NOVEMBER ROOT - Progress Thread

FLOWER OF THE MONTH = HYDRANGEA








Password is ROOTS
Hydrangea is a genus of 70–75 species of flowering plants native to Asia and the Americas. By far the greatest species diversity is in eastern Asia, notably Korea, China, and Japan. Most are shrubs 1 to 3 meters tall, but some are small trees, and others lianas reaching up to 30m (98 ft) by climbing up trees. They can be either deciduous or evergreen, though the widely cultivated temperate species are all deciduous.

Hydrangea flowers are produced from early spring to late autumn; they grow in flowerheads most often at the ends of the stems. Typically the flowerheads contain two types of flowers: small non-showy flowers in the center or interior of the flowerhead, and large, showy flowers with large colorful sepals (tepals). These showy flowers are often extended in a ring, or to the exterior of the small flowers. Plants in wild populations typically have few to none of the showy flowers, while cultivated hydrangeas have been bred and selected to have more of the larger type flowers.

There are two flower arrangements in hydrangeas which includes the commonly grown "bigleaf hydrangea". Mophead flowers are large round flowerheads resembling pom-poms or, as the name implies, the head of a mop. In contrast, lacecap flowers bear round, flat flowerheads with a center core of subdued, small flowers surrounded by outer rings of larger flowers having showy sepals or tepals. The flowers of some rhododendrons and viburnums can appear, at first glance, similar to those of some hydrangeas.

Hydrangea flowers, when cut, dehydrate easily and wilt very fast due to the large surface area of the petals. A wilted hydrangea may have its hydration restored by first having its stem immersed in boiling water; as the petals of the hydrangea can also absorb water, the petals may then be immersed, in room-temperature water, to restore the flower's hydration.

In most species the flowers are white, but in some species can be blue, red, pink, light purple, or dark purple. In these species, floral color change occurs due to the presence of aluminium ions which are available or tied up depending upon the soil pH.

Hydrangeas are popular ornamental plants, grown for their large flowerheads, with Hydrangea macrophylla being by far the most widely grown with over 600 named cultivars, many selected to have only large sterile flowers in the flowerheads. Hydrangea macrophylla, also known as Bigleaf Hydrangea, can be broken up into two main categories; Mophead Hydrangea & Lacecap Hydrangea. Some are best pruned on an annual basis when the new leaf buds begin to appear. If not pruned regularly, the bush will become very 'leggy', growing upwards until the weight of the stems is greater than their strength, at which point the stems will sag down to the ground and possibly break. Other species only flower on 'old wood'. Thus new wood resulting from pruning will not produce flowers until the following season.

WE ARE SO CLOSE! According to the numbers available, we have only 32 more ROOTs to pull!

I have removed from the calculations those members who have not reached 25% of their goal AND have not posted activity in the last 6 months. The tickers have been adjusted and the group goal modified.

If you feel you have been removed and should remain, please contact me.
I have also marked the totals for the 7 members whose tickers are not working to record the same number as last month. When you get your tickers corrected, please let me know.

Below is the current list of members who have been active for 2020 and how many books they read by the end of September. The percentages are calculated and a star awarded for those on target to reach their goals. More stars for farther toward their goal. If anyone's number is incorrect, please let me know and I will make the necessary adjustments.

