Why I Quit Goodreads

The logo should emphasize “good” rather than “reads.” Think about it: would you say “those were some good READS” or “those were some GOOD reads”? Neither, but I think you see my point. Probably.

Beneath the Blankets

Craig Thompson’s Blankets is one of my favorite books of all time. Part coming-of-age romance, part exploration of brotherhood, part dissection of one family’s Evangelical Christian worldview — there are a lot of moving parts, all beautifully written and drawn by Thompson. I read the whole thing in one night, the snow outside my window mirroring the book’s wintry setting.

Naturally, I wanted to devour more of Thompson’s work (not right away, because Blankets had me sobbing, but eventually). Skipping over Google, I instinctively turned to Goodreads, quickly rating and reviewing Blankets before checking out what else he had created. That’s how I discovered Habibi, which I purchased without a second thought on Amazon moments later.

After it came in the mail, Habibi sat on the bottom of the to-read pile in my room (it’s an enormous book) for several years — until a few days ago. I was wondering what to write a review on next, only to realize the egregiousness of the crime I’d committed in neglecting Habibi for so long after loving Blankets as much as I did. The only plausible excuse was the size of my TBR queue.

Now, here’s the part that irks me in hindsight: rather than trust in Thompson and myself, I set Habibi down on my desk and cracked open Goodreads. 4.03-star rating out of 5? Not bad. Some of…