LibraryThing: What’s On Your Bookshelf? Spring #Bloggiesta Mini-Challenge @Bloggiesta

We Have a Winner in the Spring 2016 Bloggiesta LibraryThing Mini Challenge!

If you’re looking for a way to keep track of the books you own, the books you’ve read, the books you want to read, etc. Check out the  LibraryThing Mini Challenge, offered during the Spring 2016 Bloggiesta. The challenge may be over, but you can still find and friend book bloggers on LibraryThing. Although they can be hard to find, the Bloggers group is a good place to start looking.

A nod to all the headless women on book covers

Congratulations to the winner, Florinda of The 3 R’s Blog! As it turns out, she was already a LibraryThing lifetime member, so her prize was $10 to be used in the LibraryThing store. Check out Florinda’s book collections on LibraryThing here!

If I offer this challenge again in a future Bloggiesta, I’ll be sure to offer a separate prize option for existing LibraryThing members!

It might be time to try LibraryThing (or give it another try, if you’ve tried it before.) There’s a new mobile app, too, but it’s still for iOS only right now.

LibraryThing is very non-commercial. I think of it as the public television version of GoodReads! It’s community-supported, rather than sponsored by a larger company, so it can seem a little clunky and earnest, but is also quirky and fun in an offbeat, nerdy sort of way. (Check out the LibraryThong in the LT store, for example.)

What Can You Do on LibraryThing?

• Set up as many or as few lists or “collections” as you want. You can catalog your actual book collection, or keep lists of Books Read; Read, But Not Owned; Audiobooks Listened To, etc.
• Poke around other people’s virtual bookshelves on LibraryThing (LT), but you can make your own library collections public or private.
• Be “friends” with other people on LT, but you can also just note someone as having an “interesting library” or completely disable the setting to “allow friend requests” if you don’t want to get involved in the social media aspect of LT.
• Join the Early Reviewers program (review required) and enter monthly book giveaways (review not always required).
• Keep better track of your reading and reviews.
• Add a LT widget to your blog (Mine links to my Currently Reading collection)
• Join groups
• Do challenges
• Try out lots of other features

I have been a member of LT for almost eight years (LT keeps track of your Thingaversary for you), but there are many features of the site that I haven’t explored or don’t use much.

My collections are general, but you can add as many as you want and make them as specific as you want. I did add a “Rome Reading” collection to go with my trip planning last fall, but  I’m not good about remembering to cross-post my reviews on LT, and I’ve fallen behind in the Early Reviewers program and haven’t requested any new books lately, but I’m pretty good about recording what I’m reading on LT (to keep my blog “Currently Reading” widget up to date), and my LT lists help me when I’m compiling my year-end favorites or am trying to remember a book I read but didn’t review on the blog, etc.

I also try to use the private notes field to keep track of where I read the review that made me add a book to my TBR collection. (You can make a public or private note on any book in your collections.)

You can add tags to your books! This is optional, but if you do it, you can see your tag cloud to see what kinds of books you read the most. I usually only add tags to the books I’ve read (not to the TBR books) so my tag cloud is a good indication of my actual reading.

Mini Challenge

So what’s the challenge?

1. Take the LibraryThing Tour (It’s short!)
2. Sign up for LibraryThing / Log in if you’re already on it

Numbers 1 and 2 are the same for all, then it goes by whether you’ve tried LibraryThing before or not.

For New LibraryThing Users

3. Create your LT profile.

4. Set up your account settings (public/private, friend requests, email notifications, etc.)

5. Import your GoodReads library (You can set it up to sync with GoodReads (GR), so you can keep using GR as your primary tracking site and have new GR additions after this automatically go into your LT import queue.) OR  4. If you don’t have a GoodReads library, then start from scratch and add at least 10 books to your new LT library by title, author, or ISBN. (To add audiobooks, I always end up looking up the ISBN elsewhere first.)

6. Find me (baystateRA) and send me a friend request (Use the search feature and then look in the column on the left under Members to find me.)

7. Send me a message on LibraryThing that you have completed the mini challenge, and I will enter you in the giveaway! (A winner will be drawn at random from all valid entries and will be contacted through LibraryThing!)

For Lapsed LibraryThing Users

3. Retrieve your LT password, if necessary, and log in.

4. Update your LT profile.

5. Do at least ONE of the following:

• Import your GoodReads library, if you want to keep using GR while you check out LT again (You can set it up to sync with GoodReads (GR), so you can keep using GR as your primary tracking site and have new GR additions after this automatically go into your LT import queue.)
• Add at least 10 books to your new LT library by title, author, or ISBN. (To add audiobooks, I always end up looking up the ISBN elsewhere first.)
• Download, install, and try out the LibraryThing mobile app (only available for Apple iOS, as of now.

6. Find me (baystateRA) and send me a friend request (Use the search feature and then look in the column on the left under Members to find me.)

7. Send me a message on LibraryThing that you have completed the mini challenge, and I will enter you in the giveaway! (A winner will be drawn at random from all valid entries and will be contacted through LibraryThing!)

Prize Giveaway

So what’s the prize? Because I love LibraryThing so much (Yes, I even bought a T-shirt!), I’m giving away a free annual membership ($10 value). (It’s free to join LibraryThing, but if you want to add over 200 books, you need to become a member. Lifetime membership is only $25, if you fall in love with LT after trying it.)

Bloggiesta Is March 21–27

Some of you may be wondering what exactly is Bloggiesta and/or when is it?
In short, Bloggiesta is a blogging marathon revolving around ticking off those items on your to-do list and improving your blog while in the good company of other awesome bloggers doing the same thing.
Our awesome mascot Pedro (Plan. Edit. Develop. Review. Organize) is ready to break out the nachos, enchiladas, drinks, mariachi music, and whack a pinata or two! It’s nothing short of an awesome fiesta!
— from Bloggiesta.com. For more click here.