Tuesday Things

Did you know that clouds can provide you a visual way to see the tags and authors you have in your library, and the more you have of a certain author or tag, the bigger the name/word will be?

I have looked at the clouds before and think it is a wonderful and different way to look at what we put importance on in our reading. I think the tag cloud is especially interesting because it represents what we think we are reading, not necessarily what others might think - as you can see in the mirror cloud. In my case the two were very similar.

The real clouds have opened up today in Pensacola and I am guessing that since it is intersession at the University, we will have exactly ZERO students in the library. So maybe I can play with the tag clouds and put them in when I get to work! So check back again later!!

Thanks Wendi for another great topic.

Tuesday Things

Last week we talked about our favorite book(s) - yes, hard - I know :) . This week, I'd like to switch gears - instead of favorites, we are going to look at least-favorites - should be a little easier?? This doesn't have to mean a book that you hated, or one that you didn't finish, although it might be. . .Questions (yes - there are a bunch - answer one or two . . . or all of them!): What is your least-favorite book(s)? Is your least-favorite book listed in your LT library? If it is listed, do you have anything special in the tags or comments section? How have others rated your least-favorite book?

My least favorite book has to be The Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie. And no, the reason was not all the hype about how sacriligious the book was or the title. My problem was that I just could not finish the book, did not understand the plot, didn't really like what I did understand. I really, really tried to finish this book (I probably read 2/3 of it), but I just could not devote any more of my stolen reading time to something I just did not like in the least. It all started when I found the link to the 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die. I bravely signed up for my 1% Challenge and because I had heard so much about this book, it was book number two I started to read. The fact that I would have to admit defeat if I could not finish it made me even more determined. Still, I just could NOT do it! Because I did not finish the book, I did not put it in my LT catalog, nor did I continue with my reading challenge. So that made me doubly irritated. The average rating on LT was 3.87 so at least some people liked it. I read through some of the reviews and there were at least many people who felt just like I did.

LibrarysCat

Tuesday Thingers

Last week we explored the memes on Library Thing. I also asked for some suggestions, and one of you suggested that we get a little more personal by looking at favorite books, etc. So . . . I'd like to look at favorites.Questions (yes - there are a bunch - answer one or two . . . or all of them!): What is your favorite book (yes - this may be a hard one!!)? Is your favorite book listed in your LT library? If it is listed, do you have anything special in the tags or comments section? Have you looked to see if you can add any information to the Common Knowledge? AND a little off topic, do you find that your 5-starred books are consistent with your favorites, and is your favorite a 5-star rated book in your library? How have others rated your favorite book? :)

I could probably write volumes on these questions! Taking a hard look at my Library Thing library just verified what I already knew - I am an easy grader! Many and sundried things please me. I found that 38% (40/107) of the books I have entered have 5 stars. I looked at the forty books and found that the average star score given to these books was 4.1 so I suppose I am not that far off from the average. Another interesting thing I discovered is that only 5 of my favorites are classics, 6 deal with my favorite topic (the Holocaust), and 11 are children's literature (some overlap with Holocaust). The book with the highest overall star score out of these 40 was In My Brother's Image: Twin Brothers Separated by Faith After the Holocaust - Eugene Pogany.

Now my favorites - if someone were to casually ask me what my favorite book is, I would probably say without thinking I Cannot Forgive by Vrba. This non-fiction work tells the story of the first Jewish person who successfully escaped from Auschwitz. A true testament to survival. Another non-fiction book that I love is Let Us Now Praise Famous Men by Agee. The author tells the story about three sharecropper families in the Deep South during the years after WWII. It is fascinating. Fiction - I absolutely love Jane Austen and Pearl S. Buck. I have read Pride and Prejudice and The Good Earth a zillion times each. New fiction - my newest love is Astrid & Veronika by Olssen. This is the story of two women, one young and one old, who live on a mountain top in New Zealand trying to hide from the world and find themselves becoming friends.

Of course I know that these statistics are somewhat skewed but it is still fun to take a look. Thanks Wendi for another great week!

Tuesday Thingers

Last week we looked at the Member Giveaways section of Library Thing.
Here are the current meme's available:

You and None Other.
Books shared with exactly one member.
Dead or Alive? How many of your authors are dead?
Dead or Alive Comparison How do you stack up against others?
Male or Female? What gender are your authors?
Work Duplicates. Works you have more than one of.

