I have seen… Amazon creep into library lending with Kindle ebook availability. The convenience of getting the format balanced by the understanding that Amazon knows your library history - at least your digital one. The courtesy reminders that your ebook is coming due accompanied by the ability to “buy it to continue reading.” Above all, Amazon is a business, and they do it quite successfully, if not without questions and concerns. I fully expect to see this same creep into Goodreads. One of these days one of the Amazon emails will state: “You listed X in your Goodreads profile; would you like to read Y?” That may be my tipping point. Until then, I am using the Goodreads export feature to update my LibraryThing account. So, come find me in both places, for now. Is all of this affecting how you are handling your Goodreads, LibraryThing or other online book account?

— Books, Yarn, Ink and Other Pursuits: Amazon, Goodreads, LibraryThing

Amazon buys Goodreads — and then goes totally hip | Washington Post

I don’t know if words can adequately express how much I love and admire Ron Charles, one of my all-time book review heroes.

From that perspective, moving away from Amazon may have been the best way to ensure a buyout by Amazon.

— From A Goodreads Spoiled: All Your Books are Belong to Amazon. (via patrondebris)

One other distinction that seems to have cropped up as these cultures collide is where authors and publishers fit in. Goodreads tolerates a lot of marketing and is much more attractive to publishers, authors, and…well, Amazon.

LibraryThing has a welcome mat for authors and publishers, but there are distinct social boundaries that the community has set beyond which marketing and promotion is unwelcome. The terms of service states clearly, “Do not use LibraryThing as an advertising medium. Egregious commercial solicitation is forbidden. No matter how great your novel, this does apply to authors.”

— Librarian Barbara Fister holding forth on the differences between Goodreads and LibraryThing. If you’re entertaining jumping ship in the wake of the news about Amazon buying Goodreads, I recommend digesting her fine articulation. (via cloudunbound)

Neither of them is very confident, however, about Goodreads’ future. “I’m a very faithful user!” Mickelsen explained, but “I don’t trust Amazon’s business practices.” Shea worries that it will be “difficult to discern what recommendations come from [Goodreads’] algorithm and what have been paid for.” Leah White, reader services librarian from Northbrook P.L. in Illinois said, “I worry about the consolidation of reading resources on the internet—Amazon now owns Shelfari, Audible, and Goodreads” as well being the biggest retailer of books on the internet. “This lack of diversity scares me.

— Will Librarians Still Use Goodreads? by your LJ tumblrer, in which collection development and readers’ advisory mavens Erin Shea, Leah White, Anna Mickelsen, and Robin Bradford discuss Amazon’s recent purchase.

cloudunbound:

In the event that you don’t think that Amazon is in the habit of acquiring businesses, a chart dating to 2009 via Ebook Friendly. As EF points out, for a full history, sans the Goodreads buy, go here.

I haven’t heard of at least 70 percent of these companies.

The move also adds to the sense that Amazon is slowly buying up much of the book world. Over some 15 years, the company has bought AbeBooks.com, Audible.com, Brilliance Audio, the Book Depository, Shelfari, BookFinder.com, Lexcycle, BookSurge, CreateSpace, Mobipocket.com and (through AbeBooks) 40% of Library Thing.

— 

Amazon Buying Goodreads: Industry Reactions - Shelf Awareness

Pretty impressive list of ownership by Amazon. And by impressive, I mean “thoughtfully frightening sometimes”.

(via booksyarnink)

When Amazon Acquires Goodreads

emilygould:

brooklynbookgirl:

All the feels…

literally me

Loki = me.

Goodreads is joining the Amazon family →

booksyarnink:

Holy crap.

HOLY CRAP IS RIGHT

Spreading the flowchart love.