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Getting Started

Installing the plugin​

  • Go to "Settings" > "Community plugins" and make sure "Restricted mode" is turned off
  • Search for "Bookshelf" in Obsidian's community plugins browser
  • Install and enable the plugin

Accessing the views​

Bookshelf adds three views to Obsidian:

  • Library: Click the library icon icon in the ribbon or select "Open library" from the command palette
  • Statistics: Click the statistics icon icon in the ribbon, or select "Open statistics" from the command palette
  • Book details: Click on any book in the library or statistics view, or select "Open book modal" from the command palette
tip

To learn more about Bookshelf's views, see the Views section.

Creating your first book note​

By default, Bookshelf looks for your book notes in a folder named Books at the root of your vault. If you already use a different folder, or you prefer a different name, you can change this in the plugin settings.

Any note created in the configured folder will automatically show up in the Library view.

Here's an example of a fully annotated book note using all supported fields:

Books/Sunrise on the Reaping.md
---
cover: 'https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/2/20/Sunrise_on_the_Reaping_book_cover.jpg'
author:
    - '[[Suzanne Collins]]'
published: 2025-03-18
tags:
    - young-adult
    - dystopian
    - science-fiction
    - fiction
rating: 3.5
pages: 400
lists:
    - 2025 Reads
    - Hunger Games
comment: Good, but not as riveting as the original series
---

# Sunrise on the Reaping
tip

You can find more examples in the demo vault. To learn more about the properties and how to customize them, see the Book Notes section.

Tracking reading progress​

If you checked the Statistics view after creating your first book note and saw that it was still empty, it's because no reading progress has been tracked yet.

To get started, add a Reading Journey section to your book note like this:

Books/Sunrise on the Reaping.md
---
(...)
---

# Sunrise on the Reaping

## Reading Journey

2025-04-01: Started
2025-04-01: Read 10-55
2025-04-02: Read 84

This means you started reading the book on April 1st, read pages 10 to 55 on the same day, and continued from page 56 to 84 on April 2nd.

tip

You can track reading progress in book notes and daily notes, and customize the format to you liking. For more information, see the Reading Progress section.