Random books from lycomayflower's library

Banner in the Sky by James Ramsey Ullman

Reason and Sexuality in Western Thought by David West

Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier

Eragon and Eldest 2 copy mass market boxed set (Inheritance) by Christopher Paolini

The World of Jeeves by P.G. Wodehouse

Humboldt's Gift (Penguin Classics) by Saul Bellow

A Rhetoric of Argument by Jeanne Fahnestock

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Member: lycomayflower

CollectionsYour library (1,240), PA CLOSET (139), Star Trek (45), Currently reading (4), All collections (1,240)

Reviews61 reviews

Tags20th century (615), british (409), american (338), at home (149), 21st century (141), 19th century (132), criticism (89), illustrated (88), history (79), bubblegum (71) — see all tags

Cloudstag cloud, author cloud

Groups20-Something LibraryThingers, 50 Book Challenge, 75 Books Challenge for 2009, Anglophiles, Graduate Students, Star Trek Books, Tolkien Lovers

Favorite authorsJane Austen, Stephen Fry, G. W. Hawkes, Barbara Kingsolver, Jhumpa Lahiri, Jamie O'Neill, Robert Louis Stevenson, J. R. R. Tolkien, Sarah Waters, Virginia Woolf (Shared favorites)

About meI'm a late-twenty-something living in two rooms with over a thousand books and one crazy cat. Soon we will all move into three rooms with my fiancé, his books, and his crazy cat. It cannot be long before I start having nightmares about packing books. I have a BA in English and history and an MA in Creative Writing and am currently working on my PhD in Creative Writing. These facts are only partly responsible for the proliferation of books.

My 2008 Thread at the 50-Book Challenge

My 2009 Thread at the 75-Book Challenge

About my libraryFinished, finally! It's all catalogued. With the exception of some books still at my parents' house and some composition rhetorics and readers buried in a box in my closet (which I can't quite conceive of ever being arsed to haul out and catalogue), everything I have is here. If it isn't here, chances are I don't have it. There are a few books (talkin' single digits here) listed in my catalogue that I do not own, but which I included in my catalogue so that I could post a review of them. They are tagged "review only."

You'll find a fairly wide smattering of books in my library, with a concentration on British modernism and on Tolkien. I also have a nice little collection of books on writing craft.

If I were stranded on a desert island, the ten books I would hope somehow got stranded with me are:

The Lord of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien

The Collected Works of William Shakespeare

The World of Jeeves, P.G. Wodehouse

A Stranger in a Strange Land, Robert Heinlein

Sharpe's Tiger, Bernard Cornwell

Lady Chatterley's Lover, D.H. Lawrence

A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens

The Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism

The Sound and the Fury, William Faulkner

Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen

I've decided to go ahead and try rating books, though I find the prospect sort of inherently distasteful. I think of my books in terms of the reading experience, not necessarily in terms of the quality of the thing itself. In other words, I might give Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire five stars because I thoroughly enjoyed reading it, while I might give Heart of Darkness three stars because I have had to force myself to keep going each time I've read it. Those ratings do not reflect any assessment on my part regarding the quality of the work. It doesn't, in other words, necessarily mean I hold Harry Potter above Heart of Darkness in terms of literary merit, writing quality, et cetera.

Here's how I'm using the rating system:

Zero Stars: I haven't read it yet. (Far too frequent an occurence!)

One Star: The reading experience was wretched. I wouldn't touch it again if you paid me.

Two Stars: The reading experience was poor. I probably won't look at it again.

Three Stars: The reading experience was fair. I may not have liked the book, but I either learned something from it or concede that it is an important work despite my dislike of it. I would also put under this rating books that I enjoyed while reading but of which I had little meaningful recollection afterwards.

Three and one half Stars: The only half-star rating I find myself using frequently. These are the books I enjoyed quite a bit, probably do remember well and fondly, but probably wouldn't read again.

Four Stars: The reading experience was good. I liked the book, and might read it again.

Five Stars: The reading experience was fabulous. I love the book, and likely wouldn't object to dipping into it at any point--or maybe even rereading it in its entirety several times.

