# Shelfari?



## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

OK, I've been a member of Shelfari and Goodreads for awhile now, more on Goodreads, I guess.  But the fact that I can easily import all of my book purchases to Shelfari has recently made it a winner.  And I'm finding it somewhat easier to navigate (though not a whole lot).

Any other users?  Anyone want to be friends on Shelfari? I'm looking for a few close friends.  

Betsy


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

I'm on Shelfari . . . but haven't done much with it.  Maybe I should. . . . I know it links pretty easily to Amazon. . . . . . 

I'm happy to be your friend. . . .I just have to figure out how.


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

I like that there are more sort options than, say, using Manage Your Kindle.

Here's my profile link:
http://www.shelfari.com/betsytrue

If you go to that, you'll be able to "follow" me.

Then, I'll follow you back and we'll be besties!


Betsy


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## crosj (Nov 8, 2008)

How does one import books to Shelfari??
Thanks


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

I followed your link and clicked 'follow' but nothing happened.  I did post you a note. 

I'm www.shelfari.com/AnnVonHagel

I know. . . really original. . . . . 

Incidentally, the site is really really slow for some reason. . . I had it import my amazon books but when I go to my shelf there's just a spinning thing. . . . .


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## MariaESchneider (Aug 1, 2009)

I'm on Shelfari! Mainly a little active in one cozy group and mostly active in a sci/fi group (we talk about books in general there.)

http://www.shelfari.com/mariaeschneider

Friend me, follow me, whatever it is that is done over there.

I think you can see my groups--the sci/fi one is pretty good. Some good book discussions.

Being able to import was a big plus, although I've been lax lately at adding and rating my latest reads. It's easier for me to do that on GR because it tweets them and will add to my facebook list if I want to update there.

Shelfari has some nice advantages to it though so I do use it.


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

crosj said:


> How does one import books to Shelfari??
> Thanks


Once you have your account set up, click on the green "Home" tab. Then, on the right side of the screen (you may have to scroll just a bit), you'll see a link to "Import Books from Amazon." Click on that, you'll be prompted to log into Amazon, and then eventually (it takes a bit), all of your books will appear on your shelf.



Ann in Arlington said:


> I followed your link and clicked 'follow' but nothing happened. I did post you a note.
> 
> I'm www.shelfari.com/AnnVonHagel
> 
> ...


Did you use the link below, or did you find my old account, Betsy the Quilter? You're not showing as a follower...it should show "followed" where it said "follow" before.

I'll try following you. And I'll look for your note. EDIT: I'm not find a note or a follow...

Betsy


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## Vukovina (Mar 30, 2012)

I signed up to Shelfari recently, but prefer the Goodreads interface. Shelfari is shinier, though.

To import from Goodreads to Shelfari, I tried exporting from Goodreads to a .csv file and importing that file to Shelfari. That didn't work. What did work was to list all my books in Goodreads, get the RSS feed of that page, and use the address of that RSS feed to _Import from a Web Page_ in Shelfari. It didn't catch all of 'em, but it caught most.


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

I've always found Goodreads a bit cumbersome.  Though I suppose I'll still use it some.  The ability to import my books easily is a big plus, though.

Betsy


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## history_lover (Aug 9, 2010)

I joined Shelfari but never used it so I deleted my account. Goodreads just has way more features.


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

history_lover said:


> I joined Shelfari but never used it so I deleted my account. Goodreads just has way more features.


Convince me, history_lover! I've never done much more than post books there that I've read. What features will I be missing if I switch to Shelfari? 

Betsy


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## history_lover (Aug 9, 2010)

Betsy the Quilter said:


> Convince me, history_lover! I've never done much more than post books there that I've read. What features will I be missing if I switch to Shelfari?
> 
> Betsy


For me, the main one is the ability to create custom shelves. Unless Shelfari has recently added that? I like being able to categorize my books however I want. Also, Goodreads gives me a lot of reading stats - like how many books I read in the year and how many of those I rated however many stars, how many were in what genres, etc. I don't think Shelfari has this. GR also have challenges you can join or set for yourself. And while Shelfari goes have groups/book clubs, I feel GR's are more active and better designed to encourage group reads.

