DECEMBER ROOT - Progress Thread

Well, we've reached the final month of our challenge and I am so proud to see that so many readers plowed through and have reached their goals! I'm hanging my head because my goal is now out of reach. I didn't set a very good example.






So, let's keep these tickers (password ROOT) moving with everyone adding their progress to the comprehensive goal for all of us. We need to have a total of 5,417 (100%) by the end of DECEMBER which means 1700+ books. I don't see that happening but maybe we could reach 75% which would be 373 books needed this month.

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The ticker thread (http://www.librarything.com/topic/148710) is a huge help in crunching the end of month numbers so I'd to thank everyone who posted their ticker this year.

Thanks for your help!
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So, now, Ladies and Gentlemen, BOOKLOVERS - the last drive toward our goals! Read on!

Here are the individual numbers so far. Several members reached their goals this month - them we applaud. We're cheering for everyone but especially those who are almost there! Please let me know if I need to update anyone.

ABVR 22 / 50 44%
alphaorder 6 / 30 20%
ALWINN 13 / 40 33%
Ameise1 11 / 10 110%
amz310783 75 / 80 94% ALMOST THERE!
AnneHudson 10 &/ 50 20%
Anoplophora 21 / 40 53%
antqueen 8 */ 60 13%
auntmarge64 41 / 60 68%
bahzah 25 */ 30 83% ALMOST THERE!
BBleil 2 &/ 24 8%
benitasrnad 38 &/ 30 127%
billiejean 26 */ 30 87%
blondierocket 19 / 50 38%
booksloth 13 / 50 26%
Bowerbirds-Library 4 / 50 8%
bragan 103 / 100 103% GOAL REACHED - CONGRATULATIONS!
brewergirl 35 / 35 100% GOAL REACHED - CONGRATULATIONS!
Caramellunacy 5 / 25 20%
carmenere 30 / 26 115%
chexmix 5 &/ 75 7%
christina_reads 20 / 20 100% GOAL REACHED - CONGRATULATIONS!
cindysprocket 37 &/ 50 74%
clue 30 / 30 100% GOAL REACHED - CONGRATULATIONS!
Conachair 44 / 50 88%
connie53 27 / 20 135%
craso 12 / 12 100% GOAL REACHED - CONGRATULATIONS!
CrazyMamie 43 / 40 108%
cyderry 79 / 105 75%
deep220 25 / 20 125%
DeltaQueen50 110 / 100 110% GOAL REACHED - CONGRATULATIONS!
DetailMuse 25 / 30 83% ALMOST THERE!
doglover58 23 / 14 164%
dudes22 83 / 70 119%
edgewood 48 / 50 96%
Erratic_Charmer 31 */ 83 37%
FAMeulstee 10 / 12 83% ALMOST THERE!
footnotefever 7 / 30 23%
fuzzi 30 / 30 100% GOAL REACHED - CONGRATULATIONS!
gennyt 13 / 70 19%
hairballsrus 8 / 35 23%
Heduanna 3 / 13 23%
HelenBaker 46 / 50 92% ALMOST THERE!
hemlokgang 19 / 35 54%
Henrik_Madsen 26 / 33 79%
HRHTish 3 / 5 60%
lkernagh 26 / 30 87% ALMOST THERE!
ipsoivan 52 / 50 104% GOAL REACHED - CONGRATULATIONS!
jebronse 5 / 10 50%
jennyes2011 5 */ 10 50%
johanna414 22 / 20 110% GOAL REACHED - CONGRATULATIONS!
JoLynnsbooks 2 / 50 4%
jonesli 126 / 175 72%
kac522 17 / 29 59%
karen_o 55 / 40 138%
karspeak 30 / 30 100% GOAL REACHED - CONGRATULATIONS!
kaulsu 7 / 100 7%
kelsiface 20 / 25 80%
kirconnell 6 &/ 30 20%
kiwiflowa 4 / 25 16%
kkunker 23 / 24 96% ALMOST THERE!
klarusu 4 / 37 11%
konallis 16 / 30 53%
lahochstetler 10 / 50 20%
laura_88 17 / 25 68%
LauraBrook 45 / 100 45%
laytonwoman3rd 38 / 35 109% GOAL REACHED - CONGRATULATIONS!
librariansteffen2, 23 / 48 48%
lilisin 3 / 5 60%
lindapanzo 108 / 75 144%
LittleTaiko 36 / 30 120%
lizamichelle1 41 / 50 82%
LucindaLibri 20 / 50 40%
luisali 40 / 50 80%
mabith 18 / 12 150%
majkia 65 / 40 163%
mandymarie 66 / 250 26%
mareofthesea 60 / 60 100%
melonbrawl 22 / 25 88% ALMOST THERE!
midnightlouie 2 / 20 10%
misswatson 26 / 20 130% GOAL REACHED - CONGRATULATIONS!
mmignano11 22 / 75 29%
moonshineandrosefire 111 / 111 100% GOAL REACHED - CONGRATULATIONS!
Nicholette 29 */ 100 29%
Nickelini 54 / 50 108% GOAL REACHED - CONGRATULATIONS!
NielsenGW 47 / 75 63%
paeonia 23 / 24 96% ALMOST THERE!
pcktlnt 2 &/ 30 7%
Pigletto 55 / 60 92%
PolymathicMonkey 38 / 50 76%
psutto 37 / 80 46%
qebo 7 */ 24 29%
Quaisior 51 / 50 102%
rabbitprincess 65 / 50 130%
raidergirl3 24 / 25 96% ALMOST THERE!
rainpebble 46 / 48 96% ALMOST THERE!
ramblingivy 21 / 20 105% GOAL REACHED - CONGRATULATIONS!
riverwillow 76 / 100 76%
Robertgreaves 49 &/ 35 140%
ronincats 35 / 40 88%
Samantha_kathy 23 / 50 46%
sandykaypax 2 / 12 17%
sarahbradshaw 14 / 30 47%
schatzi 10 / 75 13%
shearon 17 / 25 68%
shinyone 41 / 35 117%
si 5 / 10 50%
sjmccreary 7 / 15 47%
SqueakyChu 5 / 20 25%
staffordcastle 16 / 30 53%
streamsong 31 / 50 62%
susanj67 22 */ 30 73%
Tallulah_rose 13 */ 20 65%
Tanglewood 16 / 20 80%
thomasandmary 8 / 13 62%
thorold 36 / 60 60%
tloeffler 53 / 50 106% GOAL REACHED - CONGRATULATIONS!
torontoc 35 / 30 117%
tututhefirst 16 */ 15 107%
tymfos 64 / 60 107% GOAL REACHED - CONGRATULATIONS!
vancouverdeb 6 / 12 50%
Vivanofthe Lake 2 / 15 13%
VivienneR 47 / 50 94% ALMOST THERE!
wildbill 17 / 25 68%

Now that the end is near and we start to look toward 2014 - are we going to go forward with new goals in 2014?

