The Dusty Bookshelf discussion

If you have an idea for a theme read, leave it here!

Some ideas based on books members have talked about:

Jane Austen Month
Non-Fiction Month
Pre 19th Century Month
Dustiest Book Month
Longest Book Month
Classics Month

I was thinking that we could do a poll every month for what theme we will do for the following month so you can know in advance. Or if you guys don't want to be bothered with polls we can randomly select an idea for the theme reads.

I hope doing these theme reads will help motivate you guys!

They sound good to me.

What about the King Arthur month?

That's in March - I've already set up the discussion thread in this folder for it :)

I like Jane Austen month and Classics month! (: You could also have Young Adult month although, for me, that's almost all the time. (:

I think those all sound great! I think I can find most of those things on my dusty shelf, so I don't have to add, yet another book! :) (although, secretly I like adding books that aren't on my challenge list...makes me feel like I'm getting away with something! :)...and I do like Thalia's YA month idea! I was walking through the library last week, and *kinda* decided my challenge for next year might just be to start in they're beautifully ordered YA section and just read from A-z! :) ahh...but that's next year!

Jessica wrote: "That's in March - I've already set up the discussion thread in this folder for it :)"

Oops - sorry!

The themes sound like fun! I can probably come up with some additional dusty books for some of those, but at the same time I don't want to get distracted and not read the books I've already selected! But I have a Classics selection on there (Middlemarch), and I definitely am in the mood for reading some Jane Austen juvenilia! I have LOTS of dusty non-fiction, but they tend to be rather long reads (which is why they're still dusty!).

As I have 4 Jane Austen books on my Dusty I'm all for that month! Classics Month as well (again, just looking at my shelf ;P)

Really liking the input and support in here already :)

Those do indeed sound like fun.

How about a memoirs theme read?

@Book Concierge: I'm not sure about using the word 'duplicative' with regards to Jane Austen and Classics - not all Classics are Jane Austen books (and as her most well known were first published from 1811 onwards then they definitely wouldn't be considered for pre 19th Cent). I can somewhat understand why you may say that about Classics and Pre-19th Cent suggestions though, they were only suggestions - we aren't necessarily going to have them in there, but there is a possibility of classics before 1800 and classics after that could be later improved upon IF the idea was liked in the first place. We were just trying to start the suggestion ball rolling with ideas :D

Those are some good suggestions for themed reads there that we can add on to the list, thank you.

With regards to them though - how obvious do you believe those themes have to be in order for the books to be counted? I only ask as our main aim is to help people get rid of books already on the shelves and we just noticed & mentioned some rather obvious themes that the majority of the book shelf could fall into so they could get cleared out whilst helping people get together over similarly themed reads :)

I like the idea of Jane Austin and Classics being seperate. I might find it harder to find Pre-19th Century.

I don't mind War and Travel/Adventure categories but don't like the family or location themes. My reason for that is that I feel it's too limiting. I'm already doing challenges where I have to pick books from certain countries. And not all books can we tell beforehand what family relationships are in them. I like having themes that are more broad so that it's easier for someone to find something that fits them. Occassionally something like Jane Austin or Arthurian themes aren't quite as open but you could skip those if they didn't suit you.(They were choosen because they showed up on mulitple shelves of folks here.) On the other hand, there is quite alot that fits those as well. (I just found a free kindle book that's a sequel to Jane Austin's Pride & Prejudice that I'm wanting to read Charlotte Collins: A Continuation of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice)

Hayley, I like the direction that you're thinking, in regards to keeping the themes geared towards helping us find books we've already shelved as dusty to fit the various themes. It's motivation to pick up something we've already got dusty without necessarily picking up something else to read (unless we want to.)

I'll admit, pre-19th Cent can be a bit difficult to find at times - they have to be true classics to stand the test of time :)

I was thinking of a theme that was 'non-english' based authors (so Russian, Japanese, Chinese, Swedish etc authors) that way, as long as the author isn't from an english-speaking country, the book would fit in but was worried it may be too encompassing - however, it could be something to keep in mind and improve upon :)

I think, War theme wise, I have one or two books that could fit in :D

How about combing the two difficult themes? Pre-19th century and/or Author from non-English speaking country. That way if you can't find the one, you might be able to find the other.

Oh yes, I'm already thinking of books that could be combined into more than one difficult theme if I have issues or they run over months. However, looking at all the books I have, I'm quite sure I can find one for whatever themes are thought up (No, that's not a challenge, please!)

What about epics? That could include things like the Homeric epic, Beowulf, the Lord of the Rings, Milton, etc. And maybe even books about the style or time period. I am pretty sure I have seen a lot of books that would fit into such a category.

Thanks Catherine, we seem to be getting a good list going here! Epics does sound like a very good idea (and could cover a fair few peoples choices :D

Everyone's been so good with the suggestions, keep 'em coming folks :D

I think i would like the dustiest book month ! it would feel good to get that accomplished. (:

Thanks for all your feedback guys! Hayley came up with this list to cover all the ideas we have so far:

Jane Austen
Classics
Young Adult
War
Travel/Adventure
Epics
Non-Fiction
Pre 19th Cent/Non English (If we can't find a book for one theme then we should be able to for the other)
Dustiest Book
Longest Book

Thanks Hayley for typing that up!

We should pick our theme read for April at the beginning of March so that people can plan ahead for what book they want to read. Do you guys want me to put up a poll in March for what theme we should have in April?

Wow - I typed that list up? The things I do and don't remember doing first thing in the morning ;D I'm slightly worried :S

Why don't you just pick one Jessica. I only ask that you don't leave Longest Book for December when we're busy for the holidays! lol

Yeah, I'm with Briansgirl - not over christmas please ;) Most of my college stuff should be done after March so I'm pretty easy otherwise :D

Themes sound good to me. I probably won't read ALL that theme but I'll read to go along with it.

