Holy Reader Bailout, Batman! ༄ If You're Leaving, Let Us Know Before Ya Go! ༄

[Steph, Serious series addict]

Wow! I'm away from GR for a bit (totally due to RL chaos, nothing more), come back to try to play catch up and it's like witnessing a virtual fleeing of a falling city 'round here. :(


I'm doing my best to catch up, but damn! the GR Feedback thread is a mess ~ it's all over the place. Needless to say, I'm sorry to see GR is becoming less about being a retreat for readers to discuss books (and, yes, that includes those who authored them) and more about keeping authors happy and book sales high.

I have snickered and snorted over some of the hilariously creative shelf names people have created here on GR. I'm sorry to see that those shelves (with or without comments) created to forewarn readers (who are book buyers by default) of author behavior are being deleted. While I do not always spot them or get swayed by them when I do, I appreciate someone taking the time and energy to make others aware in case their decision to buy or not to buy an author's books is based on such information.

Several weeks ago, when I read a blog post by Mike Mullin liked by a GR friend, I decided to check out BookLikes. I created a BL account purely out of curiosity. But, now I'm seeing a lot of GRers "planting a flag" there (and elsewhere) as well. I've not done much to my BL acct other than import my GR library and sync my acct. Maybe of my imported reviews look terrible and covers are missing, so my OCDemoness is roarin'. But, it's a back up, if nothing else. You can follow me, http://stephb.booklikes.com/, if you'd like.

As for my GR account, I'm planning on sticking around to see how all of this plays out. I especially don't want to abandon on my group, which has brought me nothing but joy and laughter over the past 3.5 yrs.

But, if you're leaving GR or just creating a home on another bookish site in case the reader-friendly city of GR truly does fall and evacuation is imminent, please share your new home(s) with us so we can find you.

[D.G.]

It's sad, isn't it Steph?

I'm not leaving GR (for now) but I'll be using it for group info only. I'll be posting my reviews in BL or the blog, not here.

Anybody that wants to follow me, can do so at http://audiolover.booklikes.com

[Debbie's Spurts (D.A.)]

If not leaving or unsure -- still a good idea to backup your data in case something ever goes wrong ("My Books," import/export and export to csv file; if looks goofy pulled into spreadsheet, format review column to have wordwrap). If staying in goodreads, still not a terrible idea to have your content also backed up on another site.

Banned books week, indeed. And counting on customers rushing out to buy the new kindle paperwhite integrated with goodreads to replace departing members.

Me, staying probably at least this year while I see what happens. But not contributing new content. Waiting to see what the goodreads wannabes are and what the "community" feel is. Waiting for Dear Author's post this weekend covering the alternatives. Trying out those listed by Book Riot already.

Not leaving goodreads but I can be found at sites I am already trying because they had an easy csv import: The Reading Room, fictfact, booklikes, Riffle Books, libib. Glad I had books on fictfact (I had a wild hair last winter and did put my series reads there because I was always checking their site for new releases anyway; love it to death but no edition choices, social aspect, or handling of non-series books).

Actually, before leaving consider leaving account open for a wee bit. Post general update just announcing new policy in shelves and reviews can be read at http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/1... for the sake of friends who still don't know (no sitewide announcement yet).

Edit profile to put your new address. Announce new address. Considering keeping an account here for groups -- until you find a good place for groups and can let us know.

My first impressions of the wannabes hidden behind spoilers to not make this message so long—with a big huge warning that I've only barely gotten an account and clicked around exploring so if I didn't find a feature doesn't mean it's missing or that they are not planning to add or that I did not just get confused exploring everything at once

The Reading Room - (view spoiler)[ have not found any series info anywhere (again, could be confused me) but otherwise - this one so far looks like the goodreads contender. Has half stars. Groups, feeds, reviews, choices for public/private/friends options. Don't have to blog review. Probably the fastest get-up-and-running and closest to look and feel of goodreads. Editions there but not figured out yet. Have widgets. Social media integration for facebook and others.. (hide spoiler)]

