About Addabook

Books are powerful. Books are essential. Books transport us to other worlds and teach us about our own. They tell stories that resonate with us on a deeply personal level and stories that provide us with revelations from a different viewpoint. So grab a book and settle in. There’s a whole world of stories waiting to be explored, and we’re here to help you find your next great read.

Addabook started off as a side project for taking notes on and tracking our own books. We wanted to better remember what we gleaned from our reads and reflect on key themes. We were also increasingly frustrated as we started reading more digital books and were unable to see the spines accumulating on shelves. (After all, is there anything better than a full bookshelf?) It all felt too ephemeral, so we created a place to compile our notes and track our reads.

In essence, this site was created to help readers get more from the pages they peruse. We're sharing it with others in the hopes it will help them do the same, while providing another independently-owned alternative to Amazon's Goodreads.

Our Mission

Our mission is to deepen the connection between readers and the books that shape their lives.

Buy With Purpose

By supporting independent bookstores, we create a community where books thrive and inspire meaningful conversations. When you buy a book through one of our Bookshop.org links, a portion comes back to us to help sustain our work on the site (look for the Addabook symbol in the top left of the Bookshop page). Even more importantly, your purchase also supports a network of independent bookstores—places rooted in curiosity and connection, rather than scale or profit. These are the spaces where stories thrive, not just line some billionare's pockets.

In other words, it's our way of backing the scrappy, loyal underdogs of the book world—those who make our society better by serving readers, not shareholders. (footnote: The largest book review site, Goodreads, is owned by Amazon, a monopolistic force in the U.S. book market owned by one of the wealthiest people in the world. )

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Reading is to me the last saving grace that I know.

A Note about Notes

At Addabook, we believe that writing about books is more than just a way to broadcast an opinion—it’s a way to savor the journey. So don’t feel like you need to offer a literary critique, just take notes. We encourage you to use your Notes as a way to reflect on what a book meant to you, document your insights, and capture the passages that made you stop and linger or laugh out loud.

Taking the time to reflect allows you to get more out of the reading experience, and when you share what resonates with you, it invites meaningful connection with others. Ready to begin? Open your Notebook and jot down your thoughts, a favorite quote, or just how the book made you feel—there’s no wrong place to start.