# Any Dopers on Chain Reading? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 13, 2006, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-dopers-on-chain-reading/368501 "2006-08-13T00:19:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2006, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-dopers-on-chain-reading/368501/1 "2006-08-13T00:19:43Z")
I just joined [chainreading.com](http://chainreading.com), which allows you to track what you read and get reviews and recommendations. Any Dopers on there? I’m [here](http://chainreading.com/profile/juliecarter). Recommendations always received with delight! ---
**Author:** ![Antigen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/848f3c/32.png) [@Antigen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antigen)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2006, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-dopers-on-chain-reading/368501/2 "2006-08-13T00:25:02Z")
Woo, neato! I just joined up, and I’ll be adding my loooong list of books to that site. I’ve been just writing down all my reads in a little book, so I can look them up when I want to recommend a book to someone. This is much more fun! ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2006, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-dopers-on-chain-reading/368501/3 "2006-08-13T00:36:10Z")
It is neat. I hope they put on a feature to track what has been read without having to recommend it. Unless I’m missing it, that would seem like a good feature. ---
**Author:** ![Flutterby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Flutterby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flutterby)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2006, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-dopers-on-chain-reading/368501/4 "2006-08-13T01:17:31Z")
Now that’s something useful! I’m always looking for more books, and losing the lists I have of books that I want to read. ---
**Author:** ![Lissa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lissa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissa)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2006, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-dopers-on-chain-reading/368501/5 "2006-08-13T05:28:45Z")
I’m looking at it now. What advantages does it have over [Amazon.com](http://Amazon.com)’s way of keeping track of your purchases and what you own? ---
**Author:** ![Lissla\_Lissar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8491ac/32.png) [@Lissla\_Lissar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissla_Lissar)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2006, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-dopers-on-chain-reading/368501/6 "2006-08-13T13:07:50Z")
I just signed up. I’ve been writing down books, too. This looks like fun. ---
**Author:** ![Lissla\_Lissar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8491ac/32.png) [@Lissla\_Lissar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissla_Lissar)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2006, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-dopers-on-chain-reading/368501/7 "2006-08-13T14:30:18Z")
**js** , have you read _The Bone Doll’s Twin_? I noticed that _Hidden Warrior_ is on your reading list. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2006, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-dopers-on-chain-reading/368501/8 "2006-08-13T15:29:32Z")
> [@Lissa](#): > > I’m looking at it now. What advantages does it have over [Amazon.com](http://Amazon.com)’s way of keeping track of your purchases and what you own? I don’t own most of the books I read, and rarely buy from Amazon, so I’ve never used their service. > [@Lissla Lissar](#): > > js, have you read The Bone Doll’s Twin? I noticed that Hidden Warrior is on your reading list. I did read it. Are you the person who recommended it to me? (Before Christmas, I read a couple of books that had been recommended, including Bone Doll and one by Robin Hobb, and then I started on Gene Wolfe. Then I got extremely sick for a few days and once I was feeling better, I was nauseated at the thought of any of those authors, but especially Gene Wolfe. I’m weird that way.) ---
**Author:** ![Lissla\_Lissar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8491ac/32.png) [@Lissla\_Lissar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissla_Lissar)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2006, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-dopers-on-chain-reading/368501/9 "2006-08-13T16:20:53Z")
Probably. I don’t know if there are any other Lynn Flewelling fans here. I buy lots of books, but only from work, not from Amazon. i like the idea of an integrated book chat site. ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2006, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-dopers-on-chain-reading/368501/10 "2006-08-13T16:26:13Z")
> [@jsgoddess](#): > > I just joined [chainreading.com](http://chainreading.com), which allows you to track what you read and get reviews and recommendations. Any Dopers on there? > > I’m [here](http://chainreading.com/profile/juliecarter). Recommendations always received with delight! Cool deal. Thanks for the link. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2006, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-dopers-on-chain-reading/368501/11 "2006-08-13T16:30:38Z")
