Frequently Asked Questions

There are several ways to add books:

1. Search by title or author:
- Click "Add Book"
- Search for the book by title or author
- Select the correct edition
- Click "Add to Library"

2. Search by ISBN:
- Click "Add Book"
- Enter the 10 or 13-digit ISBN
- We'll find the book details automatically

3. Scan barcode:
- Click "Add Book"
- Use the barcode scanner
- Point your camera at the book's barcode
- Book details are retrieved automatically

4. Manual entry:
- Click "Add Book"
- Click "Can't find it? Enter details directly"
- Fill in the details yourself

5. Bulk import:
- Go to Dashboard → Data → Import, then choose Import from Goodreads
- Upload your Goodreads CSV export
- Map your shelves to lists
- Import all at once

We use two sources:
- ISBNdb (primary)
- Open Library (backup)

When you search, we check both to find the best match. You can always edit any information after adding a book.

If search doesn't find your book:
1. Try searching by ISBN (most reliable)
2. Try scanning the barcode
3. Try different variations of the title
4. Use "Can't find it? Enter details directly" to create a custom entry

Common reasons books aren't found:
- Very new releases (not yet in databases)
- Self-published books
- Rare or out-of-print editions
- Regional editions not in international databases

Two ways to edit:

Option 1: From book list
1. Find the book in your library
2. Click the 3-dot menu on the book card
3. Select "Edit"
4. Make your changes
5. Click "Save"

Option 2: From book detail page
1. Open the book detail page
2. Click "Edit"
3. Make your changes
4. Click "Save"

You can edit any field, including book information that came from our databases.

Refresh book data: When editing a book, you can refresh the book data from our sources to get updated information. This is useful if the book initially had missing information or you want to update to newer data.

Soft delete (recommended):

Option 1: From book list
1. Find the book in your library
2. Click the 3-dot menu on the book card
3. Select "Delete"
3. Confirm deletion

Option 2: From book detail page
1. Open the book detail page
2. Click "Delete"
3. Confirm deletion

Deleted books go to your Bin (Dashboard → Bin) where they can be restored. Each book shows when it was deleted and a countdown (e.g., "28 days until auto-delete").

Permanent delete:

Option 1: Empty entire Bin
1. Go to Dashboard → Bin
2. Click "Empty Bin"
3. Confirm - this deletes ALL books in the Bin

Option 2: Delete individual book
1. Go to Dashboard → Bin
2. Find the book
3. Click the 3-dot menu
4. Select "Delete Forever"
5. Confirm deletion

Warning: Permanent deletion cannot be undone.

Yes. Each copy is a separate entry in your library. This is useful for:
- Physical + ebook + audiobook versions
- Different editions (hardcover, paperback)
- Multiple languages
- Collector's editions

You can set the physical format when adding or editing a book.

Reading - Currently reading
- Shows on your home page if you have the widget enabled
- Can have multiple books in Reading status

Finished - Completed books
- Set finish date (optional)
- Add rating and review
- View reading stats

To Be Read - Books waiting in your TBR pile
- Track books you plan to read
- Filter your library to find your next read

Paused - Temporarily set aside
- Books you plan to return to
- Can be shown/hidden in Currently Reading widget

DNF (Did Not Finish) - Abandoned books
- Set from book detail → Reading Log
- Mark books you started but didn't finish

Yes. There's no limit to how many books can be "Reading" at the same time. Perfect for:
- Reading different books in different contexts
- Non-fiction + fiction simultaneously
- Book club books + personal reading

1. Go to the book detail page
2. Open the "Reading Log" section
3. On your current reading entry, use the action buttons:
- ✓ (tick) to mark as Finished
- ‖ (pause) to Pause
- ✗ (cross) to mark as DNF
4. To resume a Paused book, click the Resume button
5. To start a new read of a finished book, click "Start Re-read"

Dates are set automatically when you change status.

Book Assembly has built-in re-read tracking:

1. Go to book detail page
2. Find "Reading Log" section
3. Click "Start Re-read"
4. This creates a new reading entry with today's date

Each re-read is tracked separately in your Reading Log, so you can see when you read a book and how many times.

