Friday, July 16, 2010

More on Goodreads

I wrote a blog post about Goodreads when I first joined about four months ago. I have to say - it has quickly become one of my favorite sites on the web.
It's social networking for Bookworms!



If you love to read, I bet you'll love Goodreads. When I first joined, I had a blast listing all the books I'd read (and I've read books forever and ever - well, since I was about three or four years old - so I haven't listed every. single. one.)

But here's how I've used Goodreads lately - to get great recommendations for new reading material. How do I do this? Well, I like to friend people who are avid readers, and who read in the genre I like. I have friended some of my favorite authors, librarians, book reviewers and book bloggers. Once you join, look around and find people with lots of books on their lists, and see what they're reading. If they read books in the genre you enjoy (for me, it's MG and YA. For you, it might be mystery, romance, non-fiction, whatever . . .) You can either friend them, compare books with them, become of a fan (of authors) or just follow their reviews.

I have found some great books to read this way, ones I hadn't heard about - even brand new ones that aren't out yet. You can also recommend books to your friends. It's awesome when I see someone else reading a book I just finished, and I wonder what they will think about it. It's a great way to share your love of books and reading.

I believe I am actually reading more since I joined. (For an author, this is a good thing.) When I finish a book, I can hardly wait to post it on Goodreads with my rating.

So if you're a reader, what are you waiting for? Try it out. You might like it.

If you want to friend me on Goodreads, click here to go to my profile page. You can see what I'm reading right now - Today, it's Woods Runner, by Gary Paulsen (and I'm loving it.)

And as I was typing these words, a Goodreads friend who blogs about books, and who lives clear on the other side of the country, sent me a message answering a question I just asked her about the name of a book. Yay for social networking across the web!

Do you love to read? Have you joined Goodreads yet? If you have, how has it worked for you? Please share your experiences. I'd love to know if you like it as well as I do.

5 comments:

Amy Lukavics said...

Linda!!

I only just joined Goodreads yesterday, haha. So far I love all the stuff I've seen and I can't wait until I get a little more used to using it. Seeing everybody else's reviews is awesome.

middle grade ninja said...

I have been a bad Goodreads friend. So far, I've been posting just books I review. I need to take more advantage of the social aspect. Thanks for the post!

Linda Benson said...

Amy, I'm so glad to see you on Goodreads, and find out what you're reading. Fun!

MG, There's no such thing as a bad Goodreads friend lol. The beauty of it, IMO, is that you can use it however you like.

Thanks for dropping by to comment!

Laura S. said...

I love to read!!! I always have. I joined Goodreads two years ago. My college creative writing professor recommended it. It's a fabulous site for bookworms and bibliophiles!!!

Linda Benson said...

Your college professor recommended it? That's awesome, Laura. I have to admit that when I was growing up, I was a bit ashamed to admit I was a bookworm (wasn't cool, ya know?)

Now I'm proud to acknowledge that I love books and I'm a total book nerd - LOL.