list of best book review sites

Independent Book Review

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30+ Top-Notch Book Review Sites for Readers & Writers

Here are 30+ top-notch book review sites for booksellers, librarians, readers, & writers. Learn more about 30 bookish companies helping spread the word about the best & latest books.

Top-Notch Book Review Sites for Readers & Writers

Book reviews are for all of us.

Readers need to know whether books with the best covers are worth the time they’re about to put into it. They find it helpful (and fun!) to check out reviews after reading the books, too, so they can see what other real-life humans had to say about it.

Authors & publishers need to get book reviews to build buzz and credibility for their product. Librarians & booksellers need to hear from trusted sources that the book they are about to buy for their collection has the capability to get picked up & to satisfy. 

Book review sites have transformed the book-recommending landscape.

We can write reviews on product pages, on social media apps, and some of us, for publications that have been around since before the internet. Book reviewing has changed. But maybe it also hasn’t.

What kind of book review sites are you looking for? Chances are, this list has you covered.

Here are 30+ book review sites to read, write, and bookmark. 

1. Independent Book Review

Does this logo look familiar? (Hint: You’re sitting on it).

IBR, the website you’re on RIGHT NOW, is all about indie books . There are so many books in the world right now, but if you feel like you keep seeing the same ones recommended over and over, start reading indie!

Independent presses & self-published authors are doing some incredible work right now. IBR reviews books, curates lists, does indie bookstore round-ups, and uses starred reviews & best-of-the-year lists to show which books are going to blow your mind.

2. Book Marks

Lit Hub rules. You already knew this.

But do you know about Book Marks? They’re a branch of the Lit Hub network, and they are an excellent way for booksellers and librarians to get shorter recaps from multiple sources and voices.

Their staff peruses book review sites and shares pull-quotes from them in book lists & more. By reading all of these sites, they can give the book a rating based on the average: “Rave, Positive, Mixed, or Pan.”

My favorite book-buying platform, Bookshop , uses Book Marks’ scale for their books’ ratings, and I love getting access to that.

3. Publishers Weekly

Publishers Weekly has been around since 1872. By now, they’re a review churning machine. They cover so much of the book industry in so many different ways, reviewing nearly 9,000 books per year and providing publication announcements, agency announcements, industry job listings , bestseller lists, industry stats, a self-publishing partner, and more. 

4. Kirkus Reviews

Another one that’s been around since before the internet! 1933 to be exact. Kirkus is a widely recognized publication that book buyers & librarians follow carefully. I dare you to find a bookstore or library that doesn’t have multiple books with Kirkus Reviews plastered on their front and back covers.

5. Booklist

The American Library Association runs Booklist , a platform dedicated to helping libraries, educators, and booksellers choose books. They’ve got a magazine (since 1905!), book reviews, lists, awards, and one of my favorite bookish podcasts out there: Shelf Care .

6. Library Journal & School Library Journal

As you might be able to guess, Library Journal & School Library Journal focus on librarians too! They review a ton of books, and they write often about library-related news, collection management, technology, programs, and more. If you’re an author hoping to land your book in libraries, these are essential targets.

7. BookPage

You may have seen BookPage in your local library or bookstore. Some shops provide it for free so that patrons can look through it to find which books to buy in-store. Their website is clean and intriguing and always full of the most up-to-date releases and bestsellers.

Speaking of libraries! Have you seen our gifts for librarians ?

8. Foreword

Foreword is such an enthusiastic and dedicated champion of indie books, and they’ve been doing it since the 90s! I love how much attention university presses get here too. Their reviews are well-written & thorough, in both print & digital, and I always find something to speed-purchase once the Foreword Indie winners come out.

9. LoveReading

LoveReading is a top book-recommendation website in the UK. They’ve got starred reviews, lists, staff picks, a LitFest , eBooks, and they even donate 25% of the cover price of their books to schools of your choice. It’s reader-friendly and apparent how much they appreciate the wonder of books. 

10. Washington Independent Review of Books

What’s not to love about The Independent?

Back in 2011, a group of writers & editors were frustrated by newspapers dropping book review sections and decided to do something about it. The Washington Independent Review of Books is quite a lovely something! This nonprofit posts every day: from reviews to interviews to essays and podcasts. They host events too!

11. Book Riot

Try being a reader and not finding something you love on Book Riot. Book lists, podcasts, personalized recommendations, newsletters, book deals—this site is a haven.

It doesn’t post solo book reviews like other sites, but they do share mini-reviews in book lists and talk about reading in unique & passionate ways. The Book Riot Podcast is such a winner too! I love listening to Jeff & Rebecca laugh about the latest in books & reading.

12. Electric Lit

From novel excerpts to original short fiction & poetry, they might not only be a book review site,  but they do offer a lot in the world of book recommendations. Their Recommended Reading lit mag features unique staff picks and short, insightful book reviews.

13. The Millions

The writing in The Millions is something to behold. They are an artful source for all things book reviews & recommendations. They write stunning essays about books & reading and long reviews of new and old books. They’ve got some of my favorite Most Anticip ated lists too.

What are the biggest benefits of reading ? 🧐

14. Bookforum

Did you hear? Bookforum is back ! This book review magazine announced in December 2022 that they were closing, and my heart sank a little bit. This company means so much to the publishing industry and has for 20+ years, so when I saw (last week!) that they are returning, I did more than a few jumps for joy.

Welcome back, Bookforum! Can’t wait to see what you’ve got coming for us in book world coverage.

BOMB is in it for the art. Art, literature, film, music, theater, architecture, and dance. There are reviews and interviews, and the literature section is a real delight. The reviews are like poignant essays, and the author interviews are in-depth and feature some fascinating minds.

16. The Asian Review of Books

The only dedicated pan-Asian book review publication! It’s widely cited and features some of the best in Asian books and art, so booksellers and librarians have a source to trust to stock their collections with high-quality pan-Asian lit.

Have you seen our gifts for book lovers yet?

17. Chicago Review of Books

I love so much of what Chicago Review of Books does. They have a clean & sleek design that features some of the buzziest books as well as plenty of hidden gems from our favorite indie presses. I’m a particularly big fan of the spotlight they put on books in translation .

18. Rain Taxi

I love Rain Taxi ’s style! They champion unique books, publish their own fiction, poetry, and nonfiction, and put a real emphasis on art for their magazine covers . It’s a beautiful print magazine to subscribe to, but they also share free online editions & digital archives. They even run the Rain Taxi Reading Series & Twin Cities Book Festival if you’re a real-lifer in Minnesota!

19. The Rumpus

Oh, The Rumpus ! This mostly volunteer-run online magazine publishes reviews, interviews, essays, fiction, and poetry. The reviews are in-depth and personal and heart-melting, and in addition to the site, they’ve got cool perks like the Poetry Book Club  and Letters in the Mail . The book club is where you get a pre-release book and meet the poet via Slack with other club members at the end of the month, and Letters in the Mail are actual postcards sent in the mail to you twice a month from your favorite authors.

20. Book Reporter

The selection in Book Reporter is carefully curated & enticing: hot new releases, forthcoming books, major presses, & indies. And there are plenty of unique ways to learn about them, like video interviews and monthly lists & picks. It launched in 1996 and is in The Book Report Network, which includes Reading Group Guides , a super useful resource for book clubs.

21. BookTrib .

BookTrib does such a great job of making their site browsable. The different ways you can enjoy what they offer—from book lists to giveaways to ebook deals —are difficult to keep your purchase finger off of.

23. Lit Reactor

Writers & readers—where bookish people meet! LitReactor’s book reviews are in the magazine portion of their website, and they’ve got plenty of them! Reviews, interviews, lists, introspectives, writing tips, and reading discussions. I’ve found some really unique content on Lit Reactor, like this ranking of literary parents . The website is a haven for writers especially, as there are workshops, writing blog posts, and even a forum to participate in.

24. Crime Fiction Lover

Dark alleys. Stray bullets. Hard-boiled detectives. Runaway thrills. If you’re a mystery-thriller reader, you’ve got to know about Crime Fiction Lover. They’ve got a passionate group of readers and writers talking about the best books in the genre and the ones that are soon to come out too.

25. SF Book Reviews

Speculative fiction fans unite! SF Book Reviews has been reviewing sci-fi and fantasy books since 1999, and while they’re a relatively small staff, they publish regularly, feature books of the month, and work wonders for their fantastical community.

26. Historical Novel Society

For all you historical fiction fans out there, the Historical Novel Society has reviewed more than 20,000 books in its twenty years. This one works like a membership for “writers and readers who love exploring the past.” You get a quarterly print magazine as a member, and if you’re a writer, you can join critique groups and ask for book reviews.

27. The Poetry Question

The Poetry Question writes about poetry published by indie presses and indie authors. They are a small passionate team dedicated to showing the world why indie presses continue to be a leading source for award-winning poetry.

28. Goodreads

Did you know that there are over 125 million members on Goodreads? When users review books, they can have conversations with fellow readers and follow reviewers too. If you’re looking for the biggest community, there’s no doubt Goodreads is the one. I like using sites like this because it helps you catalog books, one of my favorite ways to build a strong reading habit . 

29. The Storygraph

A big community of active users that’s Amazon free! Come review books, use half & quarter stars (!), and complete reading challenges. You got this.

29. Bookwyrm

Bookwyrm is small (around 5,000 members at the time of this writing), but doesn’t that sound kind of nice? There are active members and a genuine collective goal in talking books. Grow with it. I think you’ll be comfy here. There are other communities within the Bookwyrm umbrella too, like Bookrastinating .

30. Reedsy Discovery

I hold a special place in my heart for book review sites dedicated to helping writers! I got into this business as a book marketer, and I experienced first-hand, through hundreds of books, how hard it was to get exposure & validation for small press and self-published authors. 

Reedsy Discovery is a branch of Reedsy (the author resource company) that connects authors & reviewers so that people can read free books, sometimes receive tips for it, and authors can get more reviews in the process. Readers can choose from the latest books as well as the ones that are getting the best reviews.

31. Netgalley

Netgalley is a book review site for pre-released books. Reviewers sign up for a free account, request galleys from publishers and indie authors, and get to read them before they’re published so that they can leave reviews for the book, preferably on Amazon, Goodreads, or their blog. They also run Bookish , the editorial arm of Netgalley, which has book recommendations, interviews, and more.

32. Online Book Club

This review site combines a bunch of cool things! The 4-million member community gives me a lot of Goodreads vibes, especially with the Bookshelves app . But Online Book Club is a place for you to get eBook deals and talk about books in reviews and forums.

What are your favorite book review sites to follow? Let us know in the comments!

Thank you for reading “ Top-Notch Book Review Sites for Readers & Writers !” If you liked what you read, please spend some more time with us at the links below.

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20 Great Book Websites for Finding What to Read Next

I’m writing this list of the best websites about books for me five years ago. Back then I was deep in the beginning of learning about book world and would have welcomed a list of the great book websites to help me learn what to read next. Getting to know the publishing industry is a lifelong process of book discovery, and the Internet makes the literary community more accessible and inclusive than ever. These 20 book websites (plus a few extra way down at the end) are the places I go to find out about new books being published, to deepen my understanding of literature and reading, to get book recommendations, to grapple with critical book reviews, and more. I hope you’ll find your next favorite book through this list of great book websites to grow as a reader.

20 Best Book Websites for Book Recommendations, Lists, and More

(1) amazon book review.

Love it or hate it, but Amazon is a quality place to go to find out about new books. The Omnivoracious Amazon Book Review is a flagship for good book content, with recommendations from celebrities and other notable readers being a unique feature. I love the author interviews they have on their site, with writers like George R. R. Martin , Holly Black , and Charlie Jane Anders recently stopping by for a chat, often on the podcast. Amazon’s Best Books of the Month list is one I check religiously for new books to add to my TBR. They often surprise me with little-known reads I wouldn’t otherwise have on my radar (even if I think they make YA an afterthought), which is why I rate them highly for “new book discovery,” meaning a place where you can learn about books to read.

Strengths: Author interviews, previews of new releases, lists of recent award winners, podcast, new book discovery

(2) Book Bub

When Book Bub first came on the scene about five years ago, I signed up for their signature daily newsletter with hot deals on eBooks. I scored a lot of great books to load up my Kindle, but I didn’t really follow the site for a few years as I wasn’t reading too much on my eReader. Now they’re everywhere, moving beyond the email list to create original bookish content. It’s now totally expected to have one of their many comprehensive book lists pop up in a search for new books. The only downside that I see is that now you have to have an account to view their book lists or other blog content . I do like how they track book recommendations from authors like Stephen King, Jill Shalvis, and Nora Roberts.

Strengths: Book list articles, book recommendations, eBook deals, new book discovery

(3) Book Marks

One of the sites associated with Literary Hub or “Lit Hub,” which I write up as #12 below, Book Marks is the place to go if you want to find book reviews of the latest big books. Book Marks’ specialty is aggregating adult literary fiction and nonfiction book reviews and then assigning them a score card so you can see how many reviewers gave the book a Rave, Positive, Mixed, or Pan. Without a doubt, if you want to find out the critical consensus on a book before buying it or checking it out of the library, Book Marks should be your first stop. I also like how the site regularly interviews book critics to ask them more about their bookish lives. The site also reprints classic book reviews.

