I am always surprised when I find people who haven’t heard about Goodreads.
It’s an amazing site, particularly if you’re an historical fiction buff. I can always find something I’m interested in reading there.
Goodreads is a premium site to read and write reviews. There’s a lot more activities you can participate in as well.
It’s actually a social media site. You can friend people, just as you on Facebook. You can also follow people (mostly authors).
And there are many, many groups you can join. One of the largest historical fiction group on Goodreads is Historical Fictionistas. If you join the group, you can take part in monthly reads and quarterly reads, and also vote on which books should be read in each month and quarter.
The books come from all eras and all cultures, classics as well as the newly-published.
Another great feature of Goodreads is Lists. I was surprised to find two of my books on Ancient Rome on a list at Goodreads, a list of novels, of course, about Ancient Rome. There were 100 books on the list.
You can also send messages to your friends, and receive them. You can also access the Amazon link for each book at the page of the book, as well as other book retailers.
Another popular feature on Goodreads is giveaways. I just signed up for a 100-book giveway to read on my Kindle Paperwhite. The contest is directly connected to Amazon, so if I win the giveaway, the book will automatically show up in my Kindle Paperwhite.
Also if you connect your Kindle, Goodreads can keep track of how many books you’ve purchased and read. You can also put books you want to read on your shelf. Or books you are currently reading. And there’s a separate shelf for books you’ve already read. You can even ask others for book recommendations, by telling them what you’re looking for.
I have to admit my use of Goodreads has been somewhat sporadic, and I have a couple of different accounts, one as a reader and another as an author. But Goodreads, like other social media accounts, is something you have to work on.
You can set goals for yourself –“I’m going to read 50 books this year.”
But it’s mostly a fun site, where, if you are inveterate reader, you will fall in love with books all over again
