Spines Spines
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Every bookshelf, read in seconds

Photo any thrift store shelf. Spines identifies every book, pulls in ratings and prize wins, and flags the ones that match your taste. No typing, no googling.

QR code linking to the Spines app download page
On your computer? Point your phone camera at the code and it opens the right store.

Reached #5 · App Store Books · UK & Ireland

Spines camera lined up on a thrift store bookshelf
Spines results: 188 books identified on one shelf, with ratings and prize badges
Book detail in Spines: To Kill a Mockingbird, rated 4.2, Worth Grabbing, Pulitzer Prize winner
Recognized by
  • #5 App Store Books chart, UK & Ireland
  • 5.0 App Store rating, 5 ratings
  • UK StartUp Awards 2026 Wales Winner
  • Wales Business Awards 2026 Finalist
  • As featured in Nation.Cymru

Have a look inside.

Real screens from a real thrift store scan. Nothing here is a mockup.

Spines camera lined up on a bookshelf Spines scanning a shelf photo: 95 books spotted so far Your Finds: 188 books identified with ratings and prize badges Results filtered to For You: 55 of 188 books match your taste Book detail: To Kill a Mockingbird, Worth Grabbing, NYT Bestseller, Pulitzer Prize winner My Books wishlist with four books you are hunting for Spines home screen: Scan a shelf, Hunting for, Your finds Your Scans: three past shelf scans with books spotted and For You counts

Every book, checked against the lists.

Like a well-read friend who's memorised every prize list. Each spine Spines reads is cross-referenced against:

  • Pulitzer Prize
  • Booker Prize
  • Women's Prize
  • National Book Award
  • NYT Bestseller rank & weeks
  • Reader ratings
  • Your taste genres, authors, publishers

Signals only ever add: a book with no rating yet is never marked down. The more you scan and grab, the sharper the picks.

Nearby · rolling out across the UK

See which shops have fresh books before you set off.

When someone scans a shelf at a thrift store and chooses to share it, that shelf becomes a sighting. Nearby shows the thrift stores around you, with a pulse on the ones where books were spotted recently.

  • Live map of shops and recent activity. Free for everyone.
  • Sightings feed, covers and all, and exactly which shop. Premium.
  • Wishlist alerts the moment a book you're hunting is sighted. Instant on Premium, a weekly teaser on free.

Sharing is opt-in per scan and always anonymous. A sighting is tied to the shop, never to you.

Free to start. Premium for the regulars.

Three scans a month is plenty for the odd browse. If you're in a thrift store every week, Premium pays for itself on the first find.

Free
$0
forever, no account needed
  • 3 shelf scans a month
  • Every book identified, with ratings
  • For You badge on the books that match your taste
  • Nearby map of thrift stores with recent book activity
Get Spines free
14-day free trial
Premium
$49.99 a year · about $4.17/month
or $6.99 month to month
  • Unlimited scans, up to 10 shelves in one go
  • Worth Grabbing badge: highly rated and to your taste
  • Pulitzer, Booker, Women's Prize and NYT Bestseller signals
  • Wishlist with instant alerts when a book is spotted
  • Full scan history and Grab / Pass on every book
  • Import your Goodreads or StoryGraph library to sharpen picks
  • Nearby sightings feed, covers and all (rolling out across the UK)
Start free trial

Trial on the annual plan · cancel anytime · price may vary by country

Book hunters are finding gems, and saying so.

From App Store reviews · United Kingdom

“I love this app” Many days I’ve spent trawling through book shelves in charity shops wishing for an easier way to find the books I’m looking for. This app is amazing. It cuts the time down so I can spend more time reading and visiting other shops.
R Rosiewigglechops App Store
“Gem finder 💎” Such a great concept! There’s no way I would have even NOTICED some of the great books it’s recommended to me.
LJ Lou-Jane-1980 App Store
“Outstanding” An indispensable app in my library… This app has enabled me to source a number of titles on my personal wishlist which I’d initially failed to spot on the shelf! A brilliant idea and super easy to use. Five stars.
D Deep poison 13 App Store

Common questions.

How does Spines identify books?
Spines uses AI vision to read the text on book spines in your photo. It then matches those titles against real book databases to pull in ratings, genre data, and author info. Each book is cross-referenced against literary award databases (Pulitzer Prize, Booker Prize, National Book Award, Women's Prize) and bestseller lists (New York Times). It works even on crowded, messy shelves.
What kinds of shelves work best?
Any shelf with visible book spines. Thrift stores, libraries, bookstores, and home bookshelves all work great. The more spine text visible in the photo, the better the results.
Is Spines free?

Yes. Spines is free to download and use with up to 3 scans per month.

If you hunt shelves regularly, Spines Premium adds unlimited scans (up to 10 shelves in one batch), full scan history, a book wishlist with matches surfaced in scan results, Goodreads or StoryGraph import, award and bestseller signals, and smarter “For You” recommendations.

Premium is $6.99/month or $49.99/year. The annual plan includes a 14-day free trial. Price may vary by country.

What does “For You” mean?

For You highlights books on the shelf that match your personal reading taste: your favorite genres, authors and publishers, patterns in the books you mark as Grab or Pass, and semantic similarities between books rather than keyword matches.

The more you scan and grab, the smarter it gets. It's like having a well‑read friend in your pocket who knows what you actually enjoy.

What is Nearby?
Nearby is a map and feed of book sightings at thrift stores, powered by scans other book hunters have chosen to share. Everyone sees the venue map with recent-activity pulses; Premium members also get the full sightings feed with covers and instant wishlist alerts. Sharing is opt-in per scan and always anonymous — sightings are tied to the shop, never to a person. Nearby is currently rolling out across the UK.
How do I cancel my subscription?
Subscriptions are managed through the App Store (Settings → Apple ID → Subscriptions) or Google Play (Play Store → Subscriptions). Cancel anytime; you'll keep Premium until the end of your billing period.

Your next great read is already on a shelf somewhere.

Made for thrift store lovers. Download Spines free and scan the next shelf you pass. Go on, have a nose.

Get Spines free

Free to download · 3 scans a month · 14-day trial on annual

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