1. Home (http://www.librarything.com/, before you log in)
2. Home (once you log in, contains Your Home, Your Profile, Connections, Recommendations, Reviews, Statistics, Clouds, Gallery, Memes)
3. Profile (Recent activity, tags, comments, members with your books)
4. Your Library
5. Your Tags
6. Add Books
7. Talk
8. Groups
9. Local
10. Search
11. Zeitgeist (Stats, Top Lists)
12. Tools (Widgets, Store)
13. Blog
Taking the last question first, I think I’ve probably looked at every area of LibraryThing at least a couple of times, but there are several I don’t go to or use very often. I’ve spent very little time with Talk or Groups; not because I’m not interested, but because there’s very little time, period, and if I get more involved with the social aspects of LT I’ll have to lose something else (hopefully not my patience or my mind). Local hasn’t been terribly useful for me, and while Zeitgeist is interesting, I only check it out occasionally. I have the LT Blog in my Google Reader feeds, so I rarely visit it on LibraryThing. I stay logged into LT almost all the time, so I rarely see the general home page, either.
I use my personal Home page on LT as my portal to the site almost all the time, since it’s a shortcut to the other features I use most often – my Library, Add Books, and my Profile – so I guess I’d say that’s my favorite area on the site. The Tags page is a helpful shortcut for me too; if I don’t want to search my entire library for a particular book, I can narrow the listings down that way. I like the Tools page, but I wish it offered more!
> This is the first Tuesday Thinger from Wendi of Wendi’s Book Corner, who has taken over the meme from its founder, Marie of Boston Bibliophile. I’m glad it’s found a new home!
Teaser Tuesday – hosted at Should Be Reading
- Grab your current read.
- Let the book fall open to a random page.
- Share with us two (2) “teaser” sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.
- You also need to share the title of the book that you’re getting your “teaser” from … that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you’ve given!
I’ve been taking a feast-or-famine approach to Teaser Tuesdays; either I don’t do them, or I post teasers from a whole batch of recently-acquired books. I think I’m going to change it up and be more consistent going forward into 2009, going the one-book-at-a-time route. This week’s Teaser comes from one of the wish-list books my husband gave me for Christmas.
“It should say something about the depth of knowledge in every department that Paul Roberts, the wine director, initially outlined the menu for us – and not Chef Keller or even the maitre d’. When it came to cheeses, most of us would admit, if only to ourselves, that we were lost.” (page 49)
– Service Included: Four-Star Secrets of an Eavesdropping Waiter, by Phoebe Damrosch
It’s Tuesday – Where Are You? hosted at An Adventure in Reading
A new year, a new meme for me!
This week, I’m in Poland with Erin Einhorn, learning about a foreign culture and seeking out the facts of family history, in her memoir The Pages in Between: A Holocaust Legacy of Two Families, One Home.
I know it’s not Tuesday, but book-wise, where are you today?
Booking Through Thursday: New Year’s Resolutions
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!
Since I have gone and joined my first reading challenge ever, I have publicly committed and am now accountable for reading 20 of my own books in 2009. I read 35 books in 2008. I’d like to think it was quality over quantity – and granted, most of them were pretty good – but it was fewer books than I read the year before, and I don’t like that trend (or what it could mean for my book-blogger credibility!) I’d like to exceed – by more than a few – that fairly modest target of 20, which does not include borrowed books, books belonging to other members of my family, or, for my purposes, review books, but I’d rather start small.
I have a half-dozen review books from the last few months of 2008 that I want to finish with and post about before the end of the first quarter of this year. I am currently reading one of them (see “It’s Tuesday, Where Are You?” above), and the others are:
Buffalo Gal, by Laura Pedersen
Home Girl: Building a Dream House on a Lawless Block, by Judith Matloff
Most Likely You Go Your Way and I’ll Go Mine, by Ben Tanzer
My Seven Years in Captivity: Tails and Misadventures in the San Diego Zoo, by Bill Seaton
Honeymoon in Tehran: Two Years of Love and Danger in Iran, by Azadeh Moaveni (ARC; the book is scheduled for publication in February, and my goal here is to review it before the end of that month!)
I’d like to mix in a few of my own books among these too, since the list is pretty memoir-heavy and I may want a dose of fiction in there.
I spent more of reading time on blogs last year than I ever had before, and I have a feeling that in order to get more book-reading done, it will need to shift back in toward them and away from the computer. Time management is just no fun.
Do you have any particular reading planned for the New Year?
Condolences to Janet, whose recent Friday Fill-ins have included updates on her dad’s health; he passed away just as 2008 ended.
1. The world is pretty much the same today as it was yesterday, regardless of what the calendar says.
2. “He wanted to know why Gypsy was sniffing the dishwasher” was the last thing I said (when Tall Paul asked what The Boy had just said; the reason is that it was open, and had dinner dishes in it).
