For years, I used Goodreads with my Kindle to track my reading habits and discover new books. But after hearing about StoryGraph, I decided to change things up. I’ve found that it has more interesting features than Goodreads—and Amazon doesn’t own it.
What is StoryGraph?
Like Goodreads, StoryGraph (iPhone, Android, web) is a service for book recommendations and tracking reading habits. The basic idea is you add the books you’ve read, give them ratings, and StoryGraph can use the information to build recommendations.
There’s a lot more to it than that, though. When you finish a book, you’re greeted with a sort of mini questionnaire. It asks about the book’s mood, pace, plot, characters, etc. You don’t have to fill this out, but StoryGraph uses it to understand better the types of books you like. It’s much more than a simple star rating.
StoryGraph also provides detailed analytics on your reading habits, displayed in—you guessed it—graphs. It breaks down your reading by genre, pacing, length, mood, and more. This data-driven approach can give you insights into your reading patterns and help you make more informed choices about what to read next.
Why It’s On My Phone
Initially, I was skeptical about moving away from Goodreads. It had been my go-to platform for years. I have a few fellow-reader friends on it, and I was comfortable with its features. However, I didn’t realize it was owned by Amazon, and after seeing a video on BookTok about StoryGraph, I was intrigued.
Making the switch was surprisingly easy. StoryGraph allows you to import your Goodreads data, so I didn’t have to start from scratch. Your “To Read” and other shelves are kept intact, along with your ratings and reviews. Within minutes, all my reading history was transferred, and I was ready to explore what StoryGraph had to offer.
First of all, the interface is much nicer than Goodreads. It actually feels like a modern app, not something that’s been exactly the same for a decade. The next thing I really liked was the AI-powered personalized recommendations for each book. StoryGraph uses your past reading to tell you if a book is likely to interest you. It’s very helpful.
Since switching to StoryGraph, I’ve found myself finding better books to read. The personalized recommendations help me understand what I’m getting into and give me a push to try a new book. If you’re a reader looking for a fresh, data-driven approach to book tracking and recommendations, I highly recommend giving StoryGraph a try.
