Audiobooks discussion

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Archives > Group bookshelf - your thoughts?

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message 1: by John, Moderator (new)

John | 3917 comments I hadn't thought about it myself. Sounds like a worthwhile idea, though I'd say one qualification should be that it must be one the recommender has rated four or five stars in his or her own collection, with specifics as to what made it special.


message 2: by Sara ♥ (new)

Sara ♥ (saranicole) | 243 comments I'll just repeat what I said in the other thread:

I was also thinking that we don't really seem to use the group's bookshelf much. Maybe we could utilize that more by adding our favorite audiobooks (our 5-star listens) to the shelf as we come across them? Perhaps we could make additional shelves like mystery, science-fiction, fantasy, romance, nonfiction, etc. so we could find audiobooks others have loved in specific categories. Seems like it would be a good way to share.


message 3: by Janice (new)

Janice | 0 comments I really like this idea, think it would be another resource for finding good audio selections, and much easier than trying to scroll through past posts to find a title.


message 4: by MissSusie (new)

MissSusie | 2420 comments I just added some of my 5 star listens to the shelf!


message 5: by Grumpus, Hearing aide (new)

Grumpus | 473 comments I agree with John for every book on the shelf, there should be a corresponding entry as to why you put that book there.

I expect there will be many books listed and I believe comments posted to a discussion group that I'll create will help show that only those that who feel strongly enough to comment on their book will help facilitate discussion and keep it from being a dumping ground of self promotion. Additionally, as John said, they should be 4 or 5 star books only.


message 6: by MissSusie (new)

MissSusie | 2420 comments Hope I did ok with the ones I added!?!


message 7: by Sara ♥ (new)

Sara ♥ (saranicole) | 243 comments Is there a way to turn on the "notes" column on the bookshelf, so we can comment on the books? And do we want to add shelves for different genres? Only moderators can modify the shelves...


message 8: by Linda (new)

Linda Boyd (boydlinda95gmailcom) | 63 comments I really like this idea, since I am fairly new to audiobooks - this list will provide suggestions on great books to listen to....


message 9: by Kelly (new)

Kelly | 295 comments It'd be nice to have shelves by genre. Most of my 5 star listens will probably just be of interest to people who enjoy that genre.


message 10: by John, Moderator (new)

John | 3917 comments I've added shelves for the books entered so far, based upon the descriptions of the books I haven't read myself.


message 11: by binter (new)

binter | 218 comments I'm so pleased to see this group bookshelf! I think it will prove very helpful.
I've added a few of my faves. Can someone have a look and let me know if I've done everything in the best format. May as well learn how to do it right the first time.


message 12: by binter (new)

binter | 218 comments Why are none of the books (except the ones I added) on the bookshelf rated?


message 13: by John, Moderator (new)

John | 3917 comments Your entries are fine; I think you're only supposed to see your own ratings?


message 14: by binter (new)

binter | 218 comments But there are no rating at all, no "avg rating".


message 15: by John, Moderator (last edited Sep 06, 2011 11:06PM) (new)

John | 3917 comments I'd say that after reading the poster's comment as to why she liked it, you click on the book's listing to get further information.


message 16: by Linda (new)

Linda Boyd (boydlinda95gmailcom) | 63 comments I like the bookshelf so far, I think it will be helpful for new audiobook people like me to listen to books that have a great narrator. I didn't see a narrators name on some of the books, can you guys add those when you add the book?


message 17: by Johnsergeant (last edited Sep 10, 2011 08:12PM) (new)

Johnsergeant | 36 comments I added 11 of my all time favorite audiobooks. I could have added more, but I didn't want to swamp the list. It would be good if we could see things like how many other members of the group have listened to the same book, and what the average rating of the audiobook is by this group.

John, is there any way of changing the settings on GoodReads, so that the editions you see are restricted to Digital or CD. Recently I have been trying to make a point of making sure the edition I show is the CD version. But it's a Royal Pain to have to scroll through 160 print editions in 20 languages to finally get to the CD edition. Is there any kind of a filter to only show CD & digital?


message 18: by Johnsergeant (new)

Johnsergeant | 36 comments Oh, and another thing - it would be nice if the Group bookshelf listing inherited the bookshelves from the original personal listing. I didn't realize this wasn't happening, so all of my books are just shelved as 'Read'


message 19: by John, Moderator (new)

John | 3917 comments The only way I know of to get at the audio editions directly is via the "combine" feature available to those with Goodreads Librarian status - a list of all of the author's titles appear, with the format of each separate ISBN.

I'll pass along your concerns to The Powers That Be; however, they have so much on their To Do list that items affecting audio listeners specifically aren't likely to get high priority.


message 20: by Johnsergeant (new)

Johnsergeant | 36 comments And yet another thing - it would be nice if there was some kind of vote/rec system for the bookshelf books. A number of my favorites were already there, so I would like to have a mechanism to show that I also like them.


message 21: by Johnsergeant (new)

Johnsergeant | 36 comments I couldn't resist - I added three more.


message 22: by Johnsergeant (new)

Johnsergeant | 36 comments I'll pass along your concerns to The Powers That Be; however, they have so much on their To Do list that items affecting audio listeners specifically aren't likely to get high priority."

