Goodreads Hack: The Power of the Want to Read Shelf

Every time I visit the book store, my phone is always prompted open to my To Read shelf. XD

So many books, so little time.

Lalalah wrote: " I created "additional" shelves, and ok, but if I uncheck the shelf "WTR", I'm bound to choose one of the other two shelves Read/Reading, right? Or there's anything I can't see? "

You want to set the shelf to "exclusive". I use it for me DNF and Sampled shelves since I don't want to count those as Read.

I'm going to walk through it in more detail than you probably need in case someone else reading needs to know how to do it.
1. Go to My Books.
2. On the left of the My Books page is Bookshelves. Click the Edit button. (to the right of the word Bookshelves.)
3. Add your shelf name at the top of the screen and click Add. Call the new shelf whatever you want, but remember the longer the shelf name, the smaller the font on the shelf list.
4. Find the shelf you just added from the list. Click "exclusive." You can make any shelf exclusive. While a book can be shelved on many non-exclusive shelves, it can only be on one exclusive shelf at a time. On the My Books page, the shelves set to exclusive will always be at the top of the bookshelf list. (I think they are listed first on your profile page as well.)

As far as I know, there is no limit to how many exclusive shelves you can have.

As an example. I have an exclusive shelf for DNF-abandoned. Still, even if I abandon a book, let's say a novel, I like to know what year I attempted to read it and whether it was fiction or non-fiction. I can shelf that book on my DNF, First read in 2018, and Fiction shelves, but I would NOT be able to also put it on any other shelf I have set to exclusive.

Someone asked about using the # column to sort shelves --
Using the same process, any shelf you set to "sortable" can then be rearranged using the # column. There is a bit of a bug with this feature, though. If you have a really large shelf and change the order, sometimes the page refreshes to another shelf. Even when it doesn't do that it's slow to load, and the arrow keys only let you move a book up or down one position at a time. You can simply type the new position into the box, and click "save position changes" in the pop-up box, but then the position arrows go away completely when the page refreshes and you have to refresh again to get them back. Changing the default view something other than Infinite Scroll works a little better...sometimes. So, it's clumsy, especially if you have more than 200-300 books on a shelf, but it's better than nothing.

Wish good reads had a reading scheduler feature. I have a reading schedule in excel from my 'Want to Read' list. It would be more convenient if I could directly make it from my 'Want to Read' list on goodreads though. A feature where you could assign a start date and expected end date to each book - that is layed out nicely in order. And it can be incorporated into your reading challenge/goal to show how you are pacing based on your schedule for that. For instance, if you have 2 books scheduled to finish in January and you have a reading goal of 60 books, it can recommend adding 3 more to your monthly schedule.

Stephanie wrote: "For me the issue becomes: Is this available in my library system? Sometimes the books I want to read aren't available and then I have to figure out if it's worth purchasing."

Ditto with me. I also wanted to know what format the book was in since I prefer e-books.

I finally created non-exlusive shelves labeled 001 Print Avail at Library, 002 Ebook Avail at LIbrary, and 003 Audio Avail at Library. (The reason for the number prefixes is because
1. The library might have different formats available.
2. I wanted these to be at the top of my shelf list rather than hunting for them, but I didn't want to make the shelves exclusive.)

It's come in handy. When I go to the B*M library for a print book, I can just pull out my phone and go to my 001 Print Avail at Library list if I can't remember the title I wanted...and of course end up scanning in more books I want to read since I already have the app open. It's like a endless cycle...or an addiction.

Lalalah wrote: "Heather Codename: ♕Dutchess♕ wrote: "I don't use it. Actually, other than the "read" shelf, I don't use the executive shelves. I made my own executive shelves and organized everything by the year I..."

When you go to Edit Bookshelves, create a shelf, then click "Exclusive." This means it will NOT be on Want to Read, Read, or Currently Reading. It's a fabulous addition.

Noémie wrote: "I need a box to check that says "owned" or "purchased"! My shelf has over 100 books to be read, and I'm often unsure if I bought a specific book already or not. If I could check my goodreads accoun..."

