Goodreads is the largest social network geared toward books and book recommendations. It has a vast community and was launched in 2007. The service has constantly been refined ever since. Amazon purchased Goodreads in 2013 for $150 million and eventually incorporated it into Kindle. Users can easily sync their Goodreads and Amazon accounts, share reviews and books that are read, add books to their shelves and view other users’ shelves. Likely, the standout feature is a book tracker to encourage reading.

Since Amazon’s acquisition, Goodreads has seen limited development, particularly in the Kindle e-reader experience. The desktop and mobile versions offer a richer experience, with features like Author Interviews and community discussions. In contrast, the Kindle e-reader primarily serves as a tool to rate books, add them to your shelves, view your friend list, and select titles to read. Book recommendations are also excellent since they can assist in book discovery.

I have been covering Kindle news since 2007 and met with the founder of Goodreads a couple of times at book publishing and tech events. I also pay attention to the Kindle Forums and the Kindle Reddit page, and hardly anyone in 2024 even asks questions about Goodreads or talks about it. This leads me to wonder if the average user even engages with the social network or if they browse the Kindle store, buy books and read them and don’t even use Goodreads.

Do you like or use Goodreads on the Kindle? How important is the service, and how often do you use it?