What if I told you there was an internet refuge for the book nerds? What if I told you there was a place where you can keep track of all the books you’ve read and want to read? What if I told you you could spend hours on a site that has pretty much every book in existence and recommends books to you based on your preferences.
That’s right my friends, I’m talking about Goodreads. And here’s why you absolutely must be signed up to this site if you’re a bookworm (and really, even if you’re not a regular reader — All are welcome!).
1. This Is Where Your People Are
Goodreads is a great way to connect to other book dragons. There are reviews. There are discussions. There are groups. The friending system is much like Facebook in that there are quite a few privacy settings and people have to be approved before they become your friend. It’s not too hard to find a setting that suits you.
And with all the millions of Goodreads users, you’re bound to find people with great book taste. Which, of course, is a great way to find new books to read.
Goodreads: Stalk your friends! Read what they’re reading!
2. So many reviews
This is a big plus for me. Sometimes I find a book and I have questions.
What’s great about Goodreads is that I can log on, type the book into the search bar, (typically) find it with ease, and then scroll down to see dozens of reviews. Some of them are in-depth, some more to-the-point, but I think my favorite part is that they put the reviews your friends have made right at the top. If one of your friends have read the book, you have their opinion, usually a more trusted opinion depending on the friend, right at the top.
3. BOOKS. BOOKS. BOOKS.
I have yet to come across a book that I could not find on Goodreads. The books are added by members and affiliate companies so it’s very much like Wikipedia in that if something’s not there, it probably will be soon. This makes it easy to find books, reviews of the books, and people you know who have read the books.
(Not to mention all of the recommendations from the site itself.)
4. Organizational capabilities
When you set up your Goodreads profile, you’ll have options to add books to your virtual “shelves”.
There is, of course, a “read” shelf and “to-read” shelf, but there are also endless possibilities of shelves that you could make on your own. You could organize to your heart’s content!
There’s also a feature that I love where you can set yearly goals of how many books you want to read. Challenge yourself!
All these features make it super easy to keep track of what you’ve read, what you want to read, and all of your tastes and preferences.
Those are my top reasons why you must sign up for Goodreads, but honestly, there’s so much more I could gush about if I had time for gushing. I have an addiction to Goodreads and it’s becoming a problem.
Join me!
