[Desertway]

Originally Posted by issybird

There’s also the general “cleanness” of the interface; I’m not being assaulted with irrelevant clutter. I spend much less time at GR than I used to and this is largely the reason.

This seems like it should be the least important reason, but I'm finding it very difficult to back to GR after using SG for some months. That GR "noise" has become really offensive.

The not-so-good: Even given a learning curve, I’m finding adding and labeling books to be both fiddly and not as intuitive as GR; the same goes for looking at my lists and organizing them. What takes literally seconds at GR can take a couple of minutes at SG. While I expect to pick up some speed, I don’t think it’ll ever be as efficient as GR.

As for adding books, I thought that too at first. However, I've been entering books like a mad person and no longer feel any difference in speed. There is that one strange extra step for entering a review, but even that doesn't seem to amount to much at all.

What I do miss is that one big "My Books" view that GR has with access to my complete library/shelves at a glance. I suppose SG is working hard not to be a GR clone, but it's definitely annoying to have to poke around to find the right list/view. I've now bookmarked the pages I use most often, but I shouldn't have to. It's a common complaint so maybe there will be a change in the near future.

I’m finding the way SG characterizes books to be squishy and antithetical to the way I think about books. How SG describes me as a reader is almost as alien to my sensibilities as any of the cowboy romances GR thinks I’d like to read. I can always ignore it as I ignore so much at GR and maybe it’ll become useful in time, but for now it’s offputting.

Again, I also found SG's characterizations very fluffy at first. But, for me, it turns out that the algorithm clearly has my reading tastes nailed, so I guess there's something there after all. And my own way of thinking about books is reflected in my own tagging system, so I haven't really lost anything.

Akin to the learning curve as in going with the territory, there’s the loss of the community aspects at GR that are useful to me, especially my GR friends whose taste is similar to my own and where I’ve discovered so many terrific books. Something that can be addressed over time, but a distinct drawback at the beginning. I wonder to what extent the vaunted SG algorithms can match or exceed the personal element?

I think for someone who has been deeply engaged in GR for many years, who has benefited from the social elements and has formed relationships with other readers, SG is not going to be a replacement. Certainly not any time soon, possibly not ever.

And GR currently has it all over SG for quality of reviews. SG also doesn't have any "list" feature.

I decided to go ahead and pay the subscription price. It works so well for me as a library management system, reading tracker, reading journal, and recommendation system that it's worth the support.