*Introductions - Meet your fellow readers!

avatiakh suggested we need a place for introductions, especially since we have a number of new folks this year. thought it was a great idea, so here we are!

I'm Jim, a late-40's engineer, husband and father of one son who's now in college (where did the time go!?) who reads pretty much anything. We're in central Maryland, USA, with roots in Louisiana. I like to read (obviously), cook, fish, and have started doing some easy trail bike riding with the wife. Of course, LT is a big time sink, but the wife seems to have come to terms with my LT addiction...8^}

Here's my 2010 thread: http://www.librarything.com/topic/78955

I'm Karen, 56-year old Sr Analyst, wife and mother of a 16-year old daughter who may give me a heart attack before she's done (she hates Spanish II and Honors Algebra II and we're praying for Cs) although she's a super kid in all other respects.

Married almost 19 years, live south of Chapel Hill, NC on 8-acres. Lots of animals; 2 horses, 5 cats, a rat, 56-gallon fish tank full of fishies, separate 10-gallon tank with a beta named Gil, and an albino leopard gecko named Jeremy.

I've been a serious reader since about 3rd grade, have about 3300 books in the house and cataloged on LT. I am Treasurer for daughter's Marching Band Band Boosters which takes huge chunks of time - even more than LT. I'm also a serious BookMoocher - have sent out 272 books and received 271 books since July of 2008. Glad to be able to say "I'm from California" - North Carolina is definitely the best place I've ever lived.

Here's my 2010 thread: karenmarie's

I'm Rebecca. I'm 23 and on my last semester as an undergraduate student majoring in Music Performance and English. I'm going to go on to graduate school in the fall and am looking at what seems to be three different master's degrees. I'm be getting a master's at my current school in Music Performance. Then I plan to go onto the University of Iowa for Library Science but since they don't offer a graduate assistantship for that degree, I may have to double up on English to get reduced tuition (it's an expensive school). I have one dog, Tartini, named after one of my favorite composers. We just call her Tart though. Reading, knitting, and crocheting are my hobbies. I have two resolutions this year: don't buy books (because there's nothing wrong with the library) and read more youth fiction. Since I spend so much of my time reading "serious" books (and don't get me wrong, I love them very much), sometimes my head feels like it's going to explode after I'm done. I want to get back into reading books for fun too. I've kind of lost that in the past few months.

I am Stasia, a 47-year-old homeschooling mom who also works a part-time job. I have been married for 21 years to a wonderful man who puts up with my books with grace. We have been blessed with 2 daughters, Beth who is 20 and Catey soon to be 19 and who will finally be graduating in June so that my homeschooling days will be over. I also have 4 stepchildren and 6 grandchildren that I mention from time to time.

I read just about anything I can get my hands on (cereal boxes included).

Here is the link to the first of my 2010 threads (I had 12 for 2009 and am not holding out any hope that I can get by with only 1 for 2010): http://www.librarything.com/topic/78996. Everyone is welcome to come see Sundays on the Acre.

I'm Luxx, although my birth certificate says Aubrey (I answer readily to both). I'm a 24-year-old adjunct English professor and historical costume enthusiast. I have an amazing partner who makes raising our two boys Brooks (2) and Max (2 months) a breeze. With any luck I'll be going back to graduate school for my PhD this fall, but the jury is still out on that one. Our favorite "date night" is to grab dinner and hit up a bookstore while a grandparent watches our monsters, and we manage it every week or so. We have a 20-foot floor-to-ceiling bookcase that serves as the focal point of our living room, and are currently working on building separate collections for the little men.

I'm a horror enthusiast who studies Victorian lit, but participating in the 75-group has helped vary my reading a bit. I'm certainly open to giving new things a try!

Here's my 2010 thread.

I am Donna, age 62, and proud of it!! Married for 41 years so my husband is used to my reading addiction by now. The kids are grown and married. One son in Denver, one in Colorado Springs (along with my favorite daughters-in-law), and my daughter (and favorite son-in-law) lives about 3 hours from us in Kansas City...along my my three grandchildren who call me the "reading Grandma."

I'm a retired teacher with a Master's degree in (Ta Da!) Reading! That means I supposedly can teach Kindergarten through college age. I am volunteering as a literacy tutor with a 30-year-old woman who fell through the cracks in our school system. She's made much progress in the two years we've been reading together. Life is good and LT makes it even better!

ETA: Link to my new thread is here.

I'm Madeline, 62-year-old resident of Rockville, Maryland. My husband and I have three grown children: two sons - the older is a computer support tech and the younger is a certified welder; one daughter - a college graduate, eyeing law school as a possibility. I work as quality auditor for a home health agency and administrator of a family-owned concrete contracting business. My most fervent hobby is Bookcrossing (I register every book I can get my hands on!), although I also enjoy baking, vegetable gardening, and reading.

I'm an eclectic reader, but prefer English translations of novels written in other languages or well-written novels by relatively unknown authors. Oh, yes, I'm also a LibraryThing addict!

My 2010 thread
The Take It or Leave It Challenge - a mini-challenge for 75 Books Challenge members!

Here's my 75 books for 2010 thread. http://www.librarything.com/topic/79040

I'm Linda, a 48-year old non-practicing attorney from suburban Chicago. You might wonder why a lawyer doesn't practice but I never really wanted to do so. During law school, what I liked was the legal research and writing so that's what I do, focusing on employee benefits law, health plans, retirement plans etc.

I love, absolutely love, baseball, particularly the Cubs. If left to my own devices, I'd watch at least 2 or 3 games per day. Also like hockey (the Chicago Black Hawks) and football (the Green Bay Packers)

I also love to read, obviously. My favorite reading involves mysteries featuring amateur sleuths. Also love nonfiction, particularly baseball (what else?) books, books about American history, disasters, biographies, and other types of nonfiction. I only occasionally read science fiction, romances, or literary fiction.

I do a lot of challenges, such as the presidential challenge, but my main one is the 1010 along with this one.

Laura, 40 years old, I work in technology usually I'm on the computer and on conference calls all day. I started my professional life as a librarian. I've been married (most of it happily) for 16 years so a fantastic guy. We don't have children, but between the two of us we have 6 nephews (5 to 15).

I sing in the choir and play handbells. Everything else is judged against how much it keeps me away from reading.

I have a few specific authors in sci fi, fantasy, and mystery that I always read. In 2009 I also read some classics and more nonfiction than I've read in years. This past year the 75 books list has done wonders to expand my TBR pile so 2010 looks to be a great year.

My 75 in 2010 Thread

My name is Alisha, "The Kool-Aid Mom" being what I wish I could be but know I'll never hit the mark.. lol. I am a single mom of 3 lovely girls, ages 10, 15 and 16, and we live with our 3 cats and rat terrier in north central Indiana... or southern Michiana... not sure which... kind of neither... or both.

LOL.. besides my confuzzled geography, I am a book-a-holic. I'm doing my best to curtail my book-getting until I can at least confine Mt. TBR to the actual book shelves, instead of whatever flat surface is open.

I read a variety of genres, from manga to classics, and especially like authors Gaiman, Evanovich, Coben, King and Austen. I also like reading with my kids, books are much better when enjoyed with others, I think.

Here is my 2010 thread.

My name is Judy. I'm 60 (such numbers are so fictional), no kids (alas), no pets (alas), one B.A. in English, one long career in IT, one longtime partner who reads more than I do (but most of his books are in his storage locker - there's only so much a one bedroom apartment can hold).

Most of my reading is fiction, although I've been on a non-fiction mini-jag this past fall. I tend to avoid chicklit, but devour mysteries, preferably those in a series. My book club has chosen a wide variety of books these past few years, and I've gotten back a taste for more challenging reading. No other languages, though. Alas.

Back to that one-bedroom apartment (in NYC). I'm coming to terms with the fact of too many books, or too little wall space. So I'm slowly deaccessioning the collection - very slowly. I'll probably be adding books to my libraries here as I remove them physically, but I may not be reading them - or rereading them - as I go. I'll only list here those books I actually read in 2010, of course.

And I'm eager to talk about the books I read, and the books you all read. Can't wait to get started.

Ffortsa's Thread

I'm Linda and I am addicted to Library Thing in general and our 75 challenge group in specific! I've met so many wonderful, kind, sensitive, intelligent people and my reading tastes have expanded greatly.

Prior to joining this group, my reading primarily consisted of biographies, historical research and historical fiction.

I'm 57 and the mother of two grown daughters. My eldest daughter is the mother of twin sons (age 6) and a spunky little daughter, Zoe (age 5). My youngest daughter is the mother of Kayla (age 6.) My partner is older than I am and is a retired eye doctor who gets to stay home and read and relax while I head out to work. Each day I smile when I leave the house saying "ONE of us has to go to work today."

Life is good, but also stress filled. Thus, librarything helps me relax. Professionally I am employed at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, PA where I am the Publications Adviser in the Department of Journalism and Communication. I supervise students who pull together the newspaper and the yearbook and for the most part I love what I do. It is rewarding to work with young people at such an important time in their lives.

Our dog Simon, the shetland sheep dog (sheltie), gets to stay home with Will each day.

Here is my thread for the 2010 challenge group:
http://www.librarything.com/talktopic.php?topic=79072

Cripes I've just realised that I'm actually the baby of this group!
I'm Rachel, I'm 19 and currently studying French & Spanish at Aberystwyth University (It's in Wales if you don't know).
I think I am actually addicted to reading as I will happily neglect rather important things like food and sleep to devour books and so far this year I've racked up just shy of 150 books which is why I've moved to this group for 2010.
I mostly read Young Adult fiction, Fantasy and Historical Fiction although I am trying to read more classics and I will make a concerted effort next year to get through what I already own.
My parents don't understand my LibraryThing addiction in the slightest but I have very recently converted my boyfriend and he now has his own account! With him being an English Student with very hefty reading lists he's come to realise how wonderful this place could be for him.
I can't wait for next year and the books it'll bring :)

I'm Abigail, 27, and I work for a government library in the archives. We also put together exhibits at the institution where I work and select and arrange for artwork to be hung. I don't have an MLS yet, but would like to eventually get one.

I have a roommate who has an very cute medium black dog. Besides reading, I am most interested in travel, walking, and sports (specifically hockey). I've read the most this year since I've been keeping track, and hope to improve upon that next year. I might be interested in a group read of prize nominated works. I would like to reach 75 next year, and all the great books heard about on here will definitely help with that goal!

I'm Marcia, and I'm 24. I'm currently in a "state of transition" in my life, trying to decide what I want to do. I was sick for 6+ years, finally had a life-changing surgery in 2008, and am now trying to get back into living a "normal" life. I will probably go back to school and complete my undergraduate degree eventually, and see where it goes from there. I live in upstate NY (Binghamton, if anyone knows where it is) with my mom and my small, feisty dog.

Besides reading, I also enjoy knitting, I'm addicted to soap operas (especially General Hospital), and I'm fairly active in local politics.

I read just about anything, especially fantasy, mystery, YA, with some nonfiction, literary fiction, and romance. I think in 2010 I will aim to read more nonfiction and poetry.

My 2010 Thread!

I'm Laura, 21. I'm about to enter into my last semester of my senior year of college. I'm a political science major with a minor in public administration. I plan to go to graduate school to get my PhD in American political behavior in a year- but honestly, I'm avoiding the GREs because they are just too much!!

I work in a library currently, while I attend school. Other than reading, I love to travel, play tennis, and scrapbook. I worked in England last year- and I still have an obsession with London. I wish I were going back soon. . .

I read anything I can get my hands on, but currently I've been into memoirs.

Hi, I'm Cait, and I'm 23. I joined LT on January 1, 2009, and mostly hang out in the 75ers group. I am a high school English teacher living in Southern Ontario, Canada, and so my reading over the year will be sporadic - heavy in the summer months when I am off work, and non-existent during report card times :)

I love to read Canadian Literature, contemporary novels, and the odd classic. My non-fiction reads are few and far between, though I do have a couple lined up for 2010. I'm also doing the 1010 Challenge, so my reading will mostly fall into my 10 categories. I always plan out my reading, and always fail to follow the plan, so if I complete the 1010, I will be shocked! Still, it is fun trying!

Welcome to all the new members, and welcome back to the old hats - it is great to be back :)

My thread can be found here: http://www.librarything.com/topic/79047

Hi everyone! I'm Terri - I live in Portland, Oregon, which is a great place if you love books and coffee, which I do! (Also, rain.)

First, a question: if I read the posts in this group, does it count as a book or two??? Wow, that's a lot of posts!!!

I'm 59, retired for the last 13 months (love it!!!!!!!!!!), would be married to my partner Laurie if it were legal. We have a spunky 7 month old puppy, Liza Jane - 1/2 doxie and 1/2 chihuahua - who has stolen my heart.

I love to read contemporary fiction, especially good women writers (Rose Tremain, Louise Erdrich, Barbara Kingsolver, Isabelle Allende, Chimamanda Adichie); historical fiction; some classics. I used to read a lot more nonfiction than I do now. I'm also falling in love with graphic novels and memoirs.

My other interests are photography (photo blog) and music - I'm a singer/songwriter/guitarist and also sing with a 100 voice women's peace choir.

This looks like an exciting group! Looking forward to sharing book thoughts with you all.

Link to my challenge thread.

Oh what a good idea, it's fun to get a little bio of the people I see around the 75er group.

I'm Ashley, a 25-year-old semi-employed new lawyer whose working on being fully-employed. I've decided that the silver lining of the current economic climate that leaves a lot of new lawyers on my boat is that I have a lot more time to read than I would if I had that holy grail Big Law Associate job, and so I intend to enjoy the time while I've got it (it beats whining at any rate). I live in the midwestern US, and aside from reading I like tennis and watching more TV than is good for me (I know, Roald Dahl would be so ashamed).

My thread for 2010 is here: http://www.librarything.com/topic/79217

Hello all, I'm Laura, and since I'll be 48 in February, we'll just round up for now. I work in IT and have been with the same company since graduating from college. I have been married to Chris for 26 years and we have two wonderful daughters, ages 14 & 17. The oldest is an avid reader with aspirations to become a writer. The youngest is equally delightful, just more crazy about her guitar than about books. I live in Chester County, Pennsylvania, right about where Pennsyvlania, Maryland, and Delaware intersect (and about an hour from both Philadelphia & Baltimore). We have more pets than we need -- 2 labrador retrievers and 3 cats -- but love them all. I am also a bird geek and have been known to get excited about spotting a hawk or heron on our property. I also volunteer at a bird rescue & rehab center. However, reading is my main hobby and I have so enjoyed the LT community. It has significantly diversified my reading and also led to some lasting friendships, some of which are closer than with people I see every day!

Looking forward to reading with all of you in 2010. Here's my 2010 75 Books thread.

And here's my blog

Hi Everyone,I'm Susie a librarian(without a degree-got my job for my love of reading) in North Dakota love to read pretty much anything but romance.
Along with the 75 Book Challenge I also decided to do the 1010 challenge this year I figured if I don't hit 100 I'll at least hit 75 books for the year.I am looking forward to getting to know you all better through out the year.Good Reading Everyone!

Hello, I'm Sherlyn. I live in a rural area of the South and work as a psychologist, primarily in a school system doing assessment and counseling. I'm a member of a regional crisis team and provide trainings on crisis intervention and also child maltreatment.

My favorite types of books in fiction include mystery/suspense and stories about families. I also enjoy a lot of nonfiction such as WWII/Holocaust, disasters, and biographies. I am an avid theatre buff and read plays as well. When I'm not reading, I'm attending the theatre or going to some performance of my 18 year-old "triple-threat" daughter, who is also a reader. Housework gets ignored. I do take care of my two spoiled doggies.

Hello, everyone!
I am almost 48 and married with two girls in college. I live in Tulsa, OK, which I love, and my girls both attend college in Texas, which I also love. I enjoy reading classics, spy novels, historical fiction and history, although I read more slowly with the history. I am reading more SFF these days because my girls both love it. When not reading, I love watching football on tv -- especially my beloved Longhorns. I also like to watch tennis and The College World Series and action movies. I have a sweet, sweet Golden Retriever. She and I are on a diet. Hers is diet kibbles and diet doggie treats. Mine is the no processed food diet, which is unbelievably hard. I am turning into Suzy Homemaker these days. I still have to have coffee -- couldn't give that up! -- but I did give up the sodas. I can't wait to see what everyone is reading!
--BJ

Hi everyone, I'm Kerry. I live in Auckland, New Zealand, with 4 of my 5 children, my husband, 2 cats (Mitzi, Reggae) and a beagle (Ginny). My oldest girl is now living in London, and my oldest son is graduating with a Jazz Performing Arts degree. My other three (2 boys and a girl) are in their teens. In 2009 I had a year off from my voluntary commitments after several years on committees promoting children's literature and doing admin work. I'm now feeling refreshed and ready to go again come the New Year. I have qualifications in education and biochemistry and for many years I owned a wholesale travel company with my husband.
I love reading and try to read or reread a few classics each year. My husband is from Israel and so I like to read fiction and nonfiction based on the Middle East. My LT name 'avatiakh' means watermelon in Hebrew, I just like how it sounds. I read quite a lot of children and YA literature as I review books for themed booklists throughout the year. I read anything and everything and I set goals but mostly of the 'read more of what I own / buy less / borrow less books' variety.

My 75 book challenge thread is here: http://www.librarything.com/topic/79010

Hi! I'm Lynda, 48, I live in the Cleveland, Ohio area (go Cavs!) with my husband of 16 years and son of 10 years plus our two cats Mittens and Peanut. I was employed by a municipal government for 30 years until I retired in June '09. Thought it would give me hours and hours of leisure time to read but that just did not happen. Home renovations, travel and just stuff keep me very busy. It's amazing how quickly the days pass. I am concentrating on chipping away at my TBR's this year which consists of basically a little bit of everything but mainly contempory fiction and some classics. With so many wonderful recommendations from LTer's I look forward to adding to my Wish List in 2010 with many more fascinating reads.

ETA: If you'd like to follow/star my little ole thread click here .

Hello, hello... I'm Faith, 27 in January, married since May '08 to a man with more patience for my quirks than I deserve! I put my Near Eastern Archaeology & Classical Studies degree to good use (not really) by becoming a freelance writer & aspiring author (my first short story was purchased by Emerald Tales and releases next Monday! very excited about that... :D ), and also a dance instructor for both bellydance & Bollywood classes.

I dance in several bellydance troupes, so when I'm not reading or writing, I'm dancing or playing video games (ahh, RPGs, how I love you). Or watching sci-fi... I'm also "mom" to a sun conure parrot who just turned 3, and a very badly behaved cat who is going on 2.

I'll read just about anything, which I definitely couldn't say before joining the 75 Challenge last year! My horizons have been expanded exponentially, though I'll almost always choose a fantasy novel (adult, children's, or YA) or one of its subsets over anything else. I read a lot of ER/ARC books as well, which I review over on my blog, Literary Coldcuts on Toasty Buns. :)

Hi - I'm Ellie, I'm 22 and I live in the beautiful Derbyshire countryside, smack bang in the middle of England. I left uni early thanks to health problems, but now things are much better and in July Mum and I opened a second-hand bookshop called Book End, in a little town with a river running through it, populated by more ducks and Canada geese than people. Mum is currently attempting to make my shop-life complete by setting me up with the postman.

I live in a little granny flat that makes up part of our family home, and we have a cat called Pippa, hens, a duck called Daisy and a rescue goose called Sid. My sister Hannah is 19 and away at Liverpool uni. I've been an eclectic reader all my life and am hopelessly addicted to buying books. I'm looking forward to moving house with my family soon and creating my new living quarters with as many bookshelves as I can cram in! When I'm not reading I'm currently addicted to Charmed and Heroes on DVD.

I've moved across from the 50-Book group because I can read so much more now that the shop is open. I'm also doing the 1010 challenge, but I'm cheating and trying 5 books per category to start with, to leave a little room for other reading. I can't wait to get started and get to know a whole new bunch of LT-ers over here as well as catching up with old friends!

My 2010 thread:
http://www.librarything.com/topic/79224

very good

very goog

hi Bryony 26 live in England, Kent town only 45 minuets from London with mum, dad(still at home I know I know...), internet hogging Brother(23), overworked Sister(24) and the two cats. Have a BA in dance and hope soon to start my teacher training, currently work as checkout girl for a large supermarket chain.

I like reading, dancing, talking, eating good food, watching to much tv, writing and surfing the net. I read mostly Fatasy and Graphic Novels, but I'm open to reading most other books, I once read a medical book about the working of eyes from front to back for my BA....

looking forward to this year might join 1010 but might leave that till Feb! intrested to see what everyone reads!

xx

I'm not new to LT, but this will be the first year I've participated in the Reading Challenge. Looking forward to it.

What can I say about myself? I'm forty-something, married to an engineer, and we live in Georgia (USA). I work full-time (though I would dearly love to go part-time if I could swing it), and we have two girls in 1st and 4th grade. That pretty much keeps me busy when I don't have my nose in a book. My reading is mood-driven and unpredictable. I follow my moods, but dip in and out of most genres. I've run out of book shelf space and now need to bug my dear husband to build me more (or take the plunge and buy an eReader, not sure which will happen first!).

Edited to add link:
My 75 Book Challenge for 2010

though I won't start populating it until we're well within the month of January.

I'm Susan, 43 years old, married with 2 girls, 13 and 11, living in Toronto, Ontario. My older daughter also is an avid reader and logs all her books on my LT account. I'm another person moving up from the 50 book challenge, as my numbers have definitely increased since joining LT in Oct 2007. I might have to quit my part time job just to tackle my ever growing tbr pile. I do try to knit every now and then, and love to cook (and eat!), I ski in the winter and read by the pool in the summer :)

I love all types of fiction, mystery and thanks to my daughter I have a growing appreciation for YA books. I am also trying to read more of the classics I avoided all through school.

I'm looking forward to joining this very friendly group and adding even more recommended books to my list.

Hello all, I'm Bonnie. I live in ski country south of Buffalo, NY where you can throw any kind of weather at us and we thrive. I'm 62 and an elementary school principal closing in on retirement; this June is a distinct possibility. My husband of 38 years is a retired homebuilder/custom furniture builder. We have two adult children. Our son is a mechanical engineer living with his wife in Raleigh, NC and our daughter works in the School of Pharmacy at the University of Buffalo where she is a student advisor. No grandchildren for us yet because these two love their careers. Besides reading and loving LT and the many wonderful friends I've made here, I enjoy painting (watercolor and oil) and drawing and collecting antiques.

I look forward to 2010 and reading with all of you.

My thread can be found here:

2010 75-Books thread

I'm Linda, 58 today, and I've been on LT since December of 2005. This will be my third year in the 75 book challenge. Some of the new people will certainly confuse me with one of the other Linda's in the group, most likely No. 12 above, as we not only share a name, but a dog. Well, a breed of dog, anyway. *waves at Whisper*. My sheltie's name is Callie, and she's a furry blessing in my life. I have one adult daughter, lycomayflower, who will probably drop in here eventually and tell you all about herself. We are a family of English majors; my husband and I met at a small liberal arts college in central PA a little over 40 years ago, and our daughter chose to do her undergraduate studies there as well. I am a paralegal with a medium sized general practice firm in Scranton, PA. I always have too many books waiting, and too little time to read. I keep resolving to read what I own and stop bringing more books into the house, but I've shown very little talent for that so far. Besides reading, I love walking in good weather, cooking, eating, bowling and a good road trip with book stores and antique shops. My reading tastes have definitely broadened since joining LT in general and this group in particular. I can't imagine life without it.
My 2010 thread is here

I've just joined today. I just discovered this group and I'm really excited about it. Although I read regularly, I've never actually counted how many books I read in a year. How could I have neglected that! So I thought I'd start 2010 right! I am 65 (wow, I hate to say that), married for 40 years and widowed for 5. I have two children and two grandchildren who live in Portland so when I'm not reading, I'm on the freeway. Still working, I'm an administrator at the University of Oregon, and looking forward to even more reading when I retire.

Hi, I'm Richard. I'm fat, fifty, comfortable, and a househusband to The Divine Miss, my...whatever-she-is, wife? partner? there really isn't a word. I care for her 91-year-old Auntie, comfy house, and our Jindo dog, Stella, and I also write books in my copious spare time. One is supposedly forthcoming in 2010...stay tuned.

I joined LT in 2006 to find groups just like this one, where we can exchange news, views, gossip, triumph and tragedy. It's the best thing ever, connecting with people over books.

I read every genre, though some more than others. I don't enjoy manga or graphic novels as a rule, though Fruits Basket was a wonderful tale and there is a series of graphic novels featuring New York Mayor Mitchell Hundred that I dote on and buy immediately upopn release. Can't come up with the name just now...maybe I need Auntie's Exelon patches....

ETA: Here is a link to my 75-Books thread for them as would like to follow along.

Happy Birthday Linda!

We share the same name, the same breed of dog and almost the same age. I turned 57 in Sept.

Welcome to all our new members!

Hi folks. I'm Caty, I'm 31 and I live in sunny(ish) Devon. I have so far failed to make my mother happy by marrying a nice young man and providing her with grandchildren, but at least I have more time for reading.

I've just started studying for a master's degree in Church History, I love to write and I volunteer in a charity bookshop where I have to try to remember to sell the stock instead of buying it. Oh, and I'm supposed to be finding a job that pays me real money.

I joined the 2008 75 books challenge late in the year when I'd already read well over the 75 books (I write jobs I've already done on my to-do list, too). I'm going to come in at around 250 books for 2009. There's no way I'll read that much next year, but regardless of how many books I do get through I can't imagine leaving this fantastic group for another one.

Thread here.

