diff --git a/bookwyrm/templates/get_started/book_preview.html b/bookwyrm/templates/get_started/book_preview.html
index 578fef708..d8941ad50 100644
--- a/bookwyrm/templates/get_started/book_preview.html
+++ b/bookwyrm/templates/get_started/book_preview.html
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
     <div class="select is-small mt-1 mb-3">
         <select name="{{ book.id }}" aria-label="{% blocktrans with book_title=book.title %}Have you read {{ book_title }}?{% endblocktrans %}">
             <option disabled selected value>Add to your books</option>
-            {% for shelf in request.user.shelf_set.all %}
+            {% for shelf in user_shelves %}
             <option value="{{ shelf.id }}">{{ shelf.name }}</option>
             {% endfor %}
         </select>
diff --git a/bookwyrm/templates/layout.html b/bookwyrm/templates/layout.html
index bad1cb6e5..d5a2087e5 100644
--- a/bookwyrm/templates/layout.html
+++ b/bookwyrm/templates/layout.html
@@ -193,8 +193,11 @@
 
 <div class="section is-flex-grow-1">
     <div class="container">
+        {# almost every view needs to know the user shelves #}
+        {% with request.user.shelf_set.all as user_shelves %}
         {% block content %}
         {% endblock %}
+        {% endwith %}
     </div>
 </div>
 
diff --git a/bookwyrm/templates/snippets/shelf_selector.html b/bookwyrm/templates/snippets/shelf_selector.html
index 0036a4e90..ca5a39f6e 100644
--- a/bookwyrm/templates/snippets/shelf_selector.html
+++ b/bookwyrm/templates/snippets/shelf_selector.html
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@
 {% endblock %}
 
 {% block dropdown-list %}
-{% for shelf in request.user.shelf_set.all %}
+{% for shelf in user_shelves %}
 <li role="menuitem" class="dropdown-item p-0">
     <form name="shelve" action="/shelve/" method="post">
         {% csrf_token %}
diff --git a/bookwyrm/templates/snippets/shelve_button/shelve_button.html b/bookwyrm/templates/snippets/shelve_button/shelve_button.html
index 76ed32a9e..f7077b264 100644
--- a/bookwyrm/templates/snippets/shelve_button/shelve_button.html
+++ b/bookwyrm/templates/snippets/shelve_button/shelve_button.html
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@
     </div>
     {% else %}
     <div class="control">
-        {% include 'snippets/shelve_button/shelve_button_options.html' with class="shelf-option is-small" shelves=request.user.shelf_set.all active_shelf=active_shelf button_uuid=uuid %}
+        {% include 'snippets/shelve_button/shelve_button_options.html' with class="shelf-option is-small" shelves=user_shelves active_shelf=active_shelf button_uuid=uuid %}
     </div>
     {% include 'snippets/shelve_button/shelve_button_dropdown.html' with class="is-small" button_uuid=uuid%}
     {% endif %}
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@
 
 {% include 'snippets/shelve_button/finish_reading_modal.html' with book=active_shelf.book controls_text="finish-reading" controls_uid=uuid readthrough=readthrough %}
 
-{% include 'snippets/shelve_button/progress_update_modal.html' with book=shelf_book.book controls_text="progress-update" controls_uid=uuid readthrough=readthrough %}
+{% include 'snippets/shelve_button/progress_update_modal.html' with book=active_shelf_book.book controls_text="progress-update" controls_uid=uuid readthrough=readthrough %}
 
 {% endwith %}
 {% endif %}
diff --git a/bookwyrm/templates/snippets/shelve_button/shelve_button_dropdown.html b/bookwyrm/templates/snippets/shelve_button/shelve_button_dropdown.html
index 4439bfc28..353a37a1c 100644
--- a/bookwyrm/templates/snippets/shelve_button/shelve_button_dropdown.html
+++ b/bookwyrm/templates/snippets/shelve_button/shelve_button_dropdown.html
@@ -7,5 +7,5 @@
 {% endblock %}
 
 {% block dropdown-list %}
-{% include 'snippets/shelve_button/shelve_button_options.html' with active_shelf=active_shelf shelves=request.user.shelf_set.all dropdown=True class="shelf-option is-fullwidth is-small is-radiusless is-white" %}
+{% include 'snippets/shelve_button/shelve_button_options.html' with active_shelf=active_shelf shelves=user_shelves dropdown=True class="shelf-option is-fullwidth is-small is-radiusless is-white" %}
 {% endblock %}
diff --git a/bookwyrm/templatetags/bookwyrm_tags.py b/bookwyrm/templatetags/bookwyrm_tags.py
index 70228799f..072ff6634 100644
--- a/bookwyrm/templatetags/bookwyrm_tags.py
+++ b/bookwyrm/templatetags/bookwyrm_tags.py
@@ -3,8 +3,6 @@ from django import template
 from django.db.models import Avg
 
 from bookwyrm import models, views
-from bookwyrm.views.status import to_markdown
-from bookwyrm.templatetags.utilities import get_user_identifier
 
 
 register = template.Library()
@@ -73,7 +71,7 @@ def active_shelf(context, book):
     """check what shelf a user has a book on, if any"""
     shelf = models.ShelfBook.objects.filter(
         shelf__user=context["request"].user, book__in=book.parent_work.editions.all()
-    ).first()
+    ).select_related("book", "shelf").first()
     return shelf if shelf else {"book": book}