Adding to Bookshelves

[Victoria]

(I can't see how to start a discussion without tying it to a specific book. Apologies if I'm doing something against Goodreads etiquette, but I'm really interested in hearing people's views on this.)

I've recently joined Goodreads. I'm adding books to my bookshelves, and I wonder how other people approach it.

I've read a lot of books by some prolific authors. Do people add everything they've read by, say, Agatha Christie? I'm not seeking them out, but if they turn up as recommendations, I'll add them. What do other people do?

What about childhood books read many years ago, or 'read once and got rid of' books? Do people add them all, or just stick with books that have stayed with them over time? What about books you really disliked?

There are some books that I know I've read but can't remember anything about. I'm not adding those.

What about Want to Read? I've seen several books, mostly non-fiction, that look interesting, and I'd like to read them, but know I'll never have the time. Add those, or not?

Not suggesting there's a right or wrong way to do any of this, just interested in how other people go bout it. It's interesting to me to add all these books as it builds up a record of my reading over my life. But it also becomes unmanageable and time consuming organising it all.

[[deleted user]]

If I come across a certain book that I've read when I was a child, then I naturally add the book to my 'read' list. I also like adding books into year-by-year shelves, I like to know how many books I read each year, and that is why I have compiled 2012-books list, as well as 2013, and 2014...

I don't think there's right or wrong when it comes to 'shelving' books on Goodreads. I've seen people add numerous book shelves, such as 'Russian favourites' and 'Crime' - I suppose that helps certain people to navigate through easier, especially if they have hundreds of books in their catalogue.

When it comes to 'Want to Read' list I just add anything that sounds promising to me/books that I may want to read later. I always go back to the list when I'm about to order new books at the library or when I'm buying books in a bookshop. It definitely helps to remember what I've been wanting to read!

My best advice would be to keep it plain simple - make a few important shelves so it looks organised and are easy to go through. It doesn't have to be time consuming.

[Mitali]

I don't think there's any particular approach that all or even most people take. It depends on what you want out of Goodreads, and how much time and effort you're willing to put in to organize your books.

For instance, I primarily use Goodreads to keep track of my reading habits over the past decade or two, and the books I want to read in the near future. So the only shelves I really need are the default ones, i.e. Read, To-Read and Currently-Reading (though over the years, I've wound up adding a few others). I have added all the books I can remember reading in the past 15-20 years or so, but I've probably forgotten plenty. I haven't bothered to add all the hundreds of Nancy Drew and Sweet Valley books I used to read as a kid. If I come across any interesting books I want to read, I add them in my To-Read shelf - whether or not I'll actually wind up reading them is immaterial. Just having hundreds of books in the To-Read shelf motivates me to read more. ;)

If you want to use Goodreads as a primarily social tool, i.e. to co-ordinate your reading habits with your friends, and so on, you would probably organize your shelves differently. If you don't have the time to list all the books you can remember reading, just list the ones that are most important to you, or the ones that you want to receive recommendations on.

[Victoria]

Julia, thanks for replying. I think you're right - keeping it simple is probably the right way to go. I keep thinking of new shelves to add, or new ways of categorising the books, and in the long run it's probably not very useful.

I think it seems a lot of work because I'm adding a lot of books at once. When I get to the point of just adding current reading, it will be easier.

[Victoria]

Mitali, thank you for your comment. Recommendations are partly what I'm thinking about. I am getting some quite interesting looking books recommended, but sometimes they're nearly all books I've already read. Adding them to my shelves gets rid of them from the recommendations, and improves the recommendations overall.

I'm thinking that for the really prolific writers such as Agatha Christie and Georgette Heyer, and childhood authors such as Enid Blyton, I'll just add two or three titles from each.

[Vavita]

I used to have a list of all the books I have read in my diary as I was a child and a teenager. Then when I moved out of my country, I lost the list. I was devastated. There are books that I want to read again and others that I want my son to read but I have forgotten their names because I read them when I was around 11 / 12. Mainly I add all books I am currently reading and try to add the ones I read long time ago when I remember them. I try to add as many as I can because also many friends ask me for recommendations.
I do not classify the books I read. I dont have many folders. I had but I found it time consuming and hard with some books.
Have fun at goodreads!

[Victoria]

Vavita, I'm sorry you lost your list of books. Are there any forums or groups online dedicated to books of the type you used to read, where people might be able to help you identify some of them?

I started out just adding books without sorting them into shelves, but I found that too unmanageable. Now I've got about half a dozen categories.

I am enjoying myself here so far - I've spent too much time this afternoon reading reviews to see what other people think of some of my favourite books.

[C. J.]

For me I add books to bookshelves because I find it fun. Especially when you can customize ones to your tastes and call them by the kinds they want.

I don't usually add all books by one author unless I read them which is impossible with even some of the late but great writers.

I say add only the ones you have read that have given you great memories, ones that have not been your fancy (but you have plenty of ways to explain why you didn't in a review), and not take it all too seriously. I have been tempted to be obsessive compulsive and add every book I have ever read but I want to at least rate and review most of what I remember (events, moments). If I don't remember what happened in it I don't bother.

And for the "To-read" list, go crazy! So there may not be enough time to read all the ones in this list. I say try to pick the ones up in the library that may be harder to find and if not oh well, at least you tried. I have many in my to-read list to the point I felt guilty it was a little higher than my read "pile" of books. Don't ever feel that way and add as much as you can and see what can come to you.

Happy reading!!

[Victoria]

In retrospect, the 'add everything' early stage was quite good because it made me think about books I read years ago and why I liked them, and in some cases sent me back to read them again. And others I'd like to re-read but don't know when I'll have the time!

Now I think I'll stick to adding the first in a series, or in the case of very prolific authors, just those of their books that I particularly loved. Though in the case of some, such as Georgette Heyer, getting the favourites down to single figures is a challenge!

[C. J.]

That's cool. For some reason I have very rarely re-read books. I guess personally I am afraid of missing out on books that are undiscovered and I want to find gems that are new to me.

Yeah I know what you mean. I have added a lot of first books in a series too especially in my "to-read" section. If I am interested reading a certain book in that series I start with the first one anyway hoping to get to that desired one later. I guess it's kind of a Goodreads thing!

[Victoria]

The re-reading/not re-reading thing is interesting. I know people who rarely re-read, even books they read decades ago. I often return to old favourites when I want to relax and unwind completely and don't have the mental energy for anything new.

I do often find something new when I re-read. Whether it's having more life experience, or different perspective, or just that I didn't pay enough attention the first time round! Gaudy Night by Dorothy L. Sayers is one I often come back to and find little things I missed before.

[C. J.]

I have re-read some books. I went back and re-read "Taming the Star Runner" by S. E. Hinton because I liked the characters and liked how it had a few autobiographic details about her as a writer. A good young adult novel. She has somehow become a pretty big influence on me (I've worked on a young adult novel myself realizing after a while it had almost every aspect of something Hinton would do in her writing but was still an original work).

Yes I re-read novels only sometimes but only because like some re-readers I want to revisit the characters again. Sorry that's a boring or predictable reason but oh well. :)