For example, this group on GR has monthly group reads which can be displayed as "currently reading" right on the home page of the group with the designated time period the group will be reading that book: http://www.goodreads.com/group/show/22454-historical-fictionistas - it also links to the section of the group discussions where the book will be discussed. Shelfari does have "group shelves" and one of which is "we're reading" but it does not display on the home page nor does it allow the group to specify when they are reading it or have a link to the discussion of the book. I gather because of this, no one seems to use it to organize group reads.

Lastly, I find GR generally has a lot more book ratings and reviews and the more feedback I get on a book, the better I can make a decision on whether to buy it.

Fair enough if most of these things don't appeal to you but they are both supposed to be social networking sites and I feel GR has more social interaction. For me, the only thing Shelfari did better was allow me to easily import my whole Kindle library - that WAS very convenient and allowed me to easily test out Shelfari with my library. But since I joined GR before I started reading Kindle books, I never needed that feature on GR anyway.


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## JFHilborne (Jan 22, 2011)

I use Shelfari http://www.shelfari.com/jfhilborne I didn't know about the import from Amazon - thanks for sharing. It worked a treat.


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## strath (Dec 31, 2012)

I'm at both but find Shelfari extremely hard to navigate. I totally loose many of the places that I have posted in and never find my way back.

Also, never got a personal message, never got a friend request, and rarely was able to find a discussion group that fits either my genre, my author needs, or is in any way recently active.



I am a fictionista member at GR. 'Like it.


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## DatDame (Jan 10, 2013)

I am on Shelfari but I too find it awkward to use and difficult to find my way 'round in. Perhaps I am just not tech minded enough but I stopped spending a lot of time there.


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## JDHallowell (Dec 31, 2012)

I have a Shelfari account, but I've found Goodreads to be much more social and easier to navigate, so I'm afraid it's been neglected.


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

history_lover said:



> For me, the main one is the ability to create custom shelves. Unless Shelfari has recently added that? I like being able to categorize my books however I want. Also, Goodreads gives me a lot of reading stats - like how many books I read in the year and how many of those I rated however many stars, how many were in what genres, etc. I don't think Shelfari has this. GR also have challenges you can join or set for yourself. And while Shelfari goes have groups/book clubs, I feel GR's are more active and better designed to encourage group reads.
> 
> For example, this group on GR has monthly group reads which can be displayed as "currently reading" right on the home page of the group with the designated time period the group will be reading that book: http://www.goodreads.com/group/show/22454-historical-fictionistas - it also links to the section of the group discussions where the book will be discussed. Shelfari does have "group shelves" and one of which is "we're reading" but it does not display on the home page nor does it allow the group to specify when they are reading it or have a link to the discussion of the book. I gather because of this, no one seems to use it to organize group reads.
> 
> ...


Ah, thanks. No, the social bits don't interest me as much, I have KindleBoards for that. I'm mainly interested in an online database with more options than Manage Your Kindle. Shelfari doesn't have shelves, but it has tags, just as good for me. And since I can periodically re-import my Amazon books to add new ones, it works well for me as I'm not very dedicated about adding books as they are purchased.

Edit, I can set a reading goal, which I have, and it's on my home page. Hope I do better than last year.

I can see, though, that for people who want the social stuff, Goodreads probably is a better choice. Thanks!

Betsy


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## balaspa (Dec 27, 2009)

I'm on Shelfari.  I don't do as much there as I do on Goodreads, but I'm there and always looking for a new friend.


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

Betsy the Quilter said:


> Ah, thanks. No, the social bits don't interest me as much, I have KindleBoards for that. I'm mainly interested in an online database with more options than Manage Your Kindle. Shelfari doesn't have shelves, but it has tags, just as good for me. And since I can periodically re-import my Amazon books to add new ones, it works well for me as I'm not very dedicated about adding books as they are purchased.
> 
> Edit, I can set a reading goal, which I have, and it's on my home page. Hope I do better than last year.
> 
> ...


Yeah. . .me too. . . .don't need the social bits.

And the only way in the world I would keep up if I can periodically re-import purchases from Amazon.

Doubt I'll bother about goals though.


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## history_lover (Aug 9, 2010)

Betsy the Quilter said:


> Ah, thanks. No, the social bits don't interest me as much, I have KindleBoards for that.