Question: Do you visit the memes section often? Have you visited recently? Have you discovered anything that surprises you when you visit the memes for your library?

I have looked at the memes section before, but like Wendi, I was surprised that there were more memes than I remembered. I wish that I had some time off that did not involve puppy raising so that I could enter more of my personal library into LibraryThing - then I would have a more clear picture of how I compare to others. Still these memes are too much fun!

Dead or Alive?

• 71.43% of my authors are alive.
• I found it interesting that 32 of my authors are listed as unknown. I noticed one author that I know is alive because I subscribe to her listserv. I took a look around to see if I could figure out how to declare her alive. I could not find it, can anyone help??
  

Male or Female?

• 36.47% of my authors are male
• not mentioned is that 63.53% are female...I guess they had to pick one or the other, right?

Another good question and I can't wait to see everyone's answers.

LibrarysCat (Scot-Irish - send me a kiss!)

Tuesday Things

Question: Were you aware of the Member Giveaways Program? Have you posted any books in the giveaway? If so, what are your thoughts on the program? Have you requested any books, and if so, did you win any?On another note - does anyone have any special requests for upcoming discussions??

I have seen the new Member Giveaway program on Library Thing and I have to admit that I have not requested nor offered any books yet. I think there are two reasons for that: 1. I have a zillion books that I have read and not reviewed yet, and I have another zillion books that I need to read and review, and 2. I have to admit that I wanted to sort of sit back and see how it works for a bit. I am not sure why I am hesitant since really Library Thing has absolutely never disappointed me in any way, so I am sure that it works perfectly well. I hope that some of you post about your experiences with this new program!

Future topics for discussion - Perhaps we could turn the focus to books that we have in Library Thing - favorite book cataloged, last book cataloged, least favorite book cataloged, etc. Or even more random - books that start with an L! Guess which book? Provide part of a review and let people guess what book? Good grief, difficult to come up with ideas. Thanks for always providing us with discussion topics.

LibrarysCat

Tuesday Things

Question: Were you aware of the Early Reviewer Program? Have you received any books from the program? If you have, how have you liked the book(s)? Any other thoughts on the LTER program?

I have been a member of the Early Reviewer program since July 2007. I got a book the very first month that I joined and really enjoyed it. In total, I have gotten seven books, including one from the February batch. Here is the list:

The Guardians
The Break-up Diet: A Memoir
Enlightenment for Idiots
Love Marriage
The Gates of Trevalyn
A Rose by any Name
Everyone is Beautiful

In the beginning, I would obsess over whether or not I got a book and was HUGELY disappointed when I did not get one, and pondered why I didn't get the book I thought was perfect for me. Now, I go in and make my selections - any that look interesting to me and it is serendipity when I snag a book. The best thing about the Early Reviewer program is getting to know all of you. And, like Wendi, I often find out about books that I would enjoy reading through the brief descriptions in the list of books. Overall, I have really enjoyed the books that I have snagged. Only one was not really my cup of tea, although it had the potential to be.

Also like Wendi I have read a ton of books that I have not had time to post reviews for and I am hoping to get caught up with myself soon. However, I am agonizing over my numbering system. I have been trying to keep up with how many books I read each year and now last year is messed up because I did not get the reviews done, and if I am them now, this year will be rather messed up too. AHHH! Someone tell me what to do!

LibrarysCat

Tuesday Things

Today's question: Do you have a specialized blog where you only review a certain genre or type of book? If so, what is your favorite thing about that type of book? If not, what is/are your favorite genre(s)? What makes that genre(s) a favorite?


I have been reading a LONG, long time and I have gone through many different genres over time. When I first started reading "adult" books, I read what my mother read. I think I can safely say that I have read ever Perry Mason mystery ever written, old series and new. In fact, I still have most of them. When I was sixteen I had my tonsils removed and my mom sent my dad to the store to buy me some books to read. This event changed my reading habits forever. For some unknown reason, the book my father deemed appropriate for his 16 year old daughter was Black Like Me by John Griffin, which is the author's recounting of the years he spent disguised as a black man in the Deep South. The racism experienced by Griffin was awful even though I knew similar behaviors and beliefs existed even where I lived in Florida. From that time on, my main focus in reading was the struggles of peoples who were victims of the same, or worse, sort of racism. My college educational activities focused on the Holocaust in Eastern Europe. I also still generally prefer autobiographies to fiction.

