Everything Booklikes & Leafmarks discussion

When GR got bought out by Amazon I, along with a lot of other people, signed up for LibraryThing. I didn't like it at all and all though I imported my books there, I don't visit it at all.

BookLikes I love. Everyone seems to follow everyone there without regard for books etc in common. I wonder if this is because it is just as much a blogging platform as a book review site?

Can't leave Goodreads though. Too many friends to chat to here and I like the groups better. BookLikes book data is really not there yet. But I'm not reviewing (except protest reviews, and recently that spam one of Medea since the author spammed this group).

SO how does everyone else feel about staying with BookLikes and GoodReads?

I'll follow the pack; I like my goodreads buddies.

Actually, I like it at booklikes. Except for the current (booklikes has clearly proven they are upgrading and adding features all the time so that can change) book cataloging, reviewing, and group options.

I'm just not a blogger. Initially, I've been trying really hard to participate because that's the way you learn a site and your neighbors . The 30-day book challenge helped me get oriented and learn about new friends. I found a few other challenge/meme things on other blog sites I thought would help -- but, I've already lost interest. That's just me; not booklikes fault but I'm just not a blogger. I'm also not interested in customizing another website or wading too deep into the coding until after my book catalog there is better ( at which point I'll want to custom book displays on website but I'm hoping by then booklikes will have automated some custom features or added better templates).

I'm more interested in groups, friends reading status updates, and keeping track of my own currently readings and series information versus blogging or even reviewing. I've gotten better at reviewing on booklikes (the editions still throw me and only having review show on individual edition is just plain wrong) but after two months of dedicatedly moving reviews over I'm barely halfway there.

So many goodreads people fled there, I'm sure I'm staying. And that booklikes will continue to improve. But, I'm also on some other sites and plan on watching the next six months to see what independent-of-bookseller/publisher/google sites step up or start up.

I have absolutely no interest in book sites that just want to recommend books to me.

I'm pretty sure I'll continue to use Booklikes! I love it over there, and it makes it easier to see what the people I follow are up to than here, too. I also enjoy the fact that we can personalize our little space :)

For the time being, I'm also still here, a lot of my friends are here and haven't opened a Booklikes account. But I'm not posting full reviews, and I'm not doing anything at all as a librarian.

I'm a big fan of groups. A migrating group is the reason I came to Goodreads in the first place. I can blog on my own blog. I want social networking, and I don't feel that Booklikes groups have the kind of discussion going on that my GR groups have yet. My emphasis is on yet. I feel that eventually they will get there and I will stick around.

I'm still learning about booklikes and having difficulty depending on what browser I'm using. I can't rate books on ie, post text on firefox but I can't install google chrome browser at work. I can only use it on my home computer. I think I'd use it more if they had an app. I've been using librarything longer and I prefer them to find books to read [the recommend feature is better there] but booklikes is more social but is that only the goodreads crossover? I haven't fully decided my commitment to booklikes yet.
I still love GR when I want to scope out books and for finding reviews on books.

I haven't been into the social aspect here as much so I guess I get something different from GR. I don't post that often.
I deleted my old account from '07 but I've been around and really relied on GR to find books from '07-10. I'm not going to delete it again since I found it still offers me something. LT has nice stuff but the review database isn't nearly as large.

I had a problem rating on Firefox, but wrote BL an email about it, and they've finally pinned down what was causing my problem and fixed it. Very happy I am, too.

I don't like LibraryThing except for book cataloging. I don't like the site BookLikes, though I admit for now they're responsive the way Goodreads used to be. I'm at BL because many friends are there, though since I rarely visit, I'm still missing their content. I don't really want to stay at GR, My wish is for a new site even better than the old Goodreads. If/when GR becomes unbearable, or closes down, I'll try to learn BL, but in the long run I trust them not at all and I don't like the format. I wish I did.

I have discovered that at present, no one site meets all of my needs. I use each site exclusively for the purpose I intend. If, in the future, I find a place that does it all, I will move on.

I use BL exclusively for reviews. I use GR exclusively for tracking my TBR, for social contact and for playing games that I love.
I use Fictfact for my series tracking.
I use both BL and GR for recs. In BL, based on other peoples reviews and comments people attach to that review. At GR, The recs come word of mouth in threads that discuss books being read at present.

