# Let's (Fire) Talk Goodreads integration on the HDX



## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

OK.  Ann and I were playing a bit with Goodreads integration at lunch, and I've played with it a bit.

I'm underwhelmed.  But maybe because I'm not much of a Goodreads user?  And Ann didn't even have an account until today.   But some of the stuff we tried this afternoon that didn't work is working now, so maybe Amazon is still fiddling with the system.  So I'm more whelmed than I was earlier. 

I already had an account.  It was interesting to see that Ann could sign into GR with her Amazon credentials.  So she didn't really have to set up an account.

Yay, you can add your Amazon books directly to Goodreads.  But you can only do it one at a time.     (In the GR app I'm discussing; as member BruceS points out later in this thread, there are ways to import all of your Amazon books to Goodreads, but you have to do that outside this app.  Thanks, Bruce, for pointing that out.)

You only have a choice of three shelves to send a book to through the Kindle:  Want to Read, Currently Reading, Read.  You can clear the rating or remove from shelf.  So if you want to add new books to one of your other shelves, you have to do it through the website.

If you had already rated books on kindle.amazon.com, those ratings do not carry over, as far as we could tell.    If anyone has a different experience, please post it.

If you rate a book on your Paperwhite2, that rating seems to carry over just fine.  When I rated a book on my Fire earlier today, it didn't carry the rating over onto the listing on my shelf, but it seems to be working now.

And you don't have to actually write a review on the Fire, as soon as you make a star rating, it carries over to Goodreads.  So that's the good part, from the reader point of view.  And that the book has been read and rated is added to your status on GR.

I'd like to hear thoughts from some people who really use GR.

Betsy


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## SheilaJ (Apr 10, 2011)

Betsy, I use GR all the time and the integration to GR would be one of the main reasons that I may upgrade to an HDX.  I get a couple of what is newly free on Amazon lists and "buy" free books every day.  What I would like to see is the ability to automatically have those books show up on a shelf that I have created called free kindle books.  Even if they just show up on the want to read shelf would be a big help since then a batch edit could be done from the GR site to copy all those newly purchased books to the shelf of my choice.

One question I would have for you is that if you go to purchase a book you already have, does it notify you like it shows the bar saying you purchased this item on - date?

From the integration app can you access GR groups?  Then can you read and post from there or do you need to go in to silk or whatever browser to do that?


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

SheilaJ said:


> Betsy, I use GR all the time and the integration to GR would be one of the main reasons that I may upgrade to an HDX. I get a couple of what is newly free on Amazon lists and "buy" free books every day. What I would like to see is the ability to automatically have those books show up on a shelf that I have created called free kindle books. Even if they just show up on the want to read shelf would be a big help since then a batch edit could be done from the GR site to copy all those newly purchased books to the shelf of my choice.


I don't think there is any way, through the app on the Fire to have books automatically show up on any shelf? Maybe I'm misunderstanding? You have to manually select the books one at a time. But once you have added them, you could go to the site as yous ay.



> One question I would have for you is that if you go to purchase a book you already have, does it notify you like it shows the bar saying you purchased this item on - date?


I guess I don't understand...are you saying if you click on a book in the GR app? It gives you the book's GR page; you have to click on "View in Kindle Store." to buy it. And then you're in the Amazon store, where the usual rules apply; if you've purchased it already, on the page the Fire sees, you won't see a price, you'll see "Read Now." Does that work differently from the GR site?



> From the integration app can you access GR groups? Then can you read and post from there or do you need to go in to silk or whatever browser to do that?


Not that I've found yet...I'll post some screen caps in a few minutes.

Betsy


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

So . . . Betsy . . . . you're saying that now the ratings ARE carrying over? So if I finish a book and rate and share it will carry to Amazon AND to GR?  That makes it moderately more useful and may encourage me to bother more.

That said, on my Fire, I don't really read that much . . . . . if it worked that way on my PW I might do it . . . . but not if it means also having 'cloud collections, which, as I understand from reports in LTK, would hose up my current organization method. 

I too am underwhelmed.


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

yes, I was testing and the review integration seems to work now the way we thought it would with the PW and the Fire. Of course you'd have to upgrade the PW.

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S2 using Tapatalk 4


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

Betsy the Quilter said:


> yes, I was testing and the review integration seems to work now the way we thought it would know with the PW and the Fire. Of course you'd have to upgrade the PW.
> 
> Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S2 using Tapatalk 4


Yyyyeeeeaaahhhhh. . . . . . I think I'm'a wait on that.


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

Here are some screenshots of GR integration on the Fire HDX




























Sent from my Fire HDX7


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## HappyGuy (Nov 3, 2008)

So, call me ignorant as I'm not sure I see the reason d' etre for GR. Can I download from there to my Fire or do I still have to do that from 
amazon? Is this just some sort of social thing to get readers to see what others are reading? If I put a book on the Read shelf, then download it to my Fire does it go into a Read collection on the Fire?  I guess I just don't get it.  

By the way, GR brought in not only my ebooks but my DT books as well.


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

No, you can't really buy directly from GR--they have links that will direct you to other stores, to include sources for paper books.  It's not just for ebook readers.

It's often described as Facebook for readers--it's a social site for sharing what you're reading.  There are a LOT of discussion groups.  I used it some early on but never really got into it, but many of our members love it.

Betsy


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## BruceS (Feb 7, 2009)

Betsy the Quilter said:


> Yay, you can add your Amazon books directly to Goodreads. But you can only do it one at a time.
> 
> Betsy


Betsy,

I found a way to import more than one book at a time into Goodreads, although it does require using a shelfari.com account as well. Shelfari was purchased by amazon at about the same time as Goodreads and shelfari.com accounts are free.

1. Login to your shelfar.com account
2. Click on the Home tab
3. Click on the Import Amazon.com Purchases link
4. After the import is complete, all your amazon books should show under Your Shelf
5. Next to Your Shelf is a down arrow. Click on that arrow, which opens a menu.
6. Then click on the Export your books selection at the bottom. This creates a comma separated variable file listing all of your books named My_Shelfari_Books.csv, which is downloaded to your computer when it is complete.
7. After the download is complete, login to your Goodreads.com account.
8. Click on My Books and click on import/export.
9. Click on Choose File and select the My_Shelfari_Books.csv file.

Most of your books will be imported into your Goodreads account, although it does take quite a while to complete. This apparently only works for books which have an ISBN, so it may not work for books which are only available in Kindle format.

Of the 360 books I had listed on Shelfari, it imported 100 successfully.

*NOTE: You need to do the above steps using a computer, at least that worked for me. I also had to use Safari to perform the download from Shelfari. I first tried it using Firefox and instead of downloading the file, it just displayed the contents in a browser window.*


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

Sorry, Bruce for being unclear.  Yes, I'm familiar with Shelfari import and recommended it just recently to a member wanting to import books into Goodreads.  This thread is specifically about the integration of Goodreads into the HDX, so I was talking about how to add books using the integrated app, not by other means.  Thanks, though, as it is a good tip to remind people of in this thread.  (I believe Amazon bought Shelfari well before it bought Goodreads?  Not that it matters, but some of us were wondering for a while why Amazon wasn't doing more with Shelfari.)

I'll go back and clarify my post.


Betsy


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## BruceS (Feb 7, 2009)

I'll modify mine as well. I should have made clear that you need to do it on a computer, not the HDX.


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