Like you Wendi, because of a variety of book activities that I particpate in, I now read a wide variety of books. I also read for different reasons - to learn, to escape, to relax, to feel. I try hard to read every Holocaust narrative that can find. Having read so many over the years, I wish that I had been blogging (at least on paper somewhere) the titles so that I could remember all of them now.

I work in a Curriculum Materials Library, so I have started a separate blog to collect reviews of Holocaust materials for children. I have been slow to add things to this blog simply due to a lack of time. If you would like to visit, click here.

Even when you are busy, you always come up with good questions Wendi. I am not sure that my answer is reflected in my LibraryThing library because I have not upgraded to a paid account and really could not even begin to identify all of the Holocaust resources that I have read, or Southern history for that matter. Maybe one day!

Thanks,
LibrarysCat

Tuesday Things

Tuesday Thinger: Common Knowledge
Welcome to another week of Tuesday Thingers! We always love to hear from regular participants as well as new people.Today's question: A few weeks ago, someone told me about the Common Knowledge feature of Library Thing. The statistics and basic information can be found through a link at the bottom of any page. Currently there are over 869,540 facts that have been entered. How do they get there? We add them! It took me a while to figure out that you enter them from the book or author page. When you have a book or author page pulled up, if you look at the left hand side, there are a bunch of links you can choose from. One of them is Common Knowledge. If you click the link, it will bring up a section where you can add facts.Have you ever looked at the Common Knowledge page, or viewed the history of changes/additions? If you were aware of this section, have you added any information? Do you find this information useful or interesting?

My Answer: I had noticed the Common Knowledge fields and find it fascinating. I often look to see if anyone has added any content, but I had never posted anything myself. I looked at some of the other answers this morning and was inspired to include the dedications for books that I add to my library. What a great idea! Imagine how many details we could add!

One of these days I am going to have to upgrade to a paid membership so that I can add all of my books. Do most of you have paid memberships or free? The cost is so small for so much value. It seems that when I have the money, I don't have the time! But more likely I don't have the money....I have too many dogs. If you want to see my newest editions, take a look here.

LibrarysCat

Library Things

Today's Question: The LT Home Page feature. How are you liking it? Or not? Do you go here when you log into LT or do you use your profile page more?

I really do like the LT Home Page. When it was first released, I did not think I would like it and hopped straight to my profile. Now I spend more time on the Home Page checking recommendations, how many people are requesting Early Reviewer Books, reviews - you name it. Sometimes, I never even make it to my profile. It seems that LT just keeps getting better an better.

BB - I am sorry that you will not be continuing the weeky meme as you have really done an excellent job. I hope someone will take over the responsibility. I wish that I thought I could do it, but I am not sure I would know where to start or be creative enough with the questions. Thanks,
LibrarysCat

Tuesday Things

Most of us book bloggers like to write book reviews- if we don't love to write book reviews- but here's today's question. When it comes to LT (and your blog), do you review every book you read? Do you just review Early Reviewers or ARCs? Do you review only if you like a book, or only if you feel like you have to? How soon after reading do you post your review? Do you post them other places- other social networking sites, Amazon, etc.?

I love your first sentence, because I do like to write book reviews, but sometimes I certainly do not love to! I do reveiw almost every book I read. Because I am often reading four books at a time, one less than impressive book (that I may not even finish) may sleep through the cracks. On LT I usually post at least a portion of the review with a link to my blog for every book that I read. As for when things get posted, it depends on the time of the semester. If I am busy grading, I might take a break to read for relaxation, but not to write. While I try to review all books, I find it most difficult to review the books that I absolutely hate which are thankfully few, and sometimes against the mainstream. I have only posted one review on Amazon, and do not use any other venue. Time is always an issue for me.

My biggest problem with reviewing books is forgetting that ultimately I am writing the reviews mostly for myself and other book lovers. I often agonize over how much to tell about the plot, the characters, or literary style. I think it was Library school that did me in. We had to write reviews for children's books and the instructor's critiques were positively heartless. One would think the result would be better reviews, but sometimes I feel like I became more timid in my reviews. Another slight problem for me is that I find most books rather okay, a few I love, and a very few I cannot tolerate. So you may find that my reviews are mostly positive. I don't know if it is because I do not have discriminating tastes or because I read phone books when I was little!!! Either way, I just have to remember that reading is fun, sharing is fun, and the writing, well, just part of the process.