3. I wonder how many people won’t be at work today.
4. I hope I’ve gotten through all of the books in TBR Purgatory at the end of all things (but if not, I guess it really won’t matter at that point…)
5. There’s something to be said for keeping one’s mouth shut.
6. Where you are is where I want to be.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to the end of a Friday that seems like the second Monday this week, tomorrow my plans include some housecleaning and some furniture shopping (for Tall Girl’s bedroom) and Sunday, I want to read, write, and do some other fun things!
Do you have any excitement in the works for the first weekend in 2009?
I’m so with you on #5!!! Thanks for your kind words, Florinda. Enjoy your weekend and Happy New Year 🙂
That’s a neat idea to do all the memes on one day. Thanks for playing along and feel free to play any time.
Florinda – I love your weekly recap – all the meme’s at one time!
Thanks for participating in Tuesday Thingers this week! I try to watch how much time I’m on the groups. I found it a very helpful resource when I first started my book blog, but like you, if I spend time there, I’ve got less to spend on my books as I’ve also got a family and normal things to get done!
Happy New Year!
Wendi
Janet – It might have worked better as “There’s something to be said for not saying anything,” but it’s still the same idea :-).
Raidergirl3 – Thanks, I think I will play again :-). I like to stick to posting once a day and I prefer to compose my posts in advance, so putting all of my book memes in one post really works for me.
Wendi – Thanks again for taking over Tuesday Thingers and keeping it going!
Exactly – my time is also spread pretty thin already, and I’ve got to do better with setting boundaries this year; getting too involved with online forums, even on LT, would NOT be a good idea for me :-)!
Last year (it feels weird to write that when it was only two days ago), you would most often find me at the Add Books page of LT. Coming in second for me are the groups. I don’t participate a lot in the groups, but I enjoy following some of the conversation threads.
Bookwise, I’m in Rhode Island today, surfing the web. 🙂 I’m reading a crime fiction novel by Jan Brogan at the moment, which features a reporter doing a story on internet chat rooms. It’s good so far.
I will be reading Honeymoon in Tehran as well, but not until February since it’s on my Themed Challenge list and I can’t start it until then. I look forward to reading your thoughts on that one!
I like your answer for #1 of the Fill-ins. And I’m one of the lucky ones who doesn’t have to work today. It’s a holiday for my agency, and even if it wasn’t, it would be my designated Friday off. I took Monday off as a vacation day, and so won’t have to set foot in the office again until Tuesday. I hope I remember all my passwords.
I hope you have a good weekend, Florinda. Stay out of trouble.
#2 is a hoot!
Was #6 a conscious DMB quote?
Wendy (Literary Feline) – “Add books” is definitely the LT feature I USE most, since it’s a big part of why I’m there in the first place :-).
We may be reading Honeymoon in Tehran around the same time, if I manage to make the publication-month deadline!
You’re SO lucky your agency made today a holiday. Mine didn’t, and December 26 wasn’t either. We have a residential program which has to be staffed 24/7/365, and not making those days holidays saves on overtime pay – but those of us who don’t work in that program are NOT happy to be back at work for just one day. Hope you’ve enjoyed your long break :-). And what makes you think I’d be looking for trouble this weekend :-D?
Billy Rhythm – It’s funny ’cause it’s true! Honestly. You can’t make up some of the things that people say around my house, especially if the dog is involved.
BundleOfContradictions – Yes, it was, but I wasn’t sure if anyone would catch it! I heard the song on the radio a day or two ago, and it got stuck in my head.
Hey there Florinda–so sorry i’ve been so silent of late…you know, that whole time management thing you’ve been talking about…I really enjoyed all your posts today. I’d love to join the reading challenge, but I’m afraid to commit….My life has been so crazy…
If you want a quick, but brilliant read (1 book down out of 20 in less than a day!!) Read MEMORY by Phillipe Grimbert. (It’s on my tuesday teasers this week–I’m too lazy to link to it….). A must-read. Happy New Year, Florinda…
Buffalo Gal looks really good. Looking forward to seeing what you have to say about it.
Karen – Happy New Year to you, and I really hope you get your life back soon. I’ve missed you :-)!
I saw your Teaser post, and I just looked up some info about the book. I don’t usually read books in translation (on purpose), but this one sounds intriguing. And I just might have a reading challenge you can commit to in my post tomorrow :-).
Lenore – It sounds like the author and I grew up in the same era and region, and that caught my attention. It’s coming up in the stack very soon!
I agree with #5. I’d like to do #4 too, but already know it is a lost cause, lol.
My FFI is here
Happy New Year!
Smariek – I probably won’t manage #4 either, let’s be honest :-). Happy New Year to you!
“…keeping one’s mouth shut”? You’re talking about other “one’s”, right? Because I’m with you on that. As for me, the older I get, the more I don’t…Everything I have to say needs to be heard!!! Taaahahahaha!
NoBS – Any “one” you want (but yes, most of the time it IS other “ones,” isn’t it?) :-).