Hi friends! Today I have what I think is a very fun blog post.
So on Goodreads, you can compare your books to someone else’s books. Essentially, Goodreads will look at the books on both of your shelves and compare them for similarities. I’m not entirely sure how it works, but it’s a general look at how similar your reading is.
So, I thought it would be fun to compare my reading tastes to those of some of my friends to see who I read most similarly to.
Amy @ A Fangirl’s Opinion: 69% similar (nice)
Books we agree on
- Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor
- A Darker Shade of magic by V. E. Schwab
- The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
Books we disagree on
- The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater
- Caraval by Stephanie Garber
- Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
I honestly think this low similarity is more due to Amy having so few books on her Goodreads (AMY, HOW?) rather than us not actually having similar tastes. Amy has read and loved a lot of books on my TBR, so I’m super excited to get to those!
Emer @ A Little Haze: 71% similar
Books we agree on
- Opposite of Always by Justin A. Reylonds
- We Are Okay by Nina LaCour
- The Water Dancer by Ta-Nehisi Coates
- Unwind by Neal Shusterman
Books we disagree on
- Sabrina by Nick Drnaso
- Sadie by Courtney Summers
- Pachinko by Min Jin Lee
- The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Emer and I agree on a lot of books we both either disliked or felt neutral about, and disagreed on books one of us loves. But, this does mean that if Emer feels neutral about a book, I’m also likely to feel neutral.
Rick @ Rick MacDonnell: 73% similar
Books we agree on
- Forgive me, Leonard Peacock by Matthew Quick
- The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield
- The Secret History by Donna Tartt
- Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
Books we disagree on
- Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
- The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
Rick and I were similar to Emer and I: books we feel neutral about, we both tend to feel neutral about. But Station Eleven is brilliant and apparently Rick doesn’t see that soooo
Erin @ Pages of Milk and Honey: 78% similar
Books we both love
- Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coats
- The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Books we disagree on
- Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging by Louise Rennison
- The Truth About Forever by Sarah Dessen
- Caraval by Stephanie Garber
- A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle
So when Erin and I agree, we agree 100%. But when we disagree, we tend to really disagree. Though, to be fair, a lot of the books I listed as books we disagree on were books either of us could have read a long time ago.
Kal @ Reader Voracious: 79% similar
Books we agree on
- Lobizona by Romina Garber
- I Killed Zoe Spanos by Kit Frick
- Her Royal Highness by Rachel Hawkins
- Sadie by Courtney Summers
Books we disagree on
- This is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone
- Caraval by Stephanie Garber
- Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo
I think the main difference between Kal and my taste is writing style. My issue with both This is How You Lose the Time War and Caraval was with the writing style, and Kal loved both of those. But, we did have a ton of overlap for 4/5 star books.
Charlotte @ Charlotte Annelise: 79% similar
Books we agree on
- Starfish by Akemi Dawn Bowman
- Social Creature by Tara Isabella Burton
- The Butterfly Garden by Dot Hutchinson
- Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston
Books we disagree on
- The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson
- All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven
All the books on that Charlotte and I agree on are books I love a lot or dislike, so I’m glad to see someone agrees.
Siobhan @ Siobhan’s Novelties: 79% similar
Books we agree on
- Spin the Dawn by Elizabeth Lim
- Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo
- A Darker Shade of Magic by V. E. Schwab
Books we disagree on
- Serpent & Dove by Shelby Mahurin
- Caraval by Stephanie Garber
- Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
I think Siobhan and I have different tastes in heroines. I could be making this up (probably am), but I feel like she likes heroines like Lila from ADSOM, who I didn’t like in some of the books. Siobhan tell me if I’m off base with this.
Ellyn @ Allonsynthornraxx: 79% similar
Books we agree on
- Check, Please! by Ngozi Ukazu
- The Female of the Species by Mindy McGinnis
- Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire
- A Game of Thrones by George RR Martin
Books we disagree on
- Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor
- Caraval by Stephanie Garber
- The Secret History by Donna Tartt
This was super interesting! Idk why but I expected Ellyn and I to disagree more. But I’m pleasantly surprised to see we overlap so much.
