How to track your books and reading progress with Reading Status

Book Tracker uses Reading Status to help you track whether a book is unread, in progress, completed, or abandoned.

Each Reading Status can include details about your progress, such as pages read, time spent, or percentage completed, and you can keep multiple entries if you re-read a book.

The Reading Status options

You can assign one of the following states to each book:

  • Unread → books you haven’t read yet.
  • To Read → books you plan to read soon.
  • Reading → books currently in progress.
  • Read → books you have finished.
  • Not finished → books you started but chose not to complete.

How to create or update a Reading Status

There are several ways to assign or change a Reading Status:

  1. From the book list
    • Long press on a book (or right-click on Mac).
    • Select Manage Reading Status.
    • Choose among: Mark as To Read, Mark as Reading, Mark as Read (without date), Mark as Read Today (with today’s date), or Mark as Abandoned.
  2. From the book detail page (three-dot menu)
    • Tap the three-dot button in the top-right corner.
    • Select Manage Reading Status to access the same options.
  3. From the book detail page (main buttons)
    • If the book has never been read, you’ll see two quick actions under the title and author:
      • Mark as Read → creates a Reading Status set to Read.
      • Start Reading → creates a Reading Status set to Reading.
    • Both options open a page where you can configure the details of the Reading Status.
  4. For books already read
    • The book detail page shows a Reading States section, listing all past and current Reading States.
    • Tap Show all to expand the list and review your full reading history.
    • Tap + in this section to create a new Reading Status (for example, if you’re starting a re-read).

Choosing how to track progress

When creating a new Reading Status, you must choose a tracking type:

  • Pages → progress is tracked by page numbers.
    • Requires entering the total number of pages.
    • Optional: add a Start page and End page to exclude introductions or indexes.
  • Time → progress is tracked by listening time (ideal for audiobooks).
    • Requires entering the total duration of the book in HH:mm format.
  • Percentage → progress is tracked by completion percentage.
    • Requires entering the total number of pages for accurate statistics.

Book Tracker automatically suggests the most suitable type based on the format of the book (e.g., Time for audiobooks).

⚠️ The tracking type (Pages, Time, Percentage) can only be chosen when creating the Reading Status. It cannot be changed later. If it’s wrong, delete the status and create a new one.

Tracking progress with the reading timer

When you use Pages or Percentage as your tracking type, you can also log the time spent reading:

  • Automatic timer → start a timer while you read. Book Tracker records both the pages read and the time spent.
  • Manual entry → tap the + button in the progress list to add pages read and time spent manually.

If you need to correct a mistake:

  • Long press on an existing progress entry → Edit to update pages or time.

Why a finished book might not appear in statistics

  • Mark as Read → sets the status to Read without a completion date → the book will not appear in statistics.
  • Mark as Read Today → sets the status to Read with today’s date → the book will appear in yearly statistics and reading challenges.

Best practices

  • Always check the total number of pages (or audiobook duration) when creating a Reading Status.
  • Use Mark as Read Today to quickly mark a book as read and you want the book to appear in statistics of the currently year.
  • Create multiple Reading States if you re-read the same book → each will be listed in the Reading States section.
  • Use Start and End page to exclude introductions or indexes from your statistics.
  • Track your reading time with the automatic timer, or log progress manually using the + button.
  • Edit a progress entry with a long press if you made a mistake.

✅ With Reading Status, Book Tracker gives you a complete history of your reading journey — from your first read, to re-reads, to abandoned books — along with accurate progress and statistics.