My Favorite Alternatives to Goodreads.

What’s wrong with Goodreads?

If you don’t know what Goodreads is, or why to use this book site, see my previous post here:  https://thebashfulbookworm.com/5-reasons-to-use-goodreads/  

Goodreads is an excellent tool for organizing your books as it has one of the largest book databases available. The social media aspect of Goodreads is second to none as it has over 90 million members.  You’re sure to find a like-minded reader with that many members!  

So, what’s wrong?  

First, Goodreads is slow.  This site times out on me more often than any other site I’ve used.  You would think with the power of Amazon behind it, they could speed this site up considerably.  

Second, it’s confusing.  It took me a long time to figure out all the nuances of the site.  I’ve found the book search to bring up books not related to my keywords sometimes.  The groups and discussions area is limited and hard to navigate.  

Third, there is a bit of negativity.  I’ve seen so many one-star reviews, with nothing in the review to justify why they have determined the book to be that bad.  Negativity for negativities sake is never a good look.  

Fourth, it’s ugly, all that brown!  And it just looks dated.  Especially when you find some of these alternatives that I’ll go into below, that looks fresh and new.  

There are two sites that I’ve signed up for, that I believe have the potential to replace Goodreads.  They are, The StoryGraph and Readerly.  

What is The StoryGraph?  

https://app.thestorygraph.com/

According to their website, The StoryGraph was created:  “Because life’s too short for a book you’re not in the mood for.  The StoryGraph helps you track your reading and choose your next book based on your mood and your favorite topics and themes.”

What I like about StoryGraph:

1.  Excellent search feature (much better than Goodreads)
2.  The ability to import your Goodreads Data (I spent years inputting my books and review into Goodreads and I don’t want to lose that data!)
3. The recommendations are FAR superior to Goodreads.  
4. Statistics!  The StoryGraph can show pie charts, and graphs that let you know your reading preferences.  

What needs to be improved:

1.  There isn’t a social media component.  (this could be good or bad depending on your outlook!)
2. There is not nearly as much engagement with fellow bookworms as there is on Goodreads

For a real in-depth review of The StoryGraph Kal at ReaderVoracious has an excellent blog post here: https://readervoracious.com/storygraph-a-better-goodreads-finally/

And please go ahead and friend me on The StoryGraph my username is thebashfulbookworm

What is Readerly?

Readerly is an app, that allows you to find new books easily. https://www.readerly.com/

According to their website, Readerly is “An independent, reader-supported, alternative to Goodreads.   We’re making book discovery better for readers and fairer for authors by challenging the ever-growing influence Amazon has over our reading choices.”  

What I like about Readerly:

1. The recommendations are very good.  Much better than Goodreads. 

2. It’s independent and not related to Amazon

3. They use Gists for reviews which are short paragraphs that tell you all you need to know without a long review.  

What I don’t like about Readerly:

1.  At this time, it’s only an app.  I like to use a laptop for most of my work, so I’d prefer something that has a webpage.

2. It doesn’t have nearly as many users as Goodreads, so it’s difficult to get an overview of a book.  (hopefully, as it gains popularity, this changes soon)

You can find me on the Readerly app as bashfulbookworm. 

For a real in-depth review of The StoryGraph Kal at ReaderVoracious has an excellent blog post here:  https://readervoracious.com/?s=readerly

Both The StoryGraph and Readerly have great potential to replace Goodreads, but they both need a lot more readership.  I’ll continue to use both these alternatives, but I won’t be leaving Goodreads anytime soon.  

What do you think?  Will you use either The StoryGraph or Readerly?  Do you think Goodreads needs an alternative?  Let me know in the comments below.