*Meet Your Fellow Readers

This thread is a place for group members to introduce themselves and provide pointers to their individual threads. Share as little or as much as you like. We love getting to know each other!

I'm Jim, a late-40's engineer, husband and father of one son who's now in college (where did the time go!?) who reads pretty much anything. We're in central Maryland, USA, with roots in Louisiana. I like to read (obviously), cook, fish, and have started doing some easy trail bike riding with the wife. Of course, LT is a big time sink, but the wife seems to have come to terms with my LT addiction...8^}

Here's my 2011 thread: http://www.librarything.com/topic/104689

Here's my 2011 thread. I am new to the 75 book challenge; I participated in the 25 book challenge last year and read more than 75 books, although some of them were not very meritorious. I was also in Club Read 2010 and will continue in Club Read 2011.

Robert

Hi there: I'm Linda, from Chicagoland. About to turn 50.

I love mysteries and all sorts of nonfiction, including baseball books, books about Chicago, sports, disasters, American history and many, many other subjects.

I've been in the 75 book challenge for 2009 and 2010. (Also in 11 in 11 as well as Club Read for 2011)

My first 2011 thread is located at:

http://www.librarything.com/topic/104700

hi everyone

I am Anita Meulstee from Lelystad, the Netherlands, married with Frank and living with three dogs, two smooth Chow Chows Chimay and her daughter Eoos; and Ari, a little Pekingese.
I started halfway 2008 in the 75 book challenge group and just continued each year, while the group got bigger and bigger.

I read a lot of YA and fantasy, some mysteries, now and then some "real literature" and dog related books.
And everything that catches my eyes in one of the other threads or the library.

I just opened my first thread

Hello everyone. I'm Caty, I'm British, I'm 32 and I'm a postgrad student (church history) and occasional bookseller. I am also hoping that I will soon find someone willing to pay me do something interesting all day. (As is my bank manager. Sigh.)

Most of my reading is likely to be mysteries, general and literary fiction, nineteenth and early twentieth century literature, historical fiction, and a bit of fantasy. Sometimes my theology and church history books also make an appearance in my threads (while all my textbooks are in my library, they don't all make it into conversation).

I started with the 75 books group late in 2008, and have loved being part of the group in 2009 and 2010.

My thread is here, and I'm also doing the 11 in 11 challenge.

Hi, I'm Zoë. I'm a graduate student in ancient history at NYU, and I'm originally from Toronto (or at least, suburbs thereof).

I first joined the 75 Book Challenge group in 2009, and I've been amazed at how much it's increased my reading--lots of good recommendations translate into books that I enjoy and get through faster. I'm particularly addicted to the TIOLI challenge this year.

Instead of describing my reading tastes, I'm just going to copy my list of most memorable reads from 2010, so you can get a sense of what I like:

Soulless by Gail Carriger (fiction, steampunk, supernatural, romance--heard about from beserene here)
Born to Run by Christopher McDougall (non-fiction, running--maybe discovered in the bookstore?)
His Majesty's Dragon (fiction, historical fantasy--family recommendation)
Victory of Eagles (fiction, historical fantasy--series continuation--I really like the first 5 Temeraire books, but these two particularly stand out)
Lips Touch: Three Times (fiction, YA, fantasy--heard about from allthesedarnbooks here)
The Unlikely Disciple (non-fiction, religion--heard about in Read YA Lit)
Facing the Lion (non-fiction, Africa--heard about in Read YA Lit?)
The Willoughbys (fiction, children's, satire--heard about here)
The Windup Girl (fiction, dystopia--heard about on booksmugglers)
Before I Fall (fiction, YA--heard about from stephxsu here)
Into Thin Air (non-fiction, mountaineering--bookstore)
Catching Fire (fiction, YA, dystopia--series continuation)
Room (fiction--heard about here)
The Mysterious Howling (fiction, children's, satire--heard about from avatiakh here)
The Day the World Came to Town (non-fiction, 9/11--heard about from sjmccreary and alcottacre here)
Doomsday Book (fiction, time travel, middle ages, plague--heard about here)

For those who are interested, my 2011 thread is here

Hello, I'm Terri, 50-ish mother of 3 grown boys and (as of today) 3 lovely grandchildren. A native of St. Charles, MO, will-try-anything-once reader, also member of MO Readers, Books Off The Shelf Challenge (if it restarts. If not, I'll restart my own.), 50-Something Library Thingers, and, of course, the 75 Book Challenge since 2008.
My thread is here: http://www.librarything.com/topic/104705&

Hi everyone I'm Susie librarian and avid reader with very ecclectic tastes. I'll also be participating in the 1111 challenge but will list all books here http://www.librarything.com/topic/104710#2368965
I look forward to getting to know some of you this year!Its a great group of people!

Hi everyone, I'm Amber: a classics professor at a tiny private college in Ohio, mom of a 2-year-old boy (Charlie), wife to a newly-minted PhD in physics (I'm a bit proud, can't you tell?), drummer in an all-faculty rock cover band (nope, not kidding), avid reader (of course!), and happily a slave to my lists of books-to-read (if you visit my threads, you'll figure out just how much this is true). Happy to be back for a 3rd year, ready to settle quietly into my little corner of this group, although I'm going to try my best to be a bit more extroverted on other threads this year.
If I can figure out how to do this properly, this should be my thread:
scaifea's thread

Hi, I joined LT and the 75-ers last year and I enjoyed it very much. I'm interested in all kinds of books, but I focus on world literature, classics and prize-winning novels. In between, I like to read detectives and mysteries.

You can find my last 2010-thread here.
As of 01.01.2011, I'll officially (re-)start my new 2011-thread here.

Hello, I'm Richard, and I live on Long Island, New York...and I *like* it here! I've been in the 2009, 2010, and now 2011 Challenges.

I don't like to limit my reading, which is one big reason I come back year after year. In this chatty, wonderful group of people, I can find pointers to an amazing variety of good books. And on top of that huge draw, this is the friendliest place I've found on the Internet.

My first thread is over here.

Hi!
BJ here. I am in my late forties and live in Tulsa OK with my husband. I have two daughters, one in college in Texas and the other out of college, also in Texas. I have a sweet golden retriever who keeps me happy. I mostly like to read classics, but also enjoy trying out new topics from recommendations. I am not very computer literate, which is why I have no profile whatsoever. I hope to at least get a photo there of my sweet dog in the 2011 year. :) And I am a big Texas Longhorn football fan, although this year has been very trying.
--BJ

Hello everyone,
I am very new to Library Thing. In fact, I just read about "you" when I was casually reading Curtis Bonk's "The World is Open" (p 246 and 247) I thought I would check Library Thing out as the site sounded like it would be one I would like. And I do. So I joined and put a few words in my profile. As I read a few min. ago, another new joiner is also in my boat of not really being a computer master !! I have to learn about tags and flags and all the other stuff...but am willing to do so. I live in West Virginia and teach in the Art Department at a small University there. I have 3 cats, 1 dog ( my daughter's black 11 yr old lab who is now mine). I have 3 grandchildren too. I am looking forward to participating in this 75 books challenge that I have stumbled upon. Seems that "stumbling upon" web sites and information is something I regularly do. Will keep reading to see what's happening here.

I'm back for another year! I love the 75 group.

My first thread is here.

I live in North Carolina. I was a librarian for a few years out of college, but have worked for IBM as team lead and manager for the past several years. I am married with a cat and 6 nephews that we get to borrow and then send home.

I have read a lot more variety of books these past two years as a result of being in this group. I expect the same again in 2011.

I'm in college and I actually own, because of that, very few books, but I read a lot anyway. This is my first time doing this. I joined exactly two monts ago on Christmas and I decided I wouldn't do this then, but now I am going to do it this year...obviously. Anyway my thread is here

Back for more!!

I live in the beautiful wine country north of San Francisco. I am the mother of two 20-year olds and wife of Monsieur. Our pet population comprises of six hens which occasionally treat us with an egg or two.

I work in the library of a large public high school so I get to read a lot of YA books. I also challenge myself to read more substantial books and catch up on many classics I have missed.

Laissez les bons temps commence!

http://www.librarything.com/topic/104723
Hi Everyone!
I'm Tanya. I am excited for the challenge of 75 books for 2011. In the past few years I haven't read as much as I used to, and I want to change that.
I have a 18 year old son who, suddenly, lives far away, and a 1 year old business that I own and work like crazy for.
I have always just tracked my fiction on LT, but to get to 75 I will have to add some nonfiction work related reads. Is that allowed? They will mostly be about green remodeling. I will leave out the Contractor's Guide to Quickbooks Pro 2010.

Hey all! Good to be back for 2011! Here's my thread:

http://www.librarything.com/topic/104722

I'm 23, and I run a second-hand bookshop in the Peak District in England, with my mum. I read and review a complete mix of books, from natural history to YA, modern fiction to biography - though my threads have a tendency to also run to chatter about whatever I'm enthusiastic about at the time, or horror stories about vile customers, or news about mad book shopping sprees, or updates on our two kittens Millie and Domino.... well, you get the idea. All welcome anyway, drop by and say hi!

Looking forward to another year of reading along with you all, expanding my wishlist and throwing a few recommendations back your way too - Happy New Year!

Hi. It's Charlotte back for - I can't believe it - my fourth year as a 75er (Guess that would make me an original 75er. Am I right?) I live in one of the old mill towns of southeastern MA - right next to the Cape, with Willie, my mouse-killing, cat-hating cat. I work for a real estate law firm and I really like my job, which probably only goes to show what a dull person I am. Truly. I bowl - not well - and naturally reading figures very prominently in my life. And I write - better than I bowl, but not well enough to publish. I tell people that I write for myself.

My reading is all over the place. I will read practically anything with the exception of poetry. Don't care for it - a huge flaw, I know. But other than that I'm pretty open. I have no plans about specific goals for the year. I just grab whatever's next in line on the shelf. One thing - I will try not to be so numbers oriented this year, but I fear I will fail. Probably by about February 28th. I should start whining about then about how slowly things are going.
Here is my thread for this year:
http://www.librarything.com/topic/104720#2369215

I'm Jude....live in the back end of nowhere in SE Ohio...have been coerced into doing the 75ers by my dear LT friends..no way will I read 75 books in a year...but(t)..,

I read anything as long as it's "good"...no tripe passes these eyes, no sir.

I started the 25 Books for 2010 Thread last year..to give space for us slow pokes..

Wanna know anything else?? Ask me.....

here is my new home:
http://www.librarything.com/topic/104725

........though I won't be adding books/reviews until after January 1st......However...chatter/talk is more than welcome...I loves you people!
;-}

edited for link...and brain fart

Hi all! I've been on LT for four years now (and recognize some of you from other groups), but this is my first year in this group. Here's my thread, which I will begin updating in January.

My reading tastes are pretty eclectic. I'm a children's librarian (currently unemployed, unfortunately) so read a lot of middle-grade and young adult lit, but I like a lot of other stuff as well.

I kept putting this off last year to the point that I never got anything posted in this thread for 2010. So I will be beforehand this year!

I joined LT in October of 2007, but found the 75ers in June of 2008 and immediately joined. I typically read about 125 books a year, mostly science fiction and fantasy. I was a school psychologist for 31 years (retired last June) and have always kept up my reading in children's and YA fantasy and science fiction (that was my excuse--I would have done so anyways, but I loved introducing students to my favorites). I am usually reading some book in the area of religion, enjoy Jane Austen and Georgette Heyer and Elizabeth Goudge, and read some nonfiction in areas of interest. And of course, I get sucked into miscellaneous books that LTers inspire, such as My Reading Life this year.

I'm 61, retired now. Really retired for the time being--I had my last class on Monday and I don't plan on teaching at the university (SDSU) in 2011 because I want to do some traveling in May and October. I live in San Diego, have done for 31 years, but grew up in Central Kansas and lived in Lawrence for 12 years, counting my undergraduate years. I am a passionate Jayhawk basketball fan (University of Kansas). I live with my husband (a non-reader except for the newspaper), 4 cats and one small dog. Other than reading, I like gardening and crafts and my Wii.

You can find my new thread at:
http://www.librarything.com/topic/104733

Please visit once it is 2011!

Hello, I'm Stephen. I'm a 22 year old from Ohio (United States) who reads a wide variety of books but tends to like morbidly moroseness in his fiction and in-dept NON-THEORY-oriented science in his nonfiction.

This will be my 2nd year in the group. I started last year in the 50 Book group by after being starred by Ellie I began reading the 75 group a bit more, and decided to take the leap and make the switch.

Oh, what a great decision that was.

My threads tend toward the absurd and are not for the feint of heart. Read at your own risk!

http://www.librarything.com/topic/104734

Hoping for lots of good books and warm comments in 2011!

Hi, Cindy from northern Indiana. I joined the group late last year.
I enjoy mysteries,fiction,YA, was introduced to Graphic Novels on this sight and a lot of new authors which is so great about this Group.

http.//www.librarything.com/topic/104735

Hi, I'm Lynda from Northeast Ohio and this will be my third year with the 75ers. My reading likes have certainly developed and expanded since I joined this intelligent, witty and caring group of readers. I am a retired municipal employee who, still, can not find the time to read as much as I would like as my equally retired husband and 11 year old son and cats Mr. Mittens and Peanut keep me hopping but, this year, I am seriously going to achieve 75 books.........really! My new home for 2011 is http://www.librarything.com/topic/104782

Hi, I'm Cait, 24, from Southern Ontario, Canada. In my real life I am a high school English teacher, so that takes up most of my time. I love to read, obviously, and I also love to travel. I am a member of the Board of Advisors for Belletrista, an online magazine created by LT member avaland, which celebrates women writers from around the world (check it out at www.belletrista.com). Lots of my reading is for Belle, and the rest is whatever catches my fancy - all types of fiction, especially Canadian Lit, classics, and award winners.

My thread is here.

Hey All, I'm Donna from Springfield, MO. I live with my workaholic husband and Lucky dog. I spend my "free" time traveling north to Kansas City, west to Denver, and south to Dallas to visit my three kids and their spouses as often as they'll let me. I have an open invitation to visit KC and TX because I'm a cheap babysitter!

2011 will be my third year in this group. I've met many wonderful people (some in person), and I look forward to new friendships and lots of interesting book chatter in the year to come. You are cordially invited to visit my shiny new thread. Right now, it's all about meetin' and greetin' but come January 1st some serious (and some not-so-serious) book talk will commence. In the meantime...Happy Holidays and Happy Reading!

Hello,

I'm Madeline from Rockville, Maryland, a suburb of Washington, DC. I live with my husband and one daughter. We also have two grown sons who live not too far from us. I love chocolate and coffee, but otherwise am involved with the slow food movement by acting as editor of my CSA newsletter. I love to bake and try out new recipes.

I am utterly and totally addicted to the 75 Books Challenge group as I've found some of the chattiest, most interesting, and entertaining people here. I love sharing my reading with all of you.

Oh, yeah. I'm also creator of the TIOLI challenges. It's hidden here in the 75 Books Challenge group somewhere. If you find it, you can join it! :)

My thread is here.

Hello, all! I'm Liz, and I'm from Sydney. I have a background in medical research, and I am currently working in healthcare accreditation. After a few difficult personal years, in 2010 I finally had the time for constant reading - it was wonderful! I have read most of the "official" 18th and 19th century classics, and I am currently interested in the second- and third-tier authors from the same period, who for various reasons have slipped through the cracks. Meanwhile, my blog project focuses chiefly on the development of the novel in late 17th century England.

I'm a compulsive list-maker, so the 75 seemed like a natural for me. I'm hoping that the challenges here and at Club Read will help to shake things up!

My thread is here.

Hi, my name is Mark. I am from the Midwest and I have a major reading problem. I listen to books at work, read them on breaks and at lunch. Return home, log on the computer to talk about books and then...you guessed it, I read some more. This is why I need this wonderful support group. It keeps me sane, or mostly so.
I love crime fiction, literary fiction, memoirs, narrative non-fiction, classics, graphics. Did I say crime fiction?

My New Thread: Right Here

I feel like I should just copy my intro from last year...

I'm Luxx, and some people even call me Luxx in real life. My parents named me Aubrey, and I like the name just fine, but it's nice to have a sense of self that is completely my own sometimes.

I'm an adjunct professor of English at two local community colleges, and I also provide tutoring services for a private math and science academy, where I teach 5th, 8th, and AP English through distance correspondence. My reading list will inevitably include Othello, Oedipus the King, and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest twice, because I teach all three every semester.

I'm a mom of monsters, and I like it that way.

The loony bin is here. Ah, home.

Hi, I'm Carlos, sort of from all over but currently residing in central Illinois.

I read mostly fiction, though I am going to try to vary things up a little in 2011. I read a lot of Gothic/horror fiction and also read in Spanish, especially books from Argentina.

http://www.librarything.com/topic/104754

Hi, I'm Judy. This will be my second year in the 75 group. To my amazement, I didn't make it to 75 last year - WHAT have I been doing? Well, building big computer systems, hanging out with my partner Jim (who should join soon, and who reads more than I do), catching up on 5 or 6 years backlog of New Yorker magazine - oh, and reading these threads.

New York City keeps me busy but local. When I do have time to read, it's mainly mysteries, classics and literary fiction. I'm not much for YA, but can be persuaded from time to time. SF and children's lit are not the norm. And I have about 1100 books in my apartment, most of which really should be out in the world. As I read or reread them, I do triage. One of these days I'll actually find a bookshelf with some space on it. Of course, then Jim will colonize it and we'll be back where we started.

I joined Club Read last year, but didn't participate there much - you guys are much more chatty! I also joined Books Off the Shelf - yeah, right. Maybe this year...

my thread is here.

Hi! I’m Joanne. This is my second year in the group. I’m in my extremely early 50s, originally from NJ but moved to Littleton, Colorado in 1987, so this is home now.

I work full-time because they pay me and volunteer my time elsewhere because I like to. I live with my husband who is a casual reader, my son who is an avid reader and writer in his senior year of high school, a golden retriever (the original Copper) and a cat. I like hiking and cross country skiing.

Mostly I read fiction. I’ve really gotten into mysteries lately. I enjoy audio books too, but prefer to listen mainly to non-fiction and memoirs. I have stacks of books waiting to be read and I visit my local library branches on a regular basis.

My 2011 thread is here. (I hope)

Hi all! I'm Debbie (formerly dfreeman2809). This is my third year in the 75 group, although I have yet to make it past 50. I'm currently working full time and in grad school, so between all of that and just living life, my pleasure reading time is severely limited. I've also just joined a second (yikes!) book club and hope to increase my reading a little this year. I'm also a big lurker, so I'm going to try to post a little more on the boards this year.

Feel free to swing by my thread and say hello sometime!

ETA: the link, which I clearly do not remember how to hide behind text anymore! http://www.librarything.com/topic/104744

Hello all, I'm Bonnie. I live in ski country south of Buffalo, NY where you can throw any kind of weather at us and we thrive. I'm 63 and an elementary school principal closing in on retirement; this June is a distinct possibility. My husband of 39 years is a retired homebuilder/custom furniture builder. We have two adult children. Our son is a mechanical engineer living with his wife in Raleigh, NC and our daughter works in the School of Pharmacy at the University of Buffalo where she is a student advisor. No grandchildren for us yet because these two love their careers. Besides reading and loving LT and the many wonderful friends I've made here, I enjoy painting (watercolor and oil) and drawing and collecting antiques.

I look forward to 2011 and reading with all of you.

Station Break here

Ok I'll fess up. I copied that from last year's Introductions but not much has changed. I will add one bit to that though---we'll be planning a wedding this year. Our daughter is getting married in October :)

My thread can be found here.

Hi, I'm Laura, and I live just outside of Milwaukee, WI. This is my first full year with the 75ers, having joined LT in 2008 and done the 999 and 1010 Challenges. After seeing how chatty this group is, I started lurking in the beginning of 2010 and joined up in March. Now, I can hardly remember a time here on LT when I wasn't a part of this fantastic group of people.

I'm 32, a massage therapist, and I run the continuing education department for the massage school I went to. I live in my grandparents house and have known most of my neighbors for my whole life. No kids for me yet, but I do have 2 cats who are, essentially, my children. I've got an erratic schedule, and I kind of like it that way because it leaves time for reading during the day! I'm a lifelong reader, as most of us are here, and until 2009 I was never really sure how many books I read in a year. So far this year I've read about 130, and hope to read at least that many in 2011. Aside from reading, I adore music (all kinds), movies (especially period dramas and anything from the UK), and hanging out with my friends and my parents.

I can't wait to start 2011 and I hope it'll be even better than 2010!
My thread is here: http://www.librarything.com/topic/104732

I'm Keri and 26. I live in Florida and I like to talk a lot about what I read, even if it's only to myself in my thread. I work in an art museum as receptionist and also shopgirl, and consequently other than reading, my hobby is making art.

I was a grad student at UWM to be an archivist, but I am apparently incapable of doing online coursework, so I am no longer a grad student. For now. My undergraduate was English at the Univ of North Fla, but I almost did linguistics and should've studied folklore/mythology or cultural anthropology. Also, started out at a liberal arts college studying Classics. Maybe that helps get an idea of my interests... I like to read books with interesting narrative techniques, unreliable narrators are my favorite, and I enjoy historical and YA fiction. Also fantasy, but not all fantasy, and I like parody and satire and books that are generally out to have fun.

My 2011 thread

I'm so glad to be back for my second year in this group! I'm Anne, 40, and I live near Denver, Colorado. My husband and I have two daughters, 11 and 8. I work as a music assistant for a professional children's performing organization, and I am also in graduate school, earning a teaching license and a school library master's degree.

LT, and this group in particular, have increased and improved my reading immeasurably. I am excited for more great reading in 2011. Please come visit me here.

G'day I am Sally and I am from Darwin in the Northern Territory of Australia - think hot and tropical. I work for the government in Fair Trading - my husband of 34 years also works for the government - was a police officer for 25 years - but now has an office job outside the police force. We have two grownup daughters - and two baby grandsons

I joined the 75ers recently and am happy I'll be here from the start in 2011 - have made new friends and looking forwards to making more.

My thread can be found here

kath here. I live a bit north of Pittsburgh Pa. I read according to mood, and my interests vary widely. I am an animal lover and consider my family, my furkids, my books and my computer vital to my happiness.

http://www.librarything.com/topic/104726

Back again, just can't stay away from this group full of lovely people. I'm a great lurker and read a lot more than I post:)

If this works it's a link to my 2011 thread:- calm counting

Hi, I'm Kathy and I'm a born and bred Brit, but moved to Nova Scotia, Canada two years ago. I have no intention of returning to England except for my yearly visits to family where I get to play tourist and have daytrips to visit Foyles. I joined the 2010 group partway through so I'm looking forward to being here from the start.

My reading is mainly fantasy, YA lit, some sci-fi and some mystery, but the 2010 group inspired me to read or add to the wishlist various things that I wouldn't normally pick out and I've enjoyed them all. The book chat and variety of reads is both the curse and the reason that I keep coming back here!

I live in a house that is much too big for one person that I rent from my parents and I have two cats, AKA the Reading Prevention Team. For six months in the year, we are joined by my mother who is trying to persuade my Dad to retire so they can move here. It didn't work last year, maybe this year will do the trick?

My thread is here: http://www.librarything.com/topic/104810

I've kind of read these threads before but rarely answer them.

I live in central California and work as a library clerk for our high school library so I read a lot of young adult books. However, I do frequent our public library a lot to find books more along my interests. I'm a big fiction reader and I especially enjoy the mystery, suspense books. I recently went through a set of comfy mysteries about a knitting group and really loved it.

I have 2 children who are both readers and 8 grandchildren. I live along in my old dilaidated house with my two dogs and lots of cats. I read, write short stories, and knit. I am an active member of the Church of the Nazarene, I go to a knitting group at Starbucks, and I am an officer in C.S.E.A. our classified union.

I want to try the 75 books for 2011 and I imagine I can. Right now I'm re-reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows since I took two of my grandsons to see it and realized that I had forgotten a lot of it.

Hope I haven't bored you to death!!!! Am I supposed to start a thread when I read my books or do I just add them to my library?

Welcome, Chris! That was NOT a boring introduction at all! It's nice to see new faces in the group.

Starting your own thread is a completely personal decision. I started mine as soon as possible because I want to be sure my friends and new friends can find me in the new forum. I'm one of the more social members, visiting a lot of threads and happy to have visits to my threads in return.

Other members are more focused on the reading challenge part of the forum, and tend to be less chatty. Whichever category is more comfortable for you, rest assured that many of us will pop in and out of your thread every so often to be sure you're aware of our existence. ;-)

Greetings from L.A., that's Lower Alabama to ya'll not from the South. ;0) Did I just type "ya'll". I suppose I did. Eh, you can take the girl out of South, but you can't take the belle out of the girl. However, I am back in the South. Though with all the Snowbirds around, it's hard to imagine I'm really here.
Yadda, yadda, yadda...

I go by many names, but I answer to Anna or Levi (part of a middle name, I am a 4th, so Anna got kind of played out, being a tomboy Levi fits.) I am 30 (I will stop counting after this year, until I find a way to mentally age gracefully.) I have 3 cats (only 1 I approved), 1 dog, and a horse. I have two boys, which are mine and a step-son. I am surrounded by men, who never understand me. Good thing I grew up as a tomboy, or this household would drive me insane. I am not a fan of pink, but after Tonka, video games, cammo, black, red, football, etc., a little girlyness wouldn't kill me. Thank goodness for three nieces!

I have not yet added my book challenge list for 2011. I am still working on that. Expect it soon.
I am an avid reader and collector of all things biblio. 600 books and counting....I lost count!
(Wouldn't you know, none of the male counterparts here read!) Now, that I think on it, I am about the only avid reader in my family. I must be the milk man's child!

Everyone who isn't in this circle/crazed fetish thinks I have a problem. Perhaps I do, but as long as I don't lose touch with reality, I should be fine.
I really get into my books. If an author grabs me after a few pages, I am in my own little world. I become one with the characters. I live and breath them. I love them, I hate them, I want to kill them....you get the drift. If an author can grip me so thoroughly, then I will gladly purchase/mooch more books by them. I always give a book a chance. There are some books that by the 3rd chapter, I am thinking about what to cook for dinner, then by the 6th I forget to eat ALL day and lose all track of time, because I am so enthralled.
This, and I am a very insusceptible person to almost everything, BUT books.
I can also talk 'book', well for hours.
Many people who meet me are put off by me at first, I'm a little introverted and suffer mild anti-socialism. However, after an hour of 'breaking the ice', I start talking 'shop' and it's all over. Poor person. If they aren't a reader, I bore them to almost tears. *Yawn*
Um, I also am a starving artist (I have 5 degrees in art related fields), and dabble in quilting, crocheting, needlepoint, botany. The latter, being I have up to 20 plants, in my little condo. I am also propagating more. Needless to say, the air in my home is pretty clean.
So that's me. The long and short of it.
Happy Reading!

