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Launched in May 2008 the developers have been keen to emphasise the social networking aspect of the site, claiming that avid book readers want to buy books based on personal recommendations, rather than bestseller lists.

"You are more likely to buy a book based on a recommendation from another book lover, or by seeing it on a friend's bookcase, than you are because a faceless book merchant puts it on a stand in their shop or a computer-generated algorithm tells you to," said managing director Kieron Smith at the launch of the website in May.

However, despite offering 4.2 million titles and undercutting Amazon on the top 100,000 titles, the bookstore is still looking to carve a name for itself and hopes this promotion helps it put up a challenge to Amazon's dominance.