*Message Board

Welcome to the 75 Books Challenge for 2010! This thread is for general group announcements and as a place where we can post links to group read threads, etc. Please note we'd like to keep the discussion in this thread to a minimum.

Here's the link to a Group Read of the Chronicles of Prydain led by ronincats, starting on January 10.

http://www.librarything.com/topic/78957

The members at the 1010Challenge are having a group read of The Picture of Dorian Gray starting the first week in January. Please feel free to join us if you are interested.

http://www.librarything.com/groups/groupreadofpictureof

Is there a separate thread for the 1010 Challenge group?

The 1010 CHallenge Group itself is here:
http://www.librarything.com/groups/1010challenge

Following cyderry's example here is another 1010 group read. This time for Herodotus's Histories (Not very organised yet). We are hoping to read a book a month. This links to a general discussion thread that I just started.

http://www.librarything.com/topic/79011

Monthly threads will be linked to that thread as they are set up;)

like this thread :)

We've added three more group reads -

Anna Karenina - http://www.librarything.com/topic/79001
Moby Dick - http://www.librarything.com/topic/78998
The Lensman Series - http://www.librarything.com/topic/79054

Group read for the Three Musketeers set for mid February is here - http://www.librarything.com/groups/groupreadofthethreem#forums

The Take It or Leave It Challenge, a mini-challenge for this group, is now up and running.

We'll begin discussion of the first Lensman book - Triplanetary on January 8 in this thread:

http://www.librarything.com/topic/79055

I have started a thread for Orange January: http://www.librarything.com/topic/80703

Orange January is a personal challenge to read one or more books that have been nominated for or have won the Orange Prize. It's a lot of fun - come over and say hello!

The Group Reads - Literature will be starting Dr. Zhivago...um, today! come join us! http://www.librarything.com/groups/groupreadsliterature

Discussion of the first book in The Chronicles of Prydain, The Book of Three, will begin January 10 here:

http://www.librarything.com/topic/80785

Issue 3 of Belletrista, the online literary magazine that celebrates women writers from around the world is now up. It is the brainchild of LT member avaland, and several LTers in the 75 Books thread are regular contributors to the magazine.

http://belletrista.com/2010/issue3/

Great! Thanks for letting us know, Darryl.

>16 kidzdoc: several LTers in the 75 Books thread are regular contributors to the magazine.
yes, including Darryl!

Stasia (alcottacre) has posted the first reading assignment for Moby Dick - "Chapter 1 Loomings to Chapter 26 Knights and Squires, which in my copy of the book is pages 1-99." See the no-spoiler thread for further details.

Stasia (alcottacre) has posted the first reading assignment for Anna Karenina - "Part 1 (chapters 1-34), which in my edition is pages 1-115. Please remember that you have from January 15th-February 15th to get the reading done - I do not want anyone feeling overwhelmed!" See the no-spoiler thread for more details.

Thanks for the heads up!

Thanks Jim!

deebee1 is now coordinating a group read of The Count of Monte Cristo. Spoiler-free thread is here: http://www.librarything.com/talktopic.php?topic=82261

Today I read the shocking news of the arson of the Etz Hayyim synagogue in Hania, Crete.
Twice in two weeks! After the first fire the synagogue did not get protection, because the authorities “didn’t recognise the threat posed”.
(http://www.nrc.nl/international/article2465624.ece/Violent_anti-Semitism_leaves_Crete_indifferent )

The Etz Hayyim synagogue is a place I know and love. It is a beautifully restored small, so called “romaniote” synagogue in the old harbour area, with a small inner garden that has a few rabbi’s graves and a ritual bath.
The restoration is the life-work of Nicholas Stavroulakis, one of my favourite authors.
Crete is a favourite holiday destination of mine. When there, since I "discovered" it by coincidence I always go to this synagogue for a few hours, just to sit, let the atmosphere work, do a bit of talking, and a bit of browsing and buying books.
Recently the Guardian did an article on it:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/belief/2009/jul/30/crete-synagogue-etz-h...

