Second Thoughts on Goodreads and Librarything

On Saturdays, I tend to post reviews of Essays (if I even post), but I read this piece of news that made me pause.

Apparently, because Goodreads was bought by Amazon, Librarything is giving all members one year of unlimited membership. Without going into the "how many sites does Amazon.com own?" debate, this kinda sparked me to give an update of how I'm using the two sites (you can find my first comparison here).

Like how I've said before, I love the way you can catalogue books in Librarything, but Goodreads is more of a social-site for books. Unlike the last time, I've got loads more friends on Goodreads now, and it's more fun. I'm also getting in touch with more authors there.

On the other hand, I've hardly touched Librarything. I've been so afraid of reaching the 200 books max limit that I've hardly entered any books. And while it is easier to win books on Librarything (I've never won a single book on Goodreads), I've started using NetGalley, and more or less gave up entering the giveaways at both sites.

As for groups, the groups on Goodreads are way more active than Librarything. Or at least, my interest  groups on Librarything don't actually reply.... But now that I've joined Google+, I don't really need the groups anymore.

That means.... I go to Goodreads everyday to post reviews and keep track of what I have read, but I don't visit Librarything anymore. I still think that Librarything has the better cataloging system, but the limit does put a huge damper on things.

Bottom line, in my case at least, the amount of books you can track is the make-or-break factor. I'm not particular about things like apps, or what features there are (although they are nice), but with the books I read (even at my reduced speed, it's still a fairly large amount), I need a place to keep track of them. Hence, although I started using Librarything more than Goodreads, I've ended up using Goodreads almost exclusively now.

Still, with the new one-year unlimited membership for everyone, I may just start using Librarything again. I'll let you all know what happens(:

The Hollywoord Scoop by Jordan Parker

Yesterday was my birthday, so I ran out of time to blog. But to make up from it, I'm reviewing a book from LibraryThing! (It's been a long time hasn't it?)

After a long period of inactivity on LibraryThing (it's not fun when you have to keep watching the number of books you add), I'm finally re-entering the world of member giveaways and early reviews! And one of the books that I recently received was this entertaining book - The Hollywood Scoop by Jordan Parker.

The Hollywood Scoop centers around 16 year old Josephine ("Joey") as she tries to become a real reporter. She gets a series of chances when she witnesses what could be the next big hit (the script I mean) gets stolen before her very eyes. The "mystery" is actually solved just after the half-way mark, which makes this book more about growing up than a mystery.

And it's a really sweet tale too. Joey is likable and honest. Her mother wants her to be a lady, but she wants to be a reporter - and this conflict provides quite a lot of avenue for growth. Plus, Joey is constantly worrying about her older brother, who's fighting in the war. All in all, it's not just a romance, it's not just a "wanna-be reporter" story, it's a very good mix of many different elements.

Oh yes, the setting. This book is set in WWII (the earlier days), but it doesn't seem to impact the story much. I mean, the book feels fairly historical, but the going-ons of the war don't bother the main characters (except for the fact that her brother is a soldier). I would have, however, appreciated more mention of the war. There is an instance where she realises that it's not just about the fighting (when she's told about the camps for the Japanese-Americans), which shows that it could be developed further.

Romance in this book, was at least realistic. I liked that she didn't fall for the guy straight away (That is probably my only criteria for whether I like the romance story), and they have an interesting relationship. But I think Elliot (the love interest), is rather heartless and manipulative, especially when the truth comes out. He does, however, become a better person/hides his flaws by the end of the novel.

Lastly, this book portrays smoking in a positive (or at least neutral) light. If you don't want someone younger to get the idea that smoking is cool (Elliot, the love interest, is always smoking), then you might not want to let them read this book. But if you've already developed a fairly firm stand on smoking, then it can't hurt you to read this sweet story.

Disclaimer: I received a free copy from the author through LibraryThing in exchange for a free and honest review.

Voices of Survivors by Lynn Daugherty

When I saw this book on the LibraryThing giveaway, I thought, hmm... this looks interesting. And well, I need non-fiction. But this short book, consisting mostly of real-life accounts of victims of sexual abuse, makes a very big impact.

While I'm not the intended audience of the book, as it's a book aimed at the sexually abused, it reminded me of not gossiping. More than one account mentioned how they didn't want people to know, and how they felt that people were talking behind their back. I think, if I ever find out that someone I know undergoes something so terrible, I should remember not to gossip, but rather, support them.

The book is divided into three sections: stories from victims of child sexual abuse, questions and answers about child sexual abuse amd choosing a professional counselor. To me, the most interesting sections were the first two, and I glossed over the last section.

