reading
Goodreads Lovin'
I talk to a lot of people about books because when you are an English major, people assume that you acquire a magical knowledge of all things books. But whenever someone starts to ask me about books, I inevitably ask, "Do you have a Goodreads?"
I was clearly too young to be the target demographic when Goodreads, a bare-bones social media designed to keep track of and talk about books, flourished. As I tore through books during the summers of middle school and high school, I didn't really think twice to keep track of what I was reading. And if I ever needed to be reminded of what I'd read, I'd just defer to my mom, who at the age of 48 had more of an idea of the hot young adult books than me at 15. This tendency, and my astounding ability to completely forget everything I had read in a book within 24 hours, kind of put me in a pickle when someone would ask me, "What good books have you read lately?"
Finally, as a rising college junior worn down by my mother's persistence, I sat in front of the computer one July afternoon and clicked "Yes" to connect my facebook account with Goodreads. The rest is history.
I was clearly too young to be the target demographic when Goodreads, a bare-bones social media designed to keep track of and talk about books, flourished. As I tore through books during the summers of middle school and high school, I didn't really think twice to keep track of what I was reading. And if I ever needed to be reminded of what I'd read, I'd just defer to my mom, who at the age of 48 had more of an idea of the hot young adult books than me at 15. This tendency, and my astounding ability to completely forget everything I had read in a book within 24 hours, kind of put me in a pickle when someone would ask me, "What good books have you read lately?"
Finally, as a rising college junior worn down by my mother's persistence, I sat in front of the computer one July afternoon and clicked "Yes" to connect my facebook account with Goodreads. The rest is history.
My sales pitch is that Goodreads is great for those conversations when someone says, "I just read this amazing book" or "You'd really love [insert author here]" or when your middle school student says, "You should send me some summer reading book recommendations!" Instead of scrambling to remember that one book that you without fail recommend to everyone, you can pull out your phone and scroll through the last ten books you read and say, "Hey, I think this one would be great." You can smile, search up that obscure novel, and put it on a list that you pull out before you weasel your way over to the library. The app itself is awful at recommending books, but if you successfully convince your friend to also join and be active, you can just take recommendations from them! Whenever you want!
When I gave up social media for lent, the only one I didn't take off my phone was Goodreads. Did it really count as a social media if I couldn't scroll endlessly through random articles and acquaintances' pictures? What really ended up happening is that I transferred the energy I spent scrolling through Twitter to scrolling through books. And honestly? It was better because I only explored one thing: books. I didn't find myself five people deep into past Bachelor contestants or puzzling over new Tumblr memes; I got to get excited about new books and share my thoughts about what I was reading.
I try to view all my social media as a tracking tool, utilized in order to record my thoughts about the moment I am currently in. Goodreads does that the best because of its simplicity: it catalogs my adventures in books, and it does not demand anything more.
My aunt and I sat down after days of celebration with family about graduations and birthdays, and I set up her account. "Let's look at your mom's books and what she wrote reviews for," she said. I opened up the 470-odd books that my mom had cataloged, and we laughed as she used the words "love" and "redemptive" over and over again. I've often become sad that I don't get to share the books I read with my mom anymore, but scrolling through that list I realized she left me with a treasure trove of books to add to my list. Without her diligence and her insistence on me joining, I would have lost that part of her forever.
When I gave up social media for lent, the only one I didn't take off my phone was Goodreads. Did it really count as a social media if I couldn't scroll endlessly through random articles and acquaintances' pictures? What really ended up happening is that I transferred the energy I spent scrolling through Twitter to scrolling through books. And honestly? It was better because I only explored one thing: books. I didn't find myself five people deep into past Bachelor contestants or puzzling over new Tumblr memes; I got to get excited about new books and share my thoughts about what I was reading.
I try to view all my social media as a tracking tool, utilized in order to record my thoughts about the moment I am currently in. Goodreads does that the best because of its simplicity: it catalogs my adventures in books, and it does not demand anything more.
My aunt and I sat down after days of celebration with family about graduations and birthdays, and I set up her account. "Let's look at your mom's books and what she wrote reviews for," she said. I opened up the 470-odd books that my mom had cataloged, and we laughed as she used the words "love" and "redemptive" over and over again. I've often become sad that I don't get to share the books I read with my mom anymore, but scrolling through that list I realized she left me with a treasure trove of books to add to my list. Without her diligence and her insistence on me joining, I would have lost that part of her forever.
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