KB is nice for discussing Kindle related stuff but when I want to be a part of a book club/group read or talk about the specific genres I love or read reviews, GR is the best.

If you're not interested in the social aspect at all, there is always www.kindle.amazon.com - don't even need to import anything and the social aspect isn't very active at all.


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

history_lover said:


> KB is nice for discussing Kindle related stuff but when I want to be a part of a book club/group read or talk about the specific genres I love or read reviews, GR is the best.


Well, actually, I discuss books and genres all the time here in our Book Corner, but that works for me.  As I said, I can see that Goodreads has features that would be right for others. I'd rather stay in one forum than have to have multiple forums I need to track. Between KindleBoards for discussions of Kindles, books and other social discussions and FaceBook to keep track of my non-KindleBoards family and friends, I've got all of the "social" I can handle.  I'm not trying to talk anyone out of GoodReads--if it's the right place for someone, it's the right place. But I've been trying it for years now and really don't get much out of it. Apparently not the right place for me.



> If you're not interested in the social aspect at all, there is always www.kindle.amazon.com - don't even need to import anything and the social aspect isn't very active at all.


I'm not "not interested," just feel I already have social resources. Yes, I'm familiar with http://kindle.amazon.com (you have to leave off the www. for it to work, by the way), but it's scarcely better than Manage Your Kindle as for ability to sort one's items, which, as I said, is what I'm looking for. If Amazon ever lets us add categories to one of its onsite listings, I won't need to go elsewhere. Until then...

Calibre is a very good option for managing one's library, but I was looking for an online resource that I can easily access from any of my devices, including the mobile ones. So far, Shelfari seems like the best option for me. I might decide not after I've tried it for awhile, but I've just started. We'll see...

Thanks! This has been an informative thread for me so far...

Betsy


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

Ann in Arlington said:


> Yeah. . .me too. . . .don't need the social bits.
> 
> And the only way in the world I would keep up if I can periodically re-import purchases from Amazon.
> 
> Doubt I'll bother about goals though.


Ann--

a couple of things--I've been accessing Shelfari through my iPad; I tried using my netbook with Firefox to look at some of my tagged books this morning and the search hung up. So maybe Firefox doesn't play well. When I switched to Explorer, it found the books lickety-split. Maybe the problem you were having originally had to do with Firefox? I think you use that?

Also, I picked a couple books yesterday and when I went to import books, Shelfari showed me only those two as an option to import. The day before, it showed a few more than just my new books, but they were clearly labelled if I already had a copy on my shelf, and I could select only the new ones.

I'm liking this so far...

Betsy


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## history_lover (Aug 9, 2010)

Betsy the Quilter said:


> Well, actually, I discuss books and genres all the time here in our Book Corner, but that works for me.


Yeah, I do as well but the genres and books I'm interested in only occasionally come up here - but I can see how people with a broader reading interest might find it enough. Plus, the book clubs aren't very active here and I like having a monthly group read I can join. Not trying to talk you into GR though - just different strokes for different folks.


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

history_lover said:


> Yeah, I do as well but the genres and books I'm interested in only occasionally come up here - but I can see how people with a broader reading interest might find it enough. Plus, the book clubs aren't very active here and I like having a monthly group read I can join. Not trying to talk you into GR though - just different strokes for different folks.


 

I'm really horrible at regular meetings. I get distracted too easily. The hubbub here at KB suits my ADD perfectly. 

Betsy


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## cagnes (Oct 13, 2009)

I have a Shelfari account too, but don't use it. It's pretty, but I don't care for it, hard to navigate, I much prefer Goodreads. 

Amazon bought out Shelfari a while back, so I'm sure that's why they've made importing books easier. Don't know all the details, but I remember that after Amazon acquired Shelfari, the gave Goodreads a hard time & made them remove many Amazon book links or images. Never understood the point in that since I'm sure Amazon gets plenty book sales due to Goodreads.


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

I always found Goodreads hard to navigate; I think it depends on what you're used to. And their apps weren't very good, though perhaps they've improved.  So far, Shelfari is exactly what I've been looking for.  Even before the great schism with Amazon, there was no good way to bulk import books from Amazon into Goodreads that I could find....  though it did have ways to import via csv if you already had a database you could output in that format.