Happy Holidays,
LibrarysCat

Tuesday Things

Boston Bibliophile, you always do such a wonderful job with our questions. Even when I do not have enough time to answer them, I make time to check out everyone else's answers. That only makes sense if you consider that it takes more effort to compose a message than it does to read one! Thank you again!

1. The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
2. Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World by Vicki Myron
3. Nation by Terry Pratchett
4. Brisingr by Christopher Paolini
5. Anathem by Neal Stephenson
6. American Wife: A Novel by Curtis Sittenfeld
7. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer
8. The Story of Edgar Sawtelle: A Novel by David Wroblewski
9. Eclipse (The Twilight Saga, Book 3) by Stephenie Meyer
10. Any Given Doomsday by Lori Handeland

I loved American Wife and have linked to my review in the list above. I have started The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, it is my book club's December book, and while I am sure that I will like it, I am having to read it slowly in the beginning to get all of the people straight. The rest of the books, I am going to try to sort by desire to read!

WILL READ
Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World
The Graveyard Book
The Story of Edgar Sawtelle: A Novel

WON'T READ

Nation

Brisingr
Anathem
Eclipse (The Twilight Saga, Book 3)
Any Given Doomsday

If any of you can convince me to move books either direction, I am up for recommendations! Happy Reading!

LibrarysCat

Tuesday Thingers (on Friday)

For this week's Tuesday Thingers, I've copied the list of the most-challenged books of the 1990s straight from the ALA website. I've highlighted the ones I've read. Highlight what you've read, and italicize what you have in your LT library.

Scary Stories (Series) by Alvin Schwartz
Daddy's Roommate by Michael Willhoite
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
Harry Potter (Series) by J.K. Rowling
Forever by Judy Blume
Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
Alice (Series) by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
Heather Has Two Mommies by Leslea Newman
My Brother Sam is Dead by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier
The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
The Giver by Lois Lowry
It's Perfectly Normal by Robie Harris
Goosebumps (Series) by R.L. Stine
A Day No Pigs Would Die by Robert Newton Peck
The Color Purple by Alice Walker
Sex by Madonna
Earth's Children (Series) by Jean M. Auel
The Great Gilly Hopkins by Katherine Paterson
A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle
Go Ask Alice by Anonymous
Fallen Angels by Walter Dean Myers
In the Night Kitchen by Maurice Sendak
The Stupids (Series) by Harry Allard
The Witches by Roald Dahl
The New Joy of Gay Sex by Charles Silverstein
Anastasia Krupnik (Series) by Lois Lowry
The Goats by Brock Cole
Kaffir Boy by Mark Mathabane
Blubber by Judy Blume
Killing Mr. Griffin by Lois Duncan
Halloween ABC by Eve Merriam
We All Fall Down by Robert Cormier
Final Exit by Derek Humphry
The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George
The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
What's Happening to my Body? Book for Girls: A Growing-Up Guide for Parents & Daughters by Lynda Madaras
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Beloved by Toni Morrison
The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton
The Pigman by Paul Zindel
Bumps in the Night by Harry Allard
Deenie by Judy Blume
Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
Annie on my Mind by Nancy Garden
The Boy Who Lost His Face by Louis Sachar
Cross Your Fingers, Spit in Your Hat by Alvin Schwartz
A Light in the Attic by Shel Silverstein
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
Sleeping Beauty Trilogy by A.N. Roquelaure (Anne Rice)
Asking About Sex and Growing Up by Joanna Cole
Cujo by Stephen King
James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl
The Anarchist Cookbook by William Powell
Boys and Sex by Wardell Pomeroy
Ordinary People by Judith Guest
American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis
What's Happening to my Body? Book for Boys: A Growing-Up Guide for Parents & Sons by Lynda Madaras
Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret by Judy Blume
Crazy Lady by Jane Conly
Athletic Shorts by Chris Crutcher
Fade by Robert Cormier
Guess What? by Mem Fox
The House of Spirits by Isabel Allende
The Face on the Milk Carton by Caroline Cooney
Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
Lord of the Flies by William Golding
Native Son by Richard Wright
Women on Top: How Real Life Has Changed Women's Fantasies by Nancy Friday
Curses, Hexes and Spells by Daniel Cohen
Jack by A.M. Homes
Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo A. Anaya
Where Did I Come From? by Peter Mayle
Carrie by Stephen King
Tiger Eyes by Judy Blume
On My Honor by Marion Dane Bauer
Arizona Kid by Ron Koertge
Family Secrets by Norma Klein
Mommy Laid An Egg by Babette Cole
The Dead Zone by Stephen King
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison
Always Running by Luis Rodriguez
Private Parts by Howard Stern
Where's Waldo? by Martin Hanford
Summer of My German Soldier by Bette Greene
Little Black Sambo by Helen Bannerman
Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett
Running Loose by Chris Crutcher
Sex Education by Jenny Davis
The Drowning of Stephen Jones by Bette Greene
Girls and Sex by Wardell Pomeroy
How to Eat Fried Worms by Thomas Rockwell
View from the Cherry Tree by Willo Davis Roberts
The Headless Cupid by Zilpha Keatley Snyder
The Terrorist by Caroline Cooney
Jump Ship to Freedom by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier

