All About Goodreads
The pitfalls of Goodreads, reader reviews, and literary criticism.
We both recently listened to an episode of the Culture Study podcast: How Did Goodreads Get So Bad? in which Maris Kreizman joins Culture Study host Anne Helen Petersen to discuss the origins of Goodreads, the pitfalls of Goodreads as a social media platform, and its downward spiral.
As we’ve said on the podcast many times—we are big fans of Petersen's work! And we have LOTS of thoughts on this particular episode and the Goodreads platform in general. Inspired by the episode and this excellent Substack response on
, we're sharing our thoughts on Goodreads as podcasters, professional bookworms, and lifelong readers. We discuss the role of reader reviews in the book world, how we feel about online literary criticism, and the dangers of limiting a platform like Goodreads to “experts.”We hope you listen to this episode and join the conversation! We would love to hear your thoughts.
Novel Pairings operates on an academic calendar to keep our work sustainable. But like most teachers, just because we have summer “off” doesn’t mean we aren’t hard at work behind the scenes! This summer, we will take off from sharing new episodes on the main feed in July and August to devote more time and energy to planning for the year ahead, restoring our creativity, and strengthening our bond with Patreon community members.
If you’re missing our regular main feed content, this season is a great time to join our scholarly community on Patreon! Along with recaps, bonus episodes, classes and book clubs, you will find a vibrant community of nerdy readers eager to discuss their experiences along the way.
Keep reading to learn more about all we’re offering this summer.
Our Summer 2024 Big Book Readalong
We’re reading Les Misérables by Victor Hugo—a HUGE novel in translation with timely and highly discussable themes. There’s still plenty of time to join this year’s summer readalong—there is no such thing as being “behind” because our classes, recaps, and resources are available for you to read and learn at your own pace.
We’ve already released our recap of Part 1 on Patreon, and our next recap will be out on Friday, June 28th. You can find a complete recap schedule, including book club dates, on Patreon.
We’ll be back in your inbox with another newsletter to highlight another exciting Patreon bonus episode next week. Until then, we declare after all, there is no enjoyment like reading. How much sooner one tires of anything than of a book!
Thank you for supporting the podcast and our work to make public scholarship fun and accessible. If you would like to stay connected to what’s happening at Novel Pairings, make sure to subscribe to this Substack and follow us on Instagram. Make sure you never miss an episode by subscribing to the show wherever you get your podcasts. And if you love the work we’re doing, please consider leaving us a review on Apple Podcasts!