ETA: Sorry, I had THREE cups of coffee so far and I am on it. Coffee mate flavored liquid creamer is ambrosia.

First of all, welcome to anyone here for the first time! This is my second year on 75 (or it will be as of my Thingaversary in early January) and I have found such friends as I never expected! People who read like me! Voraciously! Wildly! Fruitfully!
I live in Vermont, I have pets, one teenager, one spouse, a rapidly diminishing woodpile and loads and loads of books! I am a writer and a musician (all Irish music, all the time, harp and concertina). I'm fifty-something. My 'real' name is Lucy.
I'm so compulsive that I'm writing this brief bio now and will come back Jan 1 to give you my thread address.

Here is my shiny new 2011 thread: here

Hi, my name is Ilana, and I joined Alcoholics Anonymous because...

Wait, wrong group. Let me try that again.

Hi, I'm Ilana and I can be very silly sometimes, to make up for the fact that I'm way too serious most of the time. I live in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, and am fluent in English and French. I'm 41 and up until 3 years ago I had this really cool fast-paced career as an executive art director/designer. Then I burned out. Now I have time to do all the things I put off doing for the last 20 years. If ever you're curious to find out more about me, I keep a blog and a site where I post my latest creations and encourage others to do the same too. I can be pretty intense so I tend to tire myself out and love to end my days with a great book, reading till I can't keep my eyes open anymore. I have to say that sleeping is one of my favourite activities of all and very necessary to help keep me sane and migraine-free (doesn't always work either way).

I'll read just about anything, from classics, contemporary fiction, crime fiction, historical fiction, the occasional non-fiction and art books. As long as it's clever and well written for it's genre, I'm happy. I spend lots of time online and on LT. I'd been thinking of joining this group for the past couple of years and finally took the plunge less than a month ago. I'm looking forward to lots of good reads and reviews from one and all in 2011.

My thread is here. Drop by to say hi anytime!

Welcome - I am enjoying the intro entries! It should be a very fun year with this great group!

Hi everyone!! Well I am new to this group. I decided to join this year since I actually met my goal of 50 books in 2010. My name is Monica and I live in a wonderful town in the Southeastern part of Pennsylvania. I am 42 years old and the mother of two wonderful young adults. My daughter is in college studying to be a Spanish teacher. So proud of her because I always loved Spanish when I was growing up. Now my son is still trying to figure out what he wants to do. I have two wonderful cats. One is a cuddly one and the other is just a bitch at times.

My reading tastes is something that just wonders around. I never really know what I will be reading. I will be starting in the new year. Any books that I finish after January 1 will be included in this challenge here is a link to my thread.

http://www.librarything.com/topic/104874

Glad to see some familiar names in this group.

>51 crazy4reading: I thought a bitch was a female dog. Teehee.

I have 3 cats, one a ghost, one a pain in the..., one doesn't know he's a cat! I am not quite sure if he knows what he is!

Ok...so do all avid readers own cats?

Ok...off topic..thanks...bye!

Nice to "meet" you all.

Yes, all true readers own cats. Except for Richard. I tell you, there's something strange about that boy....

> 53: What????
Am I not a reader :-(

Yes, you are a reader. I can tell by his picture, that your baby has the soul of a cat. Look at all that fuzziness and cuteness! Why, it just shines out all over the place.

I won't tell him ;-)

Yep a cat, a cup of coffee and a good book is all I need to be happy! :)

I much prefer my cat-sized dog to the three feline terrors that stalk around here. Yes, I'm the one who was suckered into bringing home each and every pet we have, but my partner is the true cat lover. He's also an avid reader. ;)

Cats, for those not blessed with previous iterations of The Revealed Truth, are living proof that there *is* a Satan, and he wishes humankind ill. Cats purr only to lull you into a false sense of security. They're actually waiting for you to die so they can eat your face. *shudder*

Now, my sweet Jindo puppydog is the precise opposite of these qualities! She is love incarnate. *happy puppy-daddy sigh*

Hi, I'm a brand new 75 challenger this year. I've never done a 25 book challenge or a 50 book challenge or any reading challenge bearing any other number. And I don't have a cat.

Maybe I should leave now.

Wait! No, I think I'll stay. I have four hamsters. Does that make up for the lack of cat? I have a daughter too, can I throw her in the mix? Please, can I stay?

I am Mary Lynne and I live in the Baltimore MD area. I'll be 50 in a month, I work in the information management field doing technical computer stuff all day, and I have a teenager living in the house with me, somewhere in the black hole she calls her room. I read as much as I can but the time is somewhat limited.

My reading tastes are rather varied. I've been here at LT for several years and learn about new books here, almost exclusively. My wishlist is extensive and I've asked for bookstore gift cards for Christmas so I can start off my 2011 challenge with a bang.

My list is here, but there's nothing on it yet:
http://www.librarything.com/topic/104897

Hi... I'm a computer programmer in Pennsylvania, about 60 miles west of Philadelphia. I was in the 75 Book Challenge for 2009 until a discombobulating few months during which I quit my job, bought a house, moved, began a new job. And I still had to install shelves and unpack 60+ boxes of books in early 2010, was so busy organizing that I didn't do much reading. Now I'm fairly well settled and wishing for more order in my reading life. Essentially: more focus on books, and less flitting around on the internet. (I officially joined this group, then unjoined a few hours later because already it was overwhelming my Talk list. Sorry. Instead, I've bookmarked it.)

>>59 richardderus: Oh, Richard, how can you be so foolish? A cat would never eat your face, for the simple reason that such an act would require effort - not to mention serving oneself instead of being served. So undignified!

A dog, on the other hand...

I'm coming out of the closet. Richard, I am not a fan of cats either. But I am an avid reader. So you aren't alone.

I'm still not going to share my dancing boys, though.

>57 susiesharp: & 59, I agree. BUT...You can't have the all mighty number 1 devil cat, because WE do. I think if he wasn't de-clawed (had to!) he would have flayed us alive a long time ago. (Coffee is ambrosia!)

Sorry so off-topic.

Hello to all and nice to "meet" you...that just posted after me.

>61 qebo:, I tend to post, read a book, update my Home page to see if any new replies or posts pop up, if so I might post some more or I continue to read. On a slow night I read and shut down LT. On a hopping night, it's read a few pages, post, read a few pages, post...but doesn't reading threads count as reading? ;0)

>62 lyzard: Oh dear, the cat propaganda machine strikes again! Liz, cats do this *all the time*! At least one or two instances a day in the USA alone! Really, honest! The Voices don't lie!

>63 tloeffler: Selfish. *flounces out of thread*

Oh, well, American cats... :)

>63 tloeffler: Did I ever say I am a fan of cats? I only approved of one and he somehow ended up with two more officers in his Devil Cat Army, although it backfired, because they are sweeties.

American Cats = Pure Evil

Welcome Mary Lynne, I have one of those moody and unsettling creatures in my house too, and I'm not talking about cats, but something far far wilder -- an adolescent girl....... And hang in there Qebo, sounds like you've had a lot going on.

Hi All! My name is Kate or Katie............I'm really not picky on what you call me as long as it's nice. This is my first "challenge" and I'm excited and a little nervous if truth be told. I just joined in August and I am still learning the site so I'm sure it will be a work in progress on my end.

Hi Katie! I'm looking forward to your thread. I see we have quite a few books in common. Welcome to the group!

Hi everyone!
I joined LT in January of this year, and I just love the site and all my new friends. I joined the 75ers right away and actually have read 101 books so far. Well, I can't say I read them all. I listen to a lot of audio books because I spend a lot of time in the car at work and I am an artist on the side. So I listen as I draw, paint, bead, crochet or whatever. Multitasking for pleasure!

I live in VA and I'm the executive director of a not-for-profit coalition designed to 1) mobilize residents of a violent low-income community to take responsibility and ownership of our neighborhoods and 2) teach everyone how to work together to make positive changes. The coalition includes businesses, churches, government agencies and law enforcement as well as individuals.

I love mysteries, crime thrillers, sci-fi, some fantasy, medical thrillers...I'm not real big on non-fiction. Books are an escape for me, so I like to keep it light and fun.

My 2011 thread is here

> 60

Welcome Mary Lynne!

I have four hamsters.

Four hamsters *absolutely* makes up for no cat! At one time I had 13 hamsters (I was breeding for a local pet shop). Oddly enough, I too, am originally from Baltimore (I grew up on Oriole baseballs...on the radio!). :)

I think you'll have great fun here with the 75-ers. There's no pressure to reach that number...only to have that as an aspiration and the desire to enjoy chatting about books, reading and all else with everyone here. Enjoy!

Hello everyone! I'm Marie and my thread is here. I participated in last year's challenge and found it to be a very rewarding experience so here I am again.

Let's see...this coming year should be an exciting one for me. I turn 24 in a few weeks and am applying for grad school. In the mean time I live in Arizona and work for a museum. My reading is all over the place, but I hope to knock down some of my TBR stack. We'll see how that goes...

I hope some of you will stop by to say hello!

>62 lyzard: My guess is Richard watched lots and lots of Sex & the City episodes back in the day.

Hi my name is Judy from Vancouver, Canada. 2010 was a milestone year for me as I turned 60. I have been a very happy member of LT since 2008. I have participated in other challenges but I wanted one place to list all my books. I like to read just about anything but have a definite leaning toward historical ficition and crime/thrillers. Looking forward to both meeting new friends and connecting to old ones.

My thread is Here

Stop by and say hello.

Hi everyone, my name is Cushla. I joined LibraryThing in 2006, and have done the 75 books challenge since halfway through 2008. This is my favourite place on the internet and I would have read a lot more books if I hadn't been reading threads! It's really nice to see lots of new people joining the group.

I'm a New Zealander living in Basel, Switzerland till the end of 2011 with my husband and 2 kids (3 and 6). I'm not working over here, but at home I teach maths and finance at university, and I used to work in banking, so this year I read lots of books about the financial crisis.

In 2011 I want to read quite a few long books so don't expect to get to 75 books, but will have fun trying. I read a wide range - lots of non-fiction, especially books about politics, development, and history, and plenty of crime, and fiction. And this year I will trying to read more books in German.

My thread is over here:
http://www.librarything.com/topic/104694

Hi everyone, I am Paul and live in Switzerland.

I started with the 75 book-challenge last year, so this is my second attempt.

I am a librarian working with the Swiss Economics Archives and part time with Caritas (selling food to social welfare folks).

I read almost everything - which can be a serious problem when starting too many books to read at the same time.

My threa(t)d:
http://www.librarything.de/topic/104928

>74 Smiler69: No, Ilana, I've never watched that show. However, The Divine Miss is a complete addict, so I think I've heard about them all!

#72 - Thanks for the welcome! My hamsters are adopted from a rescue, and we've also fostered hamsters - I think over the past two years we've housed over 20, but the max at one time was 8. I checked out your profile and you aren't far from me!

Hi everyone my name is Melissa. I have to small children and I work overnight so I sometimes get a ton of time to read. I mostly like different types of fiction. I'm always up for discussing books that I've read. My thread is here

Ola!

blackdogbooks, (mac), here. This is my fourth year on the 75'ers. I live in New Mexico with my wife and the black, fluffy animal of the name. There is a photo of the critter at my profile page. I work in law enforcement and read.....do I really have to finish that sentence?

I reduced the number of books I read last year so that I could dabble a little in my other hobby, writing and got a solid start on a book and several short fiction works. Hope to do more of that this year. The reviews here on LT help me scrath that itch.

This will be the third year for the Halloween read! The last two years, I sponsored a thread with a list of substance appropriate books for Halloween. We read and comment and review and leap from the dark at each other.

Come sniff out my thread: http://www.librarything.com/topic/104850

#60,79 (mlnelson): In principle I'd agree that four hamsters make up for no cat. And it's cool that there's a hamster fostering and rescue operation. However, I've had a rather negative opinion of hamsters since age 8, when my pet hamster escaped from its cage and got into the cage of my pet mouse, and killed it.

I grew up with cats and think they are fascinating, however, I married a man who abhors them. I always loved the Kipling story of The Cat Who Walked by Himself.

"I am the cat who walks by himself and all places are alike to me."

Hello! I'm Katie, a twenty-four year old English girl. I live near Southampton and work in London, so I have four hours on a train every day to fill with reading (well, and sleeping in the winter; I think I've gone into hibernation). Because of this, I read reasonably rapidly and I've recently started blogging about it here: http://oldenglishrose.dmi.me.uk/

I am also a cat-free zone, but I wish that weren't the case. I enjoy ballroom dancing when I'm feeling sophisticated and ceilidh dancing when I'm not. When I'm not reading or dancing I'm probably baking, much to the delight of my fiance.

This is my first year of taking part in this challenge, although I've poked my nose into the threads here before, so I'm quite excited. My thread is here if you care to stop by: http://www.librarything.com/topic/104958#2373995

Hi folks,
I’m Dee, a 36 year old librarian from Canada. This is my third year taking part in the 75 Book Challenge and I can't wait to get started. The only problem is the amount of books that get added to my TBR pile after reading other people's posts.
I share my home with a 12 year old kitty named Zoey and a 8 month old kitty named Zombi Purr-monster.
In addition to reading I'm an avid knitter.

Here's my thread for 2011.
Happy Reading Everyone!

Hey all. I'm Jasmyn, 31, Northern Illinois. Mother of one, soon to be two, children...two, soon to be three, cats. This is my third year in the challenge. I barely finished my 75 in 2009, and cleared it a few months ago last year. I joined to get ideas for interesting books to read and talk to others that enjoyed a good read as much as I did. That idea backfired a little. I know have a list of about 500 or so interesting books to read and spend hours upon hours (ok a little exagerated) poring through the threads trying to talk.

You'll see a lot of historical fiction, urban fatasy, fantasy and classics on my thread, as well as some young adult. I've found books in just about every genre that I enjoy, so don't be surprised at what may pop up with a good review.

My thread for 2011 is http://www.librarything.com/topic/104984 (I hope that worked).

#63

*shocked silence*

This is totally off the wall/off topic...but

Is there a chance that people would be interested in a Music/Books thread.....the music that connects to your reading..subliminally or not...??

I don't listen to music when i read...but i find music creeping into my reading experiences

hey, this is a serious Crap Shoot

maybe just mention your Music Loves in your threads

I'm outta here before i make a total fool......
;-}

Maybe. Sometimes it actually helps me focus when I listen to music on a very low decibal when I'm reading. But that is deffinately not up to me to decide.

Heck Jude, just go start one and see who joins in the fun! Be sure to let people know it exists, though, esp. in the Kitchen where everyone seems to end up sooner or later.

I'm Emilie, and I work in the horse biz. Some might say it shows in my reading. I live with a passel of creatures in the Midwest. My science major made sure I'd have no memory of how to critique literature or of proper grammar, but I managed to retain my zeal for books. I celebrate my LT and 75 Books anniversary on Jan. 7. It's our first year together, and I am in looove. ::smooch::

My reading tastes include non-fiction about animals, picture books, children's/YA, and general knick-knacks. If you'd like to preview last year's reading choices, they are found at http://www.librarything.com/topic/81548

My brain happens to be turned off tonight, so cutting to the chase: http://www.librarything.com/topic/104987 is where the magic will happen in 2011. Mind the piles of horse poo and don't step on the house rabbits!

(edited for typos)

>88 jdthloue:: Personally, I think that's a brilliant idea, Jude. One member here (Apolline aka Bente) chooses a "theme song" for her books in her reviews.

I usually don't listen to music when I read either, but sometimes a particular song comes to mind while I'm reading. And then there are books like Norwegian Wood that had me scrambling to make connections between the book and The Beatles.

Wooo another horse person.
>91 alsvidur: Welcome to you and it's nice to "meet" another horse silly person. I have a horse, had many, but downsized to one very fat/sassy/spoiled horse and I love all things horse.
Anyway Good Luck with your reading and see ya around. I haven't yet added my horse books, but I am getting around to it. Many of them are on training, etc. more than fiction.

# 88 - Great idea. You might also want to add the pieces of music that are mentioned in books. I'm reading The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie and went looking for a piece of music which the main character is lyric about: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vihM0HbuiPI&feature=related
It's interesting to hear it in time, because it is part of a character's decription.

Hello All: I am Monica, recently divorced and living with my ex mother in law and my ex step daughter, on the pet side of things we have a dog Angel who lives up to her name, very rarely but once in a while has a little devil in her LOL and our Cat Radio - yes his name is Radio and he was named after the movie (this wasn't my choice of names but that happens with family) he is the devil cat from hell, but we still love him. You might say I got custody of both mom and daughter. Which I am very happy about. :) You might think that sounds odd, but it works for me. :)

I am hoping this will be a better year for me all around. Reading wise and life in general. I have never actually achieved the 75 goal, but I sure do try at it and I cannot stay away from the people in this group. They are so entertaining and maybe if I read less threads I could read more books LOL... ;)

I enjoy reading Urban Fantasy, Murder Mystery and this year I am gonna try out the Austenthon, for something different for me. I also enjoy movies, which in turn is another bad thing for my reading challenge. We just recently got netflix and I swear I am addicted and I got mommy in law addicted too..

However I do enjoy my reading and look forward to more of it this coming year.

My thread is here: http://www.librarything.com/topic/105016

Back again for more here. I'll post more there once the year starts.

I'm Rebecca, and I've lived almost all my life in New York City. I'm an opportunistic reader, reading both fiction and nonfiction as the fancy takes me. In fiction, I try to read both contemporary fiction and classics, and hope to read more globally in 2011 than I did in 2010. I tend to go for the grim a lot, but enjoy fun reads too. In nonfiction, I've been concentrating on some of the evils of the 20th century, i.e., Hitler and Stalin, and have a few more to read in 2011, but then hope to get back to some of my other interests, including history, science, some biography and memoir, and polar exploration.

I'm far from the chattiest person in this group, and real life prevents me from following everyone's threads, but I try to check in with lots of you every now and then.

I'm Jennifer and this is my second year in the challenge. I live in Phoenix but I'm originally from Garden Grove, Calif. I live with my husband and two dogs- a boxer who wants to live on belly rubs and a chocolate lab who enjoys hiding my shoes.
I love to bake and enter cooking contests and once again I've started a new novel. Started, not finished.

My reading is all over the place: mystery, classics, history and travel, along with my ongoing interests of pirates and shipwrecks, cooking, art and British t.v. shows.
And if you check out my profile pick, you'll notice that I'm your worst nightmare.

Hi, I'm Tess a 50-something high school history teacher and adjunct professor from Ohio. Of course, my favorite genre is historical fiction, but I am eclectic in my tastes. I have 2 grown sons and 5 grandsons. I made books on CD's for my grandsons because the prepackaged ones were too expensive. I hooked up my mic to my comp, bought the Golden Books of Berenstein Bears for $1.29 and 100 CD's, used a schoolbell I had on my desk, and in no time at all they had 30 new books with CD with a bell sound at the end of every page so they knew when to turn. Even though they read on their own now, they still listen to these over and over again.

I'm going to challenge myself to read 75 books in 2011. This will be difficult for me as so many times school work interferes...I might be reading a manual about our new online grade book or scanning original documents for my newest lesson plan........but I promise to read for myself every single day!

I love to cook and travel to the places I've read about!

http://www.librarything.com/topic/105018

I love this site!

#82, Qebo, I'm sorry! Hamsters are territorial and attack even other hamsters, but having that happen at such a young age must have been traumatic. Losing a pet is always so hard and things that happen to us as kids stick with us, don't they?

#88 I think a music thread is a fantastic idea.

Hey all!
I'm Jennifer. I live in Washington, D.C. with my partner Andy. I don't have any pets, because my mean landlord won't let me. (I really want a dog.) Essentially, I work, watch a lot of movies and tv, read and play bocce. I love to travel as well. 2011 trips include St. Martin and Germany.

This is my 3rd year in th 75 Book Challenge. I am really looking forward to my reading life in 2011. I plan on reading a lot of chunksters, therefore I named my thread "jmaloney17's Chunkster Challenge."

I read a wide variety of fiction with a nonfiction book thrown in here and there. Most of my reads will be classic lit, but you also will see historical fiction, sci fi, fantasy, alternate histories, paranormals, cheesy romance novels, some beat writers and a few books from the Booker Prize list. I plan on going to Germany in the fall so I will likely read some German authors as well.

Visit my thread here: http://www.librarything.com/topic/104709

Happy reading!

99 (mlnelson): In fairness, if I'd ever had cats and mice as pets simultaneously, the result would've been equally unattractive. It was mostly the complete unexpectedness, and also the hamster and mouse were my first real pets. As I recall, I gave the hamster to my next door neighbors who had quite a menagerie, and it lived happily ever after among people who appreciated it.

Hi Helen from NZhere. I joined LT a year ago. Needless to say my book collection has more than doubled in size. This year I joined the 50 challenge, but am currently reading my 70 th book for the year, so figured I had better move up to this group to keep the pressure on. I see some of the others from the 50 thread here too.
I seldom used a computer outside of work and now I check in most days. It's been great discovering like minded people from all over the world.

Here is my thread: http://www.librarything.com/topic/105073

Hey ho everyone. I'm Caroline and live in Bedford, Massachusetts ... when I'm not on a plane getting into trouble in other lands, that is. I joined LT about 2 years ago and it's been a fantastic experience. My ever-growing LT family has introduced me to a great many wonderful books and authors .... not to mention an ever expanding waistline thanks to the recipes of tasty treats as well.

I generally read historical fiction, sci fi, fantasy, mysteries, criminal investigations, history, and whatever Darryl recommends.

My thread can be found here

Hi Jennifer, Tess here. Washington DC is one of my top 5 favorite cities in the world next to Bath and London, England. Good luck with the 75 book challenge. I too am going to attempt it for the first time.

Hi all
I’m Fiona, I’m 37 and live in New Zealand. This will be my first year on the 75 book challenge, though I’ve been on LT since 2007. I’ve read a few 75er threads during the last few months and found them friendly and full of good book suggestions. I tend to read Talk much more than I post, but have resolved to be a bit more involved this year.

I’m a teacher of 11 & 12 year olds, and read a lot of children’s and YA books - partly so I can pass them on to the kids, partly just because I like them. I also like a lot of other genres, e.g. fantasy, sci-fi, mystery, historical, romance and literary fiction. Basically, I’ll read anything with a compelling story.

My thread is here: http://www.librarything.com/topic/105084

Hi there, this is Missy from the Eastern Shore of Maryland. I'm 34 and love mysteries, historical fiction, some fantasy and non-fiction books. I have a "thing" for quirky cookbooks and old reference books too. This will be my third year in the challenge -- I successfully read 75 in 2009, but barely cleared 50 in 2010. Hoping to keep up with my books and the threads in 2011. Looking forward to reading what other folks are reading!

Oops, and here's my thread! http://www.librarything.com/topic/105121&newpost=1#lastmsg

I'm Mary, I live in western Massachusetts and this is my 2nd year in the 75 books challenge. I like to think of myself as an eclectic reader, from kids books to adult, and genres like fantasy, cozy mystery, contemporary fiction, and historical fiction. But my go-to genre is middle grade to YA fantasy. I work two part-time jobs in public libraries, one in adult reference and one in children's, which is great because it means that any reading I do could potentially be considered professional development, not to mention that between the two libraries I can get pretty much any book I want in a short amount of time.

Aside from reading, I'm a big sports fan - the New York Giants in particular though they killed me today, and I follow the Red Sox and tennis, too. I started knitting about a year ago, and enjoy that quite a bit as well. I've just signed up for a planning committee for the 250th anniversary celebration of my home town, which will be in 2013, so these next couple of years should be interesting! I love local history, which is part of what I do in my reference position, and I expect I'll be learning a lot of it over the next 2 years or so.

Here's my 2011 thread, though I won't be posting any books 'til Jan. 1st!

Hi, I'm Leslie in western Maine. This is my first year in the 75 book challenge, but I have been on LT for a couple of years also. I have two cats, no more that's the rule, and two sons (one still at home).

I am a high school librarian so my reading runs the gamut from YA to classics and books for professional development, but lately I have been drawn to non-fiction and international authors. I am looking forward to reading along with all of you and discovering some great books to read!

I'm Sandy from Kansas City and this will be my 3rd year in the group - my favorite place on the entire internet. I like dogs when they live in someone else's house. A cat lives in mine. I'm excited about the new year and looking forward to all the wonderful books I'll get to read, and learn about from each of you. My thread: http://www.librarything.com/topic/105142

Hi, I'm Leigh and I'm back for 2011 and going to give it another go. 2010 was a reading disaster year form me, and I'm looking forward to giving reading more space in 2011 and to learning from this group and sharing what I enjoy.

Live in Florida and spend time in Alabama restoring an old old farmhouse - working fingers to the bone is probably why I'm not reading enough!

Cheers!

Hi I am Kelly and I am going to give this a go for 2011! I live in the UK and love discovering new books to read.
Here is my thread so far!
http://www.librarything.com/topic/105112

Hi, I'm Liezel from South Africa. I've decided to (very optimistically) try this challenge for 2011 and hopefully put a dent in my TBR list in the process.

I'm Jennifer a 40 something wife and mother (to four teens, including a set of twins, + three steps- but they're grown and live in Canada) living in Northwest Ohio. I work fulltime and have dogs (a doberman and a keeshond) and cats. I am new to this challenge but love Library Thing. I read almost anything but usually choose fantasy/sci-fi. I want to add some classics to my library this year as well.

Hi, I'm Susan from Toronto. This is my second year in the 75ers and I am proud to say I surpassed 75 in 2010! A big jump from my former high of 63 books! You are all a big inspiration.
I am in my mid forties, married to a pretty much non reader, but have two daughters, 14 and 12 that love reading (well the 14 year old more so but we have high hopes for the younger). I read many genres, but love literary fiction, mysteries (both crime/detective and cozy) and Young Adult (try it, it's quite good!), but am open to almost anything.
I tend to lurk, gathering book rec's as I go, and talk just a little, but really enjoy this group and your welcoming of all.

Here's my thread for this year, http://www.librarything.com/topic/105163

I really love how international this group is. It really helps to expand my awareness of authors-not-necessarily-American.

Hello, everyone! I am Karen O. and this will be my third year in the 75 Books Challenge. I love participating in the group and its various challenges-within-challenges.

I live in the Twin Cities (St. Paul and Minneapolis) area of Minnesota. I am many years married to a great guy--he's a reader, too. We have two grown children who live on their own, and four cats who live with us. Definitely a cat person! I work in circulation at my local library and just love it. I am trained as a librarian, but content to watchfully wait for an opportunity to be a librarian.

