New Virtual Shelf

Ever wanted to have a virtual bookshelf that you could share with your friends? Well, there’s a new site in town called Shelfari.com where you can do just that. Sorry, you can’t actually read the text online!

At Shelfari you can create a bookshelf of all the books you have read, are reading, or want to read. From this list you can mark your favorite book and even rate and review the books. It’s surprising to see how many books you’ve read in your lifetime, and it makes you feel smart when you mark down books like Great Expectations or Scarlet Letter. Of course, it’s not just limited to regular books. You can also search comics and manga as well. What about those books you read as a kid? Yup, they’re on there too. Sure, they may be missing a couple of rare books here and there, but for the most part, you can easily find books by title name or author search.

So what happens now that you set up your bookshelf? Well you can invite your friends to participate too and then you can be nosy and see what they’ve read. Maybe they have the same taste in books, maybe they don’t. It’s a true test of friendship when you see how many books you have in common. There are plenty of other users too that share similar tastes as you. If you’re friends don’t read the same things, maybe you can find an online buddy. But it’s not just being able to look at other people’s books; it’s all about the groups. Basically, each group serves as a club. There are book clubs where people discuss books in certain genres and upcoming releases. There are also groups for aspiring writers that list upcoming contests. For people not interested in either, there are a plethora of other groups to join so you don’t have to limit yourself to a specific genre.

Like a lot of social networking sites out there, Shelfari keeps you in touch with friends and helps you make new ones. Of course, instead of making friends based on how physically attractive some one is, you get to make friends based on their book choices. It’ll be a great line, ‘Hey baby, want to go to my Shelfari and check out my books? Yeah, my books are so sexy…’

Check it out, and sign up if you so choose. It’s fun and if you’re a huge book nerd like I am, you’ll be perusing through everyone’s bookshelf to find some new literature to read. Whether it’s to make you feel smarter or to find some people who share the same strange tastes, Shelfari delivers.