How to use Goodreads and a review of Eat, Pray, Love.

Happy New Year!

We’re five days in. It’s the time of the year when our resolutions are still on track, we haven’t eaten fries yet, we don’t have a craving for a cold soda and we feel refreshed going for a morning run.

I’m here to help you achieve the next resolution on your list.

You’ve probably seen your friends boost about how they only read 21 out of 54 books and they feel distraught at how ‘lazy’ they were at reading. You’ve already signed up to Goodreads but have no idea how it works; but this year you’ve decided you will know how it works. Coming this far into adulting you know better than to set an out of reach goal of reading ten books so you decided you’ll do just two. Then that’s perfect.

Today i’ll do two things. I’ll show you how to use Goodreads and i’ll review a possible book you can read.

• How to use Goodreads.

Goodreads is an app available on play store and apple store used to help keep track of your reading progress. Using the app, you are able to find books that you wish to read, get reviews on them and pick out on possible themes before you head on to the store and grab a copy.

Being a person who wants to consistently read this app is essential to make sure you don’t buy a book that will live on your shelf unread for months. Some of you may ask, what about the books I get on the street? Even those books are there! All you need is a book title or the name of the author. Key it in the app and voila, you’ll get the book.

Click here to get a 2 minute video and follow the steps below to learn how to use Goodreads. After downloading the app and signing up with your email or Facebook. (I highly recommend you sign up using Facebook to be able to connect with more friends) Follow the steps below.

1. Once you open the app, the home page shows you who you can make friends with on the app or what your friends are reading.
2. Tap on the my books tab at the bottom. If you’re a new user it may be empty but mine had a few books i’m currently reading.
3. To start loading books you’ll read, you can fast forward to the search tab. Here you can search for the Book Title or the Name of the Author. In this case I searched Half a Yellow Sun and I’m Too Pretty to be Broke one by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, a Nigerian author and the other by Joan Thatiah a Kenyan author.
4. Once you get your first book, click on it and read the book description see if you like it. You can also scroll down to read some reviews on what people had to say about it. The app helps in also seeing who among  your friends may want to read the book and you can contact them and be accountable to each other when reading.
5. Once you’re here you may scroll below to see other books by the author or similar books read. From there add it to your want to read folder. (Same applies to the second book)
6. When you’ve loaded the books you want to read and have purchased them from a book shop or online you can head back to the app and move it from your want to read folder to currently reading. Here the app allows you to key in your progress. If you read 15 pages on day one, key it in and see how much % you’ve covered.
7. Keep updating your progress until you’re through then you can click on the I’ve finished the book rate it with how many stars (like an Uber ride) or write a review.

Voila, that how to use the app. The app keeps a record of all books you’ve read and by the end of the year you’ll know the stats of how well you’ve done.

PS: I’m told the scan feature just next to the search bar allows you to scan the cover or bar code of a book with you camera to add it to your various lists. How cool is that?

• Eat, Pray, Love – Elizabeth Gilbert

Life is a journey. Some people live it and others survive it. There’s only such a thin line between enjoying the life you live and routinely living your life. Elizabeth’s story starts on a bathroom floor when she realizes she doesn’t have it all under control. She’s on her knees praying to a God she’s not sure she believes in.

From then on her life takes a hit. She goes through a nasty divorce. She loses all her money, she sleeps day and night with loneliness and depression by her side. Until she decides to take a year where she will travel to three counties; Italy, India and Indonesia where in each she learns to eat, pray and love respectively.

I’d recommend this book to anyone whichever gender, age or religious belief because the lessons she learns are lesson we can all apply.

One spoiler, on page 155 she writes,

‘Life, if you keep chasing it so hard, will drive you to death. Time-when pursued like a bandit- will behave like one; always remaining one county or one room ahead of you, changing its name and hair color to elude you, slipping out the back door of the motel just as you’re banging through the lobby with your newest search warrant, … you gotta let go and sit still and allow contentment to come to you.

The beauty of this book is that it’s a journey about finding yourself, finding God and finding love. It is not an abc manual on what you do and not to do,it is simply a story about a woman who was able to learn from everyone around her and her lessons which are as simple as can humanly be.

No better way to bring life to the tagline,

‘everyone you meet has something to teach you.’

Happy reading.

Book is available at Text Book Center at Ksh. 750

Disclaimer; Goodreads does not provide you with books (I thought this when I first downloaded the app) It only gives you a platform to record your progress and keep track of the books you’re reading.