Do you know about Goodreads? Basically, it’s a social network for book geeks, created by the founder of Tickle. Or, in their words, “Goodreads' mission is to improve the process of reading and learning throughout the world.”Once you sign up for an account (a super fast and easy process), you just look up your favorite (or least favorite) books and authors. You can then rank them and add a review if you’re so inclined. Then, you can see if any of your book geek friends are members. Just like in Facebook, you can search your e-mail address book and then request access to your friends’ profiles.
A couple months ago, Amy told me about this site during a Cool Chat when we got onto the topic of good books. (I still haven’t read any Joel Rosenberg yet, Amy, but I’ve got one of his books on reserve at the library!) Then a co-worker mentioned it last week. So, finally, a couple days ago I decided to dive in.
In case you’re wondering, “dive in” basically means that I wracked my brain to think of every book I’ve ever read. And I then proceeded to rank it 4 or 5 stars (4=I really liked it! 5=It was amazing!).
No time to write reviews. Must add more books to my total. Must remember more authors. Must have largest total in history of Goodreads!
*sigh*
As so often happens, I became a tad bit obsessive. As a result, I haven’t really used this program to its fullest potential, instead focusing on acquisition. You know, quantity not quality. This is the very reason why I must limit my time on Facebook. Left to my own devices and tendencies, I would be looking up and friending every single person I’ve ever met. Not because I really want to be in touch with all those people. Nope. Just to get more “friends.”
In my defense, I really have read a lot of books. And if I remember the book or the author, it’s most likely because I truly did like or even love them. But now that I’ve gotten this first rush out of my system, I will try to be a bit more thoughtful about my rankings. I might even get around to writing a review.
(Or, I might not. It’s hard to say. See, I decided a couple months ago that I should start a second blog to chronicle my efforts to become an editor. I would share with you all the steps, successes, failures, education, etc. Just to keep a record of it, really. And part of it was going to include reviews of books I’m currently reading. I might still do it. Who knows? It could become my newest obsession!)
* Quote from the Goodreads website.