Here's my 2011 thread--I hope you visit and "star" me! http://www.librarything.com/topic/105184

Hi, It's Jan again. This year I hope to be more active in the group and not be running right up to the end of the year to finish. 4 books to go, curse you FaceBook.

Hi, everyone! I am Denise and this is my third year in the challenge. Unfortunately, I have yet to reach 75 but have high hopes for this year. Real life seems to interfere way too much into my reading life which sets me back sometimes and also makes it impossible to read many of the threads in this group.

I live in southeastern PA and I am a 40 something SAHM to 4 children - 2 boys and 2 girls - ranging in age from 18 to 10. The oldest will be graduating in June and going to college but doesn't know which one yet. I have a wonderful husband who has a crazy work schedule but tries to arrange it so he can spend as much time with the children as possible and attend all of their sporting, school, etc. events as well. As of now, we have no pets but our youngest is saving for a dog. Who knew that when we told her she would have to pay for it as a deterant to her getting one that she would actually save every stinking penny her little hands get? So far, she has about $275 - she had more but bought Christmas presents for her siblings and parents. Good thing she did or else I think we may have been actually getting a dog over the holidays!

My taste in reading varies and has been greatly expanded by this site and this group in particular. I always have to have my notebook and a pen in hand when I am on here so I can add to the neverending list of "want to reads". I generally do not like a lot of sci-fi, fantasy or romance but will read just about anything once.

I don't have time to visit everyone's threads as often as I wish (I would never get any actual books read if I did) but I love this group. I haven't set up my thread for 2011 yet but will post a link here when I do.

Hello, everyone! I'm Sherlyn and this is my third year in the 75ers. I am a child/school psychologist in an extremely rural area in East TN. I do many things in that role but primarily evaluations, therapy with abused children, and crisis intervention. I have one daughter, currently a freshman in college, who is the literary one majoring in Journalism and English. We are dance and theatre mad; she participates and I appreciate.

I will read anything and believe strongly that eveyone should read whatever works for them at the time. I do have a tendency to hover around nonfiction (especially history and Holocaust), fiction about families, mysteries, and crime fiction.

I just got a NookColor and I'm not afraid to use it. My thread should be here: http://www.librarything.com/topic/105203&newpost=1#lastmsg

Happy Reading!!

Hi! I'm Amanda and this is my third 75 Book Challenge. I live in the unfashionable middle part of California and I am most definitely in the anti-cat camp.

My 2011 thread is here.

...Don't want to lose this thread. First time here. I have a lot to catch up on.

Hello!

This is my first year as a 75er, although I did the 100 Book Challenge last year (and just finished my 100th this weekend). The level of activity here is a bit intimidating, but I'll give it a shot!

I'm an almost-30 academic librarian at a small university in Ohio (and good grief, there are a lot of Ohioans in this thread!). I also have a Masters in History, and don't read nearly as much of it since leaving school as one might think.

I read a lot of genre fiction - fantasy and science fiction - and really enjoy young adult lit. You'll occasionally find me branching out, but that's the bulk of my reading.

I look forward to reading with you all! My thread is here: http://www.librarything.com/topic/105234

Hello everyone,
My names Melissa, and I'm new to Librarything. I was wandering around the site and stumbled onto this group page. I read a lot, about 100 books a year, but I read that this group is more about connecting with fellow readers than simply counting the books I read in 2011, thus here I am. Well... and I like the accomplishment of seeing a list of books I've read. :)

I work in my local public library in central Pennsylvania, but am hoping to move back west sometime this year. I'll probably search for a job at the local library there as well, since I love my job so much. I'm 19 and an avid reader; I carry a book around almost everywhere I go. You never know when you might have a few free minutes. I read a lot of fantasy, but try to vary it. However I tend to get obsessive about topics for stretches of time so I have no idea what I might read in the coming year.

I'm excited to be a part of this group!

Here's the link to my thread: http://www.librarything.com/topic/105237

Hello all!
My name's Anri, and this will be my third 75 Books Challenge. I'm a 17 year old from St. Paul, Minnesota, and I like to read a lot of fantasy and YA, with a little bit of nonfiction thrown in every once and awhile.
I haven't had a chance to visit other people's threads much in previous years, so here's hoping that'll change this year!

2011 thread is here: http://www.librarything.com/talktopic.php?topic=105251
(Though I won't be posting anything on it until the year actually starts.)

Hi, all; I'm Cynara, and this is my first 75 Books Challenge. Here's my intro to the thread below:

http://www.librarything.com/topic/105255
Hi, all! I'm looking forward to seeing your reads in 2011 and tracking my own.

As long as I'm not teaching, I read constantly (on the couch; while cooking dinner; in the tub; on the bus; on my lunch break; while walking down the street) and without fretting much over high vs. low culture.

The only thing that bores me is running out of interesting books; from what I hear, this group should solve that.

***

I read a lot of genre fiction and I love a good work of popular history. I'm hoping to revive my love of poetry and sense of adventure when it comes to the Great Books. I really don't know if I read more or fewer than 75 books a year, but I'm curious to find out.

I'm Carly, and this is my second year in the 75 Books Challenge. My thread is here:

http://www.librarything.com/topic/105302

This group is awesome! I read over a 100 books in 2010, more than I've read in a very long time, and I think that is due in large part to the lively conversation and many book recommendations I found in this group--it just made me want to read even more.

I like to read literary fiction, classics, funny books, history, science, and all sorts of other things that happen to look interesting, and I have recently started reading mystery novels. I'm a thirty-something lawyer in Texas, and if you look at my profile page, you can see my two very sweet cats.

I'm Bente. I'm 28 and from Norway. I finished my MA in history two years ago and currently work in a historical archive.

This will be my second year with the 75'ers, and even though I love reading, I "only" reached 44 books in 2010. No worries though, that is probably the most I have ever read in a calendar year before.

If you want to visit my thread, this is my little corner in 2011

I love music too and I appreciate every tip you can give me of new books and music:)

Hello Everyone! I am Michelle. I joined the 2010 group only weeks ago, just in time to start the New Year with the 2011 group.

I am looking forward to sharing the great experience of books with others who are just as passionate as I am.

I am a wife and mom with two teenagers living in the Finger Lakes region of New York State. I recently completed my Master of Library Science, and was previously a middle school social studies teacher. Completing my degree will open lots of reading time in 2011.

Here is the link to my thread, visit often! http://www.librarything.com/topic/104934

Here is my last post from 2010: http://www.librarything.com/topic/104641

OK, friends, I have started my thread, too. To follow "Marvelous Maggie's" reading just go here: http://www.librarything.com/topic/105310&newpost=1#top

I am a retired school teacher, living in the northwest corner of the US of A, and companion to three dogs, and my niece's three kids (most days). I also indulge in making greeting cards and other paper arts; in some amature photography (and I post pictures from time to time). My reading is pretty eclectic but I love biographies and autobiographies; historical fiction; young adult fiction; childrens' books; and occasional current popular culture book. I also read magazines, and all sorts of stuff on the computer, when I have time.

I currently read Time magazine and The Economist magazine; occasionally Oprah and Martha Stewart and The Gourmet. Really, lots of times they just sit around in the living room yelling at me to read them.

Onwards! A New Year!!!

Hi all! I'm excited to begin a new year of reading. I have started a new thread, BeSerene's Reads of 2011: The Beginning, but I won't be posting reviews there until January 1, or around then.

Oh, sorry -- I'm Sarah. I forget the niceties occasionally. :)

I've been in this group a few years; I'm not one of the (wonderful) super-active squad, but I love books and I love the friendly folks of this group.

Beyond LT, I teach literature and mythology at two local community colleges here in Michigan. I keep acquiring books and more books at area library sales and used book stores, so I am seriously thinking about posing a challenge to myself regarding reading what I already own, rather than buying more. I don't think that this is really going to work, of course, but I might give it a shot.

I love reading fantasy, YA, classics, and a lot of other literature -- including comic books. I don't read as much nonfiction as I think I should; on both fiction and nonfiction, this group has been great for recommendations of things that I would not otherwise have encountered.

I wish everyone a very happy holiday season and a new year full of good books!

Oh, and regarding the earlier conversation, I am a dog person. Though hamsters, horses, and even cats are cool too. Though perhaps not all at the same time. :)

While we're all getting overwhelmed, I thought I'd add my bit to the chaos.

I'm Gail, mostly a New Englander though I now live in the deep south. My reading tastes are kindly described as eclectic; a more accurate description would be "all over the map". I like mysteries, classics, fractured and odd fairy tales, nonfiction...almost anything except math subjects. My greatest joy is finding new-to-me authors and books. Here are some favorites from 2010:

Best novels: The God of Small Things and Montana 1948
Best nonfiction author: Alberto Manguel
Best classic: Middlemarch
Best fantasy: The Tale of Despereaux
Best mystery: Can't choose, liked Louise Penny and Ruth Dudley Edwards books
Best unclassifiable book: If On a Winter's Night a Traveler or Farthing

My 2011 Thread: http://www.librarything.com/topic/104798

Hope to see you around the threads this year.

Hi! I'm Jen and I'm from Scotland and I've just joined the group. I used to keep a book diary a few years ago and had good fun with it, so I'm really looking forward to this.

This is my thread
http://www.librarything.com/topic/105358

I'm lucky to be a school librarian, so I get to see more children's and young adult books than most. Apart from those I'll read almost anything, although I'm not a fan of being scared. I prefer to sleep at night :-)

I also love non-fiction, and I'm a sucker for history and archaeology, or anything that involves old roads or exploring or maps. I'd also love to find more science fiction / history crossovers, but they're few and far between - unless someone here can point me in some useful directions?

>130 beserene: Sarah! There is a group *made* for you!! Books Off The Shelf is a group dedicated to the encouragement of catch-and-release policies regarding books. Buy it, shelve it, release it back into the noosphere. Check him out!

Hi Sarah. Sounds like you should start a thread at the Books off the Shelf grouptoo. Although be warned you might be led astray and end up with more books on the shelf... like me:-)

Hi! I'm Jessica, and I am a librarian in South Central PA. This is my second year attempting the 75 books challenge - I'm getting pretty close to the 75 mark for 2010, though now I'm beginning to wonder if I'll be able to make it. I'm hoping 2011 will be a lot more reader friendly for me!

I love reading mysteries and historical fiction. I'm also an avid nonfiction reader, focusing on history (especially American and European), travel and biographies. Though, if I think the book looks interesting, chances are I'll pick it up!

Here's my 2011 thread: http://www.librarything.com/topic/105367

Happy reading everyone! :-)

Hi I'm Jess from Australia. This will be second year of attempting the 75 books challenge. I have just hit 75 books in this years challenege. I am hoping to read 75 books in 2011 but to make it a bit more complicated I am moving to South Africa fro 6 months next year to work in a Nature reserve so no bookstores.....but as we speak my Kindle is winging its way towards me.

I read mostly fantasy books anything with a dragon and I am there, this year I was introduced to and promtly got addicted to werewolves and the paranormal genre so they now take up a large portion of my reading.

Here is my 2011 thread: http://www.librarything.com/topic/105371

See you all around :)

Hi,

I've been on this site for a few years, but this is my first year in the 75 book challenge. I'm a grad student living in currently living in GA. My tastes are pretty wide ranging, though lately I've been on an international science fiction kick.

My thread's here. I look forward to rising to the challenge.

ETA: My name's Ash.

>132 JenMacPen:: Jen, have you encountered steampunk? Because if anything is a sci-fi history crossover, that's it. Or perhaps that's not quite what you meant...>

>133 richardderus:/134: Thanks, Richard and Helen, for directing me to the group! I also didn't know about the books for troops thing -- what a lovely idea!

Hi, I'm Darryl, and I'm back for my third year amongst the 75ers. I'm a pediatric hospitalist (inpatient pediatrician) for a major children's hospital in Atlanta, where I've worked for the past 10 years. I am originally from northern New Jersey and the Philadelphia area, and have also lived in New Orleans and Pittsburgh prior to moving to Atlanta in 1997. I'm also active in several other LT groups, especially Club Read, Reading Globally, Author Theme Reads, African/African-American Literature, and the Prizes. I especially enjoy international literature, nonfiction books about medicine and science, and historical fiction. My thread is here:

http://www.librarything.com/topic/105380

I'm Zoe, and this will be my second year in the group. I'm an aspiring author living in New Hampshire; I'm currently working on a YA dystopia. My favorite genres to read are science fiction, urban fantasy, and YA speculative fiction; I especially love dystopian worlds and dark urban fantasy that isn't paranormal romance (nothing wrong with paranormal romance; I'm just not much of a romance reader). I read plenty of other stuff too, if the plot looks interesting. I don't read as much nonfiction, but I like analysis of people/society/popular culture along the lines of Freakonomics, memoirs, and the occasional book about writing and creativity.

My thread for the year is here: http://www.librarything.com/topic/105055

>138 beserene:
Mmm, steampunk. The Difference Engine and Court of the Air frustrated me by not being as good as I wanted them to be, but I love some other books with a steampunk influence, like The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen and The Golden Compass. I think I'm still waiting for the pure steampunk trilogy of my dreams.

Hello all, I'm Laura, and 2011 will be my third year in the 75 Books group. I read a pretty steady 80 books a year so it's a nice fit.

I'll be 49 in February, work in IT and have been with the same company since graduating from college. I have been married to Chris for 27 years and we have two wonderful daughters, ages 15 & 18 (gulp, where has the time gone?). I live in Chester County, Pennsylvania, right about where Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Delaware intersect (and about an hour from both Philadelphia & Baltimore). We have more pets than we need -- 2 Labrador retrievers and 3 cats -- but they're all wonderful. Reading is my main hobby and I have so enjoyed the LT community. I've made some amazing friends here since joining in 2006, including many new ones from the 2010 group.

I'm looking forward to meeting you and reading with you in 2011. Here's my 2011 thread (episode 1).

And here's my blog

Hi--I'm Deborah, and 2011 will be my third year in the 75 group. Although I don't post on a lot of threads, I read most of the threads, and feel like I know most of the 75'ers even though they may not know me.

I was born and raised in Aruba, which remains the home of my heart. I've lived in NJ, London, Singapore and New Orleans, and currently live near Seattle. I retired from the practice of law this year when I turned 60 and became a first-time grandma. I have 5 kids ranging in age from 32 to 20, and a dear husband (unfortunately only a minor reader) of 40 years.

I like to read world literature, classics, literary fiction, non-fiction, with a bit of sci-fi and mysteries thrown in. I'm also a fiber artist. I've had the privilege of meeting a few 75'ers in real life, and would love to meet more. I hope you all stop by my thread to visit.

Hello, my name is Steve and I'm an ....

*Cough, cough* Sorry, wrong thread.

I'm a somewhat middle-aged professional. One wife, no kids, no pets. I've recently joined so this is my first challenge. I read when I should be working so I'm betting I can get to 75 relatively easily.

My interests include mysteries, history (mostly American and ancient roman, but others too), historical fiction, fictional historical mysteries, SF (more so when I was younger), some biography, biologic and physical sciences, and anything else that catches my eye.

I look forward to perusing your lists. My thread can be found here: http://www.librarything.com/topic/105429. Who knows; I might even manage to keep it updated ...

142 (lindsacl): Hello from the neighboring county of Lancaster!

>145 qebo:: *waves*

Hi, I'm Margaret, a 55+ school librarian in a small city on the VA/NC border. I've also lived in Washington, DC, Philadelphia, Oklahoma City, and San Antonio.

One Siamese cat, two grown children, and about 300 books occasionally share my tiny stucco home.

My favorite reading material ranges from newspaper editorials to travel and cooking magazines to self-help books and other nonfiction. Yes, as I said in my opening thread, I'm a featherhead. http://www.librarything.com/topic/105449

I sometimes try reading literary fiction, fantasy, and other popular genres but grow frustrated with the plot and dialogue. I usually only enjoy isolated scenes within these books that showcase the author's writing talent.

Hi, everybody! I'm Mary and am definitely a reading addict, reading between 80 and 120 books a year. I've been in the 50 and the 100 book groups for a few years now, but this group is so much fun I decided to come over to play here for 2011. (Here's my thread: http://www.librarything.com/topic/105025). Favorite books include historical fiction, mysteries (esp. historical mysteries), fantasy, science fiction, and literary fiction, as well as history, biographies, and true crime in the nonfiction category. I just discovered graphic novels and have fallen hard for them ~ so far Neverwhere and the Sandman series (both by Neil Gaiman) are my favorites.

I work as a legal secretary in a large firm and hope to retire in a year or two. I live in a "soft" loft in downtown L.A. with my sister, who's an R.N. (also a reader), and an African Grey parrot named Nickel (she loves books too, but only for shredding). I've got one grown daughter who lives in NYC and does waitressing, personal assisting, and temp office jobs when she's not performing in a theatrical production. She's also a voracious reader. (I raised her right!)

Aside from reading, I love travel and photography and am also an aspiring writer.

Hi, my name is Bette and I live in Northern New York, where we have lots of cold and snow. What better weather for reading. I like to read just about anything except very graphic horror. This is my first year participating in the group and I can't wait to get started. I am in my forties married with two boy’s ages 9 and 13. One of my goals in life is to read every Newbery winner and honor book, so far I have read 75. I usually read multiple books at one time. I have an upstairs book, downstairs book, audio book for the car, and a traveling book that goes with me everywhere (you never know when your going to get stuck somewhere). My family purchased me a Nook for Christmas so I can't wait to try it out. Although I'm not sure how I am going to feel about not holding an actual book but I am willing to give it a try. I started my 2011 75 book challenge thread it is located here: http://www.librarything.com/topic/105432

I look forward to meeting everyone.

Hello, my name is Adam. I am a librarian/IT. I just graduated my MLIS and I am pumped with my new found free time. I tried doing 75 Books in 2010 and failed miserably due to the demand on my time from work and school. Now I hope to put up a better effort. I read all kinds of books from history, syfy, fantasy, sociology (mostly on the male gender and their loss of traditional roles and displacement in society), science, religious studies, Buddhism, manga, and lots more. I look forward to the challenge and hope to make a few friends along the way. Cheers!

here is my thread: http://www.librarything.com/topic/105458

>138 beserene:: Thanks beserene. I should try some steampunk. What would you suggest?

However, I actually meant kind of the other way around, like archaeology in space. Best I ever read was Engines of God by Jack McDevitt, although I also loved the Time Patrol stories of Poul Anderson, which take a modern scientist into the past.

There's an element of myth in both which might be the attraction, although that never occured to me until now :-)

Jen

I can highly recommend The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi. It's borderline steampunk/distopia. I put it in my favorite reads of 2010.

Back again...

I'm Suzanne, this will be my second year among the 75ers. Live in NY (city, that is; well, Brooklyn, which all but die-hard Manhattanites are willing to admit is NYC...) I'm a journalist, focusing on business and finance, but occasionally varying into new territory. Now freelance (8 years and counting); author of a book that made its debut in June. So instead of typing this, I should be working on paperback edition revisions. But then there are so many other things in my life that I SHOULD be doing, and then I find myself reading instead. Share a brownstone duplex with several cats, none of whom have shown the slightest interest in awaiting my demise, thus demolishing Richard's theory. Rest of my family is up in Canada (Ontario); grew up in Europe, lived in Japan later, so a bit peripatetic.

2010 was the first time in my life (i'm in my late 40s) that I have ever kept track of the number of books I've read, although I've been an omnivorous, voracious reader since childhood, and the answer kind of scared me. (It's probably more damning that being seen as a 'cat lady'...) I'm sure that being in the 75 group added at least 75 books to that number... My interests are immensely varied -- I'll read what I think of as "brain candy", love a good mystery, have been a historical fiction fan since childhood (though I'm allergic to bodice rippers disguised as HF), but also read a lot of more serious fiction and as much non-fiction (history, biography, current events, travel, etc.) as I can cram in. I'll read books about the worlds of music, art & science, as long as they are general enough for a layperson to follow along. I'm not a big fan of memoirs, fantasy or romance novels and am very unlikely to try steampunk or books about Jane Austen battling demons or vampires. You can see my top books of the year on my profile page.

I'm going to avoid starting a "proper" thread until 2011, as I'm scrambling to wrap up my 1010 challenge! Besides, we've still got a week left in this year...

Hello, I'm Jen, and I'm not here to make a joke about group therapy. I'll be 25 in January, and I live in Bristol in south-west England. I studied theology and then Holocaust Studies at uni, and now I've stopped being a student, I work at my local university shuffling paper and being helpful to students (hopefully). I have no pets but my job is a bit like trying to herd cats sometimes, if that counts? I live with my boyfriend who is a non-reading Welsh computer geek who works in IT and claims it is possible to own too many books.

This is my second year as a 75er, having joined the 2010 quite late in the year. I'm still battling through the last few books for my 75 in 2010 but I'm off work until the New Year so reasonably confident of getting there. My reading habits generally centre around fiction (though a relatively eclectic mix thereof) and history, theology and anything which involves the two converging. In 2011 I'd like to clear a good chunk of my TBR pile out, especially those few which have been hanging on since 2006!

This thread has made me realise that I really have no regular hobbies, which is quite sad! In the past, I've included the following among my pastimes: playing the clarinet (rather badly) and violin (in a truly dire fashion; it was a service to the world of music when I gave up!), doing backstage work in student theatre, knitting, and of course reading. I write, intermittently, and mostly suffer from near-constant writer's block. Grargh!

My thread is here: http://www.librarything.com/topic/105457

It's 00:40 here, so merry Christmas everyone, and to all a good night!

Hi, I'm Ellen. I've lived in Texas for 25 years but my heart belongs to Pennsylvania where I grew up. My mouth waters for pieroges and hot sausage sandwiches! I am growing gently into my 50's. I h ave two boys... one just finished college and the other just started...a 14 year old Border Collie...getting very old...and a fiance of three years...no date set yet! I been teaching for 10 years...starting in the intervention reading program and have also taught 2nd grade, 1st grade and now 3rd. At my school I am known for having the most educational resource books. When anyone is looking for a book about Language Arts they are likely to come to me. I also like to read American history up to the Westward Expansion including, of course, Texas history. When I read fiction I like to be entertained, nothing too serious. Right now I am reading some of the same books that my students are reading and I am scrambling to keep up with them. We are continually recommending and exchanging books, although I just can't abide the Diary of A Wimpie Kid series or anything with the word "underpants" in the title. I've recently read Inkheart (and have a stack of Cornelia Funke books on deck!), The Midwife's Apprentice, The Invention of Hugo Cabret, The Clockwork Three, and The Princess Bride.

My thread is: http://www.librarything.com/topic/105109

I'm looking forward to the new year and many, many books!

Hello everyone! Merry Christmas and Happy Solstice and New Year and all. My name is Terri and I live in Portland Oregon. I've lived in the Northwest US all my life (60 years this year!) and I love it here, can't think of anywhere else I'd rather live. (It doesn't hurt that Powell's is close by!)

I think this is my third year with the 75ers. I did defect for a year to try the 100 club, but it was too stressful (and not as friendly!) 75 is a good challenge but not a huge push. I like to keep some of the fun in reading, so I don't want to challenge myself too severely.

I got quite excited about TIOLI this summer and now try to fit most of my reads into that bunch of challenges too.

I retired two years ago; now I spend a lot of time being entertained by my amazing little dog Liza and a gang of two and three year olds who come to our house four days a week for my partner's family child care. I love photography; I love to make music -- I sing with a women's choir here in Portland. I also play guitar and bass and sing and write songs with another woman - we've been making music together for 15 years.

And of course, I love to read. Historical fiction, literary fiction, some graphic novels and memoirs, contemporary women's fiction (I love a lot of the Orange prize winners and nominees).

My season premier is here. I start with good intentions of visiting and commenting on lots of threads, but it dwindles pretty quickly. I am looking forward to seeing what others are reading in 2011. I had such a good reading year this year, it will be hard to top it.

I'll also participate in the 11 in 11 Category Challenge. and my thread for that one is here. This challenge helps me get organized and gets me reading some things I might not otherwise read.

Enjoy your reading for the last week of 2010! I hope you'll come visit me a time or two.

I'm Ivy. This is the first year I've joined the 75 Book group, though I've been on LT since 2007 and have been participating in the Category Challenges since the 888.

I've lived in Oregon all my life, and have lived in the same house just outside Portland for nearly 30 years. I'm 62, married, and have 2 adult daughters: one who lives close by, is married and the mother of my 2 adored granddaughters; and one who can usually be found in some exotic (or dangerous) place somewhere in the world, but who just arrived home from China for an indefinite period. There are also currently 3 cats who are allowing the rest of us to share their home.

Reading is probably my only interest / hobby that is lifelong. I go through phases with everything else, sometimes coming back again after a period of years. What I read also follows phases to a certain extent, and is somewhat eclectic, but my favorite reading genres have always been mysteries and historical fiction.

My 75 Book thread: http://www.librarything.com/topic/105572
My 11 in 11 Challenge thread: http://www.librarything.com/topic/97422

Welcome, Ivy~! I'm in Portland. *waving at neighbors*

I'm Micky. This is my first outing with the 75 Books group and also my first time out really participating in a group.

I live near Edmonton, Alberta, Canada where I'm finishing my last term in library school. The thought of actually being nearly done school is both exciting and terrifying as it means I'll have to find a real job and leave the cocoon of schooling that I've been hanging out in since Kindergarten.

I read almost everything, although I tend to go through phases where I read certain kinds of books. At the moment I've been reading tons of YA fiction.

My thread: http://www.librarything.com/topic/105574

Thanks, Terri! Neighbors are nice -- and it seems quite possible that we have passed each other at Powell's...

I'm coming in quietly because my lack of reading the past two years has grown layers of guilt. I'm Kathie and, although I will always consider myself a New Yorker (Scarsdale), I have been living in southwestern Ohio since June 1971. I am viciously struggling against becoming a Medicare recipient in August but, alas, I fear the march of time will win this one. I can't understand all these decades passing before me (or is that behind me?) when I still have the maturity of a twelve-year-old (not to mention my face is inexorably traveling southward despite my attempts to keep it in place).

I have four adult children (a son and three daughters) from whom I also begat (have begatten?), so far, eight grandchildren, evenly divided by gender, and two very large but pathetically affable black dogs. The fact that the "child my parents wished upon me" has three boys of her own makes me giggle gleefully every time I think about it. We won't discuss the belatedly departed ruthlessly deadbeat ex-spouse except to say that his belated departure enabled me to wipe every scrap of his existence from the house he designed 33 years ago and fill it with bookcases that make me smile with unparalleled pleasure. He was also a great sperm donor.

