January RandomCAT - Embrace Your Uniqueness

Don J Schulte - "Be Yourself. Be Unique." (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)

I know, you are probably thinking, "What the hey?" Let me explain. I always get a special feeling of giddiness whenever I enter a book I own or I am about to read and discover that I am the first - or one of only a few LT members - to list the book on Librarything. For the January RandomCAT, I would like everyone to embrace their booky uniqueness and read a book that only you, or a relatively small number of LT members, have listed on Librarything.

If you are wondering about an easy way to see which books you already have in your LT collection that will fit this RandomCAT, LT can help:

From your Home page, click the "Stats/Memes" link near the top of the page.
In the left-hand column under Memes, click the hyperlink labelled "Vous et nul autre"

When you are on the Books shared with one member, many members or nobody page, you can click any of the numbers 0 - 5 and LT will let you know which books you alone have entered on LT, or you happen to share with that small number of other LT members.

If nothing strikes your fancy from the Vous et nul autre page - keeping in mind that this also captures books that you have already read - don't despair. You can also quickly see the number of LT members with the same book directly from "Your Books" collection - just look at the number beside the person icon:



The term "relatively small number" is, well, relative. Obviously, at over 70,000 copies, J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets wouldn't qualify for this RandomCAT but Harry Potter: Inside Hogwarts with only 16 copies listed, would be a great fit!

Please share what you read or plan to read for this RandomCAT. It would be fun to also see how 'rare' your book choice(s) are here on LT. Don't forget to add this information to the wiki, which can be found here.

Happy reading!

How fun! Nothing popped up for me with 5 or fewer matches, but looking through my library, I found a few possibilities. Would 45 count as unique enough? If so, I may go with A Monk Jumped Over a Wall, but I'm still looking.

Oooh I have a perfect fit! Now I just have to wait until January!

I have Heron Island which I share with only 4 members. I'll try to get to it!

I have some that will work. Of course, if I say what they are and everybody runs out to buy them, they won't fit any longer.

I've got quite a few that would work for this one, here are some of them:

Das Farnese-Komplott (only copy)
Corpus Christi: Holy Communion and The Renewal of the Church (one other)
The Cure for Consumerism (one other)
Phoenix from the Ashes (one other)
From Pillar to Post (two others)
Signs of the Holy One (two others)

Overall, I think a lot will depend on what I feel like reading when January comes around, but I'll definitely read at least one book for the challenge.

I have several too but I think I'll read The Search for Gainsborough by Adrienne Corri. This is nonfiction, about the provenance of a painting, and published in 1984. Adrienne Corri was apparently a well known actress born in Scotland but trained in England.

I've got the perfect book - Foreign éclairs is being released 1/5/16 - a totally new book! only 2 listed so far!

I've got a few possibilities (plus probably more of books that I actually have that may not be listed here on my LT shelf. Most likely Canadian ones. I might check a few by looking them up individually.)

The possibilities that came up using this way to find them:
You Are Never Alone: Our Life on the Donnelly Homestead / J. Robert Salts (but I think this is one I'd have get via ILL at my library, so we'll see...)
Country Roads: Memoirs from Rural Canada / Pam Chamberlain
If I Were Not Upon the Sea / Joyce Gleeson-Adamidis
Missing / Frances Itani

A few of those have been on my tbr a long time so they are very tempting. This is a great way to finally get to them!

You are making me think about my next year's reading early this year!

I have a few art books and new German books to choose from, and one novel I bought a month ago and that I'm surprised there are only four other LT owners.

OOH, this is going to be fun! I have several obscure German books nobody else has listed...

>11 MissWatson: Yes, I think that people who read in a language other than English have an advantage with this one. I don't own very many books in French and a few of those showed up, too.

I have a few that might work, but I'm curious about something. While looking through my TBR collection, I was wondering if LT groups all types/isbns/editions (i.e. ebook, hardcover, paperback) together or is the number just the people who have, for example, listed the ebook? I'm not so sure some of mine are as unique as they appear to be.

