Website Idea: Book Summaries
Goodreads isn't doing it. You see it on Amazon naturally. But someone should really do it.
Make a better Goodreads
Goodreads is a good idea, but using it isn't great, and it's missing lots of desired functionality. It could really be a much more engaged social network. I haven't discovered any great books from it. I am not really able to properly track the books I read on it.
I want to see summaries, not just reviews.
The best Amazon reviews are basically book summaries. This one is ranked as the most helpful review for The Innovator's Dilemma: The Revolutionary Book That Will Change the Way You Do Business.
It's a book summary. I think it's what people want. At least it's what I want.
I think someone should build a better Goodreads that centres on people writing book summaries of the book they've read. Pay them some of the ad revenue if they have the winning summary. I'd love to just read those instead of the whole book. I'd probably read a lot more. And if I had the time, I'll read the whole book.
I'd love to see this product. I've had this idea since high school (actually before that, since the age of book reports). Until now no one is doing this.
I'd build it if I had time, but now I'm working on something else. It's a to-do list app that you'll actually want to use. It's fun and encourages good behaviours. The pre-launch signup is here if you want to try it.
Conclusion
I'd love to see a website that had community ranked book summaries. Wikipedia isn't specialised enough for this.