I like the site’s setup, but the fact that you can’t put a book in an “already read but not recommended” class is bugging me. Don’t people want to track bad and mediocre books, too? If someone sees that option, or has another option like Amazon that offers it, I’d be interested. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2006, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-dopers-on-chain-reading/368501/12 "2006-08-13T18:05:54Z")
> [@Lissla Lissar](#): > > Probably. I don’t know if there are any other Lynn Flewelling fans here. Me me me. The third book in The Hidden Warrior trilogy is in my TBR. I loved the first two, but I’m not so smitten with this one. I looked at the Chain Reader website, but not thoroughly. Is there a way for readers to communicate with each other directly? That’d make it more worthwhile than just reading reviews. ---
**Author:** ![gardentraveler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gardentraveler/32/3576_2.png) [@gardentraveler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gardentraveler)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2006, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-dopers-on-chain-reading/368501/13 "2006-08-14T01:34:16Z")
I signed up just for the heck of it and don’t see a way to not recommend books either. Only thing I can think of is to write a negative review, which would seem to skew things unless you reviewed every single book you read. Looks like the blog site is down right now. I’m going to try sending an e-mail to the feedback address and see if that works. Looks like you can make recommendations to other users; haven’t explored that yet. GT ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2006, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-dopers-on-chain-reading/368501/14 "2006-08-14T01:54:36Z")
> [@AuntiePam](#): > > Is there a way for readers to communicate with each other directly? That’d make it more worthwhile than just reading reviews. I don’t think there’s much of a way, outside of recommending a book. So, definitely a couple of big flaws, at least for me. The big one for me is not being able to track books once they aren’t either in the process of being read or on my to be read stack. True, the to be read stack is the most important for me, as long as I manage to keep it up-to-date. ---
**Author:** ![Alistair\_McCello](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/58956e/32.png) [@Alistair\_McCello](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alistair_McCello)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2006, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-dopers-on-chain-reading/368501/15 "2006-08-14T02:12:45Z")
[Signed up](http://www.chainreading.com/profile/ethan_gordon) for the halibut. Seems like an interesting site, though I do concur with all of the points already raised regarding possible improvments. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2006, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-dopers-on-chain-reading/368501/16 "2006-08-14T02:30:50Z")
Dopers could take over the site! Woo! ---
**Author:** ![Lissa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lissa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissa)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2006, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-dopers-on-chain-reading/368501/17 "2006-08-14T02:31:24Z")
> [@jsgoddess](#): > > I don’t own most of the books I read, and rarely buy from Amazon, so I’ve never used their service. You don’t have to purchase to be able to use it. Only about 25% of the hundreds of books I have stored on there were Amazon purchases. I didn’t even have to enter a lot of them in manually. After you’ve entered a handful in the same genre, you’ll probably find books from your collection recommended to you and all you have to do is click “I own it”. What I like about it is that you can usually even find the correct edition of the book to save in your “owned” list. ---
**Author:** ![Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a88e4f/32.png) [@Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eleanor_of_Aquitaine)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2006, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-dopers-on-chain-reading/368501/18 "2006-08-14T14:07:46Z")
You guys might want to check out [librarything.com](http://librarything.com), it’s a similar kind of site. I entered some of my books, which was fun, but there’s a fee to enter more than 200. It looks like it might be a good site to get book recommendations. I’m tempted to do it just to catalogue my books - it produces a nice spreadsheet. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2006, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-dopers-on-chain-reading/368501/19 "2006-08-14T15:33:22Z")
Oh, yes. I joined that site a while back, but I object to the charge 'cause I’m a cheapskate. ---
**Author:** ![gardentraveler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gardentraveler/32/3576_2.png) [@gardentraveler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gardentraveler)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2006, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-dopers-on-chain-reading/368501/20 "2006-08-21T21:32:54Z")
I actually just came back here to talk about [Library Thing](http://www.librarything.com/) as well. I hate to pay also, but the fee for more than 200 is low ($10/year or $25/lifetime). I’m going to start adding books and see if I still like it when I hit 200. Also, I got a response from the developer of ChainReading. He says he’s planning to add a category for “Have Read,” but won’t be making changes until at least September/October. GT [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-dopers-on-chain-reading/368501.md?page=2)