Poll

Jen wrote: "I've been using Shelfari for years. I'm familiar with it, I'm comfortable with it, and the groups discussion options there are superior. GoodReads became a backup because a lot of my FB friends u..."

Hear here!

I prefer shelfari but library thing is a close second. Goodreads is my least favorite because of the discussion threads are difficult.

I have accounts on Shelfari and Goodreads. There are pros and cons to both sites. First, if you want a legitimate sample you need to solicit responses from more than just Goodreads. If you are only asking the question on one site the answers will obviously be skewed.

The aspect of Goodreads I use most is the barcode scanner. If I'm at a bookstore and book piques my interest I can scan the book to my shelf and look at the reviews later to determine if I'm interested in pursuing it as a read. I also like the lists and the comprehensive nature of the book selection on Goodreads better than Shelfari. If I'm looking for books on a subject I come to Goodreads. I also like the recommendations feature better here.

However, overall, I prefer Shelfari for the tagging feature, the virtual bookshelf, and the social aspect. I find the groups easier to navigate on Shelfari and I find that I have a more social experience with fellow readers. In my opinion, the structure of the groups on Goodreads are not user-friendly. It is hard to follow a conversation. I certainly don't think I get to know the readers on Goodreads as much as I do on Shelfari.

I have Goodreads and Shelfari. I haven't tried Librarything and probably won't as I have over a thousand books on my shelves and don't want the cost. I came to Goodreads only because one of my friends at work used it and they wanted to show me something. I was turned off right away by how Goodreads looks overall. Also the groups are not user friendly or easy to follow. The one plus to Goodreads is the status updates on your Currently reading books, love that.
I choose Shelfari hands down. The group set up and people are excellent. I have gained so much from them. The virtual shelf is far easier to see what I have. I cannot give up the tagging system there.

Shelfari OVERALL has the best, cleanest layout. Group discussion, review formats, goals, shelves, tagging.

The only real benefit I find on GR is "where you are" in a book.

I have accounts on both GoodReads and Shelfari, and I much prefer Shelfari's format. I found it difficult to navigate GoodReads and I am pretty computer literate.

And a 1-question poll? What can you get out of that other than rah-rah for the site that is hosting it, and so will obviously get the most votes?

Anna wrote: "I have accounts on both GoodReads and Shelfari, and I much prefer Shelfari's format. I found it difficult to navigate GoodReads and I am pretty computer literate.

And a 1-question poll? What c..."

I find that most of Goodread's polls are biased. There are fan clubs for certain books or authors. It frequently resembles Junior high school popularity contests.

Is this poll meant ti be skewed...How would Shelfari patrons know this is here?
Group discussions are superior on Shelfari.

The layout on Goodreads is difficult to navigate

Those are my reasons for choosing Shelfari

I'm sure if this poll were held on Shelfari, that the numerical results would be similar, only with Shelfari first and Goodreads second.

I've never been on Library Thing, but am a member of both Goodreads and Shelfari. I vastly prefer Shelfari. I love the virtual shelf. I don't understand everyone's comments about combining all books and showing one edition. One of the things I've loved is choosing the edition I read, even if that was back in 1979 or earlier. I also really love the group discussion formats. It's easy to choose the discussion you want to participate in and all the responses line up neatly under the original comment.

Asking this question only in Goodreads means that of course the results will be biased toward Goodreads. Many of those who've responded here have never even heard of Shelfari.

I would love to see some updates made to Shelfari, but even at that I choose it hands down.

Kristel wrote: "I prefer shelfari but library thing is a close second. Goodreads is my least favorite because of the discussion threads are difficult."

I'm in agreement with Kristel on all three sites.

The group format on shelfari is - by far - easiest to follow.

I like Goodreads only as a backup for my books. I don't like the fact that any response to a post here is not directly under that post. It could be pages down the line. Shelfari is far superior in that aspect, which is the reason why I prefer Shelfari. The virtual shelves are much more user friendly and they look better,too. I only come to Goodreads to list a book, not for the discussions, which are too hard to follow.

