Since I try to keep it to one post a day around here, here’s one that goes all over the map. I haven’t started a new book yet, so this week, theiPod Random Ten is subbing for the Page 123 Meme.

Tuesday Thingers

Today’s question is about tags- do you tag? How do you tag? How do you feel about tagging- do you think it would be better to have standardized tags, like libraries have standardized subject headings, or do you like the individualized nature of tagging? What are your top 5 tags and what do they say about your collection or your reading habits?

Most of the books in my LT library have at least two tags, one reflecting status and the other the type of book.

For my catalog purposes, I find the status tags – read, to-be-read, currently-reading – are more meaningful, since they provide activity tracking. I even have an “unread” tag to use for my occasional purges; those happen when I finally decide accept that I’m never really going to read that book that’s been in TBR purgatory for at least five years now, and it gets donated to the Friends of the Library bookstore. As far as subject/genre are concerned, I think I’d actually prefer it if LibraryThing had broad standardized categories, since I think that would make searching easier, and might be helpful if one wasn’t exactly certain how to classify a particular book. At the same time, though, I’d like users to have the option to modify those classifications if they wanted the tags to be more specific and descriptive. On the whole, though, since LT users may not all use their libraries in the same way, it’s great that tagging provides us with ways to identify and sort our own books however we like.

The most-used tags in my library are a mixture of status and book-type: read (331), fiction (256), to be read (150), memoir (44), and unread/donated (34). The two genre tags are pretty representative of my reading interests.

Clubbing

A combo of two suggestions by Heidi and by litlove:

Have you ever been a member of a book club? How did your group choose (or, if you haven’t been, what do you think is the best way to choose) the next book and who would lead discussion?

Do you feel more or less likely to appreciate books if you are obliged to read them for book groups rather than choosing them of your own free will? Does knowing they are going to be read as part of a group affect the reading experience?

Don’t forget to leave a link to your actual response (so people don’t have to go searching for it) in the comments—or if you prefer, leave your answers in the comments themselves!

Parts of my answer to this question were previously posted as part of the “In Praise of Book Clubs” series at Books on the Brain.

Nearly four years ago, my sister and several of her moms’-club friends decided to get together on the side and start reading together, and I was invited to join them. Members have come and gone over the years, and we’ve never been a very large group. We usually have about five to seven women at each meeting. My sister is our unofficial administrator, and every January she e-mails us all with a schedule of proposed meeting dates and the rotation for book picker/meeting host.

The sense of “obligation” to read specific books was one thing that kept me away from book clubs for a long time, but it really hasn’t been a problem after all; rather, it’s been valuable in introducing me to books I might not have read otherwise. The host for each meeting selects the book we’ll read, and announces it at the meeting prior to hers. She may select any book she likes, even one that she has read before; after one member got burned by choosing a book she absolutely hated and refused to finish, she never picks anything for the rest of us that she hasn’t read first. We don’t have a master list or any formal guidelines, but after this length of time we have learned to keep certain group preferences in mind:

• General fiction – nothing with too many pretensions, nothing obviously genre, and nothing too frothy

• Memoirs, occasionally, but no other nonfiction

• If the book has been adapted into a movie, we may plan on seeing it during our meeting.

• Nothing too lengthy unless it moves fast – everyone’s busy, after all!

Our conversations about the books we read tend to be focused more on characters and plot points, as opposed to thematic elements or writing-style choices; after all, it’s not a literature class, it’s a conversation in someone’s living room. We have occasionally worked with suggested discussion questions, but for the most part it’s not very structured and it’s pretty subjective; we share opinions and impressions, and there’s usually a good give-and-take.

Since my book club keeps to a fairly relaxed schedule and format, I still have plenty of time for my own reading choices, which I now get to talk about on my blog. I think that book blogging has actually had more of an effect on my reading experience than my book club has, to be honest.

Are you a book-clubber? Tell us about it, or if you’ve talked about it on your own blog, please share the link!

Friday Fill-Ins #76

1. Visiting Hawaii is high up on my bucket list.
2. My favorite quote is “And you may ask yourself, ‘Well, how did I get here?'”; it’s from the song “Once in a Lifetime” by Talking Heads.
3. Books inspired me to start blogging.
4. Strawberries are best dipped in chocolate (yum!).
5. My alarm clock went off in the last dream I remember having.
6. The most enjoyable time to go for a walk is early in the morning, when it’s not full daylight yet and the streets are quiet.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to packing for our vacation, tomorrow my plans include getting on the road early and making it to Las Vegas by lunchtime and Sunday, I want to drive across Utah with my family! (We’re planning to get to Yellowstone by Monday night.)

Well, what do you know…we really do have a Friday iPod Random Ten this week!

Well, a Random Ten that includes both Squeeze and FoW works for me! But since I actually included the (potentially-embarrassing) ABBA track, doesn’t that make you wonder about the ones I left out of the list?

Let’s try this one more time, and I’ll list them all, no matter what (besides, I’ll probably miss next week because of traveling):

Trend of the week: this looks like the greatest hits of the “greatest hits” albums.

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