Group Announcements

Watch this space for announcements and info about the group. Please keep discussion on this thread focused on group announcements.

Starring this thread is highly recommended!

Some stats from 2023 (as of 12/22):

- 427 members, 26 watchers
- 757 threads
- 103,686 messages

Our most commonly held book: To Kill a Mockingbird, followed by Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone and Jane Eyre

>2 drneutron: I have read all three of those, of course. Lol

That’s an interesting stat about the commonly-held books.

I hope we get a new member or three this coming year.

I've set up the General, Wildcard, and January threads for the British Author Challenge.

General: https://www.librarything.com/topic/356163
Wildcard: https://www.librarything.com/topic/356165
January: https://www.librarything.com/topic/356166

I have set up the thread for the 2024 Nonfiction Challenge. This group was established back in 2016 and the small but mighty reading group plans to continue on in 2024. We plan to have a running thread this year instead of doing a new one for each month. This will make linking them all together easier. Here is the link to the startup thread for 2024.

https://www.librarything.com/topic/356227#

Hey, folks, just to let you know, the LT wiki system is down, and probably won’t be up until next week. I’m keeping notes on threads for the Threadbook and group wiki, and will add threads when it’s back up.

>7 drneutron: Thanks for letting us know! I noticed a problem and am glad for some status.

I set up the thread for the Mystery Group readers. The title of the thread is Investigators - Ancient and Modern - Mystery Series Group Read. The group will be reading two series this year Inspector Huss, set in modern Sweden, and Marcus Didius Falco set in ancient Rome.

Here is the link to the thread.
https://www.librarything.com/topic/356261

The general discussion thread for the 2024 AAC Challenge is now up as is the January thread, for Mark Twain.

Wiki’s working again!

Here's the next readathon: https://www.librarything.com/topic/356840

Westerns in 2024 - L'Amour and Beyond is live. https://www.librarything.com/topic/356917

I’ve found two links on wiki pages (ie, the Threadbook and group wiki) that seem to have been broken during the wiki system outage between Christmas and New Year’s Day. If you find something odd or incorrect, let me know and I’ll fix it!

Many here have read from Club Read's HOPE TO READ SOON: A Tribute to rebeccanyc. Here is a link to the 2024 list: https://www.librarything.com/topic/356951
If you are new to LT, this list has some excellent reading.

Here's the next readathon: https://www.librarything.com/topic/357120

Here's the next readathon: https://www.librarything.com/topic/357476

Here's the next readathon: https://www.librarything.com/topic/357793

There will be a group read of Anthony Trollope's Nina Balatka next month. I will be putting up the thread towards the end of this week, and will post here again when we are ready to go. All welcome!

The February British Author Challenge thread is up. We'll be reading Emma Newman and Ronald Firbank.

https://www.librarything.com/topic/357893#

For anyone who uses Flickr images with LT, there's an issue with the Javascript associated with the image link that is incompatible with LT. There's a work-around - see https://www.librarything.com/topic/357926

The thread is now up for the group read of Nina Balatka by Anthony Trollope:

Here

Here's the next readathon: https://www.librarything.com/topic/358016

Noticed that the February AAC thread is not in the Wiki, and realized I hadn't posted a link to it here.

We're reading Susan Sontag in February, and here is the discussion thread.

Also, anyone doing reading for Black History Month is welcome to share comments on the General Discussion thread for the 2024 AAC, linked to in >10 laytonwoman3rd: above.

The February War Room is up!

https://www.librarything.com/topic/358097

Here's the next readathon: https://www.librarything.com/topic/358237

Here's the next readathon: https://www.librarything.com/topic/358508

>2 drneutron: Have read them each multiple times, still have them on my bookshelf and each are on my top-tier list of favorites - yes even Harry Potter :) To Kill a Mockingbird I read as a child and it shaped my perspective and ideology, Jane Eyre - breathtaking and absorbing. And Harry Potter because a literal 6 yr old let me borrow it as she was already on book 3.

>31 RIMAKARY: Please read the Terms of Service for this site. Spamming threads is frowned upon.

Here's the next readathon: https://www.librarything.com/topic/358715

The March British Author Challenge thread is up. We'll be reading Welsh authors.

https://www.librarything.com/topic/358824

If anyone is following the Oscar nominations, one of the short documentary films is available for viewing on YouTube in the U.S.: The ABCs of Book Banning. (A few of the other short documentaries are available, too...)

Here's the next readathon: https://www.librarything.com/topic/358903

>35 ocgreg34: Many thanks for the heads up regarding YouTube The ABCs of Book Baning. I'll be sure to check on this one.