Betsy


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

Betsy the Quilter said:


> Ann--
> 
> a couple of things--I've been accessing Shelfari through my iPad; I tried using my netbook with Firefox to look at some of my tagged books this morning and the search hung up. So maybe Firefox doesn't play well. When I switched to Explorer, it found the books lickety-split. Maybe the problem you were having originally had to do with Firefox? I think you use that?
> 
> ...


Yeah, I was just having that thought again a half hour ago. This morning I could go through my single shelf on 'home' but when I tried to look at them all in 'profile' it didn't show. And, I got another follower and tried to follow back and couldn't. . .exactly the same symptoms that I did NOT have from my Fire. So I'm guessing it's a Firefox problem. I can always use IE or Chrome when I need to access it; I'll probably report it. . .there are a couple of admin/help groups.



Betsy the Quilter said:


> I'm really horrible at regular meetings. I get distracted too easily. The hubbub here at KB suits my ADD perfectly.
> 
> Betsy


Yeah. . .but HL is right. . . . the book clubs here mostly seem to fade pretty quick.  I've 'joined' a couple but it seems like the discussion fades after a few chapters. Most people here don't seem to want to keep to schedules!


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## Lisa J. Yarde (Jul 15, 2010)

I'm on Shelfari too and as a reader / reviewer, prefer it more for keeping track of what I'm planning to read. Since my reading's mainly on Kindle, pulling in the Amazon purchases is perfect. The Amazon integration also has some nice features for authors.


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## history_lover (Aug 9, 2010)

cagnes said:


> I have a Shelfari account too, but don't use it. It's pretty, but I don't care for it, hard to navigate, I much prefer Goodreads.
> 
> Amazon bought out Shelfari a while back, so I'm sure that's why they've made importing books easier. Don't know all the details, but I remember that after Amazon acquired Shelfari, the gave Goodreads a hard time & made them remove many Amazon book links or images. Never understood the point in that since I'm sure Amazon gets plenty book sales due to Goodreads.


I don't know that those two things were in direct relation to each other. Amazon had owned Shelfari for a good four years before GR split with Amazon. It's not that GR had to remove Amazon book links - books on GR still link through to Amazon (hover over the "online stores" or "book links" buttons, Amazon should be there) and GR still make a commission if you buy a book through one of their links - it's just that Amazon is no longer a data source for GR. It meant that any data which had been imported from Amazon had to go, which is why everyone had to chip in to replace the data from other sources.

And the reason GR chose to remove Amazon as a data source was mainly because Amazon was prohibiting their data from being used on "handheld device apps", ie, smartphones and tablets and also trying to prohibit GR from linking to other retailers. So if anything, they were trying to get GR to link exclusively to them, not to stop them from linking to them at all. Whether Amazon's motive for the whole app thing was to make things more difficult for the competitor of Shelfari, I don't know but I kind of doubt it. It didn't significantly hurt GR - they are still the most popular book/reading social networking site.


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

Ann in Arlington said:


> So I'm guessing it's a Firefox problem. I can always use IE or Chrome when I need to access it; I'll probably report it. . .there are a couple of admin/help groups.


From what's been posted in their editor/librarian group, they're aware of it. Something in the latest version of Firefox.,.

Betsy


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

Ann in Arlington said:


> Yeah. . .but HL is right. . . . the book clubs here mostly seem to fade pretty quick.  I've 'joined' a couple but it seems like the discussion fades after a few chapters. Most people here don't seem to want to keep to schedules!


There has to be a place for folks like me...Look! There's a squirrel!


Betsy


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

Betsy the Quilter said:


> From what's been posted in their editor/librarian group, they're aware of it. Something in the latest version of Firefox.,.
> 
> Betsy


Ah, good! I hadn't had a chance to check that yet.

I was playing this afternoon, though, and it definitely works better in both Chrome and IE.


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

So, an observation:

I imported my books from Amazon. . . .something just over 2000.  I've just been going through them on Shelfari and marking which I've read and which I haven't.

Of the 2000+ books, the first 275 or so (purchased between about 1996 and the present) are paper.  The rest are Kindle books.