Strengths: Book reviews, coverage of new books, literary criticism, book news, essays

(4) Book Riot

Sure, I might be a little biased to include Book Riot in my list of the best book websites since I write for them , but the fact is, Book Riot is one of the leading destinations on the web for book lovers and certainly one of the top best sites for new books. Book Riot’s got all areas of the reading life covered and does an especially good job at highlighting diverse authors, featuring all genres, and amplifying thoughtful and at times controversial opinions about books, publishing, and reading. The annual Read Harder Challenge pushes readers beyond their comfort zone with categories like “A book by an AOC (Author of Color) set in or about space” and “A novel by a trans or nonbinary author,” and a thriving community of challenge takers trade book recommendations and ideas. Book Riot’s many book podcasts are also must-listens for readers wanting to learn about new books and what to read next.

Strengths: Diversity, essays, book list articles, all-genre coverage, podcasts, book news, reading challenge, new book discovery

(5) Brain Pickings

Looking for engrossing essays about books that will push you emotionally and intellectually? You’ll definitely want to stop by Brain Pickings, the literary love child of Maria Popova, a blogger who decided to create an “inventory of the meaningful life” more than a decade ago and share it with other readers. Popova’s one-woman show is an intensely personal exploration of art and ideas, with coverage of children’s literature alongside philosophy, literary fiction, and creativity. Sign up for her newsletters to get a hit of thought-provoking writing a few times a week, guaranteed to break up your mundane day. Popova is author of two books: Figuring (2019), which highlights the hidden legacy of influential female thinkers, scientists, and creators, and A Velocity of Being: Letters to a Young Reader (2018), a book for younger readers that collects essays about reading from leading creative thinkers like Neil Gaiman, Shonda Rhimes, Ursula K. Le Guin, and Elizabeth Gilbert.

Strengths: Literary criticism, essays, backlist coverage, newsletter

(6) Bustle Books

The website Bustle is designed for the modern woman, and the ample literary coverage on their standout Bustle Books channel reflects that. Here readers will find profiles and interviews with female authors, lists that focus on feminism, and personal essays that explore the experience of being a female reader in today’s world. Bustle Books is known for provocative articles challenging the publishing world to be more diverse and more female inclusive. You’ll also find fun articles, too, about books, TV and film adaptations, and books in pop culture.

Strengths: Feminism, diversity, essays, book list articles, all-genre coverage, new book discovery

(7) CrimeReads

Like Book Marks, CrimeReads is a branch of Literary Hub (discussed in #12 below). This book website has a niche focus on “crime” in literature: through true crime, mysteries, thrillers, fiction about crimes in general. On CrimeReads, you’ll find essays about writing and reading crime fiction, appreciation of and interviews with crime fiction authors both well known and underrated, reading lists for crime fiction and nonfiction, and coverage of crime in TV, movies, and other media. CrimeReads also has essays and original reporting on true crime. If you’re a mystery and thriller lover, appreciate a good courtroom novel, or just love reading about true crimes stories, you’ll definitely want to head over to CrimeReads and marathon read their quality content.

Strengths: Mystery/thriller/suspense, true crime, nonfiction, the writing life, book list articles, essays, literary criticism, new book discovery

(8) Electric Literature

With its signature tagline of “Reading Into Everything,” Electric Literature hosts an eclectic mix of bookish coverage, ranging from highbrow literary criticism to horoscopes for writers and everything in between. A hallmark of Electric Literature is a focus on reading more diversely, and a regular feature called Read More Women asks writers to recommend books by women (a response to male authors who only recommend books by fellow male authors). One thing I love about Electric Literature is how often they touch on writing and the life of being a storyteller. (I’m a bit biased because I’ve written for Electric Literature and consider it one of my proudest accomplishments to have my writing on there.) Electric Literature also publishes original fiction in its literary magazine , so keep your eyes peeled for some of today’s best authors and new and emerging voices alike converging there.

Strengths: Literary criticism, diversity, essays, author interviews, the writing life, all-genre coverage, book news, book list articles, new book discovery

(9) Epic Reads

Oh, Epic Reads: what started as an arm of HarperCollins publishing house has turned into the go-to destination for YA book fans. Readers of young adult literature love Epic Reads for the humorous tone, creative article ideas (bookish horoscopes, fan reactions to plot twists, book title or song lyric? challenges, etc.), addictive quizzes, and, of course, the many TBR-exploding lists. You’ll also find book trailers, cover reveals, and details on the latest books and tour dates for YA authors. Even though Epic Reads is part of HarperCollins, they don’t only put the spotlight on books through their publishing house. Epic Reads is simply and purely about celebrating YA literature, no matter whose imprint is stamped on the book jacket. So often YA can be a heavy genre, with books tackling serious themes, but Epic Reads always reminds me that reading ( and YA) can and should be fun, too.

Strengths: Young Adult (YA) books, quizzes, book list articles, new book discovery

(10) Five Books

Five Books has a niche formula and does it well: a list of five great book recommendations. This powerhouse book website solicits a fascinating mix of today’s most interesting, creative, and thoughtful “Experts” —like Mary Beard , Madhur Jaffrey , Mia Farrow , and Jo Nesbø —to offer five book recommendations on a specific topic, such as “The Best Prose Poetry,” “Congress,” and “Zombies.” An additional nice feature of Five Books is the ability to make your own lists and share your expertise. The site lives up to its tagline of “The Best Books on Everything” as you’ll find as wide a variety of book lists and book coverage as anywhere on the web.

Strengths: Book list articles, book recommendations, new book discovery

(11) Goodreads

In the 9 years that I’ve been a member of Goodreads, I’ve seen the site change a lot—for the better. Goodreads is perhaps the most essential website for readers as it allows you to track the books you’ve read, want to read, and are reading and add custom shelves to sort books. Connect with other readers in groups and follow authors for updates and exclusive information. The Goodreads lists are a rabbit hole to tumble down and find out more about books. I’ve found that the user-generated reviews have also improved over the last few years, going from one-line snarky hot takes to more thoughtful reviews. Plus they are home of the popular Goodreads Reading Challenge, an annual self-challenge to set a goal of how many books you want to read that year. (I’ve been known to argue against the challenge on this blog and offer alternatives to the Goodreads challenge , yet what can I say… I do it almost every year.) Even the Goodreads blog is getting better at publishing creative articles about the bookish life.

Strengths: Community, reading data tool, book list articles, user-generated reviews, reading challenge

(12) Largehearted Boy

Largehearted Boy is a book and music blog established in 2002 by David Gutowski and an essential corner of the literary internet. Obsessed with best-books-of-the-year lists? Make sure you bookmark Largehearted Boy, which compiles an index of the best-of lists you can peruse till your heart’s desire. Check out last year’s “Online ‘Best Books of 2018’ Book Lists” for a TBR-buckling example. (Full disclosure: I’ve submitted my best-of lists from this blog before and been included.) Also great for book discovery is the weekly “Books of the Week” that Montreal bookstore Drawn & Quarterly hosts on Largehearted Boy. What I love about Largehearted Boy is the thoughtful and honest book reviews, the blending of music and literature with the “Book Notes,” where an author matches a mix tape to their new book. Like Brainpickings, Largehearted Boy traces a very personal experience of inquiry into being a reader, writer, listener, and human being to provoke our own consideration. It’s an honor to share in it.

Strengths: Book list articles, author interviews, essays, book reviews, new book discovery

(13) Literary Hub (a.k.a. “LitHub”)

The parent site of the aforementioned Book Marks and CrimeReads, Literary Hub pumps out new book content for readers on the daily. I also suggest signing up for the LitHub newsletters as they come out each day with a summary of new posts not just on LitHub but elsewhere on the Internet. The weekly edition is a must-read, too, and it’s where I get many of the interesting bookish links I post on the Facebook page for this blog . On LitHub, you’ll find an endless stream of great writing about books, including essays on writing and reading, author interviews, highbrow intellectual literary criticism, book lists, and new fiction. Browsing LitHub is like reading a digital version of a literary magazine (like The New York Review of Books ) that you actually want to read. Unquestionably LitHub’s specialty is literary fiction, though they do also cover various genres, too. However, you likely won’t find much YA and children’s literature coverage on LitHub, excluding when they come up in personal essays about reading or writing kidlit.

Strengths: Literary criticism, literary fiction, nonfiction, essays, book list articles, author interviews, new book discovery, book news

(14) The Millions

Established in 2003, The Millions is one of the oldest book websites around, and over the past 15 plus years it has built up a reputation for being a gathering point for intellectually curious readers. Head over to The Millions if you want to check out the latest buzzy literary releases, hear more from authors about how they conceptualized and wrote their new book, discover the most anticipated books published in the month ahead, and find out what books were nominated for awards. The strength of The Millions is definitely literary fiction and nonfiction. Two of the best recurring features on The Millions are the annual Year in Reading , in which notable creatives and thinkers share a little about their year in reading, and The Millions’ Most Anticipated: The Great First-Half Year 20XX Preview, a TBR-toppling list of the most anticipated books of the year. This list comes out in two parts: January for the First-Half and July for the Second-Half. (Example: here’s the First-Half of 2018 Preview and Second-Half .) You’ll want to comb through these articles with your TBR ready, and you can find all The Millions lists on Goodreads for easy record keeping. I look forward to them every year as traditions, almost holidays, on the bookish calendar.

Strengths: Literary criticism, literary fiction, nonfiction, essays, author interviews, book list articles, previews of new releases, book news

(15) The New Yorker ‘s Books Section

Arguably the best literary magazine in America, The New Yorker is also a flourishing website with tons of great book content, most of it found on The Page-Turner blog . On The New Yorker ‘s Books channel, book reviews, publishing news, essays and articles from the magazine about writing and literature, and New Yorker staff book recommendations. Note that you’ll need a subscription to view more than a few articles a month. I admit I’m a proud subscriber of the magazine; I never recycle the issues, and they take over every corner of the house like an invasive species, but I wouldn’t have it any other way!

Strengths: Literary criticism, essays, literary fiction, nonfiction, author interviews, book reviews, book recommendations, book news

(16) The New York Times Book Review Online

It would hardly be a list of the best book websites without including The New York Times ‘ Book section. After all, The New York Times Book Review is one of the most prestigious and influential periodicals in publishing, and landing a coveted spot on its bestseller lists is just about every writer’s dream. Fortunately, the Review ‘s virtual presence is a worthy digital companion to the supplement you’ll find in Saturday’s paper. Online, you’ll get the same great book reviews, essays, and humor sketches, plus some podcasts going inside the Book Review and publishing that week that are seriously worth checking out. Every week I look for the New & Noteworthy feature, which highlights new releases you should put on your radar, and the Editors’ Choice: New Books We Recommend This Week, a weekly list that includes extracts from the critics’ reviews that’ll make you want to read these fresh books. One of my favorite recurring series in the Book Review is the By the Book interviews with writers, thinkers, and creatives, which discuss the bookish life and always includes interesting books to add to your TBR. You can find all of these digitized and uploaded weekly .

Strengths: Book reviews, book recommendations, author interviews, literary criticism, book news, podcasts, previews of new releases, new book discovery

(17) NPR Books

National Public Radio (NPR) has always been ear candy for readers, but now you can get all their great book programming online in one spot. The NPR Books site collects all the author interviews, book reviews, and stories about the reading life that you’ll get on the radio. If you’ve ever had the experience I have where you’ve gotta turn off the car in the middle of a story and you don’t have a pen or paper ready to record a book title or author name, they’ve got you covered. Beyond audio programming, NPR Books has a solid stream of book reviews and feature articles about writing and reading with a focus on diverse authors. Breadth and depth of coverage is a signature of NPR, which is why you’ll find articles about children’s books alongside graphic novels and comics and highbrow literary fiction. NPR Books is known for one more thing: the annual end-of-the-year book concierge . This behemoth of a book recommendation machine is a slick book discovery tool to find more than 300 of the best books of the year. Yes, I said 300. I’ve found so many great books this way, ones that were otherwise overlooked in best-of-the-year lists, and the methods to sort by what you’re in the mood for make this giant list manageable, with some seriously high-quality UX. Oh, yeah: you’ll be working through that list for the rest of the upcoming year.

Strengths: Book reviews, diversity, book list articles, author interviews, book news, all-genre coverage, new book discovery

(18) Publishers Weekly

If it’s publishing industry news you want, Publishers Weekly should be your first stop. Publishers Weekly (PW) is packed with insider-y gossip-y content about what’s hitting the shelves now and soon. Writers will want to check out PW’s articles to get an idea of what agents are buying and what trends are moving through books. I also sometimes mine the announcements that publishers make of new and upcoming books to get ready for upcoming releases and add them to my calendar.

Strengths: Book news, publishing industry information, book list articles, previews of new releases, new book discovery

(19) Read Brightly

Kid lit fans, this one is for you. Read Brightly is an online children’s literature website that’s part of Penguin Random House. Read Brightly is an excellent resource for readers of children’s literature and the adults who help children learn to love reading. One great feature of this website is the way each article is broken down by reading levels, a key distinction that takes the guessing game out of trying to connect children to the most age and reading level appropriate books. A flurry of articles celebrate kid lit, with creative and diverse book lists around categories like “Move Over, Rover: 10 Picture Books That Feature Unusual Pets.” Each month, Read Brightly hosts a reading challenge for kids designed to help them stretch themselves and discover new books. Like Epic Reads, this book website is hosted by a publishing house but features books from all parts of the children’s literature publishing world. Read Brightly truly lives up to its motto “Raise Kids Who Love to Read” as that passion for literacy and raising bookworms comes through in every story they write.

