flight paths discussion

I think the first step in making our Bookshelf a good reference is to have a look at what is there and sort them.

Could everyone please go to the Bookshelf (link at the top right), sort the books by "Added By" (click on Added By), and have a look at any books with your name beside them?
1. Would you like to keep the book on the shelf?
2. If so, is it on a Shelf (listed on the left)? Place it on a shelf if it isn't already. If a shelf to fit it's theme does not exist, we'll add one.
3. If so, does it have a rating? Rate the book or update the rating.

Thanks!

Here are our current bookshelves. I will add what I think is the definition of the theme. Magdelanye, please correct me if I'm mistaken and I'll update this post.
We can delete or add bookshelves as the clean up progresses.

Our Bookshelves:

Addiction - the book centers around addiction of some sort. I think this would be a medically defined addiction (drugs, sex) and not an obsession (reading 10 hours a day, for example)

Authors - ? Not sure since all books have an author

Childhood Favorites - books we loved as children

Creativity - Hobbies, Home Improvement

Dying - Death is a major theme

French Authors - authors from France.

Growing Older - nonfiction about aging

Healing Arts - Self Help

Insomnia - how to get a good night's rest

Inspiring - theology, self improvement

Laughable - humorous

Plays - drama plays

Poetry - poetry books

Short Stories - short stories

Simple Living - simplifying Life

Sleepers - Yawn!

Stars 1 to 7 - ratings from Yucky to Brilliant

Steampunk - genre of science fiction that has a historical setting and typically features steam-powered machinery rather than advanced technology.

The Russians - Russian Lit

Thoreauvian - navel gazing, slow moving novel

Wedge - ?

sorry I could not get back to the group until now. Yesterday volunteering for Pender Harbour Days.

I did have a couple of ideas and I am thrilled to be able to put them here. Actually, in browsing, its not as disastrous as it appears. When you click on a book it does indicate the shelf.
I am going to try what you suggest (eek, a lot of the entries are mine)

In fact, I will put out my silly idea with the thought that it isnt necessary. But I did think we could get around some difficulties by creating a new user, which would be our library.

okay okay
Im going to try out some clicking

I would like to suggest that:

1. we eliminate/delete "Authors", "French Authors", "Sleepers", "The Russians" and maybe "Wedge" (depending on what that shelf is for.

2. Move the books "Insomnia" to "Healing Arts" and eliminate "Insomnia"

3. Change the name of "Laughable" as it could be read as "why bother?"

well I clicked where you said to click for the first book that came up....it only took me to my own profile. If you click on the title it appears....with my review. If you hit edit there is the possibility for discussion. If you hit the shelf dying you get all the books shelved there.
I notice there is another message from you above this

uthors - ? Not sure since all books have an author THE IDEA HERE HERE WAS TO POST AUTHORS WE RECOMMEND WITH A SUGGESTION OF THE BEST INTRO TO THEIR WORK

Childhood Favorites - books we loved as children

Creativity - Hobbies, Home Improvement BOOKS ON ART AND ARTISTS ABOUT EXPRESSING AND NOURISHING CREATIVITY

Dying - Death is a major theme MAYBE A BETTER NAME

ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERNS

GARDENING PERMACULTURE

French Authors - authors from France. NOT ONLY BUT ALSO BOOKS WRITTEN IN FRENCH AND TRANSLATED
ACTUALLY MAYBE A SHELF FOR TRANSLATION COULD BE MORE INCLUSIVE

Growing Older - nonfiction about aging WHY JUST NON FICTION?

Healing Arts - Self Help MASSAGE AROMATHERAPY DANCE
MINDFULLNESS MEDITATION

INDIGENOUS. (POINT OF VIEW) FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD

Insomnia - how to get a good night's rest SLEEP TECHNIQUES
AND BOOKS TO PUT YOU TO SLEEP

Inspiring - theology, self improvement BOOKS BY AND ABOUT EXCEPTIONAL PEOPLE, SURVIVORS, SPIRITUAL TEACHINGS
TRAVELLERS ACCOUNTS
Laughable - humorous i AM FOND OF LAUGHABLE BUT WONT FIGHT ABOUT IT

Plays - drama plays

Poetry - poetry books

Short Stories - short stories

Simple Living - simplifying Life DONT REMEMBER THIS.

