Ali Konain
All the work

Speechify, live

BookTok

Built with the team at Speechify.

Objective
Make reading feel like browsing a streaming service, with shelves, suggestions and a library that's always ready.
Deployed
Supabase for the entire database, with Row Level Security on user data and Edge Functions that handle book metadata and index updates.
Outcome
A live reading app at booktokapp.com, with streaming-style shelves and suggestions.
The BookTok library, with suggested books and popular titles arranged in streaming-style shelves.

What it is

BookTok is “a Netflix for book reading”: shelves you browse, suggestions picked for your taste, and trending titles one tap away.

My part

I work on it with the team at Speechify. The database lives entirely in Supabase: Row Level Security keeps each reader’s data their own, and Edge Functions keep book metadata and search indexes up to date as the catalog changes.

The kit

Open booktokapp.com

Encore

Act VI

Take any three-digit number.

You'll want a pen, or a calculator. I've already written your answer on the card.

  1. Pick a three-digit number whose first and last digits differ by at least 2, like 742.
  2. Reverse it, then take the smaller number away from the bigger one.
  3. Reverse your answer, and add those two numbers together.

Seen enough of the trick? Let's talk about the job.

Email AliLinkedInThe plain résumé

Tonight's program

Eight acts, hidden around the site. Ticks mean you've seen them.

  1. I. The cold readOpening act, top of the home page
  2. II. The hover tellWhile you look through the work
  3. III. The engineer's trickRight after the work
  4. IV. The vanishing cardEncore on a case file
  5. V. Think of a numberEncore on a case file
  6. VI. The 1089Encore on a case file
  7. VII. The sealed predictionFinale, bottom of the home page
  8. VIII. The secret wordAnywhere. Type the magic word, or tap me five times.