I am educated as a lawyer with a lifelong love for research and writing that has led me to a series of dream jobs with a soul-sucking and astoundingly clueless corporation (aren't they all?) that develops and sells electronic legal, news, business, and financial data. Exalt in my work and co-workers; abhor the rest. As a side effect of studying law, I delight in playing devil's advocate, which annoys those who prefer to dwell in only their own minds. In my next life, I intend to work for a progressive think tank (who knew about such things in the 60s?) or be a research librarian. Or a nurse practitioner. Definitely not a cowboy.

I like to think my reading choices are incredibly eclectic but, truly, I'm addicted to books about white collar crime (those dastardly corporate executives and middle managers) and true crime featuring psychopathic serial killers (which may explain why I don't date and, by the way, it's always the mother's fault), closely followed by anything that debunks magical thinking, and current non-fiction about far too many topics -- all of which I MUST read before I die. Delicately sprinkled among those are favored authors of fiction such as Jonathan Kellerman (and Faye), John Lescroart, and Nelson DeMille; medical and legal thrillers (go figure), and -- only to clear the cobwebs from my brain, mind you -- a wee bit of chic lit and trash novels from the likes of Jacqueline Susann and Judith Krantz. And the early V.C. Andrews. Come on, admit it, if you haven't read Flowers in the Attic and Petals in the Wind, you haven't read fiction. I absolutely HAVE to be reading every idle moment but I will go out of my way to evade sci fi and fantasy, which, I have discovered, puts me in the distinct minority on LT.

Despite a death grip on my Kindle, there is nothing finer than the smell of books and paper covered with ink. So now that I have joined a challenge in front of all of LT, I need to find out how to create my own thread. I'll accept help with that from anyone here who is not afraid of talking down to me very slowly. Really slowly.

Welcome Kathie!!! Starting a thread is easy -- go to the top of this page, click on 75 Books Challenge for 2011 and it takes you to the group main page. Scroll down a bit until you come to "Post a new topic" - click there and you are ready to go. The cursor will start out in the message box where you can type or edit anything you want, just like you did here. Be sure to go back to the Subject box and give your thread a clever title. Be warned though -- you can't edit the Subject, so make sure it says what you want! For the Subject, most of us here put in our user name and our real name plus any other short part of title we want.

Is that slow enough??

My name is Lisa. I had a great time doing the TIOLI challenges in 2010 so for 2011 I thought it would be fun to make my own thread too: http://www.librarything.com/topic/105579

I live in Auckland, New Zealand, I'm 26, and I work at a University. I live with my partner who is an electrical engineer and our occi cat Cleo. Both of us are very quiet private people and enjoy pottering around following our own interests... his usually involve a computer and mine a book.

I usually have no problems reading 75 books a year - now that I have said that I will!!

I read almost everything. The only genres I rarely read, if ever, would be crime, mystery and horror. I like reading non-fiction but not nearly as much as fiction so I usually only manage to read one or two.

Hi, I'm Carrie. I participate in several other challenge groups (1010 Category Challenge, 11 in 11 Category Challenge, 50 States Fiction/Non-Fiction Challenge, Europe Endless Challenge, Reading Through Time, Canadian Fiction/Non-Fiction Challenge), but this is my first time in the 75 Books Challenge. I average about 2 books per week, so this should be manageable for me.

I'm a librarian in East Tennessee, where I've lived most of my life except for 4 years I spent in the UK in and around London. I've been 29 and holding for quite a few years now, but the first president I remember is Nixon, and I remember watching the first moon walk live on television. However, the Kennedy assassination was before my time. I've been an avid reader since age 4. My mother began teaching me how to play the piano as soon as I learned to read, and books and music have been a major part of my life ever since.

I read a variety of genres, but my favorite is historical mystery. I also love books set in interesting locales -- probably the result of all those "Bobbsey Twins take a trip" books I devoured in elementary school. Genealogy/family history is a long-time hobby, and a lot of my non-fiction reading centers around that interest – US history (especially 19th century), regional history (particularly Midwestern states), social history, and family history case studies. I love the LT challenges because I find a lot of good books through them, and because they stretch me into new areas of reading. Some of my favorite reads in 2010 were books I sought out for my geographical challenges that I probably wouldn't have discovered otherwise.

I'm another who tends to lurk more than I post in other people's threads. Since I work in an academic setting, I'm much less active in the talk groups at the beginning and end of each semester.

I started a thread here: http://www.librarything.com/topic/105589

I'm Lori. I live in East Tennessee. I am owned by a cat! I'm a librarian and genealogist. I enjoy mysteries, histories, cookbooks and books about cooking or food, but I don't limit my reading to only those categories. I've participated in challenges on LibraryThing before, but this will be my first time in the 75 book challenge. I read over 100 this past year, so I expect to reach it. (In fact I'm committed to at least 77 in the 11 in 11 Challenge for this year.)

My thread is here: http://www.librarything.com/topic/105590

>164 cbl_tn:, 165: Hey Lori and Carrie! What are the odds, two librarians from East Tennessee posting within minutes...do you two know each other?? Anyway, welcome to you both to the 75athon! Enjoy yourselves!

Hi I'm Bryony and this would be my 3rd on 75ers, I'm currently 27 I live in england and read many different book though I tend to read mostly young Adult and Graphic Novels.

my 2011 tread is here http://www.librarything.com/topic/105592

Hi everyone. This will be my third year in the 75 challenge group, and I'm looking forward to another year of great reads and lots more LT inspired recommendations and chitchat.

My RL name is Kerry, I'm a keen reader with a huge tbr mountain that I'm desperate to conquer. I live in Auckland, New Zealand and at present I'm a stay-at-home mother of 5 who does a bit of volunteer work in the literature world of festivals, reviewing and a few committees. We share our house with a large number of books, computers, musical instruments and are now down to 1 cat, Reggae, and 1 beagle, Ginny.

I read widely and enjoy books set in interesting places/times, books in translation, YA and children's fiction, some scifi & fantasy and a little nonfiction.

My thread: http://www.librarything.com/topic/105593

>166 teelgee: Terri, yes, we do know each other! Although we work in different libraries about 30 miles apart. One of the reasons our LT libraries match so well (we're each the top match for the other) is because we regularly exchange books we've read. Almost every time we meet we exchange anywhere from a handful to a box full of books!

>166 teelgee: Yes, Terri - we tend to "mooch" books off each other. That's also one reason Mount TBR is so huge. I have a mountain of her books as well as a mountain of mine!

>169 cbl_tn:, 170 That's great -- I love having friends to share books and LT with!

Hi, I'm Tina (known also as Tutu- the hawaiian word for grandmother). I've been a member of the 75er group since I joined LT in 2008. It's a fun fun group and I look forward to reading with all of you again this year.

I'm the volunteer town librarian here in South Thomaston ME, a computer geek, wife of a retired Navy ship captain, mother of 2, grandma of 1, orginally from Baltimore, with lots of family in DC/Balto area. We came to Maine on our honeymoon 44 years ago, and resolved to retire here, which we did in 2004.

I do book reviews for publishers and authors on my blog Tutu's Two Cents and sometimes run contests there to giveaway free books I get from the publishers, so stop by anytime.

For the past two years, I've played in a bundle of different reading challenges, but I've decided this year I'm not structuring my reading. I'll still do reviews of those that appeal to me, but I'm not locking into any number or type or series, or cause. I may join in a group read if the book is one I want to read, and I will be doing my annual "Lenten" read (more later) for anyone who wants to join. I am continuing with the US Presidents, and Dewey Decimal challenges which are going to take me the rest of my life.

I'm making my TBR list as we speak and can't wait for the ball to drop on the 31st (my son's birthday). In the meantime, any books I finish this week will go onto my 75 in 2010 thread here.

Here's my new 75 in 2011 thread.

Hi, I'm Michelle. I'm over in NYC and an English teacher. I love YA fiction, especially fantasy. Last year, I tried two challenges for the first time and was overly ambitious. What possessed me to think I would read 50 books from my shelves when there are so many shiny, new ones coming out? I also share my studio apartment with two cats, who think books make lovely pillows.

Here's my 75 Book Challenge
And my 11 in 11 Challenge

Hi all, I'm Jenna and have recently moved back to my hometown of Tulsa, OK from Houston, where I lived most of my adult life to this point. I am a 40-ish single lesbian mom of two boys, 19 and 17 and soon to be a grandmother (although I'm MUCH too young to be one...lol). I primarily read literary fiction, but sometimes break out a good mystery or a nonfiction book on Buddhism. I have been an avid reader since I was 4, but have been so consumed by work in recent years that I haven't done as much of it as I would like. Now that I am back home and off work due to a temporary disability, I'm rediscovering my first love and excited to have found LT.

Oh my goodness there are so many people in this 75 books in 2011 Challenge! This is my first time trying the 75 books challenge, and my link to that is here - http://www.librarything.com/topic/105614.

I just joined librarything in Sept/Aug of 2010, and have been mainly in the Canadian Bookworms groups, and a read across Canada Challenge prior to this.

I've been married for 27 years , we have two sons, aged 26 and nearly 21. I will be - GASP! 50 in January. I live in Vancouver BC Canada. Love it here! My reading tastes are eclectic. Last year I read a number of books by Canadian authors, but I also love mysteries and thrillers, and character driven novels. I do read non-fiction too -but that is in the minority. You can have a look at my profile and see what I have read in the past year or so. Currently I am on a Swedish mystery reading binge, having discovered Henning Mankell. Previous to that I read Major Pettigrew's Last Stand which was a favourite of mine last year.

Glad to meet you all! By the way - my name is Deborah, but I do answer to Deb. :)

Hello, I'm Nick. I am an engineer who lives in the Midwest and I enjoy running and reading. My reading tastes are fairly diverse, but I tend to lean more towards horror and fantasy.

For the past two years I have been a member of the "50 Book Challenge" group and I have read more books in the past two years then I had cumulatively read the previous decade. I look forward to the inevitable exponential growth of my wishlist in 2011.

If you are interested in what I read in 2010, check out my previous challenge thread here."

>151 JenMacPen:: Jen, it sounds like you might enjoy The Anubis Gates by Tim Powers, which is an older book, one which has influenced the growth of steampunk into a strong subgenre. If you are interested in steampunk, there is a lot out there. I second the Paolo Bacigalupi recommendation, and Cherie Priest's Boneshaker -- along with its sequels -- is tons of fun. My 2010 thread, linked above in msg 130 -- I am posting mobile at the moment and can't seem to repeat the link here, sorry -- has a brief list of the steampunk I read this year if you would like more ideas.

Ahem. Suzanne/Chatterbox should not be dissuaded from her delusion that her Satanic Minions (cats, to the as-yet-uninformed) are not merely biding their time awaiting the day she fails to wake up so they can eat her face. This is, after all, what The Prince of Darkness created them to do. (Besides spread deadly dander and toxic spit, of course.) Fortunately for all readers, though, Suzanne is highly likely to outlive them all, as Good must triumph over Evil. (I'm not that much of a Manichaean.)

I simply felt the need to set the public record straight.

http://www.librarything.com/topic/105696

Hmmm I hope i'm doing this correctly?
I'm new to LT and new to the challenges. I'm a librarian who is changing career to train as a childrens nurse in Feb 2012. For the next 14 months I am study free and intend to read all I want and make the most of my spare time...
I'm 38 and have two children under 5, a great hubby, two cats, two tortoises and a big dog.

Anne-Marie
x

Looks good to me, Anne-Marie! Welcome - may you read to your heart's content this year!

Hi, I'm Deseree, 49-year-old mom living in Durham, NC. My only daughter is a freshman in college in Atlanta (so that means lots more reading for me). I have 2 dogs (no cats). and work as a web developer/technical writer at a large tech firm and looking anxiously to retirement where I can do more reading.

I've only participated in the TIOLI challenge since mid-year but will start my own thread in 2011 here. I've also participated in several group reads elsewhere on LT.

I like to read a wide variety of genres and in additional to participating to challenges here in LT, I'm also participating in several from the book blogging community. Happy New Year!

Here's my link for the 11 in 11 challenge.

Hello everyone! I'm Jess a 20 soon to be 21 year old English gal. This is my second year doing the 75 book challenge. I reached my target last year and hope to do so a second time in 2011! I met a lot of wonderfully bookish people doing the challenge last year and hope to do so again this year. Never feel shy to drop me a message ^_^ I love my YA but also dabble in chick-lit and general fiction amongst other things from time to time. I'm also a book blogger so if you wanted to check that out here’s the link for that too http://jessheartsbooks.blogspot.com/ feel free to stop by my thread and introduce yourself, I’m looking forward to hearing from you http://www.librarything.com/talktopic.php?topic=105705

I didn't realize I was so behind in adding on to the intro list - looks like 2011 will be a great year.

My name is Patrick and this will be my second (and a half) year with the 75'ers. I started in mid 2009, and enjoyed it so much dedicated most of my reading in 2010 to hitting my target - and participating in the TIOLI subgroup. I like a lot of NonFiction, literary and historical fiction and read more than my fair share of YA/Children's literature - sometimes with my daughter, sometimes on my own.

I work for an audiobook publisher, so I have an unending supply of audiobooks - and spend a lot of time in my car - so many of my "reads" are actually unabridged audio recordings - but that's reading too!

My current 2010 thread is here: http://www.librarything.com/topic/98483

My future 2011 thread is here: http://www.librarything.com/topic/105708

lucky you!

I'm Lisa, been a member of LT for a few years and participated in a couple of other groups but after taking up a new hobby in 2009 both my reading and LT participation suffered greatly. Hope that 2011 brings my love of reading back, so please feel free to remind me of that as the months move along.
I'm a Brit living in North Carolina. Married 22yrs, 1 daughter age 20 and 2 sons ages 18 & 15. 2 cats aged 2, and 1 dog aged 11. None of these enjoy reading, not even the cats.
If asked I say I prefer classics or literary fiction but a quick look at my recent reading habits show more fluff reads and YA than anything.
I enjoy knitting, reading, and sometimes I enjoy cooking. I lead a very dull and isolated life so talking to my cats is a big part of my day. They listen to me... the dog doesn't.

Britannia reads again

>186 BritAnnia: Isn't that the opposite of the way it's supposed to be? But I agree, my cats listen to me much more completely than my dog does. What was your new hobby?

Hi, I'm Tom, 35 and live in Chicago, though work has me on the road to all corners of the earth more than I'm home. I'm a slower reader, and go through fits and starts of reading, so 75 isn't a realistic goal for me, but the 75ers kindly welcomed my interloping in 2010, so I decided to put down roots here in 2011.

My 2011 thread is here:http://www.librarything.com/topic/105272

I can't make precise predictions as to what you'll see me read, but I'd guess it will be mostly contemporary fiction, some 'literary', much not. There will a bit of non-fiction (probably most in the pop social sciences arena) and some technology-related books here and there, and I'll try to read some of the fiction classics, were I am woefully lacking. A smattering of anything/everything else is possible, as LT, and this group in particular, is always giving me great ideas, and helping me to expand my horizons. I've taken to a bit of a liking of some YA books, for instance. And I keep toying with reading some graphic novels.

So bring on 2011, whatever may come.

Hi all, I'm Laurie, I'm 33, and I live in western Washington state. I'm a displaced east coaster- raised in the Boston area and lived most of my twenties in Virginia. I'm still trying to get accustomed to the slower pace of living out here (and the rain). I'm a history professor by day. I have two main hobbies: reading and figure skating, both of which command far too much of my time and money. I adore reading challenges, and I joined the 2010 version of this one right at the end of the year. I was sucked in by the TIOLI challenges.

Looking forward to being more active in this group in 2011!

Hi, I'm Katie, originally from NY but living in Texas now. I am married (just over a year) with no children but we have two cats (they came with the husband) and one dog. I've always been an avid reader but the past few years have seen more of "life" taking up my time. I originally joined LT to catalogue my books (the hubby was going to build me a database but apparently I wanted it too complex so he found LT for me) but after lurking for a few months around the threads, it occurred to me that I might enjoy reflecting and writing more on my reading. So here I am. I seriously doubt I'll make it to 75 with everything else going on in my life, but the regulars here seem very bright, witty, and welcoming, so I thought I'd try it out. I read a pretty wide range of things from travelogues, history, and memoirs to historical fiction, contemporary fiction, and "classics." I've been on a mystery/thriller/suspense kick lately, too.

My thread is here: http://www.librarything.com/topic/105749
My 11 in 11 Category Challenge (actually 3 in 11) thread is here: http://www.librarything.com/topic/105531

Looking forward to getting to know everyone!

I'm Lisa Hill, from Melbourne Australia and my profile is here http://www.librarything.com/profile/gunung
I'm back again: in 2010 I read over 100 books (not counting short stories or audio-books, see http://www.librarything.com/topic/80302#1677870) so I feel reasonably confident I can do 75, but you never know, life gets messy sometimes. As usual I'll be focussing on OzLit.
My thread is here
http://www.librarything.com/topic/105398#2387466
and my reviews are here
http://anzlitlovers.wordpress. com - please visit when you have time and say hello.
I'm on GoodReads too http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/1758411

>187 ronincats: It was wishful thinking on my part to say they listen... when in fact all they really do is answer me back!

My new hobby is knitting and the knitting website Ravelry groups drew my attentions away from LT. *Gasp*

It is so good to read all of these introductions, and to feel like I know you (well, some of you I do know from earlier 75-book challenges). This sounds like a wonderful group of readers and writers!

I am starring every 2011 75-book thread, and will try to keep up with them all (I guess that's one of my New Year's resolutions!)

Great reading to you all in 2011!

Karen O.

But Karen, will you have time to read books?? LOL!

I KNOW! But Stasia does it! I think I'll be doing a lot of skimming...

Karen O.

Hi everyone! I'm Mere, new to the 75 book challenge if not LibraryThing itself. I'm 22, graduated from college this year, and now live back at home in Connecticut where I work as a tutor and try desperately to come up with what I "really" want to do for a living. As a not-so-former history major, I'm a self-described history nerd, but I read much more fiction, ranging from YA to historical to whatever I find on the new book shelf at the library.

I'm really glad to see so many other involved readers here and look forward to meeting you! My thread is here: http://www.librarything.com/topic/105809. (PS, how do you make text a link instead of posting the URL? I'm not so computer literate...thanks!)

I finally started my 75 in 2011 page, so I believe it's time to introduce myself formally.

I started on LibraryThing last year - and began with the 1010 challenge. I really enjoyed tracking what I read, and having a single place to keep lists for future reading too! I stumbled on this group earlier this week, and decided that this would be a great way for me to try to set a more realistic reading goal for this year.

Now, about me: I'm in my mid-40s, parent to three amazing kids, 15 and twin 12-year-olds, live in Northern Virginia, work as a fed, was a psychology professor before I moved to government, married to a man who also loves to read. I have loved to read for as long as I can remember, and thing LT is great. Recently, I have begun to write about food as a blogger.... (http://food4five.wordpress.com).

My 75 in 11 thread is here: http://www.librarything.com/topic/105807.

Going to try the 11 in 11 stepped challenge too. That thread is here:
http://www.librarything.com/topic/105699.

#196 Mere, there's a basic HTML thread that has all the info about adding links (see message 4, I think) at the thread located here

Ack I left this intro a tad late but never mind.

Hi I'm Rachel, I'm 20 and this is my second year in the 75ers. I'm currently not a student but sort of "between courses" so there may be some interesting academic developments this year. I read a heck of a lot more than I probably should having topped 200+ books read in 2010 which I'd quite like to manage again in 2011 but perhaps not in such insane chunks.
I read mostly YA fiction and Fantasy but also I have a lot of Historical Fiction novels to read plus a ton of classics that I bought over the last year that I'm determined to get through at some point. I also quite like my adult urban fantasy novels and the occasional miscellaneous literary novel.

So if you fancy stepping over my first thread of the year is here

Hi, Jean here.

I came here for TIOLI and began that just in December.

I have zero expectations of reading 75 books this year. I'm working on book 40 for this year.

I write novels for fun, am retired (a 20 year retiree USAF Major), live on the Emerald Coast of Florida with spouse and two Labradors.

> 200

I have zero expectations of reading 75 books this year. I'm working on book 40 for this year.

LOL!! Hugs to you, Jean. It seems that you, like me, are here just to have fun! :)

Hi! I'm Kelly, and this is my third year with the 75ers. I'm 48 years old and live in New York City. I'm a registered nurse in pediatrics and pediatric research. I've worked at the same large, teaching hospital for over 20 years. Non-work wise: I am a vegetarian, a pagan, and I practice yoga and meditation. I have no children and no pets. Unlike many people here who don't watch television, I actually watch a fair amount of TV and obsess over various programs -- Doctor Who, Buffy, Hoarders, Veronica Mars, Pushing Daisies. Book wise I'll read from almost any genre except romance, chicklit, westerns and hardcore horror. I read a lot of YA, graphic novels, literary fiction, poetry, fantasy and short stories. For non-fiction reads I like science, travel and sociology. I've been reading a lot of books on Buddhism recently. 2011 will be the year of the chunkster book for me. I've been planning this since 2008.
Looking forward to seeing what people are reading in 2011.
My 2011 thread is here: http://www.librarything.com/topic/105830

Hi Lisa, nice to see another Kiwi here. I'm from Paeroa and am just home from spending a few days in Auckland with my daughter. I have two who live there, also two brothers and their families, and I also grew up in Auckland.
I have managed to read 70 books this year, so thought this challenge would suit me.
I'm currently reading Hand Me Down World by Lloyd Jones.

>202 VioletBramble:
I loved Vernoica Mars and especially Pushing Daisies. I was so sad when they canceled them.

Edit: Opps, did the "eating alligator" sign the wrong way and poof went my message.

Hello everyone. I'm Ryan and this will be my second year in this group. I'm 34 and live in St. Paul, MN with my wife (a librarian) and 9 month old (and no cats). I also have a 15 year old son who lives in SE Minnesota. I work with financial systems--a fancy way of saying that I'm an accountant type with just a little bit of knowledge of IT. Outside of work, I like to play golf, kickball and video games. I read a little bit of everything and am looking forward to chip away at my to-read pile only to add to it with new recommendations.

My 2011 thread is here: http://www.librarything.com/topic/105851

Hi, I'm Tabs and this is my second year with the 75ers. I read far more than I ever expected to last year and hoping to keep up the good work this year.

I'm 27 and live in the greater Philadelphia area. I used to be a physicist and am now doing... a little bit of everything really.

My reading tastes tend to the light: romance, chick-lit/women's fiction, contemporary young adult, and children's fantasy. I love romantic comedy more than anything else, but I'll try most genres as long as the relationships are well developed and the characters are interesting. Especially if the characters make me laugh.

My thread is over here.

This is my second year for LT and my second time hanging out with the 75ers. What a great group this is! I'm looking forward in the new year to continuing the friendships I made last year and also getting to know new people.

I'm a 50-something committed reader/writer who lives smack in the middle of flyover country (Missouri), and I love it here. I'm originally from Denver, Colorado; I've also lived for shorter periods in Texas, Nebraska, and Kentucky. I'm a "retired" R.N. (nurses don't really retire, they just quit punching the clock) and also a recovering adjunct instuctor of writing. I loved teaching writing at our local university, but I found the job incompatible with my own writing because there are only so many hours in a day. So I've given up all my paying jobs and I work at home where I live with DH and two black Labs (thus the "labwriter"). If DH gives up his paying job, I'm in real trouble! heh

My 2011 thread is here.

My 2010 thread is here, where I will continue to post until 23:59, Dec 31.

Hope to see some old and new visitors there. Happy reading!

Hello, I'm James and am relatively new to LibraryThing. I am fairly confident about the challenge of reading seventy-five books in 2011 having read over 100 books per year each of the last thirty years.

I have fairly eclectic tastes and would certainly welcome any recommendations that fellow challengers might care to make.

Happy New Year to all

Eyejaybee

Hi everyone! I'm Nicole and after a year and a half on LibraryThing, I figured I should join a group, so here I am!

My 2011 thread is here: http://www.librarything.com/topic/105887

I live in Charleston, SC with my hubby, our 2 miniature dachshunds, 1 geriatric cat (she came with the hubby) and a lovebird named Jerome. I'm looking forward to talking with other bookworms since the spousal unit & my best friends are not readers in the least. (They're NUTS, if you ask me!)

Happy New Year to all & happy reading!

Hi all. I am Brenda, a 50-something retiree with two grown girls and a terrible reading addiction! I joined LT in Oct of 2010 and have not been brave enough to join any groups, primarily because of my lousy computer skills. I enjoy a variety of book genres and, though I've not kept records, read probably 100 - 150 books per year. I love the feel, the smell, the sensation of gathering books and have been reluctant to jump on the e-reader bandwagon - until now. I received an I-Pad for Christmas and am crazy about it already. It is a bit scary though . . . access to this much readily available reading material may just send me over the edge! Anyway, I'm throwing my hat into the 75 Book Challenge for 2011. I'll be perusing your pages for recommendations to add to my already impossibly long list of "to read" books.

Hi Donna. Well, I've done it . . . finally joined a challenge/group . . . I think! I trust you will let me know if I do something really idiotic because of my questionable computer skills. Happy reading!
brenda

Hi all! I'm Amanda and I am very new to LibraryThing which I stumbled on by accident when I was scouring the internet for new reading recommendations. I hope I will be able to read 75 books this year, I do most years but I am expecting my first child in June so I may be a bit distracted!

I am very much looking forward to discussing this years books with you all.

Happy New Year all.

Hi - I'm Riva. This is my 3d year for the 75 Book Challenge, and I figured it was time to speak up. I'm a law librarian for a largish, multi-office law firm. I've been a reader for as long as I can remember - longer, maybe, as Mom tells me I used to "read" to my baby sister when I was 2. Most of my reading is light - cozies, chick lit, urban fantasy, paranormal romance - that sort of thing. It's easier to fit light reads around my work load. I am planning on trying the Austen group read this year, though!

My 2011 thread is here: http://www.librarything.com/topic/105779

My 2010 thread is here (if you want to see the types of things I read): http://www.librarything.com/topic/80748

Hi, I'm Jolie. I'm a writer/reporter/editor. I'm sleepy. Each night I cuddle into my big soft bed with a beloved book and fall asleep within 10 pages.

I'm hoping the challenge will be just the carrot my somnambulant horse needs to keep me awake. Before children and 60-hour work weeks and all the rest I would read a book in three days. Now, not so much. *sigh*

I'm spending all day tomorrow finishing The Zookeeper's Wife so I can start fresh. Wish me luck. :-)

>211 brenpike:: Woo Hoo, Brenda's here. My little nudge worked. You're doing great! Just holler if you have questions and I guarantee some friendly person will give you a quick answer. That goes to all the newbies here. Welcome to all of you!

