The Dusty Bookshelf discussion

This is a Goodreads group to go along with my Reading Challenge from my blog. If you want to see the sign up post on my blog for this challenge you can go here:

http://www.booksatruestory.com/index....

This group allows you as a member to add any books you want to the shelves. If you want to show others in the group what you're reading or you just want to keep track of your books here, the first thing you'll want to do when you join this group is make your own shelf. Please use your name when you are doing this so it doesn't get mixed up with other people's shelves.

To make your own shelf in this group:
1. Click on "bookshelf" on the right side of the group home page.
2. Type in the search box on the left the book you want to add to your shelf (you'll create the shelf in a minute)
3. Click the button "add to group" next to the book you want to add
4. Click "choose shelves" under the pop-up window that comes up and name your personal shelf. Also be sure to add your book to either the read, currently-reading, or to-read shelf.
5. Click "save group book."

Next time you add a book, just click the box next to your shelf and all the steps will be the same.

Rules for the group bookshelves of read, to-read and currently-reading
1. Please only put buddy reads on the currently-reading shelf and set the date you are going to read that book.
2. If there is a book on multiple people's dusty bookshelf, please have the default shelf be to-read until all the people have read that book. Hopefully this will reduce the book moving back and forth on shelves :)

You can also join the challenge on the homepage. It keeps track of your progress and is pretty much the reason I made this group :D Just type in how many books you want to read and type in the name you want for your shelf and it automatically shows up in your personal profile. *For the book to count on your challenge widget, you have to set the date read and you have to put it on the shelf that you named just for this challenge in your personal profile.

I realize keeping track of your challenge books in this group AND on your personal shelf is a lot of work so you can do one or the other. You can do both if you really want to. It's up to you. Having your own shelf in the group bookshelves is optional.

Unlike other Goodreads groups, books under the currently-reading section on our homepage will be all the books our members are reading for their own personal challenge. You don't have to read the same books as the other members. I think it's fun to see what other people are reading!

I'm going to have giveaways and mini-challenges throughout the year to keep you motivated. I'll add them to the events on our group page to keep you updated.

Good luck with your challenge!

Does it count if I've had the book on my shelf for a long time, read it along time ago but don't remember any of it?
Yes. I know. I'm weird. (:

Sure! If you're going to read it again why not? :)

Haha, Adriana, I'm rereading two books this year too - both of which I barely remember (Haven't read one since I was 12/13).

Got it. Thanks!
*going to go count my books...*

I'll post it on my blog another time.

I dunno if anyone else is having this problem or if I'm just a bit dumb but... when you finish reading a book you ahve to physically go into your bookshelf on this group and change it to the 'read' shelf (same with when you start reading a book) as it doesn't automatically do it for you like it does with normal bookshelves on GR :S

Yeah, you do. It's a different bookshelf then your main one.

You have to do a lot of things manually in groups and it bugs.

Well, see, that's just *phhhhhhrrrp* - I mean honestly, how dare they expect me to change it manually :O (jk)

I'm a bit confused, since I'm still new to this stuff. I'm supposed to follow the instructions above to create a shelf within the group, and then if I fill in the stuff in the challenge section, that will automatically create another shelf in my own profile, and I have to keep them in sync manually? Should I/can I use the same name for both shelves? Can I start with just a few books and then add more later, or do I have to decide now all of the dusty books I want to read for the challenge for the whole year?

Yes, you have to update them both manually. I know that's a lot of work so just do what works best for you. Lots of people in this group just fill out the challenge widget and read the books from their personal profile and I'm totally fine with that! You are more than welcome to change your books as much as you want and add books later. Doing the challenge widget and the group shelves are totally optional. You are more than welcome to post in the discussions if you haven't done either of those things! Don't feel pressured to do all of it right away. I hope this helps. If you have any more questions, just let me know. :)

This is confusing! But I'm gonna give it a try....will call out for help if I need it!