ETA link

Hi! I'm Terri, 50-ish, living in the mountains of Southwestern Pennsylvania, USA. I work in the local Public Library. I'm married to a pastor, and help out with his churches. We have a teenage son. I like to read, bowl, watch TV. We're a family of sports nuts -- we all love to watch NASCAR, NFL, MLB, NCAA, etc.

My reading tastes have broadened quite a bit since joining LT. I'm doing this challenge again this year, plus the 1010 challenge (but only committing to 5 in each category), and the books off the shelf challenge.

I like to travel, and on our family vacations I try to find books of regional folklore, especially of the spooky variety. I've accumulated a rather nice collection of them!

My 75 Challenge thread for 2010 is here:
http://www.librarything.com/topic/78980

Hi! I'm Patrick, 39 (yes, actually 39), married to my high school sweetheart and living in the western suburbs of Chicago with our 10 year old daughter Amelia and our 6 year old schnauzer, Mr. Peabody (which kind of proves my age right there - he has a stuffed toy we call "his boy Sherman" for those who get the reference).

I am a sales manager for a major publisher of unabridged audiobooks, so even though I am a workaholic, my work often involves reading/listening to books from my company, so I get a lot done.

My reading tastes are very eclectic - and I tend to avoid what the popular press would put in their "best seller categories". Give me a dusty corner of a book store and I'll find my newest favorite. In general my tastes run to non-fiction with a healthy interest in historical fiction. Even when work related, I read to relax and for enjoyment, so I tend to steer clear of the really heady stuff and don't get too hung up on whether the "details" of historical fiction are historically accurate.

LT is my latest obsession, and I just love discovering books for my wishlist. I joined the 50 Book Challenge this year - and even though I didn't start until July, I am now at the 52 book mark, so this next hurdle was a logical move.

Can't wait to see everyone's posts.

2010 Link: http://www.librarything.com/topic/79091

Hi, I'm Missy. I'm 33 and live on Maryland's Eastern Shore. 2010 will be my second 75 Books Challenge -- still trying to meet the goal for 2009.

I just opened a genealogy and historical research business (I call myself a personal archivist). I also work full time doing PR for the engineering school at the University of Maryland, College Park -- and yes, for those familiar with Maryland geography, I make that drive five days a week. I wish I could have a pet, but my work/commuting schedule doesn't allow for it right now.

I'm also participating in the 1010 challenge. I love historical fiction, mysteries, books about food, nonfiction history (duh) and have developed an obsession with vampire series of late.

Looking forward to getting to know you all better in 2010!

>41 pbadeer: - oh yes, firing up the WABAC Machine!!!

Wow--It's so much fun reading about everyone, new and old!

I'm Deborah. Married 39 years to a (gasp!) nonreader. Currently living in the Seattle area, via New Orleans and Aruba, where I was born and raised and which is the home of my heart. I've practiced law since 1974, but am looking forward to retirement, so I can pursue my passion--fiber art. Unfortunately, the University of Washington, where my two youngest children attend, insists on tuition payments, so retirement will be deferred until the youngest (sophomore) graduates. Of my three other children, 2 are married, my oldest son (an accountant in NYC) and my oldest daughter (in her final year of a pediatric residency in Richmond, Va.). My middle son books shows for a Seattle concert venue, and plays in a rock band.

I've been concentrating my recent reading on classics and on global literature.

Hello, I'm Jennifer. I am 34 and live and work in Washington, D.C. I work in communications. Though politics is interesting, I definately do not have the same enthusiasm for it as most folks in the District.

I have a B.A. in theatre. I did do that for a few years before I decided I needed to eat and have health insurance.

I live with my partner Andy. He is wonderful. We have been together for six years. I want a pet but the landlord said, "NO!" Can you believe it?

I have a lot of books, but I am getting pretty good at getting rid of the ones I don't really "need." I like a wide variety of genres but I tend to read historical fiction and classic lit. I like a story with adventure and mystery. The only thing I don't really like is WWII. I don't know why. I just avoid the subject like the plague.

Besides reading, I like travel, photograph, watch too much tv and movies. If I did not have Andy I would do nothing but go to work and read. He makes me pay attention to him and leave the house once in a while.

My 2010 thread: http://www.librarything.com/topic/79285

Happy reading everyone.

Hi, everyone,
I'm Chèli, I'm 55, an accountant retired for 4 years and have been
married to the most wonderful man I know for the last 35 years. Here is my thread. and here is a link to my book blog Cheli's Shelves.

I have always loved to read and when my sister (tututhefirst) introduced me to LT last year for the 999 challenge, well, let's just say it was one of the greatest gifts she ever gave me. I have been exposed to books I never would have picked off a shelf, let alone read if it hadn't been for the wonderful people here and the discussions that we have had. It is no surprise that I made LT my home page, because there is never a day that I don't come home to LT.

My other hobbies include needlework, my Christmas village, bridge, mahJongg, and golf (I don't play well but enjoy the ladies that I play with.) I like to travel visiting family members and new places for my husband to play golf.

This year I became an adopted grandmother (I was adopted by the kids to be the Italian Nonna for little Jackson who was born on February 20th.) Now the other kids are telling me that when their little ones come, I have to be Nonna for them too.

In 2010, I'm hoping to complete my reading room. I have a small bedroom that I am converting to a sanctuary for me with bookshelves, a recliner, desk, and hopefully, a daybed where I can disappear and read to my heart's content. Keep your fingers crossed for me!

Hello...I'm Tina, sister to Cheli (cyderry). I'm 64, semi=retired. I've been a Naval Officer during Vietnam, a volunteer administrator for 30+ years, a full-time Navy partner to hubbie as we moved 19 times in 26 years and lived all over the world, and now I'm a volunteer librarian, using the MLS I got years ago.

We have two children- our daughter is an information security attorney in DC, and our son is a satellite electronics tech in Northern VA. Both are married to incredibly wonderful partners. I also have the most wonderfulest 9 year old granddaughter --alas living in Virginia, and two big cats.

After our peripetic life, we finally settled down to live on the central coast of Maine, enjoying our 'relax' time (hubbie has retired now from 3 careers and is writing suspense thrillers---his agent has given us hope for publication some time this year). We have a personal library of over 4000 books (someday I'll get them all cataloged in LT) and now I'm finally serving as the 'tech goddess' at the local town library.

This is my 2nd year on the 75 challenge (I've read over 165 books this year) and in addition to this challenge and the 1010, I have a book blog Tutu's Two Cents where I post reviews, ramble about life in Maine, and have contests for free books at least once a month. When I'm not reading or blogging, I sing in the choir, do needlework and enjoy the gorgeous Maine scenery. This looks like it's going to be a great group.

As requested in msg #98--edited to add link to challenge thread here

My turn. I'm Sandy, not 50 yet, self-employed part-time accountant. Married 29 years on Sunday, 4 children (3 in college - ouch - and a high schooler). Native Kansan, currently living on the Missouri side of Kansas City. Life-long reader, like my mom. She used to forbid me to read more than one book per day - said I needed to go outside and play. I still feel twinges of guilt whenever I pick up a new book just after finishing another one. The same twinge I get from having a cookie before dinner. I do both of them anyway.

I like lots of things, but avoid horror, anything with vampires or werewolves, most science fiction/fantasy, and military history. I read a lot of mysteries and thrillers. I'm also fond of history non-fiction and popular science. I don't read classic literature or award winners just because they are, but I'll happily read them if they're good stories. Not crazy about biographies, but I try to read several each year. Sometimes nothing beats a good trashy romance.

This will be my 2nd year in the 75 book group, which quickly became my home base at LT last year. A great bunch of people - reading an amazing variety of books - and always happy to share an opinion or make a recommendation. Glad to be back - looking forward to another great year.

edit to add:
My thread: http://www.librarything.com/topic/78979

Hi! I'm Katie, and I'm pretty new to LibraryThing, but I thought I'd jump right in with this ambitious project. I'm 19, and a student in English and Film at Northwestern, living between Evanston and Memphis. I spend most of my time reading, writing, and watching things for school but I really want to squeeze in more non-assigned books this coming year. I like most books I finish, but I particularly like short stories, anything written in or about the 1920s, intelligent horror, and long novels from the 1800s, especially if they involve orphans. Other hobbies include biking, writing, cooking, eating, board games, deejaying, and watching and making television and movies. Very excited to get started with a book-filled year!

Hallo!

I'm Fliss, and am mildly addicted to LT and the 75 book challenge, so I'm back again for the 3rd year, even though the "75" part of 75 book challenge is fairly irrelevant to me - this is a great group!

I work in Diabetes/Obesity research, which I enjoy most of the time, but would much rather spend my life travelling all over the place, reading and/or going to gigs. Maybe when I win the lottery... Despite this, I have come back to live in the town in which I grew up (Cambridge, UK), which I love, even if it does feel a tad small-town sometimes. This last year, I've been given part of an allotment and am vaguely keeping track of my not-very-green-fingered progress here.

I try to read fairly broadly, but I admit, I read very little non-fiction outside of work (something I'm trying to rectify a bit) and I tend to escape into children's literature/fantasy when I'm busy/stressed/feeling under the weather.

Here's my thread for 2010

Hi there!

I'm Nancy. This is my second year in the 75 book challenge. I live in Pittsburgh with my partner of 14 years, Jane, and our 4 year old son, Jack. I'll be 43 this January and will celebrate my birthday in Disney.

I joined LT after I had to make space in my house by giving away boxes of books. I cried for two days and then discovered LT where I figured at least I could own a virtual copy of everything I read. Little did I know it would become an addiction and a wonderful community of book-lovers.

I read primarily but not exclusively fiction. I like books with female authors. LT has expanded my book universe a lot. I currently have 314 books tagged lt-inspired. I look forward to increasing that number with this group's 2010 reading.

My 2010 Thread

#42 - What a drive! I earned my BA at Washington College and my MA at UMCP, but I've never had to drive from one to the other. I hope your hours keep you out of most of the bridge traffic!

Hi,

I'm Maryann and this is my second year in the 75 book challenge, too. I haven't reached by goal for 2010 yet but there's still time and I'm not giving up yet!

I live in Westchester County, NY - that big blob of suburbs just above NYC - and work in the city. I travel quite a bit for work. My Amazon Kindle means that my worst travel fear of being stuck in an airport with no bookstore to think of and no book will never come to pass. Also, I have fewer backaches from carting around 5 books at a time.

As big a fan as I am of the Kindle, I still love "real" books. My idea of decorating is more bookshelves. I also love audiobooks - there are some books I'll listen to that I probably wouldn't have the patience to read the old fashioned way. Part of the fun of LibraryThing for me is finding people who own the same obscure books I do.

I read all sorts of things: fiction - mainly mysteries, classics and some literary; non-fiction - history, biography, film, and (my weakness) true crime.

Hi, I'm Kelsy and I've just realized I'm probably the youngest person in this group.. I'm 18, I live in a little bitty town in Alabama. I'm a senior in high school and I just discovered LT about 2 months ago and I'm thouroughly addicted. My teachers are gettin a little ill at me for being on it all the time during school. I've got around 130 books in my library at the moment and I'm constantly adding new ones. I have a problem with buying books. I tend to go to yardsales and thrift stores all the time just to browse through the books because you never know what rare books you'll find. I like reading just about anything with a good story. I'm really exited about this year's challenge. I already joined up with the Books Off the Shelf group and I reckon I'll combine the two. My reading list for this year is getting longer all the time...

I'm David and, like kelsyb, live in Alabama, but not a small town. I've been an LT lifer for a few years and have found it's the easiest way to track my personal library and all the books I've read over the years. My library is somewhere around 3000, but I'll never be able to read them all because for every one I read, I think I buy two more. Library sales, used book stores and special online sales are where I buy the majority of my books.

I'm a big fan of digital readers (I have a Sony as I didn't care for the Kindle), although my preference is still to hold the physical book in my hands. Since I'm running short on shelf space, the eReader is a great thing to have. Plus, the cost of digital books can be significantly less at places like Fictionwise. I think digital books are the wave of the future, but will never replace the real thing.

Audiobooks are not my thing as I can't concentrate on them while doing something else (like work), plus I'm a speed reader and having something read to me just seems awkward.

My favorites genres are horror, epic fantasy and thrillers (techno, espionage, action). I met the 2008 and 2009 challenges by reading 106 books in 2008 and 115 so far this year. This year's total was a surprise since I got off to such a slow start, work became more intense, my kids started school, and I play in one sports league while coaching my kids in another. My free time definitely shrunk from 2008. Reading 75 for 2010 shouldn't be a problem and I'm hoping to crack the 100 mark again.

I'm Jess, 29, and live in Maine. I'm a special education teacher for students on the autism spectrum. My days are never boring, challenging, and rewarding all in one. I recently made the transition from a private school to a public school and have enjoyed the change of pace. I got married in October to a partner who tolerates, if not accelerates my book buying habit. We are in the process of house-hunting and with a larger space, I hope to bring my childhood books out of storage.

This will be my second year in the 75 book challenge - I am still working on War & Peace and will finish soon. I am going to try to make a dent on my TBR pile, but with all of the good reads from this group, I don't think that will happen!

My log:
http://www.librarything.com/topic/80391#1679792

Hi I’m Dee. I’m a 35 year old librarian from the Maritimes (if you’re not familiar with the area it’s the group of provinces on the Atlantic coast of Canada). I discovered LibraryThing about 5 years ago while in library school. It’s really helpful as a list of books I want to read because I can access it wherever there is Internet, much easier than trying to remember to bring an on going list with me.

Last year was the first time that I’ve ever tracked the amount of books I’ve read and, although I’m not as prolific as some, I was pleasantly surprised.

I share my home with my 11 year old kitty, Zoey. In addition to reading I’ve developed an addiction to knitting in the past few years.

Here's my thread for 2010: http://www.librarything.com/topic/79844

Hi, I'm Jen. I skipped the challenge groups/threads last year but I'm hoping to try again this year. Whether or not I actually reach 75 books will depend on whether I finish my Master's thesis in August or December. I'm earning it in political science with an eye towards doing policy analysis for the state of Kansas. I also work 3/4 time at a bookstore, so my TBR grows at about the rate of 3 additions for every one book I finish. Expect to see a lot of histories and mysteries on my list, with the occasional American politics book thrown in from class. I have no pets due to my allergies, but I do have several stuffed cheetahs to keep me company.

Hey everyone - I'm Amber. 34, professor of Classics at a small liberal arts school in the middle of Ohio (US), wife to a physicist for going on 6 years, mom to a Charlie for 15 months so far, knitter, sewing enthusiast, percussionist, avid horror movie fan, and, of course, reader. I'll start my thread probably closer to Jan 1, and if you visit me there, you'll see that I'm a list lover - nearly all my reads come from one list or another (I'll explain it all in my first post, in case you're interested in following my neurotic reading habits). I'm excited about another year of reading - I've been super busy this year at work, so I've not done much more than lurk on other people's threads and the common threads, but hopefully this year I'll have a bit more time to be more active here.
Happy Reading, all!

Hi, everyone! I'm the "Other Bonnie," the "Bonnie Come Lately," and definitely an underachiever compared to you all! Love being in that position though, do it in RL too! All my friends are smart, funny, generous, kind, creative, talented in their fields of work, great parents, and waaay more energetic than I am; so I feel very much at home here. Speaking of which, I grew up in Oregon and have lived in Seattle for 37 years. I'm a literacy specialist and private tutor and have an office in my home, so no commute for me! I was married for 28 years, have been single for 12, and have two handsome, smart boys who are 32 and 23 years old. The oldest is an art director in advertising and lives in NYC; my younger son is a student at University of Oregon. I used to be a lot more creative--and way more active! Your intros are inspiring me. I probably won't go out and run, but I could go out and work in my garden. Oh, wait! There's that pile of books to read...

P.S. Here's the link to my thread: bonniebook's Best of Your Best 2010 Challenge

Hi, I'm Cushla and I own one of the most boring usernames on LT! I joined LT in 2006 and had no idea that I'd want a username that people might remember, or that I'd be addicted within weeks of spending my $25. I'm 38 and from Wellington, New Zealand, but I've lived in Connecticut and New York for about 5 years too, and love the US. I have 2 lovely kids aged 5 and almost 3, and till a few weeks ago I've been lecturing stats and finance at university. Before the kids, I was a grad student in economics, then one of those evil investment bankers about whom you might have read this year, and I managed to read almost nothing for those 10 years or so. It's great to have more time to read now.

I did the 75 Book Challenge this year too and loved it. I'll come in well under 75, but am delighted at the great friends and book recommendations I've made here. I read most things except fantasy and sci fi.

We are moving from New Zealand to Switzerland in 2 weeks, so I expect my 2010 reading to get off to a slow start, although I will have 32 hours in transit! (Before you get too jealous, I'll be spending those 32 hours with our 2 year old ...)

Edited to add that my thread is over here.

My heavens, Cushla. I'm worried about the five hour flight from Pennsylvania to Disney World with my four year old! I hope the behavior gods smile on you for your flight. Nonetheless, Switzerland! How cool.

Cushla, I don't have kids, but if I were you I would ask his pediatrician for something to knock him out. There has to be something. The thought of traveling 32 hours with a 2 year old just sounds absolutely excrutiating to me. May your ability to deal with stress be high on your trip. Good luck!

#63 LOL! Isn't that what what people do when they travel with pets? Get a tranquilizer from the vet to knock them out? I've got 4 kids, so I can certainly see the appeal - I'm just not sure you can get away with it! But, Cushla, I do join the others in wishing you a safe and pleasant journey. (Benadryl is what I used to give my kids when I wanted them to be dozy.)

Hey folks! My name is Jamie and I'm 30 years old (as of Pearl Harbor Day. My birthday lives in infamy). So enjoyable to read about you all and the incredibly varied situations of your lives! I live in the beautiful Midwest again after a three-year stint in Chicago. I do a touch of writing, a smadge of reading, and scrunge of blogging. I'm married to a lovely man named John who acts professionally and collects toys.

I go by "Mrs. Hall" on my blog, http://booksandwich.blogspot.com , and as "universehall" on Twitter.

I'll sign off now and go back to reading about YOU now! -- Mrs. Hall

Hello All. My name is Steven, and I am 35 years old. I live in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada with my wife and 2 young daughters. I am an avid reader, currently reading a lot of Sci-fi and Fantasy, but I delve into just about anything. I am looking forward to seeing what everyone is reading in the coming year, and looking forward to getting some great recommendations on what I should read as well. Best of luck, and see you at the finish line.

Heres my link = http://www.librarything.com/topic/79542

>65 universehall:: I live in the beautiful Midwest again after a three-year stint in Chicago.
I thought Chicago was part of the beautiful Midwest?!
(This from someone who lives in the East now, but grew up in Ohio / Indiana ...)

Hey peoples. My name is Cameron, and I've been around for 26 years. I'm currently living in Austin, Texas, after a little over 5 months in Ecuador. I had trouble finding books down there, so I've saved up a bit of reading energy which I hope won't ever go away. I am a teacher of adult literacy, though I might be making a change to kindergarten this fall. Those five year olds will be the biggest hurdle in the book challenge.

I love reading fiction, but I also read a lot about pedagogy. Paulo Freire is my educational guru, and I plan on tackling his entire library in 2010. I'll probably knock out some children's lit as well as recycle a healthy amount of Vonnegut this year, as is the tradition.

Buena suerte.

I have a bunch of friends from Ohio and we have this argument all the time. I and many (all) of those that I grew up with in St. Louis believe that if you are in the midwest you must live West of the Mississippi. Though I have found out mre recently that originally Ohio, Indiana and other states in that area were called the midwest because the West was the Mississippi. In my mind you cannot be West at all if you are not West of the Mississippi because St. Louis is the Gateway to the West. It is a big arguement here in DC where there are so many people from other places. I have even known people from Wyoming who think they are from the Midwest! Crazy!

>67 lauralkeet:: Well, it depends on where you're from. If you're from Chicagoland, you consider Chicago part of the Midwest.

Whereas, if you're from Missouri, you consider Missouri the Midwest, and Chicago (and everything else above Missouri) part of the "North" (stated in the depreciating tone that Southerners reserve for anything Northern).

In short, my separation of Chicago from the Midwest has nothing to do with actual, legitimate region terms! ;) -- Mrs. Hall

A reply from the real West (tee-hee!). Well, actually, the Northwest. Anyway, we out here think it's ridiculous from a geographical standpoint to call Chicago part of the Midwest--it's East to us--although we can understand the historical origins to this misconception. ;-)

LOL... as for me, Chicago (Wisconsin, Minnesota, Missouri.. heck, even the Dakotas, Iowa, Kansas and Nebraska) ranks in the Mid-west. (I'm from, and still live in, Northern Central Indiana.. though, now I think I live in Southern Michiana. Ohio, to me, verges on being "Eastern".

It's all relative :-D

My place of employment continues to move around which states belong in which regions, so from year-to-year, it's anyone's guess as to which state will fall in North Central, Midwest and Mid-America. Drives me batty!

Here's something to chew on: Years ago, when we first subscribed to the Wall Street Journal, we were sent the Mid-west edition. We thought that was pretty interesting since we live south of.....Buffalo. Mid-west? Really?

Hello to all! My name is Dawn and I live in Lexington, KY and work in the horse industry there. I'm 28 and I've been an avid reader of anything I could get my hands on for as long as I can remember! I enjoyed the 75-books group in 2009 and can't wait for the new year to begin and for all of the interesting books that will no doubt be in it. I've read over 150 books in 2009 but my reading may be hampered this coming year because I'm getting married!

>75 DFED: Yeah, Dawn that might cut down on your reading, though I recall seeing a photo of someone (*coughJencough*) in her wedding dress, before the wedding, reading. That's devotion!

hi all

How nice to have a thread so I can look up everyone!

I am Anita Meulstee (46) from the Netherlands, married with Frank since 25 years, a month and 5 days today ;-)
We have two smooth Chow Chows: Chimay and her daughter Eoos, more about them on our website.
Besides reading, collecting books and the dogs, I like gardening.

This will be my third year in the 75 group, I am so glad I found you all here!
my 2010 thread

Well, I didn't realize I was stirring up such a discussion when I asked about the midwest! That was fun !

Hi, I'm Beth - I've never tracked how many books I read in a year, this should be interesting. My TRB pile is close to 200, so even without new books I've got plenty of material to work with. I'm in Iowa, with 2 great kids, a great nearly-son-in-law, and a wonderful boyfriend. I answer phones for a living for an insurance company's claim department. For fun I read, sew, quilt, costume (medievally), and let my son ridicule my abillities at video games.

My thread is at http://www.librarything.com/topic/79991

Hello I'm calm (well not always but I am working on it). I'm in my 40's and share my life with 2 cats (who remind me to take my nose out of a book and pet or feed them!). I live close enough to a small University town in west Wales to reap the benefits (good turnover of second hand books mainly) but far enough away to enjoy country living.

I found LT earlier this year; followed a few people's threads and finally started my own 75 book challenge thread when I completed the 50 book challenge!

At the moment I am also taking part in the Alphabet challenge and have found a unique librarything book for my Z title read. (I'll get to that next year). I have also signed up to the 1010 challenge (stepped version). So I'll be cross posting in a couple of places but everything I read will be listed in this group.

Main interests - speculative fiction; historical fiction; generally cultural/social history.

ETA
link to calm counting - 75 in 2010

Howdy! Steph here and after doing a 999 challenge this year where I've already clocked 46 "bonus tracks" due to a small library problem and an even bigger problem with "library roulette*" and a general ADD-ish nature with books, I think it's best I go less structured.

My day job is business analysis, and I swear it is a good time. You never know what people and data will reveal and while it doesn't happen every day, the little surprises in data combined with interesting conversations do lead to fantastic ideas. I'm always trying to show people that data tells great stories with my poster of the Salyut 6 Cyclogram that I have up by my desk.

Anyway - I'm aiming to do 1 normal 75 Book Challenge in 2010 where I'll likely finish off the 999 books I left behind for so many "bonus tracks." I am toying with a second one dedicated to Graphic Novels...but we'll see.

*Library Roulette: A dangerous game where one stalks their library books online hoping to renew before the books are due in order to get an extra 3 weeks before you actually have to read the book. Sometimes you win, sometimes you find yourself desperately trying to read the book before you have to pay the fine and losing this fool's game!

ETA - the links:

2010 75 Books Conventional Challenge Thread:
http://www.librarything.com/topic/79602

2010 75 Book Graphic Novel Thread:
http://www.librarything.com/topic/79603

Hello! I'm Amy. I live in Iowa with my husband and two sons. This is my third year in the 75 Books Challenge. I love all of the great recommendations and interesting conversation that I find here. I've read just over 100 books this year - the most that I've ever read (at least since I started tracking). My reading has gotten more diverse since I joined LT. I still read mostly fiction with some non-fiction (work-related, history/biography, memoir, etc.) thrown in. But I've also gotten hooked on several mystery series (Donna Leon, Louis Penny, Elizabeth Peters), a few YA books, and even a little science fiction based on your recs.

My goals this year are to read more non-fiction and classics. I'm also going to try to read more books off my shelf. We'll see how that goes! And I'm always looking for recommendations that I can read aloud to my two sons (ages almost 6 and almost 9 - they insist I say that. As for me, I'm holding onto 37 as long as possible.)

Outside of LT, I'm a professor at the University of Iowa - I teach classes in leadership and innovation. I also spend a lot of time watching my kids play the sport of the season (soccer, basketball, baseball), teaching Sunday School, and serving on the local library board. (We're trying to come up with a slogan and logo for our small town library, if anyone has any ideas.)

I'm so glad to see so many familiar "faces" and so many new friends. I can't wait to see what you'll read in 2010!

I'm Caroline, although I respond to Carol, Carolyn, Cass, and Cameling ... the last being a nickname I earned in school because I drink alot of water. Currently residing for the most part in Bedford, Massachusetts with my husband who's a reader of all books business leaning. I'm 43, work in a software company and travel quite a fair bit.. although mostly for work and not leisure.