OK, I can understand that. It's just frustrating, because as a programmer myself, I reckon it would take a couple of hours at tops to implement and test this feature. I would suggest Filter by format and filter by language. I'm sure German or Indonesian users find it a pain to scroll down through dozens of English language editions.


message 23: by binter (new)

binter | 218 comments I second: either a way to see either how many other group members have listened to a particular book or better still, some kind of vote/rec system. I rely heavily on this group's recommendations.

Don't think I would want all the bookshelf inhereted from the original listor. My own bookshelf listings are cryptic, really just meant for me to sort. I like the 'clean' catagories here.

Glad you put up your faves Johnsergeant.


message 24: by binter (new)

binter | 218 comments Going to advertise my ignorance here in the hopes that others will gain something. You know what they say...if you can't set a good example, serve as a horrible warning.

I never knew there were different editions!!!!
It wasn't until Johnsergeant mentioned something in an earlier post about the pains he was taking to make sure he listed the proper edition on the group's bookshelf. What a revelation! The proper version even indicates narrator. I had simply been taking the first title that popped up.

Hopefully, you are all far too clever to have let this go unnoticed and you've been selecting the appropriate version all along.


message 25: by John, Moderator (last edited Sep 11, 2011 08:12AM) (new)

John | 3917 comments If you go to Amazon, their listing of the Audible edition shows the ASIN# in the book details, which isn't available at Audible itself! As mentioned, becoming a GR Librarian is the easiest way (for now) to get at the audio edition(s).

I suppose the point is that if someone posts a (print) book here the point would be that an audio edition has been recorded, so if it looks like something you'd like, the actual GR audio listing isn't exactly essential; rather, you would go to your source(s) - Audible, Overdrive, etc. to find out if that one's readily available to you.


message 26: by Linda (new)

Linda Boyd (boydlinda95gmailcom) | 63 comments Alief wrote: "Going to advertise my ignorance here in the hopes that others will gain something. You know what they say...if you can't set a good example, serve as a horrible warning.

I never knew there were d..."


Alief, when I first started on Goodreads I didn't notice that feature either, at the time it was fine for me, because I mainly read hardbacks, but since I have branced out in audio and ebooks, that option is helpful. So, don't feel bad, you are not alone!! :)


message 27: by Kelly (new)

Kelly | 295 comments Thanks for adding the genre shelves. That makes browsing for my interests much easier. I see my "to read" shelf growing quite a bit!


message 28: by John, Moderator (new)

John | 3917 comments I've tried adding categories (shelves) as best I can -- will be happy to add others if needed.


message 29: by Johnsergeant (last edited Sep 11, 2011 08:02PM) (new)

Johnsergeant | 36 comments John wrote: "I've tried adding categories (shelves) as best I can -- will be happy to add others if needed."
Hi John:
I see you added categories to my books - thanks for that (I assume it was you) - I was just coming back to do that very thing. What's your criterion for distinguishing between modern fiction and historical fiction? Some of the ones classified as historical seem to me to be modern - e.g. Middlesex.


message 30: by John, Moderator (new)

John | 3917 comments Yes, I added them. Historical fiction to me would be anything that goes back more than a generation (has some action/setting prior to say the 1980's). I understand that some books include aspects of both; in those cases, feel free to add a book to multiple shelves!
I'm a bit confused though, I thought only moderators could assign shelves, as per prior comments? Or is it that folks can assign existing shelves, but not create new ones?


message 31: by Johnsergeant (new)

Johnsergeant | 36 comments John wrote: I'm a bit confused though, I thought only moderators could assign shelves, as per prior comments? Or is it that folks can assign existing shelves, but not create new ones?

John - It looks like you are correct. I just went to Middlesex and went through the motions of adding 'Modern Fiction', which it allowed me to do, but the change didn't get saved as far as I can tell.


message 32: by John, Moderator (new)

John | 3917 comments That has thrown me, too! One has to add the category by clicking the button, and "save" the book to the shelf to get it to stick.


message 33: by Johnsergeant (new)

Johnsergeant | 36 comments John wrote: "That has thrown me, too! One has to add the category by clicking the button, and "save" the book to the shelf to get it to stick."

John - I see that Middlesex now has both 'Historical Fiction' and 'Modern Fiction' as categories. Is that because my update took, or did you also go and make that change?


message 34: by Johnsergeant (new)

Johnsergeant | 36 comments John - me again:

I see that there are 2 discussion groups - 'Audiobook Bookshelf' and 'Group Bookshelf - Your Thoughts'. Most of the comments have been posted to the latter, but today there were new comments to the former, which then came up on top for new posts. Not realizing that there were two different discussion groups, I thought all the posts from the last few days had been lost. Do you have the power and ability to merge these?


message 35: by John, Moderator (new)

John | 3917 comments I think I added the other category, but couldn't swear to it. Moderators cannot merge threads here - best we can do is close one, directing further posts to the other.


message 36: by Shirley (new)

Shirley | 11 comments Where is the bookshelf?


message 37: by John, Moderator (new)

John | 3917 comments It is one of the choices to click on the upper right hand of the main group page.


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