Categorizing books (Adventure, Drama, Thriller, etc.) - Page 2

Dazrin · 10-18-2017, 01:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cinisajoy

For ebooks your system works great. For physical books, not so much.

Oh wait, he could do like some people and sort them by cover color.

Spoiler:

Ya, physical books wouldn't work at all for this but it doesn't sound like that is the worry here.

I did see a thread about that on a different forum though...

Spoiler:

Cinisajoy · 10-18-2017, 01:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dazrin

Ya, physical books wouldn't work at all for this but it doesn't sound like that is the worry here.

I did see a thread about that on a different forum though...

Spoiler:

I need that person. Lol.

Dazrin · 10-18-2017, 01:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cinisajoy

I need that person. Lol.

The poster is a member here but hasn't been active for a long time so I don't want to mention any names. It was certainly an interesting thread.

ekbell · 10-18-2017, 02:19 PM

My physical book cataloging system was very simple,

Author, title, fiction/nonfiction, genre, collection/location (Collections that take up more then one bookcase are organized by author, more bookcases have been added and books shifted around as necessary).

I've since transferred the information to calibre and added format and blurb information. My problem has not been keeping my paperbooks organized but rather lack of room for more bookcases, or why I now mostly prefer to buy ebooks.

As for ebooks I've given up on having reasonably sized collections but have contented myself with providing enough information so that I can find the books I want reasonably quickly, adding tags and subdivisions when needed. I try to keep my groupings on my main reading device a reasonable size by not adding too many similar books.

Tarana · 10-20-2017, 05:22 PM

I find it helpful to just download the metadata with all the categories provided by Amazon, Barnes & Noble and such. I just leave them that way until I read it unless there is an author with whom I'm already well versed. Don't spend a lot of time categorizing something you haven't yet read.

In the interest of actually answering the specific question, here's a link that can help you categorize thrillers. Remember, thrillers have a lot of action.
https://kathrineroid.wordpress.com/2...ler-subgenres/

For adventure, I categorize Sea, Military, Spy, Survival, Epic, Pulp, European, Asian

Examples: Sea - Moby Dick, Harrigan (Max Brand), Military - Sharpe's Rifles, Spy - The Mouse that Roared or Tinker, Tailor, Solider, Spy, Survival - Robinson Crusoe, Epic - Morland Dynasty or The Iliad Expansion - Wagons West (Dana Fuller Ross) or The Australians (William Stuart Long), Pulp - Doc Savage or Tarzan, European - The Count of Monte Cristo, Asian - Shogun.

I am the keeper of the family e-library so sometimes have to make an effort to classify things a bit. I'm sure there are other subcategories, and some people would put stuff from my category into a different category, but it depends on what you read. For instance, many of my books listed above would probably be better off in a category called Historical Fiction instead of Adventure. I put stuff like Dickens into Historical Fiction. Some folks would put Jules Verne under Adventure: Futuristic while I would put it under Science Fiction. Like I said, it depends on what you read and who needs the categories. You can always change it or (gasp) use multiple categories!

maddz · 10-20-2017, 08:34 PM

Dunno that I'd call The Mouse That Roared spy fiction - humourous definitely, perhaps alternate history, but spy? OK, it's a Cold War setting, but I don't recall much in the way of espionage in it at all (and I've read it within the past year). You are talking about the Leonard Wibberley novel?

Tarana · 10-20-2017, 09:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by maddz

Dunno that I'd call The Mouse That Roared spy fiction - humourous definitely, perhaps alternate history, but spy? OK, it's a Cold War setting, but I don't recall much in the way of espionage in it at all (and I've read it within the past year). You are talking about the Leonard Wibberley novel?

Yes, I'm talking about the Leonard Wibberley novel.

You are not wrong. This is where my Mom said she would find it. I think it has to do with how it was presented when first published (my Mom is 83 so Cold War was a big deal in her life). More an invasion than a spy situation, but it did involve stealing secrets (the bomb) and kidnapping a scientist (the inventor). I also have it in a second category for humor because that is where I would be looking for it. Technically, it's a satire.

By the way, did you know that there were 5 books? All are on Kindle now.

maddz · 10-21-2017, 04:14 AM

I have (had?) the prequel, #1 & #3 in print (the Ws are hidden behind furniture at the moment). I don't think I ever saw #2 & #4 in print. #2 I have the ebook. The print editions were from the days I lived in London and found the Starblaze editions. I also have The Quest for Excaliber which isn't a Fenwick book.

JSWolf · 10-21-2017, 06:10 AM

The solution is to put it in whatever categories you’d find it in. Don’t rely on others to do it for you.

