I have been on Goodreads since 2010, and I even link my reviews to Goodreads. It is a platform that I have a great deal of nostalgia for and will continue to use- at least for now. That said, Goodreads seems to have a monopoly in terms of a social media platform for readers, and that is never a good thing. The website/app is in need of a major update. There are things that readers have been asking for for years (half stars anyone!) that the company seems to be ignoring. The search and recommendation functions are also terrible! The fact that the company is owned by Amazon doesn’t help its cause either.
For these reasons, I thought I would share a couple of alternatives that I have been playing around with these last few days and have been receiving a lot of attention on Twitter.
The first is The Storygraph, which was founded by Nadia Odunayo. The goal of The Storygraph is to track your reading and receive book recommendations. They highlight the fact that this is not a social media platform. You can follow another user’s reviews, but they will not know that you are following them and you will not know who is following you. This is done to eliminating any of the pressure!
What stands out to me about The Storygraph is the review system. You can rate books anything from 0-5 stars, whether that is 0.5 or 4.75 stars. There are also a series of adjectives that you can choose to describe the book (such as dark, informative, mysterious, sad, etc.), and you can answer various questions on pacing and character development. This is a great feature because the platform tells you the books that you are more drawn to. Right now, my profile says that I mainly read fiction that is emotional, reflective, and dark and books that are medium-paced and between 300-499 pages long.
There is also a survey that you can fill out in order to receive tailored book recommendations. It is also worth noting that you can import your Goodreads library and there are reading challenges.
Evidently, there is a lot to love about this The Storygraph, and it is only going to grow from here. I am looking forward to being along for the ride.
I am not as familiar with BookSloth, and it has been experiencing some technical issues due to its unexpected growth, but I love what I have seen from it so far. The thing that I appreciate about BookSloth is the recommendation section. As soon as you open the app, you will see a list of books- some that have been tailored to your reading, some that are recommended by the community, and some that are more curated and timely lists, such as books about Black Lives Matter and books that celebrate Pride Month. I have already found so many books to add to my TBR, which I will share with you on Monday! Another highlight is that the app lists upcoming releases. I cannot be the only one who struggles to find out what books are coming out, and BookSloth does the work for you! The community is also delightful- it is like Twitter for readers. The creators of BookSloth have incredible ideas, and I cannot wait to see where they go from here.
There is something about the combination of these two platforms that make for the perfect book-tracking experience. I highly recommend using them both!
Do you use The Storygraph or BookSloth? Is there another Goodreads alternative that you use? Let’s discuss in the comments!
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Hearing both for the first time. Will have to check them out
Awesome!
There’s another one that I’m always seeing advertised on Instagram, but I can’t for the life of me remember what it is… Sorry, I know that’s not in any way a productive comment.
I will probably keep using Goodreads if for no other reason then because it already has all my books in there. It’s nice to go back and see what I was reading in past years. I also remember when I first joined how long it took me to put in all my books. Book Sloth sounds like something I would like to add to my Goodreads use though!
Ohhh I will have to keep an eye out for that one!
The Storygraph lets you import your Goodreads library!
Book Sloth is great if you use it more for recommendations than anything else!
I’m so attached to Goodreads I don’t know how I could use anything else. But I might look into these.
I have been using all three lately! I find myself naturally using Goodreads less and less without even trying. Definitely worth checking out!
I’ve only been using Goodreads for 3 years, but i have almost 700 books on there and it honestly scares me to leave it, haha. I kind of want to try Storygraph out, but I also don’t want to leave Goodreads because I actually really like how it tracks your books and stats
The Storygraph allows you to import your Goodreads library, which is nice! I have been using all three platforms lately and I find myself using Goodreads less and less, but it does have way more reviews so that is what is keeping me around right now!
I’ve never heard of either of these! Everything I have is connected to Goodreads so I’ll probably keep up there. I wish they had the feature of half stars and the old one to connect to social media more. I enjoyed that feature, I love being social about books and seeing what others are reading. That’s how I usually pick my next reads, by what others are raving about (hence why I usually read so many good books every year). These are interesting sites though!! Thank you for talking about them, I’ll check them out!
While I love Goodreads, I do like that there are sites and options out there gaining traction. I’m definitely interested in both of these, though I’ll be slower to Book Sloth only because my TBR is so long right now, I want to focus on reading rather than adding. (so tempting though!). Thank you for sharing!!
Agreed! Goodreads needs some competition- maybe it will push them to make some changes.
I’m so glad you posted these! I’ve been trying for about a year to find an alternative to Goodreads, as I keep getting frustrated by their interface and lack of updates. I’ve yet to find anything I like. This is the first time I’m hearing about these two, so I’ll definitely be checking them out the next few days. Thank you so much for sharing!
