# Starting a Straight Dope Goodreads group **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 29, 2007, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/starting-a-straight-dope-goodreads-group/417384 "2007-08-29T17:36:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a88e4f/32.png) [@Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eleanor_of_Aquitaine)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2007, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/starting-a-straight-dope-goodreads-group/417384/21 "2007-08-30T12:54:07Z")
[QUOTE=Jodi] So those of you who have added hundreds of books already – how are you doing that??? [/QUOTE] I sat down last night and entered a bunch of books at random. If you use the author as your search keyword, it doesn’t take long to enter several books by the same author. I wanted to play around with the export file before I put a lot of time into entering everything. It exports a nice CSV file. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2007, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/starting-a-straight-dope-goodreads-group/417384/22 "2007-08-30T13:31:53Z")
> [@Goodreads](#): > > You have 12 books in common with Eleanor. Based on those 12 ratings your tastes are 100% similar. We are either legion or pod people. You be the judge! ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2007, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/starting-a-straight-dope-goodreads-group/417384/23 "2007-08-30T14:26:29Z")
[QUOTE=jsgoddess] But it’s also fairly fast if you zoom through someone else’s list and rate everything you’ve read. [/QUOTE] That’s what I did. But I ended up with some books on my shelf twice, because of all the different editions. When I added books, I didn’t take the time to look for the particular edition I read. So if I saw something on Eleanor’s list that I read but wasn’t my edition, I added it anyway. Otherwise the Compare feature wouldn’t work right. I’ve been putting books read in a Word file for a few years, and I also went back and looked at my Amazon purchases. What fun! ---
**Author:** ![Jodi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7feea3/32.png) [@Jodi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jodi)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2007, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/starting-a-straight-dope-goodreads-group/417384/24 "2007-08-30T14:27:25Z")
Okay, I have a fairly serious complaint. I have a Yahoo e-mail account as my primary personal account. I registered at Goodreads and Goodreads sent out invites to join to every person in my address book, without my knowledge or permission. This _really_ pisses me off. Not everyone in my addy book is a good friend, or enjoys reading, or is someone I would recommend _any_ website to. I had to send out a broadcast e-mail to the effect, “hey, hope you’re all well, just to let you know, I didn’t send you this. You may enjoy the website but this was sent without my permission.” I do NOT enjoy being involuntarily made an advertiser for any website. I’m not mad enough to take my books and go home, since I do think the website is fun, and I’m definitely not mad at anyone in this thread, including **jsgoddess**. But anyone else thinking about signing should be aware that this is one of those “networking” sites that will access your addy book to spread the network and won’t ask you first. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2007, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/starting-a-straight-dope-goodreads-group/417384/25 "2007-08-30T14:34:02Z")
So goodreads is partnered with Yahoo? ---
**Author:** ![Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a88e4f/32.png) [@Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eleanor_of_Aquitaine)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2007, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/starting-a-straight-dope-goodreads-group/417384/26 "2007-08-30T14:58:11Z")
[QUOTE=AuntiePam] That’s what I did. But I ended up with some books on my shelf twice, because of all the different editions. When I added books, I didn’t take the time to look for the particular edition I read. So if I saw something on Eleanor’s list that I read but wasn’t my edition, I added it anyway. Otherwise the Compare feature wouldn’t work right. [/QUOTE] It’s nice to be able to enter the exact edition of the book you own, for your own records, but it does make it difficult to compare. Okay, I found instructions to “combine editions”. Click on a book and then find “other editions” in the right-hand column, click edit, then “combine editions”. Maybe that will help, but it’s extra work when adding books. And **Jodi** , that would make me mad too. Fortunately I don’t have anybody in the address book for the account I’m using. I can’t find anything on the Goodreads site where they warn you about this. ---
**Author:** ![koeeoaddi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/koeeoaddi/32/408_2.png) [@koeeoaddi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koeeoaddi)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2007, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/starting-a-straight-dope-goodreads-group/417384/27 "2007-08-30T15:09:41Z")
**Jodi** , it tried to do that with my gmail account, but there was a “skip this” screen, so I clicked the “hell no, what are you nuts?” button. Honestly, I would’ve missed it if I hadn’t entered a different address first and then thought WTF when it asked for a yahoo or gmail account. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2007, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/starting-a-straight-dope-goodreads-group/417384/28 "2007-08-30T15:11:38Z")
[QUOTE=Jodi] I have a Yahoo e-mail account as my primary personal account. I registered at Goodreads and Goodreads sent out invites to join to every person in my address book, without my knowledge or permission. [/QUOTE] That’s awful. I’m sorry. I had seen a place to enter my own gmail password and I tried it to see what it did. It brought up a huge list of people in my files, some of whom were members. I picked something like two people to get an invite. But it definitely didn’t send something out without my permission. ---