Libib - (view spoiler)[ excellent as book catalog (so is standalone for purchase Book Collectorz software and a thousand apps and box softwares, incidentally) if that's all you want. No social aspects other than being able to share your list of books. Series info is in book title with sequence inside parentheses just like goodreads. Groups/shelves choices to customize so basically getting the shelf/subshelf or genre/subgenre option always wanted here. Or can use "groups" or multiple library collection options to completely manage series information. Editions there but not always well combined or clearcut. Don't see, despite series info in title, a click to see series type of option. Currently books with asin numbers will have to be custom added (and while they are adding the feature it is a low priority for them; bigger priority managing the influx of data from us refugees no doubt). Seriously no social aspect but no complaints. Reviews and notes both in books. Social media aspect -- you can share out your list of books. (hide spoiler)]

booklikes - (view spoiler)[ I have no idea how to find series info on booklikes. booklikes is hyped a lot on threads here but they do seem responsive to adding features goodreads members ask ( the data import goes in stages so first book titles show, standard shelves, then ratings reviews and custom shelves so don't freak if books show up with no review or custom shelf). Every Thursday sounds like they add features or tweak as members want. I see the appeal for bloggers, book reviews and comments work well, the feed is tumbler/blog appealing which may not be my thing, no way to communicate so far to other members other than the blog post comments, no groups or bookclubs yet. All the nearly spam-like hyping for booklikes in the feed is helpful answering questions about stuff people had trouble finding that site did actually have; my question about series -- dead silence. I'll email their support Monday asking (I feel bad because I asked a lot of questions by email and they responded very nicely within two hours on everything -- bug huge, huge points in my book but to be fair no one has as many members vs. stuff ratio). Have half stars. Public/private options for almost everything including individual books. If html/twig comfortable, boy, do they let you customize a lot. Editions are there but nit figured out yet. Bookmarklet like goodreads so that you can browse booksites lik amazon and add book to booklikes. Widget support and widgets. Social media integration for facebook and others and a list they are adding. UPDATE: booklikes has officially announced adding discussion groups and the ability to mark custom threads as exclusive. (hide spoiler)]

Riffle books just started up this summer and so far has no data import so I've not tested much of anything. Any site without data import is one I'm testing last as I get familiar with other sites. We Reads not liking my browser, I may try on another machine.

Of course, no idea who or how many of my goodreads friends are jumping ship to which site. That will impact choices. Obviously if there were ever a sister site for SOS group ...

My pm's on goodreads are open if anyone figures out something I couldn't, like series friendly features. If following me into testing or moving to another site -- I've friended followed people solely because they had some posts for newbies or came over from goodreads so not necessarily members I am vouching for. If any of your groups here are not exactly book related, lots of sites host groups/forums/communities, etc.

(ETA for organization)

[Literary Ames]

I'm unsure of what I'm doing. I've not made any librarian edits or added any books I'm interested in or read since the announcement.

http://amyorames.booklikes.com

[Literary Ames]

ETA: A fully updated version of the below information can be found here: http://www.goodreads.com/story/show/3...



(view spoiler)[For anyone wanting to catch up:

See the announcement with multiple updates.

All of Kara's comments in the Feedback group, for future reference. (She's the only member of staff to comment in that thread.) Kara's first response to comments.

Deletions
21 members had reviews deleted without notice on Friday. Any shelves or reviews made after then won't receive any notice about deletions. :(

Person who had 78 reviews deleted without notice.

Another who had 90 reviews deleted.

Objectively Bad Books listopia deleted. It was going to contain books with mutiple grammar and spelling errors, etc.

maybe-will-read-someday shelf deleted. But Kara says they didn't do it. Only 21 accounts had reviews deleted. Hmm. Barbara's repsonse and see Brandi and Ala's comments below it.

Linda's shelf deletion with a screenshot. Underneath is a few posts from Kara about how harassment from authors isn't tolerated, they haven't been hacked, and that it's okay to talk about the author within the context of the book review.

GR deleted 5-star Harry Potter reviews. Kara says they didn't delete any 5-star Harry Potter reviews. Don't-want-to-read shelves are fine, apparently.

Positve shelf called "shizzle" deleted. I love the picture.


Kara said:

Liz wrote: "The biggest example being "Due to Author" which has many meanings and not all of them are negative."