Great job in managing the group over the year, Cheli!

Originally, I voted "no" until I understood the question, then I changed it to "yes". I plan on aiming to read a minimum of 30 books off my TBR bookcase in 2014.

Hello everyone! Well, according to Goodreads, I'm currently back on track towards my updated goal of 120 books read! :) I hope that we all read some really good books this month! :)



Here are my monthly totals again:

January 2013
Total books read: 9
Total rereads: 0 (yes!)
Total acquisitions: 7 (4 ebooks)
Books taken off my TBR pile and sent to new homes: 17

February 2013
Total books read: 8
Total rereads: 1
Total acquisitions: 42 (6 ebooks)
Books taken off my TBR pile and sent to new homes: 12

March 2013
Total books read: 7
Total rereads: 1
Total acquisitions: 7 (1 ebook)
Books taken off my TBR pile and sent to new homes: 9

April 2013
Total books read: 11
Total rereads: 0 (yes!)
Total acquisitions: 61 (9 ebooks)
Books taken off my TBR pile and sent to new homes: 14

May 2013
Total books read: 9
Total rereads: 2
Total acquisitions: 19 (1 ebook)
Books taken off my TBR pile and sent to new homes: 13

June 2013
Total books read: 13
Total rereads: 1
Total acquisitions: 31
Books taken off my TBR pile and sent to new homes: 10

July 2013
Total books read: 15
Total rereads: 1
Total acquisitions: 6
Books taken off my TBR pile and sent to new homes: 16

August 2013
Total books read: 11
Total rereads: 0 (yes!)
Total acquisitions: 57 (22 ebooks)
Books taken off my TBR pile and sent to new homes: 13

September 2013
Total books read: 9
Total rereads: 1
Total acquisitions: 15 (4 ebooks)
Books taken off my TBR pile and sent to new homes: 15

October 2013
Total books read: 9
Total rereads: 0 (yes!)
Total acquisitions: 35 (22 ebooks) (I received a subscription of a 24 pack of puzzle books on October 3, 2013 so I added 1 book for that subscription)
Books taken off my TBR pile and sent to new homes: 20

November 2013
Total books read: 10
Total rereads: 0 (yes!)
Total acquisitions: 94 (27 ebooks)
Books taken off my TBR pile and sent to new homes: 14

December 2013
Total books read: 8 (as of December 31, 2013)
Total rereads: 0
Total acquisitions: 29 (27 ebooks) (as of December 29, 2013)
Books taken off my TBR pile and sent to new homes: 18 (as of December 31, 2013)

Average time between acquisition and reading: approximately three years (gasp!)
Average number of rereads of acquisitions: 1
TBR books still waiting for new homes: 199

Here is the link to my personal thread as well: http://www.librarything.com/topic/147792

Thanks for all you do with this group, Cheli. I look forward to ROOTing out another whole bunch of books from my shelf next year!

Best wishes to your mother for a speedy recovery!

I made it! In June I was feeling pretty cocky, and thought about upping my goal, but "January me" knew what I was actually capable of. If I get another one read, it'll be bonus.
25 books off the shelf, and while I bought new books, I read a good portion of them (10/27), so I'm still ahead of the game.
thanks for all the support.

Congrats, raidergirl3!

In June I was feeling pretty cocky, and thought about upping my goal, but "January me" knew what I was actually capable of

LOL! I've been fooled by some of those mid-year bursts of optimism. It's generally best to just stick with the program . . . :-) Glad you stayed with your original goal -- and made it!

Thanks for taking the time to keep us going, Cheli. Looking forward to my annual trip home to stock up on ROOTS for 2014.

Absolutely! Count me in! :) I usually try to read at least one more book than I did the year before - so, that would mean 117 books for now

Cheli, anyone who has read 79 books from their shelves has nothing to hang their head about! Just the opposite- you are an inspiration! The group may not reach it's goal this year (I'm also falling short), but we're at 3500 books read. That's got be a success in anyone's book.

Since I'm not going to be able to reach my goal this year either, I at least want to end up above the group average, which right now is about 64%. I'm aiming for 70% of my original goal and maybe even one or two more.

Hi Cheli. I understand where you are at as ma-in-law fractured her pelvis in June but is now recovered and experiencing no pain and she is 91. That being said, my own late mother fractured her vertebrae in a fall and that was a slow and painful recovery. So I join with the others wishing your mother a steady recovery and hope you find some quiet time.
Thanks for continuing to encourage us to move our TBR stacks, I say move not reduce as I have bought more than I have read, so I will need to join in this challenge again next year. :-) Off to read my last 4 for this years target...

Of course I'm in next year!!

Thanks for all the things you do for us, Cheli. You have been busy enough with your mother being ill. So no need to hang your head.

I shall be back in 2014 because the challenge really helps me clear those dusty volumes on my shelves. My thanks to Cheli for organizing it!

It appears that we have enough still interested in ROOTs so I'll set up the new year the last week of December including a new ticker thread and group tickers.

Yay!

Yes!!!

Thanks! Looking forward to another year of reading those books that have been hanging around a while. It's been fun to go "shopping" on my shelves.

Thanks again for organizing, cyderry!

Thanks a lot cyderry and I'm in for 2014.

I love this group, but since almost everything I read is off my shelves, I think I'm going to just add another ticker to my 14 in 14 challenge. But I'll still lurk here occasionally to see what folks are reading.

Speaking of ROOTS - I've finished my first root for this month Wishin' and Hopin' by Wally Lamb.

I want to participate again next year. I does help me get things off my shelves. I will probably sign up for the same number as I did this year simply because it is realistic for me. I also have to read for my real life book club and that is almost always stuff that is not on my shelves so I read more than 30 books per year but just not things off my shelves. This year I did manage to read more than what I had signed on for, but they were almost all recorded books. They sure help me to move those books off the shelf.

