I have been playing around with widgets today trying to find the perfect a suitable library-type widget for displaying current and past reads. I found the Now Reading widget and it seemed great. It was simple, didn't require me to sign up to a website (Shelfari, anyone?) nor did it provide me with intrusive graphics (Shelfari, again). Unfortunately I've discovered that Now Reading is so simple that it is difficult to manage.

So far I have added my novels by authors A to B. That's a measly 50-something novels*, for your information. Now Reading requires me to first add books, then click on a different tab, then decide whether it is "on hold", "currently reading" or "finished" then I can go back to initial page where the book has already been sorted according to its status - and I start the process again. It is clumsy and not entirely intuitive. I'm not too sure about the status updates either as I have a tendency to dip in and out of books (what do you mean that I'm the only one to use most of my books as reference?!). Finally, I wanted a straightforward "to be read" option which I cannot seem to find.

Any book/library widgets you can recommend?

* yes, I still mourn the passing of my old book collection. I had to part with 7/8ths of my collection when I moved from Denmark to Scotland. The loss pains me daily and I keep finding glaring omissions in my collection. Plus I am sure I have a particular book but then I realise that I used to have it. It's no fun at all.