Thanks, Jessica! Another question about the challenge widget: If I put how many books I expect to read, can I change that later? I'm assuming that if I put a shelf on there, and later add more books to that shelf, they will automatically be included in the challenge, but then the number of books on the shelf could be different than the number I originally entered into that other box. I hope that made sense?

I have so many TBR books, especially mysteries, so this is the way I am going to approach this - the books I put on the list already I will make a point of trying to read this year. But I'm sure I will read lots of others, so if I had it prior to 2012 and never read it before, I will add them as I go. I'll see how many I actually get through! This is great motivation for getting those dusty books off the shelf! Great idea!!!

Yes, you can change your goal any time. Just click where it says "update my entry" on the challenge widget. Thanks for joining Denise! Can't wait to see all the books you read!

Good to know, because as I'm re-evaluating my tbr for the year, I'm realizing that not everything on my list is "dusty" and therefore shouldn't be counted for this challenge. I have a couple of hours to play with my shelves though! YAY! (And no, not to read - I'm home alone with twin toddlers. LOL I have two hours, in 5-second spurts....)

What should someone do if a book they try to add is already on someone's shelf? This happened to me with 'A Tale of Two Cities'. I know you can add a book to multiple shelves, but as far as I can tell its status (read, to-read, etc.) is fixed. What if I finish a book that is on someone's to-read list? Also, it seems like the other sections of a books description (why this book, and start/finish reading) only have one option.

This is being discussed now in another thread Alicia, as they are trying to figure out what to do about it.

Alicia wrote: "I know you can add a book to multiple shelves, but as far as I can tell its status (read, to-read, etc.) is fixed.

Book Sale Queen is right - we're chatting about this in the suggestions thread at the bottom of the group, and I think Jessica might start a thread (if she hasn't already) asking what everyone thinks.

I must say, what you said there about the status being fixed, is the best way I've seen to say what the problem is. I was falling over words trying explain what's going on, but - you got it there! LOL Yep that's the problem exactly! ;)

Here's the thread I started to discuss this problem with everyone and see what they think.

http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/8...

well I only put in 4 books for the challenge but might switch that cause I read a whole lot more then that in a year!! lol

Dalynn wrote: "I must say, what you said there about the status being fixed, is the best way I've seen to say what the problem is."

lol, thanks. I actually rewrote my message about four times because I felt like a rambling idiot trying to explain what was happening. Even when I pushed submit my only thought was "eh, I hope that makes sense outside of my own head."

And thank you for the link, Jessica, I'll be sure to look over that thread now.

This might sound a little ignorant, but if a book I want to put on my shelf is on someone else's shelf I'm afraid it will take it off of the other person's. Does this make sense? Lol. I don't want to take it off of anyone else's shelf so I'm too afraid to add it to my own. Will this happen?

If you go to the bit where you add it to your shelf then the other shelves it's on will also be ticked, just don't untick them and you should be fine. The only issues we have are with the 'read', 'to-read' & 'currently reading' shelves :)

Thanks for checking first though!

Ok thanks! =]

just to be clear... the "lilaboti's (for example) dusty bookshelf" is a group book shelf, right...?? and it won't appear on my personal bookshelves list...???

If you created that bookshelf in this group it won't appear in your personal profile. :)

Just joined. Looks like I am the only guy here! Sad if other guys don't read I think. Anyway, this does seem a bit complex, but I will go with it. I do love a good read, and so many of my "real time" friends and relatives DO NOT read at all. They have not found the off switch for the TV!

Hi Eric and welcome! I think we do have a couple of other guys here somewhere... maybe they just stay in hiding? LOL

Glad to have you and can't wait to get to know you!

Hi Eric, welcome to the group. Think we have a fair number of guys on here, feel free to check out the intro thread to find them: http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/7...

