JULY ROOT - Progress Thread

Each month I've been choosing the library or museum because of an event or celebration taking place related to the location of the choice. In July I thought of American Independence Day as well as Bastille Day for the French, but since we already spent April in Paris, the 4th of July wins out. However, then I had the dilemma of choosing a library in the USA. I confess that I had to chose my hometown so, the

LIBRARY OF THE MONTH is George Peabody Library, Baltimore, MD









Often referred to as Baltimore’s “Cathedral of Books,” it’s a kind of love song to Baltimore from Peabody who dedicated the library to the people of Baltimore for their “kindness and hospitality.” Opened in 1878, massive skylights overseen five rows of ornate balconies that descend to an elegant white marble floor. Your sore neck won’t be from falling asleep with a book, but rather from staring upwards for hours. It’s impossible not to be impressed.

A massive skylight soars over six tiers of cast-iron balconies to house a collection with over 300,000 volumes dating from the Renaissance through the 19th Century.

But I couldn't leave out some of the other beautiful libraries I saw along the way to my final choice so here are a few more for you to see!

Morgan Library, New York, NY - The main building and its interior is a New York City designated landmark and a National Historic Landmark, while the house at 231 Madison Avenue is a New York City landmark.


Boston Public Library


Hearst Castle Gothic Study, San Simeon, CA



NY Public Library


Linderman Library and Fairchild-Martindale Library



state library in Iowa



Biltmore House Library



Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County

Password is ROOTS

The percentages will be calculated and a star awarded for those on target to reach their goals. More stars for farther toward their goal. If anyone's number is incorrect, please let me know and I will make the necessary adjustments. So go out there and dig those ROOTs.

several tickers are not working as noted in the June thread. When the tickers are updated or correct numbers are provided, I will update these members

Ameise1 6 / 12 ★ 50.0%
beach85 18 / 36 ★ 50.0%
benitastrnad 49 / 62 ★★★★ 79.0%
bragan 43 / 85 ★ 50.6%
brakketh 12 / 30 40.0%
ca_dmv 6 / 12 ★ 50.0%
Caramellunacy★ 22 / 20 110.0%
Carmenere 12 / 25 48.0%
cecilturtle 32 / 50 ★★ 64.0%
clue 20 / 50 40.0%
Coach_of_Alva 14 / 25 ★ 56.0%
connie53 27 / 50 ★ 54.0%
crazy4reading 8 / 30 26.7%
curioussquared 31 / 50 ★★ 62.0%
CurrierBell★ 14 / 13 107.7%
cyderry★ 234 / 84 278.6%
detailmuse 25 / 40 ★★ 62.5%
DisassemblyOfReason 38 / 100 38.0%
enemyanniemae 46 / 60 ★★★★ 76.7%
FAMeulstee★ 39 / 24 162.5%
Familyhistorian 38 / 65 ★★ 58.5%
floremolla 8 / 40 20.0%
fuzzi 31 / 100 31.0%
HelenBaker 26 / 48 ★ 54.2%
Henrik_Madsen 24 / 50 48.0%
h-mb 3 / 20 15.0%
humouress 12 / 40 30.0%
Jackie_K 40 / 60 ★★★ 66.7%
janoorani24 9 / 20 45.0%
johnxlibris 9 / 20 45.0%
justchris 20 / 100 20.0%
kac522 40 / 50 ★★★★ 80.0%
karenmarie 17 / 30 ★ 56.7%
Kiwi_des_neiges 0 / 44 0.0%
Kristelh 29 / 50 ★ 58.0%
Kwharton 4 / 12 33.3%
LadyBookworth★ 20 / 20 100.0%
lepensuer 0 / 51 0.0%
leslie.98 43 / 80 ★ 53.8%
lilisin 33 / 60 ★ 55.0%
lindapanzo 31 / 72 43.1%
LoraShouse 8 / 15 ★ 53.3%
Lynsey2 18 / 50 36.0%
madhatter22 15 / 50 30.0%
majkia 55 / 65 ★★★★★ 84.6%
mandymarie20 1 / 25 4.0%
martencat 12 / 30 40.0%
misscleasia 6 / 20 30.0%
Miss_Moneypenny 65 / 80 ★★★★ 81.3%
MissSos 11 / 25 44.0%
MissWatson 46 / 75 ★★ 61.3%
nebula21 9 / 36 25.0%
Nickelini★ 27 / 26 103.8%
Quaisior 11 / 50 22.0%
QuestingA 30 / 35 ★★★★★ 85.7%
rabbitprincess 29 / 60 48.3%
readingtangent★ 33 / 25 132.0%
Rebeki 11 / 18 ★★ 61.1%
ritacate 13 / 24 ★ 54.2%
Robertgreaves 57 / 96 ★★ 59.4%
rocketjk 11 / 30 36.7%
rosalita 35 / 48 ★★★ 72.9%
Sace 1 / 21 4.8%
sallylou61 20 / 40 ★ 50.0%
si 12 / 25 48.0%
sibylline 6 / 16 37.5%
susanj67 24 / 50 48.0%
This-n-That 7 / 14 ★ 50.0%
torontoc 15 / 30 ★ 50.0%
Val_Reads 5 / 75 6.7%
vestafan 31 / 60 ★ 51.7%
wandaly 13 / 18 ★★★ 72.2%