Ala wrote: "What the hell do "taa" and "icy-hex" even mean? "

We don’t comment publicly on individual cases, but in general, what we do is look at a shelf and see how it is used in context. In any case where we have decided to remove that shelf, we are confident that the shelf was being used in a way to review author behavior.

So it's not just shelf names but how they're being used.

All content that has been deleted has been deleted for good and will not be reinstated and no copy is available for the reviewer to save.

Figured out author blog posts aren't flaggable - will look into it, despite this issue being raised multiple times in Feedback. Shows they don't read all the threads.

Statement by GR from this article:

“Over time we plan to better use all of the data we have around reviews so that we are putting the best reviews – the ones that will be most interesting and useful – at the top. This is a big data problem, and we are hiring a data scientist to work on it. At the same time, we already personalize how you see reviews – you see your friends’ reviews first and then you see reviews by people you follow, all people that you know and trust.”

Screenshot of Otis (founder of GR) following THT (#84 most popular reviewer in the world) on BookLikes - LMFAO! Looks like even he's abandoning GR, or just checking out the competition. And his account looks legitimate: http://otischandler.booklikes.com/


(Click to enlarge)


From MediaBistro:

"If there’s one thing most readers find controversial – it’s censorship. If you mix a bunch of highly literate, well-informed readers on a social network like Goodreads and tell them they can no longer express their opinions on authors of said books – well, you’re just asking for trouble because that’s censorship."

From another article:

"But the vast majority of users on Goodreads are likely people who don’t have time to leave many reviews or get involved in discussions. They may spend a few minutes on the site a week, and they’re not tracking the site’s new policies closely (if they’re even aware of them in the first place). And while Goodreads will try to appease both sides, it is likely betting that its real growth will come from the users who spend a few minutes a week on the site and are primarily just looking for something to read."

Member Reactions

Most feel GR have caved into the demands of badly behaving authors and those at STGRB by imposing this censorship.

I agree with Christine: "I remain far more concerned about your stated policy of reading my mind and deleting shelves based on your perception of what I was thinking when I created it. That is so far over the line of appropriate or reasonable that the line has ceased to exist." and "I'm sorry, but I am still reeling from the announcement that this isn't about shelf names at all. It is about the information contained on the shelves, and whether or not the authors fit the profile of BBA's. Goodreads is seriously PROFILING our shelves for permissiblity."

Top user leaves and another deletes their account, and another.


Post from Wendy Darling 5th most popular review in the world (on GR)


Author Reactions
Is Goodreads Mocking Us On Banned Books Week? - I think they are. Those Quotes of the Day cannot be a coincidence.

Shiloh Walker's post on the Feedback thread.

Authors encouraged to flag reviews.

GR trying to prevent author meltdowns at negative reviews.

Ilona Andrews asked what was going on at GR and said this site can't be for both readers and authors.


News Coverage
This has made the Washington Post and CNN, but the Washington Post is being sold to Jeff Bezos who founded Amazon.


BookLikes
BookLikes having an orgasm over "HUGE amount of users registering and using" their site

BookLikes welcoming Goodreaders - Carroll Bryant has commented underneath. He's a STGRB member and has done some shameful things.

If you have questions or need tips a new GR group has been created to deal with them: Everything BookLikes

Here's BL's official blog: http://blog.booklikes.com/



There are tons of reactionary protest blog posts, reviews and shelves as well.

Tangential threads have been created in Feedback:
Response from GR
disappearing reviews
Ability to download updates created by me and has both Emily and rivka responding
way to download reviews

Kara, Emily, and rivka all responded too fast and enthusiastically; anything to seem helpful and responsive. I think they're all helpless and scared that they don't want to touch on the new policy. (hide spoiler)]

[Josie]

Great overview, Ames. LOL you pretty much hit everything that's happened!

That Jane Eyre picture cracked me up so much!

I'm planning to stick around too, only because of the groups (SOS and Karen Chance fans). You can catalogue books anywhere but GR is (was?) good socially.

Here's my booklikes (excuse the mess): http://josie.booklikes.com/

[Regina]

Here I am at Booklies: http://reginar.booklikes.com/

Loved your post Steph.

Ames really good summary -- thank you for the time you put into that.

