Amazon to Acquire Book Recommendation Site Goodreads

Posted on March 28, 2013

Amazon has announced plans to acquire Goodreads, a book recommendations community. Amazon says there are 30,000 book clubs on the Goodreads site. The acquisition is expected to close in the second quarter of 2013. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.

Russ Grandinetti, Amazon Vice President, Kindle Content, said in a statement, "Goodreads has helped change how we discover and discuss books and, with Kindle, Amazon has helped expand reading around the world. In addition, both Amazon and Goodreads have helped thousands of authors reach a wider audience and make a better living at their craft. Together we intend to build many new ways to delight readers and authors alike."

Goodreads also shared the news in a blog post, which says the site is not going away despite being acquired by a behemoth like Amazon.

The New York Times reports that the deal was met with skepticism from some Goodreads' users. The Times also notes that Amazon already owns some or all of Goodreads' competitors, Shelfari and LibraryThing.