I am excited that we will be revisiting this challenge in 2014 and I join all of the others in thanking you Cheli. You are very much appreciated.

I am just beginning my first ROOT for December: Paradise by Toni Morrison.

I definitely want to participate again next year.

Cheli, in next year's set of tickers, I wonder if it would be worthwhile to have one for the number of members who have met their goals? That might be a fun way to encourage everyone to keep reading to the end.

Thanks for all you do Cheli--I'm in for next year, too. I'm also way behind my goal, but finished another one tonight (so I'm now at 18 out of 29) and have a pile lined up for December. And I promise NOT to go to the library (too often).

24>> great idea... I'll add that ticker to the setup. If it slips my mind, remind me, okay?

->> 24 and 26: great idea... I love to see that ticker going.

This is actually more of a late November entry.

I have finished three more ROOTs:

Rembrandt's Whore by Sylvie Matton
Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller
It's the Economy, Stupid: a Rhoades Scholar Education in One Hour by Andre Jute

That brings me to 20 so far. I have several ROOTs in progress; hopefully I can complete five in the next 29 days to meet my goal of 25.

In any event, I'm in for 2014.

Thanks, cyderry, for all your work keeping this up all year.

This was my first year with ROOT reading, and I am looking forward to 2014. Thanks @cyderry!

I just hit the 5 more books to go point, which is closer than I have ever been to finishing at the beginning of December. Considering that my reading slowed down considerably mid-year when I got overwhelmed by personal stuff this really is something.

My books and points challenges are going head to head at the moment, I am holding my breath to see which one I hit first.

You can do it!

Whichever one wins, you will have a great accomplishment!

Count me in as well on next year's challenge. This group is really helping me reduce my amount of unread books, and although I don't write much I'm popping in on other peope's thread to see how their doing occasionally.

Best wishes and a healthy recovery to your mom. Please take the time you need for youself and your family. All xou do for this group is wonderful and very much appreciated.

Oh, and by the way: I finished 2 more books in November, just was too busy to post it. I'll update the tickers.

Hello - Winding down the year and getting ready to close out my Goodreads account and complete the switch to LibraryThing. I found out about this group from a friend's thread yesterday and I'm looking forward to joining in 2014.

I'm too easily distracted by the new and shiny and need to set some goals about making sure I've got books that are already on my shelf in the mix along with library and new books.

So between now and then I need to figure out what is a reasonable goal.

Welcome to the group, SuziQ.

Hi SuziQ!! great to see you here.

I've finished A Christmas Journey by Anne Perry. Trying to fit a few more in before the year ends.

I'm in for next year too, although I may reduce my number and try to read one long book a month. I found that I neglected a lot of my long books to meet my goal. Thank you, cheli, and all the rest of you for the encouragement along rhe way!

Yes, I've been resenting longer books because of the focus on numbers.

I've finished a couple more - The Rose of Fire by Carlos Ruiz Zafon which is more of a short story than a book. And I Was Told There'd Be Cake by Sloane Crosley.

I'm working on two ROOTs and I am sure I will finish them this month.

2 weeks work and then the christmas break starts, with more reading time.

My first ROOT for December, 66th over all, Phoenix Rising by Pip Ballantine, steampunk.

Updating tickers.

I actually planned a category for my category challenge for those "chunksters" - any book more than 500 pages. I have 11 in the ROOT pile that qualify. I hope to get to at least 7 if not more. 1 a month would be good. I do, however, want to avoid more than 2 in a row. I think that's what put me in this late year reading funk - I did 4 in a row.

number 36- finished Airborn by Kenneth Oppel- see my thread for the review

43 Oh, Cheli, 4 chunksters in a row can easily put one into a reading funk!

I'm in trouble for this challenge for this month. I just finished a library book, I'm in the middle of two more library books, and I want to catch up the latest books in 2 series (Gamache and Rev. Claire Ferguson) which will come from -- yes -- the library.

Cheli thanks for managing this group and keeping us so inspired! This challenge motivates me to read so much more from my TBRs than I would without it. I'm looking forward to 2014 and am noticing that my TBRs have been growing in anticipation of qualifying for next year!

Cheli just adding my thanks for everything you've done for us all this year.

Sadly, like you, I'm going to have to accept that I'm not going to achieve my goal this year - no excuses, but I had a bad start to the year working in a terrible job that was so time consuming that I just didn't read at all for a the first couple of months of the year and somehow I never really got going after that. But I do hope to get a few more ROOTS read before the end of the year, especially during the Christmas break.

And yes please count me in for the challenge next year, it does encourage me to read books that I have been languishing on shelves for far too long.

1st root for December and I too am considering lowering my goal next year as I have also avoided the 'chunksters' to achieve the numbers. I need more balance in my reading as my new ones are languishing. There is just not enough time for all of them. Sigh...

What a great sounding group! As I type this, I'm looking at my grandmother's old books, carried around by my Mom or me for the last fifty years. Poor things are yearning to get off the shelf! Can I join next year, with the very modest goal of reading six of these specific books? I know that is a much smaller number than other goals I saw. You are all amazing!

Of course you can join us, Merryann. Every book and every reader counts! The more the merrier!

>49 Merryann: Like Connie said, there are no stipulations on joining, except to read what's on your shelves! :) Th number you choose is entirely up to you.

That said, are those the only books you plan on reading? Because if not, you can always do a higher number and have it be 6 of those specific ones + X books you own in general. But that's just a suggestion if you plan to read more, certainly not required!

finished number 37- see my thread for the review. very mixed feelings about Defending Jacob

>50 connie53:, 51, Thank you for the welcome. I am mulling over a good goal number now, but I hereby promise the books on the 'grandmother' shelf that six of them will definitely be included!

Merryann, have you seen the TBR Challenge group? It's tangentially related to ROOT, except instead of aimless reading from your shelves, you pick 12 (plus 12 backup in case any of the original 12 don't work out) specific titles to read for the year. I've done it this year in conjunction with ROOT and I really like it! Maybe that'd be another thing you could consider trying out :))

Finished my 67th ROOT, second for the month, A Drink Before the War - by Dennis Lehane. An excellent noir mystery.

Updating tickers.

just finished two more books from my TBR pile or tower- or well the books are now in bins.

see reviews on numbers #38 and #39 on my thread

Well it was a close thing, but I just reached my goal of 50 ROOTs. I got side-tracked early this year and had to concentrate on catching up.

Great job, no matter when you meet your goal, it's still a success!

