What is "goodreads"

Goodreads is an Amazon company and " social cataloging" website founded in December 2006 and launched in January 2007 by Otis Chandler, II, a software engineer and entrepreneur, and Elizabeth Chandler. (Otis Chandler II is the grandson of Otis Chandler, who was the publisher of the Los Angeles Times, and is the great-great-great grandson of Harrison Gray Otis, the newspaper's founder.) The website allows individuals to freely search Goodreads' extensive user-populated database of books, annotations, and reviews. Users can sign up and register books to generate library catalogs and reading lists. They can also create their own groups of book suggestions, surveys/polls, blogs, and discussions. In December 2007, the site had over 650,000 members and over 10,000,000 books had been added. By July 2012, the site reported 10 million members, 20 million monthly visits, and 30 employees. On July 23, 2013, it was announced on their website that the user base had grown to 20 million members, having doubled in close to 11 months. The website's offices are in San Francisco.

On March 28, 2013, Amazon announced its acquisition of Goodreads for an undisclosed amount.