SEPTEMBER ROOT - Progress Thread

The theme and questions this month are related to FEAR AND COURAGE.










“Bravery is the capacity to perform properly even when scared half to death.”
Omar N. Bradley

“Physical bravery is an animal instinct, moral bravery is much higher and truer courage.”
Wendell Phillips


“Promise me you’ll always remember that you’re braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.” Christopher Robin



2023 has been a year where my life has been filled with so much, both pleasant and unpleasant, and I realized that as I reflect on the year so far, that many fears I have had, have been holding me back from enjoying the wonderful life that I have been blessed with. I wasn't really even that nervous when the first hurricane came through last week. I trusted that I would have the courage to face whatever resulted.

Do you have any fears that are "irrational"?
Have you ever prevented yourself from participating in an activity because of fear?
Have you ever surprised yourself with a courageous act?
Which do you think is harder to come by - physical courage or moral courage?

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Here are our August totals. Remember, if you are not a member of the group, or have not set a goal, your name will not appear in the list.

The percentages will be calculated and a star awarded for those on target to reach their goals. More stars for farther toward their goal. If anyone's number is incorrect, please let me know and I will make the necessary adjustments. So go out there and dig those ROOTs.

Many tickers in the ticker thread are failing! Please go and see if yours is working and if not, edit the message with a new ticker. PLEASE DO NOT CREATE A NEW MESSAGE! JUST CREATE A NEW TICKER AND COPY IT INTO THE MESSAGE ALREADY DESIGNATED AS YOURS.

Thank you.

Ann_R 12 / 20 60.0%
atozgrl 14 / 40 35.0%
brakketh 13 / 46 28.3%
benitastarnd 66 / 72 ★★★★ 91.7%
bumblesby 14 / 20 ★ 70.0%
Ann_R 12 / 20 60.0%
atozgrl 14 / 40 35.0%
brakketh 13 / 46 28.3%
benitastarnd 66 / 72 ★★★★ 91.7%
bumblesby 14 / 20 ★ 70.0%
ca_dmv★ 13 / 12 108.3%
Caramellunacy★ 31 / 25 124.0%
Carmenere 3 / 25 12.0%
Cecilturtle 33 / 50 66.0%
clue 29 / 40 ★ 72.5%
Coach_of_Alva★ 32 / 25 128.0%
connie53★ 50 / 36 138.9%
crazy4reading 1 / 30 3.3%
curioussquared★ 75 / 60 125.0%
cyderry 49 / 84 58.3%
detailmuse 23 / 40 57.5%
DisassemblyOfReason 87 / 100 ★★★ 87.0%
EGBERTINA★ 157 / 50 314.0%
enemyanniemae 35 / 65 53.8%
Familyhistorian 52 / 65 ★★ 80.0%
floremolla 6 / 40 15.0%
fuzzi 14 / 100 14.0%
HelenBaker 29 / 48 60.4%
Henrik_Madsen 19 / 50 38.0%
Jackie_K 32 / 52 61.5%
justchris 10 / 50 20.0%
kac522 55 / 75 ★ 73.3%
karenmarie 2 / 10 20.0%
Kristelh★ 46 / 30 153.3%
KWharton 6 / 12 50.0%
lilisin 43 / 100 43.0%
lindapanzo 64 / 84 ★★ 76.2%
LoraShouse 10 / 15 ★ 66.7%
madhatter22 29 / 50 58.0%
majkia★ 78 / 65 120.0%
Miss_Moneypenny 49 / 75 65.3%
MissWatson 50 / 75 ★ 66.7%
Nickelini 26 / 35 ★ 74.3%
nikolahall 0 / 50 0.0%
pnppl 34 / 42 ★★ 81.0%
QuestingA 30 / 50 60.0%
rabbitprincess 37 / 50 ★ 74.0%
readergirliz 10 / 24 41.7%
readingtangent 26 / 50 52.0%
rebeki 18 / 25 ★ 72.0%
Robertgreaves 64 / 72 ★★★ 88.9%
rosalita 34 / 48 ★ 70.8%
sallylou61 28 / 40 ★ 70.0%
si 22 / 30 ★ 73.3%
torontoc 13 / 30 43.3%
vestafan 43 / 60 ★ 71.7%
wandaly 13 / 24 54.2%




We have achievers who have reached their goals.
EGBERTINA★
Caramellunacy★
Kristelh★
majkia★
connie53★
curioussquared★

joined this month by
Coach_of_Alva★
ca_dmv★

Readers closest to reaching their goals, are:

benitastarnd 91.7%
Robertgreaves 88.9%
DisassemblyOfReason 87.0%

The goal for month is 1,850, let's get reading!! Stars are starting to fade!

