Bookshelf Reviews

by ~chrisw~

The main benefit of Bookshelf is that it is more mobile than the website. However, Bookshelf is buggy and is missing some basic features that completely remove the mobile advantage. They force you to frequently type your email and password just to use Bookshelf (there is no way to stay logged in), and the “read aloud” function is terrible. The low quality of the voice on my device is understandable because they use your device’s built-in speech engine, but they don’t set up their books to be read correctly by speech engines. Many words on the page are broken into their individual letters, resulting in words being spelled out one letter at a time. All footnotes are announced for every page, so I hope you enjoy having your book interrupted about once a minute to hear about all the legal restrictions on how you can use the book. On top of that, some of the text is skipped and other text that wasn’t even there before is added in. Divisions between chapters are not clearly marked, leaving you confused about the context.

Why would I ever decide to use Bookshelf when I can use the larger screen of one of many public computers that are increasingly available to everyone, or my laptop which is easy to bring anywhere?

by Buddhagem

Bookshelf absolutely ruins the one great thing about ebooks: the ability to instantly search through them and find what you want. Oh sure you can search in Bookshelf but it’s just awful. For instance if you search for a two-worded phrase it will give you every single instance of both the words, which is less than helpful. There doesn’t appear to be any way to search for a phrase at all. The fact that this is geared toward text books and people who are going to need to search through the text on the regular is just ridiculous.

The flash cards are a nice addition, though you’re severely limited in how you can format them. For whatever reason they only allow you one line to work with and you can’t space down to create a larger card. Everywhere throughout Bookshelf it claims you can hover over any diagram or sketch and add it to a flash card. I have yet to have that work. Then, say you messed up a flash card, editing them is a nightmare. I have 40 flash cards for one unit but when I hover over the one I want to edit I get nothing. No option to edit it. My option is to delete and start over.

It’s a shame the publishers force people to use an app this bad for their product.

by Stopthetriviacrackads

I use this this app website because my online school uses it and that’s the only way I can view the books they make me use. It’s horrendous using the website to read, ESPECIALLY on an iPad. So, I download Bookshelf onto my iPad recently and the upside is that all my books are in one place and I can search a word and will pull up the pages with the keywords. Unfortunately, the organization within the search is horrendous. Today Bookshelf alerted me that I need to update it in order to open my textbook. Now if the sole premise of Bookshelf is to READ OFFLINE, why would they be blocking people from opening a book because their app needs updating? Very likely that person could be offline and could not update Bookshelf , rendering their book useless. I update it, come back and TRY opening it again, still saying I can’t open my textbook because it needs updating. Fix Bookshelf!!! Y’all have students using it!

by Jared0789

Don’t bother skimming or flipping quickly through the content to find your highlights or anything useful… scrolling is slow and choppy, which is utterly amazing considering its a textbook viewing app. Seriously, every app I’ve ever used has scrolled more smoothly than this one and virtually none of those have been intended for doing reading. Aside from rendering the actual text on-screen, I can’t think of anything more important—and Bookshelf fails at it.

Additionally, the Appendix A where answers to in-text questions are supposed to be is missing chapters 10-50. How does that even happen? With an utter lack of quality checking, care for the user experience, or incentive to actually produce a quality product I suspect. When universities are literally funelling every student to your doorstep and alternatives are scarce to nonexistent, it doesn’t leave much incentive to build something worthwhile, does it?

by Bj555

The use of highlighting and note taking is very primitive, as if they don’t want you to be able to do it; like the idea was an afterthought and was thrown in at the last minute. It’s not intuitive, is buggy, and after about 2 hours of trying to highlight and add notes, you are exhausted. I have an apple pen, and Bookshelf makes no use of that technology, but really, your finger isn’t much better either. I feel like they used basic technology from 15 years ago and your using a mouse instead of a precise touch screen (iPad Pro). I’m forced to use it because that is the only place I can get my textbook. I’m on page 200, and I’m ready to give up and pack around the 3” thick book with me. Developers: if you want to know how it should be to take notes, highlight, and mark up, take a look at GoodNotes4. They have it figured out. Hopefully you can figure this out, otherwise, I’ll got back to carrying giant textbooks around again. At least I can resell them...

by JJMCST

This is not a functional app, especially for educational purposes. First of all, many of the services provided by the desktop app are not available through the mobile version. It is somewhat understandable for some of the more complex features offered in other apps, such as Microsoft Office, but in a reading app I feel that there is no excuse. For one thing, in the desktop version it will use a primitive text-to-speech (TTS) program to enable you to listen while working on something else. This would be much better applied to a mobile version, or does that make too much sense?
There are other issues that prevent the mobile version from being a success, but all of them, including the TTS should be an easy fix with an update. Overall, a very frustrating app that could be great with just a little tweaking.