Sleepers - Yawn! WE DONT REALLY HAVE SLEEPERS ON OUR SHELVES

Stars 1 to 7 - ratings from Yucky to Brilliant SHOULD BE POSTED ABOVE AND SEPARATE FROM REGULAR SHELVES

Steampunk - genre of science fiction that has a historical setting and typically features steam-powered machinery rather than advanced technology. PERHAPS COULD BE SUBSUMED UNDER HISTORICAL FICTION

The Russians - Russian Lit SEE FRENCH

Thoreauvian - navel gazing, slow moving novel LOL IS THIS YOUR SUGGESTION.? COULD BE UNDER INSOMNIA

WAR TORN

Wedge - ? a WEDGE BOOK IS A DELIGHTFUL BREAK FROM BOOKS THAT HAVE BEEN OVERWHELMING. SHO RT AND REFRESHING. COULD BE COLLECTIONS OF SOMESORT, OVERLAPPING WITH INSPIRATIONAL, BUT SHORTER, AND LAUGHABLE, BUT NOT NECESSARILY.

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Magdelanye wrote: "well I clicked where you said to click for the first book that came up....it only took me to my own profile. If you click on the title it appears....with my review. If you hit edit there is the pos..."

Magdelanye, after the books are sorted by "Added By", you should be able to scroll down to your name and ALL the books you added will be listed.
At that point, there's no need for more clicking.
Scroll through your books and ensure that they are shelved correctly. You can see the shelves the books are on under "Shelves".
You can add/delete the "shelves" by clicking on EDIT (right hand side). A window will pop up.
At the top it says "shelves" & lists the shelves the book is on. Under that is "Choose Shelves". Click on this and all of our shelves will be listed in the window.
The selected shelves for that book have a tick mark in the box. Click/Unclick the appropriate shelves to shelf the book correctly.

Each book should have:
1. at least one theme shelf
2. one rating

Re: Authors shelf

Magdelanye added:
Authors - THE IDEA HERE HERE WAS TO POST AUTHORS WE RECOMMEND WITH A SUGGESTION OF THE BEST INTRO TO THEIR WORK

If we still want a shelf for this, how about renaming "Authors" to "Where to Start"?

Once we get the shelves sorted and explained, we'll find a place to put the explanations for ourselves and future members. Right now, we're just clarifying so that we all understand.

shit Petra...I edited the whole list in caps but :something went wring:

I will get back to this soon.
Maybe it was too much

at least the list is there for commentary
maybe I will tru one at a time

WELL i WENT BACK AND ITS NOT AS EXTENSIVE BUT i RECREATED MY RESPONSE

Petra wrote: "Magdelanye wrote: "well I clicked where you said to click for the first book that came up....it only took me to my own profile. If you click on the title it appears....with my review. If you hit ed..."


OH! ( sheepishly admits did not click on tight place)
i see what needs to be done and I see the shelves melissa added
thanks Petra for getting this going.

Updated:


Authors - THE IDEA HERE HERE WAS TO POST AUTHORS WE RECOMMEND WITH A SUGGESTION OF THE BEST INTRO TO THEIR WORK
(New Name possibility: Where To Start)

Childhood Favorites - books we loved as children

Creativity - BOOKS ON ART AND ARTISTS ABOUT EXPRESSING AND NOURISHING CREATIVITY

Dying - Death is a major theme MAYBE A BETTER NAME
(New Name possibility: Death)

ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERNS
(New shelf?)

GARDENING PERMACULTURE
(New shelf?)

French Authors - BOOKS WRITTEN IN FRENCH AND TRANSLATED. ACTUALLY MAYBE A SHELF FOR TRANSLATION COULD BE MORE INCLUSIVE
(New Name: Translations)

Growing Older - about aging

Healing Arts - Self Help MASSAGE AROMATHERAPY DANCE
MINDFULLNESS MEDITATION
(New Name possibility: Relaxation

INDIGENOUS. (POINT OF VIEW) FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD
(New shelf?)

Insomnia - how to get a good night's rest SLEEP TECHNIQUES
AND BOOKS TO PUT YOU TO SLEEP
(Could this be added to Healing Arts/Relaxation shelf? There aren't many books on sleep techniques and relaxation is required)

Inspiring - BOOKS BY AND ABOUT EXCEPTIONAL PEOPLE, SURVIVORS, SPIRITUAL TEACHINGS, TRAVELLERS ACCOUNTS
(New Name possibility: Inspiring Journeys)

Laughable - humorous i AM FOND OF LAUGHABLE BUT WONT FIGHT ABOUT IT
(Magdelanye, how about LAUGHTER or LAUGHING? We need more input from others. If LAUGHABLE is easily understood as humorous, it stays)

Plays - drama plays

Poetry - poetry books

Short Stories - short stories

Simple Living - simplifying Life DONT REMEMBER THIS.
(Then let's delete this shelf)

Sleepers - Yawn! WE DONT REALLY HAVE SLEEPERS ON OUR SHELVES
(Then let's delete this shelf)

Stars 1 to 7 - ratings from Yucky to Brilliant SHOULD BE POSTED ABOVE AND SEPARATE FROM REGULAR SHELVES
(I don't know what you mean. They would remain as they are. I don't think a shelf can be separated from the shelves?)