Strengths: Children’s literature, Young Adult (YA) literature, book list articles, previews of new releases, reading challenges, all-genre coverage, book discovery

Last but definitely not least, Tor is the go-to destination for science fiction and fantasy readers on the literary web. Tor has long published books, but their online presence takes their mission to highlight great voices in speculative fiction and pushes it further, creating a space for a community of SFF fans to grow and thrive. On Tor, you’ll read honest book reviews that are fair and critical of the books and authors in question, original fiction, lists of books, personal essays, eBook deals, SFF industry news, and coverage of SFF-related media, like Game of Thrones . What I like about this site is the freedom that Tor gives its bloggers and staff writers to really speak their minds about books. You might find articles about super-super niche sub-sub-sub genres you didn’t even know were a thing, but you definitely won’t find BS here. This makes Tor a leading place to go for readers who want to dig into the issues behind books.

Strengths: Science fiction, fantasy, SFF related TV shows and movies, book news, book reviews, essays, book list articles, book discovery

More great book websites

Here are a few other book websites you’ll definitely want to check out but didn’t make the full list (because I ran out of time!): Atlas Obscura’s Books Section , Catapult , The New York Review of Books , and Vox.com’s Books Section .

What are some of your favorite book websites? What did I miss? Leave a comment!

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Sarah S. Davis is the founder of Broke by Books, a blog about her journey as a schizoaffective disorder bipolar type writer and reader. Sarah's writing about books has appeared on Book Riot, Electric Literature, Kirkus Reviews, BookRags, PsychCentral, and more. She has a BA in English from the University of Pennsylvania, a Master of Library and Information Science from Clarion University, and an MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults from Vermont College of Fine Arts.

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Pen and Glory

Self-publishing, simplified.

• Feb 15, 2022

Best Book Review Sites for 2022

As you build your street team, your review numbers will naturally climb. But getting reviews is hard early on, and even when you’re established, it’s good to have a reliable review service you can lean back on.

Because of Amazon’s ever-changing guidelines for what reviews are legitimate and how readers can enter reviews, many review sites have come and gone over the years, and they often don’t stay around long. Paying for reviews is strictly banned, and so is blatant review-swapping. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t workarounds where you can get extra exposure and a list of detailed, honest reviews testifying to your story.

While the options are constantly changing, here are the top three book review sites of February 2022 with an overview of how they work and what they offer writers.

At its heart, Pubby is karma-based. You get a certain number of “snaps” when you sign up, and you can earn more by reading and reviewing work from other authors. You can use these snaps to boost your own book to reviewers and get more reviews.

Pubby has a lot of unique advantages, including the potential for unlimited reviews and the option to pursue verified purchases—which cost more snaps but look so much better on Amazon! If you want to check it out, Pubby does have a free ten-day trial where you can try their system and get a set of reviews without spending a dime, determining if it’s a good fit for you before you commit to a monthly subscription.

BookSirens is perhaps the most talked-about review site. Its platform focuses not only on getting posted reviews of your book, but on getting influencers to share the word. This means you can get publicity as well as reviews from book bloggers, book Youtubers, BookTokers, as well as micro-influencers from every platform.

BookSirens has two payment options, either per book or per month, meaning that you can fit your promotions to your level and choose to have ongoing campaigns or quick bursts whenever you have a new release.

If you’re looking for something minimal and hands-off, Booksprout is a solid option. Booksprout offers advanced protection against free-book-snatchers and piracy, while still having a large network of reviewers. It’s also largely hands-off, meaning that after you upload your book and choose the date you want reviews by, Booksprout takes care of the rest.

Booksprout also wins on the price front. It has a generous free plan which allows up to twenty reviews per book. While there is no good way to enforce that every ARC taken will get a review, reviewers are held up to strict expectations, and it is possible to kick out reviewers who never leave reviews.

How do you get early reviews for your books? Please share your thoughts and experiences in the comments section below. You can also click on the blue button for further discussion on my Facebook group for self-publishing fiction writers.

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Abigail Clarkin

Abigail can often be found holding a book in one hand and an ice cream cone in the other. When she is not devouring stories (or dessert), Abigail trains for marathons and writes poetry about growing up with eight brothers and sisters. She enjoys working in marketing for a real estate developer and creating Instagram content for fun (@marathonandmunch) about all the tasty eats found in Providence, RI.

View All posts by Abigail Clarkin

At some point, you’ve likely encountered a long, bleak patch when your reserve of recommended books ran dry. A few years ago, there was a stretch when I didn’t have people in my life who understood my taste in books. I’d finish a fantastic series and then be disappointed when I realized that there was no rebound read to help me recover from the last series. Thankfully for the readers like us who are still nursing book hangovers, there are personalized book recommendation websites across the internet to save us.

If you have run out of books you’re interested in reading, look through these fifteen book recommendation sites.

Subscriptions

Book Riot has its very own subscription service called Tailored Book Recommendations . TBR is made up of staff who dedicate their time to carefully tailoring book recommendations for readers based on what they like to read personally. Sign up for either a recommendations-only level subscription or a hardcover level subscription (which includes having three books mailed to you).

Thank you for signing up! Keep an eye on your inbox. By signing up you agree to our terms of use

If you’d like free and discounted reading deals sent straight to your email, sign up for BookBub. Based on the genres you choose when signing up, BookBub will send personalized recommendations of ebooks that can be purchased for a reasonable rate. Themed lists are also available on their site.

22 Books Coming in 2018 Recommended by Librarians https://t.co/Sil3Wvs6Lh @tarawestover @thuglibrarian @CommerceLibrary @randyribay @alicewriterland @anglophilelibr pic.twitter.com/Uu6cIJuuxx — BookBub (@BookBub) March 2, 2018

3. Library-Specific Sites

If you’re a patron at a large library, there’s a chance that your library offers personalized book recommendation services delivered via email. A few libraries currently offering this service include New York Public Library , Denver Public Library , and Sacramento Public Library . Ask your librarians to see if this is a resource for you as well.

Themed Lists

4. epic reads.

Epic Reads is one of the largest young adult fiction communities online. Along with their endless energy and passion for YA, one reason for their popularity is their interactive quizzes, lengthy lists, and colorful book charts that point readers towards their next favorite read. A few years ago when I met a reading slump, I worked my way through much of their amazing Young Adult Retelling Chart . Many of my favorites were found through this resource.

5. Penguin Teen

The Penguin Teen website features book lists, news about young adult authors, and a helpful book suggestions tool that focuses on genre specific book recommendations.

6. Reading Rockets

If you’re looking for children’s books for the kids in your life (or for the child in you), check out Reading Rockets. Reading Rockets provides specific, lengthy themed lists for young readers. With list topics ranging from “Books About Kids Who Find Reading Hard” to “That’s So Gross,” you are sure to find a book for any occasion. This site can be a wonderful resource for teachers, librarians, and educators.

Tor is the online hub for fantasy and science fiction. Check out their many lists to find stories that will transport you to fictional lands.

A project from Netgalley, Bookish offers a wide range of book lists, including fiction, audiobook, and young adult. What makes this site stand out is these are all brand new releases or forthcoming titles, so you can get your library holds or preorders in early.

All of the recommendations on Olmenta are submitted by passionate readers. The site allows you to peruse titles by genre or category, and it’s a fun way to let someone else pick a book for you (without needing to do any real work on your end). You can submit your own suggestions, too.

10. Shepherd

Who could offer better recommendation lists than authors, experts, and passionate readers of books on aa topic? Shepherd offers a wide range of book lists, including everything from best YA books about immigration to novels where something queer’s afoot. In the near future, Shepherd will make it possible to sort lists by genre, as well, so you could find books set in China that are romance, nonfiction, YA, or otherwise.

Made-For-You on the Spot

11. whichbook.

On Whichbook, book recommendations are calculated by one out of two categories: 1. Mood, or 2. Character, setting, and plot. The reader has the choice to use sliders on the “Mood” section to rate what they’re looking for in a book. Do you want a book that is completely happy? Or on the border between safe and disturbing? There is also the option to select your desired character characteristics, the story setting, and/or plot points that you’d like included in the recommendation.

Maybe AI knows the perfect book for you. Readow starts by asking you some simple questions about recent reads and uses technology to pair you with your next great book.

13. What Should I Read Next

14. readgeek.

Registering is optional when using Readgeek to receive book recommendations. In order to get ahold of book suggestions, simply rate a few books that you’ve read on a 1–10 scale. After you finish rating as many as you’d like, Readgeek calculates which books you’d most likely enjoy based on your previous ratings.

15. Literature Map

At Literature Map, you can type in an author’s name and then view similar authors that other readers are enjoying. The site generates a map that displays author names in relative states of closeness. The closer the authors, the more likely other readers enjoyed both.

Another simple but fun AI-driven recommendation site is Gnooks. Pop in your three favorite writers and you’ll get a recommended author to try. It doesn’t end there, though: you can rate whether or not you like the author suggested for even more recommendations.

17. Goodreads

Goodreads provides a space for people to track their reading, write reviews, and view books, lists, and authors that align with their interests. When creating an account on Goodreads, the reader has the opportunity to create original book lists. One of my favorites is the “Want to Read” option: every time you view a book description that sounds interesting, you can save the book to a list that is dedicated to books you plan to tackle later. For those of you who are looking to build a never ending To-Be-Read list, Goodreads is a perfect place to start.

18. Narrative Muse

Are you interested in reading books specifically written by underrepresented voices? Narrative Muse serves as a recommendation site for those who are looking for both films and books created by women and nonbinary writers. Create an account to be matched with books that fall under these categories.

19. The Storygraph

Billed as an alternative to Goodreads, The StoryGraph is a book tracking site, a community making site, and offers book recommendations. You can import your Goodreads information to The StoryGraph, and both the website and app have clean but visually appealing interfaces. Here’s our full StoryGraph review .

20. r/books

Numbering at almost 21 million subscribers, Reddit’s main book subreddit is a haven for book discussion and recommendations. Want to know what Reddit users across the massive site are reading? There’s Reddit Reads for that.

Still looking for more ways to find your next favorite book? Take this quiz on what you should read next to receive an immediate recommendation. If you’re willing to look for suggestions in places off of the internet, check out 31 Ways to Find the Best Book Recommendations .

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Best Book Review Blogs in 2024

Showing 240 blogs that match your search.

YA Books Central

http://www.yabookscentral.com/

Hey, thanks for joining! We're so happy you're here! We accept review requests from indie authors (small press, independent press, and self pub) and traditionally published authors. We do not guarantee reviews. IMPORTANT: Do not contact our staff reviewers directly with review requests. They will not respond. Repeated contacts will result in your email being blocked.

Blogger : YA Books Central Team

Genres : YA

🌐 Domain authority: 47

👀 Average monthly visits: 45,000 p/mo

💌 Preferred contact method: Submission manager

⭐️ Accepts indie books? Yes

The Kindle Book Review

https://www.thekindlebookreview.net/

We are a book review and promotion site but we NEVER charge for reviews. There other other sites that have tried to imitate us. We are The Kindle Book Review dot Net. We've reviewed over 1,750 books on Amazon since 2009. We promote quality ebooks and authors, post author resources, and we've sponsored the annual "Kindle Book Awards" since 2012 with industry pros like Digital Book Today, K-Boards, Author Marketing Club, Bargain Booksy, and others.

Blogger : Amber & Team

Genres : YA, Crime, Contemporary Fiction, Fantasy, Historical Fiction, Romance, Mystery/Thriller, Science Fiction, Paranormal, New Adult, Erotica, Children's, Christian, Non-Fiction, LGBT, Humor, Horror, Urban Fantasy, and Sports

🌐 Domain authority: 38

👀 Average monthly visits: 7,000 p/mo

💌 Preferred contact method: Website contact form

Likely Story

https://likelystory.blog/

I started Likely Story to share my love of books with the world. I have been known to stay up until 3am, lost in a book and I decided I wanted to spread the word and share as many of them as I could with other readers. Happy reading!

Blogger : Alex

Genres : Contemporary Fiction, Crime, Fantasy, Historical Fiction, Horror, Mystery/Thriller, Non-Fiction, Romance, and Science Fiction

🌐 Domain authority: 8

👀 Average monthly visits: 5,000 p/mo

Mind Joggle

https://mindjoggle.com/

Mind Joggle helps readers find books they love through reviews and book lists. Mostly covering contemporary and literary fiction, with some historical fiction, nonfiction, and young adult and middle grade reads, Mind Joggle offers bookish discussion through reading lists, posts on the reading life, plus learning, creativity, and writing.

Blogger : Allison Casey

Genres : Children's, Contemporary Fiction, Historical Fiction, Non-Fiction, and YA

🌐 Domain authority: 23

👀 Average monthly visits: 56,000 p/mo

Booklover Book Reviews

https://www.bookloverbookreviews.com/

WELCOME BOOKLOVERS! I’m Jo, an Aussie book reviewer. I started this website in 2009 and quickly realised I enjoy writing and blogging about books almost as much as reading them. Hope you enjoy browsing my book reviews & following my reading adventures.

