Getting my geek on: Book sites

As you can see on my side bar, I have a couple of widgets for book sites. And I thought that I'd talk about them. Because I'm a freak like that.

I have the most experience with Goodreads. It's nice in the fact that you can see what other people are reading, rate books, discuss them/write your comments about them.
The other plus for me is that I have friends using this site.
When I first started using Goodreads, I just made it so I could keep track of all the books on my "saw it/read about it on the internet and what if I lose my bookmarks or the pieces of paper I've scribbled all these titles on??" list.

(Truly, I can't forget to mention Amazon.com. I enjoy looking up books and then following the reccomendations and other books that people who bought "this item" looked at. I could waste a god hour or so that way, if I allow myself to.)

Shelfari is new. I only learned about it last week. And it seems that I actually learned about something before everyone else and their dog (which is usually how it is. I'm SO often the last to know).
The cool thing about Shelfari is that it LOOKS like a bookshelf.
I'm not about to give up my Goodreads for it. But it's nice and visual.

The newest site I've found (and that would be this morning) is Booklamp. The idea behind it is about matching books ... if you like [title], then here are books that are like it in the areas of description, dialogue, pacing, action, and density. It's in SUCH the new state that it's not really working ... they admit it. BUT you can request books for them to add into the database. (Title, Author and ISBN required ... so I go to Amazon. ^_^) I'm looking forward to seeing how it works out.

If you're looking for ideas for books, What Should I Read Next? is a decent search engine. You can even register and add books -- so you'll get even more tailored results.

I also am a member (but not very active) over at bibliophil (because my dear librarian-friend, Cynthia invited me!) and Library Thing, both of which are rather like Goodreads. (LibraryThing is free up to 200 books. That's probably why I don't use it much ... says the girl with over 1300 books over at Goodreads. Like half of those are on my to-read list.)

A couple more sites that help you to decide on what book to read:

Whichbook.net: what are you in the mood to read? Click on the corresponding option. It'll narrow it down for you.
The book quiz: Find your literary match. (It's fun, anyways!)
And literature-map.com: Enter an author and they'll map out a bunch of other authors. It goes with the assumption that if you like this author's body of work, these authors will be up your alley. the closer another author is in the "map"/cloud/arrangement, the more likely it is that you'll enjoy his or her work.
(A funny thing about literature-map, some of the author names hover ... like they're not quite sure about the placement. Makes me laugh.)


Funny, on mental_floss, they have a discussion about "Deal Breaker books" ... what would be the book(s) that would bring about the end of a relationship? A lot of people seem to really hate Dan Brown's books.
(I don't know. His books seem fine to me. Do I think they're the paragon of modern literature? Nah. But I've read worse.)

I don't know that I really have a deal-breaker book. If you really loved Birdman (the only book to give me repeating nightmares for WEEKS ... Yeah, I kept dreaming that I'd been abducted by a sadistic rapist. And he was driving me to where he was going to ... well, yeah. and I KNEW what he was going to do. So, I'd wake up in a cold sweat. Over and over and over. *shudders* I threw that book away. Like in the garbage can. I don't do that to books. For that one, I made an exception. And Stephen King? Doesn't phase me too much, nightmarewise. I do think that Room 409 is one of the freakiest short stories. Like deliciously, wickedly freaky. But I liked The Sun Dog even better. Enough to make you think twice about that Polaroid camera.)
I had one nightmare over a different book, one that T loved and lent me. About a virus that affects only women. So, in my dream, they used a different treatment involving testosterone ... and I was growing a pen!s. Yeah, I woke up patting at my pelvis. And thanking the Lord that I was not going to freak out my husband by suddenly having equipment I was not meant to have.)

(Oh, hey! You got a bonus section of Allanna's crazy dream chronicles! Aren't you THRILLED?!? :P Seriously, my subconscious is a very scary place to visit. Unicorns, Neil Gaiman's Sandman and Death, recombinant DNA, various celebrities and school friends, road trips, goblins and boggles, sunshine and flowers, incense-filled sepulchers, ... it's like Edgar Allen Poe meets Lewis Carrol and then got together with the Powerpuff Girls. After they picked up a biology textbook and a copy of the Princess Bride. All while quoting Monty Python and Dorothy Parker.)

(Seriously. You should try living with it. :P)

(Maybe that's why I read so much.)

If you want to comment with any deal-breaker books, I'd love to hear them! Or you could comment over at mental_floss.

Okay, that's enough for now (Meaning that I've run out of material. But still! That's quite a few websites of bibliophila, no? And I didn't even mention Bookswim, where you can RENT books, like Netflix. I haven't tried it myself, but I'm loving the idea ... especially if I didn't live near a decent library.)