23 Mobile Things #12: Books, Books, & More Books

I first heard about Wattpad late last year, when reading Fic: Why Fanfiction Is Taking Over the World, but the description in the book hadn't really given me a good sense of how the site worked—something about a social network of readers and writers, fanfics and self-published works. Now I had an excuse to look at it closely.

The Wattpad app itself is easy to use: install, set up an account, choose a few favorite genres, and start reading. Mind you, the app started off by recommending books in genres like Romance and Adventure that I had specifically not listed as ones I'm interested in. (This probably won't be your go-to app for reader's advisory.) I hadn't realized that Wattpad had out-of-copyright classics as well as modern writing—I may finally get around to reading "The Picture of Dorian Gray." If you're comfortable reading on a tablet (I haven't tried Wattpad's iPhone app yet), you'll be fine reading things on Wattpad. The font is clear and navigation is intuitive.

Wattpad is a social network as well as a reading app, which will take some getting used to on my part. I mean, Amazon is sort of trying to promote social reading by giving you the option of making your Kindle notes and highlighting public, but Wattpad goes far beyond this (perhaps this is why Amazon acquired Goodreads). Naturally, the app offers you the standard option of inviting your friends from other social networks to come join you. I'm guessing that if I did have friends on Wattpad, the news feed would be showing me what they're up to, and not just Wattpad's recommendations for what to read next. But I'm used to this sort of thing from being on LibraryThing and Goodreads. What I'm not accustomed to is social networking practically written into the text itself. The book I chose was peppered with comment counts (this is the part that's sort of like the Kindle option of seeing what other readers have highlighted). Intrigued, I clicked through on a few of them. Some comments were about how much the readers were enjoying the book, some were asking for clarification on one point or another, some were offering editorial advice. The author was participating in the discussion at points, which has the potential to be really interesting. But I also found the discussions distracting, because I had to stop reading the book itself to read the comments. It's like trying to listen to the commentary on a DVD and watch it simultaneously—I have to commit to one or the other, not both. And completely unlike LibraryThing, Goodreads, or Kindle, Wattpad invites you to write your own stories. One tap on the Create icon, and a blank screen with keyboard appears: no obstacles between you and the muse. Whoa.

Okay, this is another app I'll be hanging onto for a while to explore further. Unfortunately, Wattpad hasn't solved the problem of how to find the good stories in these millions of self-published works, and it'll probably take me a while before I trip over one on my own. Not surprisingly, I can't see any use for this app in a law library. If someone wanted to read fanfiction, Wattpad can certainly deliver it to them. Do patrons ask to read self-published works that aren't fanfics? I'd think that reading the library's e-books might be more satisfying simply because most of them will have been edited at some point in the publication process. Of course, if the patron wants the social networking experience while reading, then they're probably going to want something like Wattpad, or maybe Goodreads or LibraryThing. (Yes, the perennial question: What do patrons want?)

-----

Another free source of fanfiction is Archive of Our Own (AO3). This isn't an app, but the site can be bookmarked on a tablet or smartphone. It has a much better search engine than Wattpad, allowing you to specify precisely what you're looking for. Membership is required to comment on works or create your own, but you don't need to be a member to read the stories.

Thing 35: Books 2.0

You know, you glance down a list of 23 Things and right away you see some Things that attract you more than others. Thing 35 is probably the most attractive Thing on the current list.

I've been on LibraryThing since 2006. I don't feel like picking up another site for cataloging my books since I'm mostly happy with LT in this regard, plus I have a book database on my home computer. Still, I enjoyed seeing what other sites had to offer. I liked that Lib.rario.us is set up to let you enter other media besides books, but beyond that, it just seemed to be playing catch-up to the more established book sites (and light print on a dark background is difficult to read for long periods). Ditto on catch-up for BookJetty. They're justifiably proud of being linked to library catalogs, but I can look up books in libraries--or on Amazon.com--on LT. Plus, as far as I can tell from their screenshot of a book details page, they don't include cataloging information like call numbers, which is something I specifically enjoy. ITrackMine definitely adds value with its ability to track item loans, not only that you lent a book to your friend, but in what condition your friend returned it to you (and if they returned it). This is not something LT is set up for, and while I can do that with my private database, ITrackMine's "circ module" is more sophisticated. The reports feature also looks easier to use than LT's. Too bad the design of the site makes me think of the 1950s. aNobii doesn't seem to do anything that other sites don't do (I see whoever described it on the More 23 Things wiki said, "is yet another collection management site"). I got the same impression with BookTagger, although maybe its online book clubs are easier to manage than the discussion groups in LT.

I'm not likely to be reading a book on my cell phone anytime soon, it being too primitive to support these services. If I wanted to badly enough, I'd find a way to do so, but based on these offerings, I'm not motivated to try. I thought about following TwitterLit on Twitter--they even have an iPhone app I could use--but I realized that I just wasn't that interested. For the other services...look, I carry books with me 90% of the time. I just can't work up much enthusiasm for this aspect of Web 2.0, although I'm glad it's out there in case I change my mind.

I've got over 250 unread books at home. I won't need to use a reader's advisory service for years, if ever. BookStumpers looked promising though, because I too have partially-remembered books from childhood that I'd like to track down. And I might play on ReadingTrails someday, just to get a better feel of how it works.

I'll have to get back to you later about the resources for online book clubs. I have a penchant for books that no one else wants to read. But I'm in a fledgling online book club at the moment, and since its current home (Facebook) is awkward, I may look into these and see if I should recommend that we relocate.

If I enjoyed audiobooks, I bet I'd enjoy these online ways to listen to them. Librivox sounds both ambitious and noble. I'm impressed that Open Culture gleans its materials from reputable universities (when something's "free," you might very well wonder about its quality).

I joined BookCrossing about the same time I joined LibraryThing. I've released several books into the wild; rarely does anyone report that they've found one. But yes, one of my books was last seen headed for Hawaii. It's fun, as long as you can live with the uncertainty of ever hearing of your books again.

The Internet doesn't lack book reviews--why are people wondering if reading is declining? So now I have somewhere else to go besides Amazon.com, Library Journal, Facebook, LT, BC, etc. to look for reviews. You could spend so much time researching books that you'd never have time to read them! (Did I mention the number of unread books I have at home...?). But when I look up a book review, it's because I'm either thinking about reading the book or have just read it and want to know what others think of it. With The Complete Review, it looked like they review only certain books, in an effort to promote them. I suspect our tastes will rarely overlap.

No children in my private life, no children in my professional life. So, not much need to play with Web 2.0 tools for children's books. As for the book rental services, my first thought was that why would I pay for what a library does for free? Then I saw Bookswim rents college textbooks. I'm in school. I should see if they handle MLIS texts. Suddenly, this sounds practical as all get-out.

Ah, Facebook. And ah, Facebook's book apps. I believe over the past year, I've tried them all. I'm currently using Visual Bookshelf, not because I think it's a wonderful app, but because it comes closest to what I want. What I want is for LT to put together a Facebook app, but they've been procrastinating on that since 2007 at least, and I've given up on them. I like the idea of showing off my current reads. When I find myself feeling uncomfortable about it, this is encouragement to weed my friends list on Facebook. If I'm really bothered by someone seeing what I'm reading, chances are, we're not friends in any sense of the word.