In an official statement Amazon announced that it will be buying book-recommending site Goodreads to strengthen its hold on the eBooks market

Amazon already boasts of a strong hold in the books industry and a massive eBook empire. Adding another feather to this enormous hat of success, the retail giant announced its acquisition of book-recommending site Goodreads in an official statement Thursday.

Goodreads has its headquarters in San Francisco and is often termed as the social networking site for book lovers. It has more than 16 million active members with a collection of over 20,000 online book clubs. Members of the site can popularize new books, make the careers of authors, and generally share their exuberance for the pastime of reading. The site has always been appreciated for remaining neutral during the Amazon Apple and the major book publishers' war over e-book pricing and the future of the printed world.  Many thought that Goodreads was in a good position to begin selling books directly through the site someday soon.

That thought seemed to have been put to an end with this new acquisition. However, the site's founder Otis Chandler said in a blog that the site will remain the same but now its top priority is to integrate the Goodreads platform with Amazon's Kindle.

For eBook readers, that could mean the likelihood of effortlessly posting book reviews through Kindle or adding just-purchased books from Amazon to bookshelves.

Member Mustafa said, "I get it, you need money. But I hope Amazon does not hinder the ability to buy books from other sites and prevent competition."

On the literature website BookRiot's Facebook page, many Goodreads users had a negative reaction to the news. "Yes, it does affect how I feel about Goodreads. How can it continue to be objective regarding book reviews?" said Marjorie Wertz.

However, several posters did greet the news with excitement at the chance to have the Goodreads experience on Kindle.