[Literary Ames]

Thanks, Josie.

Practically everything I've liked since the announcment has been to do with this announcement.

Some protest reviews and shelves:
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

[Literary Ames]

Thanks, Regina. I compiled it from posts I've made in other groups.

[Steph, Serious series addict]

Thanks for that overview, Ames! I appreciate you taking the time to help us navigate through the sea of chaos. I'm the first to admit, I'm overwhelmed by it all and feeling blue. I've grown so attached to GR and the friends I've made here that I don't want the fun to end - not now, not ever.

I want to chalk all of this up to growing pains following their sale to Amazon, but who knows it might be the beginning of the end. Fingers crossed it's not. But, at least for now, we have freedom within our groups to chat with others about what's being said, done and the reactions to it all.

[Steph, Serious series addict]

I just clicked on the link for Otis @ BL and he's no longer following THT. Only 2 now, that's incl the default follow of BL.

[Literary Ames]

Steph wrote: "I just clicked on the link for Otis @ BL and he's no longer following THT. Only 2 now, that's incl the default follow of BL."

The other person he's following is the BookLikes CEO.

[Literary Ames]

Steph wrote: "But, at least for now, we have freedom within our groups to chat with others about what's being said, done and the reactions to it all."

Some people are questioning this, though GR has declined to respond. It makes me nervous.

[AH]

Thanks for the overview, Ames...well done. I'm http://ah.booklikes.com/ . I still want to stick around here for the social aspect.

[Steph, Serious series addict]

Amy or "Ames" wrote: "Some people are questioning this, though GR has declined to respond. It makes me nervous."

Me too.


AH wrote: "I still want to stick around here for the social aspect."

Me too, for sure!

[Christina (AKA Babbling)]

I'm with AH. I've set up a Booklikes account; however, I'm sticking around for the groups and the reading challenges. I've really gotten into the Seasonal Reading Challenge this season and I'm on a roll. I hope the challenge doesn't go away because of the changes.

The social aspect of GR is really the draw for me, even when I'm just feel like lurking.

Christina Babbles

[Judithe, Soap Operas never end....]

EEK! Away for a bit, and it's like the world exploded! I love(d) GR, especially groups & convenience...now just.... Sticking around for the social aspect (so many fun people here...would miss you too much, even if I'm mostly lurking of late!).

Off to set up a back up account...

ETA: opened (name same as here...link later!)

Importing library from GR...ugh message: "Estimated time left: 21 hours"

[Literary Ames]

On author-based shelves, Kara said:

Brandi wrote: "Posters Rachael and Iola had questions that I was hoping we could get clarification on please?

Rachael wrote: "So I can't have shelves of African American authors, or LGBT authors, or of Nobel Lau..."

The shelves you mentioned above (african-american-authors, lgbt-authors, nobel-laureates, ya-authors, na-authors, male-authors, christian-authors) are all fine and fit within our guidelines.

[Lauren]

I'm really disappointed in Goodreads' new policy but I'm staying for now because of my friends and groups.

I have, however, backed up my reviews and shelves on Booklikes - The Hottie Harem

[Thenia]

The staff went about things wrong, the changes they wanted to implement in the first place were bound to cause a stir and everybody overreacted making this whole mess that much worse.

I won't be leaving for many, various reasons, but I'm sad to see so many people jumping ship.

I do not agree with the new policy and high-handedness of it in the effort to turn mainstream and box shelf names in neat little non-offensive-to-authors categories, but even so, not everything has changed and hopefully not everything will. Most of the things we all love about the site are still the same and I'm going to stick around and see if it can get through this storm and in what form it will be.

Also, Booklikes, lovely as it may be, cannot be a substitute for Goodreads since it's mostly about book blogs and reviews, focusing on the social side of things. Goodreads used to be about the books - discovering them, keeping them organized, reviewing them to share the love/hate and talking about them with others. It still is most of those things, only now the reigns are tighter in some cases and that's not entirely a bad thing.

[Debbie's Spurts (D.A.)]

@Thenia, even though you are staying, please do backup your data. Goodreads is having more issues than just the policy announcement. Not saying move it to another site, just to keep a sporadically updated backup on your own computer. ("My books," "import/export" and export to csv file.)

