Actually, I Love Goodreads

A rebuttal

In the past few months, some of my favorite internet people have taken to their platform(s) of choice — podcasts, Instagram, and Substack — to denounce Goodreads. If you missed this online discussion, let me catch you up:

Last month,

Anne Helen Petersen

spoke with book critic Maris Kreizman in her podcast episode How Did Goodreads Get So Bad? It was an interesting discussion, though I didn’t fully agree with all their points.

Then, Stephanie of

That Bookish Life

wrote In Defense of Goodreads (and many readers and writers added their own thoughts in the comments). She pointed out that Petersen was speaking from the perspective of writers, while Goodreads is intended for readers. But still — she, too, had problems with the website.

Then,

Chelsey & Sara

, my favorite literature podcasters, shared their thoughts in a special episode Goodreads, reader reviews, and literary criticism. As always, they added nuanced thoughts to the discussion.

The first thing I should make clear is that I deeply admire and respect these thinkers, and I always enjoy hearing what they have to say.

But here’s the thing. I love Goodreads. It’s my favorite form of social media.¹ It is not addicting. The only ads I get are book-related. The phone app, while basic, works well with minimal glitches. And I get to peek into the lives of friends and acquaintances in the best way: by taking a look at what they’re reading.

So, even though this topic might be old news at this point, I, too, had to throw in my two cents in this Saturday bonus essay.²

Here’s why, as an avid reader who has nothing to do with the professional book/publishing world, I love Goodreads:

The Complaints

Complaint #1: ‘The Interface is so Bad!’

Actually, the interface is the best thing about Goodreads (I will not be talked down from this hill). I love that the website reminds me of the internet in 2004³ — it is simple, to the point, and unassuming. It gets the job done without any frills or whistles.⁴

Complaint #2: ‘People are Negative and Rude’

Yes, but this is a problem with the internet in general — it’s not specific to Goodreads. Do I wish people spoke with a little more kindness? Of course. Will it happen? One continues to hope.

Complaint #3: ‘The Book Recommendations are Terrible’

Some aspects of Goodreads could certainly benefit from AI integration, among other updates. But in the era of the Internet, when we have access to such great book critics, online book clubs, writers, and readers, I would much rather get my book recommendations from a person I know. I love hearing about books from trusted sources in podcasts and weekly newsletters. I like talking to real people about books, not an algorithm.

The Things I Like

All The Books I Love In One Place

I love physical books, and I would love more than anything to have a huge library with every book I’ve ever read, or ever wanted to read. But alas — I neither have the space (small NYC apartment) nor the money (nobody is sending me ARCs) for that. I often check out books through the library or read on my Kindle.

Goodreads lets me look at my ‘library’ of books all at once, laid out in a simple, visually appealing way, so I can easily browse through when looking for recommendations, reflecting on past reading, or searching for my next read on my TBR.

I Genuinely Like Reading Reviews

Re: above — yes, people can be overly negative. And I almost never read reviews before picking up a book. But sometimes you finish a book you LOVE, and nobody you know has read it; in these situations I enjoy reading all the 5-star reviews on Goodreads (much more than formal reviews by book critics in newspapers and online magazines) so that I can inhabit that book’s world a little while longer.

The other time it’s really helpful is when I’m struggling with a book and debating whether or not to finish it — when I’m feeling like this, I go on Goodreads, and I filter specifically to look at 4-star reviews, and 2-star reviews.⁵ If others dislike the thing I find annoying, and it persists throughout the book, I’ll probably put the book down. On the other hand, if the positives end up outweighing the negatives, or readers say the book gets better as it goes along, I’ll probably power through.

It Helps Form Connections

I recently went to a book club hosted at a local bookstore, and after the formal discussion, I got to talking with a couple other women — the chemistry was so good that we stayed an extra hour and a half, talking about everything from books, to our jobs, to dating, to the generational divide and the biggest issues of our time. When it was time to head home for the night, it felt too intrusive to ask for their phone numbers (what is the correct etiquette when trying to make new friends??) and I knew that if we exchanged Instagram handles, they would get buried under a deluge of ads, never to be seen again.

So, we became friends on Goodreads. I see all their book updates — what they’re reading, what they loved, what they hated, and their thoughts on the latest releases. And now, when I meet them again at the next book club, and I work up the nerve to ask them on a friend date, we will have so much to talk about.

—

There are lots of ways Goodreads can be used for evil: review-bombing,⁶ shaming authors, or dissuading readers from a book based on a sub-optimal average rating. I endorse none of these things. As with other forms of technology and digital media, individuals have a responsibility to behave ethically and with kindness. And if we all promised to do that, the online book world could be even better than it is now.

So Amazon, please never touch Goodreads. Don’t put any more money into it, because I know your tendencies towards corporate greed; don’t make it more addicting, don’t draw book influencers into it, or do anything that would change it from the 2004ish delight that it is.

— Shruti

1. I have heard about all the other book-tracking websites and I am wary of them. I don’t like the focus on statistics and tracking in Storygraph (How are they defining the “mood” of these books? Who decided that this book is “reflective” and not “inspiring”? How did they decide that the book is 54% diverse?) — I find numbers and statistics to be reductive when talking about books and ideas. Also, I find its interface painful to look at (it’s plain, and boring, and I’ll say it: ugly). And I don’t like that it’s hard to find a quick summary of the book, and it’s even harder to see what other people thought about the book. Other apps, such as Fable, seem too keyed into the Influencer side of reading, which I’m not too fond of. If an alternative is introduced that truly blows me away, maybe I’ll make the switch — but for now, I’m pretty happy with Goodreads.

2. In a few months, we will be introducing paid subscriptions! Paid subscribers will get occasional bonus Saturday posts like this.

3. I know, Goodreads was launched in 2007. But it is distinctly 2004 in essence. Don’t ask me how this is possible.

4. To be clear, the frills and whistles are absolutely unwanted. They are what turned Instagram from a wholesome, occasionally jealousy-inducing photo-sharing app to the hellscape it currently is.

5. This year, I stopped giving books star ratings (something that we talk about more on the Novel Tea Podcast), and I have long since stopped caring about the average star rating of a book. This has improved my reading life immensely. Feel free to leave a comment or DM me to hear more about how I use Goodreads to my advantage.

6. Review bombing makes me really sad. If Amazon ends up changing anything, it should be this: putting safeguards in place to protect authors.