When engaging in bookish conversations with non-readers and occasional-readers, I rarely mention Goodreads; when I happen to make the casual Goodreads reference, I’m almost always met with blank stares and overt disinterest. But in bookish circles, it seems that everyone uses (or has once used) Goodreads. And EVERYONE has opinions, most of them negative.

I have been an avid Goodreads user since 2012, and while I recognize the platform’s many sticking points, I continue to find Goodreads to be a useful tool in my reading life. Sarah recently hosted an unscripted podcast conversation sharing her thoughts on Goodreads and it inspired me to do the same. So today I’m sharing all about my own relationship with Goodreads: how I use the platform, which features I love the most, what parts of the site I ignore, and, finally, my frustrations.

Why I Use Goodreads

My primary reason for sticking with Goodreads—despite some drawbacks and plenty of alternatives—is that it’s the easiest place for me to keep tabs on books that I’ve read. I currently track my reading in at least eight spots (that is a blog post in itself!), but my Goodreads records date further back than my other tracking sources, so it’s my best option for quickly determining whether or not I’ve interacted with a book. I’ve only been recording full book reviews on Goodreads for the past few years, but my star ratings date back to my Goodreads adoption in 2012, so a quick Goodreads search immediately tells me how I felt about the book when I read it. (Whether or not I stand by all of those ratings is a different story altogether!)

My Goodreads TBR (To Be Read shelf)

While I record the books I’ve already read in numerous places, Goodreads is the one and only home of my recorded TBR. I take a very low-key approach to my TBR: if I hear about a book that interests me, I add the title to the list. I do not feel any pressure to read the books on this list; it’s simply a helpful reference guide when making decisions about what I’d like to read next. I will probably only read a fraction of the books on my TBR in my lifetime (which is something that excites rather than frustrates me because it means I’ll never run out of potential reading material!), but it is rare for me to read a book that did not land on my TBR first.

Other Goodreads Shelves

I do not utilize the Goodreads shelves to their maximum potential, but I do find them useful. In addition to keeping my Read and TBR shelves up to date, I update my Currently Reading shelf as soon as I begin a new book. I have a DNF shelf for books I abandon mid-read, as well as an All Time Favorites shelf for books that hold an extra special place in my reading life. I have a shelf for all of the books I read aloud with the kids, one for books I’m considering as future read-alouds for our family, a shelf for favorite picture books, and one for our favorite Christmas titles. I have several other ideas for Goodreads shelves I would like to start, including individual shelves for the kids’ independent reads and a shelf for books I own (physical AND digital), but those remain in the one day stage for now.

The Social Component

I do not spend a lot of time scrolling my Goodreads feed, and the site almost never influences my book selections. However, I do enjoy seeing friends’ (and other Goodreads users’) interactions with books I’ve already added to my TBR or that I’ve read myself. And while I don’t usually read Goodreads reviews before reading a book, I often peruse reviews from friends and other Goodreads users after reading to see whether their impressions aligned with my own. I also enjoy sharing my own ratings and reviews on the site, knowing that this is helpful information for my fellow readers—especially those who share my taste in books. I like to joke that reading isn’t just a personal hobby, it’s my public service to the broader reading community. 😉

Goodreads Challenge

I always participate in the Goodreads Annual Reading Challenge, and I always set my reading goal at 100 books. This is well below the number of books I read in a given year, but I am not using the challenge to spur me towards reading more books, but as a convenient place to keep each year’s books in one place. I like being able to look at my current Challenge status to see how many books I’ve read in the calendar year, and I enjoy the Challenge recaps that Goodreads releases at the end of the year.

Kindle Notes and Highlights

I do more than half of my reading on Kindle, and I am a frequent highlighter. I like that all of my highlights—including highlights from library books—can easily be found on Goodreads. I rarely make my highlights public, but I like knowing that I have that option, and I enjoy seeing which quotes others have highlighted in books I’ve read.

My Goodreads Frustrations

The biggest downside to using Goodreads is user functionality. The site is not at all intuitive, and I have a hard time navigating various features, although the website is slightly more user-friendly than the phone app. (I can never find book quotes and questions on the app, only the website, and the bookshelves are impossible to edit through the app). The search bar is TERRIBLE unless you know the exact title and spelling of a book you’re searching—and even then, I often have trouble locating a specific book. Goodreads makes it hard to find friends and to comment on reviews, and I have yet to figure out how to respond to someone else’s comment on my own reviews. (I see that others have done this, but I have no idea how.)

And speaking of reviews. . . I wish that Goodreads allowed half-star ratings! (I round up or down depending on whether I liked the book slightly more or less than that half star, but the lack of specificity irritates me and throws off my overall ratings!) I also wish Goodreads had some way of vetting reviews, because few things are more annoying that reading a review from someone who fully admits they have not read the book. (I am not sure this final wish is even possible, but it’s a personal pet peeve that I wish could be addressed. If it bothers me as a reader, I can’t imagine how disheartening it must be for authors!)

The Things I Disregard

Goodreads has a lot of features that I ignore. I never look at the book lists or recommendations, and I have not participated in the various monthly challenges, giveaways, or discussions. I do vote in the Choice Awards every year, and I like that these awards alert me to popular books within each genre, but I am always disappointed by the winners (and tend to doubt the legitimacy of the awards, since it appears that many readers vote based on title recognition rather than true impressions of books they’ve actually read).

I’m sure there is plenty more to be said about Goodreads, but I’ll leave it there for today. Now it’s your turn! Are you a Goodreads user? (If so, please friend me!) Let’s continue this conversation, either here on the blog or over on Substack. What are your thoughts on the platform? Which features do you utilize the most? Are there any features you do not use, or that could be improved? If you are NOT a Goodreads user, or if you’ve stopped using the platform, I’d love to know why. And if the reason involves Storygraph. . . hold that thought, because Storygraph (which I ALSO use) will be the topic of next month’s Bookish Conversation!