Why You Should Swap Goodreads for The StoryGraph

Whether you're an avid reader, curious about a rave review or you just pick up the occasional book once every year, it is likely that you will have heard of (or even have an account with) Goodreads. But more recently, another website has begun to take over, and for good reason.

Goodreads is an American-based book cataloguing site, where users can track their reading habits, write reviews and generally discuss the world of books. It is a wonderful place for book nerds to get recommendations and connect with bookish friends, and it has become quite prestigious in recent years. Initially launched back in 2007, the site is now owned by Amazon and has approximately 80 million worldwide users. But with recent movements away from Amazon (particularly on platforms such as Instagram's Bookstagram), a new website is stealing the spotlight, and it is better than ever.

The StoryGraph 

The StoryGraph is another bookish social media site, but which has infinitely better features. It is a simple, easy to use platform, which launched on the first day of the new year (2021) and is here to make your life that much easier. 

The very first thing that you have the option to do is to import your existing Goodreads library, something that Goodreads veterans will be pleased to hear! This includes all of your currently reading, read, and Did Not Finish shelves. So don't panic about the switch over - it literally couldn't be easier!

Discover Books by Mood

Get Smart Personalised Recommendations

Personalized book recommendations come not only from your favourite authors and genres, but from your current mood, preferred writing style, book length and endless more that interests you. You can even enter the books that you have on your shelf, and The StoryGraph will tell you exactly which one to pick up, saving you from breaking the dreaded Book Buying Ban yet again. Even the things that don't interest you are part of the onboarding process, so you can be sure to love whatever they suggest.

But that is not all. Unlike Goodreads, you can tailor your reading with customized reading challenges that are all available in one place. Make them as obscure or as simple as you like, then either keep it just for yourself or make it public for everyone to join in. This is in addition to a yearly reading challenge (similarly to Goodreads). You can check on your stats throughout the year on easy-read graphs which break down your reading habits in such a satisfying way!

Simple Tracking and Insightful Stats

Even the reviews have been kicked up a notch from the regular 5 star system that Goodreads operates on. Users can add custom tags to their books (to keep track of who gifted it or if it was a particular favourite etc), and even content warnings:

"When you review a book, you can let us know if there's any content within it that might be triggering for others. Then, when searching for your next read, all of this information is at your disposal."

 - The StoryGraph

When you a review a book, you have the option to just give it a star rating, answer some super simple, generic questions (like Is the main character loveable?) or give a full on written review. Then you can share these reviews with friends and followers! 

Perhaps most impressive of all, the creators did a lot of research in the test site, so it has all the things that readers specifically want. And it is constantly evolving! Unlike Goodreads (which could sorely do with a new makeover), The StoryGraph is constantly being updated with new features that come directly from users themselves. Just have a look on their Instagram page to see what the creators are up to!

Reading Challenges, Custom Tags, and Content Warnings

The only thing that might hold you back is that they don't yet have an app available in the app store. However, they do have what is called a 'Progressive Web App', which basically means that you can pin The StoryGraph to your home screen and it will operate exactly like an app!

To The Storygraph creators, Nadia Odunayo and Rob Frelow: THANK YOU!

To sign up to The StoryGraph, click here.

[Follow me on The Story Graph @ginge_reads!]