How to Utilize Goodreads Effectively

     Today I'm sharing some tips and tricks to help you navigate and love Goodreads.

     If you've never heard of Goodreads before, it exists to help you track your reading progress within a book and track all the books throughout the year. It connects you with other readers and authors (a reader's social media utopia!). You can look up quotes and groups, future releases and various editions. It's also the best way to track your reading and your TBR list.

     I joined Goodreads in October 2014, so I have two years of experience to share with you.

     Tip #1: Join Goodreads! It's a great tool for any reader. Like most accounts these days, all it takes is your email and a password.

     Tip #2: Don't try to go back and record everything you've ever read. It will ask you to rate 20 books you've read (when you first open your account), but after those, don't worry about recording what you've read over the years. You would quickly become overwhelmed.

     Tip #3: Find every book you're currently reading and add it to your currently reading shelf. Then click "Update progress" and enter your current page number. Goodreads will convert this to a percentage, provided you selected the right edition of the book.

     Tip #4: Make sure you select the correct edition for "currently reading" books. You can do this by clicking over to the book's page, hovering over the image, and selecting "change edition." This ensures your page count and cover are identical to the book you're actually reading. (Entering ISBNs instead of titles in the search bar also helps. And if you have the app, scan the book's ISBN to quickly find the same edition as the one you're reading.

     Tip #5: Set a Goodreads Challenge for the year. As you read books, they will automatically be counted toward your goal.

     Tip #6: Join a group. The group I started is called The Official Jane Austen Book Club (and now has 115 members!) Groups are a fun way to connect with book lovers around the world with similar interests.

     Tip #7: Edit your list of favorite authors, list of favorite quotes, and favorite books list. Participate in polls, trivia, and quizzes. A lot of this is just playing around with the site and exploring until you find out all it can do. So go explore!

     Tip #8: Don't create new shelves. The shelves, "read," "currently reading," and "to be read," which Goodreads creates for you will serve you well enough.

     Tip #9: Interact with your feed. Add others' current reads to your TBR shelf. Like their update of being 75% through with Les Mis. Add bloggers or Booktubers as friends. Follow your favorite authors. Have fun with it!

     Tip #10: Don't get so wrapped up in the book site that you forget to read. It's there to serve a purpose after all.

     If you have any Goodreads-related questions, I'd be happy to answer them. I feel qualified enough to be a Goodreads virtual assistant. :)

     Challenge for today: Get a Goodreads account and add me as a friend!

~Madeline

This post is part of my 31 Days to a Better Reading Life series.