alexa_d 87 / 100 ★ 87.0%
Ameise1★ 0 / 12 0.0%
Bcteagirl 7 / 20 35.0%
benitastrnad★ 93 / 60 155.0%
bragan★ 55 / 50 110.0%
brakketh 14 / 30 46.7%
ca_dmv★ 14 / 12 116.7%
clue★ 53 / 50 106.0%
connie53★ 55 / 42 131.0%
crazy4reading 15 / 38 39.5%
curioussquared★ 60 / 50 120.0%
CurrerBell 20 / 40 50.0%
cyderry 83 / 84 ★★ 98.8%
detailmuse 34 / 40 ★ 85.0%
DissamblyOfReason 29 / 100 29.0%
enemyanniemae★ 80 / 50 160.0%
Erratic_Charmer★ 50 / 40 125.0%
Familyhistorian★ 65 / 65 100.0%
FAMeulstee★ 29 / 24 120.8%
floremolla 32 / 50 64.0%
fuzzi 52 / 100 52.0%
HelenBaker 39 / 48 81.3%
Henrik_Madsen 48 / 50 ★★ 96.0%
H-mb 12 / 20 60.0%
humouress 27 / 40 67.5%
Jackie_K★ 71 / 60 118.3%
kac522★ 45 / 45 100.0%
karenmarie★ 30 / 30 100.0%
Kristelh★ 51 / 45 113.3%
Kwharton 5 / 12 41.7%
LadyBookworth 26 / 30 ★ 86.7%
lindapanzo 41 / 48 ★ 85.4%
lilisin★ 71 / 50 142.0%
LoraShouse 13 / 15 ★ 86.7%
leslie.98★ 133 / 75 177.3%
madhatter22 21 / 50 42.0%
majkia★ 98 / 60 163.3%
mandymarie20★ 50 / 25 200.0%
martencat 23 / 30 76.7%
Merryann 57 / 100 57.0%
Miss_Moneypenny★ 78 / 50 156.0%
MissSos 12 / 25 48.0%
MissWatson★ 71 / 50 142.0%
nebula21 27 / 48 56.3%
Nickelini★ 21 / 15 140.0%
rabbitprincess★ 86 / 60 143.3%
rainpebble 29 / 36 80.6%
readergirliz 12 / 32 37.5%
readingtangent★ 44 / 24 183.3%
Rebeki 22 / 24 ★★ 91.7%
ritacate 20 / 24 ★ 83.3%
Robertgreaves★ 104 / 90 115.6%
rocketjk 24 / 27 88.9%
rosalita★ 50 / 36 138.9%
Sace★ 32 / 18 177.8%
sallylou61★ 33 / 30 110.0%
si 17 / 20 ★ 85.0%
sibylline 18 / 30 60.0%
This-n-That 6 / 10 60.0%
torontoc★ 35 / 30 116.7%
vestafan★ 69 / 60 115.0%
wandaly 16 / 18 ★ 88.9%




Of the 62 active participants, 30 have reached their goal!

We had some avid readers that reached their goals this month - kac522, Familyhistorian, and karenmarie!

They joined Ameise1, mmandymarie20, Miss_Moneypenny, readingtangent, leslie.98 benitastrnad, FAMeulstee, majkia, MissWatson, Nickelini, connie53, rabbitprincess, Saceby, sallylou61, rosalita, enemyanniemae, Kristelh, curioussquared,Erratic_Charmer, Robertgreaves, Erratic_Charmer, bragan, vestafan, Jackie_K,ca_dmv, clue, torontoc, and lilisin reaching their goal!

Our ★★ readers or those closest to reaching their goals, are:

cyderry 98.8%
Henrik_Madsen 96.0%
Rebeki 91.7%

LET'S FINISH THIS NOW

Whoa! We got this! Thanks, as usual, Cheli!

Thank you for all your hard work, Chèli.

Oh I love hydrangeas and own half a dozen. They are all green and leafy as we await the onset of summer. Awesome progress everyone. Trying hard to stay on track.

Hydrangeas in Japan are definitely amazing. In June they are everywhere and there are so many varieties to explore. I have had two hydrangeas on my terrace but I was attacked by a bad case of spider mites that just full on invaded. It was a war where I had to spray down the leaves every single day to try to knock them off. They fully killed one of my plants and prevented the other from flowering. After this bad mite season a huge heat spell arrived upon which I ended up abandoning the remaining hydrangea that fought so hard but was now brown and dead. HOWEVER! It started sprouting new growth and is now beautiful and leafy and green again. I'm still hosing it down every day to get rid of any remaining spider mites but I fear when they come out of dormancy again. What a horribly wretched pest!