I think each has a real place. I will never write a review for Amazon. I will give it rating because at present everyone knows the stars no longer have any meaning of worth.

I would be lost without Fictfact telling me what is coming up the next month, because I prefer to read new release and prefer series to stand alone.

I should add to the list above the one or two blogs that I frequent regularly but we all have our favourites and most of them are of excellent quality.

I'll stick with BookLikes - I'm enjoying writing my reviews there. But since my favorite genre is a smallish one, I'm going to stick with my GR groups.

As I am rather lazy, I think maintaining both will be too much work for me. I like it here, especially my friends:) I think I'll stick to this one, but I will enjoy commenting on threads that are controversial:))

I'll chime in. I'll continue to use both. I'm adding/cataloging books at GR and rating, but not reviewing. I blog (i use that term lightly, not a blogger) and share my little reviews on Booklikes. I'm excited to see where they go.

I can't get away from the database and the groups/social stuff at GR, no matter how much I want to.

I thought maintaining both would be tough, but since I do different things at each, it hasn't been a chore for me.

Ha! OR basically what Sunny said!

I'm enjoying Booklikes, especially for reviewing. I feel more relaxed there. I still add and rate books at GR, but what I've started to do is include a short excerpt from my BL review and a link to the full review.

Eventually, the goodreads reviews will likely be as useful to you as the reviews on amazon.com.

Not judging or dictating which community's anyone likes or uses; but, very much the writing is on the wall that the new overlords will be deleting reviews not a clone of what's permitted on amazon site plus a lot of goodreads' top reviewers are no longer reviewing here.

Goodreads, so far, doesn't have helpful up/down voting that has gotten so manipulated by authors at amazon (but has started deleting negative reviews flagged by authors so may as well). Currently you see reviews posted by friends and reviewers you follow; in public speeches goodreads staff have stated that data scientists are in the process of being hired to improve how you see reviews because the current system is obviously "flawed" and they want the most "useful" reviews to be seen first.

(Okay, I'm not sure what that means. I realize they said "useful" instead of "helpful" and didn't explicitly say up/down-voting was coming. I just don't consider an order of friends, followed, reviews with ratings ( with some selectable sort filters), ratings only and shelvings to be flawed. I cannot imagine not wanting to see my friends' and followed reviewers' reviews/activities first. I'm suspicious that because "helpful" is a word that's become associated with gaming the system and untrustworthy reviews that they are splitting hairs by calling it "useful".)

I like Booklikes very much so far for reviewing and connecting with others, though I'm still learning to use it. It still isn't very useful to me for cataloging my books, so I'm still using GR for that.

Interesting... I'm going to maintain dual citizenship for awhile, but I agree with DA that the writing is on the wall with reviews. I had tucked the whole GR debacle into a corner of my mind and wasn't dwelling on it. Looking back at a few things, I realize that GR still hasn't removed the reviews that they threatened would result in my removal from the site. That's just flat-out crappy customer service. I can't trust a site that threatens me over Hydra reviews when other people are allowed to flagrantly violate terms of service. So, I think the solution I'm arriving at is that I'll stay at GR, but every review is going to mention their corporate overlord behavior and link to booklikes and wordpress.

I too wish BL would improve groups, but I have hopes they'll go there. I already like the updated notification option--it's so refreshing to have a site that actually responds to concerns.

I also notice I don't have nearly (okay, any) spam compared to GR. And if I have sockpuppet profiles following me, on BL it doesn't seem to matter. I haven't had any trolls there, compared to regulars here.

I like posting pictures, videos, and fun stuff at Booklikes, but don't like reviewing there. I'm staying at Goodreads as frequently as before though, so it will remain my # book social site.

I don't like any of the sites really. But I will probably stick with BookLikes for the nonce.

I like Booklikes and the community. However, the site is not as user friendly as Goodreads...at least not yet. I enjoy reading, writing, and discussing reviews, but I also want to explore books. Booklike's database is much harder to use and somewhat incomplete when held against GR. It is obvious that their main focus is not promoting/selling books. I guess that's a good thing, but at the same time I feel as though I can't utilize the site to find, catalog, and research books/read reviews to the same extent that I can on GRs.

