Amazon.com (AMZN 3.89%) is buying "Internet bookclub" Goodreads, the company announced Thursday. In so doing, Amazon brings into its corporate fold a community of 16 million Goodreads members, who use the service to review and discuss books they've read, gather suggestions on which books they should read next -- and now, presumably, on which books they should buy from Amazon next. In addition, the company may have solved the problems it's been having with suspect book reviews appearing on its own site, by teaming up with a book reviewer whose reputation is, as yet, untarnished.
In a statement, Goodreads CEO and co-founder Otis Chandler said that joining forces with Amazon -- and in particular, with Amazon's Kindle e-book division -- will help Goodreads to "move faster in bringing the Goodreads experience to millions of readers around the world."
Amazon did not disclose the purchase price it will be paying. The company did say that it expects the acquisition to close sometime in Q2.