Well, I guess I better get busy - I would hate to miss all of the banned books!

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!

Tuesday Things

Today's question is only marginally about LibraryThing but I thought it might be a fun question anyway. It's more about blogging. Everyone who participates in Tuesday Thingers has a blog- some have a book blog, some have several, some have blogs that are more personal, etc.- and we've all chosen to participate in this particular way of networking to build traffic, get to know each other, etc. So my question is: what other weekly memes or round robins do you participate in? Is this the only one? Why Tuesday Thingers and not some other weekly Tuesday meme? Or do you do more than one?

So far this is the only weekly meme that I participate in. However, I enjoy it very much so I have been thinking of joining others. Thank you for providing a good link to get started. It is always fun to read what others have to say and I always try to comment on quite a few each week. We all know how wonderful it is to come back to your blog and see notes from new friends. And, I agree that it must be difficult to think up a new question each week. But maybe you could move to questions about reading in general which is of course related to Library Thing in a most intimate way! This is a great group and I am glad that this was my introduction to memes.

Tuesday Things

Today’s question: Cataloging sources. What cataloging sources do you use most? Any particular reason? Any idiosyncratic choices, or foreign sources, or sources you like better than others? Are you able to find most things through LT’s almost 700 sources?

I had to think about this one for a minute. I almost always go with the default, which is Amazon. Not usually disappointed. But of course, there is a reason for this. I have been too busy (lazy?) to enter all of the books that I have here at the house. I have quite a few esoteric works about Eastern Europe and I wonder if I will have to go to LOC (or original cataloging) to input those books, should I ever get up the energy. One question I have is whether any of you have the barcode scanner they are always talking about?? That might make life a little easier, not sure! If anyone uses one, please tell me how it works for you.

Have a good reading week!

LibrarysCat

Tuesday Thingers

Today's topic: Book-swapping. Do you do it? What site(s) do you use? How did you find out about them? What do you think of them? Do you use LT's book-swapping column feature for information on what to swap? Do you participate in any of the LT communities that discuss bookswapping, like the Bookmooch group for example?

I have never joined in any of the bookswapping groups. I am not sure why because Lord knows I have tons of books that I have read and probably will never read again. But I do visit and trade at the Book Worm - a locally owned used book seller! The owner is wonderful.

Tuesday Thingers

Here is the Top 100 Most Popular Books on LibraryThing. Bold what you own, italicize what you've read. Star what you liked. Star multiple times what you loved!

I hope all the American participants have a great Fourth of July weekend!