I LOVE LT and I've met some truly wonderful people here who share my passion for all things books, food and lunatic humor.

And here is my thread:
http://www.librarything.com/topic/78973

Hello Peeps:
I am Charlotte and I am an ump-teenth generation Old Yankee living in SE Massachusetts. I’m 56 (gag!) and I live with a wonderful, quite hairy fellow of about (hold still you little bugger!) 11 inches at the shoulder – Willie by name – who hates all other animals, but tolerates me. (I think.) I work in a real estate law office where, I am happy to say, things are better – better than 2008 anyway. Thanks to a brief period of being laid off, I managed, in 2009, to top the 100 mark in books read. That won’t happen again anytime soon. When not reading, I am working, writing or bowling (or watching a little reality TV – it’s a sickness). Love the bowling. Our league’s season just ended and I am champing at the bit for the holidays to be over so we can get back to it. I was on the fence a little bit about re-joining the 75 book challenge, mostly because the sheer size of membership made me feel a little bit lost – there was no way to keep up on the threads. This time, after one week, I am happy to say that I’ve read everything here. Historical Fiction is my preferred genre, but I happily read almost anything else. Can we get started now?

Hey everyone I’m Jess and I’m 19- 20 in January. I’m formally from the 50 book challenge and am cranking it up in 2010 seems as I read over 75 books this year. I read a large variety of books, historical fiction, romance, fantasy and young adult are probably my favourite genres though, and I think all of my books contain some romance I guess I love a good romantic story but not chick lit. I’ll read a little chick lit from time to time for an easy read but I have to really be in the mood. In 2010 I want try and get some more classics read and shift some books off my TBR pile. I’m looking forward to this challenge and to what books 2010 will bring, happy reading till then!

Wait for me!

Christine, 53, happily married for 32 years to a sometimes-reader (mostly history), two sons with Asperger's Syndrome (our biggest challenge), two cats, a dog, and a mouse. I read mostly fiction, mostly from the past, but sprinkle in some new fiction, film history and bios, plays, and whatever strikes me at the moment. When not reading, I watch classic movies and knit.

We have lived in Missouri for five years and certainly thought we were in the mid-west!

eta: A link to my 2010 thread. Links to previous years are on my profile page.

Hello everyone, I'm Angela, and this is my 3rd year in the 75 book challenge group - I love it!
I'm 30 and married for nearly 6 years to a non-reader. But he's wonderful in spite of that. :) I work for a drafting company and I do volunteer work. We have a white maltese dog named Barkley who calls us Mommy and Daddy.

This past year has been the most 'interesting' year of my life - Mike and I got 'hit' while we were down, with broken bones, layoffs and car accidents. But reading has been a constant that has kept me going and provided comfort, distraction, and perspective (it could be worse - look what happened to THESE people, lol...) We made it, and we're fine. I'm looking forward to 2010.

I don't have too many hobbies other than reading because I keep a very busy schedule. Sometimes I cross stitch. I don't enjoy TV very much but I do watch it with my hubby from time to time. My favorite reading topics are cozy mysteries, classics, and non fiction such as travel memoirs and simple living books.

Hi! I'm Jasmine, 28, and I'm a first-timer to the 75 book challenge...but I'm aiming big :). My goal
is to read 75 books for me, and 75 to my daughter Willow (granted, she's only 9 months, so her books tend to go a little faster!). I live in Georgia with a random assortment of animals and a non-reading husband who just rolls his eyes when Willow and I come home from the library with multiple bags full to bursting. What can I say, I'm starting the girl off right, hee.

I'd like to try to focus on Abecedariuses (abecedariusii?!? Who knows.) for Willow, and actually finishing more DIY gardening books and cookbooks for myself, as well as re-reading some things that have been languishing on my shelf for too many years. Also: no book purchases this year. Nada. Zero. Zilch. Library, here we come!

Hi! I'm Shannon. I'm 34 years old and I live in Waxahachie, Texas, just south of Dallas, with my two cats, Peanut & Cashew. I'm a closed captioner for a company in Dallas. This will be my first time to try the 75 Books Challenge, but I am also doing the Presidential Challenge. I tried the 999 Challenge last year, but didn't like having categories of books I needed to choose from. I prefer to just read whatever sounds good at the moment. I read a lot of mysteries, some biographies and memoirs, and some fantasy, and occasionally if something else looks intriguing, I'll read other genres.

This looks like a great group, and I look forward to seeing what all everyone's reading next year.

My thread for the challenge is here.

Hey everyone! I'm Tamara, 21 years old and live in The Netherlands. I'm studying Tourism and hope to finish my study next year.

I've always loved reading and I'm glad to be part of this group again. Last year was the first time I participated and it was great. Really looking forward to reading all those threads by the great people here on LT.

My favorite genre is horror, but I'm not picky. I like to try everything once and it's always great to read about new things.

Hi! I'm Bonita, desperately clinging to my late 30's. I am wife to pbadeer (#41 above) and mother to the real "bookpup", Amelia. This library actually represents my daughter's library, but to meet LT guidelines for children, I'm taking over.

Amelia is an avid reader, and all of the books on LT have been read by her, and anything under "Your Library" is owned by her. Although she has 3 sets of built in bookcases in her bedroom, we have already begun placing books in storage because she doesn't have any space left. We are still trying to get all of her books onto LT to give a full representation of her collection.

Her interests are in the YA realm, but she'll read about anything you put in front of her. She's always read at a higher level than her age, so our challenge is always to find books she'll enjoy, will still challenge her, but won't cover topics inappropriate to her actual age.

She's never tracked the number of books she's read in a year, but we're excited to help her with this challenge. She reads about a book a week (at least) so we'll see what she can do.

Hello everyone, Jasmyn here. I'm just about finished with the last couple of books for last year's challenge. I stumbled onto LT shortly after the new year 2009 and I loved it. Once I found this group I got hooked. I'm going to be tracking page numbers this year as well as books. I'm interested to see what my average book length is. Since joining just last year my library has grown in diversity and so has by TBR list.

I had a goal of reading X books in a year before I found I joined this great site. I don't know if I'll make that goal. I'm three away (49 books), but I'm not a fast reader. I'm also incredibly tired from exams. I am going on a flight, though. So it might happen. We'll see!

I figure given that I'll have read 50+ books this year, 75+ is going to be difficult, but I think I can do it. I figure 100+ would be pushing it, but I'm not going to stop reading if I hit 75 or anything.

Oh, about me. Male, 21, Canadian (Vancouver). Studying Philosophy and Political Science. Enjoy those topics, obviously, as well as fantasy, classic literature, etc. I'm sure I could branch out, but classics, fantasy, politics, and philosophy. I'd never read all of those books in a lifetime.

Hi, all! I'm Suzanne, a relative LT veteran but new to this group. Avid reader since I was 7; now 47 and careening toward my 48th b-day in February. I'm a freelance journalist; writing my own book has really cut into my LT time a lot over the last year (book is now with the copy editor and will be in stores June 15!) but now I'm hoping for a bit more free time to read & relax on top of the usual work. At least until I decide what to do for the next book...

I routinely read a few books a week, and am also doing the 1010 challenge. That will be interesting because I'm pushing beyond the stuff I would usually read and trying to play catch up with some titles I know I should have read (as well as those that people keep telling me I should be reading). I'd say about 2/3 of my reading is fiction (anything except sci-fi, fantasy and romance) and the rest revolves around history, biography, current affairs and what I call the 'who knew?' category -- books about quirky subjects or that fall between genres. I've been reorganizing my books and have a stack of about 50 or 60 older novels that I want to re-read.

If I can't read, I go slightly crazy. Thankfully, working from home helps a lot, as does my Kindle. The cats don't help; they like to jump on top of the piles of books on the floor (which strangely enough, keep growing like stalagmites) and scatter them all over.

OK, now back to the books...

Hi everyone! I loved reading the comments you all made about yourselves. Unfortunately, I didn't take notes and now I don't remember all of what I was going to respond to... though I loved the description of fat and comfortable (or something similar), and like someone else (Deborah?), I'm also married to a non-reader. He doesn't get my obsession with books, but he still let me transform a room in our home into a mini-library with floor to ceiling bookshelves. I love it almost as much as I love him. :)

My name is Amy and I teach 5th grade in the Sacramento area in California. I love reading. As a child, my punishment was to have my books taken away- mom never bothered with threatening losing TV time since I could take it or leave it. Ah, but the books. The threat of having them taken away was enough to keep me in line! Besides reading and my husband, I also love my pets and my new embroidery habit. I'm a little less in love with entering my 30s.

I did the Paranormal 9-9-9 as well as the General 9-9-9 last year. I met each of them before September 9th, but I felt trapped by my reading. I missed reading a book as I found it and became a little obsessed with filling out categories.

Um. Sorry for the mini-biography. I am a little hyped on caffeine.

Great suggestion in Message 98- here's my link:
http://www.librarything.com/topic/79756#1665005

#96 Hey, "mini-biography" is what this introduction thread is about! :) I'm enjoying reading about everyone -- and no, I can't remember all of it, either. :)

Welcome to all who are sharing here!

wouldn't it be great if we all went back and edited these bios to include a link to the challenge thread itself - and cross-ref'd the challenge thread to the bio....that way if someone has similar interests to me, I can go find their thread and star it, and if I see a thread that looks interesting, I can go find out more about the person by clicking right over here to the bio.

>98 tututhefirst: Tina, that's GENIUS! Anyone who wants to know how to make a hyperlink to his or her thread, leave me a private message on my profile WITH YOUR EMAIL and I'll send you my cheat sheet. I can't post it because the site thinks I'm trying to create a hyperlink, and if I mess it up so the site doesn't recognize the info, the amount of explaining to do is not worth the effort.

And no, I will not collect your email addys in my address book, I promise. It's a one-off.

ETA: Duh! This is the link to my 75-Books thread.

Richard...thanks for offering that...I thought about putting in instructions, but figured most people already knew how, and if they need help your offer is just what's needed - one on one.

And thanks for the link to your thread....now be a good boy and go over there and link back to whichever of your messages up above is you (it actually does let you link back to the specific message, as long as you copy link location of the message itself.)

I'm known to old ("old" as in, from the '60s and '70s) friends as Meg, work as a librarian in a 400-student middle school, and have two young'uns on the brink of adulthood. DD ("Twixxy" on BookCrossing) is 23, has a great job as an auditor in Hampton Roads and is getting married in August. DS, "Mascis", is nearly 21 and a junior (but more significantly to him, a skateboarder and bass guitarist) at one of our sprawling state universities. All of us, including my future son-in-law, are avid readers.

I live in a small southern factory town that's losing its B. Dalton Bookseller on January 16. I've been taking advantage of their 40% off everything deals lately -- but the 97 cents I paid for The Book of Three at Goodwill still trumps the $3 The Black Cauldron cost at B.D. (Yes, I'm taking part in The Chronicles of Prydain group read). Looking forward very much to 2010!

#98 Good suggestion - will go and do that now...

#98 - great idea! If anyone wants to find me there are now links both ways (I checked they both work!)

ETA - #80.

Hello! My name is Andrew and I'm even younger than Rachel (message 13), so I feel kind off small... Anyway, I live in Chicago, I'm not just a book fan but a big movie, too. This will be my first book challenge, since I joined just a few days ago (my other account, Reads-A-Lot, I forgot the password to,and didn't write it down, so I made a new account and added a 2 to the name. I know, very creative). I came across this site when my local library recommended it for tracking books, and keeping notes on certain books for school. I never counted how many books I've read in a year, but I'm sure I read around 75 books each year. I'm a fan of Louis Satchar, Lois Lowry, Gary Paulson, Brain Slznick, Frank Baum, and P. Bousch (if you know who I'm talking about, you would know why I didn't type the full first name). I think I should also add my mother is a picture book author, but has not yet have a published book.

#98: Wonderful suggestion, Tina! I have done mine.

I'm Darryl (48 going on 49), and I work as a pediatric hospitalist (inpatient pediatrician) for a large children's hospital in Atlanta. My home page indicates that I've been a member of LT since June 2006, but I only began to actively participate in threads at the end of last year. I'm also active in Club Read, Prizes Reading Globally, and the Author Theme Reads groups, and I'll also participate in next year's Le Salon du Faulkner group. My main interests are world literature, fiction and nonfictional works about medicine and science, African-American and Asian-American literature, books nominated for UK prizes, especially the Booker and Orange prizes, and literature about displaced people or immigrants to the US and Europe. My favorite writers include Jose Saramago, Mario Vargas Llosa, James Baldwin, Haruki Murakami, Ngugi wa Thiong'o, Caryl Phillips, Maxine Hong Kingston and Edwidge Danticat. I'm also a contributing writer to the new online magazine Belletrista, founded by LT member avaland, which celebrates women writers from around the world.

I'm also a huge jazz fan, especially of recordings from the late 1950s to the mid 1960s. I'll occasionally post reviews of jazz albums on my thread, and I have several books about jazz that I'm planning to read next year.

My 2010 75 Books thread, which includes my reading goals, can be found here.

#98 - Great idea. I've added mine.

>107 nancyewhite:: ditto.

Ditto again - message 27...

Hello,

I'm Susan, soon to be 36 (gasp) and a freelance translator (German, English and Swedish). I live in Berlin with my partner, far too many books and plants and a very spoilt cat. We've recently moved to the house my great-grandfather built about a hundred years ago and which we have been converting over the past four years (it's nowhere near ready yet and still lacking essential details such as doors and a kitchen). Most of my books (I'm guesstimating that there are about 4000) are still in boxes and thus not listed here. My partner refers to my books as "those fiber-based media of yours" but I forgave him when he started calling one of the new rooms in the house "the library". I asked whether he thought that this would mean no books in other parts of the house but he says he's been with me too long to harbour any such illusions...

I'm relatively new to LT (checked it out a few years ago but at the time, there was no easy way to add non-English books and so I decided it did not suit my purposes) but was excited to come across this group. I think 75 is about the number of books I read a year (give or take a few) but I would like to give my reading a bit more structure (and read fewer books at a time than I'm doing right now).

My thread is at http://www.librarything.com/topic/80113. Excited to meet you all!

added the link to my 2010 75 thread, as well. (message 10)

Added the link to my thread in Message 45.

I've added a link, too. (Message 40).

I've added mine too. Just wasn't sure how one gets the link with the word "here" to work.

#114 I'm not techie enough to do that, either. :)

Hi i'm Lindsay, I'm a 31-year old mother of two, 11.5 and 9 mths. I live in Rhode Island. I am relatively new to the library thing website but I absolutely love it!!! I am so glad i found a place that recommends so many great books. I mostly read YA fiction/fantasy. I love anything with a little romance, a little suspense, and a little mystery to it.

I just started reading again a few months back with the twilight saga. I loved it so much and was kind of sad when I was finished. That pushed me to find more books I would love just as much. That's how I found LT.

I have convinced a couple of friends to join as well.

I usually consume a book in less than a week and figured that I would go for the challenge of 75 books since 50 was probably a sure thing. I look forward to seeing what everybody else reads and recommends, and I also look forward to chatting and exchanging views on the different books.

Hi, I'm Lorraine, nearly 60 (yikes, how did that happen) and happily retired from teaching. I live in the Okanagan Valley, BC Canada's wine country, where I enjoy cycling, x-country skiing, gardening, cooking, and of course reading. I just got back from 2 weeks in Mexico and I'm panicking a bit about Xmas preps, so there hasn't yet been much time to catch up on threads.
I mostly enjoy reading contemporary fiction and I love Library Thing and all the interesting characters I've met here.

Just to answer the question about how to refer to the link, I'm going to put some hopefully easy instructions right here.

1.First find your message above that you want to refer to. Mine is Msg #98

2. Put the cursor directly over the words "message 98 (or whatever your message is)" until the words turn blue. LEAVE THE CURSOR THERE and RIGHT click.

3.A drop down menu appears--choose "Copy link location" and LEFT click.

4. Then go to your personal thread in the 75 Books Challenge for 2010 (it really works well if you can have this open in another tab or window)

5. click the pencil in message#1 to edit that message.

6. Now put your cursor where you want to insert the link, and RIGHT CLICK, then left click on PASTE. VOILA you should see something like :"http://www.librarything.com/topic/79114#1665395" That's my link.

If you just want to have the word "here" appear and make that the link, then you have to type a href="and then paste your link here"> here /a

Just put a "triangle bracket" in front of the "a href" and closing triangle brackets (the ones on the keys with the period and the comma) If I type them here, it thinks I'm actually trying to type the code.

I you need more help here is a link to simple html code that I use a lot. http://www.quackit.com/html/codes/

Thanks, Tina, for supplying the missing link. I could get to the group, but not my particular message.

>119 Donna828: Secrets of the Geeks

I did my link the other way -- getting to my thread from my into message here. I guess I'll try this to get it going from there to here. . . . I'm not good at these things . . .

Hi, I'm Lesley. I'm 22 and live near Vancouver, Canada. I love to read and enjoy collecting books. I have over 1100 books that I attempt to cram into my one bedroom. It gets tougher every day and my organizational skills are being pushed to their limits. But, I can't complain because my books are like my babies and I'm very protective of them. My genres of choice are fantasy and historical romance but I like to read other book genres including non-fiction books.

Here is the link to my 75 book thread!

Lesley - "My books are like my babies and I'm very protective of them."

Oh, I know that feeling! Sometimes my mum comes up to my flat and makes a beeline for the hoardes of books, pushing me to get rid of some on the spot and threatening to remove some for me, and I turn into something I can only describe as 'mother tiger'! I growl and push her back out of the door so I can go and lovingly reassure the books that they're safe for another day!

>122 demure: and 123 - Yes, I used to be that way as well. But I'm beginning to let them go out in the world. As I log my prior reading in my collections here, I'm surprised at how many I've 'deaccessioned' over the last three years.

Then why do I still have so many books???

>123 elliepotten: Well, of course, your mum is the grandmother of your books!

I'm beginning to set my books free as well...after I've read them first! I would rather give them to someone else who will read them again, than have them sit and gather dust on my shelves. I ask myself "Will I re-read this anytime soon? or "How hard will it be to get this book again in the future?" Depending on the answer, I either shelve the book, post it on bookmooch or paperbackswap, or donate it to my local library's book sale.

Hi! I am Caitlin, 21, and a senior biomedical science major with minors in Global Studies and Chemistry. I am pre-med and plan to go to medical school and specialize in pediatric intensive care. I am taking a year off after I graduate in May, so right now I am trying to find a job that is somehow related to medicine/science/kids and pays money. :)

I go to university now live in Tennessee, but am proudly from New Orleans, LA (a city I love and that instilled my love of cooking and eating good food).

Of course, I love to read, and will read pretty much anything, but my favorites are historical fiction, fantasy and YA. I watch too much TV for my own good, love to travel (my goal is to visit all the continents-I have 2 left, Africa and Antarctica), am interested in photography (which I wish I had the time to pursue), and love to babysit and spend time with my friends and family (including our 3 dogs and 2 cats).

My 2010 Thread: http://www.librarything.com/topic/80000

Hi! I'm Christina. I am 26 years old and currently live in Southern California. I teach English at a middle school and am working on my Masters in Library Science. I discovered LibraryThing during one of my summer classes and have been slightly addicted ever since.

I am really into reading YA lit right now, but I'm going to try and include some other books this year. ;)

Here's my new thread for 2010:
http://www.librarything.com/topic/80008

My name is Catey. Alcottacre's (Stasia) youngest daughter. I am 18 going on 19. I love reading! Pretty much anything I can get my hands on, although I haven't done much reading these days, school, looking for a job and the holidays are in the way at the moment but as soon as their over, I am going to jump right in book-reading again. :) I live in TX where it doesn't snow, doesn't get all that cold but sometimes it surprises you, I love it though.

Merry Christmas, everyone. :) and Happy Reading!

I'm Zoë, back for my second year in this challenge. This is definitely one of my favourite groups on LT! I'm 24 and working on my PhD in ancient history, which will continue for a long time yet. I'm Canadian, but currently living in New York for school (but currently currently back at my parents' house in Canada for the holidays).

I like to think that my reading tastes are pretty eclectic, though when it comes to the books that I actually finish there tends to be a lot of YA, especially fantasy, with a healthy dose of non-fiction (almost 30% this year). My 1010 categories will be guiding a lot of my reading in 2010: Dewey Decimal Challenge; Ancient World; Math/Science; Foreign Language; Dystopias: Fact and Fiction; Fairies, Fairy Tales, Folklore, and Myth; Fantasy and Supernatural; New York; Education and Intelligence; and Just Because.

My 75 Book Challenge thread for 2010 is here--thanks to whoever suggested including the links!

Wow - so many great people on here. It is a pleasure to meet you all, both new and returning.

I am Karen (51 yo).

Really loved the 75 group last year - such an attentive group of great people.

I work in Vancouver, B.C. although I am New Zealand trained and English born. I love to read but it has been more of a burgeoning obsession in the past 10 years since my kids left babyhood. So I need to digest some of those important classics that I missed when buried in those Uni textbooks!

I have two teens (18 and 15), a Golden retriever, 2 cats and have been married sine 1984.

I love to read most anything and like to vary it as much as possible.

My 2010 thread is here

I am Rebecca and, surprise, I live in New York City. I'm in my mid-50s and so have been an avid reader for half a century (a little scary!). I joined this group at the end of 2008, at the encouragement of avaland/Lois, and I welcomed the opportunity to have interesting conversations about books with like-minded readers both then and last year. I look forward to an equally fun, stimulating, and bad-for-my-TBR/wallet year!

I'm a pretty opportunistic reader and don't really plan ahead. I try to read a little contemporary fiction, catch up on classics and older works I've missed, broaden the geographical reach of the fiction I read, and pursue various topics I'm interested in with nonfiction.

And, like many (all?) of you, my TBR is frightening. I just can't walk past a bookstore without going in!

My 2010 thread is here.

Hello! I'm Cindy, a mother of two grown sons, a math teacher, and I live in South Georgia. I hope to have more time to read in 2010 than I have had in 2009. In addition to reading, I enjoy photography, scuba diving, swimming, many different sports, and traveling. I will celebrate the 20th anniversary of my 29th birthday on December 27th. :)

I look forward to seeing what everyone is reading this year. My TBR pile grew by leaps and bounds in 2009, and I expect no different in 2010. Happy reading everyone!

My thread is here.

Hi! I have an unusual name, so I'd rather not say what it is. I'm a Christian, and I live in the US. I graduated from college in May, and I'm looking for work. I'm also planning to apply to graduate school. While I've been out of school, I've had plenty of time to read, and I like that. In addition to reading, I enjoy knitting.

I'm still trying to finish the 999 challenge from this year since I didn't really think about participating in it until May. I enjoy reading about the former Soviet Union and Asia.

Merry Christmas!

Hey, everyone! I'm Krys, new here since November. I'm a 20-year-old undergrad at Gonzaga University in Spokane, WA, studying History (concentrated on late 19th/early 20th century crime) and planning to head to culinary school once I finally graduate (my parents: "you can go to cooking school just as well with a Bachelor's degree as without," and I agree, there's sense to it--though I'm impatient to graduate and move on, already).

I read a lot of non-fiction for school, so my thread'll mainly be the novels I read during the year for fun (authors like Chuck Palahniuk and Nick Hornby), as well as the occasional biography (I've been lusting after T.J. Stiles' Vanderbilt biography for months now, so hopefully I'll get to that) or memoir.

Other challenges I've set for myself in 2010 include perfecting my crocheting skills (I'm a decent-to-good knitter, but I'd like to master the crochet hook, too), baking and decorating a layered cake with fondant (hopefully I get that electric mixer I asked for for Christmas!), and making the perfect lasagna.

My thread's over here: http://www.librarything.com/topic/80135
Hopefully I'll see some of you guys around this year. Good luck!

Hi everybody,
I'm Milda, 40-something, currently living in TX. Have been married for decades to a nice boy. We have two teenage daughters who light up our lives. I started reading much more last year; at the time I had given up a time-consuming volunteer position because of my work schedule, plus my Tivo broke.

I like to read fiction but have picked up some interesting non-fiction lately. I'm trying to read some classics that I missed in school and college. My older daughter is a senior in high school and has actually enjoyed some of the books that were assigned to her in classes, so it's fun to get recommendations from her.

Besides working too hard at my job and cheering for our youngest on the volleyball and basketball courts, I also enjoy gardening and traveling, although we probably won't have funds to go very far until the next 8 years of college bills are paid...

Thread: http://www.librarything.com/topic/80149

Hi! I'm Tabs. I'm 26 and am currently living in south-eastern PA with my parents. I'm a former physicist currently trying to decide whether I want to pursue a career in science or start over at something completely different.

I tend to read a lot of romance and I think there are few things better on earth than some good banter. I also tend to read a lot of young adult.

This is my first year trying an official challenge and I'm combining this one with my Books off the Shelf Challenge (http://www.librarything.com/topic/79868#1674496). I tried keeping track in 2008 on my personal blog but I ran out of steam pretty quickly, so here's for second tries!

Hi everyone! I'm Kelly. I'm 34, married (12yrs) with two daughters, two cats and one crazy husky. I am the patient coordinator/office manager for a plastic surgeon in the Atlanta area. I was a stay at home mom for 9 years until about a year ago. Working has seriously slowed down my reading so I'm trying hard to phase myself out!

I read mostly fiction and seem to be gravitating more toward youth fiction in recent years. Looking forward to another year of reading!

I'm Crystal, a 20 year old third year Classics major (arts admin minor) at the University of Ottawa in Canada. My major goal for 2010 is to spend less time doing nothing with my free time- I'd actually like to feel accomplished by years end. I will attempt to read pretty much everything, but that doesn't neccessarily mean that I'll get through it with a smile on my face. I'm a big fan of cooking, skating, playing badminton, watching movies, collecting books,ect.

