The Next Best Book Club discussion

OMG is there a quicker way to find the book in the groups? My eyes are getting super tired trying to find how many shelves "___________" is on. And here's like 171 pages of shelves to go thru.

Sarah - it's surprising how many shelves some books are on. What I'm doing is starting by just reading books that I was going to read anyway. Towards the end of the challenge I'm going to start searching for books the fulfill specific shelves I'm missing.

Angie - I we're just supposed to do the first 5 pages of shelves for any one book.

Angeie- The easiest way to get there is to go to the main page after you read the book (where it is rated and the summary is given) and on the right hand side it says popular shelves. You want to click on the link that says more shelves:

So go to this page: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/74696...
and then if you click on more shelves, it should bring you to this page and use the first 5 pages
http://www.goodreads.com/book/shelves/74...

Question: is this edition-specific or can we use the most popular edition's shelves? Thing is, I read a lot of books in Finnish so I usually have to add that edition into the database and thus don't get many shelves for that particular edition.

Sarah- you can do it however you like...I just read books that fit into the summer challenge and if they hit shelves great if not, that is fine for me too. Some people look for books that will fit the shelves. I personally do not go to all that trouble!

I actually had the same question as Susanna, though I suppose it's more out of curiosity than me reading that many books with different editions.

Oh, and THANKS so much for sending me the spreadsheet Potjy!

OKAY GAME ON!!!!
I posted another thread below this thread to post your shelves touched and the number of books you read. You may post your update throughout the week or at the end of the week. Please do not list the books, as you may give other players the advantage. I have the final list of participants on that same thread.

Sally,

I actually just found the answer to my question. Silly, really. I just realised that the popular shelves are the same, regardless of which edition you read. I guess my brain is still asleep :)

sorry, i can't be on much, my family and house-mates keep kicking me off.

Thanks for letting me know susanna! I hadn't realized that.

No problem, Sally :)

Liz wrote: "Sarah - it's surprising how many shelves some books are on. What I'm doing is starting by just reading books that I was going to read anyway. Towards the end of the challenge I'm going to start s..."

So if "__________________" has a list of 79 pages of shelves it is possibly on we stop at page five? And once we click say fiction, if it's not on the first 5 pages of the fiction shelf list we don't add it? Am I understanding this right?

yes Angie, that is my understanding. Angela posted the rules (post 1 in under this topic) and it's #2. We only count the first five pages of shelves (max of 100 shelves/book) and then compare them to the list of 350 and check off what shelves are on both lists. Then we do it for the next book and so forth.

Looks like I'm too late... grrr... (If I can still join, I'd love to... if anything, I'll be at a disadvantage...) But I guess for next time, on the official list of shelves in your first post, is the dash a shelf title? (10th from the top)

If so, who the heck names a shelf that? ;)

Sorry Sara you are too late :( Maybe you can join us next time (as long as we do this again)! Here to hoping. And yes the - is actually a shelf! Strange I know:)

Oh sad :( I wish I'd noticed this sooner.

Angie wrote: "OMG is there a quicker way to find the book in the groups? My eyes are getting super tired trying to find how many shelves "___________" is on. And here's like 171 pages of shelves to go thru. "

During the last Shelf A Thon many of us hit the dreaded - by accident. Just read what you want at this point and go searching for the more elusive shelves near the end of the challenge.

I'm just glad the dreaded "a" is gone this time!

Roseann wrote: "I'm just glad the dreaded "a" is gone this time! "

Agreed!

Yeah reading what you like atm is best b/c sooner or later to the end you have to get creative in how to get the other elusive shelves. Hee!

Sara/Madeline -- I, too, was too late to join in the "official" contest...but I'm still going to do it on my own for fun. Then I'll have the gist of the thing down if they do it again in the fall:)

I will say though that it's too bad that there was a cut-off for joining...I only just heard about it from a friend today! But alas, I am not in charge, I just wander in every now and again and try not to let my head explode with the insane number of new posts every day!

Happy shelving everyone!

Oh, bummer you missed out Katie, Sara and Madeline. Maybe you could make your own thread in this folder and we can still see how you progress ☺

I just hit "-" by accident on only my second book. I was so surprised/relieved to get it out of the way so soon. :)

I would like to join in with you Katie, Sara and Madeline...I'm new here and just found this. I'm going to play along on my own I think anyways.

AARRRG! Finished a book this weekend and discovered it's on ONE shelf. What a let down.

HEE! :P

That's a great idea! I'll definitely do it on my own. :D That would be nice if we could start an unofficial players thread. If it wouldn't step on anyone's toes.

Beth(MN) wrote: "I just hit "-" by accident on only my second book. I was so surprised/relieved to get it out of the way so soon. :)"

I actually had a question about that one, is "-" an actual category? Really? I was so confused. I might have to go see what you've been reading Beth! :)

Actually, the "-" shelf is not that hard to hit. I think if you click on it on the shelf list, it comes up as "popular-fiction", not sure why it lists as "-". Weird.

Angela and Roseann - I agree, the "a" shelf was much harder to hit. SOOO glad it's gone.

