MESSAGE BOARD

The message board is for use by members to post general messages to the group, such as links to new group threads, announcements, questions, offers, invitations to local discussion...etc.

https://www.pocketbooksshop.com/events-rentals/lit-903
A bookstore local to me is hosting a series on Adventures of Huckleberry Finn / James in two versions: one in-person for locals, one Zoom for anyone. $120 for 4 sessions.

Posting because a bunch of people in CR have read / are reading / plan to read.

A bit off topic, but I wanted to share Tom Gauld's Valentine's card for bibliophiles, which was in the Guardian:

I love it!
I love it almost as much as my books!
I love books!

Tom Gauld is a treasure. Thanks for posting this strip :-)

>3 rasdhar: This is awesome, thanks for sharing it.

>3 rasdhar: 😂

>3 rasdhar: thanks!

>3 rasdhar: I feel it! Thanks for posting.

Just a quick heads up: New LT feature that will be relevant for our group: Reviews in Talk:

https://www.librarything.com/topic/368644

>10 AnnieMod: interesting! A pin your review option.

If people start posting their reviews on their threads this way, it will be super easy to give thumbs.

>12 labfs39: I've already started :)

I write in the message itself, then when I am ready to post (Preview is your best friend), I move it over in the review and then link it. That way I get the bigger writing area while writing and still can attach it. :)

My old process used to be: write in the thread, Preview until I like it enough, copy and a save into a review, post the message. So... not much change.

of course I also occasionally copy the whole thing to an external area in case I close the window or something stupid like that.,.

>12 labfs39: yes. i like that. I like how easy it is to like reviews posted that way. But also I think it changes the nature of how i personally would post reviews. I need to think about that.

It's interesting, and will be useful for some. I wouldn't use it for two reasons:

1) The review as linked into the Talk thread is limited to a relatively short length. My comments on what I read tend to be longer than that, and I want all of what I write to appear in the place I'm writing it, without requiring people to click to another page.

2) There are small difference in how I write a review for the reviews page and how I write one for my own Talk thread. On the reviews page, it needs to stand more or less on its own, complete unto itself. On my Talk page, it's part of an ongoing conversation that I'm having (with myself, if no one else), and I may want to refer to other books I've read, ongoing reading projects, discussions that have happened earlier in the thread...

I have started posting most of my Talk thread reviews into the individual book pages, but I often have to do a little bit of editing to make them fit there.

>15 KeithChaffee: It is the full review though - there is a "show more" link where it cuts off so people can continue reading it if they so chose - and they are not sent to another page - it opens right there.

>16 AnnieMod: Ah, that is better. My mistake.

>17 KeithChaffee: No worries. I actually like it that way - I write long reviews and this way people may decide not to read the whole thing without the need to scroll through screens :) Or if they are interested, it is a simple link.

If you go to a work page, the reviews are shown the same way as well so it is consistent. :) It had made me think about where I put certain things in longer reviews though... :)

That feature is cool, but I'll also give some thought to how/whether I want to use it. I treat my reviews here differently from reviews on a book's page, since publishers and authors check those out and—while I'm always honest in my reviews—I pull my punches more in public than I do in private. Not that folks can't crawl this group if they're determined to, but I like having that layer of insulation.

Well, it certainly makes thumbing more accessible! — the only one I’ve used the Attach function on so far, a really obscure book by any sane standard, has already gathered more thumbs in twelve hours than any review I posted in the normal way in the past couple of months, which included several for quite mainstream books. I expect the novelty will wear off soon enough, though.

>13 AnnieMod: I’ve been doing this of late too. I’ve never liked the small text box for reviews, and I like writing reviews on my thread and reading others reviews on threads as there is more opportunity for interaction. I also prefer writing reviews in posts because of the greater functionality - html, Touchstones, cover selection …

A while back I unsuccessfully suggested a save a draft field in posts. I might suggest that for reviews.

>19 lisapeet: >13 AnnieMod: >15 KeithChaffee: Also quite often a review in a post may have content not applicable to a review to be seen by the general public. Other non-review comments may be in the post. By selectively doing a copy and paste from a post to a review and then when necessary modifying the Review review is the way I’ll most likely continue in most places.

>22 kjuliff: I usually draft reviews (and other longer or more complex posts) in Obsidian, the note-taking app I use for general day-to-day stuff (diary, trip-planning, etc.). That way I end up with an offline copy and it doesn’t matter if there’s a posting glitch on LT. It also makes it easier to use external tools like dictation, which always needs a certain amount of tweaking before I post. I use data fields and macros to help me get stats out of the reviews I’ve put into Obsidian and to generate a standard header for the review. Obviously any other note-taking app would do similar things.