The English version of the Greek newspaper Kathimerini:
“Let’s not kid ourselves, hostility between Greeks and Jews dates back to Hellenistic and Roman times. But there were also many centuries of peaceful coexistence. With the destruction of the Jewish community of Crete in 1944, one would have thought that the least the Cretans could do was honor the memories of their compatriots. Instead, driven by anger at Israeli atrocities against Palestinians, “progressive” local leaders and the Church of Greece opposed the renovation of the synagogue. (…)
Whatever damage the stones of the old temple suffer, what will sink Hania into darkness is that so many people are prepared to forget the past and tolerate violence and bigotry.”
http://www.ekathimerini.com/4dcgi/_w_articles_columns_2_19/01/2010_114151

When you will visit Crete this year, go there and ask the Chaniotes in the vicinity what has happened.

#24 - thanks for posting these links. Arson and attacks like these are just devastating especially when records and documentation are ruined.

FYI: For all those Jane Austen fans out there, PBS is airing a new production of Emma tonight on Masterpiece Classic.

Thanks for the info Roni I will check it out!

For anyone in the vicinity of Cambridge (UK), something I noticed when I was in the library at the weekend - Rebecca Stott is going to be talking about The Coral Thief in the Memorial Hall at Great Shelford (a couple of miles south) on Saturday 30th January at 2pm.

...followed by tea and cake and a "local history talk" by Chris Jakes, Senior Local History Librarian, Cambs Collection.

It's free, but numbers are limited, so for tickets, go to Gt Shelford Library, or email brenda.mead@cambridgeshire.gov.uk

Some folks from the 1010 challenge group are doing a Gone With the Wind group read in August and September, and anyone is welcome to join in:

http://www.librarything.com/topic/82935

The Take It Or Leave It (TIOLI) Challenge for February 2010 has been posted. The link to it can be found in this thread.

Tomorrow is dk_phoenix (Faith's) birthday.

I just re-checked the birthday thread and discovered JessicaLouise23 had a birthday January 23Rd! Happy Belated Jessica!

FEBRUARY BIRTHDAYS:

Anita (FAMeulstee) Feb. 3rd
Tad (TadAd) Feb. 12th
Caroline (Caroline) Feb. 13th
Marcia (allthesedarnbooks) Feb. 18th

If you haven't posted your birthday on the birthday thread, please do so. The thread is here

Quite a few folks have expressed an interest in reading some steampunk this year. Since I started the discussion with my review of Soulless, I got nominated to lead...8^}

By consensus, our first selection is The Anubis Gates by Tim Powers. Reading will begin February 15, with discussion on the spoiler thread beginning March 1. See you there!

Spoiler-free thread: http://www.librarything.com/topic/83717
Spoiler thread: http://www.librarything.com/topic/83718

Tomorrow is the first of February, time to start reading First Lensman. We'll start discussion on the spoiler thread on Sunday, February 7.

Reminder: Tomorrow is the first of February already! We will start discussion of The Black Cauldron on February 10, Wednesday after next. See you on the spoiler thread then.

If you check the home page this morning you will see that our group has 90% of the hot reviews!!!!

We are going to be doing a Group Read of Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie, starting March 1st. Here is the link to the General Thread: http://www.librarything.com/topic/84187&newpost=1#top

The group read of The Count of Monte Cristo starts today.

The spoiler-free thread is here http://www.librarything.com/talktopic.php?topic=82261.

And here is the discussion thread http://www.librarything.com/topic/84328.

Please feel free to join us...

The group read of The Anubis Gates for our Steampunk selections begins today.

The spoiler-free thread is here: http://www.librarything.com/topic/83717

Discussion will begin here on March 1: http://www.librarything.com/topic/83718

A new group read of Don Quijote in Spanish is beginning here: http://www.librarything.com/topic/84869

If you would, as you have time, head over to the Bonnie's Salon thread and post your 10 favorite all-time books, I would appreciate it. Please note - your favorite books, not the best books you have ever read (assuming they are not one and the same!)

The thread can be found here: http://www.librarything.com/topic/85082

Thanks everyone!

The group read for The Three Musketeers starts Saturday.
Here is the group - http://www.librarything.com/groups/groupreadofthethreem

Can we get a new link for #41? I 'm not getting anything when I click on the link, and I'm trying to find Bonnie? YIKES....