NB: The system, obviously, works best for works of fiction and creative nonfiction. For reference works, think of the ratings in terms of usefulness. Five stars indicates a reference I find indispensable. One star indicates a completely worthless reference. Three stars indicates usefulness, but not to any special degree.

Real nameLaura

LocationTennessee

Account typepublic, lifetime

Connection NewsConnection News

URLs http://www.librarything.com/profile/lycomayflower (profile)
http://www.librarything.com/catalog/lycomayflower (library)

Common KnowledgeSeries (206), Awards (373), Characters (5109), Places (1002)

Member sinceDec 2, 2005

Currently readingThe Fate of the Phoenix by Sandra Marshak
The Essential Talmud by Adin Steinsaltz
Hardboiled Wonderland and the End of the World by Haruki Murakami
The Professor (Modern Library) by Charlotte Bronte

Leave a comment

http://joycepa.wordpress.com/2009/09/12/...

Joyce
http://joycepa.wordpress.com/2009/09/11/...

2nd part tomorrow.

Joyce
Hi;
Mark and I have been discussing the possibility of another group read in November and want your input. We have narrowed it down to two books at this point. "The People of the Book" by Geraldine Brooks and "The Thirteenth Tale" by Diane Setterfield. So chat it up with friends or us and let us know if you are up for it and what you think. Probably the same plan as with "Pillars of the Earth" which seemed to work out perfectly for almost all of us.
Think it over and give one of us a shout.
hugs and looking forward to hearing from you,
belva
Hi, folks!

This is a general announcement that I’m sending to LT profile pages, FaceBook walls, and email addresses, in order to get in touch with everyone as soon as possible and as efficiently as possible.

I just returned from the Potrerillos library, where I turned over 34 books to the absolutely delighted librarian, Sra. Enilde. On Monday, I’m going to return there to take pix to send to you, so that you can see the fruits of your labor of love.

My only regret--and it is a deep one--is that I couldn’t have done this sooner. But the fact of the matter is that I have only been walking any distance except for around the house for about a week, and only within the past few days have I built up any endurance; even a short walk has left me wiped out.

But today was the day! She had been told beforehand by our friend Maricin that we were going to do this, but let me tell you, she was blown away by both the quantity and the beauty--as she put it--of the books. She kept saying, “Que lindo, que lindo” (How beautiful, how beautiful) as she pulled the books out of the boxes.

So thank you once again fro your generosity; you’ll get pictures as soon as I get them. And we may have the representante there--she mentioned talking to him about it.

Joyce
Having a marathon of Star Trek reading?
P. S. Ahem. I see you have!
I loved your Breaking Dawn review. It expresses so much of what I feel about the series; great pleasure in the books mixed with suspicions that aren't entirely allayed by a close reading! I'd love to see you review the Aidan books you've just added.
Thank you so much for your wonderful comment! What an insightful question. Most of my favourites (and least favourites) have been divorced from their definitions in my mind; it's really about their sonorousness (or lack thereof), the visceral reaction they spark, or their mouthfeel (to steal a wine tasting term). How about you? Do you have any particular favourites -- or are there any skin-crawlingly awful ones you avoid?

Best wishes,
m.

P.S. You have a great library! :)
Hi,

Saw you liked Trainspotting, and I was wondering if you'd be interested in reading my new novel and posting your comments here (as well as on a few other book-related sites). Thought you might like my novel since it's also about a group of disturbed kids and a bit dark. I could e-mail you the novel in an e-book format if you'd like. Let me know if you're interested. Here's a link to a summary in case you're interested:

http://christophertusa.com/

Thanks,

Chris
I've been meaning to read The Moon's A Harsh Mistress. Your post has prompted me to move this further up on the to be read pile.
Hi Laura
Thanks for posting on my LT 75 book challenge thread. And, welcome to the 75 challenge group. We are VERY chatty, engaging and well read and it is nice to have you with us.

Is the photo on your home page that of C.S. Lewis, or Tolkein? I note a Robert Heinlein book on your ten top favorites. He truly is a great writer! Have you read The Green Hills of Earth? Russell Schweickart, The Apollo 9 astronaut quoted Heinlein when he looked down on earth from space.

We pray for one last landing
On the globe that gave us birth;
Let us rest our eyes on the friendly skies
And the cool, green hills of Earth.

