Shake that (Library)Thing!

So, I've become a convert of LibraryThing.  This innocuous little Web 2.0 gadget is (for book-geeks such as myself) almost as bad as Facebook with the way it sucks up your time.  Let me give you a play-by-play.

First, you sign in.  Then you look at the pitiful amount of books that you have to your name, and the sheer gajillions that others have.  Your competitive instinct kicks in.  So you decide to add the books that you can remember off the top of your head, and since you're currently reading Christine by Stephen King (for lunchtime reading, I learnt the hard way, you don't read that shiz before you go to bed), you think to yourself, sweet, I'll add that.  Fifteen minutes goes by and you're still looking for the entry of Christine. You have searched for Christine, which brings up all the authors who have the first name Christine.  You search for Stephen King, and that brings up not only all of the books that Stephen King as we know and love him has written, but also the books by Stephen C. King (who writes books on management techniques) and Steven King.  Plus all the seemingly endless books that are about a King, the King James Bible, and everything else in the world except Christine.

So you give up on that and search for Neil Gaiman.  Phew.  You add the four books that you've read by Neil Gaiman.  You realise that you've spent forty five minutes of your life doing this, and God help you, you are having fun (because in between all of this seemingly frustrating business, you've also been reading book reviews, making mental notes never to read Twilight, etc.).

So yeah, LibraryThing.  It's good so far, I'm a total noob at it (having just signed up today), but it's definitely fun.  The best thing about it for me is that it shows me what other people who seem to like the same sort of stuff as me like, which is totally awesome.  I much prefer blaming a nameless stranger when the book that they've recommended sucks ass.