[Mary X]

I plan on staying for now too. I was not immediately effected by this policy change but I have friends on here who were and might be leaving. I opened a librarything account and started listing my books there just in case. I think I looked at booklikes but opted for librarything instead. But now I see many of my friends and people in my groups saying they opened booklikes accounts in case they decide to leave goodreads.

I really love the challenges on goodreads and the way the groups are set up. I was not overly impressed with the other sites I've looked at so far. Well not as far as the member interraction areas go.

But for now I am sticking with goodreads. Especially since I have some team challenges going and I don't want to be that person who bails on the team.

I'm Msright on librarything.com which is also my paperbackswap name.

[Debbie's Spurts (D.A.)]

I just realized I had not set this thread to notify me of updates. *click* to keep up with friends new addresses.

[Thenia]

Debbie R. wrote: "@Thenia, even though you are staying, please do backup your data."

I've had copies of them both off and online long before any of this started. :)

[Literary Ames]

I've posted an updated version of post #5 here: http://www.goodreads.com/story/show/3...

[Mary X]

I just checked out booklikes and I don't think I like it. I signed up because I couldn't see where I could explore without signing up. But I'm not a "blog" person. I prefer discussion type groups.

[Literary Ames]

Mary: Harry Dresden's Love Slave wrote: "I just checked out booklikes and I don't think I like it. I signed up because I couldn't see where I could explore without signing up. But I'm not a "blog" person. I prefer discussion type groups."

Groups are coming soon. See this blog post for more things they're going to introduce.

[Mary X]

Well then I might like the site better.

[Judithe, Soap Operas never end....]

Abbreviation question...what's STGRB? I saw a definition somewhere, forgot it, and now seeing the abbrev. here, there and everywhere....

[[deleted user]]

Judithe wrote: "Abbreviation question...what's STGRB? I saw a definition somewhere, forgot it, and now seeing the abbrev. here, there and everywhere...."

STGRB is "Stop The GoodReads Bullies", a site started sometime last year against Goodreads.

[Kerstin]

Well, I haven't been around for a while and look what happens...:(

Thanks for the overview Ames, it's a great help in catching up with what's going on. I really don't agree with the new policy and the way GR went about implementing it.

I'm planning on sticking around GR, but I might check out Booklikes for a backup account.

[Judithe, Soap Operas never end....]

Thanks, Preethi!

[Mary X]

Well shoot. I didn't realize librarything only let you have 200 books shelves unless you pay. I'm not paying for a site.

[AH]

Judithe wrote: "Abbreviation question...what's STGRB? I saw a definition somewhere, forgot it, and now seeing the abbrev. here, there and everywhere...."

Whatever you do, Judithe, do not go directly to their web site - they collect IP addresses. Go via a proxy.

[Literary Ames]

Judithe wrote: "Abbreviation question...what's STGRB? I saw a definition somewhere, forgot it, and now seeing the abbrev. here, there and everywhere...."

The Stop the STGRB blog is a good way to understand who and what they do. Here's a proxy link to the actual site if you want to visit it http://www.zfreez.com/index.php?q=aHR...

[Shannon]

I'm sorry, I'm not sure I've ever posted in this group but I am a member and I happened to see Amy's comments in my feed so I clicked over.

I'm not leaving, but if anyone cares, I'm http://theholyterror.booklikes.com

(And I think Otis got stuck following me because when you sign up you automatically get 25 people to follow. He probably saw my name and had a huge "oh shit!" moment. Heh.)

Also, there's a group on here setup for people leaving (or just joining BL):
http://www.goodreads.com/group/show/1... - there's already quite a few people in there.

Here's also a great post to check out how to customize your BL page (it's incredibly customizable, but there are also set templates if this kind of stuff scares you.)

http://j4n3m3.booklikes.com/post/2223...

Anyway, wanted to say hi (and perhaps bye, since I don't think I'm going to contribute much content to this site anymore) and give my take on BL as an alternative.

