Goodreads: A Bookish Habit

Oh, the ol’ good Goodreads. When I first discovered Goodreads, I felt like I was walking into a utopia. As a book lover, no other website is as exciting as GR. You can find ANY books of ANY genres in this one place on the Internet. I remember thinking ‘This is why the Internet is a magical place‘. 

Goodreads makes it really easy for us to find books and it provides us with all these features that, supposedly, will help us tracking and organizing our readings. 

Goodreads Shelves

Read, currently reading, and to-read

When I first started using Goodreads, I felt that these three shelves really help in organizing and tracking my reads. I now have a place to see the books I want to read, I’m reading, and I have read. I always used these features in the 2015-2016 period. Starting this year, I found myself not always go to Goodreads to mark my finished books. Honestly, I only did this in the beginning of the year and a few books I finished in the last couple of months. Not every book I read this year is put on their respective shelves. I also find myself to only use the to-read shelf to keep track of books I want to read. 

I’m not sure what actually triggered the laziness of utilizing this very organized features on Goodreads. But I just found myself stopped going to Goodreads every time I finish a book all of sudden. 

Reading Progress

This is one feature in Goodreads that I never actually use since I tend to just read through books without stopping. But I’ve seen many people using this feature and it seems to help them to remind how far they’ve read the book. 

Reviews

I think this is what people go to Goodreads for. The reviews. Over the years, many GR reviews have affected my reading decisions. It’s nice to have many reviews all in one place. 

I have also posted my reviews on Goodreads. As a blogger, posting reviews on Goodreads and leaving a backlink to your blog can really help to increase your blog’s traffic. Also, I’ve gotten emails from authors who said that they found my blog through Goodreads. 

However, since I now barely go to Goodreads to put the books in shelves, I also often found myself not posting reviews on there anymore. I know many people who write things like ‘Will update soon’ or something along those lines for their review, however that doesn’t really help me to remind myself to update it. 

The Reading Challenge

The reading challenge on Goodreads was something I found particularly exciting. I think there is always this sense of achievement when you can reach the limit you’ve set. Also, it’s a challenge to do something you love. What not to like? 

Do you use Goodreads? How are your Goodreads habits? Let me know in the comments! 

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