I'm assuming by the very fact that this "poll" is available, that someone here is looking for Kudos for Goodreads, and that there is an expected result that will be "PRO" Goodreads rather than the other two sites? Hmmmmmmmm

I like Shelfari: I love my visible bookshelf and the fact that it is connected to my blogs. I love my friends there, and I find it easy to use as well as visually pleasing.

I used goodreads years ago, but I did not find it satisfying. Even now, I do not particularly like the visuals and even now I'm finding it difficult to navigate......

We'll see, I have friends in both places!

Nicole wrote: "I am a member of all three but Shelfari is my go-to site, I am active on there multiple times a day.

Why?

The group discussion format on Shelfari is far superior to any other site. You can actual..."

You betcha!

Fishface wrote: "I'm a member of Shelfari and Goodreads but prefer Shelfari for a long list of reasons. It's easier to use, navigate, easier to contribute to and even more visually attractive."

Yes it is!

Laurie wrote: "I use Goodreads and Shelfari.But I use Shelfari EVERYDAY. Shelfari is much easier and quicker.Goodreads is too chopped up and has too many steps to accomplish the same end result.I alos have diffic..."

I use shelfari several (many) times a day....

Shelfari. For me is easier to figure out and navigate. The discussion groups are easier to find on Shelfari.

I love Shelfari. I have a GR account but don't use it. It is too hard to navigate. It is not smart phone friendly. I have yet to be able to get into any discussions, as they aren't accessible by cell phone. I will stop using any o line library discussion group if Shelfari is destroyed. I will also quit using Amazon if they destroy Shelfari. I would rather use Alibris or B&N, if Amazon cares so little for its Shelfari users. Why haven't Shelfarians been polled? This is so biased against Shelfari. I am disgusted and won't even bother with GR anymore. Bah humbug!

Jamie wrote: "I think Shelfari is better, but Amazon seem determined to run it into the ground...and this question is only posted on Goodreads, obviously most Goodreads users will prefer Goodreads , and Amazon w..."


exactly! I reactivated my account on goodreads after the merge as a precaution. I find I like good reads ok, but it is no where near as interesting nor as social as Shelfari, nor is goodreads anywhere near as responsive as the crew over on Shelfari. I have never had a question go more than a week being responded to, in fact, amanda usually responds and often fixes with 24 hrs. for social media, i consider that pretty good. i requested a clarification from goodreads on a point of ownership and it took them over a month to respond!!!!

Goodreads is okay, LT, never got comfortable there. I live at Better than Starbucks on Shelfari!

A.J. wrote: "Shelfari is mega slow to load, for one, and I've been waiting a while to get approved as the author of my books there, in order to get author status. Goodreads seems so comprehensive, efficient and..."


what system do you use? my Shelfari loads instantly on my pc with firefox, and is as fast as anything else on my iphone on chrome. (yes I have both open 90% of the time on both the phone and the laptop)

i hate the way the Goodreads iphone ap is so limited compared to the full version....

Raspberrymocha55 wrote: "I love Shelfari. I have a GR account but don't use it. It is too hard to navigate. It is not smart phone friendly. I have yet to be able to get into any discussions, as they aren't accessible by..."

♥

Another thing that is peeving me GREATLY: On the Home Page, the group I joined is nowhere visible, nor can I find how to navigate to it under any of the tabs.....

What the heck is with this?

At least w/ Shelfari, when I log in I am directed to my profile page and under my personal tabs are ALL the links I need to navigate to my shelf, my profile, my groups, my notes, etc.

I can also see my Bookshelf!

Visually, this site is TERRIBLE!

Library-KAT wrote: "Another thing that is peeving me GREATLY: On the Home Page, the group I joined is nowhere visible, nor can I find how to navigate to it under any of the tabs.....
..."

At the very top of the page you'll see a link to GROUPS ... click that. It will open a page on which at the LEFT you'll see a box titled MY GROUPS ... six groups (based on most recent activity) will be listed there, but if you are in more than six groups, you can click on MY GROUPS and it will open a page will all your groups listed.