In my thread I typically have an extra paragraph or so above the review header where I can say things that don’t need to be in a work-page review, like writing about the context of “why I read this now”. Sometimes I add a paragraph after the review to point out anything particularly interesting about my copy of the book.

I’ll have to review the detail of how I do this now that we have the Attach function. I’d like to keep things like the original publication date and the author’s dates: they are quite important information when you are reading a mix of old and new books. And I think it’s important to acknowledge translators, illustrators, editors, etc. when they are relevant to the experience of reading the book.

>23 thorold: Obsidian sounds very interesting, with significantly greater functionality than Google Docs. Which version of it do you use?

>24 kidzdoc: I have it both on desktop (Mac) and on my iPad, synching through iCloud. It is good, and actually fairly simple, but there are so many ways to configure it and rig it out with plugins that there is quite a learning curve. There are several other competitor note-taking apps with similar capabilities tucked behind slightly different philosophies, so it’s worth doing a bit of research (YouTube etc.) before you commit yourself. But I’m very happy with Obsidian.

>25 thorold: Thanks. Do you use the free version or one of the paid ones?

>23 thorold: regarding Obsidian - I’m guessing it’s better than Notes (available on iphones). But I couldn’t tell what might be better looking at the App Store description. What makes you use Obsidian instead of Notes? 🙂

>22 kjuliff: I have some stuff in all my posts that is not part of the review - these remain in the posts. The only thing I wish I could do differently is the fact that the review always goes at the bottom of the page - but that is minor gripes.

I's admit that I am surprised how many people write different reviews for their threads and the reviews page though. :)

>26 kidzdoc: The free version. You normally only need to pay for Sync if you want to access your data cross platform.

>27 dchaikin: I think Apple Notes is probably fine for most purposes, especially as they keep adding features to it and not telling you about it! I use it sometimes as a kind of scratch pad, things like the OCR functionality are very handy.

I mostly went for Obsidian because I had a lot of assorted text files in different places that I could bring into Obsidian and organise there quite easily, also knowing that they would be stored in a format that would let me get them out again without losing data if Obsidian ever disappears. I’m not sure I would want to entrust all that stuff to a proprietary Apple format.

People get very dogmatic about note-taking apps and the way to use them, but I always suspect that those people spend more time theorising about organising their information than actually doing research. If you hear someone talking about Zettelkasten, it’s time to look for cover…

>Perfect!

>29 thorold: Thanks!

>29 thorold: "but I always suspect that those people spend more time theorising about organising their information than actually doing research."

I feel this way when I see those beautifully decorated bullet journals. I think they have to be understood as a hobby in themselves, and so the focus is the aesthetic and not the actual act of organising your life or information. I browse them endlessly because I like to look at them, but I have never made one, because the amount of time required to set up such a journal would take away from the time to actually do the things I want to do. Perhaps for people like this, the act of note-taking is the focus, and not the content of the notes themselves.

>32 rasdhar: and >29 thorold: I am definitely guilty of going down that rabbit hole for those very powerful note apps. Sticky to all those rules and trying to retrieve actual information has proved to an impossible task. I live in the basic Bujo mode, i.e. not very decorative. Sticking to pencil and paper has been far more useful even if it isn't the most aesthetically pleasing option.

I'm an analog pen-and-paper planner person for most stuff—I use Outlook for work appointments, both so I can see what I'm doing while online and other folks can schedule things with me. But where bullet journals and I part ways, aside from the sheer amount of time people seem to put into them, is the idea of making a central to-do list so you don't have to keep writing items over and over. Honestly, I wouldn't get any of my less-fun tasks done if I didn't shame myself by writing the same item with a check box every freaking week without end until I finally just do it.

>34 lisapeet:

I don't know what's a bullet journal, but for tasks I have a small ring notepad, that I rip the pages off as they fill. If something wasn't done, it gets transferred to the next page.

Yes, I do get a smallish but definite sense of satisfaction as I rip the page off. :)

I just use a grocery list pad and keep it by the computer. I check things off, and when they are done I rip the page off. I still prefer a paper calendar to having it on my phone. And for genealogy notes I use a full-size subject notebook (or several - one for paternal research, one for maternal).

