There is a winner.. in Book Communities

Let's face it. We all like a winner. And there is a clear winner in the group of online book communities I recently investigated. I'll share my thoughts in ascending order, saving the best for last.

Library Thing

Oh Library Thing, what can I say? I didn't like you very much. You weren't very user friendly, didn't give good recommendations, and your interface left me bored. You were very wordy and kind of hard to figure out. Your homepage was OK. You had places to connect with other readers, but they didn't reach out and grab my attention. It was easy to find reviews from other readers, but it all seemed a little forced. I don't think students would enjoy using this site due to the lack of visually focused interface and interactivity. The older style discussion boards are out of date and, while interesting, not appealing to those under 40. Yes, I will count it against you that you don't have anything blinking or flashing or trying to get my attention. Sorry Library Thing. You are a "Crusty Classic" we shouldn't have to read just because our parents thought you were worthy.

Booklikes

Booklikes, you had me confused for a minute, but I figured you out. You are a book community, and a blog all rolled into one. You are multi-purposed and interesting. Your blogging tools are easy to use and you offer an easy way to follow others in a blog roll. Posts are easy to create and include all types of media.

Then I click a button and you are an online book community and reading organizer. My books are easy to see and organize onto shelves. You offer deals through Amazon.com and have discussion rooms to share information and thoughts with other Booklikers.

I like the way your page is organized and it was fairly easy to figure out how to use. I'm not sure how useful it would be for students, however. It seems very easy to venture into any area, and I didn't find much control over where students could travel. I liked the look of you, but it was a bit much to manage.  You are a quality mismash of things I like that don't come together as effectively as I'd like to see. You have purpose and value, but just aren't right for me, much like a self help book that doesn't meet my needs. 

Biblionasium

Now we are getting to the good stuff. Biblionasium is a librarian's dream. No, I really think librarians dream about stuff like this and the god of books inspires someone with enough techy know how to make it happen.  This book community is created for librarians and students and teachers to interact with each other. Shared reviews, titles, ability to create different groups, and teacher/librarian oversight all add to the joy that is this place.

It is very elementary in style, so a middle grade or high school teacher might have a hard time selling this interface as "cool", but it would still be able to handle the content. The lack of outside interactivity is a safety protocol that is important for younger students to be able to interact safely in a book community.

The book organization piece of this community looks good and is easily customized for each group. Chosen titles are easy to identify and neatly organized. 

This community was easy to learn how to manipulate and is full of options that make it ideal for growing a community of readers. This is the Choose Your Own Adventure of book communities.

Shelfari

This is a wonderful community. I love the look, the feel, the recommendations, just to gush a bit. There are so many places to interact with other readers and interesting groups to follow and join. The shelf looks great and is easy to apply to other websites. The widget will put your shelf on any website you wish. Students can get recommendations and view reviews. 

There are so many great things about Shelfari. It's super easy to add books. It looks great when you rate and favorite titles. The interface is very intuitive and the connectivity is amazing. The only thing that kept this place from being my favorite was that there is only one viewable shelf. You can organize it in different ways, but I could never find a way to differentiate between elementary, middle grade, and YA books. If I could have found a way to do that, provide different shelves for different interests or levels, this would have won out in the great book community battle. I will most certainly recommend this site to my third grade students and add the shelf widget to my class website. Shelfari is the Newberry or Caldecott Honor book; a wonderful thing that just barely missed the big award.

Goodreads

And that leaves us with the winner, Goodreads! This is probably not a surprise.

Goodreads is the big daddy of all book communities. It is massive in size and options. It promotes connectivity and content without being pushy or goofy.  It was easy to learn how to navigate and gives a lot of great options for use. All in all, it is the best of all worlds. This community can be used by adults and students alike. While I won't recommend it to my third grade students, it is a wonderful tool for older students with more ability to interact on the internet.

So, there you have it. In the quest for finding the best book community, Goodreads has won, hands down due to its scope, connectivity, and ability to manipulate the elements. It is the Ambassador for Literature in the reading community.