Tuesday Thingers: Questions for LibraryThing users, hosted at Wendi’s Book Corner
My Answer: Great timing for this question, since Febrary LTER recipients were notified this week, and the March list is on its way!
I opened my LibraryThing account in January 2008, and signed up on the Early Reviewers list not long after. I check out each month’s list soon after it goes up; some months, I don’t request any of the books, while in others I might put my name in for as many as half a dozen – it all depends on what’s in the crop. I don’t know if it’s possible to snag more than one book from any month’s batch (I kind of hope it isn’t – I think LT should spread the wealth around more than that); I know I haven’t been that lucky, but I think I’ve gotten a book about half the time I’ve entered, which is probably a pretty good average.
Most of the Early Reviewers books I’ve received have been ARCs, but one was a recently published hardcover. I just learned about my February book this week, so I don’t know yet what format it will be, and I never received my October book, but since we moved at the beginning of November I’m going to assume that it got lost in transit somewhere.
If I receive an LTER book as an ARC, I try to get the review posted somewhere around its time of publication – if it’s already been published, I just try not to keep it in the TBR stack for too long. Even if I fall behind in updating my reviews on LT, I try to make sure the LTER books get on there, since posting reviews (good, bad, or indifferent) does help your chances of receiving books from future batches!
The LTER program has given me the opportunity to receive and review Between Here and April (ARC) by Deborah Copaken Kogan (May) (review), My Husband’s Sweethearts (ARC) by Bridget Asher (July) (review), and Honeymoon in Tehran (ARC) by Azadeh Moaveni (November) (review). I haven’t yet reviewed Dating Jesus: A Story of Fundamentalism, Feminism, and the American Girl by Susan Campbell (December), but I hope to get to it soon, and am enjoying the author’s blog in the meantime. My February LTER prize, The Laws of Harmony by Judith Ryan Hendricks, should be on its way to me soon, but my October book, Rocket Man by William Elliott Hazelgrove, remains MIA – lost in space, perhaps?
Come to think of it, the LTER program is probably my single biggest source for review books, and about the only place where I actually ask for them. Where do your books come from?
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!
After going through a spate of reading review books, I’m reading a few of my own right now. This book will probably be one of my first reads when I go back over to the “review” stack.
“Here the student/builders had broached the dangerous nexus of water + electricity; I shuddered to think of what was behind the flimsy false wall space. The walls and ceiling were painted.” (page 75)
– The Mighty Queens of Freeville: A Mother, A Daughter, and the Town That Raised Them, by Amy Dickinson
It’s Tuesday, where are you?, hosted at An adventure in reading
I am on a brief visit to Windsor Castle, going through books with the Queen, in The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett.
It’s Friday, where are you?
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!
I’ve taken to avoiding those lists of “whatever number of books to read before you die” lately. The older I get, the less I’m getting worked up over what I “should” read. I know there are plenty of standards in the Western-literature canon – let alone world lit – that I haven’t checked off as “read,” and in quite a few cases, I doubt I ever will. I’ll run out of time to read them all, and I have to admit that I’m just not interested in some of them, for one reason or another.
However, anyone with 173 books tagged as “to-be-read” in LibraryThing clearly hasn’t gotten around to a LOT of reading. I don’t use that tag as a wish-list thing; if a book is listed there and tagged TBR, I actually own it. Here’s a sampling of the acclaimed contemporary fiction – the sort of books that might be on a “best books” list – that is still waiting patiently on my bookshelves:
Alias Grace, by Margaret Atwood
The Yiddish Policemen’s Union, by Michael Chabon
The Corrections, by Jonathan Franzen
Never Let Me Go and When We Were Orphans, both by Kazuo Ishiguro
Empire Falls, by Richard Russo
On Beauty, by Zadie Smith
Since I committed to reading 20 of my own books this year for the RYOB Challenge, it might be a good idea to include at least a couple of these books in that reading goal – which would you recommend?
Friday Fill-ins #114
1. Something not terribly memorable, sadly, was my last random act of kindness (because I just can’t think of what it was! But I’m sure there was one, and not that long ago, either!).
