Shepherd.com Reviews and Details

Social recommendations and mentions

• Ask HN: Those making $500/month on side projects in 2026 – Show and tell

  I've got two going :) https://shepherd.com/ Building a really unique book recommendation platform to help readers find books they might not otherwise know about. We just started working on a full book app that will be a private book diary, along with recommendations and insights based on your Book DNA. Think Goodreads, but rebuilt for readers who want a private space to track what they read, keep notes, and get... - Source: Hacker News / 8 months ago

• Book recommendations based on reading history

  One of the services that I know is Shepherd https://shepherd.com. The service is like Goodreads, but it's more personalized. Shepherd is trying to help the readers discovered and shared the books. I am not the creator. You can read the details https://build.shepherd.com/p/what-is-shepherds-mission-for-readers. - Source: Hacker News / 8 months ago

• Ask HN: Those making $500/month on side projects in 2025 – Show and tell

  I'm building a book recommendation app that tries to make it fun to explore books through what other people love -> https://shepherd.com/ And in the process of bringing on a co-founder and building a full desktop/mobile app so you can track what you are reading, what you loved, and we can use that data to deeply personalize your recommendations (as I am frustrated with Goodreads as I don't think they even try to... - Source: Hacker News / 9 months ago

• Show HN: Visually explore recommended/trending sci-fi books (and other genres)

  Hi all, creator here :) I launched Shepherd.com (https://shepherd.com/) on HN in 2021 and have added a ton since then! Here is the original Show HN (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26871660 You can visually explore science-fiction books in a ton of different ways. The most recommended of all time (or by decade): https://shepherd.com/bookshelf/science-fiction Trending science fiction books:... - Source: Hacker News / about 1 year ago

• Ask HN: What Are You Working On? (July 2025)

  I am working to build a book discovery website: https://shepherd.com/ Right now I am focused on building a full app for readers where the books they log feed into recommendations based on a ton of variables... - Source: Hacker News / about 1 year ago

• Ask HN: What will the web look like in 5 years with AI bots becoming widespread?

  Hi all, What will the web look like if these LLM bots become users' primary interface (rather than traditional websites)? Do the majority of websites disappear? Will monetized MCP servers become a new version of websites? Are mobile apps even more critical now, as the app store is the last place for discovery? Curious to hear your predictions, worries, or hopeful takes! I run a book discovery website... - Source: Hacker News / over 1 year ago

• Google Is Burying the Web Alive

  Ya, I'm in a similar boat (https://shepherd.com). Despite sky-high engagement stats, I lost 70% of my traffic from Google. Luckily, I have a strong brand and get decent traffic directly (and from other search engines). We are surviving, but we've changed our entire focus as the web we know is a dead man walking. AI bots are the new frontend for the web, and I am curious about what the web will look like in 2 to 10... - Source: Hacker News / over 1 year ago

• Ask HN: What Are You Working On? (February 2025)

  I'm still working on Shepherd, a book discovery platform aimed at feeding readers' curiosity. Later this year, I am developing a tool to bring your to-be-read pile to life in some cool ways and improve the accuracy of our topic/genre system (plus adding themes, tropes, and moods). https://shepherd.com/ Our reader's fav reads of 2024: https://shepherd.com/bboy/2024?only-published. - Source: Hacker News / over 1 year ago

• Ask HN: What are you working on (September 2024)?

  Working on https://shepherd.com/ and trying to help readers find books they will LOVE (not just like). In a few days, launching user accounts + our first user feature using our new Book DNA review system that is trying to help narrow in on the type of books you love and why. The goal is to serve better recommendations going forward and get more people excited about reading. It is fun :). - Source: Hacker News / almost 2 years ago

• Ask HN: What tools are you using to evade the ever enshittified "big" web?

  Lately I’ve been using https://shepherd.com/ as a “tool” to find actual books to buy or borrow. Internet tools to find, physical books to consume. At least the consumption part is ad-free. - Source: Hacker News / over 2 years ago

• Ask HN: What app do you use for book recommendations?

  I am not really sure if these are considered apps. I usually use these websites to get book recommendations. * Hacker News Books - https://hackernewsbooks.com, the weekly most mentioned books on HN * reddit reads - https://www.redditreads.com, the books that Reddit users are reading * Shepherd - https://shepherd.com, the book recommendations from authors, creators, and experts. - Source: Hacker News / almost 3 years ago

• Goodreads Has No Incentive to Be Good

  I'll mention https://shepherd.com/ which has an interesting feature: 8,000+ authors have shared five of their favorite books around a topic, theme, or mood. We make it easy to find the books they recommend through a book you already love, an author you adore, or a Wikipedia topic that interests you.. - Source: Hacker News / about 3 years ago

• Don't know what to do now!

  There are a lot of little things you can do. Contact libraries through their websites suggesting the book, looking for websites that will feature your book for free (shepherd.com is one and gobookbound.com is another, and you can look for more while you're waiting to see what the publisher does. Social media - hard to tell what the return is, so if you are into social media, by all means go there! But if you... Source: about 3 years ago

• Desperately waiting for goodreads alternative

  Just to 2nd waht d4nyll said, try https://app.thestorygraph.com/ or https://hardcover.app/ Both are great for book tracking, and I think Story Graph has better "social features" then most (and they are about to work on more). I run Shepherd.com, I am trying to create a book discovery experience like wandering a bookstore. Something I don't think Goodreads or any websites do well. So far I've interviewed 8,000+... - Source: Hacker News / over 3 years ago

• The Official Report of the May RVA Reddit (no we haven't) Bookclub

  Someone brought up BookTalk.org, saying they mostly got ass recommendations out of it. I've used https://www.whatshouldireadnext.com and it isn't so bad, but really isn't any better than Goodreads. I've used Sheperd a couple of times, which can be really good if you're looking for exactly the type of book that has been covered in one of their lists, but it seems to only accept general categories. Source: over 3 years ago