Quick update:
1. Go to the book detail page
2. Below the cover image, you'll see your current page (or audiobook listening time) and a progress bar
3. Click the pencil icon to open the Update Progress modal
4. Enter your current page or listening time
5. Click Save

Using the reading timer:
1. On a book you're currently reading, start the timer in the Reading Sessions panel under the progress bar
2. Read for as long as you like - pause and resume if needed
3. Click Stop and a quick form opens asking for the page you reached (the previous page is pre-filled, so often you just type the new one and confirm)
4. Optionally pick a mood for the session (Loved / Liked / Mixed / Slow going), then Save

Saving the timer form advances your reading progress and records the session length in one go - the progress bar moves to the new page and your reading-speed and session-length stats get a new data point.

Audiobooks: Same workflow, but the form asks for your current listening time in minutes (pre-filled from the previous value plus the timer duration, on the assumption you listened continuously). Your progress bar tracks against the book's total duration.

Your progress history is also recorded and contributes to your reading statistics.

Yes, but what you can edit depends on the reading status:

Reading - Can correct the Started date only
Finished - Can correct both dates. Clearing the Finished date will revert the entry to Reading status
Paused - Can correct the Started date only
DNF - Can correct both the Started and Stopped dates

To edit dates, click the pencil icon on a Reading Log entry. Dates use the date picker only (no manual typing) to prevent errors.

Note: To change a book's status, use the action buttons (✓ Finish, ‖ Pause, ✗ DNF) rather than editing dates.

This usually happens with books imported from Goodreads.

Goodreads doesn't track when you started reading a book - only when you finished it. And if you've read a book multiple times, Goodreads only records one finish date, not separate dates for each read.

When you import your Goodreads library, we work with what's available:
- Your finish date becomes the "Finished" date
- The start date shows as "Unknown" because Goodreads doesn't have it

You can edit any reading entry to add the dates if you remember them - just click the pencil icon next to the entry.

Lists are custom collections of books. You can create lists for:
- Themes ("Books about travel", "Strong female leads")
- Goals ("2026 reading challenge", "Re-read pile")
- Contexts ("Beach reads", "Book club picks")
- Any organisation that makes sense to you

Key features:
- Books can be in multiple lists
- Unlimited lists
- Colour-coded
- Visible on dashboard
- Each list has a detail page where you can drag-and-drop reorder books, add or remove books, and edit the list name, colour, and description
- Position numbers shown on each book in the list
- Sort your library by list order when filtering by a specific list

Option 1: From Library page
1. Go to Dashboard → Library, then click the Lists tab
2. Click "Create List"
3. Choose: Name, Colour, and Description (optional)
4. Click "Create"

Option 2: While adding/editing a book
1. When adding or editing a book
2. Under "Lists", click "Create new list"
3. Fill in details
4. The book is automatically added to the new list

Option 1: When adding a book
1. During the add book flow, after selecting a book
2. Under "Lists", select one or more lists
3. Save the book

Option 2: Edit an existing book
1. Go to book detail page
2. Click "Edit"
3. Under "Lists", select or deselect lists
4. Save changes

Option 3: From the list detail page
1. Go to Dashboard → Library → Lists
2. Click on a list to open its detail page
3. Click "Add Book"
4. Search and select a book from your library
5. The book is added to the list

Genres are categories for your books. Unlike Lists:
- A book typically has 1-2 genres
- Genres are colour-coded for visual organisation
- Filter your library by genre

Default genres include: Fiction, Non-fiction, Fantasy, Sci-fi, etc.

You can create custom genres to match your preferences.

View and edit genres:
1. Go to Dashboard → Library
2. Click "Genres" tab
3. Here you can:
- Create new genres
- Edit existing genres
- Delete genres
- Change colours

Assign genres to books:
1. When adding or editing a book
2. Under "Genres", select one or more genres
3. Save the book

Series let you track books in reading order. Each series has its own page where you can:
- See all books in the series at a glance
- Drag and drop to reorder books
- Add books from your library
- Remove books from the series
- Edit the series name and expected total

You can also set a book's series and position when adding or editing a book.

