Summer Feasting with Goodreads App {Geeky}

While updating my resume, I decided to be much more specific regarding my type of reads an added the names of a few of my favorite authors: Marco Malvaldi, Haruki Murakami, John Irving, Banana Yoshimoto to name only a few. Narrowing the list down was easy: I know my favorites, I have read a a handful of their books once, sometimes twice (Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto is probably my personal record...).

Hubby argued that it was unnecessary to develop this category so extensively - after all, it is a hobby, right?

Well, no.

It took me less than a split second to know that I was doing the right thing. Why? Because, precisely, it is more than a hobby. What I read, how I read, when I read - that's part of who I am. I cannot envision life without books, stories, plays, poems, articles, posts... words. It would be denying a significant dimension of the world we live in, getting stagnant, shrinking.

So, I left my list right there. Ever since, every single person who has held my resume in their hands commented on my reads. The reactions were either of appreciation or of curiosity, but what truly mattered to me was that there were reactions unlocking new paths and topics.

In the middle of this development, comes my very good friend Z: "Do you know Goodreads?", she asks via Twitter. It took me a couple of minutes to find out about the app - another couple of minutes to download it and there I am, entering another social network. A different one though: this is all about books! Books you have read and want to rate, books others have read and suggest, feedbacks, biographies on authors etc. 

Amazon - who else? - bought Goodreads in 2013, tapping instantly into a social network based on word of mouth for book lovers and avid readers. The move enabled Amazon to outsmart its potential competitors who could have laid their hands on the company, and to encourage readers to share feedback and provide valuable information regarding their reading habits. When we see now Amazon's (much hated) role in the publishing world, we can only assume this was a smart move.

Still, the app is not perfect (what is?): I do love the fact that there is an iPhone version so that I can tap into the recommendations or fire my feedback at a moment's notice - inspiration does not wait, you see - BUT the layout is overcrowded, the navigation too intricate and finding friends a nightmare, at least for someone like me who is allergic to Facebook. The least a social network should enable you to do is finding friends easily, and possibly via more than one (actually two, in this case) channel.

The pages need to be simplified, made clearer to the eyes and the mind - there is too much going on, and some functions are not intuitive at all. The web-based version is going to be your best ally since it features options that are not available at all in the app itself (Profile Editing: changing your name, for example, adding friends using their email address etc.).

To render justice to the app though, it seems that this version is much better than the previous one - and I believe it should be used during summer, and well beyond. If we are fortunate, it will only be all uphill from here. 

Why don't you join me there and let me know what you think? I would LOVE to follow your recommendations and find out about new books to feast on this summer.

Happy reading to you all!

Credits: TheDaydreamer