Is there an IMDB.com type site for books?
 

For movie info, IMDB.com is the "go-to" site
For music info, it's allmusic.com

Is there a site similar to these for books/literature?

I generally use Amazon for information on anything in dead-tree format. The long tail rules!

ironically, even publishing companies use Amazon.com since it's much more robust than any other service out there.

I've been keeping my eyes out for such a site for a quite a while now, but I have to say nothing even approaches Amazon.com in terms of usefulness - it's not perfect, but still very helpful.

As long as you don't rely upon the user reviews too much. I know for a fact that publishers plant lots of those.

But, yes, it's very useful and I've even bought books off it!


Mr Mephisto

Dead-tree format. :lol: I'll have to use that.

Amazon is far from reliable.

It was revealed once upon a time during some kind of system glitch that quite a few authors, or companies that they worked for, wrote reviews (positive, of course) for their own books under Joe Blow type names.

As far as an IMDB type site where you can browse books and get a quick, easy glance at ratings/reviews... I don't think one exists.

That'd be a very good idea though, for a IBDB. I find IMDB to be quite helpful and generally accurate.

One author even admitted doing it: check out Lev Grossman in Salon.com..

Thanks for the responses. Wish there was a site like this that existed out there. Looks like I'll still be using Amazon for book info. As far as reviews, I usually don't even read them at Amazon since they're usually either overly-glowing or overly-negative. I'm not even sure exactly what information could be used to create an "IBDB" site (as Sleepyjack puts it). The basic thing I use Amazon for is to get a listing of books written by a certain author. I'd like to see a site with an easy to read listing of an author's books in chronological order (and maybe with information about each printing; i.e. First Edition published in XXXX year; 2nd printing in XXXX year by Publisher A, etc.). Unfortunately, Amazon still doesn't allow you to sort an author's work in chronological order when searching on an author's name. It just lists them in order of sales popularity. Maybe an author's page on an IBDB site could also lists authors they've collaborated with (i.e. Stephen King's page would list Peter Straub as a collaborator since they wrote The Talisman and Black House together). An author bio with hotlinks embedded in the text that linked to authors they were influenced by or personally knew, etc. would be good too.

Sorry guys, you need a new acronym. That one's already in use. :thumbsup:

http://www.ibdb.com/

and thank you... very useful too!

I figure the positive and negatives just balance each other out. :)

I really would love a place where all the author's books are on one page, because right now it's a mess to find a book. And to organise the list according to date of publish, ratings, genre. And also, a short 1-2 line summary of each title would be great.

Since IBDB is taken, how 'bout ILDb - Internet Literature Database.

I use

http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/

But its just for fantasy books/authors.

Excellent site, Crazy-Eight. ;)

I just found two Dean Koontz books I didn't know about, and ordered a 3-in-1 novel starring Jack Reacher.

Thanks. :thumbsup:

Great site! And it doesn't only have fantasy books/authors. I looked for Pat Conroy and found him and his books aren't fantasy or horror. Listed all his fiction and non-fiction books (and in chronological order, at that) along with cover photos and even listed books he's recommended, all on the same page. This is definitely along the lines of the type of site I was looking for. Thanks!

Cool, thanks for the site Eight. Been looking for a new book to read and this looks like it will help.

There is also http://www.iblist.com/

Thanks. THat looks like a good one too. Even has user ratings like IMDB. Has them for authors and individual books.

I check http://www.metacritic.com/books/ for newer books. It's a great site, but there aren't a lot of people rating books. It is a good place to read professional reviews.

(metacritic has music, films, and games sections too)