Hi, Julia here. This is my first attempt at a book challenge. I've been poking around a little, and y'all seem like an awfully friendly, well-read group! I can't decide which I'm looking forward to more: the chance to chronicle my reading for the year, or the chance to pick up recommendations from everyone else's threads. :)

After a long career as a reporter/editor, I'm now enjoying a second career working for the study abroad office at my alma mater. I read just about anything, but especially historical nonfiction and fiction, mysteries, biographies, and just generally "good" literature. I have a 20-minute commute to and from work in a van pool with 15 other people, and I love using that time to read.

Well, that's more than enough about me. My thread is here. Please feel free to stop by in 2011!

Hello! I'm Cindy, and this is my thrid year in the 75 Book Challenge. I read well over 75 in 2009 and then fell short in 2010 due to other commitments. I plan to make that up this year!

I love books and photography! I also enjoy scuba diving and/or snorkeling when I have the opportunity. In fact, I would love to be able to quit work and concentrate on my other interests. Somehow that work thing must go on!

My 2011 thread is here. Feel free to visit my thread here, my profile, or my library. We're all friends here. Right? Right?!?!

I am Janet, and I live in London. I read 101 books in 2010, the most I have ever read in a year. To be fair, it was a cheat, because I was off work sick all year, so if/when I go back to work I will struggle to keep up. Of those 101 books, around a third were directly as a result of recommendations here, so this group is very precious to me.

I think people will struggle to keep up with all the threads in this group this year, so to give you an idea of what kind of books I like, so you can see if my thread will be interesting to you, here are some of my favorites of 2010:

Simon Armitage – Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
Sarah Bakewell – How to Live (life of Montaigne)
Richard Bausch – Peace
Alan Bennett – The Uncommon Reader
Gil Buhet – The Honey Siege
Olivia E. Butler – Kindred
Michael Chabon – Maps and Legends
Bessie Head – When Rain Clouds Gather
Gish Jen – World and Town
Ryszard Kapuscinski – Travels with Herodotus
Ursula K. LeGuin – Lavinia
Andrea Levy – The Long Song
David Liss – A Conspiracy of Paper
Attica Locke – Black Water Rising
Tom McCarthy – Remainder
Naguib Mahfouz – Palace Walk
Caryl Phillips – A Distant Shore
W. G. Sebald – Rings of Saturn
Vergil – The Aeneid
Stefan Zweig – Beware of Pity

Although I mostly like to talk about books, other topics I’d love to hear your thoughts about on my thread would be:
-What it’s like to go back to work after being off sick for a long time (hopefully this will be me!)
- Possibilities for career change for people well into middle age (could also be me!)
- Preparing to visit Japan for the first time (I so hope this will be me, too, but this one could drag into 2012)

Other than that, I hope to visit you on your thread and talk about what YOU like!

My thread is at:

http://www.librarything.com/topic/105962

Hi! I'm Blue and I live in New Hampshire. This is my first time in the 75 books group; I've been in the 50 book challenge group since it started, but I've been enticed over by the community and friendliness that I see in some friends' threads here. My 2011 thread is here and there are links to my previous four threads there too.

I read mostly science fiction and fantasy, including a lot of young adult books, with a handful of straight fiction and a smattering of non-fiction mixed in.

#219 I also am reading mostly sci fi and fantasy with a few YA versions of same thrown into the mix. I haven't even hit the magical 50 books a year yet, but I'm here anyway.

Hi my name is Jess.

This is my 3rd year in the 75 group and I have had a lot of fun and have increased the variety in what I've read the last 2 years by great recommendations from others.

I like to try different genres and expand my reading tastes. I have a few tomes lined up this year, starting with The Mists of Avalon.

Here's a link to my 2011 thread: HERE

Hi, I'm Rachel and I'm new to the 75 Book Challenge. I've done the 50 Book Challenge for the past two years, and I have no idea how many books I'll read this year, but decided to move up to this group. I read a lot of historical fiction, but I enjoy other genres as well.

The link for my 2011 thread is: http://www.librarything.com/topic/105970.

Helloooo, I'm Faith and this is my third year in the 75 Book Challenge, fourth year on LT. I live in Southern Ontario (Canada) with my husband, a four-year-old Sun Conure (Mango Calrissian), a psycho cat going on three (Caprica), and a hamster (Wicket).

I put my Near Eastern Archaeology & Classical Studies degree to good use by becoming a freelance writer (please note sarcasm), and though I'm supposed to be a full-time writer, I've become a bit of a jack-of-all-trades, master of none... this semester I'll be teaching English Composition at a local college, doing some TA work for another professor, and I'm a church librarian. I also teach bellydance & Bollywood dance classes at several studios, and I dance with a local bellydance troupe on a regular basis.

I love video games (attend PAX every year, both of them), and drink far too much coffee.

I blog about writing & books on my blog, Literary Coldcuts on Toasty Buns.

I love this group, and before I joined, my reading tastes were severely limited... since then, I've expanded my reading horizons and will give just about anything a try, though my favorites are: Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Young Adult, Children's (mostly children's fantasy), chick lit/romantic comedies, historical fiction, and then plenty of non-fiction in history/mythology, animals/nature, psychology, humor, world issues, travel memoir, etc., etc., etc...

And finally, here's my THREAD for 2011!

HI, I see that people mention that they starred someones thread so that they can keep up with it. Can someone tell me how you do that and where you see those. I have lost track of a few posts in the past and I don't want to do that again.

Thanks

@224: When you first open a thread, at the top right area you'll see 2 gray symbols. Click the gray star to turn it yellow, and now that thread will show up in the "Your Starred" list in the left-hand navigation in Talk views. Click the gray X to ignore the thread, and new posts won't bounce it to the top of your Talk topics.

Hope this helps!

At the very top of a thread, on the far right side, you will see a grayed out star and an x. You click on the star for those you want to keep track of. Then when you are ready to move on to another thread you go to the top again and on the left you will find a list titled Your World and under it you'll find Your Starred and when you click it a list of all the starred, by you, threads will come up.

Enjoy

And oh, the little x is for threads you'd really rather not deal with. Once you do the x the thread will fall to the very end of your lists and you really don't need to see it ever again.

I like the star, but I admit the little red x is possibly my favorite feature in all of Talk!

Thanks everyone

Hi, Everyone! My name is Pat and 2011 will be my second year on LT. I’m 56 (for at least another month) and a former New Yorker and corporate attorney, now happily retired and living in Idaho. I have a husband who I love spending time with, no kids, and a very spoiled cairn terrier.

I’ve always enjoyed literary fiction and non-fiction but LT has expanded my reading horizons and in 2010 I began reading poetry, graphic novels, mysteries and children’s/YA books. I thought I read a lot before but my reading has really exploded since I joined LT and the “bj” (book junkie) part of my screen name turned out to be a self-fulfilling prophecy.

In 2011, I plan to read more classics and biographies/memoirs, some literary correspondence, non-fiction books on American history and the American West, and a lot of Wallace Stegner (I’m taking a course on his writing in February).

My 2011 thread is here.

Ith regard to finding folks' threads...there's also a link to each person's thread on the group wiki page. See the group home page for a link to it!

Hi, everyone names baka this will be my 2nd reading challenge and 2nd year on LT. I did the 100 book challenge last year and had a lot of fun. My reading selection consists mainly of history, historical fiction, science fiction, manga and fantasy which will probably be the bulk of my list this year as well. Who knows though i might find a new genre as i did last year with historical fiction.

I don't really have any reading goal this year other then to enjoy reading 75 books and hopefully read more books then i buy (i give my self till March before I'll have to scrap that last idea).

my 2011 list link: http://www.librarything.com/topic/106058

Happy New Year to all!
What a well furnished home this 2011 group already is… My compliments to the makers!

My name is Marieke, I am Dutch, archivist, age 60, of which together with me partner for over 30 years. Most of these years, we had (terrific) cats. Last spring our last one died. At present we take care of a lovely dog whose “lady” is ill.
My partner is in our library for religion, science, nature, health, photography, cooking etc. I am for history, biography, diaries, travel etc. Together we are in it for (historical) novels, poetry, thrillers etc., sometimes we read each others books.
Since last autumn we are enthusiastic e-reader users, we own a BeBook (for the non-American market) and a Kindle.

I joined this group in 2010 and was surprised to reach my goal. Normally I read a lot, but most of the non-fiction not from cover to cover. “Book dipping” you could call that, a thing I love to do and continue (since I work in the neighbourhood of two major libraries, I regularly come home with a bag full of books). But since the thread is for the “cover to cover reads” only, the experience changed my reading habits dramatically. I also read more novels than I was used to, which I enjoyed greatly and want to continue this year.

In 2011 I want to go on with my reading on 20th century Central Europe (Germany and Russia included) and the (Eastern) Mediterranean area, both fiction and non-fiction. And again I don’t know if I will make it, because there are some real fat ones on my list.

This is my thread: http://www.librarything.com/topic/106062&newpost=1#lastmsg
My starters are a novel by Charles Lewinsky and a beautiful picture book on the Ottoman world by Frédéric Hitzel. Off I go.
See you.

Happy New Year

My name is Nick, 31 years old from Greece. Working as a software-engineer for the last 6 years, sound engineer (amateur), light engineer (worked as a pro in the past), amateur not-improving-anymore chessplayer and book lover from my childhood.

I thought I'd try being active in this group this year, so started my own thread @ http://www.librarything.com/topic/105980

Hi and Happy new year!

My name is Dee. I work for an advice charity and live in Yorkshire, England with my husband and two boys.

This is my first 75 challenge. I did try the 888 in 2008 one but felt restricted by the end by my categories. I'm really looking forward to this one as I am free to go off on what Nancy Pearl calls reading "jags". I really admire people who can plan their reading ahead but I can't!

My thread is here

Hi everyone! - here's my thread:

http://www.librarything.com/topic/106032

I only got about 60 books read in 2010, which was very disappointing - I don't know how many is my average because I only started counting in 2009 (and did a bad job of remembering to update my list then) - but as I said in my thread, I was involved with a very time intensive theatre production and moved during 2010 so I probably should give myself a pass...

Just also a note to say - don't look too closely at my library yet - I did import my goodreads library finally - so it has what I've read in the last two years (and what's on my to read list) is in here but the rest isn't very representative as its some random ones I put in when I moved 5 years ago, lol... (I only fled to goodreads back when LT didn't have a way to put books read but not owned - now that it does, my librarian side demands I return to LT with its better "cataloging" lol) I also am probably going to have to change editions on a lot of them soon once I'm back home with my books to put their proper ISBN #s in since goodreads isn't so concerned with editions.

Anyway - hello everyone - and let the reading begin!

Happy New Year, Everyone!

I love resolutions and though I don't always (or even often) seem to stick to them, I love the sense of self-improvement for the sake of self-improvement they inspire!

Having said this, my reading resolution for today (and hopefully 2011) will be to read 75 young adult and adult books. (I'm a school librarian and will not be counting picture books, though they make up the bulk of my reading.) I only made it to 63 books in 2010, but I have a good feeling about 2011.

In addition to loving resolutions (and books, of course), I love my husband of 5 years, my job (K-12 school librarian), my two cats, my cozy little house in upstate New York, and my friends (virtual and otherwise) that offer me constant reading recommendations!

To understand my reading interests, I offer you my top five overall (young adult and adult) books completed in 2010:

1. Remarkable Creatures by Tracy Chevalier
2. Paper Towns by John Green
3. Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green
4. Room: A Novel by Emma Donoghue
5. Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson

I look forward to sharing resolutions, recommendations, and reads with all of you this year!

(If interested, you can follow my 2011 reading list here: http://www.librarything.com/topic/106095.)

Hi everybody!

I wish you all a happy new year! Finally it's time to present myself:
My name is Kathy, I'm 24 years old and live as a literature student in Austria. I'm a total newbie if it comes to this 75b-challenge, but I'm already excited to read all the books I've planed for this year (Lots and lots of so-called classics), e.g. Margaret Atwood, Günther Grass, Thomas Bernhard, Jane Austen, Mario Vargas Llosa, John Steinbeck, Fjodor Dostojewski, Lew Tolstoi,...

I'll also use the TIOLI-challenge - but only as an inspiration to decide which books I want to read.

But I'm also counting on YOU to get one or the other recommendation! :D

Here's my thread:
http://www.librarything.com/topic/105560

Hi and Happy New Year!

I have been considering joining this group for the past couple of weeks, so guess I will just do it!

I'm Jan, age 57, from Louisville, KY, am happily retired from an IT career, and have been spending time with my two wonderful Portuguese Water Dogs, volunteering, learning oil painting, and just figuring out what I want to do the rest of my life. Two things I wanted to do that I have been neglecting are getting organized and catching up on my reading.

I have not read anywhere near 75 books per year but I have both the ability and the books. Now I just have to make the time. And I'm joining the group to help motivate me.

I have a wide range of interests in books. Most recently I have read Freedom by Jonathan Franzen and The Reliable Wife by Robert Goolrich, both of which were obtained through my Powell's Indiespensible subscription.

I think I will start the new year with The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova. I started it a while ago but didn't finish even though I love the book. And I have to read At Home - A Short History of Private Life by Bill Bryson for a reading group. I will start/re-start both books today!

I'm looking forward to meeting and talking with many of you.

And here is my thread:
http://www.librarything.com/topic/106120

Jan

Hi, I'm Milda, and I currently live in Texas. My husband and I have two freshman daughters - 1 at Texas A&M and the other in high school - plus 2 mutts and a 10-week-old Golden Retriever puppy. My favorite hobby besides reading (and playing with puppy Honey) is thinking about a) moving someplace colder when my baby finishes high school, and/or b) moving someplace colder and finding lots more time for reading when I can retire in 9.5 years.

I like to read all kinds of stuff, but maybe not horror or romance so much. My last read of 2010 was the very skinny 84, Charing Cross Road; the first book I've started in 2011 is the chunky Swan Thieves.

2010 was hectic. Only finished about 40 books. But most of them were wonderful, and I'm very thankful to you LTers for your recommendations.

Here's my thread: http://www.librarything.com/topic/105828

Hello all! I'm Dawn and I live in Lexington, KY and I work in the horse industry. I've participated in the 75-Books Challenge the last two years and have really enjoyed it! Last year I definitely met my goal with 151 books read and I read a little bit of everything.

Here's my thread:
http://www.librarything.com/topic/106153

Hello

I'm Linda and live in Easton, PA. I'm employed as the Publications Adviser in the Department of Journalism and Communication at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, PA. I love what I do, even though occasionally it feels like I'm a glorified babysitter for 18-22 year olds.

I advise students who pull together the college newspaper and yearbook. This is a perfect job since I love to read and write. To use a catch phrase, I also "help minimize expenses and enhance revenues" to ensure the financial well being of both publications. One of my degrees is in accounting and thus the job is another perfect blend for me.

My partner is a retired eye doctor who is kind, sensitive and very patient with my obsession of book collecting. Though, I think I've stretched the limit and will be downsizing in 2011.

I am the mother of two beautiful daughters and the grandmother of twin boys and two lively, spunky little girls.

My reading tastes vary and since joining this group in 2008, I've expanded into new genres. For example, since finding YA books recommended by Anita (FAMeulstee), I'm hooked.

My thread for the 2011 Challenge group is here:

http://www.librarything.com/topic/104873

Hi
I'm Sandie and I live in Michigan. This is my first time even counting how many books I read in a year. I'm hoping to find some new authors by reading some of the threads in here. :) If anyone could recommend any books I'll be grateful. I've got a couple that I'm starting with but haven't had a chance to even visit the bookstore to get ideas lately. thanks in advance!

Sandie

Trust me...you will not have a problem finding recommendations. Welcome to our group of well-read, chatty and friendly folk. As you read the various threads you will see many books that might hold your interest. We are varied in our reading habits.

All good wishes.

Hi, Sandie, and welcome! I have a little "secret" to tell you: all you have to do is pick a few fellow 75 books threads to read each day and you will soon find that you will have so many books that you think you might enjoy reading you will wonder why you ever asked for recommendations.

But then again, asking...you shall receive! One of my most favored recently read was the Autobiography of Agatha Christie. You might enjoy it.

I'll second the Autobiography of Agatha Christie. It's one of my all-time favorites.

I'm Luci, I live in London, England, am 41, and have two little boys - Danny will be 4 in May, Conor will be 2 in February. They love stories, Conor will occasionally sit looking at a book in his cot. I work full time. I have and continue to buy and borrow far more books than I know what to do with. I also write reviews for various websites, many for www.thebookbag.co.uk (57 reviews in 2010) but also for other sources of "free" review copies including LT's Early Reviewer scheme.

My first thread is here:

http://www.librarything.com/topic/106175

Hi, everyone,
I'm Chèli, I'm 56, an accountant retired for 5 years and have been
married to the most wonderful man I know for the last 37 years. Just recetly, I had some surgery and my Prince Charming took care of me so well that now I'm not sure I want to get better! I am working at it but when I tire, I just sit in my recliner with a good book!
Here is my thread. and here is a link to my book blog Cheli's Shelves.

I have always loved to read and when my sister (tututhefirst) introduced me to LT in 2008 for the 999 challenge, well, let's just say it was one of the greatest gifts she ever gave me. I have been exposed to books I never would have picked off a shelf, let alone read if it hadn't been for the wonderful people here and the discussions that we have had. It is no surprise that I made LT my home page, because there is never a day that I don't come home visit with my friends at LT.

My other hobbies include needlework, my Christmas village, bridge, mahJongg, and golf (I don't play well but enjoy the ladies that I play with.) I like to travel visiting family members and new places for my husband to play golf.

In 2009 I became an adopted grandmother (I was adopted by the kids to be the Italian Nonna for little Jackson who was born on February 20th.) My second grandchild, Molly Kate was born on October 25th, 2010 and a new granddaughter is due early in January 2011.

In 2010, I completed my reading room, converting a small bedroom to a sanctuary for me with bookshelves, a recliner, small desk for my laptop, and a TV where I can disappear and read to my heart's content. I think my husband is a little jealous because he sneaks in there quite often.

I'm looking forward to another great year of reading!

I'm Stephen, 42, a librarian at a mid-size public university in Missouri, but if life had only pushed me a little differently I like to think I could as easily have been a mathematician or a mystical and deadly master of the martial arts. So on the Intertubes I pretend I'm a ninja math librarian.

That persona also summarizes my reading interests: fiction, with a bias toward mystery, fantasy and science fiction; mathematics; and professional reading.

I hope this year to read a little less fiction and a little more math, but alas I am highly distractable when it comes to choosing my next book.

Here is a link to my first thread for 2011.

Hi, I'm Mary, a thirty-something accountant living in the Midwest. When I'm not reading I enjoy distance running, attempts at writing and hanging out with my husband and our two bunnies. I sincerely doubt that I can even come close to reading 75 books this year, but I'm hoping to exceed last year's number (29) and draw inspiration from other book nuts!

2011 Challenge Thread

Hi guys, my name is Tania, and I am really regretting opening this thread! Luckily my browser doesn't flinch at all the tabs I'm opening so I can star threads...
In the cat vs dog debates, I am sitting squarely on the fence - I have two puppies, but check out the icanhascheezburer site religiously. No, seriously, BasementCat is awesome!
I read a lot of YA, fantasy and romance (imagine my delight when I find a book that combines all three!), but occasionally branch out into other things. I also go through semi-obsessional 'phases', when I'll read only one topic, or theme, or author. Work, puppy-cuddling, friends and movies cruelly limit my reading time, as does the insane amount of threads I have starred!
My as-yet empty 2011 thread: http://www.librarything.com/topic/106206
All lurkers are welcome!

Hey there folks, my name is Mike and after briefly considering not coming back for 2011, here I am. I just turned 44, I'm married with three daughters (10, 5, and 3), two cats, one dog, and two guinea pigs. I work in law enforcement in the scenic Nation's Capitol. I've been doing the 75 challenge since fall of '08 and fell woely short last year. I primarily read non-fiction, especially history, with a little SF thrown in. My TBR list has become a pile thanks to this group, if it's true that you can't die as long as you have unread books, I should be good for awhile.

At some point I'll start my thread and the link to it will be right here.

Hi, I am Bryan, 51 and living in the peaceful Adelaide Hills of Australia with my wife Christine, her 2 teenage daughters, 3 cats and a python.
I am a primary school relief teacher/ teacher-librarian and am very lucky to work part-time so I have plenty of time to read, walk, garden, and read !
This is my second year of the 75 book challenge and although my real aim is to read a 100 or so books this is such a friendly and supportive group I am happy right here !
I read all sorts, tending to literature, fantasy, some classics, humour, and 'thinking books' that I can claim I understood !?
My 2011 thread is here
Happy reading !

Hey, all! Though an LT member since '08, this is my first reading challenge. I won't have any trouble with the number of books to read...it's the discipline of documenting it that I'm a little frightened of. (Two of my New Year's reading resolutions, are to share the reading experience more often and to write more reviews. This is my public way of trying to make that happen.)

I'm a career bookseller and lifelong reader. I read fiction exclusively, and another of my resolutions is to read outside my comfort zone, that is to say, to read some nonfiction for heaven's sake.

Thanks for the cybersupport!

Becky

PS Here's my thread for the challenge.

eta link to 75 books challenge thread

Hi everyone! I am new to the 75 books challenge. Hopefully I can complete it this year.
I am Cheryl, 42, and live in St. Charles, MO. I am married and have 2 wonderful children. I am a reading teacher at my neighborhood elementary school. I enjoy historical fiction, a good novel, and the occasional chick lit.

Here is my thread: http://www.librarything.com/topic/106296

Hello everyone. I'm Genny and this is my second year of taking part in the 75 books challenge.

I've actually been a member of LT for nearly 5 years (4th February) but at first I only used it for intermittent and inconsistent attempts at cataloguing. Then I discovered the groups, and this one in particular, and it has been one of the best things that happened to me in the past year.

I live in the North East of England where I work as the vicar of a large parish. Once upon a time I started training to be a librarian though, and it still shows. My large house comes with the job, and I share it with just one greyhound, so I am able to gradually fill up all the spare rooms with books!

I have a large collection of theology and church-related books, far too many of which are unread; mostly I read fiction for relaxation. I enjoy a mix of literary fiction/classics and genre fiction including detective fiction/mysteries, some fantasy and sci-fi, children's, and historical fiction. I love the way LT makes it easy to track down other books by favourite authors that I hadn't realised existed - one feature of last year has been enjoying new reads by childhood favourites. My aims for the coming year include reading a higher proportion of non-fiction, and being slightly less Anglo-centric in my authors.

I've no idea how I'm going to manage to keep up with reading threads as well as actually reading books - but I know I shall be trying to do so, because the social dimension of this group has been so important, not just for adding book suggestions, sharing enthusiasms and engaging in lively discussions, but also for general supportiveness and mutual care. I hope to get to know some of the new members - perhaps I'll see you in the Kitchen or on one of the genre threads, if I don't manage to visit your threads.

My thread can be found here.

I'm Tad, mid-50s, live in New Jersey, married with three kids and two (soon to be three) dogs. This is my fourth year in the group. My reading tastes are fairly eclectic, ever more so since joining.

One of last year's goal was actually to reduce the number of books read down to about 150 and spend more time on other things...and that's pretty much were I ended up. So, this year, I think I'll just read and not worry about the numbers.

Nice to meet you all. My name is Malcolm and this is my first year in the group. I don't believe I'll make 75 because for the last few years I've only done 40. I'm 34 and married to my wonderful wife Yulia who is also a reader. My reading has changed inversly with me level of education and responsibility. While a student my reading was fairly highbrow, now that I am a practicing attorney it is quite low brow most of the time. If I space out for a few pages after work it's ok! I do listen to classics while watching basketball on TV and when walking my dog. Other than that and the occassional Shakespeare it's low brow all the way!

Hello from Vancouver, BC!

I joined LT because I am a hopeless list-maker, and loved being able to catalog my books. I stayed because it's an awesome site, made more awesome by SantaThing & friendly groups like this one seems to be!

My RL name is Laura, and I work as a real estate appraiser, with our office across the street from an Indigo bookstore. My colleagues didn't take long to figure out that my unchaperoned visits to the in-store Starbucks often took an hour or more, usually with my returning with another book to distract me from work. My husband doesn't read as much as I do, and my cat only tolerates the reading because then I am still long enough for her to take possession of my lap. It's only mine when standing, apparently. No kids, in spite of a healthy YA collection, but I'm trying to develop my kids-book collection to the point that my nieces and nephew don't mind visiting.

I have no clue how many books I get through in a year, so I guess I'll know 365 days from now!

ETA - And here is my list - I just had to learn how to link it!

Hello, I'm Tanja, I'm 26 and this is my second year in the 75 group. I had no idea how many books I read a year before I joined this group, but last year I managed to reach 110 books. I probably won't top that this year since I've just recently become mother to a beautiful little boy, who demands my constant attention. For the same reason I probably won't be able to be as social as I would like to in this group, but I will sneak around and read here and there and probably post a bit from time to time.

I read a lot of different books. Can't really say what I like the most, just good books I guess. I'm from Denmark, so there will be quite a few Danish books on my thread, and when I'm lucky they are even translated to English.

When I'm not on maternity leave I'm a student at The Royal School of Library and Information Science in Copenhagen, Denmark.

My thread is here. You're welcome to stop by anytime. I will do my best to update as frequently as my son (and life in general) will allow.

#258>

Now that I'm an old fart, I have set aside the silly ideas of youth, like high-brow and low-brow. For me, there is only 'read what you love' and toss the rest. :)

Hi all,

I'm Michelle, and I'm new LT and also too book challenges! I've been building my own website and started my own book blog of sorts on there, but I also wanted to find a community to join in with.

I enjoy fiction and have been a bookworm always! I'm now 23 and have variety of occupations and studies which draw me away from books, but when I can, I still like to find a quiet corner and read a book or two!

I've never taken on a reading challenge, but I've seen the 75 Books Challenge for 2011 and decided to join in!
My 2011 challenge thread is here:-
http://www.librarything.com/topic/106374

I look forward to joining in again in the future. Happy reading everyone!

Michelle
www.michelleamanda.co.uk

Hi, everyone! I made it to 75 books in 2010, I'm back for more in 2011. I'm Lisa, happily married to Brian (who's also here on LT but doesn't get out and about as much as I do), mom to two busy boys (ages 8 and 20 months), working full-time at a rather dismal job but thankful to have it. I read what I like. I read for fun. If I don't like a book, I don't finish it. My tastes run to sci-fi/fantasy and mystery/suspense, but I branch out from time to time. :-) If life and its various responsibilitilies didn't get in the way, I'd probably read a lot more. My records for most books read in one weekend (pre-kids) stands at seven. I don't think I'll get a chance to break that until the boys are grown and gone! LOL

ETA: Here's my thread: http://www.librarything.com/topic/106388

Lisa

Hi, everybody! For the last two years I took part in the 50 Book Challenge, but after reaching that mark easily I decided to try something new.