Create a shelf for that! Then you have it on Want to Read and then on Purchased. You can easily go to your Purchased shelf and see. I have 3 shelves for this, "home library ebooks," "home library audio", and "home library physical."

Sara wrote: "Moonlight wrote: "Emily wrote: "Sara wrote: "What I need aside from that is a button or stars indicating how much I want to read that. Because maybe that book is interesting but the next one is eve..."

I think that was a HUGE misunderstanding, probably because you said "stars" and everyone thought you meant actually rating the book before reading it. Whoopsie! lol. Created quite the uproar!

Stephanie wrote: "For me the issue becomes: Is this available in my library system? Sometimes the books I want to read aren't available and then I have to figure out if it's worth purchasing."

You can create a shelf for "library available" and add those books to that shelf. And what someone else said, with the Google Chrome extension so you can easily see on GR if it's available at your library.

Yaaresse wrote: "Stephanie wrote: "For me the issue becomes: Is this available in my library system? Sometimes the books I want to read aren't available and then I have to figure out if it's worth purchasing."

Dit..."

Best addiction ever! :D

My problem with GR giveaways is that I'm already getting an email for a giveaway because it's on my WTR shelf, so stop forcing me to add the book in a different edition, when I already have it on my shelf!! Then I have to go to editions and delete one. So irritating, especially when I'm on my phone and cannot look at editions period! On Android at least.

That's another annoying thing. You can change editions on iOS but not on Android. So when I have it on a specific edition but am adding as Currently Reading on my phone, it automatically goes to the first edition on GR, which is usually Hardcover, duplicates it and then doesn't come off of my WTR shelf.

Carol wrote: "Sierra wrote: "The problem I have with the WTR shelf is that I use either desktop site or my app to add books as WTR...However I almost always exclusively use the app to scan the books I am about t..."

Oh wow! Okay thanks Carol! I will try that out! :)

Elyse wrote: "Sara wrote: "Moonlight wrote: "Emily wrote: "Sara wrote: "What I need aside from that is a button or stars indicating how much I want to read that. Because maybe that book is interesting but the ne..."

Sara, I don't think it was your idea that caused the uproar. That falls on the GR rep's (lame) response. I hope you didn't feel like those of us annoyed by her "fix" were piling onto you for what she said. Yeah, you said "stars," but it was (or at least I thought it was) pretty clear that you were visualizing two different, unconnected tools, not bastardizing the entire rating/review system. :)

And I hope somewhere in this flustercluck, we were able to offer some useful ideas that will work for you.

Elyse wrote: "Best addiction ever! :D"

Definitely! And one of the few that is constructive rather than destructive!

"it also helps build a book's buzz"

Yeah. I don't want to help "build" "buzz" for a book I haven't even read yet, and don't even know if I'll like. I'm not part of marketing or advertisement for a publisher, and I don't want to be used as such.

"Never forget the books you want to read"

Don't need the Ugly Green Button and GR Marketing and Promotion Shelf for that.

I have custom shelves for the books I want to read. In addition to the other issues with the Want To Read shelf, one shelf doesn't meet my needs. I need several, in order to distinguish other factors regarding the books I am considering reading. For example, if I own them or not.

"Pro Tip: Scan book covers straight to your Want to Read shelf"

Nope. Never, ever. Don't use that shelf.

"If you shelve a prepublished book, you'll be notified when that book hits the stores."

Don't need that.

"In addition, those shelvings on a book page let our editorial team measure the excitement for an upcoming book. We use that data to alert readers to the hottest books of the month, season, and year."

WANT to read isn't any indication of anything other than possible interest. And I sure don't want to be part of promoting books I haven't even read yet. Interest in reading it doesn't mean I'll end up thinking it's worthy of being pushed as one of the "hottest books of the month, season, and year".

You guys are using the wrong data for that sort of conclusion.

Bottom line, this entire blog article is simply propaganda to hype users using a feature in order for GR to use it as marketing and promotion - for books not even read yet.

I want no part of that.

