Message Board

Welcome to the 2017 Challenge! Watch this space for announcements and info about the group.

Oh, and we need a picture for this year's group. Any volunteers?

Or...



I can change the color of the box behind the text too if purple isn't the way to go. It looks nice in grey, black and salmon.

I love the purple one!

I like the purple too.

I like the purple one too.

Purple :)

Purple!

Feel free to use it, if you would like. :)

The 2017 ANZAC (Australia/New Zealand) Reading Challenge thread is up. You're all welcome to have a look, I've made it pretty flexible this year.
http://www.librarything.com/topic/244630

I added a thread for us to share wrapups for 2016. I've posted my stats there, but feel free to share whatever you'd like by way of summary or thoughts on reading for the year.

http://www.librarything.com/topic/245225

We've got a new thread for memes! Thanks, m.belljackson!

http://www.librarything.com/topic/245337

For anyone who might like to take a shot at a free book (anyone?) check this out. I mean, all you have to do is tell them what you read this month. Every title you list gets you an entry into a drawing. I've ordered from VJ Books a few times, and it was always a positive experience.

To spread the word - two new group reads starting:

The Vegetarian by Han Kang: http://www.librarything.com/topic/246141
War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy: http://www.librarything.com/topic/246276

The Tor eBook club selecction for February is available now thru 2/7.

Its Charlie Stross's Bloodline Feud, an omnibus edition of 2 novels.

http://ebookclub.tor.com/

Its free to sign-up, and they let you download the MOBI and/or ePUB files until 2/7

I've not been very active on the threads, and thus am not in touch with what has been discussed lately. I hope it's not out of line to post this here, as it's not about the group, but surely impacts many members of this group who love libraries.

Are folks here aware that the proposed US Federal budget is set to ELIMINATE all Federal library funding? The plan is to do away with the federal Institute for Museum and Library Services, and thus the Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) and Innovative Approaches to Literacy (IAL) funds that IMLS administers. That's $210 MILLION dollars in library support that could vanish in the next fiscal year! These funds support a variety of important programs and services.

These cuts don't get the kind of press that cuts in other areas have generated, but they could result in major cuts in library programs and services.

I hope it's not inappropriate for me to suggest that library lovers in the US might want to contact their elected officials to express their support for library funding. The American Library Association (www.ala.org) has good resources for library advocacy.

I've started my annual Autism Awareness thread for April:

http://www.librarything.com/topic/254406#

By the way, May is less than a month away. Are we doing May Murder and Mayhem this year?

>17 tymfos: Thanks for posting this, Terri. I think the current occupant's budget proposal is taking a shotgun approach to all sorts of programs, many of which would hardly make a scratch on the surface of the deficit if eliminated, but would diminish the quality of life enormously for so many people. IMLS is one of those, and one not too many people have on their radar, unfortunately.

Attention...FREE BOOKS!

For anyone who has not yet marked down the date, The International Day of the Book street festival will take place this Sunday, April 23, 2017, on Howard Avenue in Old Town Kensington, Maryland, USA, from 11am to 4 pm. There is FREE street parking and FREE admission to the festival.

Again this year my BookCrossing group, BCinDC, will be bringing FREE gently-used books to distribute. We'll have over 1,000 books of all genres.. This is a GREAT opportunity for you to get some great books. The price is right! There is no limit to the number of books you may take. All we ask is that you leave a few to share with others! :D

I'll be in the blue tent and will be wearing my "SqueakyChu" name tag. Come and say hi to me.

If you are a BookCrosser...You may bring your own Bookcrossing-registered books to place on our tables. It's a good time to get them out there in the wild. We have the customers!

If it rains...Never fear! We'll still be there. Our books will be inside a tent and kept dry. Just bring a large plastic trash bag (clean, of course), in which to take home your newly acquired books.

If you have questions, just message me on my LFL Facebook page. Just google Little Free Library of Twinbrook (#7720).

See you there!

https://dayofthebook.com/
https://www.facebook.com/events/286341885129322

A while back I asked if anyone was starting a May Murder and Mayhem monthly theme this year. It's always been one of my favorites! I got no response on this thread -- on at least one other thread, the response was sort of asking if I or anyone else wanted to volunteer to start it.

