Thing of the Month: All Consuming

As a Youth Services Librarian I have to do a LOT of reading, both to keep up on what's new in children and Y.A. literature, and to bone up on the classics (I was a Science Librarian a mere 2 and half years ago). Since I started working here I have read and listened to hundreds of books. How on earth do I remember all of those books?

Well, I'm not super-human. I am the kind of person who has to write everything down in order to remember it.

About the time I started at SPL I stumbled upon a fabulous website called All Consuming. It's a website where you can (lifted from the home page):

1. Catalog your books, movies, meals, and more.
2. Get suggestions on what to read, watch, or eat from people who share your tastes.
3. Share you excitement about a great book, album, movie, or gadget.

I use All Consuming to help me keep track of books I have read and to write reviews of them (as a way to help me remember the plot so that I can book-talk it). Here is a link to my page on All Consuming if you would like to see what it looks like.

This is how it works:

When I am reading a book I search for the book on their webpage. On the top of the screen there is a search box that says "What are you consuming" in big fancy letters right above it. I type the title of my current read and choose "books" from the drop down list.

When you get a result list choose your book so you can see the book's record in the database. On the right hand side of the screen you can choose from "I am consuming this," "I intend to consume this" or " I have consumed this." Choose the appropriate button and Poof! you have added the book to "your consumption."

The thing that is fun about this is that after you have read the book and you choose "I have consumed this" you can "rate" the book by saying it's "worth consuming," "Wishy-washy," or "not worth consuming." This helps me remember whether or not I liked the book. If I really thought the book was exceptional I will write a review which can be read by other members of All Consuming when they view the book's page.

This is a web 2.0 site that I have found very handy! I hope you do, too.