From the series page:
1. Go to Dashboard → Library → Series tab
2. Click on a series to open its detail page
3. From here you can:
- Reorder books by dragging, or using the up/down buttons
- Add books using the "Add Book" button
- Remove books using the remove button
- Edit the series name or expected total inline
- Renumber positions sequentially

From a book:
1. When adding or editing a book
2. Under "Series", select a series
3. Enter the book's position (e.g., 1, 2, 3)
4. Save the book

Pace is a simple tag that captures how fast or slow a book felt to read. Choose from Slow, Medium, or Fast.

You can set the pace when editing a book, under the "Reading Experience" section. You can also filter your library by pace on the books page.

Moods describe the feeling of a book. There are 14 predefined moods (like Adventurous, Dark, Funny, Tense) and you can create your own custom moods too.

To add moods to a book:
1. Edit the book
2. Open the "Reading Experience" section
3. Click any predefined mood to toggle it on or off
4. Use the text input to add custom moods

You can filter your library by mood on the books page.

Content warnings flag sensitive content in a book. There are 20 built-in warnings (such as violence, abuse, self-harm) and you can create custom warnings for anything else.

To add content warnings:
1. Edit the book
2. Open the "Reading Experience" section
3. Search and select warnings from the dropdown
4. Optionally add notes (e.g., "Chapter 12 onwards")

Content warnings are hidden by default on the book detail page - click to reveal them.

Manage warnings: Go to Dashboard → Library → Warnings to see all your content warnings. Built-in warnings can't be edited or deleted. Custom ones can be renamed or removed.

Yes. On the books page, open the "Reading Experience" section in the filter panel (sidebar on desktop, filter button on mobile). You can filter by any combination of pace, moods, and content warnings.

You can also click a mood or content warning chip on a book's detail page to jump straight to a filtered view.

You can set any combination of three annual targets:
- Books finished - e.g. "24 books this year"
- Pages read - e.g. "6,000 pages this year"
- Audiobook minutes listened - e.g. "6,000 minutes this year"

Leave a field blank to skip that target. You can change them whenever you like.

To set: Dashboard → Preferences → Reading Goals. Your progress against each target lives on Dashboard → Goals as a progress ring.

Your annual target is divided across the year, so on day 50 of 365 you should be roughly 50/365 of the way to your goal to be "on pace". Book Assembly compares where you actually are to that pro-rata position and tells you how many books / pages / minutes ahead or behind you are.

A few choices to make this readable rather than nagging:
- We don't show pace at all in the first 14 days of the year (no way to be on pace yet)
- We don't show pace when you're within roughly 5% of your target (close enough)
- Once you hit 100% the ring turns green and switches to "Goal hit, N ahead" instead of "ahead of pace"

An optional daily target for pages or audiobook minutes per day. Off by default - turn it on in Dashboard → Preferences → Reading Goals.

When enabled, the dashboard widget shows a small progress bar against today's target. Missing a daily target never affects your annual goal or your streak - only the bar.

A streak counts consecutive days where you logged at least some reading or listening. Logs from any source count - reading timer, manual progress updates, audiobook listening time, all of it.

Forgiving by default: You have until end-of-day to maintain a streak, so a late-evening log counts. If your most recent log is yesterday and nothing for today, your streak still shows (you haven't missed a full day yet).

Optional rest-day allowance: Switch on "Allow one rest day per week" in Dashboard → Preferences → Reading Goals and one missed day per rolling 7-day window won't break your streak. Set to off (the default) for strict consecutive-days behaviour.

The streak tiles on the dashboard and stats page show a small ? icon that explains your current rules.

Yes. Turn on the Reading Goals widget in Dashboard → Preferences → Home Widgets. It shows a compact progress bar per active annual target with the same pace text as the full Goals page, and links through when you want the larger view.

The widget is off by default - turn it on when you've set at least one annual target.

Cover to Cover is Book Assembly's end-of-year retrospective, presented as a tap-through nine-card story rather than a long scroll. Each year's deck walks you through the things worth noticing about your year of reading:

- An opener with your year-in-books headline
- The big number (books finished) with a row of covers
- What you read (top genres and moods)
- Your most-read author with their books
- A "Did you know" hook (longest vs shortest book ratio, distinct moods, or total pages, whichever fits)
- Your most-read month with the books finished in it
- Reading firsts (first finish, longest, first re-read)
- Your favourite (top-rated book of the year)
- A finale

Cards self-suppress when their data isn't there, so a sparse year still flows cleanly.

