I started reading at an early age and have loved it ever since. I adore books and, from time to time, I do my reading online. I’m just one of many who prefers hard copies over digital, but with BookGlutton on the rise things may start to change.

BookGlutton is both a library and a book group that aims to enhance the on-line reading experience. Upon getting signed up, usage is pretty straightforward—you can look for and start reading a book, find a group to join and read with, or upload your own work. You can keep track of friends, groups, and your reading history, as well as make annotations while you read and come back to them later.

The idea behind BookGlutton is by no means new—websites have been posting books on-line for years now, there are several places online where authors can post there work, and book clubs can be started on any social network.

Ironically, truly gluttonous readers cannot indulge themselves much with BookGlutton–the selection is absolute crap thus far. Popular titles such as Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World and Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code are missing from the site. Even Edgar Allen Poe only has one title available thus far. According to the FAQ, “the features that appear now should always be free for public domain content.”

Taking the lack of selection into account along with the fact that staring at a monitor too long makes my eyes water, I don’t think I’ll be making the switch from books to BookGlutton anytime soon. Check it out for yourself at bookglutton.com.

Apparently a lot of people don’t think that Google docs does enough for them so many other document uploading sites have sprung up all over the place. While many of them pretty much do exactly the same thing (even less in some cases) than Google docs, edocr actually goes about the process of uploading and sharing documents in a much different way. While Google docs and it’s copycat sites endeavor to allow you to select who you want to be able to see and to modify your document, edocr does neither.

When you upload a document on to edocr it goes into the database and anyone can access it. However no one can actually change the document including the person who placed the document online. Really edocr is most useful as a place to place documents you want other people to read and this is perhaps where the site really has potential. Imagine yourself as a writer who wants to gain an audience before seeking the publishing of your material. Well just load your project up on edocr and boom you now have a place that allows you to send anyone who might have interest in reading your material. Also because the site does have some social networking capabilities, other people who already use the site may read it, and also leave feedback.

However, I think more than hopeful writers can gain benefit from this site. Since you can post almost any document you want on edocr you can use it as a place to store a business plan, favorite recipe’s, interesting news and a variety of other things. While many sites offer this same type of use, edocr is more designed for people to post things they want other people to see and I think it will do this job fine.

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.