Reading with Style discussion

Just a new thread for our chit chat. The old one was full enough and I think there are currently no ongoing conversations.

Rebekah asked about Albania for our Group Project. We've turned that country green, but I love the people are keeping our Project in mind even when we don't currently have a task for it.

Our town has a branch of the University of Alaska. The relatively small library is available to anyone with a library card.I have made use of it many tmes over the years accessing titles that the city library does not hold. This week we had some unusual cold - not unlike much of the country - and a pipe burst in the ceiling of the building that housed the college library. Five thousand books destroyed. Just. so. sad.

I am so sorry to hear this. That is a lot of books to loose.

Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "Our town has a branch of the University of Alaska. The relatively small library is available to anyone with a library card.I have made use of it many tmes over the years accessing titles that the c..."

That is the saddest thing! I hope they didn’t lose any rare books!

Elizabeth, I remember the picture of that gorgeous library you shared years ago. One of my bucket list dreams is to see it in person one day on an Alaska visit...and to meet you. Sorry to hear about the loss.

What a devastating loss! I'm so sorry to hear of it, Elizabeth.

Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "...Five thousand books destroyed."

Was that the entire collection, nothing escaped? That is doubly bad for your community, being relatively isolated already. Absolutely heartbreaking. I am very sorry this happened.

Bea, the pictures I have on my profile of our library is the City library.

Yes, I think it was the entire collection. I don't know about rare books, but there were some very early editions - maybe even some first editions - of many titles.

Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "Yes, I think it was the entire collection. "

Oh, wow! I am so very sorry for this catastrophe.

So sorry to hear that Elizabeth.

What a terrible loss! I hope they will be able to replace most of the books.

Oh no! That is sad. Floods can be devastating.

Valerie wrote: "100% set in Barbados, so this country is green now!"

Yay! I love it that we're still keeping watch!

Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "Valerie wrote: "100% set in Barbados, so this country is green now!"

Yay! I love it that we're still keeping watch!"

It may not seem like it, but I do check how we are doing with our challenge. Participating in challenges like this makes me realize how limited your reading world can become if you just stick to the usual offerings of your local library.

Did everyone get to have their say in the polls? They close today at midnight Pacific/California time.

I did not vote for the poll option to read a book that fits a task in previous challenges, but I anticipate we'll see that one in the future.

There are (at least) two series I started awhile back and want to return to. I had the next installments pencilled in for winter and did not get to them ... again.

I voted soon after the they were posted. I did vote for the option involving previous challenges, however it's trailing behind.

I expect 1995 to be read a lot. Nineties, 5 and oldies style!

Yay! Congrats, Deedee on winning the gift card! Hope you buy something fun with it.

Congrats Deedee!

Congrats DeeDee, I enjoyed the one I won.

Yay for Dee Dee!

Congratulations, Deedee!

Congrats, Deedee! Have fun with your gift card!

Woo hoo for you, Deedee! I see new books in your future ;-)

Wow! Congrats, DeeDee!

As the proud, and lucky, winner of the first one of these draws, I'm always excited to see who gets these. Hope you get something great, DeeDee.

And I've realized since then that we can use any amazon site, so no one is stuck with dot com when they use one of the others.

Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "And I've realized since then that we can use any amazon site, so no one is stuck with dot com when they use one of the others."

That's great. It did take me a while to use the dollars. I ended up using it towards my Californian in-laws' Christmas presents, and bought myself a book from the UK instead :)

I was glad you had a way to use it, and that you were the one who led us to see other ways.

Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "And I've realized since then that we can use any amazon site, so no one is stuck with dot com when they use one of the others."

Yes! And for someone like us in Canada you get to take advantage of the favorable exchange rate! :)

I hope everyone has plenty of books you're excited to be reading this season. I know it sounds funny for me to be saying it, but I'm thrilled with my list. When Kate and I decide on a sub-challenge (and we usually have options) and when we choose tasks (always more than we can use), I have no idea whether or not I have books that will fit any/all nor whether they are books I'm anxious to read. Just so you know the tasks we choose aren't with our own book lists in mind.

I love the books on my list too. If I had five or six months, I might get to them all :-)

Connie wrote: "I love the books on my list too. If I had five or six months, I might get to them all :-)"

Ha ha yes, and isn't that always the way!

I have the happy dilemma of trying to decide what to order with my gift card :). Any suggestions?

You have such a variety of reading tastes! Is there something you've been wanting to read that your library doesn't shelve?

What is your "to have" shelf? I see the first two installments of N.K. Jemisin's Broken Earth Trilogy on that shelf. I have heard very good things about that series.

I did splurge on two books when I won, but normally I use my gift cards on .99, 1.99 or 2.99 specials! That way the enjoyment is spread out over time. These are usually old mysteries, but sometimes other 'classic' type novels.

Most of you will have by now seen the exchange in the Completed Tasks thread regarding Nalo Hopkinson. I could wish this nonwestern status might be the absolutely only error ever made by me in entering data. But if it is, and that there will shortly be zero errors, I will be greatly surprised. I try not to make mistakes, of course. The Goodreads database also has errors. When I see a discrepancy between the two, I always investigate, but I have to see them! (I'm not blaming this on the Goodreads database, by the way. I'm not sure when/how this one happened.)

We both make every effort to elminate errors, but we're human after all. You should always feel free to report anything you see as suspicious when either Kate or I make a scoring correction.

Is anyone else having trouble with the "add book/author" search? For the past several days, it's been telling me that search isn't available when I try to search by book title. I can search by author, but then I have to scroll through dozens of books to find the right one.

I just tried it and had no problems. Try logging out and logging back in again and see if that helps.

And I don't know why the titles that relate when you search by author are so awful, but they have always been that way.

Deedee, did you make a decision? Amazon currently has a Kindle offer, Spend $25 and get a $6 Credit.

Beverly Cleary has died. I don’t remember reading her as a kid. But I read a lot of her books aloud to my kids. And I very much enjoyed her memoir A Girl from Yamhill.
https://www.oregonlive.com/entertainm...

So sad.

To add to this, I read recently that Sharon Kay Penman died in January. I think some of you have read her in the past.

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/29/bo...

Another great author that just died is Larry McMurtry, author of Lonesome Dove and many more books.

https://www.npr.org/2021/03/26/981592...

Today I was pointed to an article about electronic ink that might interest those of you who weren't already aware (as I wasn't).

https://delanceyplace.com/

I love this: "People love books, more perhaps than they love the written word. They use them as a way to de­fine who they are and to provide physical evidence of their values. Books on shelves and on tables are a kind of internal marketing exercise, reminding us who we are and who we want to be. We are physical beings so it perhaps makes sense for us to identify and ex­press our values using physical objects, which we like to touch and smell as well as read."

Bea wrote: "I love this: "People love books, more perhaps than they love the written word. They use them as a way to de­fine who they are and to provide physical evidence of their values. Books on shelves and ..."

What is the source of that quote Bea? Is it from the article posted by Elizabeth?

Yes, Ed. And as that site has a daily article, this is the one I was referring to.

https://delanceyplace.com/view-archiv...