Hi everyone! I'm Shauna, and I'm a 25-year-old legal assistant working at a tiny law firm about 25 miles north of Sacramento. I'm planning to get my paralegal certificate sometime next year, which may cut into my reading time. My real passion, though, is library work, and I'm hoping to go back to that sometime in the next few years. I prefer reading classics, literary fiction, and YA. When I'm not working or reading, I enjoy crocheting, music, and playing with my two year old niece. I also have a furball, Sparkles, who requires me to look up and feed her every once in awhile (otherwise, she's content to sleep on my bed all day).

I joined the group in 2009 and failed miserably to get anywhere near 75 books. I have much higher hopes for 2010.

My thread for 2010 is here.

Greetings: I am Karen in RL, 65 yo, retired. I spend my days taking care of my niece's three children, and my evenings enjoying my three dogs. I take photographs, want to make more greeting cards, read, go to a reading group made up of people from LibraryThing who live near me. I only made a little over 50 books last year because I find it hard to make time to read. I will try harder this year. I am a little more realistic about how to spend my time and I have just quit a couple of on-line games from FaceBook. But I did start a blog: check it out here - http://marvelousmaggiesmusings.blogspot.com/

Hi I am Dianne or DS (Bruce's evil twin :-)).
I am forty something and live with my husband, Bruce, (who is an avid gun nut & avid reader) in a suburb of Minneapolis MN, with 2 dogs and 2 cats. I have a daughter who is studying at ASU in Tempe AZ. I am thinking of going back to college and finishing at least a bachelors degree once we are done with putting her through school. So I am starting to focus my reading as to prepare for going back to school, to exercise the brain cells so to speak.

My main challenge for 2010 is the 1010 challenge so the 75 book challenge will be for those books that do not fit or are 'overflow' from the 1010 challenge (ie any book where I have already read the 10 books for that category.) I am guessing that most of the books for the 75 book challenge will be what I consider ‘fluff’, anything that I can read quickly & for fun. So no History of the Peloponnesian War (I’ve read it once already any way.)

Besides reading we like to go to Renaissance Festivals (we met at the MN one) and participating at our local sci-fi convention (CONvergence) which has been annual an fundraiser for the Minnesota Society for Interest in Science Fiction and Fantasy (MISFITS.) Misfits is a non-profit organization with a mission of increasing literacy, community service, and community building. If you are in the Minneapolis area around the 4th of July you should look into checking it out. In fact it is via CONvergence that I found out about LT.

Bruce and I have a lot of books in our combined libraries that I have not yet gotten entered into LT. Hopefully we can get most of them put on this year.

Hi, I'm Meredith, and new to LT. I'm 37, live in Tampa with my hubby and my 3 boys who are 18, 17, and the youngest is 16 today. I've been unemployed for a couple of months now, but looking, and probably going back to school soon. We have a chihuahua named Lola.

I'm setting a goal of 75 books for 2010. I did about 40 in 2009 even with working most of the year. I've gotten away from reading in the last month or so with the holidays, so hopefully this will get me back on track.

Hi, I'm Jess 30 years old and live in Canberra, Australia. I am a new member to Library Thing so still getting the hang of everything. I am a Cartographer by day and a Deli chic at night. I am currently owned by two Oriental cats Ducati and Libi.
Most of my reading is Fantasy bassed with the occasional Sci-Fi book thrown in for good measure. I usually have several books on the go at once so this will be interesting to see how many books I can actually clock up. I am returning to uni study via distance ed this year so that will be an extra challenge.
I love horses, tattoos, loud music, fast cars, manchester united, cats, dogs and of course reading.

Hi, I'm Tanja. I'm 25 years old, living in Copenhagen, Denmark. I'm studying on The Royal School of Library and Information Science and loving it very much.

Even though I've been on LT for a year I haven't really gotten to know it yet, but now I will. I love books, I love to read.. pretty much anything. Can't put a specific genre on it.

I haven't got the slightest idea of how many books I read in a year, but I like the idea of keeping track of the books read, and if my studying and this disturbing thing called life doesn't take up too much time, I believe I might actually reach my goal of 75 books read this year. Preferably a lot of them from my shelves, but probably a lot more new buys and library books.

Here's my challenge thread: http://www.librarything.com/topic/80202

I'm Tad, 52, married with three kids and two dogs, live in New Jersey, write software for a living, used to enjoy skiing before back problems, still enjoy scuba diving, am getting tired of (and am, fortunately, almost done with) putting an old Victorian house back in shape, spend as much time in the summer as I can...not nearly enough!...in Ontario (where a lot of reading gets done), and enjoy reading a wide variety of books. I've been on LT and in the 75er Group since 2008 and my 2010 thread is here.

Hi, I'm Carly. I'm 30 years old, and I'm a lawyer in Houston, Texas. I like reading all sorts of books, and I'm participating in the 101010 Challenge and the Dewey Decimal Challenge as well. When I'm not reading, I enjoy watching college sports and baseball, baking, and annoying my two cats.

My challenge thread is here.

I added the link to my thread to my introduction at msg #48 above

My name is Mary, I'm a librarian with an MLS, formerly homeschooled, and live in western Massachusetts. I love reading, always have, so when someone in my cataloging class did a presentation on LibraryThing a couple of years ago, I signed up shortly thereafter. When I'm not reading, I enjoy following sports and watching "Lost" on TV.

I tend to read a lot of children's and YA lit, a habit I started when I needed something good to read between my English classes in college. I read fantasy, some historical fiction, some mysteries, some contemporary, some nonfiction...some of pretty much everything, except I don't have a high tolerance for violence and won't read horror at all. I'm participating in a ton of challenges next year - the 1010 Category Challenge, Reading Globally, Dewey Decimal Challenge, Books of the Shelf Challenge, not to mention this one - but I tend to be a pretty eclectic reader and like having a lot of choices and freedom to pick up a book on a whim. This will be my first time in the 75 Books Challenge Group (I started with 50, and figured it was time to graduate), and look forward to a new reading year in 2010!

My 75 Books Challenge List

Hi, I'm Amy and I'm in Northern California. I have adored reading ever since my mom bought me Trixie Belden books way back when.

I collect books, so I have a ton that I haven't read yet, as well as many well loved titles that I hold on to. Others with no attachment go on ebay to support my addiction, LOL.

I'm 41, with three kids (20, 16, and 2!) and a husband of 22 years.

My favorite reads seem to be inspired by locations, sort of my wanna-be travel destinations. Right now I'm reading around Scandinavia. I already had a Russia phase, an Australian phase, and a long stint in Spain.

If anyone could suggest authors similar to my favorites, Tim Winton and Per Petterson, I'd be grateful! I've read most of their stuff and want more!

Loving this LT thing, it's great!

Hi Amy -- I'd suggest Astrid and Veronika by Linda Olsson, a Swedish author. I've not read Halldor Laxness, yet, - he's on my TBR - but have heard great things about his books, especially Independent People. He's an Icelandic writer. Enjoy!

Hello! I'm Catherine and I'm a SAHM with a 4 year-old and 19 month-old in CT. I read whenever I can steal a moment. My favorite genres are mystery, general fiction, memoirs, and psychological thrillers, but I'll read anything that looks or sounds good at the time. I will finish 46 books by the end of 2009, and I hope to get closer to 75 in 2010!

Oh, here's the link to my list =)
http://www.librarything.com/talktopic.php?topic=80317

Greetings.

My name is Ian Sales. I'm a forty-something Brit, and I live in the Socialist Republic of South Yorkshire (as we like to refer to it). I review books for a couple of science fiction magazines, and DVDs for videovista.net. I also write sf myself and have had a few stories published - see here. I've also written a couple of novels, although my agent hasn't managed to sell them yet. But we're both hopeful.

My favourite writers include Lawrence Durrell, Gwyneth Jones, Paul Park, Lucius Shepard, Alastair Reynolds, Frank Herbert, Anthony Burgess, Mary Gentle and John Crowley.

I have two blogs - a general one at http://iansales.com/ and one specifically about books about the Space Race at http://spacebookspace.wordpress.com/

Hi! I'm Zoe. I'm 23, and I live in New Hampshire with my fiance and my huge snuggly Newfoundland dog. I'll probably read a lot more than 75 books this year; usually my yearly total is somewhere between 200 and 300. I prefer reading ebooks, but I also have 200+ paper books on my TBR pile, so I'll probably be reading some of each.

My tastes are varied and yet strangely specific :) I like urban fantasy (preferably the kind that isn't actually paranormal romance, but I'll read a paranormal romance if it looks really interesting), the science-fiction equivalent of urban fantasy (I can't think of any widely-known books that fit this description, but in terms of TV, think Lost, Dollhouse, Dark Angel, or The 4400), philosophical science fiction along the lines of Orson Scott Card, thoughtful women's fiction along the lines of Jodi Picoult, memoirs (especially ones that have to do with autism, weird childhoods, and/or oppressive regimes), YA, and anything else that catches my eye. I especially love dystopian fiction, although I've run into a lot of bad dystopias lately. I also tend to pick books based on theme and certain plot elements - I love books that deal with moral ambiguity, oppressive regimes, outsiders, mysticism, ritual magic, autism, unusual childhoods, and psychological torture, to name a few (not all in the same book, obviously!).

My non-reading interests include writing, psychology, ethics, mysticism, real and fictional dystopian societies, and The Sims 3.

Good idea for a thread.. My profile pretty much tells all. I am over 50, have three grown kids, all in their 30's. I love my family, furkids, and my cozy little home.
I am an animal advocate, a Reiki master/teaching level.. and of course an avid reader.

My name is kath, and I am addicted to the internet.

That is about it..

oops!

http://www.librarything.com/topic/79026#1648754

is my thread.

I agree with whoever said we could count reading this thread as 2 books.

I'm Terri (The Other Terri) from St. Charles MO, 53 yo, single, three sons: Kevin (27), father of my precious granddaughter Zoe (3), Craig (25), a percussion instructor/tech in Nashville, and Keith (21), an accounting major in his 4th year of college. I have a crazy beagle-mix dog who thinks she's a German shepherd named Cleo (my son named her after my grandfather. Go figure). I work during the day as Physician Support in the IT dept of a hospital, and at night as an adjunct instructor of medical assistants and coding/billing students at a local college. Hoping to take the CPC exam this year, but we'll see about that.

I read just about anything that anyone suggests to me (unfortunately). This is my third year in the 75 group. In '08, I barely made 75. In '09, I am pushing 150. LOVE to read more than anything (except maybe eat).

I will post a link to my thread as soon as I find it. It seems to have disappeared.

ETA: I found it! Here it is: http://www.librarything.com/topic/79458

Hi I'm Angela from Calgary, Alberta, Canada. I am 26 years old and in my second year of nursing. I also work part-time as a behaviour therapist for autistic children. I am an avid reader and own approzimately 500 books, about 90% of which I haven't read yet. I am addicted to buying books but instead of reading them, often borrow others from the library. I read almost anything and enjoy trying out new authors. I manage to read about 60 books a year, so this year I decided to up the ante and shoot for 75. My genre of choice is mystery/thriller but I read a lot of general fiction and fantasy as well.

My husband thinks I am crazy reading as much as I do, and I have to admit that sometimes the urge to read for pleasure outweighs the need to study for classes.

While I joined the 75 group last year, I was unable to post often due to heavy school commitments, however, this year I hope to at least keep my thread updated with my current list of books that are finished. Wish me luck.

Hi, I'm Shauna. (Shootingstarr - so unusual to see someone else with my name - and spelled correctly! =) I recently turned 37 for the fourth time. I've been out of work most of the year, but for the previous ten years I was using my oh-so-marketable linguistics degree working as an HR/office manager in a big ol' chain bookstore. I'm now thinking about going back to school to become an ESL teacher, or to get an MS in library science. I live in San Francisco with my boyfriend/ostensible fiance of 14 years. (We've been engaged for 3 years. The first week I ordered 5 wedding planning books from Amazon, and that was the extent of my planning. We're really bad planners. =)

I joined LT last year, and also joined the 999 challenge group. Somehow, even with all the extra free time that came with being unemployed, I didn't complete the challenge! (Ok, I did spend a lot of the year traveling, and was also away for a couple months to be with my sister when my new nephew was born, and to help out afterwards, but still!) I did have fun though. This is my 999 challenge list.

I'll probably divide my books into categories again, since I had fun with that last year. I'm looking forward to seeing what you all are reading, and to reading your reviews. Good luck!

Hi, I'm Jennifer, I'm nearly 38, and I'm called "nittnut" because when I am not reading, I am probably knitting. I have just started a knitting project for 2010 - trying to knit my way through an Elizabeth Zimmerman knitting book and blog about it as I go. http://jenng.typepad.com/blog/ (if anyone is interested) What could be better than combining reading and knitting?

I've just spent the better part of an hour reading about all of you. What fun! As a fairly recent transplant from the west-west (grew up in sunny CA, then 10 years in Portland, OR) to Denver, CO I got a real chuckle out of messages 69-74. I get my husband of 17 years all worked up just for fun by commenting that I don't understand why Colorado is considered the "west" as we live east of the Rockies and are practically in the MIDDLE of the US. Not to mention how cold it is...

I have been an avid reader since age 4, when my mother taught me to read out of certain desperation (when I turned 4, she had 3 kids and one on the way). Since then, there are no pictures of me in the family album without a book in hand.

I have 3 children, two boys: 11 and 3 and a girl who is 5 1/2. My 11 year old is also an avid reader, and you will see some of his recommendations in my list this year. We are working on Newbery Award books together. He is wanting to post with me as Nittnut's son - I will monitor.

You can see a start to my "to read" list here http://www.librarything.com/topic/80449

Yes - I am tech challenged. Another goal for this year is to learn how to use this site better...

Looking forward to reading reviews and adding to my list of books to read!

Haha, hi Shauna- I celebrated the first anniversary of my 29th birthday this year. :) My students had to figure out what that meant in regards to my real age.

Hi! How are you all? After snooping around the group for a few days, I finally had the nerve to join you. I'm 27 and live in a small town in Norway (not so small in our standards, but probably village-like in yours:). I finnished my MA in history last summer, and after six years at uni I moved back to my hometown, currently working in an archive. I've always loved reading, but I guess I don't read as much and as fast as many of you do. At least I'll have something to reach for! My profile tells me I joined LT july 2008, but I have to admit I had almost forgotten my profile and password when I checked it again in october this year. I had actually never heard of a reading challenge before, but I think it will be a good experience!

I almost did not read fiction at all during my studies, and after finnishing my MA I was seriously sick and tired of history, entering a reading limbo where the TBR list kept growing, but I was physically and mentally unable to read anything:) Luckily it passed! Now I can read almost anything, but I think I'm more the literary/historical fiction, fantasy, ya and history type.

Wish you all a happy new (reading)year!!

And the link to my thread:
http://www.librarything.com/topic/80477

I'm Anri, a 16 year old girl (just in case the "fred" part of the name was misleading) living in St. Paul, MN for six years now, by way of Evanston, IL. I live with my parents (surprise, surprise, right?), my younger sister, and our newly-adopted and utterly spastic Jackhuahua.
I enjoy fiction, especially fantasy. I like happily-ever-afters in my books (and movies), though I sometimes enjoy books without them.
I tried the 999 challenge last year (or this year, really), and failed quite badly. I'm hoping to finish everything on that list this year, but that's a goal with a questionable outcome.
I play tuba in band and flute on the side, with aspirations to learn more musical instruments, my ultimate goal being purchasing, and learning to play, a melodica. Unfortunately, I haven't done anything terribly out-of-the-ordinary with my life course, and so that's about the end of my description.

Hi, I'm Danita, 42 (43 in 2010). I live in Northern California (San Francisco Bay Area). I recently graduated in May 2009 with a degree in Classical Civilizations. That's the study of ancient Greek and Roman history/culture.

This will be my first time participating in a book challenge. This will really be a challenge for me because I have a lot to juggle on my To Do list for 2010 but hopefully 43Things and JoesGoals (two productivity websites) will help keep me focused and on target with my goals. Of course, one of my goals is to read more. The types of books that I plan to read are classic American and English literature and the Great Books (the ones that are "recommended" or "required reading" in college).

I am fairly new to LibraryThing and have not fully explored/learned how to use the site. Any useful tips would be greatly appreciated. I am really looking forward to this book challenge.

Here's the link to my 2010 75 Book Challenge thread.

>158 madhatter22:,

It is nice to see other Shauna's who spell their name correctly. I work with a Shawna, which provides endless amusement for clients and coworkers, but she doesn't have the pleasure of having a properly spelled name.

Hi, I'm Layne, a just turned 19 year old college freshman. I started this challenge last year, but fell off the wagon around the time school started. I'm hoping to follow through this year and let this be a reminder to continue to read books for pleasure during the school year. I enjoy a variety of books, especially historical fiction. Looking forward to a great year of reading!!

Yea Yankees!!!

I’m Marilyn, 56 years old, divorced mother of Mr17-next-week & Mr15-next-month and two cats. We live in New Hampshire now, about an hour north of Boston, in an old colonial house that’s been in my family since 1864. Birdwatching, genealogy, playing MMPORG games with my boys (yay, Runescape!) are treats when I have free time.

I just finished a BS in Biology/Environmental Studies & started a Masters program in Library and Information Science but then realized that what I really want to do is teach so, true to my peripatetic roots, I switched programs to an M.Ed. Heritage Studies. I work in the library at a New England prep school (1,000 students, grades 9-12), largest secondary school library in the world, for those who count such things ;o)

This is my second year at 75 books challenge. Most of my own reading is nonfiction – memoirs, natural history, education, science, travel, etc. My job includes recommending titles for the young adult and general fiction collections, and I find the discussions here to be incredibly helpful since I read so little fiction myself. One of the things I enjoy most at work is playing matchmaker for patrons once I’m familiar with their reading interests – and you all are very helpful in that regard, thank you very much!

Find my 75 books thread here

and blog is here!

I'm a 31 year old girl from Norway, where I live not far from the capital Oslo. I live with my boyfriend and two dogs and work as a freelance-journalist and an author. I am educated in journalism and Public Relations and are planning a new education in literature next autumn - simply because I love to read.

I have been a bookworm ( as we say here in Norway) since I learned how to read and from early on I fell in love with the crime genre. I read tons of books from Agatha Christie and Carolyn Keene. Nowadays I read a lot of genres. All from classics to crime. I am also buying books a lot, så mye "unread - shelf" are quite big. Hope the 75 challenge can do something abouth that :)

I am also new to LT.

My 75 books challenge thread for 2010: http://www.librarything.com/topic/80532

I am 62, English, retired, and live with my husband in Carlisle, up near the Scottish borders

I used to read a lot more than I did now - but I thought it was time to work out how much less, and to try to raise the number of books again, even if not the quality.

Here is my thread

@ rosinarowantree

here I am, it's all your fault!

about me... same as last year: veterinary, 30+, sarcastic and cynic.

I wasn't going to enter the 75 books challenge again (I stopped counting at 125 this year) but someone poked me...

Howdy!

I'm Pam: wife and ancient-mom of two, currently 7 and 9.

I've got 2 accounts at LibraryThing. One just for history ( I started it way back before categories) and one for the family library -- PamFamilyLibrary

I blog on history and kidlit. I share the latter with some buddies I met at Amazon's old db.

I read instead of clean.

I'm back for another year! I'm currently an English teacher, although I hope to be out of the classroom this year. I'm pursuing a second masters degree in library and informational sciences, so my pleasure reading time may not be as abundant as I would like. I have 2 grown sons, 2 ancient cats (15 and 18 years old), a mellow cocker-shih tzu mix and a hyper corgi puppy.

I read 106 books in 2009, so hopefully I can top that this year. If I can stay off of Facebook, I might just make it!

My first year. I am 34 living in Columbus, Ohio. I live with my partner and our 3 cats. I am an accountant that works to much.

I belong to a book group that meets about every three weeks and that always give me a book I would usually not pick myself. However with that being said I can't say that I have a favorite style of book. I read a lot of different things.

Look forward to meeting many new people this year and see what they are reading to give me some ideas. My goal for the first half of the year is to read the stack of books that I have bought and have not read yet. I am not allowed to buy anymore until those are read. (Like that is going to happen).

http://www.librarything.com/topic/80559

Hello...

back for another year. An early 40's chemist (not pharmacist - a real chemist) who will read pretty much anything. No kids, no cats and fast running out of shelf space (again).

http://www.librarything.com/topic/80193

I'm new to posting, not sure this is the right place or if I'm just responding to message 176?...

Connie, 63, retired librarian living in and loving the foothills of central Sierra Nevada Mountains in CA with my husband where spring and summer we are busy with our small lavender farm and orchard. Winter is great for really concentrating on the books!

Plan to make my 75 goal this year with a full year of retirement ahead and less travel on the horizon. Already have about 15 titles lined up that I didn't get to in 2009!
Really enjoyed tracking last year and seeing the variety I actually read. Reading book reviews and tracking book sites to help the local library with collection development as a volunteer is a constant source of new titles for me.

Oh yeah, we also have two dogs, 1 cat, two horses, five children and 8 grandchildren in Arizona, Texas and North Carolina!!

hi all, i'm back for my 3rd year in this forum...

now based in Portugal, trying to combine consultancy work and study (to the detriment of my pleasure reading time, i know) in trade as well as climate change policy, i'm one of those people who (secretly) sizes up others by the books (or absence of them!) on their shelves. as with edandrew above, i have no kids, no cats, and running out of shelf space too!

i enjoy literary fiction, history, current events, war journalism, and science writing.

my 2010 thread is here

Hi,

I'm a poet and writer, living in the beautiful city of Christchurch with my Very Understanding Husband, a flock of eight chooks, and an ever increasing TBR mountain (thank you BookMooch).

I'm hoping that putting myself in this challenge will help reclaim some of the TBR space …

My 2010 thread is here.

Hi! My name is Steve. I'm a 38-year-old former lawyer and current Ph.D. candidate in Economics at the University of Colorado in Boulder.

I love classic literature, particularly 19th century. My favorite author is Tolstoy - I've read War and Peace three times and just finished my second reading of Anna Karenina. Other favorites are Dickens, Balzac and Zola.

In addition to working on my dissertation I also teach undergraduate econ and work part time in a local coffee shop.

http://www.librarything.com/topic/80628

Hi folks! I'm Jill! I look forward to reading your threads this year and best wishes for great reading in 2010!

My claim to fame is "Orange January" and "Orange July" - these are personal challenges where readers commit to reading at least one book that has won or been nominated for the Orange Prize. It kicks off tomorrow - feel free to join us!

When I am not reading Orange books, I love books that explore the American South, family relationships or interesting times in history. I am also an online book blogger, and you can find me at The Magic Lasso if you want to read my reviews.

And, here is my 2010 thread. Feel free to drop by, commet or just lurk!

I’m Kathy. I am a 59-year-old single, school library media specialist. I have a MA in Library Science from the University of Minnesota. I am a lifelong resident of Minnesota. I work in southern Minnesota and spend summers and vacations in my home town of Duluth.

I am a complete bookaholic. My collection is cataloged here on LT. I can’t give a total number because it is an unusual day when I don’t add a book to it. I am a genre fiction reader. My current craze is paranormals but I also read fantasy, science fiction, mysteries and romances. I love magic, vampires, werewolves, etc. I also read a lot of young adult fiction both as a part of my job and by personal preference. I am a big fan of my Kindle. It is saving space on my already crowded bookshelves. And it is great when I travel back home to Duluth.

My blog is Inside of a Dog (Here http://inside-dog.blogspot.com/). I spend a lot of time reading other blogs and writing on my own about the books I read. I am taking part in six challenges going on in the blogosphere for 2010.

Here is my Kathy’s School Year Reading Part 2 thread: http://www.librarything.com/topic/80633

Until recently, I have only used LT to catalog all the books I own and to keep track of the books I have read. I haven't been very active in the many groups that are here. I hope to change that in 2010.

Hi everybody (who may read this)
I've finally decided to join the group although I don't know if I'll be able to get to the 75 book quota. Many of the books I read tend to be voluminous and with little free time I find I can't finish as many as I would like to. Perhaps we should do like the Chinese do- count the length of the book not by the number of pages but by the number of characters - nah, dumb idea.
Turns out I'm the second oldest of the group trailing Karen (Msg 141) by one year (whereas when young I aspired to be old, now I find that I dread being the oldest in a group- don't tell me to be proud of it because, all in all, I'd rather be young).
Anyway, I've enjoyed reading all the brief stories of each of you and, I agree, we should count reading them as one book.
I live in Wisconsin, where I've resided over 30 years now, with my wife and cat Nube. Sill working and will continue for a few years more since I tend to enjoy it (but won't work as long as Morganthau, the NY DA).
I like to read virtually everything, having been an avid reader all my life. On fiction I am currently reading Spanish authors both classic and modern. I also enjoy poetry a lot (currently reading John Donne and some Spanish and Chinese poets) and history in general (reading currently a history of colonial America- "Conceived in Liberty" that requires careful reading and a history of Peron and Argentina).
Let's see how this thing goes.

Happy New Year all! If memory serves, I was the first person who posted after Cariola founded this group in 2008. I am honoured to still be here in 2010!
My name is Diana, I'm 55, a "resting" high school teacher, and I live in Ottawa, Ontario. I am the mother of three 20-somethings; my two daughters are in Vancouver (for now, they tend to wander) and my son is in the Perth (ON) area. Two months ago I moved in with my wonderful man and everything is great. I've become "stepmom" to his 16.5 year old Brittany Spaniel, which helps replace my recently adopted-out cat (for those of you who are interested, Jordan, something of a "foster son" to me, agreed to take Maggie, who has adjusted to life with 2 dogs and another cat). Hopefully 2010 will improve on the employment front, right now I am doing some freelance work.
I have eclectic tastes in reading - most anything but sci fi/fantasy and simplistic romances. I'd like to read more nonfiction this year - I think I may actually prefer nonfiction. I find I can read it faster, so it must hold my interest more.
Please see my thread for my best-reads of 2009.

