Every 3 weeks, I share notes on building Book DNA.
We’re building a private, personal way to track your reading and get deeply personalized book recommendations. Think Goodreads, but for readers who want a calm, private space to track what they read, keep notes, and explore books that match their Book DNA. Like Spotify or Pandora, but for books.
Want to help shape it? Apply to be a beta tester! A huge thanks to our 750+ members! Readers and authors can join, and we're adding more perks as we grow.
I am feeling…
Am I driving the car, or is someone else?
Sometimes it is hard to say 🤔. It is a fun ride though.
Mobile is live! 📱
When I finish a book this makes it so easy to pick up my phone and log it as read!
And all our beta users can now use their phones and tablets with our app. Just use my.bookdna.com on your mobile or website like normal. It will automatically switch you over to the mobile version.
Here is an example of me adding Lost World to my TBR, and then logging it as read.
What can you do on the simple mobile website?
Log what you read
Add what you are reading to or listening to now
Add a book to your TBR
And add notes about a book
When will you have full mobile apps?
These don’t have all the features, we we plan to work on mobile apps once we have more in place on the desktop version.
Set your default book format :)
Under settings, you can now set your default format if that is something you want to track.
This was requested by a lot of users and happy to get it in place.
If you notice any bugs please let me know.
Our roadmap over the next 6 months.
Our public roadmap is here, btw.
What are we building now?
Licensing and integrating a book database for improved coverage
Deal signed, just waiting on delivery.
Getting everything ready for our public launch!
Then we will launch publicly (around November 30th).
After that, we will be adding the following core features:
And then adding some of the most requested features by readers 😃
Of course, this will change a little as we learn and swap in other things we need to build, but this is a good sketch of the next 6 months.
What is going on outside of Book DNA?
Fall is here, and the temps are cooling off. My life is going to be extra crazy for the next 6 weeks, and I’ll share more on that next month.
What am I reading now
I just finished…
The Hollow by Michael Connelly: The latest Bosch and a fun read. Mr. Connelly is such an amazing writer. I’ve read every book he has written.
Soulstealer by Miles Cameron: I love Miles/Cameron’s writing style and this book was fantastic. I can’t wait for book #2! Here is my very short recommendation as this is a unique Steampunk Esque fantasy world set in the Colonial-era Canadian Wilderness with a unique magic system.
I am reading...
The Tyrant’s Law by Daniel Abraham: This is book #3 in a big fantasy series with WoT vibes. I am loving it so far, especially the economic bits.
Ghost Fleet by PW Singer and August Cole: This is my dad’s pick for our dad/sons book club, and I am loving it so far.
Nexus: My slow audiobook read during workouts, always love a good think.
Have a fantastic week,
Ben
P.S. From a trip near Athens in October 😃