What a different way to look at my TBR list! Nothing in the 0-5 method, at least nothing that I want to read right now. However, I have found several that are pretty close.

With Baited Breath by Lorraine Bartlett - 15
Cold Mourning by Brenda Chapman - 19
Beale Street Dynasty by Preston Lauterbach - 13
Dreams to Remember by Mark Ribowsky - 18

Decisions, decisions...

I have a number of books which fit this challenge, especially some books on women's history or of local interest (i.e. about places I've lived), etc. Some of the titles, especially in women's history, I have had so long I don't recognize them! And I have only gone through the first 12 screens (out of 38) in my catalog.

>13 dudes22: Ditto on that. A number of my unique books are edition specific, I believe.
Think I'll go with God Wears Many Skins: Sami Myth and Folklore in a New Poetic Interpretation (Voices of Indigenous Peoples) by Jabez L. Van Cleef

I don't add books to LT until I start reading them (I'm obviously not a compulsive cataloguer!) so would struggle to do this in advance. But I do remember being surprisingly satisfied that I was the only one to list Beyond the Pink Curtain last year.

What a great way to start the year. This challenge has given me the incentive to attempt this CAT.

I had a number of choices but decided to go with the one that has been on my TBR the longest, so I will read Hear No Evil by Georgie Hale.

ETA: I meant to note that only 2 of us appear to have catalogued this book.

Just to add - when I was looking through my list of books for this challenge I came across Mixed Signals by Jane Tesh which only had 8 other LT members owning it. I almost selected it for this challenge but then realized it was set at Christmas time. So, instead I took advantage of having the day off and read it today. It was a cute and quirky mystery. Thanks for the challenge for prodding me to read this book whether it was for the challenge or not.

A book I was planning to read for the GeoCAT will also fit this challenge. Alas, it won't fit the DeweyCAT so it won't be a CAT trick. :( I share Willoughbyland with just one other LTer - @susanj67. It was her review that prompted me to buy it.

>12 RidgewayGirl: Hopefully not an unfair advantage?

>22 MissWatson: I put a lot of sweat and tears into learning French and German. I consider it only fair! Of course, for this to count as an advantage, I'd need to read one of those books next month!

>23 RidgewayGirl: I was thinking from the point-of-view of a German native speaker: since we are a minority on LT we have a better chance of having unique titles in our libraries. Which is true for all other non-English native speakers, too, of course. So it might look like the playing field is not entirely level.

Great to see so much interest and the books that are being considered for this CAT!

>2 virginiahomeschooler: - That would easily fit this CAT! Given the large number of LT members, any book with less that 100 copies listed on LT makes it kind of rare for the LT community. :)

>6 inge87: - Like you, I have a number of Canadian author books that don't appear in very many LT collections.

>13 dudes22: and 16 - I have seen different editions having different listings on LT too and that is fine for this CAT. It would be too much work to try and analyze what the book count would be if different editions were captured under one listing.

>11 MissWatson:, >12 RidgewayGirl:, >23 RidgewayGirl: and >24 MissWatson: - Books in languages other than English may appear as an advantage but so would books published by small or local presses (or even self-published books) which could have a regional advantage for some readers. Having the ability to read a book in a non-English language is not an unfair advantage for this CAT. I think it is great that we have multilingual readers here on LT!

Next year I'm going to try to use the RandomCAT first to pick what to read. I have two possibilities for this CAT. One is The Last Days of Video with only 14 copies and is in fact my RL book club pick for next month. The other is The End Is Now with only 50 copies and is the 2nd book in a series.

I have a great book for this, a book of short stories by a Brazilian author which I planned to read for the GeoCAT, called "Fragments of My Time" by Geraldo Pereira which doesn't exist here (yet)! It might even qualify for the DeweyCAT as the website I got this from says "Geraldo Pereira’s second book of short stories gathers his articles published in the Jornal do Commercio do Recife. They are his memoirs and stories of everyday life, told in the form of a nostalgic novel." I'll have to find out!