I think this e-reader thing just might catch on!


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## alandapre (Jan 13, 2013)

Shelfari - Safari? geddit? I prefer Christopher Biggin's punning catchphrase - 'Safari - so goody'

I have only just come across Safari despite owning a computer since 91 and surfing the net for years. Not sure when it came about but I see that it is now part of Amazon. I like the fact I could put up lots of detail about my books - and that this shows up on the amazon site. It's all rather clever but time consuming for authors who just want to get on and write stories, not promotional blurb. I dread having to log all my own books, let alone all the ones I've been reading which is why I am rubbish on Goodreads. Not keen on typing away about books I've read there and on the amazon review sites.  I guess it's all about how motivated you feel. I like this Kindle Boards site, less stressy feeling that the 'Meet The Author' section elsewhere.


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

alandapre said:


> Shelfari - Safari? geddit? I prefer Christopher Biggin's punning catchphrase - 'Safari - so goody'
> 
> I have only just come across Safari despite owning a computer since 91 and surfing the net for years. Not sure when it came about but I see that it is now part of Amazon. I like the fact I could put up lots of detail about my books - and that this shows up on the amazon site. It's all rather clever but time consuming for authors who just want to get on and write stories, not promotional blurb. I dread having to log all my own books, let alone all the ones I've been reading which is why I am rubbish on Goodreads. Not keen on typing away about books I've read there and on the amazon review sites. I guess it's all about how motivated you feel. I like this Kindle Boards site, less stressy feeling that the 'Meet The Author' section elsewhere.


Well, it's not really a site for authors. . . .it's really a site for readers. . . . . . though, authors will promote themselves. I will ignore any that try to 'friend' me or get me to join their groups. And they'll probably end up on my 'do not buy' list.


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## backslidr (Nov 23, 2012)

Ann in Arlington said:


> Well, it's not really a site for authors. . . .it's really a site for readers. . . . . . though, authors will promote themselves. I will ignore any that try to 'friend' me or get me to join their groups. And they'll probably end up on my 'do not buy' list.


Well put. Totally agree!


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

alandapre said:


> I like this Kindle Boards site, less stressy feeling that the 'Meet The Author' section elsewhere.


Welcome to KindleBoards, Alan!

As Ann said, Shelfari is for readers. As is KindleBoards, by the way. This is a site for Kindle owners and enthusiasts.

With the exception of the Writers' Café, where our author-members can discuss the craft and business of writing, and the Book Bazaar, self-promotion is not allowed here. You are welcome to post throughout our site as a reader and, if it applies, as a Kindle owner and enthuisast, but you need to take your writer's hat off except when in the Writers' Café or the Book Bazaar.

Welcome again!

Betsy


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## lcharnes (Dec 19, 2012)

I have both GR and Shelfari accounts. I don't get much value-add from Shelfari as a _reader_, but as an _author_ I have to keep it because of the "Book Extras from the Shelfari Community" section on my Amazon product pages. This adds capsule descriptions of characters, settings, Notes for Parents, and so on. I need to be able to add to and monitor these. Unfortunately, they don't link to all editions, and they don't seem to work for any of the non-US Amazon bookstores.

Otherwise, I do all my reader-centric-social-stuff on Goodreads. There seems to be a lot more activity over there and the book-organizing tools are better.


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

I'm pretty happy with the tagging so far on Shelfari....


Betsy


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

I probably need to tag better. . . . . right now it's sort of a chore to go through what I've got and figure out what I've read and not.


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

I'm going through and designating "plan to read" and "read" and doing genre tagging as I go.

Betsy


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

I wish it would let me show JUST the books that I'd not yet rated or marked as read or plan to read.   I don't think it's really designed for people with 2000 books! 

And, it annoys me a bit that it imported from Amazon but didn't pull over the ratings that I'd already done onn the kindle.amazon.com page.  So I sometimes have to pop back and forth to remind myself if I read it yet and how I rated it.

Though, the fact that I can't always remember might be a sign of something. . . . .


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

As I go through them, I work from the "Plan to read" shelf.  Books I've marked read get moved off the shelf, but yeah, I do wish I could do a more refined search...

Betsy


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