I used to read only physical books, but when I got into audiobooks I noticed I had a digital trail of the books I was reading. I started to recording them in a spreadsheet. Eventually I was able to bring that into Goodreads as a way to get algorithmic recommendations based on past reading habits. I do not see that works very well, however. Bookwyrm seems to work differently. It is more of a social network and it helps you find new books to read by finding other readers with similar interests to yourself.

Tracking my read books motivates me to read more. I’m trying to read at least one book a month this year, after years of not reading much at all. I’m on book 6 so far, but when my partner asked me the other day how far along I was in my goal I told them either 4 or 5 before I went on bookwyrm and actually checked. I have the memory of a goldfish. I also like to sometimes look back and see which books took me longer to finish. My final reason is that bookwyrm (right now) provides me reviews I think I can place a little more weight on than maybe some other platforms. It works for me, even though I agree that using it is a bit cumbersome at this stage of its development.