Readers and Reading discussion

On January 1, I will be opening a new folder for voting on our favorites from 2009. I am still going to call it "Favorite Fiction's voting", since that is where it started many years ago.

I also plan to e-mail those who have not yet moved to GOODREADS. Probably just for this year......

So start putting your lists together for the fiction and non-fiction categories

Oh, JoAnn! This is such a delightful way to start off the new year! Thanks for staying with the project. I look forward to everyone's list.

deborah

I may be a bit slow on compiling the votes this year. I just scheduled cataract surgeries for the 6th and 13th of January. I know it is a simple procedure, but still..... I cannot schedule an appointment for an exam to determine my new prescription for 3-4 weeks after the second surgery. I will still need to wear glasses because of my astigmatism and for reading, too.

But I am hoping I will be able to do almost everything quickly. Just in case, I am reserving two BIG audiobooks at the library, and a couple of large-print books.

To add insult to injury, my computer died yesterday. I have lists of FF voters from the past and can e-mail those who are not here, but my info is sketchy at best. My son-in-law is going to attempt to copy my old hard drive.

There is a way that I can "broadcast" a message to all members of this group, which is a method I may put to use for voting.

So I would suggest that if anyone does not want to hear from me/be nagged by me about voting, s/he should probably quit the group (is that even possible?) LOL

JoAnn/QuAppelle wrote: "I may be a bit slow on compiling the votes this year. I just scheduled cataract surgeries for the 6th and 13th of January. I know it is a simple procedure, but still..... I cannot schedule an appoi..."

Cataract surgery is so much fun! You see all these pretty colors for the 15 minutes or so it takes. I saw pastels, but DH saw primary colors, which seems strange to me. The surgery makes such a nice difference in your life, too - altogether good.

JoAnn/QuAppelle wrote: "I may be a bit slow on compiling the votes this year. I just scheduled cataract surgeries for the 6th and 13th of January. I know it is a simple procedure, but still..... I cannot schedule an appoi..."

Good luck with your surgeries. Everyone I know who has had it done said it really was a breeze. Of course, I can understand your apprehension - I would be the same. Hopefully, a busy holiday month will keep your mind on other things.

I have at least a dozen people who start asking at the end of December if The List is out yet!

Shannon wrote: "I have at least a dozen people who start asking at the end of December if The List is out yet!"

You should get them to join us here at GoodReads ... and post!!!

This is a good incentive to update my life reading list and write a couple more reviews here at Goodreads.

JoAnn/QuAppelle wrote: "So I would suggest that if anyone does not want to hear from me/be nagged by me about voting, s/he should probably quit the group (is that even possible?) LOL "

I pity the fool who wouldn't want to be included in this list! It's such fun to whittle down (or pad, in years i haven't read much) my lists!

deborah

Good luck with your surgery, JoAnn. I look forward to the lists every year and have saved them since 2006.

Nancy/nanckopf wrote: "Good luck with your surgery, JoAnn. I look forward to the lists every year and have saved them since 2006. "

Thanks, Nancy. If you want the older ones, let me know. I have the lists from the last ten years.

I wish that every person who reads this board would make a New Year's resolution to leave two good bookish posts each week. It astounds me how many people visit here, day after day, and hardly ever post. To be honest, I find it very discouraging.

"I wish that every person who reads this board would make a New Year's resolution to leave two good bookish posts each week. It astounds me how many people visit here, day after day, and hardly ever post. To be honest, I find it very discouraging."

I can only speak for myself, but I find any message boards outside of AOL to be too cumbersome and much less easy to read.
That, and I just can't visit so many websites per day. I'm pretty much addicted to Facebook and Twitter, and between those and email, I just can't take on any more sites on a regular basis.

JoAnn, the way i've been reading lately two bookish posts from me would be astounding. However, i understand what you mean. I miss the lively & informative posts. Meanwhile, i haven't held up my end of the deal.

deborah

Two bookish posts from me would be near impossible. During the school year I read at the pace of a snail. I know the purpose of these boards is books, but I love the general conversation too. It's like coffee with friends.

Kate

Nancy/nanckopf wrote: "I can only speak for myself, but I find any message boards outside of AOL to be too cumbersome and much less easy to read.
That, and I just can't visit so many websites per day. I'm pretty much addicted to Facebook and Twitter.."

