Submitted 2 weeks ago by 
jarulf@mstdn.social to bookstodon@fedigroups.social
I've been thinking about using a self hosted private book tracking tool in the vein of Goodreads and StoryGraph, and am looking for recommendations and pros/cons of the apps out there.
I've heard about BookLogr, Bibliotheca, and Jelu. Import from StoryGraph would be great and syncing with KoReader would be useful.
I know I can probably set something up with Calibre, even for physical books.
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#GoodReads #StoryGraph #Jelu #BookLgr #Bibliotecha #SelfHosting
wil@beige.party 2 weeks ago @jarulf I have a calibre set-up that I've been using for over a decade, I'm pretty happy with it.
jarulf@mstdn.social 2 weeks ago @wil @bookstodon Do you use it to track your physical books as well?
I may actually go this route. I already use calibre on my PC and Calibre-web on a raspberry pi. I haven't used the latter much, except to download books to my Kobo, but if I could easily mark books as read on it that would be really nice.
Guess I'll have to actually learn how to use both Calibre and Calibre-web properly.
wil@beige.party 2 weeks ago @jarulf I don't, because that's not something I've feel a need for. I have three Calibre libraries - one for ebooks I own, one to track my reading, and one that's my old tracking info imported from GoodReads.
I'm not a tech person but managed to customize each library for my needs. Calibre is very flexible and it makes me happy to keep my own information and not rely on yet another enshittification waiting to happen.
jabgoe2089@hub.netzgemeinde.eu 2 weeks ago 
quaff@thecanadian.social@thecanadian.social 2 weeks ago @jarulf @bookstodon Have you considered using bookwyrm? https://joinbookwyrm.com/
aaron@social.caskey-demaret.se 2 weeks ago @quaff
I haven't used bookwyrm in a while, but it didn't have any sort of reader integration so you have to do manual updates (koreader and komga support would rock) and it just slurps up disk space with no way to clear any cache or anything. Development is also sporadic, which is why I eventually dropped it after over a year of no releases.
@jarulf @bookstodon
jarulf@mstdn.social 2 weeks ago @aaron @quaff @bookstodon Personally I don't really mind doing manual updates, but then I don't do incremental ones. I do use koshelf with KoReader though, but that's obviously only for ebooks and mostly just for fun.
jarulf@mstdn.social 2 weeks ago @quaff @bookstodon I have an account on bookrastination.com, and really want to like it, but find it much too awkward to use.
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I've decided to keep using StoryGraph, because I really do enjoy using it (I should probably get back to supporting them), but I'll also start keeping a reading journal in a notebook. I tried doing this a few years back, but never managed to make it a habit. I'll give it another go, and I've watched a few YouTubers for tips, and apart from feeling overwhelmed by all the artistry I did get a few good ideas.
1/2
#BookJournaling
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I have zero artistic skills, my handwriting is atrocious and I'm lazy, so I'm sure this will go well. But I'll try for something simple, just a few trackers, a little colour, some basic info on each book and there is a small chance I'll keep it up for more than a couple of months. Theoretically.