That makes me so happy! I hope you enjoy them both as much as I have been lately. It is so refreshing to use something other than Goodreads.
I haven’t heard of either of these but I’m excited to know about them! I agree, Goodreads has a lot of drawbacks and could use some alternatives. I really liked it when I started using it, more than 10 years ago now, but it just seems like it’s been updated very little since then, the mobile version is terrible, it makes no sense that there aren’t half stars, etc.
The mobile verson is awful! I always get so frustrated when I use it. It definitely does not hurt for Goodreads to have a little competition. It has been fun to see how many users have flooded to these platforms the last few days!
I can’t figure out how the mobile version is SO bad. It’s like it has to be on purpose, there’s no other way. Thanks for sharing these!!
I’ve always been very comfortable with Goodreads but I agree, it hasnt always been the best. I’ve just gotten BookSloth and it is such a cute app! I love its functionality and I’m looking forward to exploring it more. I haven’t gone on Storygraph yet, but that’s next on my list.
It is so nice to have options! I love that both platforms were created by community members, so they are willing to take on feedback!
I think that the best content is that which is created by those who use/need that service. They know exactly what the community needs because they’ve felt the struggle themselves! I can’t wait for Storygraph to properly launch so I can start using it all of the time!
I 100% agree!
I am so glad that there are going to be alternative options. I think that Storygraph seems really awesome but I dowloaded booksloth the other day and it’s a giant mess. I get that they are having a lot of issues but they really have a lot of work to do! They don’t have a bunch of books and you have to request for them to add them. I was reading The Way of Kings… a pretty popular book. It kept crashing and would take forever to load. I then had a problem with my battery draining like crazy the hour I had it. I have deleted it BUT maybe in like a year when they have a good book catalog and fix all the technical issues, I’ll look into it! They are definitely listening to feedback though, which is awesome! I have so much time invested in Goodreads… it seems like such a pain to start over! lol
I download BookSloth the other day and there have always been a few updates since then! It does have ways to go, but I will use it for recommendations for now. I want to support them so they have the chance to grow! The Storygraph lets you import your Goodreads library, which is helpful, but I completely understand what you mean. I am not quite ready to give up Goodreads 100%, but if these platforms continue to grow, I can see myself making a complete shift in the future.
If it didn’t drain 30% of my battery in that one hour… I would have totally kept it and just not used it until I was ready. I do that with a lot of apps (or I forget) haha. I did know about importing GR but I’m also a part of book clubs and all the lists I’ve made and my notes. 😂 It’s been about 8 years!! It’s been such a long time! I might just used two Interchangeably but never completely give up GR bc of the book clubs and stuff. Still really cool things happening!! Maybe GR will finally change their rating system 😆🤞🏻
That’s what I’m hoping for! Goodreads needs a push to make some updates.
Yes!! Maybe we should all call them out! Haha
I have heard about BookSloth from Instagram group but I’m first time hearing about StoryGraph. I’ll check both apps.
Awesome! I am loving using them both for different reasons.
I am trying out both now! I will stay with Goodreads as well but I find it exciting to discover new platforms. Plus Goodreads can be a pain sometimes haha.
Hahah that’s exactly how I’m feeling!
I’ll definitely check these out! Especially Storygraph if it lets you import your Goodreads books sounds perfect 🙂 Thanks for the info!
Awesome!
I think I’m addicted to Goodreads 😫 is there an easy way to move content to one of these alternatives?
The Storygraph allows you to import your Goodreads library!!
Oh that’s nice!
I’m a great fan of Library Thing. It has a vast membership. I track my reading, get recommendations, follow reviewers I like etc – a whole lot of useful functions.
I will have to look into that one as well! Can’t have too many ways to track my reading. Thanks!
I have signed up for both in the last few days. I don’t really have much of an opinion yet because I haven’t really been able to use either one for one reason or another.
I hope you end up liking them both! I’m not ready to make the complete switch yet, but I like them both so far!
I haven’t gotten rid of goodreads and honestly if I like the others I will probably still keep goodreads.
I think I may have tried Booksloth but for whatever reason didn’t stick with it. There definitely needs to be something to compete with Goodreads, the android app is awful and the search function terrible. I mostly use it for the shelves functionality and the groups. The only other one I can think of is Litsy. It’s pretty much bookstagram with a book database attached so if you like looking at pictures of books and are looking for a more book focused social media it’s great. There’s not much in the way of recommendations though.
I completely forgot about Litsy. I did try it at one point. I will have to give it another change. At this point I need a folder on my phone that is just Goodreads alternatives. I use the android app as well and it is shocking just how bad it is!
