Lesson 10 of 11 · Basics.
What is Goodreads, and how does it work?
The biggest book site explained in one lesson: shelves, ratings, challenges, groups, and where it falls short.
Best Book Tracker Apps editors · 3 November 2026 · 4 min read · Facts checked 3 November 2026
Bottom line.Goodreads is a free book catalogue and social reading log owned by Amazon. You put books on shelves (want to read, currently reading, read, did not finish), rate and review them, set a yearly Reading Challenge and follow friends. It has the largest catalogue and community of any reading app, simple stats, and no public API for new developers.
What is Goodreads?
Goodreads is a website and app for keeping track of books. It launched in January 2007, and Amazon announced it was buying the company on 28 March 2013. It is free, with no paid tier for readers, on the web, iPhone, iPad and Android. Wikipedia reports it passed 150 million members in September 2023, far more than any other tracker we cover.
It is two things at once: a catalogue, with a page for almost every book in print, and a personal log, where your shelves, ratings and dates live. Most of what people call "using Goodreads" is moving books between shelves.
How do shelves work on Goodreads?
Every book you add sits on one exclusive shelf that describes its status:
| Shelf | Means | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Want to Read | On your list | The default when you add a book |
| Currently Reading | You are reading it now | Progress updates by page attach here |
| Read | Finished | Read dates drive the Reading Challenge count |
| Did Not Finish | You stopped | Added in March 2026 after years of requests |
On top of those you can make as many custom shelves as you like, for genres, clubs, owned books or anything else, and a book can sit on several custom shelves at once. Our lesson on reading statuses and shelves explains why other apps treat custom shelves differently when you move.
How do ratings and reviews work?
You rate a book out of five stars and can write a review, which is public by default. Goodreads announced half and quarter star ratings on 5 October 2026, bringing it in line with The StoryGraph. Reviews can be marked as containing spoilers, which hides them behind a warning, but that depends on each reviewer remembering to tick the box. Our guide to avoiding spoilers in reading apps covers where spoilers slip through.
What is the Reading Challenge?
A yearly goal: you choose how many books you want to read in the calendar year, and Goodreads counts every book you shelve as Read with a read date in that year. At the end of the year, Year in Books summarises what you read. It is the most widely used reading goal anywhere, but it is yearly only; daily or weekly goals need another app. See reading goals.
What are groups and friends for?
Friends see your updates and reviews in their feed. Groups host discussion threads, including online book clubs with reading schedules. Because almost everyone who tracks books has a Goodreads account, this is where its size matters most.
How does Goodreads connect to Kindle?
Goodreads' help centre has a guide to syncing your Goodreads and Kindle reading experiences, so activity from a linked Kindle account can reach your Goodreads shelves; the help article lists exactly what syncs. It applies to Kindle ebooks only: print, library and audiobook reading is still logged by hand. Our guide to getting Kindle books into a reading tracker compares the options across apps.
Where does Goodreads fall short?
- Stats: a few totals and the Year in Books, far behind StoryGraph's charts.
- Data: library export as a CSV file, but no API for new developers since December 2020.
- Privacy: its App Store label lists data linked to you, including for marketing.
- Spoilers: series pages and reviews of later books are one tap away.
- Statuses: no paused status; use a custom shelf (see paused or DNF).
How do readers use Goodreads alongside other apps?
Commonly in three ways: Goodreads for friends and the challenge with StoryGraph for stats; Goodreads as the catalogue with BookBuddy for books they own; or Goodreads as the log with a place-keeping app such as Magic Bookmark for picking a print or audio book back up without spoilers. Our page on Magic Bookmark and Goodreads explains that pairing. If you want to know what Goodreads costs you beyond money, read is Goodreads free.
Questions
Q1Is Goodreads a social network or a tracker?
Both. It is a personal reading log with shelves, ratings and a yearly challenge, built on top of the largest community of readers.
Q2Can you read books on Goodreads?
Goodreads is for tracking and discussing books, not reading them. You read in print, on an ereader or in an audiobook app and log it on Goodreads.
Q3Do I need an Amazon account to use Goodreads?
No. You can sign up with an email address. Linking Kindle is optional.
Q4How do I see what I read last year on Goodreads?
Open your Year in Books for that year, or filter your Read shelf by read date.