diff --git a/fedireads/goodreads_import.py b/fedireads/goodreads_import.py
index 7d4abdd5e..c5f9001d1 100644
--- a/fedireads/goodreads_import.py
+++ b/fedireads/goodreads_import.py
@@ -14,6 +14,8 @@ MAX_ENTRIES = 20
 def create_job(user, csv_file):
     job = ImportJob.objects.create(user=user)
     for index, entry in enumerate(list(csv.DictReader(csv_file))[:MAX_ENTRIES]):
+        if not all(x in entry for x in ('ISBN13', 'Title', 'Author')):
+            raise ValueError("Author, title, and isbn must be in data.")
         ImportItem(job=job, index=index, data=entry).save()
     return job
 
diff --git a/fedireads/view_actions.py b/fedireads/view_actions.py
index 6195750a0..bf7918a39 100644
--- a/fedireads/view_actions.py
+++ b/fedireads/view_actions.py
@@ -418,10 +418,15 @@ def import_data(request):
     ''' ingest a goodreads csv '''
     form = forms.ImportForm(request.POST, request.FILES)
     if form.is_valid():
-        job = goodreads_import.create_job(
-            request.user,
-            TextIOWrapper(request.FILES['csv_file'], encoding=request.encoding)
-        )
+        try:
+            job = goodreads_import.create_job(
+                request.user,
+                TextIOWrapper(
+                    request.FILES['csv_file'],
+                    encoding=request.encoding)
+            )
+        except (UnicodeDecodeError, ValueError):
+            return HttpResponseBadRequest('Not a valid csv file')
         goodreads_import.start_import(job)
         return redirect('/import_status/%d' % (job.id,))
     return HttpResponseBadRequest()