Steampunk - genre of science fiction that has a historical setting and typically features steam-powered machinery rather than advanced technology. PERHAPS COULD BE SUBSUMED UNDER HISTORICAL FICTION
(New Name possibilities: Historical Fiction OR Looking Back In Time. This last possibility could include nonfiction, too))

The Russians - Russian Lit SEE FRENCH
(Delete. Move books to new Translated shelf)

Thoreauvian - navel gazing, slow moving novel LOL IS THIS YOUR SUGGESTION.? COULD BE UNDER INSOMNIA
(No. This is my interpretation of the shelf name. It's what I think of when Thoreau is mentioned. That's his methodology: slow, intent, navel-gazing, insightful. Books on this shelf would be wonderfully inflective of Life, the Self, etc)

WAR TORN
(New Shelf? Do you mean War books?)

Wedge - a WEDGE BOOK IS A DELIGHTFUL BREAK FROM BOOKS THAT HAVE BEEN OVERWHELMING. SHO RT AND REFRESHING. COULD BE COLLECTIONS OF SOMESORT, OVERLAPPING WITH INSPIRATIONAL, BUT SHORTER, AND LAUGHABLE, BUT NOT NECESSARILY.
(?? We already have Short Stories, Laughable and Inspirational. Couldn't these shelves be used to find these books? Isn't this a duplicate shelf, in those terms?)

If everyone who has an idea or preference could please speak up. These shelves are for each of us, so the names should be intuitive.

Magdelanye has given us the original intent of each of the shelves (in caps). Things to ponder:
1. Does the original shelf name reflect the original intent? If so, we leave it.
2. If the original shelf name does not reflect the original intent, what would be an intuitive new name for the shelf?

For what it's worth, here are my suggestions:

addictions
authors: I like this one since it indicates a writer whose works are
generally good and whom the contributor thinks is safe
to try anything.
autobiographies/biographies/memoirs
creativity: art/writing/music
dying
family
growing-older: this is a topic I'm particularly interested in
healing-arts
inspiring
non-fiction (education, how-to, literary criticism, political,
generally informational text)
plays
poetry
Russian Authors: I would like to see this one stay
spiritual (might overlap with inspirational although not all books in
this category are all that inspirational; many are just very
interesting and informative or helpful as with
meditation)
short-stories


1 star-awful; really wish I hadn't started, DNF
2 stars-not my taste, some redeemable aspects
3 stars-entertaining, just not great literature
4 stars-very good, with some flaws
5 stars-excellent
6 stars-outstanding; truly great literature

Just some ideas.

I left out "laughable". I would just say funny. When I first read this topic I thought it meant something to be laughed at--and not in a good way.

Updated Shelf Suggestions:

Addictions

Recommended Authors

Childhood Favorites

Creativity

Death & Dying

Environmental (NEW SHELF)

Gardening (NEW SHELF)

Translations

Growing Older

Healing & Relaxation

Indigenous (NEW SHELF)

Inspiring

Funny

Plays

Poetry

Short Stories

Stars 1 Yucky
Stars 2 Bleh
Stars 3 Meh
Stars 4 Good Enough
Stars 5 Very Good
Stars 6 Wonderful
Stars 7 Brilliant

Historical

The Russians

Theological

Biography & Memoir

NonFiction

I've updated our shelf list above.

Remember that we can always add a shelf as we need to. It's better (I think) to have shelves with books on them, rather than shelves with 0 books on them.
That's only my opinion but I don't really like clutter and an empty shelf seems like clutter to me. I'm not tied to the idea so whatever works for the group is fine with me.

The above list is a good start, I think. It covers a lot of topics.

Something to look for as you read the list of shelves:

Are the shelf names self-explanatory? It's important (I think) that one understands the shelf's intent by the name when one is looking for a book recommendation.

I like your list of shelves. And, as you say, we can add more if needed.

I still think 8 stars is too many--"meh" and "bleh" seem too similar to me. But--small quibble.

Thanks so much for doing this Petra.

I rather agree, Ellie, especially since Yucky, Meh and Bleh currently have 0 books and I don't personally think I'd put any books on the bookshelf with those ratings. However, as group shelves, there may be a need for these someday. We'll play it by ear.

Magdelanye, is there a history for the Star ratings shelves and these low rating shelves?

Magdelanye, I don't see where or how I can add new shelves.
Can you please add these shelves to the Bookshelf?
Thanks!


Environmental (NEW SHELF)

Gardening (NEW SHELF)

Indigenous (NEW SHELF)

Theological (NEW SHELF)

Biography & Memoir (NEW SHELF)

NonFiction (NEW SHELF)

Magdelanye, I've left the Wedge shelf as is.
I know what you mean by a book to read between heavy reads. But since such a book can be funny, inspiring, short, relaxing or almost anything else, I can't think of a more obvious name for it.
It would be nice to have this shelf but with a more obvious name. I'll keep my thinking cap on and put any ideas here.

