Cool Book Sites to Try

on July 2, 2009 at 4:53 PM

Number 1 on the NYT

Bestseller's List this week.

I'm still too busy with my little kids to have the problem of picking up a book at the library and forgetting that I already read it. I don't get to read as often as I like, so I can definitely remember the two or three books I go through each month.

But to prepare for the time when my kids become more interested in their friends and sports than me (boo-hoo), I just set up accounts with two cool book tracking sites recommended by my friends in The Book Club.

One is Shelfari.com

The other is GoodReads.com

They have different looks and functions, but are basically the same animal. Half resource, half book club. You can add books you've read to a library, review and rate them, find books you might be interested in, connect with friends to see what they are reading and recommend, and basically just chat about books.

I registered for both because some of my friends might use one and not the other, so this way I'm covered. There's also book club apps on some of the other social networking sites, like weRead and Visual Bookshelf, a book discussion blog, but I don't use those yet.

A lot of ladies in The Book Club prefer to do it the old-fashioned way -- they keep a pen and paper journal of all the books they've read. Of course, it's a lot harder to share with others that way. But The Book Club has a discussion, book of the month, swap, and recommendation section right in the group, so in a way, there's no need to go anywhere else ... :)

Do you enjoy sharing the titles of books you've read with friends and acquaintances on social networking sites, or do you prefer to keep that information private?

About the author Cynthia Dermody

is The Stir's Managing Editor who has trophies in her home for her skills at the Irish Jig. She makes cupcakes with as many fattening ingredients as possible, doesn't comb her hair for months at a time, and was probably a faerie in a former life.

Filed Under: books, web

Comments (5)

5forjulie

on Jul 2, 2009 at 4:59 PM

I have used both but in the long term scheme...I love goodreads.

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aurorabunny

on Jul 2, 2009 at 5:09 PM

Mannn I miss reading. I still read but it can take me months to finish a book now.

Groovy-flor

on Jul 3, 2009 at 12:05 PM

I love Goodreads. It helps keep me organized.

luchousdiva

on Jul 5, 2009 at 2:04 PM

I just started a book club on here and I love being able to share things with other people. My friends and I don't read the same stuff but we do discuss when we get together.