>54 .Monkey.: - I hadn't heard of that challenge. What a great one to combine with ROOT. Off to go learn more and sign up!

Me too. Thanks!

Well done, Vivienne!

I finished my 6th ROOT today. Sorry that I didn't keep up this year, but I had so many other distractions. I'm now 6 of 20.

Happy Holidays, everyone!

ETA: Next year my goal will be 5. :D
ETA2: Updated ticker.

I finished my challenge last night!! Book 24 was Star Wars Starfighters of Adumar.

Now I'm trying to determine how many to do for next year.

#63 by @kkunker> Yay!

Madeline, no worries. Hey, 5 is a goal!

Finished ROOT # 28 (28/20)

Een keukenmeidenroman by Kathryn Stockett

Going to update all tickers.

Tickers are off again!!

I have set up the 2014 ROOT group.
Please read the intro and spread the word.
Once we get people signing up I'll start the January thread and reveal the new tickers!

Thanks to everyone for helping in making this a fun challenge!

2014 ROOT Challenge

I finished my 40th root this morning. I think that's probably all I'm going to achieve this year (maybe one more if I'm lucky). Quite a way short of my target of 60, but I think I've done quite creditably: 164 BOYS/BOMBS/ROOTS in the last three years, my stock of TBRs reduced from 121 at the end of 2010 to 72 now, only 18 of which are more than two years old. There are still two or three embarrassments that have been sitting there forever for no good reason, and I really ought to eliminate those next year (or give up and declare them unreadable), but I've read some very rewarding books as part of these challenges.

Thanks to cyderry for getting us all deracinated this year!

At the moment, I'm in the middle of a week-long puzzle binge which started around December 6th or 7th! :) (sudoku and crossword puzzles are included) That means that I'm not reading anything right now - although, Deadly Grace by Taylor Smith and Dracula in Love by Karen Essex are currently in the wings/holding patterns ready for me to begin reading again! :)

I hope to get at least one more book read in December - perhaps two - if I'm lucky! :)

Made it! 25 books off the unread pile this year.

YEAH! ANOTHER SUCCESS!

Folks are rolling right along! Congrats!

I'm leaving for vacation on Saturday so I won't be reading any more ROOTs for the rest of the year so I'm done. This year wasn't a big reading year for me and out of the books I did read, only 3 out of my goal of 5 worked for the challenge according to the rules I set. No worries though. Challenges don't really follow my style so this was really just a trial run. And although I won't be coming back to participate next year, I will continue lurking as I like the members of the group.

Have a nice vacation Lilisin! And nice lurking in 2014!

3 books and 10 points to go, I can see the finish line :-)

#74 by @Conachair> Yay!

just finished book #40 from my TBR pile Nelson's Purse.

Finished ROOT # 29 (29/20)

Winternacht by Arnaldur Indriðason

Updated all tickers!

I've completed 2 for December so far, The Sparrow and Children of God by Mary Doria Russell. Updated group tickers. I have 2 more going at the moment so hopefully I will end the year at 45/35.

OK, finished my first for December. Annie's Ghosts: A Journey Into a Family Secret was very, very good. Tickers updated.

I see that the total books goal is up 1 from what it was at the start of the month. Did someone increase their goal, or did someone add to the wrong part of the ticker?

I've just finished my 88th and last ROOT for this year The Body in the Kelp by Katherine Hall Page.

Wow, 88!!!

Yes - I concentrated on books from my shelves this year and a lot of quicker to read books.

#41 book read!

I have completed 2 ROOTs this month and updated group and individual tickers. This brings me to a total of 48 on the year & makes my goal. WOOT WOOT!~!
I am currently working on 2 more.

Yeah, Belva - great going!

I finished two ROOTs today, so only three more to go before the end of the month to make my goal!

Go, Ronincats, go!!

Good job, Belva.

A December stampede for the goalpost! Great!

#88 by @MissWatson> LOL. And us cheering them on!!!!

I finished a second ROOT for the month, The Collapse of Richmond's Church Hill Tunnel by Walter S. Griggs, Jr. Updating tickers.

I'm working on another one, too!

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU.

Thank you everyone for your prayers and good wishes for my Mom. Apparently the God Lord decided that He had heard enough and has decided that we deserve an answer of YES! Mom is finally scheduled to be released and sent home on Monday the 23rd. She will be home for Christmas!

We've found a service that will give her the assistance that she needs when she gets home - personal care as well as cooking and housekeeping. What a relief.

Thank you all again for your support!

>91 cyderry: That's great, what a wonderful holiday gift! :))

Wow, that is good news. Home for Christmas!

That's wonderful.

Oh, Cheli, I'm so glad to hear the news!

>91 cyderry: Excellent news Cheli. And at a nice time. Best wishes for a healthy new year!

#91 - Such wonderful news, Cheli! :) I'm so glad for you, your mom, and your family - Happy Christmas, indeed! :) Best wishes to you all

Have a wonderful Christmas with these news!

Excellent news. Best wishes for a full recovery for your mum.

Just finished Can You Forgive Her by Anthony Trollope.

#54 Pig Earth by John Berger. Full diclosure:i did not finish this. I loved the book when I read it 30 years ago, and it's been with me since. This time--not much. I'll be donating it or trading it, along with the others in the series.

I am now at my parents' for Christmas and New Year, so won't be adding any more ROOTS.

Total for 2013 is 54 ROOTS.

ROOTS added in December:

Gerald Durrell's My Family and Other Animals
Agatha Christie They Do It With Mirrors
Laurence Des Cars's The Pre-Raphaelites: Romance and Realism
Patrick Larkin's The Tribune
David Wishart's Old Bones

I have managed to read one more book, that makes my total 11 ROOTs, one short.

Another for me too. the Commitments. Short and sweet.

I've read one over my goal - just finished An Irish Country Christmas. It was over 600 pages, so it felt good to get it read.

Wow 600 pages, raidergirl.

Finally escaped from work / library books prison to get some more roots done! Jan de Hartog Trommerne and Nevil Shute De startede ved daggry were nice but unspectacular reads. I will elaborate a bit later.

I hope to do a few more ROOTs over the holidays, but I guess I must accept that I won't reach my goal this year. Still, it's been a wonderful journey and I have really re-discovered some gems in my library. Most books are there because I wanted them there at some point, and it's mostly been good reads.

I will definitely sign up for next year's challenge - thanks a lot to Cherry for organising this group.

