Social Networks for Bookworms - Goodreads vs. Amazon's Shelfari

For those who haven't heard of either, I will tell you a little story. About a year ago, don't ask me how, I happened to come across this newly-developing website called Goodreads, a great online community where anyone may register and begin to add to their profile the books they have read, are reading at the moment, or would like to read in the nearest future.

The greatest thing about Goodreads is that it is interactive in so many different ways. For those who would like to find suggestions of books to read will easily find them in Goodreads' list directory Listopia, while those who would like to research a certain book or author or subject, may as well do so. There are trivia quizzes and plenty of polls to take; you can view author interviews, find events taking place near you, swap books, recommend books or even participate in free book giveaways. There is an official Goodreads group called the Goodreads Book Club, which, like your perfect online book club, has its group members read a book in two months and discuss it amongst themselves. Another great feature is the challenge which was recently introduced, at the beginning of 2011 - the 2011 Reading Challenge, where you choose how many books you challenge yourself to read over the year, and as long as you update your "Books I'm reading" and "Books I read", Goodreads will be counting them up for you and even telling you when you're behind the schedule, slightly in front, or doing just perfect.

Another interesting and important role I found Goodreads playing in our modern society is through taking brand new, inexperienced authors out into the world. Many people throughout the past few years have come out as great authors and began their published career through Goodreads. Even on Amazon, if you find a book written by someone who started up on Goodreads, be sure to find "Goodreads Author" next to their name.

Finally, you'll be surprised, but Goodreads is controlled by most of its users - the ordinary public. It is ever so easy to apply for the Goodreads Librarian status, which will allow you to add books and edit books as you like. And now you'll ask, "But doesn't that make Goodreads chaotic?" The answer is No. Strangely enough, or maybe not so strangely, the Goodreads community is serious and mature when it comes to books, and all the Librarians are the best ever, keeping Goodreads intact and up-to-date.

Now, a few weeks ago, I was shopping with Amazon and found this: Shelfari. Alright, I will have to admit that when you first enter this website, you do get an awesome first impression. The design is modern, colorful, unlike with Goodreads, and the books you have read, will read, or are reading are displayed on an actual shelf on your profile, making everything look very sophisticated and appealing to anyone.

And it works in basically the same way as Goodreads. You can add books and add your reviews of them. You may add friends and groups. You may also look up books by series, subjects, authors and tags (but apart from that, Goodreads has long ago begun promising sorting our books out into languages, too!). Unfortunately, for the moment, there are no such things as polls or trivia quizzes. Recommendations are, however, more serious here than on Goodreads. While Goodreads only offers recommended books by your friends, Shelfari also has a look through your favorite authors, friend favorites and the next books in the series you have read.

Shelfari also has lovely widgets to display on your blog, and although Goodreads also allows you to insert all sorts of book widgets into your blog, they just couldn't compare with the sleek design of Shelfari's customized mini-shelves.

The big difference, in my opinion, is also the most important and annoying one, and it's all about the the books you're reading at the particular moment and the book reviews. (By the way, on the right of this paragraph you may find a list of books which are currently in my list of "Books I am Currently Reading" on Goodreads.

First of all, when I log into Goodreads, the first thing I see, apart from the news feed, is the current list of the books I'm reading. The brilliant thing is that I can update the page I am on in any of those books at any time and simultaneously leave a short opinion/impression I have of the story so far. I love that part of Goodreads, and unfortunately this feature isn't present in Shelfari. When I'm done with a book, I can just click "I'm finished", and it will be automatically marked as "read" for me, and I will be able to write a review for it. Apart from that, the dates of me beginning and finishing reading the book are kept, and how many times I read it, and I am allowed to add private notes to it. This, sadly, is something Shelfari doesn't do.

In Conclusion...

So, these are my opinions on the online world of bookworms. I also know of a website called LibraryThing, but apparently it isn't very promising, at least compared to both Shelfari and Goodreads. If you agree, or disagree, be sure to leave a comment and, why don't you participate in the little poll below? And of course, if you liked this hub, don't forget to check out my other articles on my profile!