BookWyrm is the Fediverse’s alternative to Amazon’s Goodreads. BookWyrm servers let users keep track of which titles they’ve read, discover new books to read based on human recommendations (instead of algorithms), and publish their own reviews. You can find out more about it on its official website at JoinBookWyrm.com ⧉
What kind of features does BookWyrm have?
- Home Timeline: Post reviews, comments and quotations, view posts by other accounts you follow.
- Books Timeline: View the latest reviews, posts and ratings by other people about books in your collection.
- Your Books: Organise your collection of books with filters to sort them by status (reading, to be read, currently reading etc.) as well as themed collections called Shelves. The data for books is built into the platform, you don’t need to enter stuff manually, though you can add books manually if you want to. You can also import your account data from Goodreads, LibraryThing, StoryGraph, OpenLibrary and Calibre.
- Lists: Create themed lists of books, browse other people’s lists. You can set who is allowed to add books to a list, including closed lists, open lists, approval-based lists and group lists.
- Discover: Browse books that other people have recently commented about or have just started reading.
- Reading Goals: Set goals for yourself on how many books to read in a given time.
- Groups: Create themed groups for people to join.
Can I follow BookWyrm accounts from Mastodon?
Yes! Because it’s part of the Fediverse, people on Mastodon etc can also follow BookWyrm users’ accounts, and followers will see BookWyrm reviews appear in their timeline.
How do I sign up for BookWyrm?
You can see a list of recommended BookWyrm servers (also known as “instances”) to sign up on at joinbookwyrm.com/instances ⧉.
BookWyrm is federated like Mastodon, so you can join by choosing a BookWyrm server and then sign up on that server’s website. Once you’ve got an account, you can sign in on that server’s website or web app. You can follow and interact with people from other servers, so it doesn’t matter if you and your friends sign up on different servers.
Is there a BookWyrm app?
There’s an official BookWyrm web app which you can install on Android or iPhone/iPad. Please see the guide to web apps for how to install it. There is also an unofficial BookWyrm Android app available via F-Droid ⧉.
I’ve already got an account on a different book site. Can I import my data to BookWyrm?
Yes! BookWyrm users can import their data from Goodreads, LibraryThing, StoryGraph, OpenLibrary and Calibre. Please see the guide to importing your data into BookWyrm.
Where does BookWyrm get its book data from? Can I add missing books?
BookWyrm’s book catalogue is based on information from Wikidata ⧉ and another Fediverse service Inventaire ⧉. If a book is missing, you can add information manually and there’s also support for barcode scanning.
Can I use my Mastodon account to log in on a BookWyrm server?
No, because every account on the Fediverse is tied to one specific server. But you can include a link to your BookWyrm account on your Mastodon profile.
Is BookWyrm screen reader friendly?
Yes, the accessibility advocate Robert Kingett worked with the developers to make sure it is accessible for people using screen readers.
Who can set up a BookWyrm server?
Under the terms of the BookWyrm project software, anyone (except a corporation) is allowed to start their own BookWyrm server. The software is totally free of charge, but servers need to cover their own hosting costs. Setting up a BookWyrm server does require some tech skills, you can find technical details on BookWyrm’s Github page ⧉.
Alternatively, if you are a top tier patron, you can also use a special managed BookWyrm hosting service ⧉ where BookWyrm’s lead developer personally maintains your BookWyrm server so that you don’t have to do any technical stuff.
Where can I find out more?
You can view the official website at JoinBookWyrm.com ⧉