I haven’t written a book review for a while because we have been traveling so much, but I will make up for it when I catch up to myself.  I did, however, at the start of this new year, want to mention the Goodreads app and webpage.

My friends Beth Ann and Sarah turned me on to Goodreads.  Beth Ann is an avid reader and blogger (you can read her blog here) and has her own “Little Free Library“.  Sarah is a librarian, so she knows books!  Both of them regularly post on Facebook what they are reading with a link to Goodreads.  I checked it out and got hooked.

Goodreads started in 2006 as a social cataloging website.  The website allows individuals to freely search Goodreads’ database of books, annotations, and reviews. Users can sign up and register books to generate library catalogs and reading lists. They can also create their own groups of book suggestions, surveys, polls, blogs, and discussions.  Amazon bought the company in 2013 when the website had 55 million members and 395 million books reviewed and rated.

I rely on the Goodreads website for book recommendations.  I especially like their Goodreads Choice Awards, a yearly award program, first launched in 2009. Users are able to nominate and vote for the books of their choosing, released in the given year.  The final voting round collects the top 10 books from 20 different categories.  I nominate books, vote for books, and use the lists of Choice winners to select new authors to read.  You can see the list of 2017 winners here.

I started keeping track of the books I read on my list in Goodreads in 2016.  Last year I set a goal of reading 52 books for 2017.  I ended up reading 104 books – exactly twice my goal.  It was fun to see what I read in 2017 and how much I read.  I upped my goal a little for 2018, but having the goal isn’t as important to me as the reviews and lists on the site.  I always rate the books I read and occasionally write reviews.

Are you on Goodreads?  Do you find it a helpful website?  How do you pick books to read?