How does GoodReads work?

[jersysman]

You mean I'm in a fake group?!?!

Oh, the humanity!!!

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by jersysman

You mean I'm in a fake group?!?!

Oh, the humanity!!!

[CWatkinsNash]

I just had a Disney moment. "I'm a real boy group!"

[jgaiser]

Originally Posted by CWatkinsNash

Our group at https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/42178 is small but alive and kicking. Sometimes kicking hard, depending on my mood.

Yep.. That's the one I'm a member of.

[gabby98]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

...The Goodreads app makes it simple for me to pop titles into a "might want to check this out someday" shelf when browsing newsfeeds and "what are you reading now?" threads. ....

I have used GR in the past (not as a member) to double check series info or see whatelse an author may have written. I have a special CIO (Check it out) column in my portable calibre for things I want to read, but an app to do this would be much easier for when I am out and about or just surfing...especially if I can later sync that list with my calibre - that would be golden

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

.... My "reviews" are probably not very useful to anyone else, but GoodReads will also tweet my reviews/ratings/quotes/status updates to my 3 Twitter followers automatically--thus saving me the effort of having to do so manually. It mostly works to amuse me.

[TGS]

Originally Posted by kennyc

And reviews of books I'm considering reading.....I also enjoy participating in the science, short story,

oh and the

ongoing battle over "The Road"

http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...ated-this-book

-- love that thread.

In fact I better go prod it along....haven't seen much activity lately.

Not going there again - I agreed with everything that Kenny said. Clearly a strange and evil place.

[Joykins]

Originally Posted by Melpomene

I've signed up for a GoodReads account, but I'm extremely confused about exactly what I'm supposed to do - do I log all the books I've ever read? (I could never remember!), or do I log all the books I read from my registration date onwards? How do some people thousands of books logged without remembering everything they've ever read?! Nobody can do that. What do I do if a book I'm reading isn't listed in their catalogue? Will I be kicked off if I don't read "fast enough"? Is it a reading website or a popularity contest?

It's definitely the strangest website I've ever signed up for. Are there any alternatives? What exactly IS its purpose?

You use it however YOU want.

Here are the things you can do, if you want:

Log the books you read--whichever you want to log. Rate them, review them if you want. You can join a group of people who enjoy the same authors/genres/whatever you like and do group reads if you like. Friend people. Those people will read, rate, and review books and you can decide whether you want to read the books they've enjoyed. Get automated or personal recommendations. Recommend books to friends if you think they'll enjoy them. Find out about new releases from authors you enjoy. Enter contests to win free copies of books that sound interesting. Use the cataloging data to find out what books are in what series in what order, including short stories/novellas. Develop a "to-read" list and refer to that when you are considering buying a new book, browsing OverDrive, or going to the library.

One of the things I enjoy is that if you have an upcoming release on your "to-read" shelf, Goodreads will email me when it comes out so I don't forget about it!

For a while I had my Goodreads reviews automatically ported to my romance review blog, but that project has been dormant for a while. But you can totally do things like that if you want.

There are so many ways to use Goodreads--you can really use it exactly the way you like and ignore the others.

Incidentally I have "thousands" of books logged because I read a lot, I read fast, and have been logging for a few years. I went back and logged some of my old comfort reads when I had some spare time. Also I tend to log short stories and novellas as well as novels. I think these "thousands" of books includes the ones I want to read but haven't yet.

[David Munch]

Originally Posted by ProfCrash

I found Goodreads pretty confusing and not user friendly, but that was me. I gave it a go for a week and gave up on it. (shrugs)

GRs user interface is horrible. It is even worse on an iPad..

That being said, I added my favorites on GR when i joined, and know i use it to keep track of what i want to read, and what i have read, along with ratings.

[Ravensknight]

Originally Posted by David Munch

GRs user interface is horrible. It is even worse on an iPad..

That being said, I added my favorites on GR when i joined, and know i use it to keep track of what i want to read, and what i have read, along with ratings.

Doesn't the ipad have to use the app version? I know on my tablet I have used the android app, and you're right, it is not cool at all.

But the full site I find pretty easy to use. Might be because I'm familiar with it though...

[Tattncat]

Originally Posted by treadlightly

Goodreads and Mobileread are the two most invaluable sites for my ereading pleasure.

I mainly use Goodreads to keep track of books that I've received recommendations for, heard are good, am curious about, etc. Then I can order that list into a queue and read them. It helps me know which books to send to my ereader, which ones to buy when I have a coupon, and which ones are available at my library. I sync my Goodreads wishlist with my luzme account, which emails me when an ebook on my to-read list drops in price. I use Listopia to help populate my to-read list.

ETA: I also use it to check reading order in a series and to find other books by an author that I like.

Ditto!

[Joykins]

Originally Posted by Ravensknight

Doesn't the ipad have to use the app version? I know on my tablet I have used the android app, and you're right, it is not cool at all.

But the full site I find pretty easy to use. Might be because I'm familiar with it though...

The app on my phone is not very good in terms of UI. I generally end up going to the full site instead, unless I'm afraid I will miss logging a book while on the go.

[NickyWithNook]

Originally Posted by Ravensknight

Doesn't the ipad have to use the app version? I know on my tablet I have used the android app, and you're right, it is not cool at all.

But the full site I find pretty easy to use. Might be because I'm familiar with it though...

I use an iPad and I just use the website. I don't like the app at all.

[ProfCrash]

I tried the app, maybe I should look at the website. The app was awful

[RHWright]

The app (at least in Android) is much less robust and harder to maneuver than the full site. Though it does make it easier to add books by scanning the bar code.

[CWatkinsNash]

The app is crap. (Said the Brat in the hat...)

Seriously, though, it really is. I tried it once, uninstalled. They said the made major updates, tried it again, uninstalled. I also tried the iOS version on the work iPhone and it suffered from similar suckage.

I will say that the app can be good for adding / accessing books on the go, and it has improved in some areas, but it's still not very good for most of the other site functions.