Rebecca Reads » Reading Resources

Survey Says…

Rebecca Reid — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 22:00:39 +0000

Thanks for voting in my survey! With 13 voters, 7 use LibraryThing, 5 use Shelfari, 2 use Goodreads, and 1 use no online library catalog tool. (Voters could choose more than one answer.)

I really appreciated the comments and explanations. I think I’ll do what some other respondents suggest and use LibraryThing for books I own and Shelfari for books I’m reading, to read, and finished reading. (But I’ll never let Shelfari get my friend’s emails again!!!)

After about an hour of tinkering with LibraryThing, I am sufficiently impressed. I found that on LibraryThing, I can sort my books by Library of Congress number or by Dewey Decimal System. That this makes me excited shows what a “geek” I am. When I was a young girl, I would reorganize the books on my bookshelf every few months, changing my system every time (by author, by genre, etc.). At one point, I even made a 3×5 card catalog of my personal, three-shelf library. Now I can sort and resort my library, without having to even move my books off the shelves!

I wish I had cataloged my books via LibraryThing before I left them all in storage. (As my husband’s company moved me across the globe [temporarily] on their budget, I had to leave my precious books behind, for the most part.) I’m sitting here wondering which books I own and pining after them. Needless to say, my LibraryThing “shelf” is pretty sparse right now. At some point in the coming months, I’m moving back and will rescue my books from the storage unit. I look forward to cataloging them and enjoying them again!

I also like the interface for discussions. For discussion, it is much easier to navigate than Shelfari’s! But, like I said, I like “widget” and the shelves factors of Shelfari, so I won’t be leaving that either.

Here are my presences on the web, for anyone who may be interested (also in the side bar):

My Blogs

Rebecca’s Writing Practices: My sometimes-defunct attempt to get “writing” and a want-to-be motivation to write
Focus with Photographs: My photoblog, which I also sometimes forget about

Other Stuff

Rebecca Reid on Shelfari: My catalog of my TBR, Reading, and Read books (I don’t forget about it.)
Rebecca Reid on LibraryThing: My catalog of my personal library (I’ve just discovered it, so not much there yet.)
Rebecca Reid’s Lists of Bests: Reading lists I’m working on (I’ve just discovered this, and I am still exploring.)
Rebecca Reid on Twitter: My life updates in 140 characters (I forget about it; do you see a pattern here?)

What other great online tools have I yet to discover?

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LibraryThing versus Shelfari versus ?

Rebecca Reid — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 22:00:24 +0000

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.

In January, my friend sent me an invite to Shelfari. I hadn’t heard of any book cataloging sites before then. I liked the idea, so I signed up. I love tracking my “To be read,” “I’m reading,” and “What I read” books, and I love being able to have a widget on my blog to show readers what I’m working on. There are some annoying things about the Shelfari interface, but even since I started using it in January, they’ve made some significant improvements. (One thing I’ve learned, though, is that if Shelfari grabs on to email addresses, even once, it takes over and keeps emailing, like spam. I am really annoyed, because it was under my name and I don’t want to spam people.)

I’m not very concerned with the social networking side of Shelfari. I might like to be a part of discussions, but (1) I’m not finding groups of people interested in discussing what I’m interested in and (2) I really don’t have that much time to sit and chat with strangers online. I’m busy enough blogging

Since I started book blogging a few months ago, I came across a number of other book cataloging sites. It seems most people use LibraryThing. Here’s my question for LibraryThing users: why does it cost money ($10 a year or $25 a lifetime)? I certainly want to catalog more than 200 books (which is the limit before it costs money), and that seems an oddly low limit. Why limit it? What are the benefits to that service over the others, since the others are free?

Which online book catalog service do you use? Why? What do you mainly use it for?

All that said, despite some annoyance with Shelfari, I like the attractive look of the Shelfari widget. I’m also a pretty cheap person; I prefer to read books from the library and online at Project Gutenberg over buying one. Besides, I just set up a free account in LibraryThing and I can’t figure out how to separate my books into shelves (to be read, reading, finished reading). Can I? If not, maybe I’ll just use it for books I own. I do like the view options. We’ll see.

If you want, spread the word about the poll above. I’m really curious about book bloggers’ online book cataloging habits.

