Are you a Goodreads hater, like me? Are you also like me, in that you want to read more in 2025 but need a better platform for all your reading needs? I think I might have the app for you!
There is this new app called Margins (currently only available for iOS devices), that was specifically created to be an alternative to Goodreads for those who use it but acknowledge its many design flaws. It allows you to connect to your Goodreads account so all of your progress and previous data can be easily transferred over, so you don’t have to start from square one.
It also allows you to search up books to add to your TBR through “vibes.” Meaning, you could search up “books like The Vampire Diaries” or “books set in towns like Stars Hollow” and recommendations would come up based on those “vibes.”
For those who wrote “Read more” on your list of resolutions for 2025, there is also an option for you to track the minutes you read a book so you can know that you’re reading a little bit more every day. You can set a reading minutes goal for each day so when you sit down to read, you hit start on the timer until your goal has been met! For example, I’ve set mine to 15 minutes each day, and I’m already halfway through the book I’m currently reading! 15 minutes doesn’t seem like a lot, but doing it every day can make you get through books very quickly.
I also really enjoy the tracking features they use for books and authors. What I mean by that is you can favorite authors you’ve read and scroll through their past publications. You can also make lists of books you want to read this year specifically. For example, I’ve made it my goal to finish as many of the physical books I’ve had on my bookshelf for years that I haven’t read yet, and until I finish them, I cannot buy any new books. Trust me, it’s been so hard! So, I went into Margins and put all the books on my shelf in my apartment as “Want to Read: 2025” so when I finish one I can decide on my next one by reading the reviews and out-of-five-stars ratings, all in one place.
I also love their list-making feature — there is nothing I love more than making a list. So far, I’ve made 8 lists and here are some of mine if you need some inspiration: classics to read, books from familiar authors, books to read before the film, etc. Below, I’ll provide an example of the books I have in one of the aforementioned lists.
Books To Read Before the Film:
- Call Me By Your Name by Andre Aciman
- Schindler’s List by Thomas Keneally
- Carrie by Stephen King
- The Color Purple by Alice Walker
- Beautiful Boy by David Sheff
- The Queen’s Gambit by Walter Tevis
- The Virgin Suicides by Jeffery Eugenides
- The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson
- The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
- Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
- Atonement by Ian McEwan
As someone who loves movies, I love to merge my love for reading with it. I wanted to see how different the books would be from the movie, as I typically end up watching the movie first and then the book.
Margins is such a cool app that I’ve really enjoyed using so far and have found to be more intuitively designed than Goodreads. If you are considering trying a (new) reading platform, I strongly suggest Margins! Hopefully, the ideas I’ve mentioned will help you get started.