Karen's comments (member since Sep 17, 2008)

Karen's comments from the Pick-a-Shelf group.

Lyn wrote: "Sorry for being obtuse, but what I want to clarify is this--if the first "shelf" is not unique, you go one shelf down, but what if that shelf is not unique also? "

then keep going 'one shelf down' til you find one that's 'unique' to you...

You got it, BJ Rose...

Lyn, not quite right, if your next ‘shelf’ is a repeat of a previous ‘shelf’ then skip that one and go “one shelf down”. The game is over when there's no more unique shelf for you to choose a book from :)
Otherwise, the game will end pretty quickly ;)

And you don't have to pre-choose books at all

BJ Rose wrote: "I think I figured it out - just one question (for now!) - once I make my list, must the books be read in order of listing, or can they be read in any order? Or do I read my first book, then choose ..."

Ooh, good question, BJ Rose.
You can choose books in advance however they must be read in order of the shelves so like the example above, you must read the Bourne Identity after the Host. Hope that makes sense

Sam, yes & yes

Jen B, yes, the different ways of spelling of shelves count as unique shelves and you can read from all three. Any book that's been shelved as such counts even if only 1 person shelved it that way

Let us know how keen you are to play!!!

Hi all!!

As promised - a New Game to end the year with...

It's designed to be as flexible as possible to help you trim down your TBR for preparation for more which I'm sure you'll be getting for Christmas :)

Rules are:

1. First book must be from the month’s shelf (ie. October’s shelf: paranormal - http://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/para...)

2. Go to your book page and choose the top & unique* shelf from the “popular shelves” it’s been listed under.

Example:
If your first book could be 'The Host’ by Stephenie Meyer.

Check the popular shelves on the ‘The Host’ page, go for the first (top) shelf, in this case ‘to-read’ and choose a book from this shelf.

If your second (‘to-read’) book is ‘The Bourne Identity’ by Robert Ludlum, check the ‘popular shelves’ on the book page and go “one shelf down” – in this case: fiction.

The pattern continues…

*If your next ‘shelf’ is a repeat of a previous ‘shelf’ then skip that one and go “one shelf down”.

3. The game finishes when there is no more ‘unique’ shelf for you to choose a book from. So depending on your choices of books, this could either be a very short or very long game.

4. Any books listed on the 'unique' shelf will do

5. Game to start 1 October 2009 and will end:
31 December 2009 or
when there is no more ‘unique’ shelf.

6. In terms of reporting, we'll start a discussion every 2 weeks or so. All we'd require is the number of 'unique' shelves you've read from and if you've finished & which shelf you've finished at.

The object of the game is to get the longest possible list of shelves

Any questions, please post in this discussion.

If you're joining the game, please express your interest the One Shelf Down - Participation List

I'm going to try to read through these books:

B – The Beach House by James Patterson
E - Empire of the Sun by JG Ballard
A – Almost French by Sarah Turnbull
C – The Coffin Dancer by Jeffery Deaver
H – The Hickory Staff by Robert Scott & Jay Gordon

B – Book of the Dead by Patricia Cornwell
L – Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel
A – The Awakening by Kate Chopin
N – The New York Trilogy by Paul Auster
K – The Kitchen God’s Wife by Amy Tan
E – The Eight by Katherine Neville
T – The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas

Angela wrote: "Hi Karen- If you do not mind, I am going to post this in The Next Best Book Club as a challenge... since this is orginally your idea, I would like to get your permission first.
Looking forward to..."

Angela, I don't mind at all... though maybe you ought to ask Lori (moderator of TNBBC) as well? They already have challenges (Official 'Seasonal' Challenge) which have huge followings :)

Angela wrote: "That is too bad... this is one of the things I really liked about this group. "

Well, I hope you'd like the new game too! Or... you could challenge yourself for the 3rd time ;) ?

We would definitely play Shelf-a-thon again one day, maybe next year :)

well, how about if we take a bit of a break from Shelf-a-Thon. It is time consuming and I am trying to think up a new game anyway ;)

Thanks everybody, I'm glad to be back :)
And I'm glad some of you could identify with my issue, makes me feel like I'm not that strange after all *LOL*

& Congrats to you too, Joanie!

Slayermel wrote: "Welcome back Karen!!! :0)
We tried our best without you, but I'm relieved to see your back ;op
"

Thanks, Slayermel. You done good! :)

Wow, Congrats everybody- a great number of books were read!

