About SelfShelf

What SelfShelf is

Most book trackers are lists. SelfShelf puts your books on real-looking shelves in a cosy room that you decorate yourself, so your reading life looks like a bookcase at home, and every book opens to what you thought of it.

What you can do with it

• Build a virtual bookshelf: spines, covers, leaning and stacked books, on shelves you name, in as many rooms as you like.
• A shelf that feels alive: a book slides forward when you open it and settles back with a little dust when you close it; animations can be turned down or off.
• Decorate the room: room styles such as cottagecore, dark academia and Japandi, wallpaper, lamp, the view from the window, plants and other objects.
• Track your reading: Want to read, Reading, Finished and Did not finish, your current page, and a yearly reading goal.
• Keep a reading journal: ratings (with half stars), what stayed with you, and dates.
• Keep a memory archive: quotes and passages with page numbers, and your own reflections, characters, scenes, lessons and memories, each tucked into its book and searchable.
• Group books into your own collections, such as comfort reads or book club.
• See your reading life on one page, “My Universe”: what you’re reading, the memories you’ve kept, your reading path month by month, and the genres and authors you return to.
• Look back with a yearly “wrapped” summary of your reading.
• Add books by searching title, author or ISBN, add them by hand, or import a Goodreads library.
• Discover what to read next: suggestions from the genres and authors you love, mood collections and what’s trending, all real books from Open Library and Google Books.
• Share a public shelf link and a picture of your shelf, if you want to.

Key facts

• Price: free to use.
• Where it works: in any modern web browser on phone, tablet or computer; it can be added to a phone’s home screen like an app.
• Privacy: your shelf is private by default. Public shelves are optional, and you choose whether visitors see your reviews and quotes.
• Book data: details and covers come from Open Library and Google Books.
• Made in: India, as an independent project.
• Website: www.selfshelf.in

Who it’s for

Readers who want a calm, personal place for their books: people who journal about what they read, set reading goals, love bookshelf aesthetics, or are looking for a simpler, more visual alternative to apps like Goodreads.

New here? Start with how to make a virtual bookshelf, or read the questions and answers.