Reading APPtitude

In the past few weeks we learned of a new app called “Novel Engagement”, put out by Romance Writers of America (RWA).  Available on iTunes and Google play, its purpose is to help “readers discover romance novels and connect with authors…there are five main sections to the app: Books, Authors, Events, Reader Zone, and More.”

This got us thinking….are there other apps out there that might be of interest to readers?  We started researching beyond the romance genre to see what we could find.  A general Google search of “reading apps” yields a lot of results along the lines of audio book and eBook “readers,” that is apps that provide content.  We were more interested in apps that help you find your next book or favorite author.

The app that most closely resembled that for which we were searching is the Goodreads app. We have individual accounts with Goodreads and have thoroughly enjoyed the free website, which is basically a social network for readers.   Their app allows readers to “discover and share books…, find new and interesting books by browsing personalized recommendations based on books you've read and your favorite genres…,see what your friends are reading, write book reviews, and keep track of what you want to read.”  The further advantage to Goodreads is that it crosses genres.  We’ve yet to find a genre that we are interested in finding books in that does not have a list on Goodreads. 

We really wanted apps that were genre-specific, like the RWA app, but did not have much luck.  Western Writers of America has an app that will let you search for literature set in the American West in all genres.  iTunes has “Sci-Fi Library” which has a core collection of 100+ sci-fi novels but I could not find any related to mystery, inspirational, or fantasy; we found nothing similar in Google play.   There are plenty of apps that will come up for all of these genres, but they provide content rather than suggestions or recommendations.  If you read YA, you can check out “Teen Book Finder” (right) for ideas of what to read in that genre. 

There are also different apps that allow you to keep track of what you’ve read (similar to Goodreads), depending on your device.   Apple offers “iReadItNow” (left) through iTunes, which is more like a reading journal app, but allows sharing via Twitter and Facebook.  This app is not free, so it has many premium features.  Android devices have a free app called “To Read – Reading List,” (right) also more of a reading journal than anything else.  

We went searching for genre book apps and these are the ones we discovered.  Do you use apps to find books to put on your ‘to-be-read” list?  If so, do you keep it general or do you have a certain type of book app that you use?   Let us know!