In terms of reading I'm thinking about starting The River Between by Ngugi wa Thiong'o. I've brought it to work with me to start at lunch.

Thanks for doing the numbers again, Chèli.

And congrats to Karen, Meg and Kathy.

Thanks for the numbers and the lovely flowers, Chèli. Hydrangeas always remind me of holidays in Brittany, such fond memories.
Congrats to Karen, Meg and Kathy from me, too!

We're doing awesome! Looking forward to our hitting that goal this month!

Chèli, thanks for being the keeper of stats and posting the lovely hydrangeas. Congrats to everyone who has met their reading goals and cheering everyone else on with their November ROOTing. :-)

We're so close! Good work everybody.

Reporting ROOT # 56 for the year, 1 for November

Voorgoed weg by Harrie Geelen

My own tickers are updated.

Tonight I will be finishing the last 20 pages of The River Between, my first book by Ngugi wa Thiong'o, and my first ROOT of November. Happy as I read this book a week within purchasing it! No ridiculous TBR piles for me!

I am still working on the gothic tale Labyrinth of the Spirits by Carols Ruiz Zafon. Zafon's death in May prompted me to finish reading his wonderful series. Such a dark and gothic story seems perfect for the long nights of the fall and winter.

This is the last book in the series and so far it is a lesson in how to end a series. It makes me scared of Barcelona as much as it makes me want to visit it.

Added my first ROOT of November to my personal ticker: Shooting Script, by Gavin Lyall.

Have just meet my goal of reading 30 books. With having read one last month and 3 this week!!

To everybody who has meet their goal.. Congratulations!!! Way to go!!!You rock . Or in this case read..lol

For all those nearly there... you can do this!!!!

Happy reading all :+}
ps only personal ticker updated.

>15 LadyBookworth: Woo hoo! Congratulations!

Updated my personal ticker with another ROOT: The Story of Classic Crime in 100 Books, by Martin Edwards.

I've reached my goal!

>18 cyderry: Congratulations, Chèli!

>18 cyderry: Hurray! Congratulations!

Congrats >18 cyderry:!

>18 cyderry: Congratulations, Chèli. Well done.

>23 cyderry: Haha that is really funny, Cheli. I have booked a 4 day weekend get away for my husband and I next weekend. Sadly I don't think I will get much reading time.
>13 benitastrnad: I seem to have missed his death. I guess Covid was the main news topic. I loved The Shadow of the Wind but felt the others didn't quite match it. I wasn't aware there was a fourth in the series. I will seek it out.
I have just finished Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell but unfortunately it doesn't qualify as a root.

Finished #36 for the year and the first ROOT for Nov. No tickers updated but the review is on my thread.

I will be finishing Scandal by Shusaku Endo which has proven so different from the other books I've read by him; I feel like I'm reading a book by Kobo Abe and Ryu Murakami's love child. I don't quite know what to think of it and I have no idea as to what to expect from the ending. It's going to be a total surprise.

This will be my 2nd ROOT of November and a deep one as it joined my TBR in 2013.

>26 lilisin: The summary sounds very intriguing. Wishlisted

I've just added my first ROOT for October (#72 for the year) to my tickers. A good start, it was a 5* read: A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles.

I finished my first ROOT for this month. It was the 805 page Labyrinth of the Spirits by Carlos Ruiz Zafon. This is the last book in his Barcelona Quartet which also has an alternate series name of Cemetery of Forgotten Books. This was the way to end a series and my only quibble was that the epilogue was much too long. On-the-other-hand, it wrapped up all the loose threads nicely and left me wanting more from this author. Sadly, that won't happen as he died in May.

But there are a couple of his YA novels that I haven't read.

My 1st Root for the month, Mazarine by Charlotte Grimshaw, a New Zealand novel. Heading back to the shelves to chose books to take away with me.

I have finished four short books this month already which takes me to an amazing 75 in all.