Go to Dashboard → Stats. If at least one year of yours has reading activity, you'll see a Cover to Cover entry card at the top of the page. Tap the year you want to open.

The URL for any specific year is `/dashboard/stats/year/`, so you can also bookmark or share a stable link to your year.

Past years: Always available, as long as that year has at least one finished book or logged progress entry. This includes years brought over from a Goodreads or StoryGraph import.

Current year: Unlocks on 1 December each year. Before then, the current year's deck doesn't appear on the entry card (no spoilers for the year-in-review while the year is still in progress).

Mobile: Tap the right side of the screen to advance, the left side to go back, or swipe left / right. The bar of dots at the top shows where you are in the deck.

Desktop: Click the right or left side, or use the keyboard left / right arrow keys. Esc closes the deck and returns you to the stats page.

Card transitions slide in from the appropriate direction with a fade, and respect your operating system's "reduce motion" setting.

Yes. Most cards have a small share button in the chrome that generates a brand-styled portrait image (1080 x 1350 pixels) on the spot.

- On mobile (and macOS Safari / Chrome), the native share sheet opens so you can send the image to Messages, Instagram, Mail, or anywhere that accepts a file
- On other desktop browsers without file-share support, the image downloads as a PNG

The share image includes the Book Assembly logo, your year, the card's headline, and any relevant book covers. No personally-identifying information is included. The opener and finale cards don't have a share button - they're intro and outro frames.

On any book you're currently reading, the book page has a built-in timer with Start, Pause, Resume, Stop, and Discard controls. Use it to capture how long you actually read for, not just where you ended up.

The timer keeps running across page navigation, refresh, and even closing the browser entirely. Stopping opens a quick form asking for the page you reached (or for audiobooks, your new listening time), with the previous value pre-filled so the common case is a one-tap confirm.

Saving does two things at once: it advances your reading progress (your bookmark and the progress bar both move to the new page), and it records the session length so it counts toward your reading-speed and session-length stats.

Discard throws the session away without logging anything or moving your progress.

Book Assembly notices. When you stop a timer that's been running for two hours or more, the save form shows a gentle "Did you mean to stop this earlier?" prompt. You can adjust the recorded session minutes before saving, so a forgotten timer doesn't log a 14-hour session that throws off your reading speed and other stats.

An optional one-tap pill on the session save form. Choose Loved, Liked, Mixed, or Slow going.

Entirely optional - you can save a session without picking a mood, or tap a selected mood again to clear it.

The mood you picked shows up afterwards as a tooltip on the Session badge in the book's Progress History (hover or focus to see it, e.g. "25m · Felt: Loved").

Session moods don't yet feed any of the Reading Stats charts. The Mood vs Rating card on the Stats page uses the book-level mood tags you set on a book's edit page (dark, funny, hopeful, etc.) - a separate vocabulary from the session pill. Session-mood charts are on the roadmap; the data is captured on every saved session so we can light them up when we get there.

Yes. On a book you're currently reading, the timer panel has a "Log a past session" link. The form asks for:

- Date (defaults to today; can't be in the future)
- Session length in minutes
- Pages read (or minutes listened, for audiobooks)
- Optional mood

Backfilled sessions feed your stats just like timer-driven ones, but they don't move your current page or listening position - a session you read last week shouldn't change where you are now.

No - one timer at a time per account. If you open a different book while a timer is active, that book's page shows a warm-amber "Timer running on another book" banner with a one-tap link to jump back. Stop or save the active timer first, then start a new one on a different book.

Keeps things simple and avoids accidentally logging the same session against two books.

Yes. Your active timer is shared across every device signed into your account. Start a session on your laptop, pick it up on your phone a few minutes later, and the same elapsed time is there. Pause, resume, and stop from any device - the others reflect the change within about a second.

When you open a book whose timer was last touched on another device, the page shows an "Active on iPad · Safari" panel (or whichever device label) instead of the normal Start button. Two options:

- Take over (47:23 so far) - moves the timer to this device, keeping the elapsed time. The other device switches into the same "Active on another device" panel.
- Stop the other timer - clears the timer everywhere without logging a session. Useful when you started by mistake or want to start fresh here.

