group discussion

Hi everyone,

We were wondering if a few of you out there wouldn't mind helping us out with any success stories that you've experienced while using Goodreads. A reporter from a major US newspaper is looking for an angle, and we want to find him something interesting!

Examples of interesting things might be: my life has changed because I read so much more, or I met someone special, or I'm an author and GR helped me, or I found an amazing bookclub, or anything else that's quirky and unusual.

much appreciated!

Thanks to GoodReads, I have managed to dispose of all that pesky extra income that used to go to such plebeian items as rent and clothing. My insomnia is a thing of the past now that I have given up sleeping entirely.

Thanks, GoodReads! You've changed my life! :D

(Like that?)

Yeah, I had to send emails to all my friends who are on Goodreads hoping they'd have something. The best I could do would be to say that my addiction to Goodreads has left me much less time for actual reading. ;-)

But I know there will be some wonderful stories! You could get a mass of people who would gladly proclaim how much they love this web site!

Ah yes: Editing in response to #10 in this thread: My to-read list, a list I've always kept, is, thanks to Goodreads, so very long that Goodreads will force me to learn to prioritize because there is NO WAY I can read even a fraction of what's now on my to-read list in my lifetime, and I know that I will continue to find many enticing books here!

Goodreads made me read Bleak House and Proust, which I never would've done otherwise and really enjoyed. Also, I never get anything done anymore because I've become so thoroughly addicted to the Internet that my real-world functioning's seriously impaired, but I guess maybe that isn't exactly a "success" story.

yah
goodreads has kept me from sending out more resumes in my futile attempt to get a job

has taught me to hate in a purer more random way

has got me making a list of all the books i've read but have forgotten the details to

has me making a list of books i'll never buy, borrow or read

makes me want to start the otis for president campaign

has me discussing for an hour a book i haven't read but don't like cause i don't like the author

should i mention my boyfriend thinks i'm cruising for men

I cannot say enough good things about Goodreads!! I suggest all my fans, friends, and readers join, because it is so much fun. I have found more books to read and so many wonderful friends here. And your system of letting us chat through messages and book comments is the best of any social networking site for booklovers I have found.

I have been an Author here since June 2007, and Goodreads has become a major part of my marketing plan. I am always raving about it to my publisher (grin), so he knows how important it is to me. Why? It sells so many books for me I have lost count. Mainly because it connects me directly to my market.

In fact I attended the "South Carolina Book Festival" this weekend, and in a publicity seminar I brought up Goodreads and raved about it. What other site gives us such a fabulous Author Profile page and networking options? None. Unfortunately the Publicist in charge was from a major NYC publisher, and he immediately shot down everything I was saying about how Goodreads helps authors sell more books and what an awesome marketing tool it is. On the other hand, I have met wonderful marketing people from big NYC publishers here at Goodreads, and they LOVE Goodreads. Who wouldn't it? It is the best!

xoxo
Laura Stamps
http://www.TheWitchesofDixie.b...

Thanks everyone! Keep them coming!

Thanks to Good Reads I can keep track of books I have read and can refer back to this site if I need to help remembering the title of the book or the author. I can also have a list of books I want to read instead of have an infinite amount of paper full of names of books and authors. Also I can meet people that love books just as much as I do.

Short story: I went from taking 3 months to read 1 book to reading over 10 books per month because of goodreads.

I am so glad my friend discovered this site and made me check it out! Goodreads is a much easier way to catalog my books, which I started to do two summers ago so I could keep track of the number of books I had read througout the summer(my goal was 20, then last summer, 30) Goodreads is so much simpler(and impossible to lose track of) than a list on paper. I also have a large list of books that I want to read that I wouldn't have otherwise discovered, or would have forgotten that I wanted to read. This site is amazing!!!!!!!!!

Goodreads has been helpful to me because it has put me in touch with a diversity of voracious readers. Reading tends to be a solitary activity; thus it is sometimes difficult to identify in readers in real life. I have tried finding readers in my travels by mentioning something I found interesting in a recently read book to no avail. Few people I have met admit to reading for pleasure. Through Goodreads, I have come into contact with readers and therefore the subject of reading, namely, books. Either by means of direct recommendation or browsing, I have found many new titles to read. In short: Hooray for Goodreads!

Also, without Goodreads I would not know that I read nearly 70 books in 2007-a somewhat alarming figure, which makes me wonder if I read a few less books unrelated to my studies, would my GPA improve?

if I read a few less books unrelated to my studies, would my GPA improve?

That's just crazy talk!

GoodReads came to the rescue when our online book club, Constant Reader, was lost in space. We were using a hosting service and WebBoard software. Well, the service decided to discontinue that software and we had no home. Thanks to GoodReads, we have found a home and many many new members.

For years my to-read list has been just that, without much change. Having an online organizational system has kept me motivated to pick up another book as soon as I finish one. I've read more books in the last year than I think I read in college.

I am also wasting a lot less time on worthless or mediocre books because I can look at ratings and several reviews before I read them.

Thanks for my latest addiction!

Rivka, thanks for the reassurance. Meanwhile, I have long been trying to figure out what is going on in your avatar-braiding? -taffy pulling? If you don't mind clueing me in, send me a pm please.

Don't know if this is a success story but some of my goodread friends are becoming more real than some of my real friends. Goodreads is like being an immigrant in a foreign city then turning a corner into an unknown street and suddenly finding a large friendly cafe full of people who speak your own native language and who sit you down, pour you strong coffee and then argue passionately about everything you say.

Exactly Paul...I mean I still love hanging out with my "real friends", but I get such a kick out of you all and feel quite at home with you. I'd miss ya'll if you weren't around!

Paul, that is a really nice way of putting it. I feel the same way. I'm really enjoying this great bunch of new friends.
Okay, now I've read the question that started this thread...success stories: I've so many friends now globally, and thanks to GR, I may well hook up with a Mexican writer I've been wanting to translate (her friend is on Goodreads)...Also, I've been keeping track of all the books I've read in a small black Chinese notebook since 1982 (the only truly compulsive thing I've ever done) Now I can transfer these books, not just as yearly lists, but with mini- and longer reviews...Also, I am starting to make shelves according to some of the Literature courses I teach, so I can see the books there. Some of these are or will be: Global Literature; The Uses of Horror; The Literature of Depression; Mexico & Mexico City, etc.

"Goodreads is like being an immigrant in a foreign city then turning a corner into an unknown street and suddenly finding a large friendly cafe full of people who speak your own native language and who sit you down, pour you strong coffee and then argue passionately about everything you say. "

That is an amazing quote. Paul you must be a writer!

Personally, if I were that reporter, my dream angle would be someone who got fired from his or her job for spending all day every day on Goodreads and then decided to pursue a childhood dream of becoming a professional book reviewer.

I'm sure that's happened to at least a handful of Goodreaders.... at least the fired part.