The visually pleasing website is privately run and has no annoying pop up ads to distract you from your love of books. Aesthetically, it's quite clean, which is one of the things I love about it. Once you go through the simple registration of your Name, Email and Password you are ready to start adding books to your shelves via searches of title or author, import a file or Amazon wish list and by taking a book compatibility test. Don't worry, it's easy. Oh, and I can't forget, it's free.

Immediately after signing up you are given a listing of Good Read's most popular books that you can go through and mark as read, to read or currently reading. When you click that you have read a book you have the opportunity of rating it out of 5 stars and to write a mini review about the book. After I added a few books I have read, posted two mini reviews and left a few comments on other reviews I decided to take a look around. In the profile section you can add your favourite quote and a picture to represent you.

Like other networking sites there is the opportunity to collect friends and leave messages on their pages. Good Reads does highlight the most popular books out there but depending on the people you befriend and who be friend you, you can open up the door to books you might not necessarily hear about.

Overall, the whole process was pretty easy. Not everything has to be done in one sitting but if you want to get everything set up so you can just visit, browse and comment then you will need about an hour to find your way around and fill in the information on books and yourself that you want to share. Probably less time if you are already social network savvy. If you join be sure to look me up (biggirlblue) and add me to your friends.

Visit Good Read.

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M. E. Wood lives in Eastern Ontario, Canada. If you are going to find this eclectic reader and writer anywhere it is probably at her computer. For more information visit her official website.