Do book recommendation sites work?

Let’s face it, I’m never at a loss for book recommendations. Even if I somehow got through the 1300+ books on my shelves that I haven’t read, there are enough titles that I read about on blogs, hear about on podcasts, and learn about from friends that I am never going to run dry. And yet, nonetheless, I am intrigued by the concept of book recommendation websites. Do they work? Can algorithms understand my tastes?

Well, let’s see.

I’m using the first list of sites that I came across, which is on a site called Life Hack – “10 Best Book Recommendation Sites You Need to Know“. The article isn’t dated but, as we shall see, I think it must be a little bit old. I’ll be trying each of the sites out, and where they require me to add in some books to guess my taste, I’ll be using the three listed below. (I thought it might be mean and unhelpful to pick wildly different things I’ve liked.)

  • Miss Hargreaves by Frank Baker (of course)
  • I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith
  • Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier

Let’s take the recommended recommendation sites one at a time, and see how things go.

GoodReads

This relies on you having put all your books in already. I have a GoodReads account, but I don’t use it, and I have no books listed there. Strike one.

LibraryThing

I do, however, have a LibraryThing account, and have all my books listed there! So I don’t have to put in my test three, because it’s using nearly 3000 books to recommend from. And these are the top five books it tells me I should read:

  • The Winged Horse by Pamela Frankau
  • Enter a Murderer by Ngaio Marsh
  • The Mystery of Three Quarters by Sophie Hannah
  • Company Parade by Storm Jameson
  • Jane and Prudence by Barbara Pym

You can even click on ‘Why?’, next to the recommendation, and it will list all the books that have made them bring up that recommendation. There were 83 reasons why for the Frankau!

These recommendations look really good, and I’ve been meaning to read more Frankau and try Jameson. I’m less sure about the Hannah, but the Marsh and Pym would be great. And they’ve listed 1,999 recommendations for me! (#1999, in case you’re wondering, is A Glastonbury Romance by John Cowper Powys, which is way too long.) You can even remove all authors that you already have books by – then I get 786, from Sophie Hannah to Katherine White.

I’m off to a very strong start with LibraryThing.

What Should I Read Next?

Points for clarity in the name. You can only add one title, it seems, and they didn’t have Miss Hargreaves in their database. I was able to add it via ISBN, but then got this screen:

Ok, let’s try I Capture the Castle instead. Yep, more luck here – and this is the top five:

  • The Pursuit of Love by Nancy Mitford
  • Good Wives by Louisa M. Alcott
  • The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Bronte
  • Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons
  • The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins

Ah. This is where the strength of LibraryThing’s hand becomes clear. Because WhatShouldIReadNext.com can’t tell that I already own all these books, and have read four of them (Good Wives is tbr). On the plus side, I love the Gibbons, Bronte, and Mitford. I really didn’t like The Woman in White, but 3/4 ain’t bad.

I got 14 recommendations in total, and none of them are particularly adventurous or out of the ordinary. The most unusual is probably Ella Minnow Pea by Mark Dunn (which I’ve also read and loved). Oh, wait, except Sarah, Plain and Tall by Patricia MacLachlan and PJ Lynch, which I’ve never heard of, and is tagged ‘frontier and pioneer life’, ‘stepmothers’, ‘mail order brides’…

Bookish

Hmm. The website still exists, but they don’t seem to have any recommendation function any longer. I guess they changed their purpose?

Shelfari

This just plain doesn’t exist. It’s merged with GoodReads.

Amazon

Ok, sure. Now, this will give me some recommendations based on my purchases (the first five are Furrowed Middlebrow publications, four of which I already have) – but, to return to my initial aim, let’s see what they recommend alongside Miss Hargreaves.

Unsurprisingly, since it was a Bloomsbury Group reprint, they’ve picked three others – Henrietta’s War and Henrietta Sees It Through by Joyce Dennys and The Brontes Went to Woolworths by Rachel Ferguson. Equally unsurprisingly, I already have them all.

When I look up I Capture the Castle, I am recommended… two other editions of I Capture the Castle, but also:

  • Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons
  • How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff
  • Looking for JJ by Anne Cassidy

We’ve already covered the Gibbons. I’ve heard the Rosoff recommended glowingly before, but the Cassidy seems a bit of a curve ball. Does I Capture the Castle really scream “would love a book about child murder”?

