Is there a website that provides a quick way to keep track of books I have read?

December 12, 2012 1:28 PM

Is there a website that provides a quick way to keep track of books I have read?

I want a website that helps me keep track of books I have read so I can remember and recommend them later.

Ideally it would have an extremely simple interface wherein I would type in a few books I have read and then it would guess others I might have read based on ones that are similar. It would show me covers and titles and I could quickly specify whether I have read a book or not.

This would be sort of like the Netflix recommendation algorithm.

I want to be able to do this very quickly for a very large number of books.

I have looked at Goodreads which is good for keeping tracks of books I remember having read, but I want something to help me remember books I have forgotten reading.

The interface can be very minimal - I don't need reviews or anything like that - just pictures of book covers and titles.

Does such a website exist?

Thanks.

posted by mai to Writing & Language (14 answers total)

Best answer: Goodreads also suggests books that you might like based upon your previous reads, which may give you the forgotten book help?
posted by firei at 1:34 PM on December 12, 2012

I actually just use amazon.com for this.
posted by Jairus at 1:36 PM on December 12, 2012

I came in to suggest goodreads too.
posted by royalsong at 1:38 PM on December 12, 2012

LibraryThing does this.
posted by Flunkie at 1:39 PM on December 12, 2012

LibraryThing? Bonus: There's a (seldom-used) MetaFilter group on it.
posted by jbickers at 1:40 PM on December 12, 2012 [1 favorite]

LibraryThing allows you to import lists of books you might have from other sources. I specifically remember importing the list of books I purchased on Amazon.

Once I gave it a starter list of books it started suggesting books that I had read but that I'd forgotten. It's easy to add those to my list and add a rating, if I remember.
posted by Ookseer at 1:44 PM on December 12, 2012

Seconding the Goodreads suggestions. I have used the recommendations feature to do just what you're looking for--rediscover books I've read but forgotten. It seems to work very well for me.
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 1:47 PM on December 12, 2012

Response by poster: Firei - thanks, I hadn't seen that feature, and that is working okay, but isn't necessarily giving me as long of a list as I would like. I will try to keep tweaking it.
posted by mai at 1:52 PM on December 12, 2012

I've heard hunch is uncannily good.
posted by daveliepmann at 1:54 PM on December 12, 2012

Here are, supposedly, the "Top 4."
posted by R2WeTwo at 1:58 PM on December 12, 2012

Best answer: One way I've found some books I have read (or want to read) on Goodreads is by going to other active people's profiles and doing the "compare books" thing - if someone generally likes similar books, their lists will probably fill holes in mine. (And there is a Metafilter group on Goodreads as well.)
posted by restless_nomad at 2:21 PM on December 12, 2012 [3 favorites]

Goodreads.com
posted by eq21 at 3:32 PM on December 12, 2012

I like FictFact for series novels.
posted by jvilter at 4:08 PM on December 12, 2012

I am loving Goodreads, although I recommend tweaking the default settings or they will send you too many emails.
posted by radioamy at 4:41 PM on December 12, 2012