Petra...if I can figure it out.
there is a big difference between meh and bah. the former connotates indifference, perhaps a slight waste of time BAH connotates displeasure like its crappy, sorry I wasted my time

I left the Ratings shelves as is. There may not be a big difference but even a slight difference may make our reading choices easier or clearer.

Steampunk shelf has become Historical for either non-fiction or fiction historical books.
The 2 books on the shelf are Science Fiction.

Can we also add a Science Fiction shelf to the Bookshelf, please?

It's very odd but I cannot see how a new shelf can be added, even in the groups where I moderate. I'll keep searching. There must be a way.

I found it.....but we need to add a book to the bookshelf in order to be able to add a shelf.

Does anyone have a recommendation for any of these shelves? Add them below and I'll get these shelves up and running.
If we don't have a book now, we can add the shelf at another time when we do


Environmental

Gardening

Biography & Memoir

How to add a book to the bookshelf:

1. Click on Bookshelf (upper right)

2. in the "Add Book" window enter the book title. If the search results show a greyed title, it's already on the bookshelf.
Click on "Edit" and continue with Stop 4 below.

3. If the title is in black, click on "add to group"

4. Click on "Choose Shelves". Choose one rating shelf and any other shelves that are applicable.
If a new shelf needs to be added, there is a slot at the bottom of this window to allow that. It would be helpful to let the group know of new shelves just so that we're all aware of the addition so as to use it.
At minimum, a book will be placed on 2 shelves: rating and one other.

5. In the "Why this book?" window, add a little something about the book.
This window can later be seen for any book on the bookshelf by clicking on "View Activity" (on the right of every book on our bookshelf) under the caption "Why We're Reading This"

6. Click on "Save Group Book"


NOTE: the "View Activity" function shows all member's reviews and ratings for the book, as well as showing where the book was mentioned in our discussions.
I can see this function being helpful to us as we use the bookshelf to decide on whether the book is one we'd like to read.

Petra wrote: "I found it.....but we need to add a book to the bookshehttps:/

I am attempting to copy some of the titles from my own bookshelves. Does this work for you Petra

/www.goodreads.com/book/show/611980.Se...
by Peter Tompkins

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1... by Mary Pipher

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2... by Rebecca Solnit

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1... by Miles Olson

these are just a few titles that fit on the environmental concerns shelf. In my library, I call this shelf earth studies

I do not seem to have a gardening shelf, tho I really thought so

biography
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...

I have 22 books on my bio shelf
63 memoirs
33 autobio

I do think the distinctions are sort of crucial.
But does it matter
autobio
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...

memoir
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...


i'm going to pause here and see how this method of conveying info works.It is time consuming and I want to get out another review before starting dinner.

so how about that, two reviews, written on the fly.
Did have quotes highlighted/
Just want to add that if we have a shelf for non fiction than we need to have fiction
will that be useful?
documentary fiction is what I seem to be reading most of.

not much response here from other than Ellie and an odd request from Michael, quite specific. Have you seen it Petra ?

We can have 2 shelves, Magdelanye.
I'll separate the Autobiograpy & Memoir shelf into 2 separate shelves.

When you are back at your computer (not on the phone, where it is too much work), can you add one or more of those Environmental books to the bookshelf, please? Only you can rate them and only you can know which one(s) you think should be on our shelves.
Thanks!

I've added all the bookshelves we listed above. Please have a look and see if changes need to be made.

I'm going to suggest that the books that are only on the "read" shelf be removed from the library since they don't tell us any reason why they are on our bookshelves.
Would that be agreeable to everyone? It would give us a fresh start.

yoho it's coming along
but I am in Van for a couple of days visiting with family: my son and his
if just came over from London where they have been living for the last 2 years.
I will have a look when I'm back home

Enjoy your visit with your son and his wife, Magdelanye. Wishing you all a wonderful time.

I've changed the name of our Thoreauvian bookshelf to "Thoreauvian reflections". I got the idea from the "view activity" description added by Melissa to the book she placed on this shelf.
Do you all think that this name (Thoreauvian reflections) is a clear indication of the sort of books to add to this shelf?

actually Thoreauvian reflections is a bit of a mouthful don't you think. How does it differ from environmental concerns? meditations would be another option but we have healing arts relaxation . I am on my fone and can't check.
I did find a secular meditation group with bookshelves!

Okay.....I'll keep thinking.
I feel that Thoreauvian may not be very obvious as to what one would put on the shelf.

I can't remember the story behind Environmental Concerns. Was it that it was too long?