BookHive: Building a Community-Driven Book Sharing Platform with React & Node.js

Source: Dev.to

Overview

BookHive is a full‑stack web application that connects book lovers and makes books more accessible through community‑driven sharing. It started as a simple idea—what if readers could easily share books with people around them?—and evolved into a real‑time community platform.

Core Features

• Personal libraries with reading‑status tracking
• Interactive maps (Leaflet) to discover books nearby
• Real‑time messaging between borrowers and lenders
• Book clubs, meetups, and literary events creation and participation
• Star‑based review and reputation system (e.g., 10 reviews = 1 star)
• Real‑time notification badges with auto‑clearing states
• Optimistic UI updates for a smooth user experience

Borrowing Lifecycle

Pending → Approved → Borrowed → Returned

When a request is approved, the system automatically opens a conversation between the borrower and the lender, keeping coordination simple and friction‑free.

Real‑time & Messaging

• Instant messaging with optimistic UI updates
• Message delivery in under 500 ms using Socket.IO
• Multiple chat themes and a WhatsApp‑style interface with emoji picker

Technical Stack

• Frontend: React 18, React Router v6, Tailwind CSS, Styled Components, Framer Motion, Axios, React Helmet Async, Leaflet
• Backend: Node.js, Express.js, Socket.IO, MongoDB with Mongoose, JWT & Passport.js, Razorpay
• Media & Assets: Cloudinary
• Performance: Database indexes, lean queries, Socket.IO compression, connection pooling, progressive avatar loading
• SEO: Dynamic meta tags, Open Graph & Twitter Card support, JSON‑LD structured data, sitemap, robots.txt

Repository & Live Demo

• GitHub:
• Live Demo:

Contact

• Email: abhijeetbhale7@gmail.com

Feedback

I’d love feedback on:

• Features you’d expect in a book‑sharing platform
• Ideas to improve real‑time messaging UX
• Scaling community events
• Gamification ideas to increase engagement

Quote

“A book is a dream that you hold in your hands.” — Neil Gaiman

Built with care by a book lover, for book lovers.