There are 0 books on my Want To Read shelf. And that's how it'll stay.

All the books I want to read are on custom shelves denoting I am interested in reading them.

Amelia wrote: "This seems more promotion than "hack". I don't use Goodreads to help publishers generate buzz."

THIS!

Most especially for books I haven't even read yet. I could HATE those books for all I know.

I'd much rather "buzz" about books I've read and truly enjoyed.

Yaaresse wrote: "I certainly won't be deciding whether to take a closer look at a book based on the ratings going forward. "

The general averaged rating on GR, and Amazon too, always have been problematic for a variety of reasons and always will be. It's smart, IMO, to ignore the general overall averaged rating, I've been doing that for many years. IMO it's completely meaningless.

What is more informative and helpful to me, IMO, is the section where it shows the average of those on your Friend list and who you Follow, because you can control who that's going to be, as well as reading individual reviews and finding those you find helpful and informative.

Emily wrote: "The Carrion Librarian wrote: "I had no idea there was a system to notify you when a book you've shelved before publication is released. Is this a new feature? do I have to turn this feature on? I'v..."
I've got several WTR shelves (for "maybe", "not-yet-published" etc). Will this feature work on all of them, or just GR's WTR?

Tracey Allen wrote: " I’m going to assume/hope that Emily has misspoken or made a mistake and that it’s not GRs policy to allow readers to rate books based on enthusiasm to read it."

She didn't.

It has always been GR policy that users may rate any book they please any way they please for whatever reason they please regardless of if they've read the book or not.

And they've been firm in their position that that is how it will remain.

All this truly means, for others, is that the overall all average isn't that trustworthy. But the fact is, it isn't anyway, and wouldn't be anyway. For a variety of reasons. Someone rating a book they haven't read based on "interest" isn't the only way the rating average is skewed. (The same is true on Amazon, BTW).

The solution, IMO, is quite simply. Ignore the overall averaged rating. Actually read reviews, and populate your Friend and Following lists with people who write reviews, and rate, who you do find helpful and trustworthy.

Brian wrote: "Goodreads ratings are useless since far too many people rate everything 4-5. 3 should be a good average book in your estimation. Most books should be 3's. Really good ones are 4's. The very best books you've ever read are 5's. When the average book is rated over 4.0 the system no longer contains any useful information."

I agree. Just another reason I completely ignore the overall average.

Georgie wrote: "Emily wrote: "The Carrion Librarian wrote: "I had no idea there was a system to notify you when a book you've shelved before publication is released. Is this a new feature? do I have to turn this f..."

Just for the original WTR shelf unfortunately.

Juli wrote: "I always uncheck that box. I still participate once in a while (never won either). I think I just did one a few days ago and it definitely still had the box.

I should say I uncheck the box because I always already have this in my to-read folder and so it would just be a duplicate. "

You can't anymore.

GR recently made changes to the Giveaway program making adding the book to the default Want To Read shelf a requirement for participating/winning and no longer have the option to not add it.

It's automatically added now, if someone enters. And if the person then goes and manually removes it they become disqualified from winning.

Which is why many people have decided to no longer enter the Giveaways.

Alexandra wrote: "Tracey Allen wrote: " I’m going to assume/hope that Emily has misspoken or made a mistake and that it’s not GRs policy to allow readers to rate books based on enthusiasm to read it."

She didn't.

..."

On Amazon you can't rate a book until it has been published. Regardless of whether someone has an ARC or not. But the point of ARCs is to get early reviews out to create buzz for the book. In my opinion, there should be a 1-2 month early rating allowance on GR and Amazon, that should be enough time to buzz a book for ARC receivers and that's usually when ARCs are sent out. Though some are as early as 6 months before pub date but too bad, they should have to wait to post an ARC review. It's definitely stupid when a book like Doors of Stone by Patrick Rothfuss has ratings when they are absolutely no ARCs or even a pub date. At least wait till there's a real pub date! DoS may NEVER come out. *sigh*

Alexandra wrote: "Juli wrote: "I always uncheck that box. I still participate once in a while (never won either). I think I just did one a few days ago and it definitely still had the box.

