Goodreads (& other cataloguing sites)

raddevlin

I was wondering if anyone else on here is on Goodreads or one of the other media cataloguing sites?

I've been using Goodreads for a little over a year now and despite a few bugs here and there, it's been pretty good for logging what I've been reading, getting suggestions, and pushing me to read more. I'd love to add more light-novel-reading friends! This is me: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/54820392-rose

I'm a librarian on the site and occasionally spend time cleaning up light novel and manga entries. Recently I've started working on the JNC titles to set up series, combine stray editions and add Japanese editions where they're missing. If you notice anything on there that needs updating, let me know! :slight_smile:

Rahul Balaggan

I never got into the whole

"Logging your reads", thing.

Something about reading a book and then having to add it to your books you've read list just seems like too much work to me.

I tried it out with kindle the kindle integration but I still didn't like it so I turned it off.

Terrence

You know I'm there. xD

But yeah, I enjoy posting reviews and such. My goal to read "x number" of Japanese novels has become a bit more like work though, so maybe I'll scale it back. Just been too worn out to read in between my actual work. xP

Don't forget that Goodreads has free giveaways. You have a chance to win Magical Girl Raising Project and Sound Euphonium this month from Yen Press.

Shiny

I use Goodreads to keep track of the books I read and for recommendations, but mostly I use it to keep track of what I plan to read. It isn't perfect but works well enough. Thanks for your work on adding and improving JNC entries.

erictbar

I am on Goodreads, and a bunch of others. If it's a piece of media I consumed, it's likely I have it listed on one of the sites, and if none of the sites have it, it's in my spreadsheet.

For some reason I get satisfaction out of doing this. But it helps that when I want to place a hold for something at the library, and I don't remember which volume I was on previously, I can look it up and make sure I get the right volume. Same for watching shows on Crunchyroll, or even more so other services that aren't as good as keeping your place, buying ebooks on multiple platforms, etc. And also there are some social and recommendation elements.

Aruseus493

I use MAL but MAL has zero intention of ever improving their site which really sucks.

Cynigami

@Aruseus493

I contacted one of the mods 3 weeks ago. NO freaking answer yet...

ImIlyaz

I think I have an account, but I haven't been using it( fun fact: don't know how, but some months ago, I by accident stumbled on the website, I saw I already had an account, and what I found made me drop my jaw. I found a childhood friend on the website, who apparently has a youtube channel about books, can you imagine the feeling 😂😂 ). It looks good though. But I'm a bit childish, and to me the website looks rather, I don't wanna say it, but boring

Right now, the way I keep track of what I'm reading is by having a billion of tabs(if it's an e-book)up, and another billion of books thrown every where in my room. This post may be the trigger to clean up after me though 😅

Terrence

@ImIlyaz said in Goodreads (& other cataloguing sites):

But I'm a bit childish, and to me the website looks rather, I don't wanna say it, but boring

Are you using the full site, or mobile? I think the full desktop version is fairly fun to use in areas. Giveaways and Listopia specifically. Fun to see all those colorful covers appear in big lists. =]

Here are those Yen Press Giveaways:
https://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/created_by/23045551-yen-press

Listopias I like / added to:

https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/106522.J_Novel_Club

https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/108100.Japanese_Novels_You_Read_In_2017

https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/101556.Japanese_Science_Fiction

https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/15067.An_Unusual_Japanese_Book_List

Aruseus493

@Hakomari
They didn't even bother justifying why the third Konosuba spinoff can't have its own entry despite being a separate publication from the original Explosions one. I just have a serious disdain for MAL's mods/admins at this point.

ImIlyaz

@Terrence I'm always on a mobile (tablet to be specific) so that's unfortunate.

But that's it! I'm getting into this. Those give aways aren't bad at all :). And it'd be fun to share what you read with others. Guess I'll start with entering things I've read this year

Now to the important part. About the give aways, some few questions. Have you ever won anything xD? Is it physical copy or soft copy?

raddevlin

@Rahul-Balaggan That's understandable. I think part of what I like is being able to look back and remember what I've read. It's pretty interesting as well to see just how much you're reading over a period of time and to take on challenges to try and read more or read something different. For instance, I'm participating in a challenge to read as many novels with Japanese authors as I can this year and I got past 40 this week. :)

Talking of which...

@Terrence Yeah, I did think your goal was pretty ambitious since you'd have to read more than 1 book a week! It's definitely no good if it's starting to feel like work though. Take a break and come back to it, maybe?

Good point on the giveaways! I forgot since a lot of the Goodreads giveaways are focused on the US and Canada only. It would be really cool if JNC ran some (international!) giveaways on there - I'm sure it would help to spread awareness of JNC and their books. :)

@ImIlyaz Woah, that sounds chaotic! Maybe I'm getting old but I think I'd end up forgetting about some of the series I'm interested in if I kept it all in tabs and bookmarks. :sweat_smile: Goodreads does have that sepia-toned grown-ups-reading-classics vibe to it (although the actual user base is pretty varied) - there's always My Anime List or Novel Updates though if you want something a bit more tailored for an anime/manga/light novel fan?

