How you use LT

Other than greatly enjoying the fellowship of Green Dragon Inn how do you use LT? (I ask because I saw a thread where someone who argued with Tim is a person with no books in catalog, no profile. . .)

I enter books in my catalog/keep track of my library, and am continually fascinated by my statistics. For instance, I just learned that (this being my 800th post in the GD!) 74% of all of my posts have been in this group.

So, library catalog and talk in the GD, for the most part.

I use it for the book cataloging, but also for recommendations and keeping up with new stuff I haven't read, reviews to remind me of what I thought of what I've read, series gaps so I can fill them in, and eventually for a wish/TBR list either on a wiki page or through collections.

The local events section is also pretty useful.

I record all my books, because I'm anal and like lists, and I like discussing books. Tim can do whatever he wants, as long as LT continues to be awesome.

I like to catalog my books and look at my statistics, it makes it easy to keep track of things and see everything at once. I also like to chat in the GD and get book recommendations and reviews.

I find I primarily use it to read threads; that was not why I started. I was totally delighted to find a way to catalog my books and I do keep the catalog more or less up to date. I like reading reviews sometimes.

I use it medicinally... several times a day, as needed.

CAUTION: LT has NOT been approved for use by the FDA - But it works, nonetheless. ;o)

Oh, right.

Other than for the camaraderie, I use LT to catalog my books, and look for suggestions.

I use LT to hang around the GD, and to keep some kind of control over these pesky books of mine - I had never thought of cataloguing my books before LT came along, and now I'm so very thankful that it exists.

I was so tickled to find a place to catalogue my books, it had never occurred to me to do that before. So that was the first way to use LT and then it was great fun to compare other libraries and see the similarities and differences.

Now I use it mostly for the Green Dragon and keeping my catalogue up-to-date, reviews and suggestions. Although my TBRs are so numerous the last thing I need are more suggestions!

I started using LT to catalogue my books, but in fact I use it most to be involved in interesting discussions, and to find new books (too many new books - I have about a dozen starred threads where books and/or subjects of potential interest have been mentioned).

LT does not help managing my time - if anything it seems to suck hours up in the blink of an eye.

I use LT in the bedroom.

I had wanted to catalog my books for about 15 years or so but tried once with an Excel spreadsheet and gave it up since it was beyond difficult.

So I found LT and was in love with cataloging my books. I've now catalogued all of mine and will put in my husband's and daughter's soon. I'm constantly refining my tags and trying to get the nerve up to start scanning in the cover art for books that I can't find the cover art for online.

I've really started enjoying writing reviews and reading and writing messages recently. I do not use any other "social networking" website, so tend to come to LT several times a day.

Oh, and the 888 challenge has been good for me to start reading books on my shelves that I wouldn't have otherwise read.

I use it for cataloging the books I've read. At least in recent years. I write the reviews so that I'll remember what I thought about the book when I read it. Then I stumbled into the social part and I use the groups for my mental health. I believe it's good for me to talk to people who love books the way I love books.

Statistics are mildly interesting, but I don't go there unless someone else mentions it. I love the author clouds, a quick way to see if someone likes the same authors I do.

I like to see my books cataloged, although I pretty much only have the ones that are shelved on my first floor here.

I also keep listed books that I have read and passed on.

I am trying to learn to write a good review...and this is a good place to read good ones.. ( and not so good ones)

I like hearing about what others are reading and getting suggestions..

I also like the forums.. this being my favorite of course..

I am mildly/ occasionally interested in statistics

I primarily use it to catalog my books, and to keep track of the books that I am reading. Tags are my favorite feature ever. I obsessively tag my books, and use the tags to decide what to read next. I also like being able to check my friends' catalogs, so I don't buy books that I can borrow. I also use it for suggestions, which I really don't need. I have hundreds of books on my tbr list already.

I think my usage has kind of evolved. At first I only wanted to keep track of what I was reading and find recommendations, but then I got pulled into the wonderful community aspects of the site and got more interested in what other people were reading and talking about!

The Early Reviewers program has also been a nice bonus. I think the books I've gotten there have already more than paid for my membership. :)

My reasons for being here have evolved also.

Now I use LT as a place to keep track of what I'm reading and I review everything that I read, not just as a catalog of my own personal library.

The social features are nice as well and I've gotten some great suggestions on more books to read.

An interesting aside (to me anyway) after have just checked my stats, is that I've posted to 79 different groups which I find surprising since I only seem to frequent a few.

yes, i would agree that my usage has evolved.
at first, i just wanted a nice way to catalog my books...after the second time i bought a book i did not realize at first that i already owned. i did a little google search for book cataloging...and the rest was history!
and the cataloging is grand. i know it sounds a wee bit nutty, but it gave me a certain sense of peace to get my books all organized, with nice neat lists and tags, more and more tags, sort them this way, sort them that way...yep, a wee bit nuts..lol

but since then, i have become facinated with the various statistics..and the recommendations..then the reviews..and the Early Reviewer and yes, then the groups like The Green Dragon.

it has led me to buy too, too many new books and 'waste' so much time..and i love it! :-)

and I use the Green Dragon as a very handy, right in my house, gathering place for friends and when something really, really, really nice or sad happens I frequently find myself here. Like just now when I found out Tim Russert had died, I knew someone in GD would have started a nice thread of tributes and reflections. And so it was.