Blogger : Joanne

Genres : Contemporary Fiction, Crime, Erotica, Fantasy, Graphic Novel, Historical Fiction, Horror, Humor, LGBT, Mystery/Thriller, New Adult, Non-Fiction, Paranormal, Romance, Science Fiction, Urban Fantasy, and YA

🌐 Domain authority: 36

👀 Average monthly visits: 4,000 p/mo

Reader Voracious

https://readervoracious.com

Connecting voracious readers with their next great read since 2018. Other than book reviews, you will find bookish discussions, lists of upcoming releases, and guides & resources for readers/bloggers. As an advocate for reading diversely, all of my reviews will list representation in the book, as well as content/trigger warnings.

Blogger : Kal Rochelle

Genres : Fantasy, Horror, Mystery/Thriller, Science Fiction, and YA

🌐 Domain authority: 25

💌 Preferred contact method: Email

Worlds In Ink

http://worldsinink.blogspot.com/

I prefer to review print copies of books whenever possible. I am also able to review EPUB formatted ebooks by special arrangement. Print copies will be given precedence due to the cost involved in getting them to me.

Blogger : KJ Mulder

Genres : Fantasy, Science Fiction, and Horror

🌐 Domain authority: 26

👀 Average monthly visits: 3,000 p/mo

Lupa Mysteries

http://lupamysteries.blogspot.com

My name is J. David Core. You can call me Dave. I will be reviewing one new book per quarter. I can accept ebooks in either pdf or mobi formats, and I can accept trade paperbacks through the US mail.

Blogger : J. David Core

Genres : Mystery/Thriller and Science Fiction

🌐 Domain authority: 20

💌 Preferred contact method: Mail

The Taurus Reads

https://avaeshaffer.wixsite.com/website

Hi there! My name is Ava, and i'm a sophomore creative writing major in university. I like to review books (typically YA, New Adult, contemporary, and romance) but I've been known to post some short stories as well. If you're looking for quirky reviews from a gen-z reader who spends more time scrolling through #booktok on TikTok than actually reading- check out my blog!

Blogger : Ava Shaffer

Genres : Contemporary Fiction, Fantasy, Graphic Novel, LGBT, New Adult, Poetry, Romance, and YA

🌐 Domain authority: 15

👀 Average monthly visits: 65 p/mo

Early Bookish Birds

https://earlybookishbirds.wordpress.com/

Hello beautiful person, I am Nada Hosny, an Egyptian, 20 years old bookworm; trying to share my little thoughts about books. I'm a College student, Engineering Major.

Blogger : Nada

Genres : YA, Fantasy, Mystery/Thriller, Science Fiction, and New Adult

🌐 Domain authority: 18

Book Reporter

http://www.bookreporter.com/

The majority of our reviews on Bookreporter.com are fiction. We review bestsellers, debut authors, contemporary fiction, historical fiction, mysteries, thrillers, some fantasy/science fiction and some romance. We also delve into Non-Fiction, newsworthy books, biographies and memoirs.

Blogger : The Book Report

Genres : Contemporary Fiction, Fantasy, Romance, Mystery/Thriller, Science Fiction, and Non-Fiction

🌐 Domain authority: 63

👀 Average monthly visits: 113,000 p/mo

HEA Novel Thoughts

http://heanovelthoughts.com/

Single mom who loves love along with love and murder, and is committed to sharing with you the best Kindle Unlimited Romance Novels.

Blogger : Joy

Genres : Mystery/Thriller, Romance, and YA

🌐 Domain authority: 16

👀 Average monthly visits: 2,000 p/mo

The Crimson Review of Children's & YA Literature

http://sliscrimsonreview.blogspot.com/

The Crimson Review blog is a compilation of children's and young adult book reviews composed by graduate students enrolled in the Children's and Young Adult Materials and Services courses at the University of Alabama's School of Library and Information Studies. These reviews can assist librarians, teachers, and parents as they select novels, picture books, and informational books for their children or students to read.

Blogger : Dr. Jamie Campbell Naidoo

Genres : Graphic Novel, Children's, and YA

🌐 Domain authority: 12

⭐️ Accepts indie books? No

Anu Reviews

http://www.anureviews.com/

Anu Reviews is open to receiving review copies of the books from publishers and authors. I use images from the publisher or author websites. In case someone had objection to use of images from their websites, please let me know, I will click my own picture of the book cover which may not be as good as yours.

Blogger : Anu

Genres : YA, Crime, Contemporary Fiction, Fantasy, Historical Fiction, Romance, Mystery/Thriller, Science Fiction, Paranormal, New Adult, Children's, LGBT, Humor, Horror, and Urban Fantasy

🌐 Domain authority: 32

What Jamie Read

https://whatjamieread.com/

What Jamie Read is a book review blog focused on uplifting the voices of diverse authors and stories.

Blogger : Jamie Schultz

Genres : Children's, Contemporary Fiction, Crime, Erotica, Fantasy, Graphic Novel, Historical Fiction, Horror, Humor, LGBT, Mystery/Thriller, New Adult, Non-Fiction, Paranormal, Poetry, Romance, Science Fiction, Sports, Urban Fantasy, and YA

🌐 Domain authority: 2

👀 Average monthly visits: 1,500 p/mo

So you want to find a book blog?

If you’re a voracious reader, you might think of a book blog as an oasis in the middle of the desert: a place on the Internet that brims with talk about books, books, and more books.

Well, good news — we built this directory of the 200 of the best book blogs  to satiate your thirst. Take a walk around, use the filters to narrow down your search to blogs in your preferred genre, and feel free to bookmark this page and come back, as we do update it regularly with more of the best book blogs out there. 

If you’re an aspiring author, you might see a book blog more as a book review blog: a place where you can get your yet-to-be published book reviewed. In that case, you’ll be glad to know that most of the book blogs in our directory are open to review requests and accept indie books! We expressly designed this page (and our book marketing platform, Reedsy Discovery ) to be useful to indie book authors who need book reviews. If you’re wondering how to approach a book blog for a review request, please read on. 

You’ve found a book blog. Now what? 

Let’s say that you’re an author, and you’ve found a couple of book blogs that would be perfect fits to review your book. What now? Here are some tips as you go about getting your book reviews:

• Be sure to read the review policy. First, check that the book blog you’re querying is open to review requests. If that’s the fortunate case, carefully read the blog’s review policy and make sure that you follow the directions to a T.  
• Individualize your pitches. Book bloggers will be able to immediately tell apart the bulk pitches, which simply come across as thoughtless and indifferent. If you didn’t take the time to craft a good pitch, why should the blogger take the time to read your book? Personalize each pitch to up your chances of getting a response. 
• Format your book in a professional manner before sending it out. Ensure that your manuscript isn’t presented sloppily. If the book blogger asks for a digital ARC, you might want to check out apps such as Instafreebie or Bookfunnel. 
• Create a spreadsheet to track your progress. Wading through so many book blogs can be troublesome — not to mention trying to remember which ones you’ve already contacted. To save yourself the time and trouble, use a simple Excel spreadsheet to keep track of your progress (and results). 

Looking to learn even more about the process? Awesome 👍 For a detailed guide, check out this post that’s all about getting book reviews . 

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The 11 Best Sites for Finding What Books to Read Next

Want your next read to be a good one? These are the book recommendation websites you should look up for books to read next.

Trying to find good books to read during your commute or planning out your summer reading early? There is nothing more daunting than going to a bookstore without a shopping list. So, make sure that your next read is going to be a good one.

There are plenty of sites you can use to look up books based on your personal taste, favorite authors and titles, or even based on a specific plot summary or character.

Whether user-generated, based on recommendations, or using a book recommendation search engine, there are a variety of ways that these sites are going to answer the question: what should I read next?

Gnooks is probably the simplest of these sites to use. You can enter up to three author's names, and Gnooks will recommend another author you might like.

The interface is clean and distraction-free, but if you want to find out more about the recommended authors, you'll have to take your search elsewhere.

The only other feature on Gnooks is the option to make one of three selections: I like it , I don't like it , and I don't know . Making these selections probably helps Gnooks algorithm improve.

2. Goodreads

You should already be familiar with this book community. Goodreads is packed with features that go beyond book recommendations. You will have to sign up for an account to use the site's book recommendations.

There are several ways to discover books using Goodreads . You can search for a title, and you'll see a list of other titles users also enjoyed. If you sign up for a free Goodreads account and rate books that you've read, the site can also offer up recommendations based on your reading history.

In addition to these features, given that Goodreads is a social network, you can also scan the reading lists of other users and friends to find book recommendations.

Some users have also created themed lists which you can use to discover your next read. You can either search for titles you enjoyed and see which lists they appear on, and find other titles you might like.

For example, searching for The Alexandria Quartet is featured on a variety of lists such as best post World War II fiction, alongside other greats such as Catch 22. But then it also does wind up on a list of best books ever, alongside Twilight.

Goodreads isn't the only site that you can use to catalog your book collection and also benefit from the community's wisdom on what to read next. LibraryThing is another good example.

3. What Should I Read Next?

What Should I Read Next? (WSIRN) is a book recommendation search engine. It asks you to enter your favorite book and suggests similar books that you might find interesting. It also lets you browse books by subject.

WSIRN asks users to create reading lists of their favorite books. Thanks to these reading lists and its algorithm, it can understand which books are related to each other.

You can also add books to three default lists: books you liked, books you disliked, books you want to read. This will not only help the algorithm to improve, but you'll get better recommendations. Besides these three lists, you can create custom ones and make your lists private. WSIRN has a Quotes section as well, where you can discover new writers and read relevant quotations.

Unlike most other sites listed here, Litsy doesn't rely on an algorithm. Instead, it relies entirely on its user base for this information. Though you can search for books without signing up, creating a Litsy account gives you access to more features. You can search for books, read reviews, add friends, create posts, and of course find your next read.

Once you've signed up, you'll get a list of users it recommends following. You can also search for other users to follow by searching for your favorite books and seeing who else has left reviews for them. When you want to recommend books for other users, you can't just give the book a thumbs up; you have to leave a short review.

And that's how you're going to find your recommendations—by seeing what other Litsy users are reading. Users post photos of the book (or screenshots of the ebook), along with their reviews.

To find a good book to read, you'll probably want to go directly to the profile of someone who has read other books you've enjoyed and also given them a ringing endorsement. Moreover, Litsy has a mobile application for recommending books .

Download: Litsy for Android | iOS (Free)

5. AllReaders.com

AllReaders.com is another no-frills website without much of a UI to speak of, but it's a great option for those of you who are fans of thrillers. With AllReader.com's advanced search function, you can search for books based on plot, setting or even details about the protagonists. Titles are also accompanied by a plot summary, as well as setting and character information.

Plots or themes include a variety of thrillers, horror, and adventure—so this feature won't be wildly useful if you're looking for something a little more literary.

You can also select the era in which the story is set, the characteristics of the protagonist and the antagonist, the setting, and the book's writing style. Besides the advanced search, it has an option for searching books by title or author.

Amazon should be an obvious option for searching book recommendations. You can find similar titles for any book since the search result is accompanied by a Customers who bought this item also bought list.

While Amazon uses this feature primarily to get you to buy more stuff, you can also take a look at the recommendations for items that are frequently bought together:

And, don't forget that Amazon is also home to the Kindle and its massive reading community too.

7. TasteDive

TasteDive (formerly TasteKid) is a great site for both book and author recommendations, along with other forms of entertainment. Just enter the title of your favorite book or your favorite author, and TasteDive will generate its recommendations.

TasteDive isn't only about book recommendations. You can also use it for music, movies and TV shows. By the same token, you can find recommended books based on other books, as well as based on authors, TV shows, movies, music, and more.

While TasteDive's recommendations are often pretty accurate, searching for recommendations based on newer titles or more obscure authors won't yield any results.

8. Whichbook

Whichbook is another site that offers up suggestions based on specific characteristics rather than similar books - you can make your choices based on the mood of the book, using a series of sliders: Happy to Sad, Funny to Serious, Safe to Disturbing, and so forth.

Drag up to four sliders around to make your selection for each characteristic of the book, and Whichbook will offer up a long list of recommendations. You can also opt for making your selection based on specifics regarding character, plot, and setting. Additionally, you can find books by country and browse through bestsellers.

BookBub is worth a look for its handpicked recommendations. You can also save yourself some money with discounts on books they think you'll want to read.

When you first sign up, BookBub will ask you some questions on what kinds of recommendations you want (updates from authors you love, recommendations from people you trust, info on discounts etc.), and of course information on the genres of books you like.

You can also follow your favorite authors, and in some cases (like Margaret Atwood for example), you'll get recommendations straight from them. In addition to recommendations for people you follow and auto-generated lists, the editors' picks is a great way to discover new titles in your favorite genres.

10. Olmenta

Use Olmenta for random finds if you love to be surprised. The site is simple: you can select books based on nine genres including poetry, children's books, and business.

There are no signups, no algorithms, and no real explanation as to how the books end up on the list, except for a link to recommend books via Twitter to the brains behind the operation.

The Subreddits /r/Books and /r/BookSuggestions are a good place to go to find other like-minded people on the hunt for a good read. You can search the previous threads, or create a post yourself asking for suggestions if you're looking for something in particular.