by _thelionheart

The pharmacology book I bought is in ePub format, so I don’t see why I couldn’t just download it on iBooks to begin with. I would assume they’re pretty good about not allowing users to share books. I can’t think of another reason you’d force users into a proprietary app that is free. Reading the reviews, it looks as though the developers do update Bookshelf because I saw an option for night mode which someone had wanted. Here’s what I’d like:
1. Better highlighting, especially with Apple Pencil. This hold and drag business is ridiculous
2. Changed chapter/page format. Each chapter being a page, I can see where that would sound convenient in a meeting but if your chapter is 30+ pages long it’s rather inconvenient to keep scrolling.
That’s all so far. Thanks!
Oh last thing-people are on here rating 5 stars because you can read the book offline with Bookshelf -you bought this book. You should be able to view it anywhere, just as you would a physical book. That’s not an amazing feature, that’s basic ebooks. I hope my concerns are addressed but either way I appreciate fewer natural resources being used to make a textbook that I have to have anyway.

by Shanoscope

I pay thousands of dollars for tuition, including my books from school. The old app was perfect and user friendly. When you open Bookshelf , you are greeted with all the books you have downloaded to your account. I had no issues At all. However, with the new update, when I open Bookshelf (on iPad and phone) I’m greeted with a screen that says “start building your library today”. I don’t need to start building a library because I’ve already started. However with the new update, I cannot access any of my books. All there is on the screen is a “what’s new” section and a “get help section” I’ve read through all of the help articles and nothing. I emailed support as well because this is absurd. I cannot turn in my assignments if I cannot access my books. I used the search tool and nothing. This is absolutely crazy. Why would you fix something that’s not broken? I have no access to my text books for any of my classes except through this broken app.

by Kallen0611

The biggest gripe I have is that certain sections of the book appear to be pictures instead of accessible text. It’s as if all they did was scan the book and stitch the pictures together in an app. When you attempt to highlight text in these “picture“ sections, it doesn’t let you highlight. Instead, Bookshelf acts as if you’re trying to pick up a picture and move it somewhere else. The only thing I’m actually able to highlight is section titles and some information in the section reviews. All of the content within the chapter is a series of pictures I can’t do anything with. Don’t get me wrong I’m satisfied with the fact that I’m able to get all of this information for cheap compared to purchasing the full book, but if they are advertising certain capabilities in this application they should be usable throughout the entire book.

For me to give four stars, the entire book would need to be in a unified format of accessible text. For me to get five stars, the book would have to be more interactive than simply QR codes and a few videos.

by Net0_

I am using Bookshelf only because the books you buy from VitalSource are encrypted and can only be read from Bookshelf. Bookshelf shows books with a small font and almost no formatting at all (no identation, no spacing). You need to make do with the few formatting options they provide to make it easier to look at. I also wish you could flip pages from the sides instead from the top and bottom, since it takes up text space. Bookshelf also locks you from reading if you install it on an old device, and it becomes inconvenient when you have an old iPad used mainly as an eBook reader, and can't keep all your books on the same place. Bookshelf does have some good aspects, the reading feature keeps me focused on the text more than if I read it by myself, and there are a few study features (notes, highlighting, bookmarks and flashcards, citations) and they are useful to study.

by Dandrewe

As far as apps for textbooks go, this one is the best I’ve used; all the texts I have access too are formatted very nicely and the ability to change the font, font size, background color, etc is all great.

I have one major issue with night mode however.
On larger iPhones (I can only confirm for the 12 max), the “scrub bar” along the bottom that shows your place in the textbook stays white.

Once it disappears, it leaves a blank white box in its place. Unfortunately, that really ruins the whole point of night mode and is really distracting.

Plus, considering that one might be reading for hours it’s a serious burn-in risk for OLED devices; it is an unmoving, pure white rectangle on a contrasting dark gray background. As a result, that section will be getting magnitudes more “wear” than any other part of the screen

Ideally, that bar would totally disappear when reading since it doesn’t even show the position once it’s not active. But, it could also be fixed by just making that bar the same dark gray as Bookshelf controls. Everything else is, so it seems like an oversight.

