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Here's everything you need to know to get your reading life organised on PorchReads.

1

Create your free account

Sign up with your email or continue with Google — takes about 30 seconds. No credit card, no trial period. PorchReads is free forever.

Coming from Goodreads? You can import your entire library in step 3.
2

Start adding books to your shelf

Search for a book on the Browse page and click "Add to Shelf" — choose whether it's on your Read, Currently Reading, Want to Read, Own It, or Did Not Finish shelf. Add a star rating, a review, and the date you finished it.

Use the barcode scanner to add books instantly by scanning the ISBN.
3

Import from Goodreads (optional)

Already have years of reading history on Goodreads? Export your library as a CSV and upload it to PorchReads. Your shelves, ratings, reviews and read dates all transfer automatically — and any books not yet in our catalogue get fetched from Google Books.

Go to Goodreads → My Books → Import/Export → Export Library.
4

Set a reading goal & earn achievements

Set a yearly reading goal on your Dashboard — how many books do you want to read this year? As you mark books as read, your progress updates automatically. Along the way, earn achievement badges for hitting milestones.

There are 50 achievements to unlock — from "First Book" to "Grand Librarian".
5

Connect with other readers

Find friends on the People page and follow them to see what they're reading in your activity feed. Visit any reader's public profile to browse their shelf and see their reviews.

Share your public profile link — your personal reading porch on the web.

Quick answers

Is PorchReads really free?
Yes — completely free, forever. No ads, no premium tier, no credit card required.
Can I import from Goodreads?
Yes. Export your Goodreads library as a CSV, then upload it at your import page. Shelves, ratings, reviews and dates all transfer.
What if a book isn't in the catalogue?
You can add any book manually via the Add Book page. During Goodreads import, missing books are fetched automatically from Google Books.
Is my data private?
Your shelf is public by default so friends can see what you're reading — but you can make your entire profile private in Settings, or mark individual books as private.
Have more questions?
Visit our full FAQ page or get in touch.

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