#184: Welcome, xieouyang! I'm looking forward to your thread.

Hi, I'm Rachael, but I answer to Flossie quite happily. This will be my third year with the 75ers. I'm mum to 3 kids with varying levels of interest in reading, and work part-time doing web stuff for a literary magazine and bookshop. This unfortunately tends to send a lot of free books my way; I will be making more of an effort to resist this year as I badly need to fight the shelf sprawl. Along with others in this group, I'm also a contributor to Belletrista, though my reviews there tend to appear under the byline of F.T. Huffkin, to avoid any whisper of a conflict-of-interest with my day job!

I'm a fairly omnivorous reader, but in particular I enjoy contemporary literary fiction and crime/mystery/thriller-type stuff, with minor sidelines in scifi/fantasy, historical fiction and non-fiction. I'll be logging my reading here, and look forward to meeting new people and catching up with the old hands.

Hello, I'm Cerievans1 this will be my second year with this group. I am 29 and a family lawyer from Wales. I don't have any kids (yet) and certainly not until I clear my to be read mountain from my spare room! I love most modern fiction and discovered that I adore crime fiction in 2009, the likes of Henning Mankell, Yrsa Sigurdardottir, Stieg Larsson and more recentl Qui Xiaolong. My husband puts up with the piles of books that I acquire from library sales, charity shops etc which are dotted around the house. I have a lovely springer spaniel called Pippa, who is currently limping around the house with a sore paw. I have a big pile of breeze block sized books to read this year - Wolf Hall, Austerity Britain and Family Britain, so looking forward to reading some history books.

Hi, I'm Lisa. I didn't quite make it to 75 last year (stupid real life, sucking up all my reading time), but I have big hopes for this year. I'm 44 and currently working in software development and training for my company which means *a lot* of travel 2-3 weeks a month. Lately, I do most of my reading in airports, on airplanes and in hotel rooms. I love crime/detective fiction, I enjoy a good scare and I love novels that start with the end of the world as we know it. I read a lot of literary fiction, historical fiction, even cookbooks.

This is my challenge thread.

This is my book review blog.

#184 xieouyang: Donne is my all-time favorite poet - I hope you're enjoying him!

Hi and Happy New Year, everyone!

I'm Willow; I'm 25 and a grad student in history of Christianity, so pretty much all I do is read and talk about reading! 75 shouldn't be much of a problem, so my two sub-goals are: 60 of the books must be new, NOT re-reads (I have MA exams this spring so I am giving myself a bit of slack), and I must be reading at least one fiction book at all times. This is my "60/15" challenge.

Fiction for me is heavy on the SF/fantasy, and nonfiction can be anything but tends towards (obviously) religion, history (especially the Middle Ages), philosophy and social justice issues.

Good luck, everyone! I have already gotten some cool ideas from your threads and I look forward to following them!

Hi, I'm Shelby, I live in Ohio, I'm 38, the mother of six, and this is my second attempt at the 75 Challenge. The first time I failed miserably, but I don't discourage easily. :)

My fiction reads are science fiction, fantasy, regency romance, and mystery and my non-fiction reading is even more diverse. One of the reasons I don't read more is because I spend so much time writing -- primarily science fiction or fantasy.

My challenge thread is here.

Hello friends new and old,

So, this is my third year on the 75 challenge. I finished up last year on December 31, slipping in just under the wire. This year, I don't expect to complete the challenge, as I am changing my reading habits just a bit to make room for other hobbies, namely writing.

I am an eclectic reader: Fiction and Non-Fiction; Classics and New; General and Science Fiction and Mysteries. My Non-Fiction runs to Modern American History and the Old West, with a hearty dose of books about reading and writing. I am a huge Stephen King fan but make room for a lot of Science Fiction/Fantasy/Horror.

Which brings me to the Halloween Reading thread. Every year, I chose about 10-12 Halloween appropriate titles, which run the gamut from true Horror to unusual Mystery. Last year I posted the list on a thread and we read them as a group. There were no rules and no pressure and we had a great time. I am already working on this years titles, having selected one unusual and fairly unknown title to lead the list.

About me, not much to know. I live in the Southwest of the United States. I work in law enforcement. I like to read and write. I review every book I read, including some reviews for a blog I was asked to participate on.

Come visit me!

Last years threads: Blackdogbooks' Chapter 1 thread is here,
Blackdogbooks' Chapter 2 thread appears here, and….
Blackdogbooks' Chapter 3 thread

This year’s thread: Blackdogbooks' 2010 Chapter 1 thread

Hi! I'm Kelly and this is my second year with the 75 group. I'm 47, live in New York City and I'm a nurse in pediatrics and pediatric research. My job stresses me out - big time - so I read to de-stress. I took up yoga for relaxation last year. This year I plan to add meditation to the mix. I like to read a mix of books - fantasy, scifi, YA, Childrens lit, literary fiction, mystery, short stories, graphic novels, poetry and nonfiction. I read twice as much fiction as I do nonfiction. For nonfiction I prefer books about science and natural history. I do have some books on this years list that might be better termed self help or religion. I read at least one book of poetry a month. In February I plan on reading all the graphic novels that are sitting on my shelves - a sort of mini challenge. I belong to two book clubs - one on-line and one real world.
Besides reading I enjoy traveling, knitting, music and obsessing over various television shows (Buffy, Doctor Who). My challenge thread can be found here:
http://www.librarything.com/topic/79121

I'm looking forward to checking out what everyone is reading and adding many books to my wishlist. I hope I can keep up with threads better this year. I tend to lurk more than write. And.. ack!!, only Jan 1st and I'm already so far behind. Yikes.

Hi and happy new year, everyone!

I'm Rike, an 18 years old girl from Germany, who's trying to finish highschool (or the German equivalent, but "Gymnasium" means not the same in English as in German) this year.
So, this year it's my second attempt at this challenge, last year I kind of failed not because I read less than 75 books but because i was just too lazy to keep my thread updated.
Most of the books I read are fantasy or sci-fi, sometimes classics I found in my parents' bookshelves and books I've got to read for school.

That's my thread for this year's challenge: 75 Books Challenge for 2010 : MorgenRotsLicht - New Year, New Try

Hiya. I'm Bekka, 27 and I live in Jersey - the real Jersey, not to be mistaken with New Jersey...

Anyway, I'm married - 4 years in March and have a very nearly 2 year old daughter who has considerably cut down on my reading time. I also work mornings (7.30-1) as a capital markets administrator.

Bookwise, I am totally adicted to my 1001 challenge and it's pretty much all I read last year. I love fantasy and sci-fi, but find that I am reading a lot less of these than I used to.

Ummm what else... I have an English Lit degree from Southampton Uni - any other Soton Alumni out there? I've also worked in a lot of libraries since I was 14, but have so far been unsuccesful in getting back into the Jersey libraries since I returned to the island.

Oh yeah and my husband is a comic book nut, so you can imagine the state of our tiny house... it's just one constant mass of media!

Anyway, that's me.

Hello I am Victoria and I am only 17 years old 0_0
I am only a senior at Portsmouth Christian Academy
I live in Maine and I am actually writing my own book at the moment.
I adore reading and writing and I am pretty sure I'll go past just 75 books in one year but we will see!
My website can be found here:
http://tori.rudis.net

Hi there. My name is Madison and I am 36 years old. I have a BA in Humanities and a Master's in Library Science from Indiana University. I live in Indianapolis now but I have lived all over the country most recently in the Tacoma-Seattle Washington area. I have been married for 13 years and we have two teenagers--17 and 15. My number one passion is for books. Besides my husband.... I look forward to chatting it up with fellow lovers of books.

#198 Hi Victoria - we're practically neighbors! I'm about 15 miles south of Portsmouth. Look forward to hearing about what you're reading!

#199 madphill: WooHoo - Go Big Red! Can you tell that I'm a fellow IU alum? ;)

Hi folks, I'm Mike. This is my third year doing the 75 challenge although I'm not sure if I'm going to make it this year because I'm going to try to actually read some of the thicker books on my shelves this year.

I read mostly history and some other non-fiction, with occasional SF or historical fiction thrown in.

I've been married ten years and have three daughters, aged 9, 4.5, and 2. We live in Northern Virginia and I work in law enforcement.

I'd like to reduce the number of books that I own that I haven't read this year and also reduce my list of books tbr, this group will probably conspire to prevent me from doing so by recommending books that I can't but help put on my tbr list. It's worth a try though.

My thread is here

edited to add link

Hi, I'm Lynn from Cleveland Ohio. This is my first year with LT and the 75 challenge. I'm sure it will be fun. Married with 3 kids; 2 in college, 1 on his way next year. I work for a medical software company and enjoy reading and yoga in my spare time. Can't wait to see what this group is like. :)

Here is my thread.

>201 scaifea:: Can you tell that I'm a fellow IU alum? ;)
Oh dear, and I was just beginning to like you.

Just kidding (Boilermaker here ... but it was eons ago)

Welcome to our group Lynn. We are a very friend, chatty, kind group. I hope you like it here.

Hello everyone, my name is Raechel, I'm 24, and I live in Texas. I've loved reading all of my life. I'm currently working full time and going to school, majoring in sociology. I have not participated in a book challenge before, so I'm not sure how I'll do.
As for genres that I enjoy the most, I like New Weird, Horror, and Speculative Fiction. When I'm not reading I love playing video games (I got a Wii for Christmas!), water coloring, sketching, and I am *trying* to learn how to crochet.

My thread for the challenge: http://www.librarything.com/topic/80841

#190- Scaifea
Regarding Donne, I had been interested in reading him for quite some time but didn't get around it until last year when I saw the opera Dr. Atomic (about Oppenheimer and the Manhattan project). Adams, the composer, uses writings from Oppenheimer's diaries and letters and turns out he was a great lover of Donne. Thus Adams uses some of Donne's poems in the opera. This led me to get a book of Donne's writings and start reading them. I've been enjoying it since then.

#204 lindsacl: LOL! Well, I still like you, even though you're a Purdue person!

#207 xieouyang: What a neat way to make your way to Donne; you've made me want to check out Dr. Atomic (my husband (a physicist) would probably like it too!).

#208
Check out youtube, there are parts of Dr. Atomic there. In fact, one of them is an aria from Donne's Sonnet "batter my heart..."

Hi everyone,
I'm Pam, 27 years old, living just outside Boston. I finished my masters in Library Science and Archives Management this year, but am still on the job hunt. Thankfully, this leaves me time to read ;)

I prefer fiction over non-fiction, love fantasy, sci-fi, and ancient historical fiction. I will read absolutely anything about the Trojan War, even if it's a piece of junk. I also get swept up into series very easily - last year was greatly devoted to Sookie Stackhouse, Y:The Last Man, and Scott Pilgrim.

Other than reading, I love to cook and bake, and blog about cooking and baking at Cave Cibum. I also picked up embroidery this summer and am absolutely loving it. Most of my embroideries have been pulled from pop culture - Psych, Dollhouse, Supernatural, the Simpsons, Where the Wild Things Are.

My 2010 list is here.

Hi, I'm Jennifer and this is my first time attempting the 75 book challenge, although I inadvertently managed just over 75 books in 2009 (counting audiobooks and manga). This year, I'd like to read at least 75 novels (not including audiobooks and manga this time).

I'm 35, married with 2 cats but no children yet. I have a chronic illness, so I don't work outside the home. I read, write, knit, sew, practice yoga, and when the weather is nice, I go for long walks. I also collect Japanese dolls, who I make things for like clothes and furniture (and hopefully soon, a dollhouse). I'm a science fiction and fantasy addict and I also love manga.

Hello readers.

My wife, our 18 months old daughter and myself live an hour north of San Francisco in a small village. I am 41, have an MLIS (and 3 BAs) and looking for a librarian job. Meanwhile I do tech/web work, something I've been doing since 1994.

In 2010, first I want to finish my 999 challenge. Even if it takes till March I will do the 9 books in each of my categories. Meanwhile I can count those books towards my 75 in 2010. :-)

My topic for this year is here: http://www.librarything.com/topic/80905

Hi everyone. I'm Heather, I'm 28 and live in a small town called Tring in the UK with my husband. I'm fairly new to Librarything and Bookmooch but really enjoying both (and my TBR pile is growing even more rapidly than ever). This is the first time I've tried any sort of book challenge - I love all kinds of fiction and also enjoy non-fiction.

My thread for this year is here

http://www.librarything.com/topic/80944

I'm looking forward to getting to know everyone :-)

I’m Joanne, aka coppers. I thought I should post now while I can still say I’m 50. I’ve been married 23 years to a wonderful guy, we have a 16 year old son who loves to write and likes to read, a darling golden retriever (the original Copper) and a teenage cat who adopted us twice. I’m originally from NJ but moved to Colorado over 20 years ago so it feels like home now. I work in the telecommunications industry, volunteer (with Copper) at a local hospital, and love to explore and enjoy my beautiful adopted state. I used to ride horses but do so now only vicariously through a sister. Last year I had a thread in the 50 book challenge group and finished 71 books, an amazing number for me. It was difficult deciding where to post this year but since most of the threads I follow and many of the people whose opinions I trust are here now, I thought I should follow. Signing on to read 75 books is a bit (!) of a stretch for me and I honestly don’t think I’ll do it, but never mind, it’ll be fun trying. I find this well-read and talented group to be a little intimidating (but only in a good way), but here goes nothing!

My thread can be found at http://www.librarything.com/topic/80948

coopers!
Welcome! I was hoping you would join us!

I'm Karen, aka witchyrichy, 47, married with no children, three dogs, and eight chickens. My husband is an amazing man with whom I've shared the 21 years. He understands my reading addiction and only laughed when he discovered I was hiding books in the linen closet. I finished a PhD in curriculum and educational technology last year and am looking forward to a grad-school free year with plenty of good reading. I think this group will be a great kick start to my reading and I'm also looking forward to getting to know all of you better. I just haven't had time to get involved in groups or really do much more than just add books to my library. Here's my thread: http://www.librarything.com/topic/80965

I'm Sarah. I live in Toronto with 3 friends in a larger community with about 30 people. I'm 39 and do communications work in the social justice/human rights department of a national church office. I joined LT a couple of months ago, and am part of the Salon Litteraire, so I'm slogging through Les Mis en francais at the moment--I don't know how long I'll last or when I'll get to read something else!

I particularly like fiction that deepens my understanding of countries and cultures other than my own. I also read books about faith/spirituality, and I have a strong interest in social history.

When I'm not working or reading I sing in a women's choir, do refugee and prisoner support work, and love cooking. My New Year's res is to start doing more exercise!

Hi all! I'm Michele. I'm a wife, mother of 2 (9yo daughter is a great reader, 5yo son is in progress). Long ago, before the kids, I was a corporate, then briefly college librarian. Someday, when the children are older, I plan to be a school media specialist. I'm about halfway through the required coursework and loving it!

While much of my reading tends to focus on kid or ya lit, I also enjoy adult nonfiction. My interests tend to go in spurts, I sense a recurrence of my obsession with medieval anchorites...

Stop by my thread (http://www.librarything.com/topic/80811) and help me turn Mt. TBR into Planet TBR!

Howdy. My thread is here: http://www.librarything.com/topic/80701

This is my third year in the 75 book challenge. You guys have grown very dear to me in that time.

My life took a surprising turn last year in June when I discovered digital scrapbooking. I am now engrossed in this and am on digital scrapbook creative teams for 2 designers and one shop. This leaves me not with less time for reading (that is a non-negotiable), but less for reading threads and posting. As I find I really miss the interaction I'm seeking ways to streamline/reorganize so that I can mesh this back into the warp and woof of my life.

Oh I'm 48 too (there's a mess of us that age!), American, married to a 39 year old Frenchman (his first 39th :) this past December), have cats, and we live in Bucharest Romania where we should be, Lord willing, through end May 2011 -- ton of guest rooms so get over here soonest! I'm on facebook too.

Hi: just found this thread, courtesy of laytonwoman3rd. I'm Tui, in my early 60s, living in rural Ontario in the Kawartha Lakes district. Recently retired, I was a university college administrator in a previous incarnation. I have 2 and a bit degrees in English Lit., the Ph.D. being aborted to raise twin sons (who are now quite thoroughly raised and out of the nest). I read steadily, garden passionately, cook with wild abandon, write intermittently, ride my bicycle poorly and dabble in creative arts sporadically. Married for over 30 years to a man I love increasingly. A cat and dog are always part of our home.

Will read pretty much anything except miserably depressing stuff, schlock romance or stories where animals are hurt or killed.

#220, hi Tui. I have a cousin named Tui (she now lives in Costa Rica)--that's not a name I encounter often.

Hello everyone. I'm Ryan, a mostly inactive lurker on LibraryThing. I'm married, have a 14 year old son and live in St. Paul, MN. I work in accounting and my wife is a librarian. We are expecting a baby (and the newest installment of my favorite video game series comes out) in late March so we'll see how this 75 books thing works out. I did read 75 books in 2009 so I think that I'll give it a try.

Golf, kickball and video games also compete for my time (the other gamers out there may recognize the chocobo in my username). I will read almost any genre except for westerns and the latest vampire craze. No interest at all in those.

I look forward to seeing what everyone else is reading and chipping away at my to-read list.

Hello to all my old friends and glad to meet all my new friends.

I'm Carrie. I'm a 40 year old LPN that works as an Anesthesia Pharmacy Tech. I have been married for 20 years to my soulmate, Bob, and we have 2 sons, 19 and 21. We also have a 8 month old grandson. Our family also includes a very spoiled Jack Russell, Bones and the boss of the house, (you guessed it, a cat) named Clyde.

This is my third year as a 75er and am looking forward to another year of stretching my reading boundries. I read a lot of popular authors and romance but I also enjoy horror, thrillers and mysteries. I have discovered so many great books and authors through this group that I probably wouldn't have tried on my own. Thanks to all of you who influence my growth.

Hi, I am Jan. I am a librarian and I read a lot of crap. But I love it and love to share it with others. I read a lot of paranormal and Young Adult books and really love a good cozy mystery. I am TheLibraryHag on LibraryThing.

Here is my thread http://www.librarything.com/topic/81222

Hi,

I am Jacob. I'm not a real cowboy. I work for NASA and read a lot. I'm also an author of short fiction.

Last year was the first year I was able to beat the 75 book mark. I hope to do so again this year, unless I break out in an acute case of alexia.

Hi, I'm Alana. I'm nearing 24 and work in an office outside of Philadelphia, though I spend all of my breaks reading at my desk. What genres I read varies from month to month but I like a lot of classic fiction, plays, fantasy and sci-fi novels, comic books, and the occasional work of non-fiction, especially philosophy. When my nose isn't in a book I'm usually sniffing out trouble with my friends, finding art shows, odd restaurants, and bizarre theaters to visit. I also love classic NES and SNES games and dancing (with awkward exuberance) in inappropriate places.

My thread is here: http://www.librarything.com/topic/81165

Hi, my name is Staci, I'm 34 and live near the Jersey shore. My boyfriend of 9 1/2 years & I bought our first house this June, so now I finally have room to put out all my books. I have a lot more than I realized :) The only disadvantage to the new house is that I'm no longer within walking distance to the library, so I won't be able to uses it as much any more. I don't drive due to being legally blind. I still have enough central vision left that I can read, but it's more comfortable for me to read ebooks or listen to audio books, rather than reading acutal paper books. Hasn't stopped me from buying more though, I'll eventually get through them, just takes a little longer :)

I work for the State for the Unemployment division and don't really have a lot of commitments outside of work, so have a lot of time for reading. I also enjoy doing jigsaw puzzles, playing video & computer games (especially on pogo.com) & watching a few shows on TV. My favorite genre is fantasy, I also enjoy historical fiction, mystery, science fiction and am working on the 1001 books to read before you die. I'm also doing the 1010 challenge this year.

My thread is here

Hi, my name is Rachael and I'm 29 years old. I enjoy far too many genres of books, though currently I'm especially interested in historical fiction and horror. I haven't been very active on librarything and hope to change that this year. After only managing to read about 50 books in 2009 I thought the 2010 challenge sounded like fun.

If I'm not reading I hang out with friends, play the Wii, travel (when possible), and watch movies for fun. I look forward to seeing the recommendations this year! :)

My thread is here: http://www.librarything.com/topic/81389

Hello everyone! My name is Kim and I'm 35 years old. I live in the great state of Georgia. I'm also in the middle of my 12th year as a Reading/Lang. Arts teacher. I read a little bit of everything - thrillers, history, paranormal, etc. I've been an avid reader as far back as I can remember. My first reading memory was when I was in Kindergarten. I was very upset because someone else had checked out the new Clifford book before I did. LOL. First year invoved in Librarything and the 75 book challenge. I've read quite a bit over the break, but my reading will be more sporadic once school starts back. Looking forward to learning more about everyone here.

My thread is here: http://www.librarything.com/topic/81207

Hi there

i am Pamela, 34 from Glasgow. I work in training and development for a small voluntary organsiation in Scotland where we try to make it better for young people who have been on care.

I love reading all sorts of books and have been in a few book groups with varying degrees of success. I like the idea of thie site though and am looking forward to trying to get through 75 books in 2010.

I have just got the hang of this so my thread is here after being a bit all over the place.

http://www.librarything.com/topic/81455

pamela

Well hello then! Ahh, I'm Hope / Hoperin (HopeErin actually) aaand I'm quite the baby of the group, just having turned 18. I'm from Montreal and studying fine arts in cegep. Aside from reading I draw/paint/ect., volunteer at an animal shelter, play a bit of guitar, and terrorize neighbourhoods with my hoodlum ways.
I'll read anything, and I hate to start a book and not finish it so I often get caught plowing through some book I don't really enjoy, but I'm not picky and more often than not I'll enjoy a book picked at random. I have a soft spot for fantasy, dystopian and sci-fi though, especially of the light YA variety.
Other than that, I'm new to LibraryThing, and I'm doing the Chronicles of Prydain group read.

Hi, I'm Karin, a mathematics student from Norway. I like programming, logic puzzles, watching films & TV series, working out (strength training and walking), playing computer games, cooking, baking and cross stitching, in addition to reading.

As I mentioned in my own thread, my style of reading is easily distracted, but these days I seem to gravitate to classics and science fiction. Fittingly, the two books I've read this year fall in neither category.

Hi, I'm Eva. I'm currently finishing off a degree in Translation studies. I live in a messy apartment that I share with a man and a cat called Tennyson, Alfred Lord.

I like reading and writing, and first got into translation because it seemed to be the closest thing I could find to getting paid for combining the two. I also like travelling, movies and, well, people.

The books I read are mostly novels, and I tend to love broad, epic stories, stretching over long periods of time. I like graphic novels, short stories, poetry and historical memoires too, though. Actually, I like a lot of stuff.

First year onboard the 75 challenge, and new to LT.
Here's my thread: http://www.librarything.com/topic/80275

Hi! I'm Lisa. I've been on LT for a while, but have only recently started really making use of it, and I'm new to the 75-book challenge. I love to read, but don't often get as much time to do it as I like - having two boys in the house (ages 9 months and 7 years) tends to require a lot of my attention! My favorite genres are mystery/suspense and sci-fi/fantasy, but I'll read almost anything I can get my hands on.

Hi, I'm Ashley, 23 and an avid reader. I'm a biologist who loves books. Since graduating college my tastes have varied a lot but mainly I enjoy any book that keeps my attention and has a good ending. This year I hope to read as many books as I can since my wonderful husband got me a nook for Christmas.

My reading goals for this year are to read more classics, reduce my TBR pile and to get better at reviewing the books that I read.

Hello, I'm Yoona. I'm 20 years old sophomore at college. Mainly because of lots of studying to do, I don't get that much time to read - cramming during breaks...This is the second time I am participating on 75-book challenge (first time being on 2009).

I like to read british literature, classics, fantasy, and many other genres besides those.

Besides reading, I like to cross stitch.

Hi, I'm Nils, I'm a 21 year old student studying to become an artist or a teacher (or hopefully both). This is my first time in the 75 books challenge. I have a soft spot for a good mystery and I love stories that are read/told aloud (in person not audiobooks). In the past I read mostly fiction, fantasy, & sci-fi but my reading has changed a lot of late, so I'm still finding out what I like. I love a hot cup of tea/coffee/cocoa while reading.

my book thread: http://www.librarything.com/topic/81524

Hi! I'm Emilie, a 28-year-old recent graduate (majored in animal science). This is my first time on the 75 books challenge, and my first week in LibraryThing. It's already become a big time-sucker, and I can't wait to find more hidden gems here.

I read mostly non-fiction animal books, but enjoy an easy YA or children's book as well. The goal I set for myself a few months ago was to read more classics, and although I did very well for the first couple of months, I've slacked off due to Christmas gifts this year. (For the first time, my family used my amazon.com wish list! I am so proud of my computer-illiterate mother! {She did comment that having over 600 books on a wish list was a bit overwhelming....} I received over a dozen new reads, some of which have been read and duly counted on my thread.)

My book thread: http://www.librarything.com/topic/81548

Hi, I'm Becky, 57 years and counting. I live in flyover country and love it here. I just found LT a few days ago and can't believe it was launched and I didn't know about it. True, it's a time sink, but how great it would be to finally have all my books in one place, even if virtual.

My goal for this year is to read more, so this group seems like a good place to start. It also makes sense to me to keep track of what I read, which I've never done before. I envy people who say they have a reading journal going back to the third grade or whatever--oh well.