#43 I'll second that. The link brings up a blank screen! (Not that I could ever figure out my 10 favorite books . . .)

#43/44: I have no idea what LT is doing. Even when I try and correct the link, it adds an 'E' to the end of it. I will try again!

http://www.librarything.com/topic/85082

Still no link, Stasia.

Try here.

I have no idea what is going on with the links. All of the links on my profile page are now messed up too. I keep trying to add the link to my wiki page - it was fine 2 days ago, but along with the links to all my threads, it now is messed up as well. Anyone else having this problem?

BTW - Thanks for the help with the link in message 46, Tad.

>47 alcottacre:: Stasia,

Naked links (just typing a link) aren't working in LT right now. They appear to have broken as part of all the little tweaks being done to improve (I used that word with my tongue slightly in my cheek) the HTML support in LT. It's the same type of thing that made images so whacky for the past week.

There are a couple work-arounds.

1) If you put a space before and after your link, it will show up. E.g., the first has no space before and after; the second does:

http://www.librarything.com/topic/78950
http://www.librarything.com/topic/78950

2) If you use the full HTML syntax of a <a> link, it will show up.

ETA: #2 is really the best way to insulate yourself while all these little instabilities are going on. Things are changing hour by hour, day by day, and we have no idea how long it will all take.

--Tad

OK, Tad, thanks for the help!

March is Women's History Month, and I have created a survey especially for readers of women's historical fiction. Would you consider taking a moment to complete my survey? I will let you know the results this week (survey closes on Wednesday).

Thanks for your help! And please spread the word!

The Take It or Leave it Challenge (TIOLI) is now up and running for March 2010. Here it is.

Enjoy!

Discussion of The Anubis Gates began today at http://www.librarything.com/topic/83718.

I posted the first part of the results for my Women's History Month survey. Thanks for participating!

http://www.examiner.com/x-37241-St-Petersburg-Book-Examiner~y2010m3d7-Results-fr...

Discussion of Galactic Patrol is now open on

The Lensmen series (spoiler thread)
http://www.librarything.com/topic/79055

I posted Part 2 of the Women's History Month Survey Results today. Thanks all for your help and support with this project!

http://www.examiner.com/x-37241-St-Petersburg-Book-Examiner~y2010m3d8-Results-fr...

The next book in our Steampunk group read will be The Affinity Bridge by George Mann. We'll start reading in two weeks (around March 25), and start discussion on April 10.

Just a note to say that it is Stasia's birthday tomorrow.

I have posted a short survey about the Orange Prize for Fiction - would you mind participating? It's only four questions but a lot of fun!

The survey is open until midnight EST, Saturday, March 20. I will post the results on my Examiner page on Sunday (I will let you know when it's ready!).

Thanks! = ) Jill

#58: Done!

Thank you for participating in the Orange Prize Survey! The results are in - and they're very interesting! Check it out!

And if you want to read any of these great Orange books, don't forget that we'll be doing Orange July!

Happy Birthday to:

Luxx (yesterday)
Fourpawz2/ Charlotte (today)
Carmenere/Lynda (tomorrow)

Happy Birthday, everyone!

... and many more!

Happy Birthday wishes to all!

Happy Birthday and many more! :)
--BJ

I definitely missed some birthdays! Belated happy, happy day!

A reminder: the group read of The Plague by Albert Camus will begin on Thursday. The spoiler and spoiler free threads are up and running.

April's Take It or Leave It Challenge (TIOLI ) ... plus quite a few interesting side challenges ... are now posted. It's going to be hard not to sign up for too many of them! :)

You can link to the wiki from post #1 on this thread.

Have fun!

Simply wanting to note the April birthdays:

April 4th AMQS (Anne), April 8th Brenzi (Bonnie), April 10th ProflierSR (Sher), April 12th Muddy21 (Marilyn).

If I missed anyone, please let me know the date and I'll add it to the data base.

Happy Birthday to all you wonderful Spring babies!

May I announce this?

APRIL IS AUTISM AWARENESS MONTH in the United States. I have posted some autism-related links near the beginning of my new (third) thread here on the 2010 75 challenge, for anyone interested in learning more about autism.