Lyn wrote: "Actually, the "-" shelf is not that hard to hit. I think if you click on it on the shelf list, it comes up as "popular-fiction", not sure why it lists as "-". Weird.

Angela and Roseann - I agr..."

Good to know, thanks Lyn!

We've been out of town for 10 days, and I have the ultimate stupid question--where are we reporting? I am surprised to find no totals here!

Dree wrote: "We've been out of town for 10 days, and I have the ultimate stupid question--where are we reporting? I am surprised to find no totals here!"

Click on "Angela's Shelf-A-Thon Challenge" at the top of this page and you will see the other threads where you can post your books and shelves.

Thank you!!

Roseann wrote: "Dree wrote: "We've been out of town for 10 days, and I have the ultimate stupid question--where are we reporting? I am surprised to find no totals here!"

Click on "Angela's Shelf-A-Thon Challeng..."

Ack! My spreadsheet might be incorrect. WAAAAAAH!

I have changed the deadline to join in on this challenge to August 31st, so if you are still interested just post the number of shelves and books you have read in August in the reporting thread. I know a lot of people did not see this until recently.

YAY! You rock! I'm in!

And while I'm at it, I have a question.

Let's say I read a book today, and mark (on my spreadsheet) which shelves it was on. Then between today and Oct 1, a bunch of other goodreads people read the same book and shelve it on different shelves... and it ends up changing which shelves are on the first 5 pages... What then? Do we need to keep going back and checking? Or are you going to trust us when we say, "I swear, such-and-such-a-shelf was in the first 5 pages when I read it..."

Yay Sara you´re in!
I think the second option is the right one. Some shelves change every single day...

I know. I've already been frustrated by it. I marked shelves before I read one book, and by the time I finished, a couple of the shelves were gone! So sad! So now I have like 2 straggler science fiction shelves... (Are we supposed to talk about that... I feel like it's supposed to be a secret...) BUT, I'm really excited, because I got INDONESIAN! WOO HOO! I was SO SURPRISED!

In the meantime, I need to find a romance novel that someone shelved erotica. (There are always prudes like that...) I'm not reading an erotica novel. No way, José!

Sara wrote: "I know. I've already been frustrated by it. I marked shelves before I read one book, and by the time I finished, a couple of the shelves were gone! So sad! So now I have like 2 straggler scienc..."

That's funny :)

You should check them off AFTER you finish the book because the shelves do change every day.

Sara wrote: "YAY! You rock! I'm in!

And while I'm at it, I have a question.

Let's say I read a book today, and mark (on my spreadsheet) which shelves it was on. Then between today and Oct 1, a bunch of o..."


Yay Sara - and as Angela said, you check shelves when you finish them because the shelves do change. And you got Indonesian? Good for you. I got it last time, and the book I read had nothing to do with Indonesia or Indonesian. It's interesting to see what some people shelve books as.

Tanja wrote: "Ack! My spreadsheet might be incorrect. WAAAAAAH!"

I have the master spreadsheet if you want a copy. Just PM me with your e-mail and I will send it to you. Or, did I send it to you before? I can resend if I already have your e-mail.

Just found this challenge and thought if it's possible, I'd like to join. And to confirm, I can use all the books I've read starting since August 1. Thanks.

Yes all the books you have read since August 1st-October 31st

Great! Thanks for the quick response.

Angela wrote: "You should check them off AFTER you finish the book because the shelves do change every day. "

Yes, I do check after.... That's what I get for even PEEKING at the shelves beforehand, I guess!

Lyn wrote: "Yay Sara - and as Angela said, you check shelves when you finish them because the shelves do change. And you got Indonesian? Good for you. I got it last time, and the book I read had nothing to do with Indonesia or Indonesian. It's interesting to see what some people shelve books as. "

Yeah, the book definitely had nothing to do with Indonesia. MAYBE Japan. Mostly England. So who knows! In the meantime, I'm not complaining!

Lyn, I think you did send it to me. For some reason I had a mini-panic at work re-looking at the shelf list and believing my spreadsheet didn't have those shelves. *giggles* Should be fine. Have a couple more books to add in a little while.

Oh I *DID* notice that one of the shelves (the far left column) didn't have the formula. Forget which shelf it was. I only noticed since I put a 1 and no X appeared.

random question-

looking at the list, there are a lot of children's shelves. do the books (or book) we read for those shelves need to be something lengthier, like an Anne of Green Gables or Harry Potter type book, or can it be something we would read to a child, such as a Dr. Seuss book? my son and I read every night, and I don't count those books as part of my "read" list, so i never thought of using them for a challenge. just wanted to check before I count them for something that i shouldn't!

As long as that shelf is listed on the first five pages of shelves for that book, it counts. We have all read some Doctor Seuss, Golden books, etc. Last time I read The Pokey Little Puppy!

Tanja wrote: "Lyn, I think you did send it to me. For some reason I had a mini-panic at work re-looking at the shelf list and believing my spreadsheet didn't have those shelves. *giggles* Should be fine. Have a ..."

Thanks - I will find it and fix it on the master spreadsheet.

Tanja - thanks I hadn't noticed that. Sorry. It is now fixed on the master for next time.