Frequently Asked Questions
General
  • Do I have to review books to use braincandy?

    No! Braincandy does not ask our users to write book reviews. We also do not collect comments from our users on reviews or books for public consumption. If you want to add tags to books for your own purposes in your library or in stacks you've shared you may do so (feature coming soon).

  • Why do you want me to invite my friends?

    Braincandy is not a social network. But when you share your favorite books with friends or create a special stack of recommendations for a friend and share it with them it helps us grow. And growth helps the affiliate fees we earn scale, and that lets us keep braincandy free.

  • What do you do with my personal information?

    We try to collect as little about each of our users as possible. We want to respect your privacy and also deliver you a great product experience. We've detailed out what we do collect, when we collect it and how we use it in our Privacy Policy.

  • How do I select and take action on all of the books on a page?

    On the page click one of the selection bubbles in the upper left corner of the book cover to bring up the multi-select menu at the top of the page. In the multi-select menu, click the selection bubble at the far left of the menu twice to select all of the books in the stack. Once the books are selected, any action you take from the multi-select bar will apply to all of the books.


  • How do I let braincandy know that there is an error on a page?

    We work hard to get the information in braincandy to be accurate, but sometimes something slips through - if you notice a problem or incorrect information you can let us know by clicking "Report A Problem" link from the account menu in the top right corner , or email us at [email protected].

  • How do I get all of the books I have read into braincandy?

    We're working to add more options for ingesting existing libraries into braincandy. At this time we have two ways to get your books into braincandy to build out your library:

    1. Manually enter them (see How do I add a book to my library?)
    2. If you already have a list of your books in an app or spreadsheet, you can create a .csv file with the information and upload it to braincandy in the Manage Your Data section of Account Settings. A couple of things to note:
      1. Your csv file must have either the ISBN or the title & author for each book - ideally it will have all three!
      2. It may take a few days to review your data. We will let you know as soon as your data has been loaded into braincandy. Once we have loaded the data, your books will be put into a stack with the date, and will show up in your Library with all of the books marked “I Own It”
    3. Take a photo of your books (or bookshelves) and upload it to braincandy in the Manage Your Data section of Account Settings. For best results, please read the following:
      1. Uploaded images must be valid JPEG, PNG, and HEIF files, and smaller than 10MB.
      2. Limit your images to 50 books or less. You can always upload more!
      3. Ensure books are standing upright with the spines fully visible.
      4. Ensure photo is taken in good lighting to avoid shadows or glare.
      5. Ensure image is clear, with no obstructions covering the books.
      6. Uploaded images will be automatically processed and added to your Library, marked "I Own It". You will also receive an email when the processing has finished.
  • Why do you want me to upload my list of books I keep on a spreadsheet?

    Braincandy offers you a lot of tagging and organizing capabilities that we think you'll like, including being able to build a stack (or several different stacks) of the books you find yourself constantly recommending to the people you know. The benefit to us is we get to learn about the books you like and that personalizes the books recommendations that come back to you in our explore functionality. We also recognize that you've put a lot of effort into building the list so want to be 100% clear that we will ALWAYS make it possible for you to download your braincandy library at any time.

  • I do most of my reading on Kindle. Is there any way to get my Kindle books into braincandy?

    The easiest way to get a list of books that you have on your Kindle is to do the following:

    1. Install the Kindle app on your computer (Windows or MacOS) and let it sync.
    2. In the Manage Your Data section of Account Settings, upload the file called KindleSyncMetadataCache.xml (*note that this is the only .xml file that we will accept) that can be found at the following path:
      1. MacOS: /Users/yourusername/Library/Containers/Kindle/Data/Library/Application Support/Kindle/Cache/
        1. Library files are hidden by default to protect your computer. In order to make the necessary file visible, do the following:
          1. Open a Finder Window
          2. In the Go menu at the top of screen select Home
          3. In the View menu at the top of the screen select Show View Options
          4. Check the box labeled Show Library Folder
        2. Your Library files should now be visible and you can upload the .xml file. When you are finished, you may want to uncheck the Show Library Folder option in order to hide your Library files again.
      2. Windows: AppData\Local\Amazon\Kindle\Cache\
    3. It may take a few days to review your data. We will let you know as soon as your data has been loaded into braincandy. Once we have loaded the data, your books will be put into a stack with the date, and will show up in your Library with all of the books marked “I Own It”.
  • Is there any way to get a file with all of the books I've purchased on Amazon?

    If you have a Goodreads account, you can import all of your books from Amazon into Goodreads and then download your library from Goodreads in a .csv file and upload it to braincandy in the Manage Your Data section of Account Settings.