I should say I uncheck th..."

But do they really have someone checking the 1,000+ entries to make sure they're on the WTR shelf? Doubt it. It's probably honor system. But if you're entering a giveaway, maybe you should want to read it? Or let it add to the WTR shelf and make a "Goodreads Giveaways Entered" shelf to also add it to and every month check to see what giveaways have ended, and delete it from your WTR shelf.

Carol wrote: "Don't take it personally. The app stinks no matter what phone one owns. Just use the desktop version on all devices all the time. Trust me. ."

Seconded.

Elyse wrote: "You can go just to the books's page after entering the giveaway and remove it from your shelf. "

Doing that then disqualifies the person from winning the Giveaway. They've made putting the book on that shelf and leaving it there until the contest is over a requirement to enter and a requirement to win.

Elyse wrote: "Alexandra wrote: "Juli wrote: "I always uncheck that box. I still participate once in a while (never won either). I think I just did one a few days ago and it definitely still had the box.

I shoul..."

It would not be hard to code entries so that the entry is voided if the book is removed from the to-read shelf. I'm not saying they do that; I'm just saying it's a fairly simple thing to code.

Elyse wrote: "But do they really have someone checking the 1,000+ entries to make sure they're on the WTR shelf? Doubt it. It's probably honor system."

Given that the books are automatically added to a person's WTR shelf upon entering a giveaway, even if they already have a different edition shelved, there is likely an automated process that checks to be sure the book (in the edition for the giveaway) is present on the WTR shelf. No need to have some person checking shelves individually at all.

Lalalah wrote: "Hi, great idea! I'd like applying it, but how? I mean, I created "additional" shelves, and ok, but if I uncheck the shelf "WTR", I'm bound to choose one of the other two shelves Read/Reading, right? Or there's anything I can't see? Thank you very much :-) "

Lalalah, any book you shelf must be on at least one Exclusive shelf. The default Exclusive shelves are Read, Want To Read, Currently Reading.

But, you can create new shelves and make any of those an Exclusive shelf - which would allow you to shelve it using that (or one of them) and not put it on one of the default Exclusive shelves.

For example, I have a custom shelf called To Read - Owned. I made it an Exclusive shelf. So I can put books on it and not put it on Read, Want To Read or Currently reading.

To make a custom shelf an Exclusive shelf just go into your Books, click to Edit your shelves, then check the box for Exclusive next to the shelve you want to be an Exclusive shelf - one you want to be able to use in place of the current defaults.

Hope that helps.

Noémie wrote: "I need a box to check that says "owned" or "purchased"! My shelf has over 100 books to be read, and I'm often unsure if I bought a specific book already or not. If I could check my goodreads accoun..."

I use shelves for that. I have a To Read Owned shelf and a To Read Don't Own shelf. And I made them Exclusive shelves so I don't have to put them on the default Want To Read shelf.

Elyse wrote: "But if you're entering a giveaway, maybe you should want to read it? "

But a lot of times I get notifications that there is a giveaway for a book on my Want to Read shelf. So I've already added it there. I don't want it there twice.

Elyse wrote: "On Amazon you can't rate a book until it has been published."

True, although that's a fairly recent change. However, on Amazon it is allowed to rate and "review" books one has not actually read. So, the same issue does exist there.

And that's not even getting into all the other ways the overall average on Amazon is intentionally skewed and gamed.

The truth is, the overall average isn't trustworthy, and it's smart to not take it as any real indication of anything, but instead read and judge for yourself individual reviews.

Elyse wrote: "But do they really have someone checking the 1,000+ entries to make sure they're on the WTR shelf? Doubt it. It's probably honor system."

Nope, it would be done easily with programming. All they'd need to do is verify the person selected to win has the book on that shelf, if not, that person is disqualified and it goes to select another person.

Easy peesy.

"But if you're entering a giveaway, maybe you should want to read it?"