Reporting ROOT # 57 for the year, 2 for November

Safe Haven by Nicholas Sparks

My own tickers are updated.

Late yesterday I finished another ROOT. This time it was my recorded book Kitchens of the Great Midwest by J. Ryan Stradal. I really enjoyed this book. It was full of humor and sentiment, but didn't get weighed down by either of them. It kept my interest throughout the listening. I hope that other people find their way to this good book. It was one of those feel good novels and I admit, I felt good after reading it. I might even bake something from the recipes included in this book.

Added another audio ROOT to my total: Doctor Who: Shadow of Death, by Simon Guerrier. My personal ticker is up to date.

Finished my first ROOT for November, a 624 page paperback, The Quiet Game by Greg Iles.

I'm currently reading The Glass Hotel by Emily St. John Mandel, the author of Station Eleven, which at the moment, I preferred over this new book. This will be my third ROOT for November. I had a leisurely October so now I'm trying to see what it's like to have a productive November.

ROOT #2 for November (#73 overall for the year) added to my ticker. I've still left the gropu ticker alone.

This year's ROOT reading has been very stop-start, with more stop than go, but I've managed to re-start and finish two root's recently. Just need to read a ROOT a week to catch up with my target for the year. The question is what I have got that's short or quick?

I have been reading a bunch of library books but have managed to finish a couple of ROOTs so far this month. I updated my ticker & thread but haven't touched the group tickers.

Two more roots to report,Bloody Mary by Meg Henderson and Obsession by Elspeth Sandys.
>38 martencat: I hear you. I am trying to do the same.

I finished reading a very detailed biography last night. Consuelo and Alva Vanderbilt: The Story of a Daughter and a Mother in the Gilded Age by Amanda Mackenzie Stuart. While watching a PBS documentary on the Women's Suffrage movement earlier this year I was surprised to learn that Alva Belmont was Alva Vanderbilt. I wanted to learn more about her and remembered that I had this book. I pulled it out to read it for the Group Biography theme over on the Nonfiction Group Read here on LT that is hosted by Suzanne. This biography is 512 pages of text and almost another 100 pages of notes so it is detailed, but it lays out exactly what Alva Vanderbilt Belmont did for the Women's Movement. And some of what she didn't do. This was a standard biography but very informative.

I have finished 2 more ROOTS making 3 for the month.

The Cold, Cold Ground by Adrian McKinty
We Band of Angels: The Untold Story Of American Nurses Trapped On Bataan By The Japanese by Elizabeth M. Norman

I think the rest of the month will be spent reading library books.

I've just added #3 for November (#74 for the year) to my ticker. Group ticker left alone!

I ROOTed a title yesterday. Shocking Paris : Soutine, Chagall and the outsiders of Montparnasse by Stanley Meisler. I picked this book up because it fit into the November theme of Group Biographies for the Nonfiction challenge. I had been curious about the artists of the School of Paris ever since I read a book on Claude Monet a few years ago and these artists were mentioned in that book. I had not heard of these artists so wanted to find out more about them. I did. It turned out to be a fascinating look at the Paris art scene of the Interwar years. The book was not huge (right at 200 pages) but I just hadn't gotten around to reading it.

I'm coming back to the fold after a small hiatus. I've continued reading but I've been lax about updating my numbers since June. Having come back, I've got a problem; most of my tickers (except my main reading ticker which includes non-ROOT books and which I've been updating from my 75 book group thread) seem to be extinct now. I've never had tickers expire on me before even after several years. I suppose it has something to do with Ticker Factory overhauling their site.

So - can anyone please give me advice on how to recover my tickers? Otherwise I'll have to go back to the beginning and try to recreate them.

>45 humouress: I had that happen with one of my older tickers, and I had to re-create it :(

Reporting ROOT # 58 for the year, 3 for November

Dagen vol magie, Nachten vol strijd by Clive Barker

My own tickers are updated.