/r/Books also has a book recommendations tab, where you'll find a weekly recommendation thread . Here, you can request suggestions and can help out other readers with suggestions of your own.

Add Books to Your Reading List

If you're having a hard time finding books to read, it's worth giving these websites a shot. Some share recommendations based on user reviews, while others use algorithms and databases to find the book you'll love.

Once you visit a few of these sites, you can easily find several books to include in your reading list. After adding all the book suggestions to your reading list, you can visit Amazon or other online stores to get your copy.

Where Writers Win

Marketing, websites, training and tools for emerging authors, the ultimate list of book review websites.

Nearly all book review sites experience lots of web traffic. They’re great places to find a read, no matter your genre preference, and better places to place yourself as an author. Many offer links to your website, author interviews (print, podcast, even video), guest author blogs and more.

So let’s create the ULTIMATE list! Here are TWENTY — a mere starter dough of potential review sites to get you rolling. And, to be politically correct (since traffic comes and traffic goes), we’ve listed them in alphabetical order.

NOTE: Each entry links to that review site’s URL. Please do add more sites — or your comments about the sites we’ve listed — in our comments section below. Or, comment at any of the various LinkedIn or Facebook groups where we’ve posted this challenge. Within a couple of weeks we’ll cobble together what WILL be the ultimate list and put it all in a Google doc for anyone to access and add to…

• Allreaders.com (it’s not sexy, but it’s functional, and you can submit a review and be a “scholar”)
• Alltop.com (specifically books.alltop.com – a list of blogs related to books and an easy place to begin your search).
• Bookfetish.org (specializing in genre fiction reviews from horror to true crime to romance).
• Bookpage.com (with hundreds of reviews a month, it’s a great place to discover new talent).
• Bookslut.com (gotta’ love the name – Bookslut is a monthly web magazine and daily blog dedicated to those who love to read)
• ForewordReviews.com (ForeWord has exclusively reviews books from small presses)
• Goodreads.com (The “Razzles” of book review sites – it’s reader candy and social networking gum to chew on all in one neat package)
• Galleycat.com (with great traffic, great lists, great reviews and great e-blast updates, this one is a great favorite of the WWW team!)
• IndieAuthorNews.com (book reviews, interviews, ebooks, even self-publishing advice)
• LibraryJournal.com (news and reviews from Library Journal staffers)
• LibraryThing.com (like GR, a hybrid community of readers, writers and reviewers, boasting 1,500,000 readers)
• MidwestBookReview.com (lots of resources and easy links to get a book reviewed or become a reviewer)
• WriteMyFirstEssay.com (like other essay services, but with good customer support to help with reviews and books in coursework)
• NPR.org (with an ongoing commitment to serious books and authors, lots of lists, author interviews and reviews)
• NewYorker.com (Page Turner is the name of the blog here, with “criticism, contention, and conversation about books that matter.”)
• NYBooks.com (The New York Review of Books – great traffic, lots to read)
• NewYorkTimes.com (okay, not everyone can crack the NYT best-seller lists, but the lists will surely lend insights… 50 Shades of What?!)
• PublishersWeekly.com (a world unto itself)
• Riffle.com (brand new – click on the link to get invited to its anticipated launch)
• Shelfari.com (owned by Amazon, you can click thru to buy in an instant – and like Goodreads has the benefit of “groups” where you can find your reading tribe)
• ← Writing Rules!
• POD Publishers: Scams and Frauds →

12 thoughts on “ The Ultimate List of Book Review Websites! ”

The Ultimate List of Book Review Websites! | Where Writers Win, was a fantastic name to give this valuable blog post. Exactly where can I actually browse more related to this?

Here are 7 more for you. Make sure that you *always* check their review policy page as sites open and close for reviews depending on their reading backlog. Enjoy!

http://shewolfreads.com http://wefancybooks.blogspot.com http://www.sithereandread.com http://www.roofbeamreader.net http://manoflabook.com http://fadeintofantasy.com http://novelreaction.com

GREAT! Will add to list and publish soon!

Thanks for the mention Adonna!

Also look at these: http://greenmanreview.com/ http://www.rambles.net/

And, with all modesty: http://johnadcox.wordpress.com

Great — will add ’em to list — thanks so much (think these will get us over 50 so far…)

Excellent info in this post. I’ve updated my book review database to include some of your suggestions.

Jane Lassar Publicist Blog: “Dear Author; A publicist’s guide to the ever-changing world of book PR” http://www.janelassar.wordpress.com @clevelandbookpr

Bookgasm: http://www.bookgasm.com/ Also, http://popcultureguy-don.blogspot.com/ reviews books if they are pop culture related, but that might be too specific for your list.

No, these are both great – thanks! (We’ve got one for just paranormal, so there ya go!)

I will run a reference to it in the August 1 issue of Publishing Poynters. BTW, you might like to divide the list in the those that review free and those that charge.

Bitten by Books http://www.bittenbybooks.com

Great – thank you!

Comments are closed.

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Top 5 Book Review Sites Every Author Should Submit To

Written By Write With Light Publications, LLC

0 comment(s), october 13, 2021, don’t rush your book.

We can’t say it enough and yet we see it happen all the time.

When on the verge of publishing a book, we see one big mistake happen, especially if the author is rushing the publication process of their book.

Many times, we see them write, edit and then publish, giving no time or space to properly market or get the word out about their book.

So how is a reader supposed to find your book if it’s not even out there yet? How will they see it without proper awareness?

Authors who self-publish for the first time (usually) are missing a crucial piece to the publishing process: Submitting their book to book review sites.

Why Do I Need to Submit My Books for Review?

Submitting your book to review to a good review source can help you leverage your book before it’s even launched.

Having people review your book from these five book review sites we are talking about later, even if the reviews are positive or negative, can be powerful.

There are a few reasons all authors should be submitting their book for review.

• You can gain quality reviews
• Create awareness for your book
• Book reviewers could possibly share your work with others (word of mouth marketing)
• Can influence readers to pre-order your book
• It’s free marketing!

Although sharing your work with others to get their opinion on your book is daunting, it’s still a necessary step to take before you even publish. Don’t forget this crucial step in the publishing and promotion process if you don’t want to sabotage your book .

How Long Does the Review Process Take?

The review copy process can take some time, which is probably why a lot of people skip the process. But if you want a good quality review from a quality source, you need to take the time to fit a book review process into your book publishing timeline.

The review copy process can take anywhere from 3-4 months. So why is that?

A majority of book reviewers and credible book review sites require at least 3-4 months after submission and before launch to review your book.

Reviewers get a lot of inquiries and a lot of books, some of which they give to two different readers for review. If they choose your book for review you need to give them 3-4 months to review it.

The downside is, you just have to be patient.

When Should I Submit My Books For Review?

If you’re finished writing your book, we highly recommend getting it edited by a professional before handing it off to reviewers.

Before you even submit your books for review, edit your book. Period.

Even if you have an amazing cover with a captivating synopsis, it will mean nothing if you send a book in with a wealth of mistakes roaming freely.

Reviewers will not read through your book if there are mistakes. Only send your book out for review when it is 100% ready.

Who Should I Be Submitting Books to For Review?

If you do decide to work this book review timeframe into your schedule, there are five sites you can get started with, some of which are free and some of which are paid.

So the top 5 book review sites you absolutely should at least consider,

• Publisher’s Weekly
• Write With Light Publications

We’ll explain all of them and their benefits below!

It’s also important to keep in mind that there are multiple other avenues for getting book reviews including having bookstagrammers on Instagram review your work, or sending it out to other smaller publications that would fit your niche.

For now, we’ll just cover some of the essential sites that will give you actual reviews without you having to ask freelance book reviewers.

Kirkus (Paid)

Kirkus has been around since 1933 and was founded by Virginia Kirkus. Back then, she realized there was a need for book reviews not backed by the publisher themselves. Seeing this need, she started a business that would give writers the book reviews they need while also allowing American booksellers to buy products backed by unbiased opinions.

As far as book review sites go, Kirkus is one of the most prestigious and trusted book reviewers in the business and offers an unbiased assessment of your book—which could be negative or positive. But their outstanding reviews come at a price. That being said, the review is worth it to many.

Here are some of the prices for Kirkus Reviews:

• Traditional Reviews: Costs $425 for a 250-word review.
• Expanded Reviews: Costs $525 for a 500-word review.
• Picture Book Reviews: Cost $350 for a 200-word review.

All of the reviews are turned around in 7-9 weeks but can be expedited for an additional fee. After receiving your review, you can add some of the best quotes to your product listings on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other sites to help promote the book.

You also have the option to publish your review on Kirkus if you like what they have to say. If you do choose to publish it, Kirkus may consider your review for publication in their magazine which reaches 50,000 users.

If you’re ready to get your book reviewed, visit Kirkus to get started .

Booklife (Paid)

To receive another guaranteed book review for a price, you can also choose Booklife .

Booklife is an extension of the popular site, Publisher’s Weekly, and provides publishing advice and assistance to find authors.

Booklife is usually great for indie authors who need a great review from a reputable source. It is also slightly less in cost than Kirkus.

A Booklife review costs $399 for 300 words.

Authors will get their review back in an estimated 4-6 weeks. The one downside of submitting for review with Booklife is there is a word count limit. Only books 100,000 words are less can be considered for a review.

The upside is the review with be featured on Booklife’s website and Publisher Weekly’s website. To learn more about the submission guidelines and get reviewed, visit Booklife’s Review FAQs page .

Reedsy (Paid)

Probably one of our favorite places to get books reviewed is Reedsy .

We love this site because it is so affordable and you get an honest book review from a professional book reviewer. See a Reedsy book review for one of our authors!

Like Booklife and Kirkus, you will get a quality book review but at a much lower price and it is guaranteed. Reedsy can also be synced with Goodreads, which allows your reviewer to publish their review before the book even launches.

Authors who choose to get their books reviewed with Reedsy will spend only $50 per book for a lengthy review from a frequent book reviewer.

The great thing is, your book is available to be reviewed by anyone who is interested. Additionally, you can contact the reviewers to ask them to review your book

On Reedsy, your book can only be reviewed once, although, we really wish they would allow more, especially if other reviewers want to take a peek.

Publisher’s Weekly (Free)

Like we mentioned earlier, Publisher’s Weekly is associated with Booklife, which is a paid review service.

Publisher’s Weekly, however, is a free review service , which will bring a smile to most indie authors who are on a tight budget with marketing.

The one downside of submitting a book review to Publisher’s Weekly is your review is not guaranteed. Publisher’s Weekly reviewers take a very slim amount of submissions for review, which means they take the elite when it comes to books.

If your book is chosen for review by Publisher’s Weekly, you’ve probably got yourself a great book. Although there is no guarantee for a book review, it’s worth submitting anyways.

To get your book reviewed with Publisher’s Weekly, check out their submission guidelines .

Write With Light Publications (Free)

We know we have a long ways to go to be as great and revered as websites like Publisher’s Weekly and Kirkus. But hey! We all have to start somewhere!

At Write With Light Publications, we have a deep desire to help indie authors get their books out there in the world. One of the best ways to do that is to read your book and give you a quality review.

Our reviews are completely free to you as long as you follow our strict guidelines.

To learn more about our book reviews, check out our submission guidelines !

New More Publishing Help?

Write With Light Publications offers a variety of publishing services that are intended to support indie authors with their self-publishing endeavors.

If you’re feeling lost with marketing, publishing, or even creating your book, consider getting some assistance from us!

You can see more about our services here .

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7 Book Review Sites That Put Your Book in Front of Readers

May 13, 2021 | Book Marketing | 9 comments

Now that you finally published your book , it’s time to gather book reviews. With so many options to promote your book and get it in front of readers, it’s hard to choose which one(s) will help sell this book and the ones that follow. Book review sites are one way to use your advertising dollars to promote reviews and, potentially, book sales.

Why are book reviews so important?

Book reviews are the social proof for your book. It lets other readers know your book is worthy of their time and money. Just like you wouldn’t go to a restaurant without reviews, most readers, unless they know you, have seen you, or a friend recommends your book, won’t pick up your book without reviews. Your first goal is to get to 25 reviews as quickly as possible. Once you reach that goal, keep pushing for more. There is no such thing as too many reviews.

When should you spend money on book review sites?

When you have a small email list or small following on social media and can’t generate the number of desired book reviews organically, you may consider turning to book review sites. It is against Amazon rules to have your mother and friends stuff your book page with reviews. So, it may be advantageous to engage readers out of your own ecosystem.

What to expect from book review sites

The most important thing to understand about engaging with book review sites is that you aren’t paying for reviews. You are paying to have your book in front of readers who may select your book and leave a review. Readers are under no obligation to leave a review, although most will, and they are under no obligation to leave a positive review.

Most reviewers sign up for the sites’ free and nearly free ebooks email list and/or social media feeds. They choose books in genres they like or will go off their normal reading patterns and choose something new because there is little to no risk if the book is free or cheap.

Who can expect the greatest return?

Not all books are created equal. Genre fiction (romance, mystery, etc.) will get consumed at a ravenous rate compared to nonfiction. You increase your chance of success with review sites using the same elements as you will selling them: a professional cover, an engaging description, and a well-written, well-edited book. Make sure you put your best book forward to entice readers.

