Crack is wack. Goodreads ain't!

A friend of mine recently invited me to create an account at goodreads. Once I examined the true glory that is this website (free, I might add) I began to foam at the mouth and break into a sweat that would even make Whitney Houston cringe. I am now a hopeless shell of a human being...not satisfied with my life until I can get to my computer for my next goodreads fix.

Here's what you can do at goodreads: You can make an unlimited list of the books you've read and want to read. You can sift through titles & editions by using their wonderful database...You can write reviews and rate your books. There are open forums for discussion...people ask eachother & respond to questions about themes, topics, characters...etc. You can make a personal profile that includes a picture of yourself, etc. (this is optional). There's probably more...but I'm having fun with those aspects of the site for now. Choosing the books to put on my shelves & creating shelf categories is enough to keep me occupied until I grow a beard and long fingernails like Rip Van Winkle. That was revolting. My apologies.

Also, you can meet people from around the globe! I haven't gotten the whole "friendster" element of it together yet, as I just created my account two days ago. Apparently, though, you can find friends based on their interests and book choices. What a marvelous way to meet someone!

Right now, I'm reading If On A Winter's Night A Traveler by Italo Calvino. There are many underlying stories within this marvelous novel, but one of its main themes puts me in mind goodreads.com, as it explores a friendship that blossoms due to two main characters' mutual interest in a certain book.

It's so wonderful to discuss books on such a grand scale! It's such an aesthetically pleasing, simple website. The only annoying aspect of it is that it seems to be connected in some way to Amazon.com's search engines...Also, it seems to support the big chain bookstores and I could give less than two craps about supporting big business...It's actually very frustrating and upsetting!Despite that rather massive flaw, I've managed to enjoy my experience on goodreads.com thus far.

Check it out if you're so inclined. I'm pretty sure you'll be hooked after the first five minutes.