It would also be nice if the contents, notebook, bookmarks, and flash card section were also night-mode friendly, but at least those aren’t screens you’d spend hours on like you would for the reading

by PathResident

I use Bookshelf exclusively as a reference tool for large medical textbooks. The navigation is relatively intuitive, but there are a few issues that make Bookshelf challenging to use. For one, clicking on images typically creates a small “back”. On occasion, this button disappears and you have to navigate back to your location. Second, when opening the table of contents, it doesn’t show the submenu of where you are, it goes back to the top level contents. That is annoying when you are trying to quickly jump around a single chapter. Lastly, Bookshelf can be slow when loading pages of a book. It’s still faster than opening a textbook, but not by much. I still haven’t found a perfect solution, but I would still rather use this than carrying around 40 lbs of books.

by Christipher DiCesare

As a college student I would find myself going to the campus book store and shelling out $150-$300 for a single textbook. Then one day I noticed that one of the books I was going to buy was digital through Bookshelf. I was using an iPad Pro with Apple Pencil to take notes so I figured maybe I should give it a shot. The physical book was $170 the the digital being $60. I have been in love with it ever since. Some teachers, usually the older ones, are not always happy that an electronic device is being used to replace a notebook pen and textbook, but I remind them that it is not a privilege that I am here, I pay a hell of a lot of money to be in the classroom and I will study and learn the best way for me. It is worth it, and will save you lots of money!!

by Stellie10

The reading app is excellent. Layout is made with an effort to mirror the actual book as much as possible. Appreciate the fact that there is more that one color highlight, although there could be more than just two colors. Second thing that could be better is the frame for viewing tables. I would appreciate being able to zoom in and out with a finger pinch. And lastly, the « narrator» needs to sound much more like an actual human reading. As for now it is like a robot reading sequences of sentences. Nonetheless, scrolling down the text is easy and there is no hopping from page to page; it is rather a continuous thread when it comes to any particular chapter. And by only sliding left or right you are already in the next chapter. This keeps different chapters closer, and saves time.
If improvement is made to based on the preceding fallouts, I think this is can become the leader in reading apps (I have already tried both Inkling and kindle).

by Takethisworldgivemejesus

I use Bookshelf for one of my school textbooks and was very disappointed today when I went to open my book and I keep getting an error saying I need to update Bookshelf , but I already have the most up to date version for iOS. Please fix as my ability to complete assigned reading material and study for tests and quizzes is somewhat dependent on Bookshelf working correctly! It’s bad enough I had to open a ticket just to get my books to be available on Bookshelf .

*edit* I tried pressing “update library” and that resolved the issue. I had been reading my book on a different device and apparently it does not automatically sync to the current spot. Some clarification on the verbiage for a future release or the ability to automatically sync between devices would be helpful, but otherwise I’m just glad it’s working 😊

by Evadaa

Bookshelf overall is extremely useful especially when you do not want to have to carry any hard copy - heavy books. But since you choose to have all of your books in e version it is also nice to be able to use all “e-capacities”. In my case, I also use my apple pencil while using Bookshelf on my ipad, I love making notes using it. But unfortunately Bookshelf has no function to write in a book as you would in real hard copy. Especially difficult when the book has fill in questions for you to brainstorm and answer, I find it to be crucial for studying. This is very uncomfortable cause it just makes me take a screenshot, put it in the note app and write over a picture there. Would be great if you could pull something off to make this happen.

by Simfruit

This textbook not only has extremely interesting material, but it makes finding all of the key terms and facts extremely easy which saves so much time and effort. The AP Exam Tips on the side of every page are also extremely useful to study with and to help me prepare for the AP Exam. I also love the way the pages are organized and how the paragraphs are properly separated with not too much writing in between. The images and captions also better my understanding of the specific topic I am concentrating on, and I personally learn well from visual aids as well. This book also loads extremely quickly and I can easily access it on the go, when I am not home for instance. The information in this book additionally makes it fun to read and the text isn’t overly analyzed or boring either. I looking forward to using this book to assist in my academic studies as well as my AP exam.

by Paralleljackstand

I use Bookshelf for some of my school textbooks. It’s very easy to use. Any questions and you can reach out for help from their customer service which I’ve had to do for one of my books.

My one nit picky criticism is I wish they’d offer more viewing options especially regarding print size. You can only pick from four very varying sizes. Whereas say with the Kindle app, you can sort of pick the exact print size for your needs and likings. But Bookshelf happens to have a size that works pretty well for me so it’s not a big complaint.

by VLK0212

UPDATE: The developers reached out to me. They made the swipe feature to go between chapters a little more sticky so normal scrolling through the current chapter doesn’t bounce between chapters. It made a HUGE difference. I read 2 chapter (around 60 pages) and it didn’t happen one time. Kudos to their team for being so responsive. Thank you! 🥳🥳🥳

I love having this access to my textbooks, but Bookshelf is infuriating. There aren’t pages to turn like in a Kindle. The chapter eternally scrolls on. If you swipe left or right, it takes you between chapters. Slow scrolling while you’re reading has to be perfectly straight or BOOM you’re in the next chapter. I lose SO MUCH TIME finding where I was because the screen doesn’t lock onto what you’re reading. After a while, I inevitably swipe not perfectly straight and IT HAPPENS AGAIN! Put arrows to go between chapters and lock the scrolling feature.

by E-BookReader

Today’s update, 20 December 2018, was a giant step forward in that the user is now able to search across all books on the this app. A global search is executed from the new home page layout and presents the user with a list of books (scrolled across the top of the page) where the search term was found. Clicking on a specific title will display all the hits found in that title. Clicking on a link from a selected title will take the user to the text within the book where the search term is located. When the Home icon is clicked, the user is returned to the global search to explore the other hits that match the search term.