Many of the books I read are for a writing project I'm working on. I read all kinds of things, but my newest favorite genre is the memoir. Sometimes I just really honestly enjoy the kind of fiction you buy at the grocery store--it relaxes my brain. My goal is definitely not to read more classics since I did that when I was getting a Master's in English Lit. Tristam Shandy--oh, my eyes, my eyes!

I'm really looking forward to this group.

>240 labwriter: labwriter, Tristram Shandy?!? A veritable Debbie Macomber novel compared to Pamela! I understand that the Supreme Court ruled English teachers violated their students' Constitutional right against cruel and unusual punishments by teaching Samuel Richardson's billion-word craptastic epistolary nonsense.

Well well well, I appear to be the youngest challenge taker on here.

I'm Max, I am a 17 year old student currently taking A Levels in my last year of school, and will be taking a gap year before reading history, hopefully at UCL. I live in Oxfordshire, UK.

I love reading a hell of a lot, especially Science-Fiction and Fantasy, though I've recently been trying out some classics as well as reading, obviously, a lot of history related books.

EDIT: A link to my thread can be found http://www.librarything.com/topic/81614#1704096

Hello! I'm Anne, 39, married 17 years, with two daughters -- 8 and soon-to-be 11. We live in Colorado. I have worked for a professional children's performing organization for 16 years -- part-time since my own kids were born -- teaching vocal music, dance and theater, and touring with the children all over the world. I am also a graduate student, working on an elementary education license and (eventually) school library masters, so I don't have as much time to read as I would like.

I have loved books as long as I can remember, but since joining LT a couple of years ago, my reading and reading selections have grown substantially. I am new to the 75-book Challenge this year. I read a mix of fiction and non fiction, and I love children's and YA literature.

My thread is here

>224 TheLibraryhag: TheLibraryhag: I am a librarian and I read a lot of crap.

ROFL!! I love the honesty.

Hello~ My name is Amy. I am 36, married 9 years and a SAHM of 3 girls ages 6, 3, and 2. They keep me on my toes! I love to read to myself and to them. We have a library at home and every library in the area knows us by name too! I have the on-line reservation service down to a science as my middle daughter can be a terror in the library since she no longer likes to sit in the stroller. I enjoy reading almost every genre except science fiction and fantasy. I do read a ton. However, it goes in spurts because life and my other hobbies often gets in the way. My goal this year is 100 books. I am also participating in the 10/10 challenge. I can't wait to see how large my library cue grows this year reading eveyone elses lists!

>241 richardderus: richardderus, Seriously, I read the "short" version of Pamela--and liked it--how sick is that? In fact, I liked it so much I bought the 9,000-page (or whatever) version. I can only claim Stockholm Syndrome or something. If done well, though, I like epistolary novels because of the changing point of view.

>246 labwriter: MEDIC! MEDIC! PTSD SUFFERER IN POST 246, ANTI-DEPRESSANTS NEEDED STAT!

labwriter and richardderus, lol... according to the LT "will I like it?" bar, there's a very high certainty that I will love-Love-LOVE Pamela. Should I report it as a bug?

My name is Christine and I am 24 (will be 25 in February). I live in the smallest town in the smallest county in the smallest state in the United States, Warren RI with my husband, one year old dog (Sammie) and 5 year old cat (Liena). I loved to read as a kid and somehow lost it during my teenage years I guess, but a friend suggested a book last Christmas and ever since I haven't been able to go anywhere without a book with me. I currently love to read fantasy and YA, but if it holds my attention then I will enjoy it. I want to someday have a library room in my home, for now I just have a few bookcases full and growing. If you have any recommendations for me, please let me know, my TBR list is big but I am always interested in adding more. :)

My thread: http://www.librarything.com/topic/80426

My name is Angie and I am 38. I live in a suburb of Dallas, TX with my husband of 15 years, and two sons, 13 and 10. I am a 4th grade reading teacher. I will read just about any genre, but my favorites are cozy mysteries and suspense. I also read a lot of young adult and children's fiction, due to my job- which I love. Last year, I started my lists late, but was able to reach around 85 books. Reading is my comfort and the thing I can not live without. :-)

Hi, my name is Tania and I'm a read-a-holic. Like TheLibraryHag, I word at a library (I'm an assistant Librarian) and I read what others term "crap". I prefer "light-hearted works of primarily escapist fiction, which I can use to lure unsuspecting teenagers back to the library". That is my story. I will stick to it.

I live in Cape Town, South Africa, with two 1-year old goggies, and when I am not reading, I enjoy watching movies or compulsively checking icanhascheezburger. Dogs are awesome, but captioned cats are hilarious!

>248 thekoolaidmom:. No, thekoolaidmom, it's not a bug; it's a "feature." Heh.

Hi all.

I'm Michelle from Philadelphia, the place where the mayor threatened to close all of the public libraries if the PA State Legislature didn't approve his sales tax hike.

Most books I read are novels. Although in the past I've read many Victorian works, recently I've been reading a lot of stuff from the last 30 years or so. I've also been concentrating on YA fiction. I'd like to get back to reading more 19th century novels and expand my nonfiction reading beyond biographies, memoirs, and sports. I'd also like to read more books that were not originally written in English.

My goals for this year are at least 75 books in total (100 would be better) comprised of:

10 nonfiction books (5 of which must be non-memoirs, non-biographies, and not related to sports)

10 books that were not originally written in English

10 books written between 1800 and 1899

The other 45 are open.

Wish me luck!

Luck, Michelle! Noble goals all.

>249 Cpassmore: If you have any recommendations for me, please let me know, my TBR list is big but I am always interested in adding more. :)

Be careful what you wish for. You may be sorry.......

Hi, I´m Matt, I´m 25 years old and live in the Midwest, I´ve always read a lot and joined this website so that I can keep better track of the books that I read and enjoy. I've got an undergraduate degree in Spanish and Political Science, and most of the books I read are related to the Spanish half of that. I love fiction from all parts of Latin America, and most of the books that I read and review for this challenge will be in Spanish (although I´m sure English translations exist for a majority of them as well). Here´s what I´m hoping to accomplish this year:

I've been trying to read at least one book from each country in Latin America, and I think I'll be able to complete that task this year. I think I'm missing works from some Central American countries, like Honduras, Panamá and El Salvador, and would love any suggestions.

I want to read one book a month in French. I'll keep an eye out for recommendations, and I'll give reviews of the books I read. I read La Peste by Camus last year and liked it a lot. I really, really enjoy Camus and am interested in discovering other Francophone authors in the same vein.

I'm going to try and read more poetry, but that's always something I say and don't really follow through on. In general, most of the books on my list will be fiction, novels and short stories.

I'm also going to try and read a lot of Spanish literature from the 19th century. I think it'll help me better understand the progression of Latin American literature if I have a good conception of what was going on in Spain when the national and regional literatures of Latin America were still forming.

That's about it. If you need any recommendations in Latin American literature, I'll do my best to oblige. Good luck!

My thread:
http://www.librarything.com/topic/81773

Hi, I'm Anne, I'm from the Midwest, Kansas actually. I am 22, almost 23, and in my final semester of undergraduate school before I go off to law school, so I am trying to get A LOT of reading done before my professors start telling me what to read :) I read mostly memoirs and non-fiction, but I'm trying to expand my horizons this year.

Hi folks. I call myself Feaelin, but my given name is Iain. I'm in my 30s, with a wife and daughter here in Missouri.

I'll be completing a B.S. in Computer Science this May, so that makes my occupation student. Nearly my sole occupation, except when I'm reading some fiction to relax!

I only discovered the 75 Books Challenge today, but I was on a reading spree over my winter break, so here's my 2010 list thus far:

http://www.librarything.com/topic/82224

Hey, Iain, pop over to the Missouri Readers Group and join us in some of our group reads this year!

I'm Chris. I live in the Midwest--what could be more in the middle than being between Lake Michigan and the Mississippi? I am an editor at a journal and an aspiring writer in many formats. I am addicted to reading, but luckily the job alone keeps me from withdrawal symptoms. The querido aids and abets my bad habits. Somehow when we visit book sales and thrift stores, I'm the one that comes home with my arms full.

My primary recreational activity besides reading is the SCA. So a lot of my nonfiction reading is geared toward my persona interest of taifa-period Moorish Spain (11 c.). I have a biology background, so I tend to delve a lot into science reading subjects. Or at least I buy a lot of science-related books.

My goals for this year are to get more writing done and to concentrate on the many unread books on my own shelves. I've done a good job of avoiding the library lately. The next trick is to read faster than my TBR piles grow.

My 2009 thread is here.

My 2010 thread is here.

Hello everybody,

My name is Marieke, I am Dutch, archivist, age almost 60, of which together with me partner for almost 32 years.
She is in our library for religion, science, nature, health, photography, cooking etc. I am for history, biography, diaries, travel etc. Together we are in it for (historical) novels, poetry, thrillers etc., and read each others books.
I love bookshops, sales, markets, libraries, and since I work in centre of the city have a chance to visit them daily during lunchtime (which is not so good for my purse).

Last weekend I came to this group. On an impulse, motive: curiosity. What do I read in a year? And how will that be, in a reading group like this?

Plan
This year I hope to read a lot of fiction and non-fiction about Central Europe (Germany and Russia included). Especially the cities Berlin and Prague, and for the comparison a city I know well, Amsterdam.

Old
But there are still some loose ends of last year:
Jonathan Israël, Enlightenment contested (about to appear in Dutch)
Jacques Barzun, From dawn to decadence
Hans Achterhuis, Met alle geweld
Neal Stephenson, The system of the world, Cryptonomicon

Places of the heart
Greece, always…
The North of the Netherlands
Amsterdam

Topicality
At present Afghanistan. Rory Stewart’s The places in between lies waiting. I saw a long tv-interview with Rory Stewart. What a man!

Movies, series
The ones based on books I will add.

Impulses.
Since they often are such “fat” ones, I plan to be a bit more critical on them.
First impulse of the year: Hannah Arendt: een biografie by Elisabeth Young Bruehl, which came out of a talk with a colleague, who reads it for a reading club. We will have some nice cups of tea on it.

My thread is
here

Now off I go..

I'm coming a bit late to the party, but this will be good for me!
I'm Chloe, 40 this year (and looking forward to it, thanks very much!) - I live in Leeds, Yorkshire (UK) and teach law. When not teaching law, I eat, sleep, travel and go horseracing.
Part of the whole "turning 40" thing has been looking at how I spend my time, and realising I don't spend enough of it reading any more. So I will.
I am also holding myself personally responsable for the demise of Borders in the UK - I kept going in and browsing their books and then buying them secondhand from Amazon (for financial and environmental reasons) I am resolving, selflessly, to buy more books from Waterstones (remaining big UK bookseller, also in a bit of trouble, it seems) to stop them going bust as well.

My favourite genre is detective fiction, with a preference for proper "denoument in the drawing room" style books rather than anything too psychological - I like my loose ends tidying up. But I like the mysterious more generally, things historical, reading about places I want to travel to and most intelligent contemporary fiction, really. I also like my classics - always loved Bronte, have come round to Jane Austen in my old age and am positively evangelical about Charles Dickens and Mrs Gaskell.

My list is here

>261 marieke54: Welcome and well-come, Marieke! I am a huge fan of the Dutch author Margriet de Moor, reading everything I can find in English translation. LibraryThing seems to have many Dutch people on it whose English is astoishingly fluent...boekenwijs, FAMeulstee, you...how delightful!

>262 cjwallace: Chloe, I would greet you except I am evangelical AGAINST Dickens. It would be unseemly to welcome one from the Other Side.

#262: I will embrace you (metaphorically speaking), Chloe, since Richard in decidedly on the Other Side of Dickens. I, however, like Dickens.

#263 So, I guess saying "Oh Richard, you little Dickens, you" would send you into a temper?

#262 Welcome, Chloe, and don't mind the heathen there in slot 263. Dickens will survive his disdain.

I'm late--once again. Somewhere in atmosphere is my first version of the following. . .

Since my grandmother was 39 years old until my dad was 41, I'll just say that I remember coonskin hats and poodle skirts.

I'm Laurie, a fourth generation Californian (yeah!), with a daughter in New York, a son in Wisconsin, and an ex in Missouri, plus siblings in four US states as well as England and Spain. I have a degree in English Literature, certifications in both data processing and law office work, and work as a legal secretary in a very large law firm's Los Angeles office. I have worked in a public utility and a Shakespeare theatre.

I read just about anything, although last year's count astonished me. So many books from LT's Early Reviewer, my RL book group, family, and friends--but also drawn from the 1001 Must Read list, the 999 Challenge that I put together, but got distracted from, and from "lurking" through 75er threads.

This group always amazes me with its breadth and I'm very happy to be back. Find me this year at http://www.librarything.com/topic/81498

#266: This group always amazes me with its breadth . . .

Boy, isn't that the truth!

Hello all!

My name is Heidy, and I'm currently living in Chicago, though I'm originally from a small town in southeastern Pennsylvania. (Cowboys fans should keep their distance for the time being.) I am currently working on a PhD in Russian/Soviet history at the University of Chicago. My focus is Soviet fashion and the clothing industry in the 1920s and 1930s. I will NOT be entitling the dissertation "Getting Uzbeks to wear underpants: A history of Soviet clothing," much to the chagrin of my close friends. I am also in my second semester (woo hoo!) of library school at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. I work full-time at the University of Chicago Library, where I am a supervisor in their technical services division. So I'm pretty much constantly surrounded by books.

I'll read just about anything, but I especially love mysteries of all stripes, historical fiction, science fiction, Russian Golden Age novels, and trashy chic lit/guilty pleasure lit.

Here is my challenge link: http://www.librarything.com/topic/81728#1707442

(I hope the link works. I'm a bit of a Luddite, though not by choice.)

#61 Where in Switzerland will you be living, Cushla? My father is from Switzerland, and I have a lot of relatives living there.

#261 HI, Marieke. I also have the Barzun book on my list. I read some of it last year, but got a little bogged down and put it aside for a while. I was going to give it away when I saw the chapter heading on the year 1830, right after I read Stendhal's "The Red and the Black (Rouge et Noir)" and thought it might be interesting to see Barzun's ideas. So now I'll continue.

#262 Chloe, hello and good for you! I thought turning 40 was deliciously funny - now that I'm turning 61, I'm determined to hold on to my sense of humor. After all, I don't feel any different today. I also feel a little guilty about my book-buying habits - more and more, I use paperbackswap and used bookstores and even (gasp) the library! Every once in a while, though, I just can't wait for any of those sources and actually buy a new book. I feel the urge coming over me even now.

#268 Heidy, you got me laughing out loud at the keyboard.

Hi I'm Peta i'm from Australia. I am 39 (40 this year) married with a 9 year old daughter. I love reading and my fav authors so far are Terry Pratchett, Jasper Fforde and i love all the classics from Dickens to the Bronte sisters.

i forgot to say im a teachers aide and love it!

Hi, I'm Tash, also from Australia. I'm 25, I graduated from uni last year (arts degree, majoring in english lit, though I also dabbled in ancient history and classics), but haven't really started looking for a 'grown-ups' job yet - I'm happy for the time being working in a bookshop, and generally just taking it a bit easy after having a couple of crazy years. I live with my civil engineer-student husband in a teeny tiny little flat near the beach. I love cooking and gardening - my friends tease me about being an old married lady, but I've never happier than when I'm cooking with something I grew in my garden, or sewing, or just generally pottering around. Next step, cardigan and slippers...ahhhh

Edited to add a link to my thread

Hello, I'm Booketta (aka Jane) from UK. Married, 3 offspring, 2 at University and 1 in school. I work part time and love finding time to burrow my nose into a book. I belong to a reading group which meets monthly.

Hi, I'm Margaret. I'm 30 and live in Kentucky with my pug Tommy. I just finished my MLS and I currently work at the public library in my town. With all of the interesting looking books coming across my desk, my TBR list is super long and growing every day. I tend to shy away from books on the bestseller list but other than that my tastes vary - classics, literary fiction, some nonfiction, dystopic YA fiction. I managed to finish the 75 book challenge last year and thought I'd try to do it again this year. Now that I'm done with school I'm hoping to have a lot more time to read.

#274 ladywithabook: My youngest daugther's name is Margaret (we call her Mags or Maggie) and we used to have a pug named Frank (full name Frank Farter, guess what he was famous for ;-) )

Hi! I'm new to Library Thing groups in general and this group in particular. I'm Celeste--28 years old, recovering from grad school and trying to decide what to do with my life. I currently live in Atlanta, although my husband and I are thinking of moving either to DC or Boston soon.

My 2010 thread is here:

http://www.librarything.com/topic/82721

Hi all!

I am Piyush from India. At 25, I hold a bachelor's degree in Elect. Engg. and a MBA in Finance. This is my 3rd consecutive year with the 75ers' group, though 9 months into my first and very hectic job, I don't hold the remotest hopes of getting anywhere near the prescribed number.

My real name is Lucy and I'm new and everything else in my life is in a shambles while I wade through old booklists like a pig in mud..... My family (one husband, one 13 year old, one dog, two cats) know that protesting is useless. At least it's quieter than some of my other pursuits (playing the concertina).

So how do you turn your thread thing blue? OK so I reveal I know nothing. Or is it automatic so if I write:

whatisasibyx (I started a list with that topic heading)..... uh oh, didn't work. Help? Wait, maybe it had a question mark.... I'll try to find it.

Not automatic, Lucy
your thread is here: http://www.librarything.com/topic/82823

Hello, I'm Jan. Joining late, as I just discovered you guys! I have a BS in Zoology (focus on Human A&P) and an AD in Nursing. I am 48, living in Paris at the moment on assignment with my dog Sam. He's a 15 year old Golden Retriever mix who has been with me for 13 years. I am a Registered Nurse, and work with a company that provides electronic medical records for hospitals. They rented me a furnished apartment, and told me I could ship 500 lbs of stuff over with me. Books comprised well over half of my shipment. Honestly.

Once here, I discovered that there is an American Library in Paris and they charge 100 euros per year to join; I thought this was exorbitant until I saw the price of books here -- I spent over 60 euros in the first month, and decided I'd better head back to the library and pay up. If you ever live in Paris for any length of time, they are fabulous, very friendly, and have a pretty large collection; I highly recommend them. They've saved me thousands of euros!

Hi, I'm Luci, I joined LibraryThing at the end of last year - I live in a rather small house in London with my boyfriend, 2 sons under 3 and 2 ageing cats, and an outrageously large collection of books, I'm curious to see how many I manage to catalogue! I also buy far too many books, and joining LT has made things worse because I've noticed several gaps that I've had to rectify (particularly among children's books).

I read 49 books last year but speeded up considerably when I went back to work from maternity leave in late October, and have finished 11 so far this month, compared to 2 last January (I think it was 2 - my computer crashed in March taking my records with it).

Here's a link to my thread:

http://www.librarything.com/topic/82341#1722218

Hi! I'm René and I'm in California. I'm beginning collage this year, majoring in European History, so most of the stuff I read is in anticipation of that. I'm not necessarily a bookworm, because I won't read everything, but I'm curious about most things, so I try to read a large variety.

I can't believe I just found this thread!

I'm Andrea. 24, married, living in a small town that never gets movies the day they come out every where else! I love to read, write (my degree is in English, emphasis in Creative Writing), cook, and travel. This year my husband, Caleb and I will be going to Europe for 3 months. I have one cat, Moses, who usually sits in my lap and reads with me. I'm currently self-employed as a nanny, dog-sitter, writer, you name it...

As to what I read, I'm open to anything. My typical fare is a cross between modern classics, true classics, and best selling fiction. I don't necessarily favor a genre.

here's my thread: http://www.librarything.com/topic/80457

Welcome to the group, new members!

#281 Ah, it's never too late to jump in here with this group!

#285 Don't feel bad, Andrea! I live in a small town that doesn't have a movie theatere at all. :(

tymfos, I live outside of a small town that doesn't have one! *grin*

>285 AndreaBurke:: Andrea, is Moses going to Europe with you?

#286 and #287 I'm so sorry! I guess I should be grateful then!

#287 He's not! He'll be staying with my grandmother or my mom for the time, but I know he's going to hate me when we get back. Hopefully not! but still, I feel bad for leaving him :-(

Hi!

Im Josefin, from Sweden. Im 25 years old and work at the Post office here in my town. I love to read, mostly fiction, but some non-fiction too! Anime and manga is another big interest, so I read that too.
Have started to read graphic novels now...

Here is my 75-list.
http://www.librarything.com/topic/83067

Hi, I'm Becky.

I'm almost 55, an unemployed technical writer living with my husband and son in Washington state. I don't usually count books (or anything else) but am hoping the challenge will give me an extra push to read books I've owned, unopened, for years.

Good luck to us all!

Party crasher here...I'm not actually a member of the 75 book challenge, as that goal is too lofty me. I've never gotten through more than 30-ish books in a year, so I've sets my sets high (for me) in the 50 books challenge thread. I admire the ambition of this group with 75!

I've been enjoying reading through your threads, reading your reviews, picking up (lots of) books for my wishlist, so it only felt right that I say hello.

I'm Tom, and I'm 34 from Chicago. I work in I/T in a mostly-travel job that has me traveling the US and the world more often than I'm home. Thus, most of my reading is done on my Kindle (v1).

I have been trying for a couple of years to increase the amount I read. I'm using the 1010 challenge and the 50 book challenge as impetuses to achieve this in 2010. You can visit my threads below, and comments are always welcome.

My 1010 Challenge thread
My 50 Book Challenge thread

Now back to perusing through all the threads here and the inevitable growth of my wishlist!

Thanks Tom for dropping by -- you brought a smile to an otherwise dismal day :)

Better late than never???

Hi, my name is Jen. I am from York County, Pennsylvania. Somehow this sight was lurking unbeknownst to me until my school media specialist shared it with me! On that note, I am a 28 year old Communication Arts (English and reading comprehension in my district) seventh grade teacher. Some have said that I must be crazy to deal with all of the hormones and craziness associated with this age group, but I love my job!

My husband and I had our first child, daughter Cameran, in March 2009. She is a great joy and blessing to us, as we were told we were unable to have children. Cameran was diagnosed with Down syndrome three days after her birth--a complete surprise to us all--but she is doing well, and we are fortunate to be blessed with wonderful family, friends, and colleagues, as well as awesome interventionists! We have been married for almost 6 years and have two "four-legged" boxer children as well.

I have always been an avid reader. In fact, I think I sent my parents to the poorhouse with my childhood reading collection. I don't think there was a Babysitter's Club book that I did not have in elementary school.

I am still an avid reader, although as priorities change, so does the time in the day I have left to read. In any case, I thought I would join the 75 book challenge as a way to both catalog my reading endeavors and actually see what I am able to accomplish as I venture on the journey of wife, mother, and teacher.

I will openly admit that my library is not as diverse as I would like it to be. In fact, I have only added 22 books as of now, though I own close to a thousand. I read mostly to escape, and have turned to "lighter" genres of realistic fiction. I do love a good mystery as well. During the school year, I tend to gravitate toward adolescent literature, as I need alternative means of communicating with my students, especially when they ask what books are "good".

My goals for the 75 challenge are to expand my reading genres and to actually read the unread books on my shelf. For Christmas, I was given the Barnes and Noble nook, so I am also beginning my e-Reading adventures as well so as to save room for my daughter's impending library!

Hello. My name is Michael and I'm a book-a-holic.

I am avid reader and have been since I learned how to read. I can't really remember a time when I couldn't read, though I do recall wanting to be better at it so I read Dr. Suess books.

As I've said in other places, bookstores are great, libraries even better. I've got a huge list of TBR books I've bought and thanks to groups like this and book blogs, I am always finding new books to add to it and put on reserve.

I don't yet have a Nook or other e-book reader but am entering to win one in my local library's winter reading program. I'm not sure if this would be good or bad if I won. It'd be good to have a Nook but bad as I may go broke filling it up. :)

I read a little of everything.

Here's my thread

I look forward to hearing about what everyone is reading this year.

I am just two posts above at message 293.

Here is the link to my thread

Hey im Ellie! My main goal is to expand the variety of books i read. For christmas i got a kindle so im hoping this will enable me to read more often since i am very busy during the year with school and all. Im completely addicted to books and often find myself getting lost in books and reading for hours on end. There is nothing like finding a good book and reading it cover to cover. Im look forward to reaching my goal of reading 75 books this year and reading some good books along the way!

Welcome Ellie (I see you're one of LT's newest members)

I'm Ardene (known here as Markon). I live in the Atlanta, Georgia area (USA). You may see a photo of my dog Milo as my avatar. I work in a library, and have loved to read since about age 4.

I'm learning to knit, and enjoy cooking and gardening as well. My parents' will celebrate their 50th anniversary in February, but I'm not 50 - yet.

I read a variety of fiction and non-fiction. My faves are mysteries, science fiction, and fantasy, but like some of you, I'll read a cereal box if there is nothing else handy.

My list is here

Hi. I'm a 36 year old female. Originally from the North-East of England, studied in the North-West of England (BA in French and Spanish), studied some more in Yorkshire (MA and PhD in Catalan and computational linguistics), moved to State College, Pennsylvania for 3 years (during which time I eloped to Vegas to marry my much better half and had a baby - in that order), moved to Sydney, Australia for 2 years (lovely weather, lovely people but encountered rather too many lizards in my back yard which looked like they'd escaped from a local zoo. Had another baby). Since Jan. 2008 we have lived in the burbs of northern New Jersey. Most of my book purchases these days seem to be from library book fairs but I have a rather alarming addiction to buying kids' books on the Internet. I ordered so many children's books from The Book Depository over Christmas that it took the kids about half an hour just to open the rather suspiciously book-shaped presents in their pile. Owing to the one book per envelope policy of the Book Depository, my mail carrier (who delivers on foot) hasn't spoken to me since November :)

#299: I love that last line! My mail carrier is suspiciously silent these days, too.

