The Extra Cool Group! (of people Michael is experimenting on) discussion

Absolutely! I've really enjoyed a number of authors that I otherwise wouldn't have heard of or wouldn't have tried, from kiddie stuff that came out after I was a kid like Hilary McKay and Frances Hardinge to Literary tomes I thought I would hate, like Virginia Woolfe, to genre crap that is only fun if you have friends to make fun of it with.

I wish Goodreads was around in my early 20's. All those years wasted reading crap. :) I'm only being half facetious.

It hasn't changed what I read. It has expanded my interests though. I used to be a straight up, hard core horror chick. Since joining Goodreads and getting input from my online homies -- while I still looooove horror -- I read girl books with emotions and all that jazz, comedies, scifi and even some non-fiction. It's not just about the blood and guts and being scared to sleep in an empty house anymore. I've realized I just like well told stories.

It's definitely influenced what I read. I have three hundred books on a too read list that I would not have even found without Goodreads.

My method? I cyber stalk really cool people and see what they read and liked (or hated) and then I know what I want to read. Muhahahahhahaha. So much better than an amazon review.

It's added to my to be read list, but hasn't changed many if any opinions about things I already wanted to read.

Goodreads has been a motivation for me to finish books even if I'm having trouble getting through them, because I know I can write a scathing review if I just get through the whole thing. I also don't know if I would've started reading Virginia Woolf or bizarro fiction if it weren't for Goodreads. So, I've definitely been exposed to some stuff I wouldn't have picked up on my own.

Yes. There are recommended books I'm still chasing up.

Having BotMs has definitely changed my reading patterns and led to reading some things I am finding either better or worse than expected.

Yes. I see books on goodreads that I otherwise would never see. I like that people can include the small book cover. I didn't think I was influenced by book covers, but...turns out I am. I love seeing them. I love seeing what others read and as I learn tastes, I tend to follow people who are on the hunt for books that I might enjoy (okay they aren't hunting for me, but at times it sure seems that way...)

Honestly, Goodreads has entirely reshaped my reading. Before, I think I was mostly reading normal current pop-literature type books (Murakami, Lethem, Atwood) and starting to poke at the more obvious modern/post-modern pantheon (Faulkner, Pynchon, DeLillo, Woolf). All of which are good and which I'm still into. But I'm finding myself far more personally engaged lately by a different tier of surrealist and semi-experimental writers that I'd probably never have found on my own (Anna Kavan, Yevgeny Zamyaton, Alain Robbe-Grillet, Tarjei Vessas). I mean, I don't think I'd even heard of Italo Calvino, pre-GR. And then there are current small publishers I'd definitely have no contact with, if not for other readers here. I just wish I'd had this sooner as well.

Jeez, I can't even remember what sort of a wreck I was before Goodreads. And if I remember, it must not have been pretty.
Let's see here:
A smattering of pop fiction (don't kill me!) I believe. But it was 4 or 5 I think. A little fantasy now and then, a LOT of mysteries. Classics, literary reads that sucked but still got read because I thought I was being genuinely smart, chick lit that died a snap-still death. Yeah. Junk in the trunk like that.

Blaise wrote: "It's definitely influenced what I read. I have three hundred books on a too read list that I would not have even found without Goodreads.

My method? I cyber stalk really cool people and see wh..."

Me too! Glad I'm not the only one.

Yep. I read a lot more garbage YA now than I used to. Not more YA, just more garbage YA.

Yes I've found some new goodies and series through discussion here, some revival of old loved genres and a stronger urge to jump into unexplored genres.