Comments on: Looking for a good book recommendation website that isn't amazon.com

Question: Looking for a good book recommendation website that isn't amazon.com

Sprout the Vulgarian — Wed, 25 Oct 2006 13:13:25 -0800

Has anyone come across a good website that accurately generates book recommendations, based on what you've read and enjoyed?

Amazon.com isn't really working out for me, and nextfavorite.com seems kind of buggy at best, and kind of in cahoots with amazon.
Is there anything a bit more independent and/or user friendly out there? I prefer fiction, if that matters.

By: bcwinters

bcwinters — Wed, 25 Oct 2006 13:47:19 -0800

I bookmarked What Should/Shall I Read Next a few weeks ago after it made the blog rounds. Worth a look.

By: moira

moira — Wed, 25 Oct 2006 13:58:28 -0800

I cannot attest to accuracy, but you might check out gnod.

(On second glance, it seems to be associated with Amazon to some extent, so it may not be what you're looking for.)

By: smackfu

smackfu — Wed, 25 Oct 2006 14:06:31 -0800

Have you looked at Library Thing?

By: LobsterMitten

LobsterMitten — Wed, 25 Oct 2006 14:07:14 -0800

The Map of Literature is similar, although it doesn't name specific books. You enter an author's name, you get back a cluster of other author names that are enjoyed by the same people as the ones who liked your author (or, the new authors are just rated as being similar to the author you named).

Library Thing might also help

By: booksherpa

booksherpa — Wed, 25 Oct 2006 15:17:49 -0800

AlexLit is still around, at least the recommender part of it, and has served me well. It tends to be SF/fantasy heavy though. If SF/fantasy is your thing, though, give All SciFi a try. It's got a pretty interesting and unique way of picking books for you based on you choosing plot elements you like.

By: gillyflower

gillyflower — Wed, 25 Oct 2006 16:51:27 -0800

I know this isn't what you asked for, but you might also try calling or e-mailing your local public library. Many public libraries have librarians with a specific specialty called "Readers' Advisory". Armed with some tools (including reference books and proprietary databased you won't find online) and a broad experience of leisure reading, a good Readers Advisor can come up with excellent suggestions in short order, AND get them for you via interlibrary loan for free.

By: drezdn

drezdn — Wed, 25 Oct 2006 17:32:47 -0800

Not exactly the elegant solution you're looking for but you could try emailing good independent bookstores. Any larger size one usually will have tastes that overlap yours, or will be able to get a good feel for what you like, and recommend from there.

Then again, I'm extremely biased.

By: Sprout the Vulgarian

Sprout the Vulgarian — Thu, 26 Oct 2006 11:23:31 -0800

Thanks for all the advice, folks!
Each suggestion addressed an aspect of what I'm looking for, which is essentially nextfavorite.com with a better selection and less corporate bias.

For those also interested in this question, I coincidentally just ran across another way to find recommendations: paperbackswap.com (found via lifehacker) includes a short "Similar Books" list with each listed book.

By: ibmcginty

ibmcginty — Thu, 26 Oct 2006 16:30:08 -0800

I just came across this, so can't vouch for it, but this site offers recommendations based on charateristics, not past choices.

By: kev23f

kev23f — Fri, 27 Oct 2006 08:31:26 -0800

i asked this question a good while back and got some good recommendations....