INTRODUCE Yourself to Your Fellow Readers 2019

Please introduce yourself to your fellow Club Read readers (i.e. first name, where you are from, what you do for a living, and especially: what kind of books to you read!)

No obligations, do what you are comfortable AND, for those who have active journaling threads, if the information is provided, I'll keep an alphabetical cheatsheet list (as my time permits) here of user names/ first names/ place of residence/ years in CR (we are in our 11th year).

*THOSE WITH READING THREADS HERE IN CR*
USER NAME / REAL NAME / WHERE WE LIVE NOW/CLUB READ YR
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AlisonY / Alison /Northern Ireland / 5th year
amakepeace / Drew / Penticton, British Columbia, Canada / 1st year***
AnnieMod / Annie / Phoenix, Arizona, USA / 10th year
arubabookwoman / Deborah / Seattle, Washington, USA / 11th year
auntmarge64 / Margaret / New Jersey, USA / 10th year
avaland / Lois / New Hampshire, USA / 11th year
avidmom / Susan /Southern California, USA / 8th year
baswood / Barry / SW France / 10th year
bragan / Betty / New Mexico, USA / 11th year
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Cariola / Deborah / Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, USA / 11th year
dchaikin / Dan / Houston, Texas, USA / 11th year
Dilara86 / Dilara / Western France / 2nd year
dukedom_enough / Michael /New Hampshire, USA / 11th year
edwinbcn /Edwin /Guangzhou (Canton, China) / 9th year
ELiz_M / Liz / Brooklyn, NYC, USA /5th year
exlibrismcp / Melissa / North Carolina, USA / 1st year***
janeajones / Jane / Florida, USA / 11th year
japaul22 / Jennifer / Northern Virginia, USA / 7th year
Jim53 / Jim / Southeast Pennsylvania / 1st year ***
jjmcgaffey / Jennifer / Alameda, California, USA / 4th year
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karspeak / Karen / Destin, Florida, USA / 1st year ***
LadyoftheLodge / Cheryl / Indiana, USA / 2nd year
lisapeet / Lisa / The Bronx, NYC, USA / 2nd year
LyndaInOregon /Lynda / Eastern Oregon /1st year ***
mabith / Meredith / Charleston, West Virginia, USA
markon /Ardene / Atlanta, Georgia, USA 2nd year
.Monkey. / / Belgium / 7th year
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NanaCC / Colleen / NW New Jersey, USA / 7th year
Nickelini / Joyce / Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada / 11th year
MsNick / Nicole / Charleston, South Carolina, USA / 5th year
nohrt4me2 / Jean / Michigan, USA / 2nd year
OscarWilde87 / / Germany / 6th year
qebo / Katherine / Lancaster, PA, USA / 3rd year
rachbxl / Rachel / Belgium / 11th year
raton-liseur / / / !st year ***
rhian_of_oz / Rhian / Perth, Australia / 1st year ***
Ridgeway Girl / Kay /Greenville, South Carolina, USA / 10th year
rocketjk / Gerry / Boonville, California, USA / 1st year***
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sallypursell / Sally / St Louis, Missouri, USA / 1st year ***
SassyLassy / / Nova Scotia, Canada / 8th year
shadrach_anki / Anki / Nashua, New Hampshire, USA / 3rd year
Simone2 / Barbara / The Netherlands / 4th year
SouthernKiwi / Alana / Wellington, New Zealand / 1st year***
StephaniePettry / Stephanie / South Carolina / 1st year***
thorold / Mark /The Hague, Netherlands / 4th year
tonikat / Kat / northern United Kingdom / 11th year
VivienneR / Vivienne / British Columbia, Canada / 7th year
Yells / Danielle / Southern Ontario, Canada / 3rd year
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*Self-proclaimed Lurkers*

LolaWalser
BLBera / Beth

Hi, I'm Kay and I live in Greenville, South Carolina and It'll be my tenth year in Club Read, which has definitely shaped my reading over the years.

