Like the New Kid, I've had a librarything account for months and failed to make full use of it. I only entered 3 books into it and did one review, but the recommendations I got were actually not far off the kind of stuff I might perchance read:
Automatic (30 new)
* Shadows on the Hudson
* Clark Gifford's Body
* A Friend of Kafka
* René Leys
Member recommendations (3 new)
* Miss Lonelyhearts & the Day of the Locust
* The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle
* The Catcher in the Rye
Having said that; I'd read the back of a shampoo bottle if given the time. And the shampoo bottle. And again the question of what algorithms lurk behind the whole thing pops its head up! Regarding the site itself, at first glance it seems a little complex - which I suppose makes it rich if you had the time to explore...but who does? Also as others have pointed out, nothing beats a personal recommendation. Except this way there's no obligation to read/like/justify why you didn't read/like!
This has so much potential for libraries! - "Give your patrons exciting new content, including recommendations, tag clouds, series and awards data, a virtual shelf browser, and the ability to write reviews. Pick and choose which enhancements you'd like." We might have too many books for this though. But watch this space...applications like librarything get the technology down and eventually it trickles down into common usage.
(Image above courtesy of The English Muse Blog via Lolita.)
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