Tuesday Things

Today's Question: Have you ever added a quote to the quotation field in common knowledge? What's a quote you particularly like from a book, one that you know by heart?

My favorite quote ever is from Alexander Pope Essay on Man:

Hope springs eternal in the human breast,

Man never is, but always to be blest. (30)

My daughter was born in 1979, two weeks late. She had meconium aspiration and was on a ventilator for three days. When she was finally off the ventilator, we were so excited. The lead doctor came up and said to us "I have no idea what you are so excited about - your daughter - if she lives - will either be severely retarded, completely crippled, or a vegetable." First, my ex-husband nearly decked him. Then I broke down. The intern who had been working with us came up to us and said - never, ever give up hope. He was my hero and I hoped that when his practice got huge and crazy that he would never forget those words. **My daughter graduated from college last December and is doing well...neither retarded or crippled. But the real issue is that we would have loved her no matter what!

Back to the question - I have never put a quote in the common knowledge field. For whatever reason, I don't participate fully in the things that LibraryThing has to offer. I also loved many of the quotes in The Things They Carried and would consider adding some of those to LibraryThing.

As always, excellent question. Thanks.

Flusi the LibrarysCat

Tuesday Things

Today's question: Awards. Do you follow any particular book awards? Do you ever choose books based on awards? What award-winning books do you have? (Off the top of your head only- no need to look this up- it would take all day!) What's your favorite award-winning book?

I do follow the awards. Of course, the main ones that we order each year are the Newbery, Caldecott, and Coretta Scott King Awards. Our staff always fight to see who will get to read them first. (I loved this year's selections and have reviewed them here and here.) I also check the ALA website for other award winning books as they are announced. As an avid list lover, nothing makes me happier than a list of (what should be) excellent books. I agree with you about thinking how many award books I have would take all day. And I give away many of my books due to space limitations...only keeping those that hold a special place in my heart.

BTW, thank you for the link to the Sydney Taylor Book Award site. With my passion for all things related to the Holocaust, I cannot believe I did not know about this one. I have read many, many of the books awarded and will use this list to make sure our coverage here in the library is good.

I have a question for all of you: I am having a problem with reading - never thought I would write that - my problem is that I have ARC books that I should read first, but am not drawn into them, so then I feel guilty when I read other books. Any suggestions??

LibrarysCat

Tuesday Things

Today's question: Members who have your books. Do you ever look at this feature? Do you use it to make LT friends, or compare notes? There are three tabs- weighted, raw, and recent. "Weighted," which means "weighted by book obscurity and library size" is probably the least self-explanatory of the three, whereas "raw" and "recent" are more so. Do you get any kind of use out of this feature?

I have looked at this feature many times and love seeing what other books these members have. I love lists and this is a great way to make a list of books I too might like to read. I also like to read other people's reviews. Great food for thought. Of course, since we have this blog ring set up, I love to read all of your reviews. Especially for the books I have read!