I have an affiliate relationship with Bookshop.org and Malaprop's Bookstore in beautiful Asheville, NC. I will earn a small commission at no additional cost to you if you purchase merchandise through links on my site. Read more on my affiliate page.
Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl invited us to share ten bookish resources this week. Hmmm… I’m scratching my head a bit over this one. I really do just fly by the seat of my pants with this blog, feeling accomplished if I get one week of posts scheduled ahead of time. Life is short, you know? I burned out on my first go ’round at blogging because I spent way too much time on it. All that being said, I don’t feel like I have much to add to this topic but I’ll do my best.
GoodReads Where my online bookish journey began. Some users complain about the terrible automatic recommendations, and I’m not terribly happy that Amazon bought them out, but I have all my bookish data there. I have a lot of friends I trust there and I get emails when authors I follow publish new books.
The Storygraph–A newcomer to the bookishly social sites. I haven’t spent enough time with it to love it yet but I know a lot of people do. The creators aim to provide good automatic recommendations. It definitely looks a lot more modern than GoodReads does.
LibraryThing I found LibraryThing at about the same time I found GoodReads but at that time, GR was free and LT wasn’t. LT offered free lifetime memberships to all GR users when Amazon bought GR so I created an account. I like some aspects of LT (my carefully-chosen book cover won’t randomly change like it does on GR) but the site looks like the developers built it in 1995 and haven’t changed it since. Still, I do cross post reviews there.
BookBub–I know I underutilize BookBub since I mostly use it for cross posting reviews. But they do send me emails when I authors I like publish new works or have e-books on sale.
Overdrive–I love all the digital resources that my various library cards give me access to, but the one I use the most frequently is Overdrive. Overdrive keeps encouraging me to switch to Libby but the last time I looked, I couldn’t migrate my Overdrive wishlists. Oh, wait! I see they’ve added that functionality! Maybe I will be making the switch! I’ve never seen much difference between the two apps but Libby does look more modern.
Library Catalog–I read almost exclusively on my Kindle because we travel so much with my husband’s job. I do get library cards in every town we stay in for a few months. I refer to the card catalog a lot for graphic novels and books I can’t find in Overdrive.
Social Media–I follow lots of you, bookstores, publishers, authors, etc. on various social media platforms. I always find lots of books to add to my TBR list! (If you’re curious, my social media links are in my sidebar ➡️)
Bookmarks Magazine–My husband usually buys me an issue of this magazine for Christmas and sometimes for my birthday. It’s a good thing he doesn’t buy it more often because I end up adding almost all the books they mention to my TBR!
Edelweiss+ and/or Netgalley–These sites were just starting to get really popular when I stopped blogging in 2016 and I haven’t used them again since I started blogging again last year. I’m generally a mood reader so receiving or requesting books for review doesn’t always work out so great for me. But since some of you might be new to blogging, I thought I would mention them in case you want to sign up. You can request books for review on either site, usually before they even hit the shelves. I really should at least keep an eye on both sites so that I know what’s being published soon.
All of You!–Visiting your sites and social media gives me the bulk of my book recommendations! (If you don’t see your name in that screen capture up there or in my blog roll in the sidebar, please be aware that I’ve set it to rotate names randomly so you’ll probably show up eventually.)
That’s my list! I hope I’ve given some of you one or two new resources! What resources do you use? Link up every Tuesday at That Artsy Reader Girl!
11 Comments
I made the switch to Libby, but I agree that there aren’t many differences.
Bookmarks magazine is new to me, thanks for sharing. My link: https://cindysbookcorner.blogspot.com/2021/10/top-ten-tuesday-online-resources-for.html
This is a great list! I’m on some of these, but there just isn’t enough time to do what I’d like to.
I signed up for Storygraph, but haven’t really done much on it since I don’t want to maintain yet another book site.
I blanked on this topic as well! I do adore Goodreads, Bookmarks magazine, NetGalley, Edelweiss, and, of course, blogs. My reading life wouldn’t be the same without any of these resources. I’m glad they exist 🙂
Happy TTT!
Susan
http://www.blogginboutbooks.com
You made me subscribe to Bookmarks. I’m such an easy mark where books are concerned…
My list— https://fiftytwo.blog/2021/10/19/ttt-books-i-loved-but-will-probably-wont-re-read/
Good job. I tried Library Thing when it came out, but Goodreads suits me so I stay with it. I like so many of the resources people are mentioning today.
OMG, yes. LibraryThing needs a site refresh badly! I bought their lifetime membership waaaay back in the day, and LT has become my place where I fully catalogue the books I’ve read, and my TBR, and separate out which books I own vs. which I don’t… but I do wish they would modernize the site.
I completely forgot about how often I use the online catalogs at the various libraries I frequent. I also forgot about Overdrive. I think I’ll add these to my rather short list.
I’ve just started using NetGalley, but I only ask for books that are on my TBR already. I know some people seem to request every book available. I’ve been approved for a few, already read and reviewed a couple, and have five waiting for me. I have the titles and publication dates written down, so if the mood strikes, I can read one of them.
Pam @ Read! Bake! Create!
https://readbakecreate.com/5-booktube-creators-worthy-of-checking-out/
I’m a mood reader too so I also don’t really use Netgalley but same- I should keep an eye on the new releases better.
Bookmarks magazine? Hmm…