>36 WelshBookworm: I use both. I use iOS calendar for appointments and events, and a medium size paper weekly planner for notes and checking off medicine I have to take daily. I tried writing a journal but am too lazy to keep it up.
I use iOS Notepad for writing down ideas and points for reviews.

When I was working I kept everything in my head. Strange how I’ve gotten into organizing my life.

>36 WelshBookworm: I like the idea of different notebooks. I am also doing my step-father; I have a chart from when they first came to America from Wales.
I see you are also in Minnesota. Back to the low temps; 10* where I live.

>38 mnleona: Yes, it was cold yesterday! Up to 40 today. You're farther north but not too far. I'm in Glencoe.

all fans of Wolf Hall,the mirror and the lightpremires tonight!!! Check your PBS channel for time.

>40 cindydavid4: ❤️ i plan to watch (but not tonight). Season one was fun.

Banu Mushtaq won the International Booker for Heart Lamp. She writes in Kannada, a language spoken in Southern India. There's been a lot of coverage in the Indian press, so I'm including some links to English language news for those who might not come across it.

‘The inner emotions of legal practice serve as raw, real-life material for my writing’: Banu Mushtaq (Scroll) https://scroll.in/article/1082084/the-inner-emotions-of-legal-practice-serve-as-...

Banu Mushtaq interview: ‘Muslim women are capable of fighting their own battles’ (The Federal)
https://thefederal.com/category/features/banu-mushtaq-kannada-writer-internation...

I started writing to challenge patriarchy: Banu Mushtaq (Frontline) https://frontline.thehindu.com/books/banu-mushtaq-heart-lamp-kannada-booker-patr...

And a bonus interview with her translator, Deepa Bhasthi https://thefederal.com/category/features/deepa-bhasthi-interview-theres-nothing-...

>42 rasdhar: fantastic! Thanks!

>42 rasdhar: This books sounds interesting! I hope this short story collection will soon be translated into French!

Here is the link to the book: Heart Lamp for those of us who might be interested. So far, it is in the library of 26 LT members only, including >43 dchaikin: and other CR members!

Updated for 2025 Hope to Read Soon: A Tribute to rebeccanyc here:

https://www.librarything.com/topic/371043#unread

Sign me up!

My TBR needs one of these. You’re hired!

>46 rasdhar: oh my yes!

>44 raton-liseur: I hope this short story collection will soon be translated into French!

I thought the same thing, and then I thought that if it's translated to French, it will probably be from the English rather than the original language, so I might as well read the English translation. I tried to find books translated from Kannada to French. I'm not sure there are any.

>49 FlorenceArt: You're right. I don't know why there are no direct translation from this language to French. I might have one book (a collection of folk tales published by L'Ecole des Loisirs, hence for children), but I should check from which language it has been translated from.
I'm not fluent enough in English to want to read books from another language translated into English (when I have done so, it was an oversight and I did not realise it was a translation when I bought or started to read the book), so I'll wait for the French translation, despite being a translation from a translation... Not sure which way (reading an English translation or reading a translation from a translation) I will loose most...

>49 FlorenceArt: & >50 raton-liseur: I have come across books written in lesser well-known languages that are translated into English from French, and often enough, lesser known works from Arabic countries were first translated into French, which I guess speaks to patterns of colonialism.

>51 RidgewayGirl: Yes, I guess you're right in mentionning colonialism, but still, I find it odd that there are no direct translations to French, knowing how thriving is litterature un translation in France (well, compared to some other countries, litterature and thriving are not words that you usually put together in a sentence...).

Is there a special thread for the Booker prize 2025??

>53 kjuliff: Not here. But you can create one. I would be all in. I think Darryl will be interested

>53 kjuliff:, >54 dchaikin: I created a thread for the 2025 Booker Prize longlist in the Booker Prize group on LibraryThing, since I'm the administrator of that group, but I would invite anyone else who is interested to do the same thing in Club Read.

ETA: I know that there is little, if any, interest for members of Club Read to join the Booker Prize group, and it tends to be very quiet as compared to this group. However, in case anyone is interested here is a link to the thread I created there on Tuesday:

2025 Booker Prize longlist

>54 dchaikin: >55 kidzdoc: I would normally be happy to create such a thread, but I’m having a squamous cancer removed from just under my good (20:60) eye on the 20th of August, and I don’t know how much of my eye will be obscured by bandages and for how long yet. The Mohs surgeon doesn’t know either, so I can’t administer a new CR thread.

Maybe someone else could do it because I think it’s a good idea to have such a thread here.

