Goodreads- A Virtual Bookstore You Can Browse 24/7

I love the website GoodReads - a virtual bookstore you can browse 24/7 in the comfort of your own home. I am a big supporter of local businesses, especially bookstores. Unfortunately, they are few and far between. The only good one around I frequent is "Words" in Maplewood. Goodreads.com provides me the opportunity to browse a bookstore (something I love doing- especially on cold, snowy days) after hours or just whenever I feel like it. And the best part? I still go to Words to purchase the books.

Goodreads is like a virtual "book reader community." Now, in addition to asking for recommendations from the folks behind the counter and other customers in Words at a given time, I have a far wider circle of resources to tap for recommendations. It is like having a giant network of passionate readers' brains to pick at any given time.

Here's how it works:
Because the site is meant to inspire reading (and not book sales), once you make a list of the books you have read, and rate them you can divide them into shelves like contemporary, fiction, historical fiction (just like in a bookstore). Then, you can get recommendations from a variety of sources including the site's own picks based on the books you like, from friends who are members of the community, through your social networks or from random members with similar tastes.

And unlike Amazon, you can make recommendations directly to friends and vice-versa. To see my "Favorites" shelf click here. If you like my taste in books, please feel free to take my recommendations and also please make recommendations to me.

There's nothing better than reading a good book while you are curled up on your couch in front of the fire during the winter months. Well...reading a good book on a chaise lounge on the beach in the Caribbean during the winter months isn't bad either. Happy reading.
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