>2 drneutron: Jim, Thanks for this information and the chart. Also, for all you do to help keep this group running. As always, I appreciate your efforts!

Interestingly, of my three all-time favorite books, two of them were mentioned, Jane Eyre and to Kill a Mockingbird have remained at the top of my list no matter how many books I've read since rading them!

Here's the next readathon: https://www.librarything.com/topic/359104

Here's the next readathon: https://www.librarything.com/topic/359262

Not sure if this is the right place for a question, but what if we can’t find a book on here that we’re reading ☺️

>41 KB23: You can enter it manually. Best to double check the spelling in the title because LT requires exactness.

>41 KB23: Did you try searching by the ISBN number rather than the title? If that didn't work, or it's an edition without an ISBN, >42 quondame: Susan's suggestion is your best bet.

>41 KB23: Another addon. Sometimes searching for the author instead might yield results. Also the search in LT, sometimes seems to work differently from the Add Books search. You might find it just as a work in LT, but when you go to add it, you can't find it. In the Add Books, sometimes switching your source from Amazon to the Library of Congress helps.

In general, it's better to search on a library - any library - than on Amazon. Amazon does have more books (and some weird ones that don't get into libraries), but if you find a book in a library source that book gets added to Overcat, the LT database of books. So you're helping every other person who wants to add that book.

If you're in a hurry, go ahead and use Amazon (though you'll probably have to do some editing - cleaning up the title, correcting author(s), etc). But if you've got a few minutes, start with a library - the library consortiums (Link+, ValCAT...) are good, LoC has a lot though not much of popular fiction, ditto the British Library if it was published in England. Then if you can't find it go ahead and get the data from Amazon (and clean up as necessary). You can add your preferred sources under Search Where?; if it can't find a book in your first source it will offer you your whole list and you can click to search on any of them.

If it has an ISBN, that's the best search (on the back cover, or on the copyright page). If it has an LCCN or other Library of Congress number (also on copyright page), that's the next best (and you don't have to search the LoC, LT will look in the right place). Third best is "title, author" - it doesn't have to be the whole thing unless you're searching for something very generic. Wander by Bob Smith better be "Wander, Bob Smith"; but The House of the Seven Gables by Nathaniel Hawthorne would show up searching "gables, hawthorne". (no quotes, of course, I'm just using them to mark what you'd type into the search bar).

>42 quondame: thank you!
>43 laytonwoman3rd: thank you!
>44 mahsdad: thank you!
>45 jjmcgaffey: thank you!

I appreciate all your help ☺️

Here's the next readathon: https://www.librarything.com/topic/359476

Saw this today:

The 2024 Women’s Prize for Non-Fiction shortlist -
The full list in alphabetical order by author surname is:

Thunderclap: A Memoir of Art and Life and Sudden Death by Laura Cumming, published by Chatto & Windus
Doppelganger: A Trip Into the Mirror World by Naomi Klein, published by Allen Lane
A Flat Place by Noreen Masud, published by Hamish Hamilton
All That She Carried: The Journey of Ashley’s Sack, a Black Family Keepsake by Tiya Miles, published by Profile
Code Dependent: Living in the Shadow of AI by Madhumita Murgia, published by Picador
How to Say Babylon: A Jamaican Memoir by Safiya Sinclair, published by 4th Estate

The April British Author Challenge thread is up. We'll be reading Barbara Pym and Anthony Trollope.

https://www.librarything.com/topic/359637

Here's the Easter readathon: https://www.librarything.com/topic/359643

>53 whatthesigma: This is for Group Announcements.

Well, that was interesting! :)

It really was, and now all of our messages on here are from blocked people

This is for group announcements not whatever these people are talking about T^T

>91 sigmabrother69420: This is for group announcements, not chatting.

If you would like to make a thread, for the books you read this year, than you guys can do that, this thread is for group announcements like readathons & info about the group.

April 2024 War Room Challenge is Up

https://www.librarything.com/topic/359824

Wars of Religion this month.

Here's the next readathon: https://www.librarything.com/topic/359825

Sorry about the spamming folks - it's what I get for going away for a day or two. 😀

There's not a lot we can do about this other than flag and ignore a spammer. Once three people flag them, the staff get pinged and can ban that account. If the spammer creates a new account and does it again, same thing. Enough times and the staff will block their IP address. It's unfortunate that it can take so long for the spammer to be blocked, but Tim and company (and I agree) think that it's important to be as open as reasonably possible. Which means we occasionally will have this happen.

