I've had a LibraryThing account for a long time. I tend to use it heavily for awhile, then not so much. Right now I'm in the not so much mode. They don't have an app although they state on their website "We’re developing a full-fledged Librarything app. Until then, we have a simple mobile website." No timeline as to when this statement was posted or when the app might happen. Mobile site I guess is better than nothing but when I pulled up the site on my iPhone it did not automatically redirect to the mobile site.
Even after I logged on it still didn't redirect to the mobile site. And I don't see an easy, quick link on the main page to go mobile. jd-Points
Since we're dealing mobile and apps here I'll forego further discussion on LibraryThing at this time.
goodreads I learned about after I'd already had time and books invested in LibraryThing so I wasn't sure I'd want to switch or ditch. And did I really have a reason for both? I'd say no. But now I thought I was more open to checking it out-- friends seem to like it and it does have an app so that makes it easy for quick reference on the go. I started off with the website and found that I could import my books from LibraryThing along with the majority of my other book related information. jd+Points.
The app-- The main app screen has 2 screens worth of options.
Right off the bat I spot the "Scan" option. This will come in handy. I scanned in the barcode of a title that I know I don't have in my library. And here's what it pulled up:
Brief info plus more details after selecting the title. From the 1st screen there's the option to "Shelve" it to my library. jd+Points for scanning ability.
Back to the main screen options and there is "Challenge". A way to challenge either yourself or to join in a reading challenge. At times I do tend to get stuck in a rut so a little butt-kicking might be a good thing.
eBooks is another option. It tells me I've not downloaded any from goodreads so I select the option to see what's available. Here's a shot:
The results are the "Most Downloaded". I didn't go into any details but I'm guessing it offers a way to get the books whether for free or to buy.
Recommendations are a big thing to me. I'm very often at a loss as to what I want to read next-- even though I have a title list of 200+ "to reads". I often ask others or search out "reads like" options to find my next read. It's usually a matter of wanting something different or not sure what topic I'm interested in at the moment. I need that just right suggestion at the right time. Picky I'd guess you say.
I ck'd out the goodreads "Recommended" option. Here it offered genres from which to select.
I then select "next" and was asked to rate books in order to receive personalized recommendations.
I worked through this recommendation process for awhile. If I rated a book (1-5 stars) it then would bring up another 3-5 similar selections to then possibly rate or ignore. This could take awhile. Especially if I need to go through each genre? I assumed so & chose not to finish right now. I'll go back another time when I can spare some time to waste. Note: I do like the "Want to Read" button option right there because there were quite a few titles that sounded good right away. jd+Points
Lastly I looked at "My Books". At 1st glance I was a bit disappointed because all of my 289 titles were lumped into the "read" category. So that means that it did not transfer forward related details such as "to read", "read", "owned" etc. I guess I should have expected as much but I had hopes. More work to do to get things organized and to have "My Books" be truly informational and usable for me. Now will I do this by memory? Or will I need to have LibraryThing open in one tab with GoodReads open in another tab?
Here's a shot of "My Books" (read) sorted by the "Author" option. Looks like the sort is in reverse/descending order?
So a few glitches and some work to do but overall I think the goodreads app has promise for my needs.
Other eBook apps
I do not have a Nook or a Kindle but I do have the free apps for both on my iPhone and my iPad. I tend not to use the Nook apps-- in fact now that I think of it I might have deleted them awhile back? There's just something about Nook that I don't like-- I think it's the singular, proprietary exclusivity of it-- it doesn't like to share. I have a few Kindle eBooks but I'll admit I'm really not much of an eReader. I'm not quite sure why because I'm a tech-lover but I still prefer to hold a book in my hands. Maybe it stems back to those grad school years reading countless journal articles that did me in? I'd download them and read via my iPad-- which I loved for reading those vs. print. The logic just isn't there.
Free eBooks
There seem to be many options for free eBooks. Here are a few popular ones:
Amazon (for Kindle)
Barnes & Noble (for Nook)
Project Gutenberg (epub & Kindle)
BookBub ("works with all major eBook retailers and devices")
plus as a librarian I'd be amiss not to put in a plug for libraries! Many public and academic libraries have eBooks in their collections-- all for free with your library card-- check it out today!
