LibraryThing

I joined LibraryThing, mostly because it had a cool widget (now in the sidebar), but also because I think it's an interesting idea. I'm not sure how I'll use it exactly, yet. I doubt I'd list every book I own or every book I read. (Some are clunkers and since I'm a big library user, I just return them without guilt...even if I haven't finished reading.) Some of my books are stored away in boxes, others I donate to the annual library book sale, if I feel "done" with them (like baby rearing books.)

I checked out Shelfari and goodreads, too. I liked the Shelfari widget the best, but it comes with Google ads, which I dislike in blogs. And goodreads didn't do anything for me. Both are more social networking sites, too...virtual book clubs if that's your thing.

LibraryThing can be configured in different ways, so if I just want to display certain categories of books (health-related, for example), I think I can do that. So blog readers don't have to know I have quite a collection of old Nancy Drews if I don't want them to :-)

LibraryThing has one negative, however. After cataloging 200 books, you are charged a one-time fee of $25.00 for additional books. Still, I think it's a more "professional" cataloging site than the others, so I'm sure that $25.00 is worth it for the full functionality available for those who will use it.