>45 humouress: >46 rabbitprincess: I can't work out how to revive the tickers - I think it's been too long. Maybe there was a grace period when Ticker Factory did its overhaul to convert them to the new format that I've missed. Oh well, I'll just try and recreate them too.

I finished another ROOT from my TBR list. This one was Heavenly Tenants by William Maxwell. Yes, that is THE William Maxwell. The editor of the New Yorker for many years and a prize winning author.

I have been doing some weeding in the collection at the library and found this title on the list of Newbery Honor Books from 1947. Since I read the letters of Eudora Welty and William Maxwell some years ago I have been interested in both of them as authors, but have read nothing by them - as of yet. Yesterday that changed.

When I saw this on the list of Newbery Honor Books, I decided to place an ILL request for it. WorldCat showed that there were plenty of copies in Alabama and so I had hopes that it would come before Christmas. Since the library has moved to the so-called Rapid ILL platform it has become very hard for me to get materials in a speedy manner. However, to my surprise, this one came in a matter of days.

This is not a story that has held up with time. Everything in it is dated, so for a reader today it can only be viewed as a work of historical fiction. But, that doesn't exactly work because it is clear that is not the way the story was written. It is a simple folk-like tale and not at all a memorable story that has stood the test of time. It does not fit into the modern fantasy fiction either due to the simplicity, so it really doesn't work very well. It might work for a storyteller but in the written format it just isn't going to cut it today. I am surprised that a story of this low of quality would be a Newbery finalist - even from back in 1947. I suspect that the Newbery committee was so pleased to have a famous author write a children's story that they gave an Honor award to him just for that reason.

I am on a roll!

12 books so far this month and all ROOTS!

>50 cyderry: Woo-hoo! Awesome!

Further questions on the tickers from Ticker Factory; do you find, if you have more than one ticker and they are different styles (pictures) that, if you update one and then update another straightaway, it changes the style of the second one to that of the first one?

ETA - have updated my own tickers upto the end of September October.

#4 for November (#75 for the year) added to my own ticker. I've potentially 4 more books I've either started or plan to and hope to finish by the end of the month, but I think that might be a bit ambitious! We'll see.

>52 humouress: Yes! I have had that happen. Very irritating :(

>52 humouress:. You are right. I hadn't noticed but yes both my tickers now have the same graphics. That's annoying.

I think the ticker thing happens if you just save. I've found that if I save and share that it doesn't.

Finally added another ROOT to my personal ticker: The Hog's Back Mystery, by Freeman Wills Crofts.

>56 cyderry: I'll try that. So far I've been going back and reselecting the graphics for the last one I updated - fortunately with the update of their site, everything is on one page rather than the previous version's 20 pages!

I'm assuming/ hoping it's a temporary glitch and they fix it soon.

I finished reading the memoir I Attacked Pearl Harbor last night and have now started The Invisible Man by HG Wells, my third book by the author. My November reading selections have been a bit all over the place this month but I'm settling nicely with the Wells.

I finished another root this morning. Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption by Bryan Stevenson. I have had this book since it came out in 2015. It is by Book Discussion group selection for December, so it was time to finally get it read. Done.

Another quick root, Noah Barleywater Runs Away by John Boyne. Now reading a library book so unlikely to finish another root this month.

#37 for the year and second ROOT for November- my review is on my thread.

>60 cyderry: thank you.

I'm still way behind on my goal this year, but I've managed to get four ROOTs read this month. Personal ticker has been updated.

Today I finished my 24th ROOT to meet my goal for the year. Thanks, cyderry, for organising this wonderful group!

>65 Rebeki: Way to go, Rebecca!

>66 cyderry: Thanks, Chèli!

A belated Happy Thanksgving to everyone. Thanks for the cheery holiday greeting here, Chèli. Congrats to Rebecca for meeting her reading goals! :-)

Reporting 2 ROOTs for the month of November. (I have now completed 8 books and my adjusted goal is 10 books.) Updated my personal ticker. I did not update the group's ticker, just in case it is still behaving oddly.