I found GoodReads to be a much easier learning experience than Facebook.

I do not think that "bookish posts" necessarily have to be about a book one is currently reading. It could be about anything related to any books.

I really like the "coffee with friends" aspect too, Kate.

As general conversation rather than books, so far this week, the transmission went out on the car and now the bathroom's flooded (on Sunday!) and the plumber's in there - not to mention the fact that DH called the wrong plumber, the ones we don't like because they always make things so much more difficult than RotoRooter does (now he's putting a camera down the toilet drain to see what's clogging it - DH is having a fit!) so we're in for an all day, not to mention sky high bill, ordeal. On the other hand, we've got Christmas down, despite the fact that DH has bronchitis (sp?) (I forgot that little event), so I feel better about that.

Happy Holidays :)

Bunny wrote: "As general conversation rather than books, so far this week, the transmission went out on the car and now the bathroom's flooded (on Sunday!) and the plumber's in there - not to mention the fact th..."

Why do these things ALWAYS happen near the holidays? GRRRR

Bunny wrote: "As general conversation rather than books, so far this week, the transmission went out on the car and now the bathroom's flooded (on Sunday!) and the plumber's in there - not to mention the fact th..."

They also come in multiples, never just one thing at a time. Mine for the week - air conditioner coil, dead car battery and pool pump. Of course, things could always be worse.

Marcy wrote: "Mine for the week - air conditioner coil, dead car battery and pool pump. Of course, things could always be worse. .."

Sorry about that, Marcy. Guess you don't live on the east coast!

JoAnn/QuAppelle wrote: "Marcy wrote: "Mine for the week - air conditioner coil, dead car battery and pool pump. Of course, things could always be worse. .."

Sorry about that, Marcy. Guess you don't live on the east coast!
"

Until we sell our house in Florida, we go back and forth between Florida and California. Lots of good reading time on airplanes!

Marcy, that's quite a commute! I love your attitude about the 'plane reading time, though. Ah, uninterrupted hours of reading. :-)

deborah

madrano wrote: "Marcy, that's quite a commute! I love your attitude about the 'plane reading time, though. Ah, uninterrupted hours of reading. :-)

Gotta love what you can't fix! Seriously, I do look forward to the trips - definite downtime with my kindle and ipod - no excuses needed. Still, anyone want to buy a house? ;-)

Does anyone have a link to a site where new books coming out are listed? I had the link but now can't find it.

Jan, I signed up to get the PrePub alert from Library Journal and get it via my Google Reader

http://www.libraryjournal.com/communi...

But I am sure there are other sites to get this info.

I just found this thread after I posted on another about Voting for Favorites of 2009. Sorry :(

Getting my list together!

Cathey, have not seen you for MONTHS. Where have you been? Good to see that you are still around.

Does anyone know of any type of place that would like a full set of late 1980s Encyclopedia Britannica? We have tried charities, women's and children's homeless shelters, libraries, used book stores...everyplace you can think of. Heck, we cannot even recycle them without taking the covers off. And the thought of selling them for a pittance on e-Bay and then having to ship them is beyond my energy level.

Thoughts?????

Give them to an individual for free.

Post a note on a bulletin board at the supermarket, library, church, etc.

I've also got a full set of Britannicas to get rid of. Our Friends of the Library have hube bins in the library and people just place their donated books there. I shall not ask if they want them, adhering to the litigation lawyer's rule: "don't ask a question unless you already know the answer." Our Friends of the Library group makes many thousands of dollare from donated books. Surely someone will want such a set..... selling for almost pennies.
Lois

Our Friends of the Library turned me down nine years ago and again this month. Sigh....

What I should have done for the last sale was to ask them if I could put up a sign asking people to contact me if they wanted a free encyclopedia set.

JoAnn, to be serious, there's no way I could sneak a set into the Friends's library bins. If my friend who volunteers at the F of L says they really don't want them, I will put them out with the recyclables. There comes a time when that's all that can be done...that's a tough thing to do and obviously it hasn't come yet.
Lois

Kriverbend wrote: "JoAnn, to be serious, there's no way I could sneak a set into the Friends's library bins. If my friend who volunteers at the F of L says they really don't want them, I will put them out with the recyclables..."

