Believe it or not, there is a place in this world where all bibliophiles actually fit, a place equally serviceable to both readers and writers and it is called Goodreads.com. The website was launched in 2007, currently has over 30 million members, 900 million books, 34 million reviews and it is owned by Amazon.
The CEO and Co-Founder, Otis Chandler, created a heavenly social media platform for the bookish community to find their next favorite book without the hassle of reading tens of bad ones until finally finding the right one, which is a headache bookworms have no time for. This is one place every lit lover should be familiar with.
Here are only nine of the countless gratifying features on Goodreads:
1. Book filing
Other than finding every single genre you can think of on the home page, you can create your own profile and start marking books as read, currently reading or want to read and file them accordingly. This aids in organizing your bookshelves, not losing track of time with your reading and remembering your next book.
2. Ratings and reviews
After reading each book, you can review and rate it using their five-star rating system. That would be valuable to your profile friends, other readers who rely on reviews before deciding to purchase a book as well as help the author. I have to admit any book that has more than 4.2 stars on Goodreads (if it has more than 1k reviews) usually turns out to be jaw-dropping good.
On the other hand, readers’ preference and taste in literature are extremely versatile and you will occasionally come across incredible reads that only earned three stars. However, if you don’t have time for purchase failures, start with the ones lucky enough to be four starred.
3. Recommendations
After you organize your book shelves and rate and review some of your books, you can track your personalized book recommendations. Goodreads uses a recommendation engine that analyzes 20 billion data points to show you suggestions tailored to your taste based on books you showed interest in and that is one wicked feature. It is incredibly handy and time saving.
4. Similar books and Listopia
If you fall in love with a novel and realize you need a resembling story line, Goodreads shows you similar books. Furthermore, if you are very particular and feel like reading a Sci-Fi/romance/horror novel with a 15-year-old protagonist, Listopia is where you start looking.
It allows you to be very precise with what you want from the book and shows you lists of all literature featuring your request (tattooed boys, historical reads, books you have to read more than once, best friends, etc.).
5. Discussion boards
Some readers suffer from excruciating withdrawal symptoms after finishing a book and returning to the real world. What better cure than to cry over your fictional boyfriend on a discussion board filled with fellow sufferers?
6. Author interviews
The website helps readers understand the authors on a more personal level through the interviews. There is a section for authors as well to list their books and promote their work targeting a very precise audience.
It has been claimed by some authors that promoting their work on Goodreads is far more useful than other social media platforms as the website is exclusively for those genuinely interested in books and none of their promotional effort and money is wasted. This is valuable information for every young and upcoming author, as promotional finances are usually a major concern.
7. Quotations, quizzes and giveaways
For a little bit of online fun, you can read some of your favorite author’s quotes, solve quizzes on your last read or try to win some free goodies offered by authors.
8. Stalk your friends
If you have stalking tendencies, worry not my friend, you can still be an online stalker on Goodreads. Your friends’ book shelves, ratings and reviews are visible. You can always entertain your inner literature snob with your advanced reading status when you see the few books they have on their shelves.
9. Goodreads choice awards
The website hosts a yearly award program where readers nominate their favorite books from said year and vote for their favorite books in successive rounds in each genre. Trust me, you will be a passionate voter if you are a true bookworm.
There is nothing more fun for a nerd than seeing your beloved book ruling the literature realm. Previous winners include books like The Fault In Our Stars, The Casual Vacancy and Gone Girl.
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