Memberlycomayflower

Real Name

Laura

About My Library

The books in this catalogue belong to both me and my husband. For this reason and because we both read widely, you will find all sorts of books here. There's heaps of contemporary fiction (skewed to the British side) as well as significant collections of Tolkien criticism, writing craft theory, literary theory and criticism, history, science, science fiction, Star Trek, Dragonlance, and Pratchett.

With the exception of some composition textbooks lost in boxes in closets and the odd library book, every book that lives at or has passed through my home is in my cataglogue. Most of the books in my catalogue are in my possession, but a few hundred (returned library books, books loaned to me and returned, wishlist books, etc) are not.

My Tags:

I tag all of my books with century written and nationality of the author. I only add additional tags if I think it likely that I should like to be able to find that book along with similar others using a certain topic, such as "science fiction" or "ya" or "sexuality." Books tagged "bubblegum" are lighthearted, fun, easy reads that probably have little nutritional value. Books tagged "LW3" are those books belonging to my mother with which I have squirrelled off.

My Collections:

Favorites: My all-time, mostest of most favorite of favorite reads. Also those books which meant a great deal to me at some point in my life (many of them still do).

5-Star Reads: Books I rated either 4.5 or 5 stars when I read them. A small fraction of what I've read, but still a pretty big collection. Roughly speaking the top ten percent of books I've read, in terms of my enjoyment of them. My "Favorites" collection is more like the top one percent.

Yearly Top-Five Reads Starting in 2010, I started listing my favorite first-time reads of the year in my year-end sum-up post. This collection lists all those books. Some overlap with "5-Star Reads," but ultimately a very different list. These are those reads that stood out to me (usually) months after the fact, and often they aren't books I gave 4.5 or 5 stars when I'd first finished reading them.

Wishlist: Where I put books I'd like to read. I remove books from this collection once I've acquired or read them.

Oo, oo, oo Wishlist Where I put books I really, really, really want to read, soon. I remove books from this collection once I've acquired or read them.

Secondary Wishlist Where I put books I may still want to read but am no longer very excited about. I'm not actively looking for them, but I don't want to forget about them. I remove books from this collection once I've acquired or read them.

MPG: Books belonging to my husband, most especially those he owned before we merged households but also any he would consider his and would like to be able to find easily in the catalogue.

Tolkien; Thirkell; Pratchett: Each of these authors has his or her own collection so that we can easily see which books we have by or about him or her. My collection of Tolkien criticism is significant, and my husband's Pratchett collection is large. The Thirkell collection is new to me, and grows slowly.

Star Trek; Dragonlance: I recently "finished" my Star Trek book collection. I have every TOS numbered novel through #88, as well as most of the novels that came out before they started numbering them and many of the hardcovers. Husband has an extensive (though nowhere near complete) Dragonlance collection.

To Read: Those books which I have been considering consistently in the last year or so whenever it's time to pick a new thing to read. The collection represents only a very small fraction of the books in my possession which I have not read. I remove books from this collection once I've read them.

Read: A quite accurate collection of books from my catalogue which I have read.

Unread: A somewhat selective collection of books from my catalogue that I have not read. A very different collection than "To Read," and not including books I have started and abandoned, books read in part, unread books still in my catalogue but no longer in my possession (such as returned library books), unread books I do not consider ones I would ever read in the whole (such as dictionaries, guidebooks, and other reference works), and books which belong to my husband and which came into our collection without my ever intending to read them. Perhaps the least "useful" of my collections, and existing mostly as a reminder that I do not necessarily need to go out and buy any more books. *snort*

Library Books: Books borrowed from the library and currently in my possession.

Returned Library Books: Library books I have returned, whether read or unread. If I subsequently acquire my own copy of one of these books, I remove the book from this collection.

My Rating System:

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 (accept as far as enjoying a book suggests it is a "good" book). 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.

Zero Stars: I haven't read it.
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 quite a bit, and might read it again. I would probably recommend it.
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. I recommend it.

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.

About Me

I'm a late-thirty-something living in a house nestled into a tiny slice of countryside right at the edge of the city and with a lovely man who likes to sit and read almost as much as I do. I have a BA in English and history, an MA in Creative Writing, and a PhD in Creative Writing and work as a copy editor and proofreader. These facts are only partly responsible for the proliferation of books.

My 2020 Thread at the 75-Books Challenge

My Photography Tumblr

My Blog, where I often talk about books and reading.

My Library at LibraryThing

Older Reading Threads at LT:
My 2019 Thread at the 75-Books Challenge
My 2018 Thread at the 75-Books Challenge
My 2017 Thread at the 75-Books Challenge
My 2016 Thread at the 75-Books Challenge
My 2015 Thread at the 75-Books Challenge
My 2014 Thread at the 75-Book Challenge
My 2013 Thread at the 75-Book Challenge
My 2012 Thread at the 75-Book Challenge
My 2011 Thread at the 75-Book Challenge
My 2010 Thread at the 75-Book Challenge
My 2009 Thread at the 75-Book Challenge
My 2008 Thread at the 50-Book Challenge

Location

Roanoke, Virginia

Homepage

http://wonderatsix.blogspot.com/

Currently Reading

The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas

The Reading Cure: How Books Restored My Appetite by Laura Freeman

Favorite Authors

Jane Austen, Heidi Cullinan, Stephen Fry, Alexis Hall, G. W. Hawkes, Robert A. Heinlein, Barbara Kingsolver, Jhumpa Lahiri, Jamie O'Neill, Robert Louis Stevenson, J. R. R. Tolkien, Sarah Waters, Virginia Woolf

Local Favorites

Bookstores: Too Many Books

Member Connections

Friends

alaskabookworm, bigorangemichael, Cynara, Discursive, FlamingRabbit, hmwendt, koalamom, laytonwoman3rd, Leigh0906, mrkinch, nerdytheorist, Paiger1979, sibylline, vista_md, Well-ReadNeck, xymon81

Interesting Library

AdonisGuilfoyle, aulsmith, bigorangemichael, bleuberrybliss, burnit99, caras_galadhon, chrisjones, ErisofDiscord, FutureMrsJoshGroban, Gretchening, Jonesy_now, mellymel171328, mrkinch, souloftherose, TPauSilver, tsaavik, urania1