I have a couple of Doctor Who audios that would fit the bill...

I'm the only person on LT with Jim Guthrie: Who Needs What by Andrew Hood. It's about Canadian musician Jim Guthrie. I have a few other unique books on the 2016 list but they're earmarked for the DeweyCATs.

I had so many to choose from and all on my tbr shelves so I cut, cut and cut. The list has been narrowed down to 24 titles. This has turned out to be a tougher challenge than I thought it would be! But one I will really enjoy.

I read a lot of obscure books, particularly sports books, so this is perfect for me.

Mildly peeved to find that the book I've just started and entered into my catalogue unexpectedly fits this topic. I've only read the first couple of pages so I suppose I could postpone it till the beginning of January.

>32 Robertgreaves: well, at least you've only started it. I generally find out I've read a book a month early only after I'd finished it!

>32 Robertgreaves: - You can start reading now. I think a book finished in January - or close to January - can still count here. ;-)

I found a book that is unique: no other LTers have it, Ruckmanism Ruckus! And it also fits the Non-fiction challenge for January, woo!

I'll be reading Beethoven: Anguish and Triumph, a new biography of Beethoven that just came out in 2015. It has 76 members and only 5 reviews. It's over a thousand pages long and I've just started it, so hopefully I'll be able to finish it in January. We'll see!

I've finally decided to read Tell it to the Lambs by Susan Bristol Brewster

Love all the interesting books everyone is finding to read for this RandomCAT!

I will be reading The Reluctant Matador by Mark Pryor. He is a Texas based author. He's actually British but lives in Texas. There are 14 people who listed this book. It's 5th in a series and I've read the first 4.

I finished The Last Days of Video by Jeremy Hawkins a wee bit early, catalogued by 15 people. It is set in a fictionalized version of the town I've lived in or near for pretty much all my life, at a dying video store that is a fictionalized version of the video store where I used to rent all my movies. It's a light, humorous novel, entertaining if a bit rough around the edges. 3 stars

I probably have a perfect book for that one in my pile. A guy in our church wrote a book that I purchased from him. I think I was the first to enter it earlier this month when I purchased it so I'm fairly certain it will still qualify.

I had a lot of teaching books that fit this category - but only one book that I found recently that I haven't read - so I will be reading that one :) Marnie the Dog: I'm a Book

I found another unique book to read, Lighthearted Journey by Anne Bosworth Greene. I love her writings.

Loving these unique reads everyone is finding! I have a couple of options that I am considering reading. I won't get to them all but if I manage one or two I will be happy (number in brackets is the number of copies currently shared on LT):

A Possible Life by Simon Chaput (0)
Potshots by Hal Sisson (0)
Uncle Bob's Red Flannel Bible Camp: From Eden to the Ark by Steve Vernon (0)
Benito by Francois Gravel (1)
is/was by Jenny Sampirisi (1)
L: And Things Come Apart by Ian Otri (1)
Do Not Resuscitate by Nicholas Ponticello (4)

This is a wonderful idea :)

It looks like I've got three books which haven't been entered by anyone else, and I'm going to aim to read two since they're all relatively short. I'll be choosing between The Art of Anguish, Urban Poetry, and In Which Language Do We Keep Silent. Of course, I've also got books and books in boxes in preparation for a move, so what I end up reading may also come down to what I can find...

I'm reading Sisters of the Wind: Voices of Early Women Aviators by Elizabeth S. Bell. Only 6 others have it in their catalogs, and it fits the Woman BingoPUP women in non-traditional roles square. Plus it is a very interesting read -- unlike the bookclub book I'm currently struggling through.

I'm currently listening to Educating Alice, with only 3 members to its listing it is a good fit for this RandomCAT.

I finished another book for this challenge: The End Is Now, catalogued by 50 people. It is the sequel to The End Is Nigh, an anthology of stories that all take place during an apocalypse. 3 stars

I finished Three Slices an anthology featuring Kevin Hearne, Delilah S. Dawson and Chuck Wendig. 14 members listed.