BookBub

This isn’t an enter-a-title-and-get-a-recommendation site; rather, it’s a newsletter that gears towards cheap books. I took a several-step questionnaire where I said what sort of books I was into. Having done all that, though, they did come up with some suggestions (that made me want to instantly unsubscribe). Here are the first five:

  • 17th Suspect by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro
  • Witchnapped in Westerham by Dionne Lister
  • Murder in the South of France by Susan Kiernan-Lewis
  • Killer Cupcakes by Leighann Dobbs
  • The Time Traveller’s Guide to Medieval England by Ian Mortimer

I wouldn’t dream of reading any of these. The worst one yet.

Olmenta

This one isn’t personalised, it’s just a list of books they think you might like. Though how they’re deciding that when they don’t know anything about me is anyone’s guess. Let’s see what they say under ‘fiction’…

  • Simon vs The Homosapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli
  • Conor by Joseph Edward Denham
  • The Water Knife by Paolo Bacigalupi
  • The Fold by Peter Clines
  • A God in Ruins by Kate Atkinson

I haven’t heard of three of these, so I like that it’s out of the ordinary. But, having clicked on the middle three, I have no wish to read them. Why so many child-killing books out there?? I do want to read more Kate Atkinson, though, so thanks for the reminder. There’s a good mix of genres/periods/authors, and I had to get to the 48th recommendation before I came to a book I’d already read (The Stranger by Albert Camus).

WhichBook

Oo, fun! This one is based on slider scales of emotions and types of content – as below. So I can’t put in my favourite titles, but I can try to match my mood. You can only do four sliders at a time – you can see what I chose in the screenshot.

So, what did it choose? Here are the first five:

  • Scenes from the Life of a Best-Selling Author by Michael Kruger
  • Natural Novel by Georgi Gospodinov
  • Fear and Trembling by Amelie Northomb
  • The Character of Rain by Amelie Northomb
  • Some New Ambush by Carys Davies

It sorts in ‘Best matches’, ‘Good matches’, ‘Fair matches’ etc. I had no ‘Best matches’, and only the first of these was a ‘Good match’, so apparently my combination of requests is unusual. But, onwards – I haven’t heard of any of these authors or books, and I love what an unusual selection it is. I’ve added Natural Novel to my wishlist, and I can see these sliders becoming super addictive.

Riffle

You have to sign up, but you can add categories you like, the book you’re currently reading (Noah’s Ark by Barbara Trapido), and three favourites. There are various other options – find good local bookshops, etc. – but what did it end up recommending?

Well, it does recommendations per book, rather than collectively. Some of these are a little uninspired (all of the recommendations related to Noah’s Ark were other novels by Barbara Trapido), but here’s what it had to suggest for Miss Hargreaves:

  • London Belongs to Me by Norman Collins
  • The Brontes Went to Woolworths by Rachel Ferguson
  • The Story of Classic Crime in 100 Books by Martin Edwards
  • The Box of Delights by John Masefield
  • The Bellwether Revivals by Benjamin Wood

We’ve established that I love Ferguson, and I’ve been happily dipping in and out of the Edwards for a long time. My podcast co-host Rachel loves Norman Collins, so I was pleased to see that come up – and I haven’t heard of the Wood.

Conclusions

As I said, I’m unlikely to need to throw myself on the mercy of book recommendation sites – but it’s been fun to see what options are out there! Of this mixed list, I can certainly see myself exploring the LibraryThing recommendations list more often – but the one I’m most likely to return to is WhichBook. I love the idea of those sliders, and it brought up such intriguing and unusual titles that I’d be very unlikely to come across them otherwise. And it’s easily the most fun!

Let me know if you go delving into any of these sites – I’d love to know what you come up with.

36 thoughts on “Do book recommendation sites work?

  • March 4, 2019 at 8:20 am
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    What a great post! I never knew there were so many recommendation sites. I, too, have 1,000+ books on my shelves, but I couldn’t resist trying one of these. Whichbook gave me very interesting results! Most of the books were unknown to me, but of the 3 I did know about, I’ve read and loved 2, and the third is part of a series but I’m not that far yet. I’ve added 5 books to my List at their site. BTW, there’s another set of sliders for character, plot, and location, but I didn’t try that version. Thank you! So much fun.

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    • March 5, 2019 at 10:21 am
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      Hi Christina. Great to hear that Whichbook delivered interesting results for you – and that you plan to read some of the suggestions. Do try the character, plot, location options too – you maybe surprised by what shows up!
      Best wishes.
      Fiona Edwards
      Online editor – Whichbook

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    • March 7, 2019 at 10:22 am
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      Thanks Christina! Yes, it was a surprise to me – I vaguely knew the concept existed, but had never explored properly before.

