Cruising on Shelfari

Wednesday, October 27th, 2010

In a world of social networking, the time for five-page book reviews is over. For many, their attention span is 140 characters long or less.

As an avid book reader, I want to know what others are reading nowadays. I pay more attention to what my family and friends think rather than what a specific book reviewer might think. I don’t want a long analysis on what the plot or setting symbolizes, rather I just want to know if the book is good or not. For those who agree with this notion, I recommend Shelfari.com.

Shelfari lets users display books that they have read, want to read or are reading now. Users can also be their own critic and provide their feedback on books by reviewing and rating them on a five-star scale.

They can connect their shelf with friends and see what they have in common, what they are reading and what they think of the books they’ve just read. Users can request friends to provide recommendations as well as create groups to talk about certain books.

Shelfari provides a list of most popular books being read by its user. The site is gaining popularity because of Facebook. This application is called Virtual Bookshelf and can be used via Facebook.

The web site is a good source for those who want:

–      Quick easy-to-read fun reviews

–      To connect with their friends and see what books they recommend

–      To easily access their shelf via Facebook

–      Personalized recommendations

The web site is not recommended for those who:

–      Want scholarly reviews

–      Lengthy analysis

Here is a sample of what Shelfari provides:

–      List of Most Popular Books

–      A Chance to Connect with its Community

–      Blog on Books

Although Shelfari is one of my favorite applications/web sites to use for books, there are certain things I would hope to better such as:

–      An interactive live feed scheduled once a  week on certain new controversial books

–      A discussion panel for what readers want future books to address

–      Monthly magazine that highlights upcoming books for the month




Spiderman and Jedi-Knights Save the Day!

Saturday, September 18th, 2010

We see Spiderman and Jedi-knights in movies and comic books saving the world from the bad guys. Now, it’s happening in real life.

A man dressed in a Spiderman costume at an Australian comic book store decides to save the world from a robbery by confronting the thief. As the thief tried to leave, he was stopped by two men dressed in  Jedi-knight costumes.

Read the full story at http://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2010/05/03/Spider-Man-stops-comic-book-theft/UPI-99211272911881/ and laugh at the completely ludicrousness of the whole situation!

 

spiderman-coloring-pages-4