Goodreads facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Goodreads

Type of business	Subsidiary
Type of site	Book reviews
Available in	English
Founded	December 2006; 18 years ago (2006-12)
Owner	Amazon
Founder(s)	Otis Chandler Elizabeth Khuri
Commercial	Yes
Registration	Optional
Current status	Active

Goodreads is a popular website where people can find, share, and talk about books. It's like a social media site for readers! You can search for books, read reviews, and even write your own. Many people use Goodreads to keep track of what they've read and what they want to read next. It's owned by Amazon.

Goodreads was started in December 2006 and launched in January 2007. By July 2012, it had 10 million members. In March 2013, Amazon bought Goodreads. By September 2023, the site had grown to over 150 million members.

Goodreads History

How Goodreads Started

Otis Chandler, one of the founders of Goodreads.

Goodreads was created by Otis Chandler and Elizabeth Khuri Chandler. They met while studying at Stanford University. Otis worked as a programmer, and Elizabeth was a journalist. They both grew up in California.

The idea for Goodreads came to Otis in 2006. He was looking at his friend's bookshelf and wanted to create a way for people to share their books and reviews online. Goodreads aimed to help readers discover new books. It used reviews and recommendations from other users to help people find books they might enjoy.

Early Days and Growth

In its first year, Goodreads grew mostly by word of mouth. It started with about 800 users. The site later gained attention from media outlets like Mashable. For a while, the company ran without any big investments.

In December 2007, Goodreads received about $750,000 in funding. This money helped the site grow until 2009, when it received another $2 million.

In 2011, Goodreads bought a company called Discovereads. This company used special computer programs to suggest books to people. These suggestions were based on books users had liked before. If you rated 20 books, Goodreads would start recommending new ones. By 2011, Goodreads had over five million members.

By October 2012, Goodreads had grown to 11 million members. Users had cataloged 395 million books. They had also created over 20,000 book clubs. A month later, in November 2012, the number of members reached 12 million.

Goodreads Joins Amazon

In March 2013, Amazon announced it would buy Goodreads. This news surprised many in the book world. Some people worried about Amazon having too much control. However, Goodreads founder Otis Chandler said his team would stay to protect the review process. He continued to lead Goodreads until 2019.

At the time, Goodreads was known for its reliable review system. It was also a popular place for people to discover new books. After the Amazon purchase, Goodreads continued to grow.

Goodreads has rules about reviews. In September 2013, they announced they would remove reviews that threatened authors or focused on an author's behavior instead of the book. These rules are still in place today.

Recent Years

In January 2016, Amazon decided to close another book site called Shelfari. They encouraged Shelfari users to move their accounts to Goodreads. By April 2016, Goodreads had over 50 million user reviews.

In 2023, there were some issues with books created by AI that falsely used an author's name on Amazon and Goodreads. The sites worked to remove these fake listings after the author spoke out.

Goodreads Features

Goodreads offers many cool features for book lovers.

Discover New Books

On Goodreads, you can:

• Add books to your personal bookshelves.
• Rate and review books you've read.
• See what your friends and favorite authors are reading.
• Join discussion boards and groups about different topics.
• Get suggestions for new books based on your past reads.

You can rate books from one to five stars. You can also write a review to explain your rating. The site has default shelves like "read," "currently-reading," and "to-read." You can also create your own custom shelves to organize your books.

Reading Challenges

A popular feature is the reading challenge. Users can set a goal to read a certain number of books each year. Goodreads helps them track their progress. Research shows that these challenges encourage people to read more in their free time.

Access to Content

Goodreads lets you read or listen to previews of books. You can use Kindle Cloud Reader or Audible right on the website. The site also has quizzes, trivia, famous quotes, and book lists. Sometimes, they even offer free book giveaways!

Members can get a newsletter with new books, suggestions, and author interviews. If you are an author, you can link your work to your profile page. Goodreads also helps authors promote their books.

Your Year in Books

Goodreads offers a "My Year in Books" report. This report lets you look back at your reading from the past year. It shows you statistics like how many pages you read, how many books you finished, and your average rating. It's a fun way to see your reading journey!

Connect with Others

You can add other users as "friends" on Goodreads. This lets you share reviews, posts, and book recommendations. You can also send messages to your friends.

Goodreads is also on other social media sites like Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter. You can link your Goodreads account to these sites. This makes it easy to find friends and share what you're reading. Some Amazon Kindle devices even have Goodreads built-in.

Book Information

Goodreads gets its book information from many sources. These include publishers, Ingram, Amazon, WorldCat, and the Library of Congress.

Goodreads has volunteer librarians. These are members who help improve book information on the site. They edit book and author details and add cover images. You can apply to become a librarian after you have 50 books on your profile.

Goodreads Choice Awards

Goodreads Choice Awards

See also

In Spanish: Goodreads para niños