Callum @ Callum McLaughlin: 80% similar
Books we agree on
- Postcards from the Edge by Carrie Fisher
- In the Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado
- The Rest of Us Just Live Here by Patrick Ness
- A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki
Books we disagree on
- The Lonely Hearts Hotel by Heather O’Neil
- Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones
Honestly, I think Callum has better taste than I do, which is why our similarity is somewhat lower. I also feel like we like different writing styles; Callum tends to like gothic writing, while I do not.
Emily @ Literary Elephant: 81% similar
Books we agree on
- Not That Bad edited by Roxane Gay
- The Female of the Species by Mindy McGinnis
- I’ll Be Gone in the Dark by Michelle McNamara
- Pachinko by Min Jin Lee
Books we disagree on
- The Girls by Emma Cline
- All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven
This comparison was super interesting: we either agreed a book was 5 stars, or one of us gave the book 1 star/DNFed it. Emily also had a ton of five-stars for books on my TBR, so I’m hopeful for a lot of those books.
Haley @ Fangirl Fury: 81% similar
Books we agree on
- A Heart in a Body in the World by Deb Caletti
- Ties That Tether by Jane Igharo
- Check, Please! by Ngozi Ukazu
- The Book of Essie by Meghan MacLean Weir
- Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys
Books we disagree on
- A Girl Like That by Tanaz Bhathena
- The Thousandth Floor by Katharine McGee
- One of Us is Lying by Karen M. McManus
- All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven
Haley and I agree on so many books that I loved a lot, which is all that matters really. This comparison also tells me that I should look to her for romance or hard-hitting YA recommendations, as that’s where our tastes seem to overlap.
Bertie @ Luminosity Library: 81% similar
Books we agree on
- Bunny by Mona Awad
- This is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone
- The Poppy War by R. F. Kuang
Books we disagree on
- Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado
- Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor
- Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston
Bertie and I had a TON of overlap in books we both want to read, or where one of us has read it and the other hasn’t yet. And luckily, they rated a lot of the books I want to read five stars, and vice versa, so I’m hopeful we’ll both love those books.
LaRonda @ Flying Paperbacks: 82% similar
Books we agree on
- Big Water by Andrea Curtis
- Sawkill Girls by Claire Legrand
- Middlegame by Seanan McGuire
- Girls of Paper and Fire by Natasha Ngan
Books we disagree on
- Starfish by Akemi Dawn Bowman
- Red Rising by Pierce Brown
- Legend by Marie Lu
So LaRonda and I seem to disagree on fantasy kind of? but agree for other things kind of? All I care about is that we both love Middlegame.
Marija @ Inside My Mind Library: 82% similar
Books we agree on
- My Name is Memory by Ann Brashares
- You Deserve Each Other by Sarah Hogle
- In the Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado
- Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng
Books we disagree on
- The Girls by Emma Cline
- American Gods by Neil Gaiman
Marija and I actually disagreed on very few books. We were often off by one star, where she’d give a book five and I’d give it four, or vice versa. But Honestly, our reading tastes look super similar.
Sarah @ samesfoley: 83% similar
Books we agree on
- Middlegame by Seanan McGuire
- In the Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado
- Wilder Girls by Rory Power
- I’ll Be Gone in the Dark by Michelle McNamara
Books we disagree on
- Starfish by Akemi Dawn Bowman
- Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng (because it’s my absolute favourite and Sarah gave it four stars which is still a good rating but not the same as a favourite)
I was expecting this to be a bit higher, honestly! That being said, Sarah and I had one of the biggest overlaps numbers-wise, so that probably explains why our similarity is a bit lower. But again, we both tend to rate similar books five stars.
