My love for LibraryThing has been frequently declared–and documented. However, even before I joined LibraryThing four years ago, I signed up for a GoodReads account. Keeping up with my books online was new to me, and I wasn’t sure which site would work better for me…and GoodReads was free. (LibraryThing stops being free at 200 books, but my $25 lifetime membership has been a serious bargain.)
It wasn’t long before I’d concluded that LT was a better fit with the things I wanted in a book site–I was mostly interested in recordkeeping, and I found LT superior for the cataloging functions that I sought. I prefer their collections and tags to GR’s “shelves,” and I appreciate being able to assign half-star ratings. But I kept my GR account, and occasionally remembered to add books there. I’m not sure why, but I held on to the idea that–somehow, eventually–I’d duplicate my reading records on both sites, despite the fact that during the last couple of years I’ve really only used GoodReads as a member of a couple of discussion groups.
Last week, I deleted all my books from GoodReads. Then I added (as imports from LibraryThing, via Excel spreadsheet) only the books I’ve read and reviewed on the blog and LT, and I’m gradually editing in the reviews and ratings. People seek out reviews on GoodReads, so it makes sense for them to be there.
My full book catalog, including TBR Purgatory, will stay on LibraryThing. The wishlist is now on Pinterest, which I think is the easiest way yet to record a book I want to read when someone else blogs about it–pin it up, make a note, and move on. But going forward (and going back five years, once I get them caught up…that may be a good Bloggiesta project!), the reviews will be cross-posted on GoodReads. I think I’m capable of keeping up with that, and I’m pretty pleased I’ve finally come up with a use for that account!
