goodreads vs. shelfari

I love online communities. Most people find them stale and uninteresting, but I think they're awfully fun. You can join groups, take quizzes, fill out profiles, and add 'friends'. You're probably thinking of Facebook and Twitter, right? Certainly those are the major ones on the internet right now, but what about a networking site that's all about books? Whaaaat?
It's actually quite interesting. I'm going to focus on two particular sites: Goodreads and Shelfari. Here are some photos to demonstrate:

Here's the goal of these websites in a nutshell: to help you organize the books you've read, write short reviews and rate them between 1-5 stars, compile a list of books that you want to read, and connect with friends over reading. I've got an account on both sites, so I can go at this fairly.

Goodreads:

Here are the good things about it:

-It has more of a community feel, with tons of groups to join, book polls to vote on and quizzes to take.

-You can browse through pages and pages of quotes, and add them to your personal collection. 

-It encourages members to add their own writing, and to critique others on their writing.

-There's more emphasis on 'friendship'.

-There's something called a 'book swap', in which a person puts some of their books up for 'swapping'. You request it, they ship it to you, you pay for the shipping, and viola! You have the book.

Some bad things:

-It's kind of hard to navigate around in... 

-It's tough to find and add books to your library.

-Once you get them, it's difficult to view them.

Shelfari:

Good things:

-This site is generally much easier to move around in. Plus it looks much cleaner and simpler.

-It has a virtual shelf on your profile, on which the books you added rest (something that Goodreads lacks).

-The books are divided into three sections: I've read, I'm reading now, and I plan to read.

-It's very easy to add, rate, and review books.

-You can 'favorite' books, which automatically puts them on a specific list.

Bad things:

-There's nothing for writing... :(

-The profile options are somewhat limited.

If you've read thus far without falling asleep, let me summarize what I think of the sites:

Goodreads is a community-centered site with great ideas, but a lot of the time it's poorly executed.

Shelfari is a more book-centered site that looks much better and is easier to navigate around.

If you're a book lover, I urge you to check these out! Like I said, I am a member on both, so do add me if you make an account on either :)

Shelfari account. Goodreads account.

I am such a nerd

So. This was an experiment.

I've seen these types of videos before: a compilation of photos set to music.

You would honestly not believe how long it takes to make one.

Or maybe it's just me. I try to get the timing of each picture right on the beat of the song.

Ha. That's not happening.

Anyway, just watch this video I made. I do hope it makes you smile :)

By the way, look for parts when the lyrics are matched up to certain pictures.

Example: Picture of the Von Trapps to "You make me sing"...

god rest ye merry people

Snow has been piled up on the sides of driveways, breath has been released in puffs of chilly, visible air, scarves have been knitted, cookies have been baked, and holiday secrets have already slipped from the lips of clueless children. Teens are franticly exclaiming over their bad gift shopping skills and their lack of money. "It's A Wonderful Life" and "Rudolph the Red-Nose Reindeer" are being watched with dedicated excitement.

Guess what? It's Christmas time! :) December the 25th is bouncing merrily in the very near future, and meanwhile, we get to have the fun of preparing for it. After all, the preparation is the best part, right? Advent calendars tick down the days, but the focus is on the fun of doing the calendar, not the last day.

I love the Christmas season for another reason too: things that sit around collecting dust the rest of the year are used enthusiastically at this time. The Christmas tree (that is, if you have a fake one like we do), the ornaments for the tree, the special Christmas books, the light-up reindeer, the cookie cutters shaped like the Abominable Snowman, and even the jolly old people who pretend to be Santa at the mall. And the Nativity scenes set up on front yards and in front of churches, to remind everyone just what Christmas is all about.

Sigh. Christmas time is just… lovely. And to leave this post…

“Have a holly, jolly Christmas… and in case you didn’t hear, oh by golly have a holly, jolly Christmas this year.”