1. Harry Potter and the sorcerer's stone by J.K. Rowling (32,484)
2. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Book 6) by J.K. Rowling (29,939)
3. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Book 5) by J.K. Rowling (28,728)
4. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Book 2) by J.K. Rowling (27,926)
5. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Book 3) by J.K. Rowling (27,643)
6. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Book 4) by J.K. Rowling (27,641)
7. The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown (23,266) **
8. The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien (21,325) ****
9. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Book 7) by J.K. Rowling (20,485)
10. 1984 by George Orwell (19,735) ****
11. Pride and Prejudice (Bantam Classics) by Jane Austen (19,583) *****
12. The catcher in the rye by J.D. Salinger (19,082)
13. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee (17,586) **
14. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald (16,210)
15. The lord of the rings by J.R.R. Tolkien (15,483)
16. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini (14,566) ****
17. Jane Eyre (Penguin Classics) by Charlotte Bronte (14,449)
18. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon (13,946) ***
19. Life of Pi by Yann Martel (13,272)
20. Animal Farm by George Orwell (13,091) *
21. Angels & demons by Dan Brown (13,089)
22. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley (13,005) ***
23. Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte (12,777)
24. One Hundred Years of Solitude (Oprah's Book Club) by Gabriel Garcia Marquez (12,634) **
25. The Fellowship of the Ring (The Lord of the Rings, Part 1) by J.R.R. Tolkien (12,276)
26. Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden (12,147) *
27. The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger (11,976) **
28. The Two Towers (The Lord of the Rings, Part 2) by J.R.R. Tolkien (11,512)
29. The Odyssey by Homer (11,483)
30. Catch-22 by Joseph Heller (11,392) ***
31. Slaughterhouse-five by Kurt Vonnegut (11,360)
32. Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky (11,257)
33. The return of the king : being the third part of The lord of the rings by J.R.R. Tolkien (11,082)
34. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury (10,979)
35. American Gods: A Novel by Neil Gaiman (10,823)
36. The chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis (10,603)
37. The hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy by Douglas Adams (10,537)
38. Lord of the Flies by William Golding (10,435)
39. The lovely bones : a novel by Alice Sebold (10,125) ***
40. Ender's Game (Ender, Book 1) by Orson Scott Card (10,092)
41. The Golden Compass (His Dark Materials, Book 1) by Philip Pullman (9,827)
42. Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch by Neil Gaiman (9,745)
43. Dune by Frank Herbert (9,671)
44. Emma by Jane Austen (9,610) *****
45. Frankenstein by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley (9,598) ***
46. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (Bantam Classics) by Mark Twain (9,593)
47. Anna Karenina (Oprah's Book Club) by Leo Tolstoy (9,433)
48. Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke (9,413)
49. Middlesex: A Novel by Jeffrey Eugenides (9,343) ***
50. Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire (9,336)
51. Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov (9,274)
52. The Silmarillion by J.R.R. Tolkien (9,246)
53. The Iliad by Homer (9,153)
54. The Stranger by Albert Camus (9,084)
55. Sense and Sensibility (Penguin Classics) by Jane Austen (9,080) *****
56. Great Expectations (Penguin Classics) by Charles Dickens (9,027) ***
57. The Handmaid's Tale: A Novel by Margaret Atwood (8,960) **
58. On the Road by Jack Kerouac (8,904)
59. Freakonomics [Revised and Expanded]: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything by Steven D. Levitt (8,813)
60. The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint Exupery - (8,764)
61. The lion, the witch and the wardrobe by C. S. Lewis (8,421)
62. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle (8,417)
63. Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman (8,368)
64. The Grapes of Wrath (Centennial Edition) by John Steinbeck (8,255)
65. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott (8,214) ***
66. The Name of the Rose: including Postscript to the Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco (8,191)
67. The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne (8,169)
68. Moby Dick by Herman Melville (8,129)
69. The complete works by William Shakespeare (8,096)
70. Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies by Jared Diamond (7,843)
71. Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris (7,834)
72. The Poisonwood Bible: A Novel (Perennial Classics) by Barbara Kingsolver (7,829)
73. Hamlet (Folger Shakespeare Library) by William Shakespeare (7,808)
74. Of Mice and Men (Penguin Great Books of the 20th Century) by John Steinbeck (7,807) ****
75. A Tale of Two Cities (Penguin Classics) by Charles Dickens (7,793)
76. The Alchemist (Plus) by Paulo Coelho (7,710)
77. The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath (7,648)
78. The Picture of Dorian Gray (Barnes & Noble Classics Series) (Barnes & Noble Classics) by Oscar Wilde (7,598)
79. The Elements of Style, Fourth Edition by William Strunk (7,569) ***
80. Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez (7,557) ***
81. The Subtle Knife (His Dark Materials, Book 2) by Philip Pullman (7,534)
82. Atonement: A Novel by Ian McEwan (7,530) ***
83. The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky (7,512)
84. The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd (7,436)
85. Dracula by Bram Stoker (7,238) ****
86. Heart of Darkness (Dover Thrift Editions) by Joseph Conrad (7,153)
87. A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess (7,055)
88. Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra (7,052)
89. The amber spyglass by Philip Pullman (7,043)
90. A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (Penguin Classics) by James Joyce (6,933)
91. The Unbearable Lightness of Being: A Novel (Perennial Classics) by Milan Kundera (6,901) ****
92. Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse (6,899)
93. Neuromancer by William Gibson (6,890)
94. The Canterbury Tales (Penguin Classics) by Geoffrey Chaucer (6,868)
95. Persuasion (Penguin Classics) by Jane Austen (6,862)
96. Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman (6,841)
97. The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova (6,794)
98. Angela's Ashes: A Memoir by Frank McCourt (6,715) *
99. A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggers (6,708)
100. The Prince by Niccolo Machiavelli (6,697)