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      • March 9, 2019 at 12:42 pm
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        I’m thinking… it will just confuse me to use these. But what a fascinating read!

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  • March 4, 2019 at 9:14 am
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    Wow, I’m impressed by your diligence! That must have taken ages.

    What Should I Read Next looks as if it provides a clue as to how these things work: they probably work well if you read the same kind of books as everyone else and it has nothing to say if you don’t. I use Goodreads, but as a catalogue system, and I have just a small number of friends there whose reviews I read. I have about 5000 books listed, TBR and Read, and the recommendations that bob up there are absurd. They’re not even on topic or on genre. The same goes for Library Thing where I just post my reviews but haven’t done any other activity since GR IMO superseded it for usability. So I don’t think it’s how many books you’ve got but whether you ‘fit’.

    I’ve never seen a recommendation for an Australian or New Zealand author, nor a book in translation, and these sites’ idea of what qualifies as literary fiction is a joke. And even when I’ve joined groups such as the one reading 1001 Books, and a Classics one, I’ve given up voting in the polls because they always vote for the ones I’ve already read, and never for the ones I haven’t.

    So for me, it’s the recommendations that come from my trusted network of bloggers that add to my TBR:)

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    • March 5, 2019 at 10:30 am
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      Hi Lisa
      I hope you will give Whichbook a go. You can choose by location so you can opt for both Australia and New Zealand for your selection criteria. We prioritise less mainstream literary fiction and poetry – and include a good number of novels in translation. We are open to suggestions for new titles to consider too.
      Best wishes.
      Fiona Edwards
      Online editor – Whichbook

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    • March 7, 2019 at 10:51 am
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      It did quite a while, but it was fun! Though the time is why I didn’t include many pictures…

      I definitely fit into the Virago Modern Classics side of LibraryThing, and that’s where the best of the recommendations seem to come from. But I suppose most people using these sites aren’t people like us, who have endless recommendations to choose from already! But I did get many translated options from my playing with WhichBook, so I think they’re rather more interesting than some sites.

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  • March 4, 2019 at 9:38 am
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    Fascinating! I just looked at my LibraryThing ones and oddly there are some I already own, but this is pretty good:
    The Ladies of Lyndon by Margaret Kennedy
    Cullum by E. Arnot Robertson
    The Fortnight in September by R. C. Sherriff
    Together and Apart by Margaret Kennedy
    Company Parade by Storm Jameson
    Saraband by Eliot Bliss
    Good Evening Mrs. Craven: The Wartime Stories of Mollie Panter-Downes by Mollie Panter-Downes
    Invitation to the Waltz by Rosamond Lehmann
    Quartet in Autumn by Barbara Pym
    The Children of Green Knowe by L. M. Boston

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    • March 7, 2019 at 10:52 am
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      We should clearly read Company Parade!! I’ve read Cullum, Fortnight, Together, and Invitation and loved the first two and last. I find Kennedy a bit of a struggle sometimes. Fortnight in September is truly lovely.

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  • March 4, 2019 at 10:26 am
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    How interesting. I have used one or the other of those, just for fun since I don’t need more recommendations, either, I get them from friends and sites like yours.

    But I will try to “consult” some of them after I’ve come up with a list of books I like, my first one always is “The Children’s War” by J.N. Stroyar since that’s also not widely know.

    Thanks for the post.

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    • March 7, 2019 at 11:01 am
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      It’s always good to have a less-common choice to kick these things off! I definitely haven’t heard of that one.

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      • March 7, 2019 at 1:19 pm
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        My favourite book ever. I have recommended it to so many people and those who were brave enought to tackle this more than chunky book all loved it.

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  • March 4, 2019 at 10:48 am
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    This is fascinating, I’d no idea there were so many possible places to keep track of my reading. Great post.

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    • March 7, 2019 at 11:01 am
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      Thanks Cath!

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  • March 4, 2019 at 3:31 pm
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    Fun! I do love the LibraryThing recommendations for their accuracy but have also lost many hours scrolling through Amazon’s recommendations with great pleasure.

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    • March 7, 2019 at 11:02 am
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      My Amazon recommendations also included ‘Crafting with cat hair’, so I have lost some of my respect for it…

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  • March 4, 2019 at 4:00 pm
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    Great research Simon! I think I’ve tried What Should I Read Next once but wasn’t enthused. I tend to have an ongoing list, plus rely on any weirdness Amazon shoves my way. Like you, I have a ginormous tbr, so it’s not likely to be a problem… ;D

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    • March 7, 2019 at 12:39 pm
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      I’ve added a few to the endless wishlist! I tend to use my phone notepad and Amazon wishlist to track anything people recommend.

