Why you should use Goodreads

By Julianne Giordano, 2022

Published 5/6/22

If you’re an avid reader, it can be hard to keep track of the books you’ve read and the books you want to read. Google docs and journal entries don’t work well enough and often become messy. However there is a website that allows you to keep track of the books you’ve read, are currently reading, and want to read, as well as your rating and reviews of the books.

Goodreads has been around for a while, but I find that many people have never heard of it or don’t understand how to use it. It's fairly simple. First, you need to download the app or visit the website, then make your account. Making an account is free, and only requires your email.

After you’ve done that, you get to add books to one of the three categories. You put books you’ve already read in the “Read” category, where you can give them a rating out of five stars and a written review. You can also add the start and end dates for every book you’ve read. Then, you add books to the “Want to Read” section. Here is where you can put books that you’re looking forward to reading, so you don’t forget about them. Lastly, you put books in the “Currently Reading” section, which are the books (or book) that you’re in the middle of reading. With this section, you can update which page of the book you’re on, and it’ll tell you the percentage of the book you’ve read so far.

There is also a reading challenge that you can participate in. Every year, at the beginning of the year, you set the number of books you want to read. Goodreads will tell you if you’re on track, ahead of schedule, or behind schedule of your goal. And at the end of the year, it’ll tell you how many pages you read, and the longest and shortest books you read.

Overall, the website is a reader's dream!