The Official Thread: Please tell us what you think...

[N C]

Great idea/ great interface. Once you have some manpower start increasing the ammount of books you have listed.... it would be better to search rather than a dropdown menu. from pop sci

[Kenneth Miller]

I like it so far.  I read about it in the September issue of Popular Science and decided to check it out.  I told a few other people about it too.

[Daniel Bowen]

Wow, good to hear!  Sept. 08 or 09?  I wasn't aware that we had been mentioned.  I'd like to check it out.

Thanks for coming by though out Kenneth.  SOO much is going on here at BookLamp!  The challenge of measuring literature is a very exciting one, and each day is more and more revealing!

Keep in touch,
Dan

[A S]

I just signed up.  If you can find a library database with a wider selection of books this site would be great for educators like myself.  It is a great way to give personalized book suggestions to students.  As an avid reader, this site is great to let me know what to pick up next.  The book store can be overwhelming and reviews don't tell you if it's your kind of book or not.  Please go forward with this project.  I plan on recommending this site to my fellow educators and book club buddies.

[Chris Wilson]

I am a new member and I varry much agree. I cant find the style book I like.

[Mandi Taylor]

Sept. 08 or 09?  I wasn't aware that we had been mentioned.  I'd like to check it out.

Must be '09 - there are about five other people who have mentioned it!  What have you done recently to attract their attention?  Not that they shouldn't mention you guys, but why now?  It's a bit odd...

[Aaron Bubnick]

Neat idea.

I think you guys should talk to some online book companies next.  Barnes & Nobel, Half-Price Books, Amazon (who bases recommendations off of what others purchased and not book similarities).

I don't see this site making it as a go-it-alone pay service.  But if you integrate with other web vendors, I think you have a home run!

[Colin Johnson]

I also saw this in pop sci, it's on page 75 of the October 2009 issue, I like the concept, but there is a need for more variety in the books, and the drop down menu is off-putting

i hope to see this grow and become a useful service, as it is now it's a novelty

[Daniel Bowen]

Colin,

Of course 179 books is entirely too small a database for regular use.  The demonstration is just that, a demonstration.  It's about 1.5 years old now, and we've come quite a ways since then.

Thanks for the interest, and keep in touch.

[Jeff Crager]

I read about booklamp in popular science magazine and decided to come and check it out.
I am really impressed, i can't wait for this to become a fully usable application and i will be telling my friends to come here and check it out.
I would love to see this become open source but i get this feeling that this program would get the attention of google if it got off the ground.
keep up the good work

[Becky Anderson]

Unless this site is enlarged to include books in other genres besides sci-fi, I will have no interest. 

What are your plans for genres?

[Daniel Bowen]

No need to worry Becky, genre is very important to us too.  The sample of sci-fi books available for search in the demonstration is what was practically available at the time (1.5yrs ago).

I think you will find the Reader's Project very interesting when it launches.  Genre is something that all readers use to find books, and we don't plan to leave that out.

Keep in touch,
Dan

[Mark Buchanan]

I also saw your site in Popular Science.  I think it is a great idea.  I read a lot but each time I finish a book I struggle to find the next book.  I like a lot of different kinds of books, but there are only a small number of authors that I like every time they write.  No matter the subject or author I want a book that is "well written".  I don't know everything that defines "well written" but well developed or believable characters would be one.  So, anything you can do to identify stuff like this would be great.

[Daniel Bowen]

Mark,

You might say that "well-written" is a relative to each reader.  That's the sort of personalization that we are striving for.  About characters, we understand that need and have been developing methods for just that sort of measurement.

You brought up one of the biggest issues for book recommendation.  Readers will read everything from a certain author, and have only a limited set of options after that.  Considering the sheer number of books that are published each year, you'd think (at least) a few other authors have styles analogous to your favorites - and we have certainly found this to be the case.  So there's a whole world of books out there that readers don't really have access to due to a lack of information.  We are building a road to that (previously) inaccessible world of books that we know you will enjoy, but just have no reasonable access to - precisely because of the current, subjective state of book recommendation.  Our road is based on objectivity.

I can't wait for readers to see what we've been working on.

Keep in touch,
Dan

[Debra Myers]

Probably like everyone else here, I read a lot, and I buy a lot of books.  It would be wonderful, and a way for online booksellers to make a lot of money, if there were a reliable way to find similar books. 
I don't have any wonderful suggestions, but I would use the service if it was available.