Book Summaries: The Best Book Summary Websites & Apps

“So many books, so little time.” — Frank Zappa

Ever since humans learned to read and write, everything changed.

We could pass on information and wisdom to the next generations and that’s the reason for our dramatic growth.

We all know the importance of books. Yet, not all of us can read books as often as we’d like to. Here are a few reasons for that:

• Lack of time and energy
• Shortening of attention span (due to technology and social media)
• The confusion of which book to read next

So we either turn to book summaries or we don’t read at all.

But there’s a problem…

When you read a book summary, you hear voices like:

“Reading summaries of books does NOT replace reading books.”

“Book summaries are NOT enough!”

Should You Read Book Summaries?

The short answer is yes.

Of course, book summary websites, apps, or videos don’t replace books. But that doesn’t mean they don’t provide value.

In fact, they provide more value than you could ever get from the passive consumption of social media.

Instead of choosing between reading book summaries or reading books, why not do both?

I’ve read book summaries of so many books that I will never touch in my life and I still read the books I want to read.

The best part?

I’ve already done the hard work for you and compiled a list of websites with free book summaries (especially nonfiction book summaries) along with the summarizer’s best or favorite book summary to start with.

Let’s dive in.

The Best Websites To Read Book Summaries (Free & Paid)

Best Book Summary Apps And Subscription Services

Some famous apps include spark notes or cliff notes. Cliffs notes is mostly for students while Sparknotes is for literature and fiction book summaries. But if you’re looking for summaries of nonfiction books, below are the top apps and websites like Sparknotes (for non-fiction). I have ranked them after testing and reviewing them:

1. Blinkist

Blinkist is the first app that comes to mind when we speak of book summaries with the largest book catalog. It is a wonderful app and best for listening to summaries on the go.

2. Shortform

Out of all the Blinkist alternatives, Shortform is one of the best I’ve read or listened to. summarizes books in detail, but it also works as a book guide with exercises.

Note: You can use the link below to get a 5-day free trial plus 20% off your annual membership.

3. Instaread

Instaread is big on quality over quantity. If you prefer long in-depth book summaries, it can be a great app for you.

3. Headway

Headway uses gamification and spaced repetition to make learning easy and fun. They mainly focus on self-development books.

4. Optimize.me

If you’re looking for book summaries on self-improvement, it’s got to be Brian Johnson’s Philosophers Notes. They are plain epic.

5. Readingraphics

Folks at Readingraphics are doing a brilliant job. They provide audios, PDFs, and even infographics for the books. Infographics are great since you can revisit them to remember the big ideas from the books.

6. Getabstract

If book summaries weren’t enough, how about summaries of articles, reports, and videos such as TED talks? You get all of that at Getabstract in addition to the in-depth book summaries.

7. Sumizeit

Sumizeit is another great book summary app option. It provides 15-minute summaries in text, audio, and video formats.

8. Bookey

Bookey provides long book summaries in audio and text forms. They also give you a mind map for each summary so you can also get the key points in a digestible format.

Best Free Book Summary Websites Or Blogs

1. James Clear

James is a famous blogger in the self-improvement niche and shares his “informal” notes which are a combination of quotes from the books and his own insights.

Start with: On the Shortness of Life by Seneca

2. Derek Sivers

Derek shares his insights or highlights from the books he reads so he can reflect on them later.

Start with: A Guide to the Good Life: The Ancient Art of Stoic Joy By William Irvine

3. Nat Eliason

Nat’s notes are crisp, to-the-point, written in short sentences. Once you start reading, you will keep scrolling for more.

Start with: 12 Rules for Life by Jordan Peterson

4. Four Minute Books

If you’re looking for a giant library of book synopsis, look no further than Nik’s Four Minute Books. He further summarizes books from the Blinklist app with 3 big lessons and his own personal takeaway.

Start with: The One Thing By Gary Keller

5. Samuel Thomas Davies

Sam provides five big ideas for each book and then continues writing a longer book summary by chapter.

Start with: Essentialism by Greg McKeown

6. Paul Minors

Speaking of organizing, Paul’s book summaries make such good reads. You can scan, read or skip as you scroll down because they are written keeping the reader in mind.

Start with: You Are A Badass By Jen Sincero

7. Alex J. Hughes

Alex writes slick book notes that you can visit anytime you want to read or re-read the gist of books he has summarized.

Start with: Atomic Habits By James Clear

8. Readingraphics Blog

They not only provide book summaries in text, but they also create graphics that go along with the posts. It’s super useful if you’re a visual learner.

Start with: Principles: Life And Work By Ray Dalio

9. Actionable Books

Actionable books is an incredible website that summarizes books and provides an amazing reading experience.

Start with: The Magic of Thinking Big By Dr. David Schwartz

10. NJlifehacks

Nils’ and Jonas’ summaries are remarkable. They break down the books into sub-headings and then cover the details so you can read them like you read articles.

Start with: The Happiness Advantage by Shawn Achor

11. Sipreads

Another gem with a great reading experience. I love the simplicity of Basile’s and Ali’s summaries.

Start with: The Subtle Art Of Not Giving A Fuck By Mark Manson (Paperback | Audiobook)

12. Sloww

Kyle summarizes just the kind of books I love reading. Learning how to live is what I’ll be doing for the rest of my life.

Start with: Ikigai: The Japanese Secret to a Long and Happy Life By Héctor García and Francesc Miralles

13. Ivaylo Durmonski

Ivaylo does a great job at distilling down the books into key takeaways and then explaining them further.

Start with: The Gifts of Imperfection by Brené Brown

Related: The Best Spiritual Books and The Best Manifestation/Law of Attraction Books

How To Read A Book Summary

Here’s a quick rundown of the different ways you can use these book summary websites:

1. Read summaries of books to dip your toes before buying them.
2. Read them to revisit the best concepts from a book (because repetition is the mother of lifelong learning).
3. Read them to hunt for books to read.
4. Read them like you read articles.
5. Actually apply the lessons you learn from these summaries because learning more is not always the answer.

The last thing you need is a plan for reading the best book summaries. It won’t fit in your schedule by accident. For that, determine your reading frequency, set a trigger, create a focused environment, and get reading.

An example:

• Reading frequency: 5 book summaries a week
• Trigger: Reminder on my phone
• Environment: Remove distractions (you can use FocusMe, Freedom, or Cold Turkey)
• Read
• Set a reward (optional)

We live in an information age where we jump from one article to another. That’s no way to accelerate your learning. You need focused time-blocks to read what matters. You can learn more about how I read books or articles by clicking here.

Readwise is a great tool to gather all your book notes and use spaced repetition to remember what you read.

Books are still one of the best sources of learning. Now that you know where to find the best-summarized version of them, it’s your turn to “hack” your way through life one book summary at a time.

Related: The Ultimate Collection For Lifelong Learners (300+ Educational Websites)

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