Our Shared Shelf discussion
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Our Shared Shelf


As it's sad to think of not reading your bi-monthly book announcement (I always look forward to them!), I do think it's great that you're focusing first and mostly on yourself and your projects. I wish you all the best in them and I thank you for this amazing community you created and that it had grown over time.
Looking forward to seeing more of your wonderful work in this world as it's a true inspiration, not only for young children but also for us adults.
Lots of love and best wishes from Argentina.
Cynthia

Thank you for Our Shared Shelf and it is nice to be a part of a intellectual feminist book club.

Happy because I met great people here.
This book has come to an end but I'll keep writing my story. Farewell and all the best to everyone! 😊
The most important: Thank you! And good luck, love and emotional wealth!



To Emma, Jo, Helen, Meelie and the countless other moderators who have made this such an intrinsic part of my life for the past two years.
Thank you.
I must echo other sentiments from the other members to share that your book selections have helped expand my awareness and the conversations and perspectives here have enriched my soul.
Thank you
You all showed such amazing patience and heartfelt love for putting up with all of our joys and needs and desires and wants. It has been a master class of watching a movement be born and bubble up in probably wilder ways than you imagined and you all carried on with such grace and empathy, (behind closed doors I'm sure you wanted to throttle us) but to the public it was always considerate and loving.
Thank you
And thank you for just creating a space in these tumultuous and trying times where we could all sit down and reflect on what we agree in and areas that we may not have considered. I have met some amazing people through this book club; many who I can call friends.
I wish you all the best of luck in your future endeavors and hopefully some more free time to laugh and love.
Thank you
Thank you.
I must echo other sentiments from the other members to share that your book selections have helped expand my awareness and the conversations and perspectives here have enriched my soul.
Thank you
You all showed such amazing patience and heartfelt love for putting up with all of our joys and needs and desires and wants. It has been a master class of watching a movement be born and bubble up in probably wilder ways than you imagined and you all carried on with such grace and empathy, (behind closed doors I'm sure you wanted to throttle us) but to the public it was always considerate and loving.
Thank you
And thank you for just creating a space in these tumultuous and trying times where we could all sit down and reflect on what we agree in and areas that we may not have considered. I have met some amazing people through this book club; many who I can call friends.
I wish you all the best of luck in your future endeavors and hopefully some more free time to laugh and love.
Thank you

Happy new year to all of you, best of luck in all of your projects!


Happy 2020 focusing your energy on some personal and professional opportunities! Thank you so much for creating the very important and stupendous OSS! You are an amazing independent thinker, activist and mischief maker and you are very inspiring! I feel truly grateful to learn from you and to be part of the greatest feminist ninja gang the world has ever seen! Thank you very much for sharing about OSS being your distress signal and call for help! I am very happy about OSS becoming a beacon and guiding light. I will very much miss your regular bi-monthly book recommendations via the board. I will keep my eyes peeled for your future book recommendations on your fascinating Instagram account! I will march in a Women's March in Portland, Maine on Saturday, 1/18/2020 wearing,,,my feminist ninja gang pink kitten hat! I am giving my best wishes to you!
Love,
Billy
Portland, Maine

To everyone else, thank you for the many discussions (the pleasant, the impassioned, the contentious, and everything in between)! I look forward to finding your posts nestled within the hashtag and all of the books we can aggregate together.

While I understand that everyone has to move on eventually and it is in part sad (I dislike endings!), I also believe this community will continue to be awesome simply because we all are :-)
That said, trolls will be whacked if there are any but it is unlikely to impede the quality of thing here in general I think :-)

I've always been a reader, but I almost exclusively stuck to novels and comedic autobiographies (which I still love). Through OSS I've opened my mind up TREMENDOUSLY to all kinds of authors and viewpoints that I don't know if I would have had the drive to seek out if it weren't for this group.
I've read (or attempted) every single book suggested (shoutout to Toronto Public Library!) and I am SO in this fight for gender equality now. I'll stand up to friends or acquaintances when they are subliminally misogynistic/racist/xenophobic/any other kind of toxic person and I have anecdotes and facts to back up my viewpoints!
I've also met a great group of women through OSS who through these past few years have graduated, moved to Spain, got married (actually, 3 of us got married!) and had children. What a way to get to know your neighbours!
And now, I will continue to open my mind and find empathy by reading the words of those who had experiences different than mine. All the while I will encourage everyone I know to do the same. The compassion we find for others when reading their stories is transformative. Thank you, Emma, for showing me that I too can undergo that transformation.

Thank you for putting this group together and I look forward to seeing where we can take it.

It's been humbling to be a part of something so big, so impactful. All the thanks to the moderators for making it happen!


