{"id":7062294,"date":"2026-09-20T17:40:39","date_gmt":"2026-09-20T17:40:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peraltafinancing.com\/uncategorized\/why-i-am-deleting-goodreads-and-maybe-you-should-too-books\/"},"modified":"2026-09-20T17:40:39","modified_gmt":"2026-09-20T17:40:39","slug":"why-i-am-deleting-goodreads-and-maybe-you-should-too-books","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=7062294","title":{"rendered":"Why I am deleting Goodreads and maybe you should, too | Books"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\"><span style=\"color:var(--drop-cap);font-weight:700\" class=\"dcr-1iwzucl\">I<\/span> can\u2019t remember the last time I enjoyed reading a book where my enjoyment wasn\u2019t tied to the euphoric sense of achievement I got from finishing it. This is not because I don\u2019t love reading, or would rather watch television. No, it\u2019s because of a little app on my phone called Goodreads.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">Home to about 90 million readers worldwide, Goodreads is a website that lets users track their reading and broadcast their tastes to the world \u2013 or, in my case, a few friends and vague acquaintances. At its core, it\u2019s a harmless concept: an online community for bookworms, and an opportunity to discover new books your friends have loved.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">It\u2019s also extremely satisfying. Since joining Goodreads a few years ago, the annual roundup I receive tallying up the books I have finished that year has become the clinching point of my reading experience. I get a buzz from increasing my reading goal every 12 months, and from comparing how many pages I\u2019ve turned or hours of audiobooks I\u2019ve listened to with other people\u2019s numbers. I feel a sense of accomplishment every time I update my \u201cprogress\u201d with a book.<\/p>\n<aside data-spacefinder-role=\"supporting\" data-gu-name=\"pullquote\" class=\"dcr-1qefndq\"><svg viewbox=\"0 0 22 14\" style=\"fill:var(--pullquote-icon)\" class=\"dcr-1usi6vc\"><title>double quotation mark<\/title><path d=\"M5.255 0h4.75c-.572 4.53-1.077 8.972-1.297 13.941H0C.792 9.104 2.44 4.53 5.255 0Zm11.061 0H21c-.506 4.53-1.077 8.972-1.297 13.941h-8.686c.902-4.837 2.485-9.411 5.3-13.941Z\"\/><\/svg><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"dcr-150m8vh\"><p>Goodreads is far more performative than I have previously admitted to myself: I love the feeling of people thinking I\u2019m well read<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/aside>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">But that\u2019s exactly what\u2019s wrong with Goodreads: it turns reading into an achievement. Quantifying, dissecting and broadcasting our most-loved hobbies sucks the joy out of them. I find myself glancing towards the corner of the page to see how much I\u2019ve read. I compare the thickness of the read pages I hold in my left hand to the unread ones in my right. Even when absorbed in the climax of a story, one eye is always on my proximity to the end, when I\u2019ll be able to post it all to Goodreads.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">It\u2019s not just our reading habits that have been gamified. From our runs on Strava to the films we\u2019ve watched on Letterboxd, there\u2019s now a popular app to quantify all our hobbies. But with reading come the associations of intelligence and work that are not granted to our habitual consumption of other art forms; if I documented the amount of television I watch, I would feel more embarrassed than triumphant. This is why tracking my reading activity on Goodreads is far more performative than I have previously admitted to myself: I love reading, but I also love the feeling of people thinking I\u2019m well read.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">While some people\u2019s qualms with Goodreads are rooted in its clunky interface, or the fact that it is owned by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/technology\/amazon\" data-link-name=\"in body link\" data-component=\"auto-linked-tag\">Amazon<\/a>, mine lie in its very concept. Reading is something I do to relax, learn and enjoy. It\u2019s not just that I don\u2019t <em>need<\/em> a pie chart detailing my reading habits, the chart has poisoned the whole experience. Even if I were to switch to another book app without the social aspect, I know that I would remain obsessed with finishing books over enjoying them.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">It\u2019s human nature to get a sense of satisfaction from seeing something through to the end. But, without Goodreads, it won\u2019t matter if I give up on a book I\u2019m not bothered about halfway through, because no one will know or care \u2013 as if they did anyway. I won\u2019t be self-conscious if I read yet another thriller bought in a supermarket deal, instead of something others would consider as smarter or better.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">If Goodreads provides a sense of community, good recommendations and doesn\u2019t make you obsess over what you\u2019re reading or how much, then great. Maybe it\u2019s just a few of us who aren\u2019t compatible with it, and end up developing a toxic relationship that distracts from the magic of getting lost in a book. But right now I am reading my first book Goodreads-free since I installed the app. It feels just like it did when I was a child, with no awareness of what others think about what I\u2019m reading, how quickly I\u2019m reading it, or what I haven\u2019t read. From now on, my reading habits are staying between me and my book.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I can\u2019t remember the last time I enjoyed reading a book where my enjoyment wasn\u2019t tied to the euphoric sense of achievement I got from finishing it. This is not because I don\u2019t love reading, or would rather watch television. No, it\u2019s because of a little app on my phone called Goodreads. Home to about [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7062295,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[116505,101,12136,186,12447,91],"tags":[1752,224248,4026],"dealstore":[],"offerexpiration":[],"class_list":["post-7062294","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-amazon","category-books","category-culture","category-internet","category-social-media","category-technology","tag-books","tag-deleting","tag-goodreads"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Why I am deleting Goodreads and maybe you should, too | Books - Som2ny Network<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=7062294\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Why I am deleting Goodreads and maybe you should, too | Books - Som2ny Network\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I can\u2019t remember the last time I enjoyed reading a book where my enjoyment wasn\u2019t tied to the euphoric sense of achievement I got from finishing it. This is not because I don\u2019t love reading, or would rather watch television. No, it\u2019s because of a little app on my phone called Goodreads. Home to about [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=7062294\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Som2ny Network\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-09-20T17:40:39+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/1898.