As a book fanatic, your smartphone or tablet is very useful. Not only for reading, but also, for example, to discover new titles that suit your reading taste. Whether you're looking for a new book, registering your collection, or wanting to connect with other readers… there are all kinds of useful apps for bookworms available.
Tip 01: Goodreads
Goodreads is best described as a global social network for book enthusiasts. Quite a few Dutch and Belgians are now also active on this. You register all your books in your personal profile, after which online friends can admire each other's collection. It's nice that Goodreads comes up with new suggestions, so you can get to know new titles. As soon as you open the app for the first time, you first create a personal profile. Choose Sign up. You can register yourself or log in directly with a Facebook account. The latter option has the advantage that you can immediately see which Facebook friends are also active on Goodreads.
Tip 02: Scan books
In the Goodreads main screen you can see which titles are currently popular. When you register your book collection, the apps will make recommendations that suit your reading taste. Moreover, you can consult the collection anytime and anywhere. Handy if you're in a bookstore and you're not sure whether you already have that one book or not. The registration of books is very smooth thanks to the built-in barcode scanner. In the menu, tap scan and give the app access to the camera of the smartphone or tablet. Now aim the camera lens at the barcode of the book. When Goodreads recognizes the book, tap back Want to Read on the arrow. Give with Read indicate that you have read the book and confirm with Done. Sometimes it happens that Goodreads does not recognize the barcode. In that case, choose in the menu for Search or tap the magnifying glass icon. Try to find the book based on the title or author.
Tip 03: View collection
Have you registered the entire book collection? Choose in the menu for My Books and Read to view the collection. By default, all books are sorted by addition date. Would you like a different sort order? Tap on Date Read and choose for example Author or Title. Goodreads then sorts your collection by author or book title respectively.
Tip 04: Add friends
The nice thing about Goodreads is that readers tip each other about interesting titles. See which friends also use Goodreads and easily connect. Open the menu via the icon with the three horizontal bars and tap friends. You may already see some friends who have added you. Through Connect with more friends go hunting yourself. When Goodreads is linked to Facebook, you can immediately see which acquaintances are already using this social network for book lovers. Strangely enough, you can initially only add all friends or none at all. Want to share your book collection with a single person? Then choose successively no thanks and Add Individually, after which you tick the desired friend(s). Confirm with Done. Alternatively, you can also track down other users by their name or email address. Use the field for this Search users by name or email.
In Goodreads, book lovers tip each other about interesting titlesTip 05: Bksy
If you regularly lend or lend books, you cannot ignore Bksy. First, you map out your own bookcase, after which online friends, if desired, submit a loan request to you. Conversely, you can also rummage through other people's bookshelves unimpeded. First create a new profile in Bksy or log in with your Facebook account. After you are logged in, the app will ask for permission to use the camera. It is the intention that you scan the barcode of all books that you may wish to lend. Then tap the correct title in the list of results. You can add multiple titles in succession via the plus sign. As an alternative, you can also manually search for a title, author or ISBN, although that is less efficient.
Tip 06: Borrow or borrow books
Obviously you would like to add other people so that you can exchange books with each other. Go below to Members and tap the plus sign. Through To search Bksy takes a look in your phone book and checks which acquaintances are also using the app. Alternatively, look at Search on Facebookwhich online friends are members of Bksy, where you invite them if you wish. Use the option Search yourself to manually search for members by email address or username. Have you lent a book to someone you know? You can easily indicate this within the app. Go to Books and tap the appropriate title. Then you choose lend out. To take a look at someone else's virtual bookcase, choose . at the bottom Members and tap the correct profile name.
book club
Nice is that Bksy also includes an option to start a (private) book club, where a select group helps each other with interesting titles. You can also join an existing group by, for example, searching for your place of residence. Navigate to Members / Book Clubs and then tap the plus sign. You are now creating a new group or searching for an existing book club.
Tip 07: Listen Bieb
If you want to try out an audiobook, it would be a good idea to install LuisterBieb. With this app you can listen to recorded stories from a smartphone or tablet. Through Register first create an account. Then you indicate whether or not you are a member of a public library. You can link your membership to this app with the correct card number or e-mail address, although this can also be done at a later time. Members have access to all audiobooks. Fortunately, there are also some free titles available, so Luisterbieb is also worth checking out for non-members. If you are not a member, you can search the app for audiobooks with a white or gray label. Titles with an orange label require a library membership. The offer is arranged by genre. Use the search function to find specific titles. Have you found an interesting specimen? Via Download you save the audio file locally. Handy, because you can also listen in places without an internet connection. In the main menu you will see My Audiobooks all saved titles. Click on an item to start playback.
With LuisterBieb you can enjoy recorded stories on a smartphone or tabletTip 08: Bol.com Kobo
Under the name Bol.com Kobo, the mentioned companies have developed an excellent app for those who like to read e-books on their smartphone or tablet. E-books that you have ever purchased from Bol.com are automatically available in this app. After starting up, log in with a Bol.com account. If you don't have one yet, first surf to the website of this webshop to register yourself. Bee Books and authors view an overview of purchased e-books. Bee Start you will be presented with personal recommendations based on your digital book collection. Unfortunately, it is not possible to make purchases directly in the iOS app. You can do that from the Android app, after which you can read the purchased book immediately. The app also makes dozens of free titles available.
Tip 09: Read e-book
If you want to read an e-book in the Bol.com Kobo app, tap the book cover. You can always scroll to the next page by swiping to the right. Tap the center of the page to open the menu. You increase or decrease the brightness via the sun. You can also choose a different reading theme, giving the letters and background a different color. It is also useful that you adjust the font size and font to your own liking. Use the option ah. You can align the text in a different way via the tool icon and set the screen to not be able to tilt. Conveniently, the makers have integrated a Prisma dictionary. Don't know what something means? Select the word by pressing it with your finger for some time. The meaning will appear at the top or bottom of the screen after a fraction of a wait. You can also easily open the keyword in Wikipedia or Google. Finally, there is a context menu, with which you can add notes, share quotes and highlight words, among other things.
Bol.com Kobo Plus
For a monthly fee of 9.99 euros, Bol.com and Kobo have created a Plus subscription. Subscribers have unlimited access to more than 160 thousand books, of which about 18 thousand are in Dutch. Users store up to 15 titles offline every month to read on the go. After that it is necessary to connect to the internet again. The Plus offer is available on smartphones and tablets with the Kobo Plus app after payment. Owners of a suitable Kobo e-reader also have access.
Wattpad is a popular platform for amateur writersTip 10: Write yourself?
Do you have modest writing ambitions yourself? Wattpad is a popular platform for amateur writers, where you can also publish stories yourself. You can easily create a new profile or log in directly via your Facebook account. After registering, you point out three stories that seem interesting to you. Wattpad makes new recommendations based on this. There is plenty of Dutch reading material to be found. To self-publish something, tap the pencil icon. Then add a book cover, title and description. The writing can now begin. Are you done with the book? Then tap To publish and wait to see how other members rate your story.
