random curiosity

[ratcreature]

Do book recommendation algorithms ever work for anyone? I mean, I've rated almost all the books I bought on Amazon in an attempt to see if this improves things, yet rarely seem the recs tempting or helpful. For one thing it insists on reccing me the n-th parts of series instead of the first, despite me not having bought the earlier ones. I'm not really interested in reading even the first of the The Wheel of Time series, let alone the 13th part, which Amazon apparently recced me due to having bought The Kingdom of Gods. Similarly I've now entered and rated quite a number of books on Goodreads, yet their recs are not all that helpful either. Admittedly sometimes books crop up that look interesting or some that I've read and liked (and just not entered), so they are not always completely wrong, but I have yet to really feel compelled to read a book from their list next. Well, at least Goodreads thinks I would like to read the first part of The Wheel of Time series (because I added LOTR) not the 13th.

Poll #8357 do book rec alghorithms work for you?

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 24

View Respondents

Are the automated book rec algorithms on commercial or social book sites helpful for you?

View Answers

Yes, I frequently find new books to read, that I then like, through them.
0 (0.0%)

Yes, I've found good books more than once.
3 (12.5%)

Not really. Sometimes potentially interesting books may crop up, but they get lots in many meh or WTF? suggestions.
12 (50.0%)

Not really. The interesting books that come up are mostly ones I've already read or heard from so there is little added value.
5 (20.8%)

No, the suggestions never really fit.
3 (12.5%)

I don't try to find interesting books this way in the first place.
1 (4.2%)

I don't collaborate in getting data mined like this, and do not feed them my reading choices.
0 (0.0%)