Our recycling company will not even take them unless we remove the covers ourselves!!!! Somehow, I do not think I could do that...it would be too sad.

I did see that many sets have sold on eBay but can you imagine packing them for shipping? I suppose one could ship them via a carrier rather than through the USPS or UPS.

I think scattering signs is the way, JoAnn. Saving postage, particularly. First at the F of L sale, then other places. I can't imagine some families out there wouldn't welcome a set of their own.

deborah

How about Craigs List for your area? Then someone can come pick them up and you won't have to ship. (Or meet the stranger somewhere in public and make the transfer!). I've had good luck selling misc. household items on Craigs List.

Karla (KLouise61) wrote: "How about Craigs List for your area? Then someone can come pick them up and you won't have to ship. (Or meet the stranger somewhere in public and make the transfer!). I've had good luck selling ..."

I was just looking at Craigslist when you posted! Must be karma

my local Craigslist has no category for giveaways. Darn!

JoAnn, how about FreeCycle? Our area even has a section specifically for books. My sister uses FC quite a bit. Sometimes she delivers but mostly she just leaves items on the porch & they are picked up. She's also met on neutral territory a time or two, as well. http://www.freecycle.org/

deborah

Joining those kinds of public groups locally kind of creeps me out, Deborah....I will see if my sister wants to do it.

I didn't view it as much different from Craigslist myself but i understand why you might.

deborah

RE OLD ENCYCLOPEDIAS:

Maybe a church group that is sending things to Haiti would be willing to include these. Without much electrical hook up there maybe some school kids would use them?

R. wrote: "RE OLD ENCYCLOPEDIAS:

Maybe a church group that is sending things to Haiti would be willing to include these. Without much electrical hook up there maybe some school kids would use them?"

good thought. Do they speak/read English though?

About those encyclopedias, I have found that Kidney Foundation will pick up anything I put out for them. I don't know what they do with the things (I started to say "stuff" because a lot of what I give them is just "stuff") but they will carry it away. I'm afraid I take advantage of that with things that aren't of any value to me and that Good Will or Salvation Army do not want. Wouldn'r hurt to try them.

Big Sisters is the organization that comes around picking up "stuff" around here. You have to call Salvation Army for a pickup but Big Sisters notifies everyone when they are in your neighborhood. I never know what I shouldn't put out: I can have a nice sweatshirt but with a little stain on it and I wonder if they can't resell it because of that. I guess with Big Sisters is "Don't ask, don't tell". :-)

I doubt most Haitian relief organizations would want to take on a 20-year-old encyclopedia set when they could fill the space with medicine, sanitation supplies, tents, food, clean water and clothing. In my experience, most communities have a recycling center with a section where you can leave items you believe are too good to be thrown away -- the so-called "trash n' treasure" department.

JoAnn/QuAppelle wrote: "my local Craigslist has no category for giveaways. Darn!"

JoAnn - The "free" category on Craigslist is usually under "for sale" - go figure! I've had great success giving things away under this heading. Sometimes I just announce I'm putting something on the curb (with a description), first come, first served, and it usually disappears within a few hours. For bigger stuff, I have posted a description and I use the special Craigslist e-mail address (not my own e-mail). That way, I can filter the responses and only offer the item to the person I choose - no need to post an address or phone number. For example, I did this with a great old wooden playset (fort, slide, etc.) because I wanted to make sure the people understood its size and had a big enough truck to haul it away. I didn't want them to start to dismantle it, find it was too big a job, and abandon it.

Sarah wrote: "JoAnn - The "free" category on Craigslist is usually under "for sale" - go figure! ..."

Thanks, Sarah. Who woulda thunk?

Speaking of donations.....If anyone has a fur coat, hat, or something else made of real fur, there is a place to donate them. This article is titled
"Give that Old Fur Coat Back to the Furry Ones"

and here is the link:

http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/featu...

Interesting idea.

deborah

I do have ancient leather and fox coat hanging in my closet - thought about giving it to my son-in-law for motorcycle seat covers (yes, he's a tasteful man :)) but this sounds better - might as well us fur to keep baby animals warm!