Sav @ Booked on a Feeling: 83% similar
Books we both love
- Sadie by Courtney Summers
- Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi
SAV HOW DO YOU HAVE SO MANY BOOKS!!! Sav and I really do not have much overlap in books we’ve read, but we have a lot of overlap in books we want to read. One third of my library overlaps with hers, which is kind of cool.
Dee @ Dee Reads Things: 83% similar
Books we agree on
- Her Royal Highness by Rachel Hawkins
- We Are Okay by Nina LaCour
- Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor
- The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Books we disagree on
- Sawkill Girls by Claire Legrand
- The Rest of Us Just Live Here by Patrick Ness
Dee and I also had very little disagreements! We were pretty similar with how we rated our books, and were really only off by a one star for a lot of books.
Rebecca @ Bookishly Rebecca: 85% similar
Some books we agree on
- Text Me When You Get Home by Kayleen Schaefer
- Check, Please! by Ngozi Ukazu
- Her Royal Highness by Rachel Hawkins
- The Water Dancer by Ta-Nehisi Coates
Some books we disagree on
- You Deserve Each Other by Sarah Hogle
- Caraval by Stephanie Garber
- Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins (fair)
I think Rebecca and I read very different genres, but look for the same things in books. I remember we had almost identical thoughts on The Water Dancer when we buddy read it together this summer, so us having similar readings tastes is fairly unsurprising.
Rachel @ paceamorelibri: 85% similar
Some books we agree on
- Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 by Cho Nam-Joo
- The Silence of the Girls by Pat Barker
- Shanghai Girls by Lisa See
- The Poppy War by R. F. Kuang
Some books we disagree on
- Vita Nostra by Marina Dyachenko (Rachel loves this more than I do)
Rachel and I didn’t have a ton of books we disagreed on majorly, but there were a fair few where one of us rated something four and the other rated it five. But for the most part, we seem to be fairly similar for literary fiction-type books (I say as literally only one book I listed is lit fic).
And the winner is…
Hannah @ I have Thoughts on Books: 86% similar!
Some books we agree on
- A Mind Spread Out on the Ground by Alicia Elliott (yay!)
- Not that Bad edited by Roxane Gay
- Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado
- The One by John Marrs
Some books we disagree on
- Vita Nostra by Marina Dyachenko (Hannah loves this much more than I do)
I was actually kind of surprised Hannah and I were so similar, but when I think about it, it actually makes sense. We seem to have super similar tastes in non-fiction and certain types of fiction. We also had very few disagreements. So I guess I can always look to Hannah for recommendations!
So this was a lot of fun! I’d highly recommend comparing your reading to your friends. It can be fun to see who you agree and disagree with, and which books you both love/hate.
Please let me know if you do a similar post! I would love to read it. And leave your Goodreads below, and I can add you as a friend and compare our reading!
Thanks for reading!
Ally xx
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This is such a fun post idea! I’m glad to hear we have super similar reading tastes, I’m gunna need to have a sneak around your five star reads 😛
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Thank you! 💕 I did the same lol
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“Honestly, I think Callum has better taste than I do” – lmao 😂 This is such a fun idea!
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It’s true!!!
Thank you! 💕
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Ally, this is such an incredible post! It’s so interesting to look at our similarities, and thank you for your kind words!!
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Ahhh thank you, Haley! 💕💕
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I LOVE THIS POST IDEA SO MUCH AND WILL BE STEALING IT (with credit) IN THE FUTURE!
First of all, thank you for including me!!! 💖 And yea, definitely writing style – Caraval and Time War are both very purple prose and encompassing, not everyone’s cup of tea… and I hated Six of Crows because of the writing style (I dnfd that book FOUR TIMES in 2 different formats). But I love to see where we agree!!!
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Ahhh thank you!! 💕 I would love to read your version of it!
So glad I was right about the writing style lol, but also a good thing to know!
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I LOVE this post so much, and I had no idea that this was a feature on Goodreads! My old Goodreads account was CHAOS, it was super unorganised, so I had to make an new one, hence lots of missing books! I promise I’ll add them all soon!
