seem to enjoy the books I buy that are designed for book clubs.
  • Bookstores: There’s just nothing like wandering around a bookstore in the analog world and seeing what catches your imagination.
  • Friends & Family: Exchange books, get recommendations.
  • Hotels: There are literary & book themed hotels.
  • Library: When’s the a last time you were in your local library?
  • Magazines: It’s been a hot minute or two since I read a magazine, but they’re still around.
  • Paper and Pen: If you keep a journal, it’s a great place to track what you’ve read and what you want to read. And it’s worked for millenia!
  • Subscription Boxes: There are a whole load of book and reader themed subscription boxes out there.
  • Thrift Stores: Wander into a thrift store and see what kind of random book you can find. It’s rarely today’s best sellers, but it might be a best seller from 20 years ago

Your Turn

How do you keep track of what you’ve read? What are your favorite Goodreads alternatives? Which one should I try next?