5 Sites I Love that are Designed for Readers
- Hannah Anderson
- Jan 30
- 3 min read
Welcome to Little Hilltop Home, where this wife, mama, and writer spills the beans on all things life & literature.
TODAY we will be going over five websites I wish every reader knew about, because, they're just so darn cool!
First off, is the most popular "bookish" website. Chances are if you are a reader you've heard of it...but have you actually delved into it enough for it to be useful and fun to you?
GoodReads
Also available on your app store
Truthfully, I'm pretty late to the GoodReads train. Maybe you are, too!
So what is GoodReads? GoodReads is a site/app that aims to be a one-stop shop for your virtual book reviews and recommendations. GoodReads also has book challenges, as well as a "reading wishlist" setup to keep track of all those books you've been eyeing but your mean old partner won't let you get (ahem.) I mean...this actually leads me to why you need the SECOND site I'm enlightening you on!
I briefly had a GoodReads before, but it didn't become as fun until I added friends who are readers, too. After the added interest of seeing others' bookshelves and reviewing my own, I discovered the sheer coolness of GoodReads. I also made sure to pressure other friends who didn't have one to get the app to add to my reading village!
ThriftBooks
This one was actually recommended to me after a friend of mine recommended it to me, over a cup of coffee together.
Before, I thought I was stuck buying directly off of Amazon or, if it wasn't on Amazon, a highly priced retail stores to find my reads. The cheapest I could find my reads was at Ollie's, but with Ollie's you can never find a book that is specific. You never know what you're going to get when you walk in there!
With ThriftBooks, you can check out with an impressive amount of books and NOT have a crazy high bill to match! The shipping is even super reasonable.
Since finding out about ThriftBooks, my book wishlist is actually not a faint possible! I'm in love with the site, and you can bet on me using it more with all the books I plan to review on my site.
Libby by OverDrive (an app)
Find on your app store!
Libby is primarily an app, recommended to me from my friend (and cousin-in-law), Maddy.
Libby was the perfect find for me, having big plans for a book blog. It is your one-stop-shop for library books.
With Libby, you can download e-books straight to your Kindle or virtually check out a book from home. All you have to do is add your library card info into your Libby account, and you are good to go!
BookFinder
Now these last two sites are sites I only discovered (actually on ANOTHER blog post of someone else) while researching for this post, and trust me when I say that I am going to take full advantage of them. The first is called BookFinder. This site allows you to type in the title of a book and price compare so you are sure you are getting a great deal.
To be sure that this measured up to the hype, I typed it one of my favorite novels and lo and behold! Links popped up showing used or new options. After clicking, many options popped up including Ebay where it was being sold for a little bit of nothing.
I think this site (used in tandem with ThriftBooks) is a great addition to any booklover's treasure trove of websites! I especially think it'd be good for finding textbooks, as I saw there was a section for that.
Literature Map
Literature Map is pretty simple. All you have to do is type in an author you really jive with and wa la! You are inundated with a huge variety of other authors that are similar in style and genre. The only thing about this one is that when you click on another author, it doesn't tell you anything about them. It just creates another list of similar authors. Although, if you don't mind putting your Sherlock cap on and researching a little about each writer, this site is going to be invaluable when finding a new read.
Now, be on your way, reader friends...
Now with great knowledge comes great power! After using these resources for a bit, come back here and tell me how you like each one. How do they rank in your own blog post?
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