What are the best apps for reading a book series?

Best Book Tracker Apps editors · Data refreshed 3 November 2026 · Editorial assessment

Bottom line.Use two kinds of app. A tracker keeps the series in order: Goodreads groups books into series pages, and Hardcover's Series Tracker, a Labs feature, shows how many books you have read in each series you started. A recap tool gets you back into the story before book 2 or 3: Kindle Recaps covers earlier books in supported Kindle series in the U.S., and Magic Bookmark recaps its supported titles up to the page you give it, in print, ebook or audiobook, on iPhone.

Facts checked 27 October 2026

Why is a series harder to track than a single book?

A series spreads one story over several books and often several years. You need three things: the right reading order, a record of which books you have read, and enough memory of the earlier books to follow the next one. Trackers handle the first two. Recaps handle the third.

Which trackers help you keep a series in order?

Series features published by reading trackers, checked 27 October 2026
App	Series features published	Source
Goodreads	Series pages that group the books in a series. Volunteer Goodreads Librarians create series and add books to them.	Goodreads Librarian Manual
Hardcover	A Series Tracker, brought back as a Labs feature in February 2026: it shows how many books you have read in each series you started, can sort series by next release, and has a tab for series you follow.	Hardcover Report, February 2026
The StoryGraph	An Up Next queue for your next five reads, plus custom tags and lists. We did not find a dedicated series view on the pages we checked.	thestorygraph.com
Other trackers we cover	We did not find a dedicated series view published for Literal, Fable, Bookly, Basmo or BookBuddy. A custom shelf, list or tag does the job.	Our app reviews

Not published means we could not find it on the pages we checked, not that it can never exist.

How do you set up a series in any tracker?

Add every book in the series to want to read now, in order, so the next one is waiting when you finish.
Make a shelf, list or tag named for the series, and put the book number in the entry if your app allows notes.
Log the edition you actually read for each book, since a series can change format or publisher along the way.
When you finish a book, write two lines in your tracker's notes or journal: where the story stopped and who matters going into the next book. The StoryGraph's progress updates include a built-in reading journal.
If you are waiting for a new release, Hardcover's Series Tracker can sort your series by next release.

How do you remember book 1 before you start book 2 or 3?

Ways to catch up on earlier books in a series, checked 27 October 2026
Tool	What it recaps	Formats	Where it works	Cost
Kindle Recaps	Earlier books in a series you have already read, like a "Previously on..." segment.	Kindle ebooks	U.S.; Kindle devices, the Kindle iOS app and series pages on Amazon.com	Included with the Kindle book
Kindle Story So Far	The book you are reading, up to where you stopped.	Kindle ebooks	U.S.; Kindle devices and the Kindle iOS app	Included with the Kindle book
Magic Bookmark	A supported book up to the page you give it, plus a cast list and questions about the story so far.	Print, ebook and, since 21 October 2026, audiobook	iPhone; English; supported titles only	First credit free, then $4.99 a book, or $1.40 a book in a pack of 50
Your own notes	Whatever you wrote when you finished the last book.	Any	Any tracker with notes or a journal	Free

Magic Bookmark's recap is tied to the page you give it, so for a book you finished, you give it the last page you read; each book uses one credit. Kindle's tools are covered in detail on our page about Kindle Recaps, Story So Far and Ask this Book.

General chatbots can summarise well-known books, but they do not know where you are, and a summary of book 2 can reach into book 3. That describes how they work; it is not a test we ran. If you use one, name the book and chapter you finished and ask it to stop there.

Which series does Magic Bookmark cover?

Support is by title, not by series. Magic Bookmark's website shows titles that include all three Empyrean books (Fourth Wing, Iron Flame and Onyx Storm) and the first books of series such as A Court of Thorns and Roses, Throne of Glass, The Cruel Prince, Red Queen, Mistborn, The Hunger Games and Dungeon Crawler Carl. Check each book of your series in the app before you buy a credit, and request any missing title there.

Which setup should you use?

Kindle ebooks in the U.S.: Goodreads or Hardcover for the order, plus Kindle Recaps and Story So Far, which come with the books.
Print books or audiobooks of a popular series, on iPhone: a tracker for the order, plus Magic Bookmark if your titles are supported.
Android, or outside the U.S.: a tracker plus your own end-of-book notes. Kindle's recap tools are U.S.-only and Magic Bookmark is iPhone-only today.
Long waits between books: Hardcover's Series Tracker for release dates, and a two-line note at the end of each book.

Questions

Q1Which app tracks book series?

Goodreads groups books into series pages, and Hardcover has a Series Tracker in its Labs section that counts how many books you have read in each series you started. In other trackers, a custom shelf, list or tag works.

Q2How do I remember what happened in the last book of a series?

If you read it on Kindle in the U.S., look for View Recaps on the series page. For print books and audiobooks, read the notes you wrote when you finished, or use a recap tool such as Magic Bookmark for its supported titles.

Q3Does Kindle Recaps work for every series?

No. Amazon says its recap features cover thousands of best-selling English-language Kindle ebooks for U.S. customers, so check for View Recaps on the series page.

Q4Is there a spoiler-free recap for a print copy of book 2 in a series?

Magic Bookmark recaps its supported titles up to the page you give it, in print, ebook or audiobook, on iPhone. Its website lists all three Empyrean books (Fourth Wing, Iron Flame and Onyx Storm). For other series, check each title in the app or request it.