I joined LibraryThing a while back as an alternative to Goodreads, probably not long after Goodreads got sold to Amazon.  I got it all set up, and occasionally copied a review over there, but I confess I haven’t done much with it recently.

I did, however get a free ARC to read and review, which I have, and I’ve posted the review on Goodreads as well.  It was Distant Seas, if you’re interested.  And the other day when I got an email from LibraryThing about the next batch of ARCs I thought, well, I should have posted the review of Distant Seas on LibraryThing, shouldn’t I?

So I went to do it.

I found I couldn’t add the book to my reading list.  Apparently I have to upgrade my membership if I want to have more than 200 books on my list.  At $10 a year it isn’t much.  But why?  What is the purpose of limiting the number of books you can have in free membership?  In fact, what is the purpose of LibraryThing?  After all, I want to post reviews of books I’ve read as a public service, not for my own benefit.

So LibraryThing will go without the new books I’m reading and the reviews of them for their membership.  It’ll be on other sites including Amazon.  Less work for me, after all.

Does anyone use LibraryThing?  What am I missing?

Are you on LibraryThing?
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11 thoughts on “Are you on LibraryThing?

  • 15 June, 2015 at 8:59 am
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    I havene’t looked at LibraryThing in 3 years but I thought of it more as a listing tool. I used it in a professional context to create an online new books display for the library. Every month or so I’d delete everything and add more so I never had anything like 200. Some people use it to catalogue their home libraries so maybe this is the market the charge is aimed at?

    • 15 June, 2015 at 10:45 am
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      Good point, Anabel. And they do have forums as well, so maybe it’s a Goodreads alternative and I’m happy where I am there. I could always delete some books if I want to update them, but to get down to 200 is a lot of deleting!

  • 15 June, 2015 at 12:47 pm
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    YES I am.

    It’s the third website I post my book reviews on after Amazon and GoodReads which I follow by posting it on Shelfari. LibraryThing allows me to post a link to my review on Twitter and FaceBook.

    So far I’ve won 3 books from the two sets of giveaways: Members and Publishers.

    I’ve also ran a giveaway here.

    Have a GREAT WEEK with whatever you do. !!! 🙂 🙂 🙂

    • 15 June, 2015 at 7:40 pm
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      Ah, Shelfari… yes, I started looking at that and doing some synopses and character outlines for the books. Must get back there and explore more! (That was Shelfari, wasn’t it? There’s something else beginning with S…)

      • 15 June, 2015 at 8:15 pm
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        On Shelfari I’ve set a goal of reading 125 books by the end of the year. So far I’ve got 72 done or 58%; and my Contributor Rank = 821. I need to catch up here, want to be below 700 by the end of the month

      • 16 June, 2015 at 5:54 am
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        I set up a Shelfari account when I first published, but it seems redundant with GR, and I haven’t the time to keep up a meaningful presence on more than one book forum.

  • 15 June, 2015 at 5:07 pm
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    Hmm. I hadn’t even gotten around to checking it out, but the limits don’t appeal. Since I read ca. 150 books a year, and probably review between 75 and 100, I’d fill it up fast (nor would 200 books go very far towards cataloging my home collection).

    • 15 June, 2015 at 7:41 pm
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      I think the 200 books must be recent, since it imported my Goodreads list last year (and it was more than 200 then). Of course, I’m just a cheapskate and it may well be worth $10.

  • 15 June, 2015 at 10:30 pm
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    I remember Library Thing being mentioned a while back when something on GR happened, but I never saw a reason to go over there.

    • 16 June, 2015 at 11:59 am
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      Yes, I think I went a little while after that. I think you have to choose one or the other (or others) or you spend all your life online.

  • 16 June, 2015 at 1:24 pm
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    Never heard of it. There are so many demands on my time that I am probably unlikely to do it, but nice to learn about it.

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