I've seen no sign (on this thread, group reads, Wiki, or the few other threads I've managed to visit lately) of any other volunteers. So, if there's no objection, I'll take the lead. I hope it gets more visitors than my Autism thread, which I think has four posts.

Post your murmurings about Murder and Mayhem books here:

https://www.librarything.com/topic/255974#

You know, Terri's message on the Message Board about the traditional May Murder and Mayhem thread brought to this rather forgetful mind the fact that we also used to have several science fiction and fantasy themed months, namely Fantasy February, May Mars, Myth, and Make-Believe, and September Science Fiction. When did those go by the wayside? A review of past groups shows Fantasy February in 2015 and both Fantasy February and May Mars etc. in 2014. Did all the national author challenges among others crowd them out? Anyone up for a general May thread this year focused on science fiction, fantasy, myth and make-believe in the 75er group?

Themes threads and group reads need a champion to make them work - which, I think, is one of the things the "What We're Reading" threads lack. The last couple of years, those who tended to do that have become more interested in the national author challenges to good result, but with the side effect that some of these others things have declined. I think it's great that others want to take over!

Crossposting with the Group Read thread...

Does anyone have any group read for the summer?

(Because I don't have enough books on my plate as it is...)

For those who may have been trying to access the Threadbook or the group links page:

Over the last few days, LT's wiki system has had some issues. Things seem back together again, and the pages are current as of 10 July. I've kept track of the people who've started new threads while this has been going on and will get those in the Threadbook today. I don't think there were any changes to the links page, but will check to make sure. So by the end of today things should be back to normal!

>26 drneutron: Thanks for keeping up with things, Jim.

Darryl and I are are thinking of getting together in NYC on September 9. I've created a thread, if anyone is interested...

https://www.librarything.com/topic/266680

Does anyone feel like having a readthon soon-ish? Or was planning one in the not-so-distant future?

A few of us are planning a meet up for Saturday, September 2, for breakfast prior to the National Book Festival in Washington, DC. Please join us at 8:15 AM or so at Le Pain Quotidien, 433 Massachusetts Ave NW, Washington, DC! I'll be there until 9:15-9:30 before heading to the Convention Center for the book fest.

^September AAC Thread is up. Stop by and let us know what story or collection of stories you will be reading:

http://www.librarything.com/topic/268496

October is fast approaching so I've been thinking about this year's Halloween thread. For last year's thread I had categories to choose from rather than selecting specific books and it seemed to work well for people. Does anyone have any suggestions for this year?

The Halloween thread is up. I've selected ten categories to choose from and have posted examples of books which could fit in them. The categories are broad and books may easily fit in several places. As always, feel free to share with what you are reading and to make suggestions for others.

^Due to popular demand, (and the fact that he is a helluva writer) I will host a Group Read of Rules of Civility for October. I will set up the G.R. thread in about a week or so. I plan on starting the book around mid-month.

So, there is plenty of time to find a copy and join us.

>34 msf59: I came across my copy of that book just yesterday. I'm buried in big reads right now, but I'll seriously consider joining the group for Rules of Civility if I get my head above water by mid-October.

The Group Read of Rules of Civility is up: https://www.librarything.com/topic/270551#

>35 laytonwoman3rd: Thar she blows, Linda. Hope you can bookhorn it in.

For those who use html in their threads, note that Apple’s iOS 11 operating system for iPad and iPhone includes “smart punctuation,” which changes some characters to make them more “typographically suitable.” Unfortunately quotation marks, commonly used in html code, are affected by this feature. See how the marks in my first sentence are slanted, instead of straight? Unfortunately the slanted quotation marks don’t seem to work in html.

Smart punctuation appears to be an all or nothing feature, so if you use html in your threads, you may want to turn it off (Settings - General - Keyboard - Smart Punctuation).

>38 lauralkeet: You might want to mention this in a more general group, as there are probably many Apple users who aren't part of this challenge. A topic subject like 'Apple iOS 11 vs html' in http://www.librarything.com/groups/sitetalk would help a lot more people.

