Books and Cataloguing

I once had all of my books catalogued and organised. I guess the ones I had up to that point still are – but now, with ebooks and other traditional book additions to my library, the number of books/ebooks I own has probably doubled at least. I should have continued to catalogue and organise them as I added to the library, but alas I did not. I have been working away at doing it now, on and off, for a little bit in recent months. I’ll get there eventually, but it takes a bit of time.

I use Goodreads online for cataloguing and a database on my computer for offline cataloguing. Both have their purpose, and one acts as a back up of the other. If I can get this done, it will be very helpful in using the library for research and study purposes, and also save a lot of time in the long run.

Advertisement

From My Armchair: 4 August 2012

At the BookShelf

I am into my last days of annual leave, so it is doubtful I’ll be able to read anywhere near as much as I have this last week. I’ll probably have the Kindle out at lunch for a bit, so I’ll still be getting some reading in even while I’m at work. The Kindle has certainly made it a lot easier to have good reading material available no matter where I am. Loving the Kindle.

 

Social Networks, Web Applications & Other Tools

Not a lot has happened with the social networks in the book/reading niche over this last week, except that I have been updating Goodreads on a regular basis as to what I am reading, progress and cataloguing the books as I go.

I did do a quick addition to Quotista, which has a lot of potential but doesn’t appear to be being developed any further, which is…

View original post 446 more words

Reading: The Hunt for Red October and Jason Bourne

I am a big fan of Tom Clancy novels and in particular the Jack Ryan series. A number of years ago I read all of the novels published in the series up until the time I moved house and so for the last 5 years I haven’t read any new ones. When I moved I decided I needed to clean out some of my books (and I have a huge library), so I figured the majority of my fiction books could be cleaned out. I always regretted moving the Tom Clancy novels along, though I figured that at some point I could reclaim them as ebooks, which I am now beginning to do.

A couple of weeks ago I decided to start reading the series again – right from the beginning. I hesitated as to what order I should read them, given that Patriot Games really was set before The Hunt for the Red October, but then settled on the order of the novel release order – so Patriot Games will be next. So I purchased a copy of The Hunt for Red October from Amazon. Of course I decided I might as well watch the movie again, as something of a comparison/contrast. That sort of thing intrigues me you see. I own a Kindle, so I purchased the Kindle version (which can be purchased via the link above).

So having read the first few chapters of the novel I decided to watch the DVD movie (which I have watched a number of times since purchasing the DVD some years ago) again. Now have refreshed my mind by re-reading the entire novel, it is not so much a comparison as a contrast. Certainly there are common threads and similar plots, but there are a large number of differences between the book and the movie. Still, both are quite good in their own right.

So Patriot Games was going to be the next book in the Jack Ryan series and this was to be read next. However, having read something about the 10th book in the Jason Bourne series of novels I thought I must read those also. So to break up the Tom Clancy books I’m going to be reading the Jason Bourne novels also. In fact I have just started the first in the series (again, quite different to the movie), The Bourne Identity (by Robert Ludlum).

Goodreads

If you are into books and sharing your thoughts about them, whether that is by book reviews, lists, what you own, etc, then Goodreads may be a social network for you. I am on Goodreads and I am using it to catalogue my entire library (both hard copy and digital) – it will take me a while to complete the exercise. I use Goodreads and Shelfari – at the moment Goodreads is probably my preferred book sharing social network.

http://www.goodreads.com/

Shelfari

If you are into books and sharing your thoughts about them, whether that is by book reviews, lists, what you own, etc, then Shelfari may be a social network for you. I am on Shelfari and I am using it to catalogue my entire library (both hard copy and digital) – it will take me a while to complete the exercise. You can embed your bookshelf into your website, start a book group and share with others within the Shelfari community, plus much more. Well worth a look.

http://www.shelfari.com/