-- Robert A. Heinlein
Read your review of "The Princess Bride" and I have only one thing to say: TRUE BLEVE! HE SAID TRUE BLEVE!

Congrats on getting a "hot review"!
Tiffin
Do you know about this one? http://www.librarything.com/work/980095

Caught it on the 100 Book Challenge group.
Just passing by having read some of your reviews.

Do you not know or not like Terry Pratchett? He would seem to be an author whose books you would enjoy.
All RIGHT! I thumbed-up (thumb-upped?) some of them. (Beginning of History Boys wants fixed. Just so you know I really read it.)
I've just popped in to protest your lack of reviews. Post some of 'em on the book pages, whyncha?
Have been enjoying reading your posts on the 50-Book Challenge, so thought I'd pop over and look at your library. Like what you have to say about ratings, especially: " I think of my books in terms of the reading experience, not necessarily in terms of the quality of the thing itself." I found that I couldn't go back and rate my books, so just decided to recognize the ones I go back to when I need some guaranteed satisfaction (my 'comfort food'), but like you I don't mean to say that those books are necessarily better than the ones that aren't starred. Happy reading! Bonnie
Hi Laura,

Your mother says I need to look for you when I come to McKays. She says you need to keep an eye out for Viragos;-) I keep snagging all the McKays copies. I'm guessing that you go to UT. I got my MA and PhD in English there (specializing in Early Modern literature). I worked with Rob Stillman and Allen Dunn. Allen is my hero. I live down the road in Maryville, TN. I hang out about once a week at the Golden Roast. I hope you're having a nice day.

Ciao,
Mary
Happy belated birthday Laura from yet another friend of your mom's. It's neat that you both are on LT. XXXXLois
Happy Belated Birthday, Laura, from another RR friend of your mother's!
I hope your day was exciting and full of laughter! You're a lucky gal
to have a mother like our dear Linda.

May the coming years bring you health, happiness and more books!

Cate
xx
Happy belated birthday, Laura. Hope it was terrific, and full of books! I am another of your mom's friends, and thus one of yours, as well. Love the picture!
Happy belated birthday from another of your mother's LT friends. I think getting a Phd. in Creative Writing and teaching are the most wonderful career choices that there are. Lucky, lucky you. I wish you much success and happiness in the future, and hope that your previous illness is all healed. miriam
Happy Birthday Laura from another of your Mum's friends! I trust your birthday brings you lots of books...
Happy birthday Laura. I am a friend of your mother. She is quite wonderful so too must you be if it's true apples don't fall far from the tree. May you have fun and joy and enjoy your special special day.
Lee
Happy happy birthday, Laura -- from one of your mom's RR sisters! Have a fabulous day.
Terri
A very happy birthday to you, Laura!
May your life be full of happiness and an ever increasing number of books.
Paola :-))
Happy Birthday, fellow January baby! Wishing you a wonderful, literary year.
Happy birthday Linda's Laura! And best wishes for the year to come!
I hear it's your birthday! Happy birthday from another Laura...
What a wonderful explanation of your use of rating stars. I admit, I've been perplexed by any system which demands I quantify an experience with numerical ratings; it makes a vast amount of sense to quantify it to suit your purposes. I'll have to think about why I choose a number of stars and then devise my own system. Thank you!
Hey, Laura in Tennessee, this is Laura in Milwaukee. I read your profile, and except for that one geographical dissimilarity, our profiles could be the same. And I'm pretty sure I could import most of your 505-book catalog into mine, ratings intact, and it would pretty accurately reflect my tastes. Right down to the rating for The Price of the Phoenix. Funny how some books, bubblegum though they may be, can make a huge impression on you!

Happy reading!
Lauawill
You know I love you, right? You didn't have to include a volume of Faulkner (or any American) just for me! Reconsider the Norton--it will drive you nuts.....you'll all the time be wishing you had somethin-er-nother listed in the bibliography. Of course, that and the Shakespeare are probably what made your boat sink in the first place!! And Austin is in Texas---Jane spells it with an "e". ;>)
Laura, thanks for explaining your rating system. Very sensible.

PS how long have you been smoking a pipe? ;>
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