Besides, it would be a lot easier to find, for example if I get a new iPad for Chrismas. I'm still using iOS 8, because I don't have enough spare memory. I might remember that there is an issue, but not the details, or where I had seen it.

Great suggestion, thank you for pointing me to a better place to post this! Done:
http://www.librarything.com/topic/270698

Found out that there’s a way to do this even with the smart punctuation on. Just go to the ?123 keyboard and hold down the double quote key. A palette pops up with a selection of quotes. The middle one is the old style double quote that works with html.

Also posted this on the other thread.

Since Loranne mentioned SantaThing in the State of the Thing email, I thought I'd put the bug in everyone's ear about our own humble little book swap.

Its early yet (but not too early, unfortunately) but start thinking about whether or not you want to participate in our little group swap. I'll probably send out the "official" notice in a couple weeks. If all goes to plan, I will make selections the weekend after US Thanksgiving.

Time to get those Wish Lists in order.

Last year we had 25 people participate. (31 in 2015)

Its Time!

Christmas Swap is coming, Christmas Swap is coming....

The thread is up. Come one, come all and join the fun...

https://www.librarything.com/topic/274870

It still time! ;)

Just pushing the Christmas Swap Thread back to the top.

Plenty of room, plenty of time.

https://www.librarything.com/topic/274870

Time to bug you all again. I know you're going to be sick of me in a week. :)

We have 16 lovely 75'ers participating in our Christmas Swap, and we're looking for more.

https://www.librarything.com/topic/274870

ETA - Make that 17.

>45 mahsdad: Maybe if everyone put a message on their own thread (with the link in it) it would reach a few people who might not otherwise see it? I'll go do it now.

For anyone who loved H is for Hawk, if you haven't seen MacDonald's PBS "Nature" episode about training another goshawk 10 years after losing Mabel, you really should try to find it. Her gift for language is still very evident, the hawk (Lupin) is mesmerizing, and the photography defies belief. It aired here on November 1st, and is available to stream from PBS.

Thanks for this recommendation Linda!

>47 laytonwoman3rd: I agree, Linda. It is excellent. Thanks for sharing.

^I have a working draft of authors for next year's AAC. Stop by and share your thoughts and offer a recommendation or two:

http://www.librarything.com/topic/244600#6252484

75 Book Group Christmas Swap is still open.

If anyone is still interesting in joining us for our own little book swap/Secret Santa. Come on over and join the thread (and fun). I will make the random pair selections this coming Sunday (11/26).

Make a post on the thread and PM me your address before Sunday and I'll include you in the pool. Thanks!

https://www.librarything.com/topic/274870

>51 mahsdad:. Happy Turkey Day!

Now it's time to think about Christmas, come join us in the Christmas Swap fun!

;)

Is anyone going to the Ontario Library Association conference or just going to be in Toronto at the end of January/beginning of February? If there are a few of us I could organize a meet up.

>53 Deedledee: -do organize a meet up- I live in Toronto!

Last Chance to join the 75 Group Christmas Swap. Merry Christmas!

Post in the thread below, or PM me your address by tomorrow (Sunday) afternoon and I'll put you into the mix.

https://www.librarything.com/topic/274870

A profile this morning of West Point's first female African-American Captain of the Corps of Cadets. What an amazing leader. Too bad she can't run for President immediately upon graduation.

It seems that the LT staff have gotten the new wiki system up and running, and our pages have been restored as of beginning of November. I’ve been keeping notes on new threads for the Threadbook and will get it up to date tomorrow.

For those who use the Threadbook:

Now that the wiki has been re-established, I've updated the Threadbook to include all the new threads made in November/December. If you find any errors, let me know and I'll get 'em fixed!

>57 drneutron:, >58 drneutron: Goodness...I didn't know the wiki was down. Guess I haven't needed the threadbook in the last couple months. Thanks for the diligence, Jim!

>58 drneutron: wow, that's a lot of work. Thank you Jim!!

No worries - I kept a running list of updates, so it didn’t take long to get caught up once I had the time.

Still a bit under construction, but here's the new group: https://www.librarything.com/groups/75booksin2018

Happy Boxing Day!

The God Stalk group read thread for January is up in the 2018 group:

https://www.librarything.com/topic/279620