This book is taken from a longer work, but is standalone. I think that we should be aware of such things, even though I myself would rather not know about such realities. But since it exists, we cannot be ostriches. I suggest that if you do not want to read a long work about sexual abuse, you should at least read this book.

Disclaimer: I got this book free from the LibraryThing giveaway in exchange for my free and honest review.

Dirty Little Angels by Chris Tusa

I managed to finish another ebook today. I think my ebook reading speed has increased! ^_^ Anyway, remember how I was complaining about monotony in my reading (that one period of time where I read a lot of chic-lit)? Well, I can safely say that Dirty Little Angels is unlike those novels.

The novel is one of those disturbing ones that you feel compelled to keep reading. It's really dark, due mainly to the portrayal of the lower-income class. I could actually see this as a novel to be studied in Literature.

Basically, the novel is narrated from the protagonist, Hailey's point of view. It's a rather winding novel, chronicling her day-to-day life. The only thing is that to someone like me, it's a very strange and interesting world. Hailey has got to be in her teens (it's mentioned that her friend and her are below 21) but she smokes, she drinks, smokes pot and well, all sorts of things that I have never dreamt of doing. Basically, it's a far far distance from my sheltered world.

But strangely enough, I couldn't stop reading it. Hailey's story isn't hopeful, conversely, she actually goes into a downward spiral. But somehow, despite all the negativity, and the fact that she smokes, she's a strangely likable character.

This book is short, but worth reading. Especially if you're like me, and you hail from a sheltered world.

Disclaimer: I got this book free from the librarything giveaway. All opinions in this review are my own.

Ripple Series by Cidney Swanson

I got these two ebooks almost two months ago (I could make it sound longer by saying "last year"), but only started reading it about two or three days ago. And yet, I finished both books last night, that's how good they were. Currently, the Ripple Series consists of two books: Rippler and Chameleon. But for the sake of cohesiveness, I'm just going to talk about them as a whole.

The series revolves around Samantha, as she discovers that she can Ripple (i.e. turn invisible). And as she learns more about what's going on with her, she and Will (her friend that progresses to love interest) discover that they are being targetted (strictly speaking, Will already knew, Sam discovered).

First up: the universe creation. The Ripple series is in America, but since there is this whole mutation thing, it kind of throws stuff out of balance. But, the whole ability to Ripple, how it works, and why she only gains awareness now is very well down, without sounding like people spewing information for the sake of the reader. I thought that the release of information was well-timed, because I didn't feel like I was left out in the dark, yet each new revelation about the Ripple syndrome brought (mostly pleasant) surprises.

Another thing I really love are the characters. Mickie, Sam, Gwyn and Will (and later, Sir Walter), are all wonderfully written. The brother-sister dynamic between Mickie and Will was, I felt, really authentic. I have a little brother myself, and I can see echoes of how we intereact in the interactions between Mickie and Will. Sam and Gwyn's friendship was also realistic. They (small spoiler alert!) have a small falling out, but I understood Gwyn's reactions, and could empathise with both of their actions and reasonings.

But very importantly, Will is a very good male lead. I grow sick of reading books where the girl is fairly well-characterised but the guy is the male version of a Mary-Sue (i.e. he's too perfect). Funnily enough, the opposite is true for most shonen manga. Will is obviously kind and caring, but, I don't know exactly how to say it, but he felt authentic somehow. Well, I think the way he treats Sam was the main reason. The pace of the relationship between them was really great, there wasn't any of those "eyes-meet-and-wham!" kind of romances, which to be honest, is way too common nowadays. I like how they are first and foremost friends before actually entering a relationship. And this isn't the kind of plot where Sam has another boyfriend then they break-up and she finds Will type of plot (second-most common scenario). The simplicity (and naturalness) is so refreshing.

The pace of the book was good. The plot wasn't overly quick and I like how there was time for her to explore how to Ripple and get to know Will and Mickie better.

Basically, I have no problems with this series, and I'm really looking forward to the third book.

Disclaimer: I got these two books free from the librarything member giveaway. I was asked to write a review, but it didn't have to be positive/as positive as the one I just gave.

Irreparable Harm by Melissa F. Miller

I've finally finished another ebook. Since I prefer the literally written word, my ebook reading always goes down when I have actual paper books to read. But Irreparable Harm (a legal thriller) was so good that I finished it relatively fast (a few days vs a few weeks).

