In an attempt to be less chained to the TV and to learn more about some topics that interest me, I’ve started to read.  While I’ve never been a fan of reading books, I’ve been a magazine reader for almost 20 years.  Some of my desire to read more changed recently when a friend sent me Heft on Wheels, which I devoured, along with Lance Armstrong’s book on cancer.  Some of my other friends have been telling me about this or that book and how amazing it was, so I have a new found passion for reading, but only have a limited time to do it and was starting to forget the titles of books that I wanted to read.

This all changed about two weeks ago when a random Twitter message from @kevinrose came up with a link to his profile on www.goodreads.com, a social networking site for readers to not only review books they have read and are currently reading, but to add books that interest them in a list.  In a manor similar to Netflix, goodreads will also suggest books that might interest you based on the ratings of books you’ve read.  It’s also free, and doesn’t ask you to do anything other than give a review of a book after you’ve read it.

The site work, well, no extra fluff, with some nice features.  Some of the features I like are the lists, groups and local events.  The lists are great, they are both content generated, top reviewed books, and user generated lists like, Worst books of all time.  The groups feature is nice because people seem to get into bonding, but the local events groups are pretty amazing.  Just going off your zip code, goodreads will tell you what book related events, groups and readings are in your area.  If you have a child, this information is priceless.

Additionally, goodreads gives away dozens upon dozens of books a month, most before they are released to the public.  All you have to do is sign-up to the interested in reading list for that particular book and they draw randomly, again asking that you write a short review of what you thought after you’ve read it.   The site has minimal advertising which in no way clutters the site, which makes it even more apealing to me.  You don’t have to worry about clicking a link to get more info on a book and be redirected to buy it.

The site is not a book-swapping site, that is to say, you don’t mail books back and forth between members.  It seems like that might work, but clearly this is for people who use the library or buy their own books.

So, if you are a member, or join (it’s free after-all), add me as a friend, you can view my profile here.  By all means, if you don’t join, leave a comment on a book you think I should add to my list that’s a must-read.

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