Export: The Good, The Bad, and The Weird discussion

Mes, thanks so much for starting this group.

I hope this won't be considered too off topic, but I'm not going to bother fixing my export file. I've joined StoryGraph & my records are a bit of a mess over there.

When I have spare time I will gradually fix my records there.

Carol She's So Novel꧁꧂ wrote: "Mes, thanks so much for starting this group.

I hope this won't be considered too off topic, but I'm not going to bother fixing my export file. I've joined StoryGraph & my records are a bit of a me..."

I have both a StoryGraph and a LibraryThing profile, but they are both a mess right now. I'll probably end up importing the spreadsheet I've fixed instead and go from there.

I have to say though, I've been hearing some warning against StoryGraph, in particular if you read a lot of Kindle Unlimited books. Amazon (and therefore Goodreads) is considered a competitor and StoryGraph isn't allowing you to source any book data from Amazon/Audible/GR websites, covers, blurbs etc.

I was wondering about that. Some of my books will have come from Amazon I'm sure. This may explain the various different covers I have over there.

I have found a German site called Literal that is still small & looks promising. I need to check it out a bit further.

I'll admit, I like LibraryThing. It's definitely a little more austere than StoryGraph and GR, but at least no one can mess around with your shelves and books, lol.

Shaz wrote: "I'll admit, I like LibraryThing. It's definitely a little more austere than StoryGraph and GR, but at least no one can mess around with your shelves and books, lol."

That may end up being an attraction.

My eggs are still in BookBrainz’s basket (as mentioned in the other thread), and hopefully the “BB-745: Track reading progress” ticket (can’t link it directly) won’t be too long in the making. 🙏 I know the developers working on the codebase want this too, so that’s at least something… but I also think the BB devs are vacationing. Doesn’t seem like much is happening on BB this month, codewise, anyway.

I may try out some of the other sites to get a feel for them, but I probably won’t bother adding/importing books that don’t already exist there, since I’d rather pour that volunteer unpaid labour into BookBrainz.

Carol She's So Novel꧁꧂ wrote: "I have found a German site called Literal that is still small & looks promising."

Is that literal.club? I’ll give that a whirl too!

I'm gradually realizing that I need to put my books on a different platform. GR's recent "language, search, and sort" issues are accelerating my need to find a better place for me and my books. I just don't know which site to choose.

I'm leaning towards LibraryThing, because the focus on logging a collection -- instead of social fluff -- appeals to me. (OK, so using the word "fluff" is a clue that the social parts of GR aren't important to me, but I know that's not fluff for many people. No offense intended.) Also, LibraryThing seems to have the biggest, most well-linked database, with a good search function that can be organized and filtered. But I am disconcerted about their "anything goes" approach for non-book content. Have people noticed that the non-book items get in the way of finding and logging books?

I took a quick look at The StoryGraph and BookBrainz, but neither seems right for me -- at least, not yet.

I'm not a fan of StoryGraph's looks-over-functionality approach, and their recommendations for mood/pace/plot/etc. aren't my kind of thing. But I do like that their development plans and bug lists are available for everyone to see.

As for BookBrainz, I'm not sure that I understand how to use this site. Listing an author's "relationships" instead of books/works is confusing. And, like The StoryGraph, there's no way to sort or organize or filter the results. But I didn't spend much time here, so maybe I missed the positive things about BookBrainz.

I'd like to learn more before I make my "final" decision. Can anyone tell me more about what they like about the site (or sites) that they've chosen?

Also, has anyone tried using Inventaire?

https://inventaire.io

I like what I read in their wiki: https://wiki.inventaire.io/wiki/Main_...

No other site has the breadth of titles and editions as does Goodreads.

Not that I'm not mad as hell at Goodreads just now. So I'm adding more information to the Private Notes field. This is information that I think I'll actually use in future when selecting books to read. Eventually, I'll just add books straight to my last Export file and use that.

Mesembryanthemum wrote: "Also, has anyone tried using Inventaire?

https://inventaire.io

I like what I read in their wiki: https://wiki.inventaire.io/wiki/Main_..."

The first part is the web app allows anyone to list their books by scanning the bar code.

And if your edition doesn't *have* a bar code? I'm guessing this might mean ISBN. I have over 350 Kindle books I haven't read.

Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "Eventually, I'll just add books straight to my last Export file and use that."

I wish I had a "spreadsheet brain" so that this would work for me. But I need something that lets me click on an author to see all their books, then click on a book to see all the editions of that work, then click on an edition to see when I read it (and whether I own it or just borrowed it), then click on my read date to see all the other books I read that year, then ... well, you get the idea.

It's true that Goodreads has by far the most extensive catalog. But, right now, I'd like to do my little bit to help a different platform.

In the meantime, I agree that updating my export file (or files) is the most practical option.

Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "The first part is the web app allows anyone to list their books by scanning the bar code.

And if your edition doesn't *have* a bar code?

Yes, this a drawback for the app, but not for the website in general. They appear to totally allow books without ISBNs. Their FAQ says that you can add books "by importing data from another website (GoodReads, LibraryThing, Babelio)..." instead of by scanning a bar code.

This is important to me, because 1/3 of the books I own are pre-ISBN (so also before bar codes). I need to do more research for Inventaire, obviously, but I like their approach at first glance.

I finally remembered the name of a program I heard about years ago when I first joined Goodreads.

Calibre
https://calibre-ebook.com/about

It might be worthwhile for some of you to investigate this program. It is not another website so will not have any of the social things - like others' reviews or groups - that some websites have. But it *will* maintain your library.

I clicked the Demo tab on the website, then clicked the screenshots tab on that page. It includes covers and a description of the book.

Should I decide to use this, I think I will have to do some work on the Export file to ensure it gets an ASIN. Or maybe that isn't possible. I'm still looking around. Anyway, I thought I'd pass this on.

Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "I finally remembered the name of a program I heard about years ago when I first joined Goodreads.

Calibre
https://calibre-ebook.com/about

It might be worthwhile for some of you to investigate thi..."

I've used Calibre for years. I have been an exclusive ebook reader since 2011 (for various reasons) and I have always used Calibre to keep track of the files for my ebooks. I do have a few gripes which is why I also want a website where I can catalogue my books as well as get recommendations for other books I might enjoy.

Shaz wrote: "I've used Calibre for years. I have been an exclusive ebook reader since 2011 (for various reasons) and I have always used Calibre to keep track of the files for my ebooks.."

Does it also work as a personal catalog for physical books?

I think all of us have a different focus for how/why we shelve books and what is important to us individually about our personal catalog.

Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "Does it also work as a personal catalog for physical books?

I think all of us have a different focus for how/why we shelve books and what is important to us individually about our personal catalog."

I can't see why not. You would need to create personal columns for any information you want listed, and depending on your screen size, it can be somewhat frustrating. Well at least for me it is, lol. it takes a bit of time to get set up exactly the way you want it, and I don't always find it intuitive, which can be frustrating, but overall it's a program I've used for over 12 years now and don't want to miss, lol.

OK, great, and thank you. I think that would be an improvement over a spreadsheet. I'm glad to hear of the flexibility. I thought I saw that you could customize it. I see that it is a free download, so I may get it and import a few books and experiment.