July 21, 2006

That nifty library thing!

If you're anything like me, well, *snicker* poor you. Seriously, if you're like me then you love to read and you treasure your books. You are quite anal (heehee I said anal in my blog) about organizing them on your shelf.....and on your bedside table, in your magazine basket in the bathroom, in the backseat of your car, and on your desk in the office.

However,
if you are even more like me you also have a horrible memory. Case in point: Just recently, I bid for and won Bella Tuscany by Frances Mayes from avalon. So after I received it with other books I purchased in the post, I walked over to my bookshelf looking for it's cousin 'travels-to-italy' books and lovingly slipped it in between Extra Virgin by Annie Hawes and ummm, Bella Tuscany by Frances Mayes. Well, they did have different covers and I read it waaayyyyyy back in 2002!

So anyway, I decided it was time to catalog my books. If I did it for my CD's on an excel sheet why should my books get less attention? I used Amazon's Wish List feature to create my virtual library, this way it was easy for me to transfer books from my online wishlist to the other list which i called 'in my library' as I bought them. That worked fine, until!....until I serendipitously chanced upon The Library Thing.

It's perfect! It's chockful of wonderful features like:

- you can import the list you already have in amazon with just a couple of clicks ( this feature saved me a lot of time)
- you can arrange the books in different styles
- you can connect with other people who share the same books on your library and see what else they're reading
- it comes up with suggestions for what to read next
- you can write notes for each book - this will come in handy when i lend them out
- you can choose to make it public or private
- it is free up to 200 books. (unlimited for a year is $10, and $25 for a lifetime)

I see many hours spent exploring other people's online libraries in my future.

8 comments:

briliantdonkey said...

that DOES sound cool, and useful even. If it makes you feel better(and feel free to lie and say it doesnt help AT ALL!), I have three of the very same book! All of them bought at different times. Now I paranoid everytime I go book shopping and asking myself......self?(cause that is what I call my self),,,,,,I say "self, are you SURE you haven't already read this one? Are you SURE you don't already have two more of them at home? and Self usually answers,,,,,,"yes i am posi.......welllllllll pretty su.......wellllllll kindof sureeeee.......ummmmmmm oh HELL it is 3.95 buy the damn thing cause if you get home and find out you DON'T have it it will cost you more to drive back here to get it!

"Self, THAT is Class A logic bravo!"

apropo of nothing (enter Yosemite Sam voice here) "I sayyyyyy Nuthin what so Evah,,,,,,,,appripoh of nuthin whatsoevah,,,,,does anyone want to buy a used copy or two of "3rd Degree" by James patterson. Let me know.

Rob

Anonymous said...

I've bought so many books from Avalon, almost all of which I haven't read yet, that it's easy for me to forget which ones I already have. So now, whenever I'm not sure, I search the "closed items" to see if I've already won the book in the past. It's helped me avoid duplicates a couple of times!

I'm really waaaay too lazy to catalog my books, but you're right -- I did it for my videos, why not books?

briliantdonkey said...

yeah,,,,,YEAH what she said! I have a stack of books that I haven't gotten to yet. THATS what makes me buy more than one of the same book!

p said...

have you ever tried reading BENRIK's "THIS BOOK WILL CHANGE YOUR LIFE" or "I HOPE THEY SERVE BEER IN HELL"

i like those. tells you what kind of cynic i am

christine said...

Rob, hehe 3 of the same book? Ok I feel much better, thanks! :) Just a quick question, when you talk to yourself in public, do you do it out loud and do you ever argue with him?

Hi Katrina (the woman responsible for my avalon addiction!), have you tried reselling anything on avalon? I'm thinking of doing that to the Bella Tuscany. I haven't tried selling anything on there myself, guess I need to research postage fees first.

Hi Kuazee, I haven't read any of those and will have to look it up. They sound interesting, thanks for the recommendation! :)

Anonymous said...

Nens! Ok, I have jumped around and squealed enough for this site I think...time to put the books in...

My Avalon books just came in today! I am thrilled...my first batch, but for sure not my last :) So, Katrina, you are the one pala! I heart Avalon! :)

christine said...

Yes Jo, you'll love what you can do with it once your books are in! Wasn't it such a wonderful feeling, receiving the books in the mail? I act like a savage when they arrive, pouncing and tearing at the packaging.

wysgal said...

At least two or three times I've purchased a new book, only to come home and realize that a parent or sibling purchased the exact same book that same day. =)