The impression I get is that many people would like a GR-esque site, just minus the bad stuff, ie we want our cake and to eat it too. The people at Booklikes seem to be trying hard to meet the recently new demographic that has come to their site (and why I continue to give them a chance)...but, you don't build a site like GR overnight.

I don't really participate in other social sites like FB etc, and I love books and other passionate book readers enough to find that using both sites is worthwhile. Still, I hope Booklikes continues to grow and become a stronger site so that it can be a real alternative.

I suspect BL doesn't actually have a book database beyond the books we list on our personal shelves. When we search for a book using any of the other search companies, we're querying that company's db directly.

Since BL has said we'll have much better, more integrated book pages soon and the means to edit them, I'm guessing they are working on creating their own book database with regular imports from appropriate sources. Which means they're probably negotiating with those various sources, which will take some time - never mind designing the database/book page/edit page, etc. etc.

Hmm. I wrote my post late at night. I meant to say that I'm committed to staying at BL, but I'll throw up partial reviews here and mention the GR crap.

I haven't been very active at either site. This whole think kind of killed a lot of my enjoyment in reviewing. However, I do keep meaning to be more active on BL.

I'm sort of still on GR, partially because I choose books by GR friends/followers' reviews, and partially because, like Carol, I'm using every opportunity to mention the censorship. That includes posting mini-reviews with an explanation (with links) of why I won't post a complete review at GR anymore. My reviews aren't all that visible, but every little bit helps, and I have had a few comments from people who weren't aware of what was going on.
I'd take a savage satisfaction in seeing most of GR's top reviews replaced by these types of messages.

I get disgusted all over again as I see people posting how they are just now finding out about the "announcement." And it's still so weird how selectively the "rules" are being enforced.

I'm using booklikes but I'm *extremely* frustrated that I don't see community reviews when I click on a book - that's what I use GR for, that's one big thing I like about it. And like Sunny^ I use it for my TBR list because I don't like how that works of BL either.

D.A. - just one more game ☺ - wrote: "I get disgusted all over again as I see people posting how they are just now finding out about the "announcement." And it's still so weird how selectively the "rules" are being enforced."

Get used to it. Most people don't know or don't care. And that's what GR is counting on.

So, to add, re BookLikes: I'm there (without books so far) for only 2 reasons: to follow/keep in touch with people and in the hope they make enough changes so I find the site appealing. Even then I will never trust them the way I used to trust Goodreads.

Carly wrote: "I haven't been very active at either site. This whole think kind of killed a lot of my enjoyment in reviewing. However, I do keep meaning to be more active on BL."

THIS.

It seems ridiculous that one site's actions can kill my joy, but it did. :-( I'm still reviewing, but I do it at BL and then a short blurb here pointing to BL. I'm not even keeping my purchases up to date here. I'm still involved in my groups, though.

BL is OK, but I guess I'm just used to how GR works. It really bugs me that the overall ratings we see there are NOT reflective of the ratings/reviews that have been posted on BL. I'm sure that will change as they get more reviews/ratings, but because of that, I'm still basing my reading decisions and whether I buy something on what's here at GR.

For now, I'm just using BL as a backup. I have too much invested in GR to want to leave unless I have to (and, or course, I'm more familiar with it).

It killed my joy too, Heather. I don't feel like reviewing, I'm certainly not going to do a librarian serf-work for Amazon, let them pay. I'm just using GR rather than contributing these days. I do love GR, or rather I loved GR and do not love GrAmazon, but I also love BL. I just wish it would do something major to improve the book cataloging and pages.

Ugh! I feel bitch-slapped seeing the "sitewide announcement" advertising kindle fires. Joy gone, bourbon to follow...

All the testimonial quotes by the software staff read like they were written by one person. This is the level of credibility we are going to have to accept. Sadly.

D.A. - just one more game ☺ - wrote: "Ugh! I feel bitch-slapped seeing the "sitewide announcement" advertising kindle fires. Joy gone, bourbon to follow..."

Just saw it. :-(

For now I'm using both. I like groups here better and there are so many ppl on GR that I interact with that I don't want to abandon. Also, when it comes to book data GR is where it's at. If I want info on a book, especially books not yet released, GR wins.

That being said, I'm not posting my reviews directly to GR anymore after a few were deleted. I like the blog aspect to BookLikes and have been putting my newest reviews there. But I also am blogging about a lot more than just reviews. I've learned a lot that I was in the dark about in the reading world since I joined BookLikes. It's nice to not just follow those with same reading interests too.

