I will preface this with, the best reading trackers are the ones that work for you. But if you don’t have a reading tracker then here are some suggestions for reading trackers I have used over the years.
Hopefully you will find something that works for you! Let’s jump in.
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Goodreads
Goodreads.com is honestly one of the best things for book lovers. My life changed when I signed up for my free account.
Pros:
- It is 100% free (big pro in my case)
- Pretty much any book you can think of is on the site
- Great organization of “shelves” to track your read, unread and reading categories
- Lots of information about books
- Can leave reviews for others to read
Cons
- Rather public so people can see what you’ve been reading (this could be a pro or con)
- Lots of promotional messages to join groups
- A stigma to set outrageous goals that you will never complete and feel like a failure
Apple Books
Although this is more of a way to read books, they have a ton of free books so you can read a lot without breaking the budget.
Pros
- A great selection of books
- Many ways to categorize the books
- Can get free sample to see if you’ll like it
- Very mobile friendly for reading on the go
Cons
- Can only be used on Apple products
- A little pricy for ebooks
- Can’ t track books you’ve read not on Apple Books
Reading List (app)
I will admit that this is my most used reading tracker.
Pros
- It is a free app with no ads (but you can tip the creator if you really like the app)
- You can easily organize books into as many shelves as you want
- The bar code scan so you don’t have to manually put information in
- Able to choose different editions
- Helpful summaries
- 2 ways to track the progress of your book (percentage or page number)
Cons
- Apps are not forever so someday in the future you may lose it
- Honestly, that is all I can think of for cons!
Book Journal
Sometimes the best way is to go old school and use a pen and paper. Either I use a cheap notebook I found at a garage sale or I use this book journal from Amazon.
I explain some of my other favorite book gifts in this post HERE!
Pros
- You can take it without no matter where you are
- No risk of losing your data
- Handwriting can make you feel creative
- Pre-made questions so you can say everything you need to about the book
- Lots of extras that are fun to use such a book bucket lists, books I’ve loaned out, etc.
Cons
- More likely to forget a book than a phone
- Can get easily damaged
- Run out of space for all your thoughts
- May have to use more than one over the years.
Looking For Alaska Method
I will admit that I just finished the Looking For Alaska series on Hulu and I read the book over 4 years ago so I don’t know if this is from the book too. But a character in the story will only put the books she has read up on the shelf.
Pros
- Totally awesome
- Something to brag about
- A way to see every book you have ever read
Cons
- Super expensive cause you have to own all the books you’ve read
- Takes up a lot of shelving space
- Takes a long time to fill up
In conclusion
There is no best reading tracker because one thing will never work for everyone. These are just my personal favorites but I would love to know what you think the best reading tracker is!