Book Management

TL;DR: I use Goodreads (and my Kindle) to track progress automatically. I use The Storygraph to find the next book to read, write reviews, and manage my books.

I used to use Goodreads alone to track my reading. When I first started using it in 2008 its ability to scan the barcode on books was very helpful for loading my library of physical books. In 2011 I bought my first Kindle and switched to digital books. (It’s more portable and the integrated light makes it less intrusive to my spouse when I read in bed every night.) Kindle’s integration with Goodreads essentially tracks my reading automatically. I just have to correct some dates now and then if I don’t sync my Kindle.

But Goodreads has never been that helpful to me in finding new books, or figuring out which book to read next. The reviews seem to mostly be reviewers promoting themselves rather than honestly reviewing books. I just don’t like the attitude. And I had to add my own tags — in Goodreads and in my Kindle — to help sort my books and find the next one I wanted to read. It was clunky.

In one of my periodic searches to find an alternative to Goodreads and the Kindle — because while I spend a lot of money at Amazon I don’t like doing it, and don’t like closed tech ecosystems in general — I found The Storygraph and it sounded like it fixed a couple of things I didn’t like about Goodreads. I started using The Storygraph in 2024 and now use it to select and review books.

Tracking My Books

I’ve established a process for keeping track of my reading using the two tools.

Books to Read

My To-Read Pile (or Want to Read shelf, in Goodreads) is big enough (483 books, 244 of which I already own) that I don’t actively seek out new books.

I do subscribe to some book-related newsletters and follow authors on social media, so when I run across a book that sounds good I’ll add it to my To-Read Pile in The Storygraph.

I also get (too many) emails about Kindle deals and I purchase books while they’re on sale. I periodically add books I’ve purchased to both Goodreads and The Storygraph. Goodreads has a feature that allows you to add Amazon book purchases, so this becomes my “to-do list” for updating my To-Read Pile.

• On The Storygraph, I add them to my To-Read Pile, mark them as owned (a really handy feature), and add any tags.
• On Goodreads, I add them to an own-not-read shelf I created, since Goodreads doesn’t give you the option to mark a book as owned.

Books I’m Currently Reading

I only read one fiction book at a time. I’ve been experimenting with nonfiction audio books while I exercise but again, I only read one at a time. As I read books, Goodreads automatically tracks status and start and finish dates as it syncs with my Kindle.

Books I’ve Read

When I finish a book I add a quick Goodreads star rating when prompted, typically a 4 (good) or a 5 (great). (I have a whole philosophy on ratings that I’ll save for another post.)

When I finish a book or a series, I manually update start and finish dates in The Storygraph and add a review. I don’t review individual books in a series unless I’ve just started the series.

I typically update this blog on Wednesdays, adding posts for any books or series since I last updated. (It doesn’t happen every Wednesday depending on what else is going on.)

Picking Out the Next Book

Finding new books is not a problem. Sifting through all those possibilities to find the next book is more challenging, and this is where The Storygraph really shines. 

With The Storygraph you can filter your To-Read Pile by:

• Mood (any or all) 
• Pace (Slow, Medium, or Fast)
• Type (Fiction or Nonfiction)
• Genres (include any or all, or exclude)
• Tags (include any or all, or exclude)
• Number of pages (< 300, 300-499, 500 >)
• Format (Print, Digital, Audio)
• Original Publication Year (From, To)
• Only books I own or I don’t own 
• Books that aren’t part of a series

The items in bold are the ones I use myself:

• I tend towards books whose mood is adventurous, mysterious, and dark, but if I’m in the mood for something lighter I can exclude those, or select funny, hopeful, and relaxing, for example. 
• Pace isn’t something I filter for a lot, but sometimes I’m in the mood for something slow and sometimes I’m not. 
• I’ve found The Storygraph genres map well enough to my own that I didn’t have to create my own tags for that. I use genre a lot since I like to mix it up between (archaic) fantasy, science fiction, and more current-day fantasy and mystery.
• I usually start by looking at books I already own. (Because why buy a new book when you have 244 that you haven’t read?) But I’ve also used this filter to find books I don’t own if Kindle Unlimited has a special offer, to see if there’s anything available there that I want to read.

Tags are where The Storygraph really shines for me. You create your own tags and can apply as many as you want to a given book. Here are some of the ways I use tags:

• Location tags, like France or Caribbean, since when I travel I like to read books set in that location or reflecting that culture.
• KU (for Kindle Unlimited), so when I have a subscription I can focus on those books while I have access.  
• Series-started or Series-new, if I’m leaning toward finishing (continuing? who knows if this is the end?) something I already started or diving into another marathon.

Once you’ve applied filters you can sort by Earliest/Latest added, Author, Title, Number of pages, or Pub(lication) Date.

Plus The Storygraph has a convenient Up Next feature, which can hold four books.

Reviewing a Book

Since I started this blog I’ve been reviewing each book or series as I finish it. While I post those here, I also include a version on The Storygraph. I prefer the more guided and flexible review approach of The Storygraph.

What I really appreciate in The Storygraph is the additional (optional) questions it offers. It prompts you about:

• Mood
• Pace
• Whether the book is plot or character driven
• Strong character development 
• Loveable characters
• Diverse characters
• Whether character flaws are a main focus
• Main themes, topics, or tropes
• Content warnings

Answering those questions means I don’t have to include that information in the review. They also prompt me to think about those things when reviewing the book.

The Storygraph has become my new home for tracking my reading. About the only thing I still use Goodreads for is tracking my reading process, since it syncs with my Kindle. (And I use a Goodreads widget on the home page of this blog to show what I’m currently reading.)