Amazon announced it will purchase the popular book discovery and recommendation website Goodreads, a social service that centers on book recommendations and reviews. The acquisition — which comes at a time when readers are increasingly turning to tablets and e-readers to search for authors and books — could help push Amazon ahead of competitors Apple and Google in e-book retailing.

“San Francisco-based Goodreads is one of the most prominent online book communities. Its users write reviews, recommend books to each other, and can buy books from various Internet retailers, including Amazon and Barnes & Noble,” reports the Wall Street Journal. “Goodreads said more than 30,000 book clubs use the site.”

“It’s a brilliant move by Amazon,” said Mike Shatzkin, chief executive of consulting firm Idea Logical Co., that works with publishing companies. “If you are a book marketer, the two places you think about the most in terms of online marketing opportunities are Amazon and Goodreads.”

“Goodreads was founded in 2007 by Otis Chandler and his wife Elizabeth, of the Los Angeles Times publishing family,” notes WSJ. “In an interview, he said the Goodreads service will continue to link to other retail sites. However, he added that Goodreads plans to provide better integration for people who use Amazon’s Kindle e-reading device.”

There has been some concern regarding change under the new management, specifically with book reviews. Patrick Brown, the director of community at Goodreads assured the community that while the company is being acquired by Amazon, it does not plan to use Amazon’s review policy.

“Change always brings uncertainty and makes people nervous, and that’s the natural reaction, we get that,” Otis Chandler said. He also expressed excitement regarding how the company could potentially expand with this new opportunity.

“Amazon has a long history of buying independent brands and letting them flourish,” he told the Los Angeles Times, pointing to Amazon’s purchases of brands including Zappos.com and Diapers.com. “We’re fully expecting that that’s going to be the situation here.”