Here is a picture of my new "little library" and I still have space! This is what had me so busy the last few days.

ROOT #14 for the year and the first for Sept. The review is on my thread and no tickers updated

>4 cyderry: Nice book space, Cheli. I can see why the new month snuck up on you if you were busy setting that up.

I just finished ROOT # 51 for the year. # 3 for september. I was not able to report ROOT # 49 and 50 due to LT being down.

Duivelsbocht by Robert Bryndza

Own tickers updated.

Love the book nook!

I just logged my first ROOT for Sept, 34 overall, with Fanfan par Alexandre Jardin.
All tickers updated.

oooh good questions (and beautiful reading nook):
Do you have any fears that are "irrational"? Claustrophobia, nothing freaks me out more than confined spaces (well, snakes are a close second).

Have you ever prevented yourself from participating in an activity because of fear? yes... I was a super shy teen and I turned down an opportunity to do a play with friends; I was terrified of acting on stage.

Have you ever surprised yourself with a courageous act? Years later, I stepped on the stage and MCed a townhall with a friend. There were 1500 people in the room.
My big courageous act, though, was selling Mary Kay to strangers while doing a ToastMasters program at the same time. I was determined to overcome my fear of public speaking.

Which do you think is harder to come by - physical courage or moral courage? Really tough one! I think circumstance dictates the act - both can be equally scary and rewarding. Moral courage is probably harder because it's easier to hide.

My first ROOT for September is The Cat Who Had 60 Whiskers by Lilian Jackson Braun, the 29th and last in the series.

I've got my first ROOT for September: Unbroken : a World War II story of survival, resilience, and redemption by Laura Hillenbrand. My personal ticker is updated.

Added another ROOT to my ticker: The Deviant Strain, by Justin Richards, bringing me to 38/50. I plan to read some Doctor Who comics this month so should be adding more to the ticker soon :)

I've added my first ROOT of September (#33 for the year) to my own ticker.

Added The Eleventh Doctor: Vol. 1 to my personal ticker.

I finished my first ROOT for the month. It was Venus in Copper by Lindsey Davis. Thoroughly enjoyed this one. it was a pure pleasure to read.

Also added Volkswagen Blues, by Jacques Poulin (translated by Sheila Fischman), to my personal ticker. Now up to 40/50!

Interesting topic, Chèli. I don't think I have any irrational fears. Not much courage, either, I think, as I tend to avoid most things that could be dangerous, such as riding a bicycle in city traffic.

I'm going to concentrate on short books for what's left of the month after my vacation. Two down, so far.

ROOT 2 for September and 35 overall: The Well of Lost Plots by Jasper Fforde, on my shelves since 2008.

All tickers updated!

ROOT #2 for September (#34 for the year) added to my own ticker.

And that's now the 3rd ROOT for September (#35 for the year) also added to my own ticker.

I listened to the third book in the All Creatures Great and Small series. This one was All Things Wise and Wonderful and I think it was the best book in the series. There was more of his life and how his veterinary practice influenced his life and philosophy and his outlook about Yorkshire. That was more interesting all animal stories all the time. That is the last of the recorded books I have from that series so now I am moving on to other recorded books on CD that I have on my shelves.

Again, three more books since my last post, two being physical books off my TBR.

Keyi Sheng : Un paradis
Robert Louis Stevenson : Treasure Island
Ira Ishida : Call-Boy

Finished a small collection of three short stories by Shusaku Endo, Le Dernier souper et autres nouvelles. Trying to get back into my Japanese reading as I have quite a TBR that has piled up but I haven't been picking anything up from it in a while -- at least, not books in translation.

