How to keep track of what you're reading

[jmajluf]

Before the iPad I had dog-eared books, journals, magazines on my desk or bedside. Now with the iPad I have everything in it and the visual effect of the book or magazine sitting there is gone... Does any one know of a way or an app to help keep track of what I am reading?
There should be one place/app where you could see all of your books, magazines, journals,...and go there every time you have time to read and decide what to read.
The problem is that there are as many apps as publishers and there is no way for them to interact with each other.
I don't know if I'm making any sense but if someone out there has a solution or knows of an app I would really appreciate it.

 

[twerppoet]

Not really, but this is what I do.

I place all my reading apps, and the Newsstand in the same folder. I go there when I want to read, and can open each item to check what is current. Though I generally remember what I'm in the process of reading this acts as a nudge, so that I check the lesser used apps and magazines occasionally, or when I'm out of my usual material.

In the Newsstand app, newly downloaded magazines should show up with a red badge/number. Sometimes this works well, sometimes it doesn't. It depends on how well the app was written. I find myself using Newsstand apps less and less, which is sad, because I thought the idea had some real potential.

In iBooks, I keep all my unread books in the main Book category. Whether in the shelf or list view, you can drag them around. I put the one I'm reading now first, and order them by what I might want to read next. When I've finished them I move them to another catagory.

Well, that's the plan anyway. Like I said, I generally know what I've read, so I often leave moving and cleanup until I feel things are getting crowded.

The Kindle app doesn't give you categories, so I tend to removed books from the iPad when I'm done with them; keeping my current reading list manageably short. On the other hand the book list in the Kindle app shows you your progress through each book. That gives you a good indication of what book(s) you are currently reading and what books you've finished. If I decide I want to re-read a book download it and set it back to the first page (if necessary).

Almost all reading apps remember your last page, and supply some way of bookmarking important pages. You have to figure out how to do this, and how to find the bookmarks for each app, but it's usually not difficult.

And that's all the advice I can give on the subject.

 

[twerppoet]

I believe there are some reading-tracking-social apps. But they require you to keep them updated manually. I don't think this is what you had in mind.

 

[J. A.]

On the Kindle app, you can create Collections, just like in iBooks:

It also has a newsstand, for newspapers ordered in Amazon:

As visible, I don't use it, so I don't know how it works.

 

[jmajluf]

Thanks for the replies!
They are really helpful and hopefully at some point we'll see some sort of integration between apps that will help us get more organised with our reading...
Thanks again!
JPM

 

[twerppoet]

On the Kindle app, you can create Collections, just like in iBooks:
View attachment 60109

It also has a newsstand, for newspapers ordered in Amazon:
View attachment 60110
As visible, I don't use it, so I don't know how it works.

How did I miss that? Thanks!

It appears to have two advantages over the iBooks collections. You can add the same book to multiple collections, and you can add books that are not downloaded to collections.

As usual, I like the look and feel of the iBooks UI better.

 

[J. A.]

My pleasure.

Supposedly my screenshot reveals my preference for Kindle.

 

[twerppoet]

I now have five collections. One giant Science Fiction/Fantasy collection, and four small ones for the other stuff.

I make use Kindle and iBooks about equally. I usually look in the iBook Store first, but I'm not shy about purchasing from Amazon if I can't find the book, or if it's a continuation of a series I've already begun on the Kindle.