GoodReads versus BookLikes

This is just a kind of "I liked this better on this, but that better on that" type post. So, here's what I really think, after these last couple of weeks! If you haven't heard, I had a very public break-up with Goodreads, which resulted in me seeking out other alternatives. BookLikes was the one that I picked. And since I started using it, I've noticed that there are some things that I like better, but there are also some things that I miss. So, without further adieu, Goodreads versus BookLikes.

What Goodreads has going for it:

• While booklikes has a more interesting interface, goodreads has more of a "clean cut" design, making it easier to explore on.

• When you search for a book, it brings up it's own page. While I like booklikes' feature of bringing it up on the home page, it's impossible to link to the individual pages on booklikes. Goodreads, however, has a link for each individual book page.

• Listopia, groups, polls, quotes and giveaways. Goodreads is a lot more popular with the "giveaway crowd". So while booklikes has giveaways, the ones on goodreads are getting a lot more entries. BUT. Booklikes does not have a listopia-like feature, groups (that I can tell) or a "quotes" page. Which saddens me, because quotes were always my favorite thing. (You can, however, share quotes on Booklikes.)

• Recommendations. I love recommendations, and booklikes just doesn't appear to have a "recommend" feature. So that cuts out a bit of my rec fun.

• You can comment on personal profiles & send personal messages. I love commenting back and forth and "talking" to people on goodreads. It's most of what I do there, other than stalking books.

• A currently reading status-- there is one on booklikes, but it's just not working for me. (It still says I'm reading a book that I've finished & updated.)

• You can sort your shelves by publication date. Booklikes doesn't have this feature. :/

What Booklikes has going for it:

• Booklikes has a more interesting interface. Where goodreads has a lot of groups and stuff going on, the home page of Booklikes is more clean cut-- reviews, book adds and giveaway entries + statuses only. I like that, because I often just got caught up in all the in-between stuff on goodreads.

• When you search for a book, it's information will pop up on the home page, which I think is awesome. The only problem with this is that I can't link to books on Booklikes because of this feature. So as awesome as it is, I wish that it was a little different.

• It's much easier to add books on Booklikes. They don't require you to be a librarian, which makes it very easy. All you have to do is add the title, author, blurb, cover and ISBN. Then you're done. I can see how it might be hard to keep track of without "librarians" though. As far as I can tell, it's impossible to edit a book after you add it, though.

• HALF STARS HALF STARS OMG HALF STARS! If you can't tell, their "rating system" has a half stars selection! Yay! (Remember, goodreads doesn't have half stars.)

• Full reviews are displayed on the home page-- no "read more" button!

• They have a daily deals page! They display a lot of discounts and deals from Amazon on this page, which I think it really awesome! (:

• The shelves look very pretty, and I like the "personal blog" feature. I think it's cool that you could start your own "blog" on a book social media site! (You can also add personal links to the sidebar of your "blog"!)

• Exclusive book statuses (you create them, they don't come with booklikes) such as DNF, Re-read or whatever! :D

• They have a yearly reading challenge as well!

• Last, but not least-- if you do decide to switch to booklikes, they have a "publish to goodreads" setting, so each review you publish on booklikes will go to goodreads, for those of you afraid of losing goodreads followers. (:

So honestly, in conclusion, I can say that there are lots more things that I like about BookLikes, but there are many things that I miss about Goodreads. What do you say, folks? Do you have an opinion?