Every so often, I would say like at least twice a month, someone publishes a new article regarding Goodreads and how it sucks.<p>And I really enjoy reading these articles, they are not wrong in any way, Goodreads sucks, yet people (including me) keep using it because I want to have all my read and to-read books in one place.<p>Yet none of these articles address the elephant in the room. Why Goodreads sucks, and why there is no alternative.<p>There is no viable business plan!<p>Simple as that, we can love reading, we can love making a better product, want something better, but truth of the matter is books are not really such a hot commodity in financial terms.<p>I personally have been tempted numerous times to build my own alternative, but as soon as I start planning, I see that it has no viable future.<p>Now if someone cracks the code, and finds a way to make a social network about books profitable, they have a billion dollar idea.<p>And if you do, please notify me, because I would love to see it.