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"630\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=7062294#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=7062294\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b85e3c3dc0e1daea076524dc8810c371\"},\"headline\":\"Why I am deleting Goodreads and maybe you should, too | Books\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-09-20T17:40:39+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=7062294\"},\"wordCount\":724,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=7062294#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/1898.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Books\",\"deleting\",\"Goodreads\"],\"articleSection\":[\"amazon\",\"Books\",\"Culture\",\"Internet\",\"Social Media\",\"Technology\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=7062294#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=7062294\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=7062294\",\"name\":\"Why I am deleting Goodreads and maybe you should, too | Books - Som2ny Network\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=7062294#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=7062294#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/1898.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-09-20T17:40:39+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=7062294#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=7062294\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=7062294#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/1898.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/1898.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":630},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=7062294#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?bp_activities=1\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Why I am deleting Goodreads and maybe you should, too | Books\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/\",\"name\":\"Som2ny Network\",\"description\":\"Daily Deals\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Som2ny Network\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/4a0953c4-logo-300x86-1.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/4a0953c4-logo-300x86-1.png\",\"width\":300,\"height\":86,\"caption\":\"Som2ny Network\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b85e3c3dc0e1daea076524dc8810c371\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/729ae85bf62b9917e93538db2f2688ca?s=96&r=g&default=https%3A%2F%2Ffivemor.com%2Fwp-content%2Fplugins%2Fbuddypress-first-letter-avatar%2Fimages%2Fdefault%2F96%2Flatin_a.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/729ae85bf62b9917e93538db2f2688ca?s=96&r=g&default=https%3A%2F%2Ffivemor.com%2Fwp-content%2Fplugins%2Fbuddypress-first-letter-avatar%2Fimages%2Fdefault%2F96%2Flatin_a.png\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Why I am deleting Goodreads and maybe you should, too | Books - Som2ny Network","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=7062294","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Why I am deleting Goodreads and maybe you should, too | Books - Som2ny Network","og_description":"I can\u2019t remember the last time I enjoyed reading a book where my enjoyment wasn\u2019t tied to the euphoric sense of achievement I got from finishing it. This is not because I don\u2019t love reading, or would rather watch television. No, it\u2019s because of a little app on my phone called Goodreads. Home to about [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=7062294","og_site_name":"Som2ny Network","article_published_time":"2026-09-20T17:40:39+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":630,"url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/1898.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=7062294#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=7062294"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b85e3c3dc0e1daea076524dc8810c371"},"headline":"Why I am deleting Goodreads and maybe you should, too | Books","datePublished":"2026-09-20T17:40:39+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=7062294"},"wordCount":724,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=7062294#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/1898.jpg","keywords":["Books","deleting","Goodreads"],"articleSection":["amazon","Books","Culture","Internet","Social Media","Technology"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=7062294#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=7062294","url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=7062294","name":"Why I am deleting Goodreads and maybe you should, too | Books - Som2ny Network","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=7062294#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=7062294#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/1898.jpg","datePublished":"2026-09-20T17:40:39+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=7062294#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=7062294"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=7062294#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/1898.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/1898.jpg","width":1200,"height":630},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=7062294#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?bp_activities=1"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Why I am deleting Goodreads and maybe you should, too | Books"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/","name":"Som2ny Network","description":"Daily Deals","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization","name":"Som2ny Network","url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/4a0953c4-logo-300x86-1.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/4a0953c4-logo-300x86-1.png","width":300,"height":86,"caption":"Som2ny Network"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b85e3c3dc0e1daea076524dc8810c371","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/729ae85bf62b9917e93538db2f2688ca?s=96&r=g&default=https%3A%2F%2Ffivemor.com%2Fwp-content%2Fplugins%2Fbuddypress-first-letter-avatar%2Fimages%2Fdefault%2F96%2Flatin_a.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/729ae85bf62b9917e93538db2f2688ca?s=96&r=g&default=https%3A%2F%2Ffivemor.com%2Fwp-content%2Fplugins%2Fbuddypress-first-letter-avatar%2Fimages%2Fdefault%2F96%2Flatin_a.png","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/fivemor.com"],"url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7062294","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7062294"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7062294\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/7062295"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7062294"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7062294"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7062294"},{"taxonomy":"dealstore","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fdealstore&post=7062294"},{"taxonomy":"offerexpiration","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fofferexpiration&post=7062294"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}