I feel guilty about my mail lady on occasion (especially in this weather and when a thick book means she has to come to the house instead of leaving the mail in the box at the end of the driveway) but as she is persistently friendly (as was the one at my previous address), perhaps she sees me and thinks "job security" or else the volume I generate prevents her from having to do a longer route... I hope so anyway.:)

Removing the mask of HighlandLad, I can reveal that my real name is Steve, I live in the Scottish Highlands, but calling myself a lad is frankly a lie - or more politely a fiction (of the fantasy genre). I was 60 at my last birthday, and I’m now semi-retired, with more time for reading. My reading tastes are very broad. I’ve read a lot of science, biology, philosophy, psychology, history, travel. But at the moment I’m mainly reading fiction. In my teens and twenties I read lots of fiction, but since then, I’ve read typically just one or two novels a year. But in 2009 I read 109 novels, and I’m filling in the big gaps in my reading. In 2009, I also found the LT site - still very new to me, I’ve only dipped in so far, but very inspiring.

My working life has been too complicated to detail here, it began in local government and ended (the serious part of it, anyway) in printing and publishing. I don’t think I’ll ever want to retire completely, unless I have to due to ill health. I enjoy walking, climbing the local hills that we like to call mountains, travel, eating and drinking. I have a partner of over 30 years. We keep two cats, one we took in as a stray, he only has one eye, the other we took over from a neighbour who was moving home and couldn’t keep it. We also still keep our previous home in London which I visit several times a year. I suppose that life has, so far, treated me gently. I appreciate it.

I think reading helps you understand people – yourself as much as others. It's not by the books you own, or read, but by what you think of the books you read that helps define yourself. If, that is, you can articulate what you think of them. That’s a very difficult skill! These days, I spend as much time thinking about the books I’ve read as actually reading them. But I do think you get to know yourself better if, when you’ve read a book, you can take a view on that book, and can say exactly why you like or dislike it.

My 75 books challenge is to read at least 75 works of fiction, (mainly novels, though the odd short story collection is permitted), in calendar year 2010. But not just any old 75 books. Oh no! I aim to include in that 75 at least:-

- 60 novels by authors I’ve never read before;

- 25 works originally written in a language other than English;

- 15 heavyweight novels (200,000+ words), of which at least 5 will be super-heavyweights (300,000+ words);

- 15 that have fewer than 5 reviews in English on LT (I will write a review of these, I make no commitment to review any others);

- 10 by authors whose last name begins with the letter P (daft, I know, I’ll explain when I list my first ‘P’ book);

- 10 classic war novels (because I’ve read hardly any);

- 8 classic fantasy novels (because I’ve been avoiding them all my life, because I think I won’t enjoy them. But how do I know if I never read them?);

- 5 Booker Prize winners;

- 5 Pulitzer Prize winners (novels category);

- 5 Prix Goncourt winners;

- 5 novels by Nobel Prize for Literature authors who I’ve never read before;

- 10 novels listed in the Guardian’s ‘1000 Novels Everyone Must Read’ list – but not listed in most other literary lists, including Peter Boxall’s list below;

- 10 novels listed in Peter Boxall’s ‘1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die’ list (any edition) – but not listed in most other literary lists, including the Guardian list above;

- 5 novels listed in the BBC Best Loved 200 Novels list, but not in either the Guardian or Peter Boxall lists.

Of course, one book may tick two or more of those boxes. I’m hoping some books will tick lots of boxes.

My 2010 reading thread is here... http://www.librarything.com/topic/83864#1763426

Can I just say Wow! That's some serious categorising!

Hi,
I`m Mel,46,living in south London UK. I joined LT this year and cannot believe I haven`t come across it earlier!
I`m self-employed as a wigmaker( specialising in false beards and moustaches for actors....well someones got to do it!) working in film.theatre and opera,mostly for the Royal Opera in Covent Garden. I`m a textile artist in my spare time with a couple of successful exhibitions last year and love to knit,crochet and make quilts, inbetween the reading which will take centre-stage this year.I enjoy gardening and making the most of all the fantastic culture we are lucky enough to have here in London. Life can get very busy! My favourite place in London is the British Library,just to hang out and read in peace.
At the moment I`m indulging my passion for the history of London by reading more Victorian novels and nonfiction history. This site is helping enormously.
Happy reading everyone!

School teacher in Fort Worth, Texas at a wonderful private school...Late 30's...married with 3 kids...

Reading is a passion of mine...Not only in the classroom, but outside of it as well...Bedtime has to have reading done before lights go out...Usually two to three chapters a night...many more if eyes don't get to heavy...

Have only met one book that has challenged me enough to not get through and that's James Joyces's Ulysses. I make it my promise here to attempt to get through it all. It is a goal in life to read and understand what many consider to be the greatest novel in the English language.

Favorite all-time read is a tie between All the King's Men by Robert Penn Warren and The Secret History by Donna Tartt

Welcome aboard, Scuzneck. Since we agree on All the King's Men, I'll have to try The Secret History. thanks.

All the King's Men is in my all-time top ten. Top five, maybe.

All the King's Men is in my all time top ten. Top five maybe.

And there it sits on my shelf gathering dust! This year for sure.

Hi all,

I'm Tom, age 51, from Seattle. I'm a lifetime reader, and in fact my high-school part-time job was working as a page in our public library, which was heaven -- being paid to browse!

After a fairly hectic two decades career-wise, I find myself with a little extra time for reading (ahem). And I also find that for some time now I have been purchasing books faster than reading them. There will be no trouble finding 75 books to get through. To be honest, I have plenty of half-finished books that I hope to finish, so the stats will be a little padded. I am the type of reader who always has 30 or so books "in progress" at any time, and I show no signs of changing that habit.

I have at this point more an outline of a plan than a reading list. I am going to join in the group reads of Anna Karenina and Moby Dick, since I have had a couple false starts on each, and peer pressure might be just the thing to get these finished. In addition to these two, I intend to keep just one novel going at a time, just to have some hope of tracking. But I reserve the right to multi-task as much short fiction and non-fiction as fits.

You can find my thread at http://www.librarything.com/topic/81869

>309 tkennedy: "...working as a page in our public library.." - what an appropriate job title!
Welcome, Tom!

Hi, I'm Nina. Last year, I hit the big four oh (but don't tell anybody - especially me. I still feel I'm in my late 20s, and it's a bit of a surprise to find I'm being tailed by two kids. One's just a year old, but the other is 6, and just started primary). I've lived all over the world, but am currently parked in Singapore. I've always been a reader - if we're out shopping & my family points to something interesting over there, I know that there's a bookshop in the other direction they're trying to steer me away from.
Will attempt the 75 challenge for 2010, although the challenge will be finding time after the kids are in bed & there's all the bits and pieces to do around the house to catch up on that I couldn't do when they were awake. Unfortunately, I couldn't set up my list, so maybe that's just advance warning that maybe, this year, the challenge isn't for me ...

Hi, I started my own thread but I thought I'd say hello here as well.

My name is Meshal, I'm a college student in Maryland who's about to turn 20. I'm taking Political Science at the University of Maryland and I love reading. I think it's difficult to say what my favorite book is as I go back and forth a great deal. I tend to read many contemporary books and I'd like to get into the classics a bit more this year so we'll see how that goes.

My goal this year is 75 books and while I haven't gotten off to a good start, I'm optimistic. I've made a personal rule that books that are assigned to me in classes can't count for these 75. I'm trying to read one book at a time, a serial problem for me. As Tom mentioned above, though, I think it's okay to read more than one non-fiction book at a time. My goal is to read two or three books in Spanish this year and I'd like to start Don Quixote in the original Spanish but I don't intend to finish it.

Ooh - it worked, this time. Will now attempt to post the link. Ahem.

http://www.librarything.com/topic/84353

Ta da. Um - well, hope it worked!

#313: It did indeed work!

What exactly is a bookmoocher? Sorry I had to ask.

>315 ablaze5:.

Bookmooch is a book-swapping website, or something. You give books to strangers, and get points in return, and then you can use those points to get books from strangers. w00t.

I don't use it, so that's just an external observation.

#315: See here: http://bookmooch.com/

I'm Alicyn - new to this group and pretty new to Library Thing. I have been doing it for about a year now and love it. I have become an avid reader in the last couple years and my reading speed has dramatically improved which I am very happy to say because that is what kept me from reading before now. I hated reading because it took me so long to finish a book. Two years ago I made it a goal to try and read as much as I could I read 12 books that year. Last year, I read 20 books. so I thought I would challenge myself a little farther.

I am 34, married and mother of four four-legged critters, Tiger (my cat), Romeo and Zeus (two Shiba-Inu's) and Tugs (my baby and my pomeranian). Married for eight years and step-mother of three, owner of 13 rental properties and a full time job - its hard to guess when I find the time to read but I do.

Also, I was wondering if anyone could tell me how to post a thread. I see that people have done that but I can't find how to do that. Thanks and nice to meet you all.

Hi everyone,

I just posted to the "Welcome aboard" group, but I may as well do so here, too...

I'm Alexandra, from Connecticut, and am a recent newcomer to both this challenge and LibraryThing! I'm a fan of classic literature, fantasy, essays, travel writing, and cookbooks, and tend to find most of my new reads either by chance at the library (I'll admit it, I occasionally judge books by their covers) or through recommendations from trusted sources. I welcome any suggestions!

I've never set myself a specific reading goal for a year, so I'm excited to work on this one. It's also been a while since I've kept track of everything I read, so it'll be interesting to see it all laid out together.

As a sub-challenge, I'd like to try to read a bit outside of my usual genres this year. Fiction is lovely and satisfying, but I'm certain that there are others that could be equally so, if I would give them a chance!

Welcome all,

Nina, I also turned 40 last year and my younger son turned 1 last week, though my older son isn't yet 3.

@312: Meshal, maybe we can tackle Don Quijote together. I've wanted to try that in Spanish and never gotten around to it. First, must acquire a copy...

justchris, I just got the Real Academia Asociacion version from Amazon for fairly cheap a few days ago. I haven't started it yet, I'm a bit nervous. I'm planning on taking it pretty slowly.

Hi all!

#318, ablaze5 - to post a thread, go to the Group page HERE - just above the list of topics, there is a little black arrow pointing at "Post a new topic". Click on that, then fill in a "Subject" line, eg "ablaze5's 75 Challenge"; type in your first message, (whatever you like, we're not picky over here ;)) and click "Submit".

Then copy the link to your thread to a message over here on this thread, so we know where to find you!

Hope that helps!

#318 ablaze5 - and if you're not sure about how to put a link to your thread in a message, check out the html tips page here.

Welcome!

Hey !

I am a twenty year old full time college student. This is my last year in classes and then Im released into the world ;) I am so happy to find this book reading community online.

My introduction to books is kind of amusing. I hated reading when I was a kid. My mom refused to accept this and so she developed a system where she'd pay me $1 every time I finished a book. I was very young and this was very exciting to me, so I began to read. The $ flow stopped a while ago, but now I'm hooked to books!

This is my first day on Library Thing. I am just learning the ropes. Any help or tips would be great!

I am eager to take on this 75 books challenge and maybe even go beyond it!

Hi Meshal & Justchris:
You may want to check out this website http://www.cervantesvirtual.com/FichaObra.html?portal=0&Ref=1270&audio=1
(it should all be copied in one line.
It's a link to the La Biblioteca Virtual Cervantes that has a spoken version of Don Quijote- you can download a chapter at a time. It may help you.
Incidentally, if you don't know about this website, I'd recommend you use it for reference. It has a huge number of (out of copyright) books and writings by spanish authors. I use it all the time to check books and materials that I don't have ready acces to- particularly classical writings.
Enjoy Don Quijote- I've you starred because I want to follow up on your reading. It's tempting me to go back and read it again.

@322: Congratulations on taking the first step and the info. I know stuff can be found online for pretty cheap, but I mostly by gifts online rather than for myself. Impulse buys are so much easier in person in my case. You're still ahead of me. But maybe I'll breakdown and do it when I have some money and replace my Merwin edition of El Cantar del Mio Cid. Next month, perhaps. But I gotta pay for a bunch of presents still.

@326: Thanks for the link, xieouyang. I've checked it out and it looks interesting. Unfortunately, I already spend most of my day in front of the computer, so I prefer to read paper books, plus I like handling them and scribbling marginalia. I'm afraid you may be disappointed by my thread--lots of ambition, but often little followthrough. I've been searching the local used bookstores for Cervantes books for a little while, without success. I already had you starred. I just don't have much to say most of the time.

Justchris, I agree with you on the books vs ebooks issue. I also prefer physical books that you can hold, page through easily, write comments, etc. However, I record a few to listen when I'm traveling (by train only because it's quiet- I find the airplane enginess too noisy).
Incidentally, now that you mention el cid, here is a link that you may want to check:
http://www.laits.utexas.edu/cid/

they have done a wonderful job of reciting it in a well-pronounced medieval spanish (at least it sound medieval to me). Also, you can see written versions of old spanish, modern spanish and english translation simultaneously. I still remember when I found it- it was a great pleasure to finally listen to it in the way it probably was sung way back then. I'd like to hear what you think of it.
By the way, my name is Manuel- I use xieouyang as a pseudonym since I travel quite a bit to China and the Chinese have a real tough time with the "nuel" ending. The Ma part is easy for them.

#325 Welcome Lillian!

I am not sure I can give you any tips about how to navigate LT, but I would say follow some of the threads in the 75ers and see which ones you like. Post a thread with your reads, and let us know the URL. For sure, don't expect your TBR pile to get smaller. Not with these people...
If you want to go beyond 75 books, the 1010 Challenge is turning out to be lots of fun. That's here http://www.librarything.com/groups/1010challenge. Good luck! I look forward to seeing what you fit in along with college (:.

Thanks nittnut!

I have posted a thread with my reads, here's the link:

http://www.librarything.com/topic/84730

And you are so right, as I look through everyones reading lists mine just keeps getting longer and longer! I am becoming somewhat addicted to this site !

I will check out that 1010 challenge as well.

Thanks again for the advice!

Manuel, I'm both nervous and excited to start Don Quijote. I'm reading other things in Spanish for my Renaissance literature class so the idea of picking up another great work of Spanish literature is a bit daunting. I may try to read a few pages a day but I don't want to take it too slowly. Justchris, I'd love to read the book with you and anybody else, it might make it easier to pick up.

Meshal, I'd be interested in reading along, a few pages a day, maybe a chapter a day? Do you want to set up a new thread?
What are you reading in that renaissance literature class?

Manuel, I'd love to set that up! We can decide a pace that works for both of us. We just finished reading La Celestina by Fernando de Rojas and we're about to start Lazarillo de Tormes.

Hi. I'm Janet. I just found this site, joined the 75 books challenge and posted an introduction there, but also thought I should say hi here, too. I am 54 years old, married, two teenage daughters. I was born in the Bronx, grew up in New Jersey, went to college in Boston, and have lived in London for 30 years. I read a random mix of things, either recommended by friends or by newspaper book reviews. Most of them are new, because I spent a lot of time reading the "classics" of English literature when I was younger - that doesn't mean I don't love them, just I don't read them now. I'll add a link to my 75 books thread as soon as I set it up!

Okay, so I'm terribly late, but I'm determined to participate and not lurk! (Anymore. Ha.) I'm Gabi, and I am 23 years old, and have spent the entirety of those twenty-three years living in the great state of Texas. I have a white Aussie shepherd, and her name is Rose. She's not much for the reading, but she loves to play fetch and herd my nieces. My goal is to go back to school by the end of this year to start my MLS degree. Libraries are a lifetime love of mine, and I love working in them!

That being said, I'm afraid I'm not off to a very auspicious start, book consumption wise. I used to be a very quick reader and then college happened. (Textbooks? What?) But, I'm excited about this group!

My name is Debralu and I can't believe I've been on this site for almost three years now. I'll be 55 next month and like to read, mostly mysteries.

I work as a supervising counselor, went back to school and received my Masters degree in Public Administration in 2004 while being a single mother of a teenage boy. I am so glad he is now 21! I recently remarried and love to travel. However, getting my husband to join is somewhat of a challenge!
I hope I know how to navigate this site and look forward to sharing my books and getting feedback!

Hello, my name is Mary Beth and I have been on LT since December 2007. Every year it gets better! I am 49, 50 this year in November and I still can't believe it when I say it. It was suggested that I take a look at your group by one of your kind members and Whisper1, thank you! they do seem like a kind, well-read group. I have previously enjoyed the 50 book challenge but have decided to plow bravely on and attempt another 25 although I really didn't reach 50! I have decided to increase my goal this year by devoting more time to reading and less to housekeeping and cooking...okay, I'm kidding about that, but I do intend to devote more quality time to reading this year. If my goal is not met, I will still have read many fascinating books and conversed with many exciting new people, a great way to spend time. I have 3 dogs, 2 cats, 3 daughters and 1 wonderful, tolerant husband, who feeds the dogs AND the cats (who belong to daughter #2) while I read. Yes, while I read. We own our construction company and this is our 25th year. Not our best year financially, but impressive just the same. It is also our 25th year of marriage. We live in a house that we built 3 years ago and it is filled with stacks of books, all in the process of being cataloged. My books are purchased mainly at library book sales, occasionally at bookstores. I like to read an eclectic assortment and choose a book based on my mood at the time, others' opinions, and often, my knowledge of the author, or desire for knowledge of the author. I am quite open to suggestion. Another major interest is writing, leaning towards publication in literary journals, magazines and eventually between the covers of my own book. It's a pleasure to meet all of you.Here is my link to my 75 Book Challenge- http://www.librarything.com/topic/85378#1808539

Hello, my name is Jen. I have only been on LT for a couple of weeks, but am loving it. I am 34, divorced, have 2 kiddos, and 2 wiener dogs. I am a NICU nurse, and I hope to go back to school this fall for a Masters degree, after which I can practice as a Neonatal Nurse Practitioner. I am the self-appointed moderator of a book club and a member of an additional book club. I recently started blogging about the first club.

I love to read anything, although, I have developed a bit of an aversion to young adult and teen literature. I think the Twilight books did this to me (yes, I admit it, I read them). I have since been trying to bring my intelligence level back by keeping the literature choices a little deeper. My absolute favorite genre is anything historical, fiction or non. I love to read about European History. There are many classics I would like to read; I try to read several per year.

I am a late-comer to this group, and am off to a very slow start. I think I may be holed up reading until fall. Once school starts, what free time I have may become a thing of the past. And please bear with me while I learn to navigate this site...

@337: Welcome to the 75 challenge Mary Beth. This group was the major distraction from my own writing last year. On the other hand, I racked up a lot of book reviews.

Hello, I'm Genny (gennyt). I've been a member of LT for over three years but only used it occasionally and have only just discovered these groups.

I'm 45 years old, living in the North East of England, with my black greyhound who snoozes and gently snores while I sit and read. I work full time as a parish priest, but prior to training for that I had started down the path of training to be a librarian, and also gained a doctorate in medieval manuscripts - and way back when I was about 5 I was sticking tickets inside my books and writing 'Genny's Library' on the flyleaves, so I guess I've always had a thing about books!

I've quite a large collection of theology books, far too few of which I've got round to reading. Most of my reading is novels for relaxation. As a young reader it was fantasy that particularly sparked my imagination, and I still enjoy exploring that genre, including more recent children's/young adult fiction to keep an eye on developments. But there's a whole world of other books too to read...

Reading in childhood was such a solitary and private activity, it came as a shock at first when I discovered that other people had read the books I loved. It has been one of the pleasures of growing up and growing older increasingly to share and recommend books among friends, and to compare responses. I joined a book group a year or so ago and have enjoyed discovering books I would never have thought of reading before.

I have for some years been keeping a notebook of books read and brief reviews - but that has been another solitary activity, so it will be good to use these boards and this group to fulfil the same purpose in a more communal way. Don't want to spend so long on the boards that I take away time from reading however.

Here's my 2010 thread: http://www.librarything.com/topic/85546#1813244

I've got the life that everyone wants. By design, not by accident. I live in Beijing PRC with my husband and two kids (3y4mo and 1y6mo). We moved to China after realizing that we'd never have time in our lives for kids if we continued to spend all of our "free" time driving (our jobs were 100 miles apart and we lived in the middle) and doing chores (cooking, laundry, maintaining a rodent-free household...) Reverse outsourcing, I guess. Of course, making it work really well required learning Mandarin...

If I still lived in the land of English language libraries and used bookstores, I'd never have bought an ebook reader, but 50 lbs of books per year (the luggage allowance on a trans-Pacific flight) is just not enough, and what is locally available tends to be both expensive and mainstream. I thought that I'd be one of those people who preferred the tactile experience of the DTB, but I was oh so wrong. I despise DTBs. I love my Kindle: it comes everywhere with me. Unfortunately the intersection of the wealth of free books for Kindle and my compulsive reading has meant that I've read a lot of horrible books in the year that I've owned it, and one of my goals for 2010 is to at least read the blurb before I put anything on my Kindle. I strongly prefer reading books to buying books (and am more likely to be irritated at spending good money on a bad book than at the part of my life that I will never get back; strangely, I have the reverse reaction to bad movies), so I never really have a TBR, and am constantly on the hunt for new books.

I happened upon LT after Googling To Kill a Mockingbird and The Sparrow, which are the two best books I have ever read. I am in love with the "Will I like this book" feature.

http://www.librarything.com/topic/85676

I am Jillian, I am 46 and I live in Christchurch, New Zealand, with my lovely husband (who sometimes grumbles that I buy too many books). I have two children, a boy aged 10 and a girl of 6 who both keep me on my toes.

I love books and have far too many of them, and LibraryThing is my current obsession.

I am a stay at home mum, and I also have five cats and a Golden Retriever.

#342: my lovely husband (who sometimes grumbles that I buy too many books)

I can relate!

Hi Jillian - great to see another kiwi joining the group.

Hi Jillian, Honestly, I have to laugh at how many people on here who say the same thing about their significant other. And clearly the ones who we've allowed to stay around are the ones who learn to tolerate or even love it!

Thankfully both my husband and I are terrible Bibliophiles! And read almost the same stuff.

DS
(Bruce's evil twin :-))

Hi Jillian, I keep seeing your cataloguing when I log in, perhaps because we have over 500 books in common (and I'm impressed that you got so many on so quickly, in less than a month).

Welcome Lo too.

Anyone else find they have problems loading this thread?

Hiya!

I'm Kayla. 26. Canadian. Brand new to LT and already smitten. figured I'd sign up.

Nice to meet you all..now I guess it's off to start my thread :)

Hi! I am Priya, 43, working at a senior level in the Anti money Laundering policy making section of the Ministry of Finance, Govt of India. Reading is what I do almost compulsively, whether its fiction, or notice boards in waiting rooms, or my husband's professional journals.

Am a little confused about how to proceed -- so while i read KILLER DOLPHIN, an excellent Ngaio Marsh mystery, will someone please help me out?

#351: Priya, first thing you need to do is join the group. You will see how to do that in the upper right hand corner of the 75 book challenge's home page.

Then, also on the 75 books challenge group's home page, you will see an arrow about midway down that says 'Post New Topic.' Click on that, enter the subject heading (most of us use our own name or screen name to find it easier) and then in the big box, type whatever you want to say, just like you did on this page.

I hope that helps!

Edited for spelling . . .

Priya,

Welcome.

Just start a new thread by clicking on "Post a new topic" on the main board for this group. Then, do whatever you want. Most people list each book in a new message.

--Tad

Thanks! that was very helpful -- i made a start today.
Have a feeling i am going to spend many hours this year reading what others have to say about the books i have read!

Thanks! am beginning to figure things out a bit.

Hi. I'm Janet. I'm cheating, and re-posting my intro message, because I was pretty much the last one before the discussion moved over to here, and I never got around to posting the link to my thread.

About me: I am 54, born in New York, grew up in New Jersey, went to college in Boston and have lived in London for 30 years. Married with two teenage daughters. Currently not working, due to ill health, but hey, that gives me more time to read.

I add to my list based on book reviews and recommendations (and my list is already getting a lot longer!) and I read according to what I can find in my local library or second hand shops, so it's pretty random. I read mostly new books, not because I reject older ones, but because I spent a lot of my youth reading the "greats" and have read a pretty big proportion of them. I don't re-read a lot, because there's so much more out there. I read both fiction and non-fiction, and I have broad tastes - from Kate Atkinson to Stefan Zweig by way of Andrea Camilleri, Janet Evanovich, Richard Ford. Thomas Hardy, Ogden Nash, Annie Proulx, W.G. Sebald and Alexander McCall Smith, among other favorites, and from philosophy to history to science to music to well, anything really.

I am mainly playing in the 75 book challenge, and my own comments are at:

http://www.librarything.com/topic/84918

Looking forward to seeing you there or somewhere else.

Hello! I'm starting kind of late, but I'm going to post all of the books I've read so far this year.

My name is Sara and I'm from the U.S. Where in the U.S.? I move frequently and am going to live in three different states before 2011! I guess I don't belong any particular place. My husband is in the military and I'm going to go back to school for my Masters in Information Science. Because of my school and his work, we won't be able to live together for a while so I'm relying on the internet to keep the loneliness at bay. (Wow, that sounded depressing. But I'm not, I promise! I'm used to the gypsy life.)

I've been posting all of my books from Boxall's 1001 in the 1001 group, but lately I've been reading a lot of sci-fi that's not on the list. I just discovered the 75 group and it's just what I need to be able to track and share all of my reads, not just the 1001. I've started reading through all of your threads so expect a lot of comments over the next few days!

Edited to add my thread link.