I am now short 4 books from being halfway through my goal. This is explained by the fact that I haven't been reading manga at all this year which is where the high goal number comes from. Perhaps I'll feel inspired when the weather cool downs.

GOOOOOAAALLLL 72/72

UpROOTED books: 8
ROOTless books: 6
Added to the treebook TBR shelves: 0

The ROOTs were:

Vita Brevis by Jostein Gaarder
Buddhism: A Very Short Introduction by Damien Keown
The 19th Wife by David Ebershoff
The Double Comfort Safari Club by Alexander McCall Smith
Hallowe'en Party by Agatha Christie
The Book Thief by Markus Zuzak (DNF)
Death Before Bedtime by Edgar Box
Monteverde: Memoirs of an Interstellar Linguist by Lola Robles

(Group tickers not touched)

Naturally, I will contribute any more ROOTS to the group target for the rest of the year

Congratulations!

Congrats Robert!

Way to go Robert!

Second ROOT of Sept and #15 for the year. I am really slowing down this year.
The review is on my thread and no tickers updated.

>24 Robertgreaves: Congrats!!

Thank you, >25 MissWatson: >26 curioussquared: >27 cyderry: >29 rabbitprincess:

Reporting ROOT # 52 for the year, # 4 for September

Own ticker updated.

I finally finished another ROOT. This one was the nonfiction book Next Supper: The End of Restaurants as We Knew Them, and What comes After by the Canadian food writer Corey Mintz. This is going to be one of my top reads of the year. It was not hard to read, but it took me a long time to get it read due to all my other reading commitments that popped up while I was trying to finish this book. Oh well - such is the life of a reader.

Third ROOT for Sept and #16 for the year. The book Babel by R.F. Kuang is terrific. The review is on my thread and no tickers updated.

>33 torontoc: That one is on my shelf but I don't think I will get to it this year :( Looking forward to it, though!

>33 torontoc:
I am currently listening to Yellowface by this same author. I just started it so I am not sure what to think of it - yet.

Added ROOT 43 of 50 to my personal ticker: Hope to Die, by David Jackson.

>35 benitastrnad: It is very different than Yellowface- I also have Yellowface on my book pile

I've just added ROOT #4 for September (#36 for the year) to my own ticker. It was Belonging: Natural histories of place, identities and home by Amanda Thomson, and I think it's going to be my book of the year, unless something unexpectedly amazing appears in the next couple of months!

I finished Afterlives by Nobel Prize winning author Abdulrazak Gurnah and thought this book was wonderful. I hope that may others start reading this author's work. He is a very good writer.

I am working hard to finish Singapore Grip before the end of the month, but I doubt I will make it.

I have finished my 8th ROOT for September, and since I'm leaving tomorrow to spend the weekend with my sister, I'll call it a month.

Fourth ROOT for Sept and #17 for the year. the review is on my thread and no tickers updated.

5 for the month and 40 for the year. Updating personal ticker

I finished another ROOT: The Greatest Generation by Tom Brokaw. I also realized that I cheated myself out of a ROOT when I first joined the group. I had read The Double Helix, by James D. Watson at the beginning of January, right around the time that I rediscovered LibraryThing. I didn't count it as a ROOT when I found this group because it had been my husband's book when we got married. But since it's been on our combined shelves for over 20 years, I should have counted it, so I'm adding it in to my totals. I'm now up to 17 ROOTs for this year.

I've updated my own ticker.

I've sneaked in one more ROOT for September (#5 for the month, #37 for the year) and added it to my own ticker.

It looks like my ticker was one of the failing ones, so I've made a new one and it seems to have worked! I have added two more ROOTs since last updating :-)

https://www.librarything.com/topic/354067

OCTOBER thread id up!

I have 7 ROOTS for September. No tickers updated.

My ROOT report is the following
Nonfiction: All Things Wise and Wonderful by James Herriot
Next Supper: The End of Restaurants As We Knew Them and What Comes After by Corey Mintz

Fiction: Venus in Copper by Lindsey Davis
Afterlives by Abdulrazak Gurnah
Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett

Sound Recordings: Blood Rose Rebellion by Rosalyn Eves
Stars Are Fire by Anita Shreve