I have been using GoodReads for about two years as a way to post reviews of books as well as learn of good books others are reading. It serves as a kind of Facebook for book lovers. It provides recommendations of books you might enjoy based on books you have read. And it connects your posts easily to Facebook and other social media sites. There are some things I wish this site would improve, now that it is funded by the behemoth of Amazon (perhaps another post on this sometime!).
1. It would be great if the text entry box for reviews would provide the same features WordPress offers its bloggers, including easy integration of links and the ability to tag posts.
2. I wish there were a limit on the “wants to read” posts from one person at one time–perhaps three to five–so that one’s whole newsfeed isn’t filled with one person’s posts.
3. The search function to add titles to you “reading” list often seems not to turn up the book you want even if you’ve entered the title exactly, in my experience. Sometimes, the only way to get this is via entering ISBNs.
4. Currently only GoodReads authors have their blogs automatically posted to GoodReads. It would be nice if those of us who blog on books might also have this ability without pasting in links.
5. It would be helpful if GoodReads suggested categories for books based on publisher and cataloguing data. I might still like to add my own categories but this might make for more systematic sorting and searching of reviews.
Finally, I don’t want my reviews posted to Amazon without my permission. While I do want to see people read, I don’t want to be an Amazon sales person. For those of you who use GoodReads, what would make it better for you?
I have been using Goodreads since 2009 to keep a list of the books that I have read and to share it with friends. My biggest concern with the site is that many of the books I read are not listed. I estimate that I end up creating a new book for 1 out of every 4 books that I read. Frequently I have to add new editions. The reason for this is that a little less than half of the books I read are in languages other than English.
One thing that I like about Goodreads, is that the users write in whatever language they want without paying attention to the language that a book is written in. Several times, I have reviewed French books in English and commented on the reading level necessary to read the book.
I did not like that an internet book seller (that was not Amazon) copied one of my reviews from Goodreads. I do not hold the Goodreads responsible, as this clearly had nothing to do with it.
I have recently begun using LibraryThing in addition to Goodreads. I have not used it enough yet to know how they will compare, but I am enjoying the site so far.
Are you a GoodReads librarian? You should be! I am aware that some publishers re-publish GoodReads content. InterVarsity Press does this but I’m OK with that since I work with InterVarsity. I wonder if it would be helpful for it to be more transparent what sites your reviews may be posted on and for users to have an opt-out feature. Maybe that’s the price you pay for a free service.
GoodReads also gets more spotty with old books. Sometimes I just post under another edition if one exists but that is probably frustrating for a librarian!!
Is that less of an issue with LibraryThing? I have a colleague who uses it to catalog her books. The social interaction piece is not as interesting as to organize her books.
Thanks for your comments!