I'm off to my Mom's for the holidays. No internet there and no TV, so I'll probably finish my current ROOT Le roi de fer, but won't post it until the next year.
Happy holidays to everyone and thanks for the support throughout. This has been a wonderful reading year with you for company.

Finished one for December and added it to the ticker.

Finished The Gone-Away World and posted a review. That's one extra read for me.

Good for you, Caroline! Congrats.

One more done, by candlelight because of an ice storm that knocked out our power. Very satisfying way to read, if a bit chilly. The Children of Dynmouth by William Trevor.

Oh no, I hope you get power back soon!!

Maggie,

I hope that the fact that you were able to post about reading by candlelight means that the power is back on. If not, please stay warm and safe.

Thanks, rabbitprincess and cheli, we're fine. We were only without power for 24 hours but many have not been so lucky. We just heard on the news that it may take a few more days for some parts of the city, and I'm sure for others, in the wake of these storms.

I did not reach my goal. I ended up reading 20 ROOTs total, which was 30 shy of my goal of 50. That's okay, 50 is an ambitious goal. I'll have a goal of 50 next year too.

Glad you decided to join next year, lahochstetler.

My goal was 50 and I read 55. Might squeeze in one more. Is there a challenge group for next year?

>118 Nickelini: http://www.librarything.com/groups/root2014readourownto

No. 29 done: Graham Greene: Taberen vinder

I'm still pushing on and hope to finish one or two more before the end of the year.

2 more done, and one still in progress. Updating tickers

Me too, Henrik. I have 5 ROOTS in progress. I may get them all done; I'll push to get at least three done.

lahochstetler, exactly my plans. I'll also set my goal at 50 for next year, although I fell short this year.

#57 Every Day is Mother's Day. The back made it sound so funny, but it's horrifying. I'm steeling myself now to read Vacant Possession.

Finished my last 2 ROOTS for the year: A Journal of the Plague Year by Daniel Defoe and The Dervish House by Ian McDonald. Updating tickers.

I don't think there will be more ROOTs for me this year. I'm now reading Geloof je ogen by Linwood Barclay and if I finish that one before New Year's Eve (It's called 'Oudejaarsavond' in Dutch) I will probably choose one of my latest acquisitions. They seem to scream out at me : "Read me, read me"

I'm up to 6 books for 2013 now, but far short of the 20 I wanted to read. Next year, my goal will be 5. :D

Just a organisational question:
Conny are you going to post a summary of this year's goal? I really am interested to see how well we've done and if you could make a good step forward in this last month.

I think you mean Cyderry. Tallulaf_Rose! She is the one organizing all this. But I think she will give us a summary, like she always does.

Oeps, that proves that I'm to talking to much, again, again, again!!! ;-))

I've finished one ROOT in December, Civil to Strangers by Barbara Pym. I've updated my ticker. With luck I'll add one more before year's end.

Finished Curse of the Narrows this evening & am sailing through a short cozy mystery & a short e-book that will probably be done in time. Updating tickers for the one I finished.

I'll be looking over the numbers for 2013 on New Year's Eve and New Years Day and will post a summary of all the different aspects as soon as I can.

I'm planning to go visit Mom on New Years Day so that may slow me down just a bit.

To everyone

Connie, cyderry: Of course I know who's organizing all this and she's doing a great job! Sorry I was confusing your names, I promise to do better nest time :-)
cyderry, I didn't mean to put up any pressure. Whenever you have time to do some figures it'll be fine for me. Just interested to se the final result. Please take your time with your mom, she'll need you more than we do.

No need for sorry's, Tallulah!

Cyderry, I hope you have a nice time with your Mom.

Hi, cyderry, I've finished 5 ROOTs for Dec and may still squeeze in one more...

Don't forget to either update your tickers or post your final number on your thread or here by New Year's Day. And everyone please be safe and healthy throughout the new year!

Chèli, I've reached my goal for the year! I don't have a ticker, so here are my final stats:

edgewood 51 / 50 102%

Thanks so much for hosting this group! I have plenty of ROOTs left for the next year or three, so I'll be seeing you over in the 2014 group. :-)

I just finished my 6th of December, and 70th of the year (ten over my goal). I just may finish my current paperback read before the year ends. I'm updating tickers.

I will finish my 30th and final ROOT later today: The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle. Tickers updated in advance so all is counted in Cyderry's end-of-the-year report.

With an unscheduled trip to the vet and New Year's preparations I wasn't sure if I was going to make it, but I managed to finish three book yesterday which puts me at 50/50.

One of those books was a mere 58 pages long, but since it was the first ever book I read in Irish it is one of my major triumphs of the year and helped me to finish my points challenge one point over target.

I finished my 40th ROOT last night and just updated my thread and ticker, meeting my goal of 40 ROOTs for the year!! *whew!*

AND my subgoal of 25 of those books acquired prior to 2012.

Hurrah!!! You did it.!

This has been fun AND useful, and I thank you, Cheli, for keeping track of us. Whenever you get the year's stats up, I'll be interested to see them. And here's to Next Year!

I am really impressed with everyone's efforts!

I managed two more ROOTs in December, so my totals are at 13/20. I will defintely not making anythoing tomorrow, so the year ends here and I can alreadystart something for 2014.

Unfortunately I did not meet my goal, I'm sorry to let the gfoup down in that way. But however, I did manage to read more books off the shelves than I brought onto them. So next year is going to start with less ROOTs than this year. That's something at least.

T_Rose - you made a great effort, don't minimize that simply because the finish line wasn't where you were. I didn't reach my goal either. We'll just try again next year.

That's a nice picture: The finish wasn't where you were. :-) Thanks cyderry!

Updated my ticker. I fell far shy of my goal of 50 ROOTS, but I did finish 20, which is something. I'm ready to roll on to next year, and hopefully do better!

I'm excited to see the final group results. I think we have done great, even though some of us didn't reach our individual goals.

I have enjoyed the challenge a lot, and I have really learned to appreciate my own books and my own library.

5 was my official Dec tally, cyderry. See everyone in 2014!!

5 was also my official December count as well. I updated my ticker but when I went to update the group ticker, it wouldn't allow me. Then I noticed there was no password.
I am very sorry for the inconvenience of the situation but I must ask that you update the group ticker for me.
Thank you so much.
Looking forward to my first ROOT in January: William, an Englishman by Cicely Hamilton will be my first book of the new year for The Great War Theme Read over on the Virago Group.