Now, from what I experienced interning at a Law Firm at the JC Law Programme last year, being a lawyer doesn't mean being in court or doing dramatic things like yelling "Objection" everyday. In fact, games like Ace Attorney and now, books like Irreparable Harm are probably very remote from the life of the average lawyer. But strangely, the book also feels realistic in the sense that I can imagine the cut-throat (not the literal parts!) competition and the hierarchy of lawyers described in the begining of the book.

One really big plus for the book is its relatively short chapters. I get bored easily on the iPad, so knowing that the chapters are short make me read more (ironically). Let me explain my twisted reasoning. If every chapter is let's say 20 pages, then after one or two chapters I'll be something like "what can I watch on Youtube?". But if every chapter is less than 10 pages (some 5!), and the story is gripping, I'll be something like "ok, 1 more chapter than I stop" for oh, let's see, around 10 chapters. Of course, this only works if you have a very tightly written and thrilling plot. If not, I won't keep reading because I won't care about finding out what happened next.

Sasha, the protagonist, is a promising lawyer at Prescott & Talbott and she, for some reason, also has a heart (defying the characterisation of many lawyers in many novels I read). She's also, incredibly, a very likeable character despite veering very close to becoming a Mary-Sue. I mean, she can fight (Krav Maga), is pretty (presumably) and incredible intelligent (duh). And yet, she remains down-to-earth, and real, unlike those artificial characters that are all-rounders with one tiny flaw that they inevitably overcome.

So yes, Irreparable Harm is an excellent book which I really do think you should read. But here's the disclaimer: I got this ebook from the librarything member giveaway. I was asked to write a review, but it didn't have to be positive. Plus, all opinions here are my own.

Healing the Faith by Michele Richard (ARC)

For some reason, I missed all the signs of Healing the Faith (the second book in the Mocked by Faith series), and so, I had to take quite a lot of time to catch up. So for those who have not heard of the first book, this is what I understand: Justin and Alexia had a bad, traumatic past experience. Now, they're married but must be temporarily separated as Justin hunts the man who created said past experience. Now, let's compare it to the blurb for the first Mocked by Faith book:

"For Alexia Cross and Justin McNear, things are not what they seem. Both were born and raised in hidden, gated communities. A place where time virtually stands still and marriages are arranged by parents before a child’s 18th birthday.

Alexia is destined to be her community’s first spinster.  In a last ditch effort, a husband is found.  The only complication?  He has no idea he has been betrothed. Will his history of dating outsiders help or hinder his relationship with his future wife?

Justin McNear searched outside his church for the woman of his dreams. Returning home after failing, he knows he needs to rectify his life and his faith. Can a woman he’s never met make him whole again?

Will this couple end up mocked by their own faith?  Follow Alexia and Justin through the trials and tribulations of finding, falling, and surviving each other's love. It’s never easy saying “I do” to someone you don’t know."

Well, this is certainly different from what I just said. Probably because I talked about the spoiler, so there were a lot of plot details left unsaid. Now that I've finished talking about the first book, on to the second (which I actually read):

The plot is actually a fairly standard hunt-and-chase type of plot, with a twist at the end that made it really interesting. I think for me, what carried the book more was the characters - Justin and Alexia McNear.

I have to say though, I like Justin as a character much more than Alexia. Although he's obviously deeply damaged, with anger issues and what not, including a major meltdown more than once. But he's still quite endearing, especially looking at how much he loves Alexia, as seen by how he frets about her and basically tries to do whatever she wants (to make her happy).

Alexia on the other hand, was annoying for most of the book. She sees herself as the victim, and constantly annoyed me with her dramatic antics. Even though I didn't understand much about their community, I could see that her actions were fairly out-of-line and could damage Justin. It wasn't until *spoiler alert* her friends finally yelled at her and made her see sense before I could like her as a character.

Since I'm a Christian, let me look at this "obscure faith" of theirs. It seems that they worship angels, specifically those in the Bible. Yet references to books of the Bible imply that they have knowledge and possible have the Bible as one of the books of their faith. What I don't understand is: if they have knowledge of the Bible, why worship something that is not the most powerful or most important i.e. God? But since they're meant to be a gated community, I suppose that I have to accept it as a plot device, although I think theologically it's wrong.

This book is quite sound in terms of plot and character. But personal reasons lead me to be unable to recommend this book without hesitation.

Ghosts of Our Pasts by Sophia Duane (ARC)

This is my first ARC (Advanced Reader Copy), and I was so excited to get it, nevermind that it's not an actual book like I dreamed (a downside of living in Singapore), but an ebook. It took me longer than expected to finish this book though, although that's not the fault of the book, but the fact that my attention span is significantly smaller for ebooks than paperbooks.

