Key Takeaways
- A Chrome extension called “Amazon/Kindle Book List Downloader” can create a spreadsheet of all your Amazon book purchases (physical, Kindle, Audible).
- The extension costs $6 for unlimited use and provides detailed metadata about your book collection.
- The downloaded spreadsheet includes information like purchase date, format, title, author, genre, series information, and more.
- Tools like ChatGPT can analyze this spreadsheet data to reveal interesting insights about your reading habits, such as format breakdowns and genre preferences.
- Analyzing the data can uncover surprising trends, like discovering you read more mysteries than you thought or identifying your first and last purchase dates.
Ever wondered just how many books you’ve bought from Amazon over the years? It can be tricky to get a complete picture, especially if your collection spans physical books, Kindle ebooks, and Audible audiobooks.
One reader wanted a better way to explore their extensive library and understand their reading patterns. As detailed by ZDNet, this led to the discovery of a handy Chrome extension.
The tool, named “Amazon/Kindle Book List Downloader,” does exactly what its name suggests. After installation from the Chrome Web Store, it can generate a list of your Amazon book purchases.
While a basic demo version is free, unlocking its full potential requires a one-time $6 payment. This allows unlimited downloads and supports the developer.
Using the extension involves navigating to specific Amazon pages, like your “Your Content and Devices” page, and clicking the extension’s icon. It’s recommended to use the ‘yourbooks’ page on Amazon for the most comprehensive data.
The extension then works in the background, compiling your information into a spreadsheet file (CSV) that you can download to your computer.
This spreadsheet is packed with details: unique IDs (ISBN/ASIN), purchase dates, format (like Kindle, paperback, or audiobook), titles, authors, page counts, listening lengths for audiobooks, genres, and even series information.
Armed with this data, the author turned to ChatGPT for analysis, finding it a powerful and cost-effective alternative to other tools like Microsoft Excel’s built-in AI features.
Simply uploading the spreadsheet to ChatGPT (after ensuring the first row contained clear headers) allowed for easy exploration. Asking straightforward questions like “Show me how many of each format I have” generated clear pie charts.
The analysis revealed some surprises. For instance, the author discovered they owned nearly as many paperbacks as audiobooks, despite thinking Kindle dominated entirely. Genre analysis also showed an unexpected preference for mysteries, contradicting the author’s self-perception of being primarily a science fiction reader.
ChatGPT could even identify themes based on book titles and surface other interesting facts, such as the date of the first Amazon book purchase (dating back nearly three decades in the author’s case) and the most recent purchase date.
This process offers a fascinating way to delve into your own reading history, potentially uncovering hidden patterns and gaining a deeper appreciation for your literary journey through Amazon.
