Libiry

Goodreads integration

Overview

Goodreads is a popular book tracking service. Libiry’s field names are compatible with Goodreads CSV exports, making it easy to:

  • Import your Goodreads reading history
  • Export your Libiry catalog in a Goodreads-compatible format
  • Maintain compatibility with Goodreads-based tools, without having your data in the cloud

Import your Goodreads reading history

Step 1: Export from Goodreads

  1. Go to goodreads.com/review/import
  2. Click “Export Library”
  3. Download the CSV file

Match the headings in the CSV with Libiry’s field names (go to the Settings to change those).

Libiry default field nameGoodreads field name
booktitleTitle
authorAuthor
isbnISBN
ratingMy Rating
publisherPublisher
pagesNumber of Pages
yearYear Published
tagsBookshelves
descriptionMy Review
notesPrivate Notes

Step 2: Convert to markdown

Use Obsidian and one of its plugins (for example the JSON-CSV import plugin or the Booksidian plugin) to convert your Goodreads CSV to markdown files.

Alternatively, write your own script to make the conversion:

Example Python script:

import csv
from pathlib import Path
 
def convert_goodreads_csv(csv_path, output_folder):
    with open(csv_path, 'r', encoding='utf-8') as f:
        reader = csv.DictReader(f)
        for row in reader:
            # Create markdown content
            md = f"""---
booktitle: "{row['Title']}"
author: "{row['Author']}"
isbn: "{row['ISBN']}"
rating: {int(float(row['My Rating']) * 2) if row['My Rating'] else 0}
tags: [{row['Bookshelves']}]
description: "{row['My Review']}"
notes: "{row['Private Notes']}"
---
 
# {row['Title']}
 
By {row['Author']}
"""
            # Save file
            filename = row['Title'].replace(' ', '-')[:50] + '.md'
            output_path = Path(output_folder) / filename
            output_path.write_text(md, encoding='utf-8')
 
convert_goodreads_csv('goodreads_export.csv', 'Books/')

Step 3: Import to Libiry

Move the generated markdown files into your Libiry folder.

Export from Libiry to the Goodreads format

Create a CSV using Obsidian Bases or other tools. The CSV will look like this:

Title,Author,ISBN,My Rating,Bookshelves,My Review,Private Notes
"The Handmaid's Tale","Margaret Atwood","9780385490818",5,"distopian, scifi","Great book!",""
"Neuromancer","William Gibson","9780441569595",5,"","",""

Beware

Reading progress

Goodreads reading progress doesn’t export well. Track with:

  • Libiry tags: reading, read, to-read
  • Obsidian fields: status, progress

Rating conversion

Goodreads uses 1-5 stars, Libiry uses 0-10 internally:

GoodreadsLibiry InternalLibiry Display
1 star2★☆☆☆☆
2 stars4★★☆☆☆
3 stars6★★★☆☆
4 stars8★★★★☆
5 stars10★★★★★

Converting:

  • Goodreads to Libiry: multiply by 2
  • Libiry to Goodreads: divide by 2, round

Bookshelves to tags

Goodreads “Bookshelves” become Libiry “tags”:

Goodreads:

Bookshelves: fantasy, to-read, favorites

Libiry:

tags:
  - fantasy
  - to-read
  - favorites

ISBN matching

Use ISBN for accurate matching:

  1. In Goodreads, ensure ISBN is filled
  2. In Libiry, ISBN enables duplicate detection
  3. Book database lookups use ISBN

Unmapped fields

Some Libiry fields do not exist in Goodreads:

  • cover (link to cover image location or URL)
  • language
  • series
  • series_index
  • author_sort
  • page_count
  • publication_date
  • translator
  • illustrator

Some Goodreads fields do not exist in Libiry:

  • Author l-f
  • Additional Authors
  • ISBN13
  • Average Rating
  • Binding
  • Original Publication Year
  • Date Read
  • Date Added
  • Bookshelves with positions
  • Exclusive Shelf
  • Spoiler
  • Read Count
  • Owned Copies

Private notes

Goodreads’ “Private Notes” maps to Libiry’s “notes”:

notes: "Borrowed from library, return by March"

These stay in your local files and are never uploaded.

Synchronization

The Goodreads API has been deprecated. No automatic sync exists. Update manually or use:

  • Periodic exports
  • Obsidian plugins for Goodreads
  • IFTTT webhooks
  • Third-party sync tools (may be unofficial)
  • Goodreads RSS feeds (these have limited data, though)
  • Personal scripts
  • Manual CSV export/import

Tip: You can remove duplicates with Libiry’s duplicate detection.

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