General presentation
BetterReads is a collaborative book tracking platform built to offer an improved alternative to existing solutions. It allows users to manage their personal library, track reading progress, and explore books shared by others. The goal was to build a user-friendly and modern application where reading becomes social, organized, and fun.
With this project, I wanted to create something that I, and others, would enjoy using daily — with all features I love at the same place.
Technologies
The backend was developed in TypeScript using NestJS, TypeORM, and a PostgreSQL database. For the frontend, I used TypeScript with React (Next.js). External APIs are used to automatically fetch book data via ISBN, improving both user experience and data consistency.
Key features
BetterReads includes several key features that enhance both personal tracking and social interaction:
- Collaborative book addition with automatic data fetching from an external API and ISBN validation
- Fuzzy search with typo tolerance for books and authors
- Custom reading status system (e.g., Read, Currently Reading, To Read)
- Reading history that tracks your book status changes
- Virtual bookshelves to organize collections
- User role management (Member, Moderator, Admin)
- Dedicated author pages with their associated books
Planned features include review and rating systems, personal reading statistics, and series management.