If your timer's been running continuously for over 3 hours on another device, the panel switches to "Did you mean to leave this running?" with the same options - so a forgotten laptop session doesn't quietly log a 12-hour read.

Cross-device sync uses a small Firestore document under the hood. Nothing is sent to third parties, and the device label shown in the panel ('Mac · Safari', 'iPhone · Chrome') is derived from your browser's user-agent the first time you use the app there. The label is per-install and stays on your account.

Yes. When you update your current page (or your audiobook listening time) on one device, the same value appears on every other device signed into your account within about a second - no refresh needed.

What you'll see on the receiving device: a small "Position updated from another device - now page 87" notification, so you know what changed. If several updates arrive in quick succession (e.g. you're flipping pages fast on the other device), only one notification appears every 30 seconds with a "(N more)" tag so you're not buried in messages.

If you're in the middle of updating progress yourself when another device writes a new value, the modal won't change the number you've typed under your hands. A small note appears: "New value from another device: page 87 (tap to use)" - tap it to swap to the remote value, or just submit your own to keep what you typed. Last write wins, so whichever device hits Save last is the one that sticks.

Reading status (Reading / Finished / DNF / Paused), rating, and review changes work in the same way - changes made on one device show up on the others without a refresh. Library list pages still need a refresh to pick up changes, though - the live connection only runs while you're on a specific book's detail page, to keep Firestore usage low.

The Reading Sessions section on Dashboard → Stats only appears once you've logged sessions. It shows:

- Pages per hour - your reading speed over the last 30 days, with all-time as a sub-line when it differs noticeably
- Average session length (last 30 days)
- Sessions per week (last 30 days)
- Longest session ever with the date
- Length distribution - a histogram with five bands from under 15 minutes through over 2 hours

Below the minimum-sample threshold the section shows "Log a few more sessions" instead of single-sample numbers that would be misleading.

Yes. Each row in the Progress History section on the book detail page has a small trash icon. Tap it, confirm, and that single entry is removed.

This is useful for mistakes - e.g. a timer left running overnight, or a manual update with a typo. Deleting an entry doesn't roll back your current page; if you also need to adjust where you are in the book, use the Update Progress modal afterwards.

Stats automatically recompute from what remains, so the heatmap, sessions stats, and totals all update.

We have a detailed step-by-step guide: Importing from Goodreads

Quick summary:
1. Export your library from goodreads.com/review/import
2. Go to Dashboard → Data → Import, then choose Import from Goodreads
3. Upload your CSV and follow the wizard to select books, map shelves, and match authors
4. The import runs in the background - you'll get an email when it's done

Cover images can be found automatically (optional). Maximum 1,000 books per import.

We have a detailed step-by-step guide: Importing from StoryGraph

Quick summary:
1. Export from StoryGraph (Profile → Manage Account → Manage Your Data → Export)
2. Check your email for the CSV file (it's emailed, not instant)
3. Go to Dashboard → Data → Import, then choose Import from StoryGraph
4. Upload your CSV and follow the wizard to select books, map tags, and match authors
5. The import runs in the background - you'll get an email when it's done

Imports books, ratings, reviews, dates, moods, pace, content warnings, and tags. Cover images can be found automatically (optional). Maximum 1,000 books per import.

We have a detailed step-by-step guide: Importing from LibraryThing

Quick summary:
1. On the LibraryThing website, go to More → Import/Export → Export and choose JSON (not the tab-delimited text option)
2. Save the JSON file
3. Go to Dashboard → Data → Import, then choose Import from LibraryThing
4. Upload your JSON and follow the wizard to select books, map tags and collections, and match authors
5. The import runs in the background - you'll get an email when it's done

Imports books, ratings (including half-stars), reviews, public and private comments (as notes), reading status and dates, tags and collections (as lists), genres, ownership, format, pages, and publisher. Library-cataloguing data (Dewey Decimal, Library of Congress classification) is not imported, and series isn't imported yet (you can group books into series yourself afterwards). Cover images can be found automatically (optional). Maximum 1,000 books per import.

