Goodreads Coming to First-Generation Kindle Paperwhite

I reviewed the 2013 edition of the Kindle Paperwhite a few months back, and one of the best things about the device was its Goodreads integration. Unfortunately, that feature was brand new to the second-generation Paperwhite; those who purchased the device in 2012 didn’t get it. According to GigaOM, though, Goodreads is on its way to the first-generation Paperwhite soon.

Goodreads is a book-focused social network that was acquired by Amazon back in early 2013. The buy seemed natural for Amazon; the company has been in the book selling business for a long time, and a great way to sell more books is to get people more involved with reading through both discussion and progress sharing.

While discussion takes a backseat on the Kindle Paperwhite, you can use some of the other Goodreads features, like rating books and updating the page you’re on.

The Goodreads integration into the Kindle Paperwhite is a more stripped down experience than you’ll find on the Goodreads website or even in a Goodreads mobile app, but what’s there is just enough. Adding more to the integration would take away from the Kindle Paperwhite’s draw as a reading-only device.

I personally enjoy reading on the Paperwhite because I’m not interrupted by push notifications or sounds, and I don’t feel tempted to back out of my reading app and check Facebook or Twitter because these apps don’t exist on the Kindle.

The Goodreads update to the first-generation Kindle Paperwhite will be rolling out over the next few weeks to a number of countries, including the United States, Canada and Australia. If you’re not big on waiting, you can manually update your Paperwhite to the new software version by following some instructions on Amazon’s website.

If you happen to try out the Goodreads integration on your 2012 Kindle Paperwhite, be sure to drop us a line below and let us know what you think of it.