Kaguya
Productivity
book tracking
SHOW HN2025
254points
211comments
#233of 3,837 in 2025
Top 7%of 2025 by points
How HN took it
CuriousMostly questions and neutral comments
13 positive, 62 neutral or asking, 10 mixed, 32 critical, out of 117 comments about the project. Thread score -0.14.
Design: 6 for, 17 againstIdea: 3 for, 9 againstPricing: 0 for, 2 againstDocs: 0 for, 2 againstExecution: 1 for, 1 against
The thread, comment by comment
Each row is a top-level comment and its replies, in HN's order. Select a cell to open that comment on HN.
positive neutral or mixed critical about another commenter or something else the maker
What HN said
What people liked
Clean, visually pleasing design
From 3 comments
I like it. Very clean UI. I don't think "UI still looks like it's from 2005." is a bad thing (nor do I know if that's true). I'm working on importing my library from a simple…
NAHWheatCracker on HNSeems pretty good! However, like all of these websites, it's only so useful without a large userbase to get ratings and reviews from. Some feedback: - Visually pleasing! - It…
scouw on HNThanks!
vasanthk1125 on HN
Dislike of Goodreads being owned by Amazon
From 1 comment
I came here to ask "how is this better than StoryGraph", but before I could hit send, it occurred to me: This doesn't need to be better than StoryGraph. This just needs to be…
dotdi on HN
DNF status is useful
From 1 comment
DNF seems useful to me. The other deficiencies you mention don't matter much to me, though the Goodreads UI is bad. (Don't care if it looks old, but right-clicking on things…
lkbm on HN
Objections
Landing page skews to sci-fi
From 1 comment
The landing page is mostly filled with sci-fi. I know it's what's popular on the site and what's reviewed recently but it's sending the wrong message that the site is exclusively…
philistine on HN
Too little user base to be useful yet
From 2 comments
It looks nice but like any social network the value is in the user base. I saw one book on your site (the order of time), and searched for it on Goodreads to see more reviews.
dwedge on HNSeems pretty good! However, like all of these websites, it's only so useful without a large userbase to get ratings and reviews from. Some feedback: - Visually pleasing! - It…
scouw on HN
Unclear pricing and business model
From 1 comment
I’m certainly not the target for this. The following is going to sound harsh, but bear with me. Two things I really dislike about this, from what I look for generally from…
AnonC on HN
Discord support link is a barrier
From 1 comment
I’m certainly not the target for this. The following is going to sound harsh, but bear with me. Two things I really dislike about this, from what I look for generally from…
AnonC on HN
10-star rating is unnecessary
From 2 comments
> 10-star rating system (More nuance than 5 stars) Does one really get anything meaningful out of saying this was a 6-star book vs a 7-star book? Personally I think 4 levels is…
magicalhippo on HNMy personal quick nitpick of a feedback would be - maybe users do not want a "modern" alternative to Goodreads per se? I know, I am not saying people are looking for a website…
crossroadsguy on HN
Requests
Recommendation system
From 3 comments
I dream of a good recommendation system because Goodreads is completely terrible. I just want to know two things: which books are similar and which books I would like, beyond…
sentimentscan on HNHow does this differ from say StoryGraph? I want to move on from GoodReads, but one thing that it does have is polished recommendations. I did my best to “import” a lot of my…
FireBeyond on HNDNF seems useful to me. The other deficiencies you mention don't matter much to me, though the Goodreads UI is bad. (Don't care if it looks old, but right-clicking on things…
lkbm on HN
Friends and follow features showing friends' ratings
From 2 comments
DNF seems useful to me. The other deficiencies you mention don't matter much to me, though the Goodreads UI is bad. (Don't care if it looks old, but right-clicking on things…
lkbm on HNThe best part of Goodreads for me is the communities. You can join a group with monthly book reads, and participate in their forums. Do you have any plans to do something similar?
n4r9 on HN
Ability to add missing books to the catalogue
From 2 comments
Is there any way to add/request/suggest books that aren't currently in the index?
ethagnawl on HNHow do you add a book to the database? The book I'm currently reading does not appear when searching.
pier25 on HN
Export to JSON or Markdown
From 1 comment
For me, a killer feature would be easy JSON or Markdown export/sync, so I can use it in Obsidian. Also - I am a bit afraid that it either falls into obscurity or gets sold to…
stared on HN
Filtering and sorting of want-to-read list
From 1 comment
DNF seems useful to me. The other deficiencies you mention don't matter much to me, though the Goodreads UI is bad. (Don't care if it looks old, but right-clicking on things…
lkbm on HN
Questions
Where is book metadata sourced from?
From 3 comments
Where are you sourcing book metadata? If this site takes off, you'll need a moderation strategy. Goodreads has been plagued by extortionary negative reviews.…
noveltyaccount on HNI was looking into this space the other day, and the number of options has been growing. By my record there is: - https://www.goodreads.com - https://thestorygraph.com -…
Meleagris on HNHow did you get a DB of all books?
MoSattler on HN
How does it differ from StoryGraph?
From 2 comments
How does this compare to https://www.thestorygraph.com/ ?
chilipepperhott on HNHow does this differ from say StoryGraph? I want to move on from GoodReads, but one thing that it does have is polished recommendations. I did my best to “import” a lot of my…
FireBeyond on HN
Moderation plan for reviews?
From 1 comment
Where are you sourcing book metadata? If this site takes off, you'll need a moderation strategy. Goodreads has been plagued by extortionary negative reviews.…
noveltyaccount on HN
Alternatives named
StoryGraph
From 2 comments
How does this compare to https://www.thestorygraph.com/ ?
chilipepperhott on HNI think most people looking for an alternative to Goodreads are using Storygraph.
amanaplanacanal on HN
Goodreads
From 1 comment
I was looking into this space the other day, and the number of options has been growing. By my record there is: - https://www.goodreads.com - https://thestorygraph.com -…
Meleagris on HN
Bookwyrm
From 2 comments
Your competition is not Goodreads, but https://joinbookwyrm.com/
rglullis on HNDoes it support ActivityPub? Bookwyrm does. That seems to me to be a basic requirement for a social network at this point.
andypiper on HN
LibraryThing
From 2 comments
I just use Librarything. The web site has more features than any other tool out there, and the community and admins are better. Plus, it's completely free. I've been using it…
karaterobot on HNDNF seems useful to me. The other deficiencies you mention don't matter much to me, though the Goodreads UI is bad. (Don't care if it looks old, but right-clicking on things…
lkbm on HN
Literal.club
From 1 comment
I'd also like to recommend https://literal.club/ as a Goodreads alternative.
FabianBeiner on HN