(touchstones not working properly)

Happy ROOTing in 2014 everyone!

My personal ticker is up to date, at 68. I won't be finishing any more in the next couple of days. Onward to 2014!

Cheli, thanks again for organizing the group. It's such a good motivator!!

I read 2 in December for a total of 32 against my goal of 30.

Thanks to all of you for making this such a fun group! Hope to see you in 2014!

I squeezed in one more ROOT for December 2013, Life of Johnson by James Boswell. This puts my total at 22 for a goal of 20. My ticker is updated, but I haven't touched the group tickers. Looking forward to reading more tomes in 2014!

My ROOT total is 29 for a goal of 20.

Happy New year, everybody. 13 more hours to go until midnight on this side of the ocean.

I really am happy with this group and feel right at home.

Just 8 in December for me. I thought Iwould get more reading done during the time I had off for the holidays, but one neglected chore turned into another, then another etc.

I hope to do better in 2014!

I finally finished Blue Highways last night. I'm done for the year, and have updated my ticker. My final ROOTS total is 38, which is 3 more than my goal. I'm very pleased with that.

I finished my 7th ROOT of December, and 71st of the year. I'm sorry to have ended the year with a book I didn't like -- A Bone to Pick was a real disappointment -- but I'm happy with all the books I've ROOTed out from my shelf this year. Updating tickers.

Here they are, my end-of-the-month totals - and I'll add in my 2013 end-of-the-year totals, as well! :)

I'm quite happy with my progress this year - 8 over my original goal - 119 ROOTS SLASHED!!

I'm currently reading White Widow by Jim Lehrer and I know that I won't finish the book by tonight, so in keeping with the group theme, here are my December Totals:

Ancient Oaks Pruned: stands for older books read from my TBR pile: 2
Young Saplings Pruned: stands for newer books read from my TBR pile: 6
Trees Replanted: stands for rereads from my TBR pile: 0 (yes!)
New Seeds Planted: stands for additions to my TBR pile: 29 (27 ebooks)
Trees Transplanted: stands for books that were donated: 16
Leaves Swept Up: stands for books that were purged: 1

So far, Cyderry, all my personal tickers are up to date! :)

A struggle here at the end of the year and had to resort to a couple books that I have been struggling to complete, literally, for years, but I did finish 25 ROOTs, which was part of my goal. The other part, at least half of them being Member Giveaways, was not met, with only six counting towards that.

But 2014 holds promise to do better on this goal -- to at least keep trying.

Thanks to cyderry for running this thread for another year. You are a very kind soul.

Best wishes to all for a happy new year.

(I have not touched the tickers.)

I am happy to have finished one more, and will update the tickers. Thank you, cheli, and all the best wishes to everyone who participated and who made this a very memorable and enjoyable year of reading.

I finished one last root today and will add it to the tickers.

Thanks, Cheli, for putting this group together.

Happy New Year!!

Well I made it to 50 on the 30th of December and slipped in one last book, (which didn't qualify for this challenge) on the 31st to complete my 75 challenge. A huge sense of relief but am contemplating being less target orientated next year and relaxing my reading choices. I will update tickers.

Just back from a Christmas break, will up-date my tickers, but just to say that I failed to achieve my goal only reading 77 books out of a possible 100. Will update my ticker.

Am in for this year, but need to think about what I really want to achieve.

glad you will give it another try, Riverwillow. See you back in the 2014 group.

One more question. How do I update the ticker on my thread? Thanks!

Karspeak, If you click on your ticker, it will take you to the clicker website.

Riverwillow, I'm really impressed by how many you read! No need to feel badly about that!

I also fell short, but read about the same percentage of my goal that you did. I'm hoping it will be above the group average - I'd much rather feel that I helped bring the average up!

>166 streamsong:. Maybe a bit superfluous, but I will do it anyway.

Once you get there and used your password, you can edit your ticker and add the amount of books you have read since your last update.
Don't get scared if going to the ticker website takes you away from LT. That's normal. And you don't need to copy the HTML in your post. That happens everywhere where you use the same ticker.

Finished 2 books yesterday, bringing this year's total to 23 ROOTs toward my goal of 29. I completed 79% of my goal and am hoping for a better showing in 2014. I've updated the tickers.

Thank you, Cheli, for organizing this group. Without you, those 23 books would still be sitting unread! Happy New Year to everyone & Happy Reading!

I think I have the final numbers, so before I give the final tallies for the end of the year, I just want to make sure there aren't any changes. Please verify your final number.

1Owlette 6
ABVR 22
alphaorder 6
ALWINN 13
Ameise1 11
amz310783 75
AnneHudson 10
Anoplophora 40
antqueen 8
auntmarge64 41
bahzah 26
BBleil 17
benitasrnad 41
billiejean 26
blondierocket 19
booksloth 13
Bowerbirds-Library 4
bragan 107
brewergirl 37
Caramellunacy 5
carmenere 30
chexmix 5
christina_reads 22
cindysprocket 37
clue 32
Conachair 50
connie53 29
craso 13
CrazyMamie 43
cyderry 79
deep220 28
DeltaQueen50 118
DetailMuse 28
doglover58 27
dudes22 88
edgewood 51
Erratic_Charmer 31
FAMeulstee 11
footnotefever 7
fuzzi 31
gennyt 13
hairballsrus 8
Heduanna 3
HelenBaker 50
hemlokgang 19
Henrik_Madsen 30
HRHTish 5
lkernagh 30
ipsoivan 58
jebronse 5
jennyes2011 5
johanna414 25
JoLynnsbooks 2
jonesli 134
kac522 23
karen_o 55
karspeak 35
kaulsu 7
kelsiface 20
kirconnell 6
kiwiflowa 4
kkunker 24
klarusu 4
konallis 28
lahochstetler 10
laura_88 17
LauraBrook 52
laytonwoman3rd 39
librariansteffen2, 23
lilisin 3
lindapanzo 114
LittleTaiko 39
lizamichelle1 41
LucindaLibri 20
luisali 40
mabith 18
majkia 69
mandymarie 74
mareofthesea 60
melonbrawl 25
midnightlouie 2
misswatson 27
mmignano11 22
moonshineandrosefire 119
Nicholette 29
Nickelini 55
NielsenGW 47
paeonia 23
pcktlnt 2
Pigletto 62
PolymathicMonkey 50
psutto 37
qebo 7
Quaisior 51
rabbitprincess 68
raidergirl3 26
rainpebble 52
ramblingivy 22
riverwillow 77
Robertgreaves 54
ronincats 40
Samantha_kathy 23
sandykaypax 2
sarahbradshaw 15
schatzi 10
shearon 25
shinyone 45
si 6
sjmccreary 7
SqueakyChu 6
staffordcastle 16
streamsong 38
susanj67 22
Tallulah_rose 13
Tanglewood 16
thomasandmary 8
thorold 40
tloeffler 57
torontoc 41
tututhefirst 16
tymfos 71
vancouverdeb 6
Vivanofthe Lake 2
VivienneR 54
wildbill 17

My ticker was last updated on Dec 28, with a total of 54 ROOTS!