Luann / Laura / Lynlee, if you'd like to send me your addresses by private messages and I'll organise your prizes?! Sorry about being so late! Kinda lost my mind for a while, well... not expecting it back anytime soon but I'm putting in the effort :p

LOL, Sunflower, I would love to hear where you think I work. A bit worrying if you do have it right - whilst I don't mind some people knowing me better, I'm wondering about the security of the internet (considering ID theft, etc)

Thanks again everybody for your concern for my well-being & apologies for abandoning you all. I see that you are managing quite well without me ;) (I'm very glad). Hoping that I'll be back on board permanently and to device a new game (I only meant for Shelf-a-thon to be played once a year in a rotation of other games however what were you to do when I was absent?!)

Thanks for your faith in my coming back too! I'm so touched :)

A Huge Big Hello from your absent moderator!!

Firstly a massive apologies to everybody for being absent AND silent. I owe you all an explanation and here it is:

I'm pregnant (22 weeks & counting now) and I was experiencing morning sickness which lasts 24-7 (urgh!). It's been over for a while now but ever since the beginning I sorta feel nauseous everytime I think of reading or even looking at a book (I even avoided libraries & book stores / GR / etc) - *that's soooo NOT me! It's the baby's fault!* I even avoided checking my emails cuz there's updates from libraries & GR & bookstores etc which are books-related. Yea, that bad. Which is why I've been silent on GR or emails! Thank you for all the queries on my wellbeing and I hope you guys can forgive me for snubbing you for a few months!

Secondly, thank you for keeping the group alive and for those of you who have been taking initiatives in picking shelves & new moderators, I'm flattered that you guys are keeping this group is alive & kicking! I'm not sure where / what the group is up to but I will catch up :) I know there's a second round of Shelf-a-thon (amazing!).

I'll try my best to keep up :)
xox
Kaz

ps: Hello to all 'new' members (whom I've yet to meet & greet)

Thanks guys for keeping the game alive!

I know I haven't been so active in the group lately, I just haven't been feeling well so haven't been in the mood to do anything these days :p

But keep going, guys! You're doing great!

Funny how the top 4's names all start with L :)

Reporting (up to 10 March 2009):

1. the number of books you've read; and
2. the number of shelves you've 'touched'

The Ladder so far (18 March 2009):

Luann: 250 shelves with 35 books
Laura: 212 shelves with 19 books
Lynlee: 210 shelves with 12 books
Lauren: 185 shelves with 14 books
Jon: 180 shelves with 19 books
Angela: 171 books with 25 books
Amanda: 166 shelves with 23 books
Cam: 159 shelves with 11 books
Natasha: 158 shelves with 17 books
Jen: 155 shelves with 10 books
Slayermel: 154 shelves with 12 books
Cathy: 141 shelves with 8 books
Sarah: 136 shelves with 9 books
Joanie: 142 shelves with 9 books
Haley: 127 shelves with 19 books
Angie, AUS: 125 shelves with 5 books
Mel: 104 shelves with 8 books
Angie, USA: 88 shelves with 11 books
Betty: 84 shelves with 12 books
Stephanie: 77 shelves with 4 books
Lanica: 76 shelves with 3 books
Christina: 75 shelves with 3 books
Andrew: 74 shelves with 2 books
Operandi: 54 shelves with 1 book

Oh, Betty, any books you read count for the challenge - that's the point of the challenge otherwise it'd take forever to 'touch' all of the shelves.

Jen- audiobooks count :)

Reporting (up to 5 March 2009):

1. the number of books you've read; and
2. the number of shelves you've 'touched'

The Ladder so far (10 March 2009):

Luann: 210 shelves with 29 books
Laura: 189 shelves with 13 books
Lynlee: 185 shelves with 11 books
Jon: 176 shelves with 17 books
Angela: 167 books with 22 books
Amanda: 159 shelves with 20 books
Natasha: 148 shelves with 14 books
Cam: 145 shelves with 8 books
Jen: 144 shelves with 7 books
Cathy: 132 shelves with 7 books
Haley: 127 shelves with 19 books
Angie, AUS: 125 shelves with 5 books
Slayermel: 123 shelves with 6 books
Joanie: 119 shelves with 5 books
Sarah: 119 shelves with 7 books
Lauren: 105 shelves with 7 books
Angie, USA: 88 shelves with 11 books
Mel: 86 shelves with 5 books
Lanica: 76 shelves with 3 books
Christina: 75 shelves with 3 books
Andrew: 74 shelves with 2 books
Betty: 74 shelves with 3 books
Stephanie: 62 shelves with 1 book
Operandi: 54 shelves with 1 book

just a note that I'm thinking of not to create a reporting discussion until the 5th March (so as to keep it on the 5, 10, 15, etc of the month to make it easier for me)