Ok, so you like to read…..

Have you tried Goodreads?

I really like goodreads (Goodreads.com.) It’s a social media website for reading! Yay connecting! Yay social media! Goodreads is a place to connect with other readers. It’s also a great place to find book recommendations and set challenges for yourself. At times, I have goodreads and kobo open in two different tabs – one to find books and one to buy them!

To use goodreads, you can just visit it as a website. It will give you access to descriptions of books and reviews. You can sign up and get a fuller experience. I signed up and was able to customize – I have followers and I follow people (equal opportunity stalking?), I get book recommendations and I can join groups of people discussing books. Plus I set a reading challenge each year – this year I set it for 400 books. I’m up to 329, which amazes my students.

When looking up a book, you get to see the book cover, as well as any other editions that have come out. It has the ISBN of the book and the publisher blurb. You can click on the authors name and find a list of all their books – useful if you liked one and want to see what else they have done. There is a ranking – 1-5 stars – as chosen by the users of the site. You are then able to see reviews written by people who are your friends and then reviews written by the general population. Useful when picking a book as it’s not trying to sell you the book (although there is a link to amazon and a corporate connection there). As well, there are quizzes to help you test your knowledge of books and a place to share quotes you loved from an author or one of their works.

For those interested in YA literature, there is a page devoted just to that. You can find it at https://www.goodreads.com/genres/young-adult?original_shelf=ya-lit. This page shows new releases tagged as Young Adult, has contests to win young adult books, has lists of books that users have made that contain young adult books, shows the weekly most popular as well as the most popular overall, and then, if you’re a member who has read some YA lit, shows new and upcoming releases by authors you have read. It’s a fantastic way to find books to read. The lists especially.

Goodreads is a website and has apps for apple and android. It’s free and you can link it to facebook to connect with others. This post is not groundbreaking – the site has been around for ages. However, if you’re unaware of it, it’s a great place to track what you’re reading. Teachers may find it a good way to share book discussions and reviews (I might even start a group for my students as a virtual book club). For book nerds like me, it’s a great way to find that next great (or good) read.