BbitbbitBook Dev Log #8 — Statistics and Categories: Turning Reading Into Data
The Most Requested Feature: Statistics
One request appeared repeatedly across reviews as the app accumulated updates.
"I want to see how many books I've read this year." "Monthly statistics would be great."
When you've been logging books, natural questions emerge. How much am I reading? Which months are productive and which are slow? Am I on track for my yearly goal?
Seeing those numbers changes the relationship with reading. Goals become concrete.
Yearly and Monthly Statistics
The base statistics screen:
- Books read per year
- Books read per month (bar chart)
- Total books read
- Progress toward a set annual goal
Since book entries record the completion date, this data was already available. The statistics screen organizes and visualizes it.
The first version worked but felt flat. Numbers listed without context.
Genre Classification
I wanted more meaningful statistics.
"I read 12 books this year: 5 fiction, 4 self-help, 2 history, 1 science" — this tells you something about yourself as a reader.
The question was how to classify genre automatically.
Manually having users input genre with every book would add friction. Automatic classification from the data would be better.
ISBN encodes book classification data. The 13-digit number includes publisher and book classification codes based on library classification systems (KDC, DDC). This data can be used to determine genre automatically.
Classification via ISBN
The ISBN-based classification logic categorizes books into: Fiction, Essays/Poetry, Self-Development, Business/Economics, History, Science, and other categories.
It's not perfect. Some books are ambiguous. Some API responses don't include classification data. But automatic classification works well for the majority of books.
Custom Categories
For cases where automatic classification doesn't fit, users can set their own category.
Choose from the app's provided list or create a custom category. Some users create categories like "Work Research," "Friend Recommendations," or "Re-reads" — classifications that reflect how they personally organize their reading.
How Statistics Change Reading Behavior
After the statistics feature launched, an interesting pattern appeared in reviews.
"The statistics showed me I'd been reading nothing but self-help. Started reading fiction again." "Seeing that I've read more this year than last year is genuinely satisfying."
Visible numbers create goals. Goals create behavior. Reading records stop being a journal and become data you can use to understand and improve your reading life.