The 1,000 book limit per import ensures reliable processing. If you have more than 1,000 books:
1. Import in batches
2. Use Goodreads filters to export subsets
3. Multiple imports are fine - we detect duplicates

1. Go to Dashboard → Data → Backup
2. Choose your format:
- Download JSON - Complete backup including all settings
- Download CSV - Spreadsheet-compatible format
3. Click "Download JSON" (or "Download CSV")
4. Save the downloaded file

What's included:
- All books and their details
- Reading history and dates
- Lists, genres, series assignments
- Ratings and reviews
- Wishlist items (including any covers you've uploaded)

Note: The actual photo files aren't stored inside the JSON/CSV export. Use the "Download Images" option on the same page to save photos from your books and wishlist items as a zip file.

Backup:
1. Go to Dashboard → Data
2. Click "Download JSON"
3. Save the file somewhere safe

Restore:
1. Go to Dashboard → Data
2. Click "Select Backup File"
3. Choose your JSON backup file
4. Review what will be imported
5. Confirm import

Tip: Keep regular backups, especially before major changes.

Yes - and it's completely up to you. Everything is private by default; you turn on only what you want to share:
- Your profile page at bookassembly.co.uk/@yourusername
- Individual books (a public book appears on your profile and gets its own shareable page)
- Lists you've made
- Reviews you've written

Nothing is shared until you choose to share it.

1. Go to Dashboard → Profile → Manage
2. Choose a username, and add a display name, bio, or photo if you like
3. Set "Who can see my profile?" to "Anyone with the link" or "Anyone"

Your profile then lives at bookassembly.co.uk/@yourusername. You can change or turn off visibility again at any time.

There are three, and they apply to your profile and to each book and list:
- Private - only you can see it (the default)
- Link-only - anyone with the link can see it, but it won't appear in search engines or discovery
- Public - anyone can see it, and it may appear in search engines

Book, list, and review visibility are independent - you can make a single book public without making your whole profile public.

Plenty. Even when you share a book, these are never shown:
- Your private notes
- Exact reading dates (a public book shows only the month you finished, and only if you opt in)
- Ownership details
- Your exact reading progress position

Each optional detail (rating, reading status, moods, content warnings) has its own toggle in Dashboard → Profile → Preferences, so you decide exactly what visitors see.

A review stays private unless you set it to "Anyone" - this is separate from whether the book itself is public. A public review appears on your profile and on the book's public page.

If you tick "This review contains spoilers", readers see a warning and have to choose to reveal the review, so nothing is spoiled by accident.

On a public book page you may see how many people have the book and its average rating across everyone who rated it. These counts are anonymous. Names ("Also in these libraries") only ever show people who have chosen to make their own library public - anyone with a private profile is counted but never named.

Open the Discover page (there's a link in the footer, or go to bookassembly.co.uk/discover). It shows what our community is reading:
- Popular and Top Rated books
- Recently Active - books readers have been adding lately
- Lists to explore - public reading lists other readers have made

Each book links to its community page, and each list opens that reader's public list. Only public books, lists, and profiles appear here - nothing private is ever shown.

Every book has a community page that brings together what readers here think of it, gathered anonymously across all its editions:
- How many readers have it, and its average rating
- A breakdown of star ratings, the moods readers picked, and how they found the pace
- Reviews from readers who made theirs public
- The public lists it's featured in
- Readers also enjoyed - other books readers here tend to have alongside it

These details only appear once a few readers have added them, so no single person's data can be picked out. You can reach a book's community page from your own copy of the book, from Discover, or from a search engine.

Tap the star on any book to mark it a favourite. Favourites are highlighted on your public profile (if you share one), so you can show off the books you love most. You can also filter your own library down to just your favourites.

On any public profile, list, or review you'll find a "Report" option. Tell us the reason (and add detail if it helps) and our team will review it. If content breaks our rules we may hide or remove it, and we may suspend the account responsible. See our Terms of Service for the content standards.

By default, only you. Your library is private unless you choose to share it. We never sell your information, use it for advertising, or share it with third parties.

You can choose to share some things publicly (all opt-in, off unless you turn them on):
- Your profile - private, link-only, or fully public
- Individual books, lists, and reviews - each has its own visibility setting

Even when a book is public, your private notes, reading dates, ownership, and exact progress position stay private. See the "Public Profiles & Sharing" section for the details.

