GOODREADS, THE TWENTY FIRST CENTURY BOOK CLUB?

Last Sunday I was scrolling through my Instagram feed, when a post by Anna Gardner, a prominent lifestyle blogger, popped up. It read something along the lines of “Finally given into the hype and joined Goodreads – fancy joining me on there?”. Cuppa in hand and with little else planned for the day I thought “why not, let’s see what this is all about.”

Now, apparently there is indeed a fair bit of hype surrounding Goodreads…

To provide some context, Goodreads is a social cataloguing website that allows individuals to freely search its database of books, annotations, and reviews. Users can sign up and register books to generate library catalogues and reading lists. It was founded in 2007 and in 2013 was purchased by online conglomerate Amazon – to a mixed response.

Say what you will about the acquisition, the website now has 65 million users, a growth of 160% in the four years since the take-over. It has translated well to the smart-phone era, providing a free-to-download app, and boasting an Instagram following of over 83,000 and Twitter following of just under 3.7million.

The sign-up process turned out to be both quick, and enjoyable…

1. Sign up and create an account through Facebook or Amazon.
2. Connect with current friends through Facebook or Twitter.
3. Join all of the 2,056,980 users and set yourself a reading goal for 2018, which Goodreads will help you to reach, keeping you on track with notifications and nudges.
4. Select your favourite genres.
5. Rate the books you’ve purchased on your Amazon account (you have to rate 20 to receive personalised recommendations).

The whole process lasted about 15 minutes. Although, this was predominantly because the number of books I have purchased on Amazon is something worthy of an academic library (sorry bank account) and it took me a good while to rate them all – so for the regular user I would estimate it would take no longer than 10 minutes to sign-up.

Once registered, I explored what the site has to offer, with five main tabs that were equally easy to navigate:

Profile
Your profile allows you to post updates on the progress you make with the books you are reading, be that the number of pages you’ve read that day or how you have interpreted the most recent development in a plot. On your profile page, you can publicise who your favourite author is and include a quote that resonates with yourself, to give others insight into your reading preferences, and attitude.

Home
This page holds your key information, such as the book you are currently reading, how the reading challenge you have set is progressing and what you are interested in reading next. It also includes updates from those that you are connected with on Goodreads, which allows you to see what they are reading, and how active they are.

My Books
This is originally a list of all of the books you’ve purchased from Amazon, collated into an online library. Titles can also be added manually to represent those you’ve purchased from other stores, borrowed from friends or loaned from a library. This online library enables you to access insights from your reading history, such as who your most-read authors are, what genre you purchase most regularly and the average time it takes you to complete a book.

Browse
Much like the Audible app (unsurprising as it’s supported by the same company) this page allows you to browse new releases and best sellers, although it does seem more advanced than its audiobook companion. For example, news and updates on the industry are published in articulate and succinct articles and interviews with authors featured on the site are often added, so you can discover more about the inspiration to the texts you’re reading or whether a book is worth investing in.

Community
Goodreads is effectively a society of readers and this tab has different active and featured groups, identified through themes such as genre, character and author, for example: crime and thriller, heroes and villains and books by indigenous women. Becoming a member of one of these groups allows you to connect with others who want to discuss the topic, like a modern-day book club! Local, national and international literary events are publicised on the site – to enable an optimum level of engagement between readers and authors. This community space also offers interactive activities such as trivia and quizzes to clue up on old classics or test your understanding of popular releases.

I have spent four years studying English Literature at university and as such spend a lot of time examining books with friends and lecturers alike. However, few enjoy this luxury, and without a platform to discuss their thoughts, people’s engagement decreases as they get older. Goodreads not only provides said platform, but allows you to engage with like-minded people from the comfort of your own home, operating as an accessible book club, suitable for the 21st century.

I think Goodreads is a great innovation and look forward to integrating the app into my life in 2018. If you’re interested in books, whether you read once in a blue moon or put away three to four titles a month, I suggest you try it out too!