27 January 2026 · Book Assembly Team · 4 min read
Most book trackers give you three statuses: Read, Currently Reading, Want to Read.
Simple. Clean. And it conflates two different things: where you are with a book, and how you've organised it.
Book Assembly separates these. Status is about reading state - are you reading it, did you finish it, did you stop? Lists are about organisation - your TBR pile, your favourites, whatever categories make sense to you.
Here's why that matters.
"Want to Read" isn't a reading state. It's an intention. A book you haven't started is just... not started. Whether you're desperate to read it or vaguely curious doesn't change that.
Mixing intention into status creates odd situations. What's the status of a book you bought but aren't sure you'll read? What about one you've owned for years and keep meaning to get to? They're all "Want to Read" even though your relationship with each is different.
Better to keep status clean: where are you with actually reading this book?
Book Assembly uses four reading statuses:
Reading
Books you're actively reading right now. Not "started at some point" - actually in progress.
Finished
Books you completed. Start to end.
Paused
Books you've started but deliberately put down. You might come back. You might not. But you're not pretending you're currently reading them.
Did Not Finish (DNF)
Books you started and chose to stop. Not paused - actually abandoned.
If you haven't started a book, it shows as "Not Started" - the default state for books in your library.
Want a TBR pile? Create a "Want to Read" list.
Want to track books people recommended? Create a "Recommendations" list.
Want a "Favourites" list, a "Lent Out" list, a "Holiday Reading" list? Go ahead.
Lists are flexible. You control what they mean. A book can be on multiple lists. Status stays separate - it's just about reading progress.
Life interrupts reading. You start a book, something happens, you don't pick it up for three weeks. Then a month. Then you start something else.
Without a Paused status, your options are:
Neither is great. Paused is honest. It says: I started this, I stopped, it's on hold. When you look at your Reading list, you see what you're actually reading. When you look at Paused, you see what's waiting.
There's a weird guilt around not finishing books. Like you've failed somehow.
This is nonsense. Life's too short for books you're not enjoying. Stopping is a valid choice.
DNF is permission to stop and remember you stopped. You tried this author, didn't click. You started this series, lost interest. Useful information when someone recommends you something similar.
Marked something as DNF but want to try again? You get a choice:
Resume - picks up where you left off, same reading session. Maybe you weren't in the right headspace. Maybe someone convinced you to give it another chance.
Start Over - begins a fresh read, previous attempt stays in your history. Clean slate, but you still have the record of when you tried before.
Both are valid. The point is you're not locked in. Statuses describe where you are now, not where you have to stay.
You might expect to filter for books you haven't started. But think about it - that's probably most of your library.
Filtering for "Reading" shows 3 books. Useful. Filtering for "Finished" shows 45 books. Useful. Filtering for "Not Started" shows 100 books. That's just... your library.
So Book Assembly lets you filter FOR active states. The default view already shows everything, including books you haven't started.
When you add a book: It's in your library as "Not Started". Add it to your TBR list if you want.
When you start reading: Mark it as Reading.
When life gets in the way: Mark it as Paused.
When you decide you're done with it: Mark it as DNF.
When you finish: Mark it as Finished.
When you want to re-read: Start a fresh reading session. History remembers.
Status = reading state. Four options. Clear and mutually exclusive.
Lists = organisation. As many as you want. Flexible.
The goal isn't more complexity. It's the right kind of simplicity - things that belong together, together; things that don't, separate.
Book Assembly's reading model separates status from organisation. Free during beta at bookassembly.co.uk.