Fake Edit: You can definitely switch to using the desktop version of the Goodreads site on mobile since that's what I often use on my phone - the mobile site is too basic in my opinion. The giveaways should say what regions they apply to and whether the book is a physical or digital version.

shrike_al

I have a Goodreads account. A couple of my reader/writer/editor friends who work in the publishing business are active there. I usually get it for insight regarding new and old books. I don't visit as often as I used to, though.

ImIlyaz

@raddevlin the give aways are only specific to US, Canada and sometimes UK 😭. So much for it, it'd been better id it was world wide. Actually, I wonder why they restrict it to only some countries... But I guess, the website isn't that bad hehe.

Terrence

@ImIlyaz said in Goodreads (& other cataloguing sites):

@Terrence I'm always on a mobile (tablet to be specific) so that's unfortunate

Go into the top right of your browser and click "change to desktop". Voila! Yeah, I'm on mobile all the time too.

@ImIlyaz said in Goodreads (& other cataloguing sites):

Now to the important part. About the give aways, some few questions. Have you ever won anything xD? Is it physical copy or soft copy?

I have! Not Yen Press stuff, but I've won 12 giveaways in about a year's time? All physical. If they're digital, it'll say so, and you have to have an Amazon account linked for digital giveaways.

Physical are mostly paper back. I'll go check and see if any were hardcover.

Edit: I have won some hard cover ones.

If you're curious, I won:

Nine Folds Make a Paper Swan
Nine Folds Make a Paper Swan
by Ruth Gilligan

The Pursuit of Power: Europe 1815-1914
The Pursuit of Power: Europe 1815-1914
by Richard J. Evans

Introducing Agatha Raisin: The Quiche of Death/The Vicious Vet
Introducing Agatha Raisin: The Quiche of Death/The Vicious Vet
by M.C. Beaton

On the Good Life
On the Good Life
by Marcus Tullius Cicero

Expect Great Things: The Life and Search of Henry David Thoreau
Expect Great Things: The Life and Search of Henry David Thoreau
by Kevin Dann

The Inkblots: Hermann Rorschach, His Iconic Test, and the Power of Seeing
The Inkblots: Hermann Rorschach, His Iconic Test, and the Power of Seeing
by Damion Searls

The Guineveres
The Guineveres
by Sarah Domet (hardcover?)

The Penguin Book of the Undead
The Penguin Book of the Undead
by Scott G. Bruce (Editor)

Game Over
Game Over
by Derek Edgington

Literary Starbucks: Fresh-Brewed, Half-Caf, No-Whip Bookish Humor
Literary Starbucks: Fresh-Brewed, Half-Caf, No-Whip Bookish Humor
by Nora Anderson Katz, Wilson Isaac Josephson (hardcover)

Huck Out West
Huck Out West
by Robert Coover

The I Heart Naptime Cookbook: More Than 100 Easy & Delicious Recipes to Make in Less Than One Hour
The I Heart Naptime Cookbook: More Than 100 Easy & Delicious Recipes to Make in Less Than One Hour
by Jamielyn Nye (Hardcover)

You don't want to know how many Giveaways I entered to get that many wins though. =/

ImIlyaz

@Terrence Amazon account? Is Kobo okay?

Those are some titles, yep. Though I can't recognize a single one, I was expecting some LNs. Are Yenn Press the only ones giving away Light Novels

Terrence

Here's a link to a discussion on Japanese Novel + LN giveaways.

https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/2041320-related-giveaways

I don't know if you can access this link if you aren't a member of the Japanese Novel and Light Novel group there (which I'm pretty sure is just a one click sign up, so join if you feel like it).

@ImIlyaz said in Goodreads (& other cataloguing sites):

Those are some titles, yep. Though I can't recognize a single one, I was expecting some LNs. Are Yenn Press the only ones giving away Light Novels

For the most part, yeah. Occasionally other Japanese novels pop up from some of the other big publishing arms, like I remember MoshiMoshi by Banana whatsherface was there, and Haruki Murakami works occasionally I think.

Game Over is actually pretty LN-like though (takes place in a virtual world; symbols and stuff drawn on pages, and there's a bit of a "bad end" feature in the books though not quite as robust as a "choose your own adventure novel").

Edit: These guys seem to do a lot of Japanese / Japanese-American giveaways.

https://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/created_by/13230026-stone-bridge-press

It's difficult to find the links to like Viz Media or whoever. Just gotta get lucky when you see something pop up, then bookmark their Giveaway page. xC

And for the hell of it, here is DC Comics. xD

https://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/created_by/6559536-dc-comics

raddevlin

@Terrence said in Goodreads (& other cataloguing sites):

Here's a link to a discussion on Japanese Novel + LN giveaways.

https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/2041320-related-giveaways

I don't know if you can access this link if you aren't a member of the Japanese Novel and Light Novel group there (which I'm pretty sure is just a one click sign up, so join if you feel like it).

Ooh yes, come join our group! We're currently polling for the next group read between Baccano vol 1 and Kieli vol 1 and it would be great to have more people reading and discussing along with us. :)

Bkaa25

I'm on Goodreads as well. One day I was just curious to find out how many books I have read. So I made an account, logged in all the books I remember reading, and have been adding to it ever since.