Tanks for the information! Thinking of you!

I have started a Facebook fan page for Orange January/July. All are welcome to join the fun - and please spread the word!

http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Orange-JanuaryJuly/107983879236088

Great! I just signed up.

Even though I'm a couple of days late, I wanted to announce that The Affinity Bridge is open for discussion in the Steampunk group read.

Some of us are doing a group read of Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffengger. Her fuirst book Time Traveler's wife was a hit so we thought we try this one too.

Here's the thread. The more the merrier.

http://www.librarything.com/topic/89739

I promised somebody that I would make a list of my favorite science fiction and fantasy. I've been working on it, but I can't remember who was interested. Anybody???

>75 LizzieD:: I thought it might be JanetinLondon, because I remember her posting about sci fi/fantasy on her thread. I just checked her thread, and found your promise!

Thank you, Laura! You are always a helpful one!!!!
I'll hope to get there tonight or tomorrow.

Hijacking again to say: any of you Missouri Readers out there, we're reading When the Mississippi Ran Backwards: Empire, Intrigue, Murder, and the New Madrid Earthquakes by Jay Feldman in June. We'll start around June 15, so anyone who wants to join us, get your book and start reading!
http://www.librarything.com/topic/89311.

Does anyone know how to send a message to all members of a group? I can't do it anymore (can't even SEE all members of the group to do it individually!), and I need a good way to let folks know!

Terri, I've really been wanting to read that book! I think I'd like to join your Missouri Readers, if I can get hold of the book!

Don't know how you can contact your group members, other than just by posting on the group and hoping they see it.

BTW, since that deals with the New Madrid earthquake, you might pick up a reader or two if you post something about it on the Disaster Buffs group:
http://www.librarything.com/groups/disasterbuffs
They are not very active posters, but some people check in once in a while, I think. And I'm pretty sure that book has been mentioned there.

#75 - yes it was me, thanks. I'm waiting with bated breath.

We've selected our next book in the Steampunk group read. It's Perdido Street Station! Discussion to begin May 20.

#81 drneutron Perdido Street Station is on my TBR list so I'd like to join the group read, can't see any links, what happens ?

You are most certainly welcome to join in! The non-spoiler thread here http://www.librarything.com/topic/83717 is for general discussion. As folks finish the book, starting on or about May 20, they'll add comments to the spoiler thread here: http://www.librarything.com/topic/83718 .

# 83 Thanks, I'm in !

The TIOLI (Take it or Leave It) Challenge is up and running for the month of May.

Stop by Post #1 of the May TIOLI Challenge thread to see the logo Cheli designed for us. Thanks so much, Cheli!

My pleasure!

Getting ready for Orange July - a personal challenge when readers commit to reading at least one book that has been nominated or won the Orange Prize. More details. Come join the fun!

For those of you who haven't noticed (are there *any* of you?) over the past few days, the June TIOLI challenge is now posted.

Tim has opened a discussion about how to make Talk better for challenge groups, so we might want to weigh in there--especially since a popular request is to segregate Talk so that overabundant challenge threads don't "get in the way"!

Hello Everyone!

I also posted this message on my thread and the thread of those with hot reviews:

Quick...go to the hot reviews and you will see that of the ten reviews, our group is 10/10. Every hot review this morning is from a member of our 75 challenge group. I'm not sure, but I think this is a first for us.

The hot reviews are

lindsacl
Mrstreme
Mckait
sjmccreary
elliepotten
donna828
msf59
blackdogbooks
brenzi
and me

What a hoot!

#90 That does not surprise me in the least. Congrats to all for their hotness.

For anyone like me, who's usually a bit late finding the TIOLI challenge thread,
this is July's

edited to tidy up

Hmmmm. This seems not to be very active these days. I don't know where else to post it though..... I bought a nice pb copy of Eventide to put on PBS at our local library sale. When I got it home, I realized that it is an ARC. Would anybody here care to have it? If not, I'll move on to ER member offers.

I just noticed that the group has exactly 750 members right now. That seems appropriate.