#170 - Thanks cyderry! :) My final tally for 2013 is 119 ROOTS!

My number of 30 is correct.

My number of 23 is correct.

I should be at 55. Thanks!

December Statistics
Books Read - 8
Books Towards Goal - 74/250
Percentage - 29%

I added my total to the tickers. Clearly I did not get anywhere near my goal. I apologize for messing up the goal for everyone by not reading enough. I hope to do better next year. Congratulations to everyone who met their goals, and to those of us who tried.

cyderry, my total of 13 is correct.

> 176 mandymarie: You've read 74 books in a year, that is great. Even if you did not reach your Goal, it was such a high set one, it would have been a miracle (I know of course that you managed even more last year), but don't feel bad about the Group toals. We should all be happy about what we've accomplished and that is around 4000 books!

Imagine, 4000 books in one year... WOW!

My number of 29 is correct.

My number is correct.

<166--thanks!!

My number is correct.

My total is correct.

Mine's good.

Mine is right

Mine is good. Thanks so much for doing this!

My total of 22 is correct. Thanks for your hard work, cyderry!

#176 - Mandymarie, 74 books read in a year is excellent! :) That's a substantial tally, and your success is nothing to feel bad about - way to go. Good luck for 2014!

MIne's good

Check, and double check!

50 books is correct

Mine (40) is correct.

Mine is correct

My total of 45 is correct!

Mine's right. Yay, goal-meeting! :)

Mine is right too. Thanks, cheli!

My total is correct for the year. With this post I am jumping over to the January 2014 thread. thanks Cindy for doing this again this year.

Mine is correct -- thanks

I confirm that mine is correct.

Mine is correct as well :)

I only added one book for December, which I added to the total. My total for the year is 26, so I did not make 30 this year. I am sorry. I will try to do better next year.

Thanks Cheli. Mine is now correct.

My final total is correct!

Mine is correct at 6.

Mine is correct at 52. Thank you very much Cheli for all you do in offering us this challenge. I enjoy it and it helps me a great deal. I know we all appreciate the time & thought you put into the ROOT challenge.


glitter-graphics.com

My number of 27 is correct. Thanks for the good work, Cheli!

2013 ROOT YEAR END NUMBERS

Group read 3,948 books toward the goal of 5,417 books 73%

160 members joined...........................125 contribute at least 1 book toward the goal 78%
125 participants..................................53 reached their goal 42%
49 participants had a goal 50 or greater....19 reached their goal 39%
44 participants had goals of 25 but less than 50......21 reached their goals 48%
32 had goals less than 25.....................13 reached their goal 33%

So that I appears that it didn't matter whether you had a high goal or a low one, it seems that 1/3 to ½ of the participants reached their goal.

14 participants were on the brink of reaching their goals needing only 5 or less ROOTs.
10 participants were getting close needing 10 or less.
38 participants seemed to have dropped out after contributing several books toward their goal.

Should we get a list of our favorites of the year?

Is there something that we should/could do to keep everyone on track?
Any suggestions for 2014?

I think the cheering squad is doing well right now. But perhaps we could encourage the people in danger of losing track a bit more and certainly after the first excitement is gone and people start buying new and shiny ones.

I will think a bit more about this.

Thanks for crunching the numbers, Cheli! I also think it is interesting that the percentage who completed their goal isn't correlated with the total goal. Big or small, the "achievement" rate is about the same. But no matter, whatever gets read is an achievement in my book.

Yeah I think people know what they usually read and have a reasonable idea of what's feasible, so it makes sense that whatever the number is doesn't matter as much, and it's just more related to life getting in the way, and whatnot.

I can't think of any kind of improvements to be made. I suppose you (and "you" could involve a few volunteers) could consider leaving profile comments to those who seem to have disappeared for a little while. I know someone in another group did that for me, dropped a line on my profile to say "hey any updates for the group? We miss you" and it actually was one thing that helped pull me further out of my slump, getting a little random -thinking of you, come post- nudge, which meant I'd need to have something to post about, of course. :)

I agree that any ROOT read is an achievement. Even though I didn't reach my goal, I did reduce my TBRs by 15 so that is an accomplishment in itself. I wonder how others did in reducing their TBRs. That was part of my goal last year because in 2012 even though I read 95 ROOTs my TBRs still increased.

Should there be some kind of rule that people who drop out of the challenge (not sure how we would measure that) are removed from the challenge? For example, on June 1st, post on the progress thread that everyone has to confirm their participation in the challenge, and whoever hasn't responded by July 1st AND is at less than 20% for their goal, or something like that, is removed from the challenge?

210 I wouldn't like that -- especially the 20% rule by July 1! That's before most people go on vacation, which is when a lot of reading gets done. Also, it would be when teachers, who depend on summers for extra reading time, would just be getting started!

I feel that this is meant to be a fun group to support one another in our reading, not an exclusive club where those who don't make the grade get tossed out. I'd prefer to get rid of the group tickers and group goal, if it's going to lead us down a path where those who aren't on track to make their goals get dismissed because they are dragging down the group effort.

No, I usually break out the people who haven't posted anything by July 1 into a separate ticker with the stipulation that if they post something I'll move them back into the main ticker, but I never kick anyone out.

I was thinking of something like monthly stars for reading 2 ROOTs and see who could get the most stars?

I think that is the way to keep doing it, Cheli, with the tickers.

ETA I like the star idea, if we don't get TOO competitive about it. But would that be more work for you?

ETA again I do worry about those who are not such voracious readers as some of us getting lost in that kind of reward scheme. I easily manage 2 roots in a month, so it would be great for me; but I know some people have less time for reading and may be pressed to read 2 books total in a month.

