The StoryGraph: A Spotlight
By Shuangyue Zhao and Tehzib Janjua
Ever get tired of accidentally buying a book you already own? Or maybe forgetting that book your friend gushed over and promising to get to it? Or maybe the fact that you can never find the book for that particular mood you’re in? The StoryGraph is here to fulfil all of your bookish needs on one handy platform.
The StoryGraph makes an ambitious promise: to steer you towards books that suit your mood, which is reflected in the slogan: “Because life’s too short for a book you're not in the mood for.” After signing up, you will be asked to fill in a survey on your reading preferences. The questions include your favourite genres (such as dystopian, fantasy, nature or true crime), and the characteristics you appreciate the most in books right now (strong world-building/other-worldly, plot-heavy, unreliable/morally ambiguous characters, etc). Then come three interesting questions to check what genres you dislike, what turns you off a book, and also what kind of books you are never/rarely in the mood for (for example, adventurous, informative or tense).
Your personalised book list will be generated shortly thereafter. Moreover, you can further improve your recommendations through writing freely about what you want in the blank area provided, and using some filters like pace, type of books (fiction or non-fiction), number of pages, and even “don't show me books in my To-Read Pile/I own.” You can also edit all of your answers and choices at any time, and any change will be reflected immediately.
The most impressive point about The StoryGraph is its instantaneity – they really care about your “MOOD” and focus on what you wish to read “AT THIS MOMENT.”
Features:
Custom Tags and Lists – allow you to find and filter books according to specific wants and the custom option allows you to curate your own reading list of recommendations for friends.
Reading Challenges – create reading goals and challenges for yourself whilst getting involved in ongoing, fun, reading challenges.
Content Warnings – pick your next read, confident that the book’s contents won’t trigger you.
Fractions of a Star – finally, you can give that 4.5 or awkward 2.25 star you’ve been dreaming of.
DNF and Owned – pre-made categories for books you’ve read and books you did not finish (DNF) so never again will you buy another copy of that book that’s hidden in the back of your shelf (and maybe already own three of and still have yet to read).
Reading Journal – keep track of what exactly you liked (and maybe not so liked) about your reads, before and after you’ve finished.
Reading Queues – a handy feature for not just music. Create your own queue of up to five books so that you can jump straight to the next read.
Book Clubs – a feature yet to be released. Get ready to vote on books, organise club meetings and discuss all things bookish.
FAQs:
Does The StoryGraph have a mobile app?
Yes, The StoryGraph app is both on the App Store and the Play Store. If it is not available in your country, you can download the app from its website.
Will I be able to import my data from Goodreads?
Yes, you can! All of your currently-reading, read, to-read and did-not-finish shelves can be imported. Any custom shelves will be mapped to a custom tag on StoryGraph. Find your full Import Guidelines.
Is The StoryGraph free to use?
It is. The StoryGraph does have a paid Plus plan for users looking for a more enhanced, personalised experience, but most of the app will always be free to use.
For further queries please see the contact page. Before submitting a feature request, you can take a look at the public roadmap to see what the team members are working on and what’s on their radar.
The Team:
The StoryGraph is run and built by Nadia Odunayo and Rob Frelow. It started life as a personal side project of Nadia’s to create and track progress through reading lists.
Nadia Odunayo is the Founder and CEO who started The StoryGraph as a small side project after learning to code and working as a software engineer at Pivotal. Her recommended book is The Eighth Life (for Brilka) by Nino Haratischwili.
As the Co-Founder and Chief AI Officer, Rob Frelow is in charge of all the machine learning that powers The StoryGraph’s recommendations, similar books, and more. Daniel Suarez’s Daemon is his favourite book.
Abbie Walker is responsible for various things at The StoryGraph, including customer support, managing volunteer librarians, and helping to train machine learning algorithms. Her favourite book so far this year is The Giant Dark by Sarvat Hasin.
Visit the team page to get to know the three book lovers behind The StoryGraph in detail.
Finding a satisfying book just got a whole lot easier, and all thanks to The StoryGraph. Go to its website or download the app, give it a try and maybe you will fall in love with reading.