Research conducted in early 2013 by the Pew Research Center on mobile Internet usage by adults shows 56 percent of Americans have a smartphone and 26 percent have an ereader. The research further notes that 55 percent of all cell phone owners use the Internet on their phone to check social networking sites, play games, or listen to online radio or music services. The great news is that there are apps out there for just about anything you might be interested in! I would like to share my favorite apps related to reading that you can use on your smartphone or ereader/tablet.

I love reading. In fact, there is not much I would rather do than sit for a session getting to know a new world of characters. I also love checking in to see what my friends are reading. I was so excited when a friend told me about Goodreads. Goodreads is an online community like Facebook, but all about books and for people who love books. You can join and then search for friends who already belong, and then invite more friends to see what everyone is reading. You can also set up bookshelves of books you have read, as well as books you would like to read. You can write reviews, read friends reviews, browse "best of" lists, follow your favorite authors and even join online book clubs, including the Anythink reading group. One of my favorite features of Goodreads is their mobile app, which allows you to use your phone to scan a book. If you're at the library and see a book you want to read, just scan the barcode and it adds it to your want-to-read shelf.

Another great resource is BookPage. BookPage provides reviews and book lists by interest and genre for new releases. BookPage has a print edition available here at Anythink, but they also have an online version that contains exclusive content including new and notable lists, reviews and author interviews. I love the ease of use of the webpage. It allows me to search exactly what I love to read and discover some new gems along the way.

ComiXology is a vibrant, easy-to-navigate app for new and classic comics. ComiXology has same-day-of-print availability on new relase comicss like March, book one in a trilogy by John Lewis about his experience in the civil rights movement. In addition to new relases, they have a deep backlist of classics from the likes of Marvel. They also offer a selection of free comics that are curated on a weekly basis. My most recent free download was The Walking Dead #1 and I am blown away by the quality of the graphic novel on my HD device.

I am a magazine junkie. I love reading about the latest trends in cooking and design, as well as keeping up with current event perspectives. I've easily spent hundreds of dollars on magazines over my lifetime. Zinio is an app that allows you to check out magazines for free to any device you choose. Once you download the app and sign up, you can search by title, genre or date added for all of you favorite magazines to download to your device with all the same content of the print versions. To access Anythink's Zinio subscription, visit our ebooks & downloads page and select "magazines." 

There are so many options for apps if you love books! This is just the tip of the iceberg. Check these favorites of mine out and share any of your favorites in the comments below.