Pick-a-Shelf discussion

Hi there & be welcomed to Pick-a-Shelf.
I'm Karen & I'm completely addicted to reading! I'd get out from doing anything just to read!

I hope that you'd have fun in this group. Feedback always welcome...

Please introduce yourself here. Thanks for joining!

Hi there,
Sounds like a fun group, thanks for creating it!

I'm Liz and I live in NYC. I would like to think I read various genre's but I can always expand. I tend to read my genre's in clusters.

Hey there! Thanks for inviting me to join.

I'm Melissa -- from Maryland. Work in D.C. I don't think I have a specific genre of books that I stick to reading -- especially lately. I've been reading just about anything that catches my interest. I recently added about 30 non-fiction books to my list of to-reads.

Hi Melissa
Thanks for joining!

My book club this year has decided on Non-Fiction books so I've been reading some too! And I found lately that I'm really into memoirs...

What kind of Non-Fiction books are you into?

Hi my name is Vicki. I am 27 and a high school English teacher from NJ. Most of my reading is shcool related, but I am trying to regain back the time to do personal reading. Recently I have read a lot of young adult, but also like some classics, contemporary fiction and I am getting more into fantasy. I look forward to meeting all of you and participating.

Hi. I'm a 34-year-old woman from Pittsburgh. I mostly read general fiction, but have started to expand into mysteries and historical fiction. I'm also trying to read more non-fiction, but find that I don't always have the focus for it. I've become a real history nerd over the past few years, though so non-fiction is becoming more and more intoxicating to me. I also just started to read romance novels, which is kind of shocking to me because I always thought I was too big a book snob for them! A friend and I started to read them on our beach vacations as a joke, but I've found some that are actually well-written in addition to being a lot of fun.

Hello! This group sounds like it is going to be lots of fun.

I am 34 and live in North Las Vegas. I tend to wonder around in my reading. I really like fantasy, history, and general fiction. I am also in the Next Best Book and the 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die groups.

Hey! I've only just joined and pretty excited to see a group that is not too humongous and yet still active (trust me, been in and out many Goodreads groups and they're all either too active or too dead!)

Oops, rambling much! My name is Mita from Melbourne, Australia. I'm 25 and currently a grad student. Like all students, the only readings I get to do seem to be uni related or just whatever I managed to grab from the shelf while running to catch the tram.

The kind of books I like reading are fiction. I'm not particular but my collection consists of mostly Agatha Christies and Jane Austens, with the occasional young adult fiction. That's why I think this group is brilliant cause it'll make me actually reach for something different than the same thing over and over again.

Oh, and I ramble. A lot.

Hello, My name is Ann and I love to read. I live in South Carolina and I'm on goodreads everyday!
Thanks for the invitation to join this new group!

Karen, I've got just about everything on my non-fiction shelf. I like biographies and memoirs. I really enjoy political history books, so I have quite a few of those. I'm trying to keep myself open to everything, so there are so many different topics in there. I'm looking forward to actually getting into them.

Hello all! I am Julianne, I'm a (almost) 29 year old from the Baltimore area. Melissa invited me to join (that's my lil sis!!!).

If you were to ask me 5 years ago what I read, I would immediately say mystery/suspense/horror. It's still where my heart is--if I'm looking for a fast or easy read that's where I naturally go.

Now, I'm kind of all over the place. I'm trying to read more contemporary fiction (I recently created a shelf called "because everyone says its so great" which pretty well sums that up). I've also started reading more non-fiction (I like history or new theory books like The Tipping Point), and am trying to catch up on the "classics" that I never read in school.

I belong to the Next Best Book Club, the Stephen King club, and The Book Challenge club. I also am (slowly) working through certain books in the 1001 books to read before you die list.

Looking forward to another challenge!!

As far as non-fiction I am into memoirs as well. That is my non-fiction of choice. I read others like health books or books on religion or metaphysics too. My non-fiction reading is very limited.

Thanks Mel for inviting Julie... & Big Warm Welcome to Julie :)

I hope everybody feels right at home here yourselves that you can invite other people too :)

You're very welcome!

Hi, my name is Bridie. I have eclectic tastes in everything and am always interested in new experiences.
I tend to read in themes, (sometimes more than one at a time) I have recently been reading Nordic crime/mystery books, amongst others.

ooh, Nordic crime / mystery books - sounds intriguing...

