Despite being one of the biggest reader hubs, Goodreads is far from perfect. Its bare-bones site can be frustrating to navigate, with some features only available depending on whether you're using the website or app. And then there are the tumultuous review sections, which have recently prompted complaints from authors about users' so-called review bombings.

As an avid reader, I started using Goodreads because the platform made it easy for me to set and track my annual reading goals. But after using it for more than a year, I've spent a lot of time trying to find creative workarounds to customize my account. With these tried-and-tested tips, I'll show you how to keep better track of your ever-growing to-be-read lists, stay up to date on new releases in your favorite genres, and navigate reviews like a pro.

Here's how to get the most out of your Goodreads account.

Create custom shelves and tags

Stacking your Want to Read Goodreads shelf is a great way to keep track of titles you might be interested in. But if you're like me and that list is over 200 books long, it isn't likely you'll scroll through all those titles to find your next read.

Instead, use one of the two options Goodreads has for creating custom collections: shelves and tags. You can name shelves and tags however you want and use them to track anything from a did-not-finish list to new releases to any book characteristic you want.

Goodreads sets up every account with three exclusive shelves: Want to Read, Currently Reading and Read. Books that are shelved on one can't also be shelved on another; they belong to only one of those places.

There's a way, though, to create a new custom shelf that isn't exclusive: tags. A tag is a type of shelf that's inclusive, meaning you can add multiple tags to a book, and the book will be seen under each tag. 

If you want to create new exclusive shelves, you can do that only on your desktop. But you can make new tags on your desktop or in the app. I recommend doing both on your desktop for a cleaner experience overall, but I'll guide you through both processes.

Here's how to create a new shelf or tag on desktop:

1. Open Goodreads and click on My Books in the upper-left menu.
2. On the left-side menu, next to Bookshelves, click Edit. This should pull up a grid of all your shelves and tags, along with several options across the top: feature, sortable, sticky, exclusive and recs. 
3. To create a new shelf, type in the name in the top search bar and click Add.
4. For shelves: If you want this new shelf to be an exclusive shelf instead of an inclusive tag, you need to ensure that the box under that shelf for Exclusive is checked. It's unchecked by default.
5. For tags: If you want to create a tag, follow the same process to add a new shelf and then make sure the box under Exclusive is unchecked. 
6. Click I'm Done to save your changes.
7. When you've found a book you want to add to a new shelf, click the downward arrow next to Want to Read and then select the shelf. After you've picked a shelf to add the book to, click Continue to tags to add tags to a book.