I'm Jan, 22 years old, from Germany (the books I read are mostly in English though, to keep my language skills fresh and because a lot of stuff gets lost in translation). I read mostly fiction, but I've been trying to add a few nonfiction books as well. My favorite genre is probably fantasy, with some classics, sci-fi and various others thrown in.

€: My thread: http://www.librarything.com/topic/106416

Thanks for the welcome, ffortsa! Another reason is that English books are somehow usually a lot cheaper than the German ones, although I have no idea why :P

I'm always impressed by anyone who reads in a language other than their first. And I agree that there must be much I miss by reading in translation. Welcome to the group!

My name is Anna

I live in Sweden. I just quit my job in a bookstore to start study again. And now I'm working towards taking my masters abroad. I have three requirements for were I choose it to be. It has to be close to the waves (for surfing) it has to have a rich cultural scene and it has to have interesting research in Marine biology which is my main subject.
I've always read, I'm not a fast or slow reader and I did'nt start read at an early age. I read because I'm curious, I read cause It's my way of coping, I read cause it's a part of me.
I never discussed my reading before I started to work in a bookstore, but now that I'm used to it I guess I will miss it and maybe this will be my new forum for that.

P.S. I know my english is not the best so feel free to correct me anytime.

oh my - another person to admire! Welcome.

I forgot to post my thread, here it is:

http://www.librarything.com/topic/106410

I'm Colleen (though ForeignCircus works as well) and I'm a DC native currently posted to Dhahran, Saudi Arabia for work. I'm here to track my reading for the year and hopefully to get lots of great recommendations for books to read since I won't be doing a lot of bookstore browsing over here!

My first thread is here:
http://www.librarything.com/topic/106422

I've been married to MrMorphy for 20+ years. No kids. One dog. We'd have cats, truly we would, but I'm deathly allergic. It makes me sad. I'm at home, disabled, and am working toward getting my Associates in Accounting online. When not reading or doing school work, I cross-stitch, crochet, watch movies, and play with my various list databases (books, movies, to-do, school assignments.)

My favorite genre is urban fantasy, but I also like reading other genres (mystery, science fiction, historical romance), general fiction, popular non-fiction and classics. Though I'm a bit of a promiscuous reader and will try just about anything.

Here's my thread.

Hello, I'm PJ from southeast Kansas. I'm doing this as well as a 25-book challenge for nonfiction on another list. I'm a technical writer who likes to read a variety of stuff -- from light mysteries to heavier lit to some nonfiction. Though I'm single without kids, I have a pretty busy schedule and expect this challenge to be quite challenging!

Hi, I'm Diane, (also known as dissed1). I'm a married mother of three, ages 19, 17 and 13 from Naperville, IL. I've got a B.A. in English from Michigan State University and am certified to teach high school English, though I'm presently hanging out at home trying to get a freelance writing career started and enjoying the luxury to read as much as I want. I'm not sure if I'll hit 75 books read this year; I've never counted how many books I've read before. But I'm at it all the time, and I think it will be fun to keep track this year . . . and I really want to CLEAR THOSE SHELVES.

I'm Robin and I'm pretty sure I read more than 75 books a year. Right now, I'm reading 'Life' by Keith Richards, and loving it.

Message 261: majkia AMEN!!!!

Hello everyone. I'm Justine, I'm 35, originally from the north east of England, but have been living in London for 14 years. Married with no children.

I work in communications, but my passion lies in the arts (film, theatre and photography mainly) so do lots of voluntary stuff in those areas outside my paid job. I have a bit of an obession with all things 1960s and do a bit of freelance writing for a retro lifestyle website.

I tend to do most of my reading on my daily commute to work, and I read a variety of things, but with a preference for contemporary literary fiction and pop culture non-fiction.

Looking forward to another year of great reading and conversation here.

A bit late to the introductions thread but hello!

I'm Heather, I'm turning 30 at the end of this month and live in a small town called Tring in the UK with my husband and our cat, Erica. Last year was my first year on LibraryThing and my first year in this group and it was absolutely wonderful so I'm back for more.

I enjoy reading all kinds of things but tend to lean towards comfort reading when things get stressful. This year I would like to read more non-fiction and more translated books but I will still be reading children's/YA fiction, fantasy, science fiction, historical fiction and crime/mystery books.

Also, I love to plan my reading but I don't always follow through on those plans. Plans for this year include buying less books and reading more books I already own. We'll see...

In real life, I work in corporate tax for a large accounting firm - this may explain why I read so much. Seriously, I find the tax side interesting but I don't like the firm I work for anymore. If you come and visit my thread I promise the t*x word will never be mentioned!

My thread for this year is here

Hi, I am Ken Petersen. I have, recently, given up on my ailing business to become a full time carer for my 96 year old mum. This gives me a fair chunk of time each afternoon during which to read.

My reading tends to follow themes. Last year, I started reading about 2oth century comedians and ended up in Grand Opera, then followed British politics over the pond to the USA.

Who knows where (or when) 2011 will take me?

Hello, I'm Carsten. I'm 47, a journalist, and live just outside Copenhagen in Denmark.

This year I will - as in 2010 - focus on reading more of the classics and books about spirituality/theology - There are also a few biographies/diaries and childrens books on the menu. If I get around to it I hope to read some sci-fi. But lets see how it goes.

I will attend the Austenathon. Looking forward to that. Oh, yes...here's my thread

Hey,
I'm Tea from Watford in the UK.
I've got so many books on my TBR List esp since I got an e-reader that I figured I need a little motivation to do so and this seems to be one way of helping me tackle that mountain.

This is my thread http://www.librarything.com/topic/106552

Thread here! I'm a former LT employee, living in Cambridge MA. I'm an Iowa farm girl, daughter of a librarian, librarian myself, mom to a 7mo girl who ALREADY KNOWS HOW TO TURN PAGES, knitter, biker, photographer, and fairly tattooed.

I joined up late last year, as I was leaving LT (because I'd finally have time to read!) I'm hoping to read way more than 75 books, but have at least 75 of them be printed on material other than board. My favorite book so far this year is Opposites by Sandra Boynton :)

Hi, I'm Staci, 35 from New Jersey. This is my third year in the challenge. I live with my non-reader boyfriend of going on 11 years and our three cats. I work as an unemployment claims examiner which I enjoy. I read more than 75 books for the first time ever last year, made it to 95, so hopefully will make it to 75 this year. My favorite genre is fantasy, which I didn't read much of last year and hope to fix this year. I also enjoy historical fiction, mystery, science fiction and books from 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die. Outside of reading I enjoy watching TV & movies, playing games (computer/video/board), hiking & camping & spending time with friends & family.

My thread is here. Happy reading everyone!

Hello!
I am an elementary school teacher who is stuck in the mid-west. I read a wide variety of fiction & sci-fi authors, but am trying to expand my horizons. My screen name is darkdanita because I often read paranormal books and "dark" is a common title word. I go by Danita or DD. :)

I tend to like things of the blood sucking, shape shifting, magical power wielding, fire breathing nature. But then I need a light, contemporary laugh with witty banter or a sword slashing saga. Occasionally I get tired of fluff and need substance. I get judged by whomever reads from a different genre. I have loved vampires long before the current popularity trend and waited in line for an Anne Rice signature in the 80s.

I am fairly certain I will meet the 75 book quota look forward to finding new reads from others. Since Jan. 1st, I have read the first 3 installments of The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. So now I am three down, Seventy-two to go and a thread to figure out how to start!

Hi, guys! I'm Krys, a 21-year-old student currently living outside of Seattle, WA and pursuing a bachelor's degree in history (my passion being post-Civil War crime in the United States in general, and Jesse James in particular). Classic American and contemporary British literature are my favorites, though I'm currently on a Gothic horror kick, with authors like Shirley Jackson and Henry James on my to-read list.

My thread is HERE this year. Please, come cheer me on/encourage me to keep on track and actually review the books I read this year, instead of becoming as lazy as I have in previous attempts after the first couple of months have passed. ;P

Hi, everyone! I'm Kirsten, a 30 year old book whore in Portland, Maine. I recently moved back from San Francisco, where I spent 3.5 years building (and in some cases, rebuilding) my library, and am still in the process of unpacking the books. Le sigh.
I mostly read YA, fantasy, literary fiction, and queer fiction/non-fiction. A combination of unemployment and lack of shelving has got me at a book-buying standstill, so I'm determined to bust through a good number of my owned-but-unread books this year. I also just received a Nook, which has definitely had a positive impact on my time spent reading - it's so much easier on my hands/wrists than holding open a heavy hardcover when I'm curled up in my comfy chair or in bed!
Hope to see some of you over on my thread, and I'll be sure to pop in and say hi on as many of yours as I can over time!

Well, I'm late to the party again...

Laurie here, fourth generation Californian living in Burbank, and working as a legal secretary in downtown Los Angeles. I've been a member of this group for years and love it--this year I hope to be able to read more threads than I did last, but you can always contact me on my thread:

http://www.librarything.com/topic/105437

or on my profile page. I've listed only those books I've read and don't have in storage, but my reading covers the gamut. I'm a fan of Shakespeare, science fiction, mysteries, history, and true crime (go figure). I am a compulsive list maker, and I'm working my way through the 1001 (which is now 1,294) list because it was embarrassing to find how many writers and books I missed earning my degree in English literature. I also keep a list of books which sound interesting on threads, or which are recommended by LTers.

I have passed into a new decade, have a daughter in New York who just earned her Master's in Emergency Management (totally online, but we went to the ceremony in Jacksonville, Alabama last month). My son is in Appleton, Wisconsin, having just started a new job with a large bank. He attended Ripon College on the plains of Wisconsin, but is a diehard 49er fan. I have siblings in New Jersey, Wisconsin, California, England, and Spain.

And, while I would love to have a dog, I've settled to living with cats. Last year, I lost two to age-related illness, and I'm down to one--at least for a while. I also knit and crochet, mostly hats and scarves, but occasionally an afghan or two. Between the yarn and books, well, let's just say that "Hoarders" is a cautionary tale.

This group is "home" for me, but I am a member of the Early Reviewers and Presidents (to be sure I get my history dosages), and I occasionally check out the 1001 Must Read group.

And just asking, aren't hamsters, birds, and fish really cat food?

>280 sonyagreen: - Sonya, what, you're tired of reading board books? :-) My 20-month-old is going to be our bookish kid. He grabs books and then will come find me and drag me to the "reading chair" so we can sit and read. I love that! Although reading the same Thomas the Tank Engine book can wear a bit. LOL

Hello, I'm new to this challenge! I'm Emma and I'm a 25 year old student teacher from England. I need to make more time for reading in my life so I'm trying this.

I read, everything. Anything. I seem to have a lot of steampunk with me here at the moment though I know I have a collection of penguin classics that I'd like to get through some of and I really do need to finish some of the feminist non-fiction and lesbian fiction I have building up.

My thread is here - http://www.librarything.com/topic/106676

Nice to meet you all!

Hi all:) After spending the entire year creeping on this group last year, I thought I'd try my hand at it. No idea if I can make it to 75, but I'll have fun trying.

Me: 31, Massachusetts, Esteemed estimator for a commercial glass company (ask around, I'm famous...in my industry anyway), admitted book hoarder.

The madness starts here!

I love pretty much everything except gooey romance (booooo)...and recommendations are alllllwwaaaaaaaays welcome!

Hi everyone, This is my second year with the challenge. I'm a violinist and a mother of 4 and 9 year old boys but I still try to find time to read. I read a pretty wide variety of books though this year I've have a few goals, I want to re-read Jane Austen's books and at least two Charles Dickens that I have never read before. Some of my favorite books of 2010 were recommendations from members of the group, so keep them coming with my thanks. here's my thread http://www.librarything.com/topic/106706&newpost=1#lastmsg

Sonya, can your daughter be 7 months old already? It doesn't seem so long since she was born.

Hello all. I barged into this thread late into the year last year, so even though I'm late posting here I feel like I'm joining the party early. I joined this group (I've been on Library Thing for 2 or 3 years) last year because it looked like 75 was feasible, but I will say that even with my sporadic attendence I noticed how welcoming this group was.

My name Miriam. I am 47 (born 5 days before Kennedy was shot & because we lived in the States until I was 11 Nixon is the first president I remember too), live in Winnipeg, have two boys (10 & 12), a husband who reads, two (big) dogs (I'm allergic to cats) and run a writing centre/academic support unit. Over the last 10 or so years I've leaned more to literary fiction but I'm never content with just one style, so my lists are somewhat eclectic and include mysteries, non-fiction, science fiction, fantasy, thrillers, and some YA (I try to read some of the books that my 12 year old reads).

I read Great Expectations last year and loved it, so I'd love to read another Dickens this year. I tried, and failed, to read Ulysses in 2010, so maybe (just maybe) I'll succeed this year.

My 2011 list is here - http://www.librarything.com/topic/106714

Oh. And I use lots of parentheses.

Hi! I joined LT about a year ago, but this is my first participation in a group. My name is Sandy and I live in northeast Ohio, near Cleveland. I see several Ohioans here already! I've lived in Ohio all my life and I love it, despite the cold and snowy winters. I'm married, no kids, but we have a spoiled and pampered cat who is seriously the smartest and friendliest cat that I've ever had the pleasure to know.

I'm a theatre instructor and director, so I read lots of theatre books and plays. I'm also a huge classic film fan, so I love reading anything related to film, especially biographies.

My husband (who is also a voracious reader) and I moved into my mother's house a couple of years ago to help take care of her (she has dementia), and I've found that since then, I've had a hard time reading anything too violent or intense. So, I've been reading a lot of chick lit. And health books, especially anything on brain health. I love YA, classics, historical fiction, cookbooks, biographies and memoirs, and mysteries, although I haven't had the stomach for them for the past 2 years. Maybe I need to find some cozy ones.

I cannot abide sci-fi or horror, which are my husband's favorite genres. We are both library book sale junkies, so we have tons of book clutter. I've been trying to only read fiction from my own bookshelves and using the library for only non-fiction. We have a fantastic library system in the Cleveland area, so it's been difficult!

Sandy K who can't figure out how to put a link to her thread in this message

Hello, I am Rose a bibliophile, with a passion for reading and writing. I am new to the book challenge. My husband and I live in Castro Valley, California. I recently received a certificate in online teaching and learning and I am hoping to find a teaching job. I like to read, fiction, books on writing, pedagogy...

This is how I am finding my books to read and even to re-read. Sometimes re-reading is necessary for me, especially with academic books. I look forward to sharing and meeting all of you. Thanks for this group.

Rose

to #293 - Don't feel too bad - neither can I!!

#293 & #295: To link to your thread in here -
Either cut and paste the url that's at the top of your own thread (it'll look like this http://www.librarything.com/topic/104688 just the number at the end will be unique)
or go to TadAd's Basic HTML thread which is in our group wiki - link at the top of the group page. There's step by step instructions or just post a message there for help if it's too hard.

Hi, my name is Jessica and I am relatively new to LibraryThing. I live in Charleston, SC: 35 years old, one drafty old historic home, one cat and one secret garden (which is looking quite sad with the early freeze this year). Last year I did my first book challenge (100+) books and made it to 77. I was unemployed at the time I signed up :) and making good use of unaccustomed free time. This year I'm realistically going to do my best to make the 75! I am one book down, the second Flavia de Luce book: The Weed that Strings the Hangman's Bag.

I generally accomplish about 75% of my reading in the wintertime, when the cold keeps me lighting fires and dreaming of anyplace other than my living room.

#297 - Welcome! How wonderful to have a secret garden – your home sounds like it should be in a novel. :)

Good luck in the challenge.

Thanks PJGraham! Charleston is full of secret garden-y places. Its the best part about it. It is also full of drafty (read:freezing) old houses. I dream up novel ideas all the time simply walking around here. Now writing those ideas up... hmmm. Nowhere near as easy!

I'm Helen and this is my first challenge participation. My thread is here: http://www.librarything.com/topic/106909

I live in South-central Pennsylvania with spouse, kid and three cats. I read a fairly diverse range of things, but have never kept close track. I'm not sure how well I'll manage to track this, but it is time for new starts, so I'll see how it goes.

Hi all! I'm Shelby, and this is my third year with the challenge. I'm not the chattiest member here, but I'm going to try be a little more forthcoming this year. (Wish me luck with that, I'll need it!)

I live in Ohio USA, but I'm actually a Canadian, and I have six kids ranging in age from 9-19. I write stories of adventure and mystery/intrigue (usually with strong romantic elements) set in imaginary worlds. I have even sold a few shorter things (that don't count as books -- so no LT Author status).

My reading tastes include: science fiction and fantasy, mystery, regency romances, YA and children's books, non-fiction on a wide variety of topics and manga/graphic novels.

This years challenge thread: http://www.librarything.com/topic/105455

Hi folks! Look forward to getting to know you all.. I am trying this out for the first time. It'll be interesting to see whether I can "meet" the challenge...my reading time is somewhat limited, but I do enjoy it so much.

I live in northern Washington State, we're supposed to have a harder winter this year.. more reading time..:0)

I have a boy and girl.. both pretty much adult now, though still at home for the moment. My wife and I love having them here.. we do sometimes wonder if they'll ever leave..!

My reading tastes are fairly eclectic anymore, I read a lot of Fantasy, Science Fiction, Suspense and Mystery novels. I also love horror...go figure. Sure wouldn't want to live in those novels, but love many of them for reading. I also have a pretty fair collection of gardening and genealogy books, both of great interest to me.

My goal for this year is to read more widely. In past years, I became a bit bored with my selections..LibraryThing has been WONDERFUL in that department. I appreciate so much those of you who review your books after reading. Those reviews have helped me get to know several new genres, which vastly improved my reading life!

I have to figure out how to "start a thread" ... I'll update once I figure it out..lol.

Just posting my thread for those who may be interested!

http://www.librarything.com/topic/106954&newpost=1#lastmsg

Hi, I'm Nancy, currently residing in Portland, OR. I am new to the group. I have 2 young boys and am thrilled to see my 7-year old start to read and enjoy books. I enjoy realistic fiction, historical fiction, and am known in my book group for choosing dark subjects. I also read plenty of non-fiction. Some of my 2010 faves were The Financial Lives of the Poets, Fordlandia, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, and A Confederate General Rides North.

I also really like true crime, but not so much the serial killer stories. I enjoy "stranger than fiction" type stories about people who live double lives, or accounts that focus on the historical, social, and political aspects of crime (For example, Go Down Together: The True, Untold Story of Bonnie and Clyde, and The Falcon and the Snowman)

I have never in my life counted the number of books I've read in a year, but am guessing that it's generally been less than 75. I'm excited to see how many I actually read, and see if I make it to 75.

Hi all!
*waves*

I am Hal, a gal from Australia. I am in my late 20s and have moved on from watching movies reverently (when I first started uni, had access to the college library and independent cinemas, I watched over 300 a year) to catching up with the non-coursework books I neglected while ensconced in academia.

http://www.librarything.com/topic/107007

I am looking forward to clearing my bookcases - and my Kindle! (Amazing how the "to read" books stack up digitally as well as on the shelves.

Apart from the books in my 11 in 11 Challenge http://www.librarything.com/topic/106920 (being primarily Short Stories, Hardboiled crime, Y.A. fic, Southern Gothic, Australian lit, Translated from German, Translated from the Middle East and Africa, Translated from Eastern Europe and new in 2011) I want to curl up with some cozies, magic realism, books on dressmaking and tailoring, cookbooks and science writing.

Michael Connelly included a cd of his jazz music favorites with the book Lost Light called Blue neon Night...so, no you are not off base, especially when a popular & successful author obviously enjoys music as a background to his writing...

Oops!? I am really having a morning learning this stuff... the message above was in regards to #88 or *88? But I am ahead of myself..
Hi, I am Susan... I have three cats and I tell my three kids that I have them so that the cats will have sisters :) One of the cats is my baby and I have been known to come home to find that he has been shaved (professionally), evil sisters.... I love books; I tell people that they are wonderful in that they surround me with memories of good reads and if they don't, I can get rid of them (although it is more difficult than I realized). I enjoy thrillers, murder mysteries, scifi, romance, kind of all of the board, so to speak (or read). I collect, I seek out signings by authors, and I am not a lending library (and I really am made to feel like a scrooge for that sometimes).
This is my first week on LT, so I am learning how to do threads and posts and adding my books to my library pages... and this 75 book challenge looks like fun! It used to be no problem reading that many books (sitting in carpool lines or at dr.'s offices) but it will be more difficult now with work, garden work, house work, and family work to juggle and balance things, but I am looking forward to 2011 and all that it brings!
oh and i think this is my thread for the challenge
http://www.librarything.com/topic/107009

here's to good reading, and hopefully my cat will bring me a hamster (hey, he did it once and then we kept the hamster in a nice safe hamster cage!)

http://www.librarything.com/topic/107009

My 2011 thread can be here, though it'll be slow to get going, because I'd really like to cram six months of book reviews from 2010 into the next six weeks or so. Or I may give up rather quickly on that notion. It's the beginning of the year, it's all full of possibilities and large aspirations.

I tend to write rather long, not particularly timely, reviews. And I guess I'm something of a stickler, since many of them turn out to be lukewarm instead of enthusiastic. Since I joined the 75 book challenge, I've tried to review every book I read.

I tend to (re)read mostly fiction in a variety of genres, since this is my comfort activity when I am stressed. The mental popcorn goes down quick and easy. I am interested in many topics, but the nonfiction and serious fiction both take more effort, so I am perpetually procrastinating on those. However, I'd like to get through the stack of research books this year, since I've been renewing them steadily for the last two years, and now that I am no longer a university employee, I may no longer have the luxury of keeping them. I'd also like to finish Don Quijote after starting it for a group read last year.

I live in the Great Lakes region, though I've lived in parts of western North America and also Central America. I've done a lot of different work in my time, most recently as a journal editor. Don't know what it'll be next, since I've applied for editor, research specialist, police dispatcher, program assistant, alien invasive species project coordinator, science communicator so far.

In the meantime, I'm hoping to spend more time writing, reading, practicing viola, and working on the house and garden. Maybe even contribute in some fashion to the multiple nonprofits I'm nominally a member of. Bought a house on a large lot last year, so I am now living with my partner who is an avid reader and Dexter the cat. We like dogs too, but Dexter, not so much.

Hi, I'm Elizabeth, 30 years old, married with four children. I want to join this group in order to get ideas for books to read that I mooch with the incredible number of points I've managed to rack up since August. I haven't quite got the rhythm going of some books coming in while 150 go out. I'll get there.

My thread is http://www.librarything.com/topic/107096
but I said 211 books instead of 100 books and don't know how to change it!

My favourite authors are Frederick Buechner, Anne Lamott, Maeve Binchy, Sophie Hannah, Melody Carlson, Jamie Langston Turner and Anne Perry

Recommendations for contemporary fiction, young adult books, politics, history, crime/mystery, biographies and memoirs are all welcome!

Hi, my name is Ana, and I've been a LT membber since 2007, but this is my first time signing in for the challenge (which I already know won't be achieved). I'm from Portugal, and I used to read a lot, when I had the time for it. Right now, I read whenever I have a few time crumbs. But I always give my best. I read mostly in English, but this year i'm turning myself to my mother language, and I've already finished "Livro" by José Luis Peixoto. It's too recent so there is no English translation available yet.
Anyway, I love reading mistery/crime novels, historic novels (specialy if the plot is set in the Tudor Period), comic stuff, some biographies, some fantasy... you name it.

I hope to post more oten in the Future :)

Good readings everyone and a 2011 full of joy and books.

#299 - Charleston sounds lovely (if drafty). We don't have many hidden secret places in southeast Kansas. And I understand about getting the novel ideas written down. I've participated in National Novel Writing Month for three years and currently have three half done novels! LOL

And I can't believe how big and active this list is - it's almost overwhelming. :)

Hello, I'm Erika. 21 years old and a full time university student, majoring in History with two minors (English, Judaic Studies). This means a lot of reading! I live in Northern Virginia, the suburbs of Washington DC and would be happy to spend the rest of my life here. Although NYC comes second because I lived there for a year and had a great experience. However, I have also traveled a fair amount, mostly to Ireland where I've gone every year (sometimes twice) since 2008. Career wise I still am undecided but there's time for that later :P

I've been keeping track of the books I've read since I was 15 but only in the past two years did I participate successfully in the 50books challenge. This year I feel confident that I can make it to 75! However, I'm opting out of a thread because I feel it would distract me too much :P

Happy 2011 :)

Hi, I am Gabor, a 42 year old recovering librarian in Northern California. This is my fourth conscious attempt of reading 75 books in a year. (Here are the rercods of the past: 2010, 2009, 2008). I will document this year's progress (or lack of) here

Hello, my name is Matt. I've been on Earth for 25 orbits around the sun. I am a student at the University of Wisconsin - Madison. I'm a History major with certificates (minors) in Classics and European Studies. I'll be graduating in May or at least that's the impression I'm under.

I don't know how many books I'll be able to read this year, especially since it's going to be hectic for me through May, but I really do hope to achieve 75 books.

I meant to read all of this thread before posting my own introduction but haven't had a chance to get through it all yet and we are already well into January. So it seems like it's time to add my own post.

I am a woman in my mid-30s, living in Ottawa (Canada's capital). I live by myself (don't even have a cat...) While I read mostly fiction, the more memoirs I read, the moire I realize it is my favourite genre. I read a lot of chick lit and quite a bit of contemporary fiction, including Canadian novels. I read mostly in English but try to get a few French books in there....

I work full-time and use the bus to commute, which is one of my favourite times and places for my reading. It's a good 45 minutes each day.

I'd like to read more during the weekends and evenings. Time just flies though and many evenings, by the time I am able to pick up a book, I just get through a few pages before nodding off.

My thread is here: http://www.librarything.com/topic/106171.

Jim, I'm Ken, a retired Systems Engineer, Astrodynamist (Lunar Landing work), and Proposal Manager (government opportunities-mostly for military business pursuits); originally from Tennessee, but now in Colorado Springs (thirty five years, so the Southern has almost disappeared). I also am an avid reader(see my profile (CKennethRowe) for interest areas; I just signed up for LT membership, and am looking forward to meeting people of interests both like and different from mine.

Ken

My name is Stasia and I have been a member of the 75ers group since its inception back in 2008. This group has been nothing short of marvelous for me!

I finished homeschooling last year and now am looking forward to having time to organize my library. I also work a full-time job, but I work at night, and have the opportunity to read while I am at work, so that works out nicely for me.

