Goodreads: Book Reviews

I usually never write reviews, but my life as a reader was totally changed after finding this app. I love books and always have, but life keeps you busy and you end up putting things aside. Well, this app has helped me find so many books I NEED to read, and it has helped me rediscover my love for reading! I really can’t think of anything to improve. I love the layout. I love the ability to make “shelves” to save books. It even lets you track the progress of books you’re reading. You can read your friends reviews or any reviews in general. I also love that they have a vote at the end of the year (or beginning, I can’t remember) for best books in SEVERAL genres and also have best of the best and whatnot. Browsing books by categories is also great because it’s helping me find different kinds of books so my reading list can be more diverse. The only complaint I have (which actually isn’t a real complaint) is that every time I click on this app, I find a million more books I want to read and there’s no way I can read them all in my lifetime.

I don't have room in my house for a bookcase nor do I have enough money to buy all the books I love and display them in my house. Therefore, when I found goodreads I found the perfect way to create a digital bookcase with reviews and all! I simply adore it :) My only wish would be a DNF category aside from the usual ones (i.e.- "Currently Reading", "To Read", "Read"). Right now I have a handful of books on my "Read" list even though I didn't finish them. I hate taking credit for reading a book when I didn't but if I take it off my list I'll forget I tried it and try to read it later. In addition, I read many books via audiobooks and I want to update my progress under “currently reading” but I have no way of knowing what page I’m on and typing in the percentage is a pure guess. In order for this to be more accurate to where I am in the book, it might be nice to have a category that tracks what chapter or minute you’re on. If this was the case I would have a more comprehensive view of my progress throughout the read. Other than these two small tweaks I love it!

I love this app. I use it every day. (Scroll to bottom to see reason for 4 star rating.) I love to new track of books I’ve read and what I’ve thought of them, in case a friend asks for a recommendation. I like to update what I’m currently reading as I go to see how far along I am in percentages. I also like to see what my friends have read/are reading, and what they thought of those books. I LOVE being able to make a list of books I want to read, instead of slowly typing them all out in my notes app, I can just check my list here while at the library or bookstore. However, I WISH there was a feedback submission area of the app. I’d like to be able to point out when I notice a problem. For example, I must’ve accidentally followed someone recently, but it won’t let me unfollow them. Another example, I was reading “The Help” recently and was updating it as I went. It told me I was 100% complete when I was only 90% through the book. I wish there was a feedback area so I could tell the app makers about these little problems that are probably easily fixable.

ask user to change the rating

So, I decided to wait on the update for a day or so, because I saw a couple recent reviews that were expressing issues. I figured I was happy with status quo, and was intending to take a wait and see posture. Didn’t even click the button, then change my mind, and click it to stop it. Went to open the app tonight, because I had finished a book, and it wants me to sign in. HOW COME? Fortunately I keep a notebook with such info, but in my mind, I shouldn’t have to do so until (perhaps) I update the app. Which, as I previously stated, I haven’t done yet. I’m not looking to borrow trouble, but I hope this isn’t an indication of a problem. Anyway, you folks are generally so good at responding, I thought I’d let you know, and hope you’ll get back to me, at which point, I’ll raise the 2 stars back up to 5 stars. You’ve done so in the past, and I commend you highly for your expediency and responsiveness. The 2 stars I’m giving you is to get your attention. Your app is wonderful, and honestly, is one of only 2 on my iPhone that has (till now) been basically trouble-free. I use it all the time, and find it easy to use/intuitive, timely and filled with excellent information, (true story). Thanks for a great product. FYI, I’m running the app on an iPhone 8 Plus, with IOS 13.1.2.

ask user to change the rating

The app is convenient. I use it daily. There are a few things I wish the app could handle—Input on book recommendations, for instance. I am never going to read that book. Dealing with it on my phone’s tiny browser is frustrating. But that’s among the “some day” hopes, and it’s not a big deal. I wish I could quote messages to make it clear which message I’m replying to: someday, I hope. I wish I could link to books in my messages like the “big kids” do with their computers. Again, maybe in the future. They’ve recently changed the way I see group messages from the notification tab, however. I used to see the bottom of the list of messages (most recent). Now I see a random message from the middle of the thread and have to scroll down to see the newest messages. A pointless change. By far the worst feature of this app is reading messages. They frequently have words missing from the message. I don’t know why. I have to deduce the meaning. Sometimes if there’s a hyperlink in the message, resting my finger on the link will make the missing words appear. But not always, and not all messages have hyperlinks, anyway. It’s a huge deficiency.