LibraryThing

The site doesn't allow for the wide variety of books that you might wish to catalog. For instance it doesn't allow for easy cataloging of a multi-volume series. Import function is quirky and inconsistent and cannot be customized (or at least no instructions are given for how to do it). I tried LibraryThing a few years ago and gave up on it after a few hours. Recently had another go and I don't think it's been improved or changed at all. Just not worth the trouble.

This site was hugely frustrating. I would like to blame this all on myself and my lack of technological ability. But, if you cannot contact the website staff for anything then the staff cannot get feedback on what needs to change. The site stays stagnant and partial only to their own thinking and how they believe other people should think and navigate the site. I gave two stars because I appreciate the effort.

ARGH! Maybe it's just me, but I can't seem to find ANYTHING on here, it seems the books are hidden and just don't like me? I dunno, it seems like endless reading of instructions and getting nowhere. I used it for 20 minutes trying to look up paranormal or fantasy books and only got titles with the words "fantasy" or "paranormal" in them. I give up! Back to goodreads.

Friendly site with genuine users and interested staff. Not the best design but constantly improving. A lot of groups have low activity but there are some active ones and they are growing. No tolerance policy on trolling, yay!

Easy to use book catalogue site http://www.librarything.com that matches your collection and interests against those of another 1.2 million book lovers. Great site for getting recommendations and checking out feedback on new books before you buy. If you admit to being one of those people like me who eye up the books on other people's shelves at parties, this will be irresistible. Also can get you in touch with real experts in their fields if you are researching anything in depth. Lots of forums on areas of interest. Great idea and well laid out. Basic membership free (list up to 200 titles). Annual membership $10 or lifetime for $25. I joined as a life member and after two years feel it's worth the money.

Better than GoodReads for book recommendations? - I like Good Reads, the social network for books, but I never use it. That said, I think Library Thing is worth checking out. They have a great feature called "I See Dead People['s Books]" http://www.librarything.com/groups/iseedeadpeoplesbooks

Now I can sort through James Joyce's or Ben Franklin's libraries, in the faint hope of acquiring some of their genius by reading their books (apparently Tupac read Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance http://www.librarything.com/catalog.php?view=2pac).

I posted a few books too: http://www.librarything.com/catalog.php?view=jeremygin