Tarana · 10-21-2017, 10:47 AM

Maddz, it seems the Grand Fenwick series is available as an omnibus with all five books. Saw it at both Amazon and Kobo. So if you want to fill in, there's an opportunity for you.

Tarana · 10-21-2017, 10:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JSWolf

The solution is to put it in whatever categories you’d find it in. Don’t rely on others to do it for you.

Totally true, but sometimes some direction helps you figure out how to organize.

haertig · 10-21-2017, 10:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JSWolf

The solution is to put it in whatever categories you’d find it in. Don’t rely on others to do it for you.

I'm not asking for others to do it for me. I'm looking for suggestions of what might have worked best for others, because what I'm doing now is only marginally working for me. I'm wanting to improve.

i.e., I'm looking for tips based on experience, probably gained from having book collections larger than mine - not manual labor or exhaustive research done on my behalf. I've gotten many good tips here on these forums - in this thread, and in others. Plus, people on these forums seem to be really nice and very willing to share their knowledge and experience. I appreciate that. So I'm off and running already!

rkomar · 10-21-2017, 12:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cinisajoy

For ebooks your system works great. For physical books, not so much.

Oh wait, he could do like some people and sort them by cover color.

Spoiler:

I've always had in the back of my mind to devote a wall to large mosaics made using album covers (I still have a lot of those). You've given me the idea that something similar could be done with book shelves: arrange the books so that the spines create a large mosaic. It would be a lot of work, but I'm sure it would give me a lot of satisfaction after.

GlenBarrington · 10-21-2017, 01:39 PM

You know, what we need is a suggested list of categories and keywords. Sort of like the suggested 'chart of accounts' that many accounting programs have.

I've tried to categorize,organize, and tag my books several times and the effort just falls apart.

maddz · 10-21-2017, 01:58 PM

Well, over on LibraryThing, I use the following collections:

Science Fiction & Fantasy
Role-playing Games
Crime Fiction
Media-related
Gaming-related
Classical Authors
Other Fiction
Comics & Graphic Novels
Cookery
Literature
Art
Non-Fiction
Maps & Travel

Books are assigned to a single collection (yes, there are some cross-genre works), and then get given at least 2 tags to narrow it down.

A format tag - audiobook, ebook, print

Then a genre tag; e.g. my Science Fiction & Fantasy collection has the following:

Alternate History (216)
Artesia (1)
Cyberpunk (39)
Drama (6)
Fantasy (1671)
Historical Fantasy (18)
Horror (37)
Humour (1)
Matter of Britain (1)
Military SF (107)
Occult (20)
Paranormal Romance (7)
Paul's (13)
RPG - Fudge (1)
RPG Fiction (5)
Science Fiction (903)
Steampunk (23)
Urban Fantasy (327)
Vampire (135)
Weird (173)

My Calibre tag scheme is broadly similar; my shelves (from my Kobo days) are equivalent to the LibraryThing collection, then the tags are the same.

10-20-2017, 05:22 PM	#20
Tarana Wizard Posts: 4,038 Karma: 38840460 Join Date: Sep 2012 Location: Minneapolis Device: PWSE, Voyage, K3, HDX, KBasic 7 & 8, Nook Glo3, Echos, Nanos	I find it helpful to just download the metadata with all the categories provided by Amazon, Barnes & Noble and such. I just leave them that way until I read it unless there is an author with whom I'm already well versed. Don't spend a lot of time categorizing something you haven't yet read. In the interest of actually answering the specific question, here's a link that can help you categorize thrillers. Remember, thrillers have a lot of action. https://kathrineroid.wordpress.com/2...ler-subgenres/ For adventure, I categorize Sea, Military, Spy, Survival, Epic, Pulp, European, Asian Examples: Sea - Moby Dick, Harrigan (Max Brand), Military - Sharpe's Rifles, Spy - The Mouse that Roared or Tinker, Tailor, Solider, Spy, Survival - Robinson Crusoe, Epic - Morland Dynasty or The Iliad Expansion - Wagons West (Dana Fuller Ross) or The Australians (William Stuart Long), Pulp - Doc Savage or Tarzan, European - The Count of Monte Cristo, Asian - Shogun. I am the keeper of the family e-library so sometimes have to make an effort to classify things a bit. I'm sure there are other subcategories, and some people would put stuff from my category into a different category, but it depends on what you read. For instance, many of my books listed above would probably be better off in a category called Historical Fiction instead of Adventure. I put stuff like Dickens into Historical Fiction. Some folks would put Jules Verne under Adventure: Futuristic while I would put it under Science Fiction. Like I said, it depends on what you read and who needs the categories. You can always change it or (gasp) use multiple categories! Last edited by Tarana; 10-20-2017 at 07:54 PM.

