BookRabbit has finally bounced back!

BookRabbit finally relaunched just a few days ago. It is a social networking site for book lovers just like Shelfari, Goodreads and LibraryThing. They seem to have redesigned the site to compete with the big three. And I must say, it looks poised to join them in the fight to become the best social network for book addicts.

So what makes BookRabbit unique? You’ll be surprised to see that even if there are already 3 big names in book websites, there’s still a lot to be done to before we reach that social networking nirvana of book lovers. So let me highlight a few things I liked about the new kid on the block.

The book website with the cleanest and simplest look

BookRabbit’s simple interface is a huge breath of fresh air to me. I like that it doesn’t overload me with too much information (unlike LibraryThing does.) Shelfari’s design is very attractive however there are times when I wish it wasn’t too heavy on the graphics. Right now, only Goodreads and BookRabbit has that balance of site usability and design.

Very clean and so purplish!

Probably the coolest way to add and share books!

Anyone who has tried these book sites know that the most daunting task of all is adding all your books to your profile. You can still add your books individually but BookRabbit also lets you upload pictures of your bookshelf so you can “tag” your books right in the site. I don’t really have “a bookshelf” right now (because our home is currently being reconstructed) so I just took a picture of one pile.

It didn’t feel fun at first: drawing rectangles, searching the catalog, finding a match through pages and pages of results. But eventually I realized how this was a more exciting way of adding books to your profile. So far, Shelfari has been the best in capturing that bookshelf feeling with its gorgeous interface. But BookRabbit’s approach captured the social feeling the best. (Albeit, they don’t have a social group feature yet.) You get bookshelf matches based on what you have on your own shelf while seeing other people’s REAL bookshelves! You no longer have to be tied to seeing the same old book covers when viewing other readers’ profiles.

Showing off your shelf... with class.

However, loading the bookshelves themselves can sometimes be slow. Usually, the “outline” covers the book’s spine in huge bookshelves. When that happens, then there’s not much left to see at all except for the cyan-colored rectangles. It would be nice if they just appeared when you hover over the book. Thankfully, a table listing the books is included so you don’t always need to wait for the shelf to load.

Embed your blog, upload video reviews and more…

You can embed your blog’s posts right in your profile. It would be cool if the post tags are recognized here so you can look for related blog posts by other members of the site.

Get more blog readers

Each book detail page has a link for you to add your own video review for that book. Currently, only YouTube videos are supported. Also, a calendar is available which could prove really useful as more data is added to it.

All the above features have the potential to make BookRabbit a viable alternative to the other popular book sites.

Too secure for its own good?

Sorry for the geek rant but this site is riddled with CAPTCHA! I swear, I won’t be looking forward to adding my bookshelf there if I have to decipher another cryptic code. It’s just way too much. I thought the whole point of registration is to prove that I’m not a robot. Guess that’s not enough for them? I do appreciate their concern on security though unlike one other book website. That other site, and I have good reason to believe, is saving account passwords in plain text (unencrypted) on their database!

Not again!

So, what now?

Obviously, this isn’t really an exhaustive review of BookRabbit since improvements can be expected in the next few weeks. For one, the search feature in the bookshelf tagging part is too cumbersome to use. But I’m still glad to see a new player in the field. Competition is good. But as it stands, none of these book sites meet all of my requirements so I’m finding myself using ALL of them. And that is just a huge chore when I’d rather spend my precious time…you know? Reading!

As with all social sites, you’d need to have people to connect with first because that’s the point of joining these things in the first place. When BookRabbit gains more traction in the book readers circle, then we’ll talk. And I have a good feeling that it won’t take too long for that time to come.

Visit BookRabbit.com