I am trying to read as many of the long.list books as soon as I can before 20th.

Thanks, Darryl for the link.

ETA even though I read audiobooks, I rely on my sight to use the iPad. I’d have trouble looking for books and opening them up and using bookmarks etc

>56 kjuliff: I'll start one. But Kate, and Daryl (if willing to post here) - it's going be us three driving it. :)

>57 dchaikin: Fine by me except possibly fot late August.

Over in the Reading Globally Group, we're half way through the third quarter read: The People Write: Authors from the People's Republic of China. Come over and give it a look, maybe even find a whole new world of reading: https://www.librarything.com/topic/371918#n8922794

Some sad news to report: long time Club Read member Jane (@janeajones) died from leukemia on June 22. We were connected on Facebook, and after I wished her a Happy Birthday yesterday her daughter wrote back earlier this morning, and let me know that she had passed away two months ago.

Oh. I’m crushed. I didn’t even know she was dealing with this.

Jane was a professor and a wonderful reader. The best read person on Florida literature that I have ever met. She sent me the most amazing list on Florida literature shortly after me met. She also co-edited a book on Florida poetry which i’ve read and adored. She was special Lt friend. She will be missed.

LibraryThing is currently conducting a 20th Anniversary Survey. Check the banner at the top of the page.

The responses to some questions are in scale format, others allow you to make a full response.

It is a way for you to let LT know what you use and don't use now, and would like to see in future. All in all, it's useful feedback, and thoughtfully designed.

>62 SassyLassy: - i didn’t know about the survey. Thanks!

>62 SassyLassy: Thanks for pointing it out!

There used to be a "Work details" (or a similar title) page, telling in which language a book had been originally written and the titles of translations to different languages. I can't find it anymore. Does anybody know where it is?

>65 chlorine: The Overview page (link at the top of the list on the left, just under the cover) has info about translations in Statistics; the Common Knowledge section has alternate titles, if people have entered them. There's also a little info at the top of the right panel, Quick Facts (including a link to the work, if you own the book and want to see just the general info). Does that help any?

>66 jjmcgaffey: I think the Common Knowledge section is what I'm looking for. Thank you so much! :)

>62 SassyLassy: I really hope the community votes against changes that turn Librarything into more of a facebook/reddit site. I like that this serves an entirely different function from those sites and that it isn't dominated by an algorithm.

I love the conversations we have here. I'm so bored with emojis/stickers/cute stuff interrupting conversations, elsewhere...

László Krasznahorkai won the Nobel for Literature. https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/literature/2025/bio-bibliography/

Anyone up to date with his work? I read (and enjoyed) Seiobo There Below some years ago.

I requested what my library had. Haven’t read him.

>71 dchaikin: I’m reading his Baron Wenckheim's Homecoming.
He (László, not the Baron) seems like a cool dude. Patti Smith is one of his appreciative readers.

Hi all, I'm thinking about the 2026 version of Club Read. I'm wondering if anyone would like to run a thread? The threads that need monitoring and attention are Just Lists, and the All Things Audio - the audiobook thread. I'm also open to other thread ideas. If you have them, drop a note here or pm me.

update, Just Lists is claimed by @wandering_star. Yay! Also we have a music themed thread coming in 2026 care of @baswood. The audiobook thread awaits a passionate volunteer. :) Send me a note if you have other 2026 ideas.

>74 dchaikin: looking forward to 2026

The 2026 group page is about ready. I may open it up tomorrow

>76 dchaikin: Yay! I am ready.

I'm so ready for 2026 reading!

Club Read 2026 is open!
https://www.librarything.com/ngroups/25012

Just in case some people aren't aware, I read today on Caroline McElwee's thread that she passed away before Christmas. Although Caroline was most recently in the 75 book group, she has been a long time commenter on posts in CR as well.

Incredibly sad to hear this news today. Caroline was my nearest book twin on LT in terms of reading taste, and I enjoyed her thread immensely, not just for the great book recommendations but also for her regular posts on art exhibitions she'd visited.

>80 AlisonY: I didn’t know. She was a wonderful reader and intelligent poster. I’m very sad about her passing.

>80 AlisonY: Thanks for passing on this very sad and unexpected news, Alison. She was a great friend to many of us in LibraryThing, as I saw numerous plays and had dinners with her during my past trips to London. She will be sadly missed by many people here.

I just want to encourage everyone shift over the 2026 group. At your own pace, of course.

Club Read 2026: https://www.librarything.com/ngroups/25012/Club-Read-2026