So happy to see books already being completed for this CAT!

I will be reading Changed by Chance. It was a Christmas gift from my niece who is a colleague of the author. I share it with one other person.

Finished With Baited Breath by Lorraine Bartlett which apparently only 14 other people on LT own.

I knew that my first book of 2016 would work for the challenge; San Rafael, Camba Town is listed by only one other LTer (a library, I think). I was surprised that the second book I'm reading, Invisible Country, a mystery set in Paraguay, is only held by 8 others - so I suppose it counts, too.

I finished Best of Women's Short Stories, an anthology that is owned by two people on LT.

As the stories probably appear in other collections and are familiar, I will also read Monsieur Pamplemousse Afloat by Michael Bond that is catalogued by 14 LT members.

>1 lkernagh: Lori, I'm new to RandomCAT, but I love your opening explanation, because I, too, always check how many others have this book. I love it when there's only a few! So I've decided to do the RandomCAT when I can find a book on my TBR that fits for the month.

And the winner for January is: George Eliot: The Jewish Connection by Ruth Levitt, which only has 1 other member on LT and has been on my shelf for a few years now. Plus I just finished reading The Lifted Veil and Brother Jacob by Eliot, so I'm a happy camper...assuming I actually get to it in January.

I'm in the middle of Fashion Victims: The Dangers of Dress Past and Present by Alison Matthews David. There are four other owners of this book on LT.

Great reading everyone!

>53 Dejah_Thoris: - Invisible Country with only 8 other LT members definitely counts!

>55 kac522: - So glad to see you have lined up a book and about George Eliot no less!

>56 RidgewayGirl: - Fashion victims..... sounds like my kind of read!

Starting Mosaic: The Pavement that Walked by Clive Ashman. Two other members have this book.

I intend to get to at least one of these:

The Scientist vs. The Humanist - has 12 copies on LT
More Tales of Tennessee - has 3 copies

The second one is a follow up volume to Frontier Tales of Tennessee which I enjoyed enough that I was thinking of reading it anyway and the first one will also work for the January DeweyCat with a designation of 001.

I do have some titles that only I have but they are either obscure technical publications, old romances, or books like Clay County, Tennessee, Tombstone Inscriptions. Not scintillating reading!

I read Sodoms kniv and I can say that it is really obvious to me why there are only two copies of the book on LT. Terrible! This has unsurprisingly not been translated into English and you are all better off for it. :)

I have one book on my To Re-Read Pile that fits this category..The Fragile Light by David Nurenberg (only 2 others share this one) so that's what I'll be reading.

There is a reason why Mosaic: The Pavement that Walked has so few takers. My review:

This novel takes as its starting point the true story of a Roman mosaic excavated near Hull in 1948 stolen while awaiting transport to the local museum, and never recovered. The novel interweaves the story of the policeman investigating the theft and a Roman beneficarius consularis investigating abuse of office by the local bigwig who owned the villa where the mosaic came from.

This sounds a great premise but I had to abandon the book half way through and to be honest I think I did very well getting that far. The book desperately needs the services of an editor. The author seems to have no idea what a sentence is. Participles are not so much dangled as completely severed. Indirect questions appear again and again as separate sentences with no introduction. Prepositional phrases are cut off from their verbs. The first few sentences are typical:

"No niceties, only that brusque 'phone message sent out by Superintendant Maister, so typical of his boss. Received at Inglemire Police Box and requiring the immediate return of his duty-inspector to the Central Police Station in Hull. Via the usual plain Wolsely sent out by Maister for his deliverance, auspice to their mission."

200 pages of this was enough.

>62 Robertgreaves: no wonder you quit. I've read ARCs like that, and wondered if the editor was on vacation...

>62 Robertgreaves: - I'm surprised you made it to 200 pages. "Dangling participles, severed" -like little heads rolling. Is it by chance self-published? My January book is and editing is usually a problem when they are self-published.