    To get your information from Goodreads take the following steps:

    1. Log into the site, and then click My Books
    2. In the Tools section at the bottom of the left hand navigation menu click on the “Import and Export” link
    3. On the Import/Export page click the “Export Library” button to begin the download of your file

    If you just need the list of physical books that you've purchased, you can go to https://www.amazon.com/b2b/reports and generate a report with all of your purchases from as far back as the previous calendar year. Within the file you can sort your purchases and copy all of the books to a new file that you can send to us.

My Account
  • What are all these stats at the bottom of my homepage?

    We wanted to give you one place where you could see the answer to “how many?”. Whether that is books in your library, books in stacks, or number of stacks, this is your quick dashboard of data.

  • How do I change my email address?

    To change your email address, please email us at [email protected]

  • How do I change my password?

    To change your password, click on the My Account button in the lower left side navigation. In the My Profile section, click on the link to change your password and follow the instructions.

My Library
  • What books are in My Library?

    Every book where you have clicked “Have Read” and/or “Liked” icons, and/or “Owned” (I own it) is automatically added to your library.

  • Can I get a list of the books in my library?

    Yes! We recognize that you've put a lot of effort into building your library so want to be 100% clear that we will ALWAYS make it possible for you to download the contents of your braincandy library at any time.

    To download a file listing the books in your library, click “My Account” in the side navigation, and then click the “Download” button in the Manage Your Data section.


  • How do I add a book to my library?

    Books are automatically added to your library whenever you click the “Have Read” or “Liked” icons, or select “Owned” (I own it).

  • How do I delete a book from my library?

    To remove a book from your library, unselect “Have Read” , “Liked” and “Owned” (I own it). When all three are unselected the book will automatically be removed from your library.

  • How do I add all the books in a stack to my library?

    Within a stack, click one of the selection bubbles in the upper left corner of the book cover to bring up the multi-select menu at the top of the page. In the multi-select menu, click the selection bubble at the far left of the menu twice to select all of the books in the stack. Once the books are selected, click “Have Read” , “Liked” and/or “Owned” (I own it) to add the books to your library.


Using Stacks
  • What are the categories of stacks in the Stack page?

    There are three categories of stacks available in the Stack page: My Stacks, Followed Stacks, and public Stacks. My Stacks are the stacks created by you as a user. Followed Stacks are shared or public stacks that you have chosen to follow and keep track of. Public stacks are stacks that are available for anyone to view. Stacks that have been shared with you may only be visited by clicking the shared link, though they may be copied or followed.

  • How do I create a new stack?

    There are two ways to create a new stack.

    1. From within the Stacks page, click on the “New Stack” button to bring up the Create Stack interface.
    2. From any book, click on the stack icon . At the bottom of the menu, click “New Stack”. *Note: this will automatically add the book you are interacting with to the newly created stack.
  • How do I add a specific book to a stack?

    You can add a book to a stack anywhere you see the stack icon . Click on the icon and select the stack or stacks you would like to add the book to from the drop down list. The stack name will highlight when selected, indicating that the book has been added.

  • How do I delete a book from a stack?

    You can remove a book from a stack in two ways.

    1. From any view of a specific book, click on the Stack icon . In the menu, unselect the stack or stacks that you would like to remove the book from.
    2. Within a stack, make sure the Book Card view is toggled on, and then click Remove From Stack in the Book Card.
  • How do I share a stack?

    From within a stack, click on “Share” to bring up the sharing dialog. There are two options for sharing - Collaboration and Viewing.


  • What is Collaboration and how do I use it?

    Collaboration is a form of sharing that allows two users to work on the same stack. You may invite someone to collaborate with you via email in the top section of the sharing dialog. Once the user follows the shared link, the stack will be changed into collaboration mode. In collaboration mode both users may add or delete books from the stack. At this time, collaboration is only between two users, and once a stack is in collaboration mode you can no longer invite others to view the stack.


  • What happens if I delete a Collaboration stack?

    If you delete a stack that is in collaboration mode, it will be removed from your stack list but will remain available to the person you were sharing with.

  • Can I copy a Collaboration stack?

    Yes, you may make a copy of a stack in collaboration mode. You may edit, delete or share the copied stack as you would any other non-Collaboration stack.

  • What is Viewing and how do I use it?

    In the sharing dialog, you can share a stack by sending a link directly to someone's email address, or by copying the link to the stack and pasting it into another application. A person following the link will be able to see your stack and copy or follow it, but not make any changes. You can invite as many people to view a stack as you'd like. *Note that anyone who has the link may view your stack.

  • How do I copy a stack?

