Amazon's recommendation system is too good

Amazon makes it too easy to reliably find -- and purchase -- good books.

The histogram of star-ratings, the user reviews, the cross-referencing with other books bought by people who bought a particular item, and what people ended up buying who looked at all make it easy to track down top books in any given area. Not to mention the access to second-hand books, especially for out-of-print items.

Coupled with the recent strength of the Aussie dollar and the exorbitant cost of purchasing locally, Amazon has proved a recent drain on my finances and a burden to my bookshelves.

So I am resolved: I am not ordering any more books from Amazon for the rest of 2008.