10-21-2017, 10:47 AM	#25
Tarana Wizard Posts: 4,038 Karma: 38840460 Join Date: Sep 2012 Location: Minneapolis Device: PWSE, Voyage, K3, HDX, KBasic 7 & 8, Nook Glo3, Echos, Nanos	Maddz, it seems the Grand Fenwick series is available as an omnibus with all five books. Saw it at both Amazon and Kobo. So if you want to fill in, there's an opportunity for you. Last edited by Tarana; 10-21-2017 at 10:52 AM.

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10-18-2017, 02:19 PM	#19
ekbell Guru Posts: 627 Karma: 12345678 Join Date: Jan 2015 Location: Canada Device: none	My physical book cataloging system was very simple, Author, title, fiction/nonfiction, genre, collection/location (Collections that take up more then one bookcase are organized by author, more bookcases have been added and books shifted around as necessary). I've since transferred the information to calibre and added format and blurb information. My problem has not been keeping my paperbooks organized but rather lack of room for more bookcases, or why I now mostly prefer to buy ebooks. As for ebooks I've given up on having reasonably sized collections but have contented myself with providing enough information so that I can find the books I want reasonably quickly, adding tags and subdivisions when needed. I try to keep my groupings on my main reading device a reasonable size by not adding too many similar books.

10-20-2017, 08:34 PM	#21
maddz Wizard Posts: 1,403 Karma: 30039536 Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: UK Device: Kobo Forma, Icarus, iPad Mini 2, Kobo Touch, Google Nexus 7	Dunno that I'd call The Mouse That Roared spy fiction - humourous definitely, perhaps alternate history, but spy? OK, it's a Cold War setting, but I don't recall much in the way of espionage in it at all (and I've read it within the past year). You are talking about the Leonard Wibberley novel?

10-21-2017, 04:14 AM	#23
maddz Wizard Posts: 1,403 Karma: 30039536 Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: UK Device: Kobo Forma, Icarus, iPad Mini 2, Kobo Touch, Google Nexus 7	I have (had?) the prequel, #1 & #3 in print (the Ws are hidden behind furniture at the moment). I don't think I ever saw #2 & #4 in print. #2 I have the ebook. The print editions were from the days I lived in London and found the Starblaze editions. I also have The Quest for Excaliber which isn't a Fenwick book.

10-21-2017, 06:10 AM	#24
JSWolf Resident Curmudgeon Posts: 79,756 Karma: 145864619 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kobo Aura H2O, PRS-650, PRS-T1, nook STR, PW3	The solution is to put it in whatever categories you’d find it in. Don’t rely on others to do it for you.

10-21-2017, 01:39 PM	#29
GlenBarrington Cheese Whiz Posts: 1,986 Karma: 11677147 Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Springfield, Illinois Device: Kindle PW, Samsung Tab A 10.1(2019), Pixel 6a.	You know, what we need is a suggested list of categories and keywords. Sort of like the suggested 'chart of accounts' that many accounting programs have. I've tried to categorize,organize, and tag my books several times and the effort just falls apart.

10-21-2017, 01:58 PM	#30
maddz Wizard Posts: 1,403 Karma: 30039536 Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: UK Device: Kobo Forma, Icarus, iPad Mini 2, Kobo Touch, Google Nexus 7	Well, over on LibraryThing, I use the following collections: Science Fiction & Fantasy Role-playing Games Crime Fiction Media-related Gaming-related Classical Authors Other Fiction Comics & Graphic Novels Cookery Literature Art Non-Fiction Maps & Travel Books are assigned to a single collection (yes, there are some cross-genre works), and then get given at least 2 tags to narrow it down. A format tag - audiobook, ebook, print Then a genre tag; e.g. my Science Fiction & Fantasy collection has the following: Alternate History (216) Artesia (1) Cyberpunk (39) Drama (6) Fantasy (1671) Historical Fantasy (18) Horror (37) Humour (1) Matter of Britain (1) Military SF (107) Occult (20) Paranormal Romance (7) Paul's (13) RPG - Fudge (1) RPG Fiction (5) Science Fiction (903) Steampunk (23) Urban Fantasy (327) Vampire (135) Weird (173) My Calibre tag scheme is broadly similar; my shelves (from my Kobo days) are equivalent to the LibraryThing collection, then the tags are the same.

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