Another new feature is the carousel-like display (reminiscent of the first Kindle Fire display) of the most recently read titles.

Congratulations to the development team for these latest enhancements. They added real value to Bookshelf and greatly enhance the user’s access to content.

It would be great if, eventually, the Apple Pencil or other styluses could be used to write or draw on the pages of ebooks—which would be most useful for academic purposes.

by E.j.Teegarden

Meaning: doesn’t function STILL!!!
After refusing to access MY TEXTBOOK, that I paid additional money for - JUST for the digital version, because of ALLLLL the various issues with Bookshelf (both online and downloadable), I came back AFTER A YEAR-new classes-new semesters-JUST TO EXPERIENCE THE EXACT SAME ISSUES.

*** “VITALSOURCE” - ARE YOU GUYS KIDDING ME!?!***

-STILL Sluggish.
-STILL won’t highlight properly.
-STILL exports micro small degraded export...
I normally just bite my tongue if I DON’T HAVE ANYTHING GOOD TO SAY, but AFTER A WHOLE YEAR- REALLY!?!
We (Students) pay hundreds of dollars for these digital versions-(because we have no other choice) - and then find out that THEY STILL DON’T (AFTER A YEAR) FUNCTION!!!
I couldn’t believe it, I tried giving you the benefit of doubt. So, after working all night at the hospital I waited until I got home to see maybe if it was the hospitals internet-as if. But NO, ITS JUST THE SAME EXACT ISSUES THAT WERE THERE A YEAR AGO. I feel ripped off, but I see that I’m not the only one now as many others here have expressed THE EXACT SAME ISSUES. That, and having more than adequate time to address these issues, is why I feel compelled to not bite my tongue and let others know...

-I DO NOT RECOMMEND THIS APPLICATION.

by Redmarker

Most books that I’ve used have been great. Bookshelf displays them like a pdf, and is quick and responsive. When I can use this instead of carrying a pile of two-inch thick textbooks around, I am happy.

However, books in epub format look awful, like 90’s era HTML. There’s no way to control what shows up in your library in Bookshelf : you can only add books through the website, and if you’re done with a book, you can remove the download from Bookshelf but it will still show the cover in the library. A few days ago I added a book to my library through the website, and while it shows up in my browser, it won’t appear in Bookshelf . Signing out and in doesn’t help, nor does clicking “Update Library”. So, I’m back to lugging around print books for now.

by Medic68

I’m in nursing school for my BSN and I have to do a lot of reading. Majority of my books are on Elsevier or PrepU which they use this app for the ebook. I listen to the audio since majority is difficult for me. The lady is monotone and can easily put you to sleep. On my Mac it’s a guy voice which is also monotone. The problem with the iPhone app are the fact that listening to the audio, when I highlight, it freezes and takes a long time to refresh. Highlights on Bookshelf is one color which makes it difficult to separate topics. Other times Bookshelf doesn’t even load my book and crashes. The main issue is the crashing because it interferes greatly with my reading or listening.

by DYJ0579

I'm really frustrated with how it's not letting me flip pages. What's the point of Bookshelf if I can't even use it to read? Not to mention prior to not being able to flip pages, when you could flip pages, it would take around 5 seconds to load, where my kindle app was instantaneous with no lag between pages.

Updated review: looks like they did an update to fix the issues regarding not being able to flip pages and highlighting. There is still a bit of lag between flipping pages, but at least I can flip the pages. I appreciate the developer responding to my review and making sure the issue was resolved.

by Nu1142

To start I thoroughly enjoy Bookshelf for reading my textbooks for college. The menus are simple and effective, staying out of the way so I can get my reading done without hassle. I enjoy the bookmark system, though I am still figuring some features out—such as how to remove an old bookmark.
If I was going to ask for one thing, it would be that some variation of a night-mode be added in the future. I don’t feel I’m alone in preferring a darker background with light text to read, especially in dark areas.
Other than that, I see no problems. To date, I haven’t had a bug or a crash. Great app!

by LPettis

I am not sure where all the other complaints are coming from but I have really enjoyed Bookshelf. Bookshelf is very convenient for people like me who are working and going to school at the same time. Having my books accessible to me is very helpful for a busy life. I am able to read and study anytime and anywhere. Of course I have had issues with Bookshelf , however, all of my issues were resolved by contacting app support. Thanks to Dana B. from VitalSource chat support, I was able to get access to my books and continue on with my day.