Shelfari - Cozy up with a New Book

Now, I am not a big reader – basically because I have no time. However, if I had tons of time I would read…a lot! It took me a few minutes to decide whether or not Shelfari was worth my time (since I have not read a million books) but, to my surprise, it is a wonderful site for the “over-achiever” reader and the “tons of excuses” wannabe reader like me.

Shelfari, partnered with Amazon, is an online community of book enthusiasts. This free Website allows you to build a “bookshelf” of all of the books you have ever read. People who have the same reading interests as you can add you to their friend list and you become fellow Shelfarians. This is an interesting concept because on many other social networking sites, people often become friends because of superficial attributes, however, on Shelfari it is possible to add comrades based on good ole wholesome reading. Really!

You can also become a member of the many Shelfari groups or you can start up your own group. Groups allow members to chat and suggest books that are of interest to the group, based on what premise the group is built upon. Books can also be added to your wish list, where friends can view what you hope to one day read.

When you search for a book title, you have the option to buy the book through Amazon.com. This is helpful because when you are reviewing posts from other members, they may suggest a book for you and if you are interested, you can look it up and buy it instantaneously.

Shelfari’s interface is advanced yet simple to use. Each book has a nice cover image and most books have several editions to choose from, enabling you to add the exact book cover that you’ve read to your bookshelf. On your bookshelf, you can add tags such as contemporary fiction, young adult and novels to your book which helps while searching through your titles. Searching for friends is also simple with the ability to search by name, nickname, city or email address.

I think I’ll use Shelfari to find a new book that I’d like to read. With tags, I’m sure that I’ll find exactly the type of book that I’m interested in. Remember, it isn’t the size of your bookshelf – it is the quality of the contents you put on it.