We have some avid readers who have reached their goal! Joining cyderry, Nickelini, CurrierBell, readingtangent, FAMeulstee, and Caramellunacy this month is LadyBookworth!
Our top 2 readers closest to reaching their goals, are:

QuestingA 85.7%
majkia 84.6%

The goal for July is 1,821.

Thank you for your hard work, Chèli.

I really wasn't sure if I was going to make it this month but I kept my stars. Onwards.

Looks like we're on a great trajectory! Thanks Chèli.

Darn it, lost my star! I'll have to get back on track this month.

Excellent choice of library. Gorgeous!

What a gorgeous library. You can feel endless upward open space just looking at the photo. That's a great hometown library to have :)

That is such a spectacular library! Thanks, Chèli, it is just great.

It's a glorious library, Chèli. I really love all the pictures, very light and spacious.

Those libraries all look stunning!

Thanks for the library pictures and the stats, Cheli! I'm pleased to see I gained another star.

Thanks so much for the pictures, I've been to 2 out of the 9 and I'd love to see more. Most of them I didn't know about.

>1 cyderry: The Baltimore library is gorgeous! And I love your runners-up as well. The image of the State Library of Iowa isn't showing for me, but I've been there before so I already know how beautiful it is. Hopefully everyone else can see it, though.

Beautiful! Thank-you for all of your hard work, Chèli!

I start off July with The Rough Guide to Classic Novels, a good little resource which I've had since December 2010.
Crapoussin et Niguedouille, which could have been fun but was a little pretentious; this was a 2020 Christmas gift
I, the Jury by Mickey Spillane - which has aged poorly in content but well in form. I have this since at least 2015; it's part of an anthology I've yet to finish.
I'm up to 35 out of 50!

Group tickers are updated.

I love ALL the libraries, especially the NY Public Library.

For my 14th birthday my dad asked me what I wanted to do, and I said "Go to the Hartford Public Library!" I spent several hours there while my mother took my older sisters shopping (Hartford is the capital city of Connecticut).

Halfway to my goal with The Naming of the Dead, by Ian Rankin. My personal ticker is up to date.

PLEASE, please everyone, if you are going to update both tickers you have to remember to hit NEW TICKER before you start updating the second one.

#16 for the year and the first ROOT for July- the review is on my thread and no tickers updated.

Libraries can be beautiful and functional public spaces. It bothers me that the public often doesn’t recognize how important they are to the health and productivity of communities.

I haven’t been to very many of these public libraries and love the pictures of them. Thanks for the great leadin for this month.

I posted my first ROOT for the month yesterday after spending a good deal of time at the swimming pool. I finished the overly lengthy Rule of Wolves by leigh Bardugo. This was the last in this fantasy series and, of course, there is another book coming becuase there was another cliff hanger at the end of this one.

Sooo many beautiful libraries. It makes losing my star a little easier to take, but luckily it is vacation time, so I'm confident I'll have it back soon!

Wow, what beautiful libraries!

>16 cyderry: Chèli I hate to add more to your plate but, I don't think I should be in the list of finishers just yet :( I'm about 15 books away from hitting my goal!

#17 for the year and 2nd book in July-the review is on my thread and no tickers updated.

Reporting ROOT # 28 for the year, # 1 for July

De offers by Jeroen Windmeijer

Own tickers updated only!

Reporting ROOT # 29 for the year, # 2 for July

Leon & Juliette by Annejet van der Zijl

Own tickers updated only!

Added my second ROOT of July to my personal ticker: The English Way of Death, a Fourth Doctor "Missing Adventures" novel by Gareth Roberts.

Cheli I can't imagine having access to such a grand library. How wonderful! But are there any comfy chairs?
I have read one root for the month, The Wilding by Maria McCann, but now on to my second after the distraction of a couple of library books.

>1 cyderry: Now there's a fountain I could go for!

I notice that folks who have got to 100% and started again only have one star. Maybe a different colour star for each 100%?

>27 humouress: I don't know how or if you can change the color of the star.

>26 HelenBaker:
I have a copy of The Wilding. How did you like it?

I finished my first ROOT of the month. I got Fordlandia: The Rise and Fall of Henry Ford's Forgotten Jungle City by Greg Grandin finished just in time to lead the discussion of it for my real life Book Discussion group. We are meeting today so I came in under the wire on Friday. It was a good book about a forgotten episode in history, but it was a bit on the academic side so was slower reading than I anticipated it would be.