    From within a stack, click on the “Copy” icon to bring up the dialog to create a new stack that copies the contents of the current stack.


  • How do I follow a stack?

    Any stack that has been shared with you, as well as all public stacks - for example, braincandy stacks - can be followed. To follow a stack, click on the Follow button. Once clicked the Follow button will change to Followed and the stack will show up in the stack list in the side navigation, as well as in the My Followed Stacks section in the Stack page.


Using Explore
  • How do you come up with a list of books in Explore results?

    We have created a proprietary algorithm that creates a unique starting point for browsing the 17 million books in our database. Part of what feeds our algorithm is what you tell us about books you've read and liked. When you add books to a stack or your library and tag the books with our icons, our model gets better and better. As readers ourselves we wanted to create an experience that helped us find the book we were in the mood for, or at least started us off with an interesting list!

  • How do I save my Explore results?

    You used Explore to find interesting new books, and now would like to save the entire result list - it's easy to do! At the top of your list of Explore results, simply click on “Save Results” to create a new stack containing all of the books from the list. The stack will be automatically generated with a name in the format of “Explore Results mm-dd-yyyy”. You can edit the name and description of the stack at any time.


  • How do I save the inputs to an Explore session?

    If you've created a list of books that have generated interesting results, and want to save those inputs it's simple to do. Once you have at least 5 books in the Selected Books carousel at the bottom of the page in Explore a link to “Save These Books In A New Stack” will appear. Click that link and a stack will automatically be created and named in the format “Explore Inputs mm-dd-yyy”. You can edit the name and the description of the stack at any time.


Book Clubs
  • What are braincandy Book Clubs?

    Your book club deserves easy to use free tools to keep the management hassle to a minimum and let you get on with the reading. Easily share book selection, meeting details and updates all in one place. Keep track of past selections and meetings, future reading options and plan out your club calendar.

  • Who can join braincandy Book Clubs?

    Members of braincandy can create clubs and join clubs for free. Guest users may be invited to clubs, but must become braincandy members to join a club.

  • What does “beta” mean?

    We're just getting started with book clubs. We are looking for feedback on our features and we hope you'll be patient with us if everything isn't perfect!

  • Where can I send feedback?

    We LOVE feedback! Please send any comments to [email protected].

  • How do I create a club?

    Creating a club is simple. Click the “Book Clubs” icon in the navigation at the top of the page. On the Book Clubs page, click the "New Book Club" button. You'll be able to add your book club details and invite members. As the creator of the club, you will automatically become an administrator. You can designate other club members to be an administrator as well.

  • What's the difference between public and private book clubs?

    All braincandy book clubs are private at this time. That means users will need an invite from the administrator to join a book club.

  • How do I invite people to the book club?

    On your book club page, click on the "Manage Club" button. From there, click on the Invite Members link to send email invites to your friends.

  • What is an administrator?

    Club administrators control the membership (inviting or removing members) and settings of the club. They can create and delete stacks for the books. They can also see the full list of members in the club.

  • I'm a club administrator, how do I make another member an administrator?

    On your book club page, click on "Members" at the top to see the list of members in your club. To make someone an administrator, find their card and toggle the "Admin" switch on. Confirm you'd like to make them an administrator and they should immediately be an administrator of your club. (They may need to refresh any previosuly opened pages before they see admin controls)

  • How does book selection work?

    Administrators can set the current and upcoming books for clubs by creating a meeting and choosing the book(s) your club will be reading for that meeting. You can also create stacks for what was read at past meetings. Creating a book suggestions stack for all your members to add books to is a great way to solicit future book suggestions.
    As a member of a club, you can make your voice heard by suggesting books. To suggest a book to your book club you can add books to the book club stacks from a book page, your own library or from other stacks.

  • How can I add a book that my club has read in the past?

    Book Club administrators can create past meetings and associate previously read books with those events. Additionally, the book club can use the stack “Previous Selections” to keep track of past reads. Super-user Tip: Create a stack of the favorite books the club has read, and use that stack for an EXPLORE to generate a list of new suggested books for future meetings.

  • How do I use stacks in the bookclub?

    Book Clubs are created with two default stacks: Previous Selections and Future Suggestions. Administrators can edit or delete these stacks. Administrators can also create new stacks for the exclusive use of their book clubs. Administrators can configure who can add and remove books from your club stacks within the "Manage Club" page.

  • How do I deactivate a bookclub?

    Book club administrators can deactivate a book club within the "Manage Club" page. Deactivating a book club inactivates access to the club and its stacks for members. Administrators can still access their deactivated clubs and reactivate them within the "Manage Club" page.