Hi and Thanks for the welcome. I guess I just jumped to "contusions" about the lack of guys. Not that it matters one bit. From what I'm reading, this is a lively and interesting group to belong to. I just finished Stephen King's 11/22/63, and just purchased 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami. And am trying to get thru The Great Gatsby from my dusty shelf. Don't know why, but it just doesn't "ding" for me as I may have mentioned. Sorry for the delay in response! I will get the hang of this shortly I am sure! Comments/questions are very welcome.

Eric wrote: "Just joined. Looks like I am the only guy here! Sad if other guys don't read I think. Anyway, this does seem a bit complex, but I will go with it. I do love a good read, and so many of my "real..."

Welcome. I hear you when you say you're friends and relatives don't read. Mine don't either, for the most part. What is it about mindless tv that is so captivating??

It sounds fun! I've just joined this group and I'm very glad I did. Hope this will motivate me to read everything that I have on my bookshelves.
:)

I am happy to be part of this group now and I am looking forward to the dialog about books!

Thanks Limmet and Larry :) I hope it motivates you too!

New Rules for the group bookshelves of read, to-read and currently-reading
1. Please only put buddy reads on the currently-reading shelf and set the date you are going to read that book.
2. If there is a book on multiple people's dusty bookshelf, please have the default shelf be to-read until all the people have read that book. Hopefully this will reduce the book moving back and forth on shelves :)

Hopefully this should sort out a few kinks :D Good plan batman!

Thanks Hayley!

So excited to see this group, as I've been catching up on my dusty bookshelf this year! I'm finally reading Without Reservations, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, The Shipping News, & two Chris Bohjalian books that have been sitting for years. I would love to hear about what other people are reading. :)

OH! 7 habits needs to be on my list too! ;)

Welcome aboard!

@Erin, am always curious, what are those 7 habits that make such a thick book. Is it recommended?

Hi
Anybody out there reading 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami. Heard so much about it that I just had to get it. Have not started it yet. currently reading Alexander and Alestria by Shan Sa. Amazing style. Found it as a remainder in the Edward R. Hamilton catalog. I currently get all my books from Hamilton or Amazon. Any recommendations for other great book sites?
Thanks, Eric

Larry wrote: "I am happy to be part of this group now and I am looking forward to the dialog about books!"

Hi and Welcome
I am a new member too and find the comments here great and fun. Still struggling with my lists and such though! Guess I need to buckle down and focus :-)
Eric

Eric wrote: "Hi
Anybody out there reading 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami. Heard so much about it that I just had to get it. Have not started it yet. currently reading Alexander and Alestria by Shan Sa. Amazing sty..."

I have 1Q84 on my to read list. And I haven't read Alexander & Alestria but I've read The Girl Who Played Go by Shan Sa, which is excellent too. Maybe we should do a buddy read of something.. seems our tastes may be similar?

So, how is everybody planning to handle this going into 2013? I think that, rather than creating new shelves, I am going to just add to my shelf here in the group to reflect all of the dusty books I have read since I started. Then, on my personal dusty shelf, I will remove all of the 2012 books and start over for 2013. I'm looking forward to choosing new books for my 2013 challenge, probably within a few days! I'll keep the one book I didn't get to this year, and hopefully I'll get to it!

I, personally, will be carrying on with the dusty books I didn't get around to reading this year. However, due to outside circumstances I have signed myself up for, I won't be able to do as much as I'd like :(
I did get a bit sidetracked by other people handing me books this year, not good for the dustys but I sure as heck enjoyed it ;D

I know I'll get sidetracked, so I'll do the same as last year, and start out with a small group. Luckily, sometimes the sidetracks are dusty, too, and I get to add them as I go along!

I'll be plodding along with my dusty books....nothing's changed!! Hope I read more than 30 this year tho!

I have over 130 to go!!!

I have a question, and I apologize if this has already been answered in another thread: do all the discussion threads remain open even after a group has finished reading a book? For example, if I wanted to read The War of the Worlds with a group, and someone has already read it but it's been several months, can I just pop into that thread and kind of restart the discussion? Or is it preferred that new threads be started for a new set of people who want to read it?