Goodreads is a social network focused purely on books and reading. It is ideal for anyone who wants to keep a digital record of their reading life, including teachers and students.

A few things users can do with Goodreads:

• update their friends on what they are currently reading, what they have already read and what they want to read next;
• rate, review, and recommend books;
• join or create reading discussion groups;
• contribute to collaborative book lists;
• interact directly with book authors.

Goodreads is a great place for educators to keep track of their personal and professional reading life, connect with colleagues and other educators who share their reading interests, and find new titles to share with students.

Goodreads can also be used with students in the classroom. As an alternative to reading logs, students can utilize the system to keep track of what they are reading and share their reading choices and thoughts about what they are reading with each other. Teachers can create a private group and invite students to that group to facilitate this type of sharing.  Students aged 13 and up could use their district google accounts to create a Goodreads account.

Check out these articles to see some ways educators are using Goodreads in the classroom:

• Goodreads — Teacher Reviews [via Graphite]
• Get to Know Goodreads: Share this primer to the social reading site and help teachers and kids connect with great books [via The Digital Shift/School Library Journal]
• Goodreads Makes Good Readers [via Free Technology for Teachers]
• Goodreads in the Classroom: Reprise [via Literacy, Technology, Policy, Etc. Blog]
• Can Goodreads be used as a teaching tool for students? [Goodreads Help Topic]