Poll

Wish you would review more serious non-fiction, especially science, biography and history. If I wanted to read puff pieces about pop fiction, I would read that execrable Book Pages. Most of the books touted in BP and your piece have book jackets on them mostly for ballast.

I agree with Dave.

Dave wrote: "Wish you would review more serious non-fiction, especially science, biography and history. If I wanted to read puff pieces about pop fiction, I would read that execrable Book Pages. Most of the boo..."

that makes 2 of us.

I concur with Dave.

I agree also.

I definitely would love weekly ...this is one of the few newsletters that I'll actually open and read! I do read a lot of fiction, but I am also very serious about non-fiction, science, history, etc. And I would also love reviews on art books and authors - fine art and digital art!
Perhaps there could be an "areas of interest" section of our profile, and the newsletter could respond based upon our answers there. If someone doesn't select anything, their newsletter could be more generic!
Thanks for asking for input! :)

What about doing genre specific newsletters? I'd love to subscribe to a SFF one, as I'm sure other non-fiction fans would enjoy a specific newsletter as well.

Dave is "The Man"! (I concur)

I agree with dave.

I agree with Dave. Non-fiction please, especially biography and adventure. Stories that show ordinary people going through extra-ordinary situations and how the choices they make affect their lives.

I agree, your audience is interested in books beyond pop fiction.
It would be helpful to give short overviews of 'must-read' books by genre. For instance, best biographies, travel books, fitness, etc.

goodreads is owned by amazon.com and amazon sells, among lots of other things, books. in fact, they started by selling books. book publishers pay booksellers to promote books -- exclusively new, mostly fiction. however, amazon also sells non-fiction and backlist (older) books, so there should be no conflict, although there may be a lack of marketing emphasis. truthfully, i now discover most of my reads at the library browsing the stacks of books by-subject or by catching a title mentioned in an article i've read.

in addition to goodreads giving short shrift to non-fiction, i also feel that backlist books (approx. 1 year or older) are overlooked. i wish there was a better way to publicize excellent books that we've read that may not be in any promotional spotlight, but we feel other readers might enjoy or benefit from reading.

i worked in bookselling most of my life, and my favorite books almost invariably were recommendations from friends, and were as often as not older publications. just now, i checked the reading groups that goodreads nurtures, but found that very few are devoted to non-fiction, perhaps because the term covers such a wide variety of subjects. also, many group members were discussing newer books.

there must be a way that we could combine a goodreads group with the concept of crowd-sourcing to produce a forum for reading, discussing and recommending worthy non-fiction books, regardless of publication date. perhaps a non-fiction book group with optional sub-sections of particular topics?

for my part, and only as an example, it is more important that perhaps one more person consider reading "the sixth extinction" (about climate change) than that one thousand more readers discover "fifty shades of gray" (not about climate change).

Agree. And love the idea of listing the top 'must reads' by genre. While I know where I like to focus my reading, I also like to dip onto areas (thrillers, sci fi, light romance) and read the top books there. That is always a welcome experience.

I'd like to join the "hands up who agrees with Dave" crowd. What I consider good reads are not limited to fiction, and I often leave the site just because there seems to be so much "fluff". Whilst I do mostly read fiction, I rarely read new work just out on the market, (and for what it's worth, never anything with a rampant looking woman on the cover!). I prefer the classics and exploring Victorian authors, with only the odd new release, which even then tends to be a recommended Indie author.
However, I also tend to dip into non-fiction such as photography, gardening, art and even encyclopaedias. I'd like the newsletter to reflect this better, and to maybe be more genre specific. Perhaps we could select our favourite genres and only articles written for the newsletter in those selections be included in our own weekly/monthly email?

I'm with Dave and the others above. I read a little popular fiction, but not much. I'd rather get a newsletter about "the books you might miss" rather than one full of the same books everyone else is touting.

I agree with Dave as well.

I agree with Dave and with the idea of listing "must reads" by genre. It's hard to keep up with all the books and genres out there and to get good recommendations is always welcomed.

I love the newsletters so I bumped to weekly - but I don't mean it has to be the same general newsletter. Like Dave, I like more diversity. I'd like Goodreads to extend to more genre specific newsletters. We have YA, and a new romance (although that's infrequent), but I'd enjoy caterings to other genres as well. Obviously not every week for all of them, but...

I'm leaning toward agreeing with Kat. I do enjoy branching out of my favorite genre every now and then, but a genre specific newsletter I would be interested in seeing more often then a general one.

I have to go with Dave. I'd love to see more history and biographies.

I agree with Kat. It would be great to have a genre-specific newsletter. I don't read the exact same genre all the time, but there are some that I never, ever read that would bore me to tears. I do think, from the Goodreads perspective, you need to appeal to a broad audience, but I'm pretty sure I'd delete newsletters dedicated to some genres. And not the ones you might think.

every other month

I wish that the newsletter would omit the "you started reading" section. I already know what I'm reading.

I go my own route and read my favorites in both fiction and nonfiction. Even "true crime" is an oeuvre that can be quite exciting, if done well enough-hell, anyone remember In Cold Blood?? I also am really an old beat at heart and love to read poems of Allen Ginsberg, beat novels by Burroughs, Kerouac and even the 2 books William Burroughs, Jr wrote in his short, tragic life. I was a sort of activist myself back in the 60's and 70's. One favorite eye catcher of a book Of W.B.'s is titled "Junky" Read that, if interested, of course, and you sure will learn and think better of the people succumbed by that horrid drug, the pain he endured as well as others in all classes, shapes and sizes!

