An Ode to Goodreads
The obsolete app that made me fall in love with reading again
By Mason Braasch, Lifestyle Editor
Year after year, there is always one goal on my list of resolutions that I fail to successfully carry out. For years, I have made it a goal to start reading for fun again. I start out excited, buying a stack of books from Barnes and Noble; yet every year my stack of unread books grows bigger.
However, this year has been different. Three months into 2022, I have already read more books than I did in total for 2021. What’s my secret? It’s not more strict reading schedules or more self-discipline—it’s a little app called Goodreads.
Goodreads came out in 2007—and the interface of the app looks like it hasn’t been updated since then. However, it has transformed my relationship with reading and reignited my love of books.
What makes the app so great? Besides constant, personalized recommendations, Goodreads offers fun tools to track, organize and share your reading journey.
Within the app, you have multiple “shelves.” You can add as many as you like, but the standards are “Want to Read,” “Reading” and “Read.” While scrolling through your shelves looking at bright and beautiful book covers is fun, there’s nothing quite as satisfying as moving a book from your “Reading” shelf to your “Read” shelf. It's enough to make you want to read multiple books a week, just to watch your shelf count grow.
Another motivating tool on Goodreads is the progress tracker. Every time you read, you can enter the page number that you ended on, and Goodreads will tell you the percentage of how much you have read. Watching the percentage rise as you read makes reading almost like a game, and motivates you to read “just one more chapter” every time you pick up a book.
My favorite feature is that you can share with your friends. Like Facebook, you can become ‘friends’ with fellow readers, watch their progress and share reviews and recommendations. Connecting with friends through the app is like a book club without commitment. I’ve created my own network on the app by encouraging everyone I can think of to download it—I even convinced my grandma!
Goodreads’ tracking features have not only aided me in reading new books for pleasure, but it has given me a new source of satisfaction. Being able to track my reading habits in a tangible way has given me a sense of pride and achievement. Not only have I learned new things and found joy from the books I have read this year, but I have found a new personal sense of fulfillment from watching my shelves and progress tracker grow.
In the past, I often cited reading more as a way to cut down on screen time. It turned out that the thing I needed to help me accomplish this goal was an app on my phone. Goodreads is by no means a revolutionary app. It is simple, beige and a little outdated, but it has changed the way that I view reading for pleasure, and has aided me in finding a passion for reading again.
If you’re like me and have been pushing yourself to read more, I urge you to try Goodreads. It's free, uncomplicated and could ignite a special passion for reading. And if you decide to download it, make sure you friend me so we can swap book recommendations.