this post was submitted on 10 Jun 2023
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cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/42666

I recently discovered Bookwyrm and am really liking it. It's not quite as full-featured as The Storygraph or Goodreads but it covers all of the most important functionalities and it's federated which I appreciate. Something that it is missing Vs either The Storygraph or Goodreads at the moment is volume of reviews (ie. Volume of users.) However, your review won't get lost in the sea so much and I've found that it's been quite easy to find readers with similar interests.

Anyway, who here is using Bookwyrm? What's your account so we can all follow each other? (Mine is [email protected])

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Using it. Again to track what I read and motivate for x amount of books per year.

Would be a fan of the discovery section more if I could filter out quotes and notifications about start reading and just have the reviews.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

I agree that would be a great feature. Dunno if it's exclusive to my instance but Discovery also doesn't have an option for global notifications (it's just the local one) which is a bit limiting since my instance isn't that big.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I've been using it mainly as a way of keeping track of what I read. I guess I could use a text file, but it's nice to be able to see it from my phone or share it.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

Yeah I have in the past used a bunch of different on/offline methods but have always ended up most consistently at Goodreads, so online is definitely the go for me (I can't lose it that way lol.)

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Just started using it. I'll import my goodreads data once they give it to me, but GR has been feeling really lackluster for a while. Looking forward to trying it out!

https://bookwyrm.social/user/acaleyn

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

Just followed you!

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Did not know about this! Thanks very much, already added myself, and started a list already! :P https://bookwyrm.social/list/1739/s/brazilian-science-fiction

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

Just followed!

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

FYI, if you currently use GoodReads, you can export your user data from there, and import it into your Bookwyrm account. It isn't perfect, but it got the majority of my books properly. I think out of hundreds of books, there were something like 30 that it couldn't auto find and import for me.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

Well, I'm using it now!

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Sure! I've been using it for about 7 months. Just experimenting with GoodReads alternatives to tracking what I read. Mine is [email protected]

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

Just followed you!

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I just found Bookwyrm! It looks cool - how do we comment or otherwise access Bookwyrm content on Kbin?

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

This is what I'm wondering! Would be cool to at least see comments or updates based on books or authors I care about on kbin, maybe?

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

Me too. Haven't been able to find a solution (yet)

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

Just discovered it a few hours ago (thanks guys) and find it promising... What I would miss from Goodreads/StoryGraph are the following I think:

  • Reading stats (but there are some issues / pull request on bookwyrm GitHub so we may expect something sooner or later)
  • Recommendations / discovery of books - author I didn't knew about but we can see with this community or so
  • Reviews (Of course it's a feature existing in bookwyrm but since the user base is much fewer than closed source alternatives, there are fewer reviews too)

Now I always been more or less implied and interested in FOSS and even if I'm a late adopter of fediverse world that seems very promising to me and I think I'll prefer something free despite the few limitations I oversee.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (2 children)
[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

How do people even find other instances for all these ActivityPub services?

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Just followed you! I see you're a fellow Sci-Fi fan!

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

I am but this past year I haven't been reading much. My "to read" pile is huge.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

i am on a niche server (as i am on most fedi platforms) because it was the sheer volume of review-dunking that chased me off goodreads, long before bozo bought it. so when i went back to book social, i started out hiding in a corner and never left.

https://book.dansmonorage.blue/user/emmadilemma

federation on bookwyrm seems more hit-and-miss than on other platforms, so the instance you're on makes a difference. most people i know are on books.theunseencity and bookrastinating; i keep a secondary on the latter to see some updates that don't flow well to dansmonorage

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

Just followed you! I too dabble in reading French though my speaking is pretty shot at the moment.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Just followed you with mine. Bookwyrm suits my needs at the moment, which are primarily as an adjunct to my aging memory. My main reading interest at the moment is the novels and short stories which inspired well known operas (many thanks to Project Gutenberg). Knowing the plot ahead of time is a useful accommodation for said dodgy memory. :)

One limit at Bookwyrm which I do find frustrating is that we can't make a post which isn't linked to a book. So for short stories and other things I follow my fedi account on another platform, write the post there and then boost it to get it into my Bookwyrm feed so I at least have a record of it.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Sometimes, rarely, you can find an independent listing for a short story if you search for it, but it is definitely a limitation of the platform in general.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 year ago

Individual short stories can be added as if they were books but that does skew the books read tally, so I use my work around to get the mention in there.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Just made an account!

https://bookwyrm.social/user/Ame

I mainly read non-fiction self help books, but I'm also reading fantasy books.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

It's coming up with page not found?

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

OPPS. Accidentally linked to another another account that I found out I had and deleted when I made the new one. FIxed the link!

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Followed you back! Out of curiosity, is there any particular philosophy books you like? I feel like Philosophy would be the next step up from my tendency to read self-help books.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (2 children)

I'm not sure how relevant it is to you but I really enjoyed Seven Types of Atheism by John Gray. Also enjoyed Animal Liberation by Peter Singer (foundational to modern vegan movement if that's your thing) and The Age of Surveillance Capitalism by Shoshana Zuboff (which tends to be in philosophy sections at book stores at least.) I will say the latter is a little overdramatic but it is a really interesting and important subject matter. Another one about tech ethics is Stand Out of Our Light by James Williams which is probably a better introduction to the ideas explored in The Age of Surveillance Capitalism.

I definitely need to get into some more hardcore/classic philosophy since I do tend to read newer stuff rather than anything foundational. However, I also think it's perfectly reasonable to explore more academic explorations of topics you're already interested in in the self-help that you read. For me, the ethics of modern technology are a big thing so I have a dedicated tech-philosophy TBR going at the moment. If the topic is something people think about at all there will be some philosophy work out there on it.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

Interesting! The Age of Surveillance Capitalism sounds like a fascinating read and might get me to understand a lot more about the topics that my housemates tend to talk about, haha. Might even surprise them. Seven Types of Atheism also sounds like a good read.

My preference in self-help books tend to be related to creativity and mental health, so when it comes philosophical topics I am definitely interested in exploring things like idealism. However, I'm also getting into FOSS and technology as a topic due to my plan to explore Technical Support as a future career. Lots of different things to read about if I look it up properly, I think!

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

...Well it looks like I'm gonna be reading Seven Types of Atheism at some point.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

Blew my mind a few years ago!

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I really like it, although I keep it to people I know IRL. I'm considering making a TTRPG-specific public one though, does anyone know if books absolutely need to have an ISBN to work with that system?

One thing that I really like about it, vs say Goodreads or any site that is tied to a corporate bookselling system, is that you can use a rating system that works for you, using the full 1 to 5 stars, without worrying that you are causing financial harm to any authors, especially if you keep everything followers-only

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

Really good point about not needing to worry as much about author harm. I don't think it needs an IBSN as I've added a book with just an ASIN and have seen books that have nothing. Should therefore be able to add some fanfics or self-pubs that don't have an ID.