Sometimes our phone distract us, but they don't have to! With the very best book apps, your phone can become a part of your reading journey.
Emily Martin Mar 9, 2023Emily has a PhD in English from the University of Southern Mississippi, MS, and she has an MFA in Creative Writing from GCSU in Milledgeville, GA, home of Flannery O’Connor. She spends her free time reading, watching horror movies and musicals, cuddling cats, Instagramming pictures of cats, and blogging/podcasting about books with the ladies over at #BookSquadGoals (www.booksquadgoals.com). She can be reached at emily.ecm@gmail.com.
Book lovers, let’s level with each other. In the year 2023, it’s time for us all to admit that we live on our phones. But maybe that doesn’t have to be a bad thing. After all, there are apps out there that can make every part of our lives easier — even our reading lives. Yeah, sometimes our phone distract us from reading, but they don’t have to! With the very best book apps, your phone can become a beautiful part of your reading journey.
How can book apps add to your reading life? If you’re looking to read more books, having access to books directly from your phone is a great way to sneak some reading in no matter where you are. Or if you’re an audiobook fan, audiobook apps are a must for reading on the go. There are also tons of book apps that allow you to connect with other readers and discuss books online. And reading trackers can help you set goals and check in on your reading accomplishments.
So go ahead and make yourself a little folder for all your reading apps on your phone (gotta stay organized), and get to downloading! These are the best book apps to download!
If you’re really looking to make a habit out of reading, the Bookly app is a must. Bookly lets you track your reading sessions in real-time. Just start the timer and start reading. When you’re done with each reading session, Bookly will chart your stats and let you know how your reading speed stacks up to the rest of your sessions. Looking for a book tracker? You can track your books, rate them, and put them on different shelves as well. Bookly also hosts readathons, so there are lots of ways to get involved with the app and get reading. For more detailed information of how Bookly can add to your reading life, we’ve got a review here.
If you’re looking for access to a wide range of audiobooks, ebooks, magazines and more, all in one app on your phone, Scribd is a no-brainer. Subscribers get access to hundreds of thousands of audiobooks and ebooks, and the subscription cost is a low $11.99 a month for unlimited access to their library. Looking for book recommendations? Scribd will share books with you based on your reading habits. You can also save books on your shelves to read later.
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The StoryGraph has been getting a ton of buzz lately, so it probably needs no introduction. But just in case, I’m here to introduce it anyway. StoryGraph is a social media app that lets you track your books, shelve them, and get book recommendations based on your specific interests. One of the best parts about StoryGraph is all the tags you can add to the books to help other readers find what they’re looking for. You can also tag for trigger warnings. If you’d like an even more detailed review of StoryGraph, check it out here.
Speaking of apps that need no introduction, we can’t talk about book apps without mentioning Goodreads. Like StoryGraph, Goodreads is an app that lets you track your reading, shelve your books, tag them, and connect with other readers online to discuss your favorite books. Are you wondering if you should be using StoryGraph, Goodreads, or both? We’ve put together a little comparison of the two apps to help you figure out which option is best for you.
If you’re trying to read more and log what you’re reading, Basmo is here to help. Think of this app as your personal reading coach. Basmo lets you set yearly goals and daily goals to help you build a reading habit. The best part is your goals aren’t just about reading more. Basmo will support your goals to read more books, but it will also help you read more mindfully and remember more from the books you read with the help of its reading log. And your friends can follow you for even more accountability. Basmo offers more benefits with premium, but there is a free option as well.
Aardvark Book Club is a unique book subscription service that’s totally app-based. Every month, the book club offers up new releases from a wide range of genres. And then you pick your book of the month in the app. Aardvark also connects you with a community of readers you can chat with in the app, to make the whole experience feel like a real book club (but on your phone)!
Of course, we all want to actually read the books on our shelves. But what if you need a little refresher on that book you read a year ago and already forgot? Summary Z has got you covered. This app is exactly what it sounds like: summaries for books. But here’s the thing that makes this one stand out: You can read or listen to the summaries on this app. This app also includes a reading tracker so you can set reading goals and keep track of what you’re reading.
Leio is a reading tracker app with a lot of fun features. You can time your reading to get insights on your reading habits, and then Leio will actually make predictions on your upcoming reading based on what you log. Charts and statistics will also help you keep track of your reading over time. And if you’re on a deadline, Leio will let you know how much you need to read each day to make your goals happen.