Why give away your book?

Why would you give away your book for free? Isn’t the point to make money? Long-term, the goal is to generate income. In the short term, it may be more advantageous to expose your book to more readers and build a following. More reviews or more Amazon (or another platform) traffic may mean higher sales after you’ve run your book review promotion. Especially if you have more than one book, book review promotions can help with sales of all of your books. Your goal is to turn readers into fans. Giving your book away is one way to start.

Book review sites

The style, competition, and offerings vary from site to site. While there are free review sites available, the ones listed here are all paid sites. Except for Book Marketing Tools, all are run out of their own site using their list of reviewers. You can also sign up to become a reviewer and receive free and discounted book offers. You’ll help other authors and read some great books!

Most free book review sites won’t evaluate your book. Their Twitter lists may not be vetted either. This is one instance that you get what you pay for. Read the details of each program to understand what you are getting.

Book Marketing Tools

Book Marketing Tools has been around for a number of years, giving sound book marketing advice to its readers. More recently, they built a tool to easily add your information once and use it to be listed on 31+ free book promotion sites. While it isn’t a book review platform in itself, it does ease your efforts. And, of course, time is money. At the time of this blog post, it cost $29 to access this feature.

Readers Favorite

Readers Favorite offers free and paid book review opportunities. According to their site, 50% of the books listed for free receive a review within 3 months. For guaranteed, expedited reviews, there are three options for one, three, and five reviews. Readers Favorite only publishes four- and five-star reviews and with enough depth to allow you to pull out several shorter quotes for use on social media and other avenues.  Their pricing model includes free, $59, $129, and $199 offerings.

Reedsy Discovery

With Reedsy Discovery , you first pick your launch date and are matched with readers who give reviews in your category. You receive a book landing page and are added to their Discovery feed. The best books get featured in their catalog. For $50, you are eligible for one review. If your book is not reviewed, you can resubmit it three times at no charge. They require that you submit your book within six months of publication and must submit a copy of your ebook and front cover.

NetGalley is a way to reach a growing community of influential readers (media, reviewers, booksellers, librarians, bloggers, and educators) who can read, review and recommend your book(s). You can enroll in 3-6 month packages individually or through partners like Books Go Social (below) or Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA) for $199-$399 (partner prices). Reviewers request pre-publication digital copies of your book and publish reviews to their profile and to share with their audiences.

Book Raid is another high-quality book review site. The benefit to promoting your title with this site, besides its popularity with readers, is that you only pay per click on your book, and your maximum spend is capped at $60. While they don’t take everyone, they do have a few requirements including minimum page count, recently discounted or free, and not promoted on their site within the last eight weeks, among other things.

Written Word Media

Written Word Media is another popular site hosting a variety of book promotion options. Among their offerings are Free Booksy for free books, Bargain Booksy for discounted books usually between $.99 and $2.99, Red Feather Romance, New Releases for books released within four months, and a Facebook/Instagram ad option called Reader Reach. Their tiered pricing levels the field with more popular genres promoted for a higher cost. Your book gets the attention it deserves with a growing reader list of well over 300,000 to date.

Books Go Social

Books Go Social offers a variety of book review opportunities as well as ad programs through Facebook and Amazon. Their package pricing varies depending on the service, and many packages offer tiered pricing options. They offer launch packages with ads, a book trailer, cover, description, and subtitle reviews, tweets, and email placements to their legions of followers, along with NetGalley membership. They also offer 4-8 week memberships to boost book sales and reviews. Packages start at $99.

BookBub earns its title as the coveted spot for book marketing. Books are vetted, and authors compete for featured deals due to the prestige and effect on sales that accompany it. There are many factors in getting your book accepted or denied. Some of those are required, like page count (differs between categories), or not discounted enough or already discounted within a month. You must offer at least a 50% discount on your ebook, preferably at a price between $.99-1.99. Most others are subjective. You are competing with other books. A great cover and description, wide distribution, well-edited, and plenty of reviews put you in the running. While they don’t have a requirement for the number of reviews, it is clear that under 25 positive reviews won’t cut it.

BookBub’s pricing reflects the high demand for the service. Costs for the Featured Deal vary by the popularity of the book category and the price you charge for the book. At the time of this writing, a featured deal could be as low as $92 or as high as $3066. Pricing changes regularly based on several factors. Here is more information about boosting your chances to get a BookBub featured deal.

Ok. That’s eight but who’s counting?

These are just a few of the book review sites available. As with many advertising programs, success will vary based on the platform and its ability to connect your book with the right readers. Once the promotion ends, use your online presence to turn readers into fans. They will be poised and ready for your next book or another product or service.

Do you need help navigating the book marketing path? Find your guide here .

But these reviews are not verified purchases–so does Amazon still use them in the rankings?

Thanks for your comment. Amazon uses purchases in their rankings and not reviews. They will post reviews, although some are removed if they think they aren’t actually readers.

This comment makes me very hesitant to use most of these sites which do not provide verified reviews.

Hi Regina, If reviewers are receiving their books from Amazon, they are verified. However, you can have reviews that aren’t verified that are still valid reviews wherever they purchased or received the book.

HOPE TO START A NEW CHAPTER IN MY LIFE

We’re always writing new chapters. That’s what makes life exciting!

What do you think of pubby book review site?

Betsy, I’ve heard that Amazon has been rejecting many of the reviews generated from that site. Amazon’s review policy disallows reciprocal reviews and that seems to happen a lot on the Pubby site, according to some anecdotal evidence.

I found a $49 lifetime deal on BookMuffin, which works in a similar way to Pubby but is smaller. I think it is worthwhile is it doesn’t matter if it takes a week or more for people to review my books because I am not paying a monthly fee.

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• How to price your self-published book - Happy Self-Publisher - […] Life, or other publishing back office, you can change the price at any time. You may do so for…
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Book Reviewers List | 250+ Book Review Blogs

Finding book reviewers and book blogs can be a wearisome task. With few comprehensive lists and guides, it can be tough to know where to look and who to send your story to. 

Some websites and services exist promoting book review services. But their prices can be staggeringly high and the results not guaranteed. That’s why I put together this list, to help you find reviewers. 

Getting reviews is important. Not only do they send a positive message to the world that your book is worth buying, but it gives writers crucial affirmation that they have the ability to do the thing they’ve poured their hearts and soul into.

Most of the lovely people below review books of all genres from self published authors and traditional publishers and everything in between.

They’re all wonderful people and passionate readers who love the written word. And in many cases, they offer free reviews in exchange for a copy of your book.

As well as a list of over 200 book reviewers, blogs and social media profiles, I’ve provided my insights into how to successfully get reviews, where to look and a bit more about what they are and why they’re important.

Jump To A Section

• List of Book Reviewers And Book Blogs 

What Is A Book Review?

Why are book reviews important, how do you pitch your book to a reviewer, how long do book reviewers take to get back to you, the book blog survey – research on the perspective of book reviewers, more writing resources, list of book reviewers and book blogs.

• SFF – Sci-fi, fantasy and speculative fiction as a whole (horror, dystopian etc.)
• Fiction – all types of fiction reviewed
• Defunct – Lots of people use this list of book reviewers and refer back to it regularly. Bloggers and book review sites can and do disappear quickly. It’s a voluntary pursuit after all and some people get snowed under with book review requests. As a result, they shut down their sites. Rather than remove them from the list, I mark them as “defunct” so that anyone who may have submitted can update their own records. 

A book review is the honest opinion of a published piece of fiction or non-fiction. This review might be published on online stores like Amazon, websites like Goodreads and Bookbub, and on the likes of book blogs.

Many book reviews are given voluntarily and free of charge. Some writers and publishers may solicit reviews, seeking honest opinions in exchange for free copies. Some platforms charge writers for reviews.

A book review is a great way for a writer to help spread the word about their book. Honest opinions of dedicated readers, especially ones with followings, can help a writer reach new audiences, especially for an indie author.

And when it comes to convincing people to take a chance on your story, if you have a bunch of flowing book reviews, it’s going to help defeat the cynicism in their minds and encourage them to take a chance.

I’ve experienced the benefit of this first hand. When  Pariah’s Lament  came out, more people bought copies off the back of the early reviews. People would say to me “the reviews were brilliant; I’ve got my copy.”

Reviews tell people what the book is about, that it’s a good story worth reading. While we writers are supposed to contribute to that end, it can be difficult to remove yourself from the story and present it as a reader. In fact, writing a blurb and synopsis can be more difficult than writing a book!

For the help this can give you, it’s definitely worth giving away a free copy. 

Book bloggers get bombarded with review requests every week. The more popular the blog, the more requests they’re likely to get.

This can make it tricky for a writer to stand out from the crowd. But there are a few things you can do:

• Always be polite and courteous. Appreciate the position the book reviewer may be in—swamped with requests, pushed for time maybe, with this being their hobby, after all.
• Provoke curiosity. This is a pitch. We need to sell the story to the reviewer. Lure them in with intriguing detail. Give them a means to learn more if they want to (a link to your Goodreads page perhaps). But be sure to give them all the key details – book title, word count, genre.
• Read their guidelines and adhere to them.
• Offer to support the book blog in some way. Can you write a guest post or take part in an interview?

It’s important to be patient too. Following up a couple of weeks after not hearing anything is worthwhile, but beyond that, it’s a waste of time.

This purely depends on the reviewer, how busy they are and how quickly they read. When you first send your request you may be met with silence. That could go on for weeks or maybe months. Then out the blue you may hear back. However, most reviewers, if they’re interested, will respond to you within a few days asking for more information. 

When a book blogger accepts your story, they will ask when you’d ideally like the review by (often relating to the release date of the book).

Most book reviewers will aim to hit that date. And if they can’t many of them are honest and open so will tell you straight. Generally, the timeframe will be agreed upon at the outset. But remember that everyone is human and a multitude of factors can impact deadlines, so be patient and understanding.

Last month I conducted some primary research. I asked a number of book reviewers about their perspectives and the advice they’d give to writers looking to pitch their work to them.

The results of my Book Blogs Survey are some of the most fascinating and useful I’ve ever compiled for this website. Below, you can find a breakdown of just some of the findings, with a full downloadable report to follow in the near future. 

What advice would you give to authors querying book reviewers?

Always read blogger’s review policies. Are they open for requests? Is your genre one of their accepted genres? Many of us don’t have time to write back to everyone, so if an author’s query doesn’t respect my guidelines, I generally will delete the email without reply. The reviewer gives instructions on how to request or query a review follow the instructions completely. Not doing so is the quickest way to get tossed in the discard pile. Please include a synopsis that is compelling and concise. If a blogger says they don’t read a genre your book falls into, please don’t send a request and waste both parties’ time. Keep your pitches short. Say “here’s my book if you fancy reviewing it” rather than “would you like a copy of this to review”. Include a link to book file so we don’t have to specifically request. Basically, don’t try to put the reviewer under any obligation. Leave the book on my desk and walk away. Read their review policy and don’t send a query if they are closed to reviews or don’t read your genre. They shoud do research on the Blog or whichever mean the reviewer uses before submitting a query

What attracts you most to a book when reading a query?

• 81% of responders said the description of the book
• 5% said the book cover
• 5% said other reviews
• 5% said the genre of the book

What turns you off a book most of all when reading a query?

• 29% of responders said authors who failed to research their blog
• 24% said receiving a generic query
• 10% said a weak pitch
• 5% said not following submission instructions
• 5% said a new author comparing their book to a legend
• 5% said very lengthy descriptions. 

If you happen to be looking for publishers for your work, I also have the following lists too, as well as other  writing tools  and guides:

• List of fantasy publishers
• List of fantasy magazines and journals
• List of writing groups
• Check out my free book description generator here

If you need any help navigating this list of book reviewers, please get in touch. 

