Reviewing Browsery, Barnes & Noble’s New Book Recommendation App
This content contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, we may earn an affiliate commission.
What is Browsery, the new Barnes & Noble App?
Barnes & Noble recently launched Browsery
™, a new app for finding book recommendations. The app, which works on iOS and Android, is a community-driven platform that allows users to ask for and give recommendations. This simple Q&A-style forum essentially crowd-sources personalized lists of book recs for readers who don’t know what to pick up next and want real humans to give them suggestions.
How does Browsery work?
First you create a profile using a Barnes & Noble account. Then you select the categories of books you like (fiction, fantasy, memoir, YA, poetry, etc—at least three) so the app can create a customized homepage for you. Then come the questions. Readers ask for a specific type of book recommendation in one of the given categories. App users respond by linking a specific book, commenting on why they picked it. Others can “agree” with their selection and add their own comments. The original asker can also respond, creating the potential for a more personalized discussion. Some of these questions are quite general, like “What are you currently reading? How do you like it so far?” “What was the last book you finished?” and “Was there ever a book that was very popular, but you just couldn’t get interested in no matter the effort?” (I “agreed” with the reader who answered Wuthering Heights). A lot of them, however, are quite specific, like “What’s your favorite underrated YA series?” “Books that take place in Scotland that aren’t Outlander?” and “What books will best help me understand the 2016 election?”
We give these kind of niche recommendations on Book Riot all the time. The difference with the new Barnes & Noble app Browsery is that these are crowd-sourced book recommendation lists, and not every user leaves comments with their book suggestion. Here are three Q&As I found that are topics we’ve recently covered on Book Riot:
In the few days I’ve had the app, I’ve enthusiastically answered dozens of questions. Favorite novel set in Paris? Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin. Favorite biographical graphic novel? Fun Home by Alison Bechdel. Book recommendation for kids who loved Harry Potter? Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones. Answering questions on Browsery really satisfies my bookish ego—I like the idea that because of me, someone might read a book they’d never have found on their own. It’s also quite gratifying when other users “agree” with my response.
I’ve also asked my own questions. (The app does have a search function so you can check to see if someone has already had the same query, but I’ve seen plenty of duplicates already.)
Pro of Browsery: getting recommendations from total strangers means you’re getting a wide berth of opinions and perspectives. When I asked for recommendations of nonfiction similar in style to Bill Bryson and David Sedaris, I got recommendations ranging from The Mother of Black Hollywood to Take the Cannoli to Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?
Con of Browsery: sometimes those strangers don’t know what they’re talking about. Someone recommended the historical fiction YA The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue as a great nonfiction read, and another user said that the pictureless Girl, Interrupted is a great biographical graphic novel.
If you find a book that sounds nice, you can save it to your profile. Browsery also conveniently links you to the Barnes & Noble buy page. Your profile also tracks all of your questions and answers, so you can easily go back and see what you’ve recommended/what’s been recommended to you.
