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bayang/jelu

A self-hosted personal book tracker for logging what you've read, are reading, and want to read, as an alternative to Goodreads.

Open-source alternative to:Goodreads

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751
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37
Open issues
37
Last commit
7 days ago

What is it?

Jelu is a self-hosted book tracker that lets you record books you have finished, are currently reading, or want to read. It is built as a personal alternative to Goodreads, with your data stored in a single SQLite database file that you control.

The app covers the core tracking workflow: marking books as reading, finished or dropped, keeping a to-read list, tagging books to build custom shelves, and viewing reading history by year and month. Books can be added manually or fetched through online search by title, author or ISBN, and Goodreads CSV exports or ISBN lists can be imported. Data can be exported back to CSV, and an API allows scripting or integration with other tools.

Jelu also supports multi-user setups with LDAP or proxy authentication, author pages with Wikipedia details, reviews, embeddable book widgets for blogs or notes, and reading statistics. It can run as a Java JAR or in Docker, with an unofficial Helm chart available for Kubernetes.

Key features

  • 01Track books as reading, finished or dropped, with reading history by year and month
  • 02Maintain a to-read list and use tags to build custom shelves
  • 03Import Goodreads CSV exports or ISBN lists, and export data to CSV
  • 04Search online by title, author or ISBN to add books automatically
  • 05Multi-user support with LDAP or proxy authentication
  • 06Provides an API for scripting and third-party integration

Use cases

  • Replacing Goodreads with a self-hosted book log that you fully own
  • Sharing a household or small group's reading library on a home server
  • Automating book logging through the API or scripts
  • Embedding a reading list widget into a personal blog or markdown journal

Quick start

  1. 1

    Download the Java jar from the releases page

  2. 2

    Start the jar from its folder

    java -jar jelu-0.13.0.jar
  3. 3

    Open the web UI in your browser

Things to know

  • Automatic online metadata search depends on the external calibre tool fetch-ebook-metadata unless you use the Docker image.
  • You must self-host it, and by default CORS accepts all origins unless you configure allowed origins.

In collections

Self-hosted apps

Topics

#book-tracker#reading#self-hosted#goodreads-alternative#kotlin#spring-boot#vue#docker#book#books

FAQ

What is jelu?
A self-hosted personal book tracker for logging what you've read, are reading, and want to read, as an alternative to Goodreads. Jelu is a self-hosted book tracker that lets you record books you have finished, are currently reading, or want to read. It is built as a personal alternative to Goodreads, with your data stored in a single SQLite database file that you control.
Is jelu free to use? What license does it have?
jelu is open source under the MIT license. Check the license terms before using it in commercial products.
Is jelu still maintained?
Actively maintained. The last commit to jelu was on Oct 30, 2026.
What can I use jelu for?
Replacing Goodreads with a self-hosted book log that you fully own Sharing a household or small group's reading library on a home server Automating book logging through the API or scripts Embedding a reading list widget into a personal blog or markdown journal
How do I install jelu?
Download the Java jar from the releases page Start the jar from its folder: java -jar jelu-0.13.0.jar Open the web UI in your browser
Where can I get jelu?
The source code and installation instructions are on GitHub: https://github.com/bayang/jelu

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