For all you Three Pines junkies out there (you know who you are!), ShelfAwareness has a chat with Louise Penny online at

http://news.shelf-awareness.com/ar/theshelf/2010-9-22/book_brahmin_louise_penny....

Anyone in the Seattle area? Show your library love.

#96 That is so cool!

Love the idea to drop everything and whip out your book. Hope this catches on everywhere.

I obviously need to move to Seattle!

Ah, interesting to see she enjoyed Farley Mowat...an author I loved as a kid and about whom everyone has said, "Who?!?"

:-D

Darn--I'm from Seattle, but will still be out of town 10/1. I love our libraries--they have almost everything I want (even weird, esoteric books), and are so convenient to use. Another way of saying I have no reason to keep buying books.

The TIOLI challenge for October, 2010, has now been posted. Enjoy!

I posted the nominees for the Writers' Trust Award ( Canada) in The Prizes group. Emma Donoghue's book Room has been nominated.

Interesting. With all the millions of threads in this group, I've never actually seen this thread here.

I'm looking for book suggestions for a course I will be teaching next semester. It's an Honors section of Intro to Lit--which means the kids ought to be bright (but not necessarily all big or sophisticated readers), or at least motivated to do what they need to do to get good grades.

I'm thinking of using the theme "Classic and Contemporary." I'd pair up an older classic with a contemporary novel that revises or spins off from the classic. A few examples:
Jane Eyre and The Wide Sargasso Sea
Mrs. Dalloway and The Hours
Hamlet and Gertrude and Claudius (thought about The Story of Edgar Sawtelle but it's huge)
Great Expectations and Mr. Pip King Lear and A Thousand Acres (which may be a bit too "pop")
Kim and The Impressionist

Can you think of any other classic/contemporary pairings?

The Honors kids can be a tough crowd. The last time I taught the theme of "Identity," and they hated The Namesake because "we already did multiculturalism in high school--read one, you've read them all."

I'm looking for book suggestions for a course I will be teaching next semester. It's an Honors section of Intro to Lit--which means the kids ought to be bright (but not necessarily all big or sophisticated readers), or at least motivated to do what they need to do to get good grades.

I'm thinking of using the theme "Classic and Contemporary." I'd pair up an older classic with a contemporary novel that revises or spins off from the classic. A few examples:
Jane Eyre and The Wide Sargasso Sea
Mrs. Dalloway and The Hours
Hamlet and Gertrude and Claudius (thought about The Story of Edgar Sawtelle but it's huge)
Great Expectations and Mr. Pip King Lear and A Thousand Acres (which may be a bit too "pop")
Kim and The Impressionist

Can you think of any other classic/contemporary pairings?

The Honors kids can be a tough crowd. The last time I taught the theme of "Identity," and they hated The Namesake because "we already did multiculturalism in high school--read one, you've read them all."

I'm looking for book suggestions for a course I will be teaching next semester. It's an Honors section of Intro to Lit--which means the kids ought to be bright (but not necessarily all big or sophisticated readers), or at least motivated to do what they need to do to get good grades.

I'm thinking of using the theme "Classic and Contemporary." I'd pair up an older classic with a contemporary novel that revises or spins off from the classic. A few examples:
Jane Eyre and The Wide Sargasso Sea
Mrs. Dalloway and The Hours
Hamlet and Gertrude and Claudius (thought about The Story of Edgar Sawtelle but it's huge)
Great Expectations and Mr. Pip King Lear and A Thousand Acres (which may be a bit too "pop")
Kim and The Impressionist

Can you think of any other classic/contemporary pairings?

The Honors kids can be a tough crowd. The last time I taught the theme of "Identity," and they hated The Namesake because "we already did multiculturalism in high school--read one, you've read them all."

How about the science fiction retelling of Jane Eyre, Jenna Starborn by Sharon Shinn, instead of The Wide Sargasso Sea? As a fairly true to the original retell in a future society setting, it contrasts "eternal" themes such as relationships with physical themes, such as reconstruction or cloning of body parts, that are very contemporary and should be of interest to teens.

What about A Christmas Carol and Mr. Timothy? That may be more separation than you want though.