2. Another place for me to waste time on the Internet...
3. Consult a cardiologist in matters of the heart.
4. Coffee, tea or a nice cup of warm milk?
5. I wish all of the other drivers and I were on separate paths (so this traffic would go away!).
6. Our dog reminds me that there is always a good excuse to take a nap.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to catching up on some TV from the DVR, tomorrow my plans include finally getting started on the tax returns and Sunday, I want to have a pleasant day with the family! (Although if this feeling that I’m coming down with a cold turns out to be correct, all bets are off!)
Is there anything exciting on your calendar this weekend?
Thanks for the meme-e-ries! No? Well, I’m only on my first cup of coffee. I love your #6. Dogs have it sooo good. (And apparently, as we have learned, can provide clothing too…still can’t believe that’s an actual book.)
I’ve done pretty good with the Early Reviewers Program too, but I haven’t kept good enough records to know just what I got. I’m getting one from February and just figure out that it’s an old book.
Hmmm…my curiosity is piqued about the Early Reviewers Library Thing program…I wonder if it’s for Canadians….checking it out now!
Okay, I have to add to my last comment now- it IS available for Canadians! I’m so excited- thanks for letting me in on a new way to review books!
Karen – Yeah, I don’t know what “a dog’s life” is supposed to mean. There are some days I envy Gypsy :-).
Oh, and I’m linking to that “clothing” post in the Saturday Review tomorrow.
Kathy (Bermudaonion) – I’ve archived all of the private messages I get from LT when I score an ER book, so I just looked those up. Otherwise, my records wouldn’t be that good either :-).
Jonita – I was going to tell you that at least some of the books are usually available to Canadians, but you’ve already found that out :-). Enjoy!
Hello
I want to send your the Rocket Man you did not recieve…Just give me your address…http://www.billhazelgrove.com
bhazelgrove@gmail.com
Thanks.
Bill – Thanks for your generous offer! I have e-mailed you my address, and will look forward to getting your book.
I didn’t love The Corrections or On Beauty ( a certain sourness kept me distant from both fine writers). Everyone is saying that the must read is Russo. I haven’t read him yet.
The author lives kind of close to me, should I pick up the book for you? Wait, I’d have to pay for shipping then. Nevermind. 🙂
There is always a good reason for a nap, I don’t need the dog to tell me. Actually, since Quincy is only a year old, he doesn’t nap as much as I’d like.
I hope you aren’t getting that bad cold that is going around. I’m still fighting it off three weeks later. Very irritating.
Beth – I’m leaning toward the Russo myself, actually, but The Corrections may be the record-holder for length of time in my TBR stacks.
Mike – Thanks, but I sent the author my address and he’s mailing the book out to me next week.
My stepson has been sick for three or four days now, and my stepdaughter had it last week, so I may well be getting “that thing that’s going around.” I’ve been pretty lucky so far this winter, but I have been taking Zicam and sucking down Ricola drops since last night. I sure hope it doesn’t hang around for three weeks!
I really like the Early Reviewer program. It has been a lot of fun and I’ve discovered authors and books I had never heard of before.
My initial thought when I read the BTT question this week was to respond that my entire TBR collection fits into that category. I’m sure the questioner though is wanting a more specific answer. I have only read Empire Falls from your list. I thought it was an excellent book.
Yes, dogs and cats set good examples in the nap department. 🙂
I hope you are enjoying your weekend, Florinda.
Wendy (Literary Feline) – Heh. I had the same thought about my TBR collection, and if I had gone outside of it to answer that question, this post never would have gotten done :-)!
I like the ER program too – it’s been pretty good to me so far.
It’s a busy weekend, and we had an unexpected errand (and expense) today – replacing the hard drive in Tall Paul’s iMac. (At least it’s not as big a deal as replacing a car.) But I’m feeling better than I did for the past couple of days, so I should be at nephew’s birthday party tomorrow after all.
For Tuesday Thinger – congrats on your wins!! Honeymoon in Tehran sounds interesting. I’ve actually seen a few posts saying that they didn’t get either a book from October or November that they were supposed to get – so maybe the book was not published??
Thanks for stopping by and participating in Thingers last week! I’ve got the post up for this week, we’re taking a look at the section called LT Member Giveaways. ~ Wendi
Wendi – The author of my “missing” book apparently found out about this post and contacted me directly. He’s sending me a copy himself! Who says the Internet is useless :-)?
I’m so sorry I’m so late getting around! I hope you didn’t end up with a cold!
Janet – I did, actually, but not a very bad one :-). Glad you stopped by!