If you’re a reader, you may have stumbled across (or maybe already use!) goodreads.com. This site is a book lovers dream tool! It’s the easiest way to keep track of all the books you’ve read, all the books you want to read, and provides you with a great way to connect with fellow readers. Read on to see how I use it.

1. To keep track of books I want to read.

I am crazy about my TBR (to-be read list). If something goes on that list, I WILL READ IT. In my dream world, my TBR would have ZERO BOOKS, so I could read whatever I felt like, whenever I felt like it. In reality, between publishers and fellow bloggers, I’m always finding new books to read. I use Goodreads to keep track of them. See my “to-read”* list below.

*13 books on my to-read list is minuscule compared to some of the bloggers out there who have hundreds! My brain can’t fathom having a to-do list that long!

TBR goodreads

2. To jot down my thoughts while reading a book.

The “update progress” link is really fun tool on Goodreads, and is great a way to write down how you feel about the book as you’re going along. When you finish a book, you can see all your thoughts and what page they coordinated with. It’s a great way to remind yourself how you felt while reading it (especially if you’re not the type of reader that is going to review the book at the end).

When you first log on to Goodreads, you’ll see the following page. Note in the upper left it shows you what books you’re currently reading:

goodreads

If you click “update progress,” you’ll get the opportunity to indicate your thoughts:

goodreads

Here’s what the “activity” looks like after you’ve finished a book. These are my notes for Jurassic Park:

goodreads activity

3. To keep track all the books I’ve read.

I like to keep track of what books I’ve read and when. I also like to know if I actually read the book or listened to the audiobook. You can create a bunch of different folders for books (some people have >30) – it’s up to you how you want to organize it! When you click on “My Books” at the top of the page, it will take you to your to-read list (as shown in the first screen shot). Off to the left, you’ll have your various folders that you’ve created.

goodreads

4.  To maintain my reading goal each year.

Goodreads has a great reading challenge program. Every year you can choose how many books you want to read, and every time you go on Goodreads they’ll remind you of how you’re doing with your challenge (it’s a small blue box to the left of the screen in the second image on this post). For goal-oriented people like me, this is a fantastic tool. It’s also fun to see all the books I’ve read so far in 2017 in one place. Here’s my 2017 reading challenge page:

goodreads reading challenge

5. To review books, so I never forget what I thought about them!

Before I reviewed books, I only remembered the plot of the really intense books or ones that ended up being my favorite. Now that I review, I remember so much more about every book I read. If I ever forget (which so far I haven’t…), it’d be so easy to find the book on Goodreads and see what I thought about it! Of course… I also have a blog now where I review books, so that helps, too…

 

Do you use Goodreads? If you have a Goodreads account, let’s be friends! Find me here! If you don’t, do you keep track of the books you’ve read? How so?