Goodreads

I just started using Goodreads on February 1st. Of course, I just recently learned that Library Thing is based in Portland, Maine, so I feel somewhat traitorous having chosen against it.

When comparing Library Thing, Shelfari, and Goodreads, I found that I preferred the layout of Goodreads, but the thing that really set it apart was that I simply knew more people who used it than any of the other services. Strangely enough, after just four weeks of use, I can pretty confidently say that was a silly reason because I have not used the social aspect of Goodreads at all. As you might imagine of someone who is studying to become a professional librarian, the majority of my friends and family love to read. Our conversations manage to come around to books just about every time, so I am not really lacking for recommendations or reviews or even just an outlet to discuss books I loved or hated.

The features I do like, though, which it has in common with Shelfari and Library Thing, are the ability to put a widget on my blog that shows the covers of my recently-read books and the ability to assign multiple tags to a book so I can have overlapping shelves, unlike in my physical library. I like that I can keep track of my books by genre, by year read, by whether or not they are in my personal library, etc.

And, since you might be wondering to yourself, "so what does she use it for, if not the social aspect," let me tell you: First and foremost, I am beginning to use it to keep track of my never-ending TBR (to be read) list. Right now, I've only entered 22 of them, but I assure you the number is in the hundreds and currently the list is made up of little slips of paper, scribbles in the margins of notebooks and planners, and an Excel spreadsheet. This list that is all in one place and that I can access from any internet-enabled device is going to be extremely helpful as I continue on my quest to read these hundreds of TBR books.

I also do like to review the books I read, though not, as I have said, for a social purpose. Someone once told me that he carried a little notebook around with him and always wrote down a few words about any movie he saw or book he read so that a) he'd take some time to actually digest and reflect upon it, rather than consuming, forgetting, and moving on and b) he'd actually remember the book or movie years later. The latter reason, in particular, resonated with me, as there are many books I know I've read but struggle to recall the contents of or my reactions to years later. So, I really review books to enrich my own reading experience, although if other people enjoy them, that's great, too.