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  • March 4, 2019 at 4:19 pm
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    You’ve been having fun! I’ve been a LIbrarything fan for years and years, but haven’t used the recommendation feature as my TBR is just soooo big.

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    • March 7, 2019 at 12:41 pm
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      I know, if anything I should have steered clear rather than increase the problem!!

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  • March 4, 2019 at 4:39 pm
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    This is a really fascinating post. I do use Goodreads but not tried the recommendations there. I do however use the LT recommendations or at least look at them. I tend to ignore the Amazon ones completely and have never tried the others. I think LT benefits as you say, from having the data of all the books you own on it already. The Winged Horse by Frankau is excellent, I enjoyed Company Parade but I remember it as a bit of a slow read.

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    • March 7, 2019 at 12:42 pm
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      Thanks Ali! I remember you enjoying The Winged Horse, and I really must read more Frankau. I’ve never seen here non-VMC in bookshops, which does make me wonder how scarce the rest is.

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  • March 4, 2019 at 9:29 pm
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    Another alternative, this time for non-personalised recommendations based on a topic or genre is Five Books. They post weekly interviews recommending a set number of titles (the clue to how many is in the name) and they also now feature user suggested lists. Find it at https://fivebooks.com/

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    • March 7, 2019 at 12:47 pm
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      Really interesting, thanks David!

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  • March 5, 2019 at 12:34 am
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    Great post! I loved following along in your adventures.
    I love the idea of a biblioracle, but I think such person or algorithm has to be fairly well acquainted with the reader’s tastes (not just what they have or have not read) which can be pretty difficult to pin down.
    I do have a goodreads account with all the books I’ve ever read and I don’t think personally that their algorithm does a very good job. It is always recommending me something off the wall like “you may like Silence of the Lambs since you enjoyed Little House on the Prairie”.

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    • March 7, 2019 at 12:51 pm
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      Thanks Ruthiella! Interesting that the GoodReads algorithm is so flawed – the LibraryThing one was impressive, though I don’t know who they sort out their order (and it’s so massive that the order definitely matters!)

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  • March 5, 2019 at 12:52 am
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    Oh wow, this has been a true public service, my friend. I didn’t even know LibraryThing had a recommendation system, but I have to try it out, and I obviously love the idea of using a slider to choose books by mood. Fun!

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    • March 5, 2019 at 10:35 am
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      Hi Jenny
      Do try out the Whichbook mood sliders – they are a great way to match your reading tastes with an introduction to some new books. Do let us know how you get on. You can follow us – and contact us via Twitter @whichbooktoread.
      Best wishes.
      Fiona Edwards
      Online editor – Whichbook

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    • March 7, 2019 at 12:53 pm
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      Thanks Jenny :D Aren’t the sliders great? I have spent quite a lot of this week playing with them.

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  • March 7, 2019 at 2:20 am
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    Ooooh, what a fun experiment! It sure did throw up some variety for you, even though you deliberately chose books that weren’t wildly different for your foundation. This was a great read, thank you!

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    • March 7, 2019 at 10:20 am
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      Thanks Sheree! It was really fun to explore :)

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  • March 12, 2019 at 3:30 pm
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    Such a great post – I really enjoyed reading this. About once a year I actually pay attention to a recommendation on Amazon – and will be eternally grateful that they once put Robert Irwin my way – but have never tried any other service. Much as I loved reading about it, I doubt I’ll be trying them soon…

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    • March 14, 2019 at 4:43 pm
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      Thanks Moira!!

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  • March 14, 2019 at 1:57 pm
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    Great post. I always find the “people who bought/looked at this also bought/looked at that” fun – mostly I either already have it, or have no interest, but then I am limited edition.

    Although I have no need of any recommendations (far too many books in my house waiting to be read, let alone all the ones mentioned in blogs/by friends) I can see me spending a lot of time playing with Whichbook – it’s such fun.

    I gave What Should I Read Next – not so good. I put in a period murder mystery, and 4 of the first 10 titles were science fiction (which is probably the genre I am least likely to read. Apart from westerns)

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    • March 14, 2019 at 3:29 pm
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      Hi Rhian. Thank you for your postive comments about Whichbook. Please do keep experimenting. Best wishes.
      Fiona Edwards
      Whichbook – online editor

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    • March 14, 2019 at 4:44 pm
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      Thanks Rhian! Yes, none of us really need these recommendations, but such fun to add more things to the list. And how bizarre about the sci-fi! I wonder what their algorithm is there.

      Reply

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