Welcome Sara, hopefully you will find some company as well as some good reading ideas here.

Hello Sara, welcome! I'm sure you'll make lots of connections and find people to talk to via these groups - whatever you're into reading, there will be someone who shares your interest, as well as lots of ideas for new books to read.

I'm Steve, early 40's, librarian & former English major with a late-blooming math gene.

I've been logging my reading in this group since January, but never introduced myself since I didn't know how long I'd last. Well, I've just logged my 30th book, I am now addicted to the group, and my TBR list has grown from a few hand-scratched titles on a Post-It note to a list long enough to finish this year's challenge and next's. (It's still in Notepad, but Excel is not far off.) So it looks like I'm here for the long haul: I might as well introduce myself.

Science fiction & fantasy is my first love, but I also read general fiction, mysteries and nonfiction. In particular, I have a fascination for mathematics which I can't quite explain, but which I'll probably go on about at length on my thread:
http://www.librarything.com/topic/81116

Glad you posted here Steve -- I'd looked for your intro before. :)

New here, kinda. I apparently already had an account here, but it went unused until yesterday. Found this 75 challenge and thought I would give it a try.

I started a blog recently - posting reviews with my family, still working on getting them to actually sit down and write their reviews each time they read something, but my 13 year old son is working on his first one.

Off to post my thread of books read so far this year and hoping that this helps keep me on track and moving along the pile of to-read books.

Hi, I'm Laura, and I've been a proud and obsessive member of LT for almost 2 years now. I'm primarily on the 101010 Group (my thread is here: http://www.librarything.com/topic/71040#1443749), and since I am almost halfway through with the challenge (by some kind of freakin miracle), I thought I'd join the 75 since I plan on being here more next year than the 111111 Group. I enjoyed the 999, and am also enjoying the 101010, but now that I have the hang of this reading-and-posting thing I'd like to be a little more free in what I read, as opposed to trying to fit things into self-imposed categories. Plus, if I miss that "guided" reading, I can always join some more challenges with my blog - what? I've only joined 10 other online challenges this year, not including the other 2 I have here on LT. It's not like I have a problem or anything, I can quit any time I want to... I just don't want to! (Geez, I sound insane. Oh well, you'll find out soon enough.)

Anywho, I live in the outskirts of Milwaukee, am in my early 30's, and am a lifelong Reader and Anglophile. I read mostly fiction, and am getting into more mystery, graphic novels, books for work (massage therapy), and non-fiction. But, I'll read anything you put in front of me. Always looking for recommendations of any kind, and I love learning.

Thanks for letting me join this fabulously chatty group, I'll be setting up my thread here very soon, and I look forward to getting to know all of you!

Hi all, I'm Kaosar. I'm in my mid-20's and have been working in a library for the past six years, full-time for the past two. At first it was just a job but now (after my BA - soon!) I hope to go for a Master's in Library and Information Science.

I'm an obsessive reader and I take my sweet time finishing - in other words, I linger so long that I’m slow to finish. Regardless of that fact I do have a book blog and love posting my readings whenever I can.

I hope to share & discuss my 2010, 75 reading list with you all and hope you'll enjoy it.

Thanks for letting my join this great group and Happy Reading!

Hi, I'm tess, i'm a first year english lit student, and i LOVE it.. i'm new to all this, but it looks exciting!

Welcome Kaosar. You've got my dream job!

--> 363

I've only joined 10 other online challenges this year, not including the other 2 I have here on LT. It's not like I have a problem or anything, I can quit any time I want to...

Hi Laura,

You sound like the *perfect* LibraryThing member to me. :) You'll *love* the 75 Books in 2010 Challenge. Guaranteed!!

Sometimes the group moves so fast you miss threads like these.

Hello! I'm Stephen, a 21 year old American guy who reads just about anything. I'm a fairly simple man, I'm quite happy spending my days reading without a care in the world. I have no desire to own a big fancy house or a flashy car. So long as I have a good book, a comfortable chair, and maybe a cold glass of tea, I'm perfectly content.

Not much to say outside of my reading habits. I'm young, single, no kids or anything of that sort, with too much free time and a never-ending pile of books to be read.

My 2010 Challenge

I didn't see this one either Stephen, but here we go!

I'm Marie, in my early twenties, and graduated last year with my BA in Art History. I haven't had a chance to use it much, as I graduated just as the economy took a nose dive and jobs are scarce, but I found a comfy little museum job in the mean time.

My significant other is in the Air Force and he makes sure that I never live anywhere for too long. We have a dog and a cat together. :)

I've been on LT for close to three years now and last year I enjoyed the 50 Book Challenge. Since I started it in May, I figured I could swing 75 this year and so far everyone has been very kind and welcoming. Looking forward to the rest of the year! Click below and come say hello!

Marie's 75 Book Challenge in 2010

You guys -- do us a fav and post a link to your thread :)

ET fix typos -- new keyboard and fingers are freaked out!

Right, didn't think of that. Added link to my post. :)

Thanks Marie & Stephen!

Now that I have it up and running, here is my thread:

http://www.librarything.com/topic/88006

Stop over and say hello!

Hey Stephen, sounds like you're livin the life. Read On!

I'm Annika, and I'm 17 years old from California. I just joined LibraryThing and I'm still figuring it out, but hopefully I'll get the hang of it soon! :)

I do most things while reading a book. Sadly, I read my favorites over again so many times that I don't know if I'll qualify for a 75-book challenge :(

#375: Annika, if you have any questions, just ask. We normally do not bite :)

On your thread, you can post as many re-reads as you like and count them. We are not the book police. As far as we are concerned, if it is between two covers it counts, no matter how many times you read it.

374, shesinplainvew: Definitely! It's great. Now I just need to get lucky like Kaosar and land a job at the local library and I can die happy (hopefully not right after I get the news that I managed to get hired at a library, of course!)

Hi, everyone.

I've been trying to catch up on everyone's prolific reading and bios and discovered I have never signed in here.

I am in my 50s, living in Napa, California with my husband and two grown children. My job is library clerk in a large public high school where it is my pleasure to connect kids with books. I have found working in a library not only brings me in contact with books, but it keeps me away from the refrigerator and the mess that is my house.

This is actually my third career. My first was as a deck officer on ships and my second was as an at-home mom. As my children became older and more independent, I became more involved with school libraries. I started by volunteering in an elementary school library then subbing until a part time position opened at a middle school library. This eventually led to a full time position in a high school. It's not without drama with the California budget problems being as they are. The librarian and I scramble to come up with money for new books as we continue to hope our jobs will not be cut.

I read many YA books and graphic novels to keep up with the kids at school but at home I read for my own pleasure and edification.

I started my LibraryThing record and my blog, http://napahighlibrary.blogspot.com/ when I was taking a Web2.0 course sponsored by the California State Library Assoc. I started and have maintained my blog as a reason to practice and improve my writing. I need lots of practice!

Hello Zinah here. I am 36 and live in Australia and thought I would join Library Thing and give this challenge a go!. I am currently studying a Masters in Info Management and work in an academic library. This is my second career, I worked as a curatorial assistant in one of the state art galleries in Aus prior to this. I live with my 'man' friend, two dogs or hairy kids as we refer to them and two possums that live in our roof. I am a book lover but like others have mentioned, as I spend my spare hours studying, leisure reading is bliss and there is just not enough of it! I love a mix of genres but my undergrad was a BA with a major in English and Art History and I have a taste for collections of short stories - can't get enough old or new.

Similarly to you Mamzel, I have to start a blog for my course with a subject in Web 2.0. - wish me luck.

>380 mollymms: At least you can spend some time outside enjoying the weather that we have been having lately!

I hope your work situation improves soon. I know it is hard to find work these days, which is one reason that I agreed to stay with the company when they decided to move my job from SE Minneapolis to Chaska!

DS
(Bruce's evil twin :-))

Zinah - good luck. I think you'll find the hardest part is choosing your template design. There are so many pretty ones. Make sure you include a widget for your Library Thing catalog! Send me a message with your address. I'd love to see it.

*sneaking in quietly*
Hello! I'm really Peggy, 65, retired high school English and Latin teacher, blessed with one husband, one dog, four cats, and a healthy mom across the street. I deplore the fact that I was not born reading - all those wasted years! I read more than 75 books last year and hope that joining this happy band is not going to jinx this year's efforts.
My thanks for the welcomes on my thread already, and
here it is for any other friendly souls.

Hi, I'm Michele and I live in a suburb of Houston. I just heard about LT today and joined immediately. I am a Nook user so I have found myself reading even more than I already did which is a bit scary. My house may never be clean again...
Oh, I'm 40ish and have been married for almost 22 years. My kids are 14 and 10. We have 4 dogs and 2 cats and I'm busy with my DD's Irish dance "career" and my DS's life on the junior high stage.

All I ask is that you don't mock my fluff choices...

Here is my list http://www.librarything.com/topic/89398

Welcome LizzieD, I recognise you - from the Virago group?

PHM, I love your user name, and nothing wrong with fluff (animal or printed).

Welcome Michele! Glad to see another Nook user! :)

PHM - I play traditional music on harp and concertina! Sometimes when we perform we have young dancers from the schools around Philly - you all do that bouncy hair? I notice the older girls SO will not do that hair!

Sibyx,
My daughter does do the crazy hair. Thankfully it is a wig. Many a fight has been started when "wigging" the little darling for performances or competition!

Hello all,

Whisper1 has intrigued me with her descriptions of your fun group, so... here I am! I am a 40 something mom of a six year old with a career in starting and growing libraries and archives. I live with aforementioned daughter, my woodworking, engineering husband, a black lab (see my profile photo), 2 guinea pigs, and six chickens. I'm dealing with a bad hip and potential replacement, so I have more time to read these days as hiking, biking, snowshoeing, camping, and walking are out. I love reading, birdwatching, and finding incredible books at bargain basement prices. Friday I found an $80 copy of Crime and Punishment for $3! Woo hoo! Now to find room on the bookshelves to put it...

Lisa

Welcome Lisa - hope you enjoy being part of this friendly group! Genny

Hi, I'm Pat, and am late to this party but hopefully it's better late than never! I'm in my mid-50s and currently live outside Boise, Idaho with my husband and dog. For the first 53 years of my life, I lived in and around NYC so becoming a Westerner has been a real learning experience for me (and a good one). We never had children and retired several years ago so I should have plenty of time to read but it never seems like enough. Besides reading, I enjoy walking, taking classes of various kinds, including tai chi and yoga, participating in several book clubs and, of course, my new obsession--LibraryThing. Being in book clubs and on LibraryThing has really expanded my reading categories so at this point I'm open to trying different genres. Most of my reading has been and continues to be literary fiction though.

As soon as I post the books I've read so far this year, I'll come back and include a link to it.

Hope this works--here's the link: http://www.librarything.com/topic/90759#1960575

Lisa and Pat - Hi and welcome. You will find that many of us book lovers are also animal lovers!

Hi Lisa, Hi Pat. Welcome!!

Yep, hi Lisa and hi Pat! Welcome! Can't wait to find out about your reading preferences :))

Thanks for the welcome: Whisper1 is right, this is a nice and friendly group of readers! I added my reading list so far for 2010 here: http://www.librarything.com/topic/90679. As for reading preferences, it's more like prefering to read! I don't read serial killer stuff, but just about everything else is up for graps. :) Right now I seem to be reading a lot of memoirs set in the Middle East. But it really depends on my mood. I recently picked up a book suggestion list from my local library that listed YA books about faith, and read four or five of them. YA is not my typical genre, but Does My Head Look Big in This?, about a girl who decides to start wearing the hajib as a "full-timer" to her Australian prep school was fabulous. How about you?

I love that title and added it to "The List".

And these days I mostly read YA and kidlit, with a smattering of adult non-fiction.

I loved Does My Head Look Big in This?! I just picked it up off the shelf in the YA Department of my local library. (I have discovered some of my favorite authors by randomly picking books off library shelves.)

#398 I just read it too and liked it very much. Such a delicate topic in our country handled with sensitivity and humor. I picked it up because I say a flyer in our local library. :)

Uh hi i guess. :)

I just started on librarything, and I'm really confused. I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing. How sad. :(

I like just about anything to read. Lately I've been reading a lot of romance novels. Lots of Catherine Coulter. I need some really good horror books (authors will do too). Anybody have any suggestions?

#400: We have a couple of guys in our group who read horror: Daddygoth and Huge Horror Fan. You might look for their threads and get suggestions.

Daddygoth's thread: http://www.librarything.com/topic/86890

Huge Horror Fan's thread:
http://www.librarything.com/talktopic.php?topic=79219

Welcome to Library Thing!

blackdogbooks is another horror fan - he's put together a list of Halloween reads for the group later in the year. Last year's list was very good, this one looks even better. I'll have to stir up a link when I get a minute.

I've been known to read a scary book or two as well!
*Thread #1: http://www.librarything.com/topic/78955
*Thread #2: http://www.librarything.com/topic/83721

ETA: Turns out he posted the reading list on his profile! http://www.librarything.com/profile/blackdogbooks

Hi, I just thought I might join this group as well - I actually don't what I've read so far, but I will check and put the titles in my thread.

I am a fifty-something librarian and read since my father brought books from the library he worked in. I have one big problem: I want to read everything, but I prefer mysteries, fantasy, and historical/biographical books.

So, I go and start counting and then start my thread.
here is my thread.

Hello Paul, and welcome to the group.

I want to read everything I think most members of this group will identify with that! And there are plenty who enjoy mysteries, fantasy and history among us, so I'm sure you'll feel at home here.

edited to correct italics

Hi, I'm a 40-ish historian living in Belgium (Flanders). My book-taste is quite eclectic. I'm crazy about reading, but can't pin myself down to one or two genres. I ended last year and started this year devouring mysteries and detectives, but gradually shifted to "Real Literature and Prize-Winners". In the past, I already was passionate about humour & satire, historical novels, biographies, etc. It is very likely I'll shift towards another genre before the year is over.
I listed my books in the language in which I read them (mostly Dutch). Btw, is anyone interested in the English and/or original titles (some touchstones aren't working)?

PS. I love to receive comments on the books I read, etc.

edited to add PS

Hi JustJoey4, I'm new to the group too, but have found it very welcoming and interesting. I hope you find the same. What sort of history do you "do"?

# 407 Thanks! Having studied history, I've become a professional archivist/records keeper and specialise in local (Belgian) history. When I was younger I wanted to major in early medieval history (7th-10th century), but due to a lack of historical sources, I eventually turned to 19th century history instead. But like my book-choice, I'm still interested in other periods and civilisations. But so much to do and so little time :-)

Hi! I'm Natalie, and I'm 18 and just about to graduate from high school. I live in Seattle with my parents, younger brother, and Irish Wolfhound. I've been reading for as long as I can remember and don't see myself stopping any time soon, although college will probably slow me down a bit. I mostly read fantasy and YA but I also try and read a lot of classics and general fiction, as well as some memoirs. This is my third year keeping track of my books but my first in the 75 book challenge. My first year I managed 100+ but after dismally failing to even reach 75 last year I decided to concentrate on that goal for now. I loved reading all your introductions and I hope to talk to more of you soon!

Hi Natalie - just have to say that I love your profile pic. What a beautiful dog. Will look out for your reading thread.

Welcome Natalie! I have a dog named Finn too! He's just a little bit smaller than yours... (my profile picture is him too!)

410 - Thank you! He's looking particularly noble in that shot :)

411 - Haha, just a bit!

Welcome Natalie and JustJoey.

Hi JustJoey and Natalie. I'm also fairly new to the group and am really enjoying it. Hope you both do too.

Thanks you all for being welcomed here. I tried to keep up reading the threads yesterday-evening, but they came so fast. You're busy bunch, aren't you :-)?
Really enjoying this. I already found some very interesting people with likewise libraries. It's very enriching!

415: Oh yea, it's IMPOSSIBLE to keep up in this place. I have a few friends whose threads I follow religiously, and then the rest I lurk and browse and try to keep up...but man, it's difficult. This place is just busy busy busy.

Hi Natalie and JustJoey - welcome, and welcome to Finn too - he's gorgeous!

I'd recommend that you add a link to your 75 challenge thread into your original post here - or on your profile page - otherwise it can be quite hard to find you and follow what you are reading.

Thanks, Genny, for the welcome and the recommendation :-). Here's the link to my thread: http://www.librarything.nl/topic/92190

Thanks for the welcomes! Finn says thanks too :)

Here's a link to my thread: http://www.librarything.com/topic/91703

I kept wondering who is Finn? Went through the thread trying to find out a fellow named Finn or perhaps a Finnish person. And, duh, I looked at your profile and there was Finn. No wonder Genny was calling him gorgeous. He is a nice looking thoug, although a little bit big.

Hello! My name is Beth and this is my first time doing the 75 book Challenge!! I am pretty excited. I have never done anything like this before and I think it will be a good experience for me. I am currently a college student Majoring in English/minoring in History. I love all different kinds of books and I am always up for discussion! To find my list you can go here!
http://www.librarything.com/topic/92407

Welcome Beth!

Welcome to the Group, Beth!

Welcome Beth.

I can't load this thread from my home computer. Can we launch a second one? I don't like to ignore everyone who's introduced themselves here but if I can't read this one, and surely I'm not the only one having difficulty....

Thanks for the welcome everyone!!!! : )

Looks like we need a new thread!

www.librarything.com/topic/92712

I am sophiaNY and I love books forever it seems. I am 64 and my earliest memories as a child in NYC is my Mom walking me to the library and allowing me to take out books, What a sweet treat then and it still is now. Because I like to read so much and books are expensive, I belong to paperbackswap.com There you can get books and only pay postage and trade a book. Its very unique and you also save lots of money and you recycle all your good books with the satisfaction that someone else is enjuoying them.
I still do not know what the goal is of this site. Perhaps someone can explain.

Sophia: The point of the site is to catalog your books so you can easily keep track of all the things you have. There are also these forums, filled to the brim with kind people to talk books with. And plenty more once you explore a bit. It's just an all-around fun place to visit when you aren't actually reading. :)

Welcome Sophia.

Whether it was the goal of LT to start with, and the founder of the site - you can contact him online - might be the best person to ask about that - the reason that most of us spend lots of time here is to talk to others who love books and reading, and others who are as crazy as us. That's why I'm here anyway!

Hi Sophia, from another New Yorker. I use the site to catalog all the books I have, or have had, or have read, so it's more a picture of my virtual library than my physical one. I mark the ones I don't actually own as either 'library book' or 'deaccessioned'. It helps me remember what I've read - I generally enter a description or review after I read or reread something.

The conversations in the various groups are very interesting - I feel like I've found a whole friendly community of readers. And the breath of interests inspires me to read outside my usual comfort zone, which is very helpful.

So catalog your books or not, as you please. You can hang out in the various groups and read the threads and see what interests you - the chat, the readalongs, the challenges, the reviews, which are often wonderful.

We're just a bunch of readers, like you.

P.S. I'm also on Paperbackswap, and find it very useful, as you do.

Hi, I'm Wendy from Southern California. I'm 43 and have been an avid reader since grade school. I have a great partner and 2 beautiful daughters, age 9 and 11, who we adopted 3 years ago. We also have 3 dogs and 1 grumpy old cat!

I go through "reading periods" where I will pick up a series and not put a book down- I just read the Sookie Stackhouse series in about 2 weeks- and then I need to take some "off-reading time" to balance my family life with my desire to read all the time! I've been doing a lot of catch-up reading on series I used to read but hadn't caught up since we got our girls and our household went topsy-turvy.

I'm very proud to say I have turned my oldest daughter from a "hate to read" child to a true book lover! We used to have arguments "why do I have to read, I already know how?!", but now we have to tell her to put the book down and go outside to play for a bit. Thank God for Harry Potter for getting her started. Now I will pick a series and usually read it before passing it on to her (NO, she is not getting the Sookie Stackhouse series- much too intimate for her at this age!). I found the James Patterson "Maximum Ride" series this year and thought it was great, so we're both up to the last one in the series.

I just got a Nook, so trying to figure out how to transition from paper to electronic- I just wish I could somehow transfer my paper library to electronic without paying again! Anyway, looking forward to getting started with Library Thing!

Hey everyone.

I'm Hanna, I'm 20. I've recently finished my Law degree at Sheffield University in England but now I spend a lot of time at home reading due to illness. I love reading, especially on the days when I can't get out of bed. It seems to make the day go a whole lot quicker!

I'm looking forward to getting to know everyone and finding a bunch of new books to read :)

Hi, I'm Julie from Northern California, I'm 34 and an RN and I've been an avid reader all of my life--I could read by age 3 and was constantly getting in trouble in grade school for having a novel behind whatever I was supposed to be reading.

I live with my grandfather and my daughter, he's a reader and she's not. Wendy, it's encouraging to hear your daughter changed her mind about books--it gives me hope!

I just discovered this site and have catalogued some of my books, once I upgrade my membership I'll work on the rest of them! I'm joining this challenge midstream so it'll be interesting to see if I make it, and to see what everyone else is reading. IRL I only have one friend who is much of a reader and she mainly reads romance novels, so it's nice to see others with a wide range of interests.

I'm Peggy from Colorado. I joined LT as part of the Web 2.0 training I received from the library district where I work. I was familiar with LT, but had never taken the time to throughly explore it. Now I'm spending way too much time entering my books!

I enjoy reading, but most of my reading comes from the children's section of the library since I'm a children's librarian in large public library.

I love good audio books, which are usually NOT read by the author - Neil Gaiman is the exception.

Hi! I'm Karen O., and I live in Roseville, Minnesota (Roseville is a near-north suburb midway between St. Paul and Minneapolis).

I've had this thread starred for a while, but just now took the opportunity to read all 400 (!) posts. I've been on LT for three years on October 3. This is my second year on the 75 Books group. I read 94 books last year and I'm trying to bypass that this year. I am working through Boxall's 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die, and I'm up to 116 so far.

I'm married to my best friend, Art (we just celebrated 20 happy years together); have two great, grown-up kids; four cats. I left corporate life in 2001 and went back to school! I am in the process of becoming a librarian, beginning with Public Service (I work circulation). I'm a bibliophile and a quilter.

Here's my 2010 thread: http://www.librarything.com/topic/80597

Edited to show my true count of 1001 Books--I have a ways to go!

Welcome all of you

>435 klobrien2: OOOh, someone who lives by us! We live in Columbia Heights over by the Theological Seminary. I look forward to seeing what books you read, as we have some books in common.

DS
(Bruce's evil twin :-))

Welcome everyone! I'm just catching up on all the newbies! Summer reading sure seems to bring a lot more people to the group. We will all be interested in seeing what you have read and recommend.

Hi All:

My name is Nikki and I'm from Northern California and am always on the look out for books to read and books to recommend.

I welcome "friend" requests.

Welcome!

In the professional world I go by Abigail, but outside of it I go by some version of it: Abbey, Abii, Gail, whatever. I'm a nearly 21 year old student at THE Ohio State University majoring in English pre-secondary education with minors in Political Science and Jewish Studies complete with botched attempts to become a lawyer and rabbi. I have an amazing boyfriend soon to be fiance within the year, no pets quite yet, and live with two of my sorority sisters in a townhouse not too far from my university.

I'm a book and wine enthusiast and prefer the two together. Have you ever sat down with a copy of 'All My Sons' by Arthur Miller and drank some mid-priced Italian red? You haven't yet lived. I'm a big fan of modernism in both the English and American spectrum and am looking to branch out into some French translated text and perhaps Spanish modernism if I get time, and that's a BIG if. C'est a vie, no?

Speaking of French, I fake a general knowledge of French, Spanish, and Hebrew that does not exist. Je n'aime pas learning languages. What did I tell you?

I consider myself a writer in the way that Hemingway must have when he wrote "Baby shoes for sale, never worn". I come up with great lines but fail to follow through...though arguably, Hemingway's one liner is brilliant on its own. Perhaps I'll make my one liner's famous one day, but not's let press my luck, shall we?

Welcome!

> bonjour Abie
je n'aime pas le français, moi aussi, mais voir Asterix ou Saint-Exupéry en français - c'est merveilleux

welcome!

Hi, I am Shellie and 42 years old. I am starting this group a little late in the year but I have been doing my own book challenge. My only New Years resolution was to read more and set a goal of 45 for the year and at the time I thought that was high. It is September and I already am around 50 books read. I currently do not work anymore. I been diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. I am not in a wheel chair or anything yet but worked in nursing and paramedic and lifting patients took its toll on my neck and back and have had to have cervical surgery. Reading has been a way to get out of my world and stop feel sorry for myself. I even want to start writing but have been to afraid to even start. I am happy to have found librarything and groups like this.

Welcome!

Welcome to you both.

#445 - If you want to write Shellie, just do it. Do it for yourself. You don't have to share it with anybody. Once you decide that, it can be a lot of fun. Oh yeah, and it can be frustrating as hell, but on those days when you write something that really pleases you - well, those are the best days.

>445 shellierb69:, 448. Oh, absolutely! Shellie, just write--start anywhere. Words on the page are all that matters.

Have you ever heard of this book--The Right to Write by Julia Cameron? If you don't know this book, you might want to pick it up. It's lovely and inspirational. Cameron also wrote The Artist's Way which is another good book for writers--or anyone who wants be creatively expressive..

Oh yes, those are both great books, Shellie! Welcome to you all, Abbey and Nikki.

> 445

Hi, Shellie!

Welcome to LibraryThing!

Another book to inspire writing (I'm using this on one of my own friends to inspire her to write...and it's working!) is Writing Down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg. Interestingly enough, my friend knows both Cameron and Goldberg from when she used to live in Taos, New Mexico, where those two authors live (or lived)!

Hope you enjoy this excellent website. Have fun!

>451 SqueakyChu: I do love that book. Not that I'm writing or anything. But it's a terrific book.