The service
This is an online personalised service for you when you want help to choose a book. The help comes from people who care about reading and who, we hope, you can trust.
How does it work?
You fill out a questionnaire for yourself or a friend and we send you an email with a personal reading recommendation. The site also helps you to buy or borrow your books. You can help ensure the future of this site by using this special link whenever you buy books from Amazon.
Our Ethos
We believe that we can help you chose the best book for you, by helping you understand your likes and dislikes
- We definitely don't want to tell you what you SHOULD be reading
- We have a commitment to support libraries, independent bookshops and independent publishers
- We believe that reading is creative and good for you!
- We want our service to be a personal response not something generated by a computer or the lowest common denominator approach of "the people who liked this also liked this"
- We believe in offering a broad range of titles available for readers, not just the ones that generate most profits for large companies
- We are not paid commission to promote particular books, hence we can recommend books truly independently
- We want to serve a wide range of customers including people who have difficulty choosing books
Who we are
We love reading and while we believe that there are good books and bad books, we also believe that it is up to you to make up your own mind. We read, not in order to dissect a novel and criticise it, but in order to be moved, impassioned and in order to learn something about life.
Janet Swan:
A passionate reader and chartered librarian with a specialism in reader development and reader advice. Also a qualified speech and language therapist and an MA in Reading in Practice (University of Liverpool) with a passion in why reading is good for your health.
Tess McMahon:
A keen reader, independent thinker and the business brains of the outfit. Worked extensively in community co-ops and famously read a book a day in the summer holidays (when aged 9!)
What you need to know
The company is called "A Good Read Ltd" and provides other services such as consultancy, training, creative reading and writing workshops and holidays
We aim to provide a high quality recommendation in English to genuine enquirers
We aim to respond to you by email within 3 days of you completing the questionnaire
While the service is new, it is free. There will be no introduction of costs without notification
We will keep your personal details and record of books recommended safely. We will not forward these without your consent
We are currently offering people 3 recommendations in any one year
With your support, we will develop the service to include forums, holidays and lots of other fun for readers.
How we make our money
We work with libraries, charities and other organisations on various reader development projects - see for example the forthcoming Readers and Writers Day in Burnley. We run bookstalls at special events, reading holidays and also make a small percentage on every book you buy through Amazon.
We are currently using Amazon because of the wide range of titles that they stock. In future we hope to offer other ways of buying books. You can help us to work toward a more independent future and to keep the site going for the time-being, by making this your regular route to Amazon.
Let us know what you think
We welcome your comments and suggestions.
Please get in touch, tell us what you think and how you'd like to see the site develop.
The small print.
We reserve the right to ignore requests that are deemed malicious or inappropriate. A Good Read Ltd cannot guarantee the availability of this website, nor the accuracy and currency of the information provided on the site.
We cannot be held responsible for any problems that users of this site might encounter or harm they might be caused.
Users should always use an anti-virus programme on any material downloaded from this website. A Good Read Ltd cannot accept responsibility if users are affected by a virus transmitted by material available through this website.