: "I go my own loves of non-fiction and true-stories. Actually exciting and dramatic books based upon true stories. I love to read the poems by Allen Ginsberg, the eccentric novels of beat-king, William S. Burroughs and even the 2 books Burroughs, Jr wrote in his short, tragic life.
"..."

Written by Monica

Once a month but I think your newsletter page as it shows in mobile view could be decluttered. The image and text areas are a jumble to the eye and are therefore disorganized to the brain. Maybe try a Kindle look which is a bit more tabular. Put major genres in with a few titles below each genre that you are featuring for the month. New books are fine but remember an unread classic or older title is in a way a "new" book to those unfamiliar with it.
You might also add a trending section to reflect what books are trending on social and other media.

Betty wrote: "I definitely would love weekly ...this is one of the few newsletters that I'll actually open and read! I do read a lot of fiction, but I am also very serious about non-fiction, science, history, et..."


That sounds like a great idea to me as well.

dave wrote: "goodreads is owned by amazon.com and amazon sells, among lots of other things, books. in fact, they started by selling books. book publishers pay booksellers to promote books -- exclusively new, m..."

A GREAT "backlist" book-and a nonfiction book is historian Thomas Fleming's intelligent, well-researched and heavily documented, The New Dealer's War. The book is a whole new look at FDR's administration, especially during WWII and how the hagiographies masquerading as history books, especially stuff taught in high schools, etc are not quite -or not at all-true, & Fleming, in a wonderful writing style; one that isn't too academically dry, that has a bit of narrative but, as I wrote above, is heavily documented and has a ton of endnotes as well as some appendices,etc. If you've been skeptical about all the unqualified deification FDR's gotten in the last 50+ years, read The New Dealer's War and you'll discover that all the skepticism you had was correct. I, myself, read it by checking it out of my local library, but I suppose you could probably find it on amazon.com -as for Goodreads? IDK, for sure. If not, they should get it in! Agitate for it!!

I enjoy fiction. I read at night and like a little excitement in my life. I am 71 and reading is about as thrilling as my life gets. I do share my books with friends and family.

Catherine wrote: "Betty wrote: "I definitely would love weekly ...this is one of the few newsletters that I'll actually open and read! I do read a lot of fiction, but I am also very serious about non-fiction, scienc..."

I agree too

I'm very happy wih your current once a month Newsletter. When I start getting too many, I tend to delete after I read the first one. Don't have enough time to examine every single eMail that is delivered to me & I know there are a lot of people out there that feel the same way.

I follow so many authors and get their newsletters that sometimes my Good Reads letter is similar to theirs. Therefore, once a month works for me. I don't read a lot of non fiction because I read to relax and wind down. Most non fiction I have read does just the opposite. Some people want that but not me. We are all different and that's okay too. Whatever works for each person is good.

I agree with Dave's comment. I would also like a weekly newsletter.

I agree with Dave and Kat.

Yes, it appears I agree with almost everyone here, a newsletter more targeted to my tastes would be better (and would generate a lot more sold books for amazon by the many readers out there who aren't looking for the latest YA read!) I know this may mean hiring more people to generate the extra newsletters, but I would likely subscribe to more than one since I read from a lot of genres (broadly- SF, science nonfiction, memoirs, horror, and good YA and pop lit.) This pertains to the listopia function on the website as well. I know these are generated by users, but I kind of stopped looking after I had to hunt through the (millions) of Twilight-inspired lists. I know these sell, and I know there are many fans, but I wish there were a little more catering to me. Sounds selfish, I know, but I think there are plenty of people(consumers!) like me out there.

I'm mostly interested in the genres that I like to read - science, horror, thriller, mystery - so the ability to select what you want to see would be good. And once a month is quite enough.

Dave is right on. I agree

Ditto what Dave said

absolutely more non fiction and biographical please!

Another vote with Dave. I'd like a way to alert others to books I've found that are worth a look. Losing interest in Goodreads lately, seems annoyingly inflexible somehow and there are other sites doing the same thing.

I, too, agree with Dave.

One a month is more than sufficient. And I would agree to both more emphasis on non-fiction, especially if coupled with the sort by genre/subject. For example, I would have little interest in scientific NF, but books on history would be welcomed. I could see subscribing to a SF/F one, a historical fiction one, a history one, etc, depending on how it's done.

Concurr with rhe sender #14. It gives me option to read though i read most of david baldacci's novels. Hope i can download his latest bools the scafe plan and memory man. Thanks

dave wrote: "Wish you would review more serious non-fiction, especially science, biography and history. If I wanted to read puff pieces about pop fiction, I would read that execrable Book Pages. Most of the boo..."

I agree with dave

I mostly read nonfiction now, so I am not interested in what is necessarily most popular. I like quality nonfiction such as Hot Zone, Devil and the White City, or Bonhoeffer by Metaxus.

I do not have time for more than a monthly newsletter. I would like to see some more historical fiction novels for example: Winds of War, War and Remembrance, etc. I especially love books about the "old South" before the Civil War and during. I especially enjoy all periods of history and am an avid reader of autobiographies/biographies.

This is the FOURTH time I have requested to have this newsletter cancelled, as I no longer have or use the application.

Faith wrote: "I wish that the newsletter would omit the "you started reading" section. I already know what I'm reading."

I agree with Faith!