Review: 1001 Books App for the iPhone

Summary: The app was created by Arukiyomi and is based on the book 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die.

On Wednesday, a very cool new iPhone app for book lovers was released. It's called the 1001 Books App, and it's a fun way to keep handy the list of books from 1001 BOOKS YOU MUST READ BEFORE YOU DIE. In addition, you can keep track of what books you've read or plan to read.

I had the opportunity to play around with this app a few days ago, and I have to say that I was impressed. It's extremely easy to use and there are many helpful features.

You have the ability to select any of the books and then enter data about your reading experience. You can enter your status -- no status, to be read, reading, or read; and you can even rate the book from one to five stars. In addition, you can enter the date started and the date finished, and the app will compute your reading time in days. There is also a section for entering notes and quotes; and you also have the option of adding an image from your photo album or even taking your own photo. Finally, you can go directly to the pages about the individual book in LibraryThing or Wikipedia (if applicable) as well as share your reading status on Twitter or Facebook.

And then for the section that really blew my mind -- the Statistics. You have the ability to enter information about yourself on the Settings page including your name, gender, birthday and how many books you read a month. The Statistics page then shows you what percentage of books you've read. It also tells you when you are likely to die and how many books you could read in that time if you keep at your current pace. Finally, the app tells you at what age you could complete reading all of the 1001 Books if you just focus on those books.

Despite enjoying the time I spent entering the books that I've read from this list, I have to admit that I felt very inadequate as a reader when I saw how few of these books I've actually read. And to makes it even more embarrassing for me, many of these books were ones that I read while in high school. I guess I should start setting some new reading goals!

This is an interesting tidbit -- there are actually more than 1001 books listed. You have the option of seeing books from the 2006 edition, the 2008 edition, the 2010 edition or all three. (I chose all 3 as my default which lists 1294 books.) You can also select to see what books were added and/or removed with each new addition. 

The 1001 Books App is currently available for $1.99.

I received a promotional code for a free copy of the app in exchange for a review.