Being a book lover isn’t usually as simple as picking up a book from time to time. I’ve noticed a tendency amongst the most dedicated bookish folk to take it several steps farther. We collect book-related stuff. There are bookmarks (often from The Book Depository) scattered throughout our houses and tucked seemingly at random into various books on our shelves. We seek out like-minded people, and the advent of the internet has made it that much easier to find them. I have a lot of online resources I love for book-related stuff. Here are some of them:
- Book Riot. Fairly obvious, but has to be said.
- Epic Reads’ weekly Book Nerd Problems. Short little videos that illustrate some of the experiences and troubles associated with being a book nerd.
- Bookfinder. I love this site. It searches several online book sellers and then sorts the results by price (including shipping). Not always accurate – sometimes I’ll get a link that ends up having had a price change or one that doesn’t actually ship to my location, but it’s usually pretty good, particularly for out of print books.
- The Storygraph. This is a relatively new find for me (thanks to Greg), but I love it. It’s kind of like Goodreads – in fact you can import your entire Goodreads library – but it not only tracks the books you read, it takes the themes and genres and sorts them into useful graphs that help you to track your reading throughout the year. I’m obsessed.
- Chirp. I do use Audible, Rakuten Kobo and my local library for audiobooks as well, but this site has new deals every day, and the deals last for a few weeks usually. So you don’t have to rush to buy or miss out if you forget to check it for a few days. And there’s no subscription required.
- Storykeepers podcast. This is a relatively new one, but it’s great. Hosted by Waubgeshig Rice and Jennifer David, Storykeepers is like a virtual book club for Indigenous literature. On the 4th of every month they upload a new podcast episode discussing the latest book selection (you can see upcoming books listed on the website so you can read along), and the discussions are engaging and informative. Their next book will be The Lesser Blessed by Richard Van Camp, and the podcast for that book will air on November 4th.
- Serial Reader. I haven’t used this for a while, but I love the idea. It’s an app that takes classic books and divides them into short bits that take about 15 minutes to read. Every day, it gives you access to a new section of whichever book you selected. It’s a great way to make daunting classics feel more manageable.
- Out of Print. I have so many t-shirts and cosy sweaters from this site, and I always have several more on my wishlist. My kid even has several kids’ sized shirts of favourite books. I love their stuff, and so far most of it has been pretty comfy.
- Lovely Books podcast. I only recently discovered this, but I’ve been enjoying it. Sometimes the host can be a little difficult to relate to for me, but there’s enough here and so much book love that it’s well worth a listen.
- Libby. Not exactly original, but man have I been grateful for this app over the past year! In case you aren’t familiar, Libby is an app that connects to local libraries so you can borrow digital content like ebooks, audiobooks and digital editions of magazines. I adore it, and have been able to read a ton of books in the past year because of it! (I believe it’s the same content as Overdrive, but with a more youth-friendly interface. I’m not 100% sure though.)
So that’s me! Not all super original, but each one a part of my online reading life! What about you guys? Do you use any of these? Did I introduce you to anything new? Which apps or sites have I left off that you love?
Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly link-up feature created by The Broke and the Bookish and hosted by Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl. Every week TTT has a different topic, and everyone who links up has to create a link of ten items that fit that topic. To see past and upcoming topics, go here.
Out of print sounds like one we will love 🙂 Here is my link for this week: https://cindysbookcorner.blogspot.com/2021/10/top-ten-tuesday-online-resources-for.html
It’s got a lot of fantastic stuff for book lovers! I hope you enjoy it!
I’ve got plenty of stuff from Out of Print too. 😀
Lauren @ Always Me
So comfy!
I love all things statistics, so I feel like I’d absolutely love to check out Storygraph! Happy TTT! Here’s my list: https://www.literacious.com/2021/10/19/top-ten-tuesday-online-resources-for-book-lovers/
I think you’ll enjoy it! I like seeing the data on which genres I’m reading most of, how my reading has fluctuated throughout the year, which topics I’m engaging with the most, etc. There have been some surprises in there! It’s still relatively new, so some books aren’t on there yet or have incorrect data, but I’ve found that when I’ve reported a mistake it gets fixed very quickly!
Good list–Lovely Books is a new one for me, I’ll try it, Thanks
I hope you enjoy it!
I didn’t realize that Out of Print had their own shop. My only exposure to their products it through the Book Outlet store. I have a tote with a Shakespeare quote on it that I use for my library books.
Pam @ Read! Bake! Create!
https://readbakecreate.com/5-booktube-creators-worthy-of-checking-out/
They do! It’s great, but will definitely break any budgets you’ve got!
Serial Reader sounds like a great resource. Sometimes classics are a bit too much to tackle. Love that this make them easier to digest. Great list!
I thought it was a pretty fantastic idea too. And it’s free!
Chirp and Storygraph are excellent resources!
Here is our Top Ten Tuesday. Thank you!
Agreed!
I LIVE for Libby. It’s made library borrowing so easy! Especially for those of us with more than one library card.
My list— https://fiftytwo.blog/2021/10/19/ttt-books-i-loved-but-will-probably-wont-re-read/
Happy TTT!
Lori
I am so grateful for it, especially during the pandemic! It has gotten a LOT of use!
Bookfinder sounds like a resource I need in my life, thank you. Happy reading! My TTT https://readwithstefani.com/10-books-about-books-on-my-tbr/
I love it. A bookseller at one of my favourite used bookstores told me about it years ago, and it has been such a great resource!
Out of Print looks cool.
My post: https://lydiaschoch.com/top-ten-tuesday-online-resources-for-book-lovers/
It is fantastic. I don’t like their new t-shirts as much (they have some kind of stretchy, shiny material in now rather than the lovely soft cotton they used to have), but the designs are great.