I Heart LibraryThing

Friday, August 21, 2015


In 2006 my friend emailed me about this new website, LibraryThing. A little while later I was signed up for a lifetime membership and I haven’t looked back. I catalogue ALL of my books here. I particularly use it to track my reading each year and as a record of what I own. Every time I purge books from my home library I updated my LT profile to note that I don’t own that book anymore. This is incredibly helpful when I’m in a used bookstore trying to figure out if I already own a copy of something (I usually do). 

I’ve tried Goodreads and a few others, but none of them work well for me. I’m on Goodreads, but I hate that I get bombed with author requests all the time. LT keeps a tight rein on that. I also wish Goodreads allowed you to do half-star ratings, but no such luck. If you’ve ever thought about switching they even have a page to help you out here.

I swear I'm not getting anything to plug LibraryThing, I just love the site and am always surprised when fellow readers haven't heard of it. They have done a great job creating a community for discussing books. I love the tagging feature, which allows you to catalogue your books however you want. In about two seconds I can see how many books I read each year since 2006. I can see what books I own, which ones are on my kindle, and what children’s books I have. 

Here's my Library Thing profile. Where do you all track your reading?

6 comments:

Lisa said...

I love Library Thing as well, though I don't have all my books cataloged there yet. But I so enjoy adding them, and seeing how many other people have that book, and getting recommendations for still more books :)

Rob said...

I still use Goodreads right now, as it still really works for my needs, but I might take another look at LibraryThing soon. I completely agree that they need half-star ratings!

Ana S. said...

I have a similar history with LT. I understand why people are drawn to the social aspect of Goodreads and etc, but for me, LT FOREVER :P

Melissa (Avid Reader) said...

Lisa - I love seeing the book recommendations too and they're usually really good.

Rob - Whatever works best for you is definitely the way to go.

Ana - Yay!

thecuecard said...

Hmm I guess I should check out LT more. I use Goodreads so far. But does LT do 1/2 star ratings?

Melissa (Avid Reader) said...

thecuecard - It does!