Skill

Reading List Skill

Manages Ben's reading list Google Sheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1iLziNbQPM_wP162YA8FcqhHhXCkFcCvhpTNa67WGywI/edit

Sheet Structure

Finished tab

Columns: Title, Author, Year Read, Medium, Year Published, Read Order, Date Finished, Book ID

Title: Book title
Author: Author name(s)
Year Read: Year completed (e.g., 2025, 2026)
Medium: One of: Audiobook, E-Book, Print book
Year Published: Year the book was first published (e.g., 1952, 2003). Fill this in for every new book added.
Read Order: Sequential lifetime reading order. The earliest finished book is 1, and each newly finished book gets the next integer.
Date Finished: Date the finished book is logged, in YYYY-MM-DD format using America/New_York.
Book ID: Stable join key for book metadata, formatted like book-0104.

Book Metadata tab

Columns: Book ID, Title, Author, ISBN 13, ISBN 10, Open Library ID, Google Books ID, Publisher, Published Date, Page Count, Language, Subjects, Description, Cover URL, Metadata Source, Metadata Checked, Metadata Confidence, Metadata Notes

Book ID: Join key back to Finished
Metadata Source: Which lookup source supplied the data, typically Open Library, Google Books, or both
Metadata Checked: Date metadata was last refreshed
Metadata Confidence: High, Medium, Low, or Unmatched
Metadata Notes: Short note about match quality or ambiguity

Wishlist tab

Columns: Title, Author

Title: Book title
Author: Author name(s)
Additional columns may exist but are not required

Medium by year tab

Pivot table summary. Do not edit directly — it auto-updates from Finished.

Commands

Add a finished book

gog --no-input -a "$GOG_ACCOUNT" sheets append 1iLziNbQPM_wP162YA8FcqhHhXCkFcCvhpTNa67WGywI "Finished!A:H" \
  --values-json '[["Title","Author","2025","Audiobook","2003","104","2026-05-22","book-0104"]]' \
  --insert INSERT_ROWS

Get the next read order

Read the Finished!F2:F range, find the maximum numeric value, and add 1.

NEXT_READ_ORDER=$(
  gog --no-input -a "$GOG_ACCOUNT" sheets get 1iLziNbQPM_wP162YA8FcqhHhXCkFcCvhpTNa67WGywI "Finished!F2:F500" --json \
    | node -e 'let s=""; process.stdin.on("data", d => s += d); process.stdin.on("end", () => { const rows = JSON.parse(s).values || []; const nums = rows.flat().map(v => Number(v)).filter(Number.isFinite); console.log((nums.length ? Math.max(...nums) : 0) + 1); });'
)

Build the book ID

BOOK_ID=$(printf "book-%04d\n" "$NEXT_READ_ORDER")

Get the finished date

Use the current date in Ben's timezone.

DATE_FINISHED=$(TZ=America/New_York date +%F)

Add to wishlist

gog --no-input -a "$GOG_ACCOUNT" sheets append 1iLziNbQPM_wP162YA8FcqhHhXCkFcCvhpTNa67WGywI "Wishlist!A:B" \
  --values-json '[["Title","Author"]]' \
  --insert INSERT_ROWS

Move from Wishlist to Finished

Read the wishlist entry
Read Finished!F2:F, compute the next Read Order, build Book ID, set Date Finished to today's America/New_York date, and append to Finished with Year Read, Medium, Year Published, Read Order, Date Finished, and Book ID
Look up metadata by ISBN first when available, otherwise by title and author using Open Library and Google Books
Append or update the Book Metadata row for that Book ID, recording Metadata Source, Metadata Checked, Metadata Confidence, and Metadata Notes
Optionally delete from Wishlist (requires manual confirmation)

Query Finished books

gog --no-input -a "$GOG_ACCOUNT" sheets get 1iLziNbQPM_wP162YA8FcqhHhXCkFcCvhpTNa67WGywI "Finished!A1:H50" --json

Query Wishlist

gog --no-input -a "$GOG_ACCOUNT" sheets get 1iLziNbQPM_wP162YA8FcqhHhXCkFcCvhpTNa67WGywI "Wishlist!A1:B50" --json

Query Book Metadata

gog --no-input -a "$GOG_ACCOUNT" sheets get 1iLziNbQPM_wP162YA8FcqhHhXCkFcCvhpTNa67WGywI "Book Metadata!A1:R50" --json

Search by author or title

Use gog --no-input -a "$GOG_ACCOUNT" sheets get with a larger range, then filter results in your script.

Workflow Rules

Always confirm before adding or moving books
Year Read: Use the current year unless Ben specifies otherwise
Medium: Ask if not specified; default to Audiobook if Ben mentions listening
Year Published: Fill this in for every new book. Ask Ben if unknown, or look it up.
Read Order: Always calculate MAX(Read Order)+1 before appending to Finished.
Date Finished: Always fill with TZ=America/New_York date +%F when appending to Finished unless Ben specifies a different finished/logged date.
Book ID: Always derive from Read Order using book-%04d.
Metadata lookup: Prefer ISBN lookup when available. Otherwise search by title and author.
Metadata confidence: Record High, Medium, Low, or Unmatched instead of silently writing uncertain metadata.
Audiobook details: Preserve narrator, publisher, release date, duration, or other edition-specific audiobook details in Metadata Notes when Ben provides them or they are found during lookup.
Wishlist → Finished: When Ben finishes a wishlist book, move it (don't duplicate)
Never edit Medium by year — it's a pivot summary

Examples

Add finished book (audiobook, 2026)

gog --no-input -a "$GOG_ACCOUNT" sheets append 1iLziNbQPM_wP162YA8FcqhHhXCkFcCvhpTNa67WGywI "Finished!A:H" \
  --values-json '[["The Old Man and the Sea","Ernest Hemingway","2026","Audiobook","1952","104","2026-05-22","book-0104"]]' \
  --insert INSERT_ROWS

Add to wishlist

gog --no-input -a "$GOG_ACCOUNT" sheets append 1iLziNbQPM_wP162YA8FcqhHhXCkFcCvhpTNa67WGywI "Wishlist!A:B" \
  --values-json '[["Unequal","Eugenia Chang"]]' \
  --insert INSERT_ROWS

Read recent finished books

gog --no-input -a "$GOG_ACCOUNT" sheets get 1iLziNbQPM_wP162YA8FcqhHhXCkFcCvhpTNa67WGywI "Finished!A1:H20" --json

Notes

Sheet ID: 1iLziNbQPM_wP162YA8FcqhHhXCkFcCvhpTNa67WGywI
Title: "Ben's book list"
Timezone: America/New_York
Requires gog with Sheets API access (service-level account context is preconfigured)