Best Apps for Students: Reading

Goodreads

Tap into the world's largest social network for readers with the Goodreads app! Read thousands of book reviews by your friends and other Goodreads members, keep a virtual bookshelf of what you've read, and build your to-read list as you discover great books on the app. Goodreads is a free service for everyone who reads. We have more than 35 million members who have added more than 1 billion books.

• Search, rate, and review any book in our catalog of more than 12 million books.
• See book reviews and updates from your friends, and comment on them.
• Browse your shelves! Next time you are deciding what to read, your to-read list will be handy.
• Add status updates and page number updates for books you are currently reading.
• Use the barcode scanner to quickly scan all of your books onto your Goodreads shelves.
• Also use the scanner to quickly access book information while on the go.
• Find your address book contacts or Facebook friends on Goodreads.

You can use the basic features of this app without a Goodreads account, but sign in or sign up (you can do this in the app) for the best experience!

Available online, in the App Store and Google Play.

Kindle

The Kindle app puts millions of books at your fingertips. It’s the app for every reader, whether you’re a book reader, magazine reader, or newspaper reader—and you don’t need to own a Kindle to use it. Choose from over four million Kindle books from the Kindle Store or enjoy popular magazines like The Economist and Reader’s Digest with high-resolution color images.*

Read Free Books—Choose from thousands of free ebooks such as Pride & Prejudice or The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.

Shop for Books—Easily shop for ebooks, including new releases and New York Times Best Sellers. Explore Page Flip enabled books to reference charts, graphs and maps while we save your place Use the Built-In Dictionary, Google, and Wikipedia—The Kindle app has a built-in dictionary that allows you to look up words instantly while you’re reading your ebooks. Simply tap and hold a word to view its definition or use the Google and Wikipedia links to get more information.

Sync Your eBooks—The Kindle app lets you read the same book across devices and automatically syncs where you left off so you can start reading on one device and pick up where you left off on another device. The app syncs your furthest page read, bookmarks, notes, and highlights between Android, PC, Mac, iPad, iPhone, iPod touch, BlackBerry, Windows Phone 8, and any of our Kindle devices using our Whispersync technology.

Sample Books Before You Buy—Read the first chapter of a book for free before you decide to buy.

Customize Your Reading—Choose your preferred font size, screen brightness, background color, and orientation (portrait or landscape) to read your books.

Borrow eBooks from the Library—Check out ebooks from your local library and have them delivered wirelessly to your Kindle app. Read print replica textbooks on Android tablets. Print Replica Kindle books maintain the rich formatting and layout of their related print editions and provide features to help students study smarter including ability to highlight passages, add margin notes, and search for keywords. Whispersync technology saves and synchronizes your bookmarks, notes, and highlights across your devices.

Available in the App Store and Google Play.

OverDrive

Borrow eBooks and streaming video from your library using OverDrive on your mobile device.

• Available 24/7, now the library comes to you.
• No more late fees. Titles are automatically returned.
• Place holds, create wish lists, and return titles easily.
• Sync libraries, bookmarks, and recent positions across mobile devices.
• A valid account with a participating library, school, or other institution is required.
• Each library builds its own collection of titles. Contact them directly to let them know that you’re using OverDrive and to share any suggestions for books you would like to see them carry.

Available online, in the App Store and Google Play.