Readwise has long been my read-it-later and book/article/essay-highlighter of choice, so I’m excited to see them unveil their new ebook app Readwise Books.

But they’re not just making a great ebook reader: there’s also an independent bookstore offering an alternative to Kindle and Apple Books, and it’s all tied together with a Goodreads-esque social layer.

Building an independent bookstore in 2026 is courageous, impressive, and more necessary than ever. The nice reader app is a cherry on top, but the real feat here is the deals that had to be secured with major publishers to sell such a large catalog of digital books. Very few independent outfits have managed this, and as a happy and continuing subscriber I’m loudly rooting for their success.

You can read a bit about the business itself in Readwise’s announcement blog post.

The future of books is looking a little brighter!