I first was sad... than angry... than sad again, because GR has so many features I like. But I get more comfortable with Booklikes every day and more annoyed with Goodreads. Give it some more days and I might have destroyed the last bit of useful information I can offer.
I delete every day one of my few reviews, set a link to BL and left instead a picture of Alice in Wonderland behind.
A clear sign that this page is no longer working ;)
I like the better readability of my reviews on BL and that all my uploads are visible in one place.

Of course, with or withiut an account on goodreads you can still use the data.

I have to admit I have stopped using Booklikes after a few weeks. It had been so complicated to dig out an old review and change it. And I could not really use it as an indicator whether I would like a certain book or not.

I don't like BL that much, but I use it to post my reviews. However, I still spend more time here in GR than there.

Gecko - Strikes everything GRamazon wrote: "I delete every day one of my few reviews, set a link to BL and left instead a picture of Alice in Wonderland behind.
A clear sign that this page is no longer working ;) ..."

I love this. Stroke of genius!

oliviasbooks wrote: "I have to admit I have stopped using Booklikes after a few weeks. It had been so complicated to dig out an old review and change it. And I could not really use it as an indicator whether I would li..."

There have been a lot of improvements in this respect. It is much easier now.

Jenny wrote: "When I first started on BookLikes I wasn't sure I would like it, but now I love it. I only catalog and visit my groups here now."

The same for me.

At first I was a bit disappointed by BL,felt like I was writing reviews and that no one read them and the interaction was non-existant.

But then I started to look around more and follow blogs and comment on peoples post and of course write more reviews and now I feel more at home there.
So I will stay.

And the half stars are great.

But I am still on GR :)

What's your name on Booklikes - post a link - Kagama. I follow most people who follow me. I've met a lot of people there who do not read any of my genres but I've got to know how interesting (or cat-obsessed) they are. THe blgs are really great.

I am enjoying booklikes. I still tend to spend more time on GR than there but that is because I can search books and review here plus I am more active in groups here.

The other issue I have with BL is the inability to export my books and reviews. For that I have am using the synchronization.

But overall it is a new website that appears to be growing and I think could one day will be great but that takes time. Just like it did here.

BTW is anyone else annoyed with the you can order your own shelves thing on BL so it appears you have to move them by hand.

I'm holding off going ballistic about this "Thursday candy" that has apparently randomized my shelf names. Booklikes so far listens well, so I give then 48 hours to resolve it. But, it's truly awful to me.

It's driving me nuts, that reordering, which is by no rubric I can think of.

I haven't fully migrated. The main issues is not all of the titles are there, plus I don't like all of the social aspects it's lacking.

And the book organizing leaves a lot to be desired.

The biggest problem with BL for me at the moment (other than social aspects) is lack of book series organizing unless I miss something.

Well, booklikes just posted they are fixing the shelf order issue (said it was not supposed to have auto-reordered shelves, only let members move around as desired).

Honestly, their responsiveness means I cut the site a lot of slack.

I just need the book database, series info, and data export to become available. This Thursday candy has proven very disappointing to me although booklikes response means I'm still keeping the faith even if not sold yet on booklikes as my primary book site.

And I will still keep up fictfact even when series info added. I

They are responsive which is very nice.

Users. I think that's the biggest problem. It's pretty obvious (look at the groups, look at the followers of anyone with more than I'd say 50 people) that a bunch of people came on board in the beginning and have since abandoned their accounts. I honestly wonder how many new people are joining at this point. On the other hand, I think it's clear that feature-wise, BL is trending up, so hopefully that will bring in more people. I think it's a great place for social interaction; just needs more people socializing.

Yep. I am willing to cut them a good bit of slack because they are so responsive to our comments.

I'm not even using the site. I don't have any books there. Yet, they're also VERY responsive to me. I feel kind of guilty actually for asking for help. I'm hoping I'll eventually warm up to the place, though I'm not confident that I will.

D.A. wrote: "I'm holding off going ballistic about this "Thursday candy" that has apparently randomized my shelf names. Booklikes so far listens well, so I give then 48 hours to resolve it. But, it's truly aw..."

It's apparently been fixed.