Where do you usually go every time you want to look for a book recommendation? Goodreads? Unsurprising because it is indeed the most popular book recommendation site. Goodreads is the IMDb for books where book lovers can see the rating and reviews of a certain book they want to read. For authors, Goodreads is great tool to reach new readers.
As the largest online book catalog, Goodreads has a huge database. You can find nearly all published books in this site starting from ones published by indie publishers to mainstream publishers. In Goodreads you can create your own catalog and recommend the books you love to your friends and Goodreads users generally.
However, Goodreads is not the only online book recommendation site out there. There are other website with the same services as Goodreads. For a certain reason you may want to switch from Goodreads. Or simply you probably want to figure out how accurate Goodreads is by comparing it to other book recommendation site.
Whatever your purpose, here are some Goodreads-like websites you can use.
1. Library Thing
Library Thing is probably the closest alternative to Goodreads. If you login to Library Thing you will find that its interface is very similar to Goodreads. There is a notification sign at the top-right corner of the site to notify you every time there is a new updates from your friends. This website considers itself as the Facebook for books since it has a social feature that allows members to search each other’s catalogs and start discussions about them.
At the time of writing there are about 2.1 millions people joined to Library Thing and the member will surely not stop at that number.
2. aNobii
aNobii is one of the go-to websites for anyone who want to create their own online library. After joining the website you can start creating your library by adding your favorite books on it, no matter you have read the books or not yet. Just like Library Thing, you can also call aNobii as the Facebook for books because you can see the recent activities of your friends in your feed. To find friends in aNobii you can join the groups. The website also allows you invite friends from Facebook or email contacts.
3. Riffle
After registering to Riffle and accessing the dashboard you will find that this website is pretty similar to, yeah, Facebook. You can see the latest activities of someone you follow and give some feedback over them in form of like or comment. Before completing the registration step you will be asked to follow some authors and readers.
Just like aNobii and Library Thing, Riffle also allows you to create online bookshelf and add some books to it. You can find books by typing the tittle, author or ISBN.
4. Book Likes
Book Likes is tend to similar to Tumblr where you can write a blog post, cite your favorite guotes or upload photos. You can also see others’s posts and give feedback in form of love, comment or reblog them if you interest with the posts. Even so, Book Likes doesn’t forget its responsibility to offers you book-related tasks. The website also enables you create an online bookshelf.
You can even see your bookshelf in a better, cuter interface. Searching for books is also easy in Book Likes. After getting the book you want you will have two options whether want to share it to your timeline or adding it to your bookshelf.
5. Book Browse
Book Browse is a bit different to other websites mentioned earlier in this list. It is tend to a public library rather than a book recommendation site. If you want to be a member of Book Browse you need to pay for $35 per year. Its collections is also tend to limited to only traditionally published authors with in depth professional book reviews made by their own staff.
However, you (a free member) are allowed to give your feedback over the books you read. If want it, you can also buy the book directly from Amazon, Barnes & Noble or IndieBound.