Have you been wanting to get to the classics but just can’t find the time? Then you should check out Serial Reader. Serial Readers breaks down classic novels into bite-sized chunks for you so that they’re way easier to get through. Every day, you can read a serialized version of the classic novels of your choice. It’ll just take 20 minutes a day. All novels are unabridged. Best of all, it’s free! But if you want more features, you can pay for premium.
Wanting to consolidate all of your reading into one convenient app? That’s what Aldiko is for! No matter where your audiobooks, ebooks, and comics come from, you can import all of them into this one app. That means all you have to do is click one icon on your phone’s home screen to access every book you’re currently reading. And if you’re like me and you read five or six books at a time, this is a huge life-saver.
Comics fans, this app is for you. Comixology offers over 230,000 digital comics, manga, and graphic novels from Marvel, DC, Viz, Kodansha, Dark Horse, and Image. Plus, the app includes exclusive Comixology comics you won’t be able to find anywhere else. New content is being add to this app every day, so if you’re looking to read more comics from the comfort of your phone, this one’s got you covered.
Wattpad is a dream for writers looking to self-publish and reach a wider audience. Wattpad is a free app that lets users write and read original stories. So if you’re looking to read more or write more (or both!), you want to get on this app. Typically, authors upload longer novels by chapter, so you can follow along wit the story as it progresses and join a large community of people who love to read the same types of stories as you do.
Litsy is a book app that focuses on the social aspect of reading. You know how when you read a book you really love, all you want do is talk about it with people? Litsy is the place where you can do that. Litsy is the app to discover your next favorite book and discuss it with other like-minded people who share your tastes. Share pictures, share your thoughts, comment on others’ pictures and thoughts. Make new friends. You get the idea.
Where are my poetry people? Have I got an app for you: Poetizer. Poetizer is an app where people can read, write, publish, buy, and sell poetry. Currently, there are more than 3 million poems on the platform, written by poets from all over the world from all different backgrounds. Poetizer aims to create a safe and encouraging community for poets and poetry lovers.
Previously known as Serial Box, Realm is an app that creates original fiction podcasts and audiobook series featuring bestselling and award-winning writers, directors, artists, and actors. This app was co-founded by former Obama Administration Department of Justice lawyer Julian Yap and former Penguin Random House executive Molly Barton. Some of the shows on the app are free, but if you’d like the full catalogue, you will have to pay for unlimited.
Are you getting the most out of your library? Not if you don’t have the Libby app. Libby lets you access your library’s digital catalogue from your phone. If you love audiobooks, Libby is the best and easiest way to borrow audiobooks from your library. Looking for more advice on the optimal way to use the Libby app? Good news! We’ve got some suggestions for you right here.
Hoopla is an alternative to Libby, another app that lets you have your library’s audiobooks, eBooks, comics, movies, TV, magazines, and music at your fingertips. And all you need to do to check it out is get a library card. But which one is better for you, Libby or Hoopla? It really depends on what you’re looking for. Both apps will have different books available, but Hoopla also includes movies, TV shows, and music, while Libby is focused on books.
If you like audiobooks, then you probably already have Audible on your phone. But just in case you’re missing out, here’s the deal. Audible offers a wide variety of audiobooks, but it’s also got tons of original podcasts, exclusive originals, and much more. You get access to everything and can purchase audiobooks with a membership. You can also buy extra credits to buy even more audiobooks. As a bonus, Audible always has tons of good sales on audiobooks.
Libro.fm makes it possible for you to enjoy audiobooks while also supporting your local bookstore. Just let Libro.fm know what bookstore you want to support, and your audiobook purchase will go directly to them. I love Libro.fm, and I use it to buy audiobooks from my favorite bookstore in my hometown, Avid Bookshop. Which bookstore will you support?
Last but certainly not least, here’s Kindle. The Kindle app is a free app from Amazon that lets you browse and purchase eBooks, magazines, audiobooks, and comics from the Kindle store. The best part of all? You can sample all of the books you want for free before you buy them.
Didn’t see your favorite book app on this list? Be sure to let us know so we can include it on future lists. Or maybe it’s on one of these: the best reading apps for kids, the best book cataloguing apps, the best apps for focus, or these romance book apps. Now get to downloading!
