Groups are a more organized way of being social on Goodreads. And there's a group for everything. Try searching for one.
There are several kinds of groups in Goodreads.
Public. Anyone can join the group, see the group information and discussions.
Restricted. New members must verify they own an email in a particular domain (e.g., a UWCSEA Google Apps for Education account -- @gapps.uwcsea.edu.sg).
Private. Anyone can ask to "Join" the group by answering a "challenge" question, such as "Who is your mentor/teacher?" -- but new members must be approved by the group moderators. Anyone can see the group information, but only members see the polls and discussion boards.
Secret. New members must be invited to join and approved by the group moderators. The group will not appear in search results. Only members can see the information.
Some of the groups at UWCSEA:
UWCSEA Middle School English - a book group started on the Dover campus as a place where all Middle School students can share their reading recommendations. Restricted -- to anyone with an email in the @gapps.uwcsea.edu.sg domain.
UWCSEA HS English - a group started on the Dover campus to help HS students swap ideas about reading, from light-reads to classics. Restricted - to anyone with an email in the @gapps.uwcsea.edu.sg or @uwcsea.edu.sg domain.
2016 @ UWCSEA East - group for all students in the current Grade 10 on the East campus. Private - ask to join and answer a challenge question.
2017 @ UWCSEA East - group for all students in the current Grade 9 on the East campus. Private - ask to join and answer a challenge question.
2018 @ UWCSEA East - group for all students in the current Grade 8 on the East campus. Private - ask to join and answer a challenge question.
Good Reads @ UWCSEA East - Parents - a group that supports the monthly book club run by the Parents Association - showing dates of meetings and books to be discussed at each. A public group which anyone can join.
UWCSEA English/Literacy Teachers & Texts - a group for staff teaching English at either campus to share thoughts about texts they want to teach and issues related to the teaching of texts. A public group that anyone can join.
UWCSEA Reading & Writing Pedagogical Resources - a group for staff teaching English at either campus to share resources for the teaching of reading and writing. Restricted - to those with a @uwcsea.edu.sg or @gapps.uwcsea.edu.sg email account.
This is what a brand-new Group homepage looks like.
And here's a group homepage that has a customised header.
You can also put videos on the homepage, e.g., see this homepage: http://www.goodreads.com/group/show/82187-red-dot-books-mature-readers
This is the view of Group bookshelves on the Group homepage.
This is the full view of the Group bookshelves.
Note that Group bookshelves are not as flexible or editable as personal ones.