>27 humouress: The star is next to their name, rather than next to their stats.

>31 kac522: Oh! Too subtle for me :0)

>28 cyderry: But if you do want coloured stars, I've saved a couple of links on my profile.

>32 humouress: bwahaha! I read "links" as "inks"!

How do you have inks on your profile? :D

>33 fuzzi:

Reporting ROOT # 30 for the year, # 3 for July

De tiende vrouw by Roel Janssen

Own tickers updated only!

>29 benitastrnad: I chose this because my last couple of books had made me feel a bit anxious. So it fitted the bill for a lighter read. It reminded me a bit of a Catherine Cookson novel. A little disappointing given it was long-listed for the Orange prize.

My most enjoyable read this month, Short Girls by Bich Minh Nguyen. 2nd root for the month

>36 HelenBaker:
I just wondered if I should hurry and pull The Wilding out of the giant stack on the floor of my office and read it before I go on to something else! I take it you think I can leave it for awhile and not miss out on a really good book?

While I was away I finished my first two ROOTs of July (#41 and #42 for the year). I've only updated my own ticker.

I finished another ROOT today. This one was Boat People by Sharon Bala and it was easily the best work of fiction I have read this year. It was the 2019 winner of the Harper Lee Legal Fiction Award that is given yearly by the University of Alabama Law School and it deserves the accolades. It is about immigration and political refugees and it gave a real insight into how the Canadian political asylum system works - or doesn't work.

One ROOT finished, They Looked for a City, and updated my personal ticker only.

Added my third ROOT of July to my personal ticker: Murder in the Museum, by John Rowland.

Reporting ROOT # 31 for the year, # 4 for July

Een weg door de bergen by Elizabeth McGregor

Own tickers updated only!

Wild wet and windy weather here means another root completed, A Spell of Winter by Helen Dunmore.

I have finished my fifth ROOT for July and have thus reached the two-thirds mark. We're having another etremely hot day, so I'll be hiding at home with my sixth ROOT.

I've finished 3 this month so far.. Now I'm reading Ribbons of Scarlet, a novel about the French Revolution.

Added another ROOT to my personal ticker: The Witch Elm, by Tana French.

#18 for the year and the third ROOT for July- review is on my thread and no tickers updated

#3 for July (#43 for the year) added to my ticker.

LT is just not at all a priority for me these days, is it. Here is an update on what I've read so far this month. At least I'm still reading!

Aki Shimazaki : Azami
Aki Shimazaki : Hozuki
Dave Cullen : Columbine
Philip K. Dick : The Man Who Japed
Soji Shimada : Tokyo Zodiac Murders

I finished listening to a ROOT this morning on my way to work. I finished the psychological thriller Behind Her Eyes by Sarah Pinborough. I am not really a thriller reader, but I had this one figured about about a third of the way into the book, and the plot twist at the end didn't really surprise me that much either. I rated it average, but it is very popular both here on LT and on Goodreads. Oh well - On to another ROOT. I started listening to another Guido Brunetti mystery.

Reporting ROOT # 32 for the year # 5 for July

Kerewin by Keri Hulme

Own tickers updated.

Just wanted to let you all know that I will be posting the August thread on Sunday, the 1st. Please be sure to update your tickers as soon as you can. I'm having cataract surgery on Monday the 2nd and am not sure how well I'll be able to see for the first week as I adjust. If there are any changes needed to the numbers, I will do that as soon as I am able.

Keep reading!

Best of luck for the surgery! Both my parents have had it and couldn't believe the positive difference it made to them.

>53 cyderry: Good luck with your surgery and recovery.

Good luck with the surgery, Chèli. And a quick and uneventful recovery!

I've added 2 more ROOTs to my own ticker (none to the group ticker). These are ROOTs 4 and 5 of July, and 44 and 45 for the year to date.

I've read my 6th book for the month which is exciting. Granted I've been reading some shorter books this month but it feels good to burn through some reads, especially since I've been enjoying them. The 6th book in question is Pauvre Chose by Risa Wataya which I enjoyed for its humor and it's look at Japanese vs. Japanese-American ways of being.

>53 cyderry: Best of luck for easy surgery and a quick recovery.

>53 cyderry: Best wishes for the surgery, and I hope you have a big stash of audiobooks to keep you company :)

>60 rabbitprincess: I have 7 audiobooks lined up and a few others waiting. Even now before the surgery, it's hard to read print because one eye just doesn't focus. I've "read" 3 audios this month so far and have a 4th going now. But the Olympics have started to cut into my reading time!

And now I've added #6 for July (#46 for the year) to my ticker only. It was a 5* read - C.K. McDonnell's The Stranger Times.

I have completed another root for July, Dead People's Music by Sarah Laing my New Zealand author challenge for the month. Now at 29/48 and hoping to complete one more for the month.