>60 -Eva-: and >62 Robertgreaves: - I figured there might be some duds that would find their way into this CAT. Thanks for reading and informing everyone to avoid those books!

Post #62 made me realize there was no reason to continue with the book I was reading for this Cat either. So I've abandoned Tell it to the Lambs by Susan Bristol Brewster about half-way through. On to better books!

ETA: More about the book on my thread.

I've been behind on my reading plans and only just looked at this today - and voila, I have already read a book in January that only I have on LT - Desperate Measures by Cindy Cromer. This is the first novel published by a girlfriend of mine from high school, who I just re-connected with on Facebook last year. I would describe it as a mystery/thriller about the female head of a bio-technology company that takes place primarily on the island of St. Kitts. As I was just on a Caribbean cruise visiting St. Kitts, I decided to bring it along. I found it to be a page-turner and not bad for a first novel. I have the sequel and I will give it a go as well (interestingly enough, one other person had the sequel).

>65 lkernagh:
One less book in my shelves (cause I'm not keeping this one) that I can fill with a new one - yey! :)

Thoroughly enjoyed my re-read of The Fragile Light by David Nurenberg. A pretty good story about superheros that unfortunately has some small editing mistakes throughout.

I have read Educating Alice by Alice Greenup. It's a wonderful memoir of an Australian city girl that eventually becomes a great Aussie country woman. I gave this book 4.5 stars. Out of the 3 people that have this book in their library, it looks like I'm the only one who has rated it.

>64 dudes22: Yes, it is self-published. The link to the publisher takes you to the author's homepage. I got it a couple of years ago. I can't remember how much I paid for it. I'm hoping it was a freebie to mark publication of the author's second book (which I am NOT going to get).

Just finished the second for this CAT: Monsieur Pamplemousse Afloat by Michael Bond. Like the others by Bond, I really enjoyed it. 14 are owned on LT.

COMPLETED Murder Most Egyptological: A Mrs Xavier Stayton Mystery by Robert Colton, which is owned by two other members.

My review:
When a mummy is lost in transit and a member of an archaeological expedition sponsored by Mrs. Stayton disappears, she has to investigate.

Another quick and easy 1920s romp.

Completed Sisters of the Wind: Voices of Early Women Aviators by Elizabeth S. Bell, which is in only 6 other collections. A fuller explanation is on the January WomanBingoPUP thread http://www.librarything.com/topic/211008#5416731
and my personal thread.

I am listening to Don Juan in Hell by Shaw - 37 others have this excerpt from Man and Superman but I am the only one with the audiobook.

Great job everyone!

>73 Robertgreaves: - You caught my attention for the Colton book with the following sentence: "Another quick and easy 1920s romp."

>75 leslie.98: A few years back I listened to the entire play (I think it was done for radio), with Ralph Fiennes, Judi Dench and Juliet Stevenson. It was outstanding.

>77 kac522: Oooh, that sounds marvellous!

Finished Uncle Bob's Red Flannel Bible Camp: From Eden to the Ark by Steve Vernon this morning. A rather fun take on some of the well known Bible stories of the Book of Genesis. I share this book on LT with one other member.... I just now need to figure out how to combine the two separate listings into one. ;-)

I received and read a Early Reviewer book Mom, There's a Bear at the Door, and enjoyed it. There were only two people with it in their collection, so it fit. :)

I read Microshelters (only 14 members have it, including me) which showcases the tiny house (cabin, office, tree house) movement. It's filled with lots of photos of these mini structures. It was a fun book, and it definitely made me admire people who can reside in such cramped quarters. It also made me appreciate my cabinet space and the fact that I can dry off in my shower without bumping into any walls.

>81 virginiahomeschooler: the only disadvantage I can see to a tiny house is the inability to have LOTS of books...I don't care for e-books.

>82 fuzzi: Yes, it's the room for bookshelves that keep me in a larger house. That said, I'm currently living in The Land Without Closets and looking forward to getting back and putting things invisibly away.

