LibraryThing - a better post-it note

Look for a LibraryThing widget here soon! I created an account some time ago but, like Facebook and several other 2.0 applications I signed-up for, left only a bare skeleton. The time has come to share my reading habits with myself!

What does that mean, you ask? LibraryThing is a social community of readers sharing their love of books with others. --- You are right. It also looks like a great way to remember what I have read, how I felt about it as I was reading it, and who I may want to recommend it to. My memory is not what it used to be and I am always looking for better post-it notes!

LibraryThing not only quickly pulls up author or title, bookcover, publication data, isbn, etc., it also allows users to "tag" for organizational purposes. Users are encouraged to "review" books and allowed to make private comments visual only through their own accounts. These will all help to spark my memory.

An added bonus is the social aspect. I look forward to using the tag-search process to locate similar books. It is also interesting to read other reader reviews and comments on books. This allows us to get inside the heads of non-professional (and many semi-pro) readers and reviewers.

I admit some concern about my ability in the area of readers advisory. I read voraciously as a teenager but that was many years ago. I really believe I can still think like a teen and understand feelings and needs of adolescence, but my knowledge about current juvenile and YA literature is limited. I read very little during my years in business and have forgotten much of what I read when I was younger. There are decades worth of new literature on the shelves and more being published each month than I could read in a year. I realize we don't have to read it all, but I know that this is a weak area that I need to address and improve.

I am reading when I can, and need a way to store, sort, organize, and remember what I have read (and maybe even some of what I need to read). LibraryThing is it! "The first step is to take the first step." I will enter some of the juvenile and YA books I have read recently into LibraryThing over the next couple weeks and will post my widget and user name to this blog soon. Please wish me luck!