I'd just started trying to catalog my books when I heard of LT. I loved how easy it was to add books, and I loved seeing the list of my books in front of me (almost as much as I love seeing them on my bookshelves). A few months later I got invited to a group, and it wasn't long after that that I found GD. Now I use it for the threads more often, but it is a great place to write reviews and keep track of all my newer books. I've always kept a written record of books read in a year, but it's much neater here. Also, I love seeing other people's libraries.

I catalog my books; I use my 50 book challenge thread to keep track of my reading and to make informal comments on what I read; I don't review books, but I put little comments in my public comments box; I troll the talk threads for fun and to find new books; and I use the similar libraries feature to find new books as well.

I use it for cataloging & statistics. I'm a data geek. I love anything that gives me data to play with. I also use it for recommendations and I just started keeping track of my reading. I also started an account to keep track of my sons' summer reading.

I keep finding new ways to use LT. I rarely read reviews but I do check ratings. Here's my latest list compiled from LT data. Like I needed another TBR list. When I see a book mentioned several times I'll look at the ratings. Or sometimes I just stumble upon some of these.

The criteria-

1. The book has to have more than a hundred ratings.

2. The combined rating has to be 4.00 or higher. 3.99 doesn't make it.

So it's a TBR list of popular widely liked books that I might like. If it doesn't appeal to me I don't add it to my list. I do have other TBR lists for the obscure stuff.

I just recently started it so it only has eight books on it right now. I'm sure it will get bigger.

* Winter's Tale, Mark Helprin
* The Alexandria Quartet, Lawrence Durrell
* A Suitable Boy, Vikram Seth
* The Wind-up Bird Chronicle, Haruki Murakami
* The Mists of Avalon, Marion Zimmer Bradley
* Fingersmith, Sarah Waters
* The Giver, Lois Lowry
* A Clockwork Orange, Anthony Burgess

I had decided to catalogue my books. I was all set to write them up in Excel (didn't even know a place like this existed). Half were on a messed-up shelf, and the other half were in boxes spread all about the place. (I was newly married and still living in a flat with other people - only one shelf).

When I discovered LT I said to myself 'you mean I can catalogue them online?;you mean I can look at other people's libraries?; you mean I can have pretty cover pictures?'

I think I nearly cried.

So I catalogue with wild abandon, and I tag, and obsess over stats, and have only recently started chatting here and in a few other groups.

~wipes away a passionate tear~

Oh, and I've just joined the 75 books in a year challenge, and started writing reviews. And made one very close friend in Australia. And have a tag list of the books I've lent out to friends. LT also makes me a milo when I need one, and brushes my hair when I need comforting. (Actually, that's my husband, but hey...LT comes close!)

I think zenomax said it all...

I discovered LT because someone mentioned it on the voyageronline bulletin board. I was looking for more book lovers to talk to online but didnt really want to go to specific author sites & hadn't found any comfy & friendly online communities. I found the Green Dragon & have been visiting prety much daily since :)

Obviously I knew it was a site for cataloguing but I found the idea of cataloguing my own books a bit daunting to start with so was a bit of a slow starter. Then I started re-arranging my bookshelves & I got a cue-cat & started having heaps of fun with it, playing with tags & stuff (I still play arround with tags & re-arranging sometimes). I realised how many incomplete series' there were on my shelves so my wishlist grew considerably (with a heap of books that have been mentioned in talk as well). I have a work friend who is always looking for new fantasy to read, it used to be a bit of pot luck what to bring her, now she can see my library & place orders, lol.

I started off here because my excel catalogue was a mess and a pain to sort through, here I can organise my collection in so many ways - my favourite is the ability to sort & search through tags (being able to find all the books I have on a particular subject is amazing)

I also use it to find suggestions for my Mother-in-law who reads very different stuff to me and to look up information about books and series where required

It has inspired me to make more of an effort to (re)read stuff on my shelves to more accurately tag and review stuff.

But most of all it is the most effective procrastination tool I have yet found.

I'm just here to stalk people.

...with pleasure, and whenever I want to.

#29 - Stalk people? Are they anything like pod people?

>#31: sorry, typo: i's just here to's talk, people.

better.

I track my books here, but I keep coming back to hang out with the cool kids (even if, like MrAndrew, they can't type).

My initial purpose was to catalog my books, but I've been finding more and more that I'm using LibraryThing for recommendations. I love reading through all the threads here, knowing that I'm in the company of folks who love reading as much as I do. I also really need to get back in the habit of writing good reviews (something I took a break from when I finished school) and LT definitely inspires me to write more about what I read.

#7 LOL.

I use LT to fill in the boring times at work. Ie most of the day. I'm not completely anal about catalogging my books, there is at least a bookshelf of OtherHalfs to add at some stage, but I enjoy reviewing the ones I've written.

Discussing (arguing) with people on Talk because LT discussion are far mroe civilised than anywhere else on the web, and I do a bit of combining, from time to time. I also reseach TBRs a bit, but generally I'm an impulse book buyer.

I just wanted to know what books I have and how many. I have almost completely listed all of my graphic novels. I haven't made up my mind if I also list my magazines

I came over here because LT had better more active talk groups than shelfari. Shelfari used to get reguarly spammed to my work address, enough for me to investigate, and when someone posted over there about LT i investigated and it was better. It took me a few months to get round to cataloging anything because I wanted to use the reccomendations.

LT cataloging is much better than Shelfari as well. I've made friends over there though, so I have to do both.