Argh, no closets?

Mine are puny, but at least I have some.

I just finished Havarie by Merle Kröger, a German kind-of-mystery which draws a very up-to-date picture of Europe and the Arab world, picking up migration and combining it with a luxury cruiser. Very different, but I enjoyed reading it. There are 6 others listing it hre on LT, but it was no. 1 on the German KrimiZEIT list for 2015 (shows how much LT is used in Germany...)

I finished the 4th book in the Detective Hazel Micallef series, The Night Bell, by Inger Ash Wolfe. It was published just a couple of weeks ago and so far, it only has 3 members, but I expect there will be more before too long.

I just finished When Janey Comes Marching Home by Laura Browder, an interesting collection of photographs and first hand accounts of women who served in combat. I'm the only member with the audio edition and there are 11 members with the print. I also finished Futuristic Violence and Fancy Suits by David Wong which has a few more copies with 68, but that's still pretty low considering the volume on LT.

The February RandomCAT has been posted: http://www.librarything.com/topic/215473#

I finished My America: What My Country Means to Me by 150 Americans from All Walks of Life. It has 28 members on LT (including me), but no reviews, ratings, or mentions in Talk (until now). I have other books that have less owners on LT, but I am not sure I will have the time or inclination to read them in January. I am working on my review of My America on my thread.

ETA: Link to my thread with my review of the book: http://www.librarything.com/topic/204813#5428556. I will add my review to the book page once I decide on a star rating.

My unique book is 28 days of Clean Eating: the Healthy Way to Kick Dieting Forever. No one else has this book. It will say it is from Sonoma Press but I picked it up at B&N and it is Fall River Press. I like buying books like this as they have a plan for each day, pantry items, grocery lists and menus. I find them motivating and that is what it takes sometimes for me to quit eating badly. Over all it is a nicely put together book.

I've just started the third book in my boyfriend's series, The Pain Chaser Three: Antecedent by Patrick E. Molloy. Nobody has it in their library, I haven't even added it my self yet. I probably won't finish it by the end of the month since it's an e-book which I'm fairly slow at reading.

Completed George Eliot: The Jewish Connection by Ruth Levitt (1975, Massada, Israel) with a foreword by Abba Eban.

Disappointing, to say the least. The author rambled, was disorganized, quoted lengthy passages without footnotes, and generally did not substantiate her claim that George Eliot's book Daniel Deronda had a significant impact on the birth of Zionism. She comes to all kinds of conclusions about Eliot and Judaism with little basis in fact. I can see why there are only 2 copies on LT!

I read In Touch With Grace for a New Zealand author challenge and noticed it only had 9 members, 3 mentions and no reviews so I thought I would add it to this challenge as well. It is the story of Grace and her friend Mildred who are trying to negotiate the trials of aging as they encounter pressures from other people to do their bidding. A sweet story with a biting edge.

I tend to pick up odd books from used book stores and book fairs, so I'm not entirely sure where I got this book from, but I'm so glad that this challenge led me to finally read it. If you like poetry, look up Earl S. Braggs. I read one of his less popular works, In Which Language Do We Keep Silent, which collects poems from his other works, and just loved it. Full Review Written, and I do, in case it's not already obvious, absolutely recommend it.

I just realized a local history I read earlier this month will work for this challenge with only one other person having a copy. Old Fort Smith was fun reading and I found a family member mentioned. She was one of the first teachers in the public schools in the 1870s.

I found out that a unique book does not always make a good read! I read Hear No Evil by Georgie Hale, a book that is only listed by 2 members. This one has been one my shelf for years so although it was not a great mystery read, this Cat helped to get it moved off the shelf.

Changed by Chance

This was an excellent memoir that I received as a Christmas present from my niece. I shared this book with one other LT member. The author, Elizabeth Barker describes a 5 year period in her life when she suffered more than her share of tragic events. From the birth of a child with special needs and serious medical issues and frustrating battles with insurance companies through her recovery from breast cancer, Ms. Barker is strong, courageous, and determined to do "whatever it takes". This is a gripping story of hope and perseverance.

