Saturday, October 3, 2009

Online Resources for Book Lovers

The internet is awash with websites having to do with books, for books, and about books. I have yet to actually read a book on my iTouch because I cannot bear the thought of not having the feel and smell of a physical book in my hand. I have downloaded a few classics in case I am without a book and I'm standing in line at the grocery store. I haven't actually made the effort to read an e-book though.

I won't bore you, dear readers, with my paper-in-hand philosophies but I will tell you of magical places on the internet where I like to go. There are three websites that I frequent regularly that have helpful advice to support my book addiction.

The first website is www.Goodreads.com. This website is dedicated to helping you keep track of what you read. You can also review the books you read and invite all of your bibliophile friends to see what you've read. Maybe you would like to keep track of what you would like to read. Goodreads provides you with a personal queue of the hundreds of thousands of books you want to read in your lifetime. Goodreads is a magical place where book lovers can frolic in recommendations or join specific forums for topics that interest them. The website is free. There are advertisments but let me tell you that they are not obnoxious. You don't even really notice they are there because they are book related.

The second website is www.LibraryThing.com. This for the hard core bibliophile who cannot ignore the urge to catalog and catergorize their entire personal library. Like Goodreads, it connects you to other people who share your similar interests in books. If you have anti-social tendencies and don't care who shares your interest in similar books, LibaryThing can be an online resource you use store the soft copy version of your library. I live for organizing my books. All 2,518 of them. LibraryThing helps me manage this addiction. Let's talk prices. You can store up to 200 titles for free. An annual membership is $10 per year. The lifetime membership $25and there is no limit to how many books you can add. It really is a lovely place to utilize.

Now to complete the trilogy of booklover websites. LibriVox.com is a website dedicated to bringing readers the audio version of books that have passed their copyright (pretty much anything before 1923). These recordings are available to listen to for free. These recordings are read by average people like you and me who volunteer their time and voice. Someday when my two year old allows me to have some free time I will volunteer my own voice.


I would LOVE to learn about some of the websites that our readers utilize when it comes to their reading habits. Happy reading!

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