Thing-a-ma-jig

Today's Tuesday Thingers question, posted over at Wendi's Book Corner, is whether or not you were aware of the Member Giveaways program that is available via LibraryThing.com.

I was not. This seems like an interesting premise (where authors can give away copies of their own books). I had put my name into the hat for a couple of advance review copies via Library Thing, and never been picked, so I kind of gave up. I know, my dedication is so compelling, right? Anyway, maybe I'll swing back over to LT and check out both the early reviewer selections for this month and the Member Giveaways section.

Thanks to Wendi for making me aware of this feature.

Are You a Genre Snob?

This week's Tuesday Thingers question is:

Do you have a specialized blog where you only review a certain genre or type of book? If so, what is your favorite thing about that type of book? If not, what is/are your favorite genre(s)? What makes that genre(s) a favorite?

I do not limit this blog to a specific genre; however, I did a quick review of all the books I've reviewed on here in the past year and here's how they stack up (In order of prevalence):

• Young Adult Fiction, All Genres (21)
• Literary Fiction (13)
• Genre Fiction (Science Fiction) (2)
• Non-fiction, Literary Criticism/Critique/Theory (2)
• Genre Fiction (Chick Lit), Christian (1)
• Non-fiction, Memoir (1)

So, it would seem that YA Fiction gets the most play on this blog, which makes sense because I can rip through those books generally in 1-2 days. Literary fiction is my true passion and they take longer to linger over, so you can see how the number of days/hours/minutes spent reading literary fiction is probably higher than any other category. Also, a cursory (and completely unscientific) look at the reviews shows that I rate the Literary Fiction books highest.

There you have it. I'm somewhat of a genre snob. I definitely eschew too much science fiction, hardly any true romance or mystery (in terms of that being the genre... I don't mind a little mystery or romance in my reading, but not as the driving force of a plot). Actually, I found in my book club last night that I'm drawn to those books that don't seem to have a "plot," I love character-driven novels. Let somebody wax eloquent for 182 pages about why they think the way they do, and I'm in heaven.

Ah, Tuesday Thingers... Where Have You Been?

It has been quite some time since I've posted a response to the Tuesday Thingers Question of the Week, but I've decided to jump back in the pool. If nothing else, it'll break up the endless list of book reviews I've been posting on the blog. That being said, this week's question concerns books that get reviewed:

"How do you get your books for reviewing? Do you track them somehow (excel, database, etc), or just put them in a tbr (To Be Read for anyone that doesn't know) pile?"

I get my books from the bookstore most often, sometimes the library, but I'm really hard on books--carrying them around in my purse and writing my thoughts in them--so I try to help the economy out as much as possible. The books that get put in my TBR pile (all of which get some sort of write-up/review on the blog) come from all kinds of sources: recommendations from other bloggers, my monthly book club at the library, my page-a-day book lover's calendar, books by authors that I love, etc.

Here's the process I use:

1. When I receive a recommendation or become aware of a title I want to read, I write it down in a little notebook I carry with me. This allows me to have it with me when I'm at the bookstore or library.
2. When at said bookstore or library, I'll pull out the trusty notebook and look around (rather than aimlessly walking around and looking for inspiration). Although, I do reserve the right to be serendipitiously inspired (as with my recent purchase of The Women by T.C. Boyle that was prominently displayed in B&N when I walked in and I loved Loving Frank by Nancy Horan, so the idea of another fictionalized account of Frank Lloyd Wright's philandering ways caught my eye to the point that I actually plunked down cold hard cash for the hardback version).
3. When I bring the purchased books home they get shelved on the TBR bookshelves (I've got one bookshelf for YA books and another for everything else). They're put in the order of original publication date and I try to read chronologically. Although, again, another caveat, I reserve the right to take a book out of order if I really want to or if I need to get read earlier (i.e., if it was loaned or it's for a book club and I have to meet the meeting deadline or it's part of research for writing or something).

That's it. Genius, huh? Also, you can track my TBR bookshelves (including all the jots and tittles that are still just hopes and dreams in my notebook) on my Goodreads profile.

So now you tell me: Where do you get your books you review? How do you track? etc.?

Tuesday Thingers

The Boston Bibliophile hosts a weekly meme, "Tuesday Thingers" that brings up a question about the great service of LibraryThing.com. This week's question is: "Legacy libraries. With which legacy libraries do you share books? Tell us a little about a couple of them and what you share."

Actually, prior to participating in this, I was unaware that LT had legacy libraries--post humous listings of the books in various "celebrity" libraries. There are 33 completed libraries and 35 libraries in progress, libraries range from politicos (Mary, Queen of Scotts and J.F.K) to actors (Marilyn Monroe) to scientists (Charles Darwin and DaVinci) to writers (Emily Dickinson and Ernest Hemingway) and revolutionaries (Susan B. Anthony and William Wilberforce).

I decided to look amongst the libraries of authors that are in my "To Be Read" pile, and found that I've got a little bit in common with both Sylvia Plath (TBR: The Bell Jar) and F. Scott Fitzgerald (TBR: This Side of Paradise).

Ommitting the books that are in my library from these authors, I share these books:

• Sylvia Plath - Aspects of the Novel, Brave New World, and Catch-22
• F. Scott Fitzgerald - Communist Manifesto and The Picture of Dorian Gray

Should I read something into this or consider myself in good company?

EDIT:

After looking at all the libraries (and removing duplicate titles), I have the most in common with Ernest Hemingway (whom I'm not particularly fond of as an author) with 11 matches: The Martin Chronicles, Wuthering Heights, Don Quixote, The Red Badge of Courage, Great Gatsby, Aspects of the Novel, Lord of the Flies, The Odyssey, The Communist Manifesto, 1984, and Brideshead Revisited.

I had eight novels in common with Walker Percy and Carl Sandburg. Check out all of my statistics here.