I have a bad habit of downloading and buying every book that catches my eye, and then never finishing most of them. Thankfully, I recently discovered a reading app that actually motivates me to keep going and finally finish the books I start.
Basmo starts with a fun reading “contract”
You need to sign
Whenever I ask someone what app they use to track their reading goals, the answer almost always seems to be Goodreads. I’ve never been a fan of the app, and even after testing multiple apps advertised as Goodreads alternatives, I’ve never found one that actually kept me motivated to read.
That was until I stumbled upon Basmo, a book and reading tracker available on both the App Store and Google Play Store, designed to help readers stay on top of their reading goals and actually finish more books.
Though I’ll talk about the app’s features in detail later, what really hooked me right away was Basmo’s fun-reading “contract” system. When you first install the app, you’ll be asked a series of questions, like which genres you like to read most, your reading goal for the next 12 months, how much time you want to spend reflecting after reading, and more.
Based on your answers to all the questions, Basmo creates a contract, which clearly mentions your goals and includes a commitment from your end to construct a better version of yourself by following Basmo’s guidance. Once you’ve read through your contract, you’ll need to press and hold a button to sign. Though it’s not a real contract in the legal sense, it’s a unique feature I’ve seen in no other app before, and signing it gave me a surprising sense of accountability.
The chatbot makes it easy to pick up a book
Just start reading
A lot of the time, the reason I avoid starting a book is simply because I don’t know what to expect from it, and that uncertainty makes it easy to put it off. Given that I add so many books to my reading list and have the memory of a goldfish, I often forget why I added certain books in the first place or what drew me to them. I even forget completely basic things about the book, like the genre, the plot, and whether it’s a standalone or a series.
Typically, you need to either Google all of this information or, with AI now, open a separate chatbot like ChatGPT to get answers. With Basmo, though, all of that is built right into the app. When you search for a book in Basmo, you’ll notice a You Can Use AI to Chat with Your Book banner with a Chat button next to it.
You’ll instantly be redirected to a chat thread, where you can ask any questions or have conversations about the book you want to read. Basmo’s AI Chatbot is grounded in the book’s content, meaning the chances of it making up information or giving inaccurate answers are slim.
Admittedly, sometimes the AI chatbot isn’t able to answer the rather basic questions one would expect it to know. For instance, I asked the chatbot how long a book is, and it simply told me it doesn’t have that information. Though I appreciate that it didn’t guess or provide false info, this is exactly the sort of information I tend to search up when picking a book, so I wish it could provide it.
I then asked the chatbot if the book I’m reading is a series or a standalone, and since it was a series (which the chatbot correctly answered), I followed up with questions like the recommended reading order of the series, a spoiler-free summary of the book, whether the book I’m reading is the first in the series, and insights into the main characters, all without leaving the app.
The app gives you lots of stats
They motivate you to read
If an app gives me in-depth statistics, you bet I’ll stick around and use it obsessively. Basmo lets you track everything. You can begin recording sessions within the app, which essentially starts a timer that runs while you read. While your session is in progress, you can jot down any notes you might have about the book as you read (or use the app’s speech-to-text feature), and even take photos of your favorite passages or pages to save within the app.
At the end of each session, you’ll be asked to choose how you feel after reading (like Excited, Happy, Confused, etc.), and you can jot down your thoughts about the book. You can then log your progress by Pages, Percent, or Minutes, and Basmo automatically updates your reading stats and streaks.
Over time, these records give you a clear picture of your habits and help you spot patterns. Based on your reading speed and the length of the book, Basmo can even predict how long it’ll take you to complete it, which I found really impressive as someone who’s always short on time and obsessively plans my reading schedule.
If you subscribe to the premium tier, you get even more in-depth statistics over the course of a week, month, or even year. This includes insights like how many more minutes you need to read to reach the top 10%, how much time you spend reflecting on your reading, and more.
Nonetheless, the reading app is one of the only few that actually motivates me to finish books consistently. Combined with another app I recently found that lets me transform my reading list into a visual tracker, it’s made keeping up with my reading goals not just easier, but actually fun.