Your data is stored securely in Google Firebase (Cloud Firestore), with servers in the UK/EU region. Firebase provides:
- Encryption at rest and in transit
- Regular backups
- High availability
- GDPR compliance

1. Go to Dashboard → Account
2. Scroll to "Delete Account"
3. Click "Delete My Account"
4. Read the warning carefully
5. Type "delete my account" to confirm
6. Click "Delete Account"

Your account will be scheduled for deletion in 30 days. During this time you can cancel the deletion from the same page. After 30 days, the following will be permanently deleted:
- Your account
- All books and reading history
- All lists, genres, and series
- All settings and preferences

Export your data first if you want a backup.

Yes. We comply with GDPR requirements:
- You can export all your data anytime
- You can delete your account and all data
- We only collect data necessary for the service
- We don't sell or share your personal data
- Clear privacy policy explaining data use

See our Privacy Policy for full details.

Two kinds:

Account emails - always sent, because they're essential: verifying your email address when you sign up, password resets you've asked for, and confirmation when you schedule account deletion. There's no opt-out for these - they're part of running your account safely.

Optional updates - sent only if you opt in. Three categories, all off by default:
- Product Updates - occasional emails about new features and important changes
- Tips & Recommendations - suggestions for getting more out of Book Assembly
- Surveys & Research - short questionnaires to help us improve

Choose which (if any) you want at Dashboard → Preferences → Email Notifications. We never send the optional emails unless you've ticked the box yourself.

For the optional categories (Product Updates, Tips & Recommendations, Surveys & Research) there are three ways:

- One-click - most email apps, including Gmail and Apple Mail, show an Unsubscribe button at the top of the message. One tap and you're off that category
- Footer link - every one of these emails has an Unsubscribe link in the footer
- Preferences page - Dashboard → Preferences → Email Notifications, then untick the category

Unsubscribing from one category doesn't affect the others, and never affects your account emails - those are essential and always sent. You can opt back in any time from the preferences page.

Rarely. The optional categories are occasional - there's no fixed newsletter schedule, and we'd far rather under-send than clutter your inbox. Account emails only arrive when there's an actual account event, such as a sign-up to verify or a password reset you've requested.

If you haven't opted in to anything, the only emails you'll ever get from us are those essential account ones.

1. Go to the book detail page
2. Tap the stars to set your rating (tap left or right half of a star for half-star ratings)
3. Click "Add Review" to write a review
4. Your review supports basic formatting

Yes. The Notes section on every book lets you add as many dated entries as you like - it works like a private journal. You can:

- Add a short title and write the body in basic markdown (bold, italic, lists, links)
- Tag a note with a page, chapter, or % so you remember where you were
- Attach a single photo and an optional caption (great for quotes or annotations)
- Search across all notes on the book from a search box inside the Notes section
- Sort newest-first or oldest-first; the most recent ten show by default with a "Show all" button

Notes are private to you. They never appear in the global header search and aren't visible to anyone else, even on a public book page. If you previously had a single notes field on a book, it is automatically converted to one starter entry the next time you open that book - nothing is lost.

Yes. You can:
- Set the physical format to "eBook", "Audiobook", or other formats when adding/editing a book
- For audiobooks, log your progress in hours and minutes instead of pages. Set the total duration when adding/editing the book and the progress bar tracks against that
- Stats track your audiobook listening time alongside pages - heatmap, streaks, totals, and average per day all count audiobook minutes
- Use the built-in reading timer on audiobook pages too - it pre-fills your new listening time from the timer duration when you stop
- Use custom lists to organise them (create an "Audiobooks" or "Ebooks" list)

Yes. Barcode scanning is built into the "Add Book" feature. Click "Add Book" and use the barcode scanner option.

Yes - you can browse your library offline after visiting it once while connected.

What works offline:
- Viewing your books, genres, series, and lists
- Navigating to pages you've previously visited

What requires internet:
- Adding new books
- Editing books
- Barcode scanning
- Book search (uses external APIs)
- Some cover images may not display

How it works: Your library data is cached on your device when you browse online. This cache is then available when you're offline - on the tube, on a plane, or anywhere without signal.

Tip: Browse your library while online to ensure it's cached before going offline.

Yes. Your library syncs automatically across all devices:
- Phones
- Tablets
- Desktop computers

Just log in with the same account on each device.

