Readwise Launches Readwise Books, an Ebook Store and Reading Tracker
Readwise has launched Readwise Books, an ebook store and reading app that the company describes as a cross between the Kindle and Goodreads apps. TechCrunch reported the launch on November 2, 2026. The product is pitched as a single place to buy, read and track books.
Readwise first announced the product on October 28, 2026, in a blog post titled "Readwise Books: Step Three of Our Master Plan." In that post the company calls Readwise Books an indie ebook store and app. Readwise was founded by Daniel Doyon and Tristan Homsi. Its existing products include a read-it-later app and a reading companion that tracks highlights across services. Readwise Books is the third step in that plan.
The store launched with millions of ebooks from the Big Five publishers and other publishers, initially in the U.S., with more countries to follow. Print books are fulfilled through the distributor that serves Bookshop.org, and the store also offers some audiobooks.
On the reading side, users can upload DRM-free EPUB files, meaning open-format ebooks without the copy protection that locks a file to one store. They can also have ebooks read aloud through text-to-speech, which converts written text into spoken audio. The app can track reading sessions in Kindle's browser-based Cloud Reader, and users can photograph physical books to record their progress. Readers can also import reading history from Kindle and Goodreads.
The statistics are the most detailed part of the product. Readwise Books reports words read, pace, depth, immersion and sessions. The company compares these metrics to Strava for reading, the running and cycling logging service that turned workout data into a social, competitive habit. Readwise's reading-tracking app, Reader, already converts articles, PDFs and ebooks into audio using natural AI voices, with adjustable speed and support for dozens of languages, according to Readwise's product page.
In my view, the store is the less distinctive element. Ebook retail is crowded, and the value of Readwise Books will depend on pricing, catalog depth in each market, and whether publishers and readers accept a non-Amazon storefront at scale. The metrics layer is the more interesting bet. Pace, depth and immersion are not the same as a purchase history or a star rating. They describe how a person reads, which makes them a different dataset, and a more sensitive one.
The broader context here is file handling. Support for DRM-free EPUB uploads gives users a route for books they already own in open formats, apart from a model built around a single vendor's store. Whether that matters to most readers is an open question. For readers who move between devices, services and formats, one log spanning purchases, uploads, audio and physical books could be useful, provided the data stays portable and users can see and control what is recorded.
Readwise has said the U.S. store is the starting point. The near-term test is less about feature lists than about whether the catalog, the reading tools and the tracking data hold together for a reader who never has to leave the app.