To get back on track, Ghosts of Our Pasts is really quite good. I was a bit hesistant about it at first, because I'm Christian so I naturally take a more conservative view to moral matters, but the book really won me over by the end.

-Spoiler Alert-
Essentially, the book is about two wounded souls, Emily, who lost her father at the 9/11 attacks and Will Darcy, who lost his love of his life at the same 9/11 attacks, and how they come together to slowly heal.

Except, it feels like only Will actually moves forward. You see, when we first meet Emily, she's compensating/displacing her emotions by sleeping with guys she doesn't care about. While at the end she does end up in a steady relationship with Will, I felt that she didn't change much, although she made him change. Granted, he was a lot worse, with a fear of tall buildings and others, but I would have liked to see her as less "heroic" and more "becoming-heroic". Will, on the other hand, has a moment in the book where he has to make an explicit choice between the past and the future, and the obvious is a good marker for his character developement. And it didn't help that at that moment, Emily was acting as though she had gotten over her trauma years ago (when it's mentioned in the first few pages that she hasn't).

The book makes me wonder, what would happen if something like that happened to me? The title is a reference to how we can sometimes be stuck in the past, and is (I think), a subtle call to move beyond that. While I would like to think that I have the strength to go beyond crisis's, I doubt if that's true. Up til now, which is about 5, 6 years from when I moved from my childhood home to the house I have now (and is, mind you, less than a kilometer away) and I still think of the 107E (my old home) as "home". It's a bit worrying, I suppose, that I'm so attached to what I have fond memories of, but it is, nonetheless, better than to be wholly unsentimental. Or at least, that's what I'm telling myself.

It's strange though, how now I'm aiming to go somewhere completely unfamiliar for university. I suppose it's because I don't like change so much, that if I study in another school in Singapore, it will invariably disappoint me for not being MGS (my school for the first 10 years of schooling), and so, I'd rather be somewhere else.

After this rather weird digression, I think I should just end of by talking about the book again. Plot-wise, I really would have prefered to know that the tragedy that they experience is 9/11, which would have made their actions more understandable. Maybe it's because I'm not American, that I don't realise it from the start, but still, it would have been nice to know.

All in all, I recommend this book, but only to mature readers (no kiddies). It's not very explicit (thankfully), but it does seem to portray drugs in a positive light, which I think is not only ironic, but would outweigh the benefits of reading this novel about healing.

My Two Cents on Goodreads and Librarything



Strictly speaking, only one of my friends. But I'm
attempting to get more to sign up.

Since I have a lull in my reading schedule (apparently, studying and reading are two mutually exclusive activities), I decided to finally write down my thoughts on two very popular book-social/sharing sites: Goodreads and LibraryThing.

I was actually pretty much unaware of both sites until I got Zite and started reading all these blogposts about Goodreads/LibraryThing, which more or less piqued my interest. So, being indecisive, I decided to join both sites, figuring that if I wanted to, I could just delete an account. So, after about a month or so of playing around with both sites, I came to a conclusion:

Goodreads and Librarything are more complementary products than competitive products (products in competitive supply).

While this may be a very obvious conclusion, it took me quite a lot of time to figure it out. At first, I was more in favour of LibaryThing, since I wanted a place to catalog my books, and from what I heard Librarything was the winner. And it's true. LibraryThing's cataloging system is superior compared to Goodreads. While Goodreads only has shelves (which I find rather cumbersome to use), LibraryThing has categories and tags. Which means you can subdivide the books. That's pretty much why I only use LibraryThing to keep track of the books I own.

On the other hand, Goodreads is supposed to emphasise the social aspect of reading more. I don't know how true that is, since only one of my friends use Goodreads, but it does seem so. And it's somehow easier to enter a review on Goodreads (they have a dedicated review box), so I tend to use Goodreads to record the books I read but don't own (borrowed books, library books mainly).

The next thing both sites have in common are their discussion groups. Since I'm quite lazy, I tend to neglect such things, but I am making an effort to participate more. So far, what I've gathered is that LibraryThing is good for specific things - like discussions on Japanese culture, while I'm learning how to improve this blog most from the Goodreads discussion (Especially the groups Blogger Lift and Creative Reviews). Although it is difficult for me to just jump in the discussions, I got many ideas on how to improve just by reading the posts (sorry, all improvements will only be done after November 18th)

Now on to the peripherals of each site. (Basically, my studying-induced vocabulary is trying to say that I'm going to talk about the 'add-ons' of the site).

