Moving from Goodreads to Reedr.

Goodreads has belonged to Amazon since 2013. That is not a scandal, but it does explain the shopping links, the advertising, and a reading page that has changed very little in years. If you have a decade of reading history there, moving it is a five-minute job, and nothing is lost on the way.

Get your library out

On the Goodreads website, open My Books, find Import and export in the left-hand column, and choose Export library. Goodreads builds a CSV file and shows a download link when it is ready. It holds every book you have shelved, with your ratings, your shelves, your review text and the dates you read each one.

Bring it into Reedr

Sign in, open Settings, then Import, and drop the file in. Reedr matches each row to an edition, fetches the cover, and keeps your rating, your shelf and your reading dates. Anything it cannot match with confidence is set aside for you to confirm rather than guessed, and you get a row-by-row report of what was added, merged or skipped.

What changes

• Ratings gain precision: quarter stars, with separate marks for plot, characters, writing and enjoyment when you want them.
• Your shelf is private by default. You choose which shelves to publish.
• Nothing on the page is for sale, and there are no adverts.
• Your data leaves with you. Export everything from Settings whenever you like.

What stays the same

Your reading history, your ratings and your shelves. Goodreads keeps your account too: nothing about the move deletes anything there, so keep both while you decide.

Start your shelf, then import. Free, and it stays free for everything that matters.