asia birdI love to read, but I only read books that are recommended to me.
I would go so far as to describe myself as a voracious reader, but I don’t read just anything. Enter Shelfari- If you haven’t heard of Shelfari, I recommend you check it out. Shelfari is a social network for people who love books!
Better Recommendations from People, Not Computers
There is a huge difference between recommendations from somebody I know, and Amazon’s recommended products based on my viewing habits. For example, Amazon knows that I like fiction, nonfiction, self help, biographies, science fiction, fantasy, historical fiction, etc. But Amazon does not know that I don’t like books with unhappy endings, or books that will give me nightmares. My friend Erika does! Even though ‘The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo’ is a NY Times Bestseller, and there is a movie made about it, Erika let me know I wouldn’t like it, Amazon won’t stop recommending it to me.
One of the reasons that I signed up for Shelfari is to be able to see what my friends are reading, which books we have in common, and find out what they think about the books they have read. I can even join other communities of complete strangers with similar book preferences. It’s an online book club!
No More Book Reports in Excel
I don’t like to own books. They take up a lot of space, are a pain in the butt to move when you relocate as often as I do, and buying a lot of books gets expensive. (I use Booksfree, much more economical).
I used to keep track of the books I’ve read, what I thought about them, who recommended them to me, books I wanted to read, dates I started and finished each book, etc in this elaborate excel spreadsheet. (Yes, I’m that neurotic), but the problem with an excel spreadsheet that it’s only useful when you have your computer in front of you. With Shelfari I can access my account from my iPhone at the airport, or from any internet cafe when I’m traveling.
And best of all, it’s freeeee! The only downside, is that I can’t upload my excel spreadsheet, I have to manually put them in one by one.
Do you use Shelfari? I’d love to hear about it an add you to my Shelfari community. Here’s my personal bookshelf:
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