Inspirational Regency Readers discussion

I admit I am not great at using Goodreads. For those of you who do, what are some of your favorite features, and what are some of your tips for using Goodreads effectively?

The Tags are a must for me, especially when reading a series. I like that I can add all of the books in a series even if I'm just starting it. Also, joining the Reading Challenge helps me keep track of my reading.

I use the shelves and have a ton of them but I’m clueless about tags. How do you use them? Where do you access them?

Hi everyone! I’d like to know more about tags as well!

I’d like to know about tags, too.

I have had a Goodreads account since 2008. I didn't always use it, but the past several years it has been my best tool for keeping track of the books I have read, and the books I want to read. I use the information from Goodreads to help me search for books to check out at my library. I rely a lot on reviews. I'll skim through both good and bad to see if the content of the book is "clean" enough for my liking, or if there is a common complaint about the book that may cause me to pass on it. I have too many books to read to waste time on something I won't enjoy. Shelves are nice, you just need to figure out how you want to classify your books. I used to only put a star rating, but a couple years ago I made sure to write something about each book. I hesitated doing this because I don't want to hurt author's feelings if I don't have glowing reviews (and they actually read it), but it helps me remember a bit more about the book. I have a horrible memory... It is more like an online journal for me to help remember the books in my life. I sign up for the yearly challenge so that I can easily see how many books I have read for the year. There are plenty of statistics you can view under "My Books", which is fun. Keep a link on your browser's "Bookmarks toolbar" to make it easier to get to. As soon as I start reading a book I find it and select "currently reading". When I am finished I mark it as "read" and review it and make sure the "read by" date is selected. It helps me keep track, especially when I re-read something. Anyway, I think I have gone on long enough.... I'm a fan....

I haven't been using goodreads to its full potential, I need to start using it more

Okay. Maybe what I've been calling "tags" are actually shelves. I guess I got my terminology wrong. LOL. When I think "shelves" I think READ, CURRENTLY READING, and WANT TO READ. Sorry for any confusion.

Actually, it is a bit confusing. The section is labeled "Bookshelves" that shows all of the custom shelves you create, which I think of as a "tag". On the page where you write your review it even says "Bookshelves/tags..." So I figure it can be referred to either way.

Exactly. lol