Cariola: How about Sophocles' Oedipus Tyrannus coupled with Kafka on the Shore? Or The Odyssey with one of the many many retellings The Penelopiad, or The Lost Books of the Odyssey?
Also, I just finished reading March, which is an excellent retelling, of sorts, of Little Women, but from the father's point of view.
Love the course idea! Of course, you really will need to post your final reading list now - I'm too curious not to know what you decide on!

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and Finn by Jon Clinch. I was blown away by Clinch's imagining of Pap Finn's story. I swear, Twain gave him his outline.

Anyone who lives in New York and likes Lemony Snicket may be interested in this

Here is a link for the 75 Book Challenge Best Books of the Third Quarter thread.

I finalized my book selections for my "From Classic to Contemporary" course:

Hamlet and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and Mary Reilly
Mrs. Dalloway and The Hours
Kim and The Impressionist

I didn't want to take on too many books that I wasn't familiar with (the semester break is only three weeks). I've read all but Kim, and I've taught four of the eight books before. And I can show film clips for six of them. I think it will be a good mix.

Nice choices!

I really like the idea of reading books in pairs. i know The Hours was so much better when I because I read it in combination with Mrs. Dalloway.

Tim started a poll about showing names on review thumbs. I thought this might be of interest here since, based on the Hot Reviews, we all know 75-ers are big thumbers!

I think I'd like that course!

Check out my update about Orange January 2011!

(Pardon the repost!)

I've added a thread for discussion of this year's group experience and what we might want to improve next year.

http://www.librarything.com/topic/103437

Has a group for 2011 been started yet?

Nope, not yet. Watch this space for an announcement in the next week.

Thanks! I was afraid I might have missed seeing it.

Someone started a best of the year thread.

Oh no....do you have any idea what that is going to do to my TBR list????

#126, 127 I went to your profile page and discovered that you are Michael Hemingway. It is against LT rules to promote your own book: "LibraryThing is not an advertising medium. Egregious commercial solicitation is forbidden. No matter how great your novel, this does apply to authors. (See Tips and Guidelines for Authors.)"

However, there is a group called Hobnob with Authors where you can talk about your book to your heart's content.

Happy Holidays! The 2011 group's up...

http://www.librarything.com/groups/75booksin20111

Just to follow up and close out the year

Cheli is fine, she is healing, and she is reading while being watched over by Dr. Bear.

#130: Glad to see she has the best possible medical supervision :)

The Folger Shakespeare Library posted some mock letters to Santa from well-known characters. I thought you might get a kick out of this one:

Dear Santa:

How does my lord? I am fine. I believe ‘tis possible you did not receive my wish list last year, or that it fell into unsavory hands and was rudely tampered with before reaching you, as all you brought me was a chastity belt and some granny underpants. I pray that this one flies to you untainted since this year hath really sucked. I wish for the following:

He’s Just Not That Into You (book and DVD)
"All About Me” Lock and Key Diary
National Geographic Flower and Leaf Pressing Kit
Coastal Deluxe Automatic Inflatable Life Vest

Fingers crossed,
Ophelia

Deb. What a funny mock letter, especially since your home page contains the following of a beloved Pre Raphaelite J.W. Waterhouse painting.

#132: Love that, Deborah! Thanks for sharing it.

Although I don't have an ereader I know many people in this group do so I wanted to post a link to this thread Tim started asking for people's thoughts on whether they would be interested in LT developing some sort of book-swapping feature for kindles (and I guess potentially other ereaders too?).

http://www.librarything.com/topic/105890

Cross-posted to the 2011 message board.

Thanks for the link! I don't have a Kindle, I have a Nook. Hopefully they will develop the idea and branch out to other e-readers as well.

Posting this message in both 2010 and 2011 kitchens:

I LOVE YOU ALL, but if I haven't gotten to your 2010 thread, please don't look for me there. I purposedly avoided the 2011 until the new year, and I have officially abandoned any more 2010. So if there's something I really, really really need to know, send me a PM please.

I'm now concentrating on reading, with a short/small/skimming/lurking roll through the threads for one hour a day.

Repeat, kisses, smooches, prayers, blessings and happy reading to all of you. May your aunties, hubbies, kids, cats, dogs and hamsters bring you peace love and joy.

May your books bring you even more.