Hi all :)
I'm 49 from a small town near Florida's Gulf coast. I have 2 grown children, 2 grands with another on the way, a husband that's a little jealous of my time spent in books and 3 basset hounds.

Goodreads seems to be my new addiction and I'm spending a lot of time here rather than reading :)

I'll try most anything to read but am not fond of heavy romance or heavy sci-fi. I used to be a chicklit snob but now love to read Evanovich and a few others.

I'm a bit shy/quiet with postings but am starting to come out of my shell.

Nice to meet all of you~

hi! i'm lynai and i'm new here in goodreads. seems like a fun group. thanks karen for inviting me!

Hi Everyone-

I'm Marsha. I live a little north of Seattle and have been re-discovering fiction in the past couple of years. I finished grad school, got settled in my job, my youngest is going to be 8 in a week or so- so the constant needs of the kiddos are fewer and fewer as time goes by. And a divorce does wonders for your "me" time.

I like looking for that silver lining. :)

Anyway, it has been great to start reading fiction again and I love talking about books. Goodreads is definitely addictive.

Hi all

My name is Bernadette and I'm in Adelaide Australia.

I like to read all sorts of things but crime/mystery is my favourite genre so I'm quite happy with the first month's choice. However I'll look forward to the other choices in the future to prompt me to read some different types of books.

Much like Bridie I've recently discovered Nordic and Scandinavian crime and am thoroughly enjoying it all but I'll pick something else for my October pick-a-shelf read.

Hello everybody. I'm Kristina, and I'm a 21-year-old student from Sweden, studying to become a preschool/primary school teacher. I'd like to think that I read various genres, but there are always some you miss. I don't really read science fiction, non-fiction, horror.. Yeah, there are always new things to read.

And I've recently discovered how much I love children's books, and I'm currently reading one of my favorites from my childhood, a book about two trolls.

I also agree with some of you above, with the Scandinavian crime literature, it's really expanded during the past couple of years, and now there's a lot of it, and a lot of it is actually good!

Hi Guys! I'm Andrew. I'm From Portland, Maine! WoHOO! I am fifteen years old and a Sophmore in high school. I am an avid reader, though it is getting cut short a bit because school is starting :( It's lame, but I don't have as much time to read as I would like.! Anyways, totally up to meeting new friends and if you want to chat, feel free to message me!

Hello! My name's Christina. 19. I'm another Aussie - Adelaide, in fact (hello to the aussies!). This group caught my eye because I'm always looking to expand my reading interests - I don't like sticking to just a specific genre, although I have been guilty of that in past!

Hopefully I'll be able to make a few friends out of this too ^^

Hi everyone. I'm Ami. I'm from Canada. I love reading always have, so I joined because i'm always looking for new books to read no matter what the genre is. I guess that's it.
thanks for the invite.

Hi everyone,

I'm Novia, a 34-year old booklover from Bogor, Indonesia. I read mostly SF and fantasy, although I do make the occasional foray into young adult literature, historical novels, popular science, and other genre. I live on recs! :D And I look forward to lively and exciting discussions here.

Hi, I'm Donald James Parker from Madison South Dakota and I love reading and writing but find little time for either. I have seven novels published (only 5 on Amazon etc right now but the others will be there soon) You can download the ebook versions for free at http://donaldJamesParker.com

Hi I'm Lisa, a stay at home mom of 3 from Kentucky. I love to read, and usually from a wide variey of shelves. My husband got me to read Fantasy so even that genre is a common sight on my bookshelf.

Hi, Kristie from NJ. Love to read, mostly fiction. I want to try and read some new stuff so this sounds like the place for me!!!

Hi everyone interested in Nordic/Scanda crime fiction.

Here are some of the authors I've read in the 'Nordic crime genre':

Helene Tursten
Kerstin Ekman
Karin Fossum
Arnaldur Indridason
Mari Jungstedt
Kjell Eriksson
Hakan Nesser

and of course Henning Mankell who started me off on this Nordic jag ;P

Hello! My name is Jamie and I'm a SAHM of 4. I love to read all kinds of books, but I'd say my favorite genre is classics, particularly Jane Austen. This group looks really fun - can't wait to get started!

If people are interested in Nordic/Scandinavian crime fiction, you should look at the writers Bridie mentioned, but also:
Åsa Larsson
Stieg Larsson
Björn Hellberg
Jens Lapidus

And someone who's very popular in Sweden is Liza Marklund. I've heard that you either love her work, or don't like it at all.

