Step right up
A bookshelf
for the readers we trust.
Dangerously tall stacks. Books lost to e-readers, secondhand stores, and little free libraries — preserved on a shelf that doesn't run out of room. iOS and Android open summer 2026. Drop your email and we'll write the moment your invite is ready.
You're on the list · 01
Thanks. We'll be in touch.
We'll email you when ShelfLife opens to you. In the meantime, three quick questions help us prioritize what to build first — all optional.
All set · 02
Thanks for joining.
We'll see you when ShelfLife opens to you — summer 2026.
A note from us
Why we built this.
After years of frustration with other book tracking apps, we, a married couple in the Washington, DC area with a lot of books to our name, decided to make our own.
We started with the way we love to visualize our own books: on a shelf, in dangerously tall stacks, organized only by the loose associations of a deranged mind. In a small city apartment, however, literary retail space comes at a premium, and many books are lost to the e-readers, second-hand stores, and libraries of both the traditional and “little-lending” sorts. These are all beautiful things, but we wanted to find a way to preserve these books on our virtual shelves.
These shelves can be cozy or expansive, meticulously catalogued with annotations or allowed to speak for themselves. Build shelves that capture your taste, a mood, a city you love or a time you wish you could go back to. Pursue reading goals beyond racking up a certain number of books in a year, and find new reads that challenge and excite you.
ShelfLife is also designed as a communal project; we hope that readers will craft shelves of recommendations the way we millennials burned CDs for our unrequited crushes. Our Book Signal feature is designed to match users longing for a very specific mood with a reader who gets it. Need a book that feels like the Hong Kong cinematic masterpiece In the Mood for Love? Are you looking for the wit and romance of Jane Austen in a cyberpunk world? Someone out there knows exactly what book fits the bill.
Join our waitlist and we’ll let you in on the fun as soon as possible. In the meantime, please reach out with any questions: info@fisherbirdsoftware.com.
— Alex & Macy
Honest answers
A few things you might want to know.
- Is there a cost?
- ShelfLife is free to use. We may add an optional supporter tier later, but the core — your shelves, your reading life, your people — will always be free.
- When will I get in?
- iOS and Android both open summer 2026, in batches. Readers who answer the survey go to the front of the line.
- iPhone, Android, or both?
- Both, at the same time. iOS and Android are launching together summer 2026 — pick whichever phone is in your pocket.
- Will you spam me?
- No. Your email is used to invite you to ShelfLife. We don't run a newsletter, we don't sell or share your address, and we don't email you for any other reason.
- Who's behind this?
- A married couple in the Washington, DC area, with a lot of books to our name. ShelfLife is the first app we've built together. You can email us directly any time.
Convinced?
Join the waitlist ↑Still wondering something? Email info@fisherbirdsoftware.com — we read everything.