Needed another short read for my train ride to and from the beach and thus started and finished Slow Boat by Hideo Furukawa. I didn't hate this but it's easily skippable, I'd say. This is my 7th read for the month.

Added another ROOT to my personal ticker: The Lost Books of the Odyssey, by Zachary Mason.

I’m new this month. I added my ticker to the ticker thread (goal of 11 for the year and 2 ROOTs read in July). If there’s any other protocol, let me know. Since I’m late to the game, I don’t want to mess up y’alls statistics, so I can wait till next year to become an “official” ROOTer.

>53 cyderry: Good luck with the surgery, Chèli, and enjoy the Olympics!

good luck with the surgery- I had it and it made a big difference in my perception of colour! ( brighter)
#19 for the year and 4 ROOTS for the month of July. Review is on my thread and no tickers updated.

>53 cyderry: Good luck with the surgery, Chèli!

--
Reporting my July numbers: 8 ROOTs read (3 reviews to go), making a total of 46 (of 24 planned).
The books treat me better than expected :-)

My own ticker is up to date.

Hoping the surgery is easy and uneventful...take care, listen to some great audiobooks, and give those eyes some well-needed rest for all those Roots in the future!

>66 Charon07: I think there’s no set-in-stone start date, although Chèli runs the group and does the stats so she would know best. I started a few months late myself.

My ticker thread is currently up to date with 50 books as of 29 July.

>53 cyderry:. All the best Cheli for your cataract surgery and improved eyesight.

Two biographies completed for the month,Maori Boy by Witi Ihimaera and The Trauma Cleaner by Sarah Krasnostein, but only the first is a root. So my tally is now 30/48.

I an having problems again updating my ticker and yes I have been following through the commands on screen. It worked fine last month but now my screen constantly flashes when I go to update my data. Is anyone else experiencing this problem?

I finished another ROOT last night. This one was How Paris Became Paris: The Invention of the Modern City by Joan DeJean. It was for the Nonfiction Challenge for July. The topic was cities. This was an academic book, but it was rather short for an academic book. It had 226 pages of reading and another 50 pages of end notes and bibliography. It covered the development of Paris from the reign of Henri IV to the end of the reign of Louis XIV. I learned a great deal about the history of Paris at this time. The book also covered social and cultural developments of the era and laid some convincing groundwork for the idea that the French Revolution of 1789 was really only an extension of the leveling of French society that had occurred during the previous 150 years. There were chapters on the royal building projects of the years 1600 - 1789 and this included the housing developments, the building of what we now call the Ile de la Citie, the creation of public parks, public shopping areas, and the Pont Neuf. Very interesting book. Now I need to go see Paris.

>73 HelenBaker: I just updated my ticker with no issues.

>73 HelenBaker: I have had it a few times. Going back to the previous page and then clicking on edit/update again usually solves the problem for me. If not, I go back and log out, to try again a few hours later.

Best of luck with your surgery and recovery, Chèli

Here is my report for July 2021:

UpROOTED books: 6
ROOTless books: 3
Added to the treebook TBR shelves: 1

The ROOTs were:

Man & Beast by Michael Jensen
The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern
The Radium Girls by Kate Moore
Camp Carnage by Elliot Arthur Cross and Joshua Winning
Turing Test by E. M. Foner
Villette by Charlotte Brontë

ROOTs in YTD: 63

(Group tickers not touched)

I've just added #7 for July (#47 for the year) to my own ticker. I'd hoped to get another one finished before July was over, but don't think I'm quite going to manage it, so that'll be my total for the month.

I won't be finishing any more ROOTs today, so the tally remains at 6 this month. My ticker is up-to-date.

7 for the month- 53 for the year.

I read five ROOTS and I'm running a little behind for my goal of 50 but will keep plugging away!

Only 4 ROOTs for the month, I'm starting to slip again. The library holds are starting to coming in too fast again.

August thread ia up!

https://www.librarything.com/topic/334044#

I had 8 ROOT's for July. No tickers updated.

My 8 ROOT's for the month divide out to
3 Nonfiction -
Fordlandia: The Rise and Fall of Henry Ford's Forgotten Jungle City by Greg Grandin
Unseen City: The Majesty of Pigeons, the Discreet charm of Snails & Other Wonders of the Urban Wilderness by Nathanael Johnson
How Paris Became Paris: The Invention of the Modern City by Joan DeJean

5 Fiction -
Rule of Wolves by Leigh Bardugo
Boat People by Sharon Bala
Behind Her Eyes by Sarah Pinborough - recorded book
Earthly Remains by Donna Leon - recorded book

It turned out to be a good month of reading and listening for me. Two Sunday afternoon's at the swimming pool helped to knock out the hardcopy ROOT's. School starts in two weeks so the totals for August won't be as high.