I finally have a thread for 2010 here:
http://www.librarything.com/topic/107015

I think you mean 2011, Stasia. Still stuck in the past, are you?

#318: Evidently!

Welcome, Ken. I imagine you will have a good deal of fun here. Many of us belong to several groups and have gained much from associating with each other.

Hi all! My name is Tamara. I've been an LT member since 2008! I've been in love with books more and more over the years and decided I want to work in a library. I live with my three cats, Chihuahua, my new puppy (Lab and German Shepherd mix), and my wonderful boyfriend. If you take a peek at my library you will see over 1,000 books listed. I don't own all of those, most of those are wishlisted. :) I probably only own about 300 books total. I love historical fiction, mystery, and fantasy. I need to clean up my online library and get everything in real life organized. Eek!

Stop by my thread:

Leperdbunny's Thread 2011 #1

Hello,
My friend Sibyx, told me I should wander over here and introduce myself. I'm joining the 75 book challenge for the first time this year. Not even quite sure why, honestly. I do like to keep track of my reading and I think it will be good fun seeing what other folks are reading as well.

The name is Kitten, (paws) Tom Kitten.

I'm an actor, writer, director, musician, former librarian, and, once upon a time, I made my living as a bookseller. We closed the shop decades ago, but, by a strange turn of events, I now find myself once more back in the biz, working part-time for a local bookseller and greatly enjoying the renewed contact with book catalogs and publishers.

I live with the glamourous and fetching Mrs. Kitten on a sandbar jutting into the ocean on the eastern edge of the Western hemisphere. If you enjoy watching sunrises, this is the place to be. We get all the US premieres.

I try to alternate reading fiction and non-fiction. In the latter category, I gravitate toward history and biography. Non-fiction titles I've read and remember with great pleasure include Rising Tide: The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and How It Changed America, Cyra McFadden's Rain or Shine: A Family Memoir, Peter Guralnick's Last Train to Memphis, the first volume of his Elvis Presley biography, Pierre Berton's Niagara: A History of the Falls and pretty much anything by Claire Tomalin. I prefer novels over short stories and don't read much anymore in the way of genre fiction. (I think I overdosed on fantasy as a teenager and I never did care all that much for science fiction. I'll pick up a mystery every now and again but I haven't found anyone I like as well as Ian Rankin now that the Rebus series has ended.) Novelists who I turn to regularly and who seldom disappoint me include Margaret Atwood, William Boyd, Peter Carey, Charles Dickens, Helen Humphreys, David Lodge, Marilynne Robinson and Virginia Woolf. The best novel I read last year, hands down, was Wolf Hall and I can't wait to read more Hilary Mantel. I'm a devoted follower of dovegreyreader and find that pretty much anything she recommends will work for me, too. As a former children's librarian, I still have a great fondness for the classics in that field and I've often said, only partly facetiously, that The Tale of Tom Kitten may be the most perfect book ever created, but of course I would think that. Recently, I've begun listening to audiobooks a bit more and I'm happy to include those in my annual count as well.

Over the course of a year, I'll read a fair number of newish plays for work (but seldom for pleasure, which, either says a lot about me or contemporary writing for the theatre or perhaps both.) I love Stoppard and Friel, would love to be in an Aphra Behn play and I'm really glad to have had opportunities to perform Shakespeare, Farquhar, Pinter, Kauffman and Hart and David Ives. The best play I've seen in the last twenty years was Zinnie Harris' Further Than the Furthest Thing, a success in Edinburgh and London, and, not surprisingly, completely dismissed by the New York Critics during a brief run there. The best play I've been in in the last twenty years was Brian Friel's Translations.

Desert Island titles would have to include Great Expectations, The Wind in the Willows, The Railway Children, Comet in Moominland, Jacob's Room - no, wait - To the Lighthouse - no, no, I've got it now - Mrs. Dalloway, Housekeeping, and, for ideas and inspiration Swallows and Amazons and Treasure Island and Three Men In a Boat. Oh, and a certain slim volume by Beatrix Potter that would be sure to please when all else failed. And that's my Tale.
Tom Kitten
aka Stephen

http://www.librarything.com/topic/107337

Hello all! I'm Natalie, I'm 19 and from Seattle but currently at school in Wisconsin. I have a giant dog, who I miss terribly, and a younger brother... he counts as a pet, right? This is my second year in the 75 books challenge; I joined about halfway through last year and made it to 101 books. 75 is the minimum I like to try and read, but my goal is always 100. I've got a hectic year planned so we'll see how far I get! I generally read a lot of YA and fantasy, but I try to keep away from most of this popular paranormal stuff and stick to more traditional fantasies. I also read literary fiction and classics, interspersed with books for school. I also try to read at least one or two novels in French. This year I'm trying extremely hard to reduce my TBR pile and not buy new books! Somehow I feel like this is already a lost cause...

Here's a link to my thread:
http://www.librarything.com/topic/106213

Hi! I am Sean from Long Island and I like a challenge. I normally juggle 4 or 5 books at a time, 1 book for bed, one for the train, one for standing on line etc....I never took count of my reading but this sounds like a good way to create a goal for the year.

Hey there everyone,

My name is Alaina and I am new to this site. I'm 22 and I co-own a Pizza place with my mother. I have rediscovered my love of reading this fall and would love to complete this challenge. My favorite types of books are crime and romance (more about love than sex). I also joined this group to broaden my exposure to books and genres.

Hi my name is Karene and I am an Australian living in the cold and dark north of British Columbia. I have lived here for 13 years and have been working in the school library for most of that, the last 3 1/2 years I have been running the library on my own. A bit overwhelming I admit, but it has been glorious to do so much of my "own thing". I am Passionate (with a capitol 'P') about books, and my job seems more like a vocation as I want all of "my" kids to love reading as much as I do. I go to great lengths to do that (Thursday is story time for the Kindergartens and it is always a lot of fun!). I think that if I can get them at an early age to love being in the library that maybe they will keep it up later on in life (the population at the school is 98% First Nations). I also think it very important that I "know my stuff" so I read as much as I can of the new books that come in to the library, so that when a kid comes in with a question I can point them in the right direction. So my reading needs are great; I read a lot of Children's literature as well as my own stacks at home (of which I have many... they are all organised by baskets; School, New, and Old). Baskets seemed the best way to go as the stacks are just so annoying to move from every flat surface in my house (and you do have to move them sometimes).
It would be a very long entry if I talked about all that I love to read, so I will just mention that Science Fiction and English Literature are neck and neck in my favorites. I would also like to say regarding entry #88 that I have often noticed that some of my reading does have it's own "soundtrack", and I would love to participate in a group discussion on that topic, music and literature. My thread http://www.librarything.com/topic/105850 is here. I love the idea of making a list.

Hi I'm Catherine and I'm reading in NYC - I'm a Queens native who only speaks one language! Go figure. Fortunately for me, that one language is English and I'm in love with English Literature. That's a big portion of my reading life, along with History, Biography, Tea/Food writings, and the occasional SciFi/Fantasy.

Besides reading, I work an administrative job that's almost full time, live with 2 cats named Zenobia and Moofer, pretend to be a writer, and have just started being less forthcoming about my age.

Here's my thread: http://www.librarything.com/topic/107279#2441280

Hi, I'm Mary Beth and I am returning for my second year with the 75 book challenge. I hope to do much better this year but I love the inspiration I get from this group and all the nice folks in it. So for those of you who are just starting you will surely enjoy yourself here and just do your best. You will definitely learn something here about books, people, life, in fact, you name it, we'll touch on it here! And you'll laugh, maybe shed a tear, but most certainly, you will be glad you found the 75 book challenge group! Mary Beth And here is my very understated (at the moment) thread http://www.librarything.com/topic/107460&newpost=1#lastmsg

Hey everyone! I'm Anneliesa from Texas and I'm looking forward to seeing what everyone is reading in this challenge! I have a 2 year old daughter and I'm starting a new semester at college. The goal is to expand my genre interest and I can't wait to see my TBR pile grow this year. I really enjoy satire, plays, and science fiction books.

You can find my 2011 challenge thread here! http://www.librarything.com/topic/107320

Happy reading! :)

Hi everyone. I'm Gautam from India. This is my first year in 75 books in 2011 challenge. I'm a doctor and love to read. I've no particular choice in books. I will read anything that strikes my fancy.

I've average a book a week so far. So I'm hoping to get inspired to read more and make more time for reading.

Hello! This is my first challenge and I am excited to give it a try. I am from Connecticut and work in higher education. I enjoy fantasy, historical fiction, mysteries/suspense, and books with mythological elements.

Here is my 2011 thread: http://www.librarything.com/topic/107604

I am really looking forward to seeing what others are reading, too! I have learned about some amazing books so far on this site that I might not have heard of otherwise.

Hi there!

My name is Kaitlin, I'm new to Library Thing, and this is my first time joining the 75 book challenge! I'm 21 years old and I live in Grand Rapids, Michigan. I just graduated from college in December and am substitute teaching at the moment.

I like a lot of different styles of books, particularly memoir, fiction, fantasy, informational/educational. I'd say I really just won't read horror. Other than that - I'll give it a try.

I've read 5 books so far and its only January 17...I'm thinking that's a pretty good pace!
Here's my thread...

http://www.librarything.com/talktopic.php?topic=107563

I just love the fact that there are so many people out there that share the same passion for books and make it a priority! Happy reading!

Hello everyone,

I’ve been an LT member for several years but have mostly kept to myself. I recently joined Goodreads and decided to do a book challenge for 2011. I figure it makes sense to cross-post the books here on LT too.

A little bit about me: I’m a history and information (library) science grad student, so part of my books will reflect class reading. I live in upstate NY. My favorite time period to study is the Middle Ages. I’ve also had the chance to study in London as part of my undergrad and I’m a big fan of the UK; books relating to history, geography, and by famous people. I’m a big fan of Tolkien, C. S. Lewis, and Brian Jacques. I tend to read fantasy and sci-fi in my free time.

I've read 12 books this year. Here's the link to my thread:

http://www.librarything.com/topic/107671

Happy reading everyone.

Hello Everyone!

I am new to Library Thing and this seemed like a good group to get started. I wear a couple different hats as far as life goes but my top two are being a wife and a mom to my 18 month old (who is enormous!). I am fairly picky about what I read and what will hold my attention. I generally like non-fiction (history), although I have recently gotten into a young adult fantasy - mainly Rick Riordan.

I'm not sure I can make the challenge but I am willing to give it a shot! I'm really interested in seeing what others are reading and hopefully getting some good book suggestions!

Here's my thread: http://www.librarything.com/topic/107608

Hi all!

I've been on LT since 2006 (Really? Has it been that long?), although I've just recently started joining groups and participating in challenges. I'm currently a grad student, pursing two degrees concurrently, and a part-time museum intern. I love to read, although most of my time gets eaten up by assigned class readings. I'm doing an 11 in 11 Challenge, although 75 books is a more realistic goal for me, considering I read 58 books last year. Mostly I like to read mysteries, historical fiction, science fiction, and fantasy, although I will read just about anything if it looks interesting.

My 75 books thread: http://www.librarything.com/topic/107546
My 11 in 11 thread: http://www.librarything.com/topic/101421

Hi all,

I'm Lee from South Wales in the UK, read most books apart from anything that has more than a hint of romance. At the moment I'm into Jack Higgins, Peter Benchley and Cormac Mccarthy.

Really like true life escape stories, with my favourite novel of all time being Pappilon

Never been on any kind of site like this before, so any help would be much appreciated. I have joined the group 75 books in 2011, here's the link:

http://www.librarything.com/talktopic.php?topic=107657

I suppose it's long past time I put a message here . . .

Hi, I'm Terri, from the mountains of Western Pennsylvania, USA. I joined LT in June of 2009, and joined the 75 challenge shortly thereafter. I'm fifty-ish, the wife of a pastor, mom of a teenage son, and I work part-time in a library.

I love all kinds of books, but especially mysteries and a lot of non-fiction. I'm interested in the US Civil War, fascinated by the lessons to be learned in reading about disasters (natural and human-made), and I collect spooky folklore from places that I visit. I'm also always on the lookout for good books dealing with Autism Spectrum Disorder; my son is on the high-functioning end of the spectrum. Oh, and I like books about sports, too!

I have threads here, in the 11 in 11 challenge, and the Books off the Shelf Challenge. My 75 Challenge thread is here:

http://www.librarything.com/topic/104729

Hey everyone! I joined the 75 book challenge right before 2011, but I want to find more friends here! I'm a German history and library science double master's student at NYU, and I currently work at the Bobst library at NYU. I love all types of books, and I read as much as I can! I'm interested in reading a wide variety of books this year, and I hope to surpass my 75 book goal! If you are a librarian/student in the New York City area, I'm especially interested in communicating with you!

My Challenge thread is here:

http://www.librarything.com/topic/105812

Welcome and good luck with your studies...just finished my MLS, but I was at the University at Buffalo. Hope all goes well for you at NYU.

I'm Ellen in Seattle. Reader, runner, cat-lover, bus commuter. I usually focus on fiction but have read some great nonfiction lately. I have another 2011 challenge I've already committed to: read every single fiction piece in The New Yorker. So far, so good.

Good luck Ellen!

Hi. I'm Nan. Middle aged, married profession.

I love mysteries, especially historical, fiction, penguin classics. I look forward to checking out everyone's reads.

I'm Jenny. Nearly 25, work with horses and own one as well. I live in Suffolk, England, and am a true country girl. I've also got four cats, and a guinea-pig that rules the house.

Mostly I read historical fiction or fantasy, with sci-fi thrown in and a mixture of other books I've been recommended. I'm also insane, but I think that must be a prerequisite for avid readers.

My thread is here: http://www.librarything.com/topic/106280

http://www.librarything.com/topic/108086

Hi everyone, I'm Jo from New Zealand. Almost 27 and a lifelong bookworm, was very excited to find this site.
I read a lot of fiction (children's /YA / adult) but I don't discriminate, as long as it's a book and holds my attention I will read it! Some of my favourite authors are William Taylor, Jeffery Deaver, Gerald Durrell, L.M. Montgomery, Donna Tartt, Laura Ingalls Wilder, and J.K. Rowling but I love far too many others to list!

Have already got some great recommendations from LT (cannot believe I spent almost 27 years of my life without ever reading The Phantom Tollbooth and looking forward to getting many more.

http://www.librarything.com/topic/108168

Hello from Northern Poland!

I'm finanacial analyst and computer science student.
I tend to scare my friends and co-workers with amount of books I own and read.

I'm going to give this a try this year. My name is Ted and I love all sorts of books, especially history, baseball, and mystery books. My goals this year are to read more and run more. Hopefully I accomplish both!

Welcome Ted! I look forward to getting some recommendations from you since my favorite topics are history and baseball too!

297 – jessieb30 - it's nice to meet another Charlestonian here! :)

hey everyone, this is Hooi Ming from the sunny island of Singapore! I'm new to librarything (just discovered it last week!)... am getting really excited about all the listings and 'talk' about books..

I've been an avid reader since young. My favourite genres are travelogues, contemporary novels, science fiction/fantasy and just about anything else that catches my eye!! My fav authors include Elizabeth Berg, Jonathan Carroll, Audrey Niffenegger, Philip Mann and more.. I've just turned 40 and a mother of 2 teenagers... I run a small marketing agency supporting clients in the IT industry such as Microsoft, HP etc. with their copywriting and marcom needs.

Reading is my sanity-check and I've got to do this every night before I hit the sack! Have been averaging about 60 books a year for the past 10 years or so...spotted your 75 books challenge and thought, it sounds really exciting!

Here's my thread to track this year's reading journey: http://www.librarything.com/topic/108250

welcome to Singapore! I mean...welcome to LibraryThing. I enjoy the international flavor of this site and hope you will too.

Singapore... wanna swap with me for rainy south wales? :)

Or my blizzardy, snow-covered, frostily cold, bitterly dark Western United States?

hmmm... no swappin' here, I guess I'll stay in my sunny SoCal, heh, heh

Hi everyone,

I was in this group in 2009, but failed miserably, so last year I joined the 50 book challenge. I did make the 50 book mark, but I found the people there to be a lot less talkative, so this year I'm back here! You can check out my reading so far on my thread:

http://www.librarything.com/topic/108214

I'll read almost anything, but mostly fiction. The book that impressed me most last year was Freedom by Jonathan Franzen; that choice might be a tad unoriginal but I just couldn't put it down.

Thanks maggie, yeah - it's great to be part of an international group!!... albeit virtually... always heartwarming to know there are book-crazy folks out there that share the same love!!

hey Bridgey... eh - Singapore's weather is always either sunny or rainy.. today's been a crazy, crazy day with sudden downpours (complete with lighting and thunder!!)..

Would love to see it. It's cold and wet here (again).... even the dog doesn't want to leave the house!!

Err, I'm Arne, a mid-20's electrician. I read a lot, or at least did so in the past. I should probably go to the local library and jot down the ISBNs of the books I read so my library isn't so terribly one-sided. I like my Science-Fiction hard but do like the classic Space Opera as well. In Fantasy I began with the classic Der Herr der Ringe (Lord of the Rings) and went from there. The future... who knows.
Beside reading (d'uh!) I like to take walks (with my dog and one friend or another), listening to podcast, swimming and occasionally writing. Also, gaming (playing videogames? what's it called nowadays?).
What else? Oh, yes, location, location, location. Central Europe, Germany, Mecklenburgia.

Here's my 2011 thread: http://www.librarything.com/topic/108482

Hi, I'm Janean. New to Librarything just read about it in the Writer's Digest 2011 Yearbook. I read a lot. I tend to read in tangents, once I get fixated on a topic I go with it until I find a new curiosity. I read across genres and I love history.

Hey there. My name is Briar and I live in New Zealand. I'm currently studying my Masters in Library Studies, which doesn't give me a lot of spare time, which is why I am taking most of my books in audiobook format. I thought I would join this group, as I have surprised myself by already reading a few books this year during the holidays, so I thought it would be fun to discuss them with some other readers.

This everybody!
Name name is Betty and I'm a Canadian university student majoring in computers (surprised? :D) This is my first year on this challenge, and am hoping to read as much as I could! I think I'm going to have a great year and get great recommendations from everybody's post here!

MsNick! how cool, I was wondering if any of us Charlestonians were out there! I'm going to have to find your thread on here somehow.

Hello, this is Nina.
I'm a 21-again (oh, alright, 41) mum of two; a mischief-packed toddler and another in junior school. This will be my second attempt at the 75 challenge; last year, I just about scraped 50, not having done my maths until halfway through the year. I read mainly fantasy, YA and board books (which may make an appearance on my list, since I'm asked to read the same ones over and over again). I seem to get more involved with books each year; I try and help out with reading in my son's class, and I just became a volunteer librarian for a couple of hours a week. It's quite fun, and hopefully, will give me a little more reading time!
My thread's still a bit rough and ready, but please come over and chat.

Hey everyone. I just joined the site, so I'm learning my way around. I was looking for some way to keep motivated and read instead of waste time. I hope this works.

I have three boys and we live in Islamorada in the Florida Keys of the US. I work and am in school now, so I fit reading in. I read fiction mostly and I love stuff with a darker tone, but no too mainstream.

I look forward to connecting to everyone. Here's to 2011!

Heather

#364 Welcome hvazquez!!

Thanks Bechii70

Hi all, I am a mid-40s girl who lives in sunny Southern California. I am originally from NY and lived in the midwest and east coast before coming here.

I try to read all sorts of genres, but I tend to read a lot of fiction/historical fiction, followed by bio/memoir. Not a big fantasy/sci fi person.

I've been in a fantastic book group since 1999 and have experienced wonderful books and even better discussions through it.

I share my love of reading with my aunt in NY and we have fun suggesting books to each other.

Happy reading!

Hello all. I'm Alley from MS. Just joined LT recently to help me keep track of my book collection/reading habits and discovered all this site has to offer. It's pretty awesome, I must say.

I am fairly certain I can read 75 books this year - my goal is 100+. As for favorite genres, I lean heavily towards fantasy with a little sci-fi and paranormal romance to break up the monotony.

I signed up for a few reading challenges this year, including 2 for genres I had never really read before - Steampunk and Dystopia. I know I've read a few dystopic novels in my time, but I never set out to specifically read that genre before.

So Hi! I'm looking forward to participating in various activites this group has planned. :D

My name is Glenn.

I turn 50 this year ... live in Arlington, MA and work in Cambridge, where I struggle to at least appear as smart as the people around me.

I am an ex-actor and should-have-been scientist. Am working on at least partially remedying the latter.

I have always read a great deal, and my interests are wide-ranging. Looking forward to this reading challenge ... unfortunately I gravitate towards long, difficult books, so ... 75? We'll see! :^)

Here is my thread for 2011:

http://www.librarything.com/topic/109109

Hi. My name is Nikki. I'm joining late but looking forward to the challenge! I'm a freelance writer/mom/wife in Southern California.

Here is my first post:

http://www.librarything.com/topic/109211&newpost=1#lastmsg

Hello! I've decided that I wanted to try and keep track of the books I read this year and figured that my librarything account would be the place to do so. I then discovered this group and thought it sounded like a fun challenge. Here is my thread: http://www.librarything.com/topic/109372.

Ey there fella's and ladies of the well read class. :p

Starting my own cheeky 75 books challenge to track how many and what books I read when. I read a fairly large volume of books each year and I notice that I forget when I read which once's. The overall story line and emotions stay with me but details elude me which is a shame. This is going to be my first line of defense against this...just keeping the books in my awareness a bit longer. :D

So prepare yourself for the:
http://www.librarything.com/topic/109441&newpost=1#lastmsg
Remco's 75 books challenge 2011

Hi, I'm Manda!

I'm 19 and I live in Glasgow, Scotland. I'm currently studying Computing at university.

I spend a lot of my free time reading, writing, playing musical instruments (mainly guitar, but I play bass guitar, drums and piano too), drawing and other creative stuff.

I've been fascinated with books since I was little, and I used to read absolutely everything I could find (apparently most small children don't try to read dictionaries from cover to cover).

I just started my wee 2011 75-book challenge thread today, so here's the link:
http://www.librarything.com/topic/109583

Hello, everyone! I’m Elena, 31, and live in Maryland, USA. I was born and grew up in Russia, came to this country in 2002 for a short visit, and (a husband of nearly 7 years and multiple pets later) it looks like I’m staying. Reading and anything book-related have been an obsession and it’s very reassuring to find out there’s an army of people who don’t think that there is something wrong with it.
This is my first time joining a group and I hope to be a good match for this crowd and up for the challenge. My reading preferences include variety of genres, literary fiction being the most frequent choice lately, however this year I’d like to try and read more of sci-fi, fantasy, non-fiction and classics I so shamefully neglected.
This is my thread http://www.librarything.com/topic/109673

Hey there! :) I'm Pauline, a Journalism student from the Philippines. I'm 20, amusingly curly (hair or brain - goes both ways, really), and a big reader. I'm not big on paragraphs - I'm more into lists, so here's a get-to-know-me-in-bullets:

* I hate fish.
* My mother named me after a character she read in a book. When I asked her about it for an assignment on where our names came from in 2nd grade, she couldn't recall the book's title or author - all she could remember was that the Pauline character in the book was a detective. It's been a mystery to me ever since. Close call: James Patterson's The Beach House, which unfortunately was written years after I was born.
* I'm the eldest of six (4 girls, 2 boys) and I reckon half of us sibs are big readers. I think.
* I have a folder on my desktop called Attempts at Immortality. It's filled with drafts and ideas for novels, short stories, and skits. Nope, nobody's read them besides me. Yet.
* I have a book blog called The Wannabe Literati.
* This year, I'll be reading through the 1001 lists as well as award-winning books. Yes, such is my attempt in exposing myself to the great reads of the world. Hopefully I can keep it up, though.
* My favorite author is Augusten Burroughs, mainly because I find him so brave for sharing his entire life for the world to read.

Here's my reading list for 2011, and some of my reviews.

A name mystery! That is so cool.

So, it wouldn't have been Pauline Sokol either, because those are recent. Pauline Rowson is the author of detective novels, not the character, as is Pauline Trent...

I'm intrigued by this. Hope it's not annoying, but how fun to have a mystery behind your name. Is it something you investigate yourself?

#376: It's kinda funny, because whenever I'm having an identity-crisis of sorts, I blame it on my name - well, the missing history behind it, more like. It's like for as long as I don't know the title and author of that book, I will never be complete, or something theatrical like that. Hehe. I mentioned in one of my LT threads that author Matthew Pearl saw my about me page and mentioned that maybe I could start a sister blog about "the search for the missing book." Maybe when I'm a bit older. To be quite honest it'll make for a great book. :D

#378 - Hi Pauline. Could your mother have read The Perils of Pauline by Charles Goddard? It was a screenplay (motion picture novel) from 1914 which is now available as a free e-book (e.g. here on Project Gutenberg). You can check it out here.
Pauline is a damsel in distress who has to find her own solutions. This is a wild guess, but you never know...

Hello. I'm Marie. I'm a mom with a 5-year-old daughter and an almost 20-month-old son. We moved to Charleston about a year and a half ago and my reading took a beating. I only read 17 books last year (compared to 72 the previous year and 172 the year before that). I actually started a thread on the 50 Book Challenge but as I was browsing other threads there I noticed that there was not a lot of conversation...they read more like a reading diary...and it is interaction that I am looking for. So if it is all right that my goal for this year is a mere 50 books for myself, I'll restart my thread here instead.

http://www.librarything.com/topic/110040

Greetings. countrylife here; LT member for almost 4 years, first year 75-er. I'd describe myself as kind of middlin' – middle aged, with a mid-sized family (5 children; 3 in college, 2 in high school), living in the middle of the country (U.S.), maintaining a mid-sized reading list – neither a lot nor a little, so hope to be able to make the goal. My books and my LibraryThing provide sanity in my world!

Hi everyone, I'm Celia from The Netherlands. I'm 31, finishing a PhD in international communication hopefully this year. I came across this group and thought it would be fun to list my books and see how much I get to this year, so I started a thread. I love reading, but I have no idea whether I will manage 75 books in 2011 - we'll see!

I love 19th century British literature, so I hope to read some more of that this year (Middlemarch being next on my list). I also love Big History books such as Guns, Germs and Steel, and historical books for example by Diana Gabaldon, and would love to read some other classics too (like War and Peace I also am very interested in books that are about intercultural differences, so if anyone knows any, I'd be happy to hear about that!

Hi everyone, I just realized that I never got around to posting here. I am Anne and I live in Washington DC (as my uninspired member name suggests). This is my first year on LT and my first 75 book challenge. I also am doing an 11 in 11 challenge.

I am 40-something, married with 3 kids (ages 16, 14 and 7). They are all enthusiastic readers too. I am currently "between jobs" following a family move to and from London--more time to read, at least for now.