Hi Kristina, Thanks for the additions.
I read The Bomber by Liza Marklund and didn't finish it. I liked the descriptions of the setting and some of the characterisation rang true but over all found the skin of words stretched to thinly on the bone of substance. I just read a comment on Amazon that said to keep reading as it gets better so I might have another go at it some time.

Hi, I'm Stephanie and I live in small town outside of Houston, TX. I joined GoodReads because I was getting stuck trying to find new authors and wanted to "expand my horizons" so to speak. So far this has been a whol elot of fun and I have expanded my To-Read list by leaps and bounds. When I saw this group I thought, "Now there's the perfect way to get out of your reading rut!"

Glad to be here!

Hi, I'm Kristina. I live in Kannapolis, NC, but I still consider myself an Arizonian since I was born and raised there.

I love to read, and in recent year will only read books I enjoy. I used to be one who would never give up on a book I started, but life is too short to read bad books. It has made me more willing to try books I might not like since I won't be stuck reading it if I don't.

I'm not really a genre reader, I don't think. I hop around a bit. I read a few books from one genre then move onto another.

Hi Kristina

I agree I used to always finish books no matter how bad they are! but then I figured there are so many other GOOD books out there to read, why waste my time!

Hi im emily
i am 14 years old
i like YA books and adult books as well as books based on Australians in WW 1 and 2.
I dont like fantasy books but i wish i did but there just hasnt been one i like.
My have author is Sarah Dessen her best book to me being Lock and Key

Emily again
Sorry i just had to say i live in a country town of Victoria, Australia

Welcome, Emily! Glad to see more people from Victoria :D

Hi everyone I love that I have broadened my reading since finding GR and I keep adding books to my TBR list every day. I used to read Amazon reviews when looking for new read ideas but this is way better. Happy reading everyone. I live in Tassie.

Hi everyone! I am from Alabama, where I attend the University of Alabama. I am currently a senior majoring in Journalism/Psychology. I LOVE to read but havent had a lot of time to do so lately but...Thanksgiving and Christmas break are coming oh so quickly so I vow to catch up! I'm sick of schoolwork ready to relax w/ my fav. blanket and book niccceeeee! :o) I'm so excited to have found this group...I enjoy a variety of genres, so any group picks will be great ones!!!

Hi i'm Katlin. i live in Aus but that's kind of neither here nor there. i love my books but i do try to keep my mind open to new types of reads. unfortunately i'm bit of a busy sort so i don't get alot of reading time and i may seem a bit inactive but i am here and i'll try to be friendly. :)
(thanks for invite - my first group, i only joined GR yesterday!)

welcome to April and Katlin! :)

Hello. My name is Tiffany. I am 27 years old. I live in Georgia. I love to read! I am a book-a-holic! I always carry a book with me at all times, I never know when I can sneak a few mins to read. I have a book addiction problem. I will spend my last $5 on a book. It's bad! I am currently under a book intervention that was originated by my work friends, they really care about me. I can only read the books I have on hand until Dec. 25, 2008. So far, I am doing great! I never thought I would make it this far. In return, for not straying on my path, one of my friends at work said she will get her dad to make me a bookshelf according to my specifications. I really enjoy historical fiction books, civil war era, prairie days, books about royalty and that sort of thing. I also really enjoy Christian Fiction. Well, I think that about sums me up.

Hi. I'm Randi. I love to read and write. I love GR, probably too much. I'm 55. I just started liking to read around 6-10 years ago. Now I just love it. I also love writing.

Welcome aboard, Randi.

Hi ! I am Atishay and a book-addict. And now I'm a GR addict too.

Hey I'm Jenny, I love the idea of this group it's fab! I'm 24 and live in Norwich, UK.

Welcome to all the new GR addicts!

Hi, I'm Isobel. I'm 25 and live in Melbourne, Australia. I think it's fantastic finding new genres to love. I work in a library and it's terrible when people tell me sadly that they've read all of the type of books they like. I try to present this as an opportunity to branch out but they're often not convinced. Very sad.

Hello Everybody,

My name is Avigail and I am from Israel. I found goodreads through www.facebook.com.

Your group sounds a lot of fun. I am addicted to reading, you will find me always with a book no matter where I go.
I am willin to open up to new generes and that's because I read whatever falls in my hands. The other thing about me is that I wont put down a book that I don't like, I will continue to read it.

Well I hope that we will have good readings and conversations.

Have a nice reading weekend
Avigail