Saturday in the Stacks

Goodreads – Pros and Cons

Saturday is the perfect time to wander through the stacks (that’s librarian-speak for “bookshelves”) and talk about books and the people who write them. Pull up a comfy chair and settle in, because today I want to chat about a particular ‘tool of the trade’ of both readers and authors alike that has become fairly well-known in the book community: the app/website Goodreads.

Goodreads bills itself as “the world’s largest site for readers and book recommendations. [Their] mission is to help people find and share books they love.” Basically, for the uninitiated, it is a way for readers to track what books they read, sharing their reviews of those books with others while setting yearly reading goals, interacting with readers with similar tastes, connecting with bookish friends — essentially a social media platform with a reading focus.

If you’re thinking of hopping on Goodreads for the first time (whether as a reader or an author), here are the main pros and cons of the platform I think you should be aware of:

• PRO: Never forget the name of that book you read again!
• CON: You shouldn’t judge a book by one bad review, no matter how tempting it may be!
• PRO: Easily recommend books to your friends and family!
• CON: Reviewing bombing can happen (read more about this horrendous practice here) so be wary!
• PRO: Connect with your fellow readers and your favorite authors!
• CON: Goodreads makes it very easy to compare your reading goals/speed with others – don’t get sucked in to this trap!
• PRO: If you were looking for some encouragement to read more, the Goodreads Reading Challenge could be just the thing you’re looking for!

At this point, Goodreads is a standard of the industry, and as an author trying to make their mark, I don’t see myself walking away from the platform anytime soon. What about you? Are you a Goodreads user? Do you love it? Hate it? Somewhere in between? Let’s chat about it in the comments below!