I read a lot of different kinds of books and have been trying to diversify my reading in certain directions. I like contemporary fiction and classics, along with non-fiction books that catch my eye. I am trying to read more straight history, books about science, and short stories or poetry. I also get to re-read my favorite children's classics with my 7-year-old, and love to share YA fiction with my older kids.

Hi, I guess I should introduce myself. I just joined the challenge, but have been reading enough for a good start. My name is Jen, I am 35, a NICU Nurse. I am divorced with 2 kids and 2 doggies. My greatest interests at this point in my life are trying to raise my kids to be socially aware, good people; reading (of course), running, swimming, knitting, and playing as much as possible. I feel overwhelmed sometimes.

My favorite books to read are historical fiction and nonfiction, but I am not afraid to branch out and will pretty much read anything that catches my fancy. I like to feel like I am learning something from what I am reading. I used to be a moderator of a book club, which fizzled due to lack of interest. But the remaining 2 members (my friend and myself) are still going strong. We like to call ourselves the 'Mean Girls' book club. We have quite the reading list outlined for this year and are trying to do a theme for each month. This month it is the Borgia family, next month will be King Arthur...

Anyway, I would really like to reach at least the 75 and keep some semblance of a life at the same time. We will see what happens...

Okay, I haven't finished all the intros, (there are 384 messages at my posting, so it will take me awhile), but I wanted to introduce myself before I start posting. Stellafish, my name is Jenn too (common name for girls from the 70's). I'm married with no children. DH is a network engineer and I'm a lab rat (by education) and a teacher (by passion). Alas, due to illness beyond my control, I can no longer work.

I've been a lifelong bookworm and always did these "book challenges" when I was a young lass...I use books a form of escape, and a way to fall asleep (can't go to sleep without reading even if only a line or so). However, due to horrid arthritis (autoimmune, inflammatory) I haven't delved into many books, beyond my "comfort" books, but now that I have received my Nook, I'm on FIRE! (yet my hands are not with my nook...woohoo!).

Hmmm...I will read about anything and everything...I tend towards fantasy though, since I like books for escape, but right now I'm caught up in Susan Wiggs Lakeshore series, which offers a nice escape too. When I read, I can escape a body that no longer functions like it should, pain, and fear...

So my goal is 85 books and I have to count what I've read thus far, but I'm over 10 since January.

#385 - Welcome, Jenn. I'm sorry about your health issues, but I'm glad that books can offer some respite, at least. Good luck with your goal.
Janet

Hello everyone! I'm Sarah and this is my first challenge in attempting to read 75 books this year. A little about me: I work in a library (so I'm constantly bringing new books home with me) and I currently live in MO with my husband. Well, that's just a little bit about me. I should get back to reading....

#387 Welcome Sara waves hello from across the state line of MO and KS and everyone else who's signed up in recent weeks. What a great group this is!

I've just found this group accidentally while looking for something else, and it has piqued my interest. I have just (finally) read Absalom, Absalom although I need to reread it. Once it clicked, I read through it too quickly.

Wondering if anyone has yet read Unbroken A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption? If so, comments? The challenge of reading 75 books this year is tempting, though I would already be weeks behind.

Seeing the titles of some books I've read, or want to read, mentioned in the posts gave me a little thrill of recognition. Thanks.

Laurel

I'm new to library thing and the 75 book challenge, but I'm sure i read at least that many books last year so I think I'm up for it.

I'm joining this on the suggestion of Willowsmom - just joined LT, but I devour books, so I'm pretty confident that I'll hit over 75 this year - it will be interesting to track it!

389- Welcome deserthorse...you could post that book on the "What You Are Reading: Nonfiction" thread...maybe someone there has read it.
I know a lot of people here like reading books on that topic.

Welcome all new members...feel free to start your own thread on our group page, listing the books you've read or are reading this year. Don't worry if you can't make 75 books - it's not all about the numbers. Many of us don't reach 75 in one year, but we stay for the book suggestions and chat.

Hi all, i'm Lorna. I'm a 50-ish mom to three children in their 20's, and a relatively new emptynester with time to rediscover the joys of daytime reading! Both my husband and I love to read and have wide ranging interests so are open to reading most anything once be it fiction or nonfiction. I stumbled across LT quite by accident while searching for a very old book on clothing design and pattern making, and although I still have a lot to learn about posting and making a thread, I hope to participate in the 75 Book challenge.

Welcome to those of you who've joined in the last few days.

Hi all! I'm new to Library Thing and to the 75 challenge, but I am looking forward to it! I am 26, have my BA in Psychology, and work in a hotel and as a residential support worker for people with disabilities. Two jobs keeps me pretty busy, but at least at the hotel I get some time to read when it is slow. My other joys in life are music and gardening. My partner and I are actually looking at selling our house to buy some raw land so we can start up a small hobby farm. It's very exciting. Anyhow, my thread for the challenge can be found here

Hi! I'm new to actually using my librarything account (I've had one since 2008 but never uploaded books or poked around the groups) and thought I'd join! I'm a waitress taking a break from college, so I've got extra time to catch up and make it to 75 :D. My thread is over here.

Hello all. I'm Nancy, Canadian, now in my fabulous fifties. I live in the Okanagan Valley in BC; I'm a transplant, originally from Ottawa. LOVE books. Decided over the Christmas holiday this year that I would read my way through the sh*t season (Jan/Feb); eighteen books later (I'm an "all or nothing" subscriber), a colleague suggested an online book club. I'm excited to have somewhere to keep track of what I'm reading and what I want to read. LT is a perfect fit! Have no idea whether I will read 75 books in one year, but there's only one way to find out!

Hi, I'm Anne, married for 24 years to the best husband in the world, mom of two grown sons, BA in Language Arts & education, currently subbing whilst in grad school. Been a Michigander my whole life. My hobby is researching. I get stuck on a topic and spend a lot of time researching it. Housework, everything, falls by the wayside when I'm online doing research, or poring over books in libraries. I read just about anything except romance, my favs being (nonfiction) psychology and (fiction) thrillers, but I do have eclectic tastes.
Looking forward to getting my books catalogued and getting to know other readers.

I am from India. Love to read as you might guess :). Sci Fi and Fantasy are turning out to be my favorite pieces of work but I am up for reading anything good.

Welcome to the new folks.. hope to find you amidst the threads soon!

Hi, I'm Lis. I've already started my reading for 2011 but did it without a group. I love historical fiction... currently. Enjoying classics and some of my daughter's class reads (middle-school)

Hi everyone!

Hi, I'm Rob, a 46-year old struggling freelance writer from North-East England (yes, we can read up here). I've only just found this part of LibraryThing, so I thought I'd give it a go. What's the worst that could happen?
Lots of historical detective stuff on there at the moment, but I have some massive histories to get through so that should add a bit of intellectual roughage to the mix.

I'm new to this group. Recently someone asked me how many books I read in a week and in a year. Having no answer, I thought it would be interesting to keep count.

I try to write reviews for most things I've read, so won't do that in messages to this group. If you have any questions about the books listed in my posts, I'd be glad to answer.

In my tally, audio books count. So here's the tally for 2011 so far:

January:
The Glass Room by Simon Mawer
Mrs. Kimble by Jennifer Haigh
Little Princes by Connor Grennan
Great House by Nicole Krauss

February:
Room by Emma Donaghue
Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand
Winter's Bone by Daniel Woodrell
The Girl with Glass Feet by Ali Shaw
Mudbound by Hilary Jordan

March:
Winter Ghosts by Kate Mosse
The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver
A Journey Long and Strange by Tony Horwitz
Poser: My Life in 23 Yoga Poses by Claire Dederer
Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonson

So...there you go 14 books so far this year.

Hi!My name is Debra and I've been a member of LT for a few years now. I'm a "joisey" girl, but lived in Marin Co in Norther CA for 14 years during which time my son (now 22!) was born! I'm a supervising counselor with degrees in social work, psychology and administrative sciences. I read constantly at work, mostly evaluation reports and work related articles, so all of my leisurely reading is for fun/enjoyment! I started with alot of historical romance novels years ago, and now enjoy mysteries. I have NO idea what a thread is, but I am keeping track of all my 2011 books in "my books"by making sure I add the finsihed reading date! Here's to wonderful reading all year long!!

This is my first year with this group. My name is James, and I'm a 31-year-old computer tech with a Bachelors in Computer Science. I'm married to a graphic designer and have 3 beautiful daughters (heaven help me!). I'm originally from Texas but relocated to Utah. Huge Dallas Cowboys fan.

I read a lot while in school but stopped when hanging out with friends became more important. I've recently gotten back into it about 2 years ago. I mainly love fantasy and horror novels. My two favorite authors are Stephen King and Jim Butcher. I have a pretty big list of books that I want to read (almost all of them are part of a series), so I'm hoping I can meet the 75 book goal.

Here's a link to my 2011 thread:

http://www.librarything.com/topic/111967

Debralu, a thread is just a 'topic' that you start and maintain as you wish. It lets people comment on your reviews and reading, and chat and otherwise make remarks. If you look at the '75 books in 2011' page, you'll see the topics listed, and you can add your own. Some of the members of this group have many pages of thread, some, like me, have yet to have such a long thread that it needs another edition. Roam around and take a look at what people do with their threads, and you'll get an idea of your own.

hello
My name is Carla, I'm from Pittsburgh,PA. Im not real new at LT but just starting to figure out all the ins and outs of this. I figured I would join 75 books in 2011 to give myself something to do. I read alot. I've read almost 30 books so far this year, and hope to meet my goal of 75. I like all kinds of books, but try to read all book by same author before moving on to new one. my favorite author is Laurell K Hamilton and Sherrilyn Kenyon. But i'm always looking for new ones. I'm open to any great book suggestions.

Hope everyone has a wonderful day

Carla

Hello,
My name is Gabriela. I am a computer science major. Currently a college freshman and since my girlfriend left me i found myself to find more time to read. I just joined this site and found this challenge. I already read a couple books. The year is just starting so I think this is going to be interesting. =)

this is my list so far : http://www.librarything.com/topic/113016#2605553

Hi! My name is Caitlin and I am 22 (23 on Monday!). I graduated last year with a B.S. in Biomedical Science and am currently planning on attending medical school. Right now I am studying to take the medical school admissions test. After 5 years living near Memphis I have returned to my awesome hometown of New Orleans. Of course, I love to read, and will read pretty much anything, but my favorites are historical fiction, fantasy and YA. I watch too much TV for my own good (people keep introducing me to great new shows!), love to travel (my goal is to visit all the continents-I have 2 left, Africa and Antarctica), enjoy volunteering, and love to babysit and spend time with my friends and family (including our 3 dogs and 1 cat). This is my third year in this group and I am excited to see what everyone is reading this year! My thread is here: http://www.librarything.com/topic/113810

Hi All,
I am Shama and live in New Jersey. I just joined LibraryThing and am still finding my way around. Love the idea of 75 Books in 2011.

Hi all, newcomer to LT this year and stumbled across the 75 challenge so thought I would join and see how many books I could read this year, already upto 10 so not doing too bad for a late starter!! Anyways I'm Kerry, BIG 40 this year, married with 3 children. I live in South Yorkshire, England and I'm a theatre/OR scrub nurse in cardiothoracic theatres, so after a busy day at work I like to escape into a book or two. Prefer to read actual books than ebooks - but each to their own. I mostly read chick-lit but trying to venture out into other genres, getting some good ideas from reading all your threads.
my book count thread http://www.librarything.com/topic/112984

Hi,
My name is Tessa (Marank here on LibraryThing) and I'm from Arnhem, the Netherlands. I am 41 and I work as a freelance translator and as a librarian in my local library (a wish come true!).
I love reading anything really, but my main interests are historical fiction and non-fiction. Anything with the word history in it is good! But thrillers are fine too.
Most of the books I read are in English. But I also read books in Dutch. Mostly by Dutch authors and some books by European authors that have not been translated into English (yet).

Last year I read 65 books, and the year before 51. So 75 will be quite a challenge!

My list can be found here (hope this works...)

Hi, I'm Hermia here on the Library Thing. I'm supposed to be studying in a master's program in Taiwan, but I usually end up reading irrelevant books instead of doing research for my thesis. I discovered this site yesterday and was thrilled!
I am addicted to books, to the degree that I cannot do anything else until I finish reading what I have started. I've always been particularly drawn to 19th century classics, but I've just started to appreciate all the genres out there. I was looking for good recommendations when I stumbled upon this site.
I'm quite optimistic about reaching 75.

I am Erika, new to the website and group but certainly not reading :) I am a stay at home mom to 4 little ones under the age of 9. Reading is my escape. I am well on my way into the 75 book challenge of 2011.

Welcome to the group, Erika!

Hi, I'm Jeanne. I've been with Library Thing for a few years but have only just discovered the 75 in 2011 challenge. I have kept track of the number of books I read per year for some time, but never actually set a goal. I live in New Zealand on 15 acres with my husband, 2 of 4 children, 8 cows, 3 goats, 3 ducks, 3 cats, and 2 dogs. I grew up in Louisiana, spent a decade or so in Texas, and have been in NZ for 8 years.
Reading and gardening are my two favorite hobbies: one for rainy days and after the sun goes down, the other for sunshine and when I have enough energy to really get something accomplished. (Coming to terms with being in my 50s, arrgh!)

Hi, Jeanne. Welcome to the 75ers!

Hi. I'm Cathy, in Atlanta. Right now I am simultaneously reading Don't Know Much About Mythology, The Sisters Brothers, and Getting Stoned with Savages. I recently finished Clara and Mr. Tiffany and A Drop of the Hard Stuff. I haven't been keeping track of how many books I have read in 2011, but I'm going to try for at least 75.

Hello, I just joined this group though I'm already on LT for a few years :)
Since 2009 I have been keeping track of the books I read, which I started because I was curious about how many books I'd read in a year (and it was a good motivation to get my to-be-read pile finished, even though I borrow a LOT of books from other people as well).
This year I've already finished 54 books (2011 list, with link to 2010 and 2009 as well) so I'm pretty sure I'll reach 75 books (and finish my TBR pile this year!!), but I thought I'd join the group because I like discussions about books :) I'll make a new thread in a minute.

Finish your TBR pile??? Isn't that a felony? Welcome anyway, LOL.

Well, if I have finished it I can add new books :D But it will be nice to have finished all the books that have been lying on the pile for more than 3 years.

Hi Jeanne. Welcome to the group. I was up your way in February. My husband and I did the trip to Cape Reinga and then drove back via Karikari Peninsula. Sounds an idyllic lifestyle. I live in Paeroa a little over an hour south of Auckland. Speaking of gardening thats probably what I should do right now.

Hello everyone. I'm new to LT, and new to the group - I started my 75 Challenge thread and didn't realize there was this handy place to introduce myself. Once I figure out how to add a link to it here I will. Oh! I have cats... enough for anyone who doesn't - well, only three. One reads, she prefers library books.
Calling North GA home these days, a short distance from Lake Hartwell, I home office 100% of the time. I fall hard for the leading men in the series I read, and have a strong distaste for leading women who can't manage to be strong and maintain healthy relationships.

Michelle

Hi Michelle, I've only joined the group in the past month. It's pretty awesome. Welcome.

Welcome to the group! Feel free to pop into anyone's threads you like.. it is a very friendly group here

Welcome to the 75ers Michelle!

Hello. I just joined the group. I am a Project Management Professional. I am also an avid reader, Kindle blogger and publisher @ www.mehmetgok.com

I have many interests. Some major ones are classical guitar, chess and theatre. Travelling used to be there heavily before our 2 year old son. I still do it within reason :)

Mehmet

Hi Mehmet! Had a look over on your web site. Then I browsed around and couldn't find my way back to your intro page. What is Orange Sky Project?

Nothing like starting when the year is half over. However, I HAVE been reading this year, prior to finding Library Thing. I assume it is ok to add the books I have read this year? I promise to be honest :-) . I live in Iowa, but will be moving to the southeast when our house sells. I have a chronic illness that has caused cognitive challenges for me, among those an inability to read more than a few pages at a time. However, I do listen to unabridged recorded books and trust that those will qualify for someone with my cognitive challenges.

Looking forward to this immensely!

Of course it's ok! We just want to see what you're reading. :)

Kathlene, it is perfectly okay to count all the books you have read so far this year. I found this group three years ago in June and recorded all my books to that point. Also, many member count audio books so no problem there either. Welcome to the group, and to you too, Mehmet, Michelle, etc..

Yes, absolutely, Kathlene! I count all my audio books. And the year I started, I joined in June or July and listed everything I could remember that I'd read up to that point in the year. Welcome!

I'm popping in to say hello to everybody since for some reason LT was saying I hadn't joined the group this year so I made sure to click and want to say hello again. I will come back with the thread for you all to click on as soon as I finish putting in my reviews. Hello to all our newbies! This is a great group!

Hi, my name's Spencer and this is the first reading challenge I've done on LT. I try to read a variety of things, but I trend towards sci fi and the surreal. Here is a link to the books I've read so far this year:

http://www.librarything.com/topic/120064

On my current pace I should hit 75 right around Christmas.

Hi Spencer.

Bob here; 70, retired, recently moved back to Central New York after 40 years in Hell (D.C. area) Avid reader and re-reader, plus an early(in-progress) reader for Mary Doria Russell I've read all her work, including one of her paleoanthropology papers, titled 'The Supraorbital Torus: "A Most Remarkable Peculiarity" ' Mary inscribed it to me as "The only fan crazy enough to want to read 'the early work' -- that said, I've enjoyed all Tom Clancy's solo fiction (the T.C. with whoever doesn't grab me at all), all of Heinlein, Spider Robinson, Larry Niven... It's fun to read, what can I say!

Welcome, Bob. If you haven't already done so, please consider starting a thread to track your reading. I'd love to exchange notes with you on books.

Agre with DrN bob.... do start a thread, and visit any threads that pique your interest.
We are a very chatty mob....

Hi Bob, and welcome. I have all of Heinlein and all of Niven on my TBR list. Things to look forward to, eh?

I'm very new to LibraryThing and this topic; however, I'm a total bookaholic so it's right up my alley. Nothing like starting half way thru the year. I need to count how many I've read so far this year to see where I am.

I live in Burbank, CA with my 2 dogs, Ricky & Lucy. Ricky's half Maltese and half American Eskimo and Lucy's a Shih Tzu mix. I run an eclectic book review web site, PopcornReads.com, where we only review fiction that we love. If anyone is interested in being a guest reviewer, just drop me an email at mk@popcornreads.com.

I'm really looking forward to getting to know everyone in the group and am thrilled that I found LibraryThing!

Hey, Merikay, what a lovely name! Welcome to the group--always glad to have another of us on the West Coast. A lot of us have been reading Gail Carriger's books and enjoying them--I see you have them in your library.

Hey, my name Katy i'm a english girl. 13 years of age, :L Like reading, all books. Also into music and art, oil pastels, watercolours carcole :D

Beguining it now, 75. But where do i put my info for the 1,.... blah... blah stuff?

:D

Oh by the way, my grammars rubbish. English is my worst subject. :) Don't be too harsh on me.

Welcome, Katy. To start your own thread, go to the group page and look for "Start A New Topic". Click on that, put in a title (I highly recommend you put your user name in the title somewhere), then type your first message. That's all there is to it!

Never tried this before. I wonder if it is like NaNoWriMo, but without the NDE. Anyway, my thread is:

http://www.librarything.com/topic/120432

MGP

Hi, All. Christy, here. I've been around LibraryThing for awhile but just recently joined this group. I am looking forward to meeting everyone and getting some great reading ideas from them. Oh, and doing some tracking of my own reads as well.

Hello all. My name is Hannah. I have only recently joined LT and have swiftly become pretty hooked! This group was recommended to me by sibyx, so I thought I would give it a whirl, though I may struggle to read 75 books before the end of 2011.

I'm 32, and live in England with my Hungarian husband who is a very recently made PhD in film studies. I have recently started work with kids in care, having previously worked with children and young people for most of my career in various guises from ESL tutor to youth worker to primary school teacher. When not working I can often be found taking strange abstract photographs, making jewelery, keeping active in various ways or cuddled up on the sofa watching an old movie.

I occassionally pick up one of my husband's crime novels, but my main genre love is Sci-Fi. I also read general fiction and the occassional bit of non-fiction. Looking forward to swapping recommendations and sharing great books with those of you kind enough to indulge a newbie!

Hopefully, if I have overcome my usual IT ineptness, this is the link to my thread: http://www.librarything.com/topic/121039

Hi Hannah, welcome to the 75ers!

Welcome all!

Hello!

My name is Kerri and I work for a large not-for-profit as a program officer. I'm currently attending graduate school (master's in library and information science), so I'm not able to do much recreational reading from September through May - although I try to allow myself to read whatever I want on the train and on my lunch hour.

I typically read mostly fiction, but sometimes some history and politics (although very little lately). I also went through a big health book craze at the beginning of the year, but that seems to have run its course.

I listed what I've read so far this year and plan to update with more reviews from now on: http://www.librarything.com/topic/121507

I’ve been hanging out over at 50 Books group for a few years now, but this year it seems that I might finally make it to book #50 before the year is over. So I thought, what the heck, let’s really challenge myself. Besides, I’ve been eying this group for a while now, it seems like a lot of fun here.

I read mostly thrillers, mysteries, and historical fiction. However, I am easily tempted to read other books just because they have a great cover/title/blurb on the back/review. My TBR pile is huge and I am trying to get it down a bit by reading, but for every book I take off, two are added. Ah, such is the life of a reader...

I've made a thread, listed all the books I've read so far, and it is here: http://www.librarything.com/topic/121544

Hi All

My name is Michelle (aka Chelle) and I'm from Canada. I'm new to this website and this group so I thought I'd pop in and say hello.
I'm a police dispatcher and when the public behaves and there is no work to be done we are allowed to read. I find I do most of my reading at work these days but I still manage to find a lot of time to read on the patio swing!
I'm a big fan of suspense, thriller, horror and police drama. I'm trying to expand into reading classic lit and historical fiction but I'll take a good vampire story any day!
Cheers :)

#449 Welcome Kerri - I hope you can keep up the recreational as well as the professional reading!
#450 Welcome Samantha. Samantha, if you are worrying about the size of your TBR pile, you are in good company, but don't expect it to get any easier in this group, with so many good suggestions from other members to add to the list (lots of mystery and history fans here for a start)!
#451 Welcome Michelle too. You'll find lots of group members who share some or all of those tastes - we're an eclectic bunch here. If you haven't already, do create your own thread, and we'll come and see what you've been reading. Or do drop into other personal threads or themed threads to meet other people too.

Hello new folks :) Glad to have you in the group... Welcome and thanks for joining us :)

Welcome Chelle, I too am a dispatcher and seem to enjoy some of the same works as yourself. I noticed we share 106 of the same books. Very nice to meet you and hope you enjoy our cozy little group.

Hello all! I just turned 27 and have joined LT...I don't know why or how I didn't know about this before! I'm addicted now. I grew up in Oklahoma but now live in Cape Town, South Africa, with my husband. Until recently I held two or three jobs at a time and had no time to read for pleasure and I missed it alot. I did sneak a few books in here or there, but really have taken off since I moved to Africa and have plenty of free time.

Welcome to the group!

http://www.librarything.com/topic/123004

Hi, everyone. I'll turn 48 this month (hard to believe!) and I'm married and a mother of 2 boys (9 and 6). I'm a CPA, with my own business, and I love to read, watch soccer (and be a soccer mom), travel, build LEGOS and whatever else happens to pique my interest at the moment. I mainly read mysteries and scifi - anything that makes me have to think (but in an enjoyable way), and I read a lot of children's books too. I'm also trying to read those classics that I didn't get to read when younger, but it is slow go!! I'm addicted to LT!!

I am Bradon. I live in Concord,NC. I love to play sports and listen to music. My favorite type of music is pop. I am 13 and I kinda like to read. I opened an account today and joined this group today. My favorite color is Green. My favorite food is Fries. I love to eat. Please join my group horror readers if you like horror novels or horror fiction. Thanks.

Welcome to all!

Hi, I'm Helen from Reading in England and I've just joined the group. My thread is here though I've got a bit of catching up to do to backdate the list of books I've read so far this year.

I read a mix of books, mostly by authors who have been shortlisted for one of the main awards, though I've found a growing number from other LTers comments and ratings. Like most people, once I've found a book I like I try others by the same author though sometimes that can be disappointing so I'm always on the lookout for new ideas. My LT catalogue is growing gradually and I have more to add to it but compared to many it is minuscule!

I've got two children, one away at university in deepest Wales and one who has just started a gap year between school and university (also in Wales as it happens but rather less deeply so!).

Other than reading I enjoy walking, gardening and spending time at our house in France, where we spend our time trying to forget about work ....by reading, walking and gardening!

Welcom Helensq..!!!

Hello everyone! I am new to Library Thing and have just started posting some of the books in my collection. I am not a snob when it comes to books - I'll read anything that catches my eye. Sometimes it's a comment or just a cover that makes me want to read it!

I live in Houston, TX and I currently work part time at the local library while I'm working on my masters degree in library science. Most of my reading is related to school, but I try to make time to read for pleasure, too. Since I started at the library I tend to check out more books than I buy. And now, I'm so excited that I can check out books on my Kindle!

I am over 40 and have 2 children, one in high school and other on her own now. She has gifted me with a grandson recently, and I am excited about that!

Other than reading and studying, I enjoy spending time with family and working on my crafting (mainly sewing and crocheting). I garden a little, but with so little rain this year and an extremely hot summer, not much survived!

Anyway, I hope to get to know some of my fellow bibliophiles here!

Hi, elalayon,

Welcome to LibraryThing and the 75 Book challenge group. I hope you have a great time here.

Congratulations on your new grandson. How sweet!

I understand the problems with the garden this year. This was the worst garden I've had in recent memory, but I know it's been way hotter with a great drought in your neck of the woods.

Take some time to stop by the threads of various members jsut to say hi or make a comment or two. You'll find most people here freinds and fun.

Enjoy!

#463 - Welcome! I'm also working on my MLIS!

463/465: Double welcome, I'm also working on my MLIS! :)

#463 and 465 - I will star your threads then.

Hello, I'm Nicholette. I joined this year and almost have all my books cataloged--2 shelves left to go. I read mystery, scifi, thrillers, romance and whatever else strikes my fancy or someone recommends.

There's no way I can list everything I've read so far this year, since I average a book or more a day. I can probably figure out what I've read the last couple weeks and can list that.

I thought I did a thread, but I must be too tired to figure out what to do cause it ain't there. I'll look tomorrow and figure it out. Ugh!!

The threads look interesting from what I've looked at and I look forward to seeing more...