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100 Best Book Blogs To Follow in 2024 (Book Reviewers)

• Kirkus Reviews
• Maryse's Book Blog
• Smart Bitches, Trashy Books
• Modern Mrs. Darcy
• The New York Review of Books
• NPR Book Blog
• Amazon Book Blog
• Barnes And Noble Book Blog
• Crossroad Reviews
• Literary Titan
• Caffeinated Book Reviewer
• Joy's Book Blog
• Largehearted Boy
• Wishful Endings
• TLC Book Tours
• The Bookish Elf
• Linda's Book Bag | Loving books and reading
• Under the Covers Book Blog
• Book Room Reviews
• Rose City Reader by Gilion Dumas
• Nerdy Book Club Blog
• Independent Book Review
• The Reading Diaries
• The IndieView
• Bewitched Bookworms
• True Story Book Blog
• Annabookbel
• Zooloo's Book Diary
• Why Not? Because I Said So!
• So many books, so little time
• The Writer's Life eMagazine
• Reading Is My SuperPower
• Sybrina Publishing
• Utopia State of Mind
• Stuck In A Book Blog
• Books'n'Stuff ~ Between the Lines
• Jazzy Book Reviews
• One Book More
• Indie Reader
• Review Tales by Jeyran Main
• Author Anthony Avina's Blog
• Ana's Attic Book Blog
• The Book Review Directory
• Socrates' Book Reviews by Yvonne Hering
• Jen Med's Book Reviews
• The Book Review Crew
• Alexa Loves Books
• Travelling Book Junkie
• Cybils Awards Blog
• Rockstar Book Tours
• Chick Lit Cafe
• Reviews By Martha's Bookshelf
• Portobello Book Blog by Joanne
• The BiblioSanctum
• Katie's Book Blog
• Dublin Review of Books
• By the letter book reviews Blog
• Bound 4 Escape
• WildBlue Press
• Crokes Blog
• Booklist Queen
• The Bibliofile
• Reading Matters
• Vilma's Book Blog
• Feed Your Fiction Addiction
• Kiss The Book Blog
• Cyn's Workshop
• Reading Books Again

Book Bloggers

• Book Newsletter

Here are 100 Best Book Blogs you should follow in 2024

1. Book Riot

2. Kirkus Reviews

3. Maryse's Book Blog

4. BookPage

5. Smart Bitches, Trashy Books

6. Modern Mrs. Darcy

7. The New York Review of Books

8. Joel Books

9. NPR Book Blog

10. Amazon Book Blog

11. Barnes And Noble Book Blog

12. Crossroad Reviews

13. Literary Titan

14. BookTrib

15. Caffeinated Book Reviewer

16. Joy's Book Blog

17. Largehearted Boy

18. Wishful Endings

19. TLC Book Tours

20. The Bookish Elf

21. Linda's Book Bag | Loving books and reading

22. Under the Covers Book Blog

23. Book Room Reviews

24. NewInBooks

25. Rose City Reader by Gilion Dumas

26. The Reader

27. Nerdy Book Club Blog

28. Independent Book Review

29. The Reading Diaries

30. The IndieView

31. Bewitched Bookworms

32. True Story Book Blog

33. Annabookbel

34. Zooloo's Book Diary

35. Why Not? Because I Said So!

36. So many books, so little time

37. The Writer's Life eMagazine

38. Reading Is My SuperPower

39. Sybrina Publishing

40. Utopia State of Mind

41. Stuck In A Book Blog

42. Books'n'Stuff ~ Between the Lines

43. Jazzy Book Reviews

44. One Book More

45. Indie Reader

46. Review Tales by Jeyran Main

47. Author Anthony Avina's Blog

48. Book Club

49. Ana's Attic Book Blog

50. The Book Review Directory

51. Socrates' Book Reviews by Yvonne Hering

52. Jen Med's Book Reviews

53. The Book Review Crew

54. Alexa Loves Books

55. Travelling Book Junkie

56. Cybils Awards Blog

57. Rockstar Book Tours

58. Chick Lit Cafe

59. Reviews By Martha's Bookshelf

60. Portobello Book Blog by Joanne

61. The BiblioSanctum

62. Katie's Book Blog

63. Dublin Review of Books

64. By the letter book reviews Blog

65. Bound 4 Escape

66. WildBlue Press

67. Crokes Blog

68. Booklist Queen

69. The Bibliofile

70. Reading Matters

71. Vilma's Book Blog

72. Feed Your Fiction Addiction

73. Kiss The Book Blog

74. Cyn's Workshop

75. Reading Books Again

• Book Marketing Blogs
• Book Club Blogs
• Historical Fiction Blogs

Book Review Blogs By Country

Kirkus Reviews About - Book reviews and recommendations from the most trusted voice in book discovery.

BookPage.com - The Book Case Blog About - America's book review: sharing the best in new books since 1988. Includes fiction book reviews, nonfiction book reviews, children's book reviews, romance, sci fi etc.

For Reading Addicts About - British bibliophiles brilliantly babbling about books, bookshops, bookshelves!

Lovereading | Helping you choose the next book About - Lovereading is the UK's leading book recommendation site where you will be guided to great books that will keep you inspired and entertained.

Travelling Book Junkie About - Inspiring book lovers worldwide to pick up their passports and explore the world whilst focusing on their love of literature. We highlight the literary trails you won't want to miss. We explore locations that authors have visited and gained inspiration from.

49thShelf.com: Discover Canadian Books, Book Reviews, Book Lists & more About - Canada's biggest selection of Canadian books, Canadian authors, book reviews, book lists, and more. It is A website stocked with Canadian books by authors both world-renowned and up-and-coming, writing in every genre. On 49th Shelf, you’ll find books you’ll never forget, meet people whose lists and reviews you’ll admire, and learn more about the authors who intrigue you.

Chapter by Chapter | A Mostly YA Book Blog About - A Mostly Young Adult Book Review Blog, You'll find reviews on different YA, MG, and some Adult novels. The reviews will generally be in two perspectives; one adult and one teen.

Rabid Reads – Speculative Fiction Book Reviews About - Urban Fantasy, Paranormal Romance and Young Adult are the three main genres featured on Rabid Reads but Historical Romance, Fantasy and Erotica books also make the occasional appearances. Two out of our four reviewers have a strong penchant for stories that showcase werewolves and as a result, the blog has cemented itself as one of the leading paranormal fiction authorities on all things furry.

Darlene's Book Nook About - I am a busy mother of two, and I love reading on the go! I love listening to audiobooks on my iPod. My genres of interest are paranormal, suspense/thriller, mystery, young adult, horror, urban fantasy, fantasy, romantic suspense, mainstream fiction, and juvenile fiction (which I will read aloud to my children). Accepting a book for review does not guarantee that my review will be positive. I can only post fair and honest reviews which I feel will be helpful to readers.

The Boomerang Books Blog About - Founded in 2002, Boomerang Books is Australia's online independent bookstore, with a distinct focus on Australian books, Australian authors and Australian publishers. Specialising in Australian books and Australian authors, Boomerang Books has all your book buying needs.

Aussie Reviews | Reviews of great Australian books About - Since 2001 Aussie Reviews has been drawing attention to the wonderful literary talent in this country by providing online reviews of all kinds of Australian books – from adult fiction to children’s books to non-fiction.

Booklover Book Reviews | Find your next great read today About - Hi! I’m Jo, an unabashed book lover living in Brisbane, Australia. Since starting this website in 2009 I’ve come to realise I enjoy writing about books almost as much as reading them. Read hundreds of book reviews, wide range of titles by Australian and international authors, book giveaways, author interviews. Find your next great read today!

The Booktopian About - Voted Australia's Favourite Bookstore. We love books and want to spread the word. Delivering more than 4 million books per year, we offer competitive prices and stock a wide range to guarantee faster delivery times. Bringing together writers and readers, combined with our expert opinion, Booktopia is Australia's local bookstore.

BookGeeks | Book Reviews | Author Interviews About - BookGeeks is a book review blog dedicated to Indian authors. We do Book Reviews, Author Interviews and help Indian authors promote their books. Our mission is to be the first choice of book lovers looking for simple & apt review of books written by Indian authors. Find the best books written by Indian authors on bookGeeks.in

Booxoul | The love literature, books & all things bookish About - If you are looking for one blog to meet all of your diverse book review needs, Booxoul it is. We review books, suggest books and we try our level best to answer the most asked book-related questions.We love literature, books, and all things bookish, and want to share that with the world through our Blog, We are the excitement of realizing you’re falling in love with a book and so much more. And the only thing we like as much as books is talking about books with you all.

Vidhya Thakkar | Read, Write & Explore! About - An Avid reader, a Gemini Soul and A versatile personality. Know about books, Lifestyle. One who Love to review books. A girl who loves the smell of a new book, a reader, a girl who wants to Inspire. At the end, I am an Entrepreneur and a Social media trainer who love to communicate and meet new people, so don’t hesitate to connect. A Mumbaikar soul who loves to communicate with various people led her to the creation of #Mumbaibookstagrammers.

Anu Reviews About - Anureviews is a book blog featuring books reviews, author interviews, excerpts and all other activities related to books and publishing. I have been reading ever since I can remember and reviewing them for more than 10 years now on this portal Anu Reviews. Never thought that writing down my reflections on the books I read is going to culminate into this. Sharing my thoughts with other readers have often given me multiple views of the books we read and authors we talked about.

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Best Paid Book Review Sites for Authors

Reviews are the lifeblood of your book’s success. Getting them is vital throughout your author journey, starting from before until long after you launch your piece of writing. Paid services are, of course, well aware of this fact. There are so many to choose from, so if you’re wondering what the best paid book review sites are, keep reading!

Dozens and dozens of companies are happy to take your money in exchange for the promise of landing you some good reviews.

With the many book review sites out there, you might be wondering which one should you choose.

Not All Paid Book Review Sites Are The Same

You can easily find plenty of companies out there that promises reviews in exchange for dollars. But, as much as you’d want them to be, not all of them will turn out effective. In fact, you may come across some that aren’t even legit.

Rather than take you through all the options available, I’ll share the tried-and-tested ones we use to help get your search narrowed down.

Here at Book Launchers, we use:

• BookSirens, and
• Booksprout for our authors.

Now, you might be thinking, “ A review is a review. So why so many different sites for the same thing?”

Well, if you haven’t noticed, paid book review sites aren’t all the same. Your book category, overall strategy, goals, and who you’re targeting are essential aspects to consider before going with a review company.

Still, every review site has the same ultimate goal: increase your exposure, find new readers for your book, and bump up those review counts.

Not all sites can make sense for every author. The best course of action would be to pick those that best suit your unique needs.

Here are the four best paid book review sites you can rely on for non-fiction authors, each with its distinctive features.

#1 goodreads.

Goodreads is the most popular review site in the publishing industry today. It remains the top on-line community for book lovers and authors alike.

Amazon runs it, so it boasts some perks for authors with books in the Amazon database.

Right through the site, you can claim your profile and earn a badge that verifies your identity. You’ll also be able to access a wealth of statistical information on your books listed on KDP.

So, how do you know if Goodreads is the way to go? Well, if you want your book to go viral and gain as much exposure as possible, Goodreads could be your ticket.

Here, the strategy is to get people to add your book to their virtual bookshelves, and of course, leave some reviews on it.

This way, your book gets raised visibility. Other users can now see it in their friends’ feeds, giving it a much better chance to be added to their reading list.

Think of it as like playing a giant book-fueled game of telephone with 80 million people.

Speaking of games, did you know that we have an entire YouTube channel dedicated to guiding authors like you to create an excellent self-publishing game plan. Check it out, and if you like what you see, let’s see how fast you can smash that subscribe button.

Back to our topic, you can also run a giveaway on Goodreads, a surefire way to get book reviews. It’s something we do regularly for our clients.

All active giveaways are listed on the giveaway section of the website. Your fans can link to it and encourage their friends to enter the giveaway.

Here’s a video dedicated entirely to helping you get all the goods you can get on Goodreads.

#2 NetGalley

Next up on the paid book review site list is NetGalley. NetGalley is a service that delivers digital Advanced Reader Copies, better known as ARCs.

This service provides ARCs of your book to professional readers. We’re talking about reviewers, media, journalists, bloggers, librarians, booksellers, podcast hosts, and many others.

These professional readers use NetGalley to access digital copies of your book, making it an effective marketing tool not just for your book but for your entire brand as an author.

It allows your work to be made available to people who want to read it in their professional capacity.

A NetGalley promotion offers your ARC three months to be highlighted in their database’s recently added and read now sections. The promo also lets you showcase your book to the sections specific to your title’s categories.

By opting for this promo, all users will see your book listed on the NetGalley website.

There’s a lot more to NetGalley when it comes to figuring out if it’s the right one for you.

To help you out, we have a video that goes into all the details of this review site. We also dive deep into costs because it can be pretty expensive and may not be worth it for all books. Stick to the end of this video to make sure if this review site is for you.

The following two on this list are similar to NetGalley. These two book review sites also deliver your ARC copy to both readers and reviewers. But, they focus more on getting your ARC securely to reviewers, bloggers, and your book army.

#3 BookSirens

BookSirens boasts over 10,000 readers across various genres with an average review rate of 75%, making it an attractive site to get book reviews.

The high average review rate is because their users are vetted and accepted as serious book reviewers. Before users can get approval to join BookSirens, they must have posted at least 20 starred ratings on Goodreads.

How this works is that you first need to send your book to the BookSirens team for evaluation. They will then confirm if it is a quality book – something that they want to offer to their users. Once approved, they will add your book to its appropriate category where users can discover it, download the ARC, and start reading.

A remarkable feature of BookSirens, which leads to their 75% success rate, is that readers can only download one ARC at a time. They can’t download a new ARC until they finish reading and reviewing their active one.

This feature is pretty cool for authors because your advanced reader is much less likely to ghost you without leaving a review. And they’re entirely focused on one book at a time.

BookSirens will also give you a direct link that you can send to your book army. So, those folks can hop on over there and securely download their ARC for free.

You also have the option of choosing whether your reviews are posted on Goodreads, Amazon, or both. Now if you’re wondering about getting book reviews from your book army (And how to keep them from being removed) – check out this article .

#4 Booksprout

Booksprout is another option to consider if your main priority is a prelaunch review push.

Similar to BookSirens, Booksprout is a review site that automates the delivery of your ARC to over 40,000 users.

Their average review rate is around 79%. Even your book army will find it challenging to beat that.

Before you get all excited, we’ve been testing this one for some time, and we’re getting mixed results.

Self-Publish and Succeed , well after launch, got four reviews from a single Booksprout listing. Yet, the other books we tested did not bring any results.

Right now, we’re playing with it to figure out whether it’s a timing issue, a topic, or something else.

