I don’t have a Goodreads account, and didn’t even think of getting one until it was too late (Amazon doesn’t need to know any more about me than it does already, if I can help it ). I check the...
I don’t have a Goodreads account, and didn’t even think of getting one until it was too late (Amazon doesn’t need to know any more about me than it does already, if I can help it ).
I check the site for book summaries and user reviews. I also rely heavily on the “Readers Also Enjoyed” feature, which I wish was better. It reliably links the same authors with each other, so you end up going in a circle looking for new books; hardly ever includes books published more than a few years ago; and frequently suggests books that don’t seem related at all or that I can’t imagine being interested in based on the seed book. If another service could do something better, IMO, it would be this last thing.
I would suggest The Story Graph I've been using them for a bit over a year now because I don't really care about the social aspect and am more interested in tracking the books I'm reading. I'm not...
I've been using them for a bit over a year now because I don't really care about the social aspect and am more interested in tracking the books I'm reading.
I'm not entirely sure how good the suggestions are as I've not used them, but they have some pretty specific advanced searching which is neat.
I used it for a while when it was towards the end of it's beta period, fed it a shedload of things I'd read, and their recommendations were pretty good if you're happy reading predominately...
I used it for a while when it was towards the end of it's beta period, fed it a shedload of things I'd read, and their recommendations were pretty good if you're happy reading predominately American authors. That might have changed by now, it was a little while ago.
If you get an account and tell it a bunch of stuff you like the recommendations get a lot better. I couldn't care less what Amazon know about me and anyway I never actually buy books from them....
If you get an account and tell it a bunch of stuff you like the recommendations get a lot better. I couldn't care less what Amazon know about me and anyway I never actually buy books from them. There's a public library on my reader and Wordery if I really want print copies. Which I don't.
It’s appealing to have better recommendations, but I don’t want Amazon to know so much (or anything, really) about the content of my intellectual consumption. Now that I’ve been vaccinated,...
It’s appealing to have better recommendations, but I don’t want Amazon to know so much (or anything, really) about the content of my intellectual consumption. Now that I’ve been vaccinated, however, at l least I can look forward to browsing libraries and bookstores again for inspiration.
You might try GNOOKS, which is part of the Global Network of Discovery site. I haven't used their author recommendations, just their music recommendations, but it was much better than most others...
You might try GNOOKS, which is part of the Global Network of Discovery site. I haven't used their author recommendations, just their music recommendations, but it was much better than most others I tried, and it doesn't ask you for any more information than 3 authors you like. It then makes suggestions and you tell it whether you like, don't like, or don't know that author.
Goodreads "out this month" email is the main reason I still have an account. The stupidest thing about it is they send it out at the start of the month which means I have to remember to look at it...
Goodreads "out this month" email is the main reason I still have an account. The stupidest thing about it is they send it out at the start of the month which means I have to remember to look at it again at anywhere up to almost a month later to actually acquire the book(s) in question. So every month it shows up and every month I snooze it for a month and am slightly annoyed by how bad a bit of user experience design that single email is.
I did once email them about this and they did not respond in any meaningful way.
The real reason nobody has made a better goodreads is the same reason nobody has made a better Facebook or a better reddit. Many people have come up with sites with better design, features, privacy or whatever, but (effectively) nobody uses them. It works here, a smaller community is a bonus. But mewe is worthless to me until my mum uses it. Whatever the goodreads replacements are aren't any good without significant membership so their recommendation algorithm can work, and they won't get users until they're useful and they're not useful until they get users and.... well that's why everyone still uses goodreads. I don't know anyone who likes it, but it works.
I don’t have a Goodreads account, and didn’t even think of getting one until it was too late (Amazon doesn’t need to know any more about me than it does already, if I can help it ).
I check the site for book summaries and user reviews. I also rely heavily on the “Readers Also Enjoyed” feature, which I wish was better. It reliably links the same authors with each other, so you end up going in a circle looking for new books; hardly ever includes books published more than a few years ago; and frequently suggests books that don’t seem related at all or that I can’t imagine being interested in based on the seed book. If another service could do something better, IMO, it would be this last thing.
I would suggest The Story Graph
I've been using them for a bit over a year now because I don't really care about the social aspect and am more interested in tracking the books I'm reading.
I'm not entirely sure how good the suggestions are as I've not used them, but they have some pretty specific advanced searching which is neat.
I used it for a while when it was towards the end of it's beta period, fed it a shedload of things I'd read, and their recommendations were pretty good if you're happy reading predominately American authors. That might have changed by now, it was a little while ago.
Thanks for the suggestion. I’ve looked into it enough to see I need to create an account to do more, so I’ll consider that.
If you get an account and tell it a bunch of stuff you like the recommendations get a lot better. I couldn't care less what Amazon know about me and anyway I never actually buy books from them. There's a public library on my reader and Wordery if I really want print copies. Which I don't.
It’s appealing to have better recommendations, but I don’t want Amazon to know so much (or anything, really) about the content of my intellectual consumption. Now that I’ve been vaccinated, however, at l least I can look forward to browsing libraries and bookstores again for inspiration.
You might try GNOOKS, which is part of the Global Network of Discovery site. I haven't used their author recommendations, just their music recommendations, but it was much better than most others I tried, and it doesn't ask you for any more information than 3 authors you like. It then makes suggestions and you tell it whether you like, don't like, or don't know that author.
Open in another tab for investigation; thanks!
Goodreads "out this month" email is the main reason I still have an account. The stupidest thing about it is they send it out at the start of the month which means I have to remember to look at it again at anywhere up to almost a month later to actually acquire the book(s) in question. So every month it shows up and every month I snooze it for a month and am slightly annoyed by how bad a bit of user experience design that single email is.
I did once email them about this and they did not respond in any meaningful way.
The real reason nobody has made a better goodreads is the same reason nobody has made a better Facebook or a better reddit. Many people have come up with sites with better design, features, privacy or whatever, but (effectively) nobody uses them. It works here, a smaller community is a bonus. But mewe is worthless to me until my mum uses it. Whatever the goodreads replacements are aren't any good without significant membership so their recommendation algorithm can work, and they won't get users until they're useful and they're not useful until they get users and.... well that's why everyone still uses goodreads. I don't know anyone who likes it, but it works.