I agree with you on basically everything you said! I like Booksloth for the recommendations and Storygraph for the half star rating. Therefore I’m uncertain as to what platform I should go with. That bring, I will carefully keep up with the updates for sure!
(Sorry, I meant to say: “That being said, I will carefully…”)
I’m enjoying using both right now! I don’t use BookSloth to track my reading as much, but once they increase their catalogue I definitely will!
This is fantastic! Thank you! I’m going to check out book sloth.
Awesome!
This is a really helpful post!! I’ve not been very happy with everything about Goodreads, and although I’ll continue to use it to track the books I read, I’ll be sure to check out the resources that you talked about. Thanks 😊
You’re welcome! I hope you enjoy them!
I haven’t heard about these platforms yet and will check them out. Overall, I’m really happy with Goodreads. There are only a few minor points I don’t like about it. I avoid using it on my phone…
The Goodreads app is so terrible! There are things I still prefer about Goodreads, but I just wish they would make some updates.
I agree Goodreads needs a lot of work – especially the app! I’m going to check out these other platforms you’ve mentioned. Thanks for sharing!
Awesome! The app is truly awful!
This was such an interesting and useful read! I agree, goodreads is getting to be very outdated and I have just been using it out of habit because I couldn’t find an alternative. However I will now have to check out those two you mentioned, I love the idea of knowing what kind of books you enjoy based on the words to describe them!
It is cool, isn’t it!? They give you graphs that break own some of your reading stats as well. It’s a fun feature!
So helpful! I literally just left good reads but had no idea what else to use! This saved me!!
That makes me so happy. So glad I could help!
Great Post! thanks!
Thank you so much for sharing! I’m constantly reading, but never used goodreads because I didn’t like some aspects of it and this was the first time I heard of either of these options! I am now using BookSloth. Thank you!
That makes me happy!
Thanks for sharing these, I’ll definitely have to check both of them out properly and see if I want to join either ☺️
Awesome! 🙂
I am so grateful to you for this – you have no idea. At least once a month I google “alternatives to Goodreads” because it really weighs on my conscious that it’s one of my daily apps/websites and it’s owned by Bezos. Also, every other alternative I’ve found kinda sucks – if it’s good on paper, it doesn’t function socially (to my tastes, anyway).
I’m right there with you! I hope you find one you enjoy. I use The Storygraph every day!
I’ve been on and off goodreads for years now and it just feels so clunky/the app is TERRIBLE ugh, lol. Found your post when I googled ‘alternative to goodreads’ and loaded the booksloth app and so far I’m really liking it! Love that it has a challenges/reading progress area, since this is my main reason for using goodreads. And it has a 1/2 star rating option wohooo! I’m going to start the process to migrate over (which will take me about 100 years, ha!), and then I’ll most likely delete my goodreads account. Like Lauren B. said-I don’t like supporting Bezos/Amazon, so this is one small way I can distance myself more!
The app is truly the worst! I’m glad I could help you find BookSloth. The app keeps getting better and better! And you’re right about that, it may be a small thing but I feel better supporting a smaller company in this way.
I didn’t think I’d be interested in another social media platform but these look interesting. My dilemma now is whether I should check them out or use the time to read an actual book. 🙂
Have never heard of these but I’m going to check them out now! I used to use LibraryThing, which offers some pretty great functionality too!
I keep meaning to try Library Thing. Thank you for the reminder!
I freaking adore TSG and have been completely moved over to them from Goodreads for a while. Can’t wait until they launch the full website! Keep an eye for Blurbr which is launching beta soon as well. I’ve been checking out their features on their Twitter page and I think it’s going to be incredible for book searching and recs!
Ohh I’m going to follow them on Twitter. Thanks for the recommendation!!
I have both but What kills Booksloth for me right now is the inability to import your Goodreads lists. I have hundreds of books on there that I’ve read and rated/reviewed. I do not want to go in and enter those all manually, so I’m having a tough time starting up with that app. They also have a very incomplete library, small indie or Kindle Unlimited authors don’t seem to be on there, for example the Dao of Magic by Andries Louws (a 5 book series) is totally missing.
Storygraph seems to be the better platform right now, but I am turned off by the highly far left progressive lean they seem to have. I went to tag a book I just finished for adult content and found a slew of ideological tags that I found objectionable. So I am on the hunt for other alternatives still, but I’ll maintain my presence on as many as I can so I always have a backup if I ever can’t access one of them.
Years ago I used to also use Library Thing along with Goodreads. I should dust it off and use it again.
https://www.librarything.com
I agree that Goodreads needs some competition.
Thanks for the tip! I’m going to try it out.