We’ve experienced the same thing with BookSirens. My book wasn’t even accepted by them for their reviewers. So, I only used BookSirens for ARCs, but some authors from our client base have gotten good reviews.

BookSirens Vs. Booksprout

So what’s the difference between the two paid review sites? Which one is better for you? Let’s discuss the main differences between BookSirens and Booksprout:

• Booksprout focuses on getting reviews by a specific date, while BookSirens focuses on getting a particular number of reviews.
• On BookSirens, you can post your book and have the reviews roll in for as long as your little heart desires. But on Booksprout, your reviewers have a time limit to read and write their review.
• Booksprout also limits the number of reviewer downloads depending on your subscription level. The more money you spend on their service, the more downloads you can do.
• BookSirens is a fee-per-book service, letting you choose the number of downloads from as little as 5 to as many as 250.

On the plus side, you can request Booksprout reviews posted on up to eight different sites rather than just Goodreads or Amazon. They include options like Kobo, Apple Books, Google Books, and even BookBub.

Whether you go with BookSirens, Booksprout, or both, these two book review sites are easy to use. They’re effective if you need a little help building up your audience.

If this is your first book or your book army looks a little sparse on the prelaunch battlefield, one of these two review sites, or maybe both, could be your answer.

Now that you know some of the best sites that can help you get book reviews in bulk, maybe it’s time to get in touch with us. See what we can do to help you take off even further, even months post-launch.

Here at Book Launchers we help authors like you in every stage of the self-publishing process. Whether you write the book yourself or with our help, we’re with you every step of the way.

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10 best apps and websites for downloading free books in 2024

Reading is a pastime that has only benefited from the expansion of smart devices like phones , tablets , and e-book readers . No longer chained to the confines of flimsy paperbacks and weighty hardcovers, you can carry your favorite reads on any number of your devices without worrying about weighing yourself down, damaging the fragile paper, or just losing them.

There’s also no shortage of e-books to read, with nearly every bestseller and classic now available in a digital format for your perusing pleasure. But free e-books ? That’s a different ballgame altogether. finding them can be on the tougher side. Thankfully, there are a number of apps and websites that either specialize in providing free e-books or have sections where you can find them.

While you’re unlikely to find the latest bestsellers for free, you are likely to find some public domain classics and some newer, but less well-known titles. Go find your next read with the help of one of these services.

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The king of the e-book reader is, unsurprisingly, one of the most solid ways to get a hold of free books. It’s also one of the best ways to get free e-books for a Kindle since they’ll be delivered straight to your device, unlike with a number of these other apps and websites.

Finding free books on Amazon isn’t the easiest process in the world, but it’s also far from the most difficult. If you’re using the website, then you can head to a category of books, then select Best sellers , then  Top 100 free to see a breakdown of the most popular titles in that particular category. You can also search for “free books” to find a list you can look through or narrow down to a certain category. It’s also possible to do this on the Amazon app, but keep in mind you can’t currently purchase e-books through the app due to disputes with Google and Apple.

It’s also worth mentioning there are Amazon services that furnish you with free books. Kindle Unlimited is a subscription service that gives you access to a vast range of e-books, as does Prime Reading as part of the Amazon Prime subscription. While neither is technically free, Prime Reading is a good bonus if you’re already subscribed to Amazon Prime, while Kindle Unlimited may be worth it for people who can read through multiple books a month or even a week.

Amazon is a solid way to get hold of free books, but it has some downsides. As you’d expect, it only really works for Kindle devices and the Kindle app, and you won’t be able to easily download these book files to send them to another device. It also requires an Amazon account and a checkout process of sorts, even if you’re not paying anything. Oddly, it’s also not particularly easy to find free books on the Kindle itself, as the storefront doesn’t really have the best browsing options.

Kindle Unlimited Prime Reading Free Books on Amazon

Project Gutenberg

Project Gutenberg is the place the go for free downloadable classics. The website, which stretches back to 1971, is the world’s oldest digital library and hosts over 70,000 titles. It’s the best place to look for titles in the public domain, and it’s here you’ll find a bunch of downloads for older classics, like Moby Dick , the collected works of Shakespeare, and even a lot of Agatha Christie’s books. The downloads are available in a number of formats, including simple EPUB files, as well as files tweaked to work on Amazon Kindles.

The sheer amount of file types on 0ffer can be a little confusing, though. Do you want the EPUB3, EPUB, or Kindle formats? Or is reading online better? And while you can find books in other languages here, most are in English. Some titles may also not be free to download outside of the U.S., so it’s sometimes not that straightforward. Finally, if you want an app, there’s no app here, as it only works as a website.

However, if you’re looking for an older classic, then this is where you should go first.

Google Play Books

Google Play Books is often seen as the poor cousin of Amazon’s Kindle service, but it’s nothing of the sort. If you’re looking to pivot away from Amazon’s seemingly all-encompassing monolith, then Google Play Books is a good alternative. It has a massive selection of e-books in general, but you can also find some great free options if you know where to look.

The first and principal place to find free books is the app’s home page. Scroll down to the eBook charts to can find a category marked  Free . Here, you’ll find the top 100 e-books that have been added to other people’s libraries, giving you a useful barometer of popularity. If none of these tickle your fancy, or if you’re looking for something in another genre, your options are unfortunately a little more limited. You can search for “free [genre]” to find books, or just search for your desired genre and then select Free  from the price filter. There’s no dedicated “free” section to browse, unfortunately.

However, there’s another big plus here, and it’s the selection of free audiobooks on offer. Yes, free audiobooks. They’re “auto-generated”, so not read by people, and are limited to just classics in the public domain. But that includes books you may have always wanted to read, like Dracula and  Frankenstein , or nonfiction like The Prince . Since they’re not read by a human, but a computer-generated voice, there’s a touch of uncanny valley about it, but if you can stomach that, this is a great option.

Downsides for Google Play Books include the aforementioned difficulty in finding free titles, but also keep in mind that it can be tough to get these titles onto e-book readers. Unless your e-book reader allows for third-party apps, you’re going to have to find a way to download the files and send them to your e-book reader of choice. Also, you’ll need a Google account to use and access the app.

Google Play Books website Google Play Books Android app Google Play Books iOS app Free audiobooks

The best way to get free books is from your local library — but it’s not like you can just walk in and take out a digital e-book. But what you  can do is use Libby to borrow e-books from your local library using your library card.

Libby is replacing the service previously known as OverDrive and functions much the same way. Get a library card from your local library and then sign up for Libby. Enter your library card details, and presto — it will let you know which books are available for loan. It’s simple and free, and if you’re in the U.S., it links up to Amazon Kindles, making it even easier to read them.

There are some problems with Libby, of course. If you’re not in the U.S. or don’t have a Kindle , then you’re restricted to reading your books using the Libby app, which may not be to your tastes or as easy as using an e-book reader. As it’s a library copy, there’s also a restricted number of licenses, meaning you may have to wait to get hold of a book, especially if it’s in demand.

Libby has some shortcomings that can make it a bit of a tougher sell, but if it’s free books you’re after, and you already have a compatible library card, then it costs you nothing to sign up and check out what you can get.

Libby website Libby Android app Libby iOS app

ManyBooks offers exactly what the name implies: It has many books, and they come from a wide variety of genres and times. ManyBooks offers over 50,000 titles on its website, and while there’s the usual selection of public domain classics to pick from, you’ll also find a whole heap of books from newer authors. You can download each book in multiple formats, so you can transfer them to your e-book reader, or you can read them using ManyBook’s online reader instead.

You’ll need a free account to download, or you’ll be sent over to Amazon instead, in which case you’ll need an Amazon account. Also, contrary to what the website states, not all of the books are available for free. However, those books are clearly marked and often available at a low price anyway, so it’s easy to forgive.

ManyBooks website ManyBooks Android app ManyBooks iOS app

Open Library

The Internet Archive holds a lot of great e-books, but it lacks an easy way of browsing those titles — and that’s why we have Open Library . Open Library pulls from the Internet Archive and presents it in a way that’s a lot more user-friendly and easy to browse. There are tons of titles here to pick from, including all the usual public domain classics, as well as some seriously famous books up for grabs — including A Game of Thrones  by George R. R. Martin and  Deep Six  by Clive Cussler. Granted, these more famous titles will only be available on a borrowing basis, but they are there and available if you want them.

Multiple download formats are available, and you can also search by language, which is a nice addition. However, it can be hard to find books available in your language, as sometimes a book will be listed as available, but only be borrowable in Spanish. This is fine if you speak Spanish, but not great if you don’t. Still, it’s definitely worth having on your radar. There are apps available for Android and iOS.

Open Library website Open Library Android app Open Library iOS app

Books aren’t the only way to read, and audiobooks are rapidly gaining interest for those who want a way to keep reading their favorite books while driving, walking, or doing chores. Getting free audiobooks can be a bit of a challenge, though, which is why it’s nice that LibriVox exists. LibriVox offers free audiobooks in a range of genres and languages. It’s especially good for children’s books, and while you’re again relying on public domain titles, it’s nice to have such a massive number of titles available for free.

It’s volunteer-run, which is why audiobooks can be offered for free. However, that’s a double-edged sword as quality can vary from book to book, with much depending on the individual skill of the volunteer who read that specific book. This can make it a bit of a tougher sell than you might originally think, but if you find the right audiobook, then all is forgiven. There’s a website and an app for Android and iOS.

Librivox website LibriVox Android app LibriVox iOS app

Free-ebooks.net

Another website that does exactly what it says on the tin, Free-ebooks.net offers, well, free e-books. There’s a massive selection to choose from here, with options ranging from classics to a whole bunch of newer titles you’ve probably never heard of. This wide variety also comes with some audiobooks as well, really boosting the options available to you.

The catch? You’ll need to register for free, and you can only download five books per month. That’ll be fine if you’re a slower reader, but if you devour books, then you’ll need to get more of your fix from elsewhere, too.

Free-ebooks.net website Free-ebooks.net Android app Free-ebooks.net iOS app

While eBooks.com is technically a marketplace, it doesn’t shy away from offering a bunch of books for free. Four hundred of them, to be exact, which is enough to keep even the most avid and active reader busy for a little while. They’re available to download or read online, though it’s worth keeping in mind that all of these free e-books come as an ACSM file, which means they’re locked down pretty tight with DRM and can only be read using Adobe’s software on a Mac or PC, or by using one of eBooks.com’s recommended reading apps on mobile. That’s a disappointment, but since you’re getting some solid free e-books, it’s hard to complain that they require a few small hoops to jump through.

eBooks.com website eBooks.com Android reader app eBooks.com iOS reader app

There’s something to be said for the benefits of quick and dirty, and Authorama is both of those. It’s stocked with pretty much just public domain books, but they’re well reproduced and high quality. The website itself is extremely simple and bare-bones to the extreme — it’s just a white space with an alphabetical list of titles. As a result, it’s very easy to use; just scroll down the list and find what you want.

The downsides? There aren’t very many options to pick from, and it lacks many books from languages other than English. It’s also not much to look at, and there are no advanced search features to be found here. It’s also largely restricted to just reading from the website, which can be a chore. But even with these downsides, it’s a good catalog of free books.

Authorama website

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Mark Jansen is an avid follower of everything that beeps, bloops, or makes pretty lights. He has a degree in Ancient & Medieval History, which obviously makes him a shoo-in to write about technology for a living. He currently contributes to the Mobile section on Digital Trends, with a particular emphasis and expertise on exploring the weirder side of smartphones, from tiny rugged phones to massive gaming phones. You'll most often find him seeking out leaks and rumors on upcoming devices, and playing with a variety of new apps for both Android and iOS.

Kindle deals aren’t just restricted to discounts on the devices themselves but services relating to them too. Right now, you can sign up to three months of Kindle Unlimited for free so you don’t have to worry about the monthly fee of $12. That works out as a saving of $36 across the three months while also allowing you to check out a near-endless supply of books too. Whether you’ve just bought a Kindle or you’re settling down for better habits this year, this is a great deal for anyone who hasn’t already signed up for it in the past. Keen to learn more? Let’s take a look at what Kindle Unlimited has to offer.

Why you should sign up for Kindle Unlimited Kindle Unlimited is basically Amazon’s book-borrowing service. It works just like a virtual library allowing you to check out up to 10 items at once. Not just e-books are catered for here with audiobooks and comic books also available, along with many magazine subscriptions. It’s possible to borrow titles as often as you like with no due dates if you don’t return them by a set time.

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There are millions of Android apps on the Play Store. Many of them are great, some are fine, and others are bogus. To help you sift through everything and focus on the apps you should actually care about, we've rounded up 50 of our favorite ones right here. If you're looking for games, check out our list of the best Android games. And if you are in the market for a new Android phone, make sure to check out our latest smartphone reviews.

The Apple iPhone keeps getting better each year with features and new hardware specs that companies can take advantage up, and we have the new Apple iPhone 15 just around the corner. Whether you just want to doomscroll all day, communicate with others, check the weather, or even find your next soulmate, there's going to be some kind of app to help you satisfy those digital cravings.

But the App Store is filled with thousands of apps — where do you even begin? Don't worry, we're here to help. We've gone through the many apps on Apple's digital storefront so you don't have to. Here are the best apps for your iPhone, whether it's an iPhone 11 or an iPhone 14 Pro.