Lesson 1 of 9 · Basics

Reading statuses and shelves: how a book tracker organises your books

The four statuses, and the difference between shelves and tags.

Best Book Tracker Apps editors · 18 March 2026 · 2 min read

Our take

Every tracker gives each book a status: want to read, currently reading, read or did not finish. Shelves and tags handle everything else, and apps treat them differently when you import, so keep statuses for status and pick one system for your own labels.

Contents

What are the four statuses?

Every book tracker starts with the same idea: each book has one status. The four you will see most are want to read, currently reading, read and did not finish. Hardcover uses exactly these four. Goodreads had three core shelves for most of its history and added Did Not Finish in March 2026. The StoryGraph adds an Owned marker, so you can record that you have a copy without changing the status.

How are shelves and tags different?

A status answers one question: where is this book in my reading? Shelves, lists and tags answer the rest. A custom shelf might hold books for a club, a challenge or a holiday. Tags are lighter labels you can stack, such as a genre, a mood or who recommended the book.

The difference shows up when you move. StoryGraph turns your Goodreads custom shelves into tags when it imports them, and Literal recreates them as shelves, so the same collection can look different after a move.

How do you keep a library tidy?

Keep statuses for status only, and do not make a custom shelf that repeats one.
Pick shelves or tags for each kind of label, and stay with it.
Record the date when a status changes. Start and finish dates drive most stats, and Goodreads uses the read date to decide whether a DNF book counts toward the Reading Challenge.

Sources

Using a DNF shelf Glossary