Their CS (and CEO, even) are also INCREDIBLY responsive and take requests! Groups are in the works, for one thing. Check their blog to get an idea of what they're (constantly) working on.

http://blog.booklikes.com

It seriously feels like a breath of fresh air after all of the crap we've had to put up with here over the years (I say "years" in case anyone remembers when we lost all of Amazon's data and had to scramble to "save" books, that was fun, especially since we now know that was a COMPLETE waste of time.)

So, yeah, that's my take on things. If you don't want to join BL you can still follow me on here (I'll still post reviews but they'll be just a couple of sentences with a link to the full review on BL) or you can talk to me on twitter: http://www.twitter.com/The_Holy_Terror - I succumbed to joing twitter due to the mass exodus and really didn't want to lose friends again like when the whole Amazon debacle went down.

Anyway ... Sorry for the long post from someone who doesn't even post here much. Hopefully though I'll see some of you guys around. I've got longtime friends in here that I hope I see on other sites for years to come.

[Debbie's Spurts (D.A.)]

Seriously, Judithe, when we say they collect/harvest addresses -- on their site they are offering real world bounty money to trace back the collected IP addresses.

And using to post actual threatening material with reviewer addresses, pet photos, children's school locations and schedules, etc.

Real world threats; but, calm down, relax, and keep an "apprpriate tone" because ... guess what ... they aren't putting any of us on those terribly threatening shelf names. (snark font needed)

[Dawn]

I am hanging around GR mostly due to friends and my group but all of my reviews and book list will be maintained on booklikes

I am http://dawnv.booklikes.com/

[Dawn]

Amy or "Ames" {Against GR Censorship} wrote: "For anyone wanting to catch up:

See the announcement with multiple updates.

All of Kara's comments in the Feedback group, for future reference. (She's the only member of staff to comment in that ..."

Great job!

[Ninab (Honesty is the Best Policy)]

Amy or "Ames" {Against GR Censorship} wrote: "The Stop the STGRB blog is a good way to ..."

Not having been aware of this issue before the new TOS, I actually found this Huffington Post blog entry (written by someone from STGRB I presume) a good place to start, because at the bottom (prior to the comments, which were also helpful) are links to both a response blog entry (by Foz Meadows) and a response from Huffington Post about why it allowed the post in the first place.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/stop-th...

I couldn't find something like an intro or initial post on the Stop the STGRB blog that gave sort of an overview of the situation. But I may have missed it...

[Ninab (Honesty is the Best Policy)]

Here is the link to the response post:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/foz-mea...

[Debbie's Spurts (D.A.)]

I am extremely disappointed with the Dear Author article I waited all week to read that was supposed to cover the goodreads alternatives.

Seriously? They only actually somewhat cover LibraryThing, Booklikes and Riffles (not even completely up yet since their May 2013 startup, not offering CSV data import or basically anything other than a pinterest like interface for bookcovers) and talk up an unheard of not yet up and running tiny mention of a new "lit lush" site.

Way to be in depth. And why is Libib (which, while a great book catalog for personal use, only lets you share a list of books in your library) included in

"If you are using Goodreads to catalog and rate as well as share your reading choices with others (and get recommendations based on the similarities between what you are reading and enjoying, then consider two sources: Riffle, Libib and Pinterest."

*sigh* I'm not bashing the Dear Author site because normally I enjoy reading; but I am ticked off at myself for waiting all week to see what in-depth coverage on the goodreads alternatives they would have for us today. I should have just kept going through the list of 20+ alternative sites I have to see which allowed me to import *.csv file.

I don't need help cataloging my books, I can do that in a spreadsheet. I have fictfact to track my series read. I'm looking for all the lovely honest reviews and the enjoyment booklovers get from discussing their reads once you find a community with enough people and enough reviews you find something in another reader's review that resonates with you. Groups like SOS with plenty of content, discussion, challenges/games, etc.

I hate that by pulling reviews from here or from other sites that it leaves the field wide open to socks and paid reviewers -- but that's on general principal as I almost never let a book's ratings or reviews influence me (unless by members I felt had my same reading tastes). I do have real life friends, including a few dozen that trade books back and forth as we have similar tastes. I do go to real life brick and mortar bookstores.

