A Shortcut for Book Lovers

CatarinaDK · 2025-07-29T16:40:47+00:00

Scan ISBN and Create a Beautiful Book Note Automatically I read a lot and have kept a record of the books I read since 2018 – not just the title, but also t...

Gianna

CatarinaDK Thank you so much for sharing! That’s definitely a motivation to read more!

CatarinaDK

Gianna

You’re welcome 😊

RachelTaylor

This worked amazingly on the first book I tried it on. Now I keep getting this error message. Do you think a url link in the shortcut broke or is no longer accurate? Or am I doing
something wrong?

CatarinaDK

RachelTaylor

The issue was that the script didn’t find a cover. I’ve updated it so that it still creates the note, just without a cover.

https://www.icloud.com/shortcuts/046aff542f11432996fa7324ab2d879c

CatarinaDK

I just tested the shortcut on my side and everything works perfectly – I’m not getting any error messages. That suggests the shortcut itself is still fine. Maybe the issue is with how the book is added? Try scanning the barcode again or entering the ISBN manually and see if that makes a difference. Hope that helps – and let me know if it still doesn’t work.

BenOhBee

I’m getting the same issue. Typing in the barcodes. Is this a regional thing I wonder?

CatarinaDK

BenOhBee
The issue was that the script didn’t find a cover. I’ve updated it so that it still creates the note, just without a cover. Have you tried other books?

RachelTaylor

CatarinaDK

I tried an ISBN that did not work. Then I tried the ISBN you left as an example, it did work. Then I went back to my original ISBN and it worked this time. Not sure what happened, but you are magical. Thank you ❤️

BenOhBee

CatarinaDK Thanks Catarina - I’ve tried quite a few now (UK and US ISBNs) and just doesn’t seem to work for me. Will try scanning as well to see if any luck and use the coverless version for now. Thanks for all your hard work here!

CatarinaDK

BenOhBee

Try just to se it this English book works at you end - it works for me 😊

9781838953898

And also try the update version

https://www.icloud.com/shortcuts/c58382a893b54ef2a6a0fb457958567d

Simulac

Hi @CatarinaDK! Again - this shortcut is amazing. Thanks so much.

I am getting the same issue as some others with the lack of covers, thanks for tweaking it so that the note is still created though! Are all the people who have this issue based in the UK?

I'm wondering if it's a regional thing as @BenOhBee mentioned - the UK has introduced the Online Safety Act which is affecting a lot of web based image content. I had to get a VPN so that I could see people's Imgur images on this forum! I only have a VPN on my Mac so can't test it on my phone but will try soon!

CatarinaDK

RachelTaylor
Ohhh I so glad that I finely works for you. 😀
I us it al the time now, mostly from my Mac, because its easier to writ my own comment on a full-size keyboard. 😀

Simulac

Hi Catarina, I still can't get it working for some books. Recently succeeded with James Clear's "Atomic Habits", but there still seems to be a few books that won't work - this edition of Letters From a Stoic for example (ISBN 9780141395852), or this edition of On the Shortness of Life (ISBN 9780141018812). Do they work for you?

Wondering if there are any other links we can add to the URL section to increase the scope of the search for the book cover? Of course, I am happy to manually import the book cover too, I just love the slick automation when it works !

Thanks again for this amazing shortcut!

CatarinaDK

Simulac

I can see you haven’t read the other replies in this thread 🙂

The new version is called Books 2.0.

The issue was that the Shortcut couldn’t find a cover, and that’s since been fixed so it now still creates the note — just without a cover image.

If the cover doesn’t exist, you’ll be asked whether you want to continue without it. If you choose to proceed, the note will still be created with all the other details, just without the cover.

You’re of course very welcome to see if you can find any other APIs that work, but as far as I know, Google’s API is still the largest and most comprehensive.

Simulac

CatarinaDK

wow - this is the second remark I have received on this forum accusing me of not reading the thread. Quite funny really. Do you think it’s possible you might be wrong in your judgement? I did read the thread, in fact I have been following it closely, and using Books 2.0 since you made it.

I was asking for your help to find a way to make sure the shortcut actually works as it should, and whether the books I sent you work on your end, and if not why not?

Thanks for your advice. I’ll try and fix it myself.

CatarinaDK

Simulac
I just want to make clear that my reply wasn’t meant to criticise or shame you in any way.

I’ve tested your ISBN 9780141395852, and it actually works fine in version 2 — though without the cover image, which is the same issue that appears in version 1. So the shortcut itself runs as it should; it’s just the cover fetching that’s the tricky part.

You’re of course more than welcome to look into it yourself if you find a way to fix the cover issue.

Simulac

An apology is in order - I was having a very stressful morning (as you might have inferred!) so for some reason had the sensitivity of an adolescent. Sorry - and keep up the good work!

CatarinaDK

Simulac

No worries at all — we’ve all had those mornings! 😊
Glad we cleared it up, and thanks.
Have a better day than morning 😉

CatarinaDK

Simulac

You can always check whether your book, eBook (sometimes it has more info), or audiobook — they all have different ISBNs — but anyway, check via this link: https://www.googleapis.com/books/v1/volumes?q=isbn:9780141018812