diff --git a/bookwyrm/migrations/0041_auto_20210131_0500.py b/bookwyrm/migrations/0041_auto_20210131_0500.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..eb00e3f37
--- /dev/null
+++ b/bookwyrm/migrations/0041_auto_20210131_0500.py
@@ -0,0 +1,65 @@
+# Generated by Django 3.0.7 on 2021-01-31 05:00
+
+import bookwyrm.models.base_model
+import bookwyrm.models.fields
+from django.conf import settings
+from django.db import migrations, models
+import django.db.models.deletion
+
+
+class Migration(migrations.Migration):
+
+    dependencies = [
+        ('bookwyrm', '0040_auto_20210122_0057'),
+    ]
+
+    operations = [
+        migrations.CreateModel(
+            name='List',
+            fields=[
+                ('id', models.AutoField(auto_created=True, primary_key=True, serialize=False, verbose_name='ID')),
+                ('created_date', models.DateTimeField(auto_now_add=True)),
+                ('updated_date', models.DateTimeField(auto_now=True)),
+                ('remote_id', bookwyrm.models.fields.RemoteIdField(max_length=255, null=True, validators=[bookwyrm.models.fields.validate_remote_id])),
+                ('name', bookwyrm.models.fields.CharField(max_length=100)),
+                ('description', bookwyrm.models.fields.TextField(blank=True, null=True)),
+                ('privacy', bookwyrm.models.fields.CharField(choices=[('public', 'Public'), ('unlisted', 'Unlisted'), ('followers', 'Followers'), ('direct', 'Direct')], default='public', max_length=255)),
+                ('curation', bookwyrm.models.fields.CharField(choices=[('closed', 'Closed'), ('open', 'Open'), ('moderated', 'Moderated')], default='closed', max_length=255)),
+            ],
+            options={
+                'abstract': False,
+            },
+            bases=(bookwyrm.models.base_model.OrderedCollectionMixin, models.Model),
+        ),
+        migrations.CreateModel(
+            name='ListItem',
+            fields=[
+                ('id', models.AutoField(auto_created=True, primary_key=True, serialize=False, verbose_name='ID')),
+                ('created_date', models.DateTimeField(auto_now_add=True)),
+                ('updated_date', models.DateTimeField(auto_now=True)),
+                ('remote_id', bookwyrm.models.fields.RemoteIdField(max_length=255, null=True, validators=[bookwyrm.models.fields.validate_remote_id])),
+                ('notes', bookwyrm.models.fields.TextField(blank=True, null=True)),
+                ('approved', models.BooleanField(default=True)),
+                ('order', bookwyrm.models.fields.IntegerField(blank=True, null=True)),
+                ('added_by', bookwyrm.models.fields.ForeignKey(on_delete=django.db.models.deletion.PROTECT, to=settings.AUTH_USER_MODEL)),
+                ('book', bookwyrm.models.fields.ForeignKey(on_delete=django.db.models.deletion.PROTECT, to='bookwyrm.Edition')),
+                ('book_list', bookwyrm.models.fields.ForeignKey(on_delete=django.db.models.deletion.CASCADE, to='bookwyrm.List')),
+                ('endorsement', models.ManyToManyField(related_name='endorsers', to=settings.AUTH_USER_MODEL)),
+            ],
+            options={
+                'ordering': ('-created_date',),
+                'unique_together': {('book', 'book_list')},
+            },
+            bases=(bookwyrm.models.base_model.ActivitypubMixin, models.Model),
+        ),
+        migrations.AddField(
+            model_name='list',
+            name='books',
+            field=models.ManyToManyField(through='bookwyrm.ListItem', to='bookwyrm.Edition'),
+        ),
+        migrations.AddField(
+            model_name='list',
+            name='user',
+            field=bookwyrm.models.fields.ForeignKey(on_delete=django.db.models.deletion.PROTECT, to=settings.AUTH_USER_MODEL),
+        ),
+    ]
diff --git a/bookwyrm/models/__init__.py b/bookwyrm/models/__init__.py
index b232e98fa..0aef63850 100644
--- a/bookwyrm/models/__init__.py
+++ b/bookwyrm/models/__init__.py
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ from .author import Author
 from .connector import Connector
 
 from .shelf import Shelf, ShelfBook
+from .list import List, ListItem
 
 from .status import Status, GeneratedNote, Review, Comment, Quotation
 from .status import Boost
diff --git a/bookwyrm/models/list.py b/bookwyrm/models/list.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..2bc49261a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/bookwyrm/models/list.py
@@ -0,0 +1,83 @@
+''' make a list of books!! '''
+from django.db import models
+
+from bookwyrm import activitypub
+from .base_model import ActivitypubMixin, BookWyrmModel
+from .base_model import OrderedCollectionMixin
+from . import fields
+
+
+CurationType = models.TextChoices('Curation', [
+    'closed',
+    'open',
+    'moderated',
+])
+
+class List(OrderedCollectionMixin, BookWyrmModel):
+    ''' a list of books '''
+    name = fields.CharField(max_length=100)
+    user = fields.ForeignKey(
+        'User', on_delete=models.PROTECT, activitypub_field='owner')
+    description = fields.TextField(blank=True, null=True)
+    privacy = fields.CharField(
+        max_length=255,
+        default='public',
+        choices=fields.PrivacyLevels.choices
+    )
+    curation = fields.CharField(
+        max_length=255,
+        default='closed',
+        choices=CurationType.choices
+    )
+    books = models.ManyToManyField(
+        'Edition',
+        symmetrical=False,
+        through='ListItem',
+        through_fields=('book_list', 'book'),
+    )
+    @property
+    def collection_queryset(self):
+        ''' list of books for this shelf, overrides OrderedCollectionMixin  '''
+        return self.books.all().order_by('listitem')
+
+
+class ListItem(ActivitypubMixin, BookWyrmModel):
+    ''' ok '''
+    book = fields.ForeignKey(
+        'Edition', on_delete=models.PROTECT, activitypub_field='object')
+    book_list = fields.ForeignKey(
+        'List', on_delete=models.CASCADE, activitypub_field='target')
+    added_by = fields.ForeignKey(
+        'User',
+        on_delete=models.PROTECT,
+        activitypub_field='actor'
+    )
+    notes = fields.TextField(blank=True, null=True)
+    approved = models.BooleanField(default=True)
+    order = fields.IntegerField(blank=True, null=True)
+    endorsement = models.ManyToManyField('User', related_name='endorsers')
+
+    activity_serializer = activitypub.AddBook
+
+    def to_add_activity(self, user):
+        ''' AP for shelving a book'''
+        return activitypub.Add(
+            id='%s#add' % self.remote_id,
+            actor=user.remote_id,
+            object=self.book.to_activity(),
+            target=self.book_list.remote_id,
+        ).serialize()
+
+    def to_remove_activity(self, user):
+        ''' AP for un-shelving a book'''
+        return activitypub.Remove(
+            id='%s#remove' % self.remote_id,
+            actor=user.remote_id,
+            object=self.book.to_activity(),
+            target=self.book_list.to_activity()
+        ).serialize()
+
+    class Meta:
+        ''' an opinionated constraint! you can't put a book on a list twice '''
+        unique_together = ('book', 'book_list')
+        ordering = ('-created_date',)