Don't need the internet, certainly not the sock/paid for reviews on the internet and certainly not amazon or any other corporation to recommend to me what to read based on my tastes (good luck here on goodreads; when I was growing up I read everything anyone would give me and my book catalog includes collections of boxes of books moving neighbors were throwing away as well as shelves of books I would nowadays never, ever read)...

[Judithe, Soap Operas never end....]

Thanks for the heads up on the STGRB (no plans to visit them in any way shape or form, do have better things to do with my time than get ticked off, LOL!)

@ The Holy Terror, thanks for that post!

@everyone for advice/shares, THIS is the part of GR I absolutely love, whether it's books, or things that shake our book worlds (internet good & bad, fantastic things coming out, sad loss of book related companies, updates on fave books becoming movies, not to mention games, challenges, and just fun chatting). Ahhh....

[Crystal S]

Good grief, what happened while I was gone? I've been slammed the last couple of weeks so haven't been around much and it appears Goodreads is imploding now??? Yikes.

Anyway, I opened a booklikes account, although there's nothing on it yet. Here it is if anyone wants to follow me: http://crystals.booklikes.com/. I'll probably go through this list and follow others as time allows. I will probably still be around here though as long as all y'all great people are.

[Sandra, Kindle Operator Licence Required]

Yep, us Mods will certainly still be here Crystal.

And like Judithe said, thanks to all of you for your helpful hints and links to your new booklikes accounts.

I'll probably join there as well in the next couple of days. Been a bit busy lately but this week should be calming down. Did manage to join the Everything Booklikes group thanks to Ames :D

[Debbie's Spurts (D.A.)]

Booklikes just told me they finished importing my books. The books do seem to be there but shelf assignments are not perfect. My pre-order shelf for example (now on goodreads just called "p") should have imported 8 books; it imported 3 books and 2 were not mine (in fact, not in a language I read and the review area next to read like an implosion of shelf names so I am sure it was a parsing error).

Still not figuring out editions, series, how to opt out of third party sharing to kobo and such—and having a lot of trouble getting to book pages to actually see reviews and ratings.

Other than the book-related stuff, I am liking the community, it is handy for blogging and when you review it does send out a pretty blog post.

Not giving up on it yet, but they have a lot of features to add or tweak before I'm sold (with the number of friends there, I might stay but just not track my books and reviews). They are adding new stuff every Thursday, so none of the negative stuff I just said is a deal breaker yet.

[Debbie's Spurts (D.A.)]

Riffle books -- that one I am basically giving up on and will check back into 6-months and 1-year for now in case they change. It seems to so far just be a bunch of bookcovers to pin like on pinterest with no data import option.

[Christina (AKA Babbling)]

Debbie R. - Why still no site-wide announcement of new shelf name and review policies? - wrote: "Riffle books -- that one I am basically giving up on and will check back into 6-months and 1-year for now in case they change. It seems to so far just be a bunch of bookcovers to pin like on pinte..."

Well, considering the definition of the word "riffle", I'm not surprised.

"to look through something quickly and not very closely"

[Debbie's Spurts (D.A.)]

Yeah, I know, but they keep announcing that they are doing things to compete with goodreads and that they only launched in May. So I'll check back in a few months.

(Although I'm not having much patience with how often they get covered in posts listing alternatives to goodreads; I don't think anyone is getting what a thorough database of editions goodreads used to maintain or how much of an actual community it was when they post those things.)

Eta: I am daunted on booklikes at how many "die therapie" bookcovers I will need to manually change; I almost prefer the missing covers that need to be uploaded. It looks like a creepy book I don't want on my shelves.

[Christina (AKA Babbling)]

I had one of the "Die Therapie" books. I didn't look too closely at it before I removed it. I assumed it was the German edition of a book ("die" being "the").

Re: GR's alternates -- They're assuming all (or the majority) of the users read less than 50 books a year, are American (and maybe Canadian), and only discuss books in a book club-like setting. The concept of voracious readers who read across genres and interact sociably in a variety of ways (challenges, read-a-thons, team games, buddy reads, etc) doesn't occur to them.

Booklikes, if I recall, is relatively new itself. Hopefully, everyone will give them time to add features -- I'd rather they make sure each new addition functions properly before adding another. We've overwhelmed them. :D