#5 for November (#76 for the year) added to my ticker - I've left the group ticker alone.

Added another ROOT to my personal ticker: The Green Gables Detectives, by Eric Wilson. This was a re-read from my childhood.

Just finished my first ROOT in November, total ROOTs is now 30.
Only adjusted my own ticker.

Too much time spent with a dreadful book that I couldn't DNF because I was reading it for a book club really chewed up a lot of my reading time this month. At least it counts as a ROOT, as does one more. That will be it for me this month. I've updated my ticker on the ticker thread.

>65 Rebeki: Congrats on reaching your goal!

Here is my report for November 2020:

UpROOTED books: 11
ROOTless books: 5
Added to the treebook TBR shelves: 3

The ROOTs were:

Stand on Zanzibar by John Brunner
Indian Philosophy: A Very Short Introduction by Sue Hamilton
Ice by Anna Kavan
Leo the African by Amin Maalouf
Binti: The Complete Trilogy by Nnedi Okorafor
Plainsong by Kent Harouf
The Chrysalids by John Wyndham
The Dispossessed by Ursula K. Le Guin
Appointment With Death by Agatha Christie
Death Ex Machina by Gary Corby
Fluency by Jennifer Foehner Wells

ROOTs in YTD: 115

I have only updated my personal ticker and have left the group tickers alone.

finished 6 more for a year to date total of 86. Updating personal ticker.

I have finished 7 ROOTs this month, personal ticker is updated.

I've just added #6 for November to my ticker. I think this is likely to be my last ROOT of the month - so I got 2 out of the hoped-for 4 read in the final week. I've abandoned one, and the other will carry over into December.

>68 This-n-That:, >74 leslie.98: Thanks! I'm looking forward to seeing by how much we've exceeded our group goal this month - I can see that others have done a much better job of ROOTing than me!

I posted about my last ROOT for the month on my thread yesterday and I think that will be it for this month although I have some ROOTs on the go - even one that I started towards the beginning of the year. Maybe I should finish that one (or is it two) in 2020.

For November I completed 4 ROOTs to make my current ROOTs total 70/65, so 5 over my goal.

Great month for me with 15 ROOTs dug up and hoping to finish 1 more!

I finished 7 ROOTS this month, for a total of 93 over the year. My personal ticker is up to date.

35/50 for the year so far - two more almost completed, leaving another 13 still to read this month. Will give it my best shot :) All tickers updated.

I had 8 ROOT's for November. No ticker's updated.

I read the following titles

1 sound recording
Kitchens of the Great Midwest by J. Ryan Stradal - I really liked this book. It was so much fun and had a message that wasn't preachy.

2 fiction books
Labyrinth of the Spirits by Carlos Ruiz Zafon - This was the last of the Cemetery of Forgotten Books series and it is the way to end a series. Just a great finale.
The Friend by Sigrid Nunez - I hated this book and Pearl Ruled it after 90 pages. Why do critics love books like this?

1 children's book or novella
Heavenly Tenants by William Maxwell

4 nonfiction books
Consuelo and Alva Vanderbilt by Amanda Mackenzie Stuart
Shocking Paris: Soutine, Chagall and the Outsiders of Montparnasse by Stanley Meisler
Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption by Bryan Stevenson
Wayne and Ford: The Films, the Friendship and the Forging of an American Hero by Nancy Schoenberger

December thread is up!

https://www.librarything.com/topic/326856

I've updated my November reading lists and updated my personal Root tickers. I've now achieved (and surpassed) my Roots goal for the year and my Roots goal for my physical books for the year. I still have time to read the one e-book I need to make my e-book Roots goal.

I'm not going anywhere near the group tickers - just now when I went to update my own tickers, the site kept flashing between pages, not to mention still having the problem of replacing the backgrounds with the one from the first ticker you edit - so I'd rather not muck it up.