The best applications to read, follow and listen to books

Ask me what I read at some point and I will probably wrap at least three titles, not to mention the comics and the occasional manual that I could also fail in the background. Reading several books may seem chaotic (at least, people always tell me), but there is a certain degree of organization to everything: each book of my stack of current readings is in a different format. I will have a physical book, a paper book, an ebook and an audio book in progress at the same time, so I always have something at your fingertips to read where I am.

While I was carrying a dedicated straightener, I moved more to the use of my phone for work these days, especially since I folded. Therefore, I tried a lot of different applications to read and record my books. These are the ones I like the most.

Libro.fm

Audio books have really grew up on me in recent years, almost completely replacing podcasts as I am going to put on when I clean, walk or go for a long journey. While I tried to shelter at the start by only borrowing audio books from the library, I quickly discovered that the extremely limited selection of my library system associated with very long waiting times would simply cut it if I wanted to stay on new versions. After looking for all the options, I settled on Libro.fmAn audio book platform that shares part of the profits (about half, according to a 2022 interview) with independent bookstores. And even better, you can choose which bookstore to support with your purchases.

I did not expect to find my favorite local bookstore – a small shop in a small town in the Hudson Valley in New York – on Libro.fm, so I was pleasantly surprised when it appeared in the search. With this, and the fact that all the audio books of Libro.fm are Free Digital Rights Management (DRM)So that you can really download the files and do with them as you wish, I was sold. You have some options to buy audio books Libro.fm: You can subscribe for $ 15 per month, which offers you an audio credit and a 30% discount on all purchases; You can buy credit packages to save on purchases without subscription; And you can buy individual titles at their full price and not a member. There are also a lot of free books To choose.

Libshop.org application

The moment I discovered that Bookshop.org had launched electronic books and an application to read them onI made site my only destination to buy digital books and I did not look back. Just like Libro.fm, Libshop.org Allows you to choose a local bookseller to support your purchases. He has done this for sales of physical books for five years – and according to his count has collected more than $ 38 million for independent bookstores at that time – but so far, there has been no similar option for electronic books. The new application is an ERERER appliance without frills where you can browse the libshop.org catalog to record the titles on your wishes list (purchases must be made on the site) and read all the ebooks you have purchased. There are certain things that I would like to see it win in the future, such as comics and the option of displaying the pages side by side to read the book style on a foldable, but it is an excellent start as it is, especially if your main concern is to support small businesses.

Currently, Bookshop.org’s ebook service does not synchronize with any of the general public eg apparatuses, you are therefore locked up in reading on Android, iOS or a web browser, but the company said that it was operating on the integration of Kobo and that we could see it occur before the end of this year.

Libby

LibbyAlias ​​The application of the library is my application of choice for older electronic books and audio books, or for when I have nothing special in mind and I just want to browse the catalog to see what jumps on me. It allows you to link several library cards, which means that you have potentially a huge pool to shoot, and since you take books rather than buying them, it’s completely free. Libby also connects with Kindle, and you can automatically send your titles to your reader. Some Kobo devices support overdrive (the distributor behind Libby) too.

Although the use of an application is not as satisfactory as browsing the IRL batteries, I really like the Libby tag system, which allows you to organize your borrowed books and read the titles in the way that suits you best. You can have a dedicated TBR tag, or create several different tags to group things by gender, mood, etc. Libby is also a great place to find magazines.

Moon + Reader (Android only)

Moon + reader is the best application I still used for cases where I have the real file for a book or document. It supports a ton of different types of files – including EPUB, PDF, AZW3, MOBI and many others – and allows you to highlight and annotate text, in addition to offering automatic scrolling and text to update so that the text can be read aloud. It’s really customizable too. You can choose things like the police, the police color, the background, the margin width, the spacing of the lines and even more for each document, and record the final version as a theme so that you can use it again later. Designwise, the application almost resembles a relic of a bygone digital era, organizing all your books in a virtual skeuomorphic library, and I love it. There are also some style options for the library, or you can deactivate the library and see your books in a standard grid.

There is both a free and paid version of Moon + Reader, and this is a situation where obtaining the paid version (Moon + Reader Pro) is really worth it. This is a unique purchase of $ 10, and employment will get rid of the announcements and will open more personalization options. In addition to importing your own files into the application, Moon + Reader has Gutenberg project Integrated so that you can directly access this library over 75,000 free pounds.

The storygraph

Of course, I need a way to follow all the reading I do, and that’s where The storygraph come. The storygraph is an application focused on the data to keep track of everything you read today, of everything you have read and the constantly increased list of titles you want to read. It even allows you to mark books like “is not finished”. I love being able to have five in class in progress recorded at the same time, and I can even update each entry to note how much I am, which is good for those I drag my feet to finish.

When you leave an opinion, you have the possibility of being really detailed on this subject, to go beyond a star note and a presentation text. Critics can indicate whether the book will appeal to readers who like a particular mood, with more than a dozen options. You assess the rhythm and answer the basic questions on the plot and the characters, as if there is the development of the characters or if the characters are even sympathetic. There is also the possibility of adding content warnings.

Where history shines, however, is in statistics. There are tons of real graphics integrated into the experience to show you a complete break in your reading habits, genres, moods and rhythm you prefer, to the quantity of fiction that you have read compared to non-fiction. You can recover challenges, such as an annual reading objective, and you will be shown in conclusion of reading at the end of the year. He will tell you how long you need to finish a book on average and compare your reading statistics in previous years.

There is a slight social component in the application, but it is hidden in its own tab and not pushed in your face, which I appreciate as someone who tends to avoid these things. If you want, however, you can participate or create readings, start friends readings and reading clubs (and even write a code of conduct for the latter) or simply see what other people with interests similar to yours read. The Storygraph team also seems to be considering user comments and constantly adds new things to the application and adjusting the existing ones to improve the experience, which is always pleasant to see.