Sure, you should be interested in reading it if you win. That doesn't mean wanting it on the default Want To Read shelf. Many people would want it on a different shelf. Others may want to wait to shelf it at all until/unless they win it. Many people have an issue with being used to "create buzz" for books they haven't even read yet and don't even know if they'll like. Etc.

Alexandra wrote: "Actually read reviews, and populate your Friend and Following lists with people who write reviews, and rate, who you do find helpful and trustworthy. "

Yep this is what I do. I've started adding people as friends after I've read a book, as long as they have the same rating as me and read the same genre (I basically exclusively read Young Adult). I can trust reviews much better this way and it's helping me decide if to bother with a book or not.

Vee ♔Under Mountain Books♔ wrote: "Alexandra wrote: "Actually read reviews, and populate your Friend and Following lists with people who write reviews, and rate, who you do find helpful and trustworthy. "

Yep this is what I do. I'v..."

Yes, I find that the fact that they show the average of Friends and Following separately is much more helpful. And of course adding people who have similar tastes and write honest reviews you feel you can trust.

That's always better than opinions of complete strangers, whose taste you don't really know, and who may have an agenda you don't know about :D

Janine wrote: "Elyse wrote: "But if you're entering a giveaway, maybe you should want to read it? "

But a lot of times I get notifications that there is a giveaway for a book on my Want to Read shelf. So I've al..."

THAT'S what irritates me. It's one thing if I'm on the Giveaways page entering them. But when I'm getting an email saying there's a giveaway for a book on my WTR shelf, why the hell am I forced to add *another* edition of the book to my shelf?! Make it say, you already have this book on your shelf in another edition. Or we will switch to the giveaway edition. Don't give me a duplicate!

Lalalah wrote: "Thank you too, you're all so nice, thanks :-) "

Glad it worked for ya!

Sara wrote: "What I need aside from that is a button or stars indicating how much I want to read that. Because maybe that book is interesting but the next one is even more interesting and I want to read it firs..."

Sounds like and interesting idea. There are certainly books you want to read more than others.

Elyse wrote: "Janine wrote: "Elyse wrote: "But if you're entering a giveaway, maybe you should want to read it? "

But a lot of times I get notifications that there is a giveaway for a book on my Want to Read sh..."

The real answer? Sloppiness. Usually because someone comes up with a "brilliant" idea without asking the people who have to make it work whether it's do-able or what it will take implement it.

Any time you start adding functions/layers to a system, you risk compromising the integrity of existing functions. Most companies can't be bothered to go back and re-code existing functions so they work best with whatever some manager decided they want today. Takes time. Time is money. So they end up using the coding equivalent of duct tape and chicken wire to try to make it LOOK right instead of BE right. It's the same reason you end up with duplicates or deleting a book from a shelf will sometimes refresh the page just to dump you onto another shelf. The people having to create this stuff are probably are just as frustrated as we users are because (if thy are worth their salt) they know HOW to do it right if they just had the time and were allowed to test it before being screamed at by some marketing type to "get it live ASAP!" There's always the hope you can go back and fix it in your non-existent spare time, but there's also always some marketing dimwit who doesn't know jack about the mechanics who has yet another "brilliant" idea they want done yesterday. And the more that's added without doing it correctly, the more unreliable things get, the more time is spent trying to deal with all the problems caused.

Damn been there, damn done that.
I've never worked with a coder or a database admin who was happy to do something half-assed.

Alexandra wrote: "GR recently made changes to the Giveaway program making adding the book to the default Want To Read shelf a requirement for participating/winning and no longer have the option to not add it."

Yeah, this is kind of a bummer. I've stopped participating in giveaways because of it. (Though I've never won anything, and most of the books I want are pretty low odds, so it's no big deal)

Drakeryn wrote: "Yeah, this is kind of a bummer. I've stopped participating in giveaways because of it. (Though I've never won anything, and most of the books I want are pretty low odds, so it's no big deal) "

I hear ya. You're not alone. I've seen many people say they won't enter Giveaways now, due to the recent changes.

Noémie wrote: "I need a box to check that says "owned" or "purchased"! My shelf has over 100 books to be read, and I'm often unsure if I bought a specific book already or not. If I could check my goodreads accoun..."