I‘ve gained so much knowledge by reading books you recommend it‘s incredible so I‘m really thankful to you for creating this community :)

Thank you for the great book recommendations and discussions and good luck with your future projects! Happy 2020! See you on instagram <3 <3 <3




Emma, I really wish the best for you in your new proyects. I'll miss your letters, but I understand your decision and believe me I'm happy for you.
Whatever you are thinking to do, I trust it's the best you.
I can see you happy and full of blessings.
With Love, from Chile.

Just a week ago, a torrent of heartwarming memories rushed on me the other night; memories about being part of this beautiful community. This all started as boiling, sparkling mess... people numbers skyrocketed in hours, new discussions were popping up every minute or so. Everyone was infected with pure excitement.
We tried to figure out so many things back then, haven't we? What's right and what's wrong was surely among them. But soon enough, everything started to take shape.
And now that time has passed, the true glory of this project has emerged: the conversations. Thoughts. Experiences. I wonder how many books one could possibly write while simply reading these. Every time I checked back once in a while, I was amazed by quality, thoughtfulness, and growing amount of research material for future generations, and I'm serious! One shouldn't overlook this possibility. And I was truly happy to see the community flourishing no matter what.
Thank you, Emma. You have changed many lives with this little mischief. And although I wasn't here for long, you have definitely changed mine.
And if it is time to make another mischief - everyone will be excited about it; there's no doubt on that!
So let's have an exciting, productive and (in a good sense) life-changing 2020 everyone!

Best of luck with your new dreams, ideas, challenges and adventures for 2020.
With love, a fellow Book Fairy!



I don’t have instagram and I don’t intend to open an account there, so I do hope that you find the time to make your book recommendations here.
Best wishes

Firstly, thank you so much for bringing together all these light minded women. I truly feel the meaning of solidarity.
I’m a working mother of two so it’s difficult to go out and socialise let alone find women that enjoy women’s literature. You’ve brought this amazing group of people to my door step and I’m very grateful xx
I really don’t know how you’ve found the time to keep this group going. You’ve been using your Time-Turner pendant haven’t you? 😁 all jokes aside I hope this group continues to thrive and looking forward to seeing you pop in from time to time.
Best wishes with your new journey and sending you love and light xx
Regards
Hülya
**for those of you that wish to follow me on Instagram: @hulii_f

We sheep need a ‘She’pard.
If we could think as broadly or discover great new topics as efficiently on our own would be here in the first place?
Could have grown with into the next Oprah’s Book club.
Anyhow,
So long and thanks for all the fish.




Diana
Emma wrote: "Our Shared Shelf was a title dreamed up by YOU, all of the amazing individuals who support and contribute to creating conversations around intersectionality, feminism and equal rights. It was impor..."

By the way, if anyone is looking for another book club/group I’ve discovered Reading Women Podcast which shares book reccomendations by or about women - it’s both a group on Good Reads and also website https://www.readingwomenpodcast.com
Best wishes and happy reading!


Well no Emma but legacy stays with this forum.
I am not going anywhere is still lot to fighting for. Still lots to learn. Still lots to conquer.
Peace out
For now ;)
Emma wrote: "Our Shared Shelf was a title dreamed up by YOU..."
Will you please create a gif from the old banner photos and post it on your Instagram so that we can watch the books collect on our shelf?
Will you please create a gif from the old banner photos and post it on your Instagram so that we can watch the books collect on our shelf?

Books mentioned in this topic
My Life on the Road (other topics)Men Without Women (other topics)
Educated (other topics)
Fruit of the Drunken Tree (other topics)
A Place for Us (other topics)
More...
Circling back to the title for a moment. It annoyed me that Our Shared Shelf was constantly abbreviated to “O.S.S.”. The same letters (different order) as the international symbol for distress! However, over the years the three letters have developed their own beautiful meaning for me. This book club initially was my own kind of distress signal! Life, it turns out, can be difficult to navigate. We are often caught in the storm and lost at sea. The journey to becoming an independent thinker, activist and mischief maker is treacherous! OSS was my distress signal and call for help - and it came! It has become a beacon and guiding light. If you know someone sending out a jumbled distress signal, please pass on or tell them about OSS. Activism and change making can feel lonely. This is your tribe, this is your collective consciousness and we are raising it together.
At the beginning of every new year, and particularly so now as it is the beginning of a new decade, I’ve been prompted to look at my next steps. I’ve been doing a lot of thinking! First of all Happy 2020, it’s going to be an amazing year for all of you. This year I want to focus my energy on some new personal and professional opportunities and while I want to say YES to everything – it’s IMPOSSIBLE.
What does this mean? Moving forward the OSS board will be unmoderated but remain open keeping intact all previous conversations. I will not be making the regular bi-monthly book announcement via the board, I will be making future book recommendations through Instagram using the hashtag #oursharedshelf instead. My wish is that this community continues to share and announce their own book recommendations with this hashtag keeping what we’ve built together alive and well for the future. I am excited to see it continue to grow and mature. I might just be reading along with you! Keep your eyes peeled as I announce other books later this year.
Love
Emma