Not in the app stores, but Book Assembly works as a Progressive Web App (PWA):
- Add to home screen for app-like experience
- Fast and responsive
- No app store download needed
- Updates automatically

Yes. Use the Wishlist feature:
- Add books to your wishlist from the book search screen (click the heart icon)
- Set priority levels (High, Medium, Low) when adding
- Access your wishlist from the main navigation bar
- Use the three-dot menu to move wishlist items to your library

Priority levels:
- High (red badge): Books you really want next
- Medium (orange badge): Books you're interested in
- Low (blue badge): Maybe someday

You can change priority anytime by clicking the three-dot menu on a wishlist item and selecting "Edit".

Custom cover images: If a wishlist item doesn't have a cover, you can upload one yourself from the Edit dialog. When you later move the item to your library, your uploaded cover comes with it.

Preferred method:
1. Click "Support" in the footer
2. Fill out the support form
3. Select "Bug Report"
4. Describe: What you were trying to do, what happened instead, your device/browser

Or email: support@bookassembly.co.uk

We love feature suggestions.

Preferred method:
1. Click "Support" in the footer
2. Fill out the support form
3. Select "Feature Request"
4. Describe your idea and why it would be useful

Or email: support@bookassembly.co.uk

We're constantly improving Book Assembly based on user feedback. You can see a full list of recent changes on the About page (Dashboard → About), which includes a detailed changelog.

Recent highlights:
- Cross-device reading timer - start a session on one device, pick it up on another. Includes a take-over flow for moving a running timer between devices and a long-running-timer guard if you forget to stop one
- Mood vs Rating and Genre vs Completion correlation cards on the Reading Stats page - the cross-cuts behind "do I rate dark books higher than funny ones?" and "I finish 92% of fantasy but 41% of literary fiction"
- Session badge tooltip in Progress History - hover or focus a Session row to see how long it ran and the mood you tagged it with
- Ownership chart on the stats page is now clickable - jump straight to your library filtered by Owned / Borrowed / Library / Lent
- Reading Goals - annual targets for books, pages, or audiobook minutes, with progress rings and an optional rest-day allowance for streaks
- Reading timer - a built-in timer on each book you're reading, with start / pause / resume / stop / discard and an optional one-tap mood tag on save
- Cover to Cover - your year in books as a tap-through nine-card story flow with share images, available for every year you've logged
- Reading speed and session stats - pages per hour, average session length, sessions per week, longest session, and a length-distribution histogram
- Audiobook-aware everything - time-based progress, audiobook minutes counted in heatmap and streaks, audiobook-friendly Reading Activity
- Hourly heatmap, ETA-to-finish on currently-reading books, year-over-year comparisons, top-author charts, mood and pace breakdowns, content-warning visibility toggle
- Per-entry delete on Progress History rows for cleaning up the odd mistake

Reddit: reddit.com/r/BookAssembly

Join us to:
- Share your library setup
- Get tips from other users
- Discuss features
- Connect with fellow readers

Fully supported:
- Chrome (latest)
- Firefox (latest)
- Safari (latest)
- Edge (latest)

Not supported:
- Internet Explorer

For browsing: No - your library is cached on your device after your first visit. You can browse books, genres, series, and lists offline.

You need internet to:
- Add or edit books
- Barcode scanning
- Search for new books
- Some cover images

Tip: Browse your library while online to ensure it's cached before going offline.

Initial load: ~500KB-1.5MB
- JavaScript bundles: 300-800KB (gzipped)
- CSS: 30-80KB
- Fonts: 50-150KB (if using web fonts)
- HTML: 10-30KB
- Initial Firestore data: 10-50KB

Book covers:
- ISBNdb: 10-100KB each
- Open Library: 50-300KB each (larger images)
- User uploads: up to 5MB each (maximum allowed)

Typical usage: Very low data usage for normal browsing

Tip: Load your library on WiFi to download covers, then subsequent visits use cached images.

Yes. Your data is automatically backed up. You can also:
- Export manually (Dashboard → Data → Backup)
- Download as JSON or CSV
- Keep local backups on your device

No. Your data stays safe indefinitely, even if you don't log in for months or years.

English only at the moment. Internationalisation is not currently planned, but may be considered based on user demand.