After books, the next thing I’m constantly glued to is my phone. I know, I know, I shouldn’t be spending that much time on my phone. But honestly, I mostly rotate between reading ebooks and Instagram. In all of my years of iPhone owning, I’ve found some great apps that go hand-in-hand with my love of books. These apps are perfect for book lovers, and you’ll want to download them ASAP.
These are my tried and true top five apps for book lovers. They’ve all been favorites of mine, and maybe they’ll become favorites of yours too.
Scribd
I love this app so much. I found it on accident when I was looking to get a school book cheap and fell in love. Scribd is basically the Netflix of books. You can choose between thousands of ebooks, audiobooks, magazine and newspaper articles, and even sheet music. That includes the really popular books — like NYT bestsellers. A subscription costs $8.99 a month, but it is extremely worth it, especially if you read as much as I do. This is my favorite bookish app ever, and it’s a must-have app for book lovers.
Overdrive/Libby
If you haven’t heard of Overdrive, I’m sorry, but you are really missing out. Overdrive is the public library in an app. It’s free, too — all you need is a library card. Access all of your local library’s ebooks and audiobooks right from your phone. Libby is Overdrive’s side app, and it is pretty much the same except for a different look. It’s up to you which you prefer. The only thing about Overdrive, is just like physical library books, there are a limited number of ebooks available. For some of the really popular books, you might have to place a hold and wait a few weeks to read it.
Goodreads
To compare it to another app, Goodreads is the IMDb of books. You can look up any book you want, interact with authors and other readers, leave reviews and create your own virtual bookshelf. I love using this app to keep track of the books I’ve read so far this year, enter giveaways and see what some of my favorite authors are up to. This app is a must-have for serious book lovers.
Kindle/Audible
Kindle and Audible are both Amazon-owned and so easy to use. If you like rereading books, Kindle is definitely the way to go. You can buy ebooks from Amazon.com and have them immediately downloaded to your phone. You also have the bonus of seeing how much money you are actually saving with the physical book and ebook prices right next to each other (so you can congratulate yourself while still enjoying new books). Audible is the option to go with if you love audiobooks. At $14.95 a month, you can keep saving while not enforcing a book-buying ban on yourself.
Wattpad
A lot of people know this as an app for fanfiction, but the truth is that it is so much more. I found some pretty great stories on it when I used it and it’s a great platform for building an audience. If you are considering writing, Wattpad is a great tool to get critiques, build a following and even get published. It is mostly YA-type stories (the popular Netflix movie The Kissing Booth was actually first on Wattpad), but if that’s your thing, this app is perfect.
Did I leave out one of your favorite book apps? Let me know below!
Thanks for this really helpful catalogue! I had only used one of these apps before, so good to know what’s out there and what’s good about them.