Best Apps for Reading, Tracking, and Listening to Books

If you ask me about my current reading list, I’ll likely list at least three titles, along with various comics and perhaps a textbook I’m gradually making my way through. The practice of reading multiple books at the same time might seem chaotic to some—many people have told me it is—but I assure you there’s a method to my madness. Each of the books I am currently engaged with comes in a different format, ensuring I have something to read wherever I go. Typically, I have a physical book, an ebook, and an audiobook on the go simultaneously, which keeps my reading experience varied and exciting.

In the past, I carried a dedicated e-reader, but I’ve transitioned to using my phone since acquiring a foldable device. This shift has led me to explore a variety of apps designed for reading and managing my books. Below are my top recommendations that enhance my reading journey.

Discover Amazing Audiobooks with Libro.fm

Over the past few years, my appreciation for audiobooks has significantly increased, nearly replacing my time spent listening to podcasts while I clean, walk, or embark on long drives. Initially, I relied on borrowing audiobooks from my local library, but the limited selection and lengthy wait times proved to be unsatisfactory for keeping up with new releases. After extensive research into various options, I decided on Libro.fm, an audiobook service that shares a portion of its profits—approximately half, according to a 2022 interview—with independent bookstores. This unique model allows you to support your favorite bookstore with every purchase, adding a personal touch to your audiobook experience.

To my delight, I discovered that my favorite local bookstore—a quaint shop nestled in a small town in New York’s Hudson Valley—was listed on Libro.fm, which was an unexpected find. The platform’s commitment to providing Digital Rights Management (DRM)-free audiobooks means you can download the files and manage them as you wish, which was an instant selling point for me. Libro.fm offers several purchasing options: a subscription for $15 per month that includes one audiobook credit and a 30% discount on all purchases, credit bundles for savings without a subscription, and individual titles available at full price. Additionally, there are numerous free audiobooks available for exploration.

Support Local Bookstores with the Bookshop.org App

As soon as I learned that Bookshop.org had launched an app for purchasing and reading ebooks, I immediately made it my primary source for digital book purchases. Like Libro.fm, Bookshop.org allows you to select a local bookseller to support, which has been a successful model for their physical book sales, raising over $38 million for independent bookstores in the past five years. Until recently, however, this support system didn’t extend to ebooks. The new app offers a straightforward reading experience, allowing you to browse the Bookshop.org catalog, save titles to your wishlist (purchases must be made on the website), and read the ebooks you’ve bought. While I hope to see features like comic support and side-by-side page display for foldable devices in future updates, it’s an excellent starting point, especially for those passionate about supporting small businesses.

Currently, Bookshop.org’s ebook service does not sync with mainstream e-reader devices, which means you’re limited to reading on Android, iOS, or through a web browser. However, the company has announced plans for Kobo integration, which could be available by the end of this year, promising more flexibility for users.

Effortlessly Borrow Books with Libby

For older or less popular ebooks and audiobooks, my go-to app is Libby, commonly referred to as the library app. It’s perfect for when I’m unsure of what I want to read and prefer browsing to discover intriguing titles. Libby allows you to link multiple library cards, significantly expanding your borrowing options, and since you’re borrowing rather than buying, it’s completely free. Additionally, Libby integrates with Kindle, enabling you to send borrowed titles directly to your e-reader. Some Kobo devices also support OverDrive, the service behind Libby, enhancing its functionality.

While using an app may not replicate the experience of exploring physical library stacks, I appreciate Libby’s tagging system, which lets you arrange borrowed and To Be Read titles in a way that suits your preferences. You can create a dedicated TBR tag or multiple tags categorizing books by genre, mood, and more. Furthermore, Libby is an excellent resource for discovering magazines as well.

Maximize Your Reading Experience with Moon+ Reader (Android Only)

Among the various apps I’ve tried, Moon+ Reader stands out as the best option for managing files of books or documents that I already own. It supports numerous file formats, including ePUB, PDF, AZW3, MOBI, and many others, allowing for easy access to my library. The app enables highlighting and annotating text, and it features convenient options like auto-scroll and text-to-speech, allowing the text to be read aloud to me. Customization is a key feature as well; I can adjust font styles, font colors, background settings, margin widths, and line spacing for each document, saving my preferences as a theme for future use. Visually, the app has a charming retro feel, presenting my books on a virtual bookshelf as a nostalgic nod to earlier digital experiences, which I personally enjoy. There are also various styles available for the bookshelf view, or users can opt for a standard grid display of their book collection.

Both free and paid versions of Moon+ Reader are available, and I highly recommend the paid version, Moon+ Reader Pro, for its added benefits. This one-time purchase of $10 removes ads and unlocks enhanced customization features. In addition to allowing users to import personal files, Moon+ Reader integrates with Project Gutenberg, giving direct access to a vast library of over 75,000 free books, making it an invaluable resource for avid readers.

Track Your Reading Journey with The StoryGraph

To effectively manage my reading habits, I rely on The StoryGraph, a data-centric app designed for tracking everything from your current reads to your ever-expanding wish list. The app allows you to mark books as “did not finish,” which is a feature I find particularly useful. One of my favorite aspects is the ability to log up to five books in progress at once and update each entry to reflect my progress, especially for titles I’m slowly getting through.

When leaving reviews, the app offers a detailed option beyond simple star ratings, allowing reviewers to provide insights into whether a book might appeal to readers with specific moods, offering over a dozen mood descriptors. You can also rate the pacing and answer essential questions regarding the plot and characters, including character development and likability. Additionally, users can add content warnings, creating a comprehensive review experience.

The true brilliance of The StoryGraph lies in its statistical analysis features. The app provides a wealth of graphs that give an insightful breakdown of your reading preferences, including favored genres, moods, and pacing, as well as the ratio of fiction to nonfiction read. You can set personal challenges, such as a yearly reading goal, and at year’s end, receive a detailed Reading Wrap-up that summarizes your average time to complete a book, comparing your statistics to previous years.

Although there’s a subtle social component within the app, it is not overwhelming, which I appreciate as someone who prefers to avoid excessive social interaction. However, if you are interested, you can engage in readalongs, initiate buddy reads, or create book clubs, with the option to draft a code of conduct for the latter. The StoryGraph team is responsive to user feedback, continually enhancing the app and adding new features to improve the overall experience, which is a refreshing aspect of the platform.