read between the runs

when it comes to book tracking, there are several different options available for people to choose from. i use two to cover my book needs: goodreads and storygraph. goodreads is the most well known of all reading apps so that was where i started, and i chose storygraph for some features it provides that goodreads does not offer. whenever i finish a book i always post my review on both so i can get the benefits of both platforms, but lately i’ve been thinking about going back down to one so i’m using this as an opportunity to create a facsimile of a pro/con list but only acknowledging the pros.

goodreads

analyzing book ratings and popularity

goodreads is the behemoth of the reading application book trackers of today, and it’s association with amazon makes no mistake as to why. because of its eminence, seemingly almost any book reader you encounter will have a goodreads account. thus, when readers finish books and rate them, goodreads has a huge database for the thoughts of users. this allows me to finger the pulse on how huge swaths of people are enjoying or not enjoying a book and the relative popularity of a book based on the number of people who have rated it. i’m pretty sure that i remember watching a youtube video by jxmyhighroller that delved into the law of large numbers and how usually when you have a great number of people independently rating something, the average is typically accurate despite having outliers that disagree with consensus. with smaller apps with fewer users, it’s harder to know exactly how well received a book is, an issue goodreads does not suffer from.

social components

the best thing that i think goodreads has going for it is it’s social aspect. as soon as you load up the app, you’re straight into seeing what your friends are reading. for anyone deep into finding recommendations or looking to stay up to date on their friends’ reading progress, goodreads is unmatched. i love how easy to read and comment on reviews it is. i don’t have to dig, it is readily available, and they compile a list of friends who have read whatever book you go to the information page about so you can see the thoughts of the people you’re trying to share the platform with easily.

storygraph

reading data

let’s start out with the shining benefit of storygraph: the statistics. anything you could want to know about your reading within a month, a year, or all time are easily broken down into digestible graphs (hence the name). these go far beyond the books read each month or fiction vs. non-fiction breakdowns. i can see the number of pages or hours read, a breakdown of the length of pages of the books read (less than 300, more than 500), average star ratings across time and most read authors. i chose storygraph as a second option because i love to see stats about everything that i do, and their wide variety of information blew my mind. i find myself reviewing my stats after literally every book that i finish because i love all the data. being able to see that information about my reading keeps me going!

half stars

when i read a book, not everything is easily rated into one of five categories, and five star books are not all of the same caliber. storygraph shines by not only offering half star rating options, but quarter as well. this is signficant for when i read a book that i love but just don’t feel it’s worthy of a perfect rating. there is room for so much more nuance and i love that storygraph delivers. heck, they even let you rate a book zero stars which came in handy when i read the worst thing ever in my life.

tracking owned books

in their built in interface, storygraph offers a place to track the books that you owned. i love this feature because now i know a pretty close estimate to the number of books that we have in our home for if people ask. i can look at any book and it shows as owned or not, which is incredibly helpful when i’m out book shopping and can’t specifically remember if i have a book or not. now i just look up the book and it tells me if i own it so i know whether or not to purchase it. within the owned books, i can also sort various ways and look at the above mentioned stats to see the amount of books owned that i have read or get ideas based on genre for the next book i read.

choosing specific book types

storygraph allows users to select how they read or own a book when they enter it into their stats. i can differentiate between audio, digital, and physical, but also between paperback and hardcover. this increases the accuracy of their stats for pages read and honestly just feels nice to know that i can mark the exact version of any book that i have ever read or owned. it’s a small, meaningful touch.

tbr shelf

the tbr shelf, for the uninitiated, is basically a list of the books you want to read–to be read. when you open up the home page, the list is right there reminding you of all the books that you want to read and why you need to read more faster! just like the other shelfs, it’s easy to filter in different ways or look at the stat graphs specifically about the books on the tbr. it’s easy to just go click and add something to the to-read shelf so i don’t have to just look through random screenshots in my photos to remember everything that i wanted to read.

favorites shelf

this really is mostly a nothing-burger of a feature, but it’s just a cute addition to allow users to create a list of their (up to) five favorite books with a mini display on the app. this way if someone stumbles onto my profile, they can see my fave books all time and vice versa for me.

yearly/monthly reading graphics

at the end of each period, storygraph offers a graphic to be created to show information about the reading period. this wrap-up is nice for aesthetic, easy comparison between months and is easily shareable with friends. both goodreads and storygraph have year end wrap ups, but making a one-page version of it is a very nice option.

in review

obviously both platforms offer their own benefits. i’m also sure that i don’t use all the benefits of either platform because i’m in my silo and not branching out any more in either now that i know what i’m using them for. like i know goodreads has groups, additional seasonal reading challenges, and a discover tab i never clicked on until today while storygraph has their suggestions and social components i haven’t put much time into. maybe those would be gamechangers for me, and i’m sure i am missing more, but i can only write to what i’ve used, and if this list is any indication, i think there is a clear winner for me in my heart.

do great; be happy