Goodreads Scraper

Goodreads books and authors — ratings, star breakdown, genres, series, editions, awards and reader reviews — as clean JSON.

Goodreads is where readers rate and review what they read, which makes it the largest public record of what people think of books. This Actor reads any Goodreads list, genre, shelf, author or book page, or searches by title, and returns every book with its average rating, ratings and reviews counts, the 1-to-5-star breakdown, how many people are reading it, genres, series, pages, format, publisher, publication dates, ISBN, ISBN-13 and ASIN, language, awards, settings and characters, the description as HTML and plain text, and the first page of reader reviews. Author pages add the author's profile. There is no login, no API key, and no proxy to configure. Built for publishers and literary agents, booksellers, book-recommendation and reading apps, and market researchers.

⚡ Quick start

{
  "startUrls": [
    { "url": "https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1.Best_Books_Ever" }
  ],
  "maxItems": 5
}

Or search by title:

{
  "searchTerms": ["dune", "the hobbit"],
  "includeReviews": false
}

🧩 Input

Field	Type	Required	Default	Description
startUrls	array	no	—	Goodreads pages: Listopia lists (/list/show/…), genres (/genres/…), shelves (/shelf/show/…), author pages (/author/show/…), an author's book list (/author/list/…), book pages (/book/show/…) or search pages (/search?q=…).
searchTerms	array	no	—	Book titles or keywords to search for, such as dune. Each term returns Goodreads' top 5 matching books.
maxItems	integer	no	—	Maximum number of books per start URL or search term; an author page's profile counts as one. The input form starts at 5; leave it empty to get every book the page lists.
includeReviews	boolean	no	true	Add the first page of community reviews (about 30) to every book. Turn it off for smaller rows when you only need book data.
proxyConfiguration	object	no	{ "useApifyProxy": false }	Proxy settings. Goodreads pages need no proxy.

Which pages work. A Listopia list is read in rank order, page after page. An author's book list is read in the order Goodreads shows it, page after page. A genre returns the books most shelved under it, as does a shelf; Goodreads shows the first 50 of those to visitors. An author page returns the author's profile and then their books. A book page returns that book.

📤 Output

Each book is one dataset row with itemType book. An author page start URL also produces one row with itemType author for the author's profile. Books keep their position in the list, shelf or search they came from.

Fields

Field	Type	Description
itemType	string	book or author.
url	string	The book's or author's page on Goodreads.
bookId	number	Goodreads book ID (this edition).
workId	number	Goodreads work ID, shared by every edition of the book.
title	string	Book title.
titleComplete	string	Title with the series and number, as Goodreads shows it, e.g. Dune (Dune, #1).
originalTitle	string	The title the work was first published under.
author	string	The main author's name.
authorUrl	string	The main author's Goodreads page.
contributors	array	Everyone credited on the edition: name, url and role (Author, Editor, Translator, Illustrator…).
description	string	Description as plain text; for an author, their biography.
descriptionHtml	string	The same, as HTML.
coverImageUrl	string	Cover image.
averageRating	number	Average rating out of 5 (all editions; for an author, all their books).
ratingsCount	number	Number of ratings.
reviewsCount	number	Number of written reviews.
ratingsDistribution	object	Number of ratings per star: oneStar … fiveStars.
currentlyReadingCount	number	Readers currently reading the book.
toReadCount	number	Readers who want to read it; null when Goodreads does not show the figure.
genres	array	Genre names, most voted first.
series	array	Series the book belongs to: name, url and position (its number in the series).
pages	number	Number of pages of this edition.
format	string	Edition format, e.g. Hardcover, Paperback, Kindle Edition.
publisher	string	Publisher of this edition.
publishedDate	string	Publication date of this edition (YYYY-MM-DD).
firstPublishedDate	string	Date the work was first published (YYYY-MM-DD).
language	string	Language of this edition.
isbn	string	ISBN-10, when the edition has one.
isbn13	string	ISBN-13, when the edition has one.
asin	string	Amazon ASIN, when the edition has one.
awards	array	Literary awards: name, url, category, designation (WINNER or NOMINEE) and year.
places	array	Settings of the story: name, url, country and year.
characters	array	Characters: name and url.
reviews	array	The first page of reader reviews: url, rating, text, textHtml, isSpoiler, likesCount, commentsCount, createdAt, updatedAt, shelves (the reviewer's own shelves for the book), reviewerName, reviewerUrl, reviewerImageUrl, reviewerFollowersCount, reviewerReviewsCount and reviewerIsAuthor. null when reviews are switched off.
position	number	Position in the list, shelf or search the book came from; null for a pasted book URL.
searchTerm	string	The search term that found the book, when there was one.
authorId	number	Goodreads author ID.
name	string	Author's name.
imageUrl	string	Author's photo.
birthPlace	string	Where the author was born.
birthDate	string	Date of birth (YYYY-MM-DD).
deathDate	string	Date of death (YYYY-MM-DD), when given.
website	string	Author's website.
twitter	string	Author's X (Twitter) handle.
influences	array	Authors listed as influences: name and url.
worksCount	number	Number of distinct works on Goodreads.
followersCount	number	Number of Goodreads followers.
booksUrl	string	The author's full book list on Goodreads.
sourceUrl	string	The start URL or search the row came from.

💡 Use cases

• Publishing and agenting — size up comparable titles: ratings, reader counts, genres and awards for any list or genre.
• Bookselling and merchandising — find the books readers rate highest in a genre, with ISBNs to match against your catalogue.
• Reading and recommendation apps — enrich titles with covers, descriptions, series order, genres and rating breakdowns.
• Sentiment and market research — collect reader reviews with ratings and dates to see how a book or author is received.

❓ FAQ

• Do I need a Goodreads account or an API key? No. The Actor reads the same public pages any visitor sees.
• Do I need a proxy? No. It runs without one by default.
• How many reviews do I get per book? The first page Goodreads shows on the book page, about 30, in Goodreads' default order. Older reviews are not included. Turn includeReviews off when you only need book data.
• How many results does a search return? Goodreads' top 5 title matches per term. To collect more books, start from a list, genre, shelf or author page instead.
• Why does a genre or shelf stop at 50 books? Goodreads shows visitors the first 50 books of a shelf. Lists and author book lists have no such limit.
• Which edition do I get? The one the URL points to. Ratings, reviews counts, awards, places and characters cover all editions of the book; pages, format, publisher, ISBN and the publication date are those of that edition.
• Why is isbn empty for some books? Many e-book and audiobook editions have no ISBN; they usually carry an asin instead.

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🤝 Anyx Solutions

We build custom scrapers and data-extraction pipelines.

• Email: tantosthor@gmail.com

🖼 Image credit

Image credit: goodreads.com