Here's the next readathon: https://www.librarything.com/topic/359999

Here's the next readathon https://www.librarything.com/topic/360200

Here's the next readathon: https://www.librarything.com/topic/360348

>102 drneutron: Is there an actual difference between "suspended from the site" and "removed as spam"? And why do some of the spam messages (77, 79, 80) still appear, even though the user seems to have been removed?

>109 laytonwoman3rd: I'd guess that the user was removed before enough people had marked those particular messages as spam.

The May British Author Challenge thread is up. We'll be reading portal fantasy.

https://www.librarything.com/topic/360372

The May 2024 War Room Challenge is up. This month we feature the years 1803-1815 and the Napoleonic Wars.

https://www.librarything.com/topic/360466

Here's the next readathon: https://www.librarything.com/topic/360495

Here's the next readathon: https://www.librarything.com/topic/360644

Journey to an End: By Michael Matos

Here's the next readathon: https://www.librarything.com/topic/360905

Here's the Memorial Day readathon: https://www.librarything.com/topic/361025

The June British Author Challenge thread is up. We'll be reading Kiran Millwood Hargrave and DH Lawrence.

https://www.librarything.com/topic/361107

Here's the next readathon: https://www.librarything.com/topic/361148

THE WAR ROOM CHALLENGE for JUNE is up:

This month will feature the English Civil War.

https://www.librarything.com/topic/361198

Here's the next readathon: https://www.librarything.com/topic/361299

Here's the next readathon: https://www.librarything.com/topic/361415

Here's the next readathon: https://www.librarything.com/topic/361591

Here's the next readathon: https://www.librarything.com/topic/361699

From Nina (humouress):

"I was going through my old threads recently and came across the Birthday list thread that Linda created in the 2011 75ers group.

And because I had nothing better to do (or, rather, because I had deadlines to meet that I was putting off) I compiled the dates into a wiki. Have a look and add your names if you aren't already on there."

Here's the wiki: https://wiki.librarything.com/index.php/75_Challenge_Birthday_List

I've added a new section to the group wiki for memorial threads and linked the memorials for rosalita and Anita (FAMeulstee).

The July American Author Challenge thread is up - Mona Susan Power!

The July British Author Challenge thread is up. We'll be reading animal tales.

https://www.librarything.com/topic/361731

>137 drneutron: WOW! You're on top of things....I just came here to post that link, and in the time it took me to find this thread after posting it in a couple other places, there you are. Thanks, Jim.

😀 had some time to catch up yesterday!

Thanks Jim.

Here's the Fourth of July readathon: https://www.librarything.com/topic/361826

Here's the next readathon: https://www.librarything.com/topic/361941

Hello everyone
Just wanted to let you know that michigantrumpet's FB account (Marianne Swenson) has been hacked. She now has a new account.
Best regards
Barbara

Here's the next readathon: https://www.librarything.com/topic/362118

The 2024 winner of the Women's Prize for Fiction is Brotherless Night by V.V. Ganeshananthan, set during the Sri Lankan civil war, for anyone keeping tabs on those awards...

Here's the next readathon: https://www.librarything.com/topic/362248

The August British Author Challenge thread is up. We'll be reading KJ Charles and Winston Churchill.

https://www.librarything.com/topic/362308

The August thread in the American Authors Challenge is up. This month we're reading Jeffrey Lent.

I've started a new thread to hopefully plan a DC area meetup in early September here: https://www.librarything.com/topic/362378

I have posted a thread for the annual Joplin meet up so that we can talk about meeting up, lol: https://www.librarything.com/topic/362365

There's also the LT Gatherings & Meetups Group: https://www.librarything.com/ngroups/11091/LibraryThing-Gatherings-and-Meetups though it's totally understandable if you want to keep your meetups within this group.

I've created a thread there for the 2024 National Book Festival on August 24: https://www.librarything.com/topic/361962

Here's the next readathon: https://www.librarything.com/topic/362397

I thought some Richard Osman fans might be interested in this video in which he explores his family history - and finds some odd coincidences with his own: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wlLpkPOoDVQ

Here's the next readathon: https://www.librarything.com/topic/362545

Here's the next readathon: https://www.librarything.com/topic/362683

Here's the next readathon: https://www.librarything.com/topic/362808

The September British Authors Challenge thread is up. We'll be reading works from the 1980s.

https://www.librarything.com/topic/362975

The September American Authors Challenge thread is up. We'll be reading living authors who are American by choice. Check it out here.

