Week Four

I had been hearing about Goodreads for a few years before being hired by BCPL, when I finally joined, and since then it's proved super useful for helping me keep track of what I've read, what I'm reading, and (perhaps most importantly) what I can read next.

As it has from the very beginning, Goodreads' Listopia blew me away: I feel like I could spend hours looking around in there, and would undoubtedly come up with WAY too many new books for my "to-read" shelf. But Listopia has also proved a life-saver for reader's advisory; the lists have gotten me out of more than one tough situation (I even found a list for one of last week's scenarios: "Great Vampire Books That Aren't Twilight"!). I find that I turn to Goodreads more quickly than to Novelist or other sources when a customer is looking for a specific sub-genre that would likely not have its own keyword elsewhere. I had a customer come in the other day, for example, who was participating in BCPL's Reading Challenge and was looking for a Maryland author appropriate to her reading level. I probably could have found this out other ways, but I went immediately to Goodreads because I knew Listopia would have a list for that.

I also like Listopia because it is reader-mediated. I feel much more confident, if I do not know a genre well, recommending a book that other readers have added overwhelmingly to a "best books" list than one that received a good review or has been selling well.

When it comes to Goodreads' recommendations, however, I am less blown-away. The site seems to favor only certain appeal factors and ignore others. I, who enjoy books more for their tone, mood, and characters, than for their storyline and setting, find this frustrating. East of Eden, for example, is not my favorite book because I really enjoy multi-generational family sagas set in the American West; I loved it because of its philosophical bent, the slow build up toward its deep message, and the rawness of the characters. Likewise, I am not likely to pick up another piece of medieval Sufi poetry because that is a genre I necessarily enjoy; but the Conference of the Birds is on my favorites shelf because of the richness of its imagery and the depth of its observations. On the whole, I've stopped looking at Goodreads' recommendations, because I think I can find more helpful suggestions elsewhere.