I read Willoughbyland: England's Lost Colony, which has nothing to do with Sense and Sensibility and everything to do with the history of Suriname. And even though there's no Jane Austen, Aphra Behn has a large role in the book. I share this book with just one other LT member, @susanj67, where I got hit with the BB.

>98 cbl_tn: Thanks for the clarification, because I totally keep thinking of Sense and Sensibility whenever I see that title!

>98 cbl_tn: >99 christina_reads: Haha I thought the same thing! It immediately brings Greg Wise to mind.

>99 christina_reads: >100 rabbitprincess: I've read the book and the title still makes me think of Greg Wise, too!

Let us all now do our best to not think about how delightful a country full of Greg Wises would be.

I'm reading Quick Curtain by Alan Melville, which I'll count for this CAT, since apparently only 17 LT members have it. It's a lot of fun so far!

If I Were Not Upon the Sea (Under the Captain's Table) / Joyce Gleeson-Adamidis
3.5 stars

Joyce Gleeson was in her 20s when she started working on cruise ships. Later on, she met the man who would later become her husband – he is a cruise ship captain. This is a memoir for both of them.

It was unfortunate, I thought, that she started out with a chapter talking about how everyone is sleeping around with everyone else – spouses or significant others, be damned! It actually kind of put me off the book right at the start. But, I stuck with it and it got much better. The book alternates between Joyce or her husband narrating each with their own anecdotes (text is bold and italicized for her husband, so it's easy to tell when the “voice” changes). Having been on a few cruises myself, it is always interesting to see behind the scenes. In the end (despite the start of the book), I did enjoy it.

I just read the 6th book in Angus Donald's Outlaw Chronicles ( his Robin Hood series), The King's Assassin. I'm the only only person to have this book in their library. So Unique. However, it was a pretty good book, as were the others, so if you like Robin Hood maybe you should have a look at this one.

I finished The Undressed Art: Why We by Peter Steinhart - just one other copy noted at the moment. An interesting read on seeing and drawing, artists and artist models, touching on scientific, historical, and social aspects of drawing.

I have a couple of smaller books that I may try to squeeze in before the end of the month - one only copy is by John Boylan.

My unique book was Patty Gray's Journey by Caroline Wells Healey Dall (1869). Mine is the only one catalogued.

Didactic fiction. Unitarian lady telling the little children about her journey to Baltimore where there are “colored children”.

”I went, because I had long loved the colored people, and I was anxious to see what they were doing, and what they most needed. I saw everything but the Sunny South.” p.v

A lot of preaching-down-to, disguised in the voice of a little girl, Patty Gray, who is so good that she asks for a whipping when she knows she’s been bad. On the other hand, though, the descriptions of houses and yards were interesting.

I finished Informatik of which I am the sole owner on LT. A museum guide to the computer science department of the Deutsches Museum.

I wasn't particularly trying to to find books for this Challenge (I've been focused on the GEOCat), but by chance, many of the books I picked up this month haven't been very popular here on LT. In addition to the two I previously posted (San Rafael, Camba Town and Invisible Country), I read another mystery by Annamaria Alfieri Blood Tango, which is listed by 4 others. I have to say that I think her historical mysteries deserve to be more widely read.

My other two books were nonfiction, Coolie Woman: The Odyssey of Indenture by Gaiutra Bahadar (listed by 19 others) and Equatoria by Richard Price and Sally Price, (listed by 20 others). Both were well worth reading.

All five books were selected for the GEOCat - how fortunate I was that they also counted for RandomCat.

I got one more in for this challenge. Lost Canyon is a book I picked up by happenstance and is catalogued by 50 other people. I recommend it if you like survival stories, and this one has a fresh perspective.

>110 sturlington: I read Lost Canyon last year for an early review book. It was a good one.