Book Lovers these days have a lot of resources available at their fingertips these days, with growing interest in reading and rapid technological advances. There are several communities online where readers with shared passion can take part in where they can share their thoughts and ideas, recommendations for the next read, reviews, and even resources on where to buy books.
Although physical books have had a rocky relationship with readers in the last few years, with e-books becoming more prevalent and reading habits slowly declining with rise in popularity for video content. demand for books has only increased in India.
Amazon India recently reported that demand for same-day delivery for books has doubled in the last year, with tier-2 cities taking over metro cities for book deliveries. Which we can also corroborate as the World Book Fair held in New Delhi earlier this year saw a staggering 2 million+ footfall, with National Book Trust chairmain, Milind Sudhakar Marathe, stating that they have seen a 20% increase in the number of attendees from last year.
So, for all the book lovers out there, here are 6 websites you should know and check out to help you in your reading journey, from cataloguing to discovering new reads!
6 Websites for Book Lovers
Goodreads
Before everything else, there was Goodreads, your only destination to maintain an online library of everything you were reading, had read already, and planned to read. Authors have their own pages who you can follow for updates and news, and you can post reviews about any book published ever (there’s the downside that the author can also see the reviews and there have been so many incidents with authors taking review tool negatively, but that’s for another time).
Not only that, you can check out lists and discover your next favourite through the website, based on genres and what book you liked, and you can contribute too by making a list, posting a review, interacting with authors and many more.
What Should I Read Next
Getting book recommendations from anyone or anywhere is always a hit or miss, any true book lover would understand. There are many people you can follow for book recommendations, with YouTube being my favourite place to watch readers analyze books and also give their opinions, you can also check out What Should I Read Next. Not only can you create a list of similar books for others to find, you can also search a book you liked and see what others are saying is similar in read.
Apart from that, you can also search for books by genres and tags, for instance Romance, Fantasy Fiction, Thrillers, Frontier & Pioneer Life, Contemporary Romance, Time Travel, and many more.
Just like Goodreads, you can also find quotes here, either through tags or by the author, and even see the featured quote of the day. This is a great website for book lovers looking for a change from Goodreads.
How Long To Read
Sometimes, you just gotta do some prep before reading a book, and when movies and TV shows can tell you their runtime, so can books. How Long To Read is great for those who are serial readers and need to understand whether their time investment in a book would be worth it, and also for those into stats and numbers of course. Or maybe you just wanna show off, but that’s totally fine too, it’s just a part of being book lovers.
Once you search your book, you will get an estimation based on the average reader’s reading speed, which is 300 words per minutes, which you can edit based on your own reading speed by taking their test, and get a rough estimate how much time you will need to finish the book. More over, the website also tells you an estimated word count of the book, number of pages, and the duration of the audio book. You can also add the book in your shelf or buy through Amazon/Audible from the website itself.
BookFinder
As the name suggests, this is the website to find any and all kinds of books, even textbooks, across the globe. You simply enter basic details like book name or author, and it will show you where all that book can be purchased from, and even in which condition, new or used, latest edition, and the prices even include the shipping costs so that’s an added bonus when budgeting (haha).
BookFinder even says that you can get collectibles or original editions through them, or whether you’re looking for signed copies or hardcover editions specifically. And since you can see the price, this website is a great option for students and academics looking for cheap textbooks for college! This is definitely one of the best websites for book lovers on the internet.
bookGeeks
Now, as someone who likes to read, I also prefer reading blogs about books as well, not just watch. I discovered this website while searching for Indian English novels and man what a pretty website and equally engaging content. Not only can you find book reviews across different genres, bookGeeks also publishes lists and book recommendations across different genres and even author interviews. While I was looking for websites for book lovers like myself, I came across them and honestly they talk about books that you would otherwise miss or may not have heard in the mainstream.
Wattpad
Any list for best websites for book lovers or readers would be incomplete without mentioning Wattpad. Although this website has undergone much change in the last decade since I first discovered it, the essence is still the same, stories by us, for us. I remember writing and reading so much while on this website, and being part of an active and accepting community of readers and writers. I also discovered a lot of fandoms while on Wattpad, and to be honest, I have read way better works in terms of plot and writing style here than some traditionally published books.
All you gotta do is sign up, select genres you are interested in reading for book recommendations, and you are all set! Apart from stories published by users, some are even picked up by Wattpad itself to be a published novel, and you can see those titles with a orange and white W on the cover. However, do note that there are ads in between new chapters and original titles are locked behind paywall. But it’s still a great place to be a part of a reading and writing community.
Well, I hope you liked this list of websites for book lovers, and if you have any more recommendations or thoughts and opinions about the websites for book recommendations mentioned here, do drop a comment!
If you are more into comics, or mahwas, then I have another listicle on my blog, 10 Amazing Completed Webtoons To Read on the Weekend, and if not, then why not try these? These webtoons are not too long but enough to get invested and read through, and they will take much shorter time than physical books, plus they can be read on your mobile app!
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