Here's the Labor Day readathon: https://www.librarything.com/topic/363002

Here's the next readathon: https://www.librarything.com/topic/363159

Here's the next readathon: https://www.librarything.com/topic/363280

Here's the next readathon: https://www.librarything.com/topic/364564

The October British Author Challenge thread is up. We'll be reading Gothic fiction.

https://www.librarything.com/topic/364575

October's War Room Thread is up

We are looking at Vietnam, Korea, Afghanistan and the Second Gulf War

https://www.librarything.com/topic/364666

Here's the next readathon: https://www.librarything.com/topic/364720

Here's the next readathon: https://www.librarything.com/topic/364866

For anyone interested, South Korean author Han Kang was awarded the 2024 Nobel Prize in Literature.

Here's the next readathon: https://www.librarything.com/topic/365046

Here's the next readathon: https://www.librarything.com/topic/365276

The November British Author Challenge thread is up. We'll be reading the works of E.M. Delafield and T.H. White.

https://www.librarything.com/topic/365368

The November War Room Challenge thread is up:

https://www.librarything.com/topic/365431

We will be in the trenches of Picardy as it is the "GREAT WAR".

Here's the next readathon: https://www.librarything.com/topic/365438

Since LT got Christmas rolling today with their Santathing announcement, I figured I better get started with mine for our own Annual Christmas Swap, just for us 75'rs.

The 2024 Christmas Swap thread is open for business. Stop by for the pertinent details. Comment there, or PM me if you're interested or have any questions.

https://www.librarything.com/topic/365525

I've started a planning thread for next year's British Author Challenge.

https://www.librarything.com/topic/365528#

Here's the next readathon: https://www.librarything.com/topic/365590

I thought I would share this here as I know a lot of people in the group, myself included, are despairing due to the presidential election results here in the U.S. From Somewhere Beyond the Sea by TJ Klune:

"He (Arthur) walked toward it slowly. Reaching the porch, he crouched down in front of the flower, touching the yellow petals gently, sunwarm against his fingertips. Rebirth. Perserverance. Color. Life. Everything important in the smallest packages.

He smiled, and for the first time in a long time, felt something right itself in his chest. 'Well,' he said, 'if you can do it, I suppose I can too.' "

So can we. . .

>178 alcottacre: That’s a really nice quote, Stasia. Thanks for posting it.

>179 PawsforThought: Thank you, Paws!

>178 alcottacre:, >179 PawsforThought:, I agree Stasia, it is a nice quote. Thanks for posting.

>181 Kristelh: Thank you, Kristel.

I'm going to start finalizing the selections for next year's British Author Challenge this weekend, so stop by with any input soon.

https://www.librarything.com/topic/365528#

Here's the next readathon: https://www.librarything.com/topic/365719

Last call for British Author Challenge input.

https://www.librarything.com/topic/365528#

Here's the next readathon: https://www.librarything.com/topic/365998

Selections for the 2025 British Author Challenge are complete!

https://www.librarything.com/topic/365528#

Here's the Thanksgiving Readathon: https://www.librarything.com/topic/366111

If you have book-gift-shopping to do, please consider using Bookshop.org today. FREE SHIPPING, and the opportunity to support an independent bookstore, even if there isn't one in your neighborhood these days.

Going to the Heartland for the December American Authors Challenge. Hop a freight train and come join us!

The December British Authors Challenge thread is up. We'll be reading books we've acquired in 2024.

https://www.librarything.com/topic/366151

The December War Room challenge thread is up and takes us into the Spain of the middle years of the 1930s.

https://www.librarything.com/topic/366176

Several of us are reading Michael Dirda's Bound to Please during December. Anyone is welcome to join us! https://www.librarything.com/topic/366051

>178 alcottacre: thanks for posting this very appropriate quote. Though, after watching a Netflix's documentary about building the atomic bomb and the way the way in which it changed the world, I immediately ws scared that push the button Trump would not act for our country, but for his ego. I can imagine him saying "Well, I'll show them a thing or two for talking badly about my policies!"

Here's the next readathon: https://www.librarything.com/topic/366284

A note from Club Read 2024: I know some of you are reading from the list on the thread "Hope to Read Soon: A Tribute to rebeccanyc": https://www.librarything.com/topic/356951#n8691036
If you would like to update your list, please post to the thread.

Here's the next readathon: https://www.librarything.com/topic/366438

Here's the next readathon: https://www.librarything.com/topic/366615

Just to let folks know the plan, I’ll be making the 2025 group next week, maybe Christmas Day, maybe Boxing Day!

>211 drneutron: Looking forward to it. Thanks for all you do, Jim!

Here's the Christmas readathon: https://www.librarything.com/topic/366724

I'm kinda lonely over here....

https://www.librarything.com/ngroups/24622/75-Books-Challenge-for-2025