One complaint I have is that when I open MY GROUPS it automatically lists them in the order of which groups I have posted most often. Yes, there's a little box where I can change that sort to "last activity" ... but there is no way to make "last activity" my default option for this.

Ah, well .... Another reason to prefer Shelfari

Anthony wrote: "what system do you use? my Shelfari loads instantly on my pc with firefox, and is as fast as anything else on my iphone on chrome. (yes I have both open 90% of the time on both the phone and the laptop)"

I find that Shelfari is slow to load with all my browsers.

♥Bella★✰ wrote: "Anthony wrote: "what system do you use? my Shelfari loads instantly on my pc with firefox, and is as fast as anything else on my iphone on chrome. (yes I have both open 90% of the time on both the ..."

wow!

This was supposed to be a poll with questions not a bunch of comments, but I will add mine also. I do not like Goodreads, the site is unwieldy and does not give you what Shelfari does. Perhaps if I had started with Goodreads I might have a different opinion, but as I have been part of Shelfari since early 2009, my vote is for Shelfari.

Gayle wrote: "This was supposed to be a poll with questions not a bunch of comments, but I will add mine also. I do not like Goodreads, the site is unwieldy and does not give you what Shelfari does. Perhaps if..."

You're getting "comments" because there was no place in the poll (that we could find) to discuss what we like & don't like.

All my poll page asked was: "Which do you prefer"........ I would think the administration of this place would want to know what people like & don't like, why, and how to improve the site.

Personally I find this site a PITA to use.... Not enough visual clues, icons to help me in my navigation. Not to mention I want to just be able to go to my page and see First Thing my groups/shelf/reviews... not all these posts from other people whom I do not know, or even care to know. I don't like having to work to find things......

Lloyd the Bartender wrote: "I used to be a Shelfari member...but that poor excuse of a site is the most bug-ridden and poorly designed piece of garbage I have had the misfortune of being part
The search engine is a joke...."

All of which is true, but i found "Better than Starbucks" on Shelfari and enjoyed their company for years. Nowadays i spend most time on the net in Coursera. I havent read much fiction for a while, but following a course on a moderated site gets me reading a lot of other materials i wouldnt otherwise have found. Goodreads is still my favorite among the book sites.

Mark wrote: "Lloyd the Bartender wrote: "I used to be a Shelfari member...but that poor excuse of a site is the most bug-ridden and poorly designed piece of garbage I have had the misfortune of being part
The ..."


I am sorry that Lloyd found Shelfari to be a "joke", but up until about 3 years ago, when Amazon took over Shelfari, it was a pretty good site. Actually it still is a good site. But Amazon does not care at all for any of the problems that have happened, there is no technical support as the original admin is gone (I think Amazon fired her) so no one answers the yells for help from Shelfari's users. It's really aggrivating!! But I will stick with Shelfari to the bitter end. Maybe I will do what RaspberryMocha is suggesting that if Amazon destroys Shelfari, then I will go over to B&N's site for my books!

Library-KAT wrote: "Gayle wrote: "This was supposed to be a poll with questions not a bunch of comments, but I will add mine also. I do not like Goodreads, the site is unwieldy and does not give you what Shelfari doe..."

YES!!!!

Shelfari takes too long to load.

Goodreads seems to be more organized.

I do like LibraryThing better than Shelfari also because of their organization.

Shelfari takes too long to load.

Goodreads seems to be more organized.

I do like LibraryThing better than Shelfari also because of their organization.

LibraryThing. Although the socializing on GR is lovely, I can rely on my LT book catalogue 100%, which I can't do on GR with all it's 1001 glitches, with new bugs being reported every day (seemingly.)
And for me, cataloguing comes first.

I use all of them. I like being able to post in multiple lists so that more people can see my ratings and reviews. I do the contests on both Goodreads and Library Thing. I like the reading challenge groups on Shelfari.

As hard as I've tried, I can't figure out how to access more than the most basic features of Goodreads while Shelfari is far easier to use.

