About 10 minutes
How to find connections between the books you've read
To find connections between books you've read, add them to Hikara by importing a Goodreads export or searching, then open any book: its page lists the books it echoes, challenges or bridges, each with a strength score from 0 to 100 and the AI's explanation. The gap finder suggests a book that connects two to five of yours.
Most reading apps record what you've read. Hikara also shows how those books relate to each other. Here's how to get from an empty library to your first connections.
Updated By Hikara Team
Before you start
- A Hikara account (the free plan is enough).
- At least two books in your library; the more you add, the more connections there are to find.
Steps
Step 1
Add your books
Import your Goodreads export (see the import guide), add books one at a time with Add a book, or add several at once from a screenshot of a shelf or list. Hikara starts finding connections as books arrive.
Step 2
Open a book to see its connections
Open any book in your library. Its page shows the books it's connected to, each labelled an echo, a challenge or a bridge, with a strength from 0 to 100 and the AI's explanation of why the two books relate.
Step 3
See your library as a whole
Open Visualizations for a Mood Galaxy of how your books feel and a Genre Constellation of how they cluster by theme. Insights groups your books into clusters you can explore one at a time.
Step 4
Use the gap finder
In your library, open AI tools and choose Gap Finder, then select two to five books. Hikara suggests a book that would bring them together, which is useful when planning what to read next.
Troubleshooting
A book has no connections yet.
Connections are found in the background after books are added, so a fresh import can take a few minutes to fill in. A book with no clear link to anything else in your library may simply have none yet; add more books.
I'm not sure which connections matter.
Start with the strongest. Strong challenges and bridges tend to be the most surprising, because they link books you wouldn't have put side by side.
FAQ
What kinds of connections does Hikara find?
Three: an echo (two books that reinforce the same idea), a challenge (two books that disagree or pull against each other) and a bridge (books from different fields that share an idea). Each connection has one type and a strength from 0 to 100.
How does Hikara find connections?
Its AI looks at each pair's titles, authors and subjects, along with your ratings and notes, and explains the link it finds. Results are saved, so a connection only has to be worked out once.
Are the connections accurate?
They're suggestions with reasons, not facts. The AI is instructed to be honest about strength rather than generous, and every connection shows its explanation so you can judge it yourself.