Maybe invite people to set a monthly goal based on a division of their annual goal, and give a star for each month they meet their monthly goal (whatever it is). It keeps people on track, whatever their chosen pace and goal. And it would be optional for those who want to do that part.

ETA once again Or are we getting too complicated? I kind of like things the way they are.

No more trouble. I keep a monthly total for each person so it would be there and I could add a section for the star winners every month.
I remember in school we all wanted stars!

ETA - Instead of 2 books it could be 5% of their goal so those with a small goal would have a smaller number to read than those wikth a higher goal.

Maybe invite people to set a monthly goal based on a division of their annual goal, and give a star for each month they meet their monthly goal (whatever it is)

This sounds good. I know *I* could (and will) reach 2/mo no problem, but some people have goals that are less than 12, so that wouldn't be fair to them. Asking for a monthly goal (or minimum? Technically I should read 4/mo but just like there may be months where I read 6+, I'm sure there may be months where I only read 1 or 2 and wind up reading some from the library/a bunch of graphic novels, whatever, so I wouldn't like that it'd be counted against me even when I'm still on & working towards my ultimate target) seems a good option.

Ah crossposting while I dallied. 5% sounds fine, except how will you count 5% of 10 books? Should they post page status? This seems to be getting a little more complicated than I'd thought...

So complicated that my limited knowledge of English almost lost track of the conversation.

Going to re-read all suggestions:

I think 5%/mo is a good solution. And percentage of pages will not work, because I don't have a clue how many pages I will be reading this year. But you can say 1 book and 1/2 or 2 books and 2/3. something like that.

And certainly cheering will help. Or a nudge for some people like Poly says in 208.
I am volunteering to do that with a group of people.

Connie, I meant for those reading less than 20 books, 5% is less than one book, it's only a fraction. So in order for anyone with 19 or less books as a goal to complete 5%, they'd have to post that they'd completed, for example, 140 out of 200pgs — 70% (or whatever the percentage would be for their total) of the book they're reading at the moment. And that would get really messy because then they'd have to deal with figuring out how that worked out with their next book, and...

So I just don't think it's feasible for anyone with under <20 books. 10% would work for anyone with 10+, single book, no fractions. And more on-target with keeping up steady progress throughout the year, plus nearly everyone has 10+ as a goal, whereas a number of people have less than 20.

Okay, good thinking. And thanks for the explanation, that makes sense.

There are 8 people with goals 10 or less. So that is a very small minority.

I wouldn't want to see the idea of reading books off my shelf as something competitive. I use this thread more as a motivational tool and see it as such. For me it is not the goal, it is the reading some of these books and then getting to share them with others here on LT that motivates me. I understand if others want it to be competitive and so will continue to do what I do - read - either way.

<210 and 211--I was just trying to see if there is a way to figure out those who have dropped out of the group, but Cheli is already doing that! I agree, this absolutely is a for-fun at read-at-your-own pace kind of thing.

>219 benitastrnad: It would just be for silly little stars, it's simply encouragement to participate and have fun with it. It's not like Chèli is offering prizes or something.

I hate to be grumpy-pants here, but the first time anybody dropped by my profile and said 'Hey, you're not meeting your goal' would be the exact moment I delete the group.

My response to not making my goal last year, was not to drop my goal, but to keep the same goal and resolve to try harder.

That's a rather unfriendly way to say it! I would quit too. But encouragement should be positive and that would help in my case.

>222 streamsong: Like Connie said, no one would be coming there to complain, the point of dropping a profile comment is to encourage folks who haven't been by in a while. A nice friendly "we haven't seen you around lately, you're missed in the group" thing, like I said.

Do you mean if I came by and said "Is everything okay, because there doesn't seem to be any progress on your ticker. Did it stop working?" you would quit?

If the 5% or 1/12 of the goal comes to a fraction, just round it up. So if the monthly goal is actually 1/2 a book, you could just call it 1 book or if it's 2.7 books you could call it 3 books.

Couldn't we just handle it the way we did it last times? That through half of the year cydery is moving those whose tickers are not really active out of the main group ticker? I think that'd be more than sufficient and no pressure coming up. I would find it rather unnerving to know that I definitely have to read 2 books a months rather than read at my pace of choice.

>227 Tallulah_Rose: You don't have to do anything at all. How much you read is however much you want to read, that's it.

At this point it's decided that the tickers are definitely being done as last year. But if you are interested in earning stars (and not everyone is) you'd get them for staying on pace. There is no actual prize or penalty attached.

I wonder if it might be less confusing if this discussion was kept to all on one thread.

Cheli, you work so hard for this group that you can come to my profile and say whatever you want, whenever you want.

My thoughts...

I don't like reward schemes. I think the reward or lack thereof is in the completion of the challenge or merely in the partial completion of the challenge. Everyone knows whether or not he or she is on track. Last year, I chose to read 20 BOMBS and made the count. This year, I chose 20 ROOTs and only made 6. I offered to drop out and was told not to. For 2014, I'm choosing only 5 ROOTs. I hope to be able to make that many this year.

I like being part of this group and love the stats you did, Cheli. Those tell me about the how and why of our TBRs. I know I love my shiny new books better than those that are starting to age on my shelves. I like to see which books call to me. I don't always read by my set challenges, but rather use then as a guide for planned "random reading" - if that makes any sense. That's the only way I'll do any book challenges at all.

I'm not a "star" person myself. At my former work, some employees were given stars. I never got a star. That just made me feel bad. I did excellent work though...even with no star.

Truthfully, I'm not in favor of nudging. That would make me back out of this challenge completely. I would find it annoying.

I also am not in favor of "competitive" reading. I want to read how I read and not compare my reading to anyone else's in a competitive way. This isn't Harvard law school. It's supposed to be fun with reading!

My suggestion...

Continue what we've been doing for the past two years. Have all participants in the 2014 challenge try to base their new goal on what they were or were not able to accomplish during 2013. At the end of 2014, compare those stats to those of the year 2013. See if we've made any progress in (1) setting realistic goals, and (2) accomplishing them.

Honestly I don't get why people have anything to say in opposition to this. Don't care about stars? Then don't bother with them. Post on your thread, post on your friends' threads, post your progress if you want to, and don't worry about anything else. It's that simple!

I'm merely expressing my own opinion. No need to get so upset.

The star discussion is more actively being pursued on the January Thread - http://www.librarything.com/topic/163154