I belong to all three, however I am, hands down, a Shelfari fan. Navigation is the clearest and easiest, for me.

I had a Goodreads before but I wasn't allowed to log back in to the account. I just got Goodreads again and it's taking me forever to add just the books I've read, let alone anything else like book editions or what I want to read. Goodreads takes A LOT OF TIME to actually get this done whereas Shelfari is quick, easy, and visual.

I love Goodreads for logging books for my personal use. I log books I want to read, books I've read, read reviews before reading the books and add comments of my own after I have read them. As an elementary school librarian, I also love Librarything. I have used it for years to search books by subject such as courage or wisdom (for our character education programs),or literary topics like setting, plot, etc.. The ability to add tags is very useful, although searching is not as user friendly as it could be. I just recently paid the small fee so I could add more titles myself but the site is useful whether you pay or not. I have not used Shelfari, so can't comment on it.

I tried LibraryThing but just couldn't... it's ugly, not intuitive, clunky - didn't like it at all. Shelfari is OK as well as the fairly new BookLikes, I was positively surprised how many interesting and valuable book bloggers I met there.

I only use Goodreads. I've never even heard of the other two! I visited Shelfari and like it because it shows you character description. Whenever I read on my iPad I have that feature but not my Kindle. I hope Kindle gets that feature soon.

Overall, goodreads. Shelfari is pretty to look at but not very practical for what I want. I think I would use library thing more but that book cap without paying a yearly fee gets to me so I don't use them.

Jamie wrote: "Overall, goodreads. Shelfari is pretty to look at but not very practical for what I want. I think I would use library thing more but that book cap without paying a yearly fee gets to me so I don'..."


You don't have to pay a yearly fee though, you can pay a one time lifetime fee. $25 isn't bad for permanent membership and they also give you the option to pay slightly less if $25 is hard for you to swing and the option to pay more if you just want to support the site.

goodreads and library

Use them all, but Goodreads is the most comfortable for me. Otherwise, all of them are far from ideal (my ideal, anyway).

If Rate Your Music/Films will have a books section as well (probably in a few years, right now they're busy with the video games section), that will become my favorite. Instead of ranking lists it would have personal lists and automatic charts. And, at least for a while, there will be mostly "snobs" (in a good way) and other categories who don't give high ratings to pop fiction like over there. I know that because their film charts have quite a few oddities that are underappreciated on IMDb. But the biggest plus, for me, would be the genre system, alongside browsing by publishing house/series.

Bookcrossing.

i prefer Shelfari for keeping track of my reading lists. i use Goodreads because of the social aspect.
There are a lot of things that bug me about Shelfari like the fact i need to login with my Amazon account.

i think since Amazon owns Goodreads, LibraryThing and Shelfari, they will not make any improvements to Shelfari. i think they want folks to abandon it like Myspace when FB came out.

Joannemarie wrote: "I forgot all about Librarything and Shelfari. I used to use those, and a bunch of others that I've also forgotten about and they were all pretty good. It takes so much time to get all the books you..."

Thank you so much for posting this about Shelfari! I have been remiss on keeping up with the ebook field in recent years, having been a pioneer with BookManager, ISIL, BookMaster, HSIM, etc, at IBM in the early days! The Shelfari tools of importing my Amazon library and exporting it are exactly what I needed. I open the massive exported file with Kedit and use its wonderful sorting and change tools to columnize it by title, sorted by title/bookname. It is so quick to navigate that 13k line file in Kedit. That might be even easier in Excel, but Kedit worked for me. Kedit also has the "All", "more", and "less" functions.

I use both Goodreads and Librarything. I like them for different reasons. I like Goodreads for the more social aspect and it is easier to get around. But librarything, I enjoy building a database of books on. Never liked Shelfari much though.

I use Shelfari for my school readers but prefer Goodreads for myself.

Goodreads forever, I have been here for years. Also on Booklikes, but I only update once every 2 mths, and just joined Librarything today, another place to update reviews.