Any true bookworm knows that their smartphone can never replace a book. But on the other hand, mobile technology has only increased the power of the page – which can now be turned just about anywhere, any time, and without the need for heavy hardbacks!
With ebooks, e-readers and Kindles all taking books into the digital age, we’re now no more than a few clicks away from the stories we love: whether it’s the latest Stephen King novel, a Beatrix Potter classic for the kids or a rare, out-of-print curio.
So, with this in mind, here at Geek Squad we’ve tracked down some of the best book apps around for your reading pleasure. Happy browsing!
Scribd
iOS/Android– Free trial, then $8.99 per month
If you like to keep up to date with the latest and greatest eBooks, audiobooks and comics, you'll love Scribd, a cross-platform subscription service which offers users an easy way to access titles from the Man Booker International shortlists, Pulitzer Prize winners, NYT Editor's Choice and even Oprah's Book Club – just to name a few of the categories to browse through!
When you first join Scribd, you can take out a free 14-day trial of the service, which should be more than enough time to enjoy a book or two before deciding on taking out a subscription!
A subscription costs $8.99 a month (abput £6.50 at the time of writing) which is roughly equivalent to the cost of a paperback novel every few weeks. For that fee, you get access to over a million of the most highly lauded and popular books in existence – as well as receiving personalised recommendations based on your reviews and reading history.
If you're a regular reader who burns through books like they're about to expire, sign up for Scribd and get great books straight to your smartphone!
Goodreads
If you’re looking for a new book recommendation or a review of your favourite author’s latest novel, the Goodreads app is one addition to your smartphone that you won’t want to be without. Following the format of the popular website, the app connects readers across the globe in a kind of worldwide reading group.
The app features a barcode scanner, so you can catalogue your library and share it with others, alongside other great functions like a book news page and the ability to create a reading wish list. You can even challenge yourself to reach a reading goal for the year, and compare your results with friends for some nerdy bragging rights!
Calibre Cloud
Android - Free
Working with the excellent Calibre software for Windows, Mac and Linux, Calibre Cloud lets you access your library of eBooks from your computer, anywhere in the world! There is a tiny bit of configuration to do before you're ready to start using Calibre Cloud, and you'll also need to have a Dropbox, Box or Google Drive account with some free storage space.
Calibre is a library tool for ebooks, importing any digital literature on your computer and automatically downloading tags, cover art and synopses to add to your collection. With a few clicks, you can save your Calibre library into a Dropbox, Box or Google Drive folder. Once it's saved in a cloud storage account, you're ready to use Calibre Cloud!
Open the app on your phone, link it to your cloud storage and wait for it to sync with your Calibre library. Once ready, you can browse and download your books straight to your phone or tablet, wherever you are!
Wattpad
Wattpad is a great app for casual readers looking for great free literature. There are plenty of classics to browse through, as well as thousands of books, novels and short stories by authors new and old! There's a great community of readers and writers to chat with and discuss plot points – and you can even read and track books as they are written, chapter by chapter.
If you're a writer, you can also share your own work with others and get feedback on it. This is where a lot of the free literature in Wattpad comes from, as you won't find premium, paid-for books for free in this app!
That said, there are plenty of well-recognised authors submitting their own works from time to time, like R.L. Stine, Kevin J. Anderson and Felicia Day – so you'll never be short of something entertaining to read.
OverDrive
iOS/Android/Blackberry/Windows Phone - Free
In our digital age of Amazon and the Kindle Store, it’s easy to forget the greatest resource for reading is often on our doorsteps: the library. But if your local library card has been lurking in a forgotten part of your purse/wallet for too long, this brilliant app can help you reconnect – and unlike you local bookshop, it’s absolutely free.
The app basically allows you to access your local library and borrow ebooks and audiobooks to read on your smartphone. Just like in a ‘physical’ library, you can join a waiting list for books that have already been checked out and you’ll receive an e-mail alert once it’s available. But unlike a library, you’ll never have to pay a late fee for unreturned books: they’ll automatically expire on the app as soon as the lending period has ended
Kindle app
iOS/Android/Blackberry/Windows Phone– Free
Whether you own a Kindle device or not, you can still access the gigantic amount of top quality books available through the Kindle app for smartphones. With a clean and easy-to-use interface, the app gives you access to more than a million books in the Kindle Store, plus hundreds of newspapers, magazines and PDFs.
The app also lets you read and annotate the books you’ve bought, and using Amazon Whispersync it automatically synchronises your last read page, bookmarks and notes across all of your devices, so you can always pick up where you left off no matter if you're using your computer, phone, tablet or Kindle. You can even check out which books in your Kindle library have audiobook versions, which you can purchase for a nominal fee. Everything you could possibly need to manage your Kindle eBook and audiobook library!
Well, that’s the end of our quick pick of top apps for book lovers. If you have any other recommendations, why not share them with others using the comments section below! And for a great read in your inbox each month, why not get your name down below for the Geek Squad newsletter?