I'm with everyone else here...pretty open (and if it can't happen and I can't participate in one, than I'll skip it and wait until I can...) but looking forward to getting in whenever I can! Hey...Jessica..can we use Paradise Lost for Pre 19th century (that would be my suggestion:) Heeheehee...But, I'm pretty darn flexible!

Oh, April and all the other Paradise Lost folks. The book was mentioned in something I read recently, so now I'm officially adding it to my list, hahah. We'll see how long it takes me to get around to that one. x)

Maybe since we're all pretty excited for Jane Austen, we could do that one in April?

Thalia wrote: "Maybe since we're all pretty excited for Jane Austen, we could do that one in April?"

I second that! I just finished 101 Things You Didn't Know About Jane Austen, so I will be eager to read the Minor Works soon!

I third it! I can totally push a bit of Emma in while punching out Paradise Lost! (and Thalia...I just heard a reference to Paradise Lost in a movie we were watching the other day and thought...it's just got to totally be worth reading! :)

Well I'm late poking my head in here of course. LOL The couple of ideas I'd thought I might suggest are already on the list! (Classics, and non-fic.)

Loving all these ideas!

A couple of other ideas I thought of that may allow for inclusion among more members would be something related to the season, or even just something related to the looks of the covers of the book. I'll use March as an example since we already have a read - a book with a green cover would go well there. Or April, a book with a cover that can somehow be related to "April Showers" or to Easter or maybe chick lit? (Get it? Eggs...)


The list above looks great though! And I'm betting this thread gets added to a little at a time all year. LOL Looking forward to it!

Well, if you guys don't mind me picking the themes, then I will make a schedule here soon for the next couple of months. It's probably easier that way since I won't have to do tons of polls and nag everyone to vote. It also makes it more challenging to fit your books into the themes if I pick them randomly! Thanks for all the suggestions!

ooo... great idea... what i'm loving about being here is that there's so many things put up to keep us motivated (..and reading!!!) and you can just choose some to take part that fits your interest.. i have already listed a loads of books that i wasn't planning to read in near future..but feel ashamed of not having read them yet now but owning them...(under different discussions)... and this is just great.. thanks guys.. you all are doing a great job... cheers.. >.<

Lilaboti wrote: "ooo... great idea... what i'm loving about being here is that there's so many things put up to keep us motivated (..and reading!!!) and you can just choose some to take part that fits your interes..."

Thank you! That makes my day :D

If this is the right place, I'd like to suggest a Biography/Autobiography month

or


Animal (Where the main focus is an animal)

That's a good one, Lori! Thanks :)

American gothic or any Gothic novel.. Mr Macho men ... Da da surrealism... dystopia 84... beat beat beats... etc

Ooh, Gothic is a good one!

Does anyone have any theme ideas that could apply to any book - like the Dustiest book one?

The biggest brick? Oldest book, as in when it was printed? I'm not so sure about that last one, but it could be cool, especially for those of us who frequent used book stores, to turn to the publication information for once. It could enable us to learn more about the 'personal' history of our physical books...

Jessica wrote: "Ooh, Gothic is a good one!

Does anyone have any theme ideas that could apply to any book - like the Dustiest book one?"

You could always try the opposite...the Least Dustiest on the list? Your toughest dusty read (the one you think is going to be the hardest to get through)? A dusty book you have on your shelf you haven't seen on anyone elses? The most popular on your dusty shelf (according to the general public?)? The least popular? The book on your dusty shelf that was published closest to your birthday? (month and year?)
Those are a couple that come to mind in order to get people to look throught their dusty books to be able to participate...in Monthly "Theme" reads:)

..and yes! Gothic is a good one:)

Thanks April! Those are just the ideas I was looking for :) The genre themes are nice, but I want some months where the theme read could apply to every single person in the group.

a book that you started reading previously but you never finished

a book given to you as a gift

a book you bought because a friend said you should read it

a book you've kept on your shelf simply because you like the cover

a book that doesn't have the title written on the spine, or that you can never remember what book that is

a book whose title you aren't sure how to pronounce

I am not sure if you are taking votes here, my choice would be classics.

Also I like the theme Biography or Autobiography.

Dalynn - that's quite a refreshing and fun way to categorize books :-)

a book over 500 pages. Over 750 pages.

a book that you thought (or were told) you should read but never did

that one book you've put off reading the longest, for whatever reason! lol

All I ask is that you don't pick the hardest, longest, dustiest books and leave it for December! lol Some of those we might need to get started earlier if we are to finish by the end of the year.

Hi guys :)
I'm fairly new to the group. This year I am dedicated to filling the gaps and this seems like a good place to start...
I love the idea of themes, I second Gothic and Dystopia all the way. One suggestion, if I may, would be add the name of Brontë to the Austen month...
Have a nice day!

Good idea Aqueda! I totally have the Brontes on my list for sure. ;)

Welcome aboard!

Fantasy/Sci-fi. I'll post that idea here so I don't forget :)

LOL... how about religious text that covers two categories long and old.

absolutely no offense intended ...

Jessica wrote: "LOL... how about religious text that covers two categories long and old."

Does Paradise Lost count on that one! LOL:)

Jessica wrote: "absolutely no offense intended ..."

WHoopss...thought you were the other Jessica (which would have made that comment much funnier since we're doing a buddy read on that...and it is OLD..and LONG, as far as I'm concerend since it's poetry...:)

Oh well...another example of my foot in mouth issues! :) ROFL (at least I find myself funny!)

April - Paradise Lost totally counts as long and old. You're too funny!

Oo, I had another idea. Page to screen month. Read books that have been made into movies and then watch the movie! We could even have a twitter party! Although none of us would be watching the same movie....