Tuesday Thingers

The question asked this week is what is the least favorite book in your library - not as in the one you liked the least, but the one that is least cataloged by other Library Thingers. In my case, it is one of my favorite childhood books. The title is Miss Jellytots Visit which was published in 1955 and only listed by four other people.

True confession time - this is the only book that never got returned to my local library - please do not send out the library police! When we were kids, we used to go up to the local grocery store where the book mobile came every Thursday afternoon. I can vividly remember riding our bikes up there to check out books. For some reason, this book never got returned and I did not see it again until years later. I kept meaning to take it back, but it just never happened. After four children and many years, it has turned up again in my book stacks. Maybe one day I will take it back to the library, but I have grown rather attached. I have donated many books to the public library, so maybe that makes up for my "book sin" - one can only hope.

As for the book, I haven't read it in many years. Seems that my only daughter read it but thought it was too old fashioned. The story centers on one family whose mother always prepares the spare bedroom for their guests and makes jelly tots as a treat for them. The little girl in the family wants to be treated the same way. The mother and father make a deal that the daughter can "visit" as a guest to the family, but she must act and dress like her mother's friends. The "visit" is very funny as the daughter tries to act grown up. She must think about her decision when her own friend comes by to ask her to come see his new puppies. Of course, Miss Jellytot would not be interested in puppies, while the young girl wants desperately to do see them. The story ends with the young girl realizing that it is better to just be who you are. I read this book over and over!

LibrarysCat

Tuesday Thingers

Today's Question: What's the most popular book in your library? Have you read it? What did you think? How many users have it? What's the most popular book you don't have? How does a book's popularity figure into your decisions about what to read?



The most popular book in my library is Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. I have read it many, many times. I think it was the first Austen novel that I ever read and I fell in love with it. I also read Sense and Sensibility which I liked almost as much. Then instead of reading other works by Miss Austen, I reread these two over and over. Interestingly enough, after my book club chose and read Cranford by Elizabeth Gaskell, who wrote similarly to Austen, I decided to go back and read some of Austen's other works. In a great convergence of the stars, I noticed a link to DailyLit on a Tuesday Thinger post and visited and started Emma which I have just completed and hope to post a review later today.

Without looking, I am sure that the most popular books that I do not have are the Harry Potter books. My children have read them all, but I just could not get into it, then I saw the movies and (knowing better) thought, What's the point? Almost always, the book is better than the movie, so I should have pushed forward.

I am a fairly equal opportunity reader - I will read almost anything. If I am concerned that I will not like a book, I usually look for reviews in hopes of bolstering my intent to like it. However, even if all of the reviews are negative, I will still continue with my reading and usually complete the book. So I guess I am not really guided by rankings. If I really like a book, I am always amazed at the reviews of others - things I missed, things I did not care about, things I loved that others did not include. Really, I guess for me, what other people think about books is just more reading!

The librarian in me thinks the most wonderful thing about books is that there is a book out there for everyone and a person for every book. Working in an academic library in Circulation (previous job), we used to love to see what people were checking out and thought, Isn't it wonderful that someone out there cares about the dotted snail enough to check out three books on them? And who knew there were three books to begin with? No offense to snail lovers, btw!

Have a great Tuesday!
LibrarysCat