To be honest, the reason why I joined Goodreads was because of its peripherals. It had a quiz function (And I knew the answer!) and an app (which LibraryThing does not have, but is supposed to be working on). Since you can read ebooks on the app (as long as you have the ebook open when you go offline), it's yet another and very convenient way to read, since you can post updates on your reading progress and record quotes.

LibraryThing has a very interesting "Common Knowledge" section, which has interesting information such as dedications, quotations, opening and ending sentences and such.

And I think, this discussion will be incomplete without talking about their giveaway programmes. While Goodreads does let me try to win physical books, the copies are very little and there are much more participants. So the chances of winning go down dramatically. On the other hand, while I can only win ebooks from Librarything (at least so far), they have more copies and less participants (due to, I think, the lower number of members), and I've got quite a few ebooks already. Not to mention that LibraryThing divides the give aways into early reviews and member giveaways, which increases the selection (to me, anyway).

In conclusion, both sites have their unique selling points. While Goodreads is free, LibraryThing is free only up to the first 200 books. But honestly, I love the site enough that I'm considering paying the lifetime membership fee. Unfortunately, that requires a credit card, which I don't have at the moment.

Does anyone have other opinions? Whether there are any bugs in either site that I've neglected or some function I've missed out? Just leave a comment and I'll reply(:

UPDATE (30/3/2013): Here's an update after using both sites for a while

Forsaken by Andrew Van Wey

Even the cover is creepy,
which is why I try not to look at
it too much. 

 I've actually finished another book that I've gotten from the librarything.com members giveaway, although strangely, the author requested that I review it on goodreads.com. Oh well, I have accounts on both sites anyway.

But seriously, I feel that this book is indescribable. Since I don't really read thriller/horrow (hey, my first time reading Stephen King was around last month, and it was only because Carrie was so famous), this is really a first for me (the blurb pulled me in and got me to join) I stayed up all night reading it despite the fact that the only two activities I should be doing are sleeping and studying (exam season - IB IN 3 DAYS!!), which shows that's how thrilling it was. 

The book centers around a painting, which can only be called disturbing. What's masterful was how the Daniel (the protagonist) slowly breaks down under the influence of the painting, while others are merely affected by it. I think the attention to detail (such as how the other characters perceive certain events), helped to make the conclusion very persuasive and somehow very satisfying. 


Needless to say, I was already scared from the beginning, but in a good way. It's the type of thrill that made me willingly suspend disbelief, which is critical due to the fantastical elements in the book. While we normally think of living paintings as merely lifelike, this painting is really alive. It metamorphesises over the course of the novel, (Ok, not saying anymore to avoid spoilers),  and reaches -mini spoiler alert- a sense of completion at the end. This is why, shadows at the corner of your eyes can be used to instill dread and fear, after all, if there's a creepy painting with its subjects wrecking havoc, you'd have a right to be scared.

Without giving away and spoilers, I will only say that the ending was unexpected due to a very basic, but ultimately wrong assumption that I made. But on retrospect, it made perfect sense, especially when viewed with the prologue. 

The length of the book felt just right (although since I read the ebook copy, it could be different from print copies), but anyway, I felt that it was tightly written, with very little superfluous items. The writing is descriptive, but not overly so (this is important, since I'm reading another member giveaway that is much to descriptive. I can only stomach one chapter at a time.)


So if you like thriller, or want to scare yourself to take your mind off the impending exams (pretend you have them, misery loves company after all), then read this book. But don't give yourself sleepless nights over it. Remember, we have a God stronger than anything in this world, so there's nothing to be afraid of.

Experiment with Goodreads/LibraryThing - Review of The Jungle Book.

This was written on both my Goodreads and LibraryThing account. I'm still getting used to the sites, so a full review/ comparison of them will come much later.
The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Previously, I only knew about The Jungle Book if it was the Disney movie, which I didn't even watch. The show looked a little infantile and frankly, I didn't really get it.

Later on, I read and loved The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman, which I heard was based on The Jungle Book. Interesting, but still not enough to get me to read it.

Finally, I read The God of Small Things by Arundathi Roy. In it, they quoted The Jungle Book's "We be of one blood, thou and I". After meeting all these instances of intertextuality, I had to read the book.

The book follows a fairly predictable format: story, then a poem about the story. While I was a little disappointed that not all the stories was about Mowgli, the other stories were interesting. I'm not sure about all this imperialism stuff, since I've not studied that aspect of literature in detail, but all I saw was the noble savage idea, such as that of Huckleberry Finn.

Although the stories lagged towards the end, I still enjoyed the book, if not for the content, then for all the wonderful instances of intertexualities within it.

View all my reviews