That feature actually exists! You can find it in the tools section (which is located at the bottom of the My Books page), or there's a box you can check when you write/edit a review.

Sara wrote: "Rachel wrote: "I have too many books in my Want to Read shelf as it is. What I really need is a Did Not Finish button, because I don't want to mark a book "finished" if I did not finish it."

That ..."

Same here, though I just do the review. Like many other goodreads user, I also created a separate shelf for the books I DNF-ed. I can't even believe goodreads only started allowing its users to mark re-reads last year.

Sara wrote: "Pranjal wrote: "Sara wrote: "What I need aside from that is a button or stars indicating how much I want to read that. Because maybe that book is interesting but the next one is even more interesti..."

For me, I usually have priorities for books I want to read next. If I come across a new book that I would like to read soon, then I manually change ordering number for the book so that I can use that column to keep track of books I would really like to read sooner than later.

It isn't an ideal solution since it won't work if you have a very large 'To Read' shelf. I have a little over hundred books there and it works fine for me however. I am not sure adding stars would help in this context. It would be good in Goodreads can introduce sub-trees to 'To Read' section based on other categorical labels which already exist. Hope this helps. :)

“Creating buzz ...” Wow, what jargon. I’ve spoken at length over on the Giveaways thread so will be briefer here. There are actually several reasons why Giveaway entrants may not want a title on their To Read shelf. It has to do with how we want to curate that shelf, not with whether we are interested in a particular title.


Speaking for myself, if a title is of particular interest — maybe I already know something about that author or subject matter — I have no problem adding it to that shelf. And if I win a title, I try to be assiduous about reading/reviewing it (which I view as a better way to “create buzz” — at least for a thumbs-up review), but “mildly interested” or “mildly curious” better describes my attitude for some books, especially with new/indie authors, or contests with meager descriptions of the book.

I am happy to read/review a children’s book before passing it along to two of my favorite children ... but I don’t normally add those to my own “want to read” list. Same thing with cookbooks. I don’t necessarily want those on my WTR list, but I will try out recipes, read/review if I do win one.

As I said on that other thread, Goodreads trying to manipulate reader behavior is not going to work out the way they think it will. Those who happily add more titles to their WTR list may genuinely want to read and review them — or they may just not care what ends up on that shelf.

Brian wrote: "Goodreads ratings are useless since far too many people rate everything 4-5. 3 should be a good average book in your estimation. Most books should be 3's. Really good ones are 4's. The very best bo..."

I agree - the aggregate reviews are useless. On the other hand, the 1 & 2 stars ratings can be useful - seeing what people didn't like. But it is too time-consuming to find them, so I don't often bother. I wish there was a way to "jump to" the ratings sorted by stars.

Bonnie wrote: "I wish there was a way to "jump to" the ratings sorted by stars. "

There is, you can filter by star rating and just see the rating/reviews for 1 star, or 2 star, etc.

Elyse wrote: "Sara wrote: "Moonlight wrote: "Emily wrote: "Sara wrote: "What I need aside from that is a button or stars indicating how much I want to read that. Because maybe that book is interesting but the ne..."

Totally hahah Though, in the end, many people understood it as it was.

Yaaresse wrote: "Elyse wrote: "Sara wrote: "Moonlight wrote: "Emily wrote: "Sara wrote: "What I need aside from that is a button or stars indicating how much I want to read that. Because maybe that book is interest..."

Of course. It was not a good answer at all. But, as you said, yes, there were many good solutions. However, I hope that the Goodreads team hear us out and implement some of our ideas.

Reply to Message #45: Your suggestions were great, and very helpful! I now have a Just Have to Read shelf, a Looking For It shelf, a Want To Read But Not That Badly shelf, and a Waiting Game 2018 shelf for those yet to be released. A shelving method that helps me, because I have cards from several different public libraries, is to put books on a “Library books-.....” shelf. I check the Goodreads Worldcat Library finder constantly to locate books at libraries near me. Saves me a lot of money finding books at libraries before I go buy them!