I adore Goodreads.
Truth be told, however, I signed up for it almost by accident. I was looking for a replacement to the Visual Bookshelf that went defunct on Facebook last summer, and wanted a place where I could organize my virtual bookshelf with links to those books on Amazon, if I so needed additional information. What I did not realize when I signed up for Goodreads was that it was, in its own way, a social network.
Having kicked Facebook to the curb (permanently) last September (happy birthday to me!) I was determined that I would not involve myself with any other social networks outside of Twitter. So when I started getting friend requests on Goodreads, I was irritated at first. Then I realized it wasn't an invasive network - it really was all about the books.
And you know how we bibliophiles are. We like to show off.
Of course, if you follow me on Goodreads, you may or may not have noticed how my "current reading" list yo-yos wildly from week to week, or freezes in time for small millennia now and then.
I can rationalize all this, of course, by simply stating that I am a history and literature teacher, and it is in my contract to be as obscure and irrelevant as possible. But the answer is really much more basic.
I have severe ADHD. And unfortunately, that can spill over into my reading habits.
Especially when the internet is involved.
Let's dig a little deeper and get a proper confession out of this:
Angela's Typical Neurotic Reading Habits
Step One: Pick several esoteric books that couldn't possibly interest anyone but me.
Step Two: Read at least the first chapter in each one, then hurry to list them on Goodreads.
Step Three: Watch my "currently reading" list grow to the length of a large anaconda
Step Three-and-a-Half: Tweet diligently about all these impressive titles that no one cares about.
Step Four: Get busy with life or - better yet - get distracted by other books (which may or may not be nerdy enough for me to show off on my Goodreads lists).
Step Five: Forget to update the books I am reading, and forget other "current reading" books altogether.
Step Six: Forget about Goodreads for about two weeks
Step Seven: Peruse Goodreads to see what other people are reading
Step Eight: Add 18279 books to my "to read" list.
Step Nine: Remove books from my "current reading" list that I haven't cracked open in about three centuries.
Step Ten: Go back to Step One. Start over.
See - that's how it's done. If you're a professional (read: ADHD bibliophile with too many demands on her time), this is how you slice and dice your time.
When....you know....I could just sit down and READ.
*blushes*
Is it just me? Or does anyone else find themselves trying to read 50 books at once?
PS Don't forget - tomorrow we announce the winners of the Blog Hop Contest!
Tune in tomorrow to see who scored the book and editing prizes!
This is a very interesting (and amusing) post! Though I'm usually very ADHD (I am known for pausing mid sentence to make a completely separate observation and then continue on where I left off in the sentence), when it comes to reading I tend to be of a one track mind. If I get a book that I enjoy, I usually don't set it down until I finish it, ignoring everything else including school, family, meals, and sleep.
ReplyDeleteGoodreads is really fun though. I admit I waste a lot of time on there, more than I should, though I don't have the ADHD problem (and still manage not to read as much as I'd like).
ReplyDeleteI've become completely addicted to GoodReads as a way of managing my TBR pile and finding new recommendations! I can't say that I'm that good at the social aspects of it, though--something that I'm working on. (And, yes, I'm also terrible about having fifty books listed as "To Read" at once!)
ReplyDeleteAngela, well timed post. I have been trying to figure out Goodreads but I tend to get lost on the site. I'm not sure if it's about me, about my network, about my books, about reviews! Perhaps it's about all of that! Anywho, always enjoy your take on things. :))
ReplyDeleteI try to limit myself to three "currently reading" books at once -- and if it goes more than a couple weeks without being updated, I just mark it "abandoned" and move on.
ReplyDeleteHa, this tickles my happy funny bone. I read several books simultaneously, but I read so fast sometimes I can finish them in a day or so...though that option requires sleep loss :D
ReplyDelete