Despite the low score I think we’ve got similar (and great) taste in books! I’m always adding books you recommend to my TBR! Thank you so much for including me in this fabulous post! 🥰✨
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Ahh thank you! 💕 It’s such a fun feature!
LOL that makes sense, I feel like mine is such a mess sometimes too.
I agree, I think we have pretty similar tastes! That’s so great to hear 🥰🥰
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I love this idea and it was fun to read comparisons.
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Thank you so much! 💕
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I already like doing this whenever I get a new friend request on GR so this was a lot of fun to read!
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Me too, it’s fun to see how similar reading tastes are! Thank you! 💕
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Ooh this is such a fun idea! I usually do the ‘compare books’ when I get a friend request but I haven’t tried for people I added after meeting them on the blogosphere/bookstagram/another platform. I should try it!
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Thank you so much! 💕 You definitely should!! I’d love to see it if you do!
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LOL I have to be honest and say that number of books is the way it is because my Want to Read shelf is ridiculously full of books I probably may never read lol. I can just sit on the laptop or on my phone and hit the “Want to Read” button for hours.
That percentage feels accurate though. I feel like we have similar taste with what we like and don’t like because I usually add books you’ve read lol. I think l should try this when I have updated my Goodreads with more books I’ve read to see if it changes.
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LOL I totally get that. I have a blog post drafted of books on my Goodreads TBR I’ll probably never read lmao
I usually add books you’ve read, too! And you definitely should, it’d be interesting to see if it changes!
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Okay. I love this. Brilliant idea Ally. Now going to have to properly examine your GR bookshelves to see where are the ones we truly clash on …the ones you mentioned seem to be books I can’t remember much about 😂😂😂😂
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Ahhh thank you, Emer! 💕 I would definitely love to see where we really disagree lol
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Damn, Hannah beating me by 1%!!! I love our mutual Lisa See love, though.
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So close!
We can co-chair the Lise See fan club
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!!!!!
This is SO cool! I am not surprised Goodreads agrees we have similar tastes because we read very similar non fiction and I always go to your blog when I am in need of inspiration for literature by Native or First Nation authors. But I am very excited for the shout out!
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Ahhh thank you! 💕 The overlap definitely made sense when I thought about it!
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hannah is the best, so that tracks haha. i loooove this idea and might steal it tbh.
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She definitely is!
You should!!! I would love to read it
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This is such a fun post idea, and I’m tickled to be included 💖 You’re right in saying that the books we disagreed on were some I read a long time ago (I recently reread Caraval, for example, and had an entirely different experience than when I first read it!) I definitely will always take your opinion/review on a book into account if I’m choosing whether to read it or not!
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Ahhh thank you!
Oooh interesting! I always take your reviews into account, too!
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omg I accidentally missed this BUT I LOVE IT. It’s such a good idea! And 82% is GREAT, I do think we have very similar taste in books!
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Ahh thank you! 82% is so good!
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LOVE this post!! It’s such a fun idea to do and compare readings, I loved it! You do an amazing job on your blog Ally!! 😍👏🏻✨
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Ahhh thank you so much, Sofii! ♥️🥰
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This is such a fun post! I don’t think I’ve ever used this feature on GR but now I am curious to check it out. We are 81% similar!!! I did not know! Also the two books you noted that we disagree on are titles I read a *while* ago and have been actively wondering if I should remove the ratings bc I’m not sure I still agree with those thoughts, lol.
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It’s such a fun feature, honestly!
81% is so good! Oooh interesting! I never know whether to change my ratings on books I read a while ago, too! Especially without rereading the books, which can be a lot of work
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Ha yes, having to reread books you expect to rate lower is not the most exciting prospect!
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Yikes you’ve read way more books than me!! I remember hating The Adoration of Jenna Fox, probably because I had to study it in English class haha
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Honestly, that’s fair, I disliked most books I had to read for English class!
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