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Doomsday for My Book Sources

Rebecca Reid — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 09:55:28 +0000

What would you do if, all of a sudden, your favorite source of books was unavailable?

Whether it’s a local book shop, your town library, or an internet shop … what would you do if, suddenly, they were out of business? Devastatingly, and with no warning? Where would you go for books instead? What would you do? If it was a local business you would try to help out the owners? Would you just calmly start buying from some other store? Visit the library in the next town instead? Would it be devastating? Or just a blip in your reading habit?

I can’t think of just one source for my books.

I moved to Australia last year. It’s a temporary move, and so I had to leave my beloved books in storage. I think I brought about 10 books with me and I’ve bought as many in the past year. Books in Australia are more than twice what they cost in the USA (one book I enquired about at the local bookstore is $55, while in the USA I’m sure it’s less than $20). Because books are so expensive and for who knows whatever other reasons, the library has half as many books as my USA libraries in suburban Chicago.

So what do I rely on, and what would I do if they were no longer available?

Sources for Physical Books

My local library and the surrounding local libraries

If something happened to my closest library, I’d go to a surrounding branch. I don’t mind driving 30 minutes to get a book.

Amazon.com

Ordering books online is so much easier and, living in Australia, it is cheaper to order a book from the USA and pay shipping than to purchase it in a local bookstore. If Amazon.com suddenly disappeared, I’d be very sad, but I’d find another online bookstore.

Bookmooch

I just barely discovered Bookmooch for swapping books, only because other bloggers mentioned it. I’m so excited! I don’t have any points, however, because all the books I’d like to send are sitting in storage in Chicago. If something happened to Bookmooch, I’d be okay since I haven’t even started using it yet.

Online Sources

Audible

Audible.com sells audiobooks, and I really like listening to good audiobooks! This site has best-sellers and recently published works. It’s a bit pricy, but if I’d rather listen than read, Audible is a nice alternative to buying a book. If something happened to this site, though, I wouldn’t be devastated; I’d just get my audiobooks somewhere else.

Project Gutenberg

At Project Gutenberg, volunteers digitize USA public domain works. I love this site for older books! I can read on my computer or I put the works on my handheld device and read them there. I really don’t mind reading digitally. I’d be very sad if something happened to Project Gutenberg; volunteers put in a lot of work.

Daily Reader

Dailyreader.net takes public domain works and sends them to you via email, a specified amount each day. I enjoy a treat every morning in my email. I’d be okay without it, though.

Librivox

I just discovered LibriVox, thanks to other book bloggers. Volunteers read public domain works and release them back into the public domain. They have a RSS feeds as well: you can get poems or stories sent to you each week. Again, I’d be okay without it.

Note: When I review my Google Analytics, I notice some people arrive at my site looking for various free etexts for best sellers and recently published works. Sorry, folks, you won’t find a legal copy of recent books online for free. In the USA, works published after 1978 are under copyright until 70 years after the author has died. There is a hefty fine for using an illegal etext. For more information, visit the US Copyright Office. Other countries also have copyright laws. You can often purchase etexts via Amazon.com or other online bookstores; even a local Australian bookstore sells etexts. Or, you may be able to visit the publisher’s website and purchase an etext there. Be legal!

Other online booking things I’ve found

Shelfari

Apparently Shelfari is just like Goodreads and LibraryThing, or are those different? I keep track of what I’m reading, what I read, and what I want to read. I like it, but I could figure out what I’m reading without keeping track of it online. Come visit me on Shelfari. (I’m really sorry to those people who I sent an email to about it. I didn’t know that Shelfari would keep sending you annoying invites every other day. I won’t ever do that again! Only come to Shelfari if you want to.)

Lists of Bests

I just discovered Lists of Bests through Rose City Reader. I love that I can keep track of my book lists and check each work off the list. I’d survive if I didn’t have it though.

So, for me, this question should be: What would happen if the Internet met with catastrophe?

I’d die.

I rely on Internet-related things for my books and reading that I’d really have a hard time without the Internet. I might get over it eventually, but I’d definitely have to move somewhere with a better library!

What online reading resources do you rely on? I’m always on the lookout for more, and I learn from fellow readers like you!

I’m giving away a book! You have until Sunday to enter.

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