**Author:** ![Jodi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7feea3/32.png) [@Jodi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jodi)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2007, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/starting-a-straight-dope-goodreads-group/417384/29 "2007-08-30T15:14:07Z")
[QUOTE=koeeoaddi] **Jodi** , it tried to do that with my gmail account, but there was a “skip this” screen, so I clicked the “hell no, what are you nuts?” button. Honestly, I would’ve missed it if I hadn’t entered a different address first and then thought WTF when it asked for a yahoo or gmail account. [/QUOTE] And I didn’t have that “WTF” moment because the yahoo account was what I entered in the first place. Grr. But it doesn’t rate the “mad” smiley. Where’s the “mildly frosted” smiley? ETA, **gsgoddess** , _please_ don’t apologize! It’s not your fault and I’m still glad to be included. :🙂 ---
**Author:** ![yellowval](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/919ad9/32.png) [@yellowval](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yellowval)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2007, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/starting-a-straight-dope-goodreads-group/417384/30 "2007-08-30T15:14:54Z")
[QUOTE=Jodi] Okay, I have a fairly serious complaint. [/QUOTE] Happened to me too and I’m feeling pretty embarrassed right now. I did get three friends out of the deal, but still. As you said, not everyone in my address book is a close friend. No biggie though. I’ll get over it. ETA: Oh, and I’m in the group. I’ve been having fun with the site so far! ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2007, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/starting-a-straight-dope-goodreads-group/417384/31 "2007-08-30T15:26:49Z")
I sent them a message about the issue, saying that there should be flashing lights and warnings about what invites are going out to whom. If I get a reply, I’ll share it here. My apology stands, since this was my idea! ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2007, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/starting-a-straight-dope-goodreads-group/417384/32 "2007-08-30T15:53:54Z")
[QUOTE=jsgoddess] My apology stands, since this was my idea! [/QUOTE] And a great idea it was! I’ve been comparing, and so far I have the most total books in common with **koeeoaddi** – 45 – but the highest rating in common is 95% with **jsgoddess** , but only 4 books in common. I need to figure out how to enter books from the TBR pile. Maybe when I see your high ratings, I’ll be motivated to read them. ---
**Author:** ![George\_Kaplin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3e96dc/32.png) [@George\_Kaplin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/George_Kaplin)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2007, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/starting-a-straight-dope-goodreads-group/417384/33 "2007-08-30T17:22:14Z")
See, this is why it’s a bad idea to have friends. ---
**Author:** ![Jodi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7feea3/32.png) [@Jodi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jodi)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2007, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/starting-a-straight-dope-goodreads-group/417384/34 "2007-08-30T17:24:22Z")
Also, a request: If you’re signed up at Goodreads with a different name than the one you use here, could you please tell us who you are in the Dope-iverse? Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2007, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/starting-a-straight-dope-goodreads-group/417384/35 "2007-08-30T17:31:38Z")
Dang. I think I broke my bookshelves. Now everything is showing up on my “read” shelf. Eek. ---
**Author:** ![muzzynyc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b3f665/32.png) [@muzzynyc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muzzynyc)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2007, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/starting-a-straight-dope-goodreads-group/417384/36 "2007-08-30T17:41:54Z")
[QUOTE=Jodi] Also, a request: If you’re signed up at Goodreads with a different name than the one you use here, could you please tell us who you are in the Dope-iverse? Thanks! [/QUOTE] I joined as Dave Christopher. Sort of my real name. Sort of. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2007, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/starting-a-straight-dope-goodreads-group/417384/37 "2007-08-30T17:47:06Z")
Okay, I don’t know if this will affect anyone but me, but it appears that if you create additional shelves, the books will be automatically entered onto your “read” shelf, too. To override that, it appears that the book has to be on your read shelf, your to-read shelf, or your currently-reading shelf. This is only a problem for me because I have a “Steve” shelf where I was putting books I had seen that I thought my husband might like. These books have _cooties_ and I do not want them getting mixed up with _my_ books! Before you ask, yes, I am that neurotic. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![yellowval](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/919ad9/32.png) [@yellowval](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yellowval)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2007, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/starting-a-straight-dope-goodreads-group/417384/38 "2007-08-30T17:48:42Z")
I’m signed up as Valerie. I didn’t even think to use my SDMB username. Whoops. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2007, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/starting-a-straight-dope-goodreads-group/417384/39 "2007-08-30T18:09:54Z")
If anyone gets duplicated friend requests from me, I apologize. I’m confusing myself. ---
**Author:** ![Dorjan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dorjan/32/12440_2.png) [@Dorjan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dorjan)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2007, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/starting-a-straight-dope-goodreads-group/417384/40 "2007-08-30T18:16:38Z")
Nice site! I just joined up, and hitched myself to the SDMB group. Please excuse my rather varied tastes in reading materials 😃 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/starting-a-straight-dope-goodreads-group/417384.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/starting-a-straight-dope-goodreads-group/417384.md?page=3)