I like to read gritty crime novels, novels in translation and, especially, new and innovative (or just interesting) books by new authors from diverse backgrounds. I like the lists generated by all the various literary prizes, the longer the better, and I'm becoming more interested in finding the novels published by small presses, who are putting out some really great stuff these days.

I'm Lois (I'm bored with my own standard introduction, so here is something different this year....) I have loved books since before I could read them. I found in them not only a whole other world to explore and learn from, but a way of retreating from the hubbub of a large family. I learned to read in a one-room schoolhouse on the coast of Maine, seated in a sturdy oak chair placed in two rows around what seemed a huge iron grate where the heat came up through from the basement. My family didn't have access to the public library, so I read everything in the elementary school library (it fit on the back wall of a classroom) and everything at home (including a 1950s medical handbook, too many Readers Digest Condensed books, all of Kenneth Roberts's historical novels, my older brothers' books, and the fairly awful stuff Scholastic put out for girls in the early 60s). 'Nuf said!

Currently, I read and appreciate all types of fiction, and in all forms. I read poetry and an occasional dramatic piece, and I read a variety of nonfiction. My comfort reads are well done police procedurals, but I will tolerate less well done ones or other mysteries if desperate. Too many favorite authors to list. I like being around books and readers, I like hearing about what you are reading and what you think about it—even if I am not likely to read the book.

Here's to another great year of reading with all of you on Club Read!

Now that’s an intro, Lois.

I’m like the complete opposite. I grew up in suburban south Florida and thought books were boring until I started reading obsessively but really really slowly late in high school. And I’m still doing that, and kind of trying to catch up with all I my ideal self might have read, but on a sloths pace. No memorable oak chairs. : (

For list above, I’m Dan, now well planted outside Houston, Tx and I’ve been in CR since 2009, year 11 for me.

Hi, I'm Joyce and I live in Vancouver, BC. Every weekday I'm a fraud investigator. Over the past few years I've read a fraction of what I used to read and mostly I'm looking for a good read -- something compelling that makes me want to pick up the book. That's about my only criteria.

I know in 2019 I'll be reading books about Switzerland because my daughter recently moved there, and I'll also continue to read books about Italy because I'm planning a trip there in May.

ETA: I've been at ClubRead since the beginning, so I guess 11 years?

Hi, I'm Alison and this is my 5th year in CR. Where did that time go to???

I live in a village in Northern Ireland about 5 miles from Belfast, and am married to a sun-loving English man who is still struggling to come to terms with just how miserable our weather is. I'm co-founder of a health tech company based in the city centre which is a tough gig at times, but I'll have to hang on in there until my Lotto win comes through.

I feel like I read quite a lot, but I'm more of a book snail than a sprinter as I don't usually get time to read more than an hour a day, and there are usually a few days in the week when I don't get a chance to read at all. I'd like to pretend that's because I'm super busy doing very important things, but I have interior design compulsive obsession and have been known to lose quite a lot of time in the day feeding my habit, or "researching" as I prefer to call it.

In 2019 I will be following the plan of randomness again, enjoying whatever catches my eye in the secondhand bookshop or library. Mostly I prefer modern or classic literary fiction, peppered with a few non-fiction titles along the way.

I’m Mark and, if I counted right, then this will be my fourth year in Club Read. I live in The Hague, where I’ve been for over 30 years, having moved here from the UK to work as a bureaucrat in an international organisation. In summer 2017 I retired from work.

I had the great good fortune to grow up in a household that was not only bilingual but also fighting a losing battle against the books (and classical music LPs) that were gradually taking over our living space, and I never managed to shake off that early training. In fact I’ve added a few languages over the years, and exploring the literatures of those different languages is one of the things I particularly enjoy in my reading.

Other things that come up a
lot in my reading include classics, crime, literary fiction, history, travel, random bits of non-fiction from the library - and just about anything else. I love to follow trails from book to book, and occasionally these turn into projects of a sort. When not reading I am often to be found walking, riding on trains, or listening to live music.

Jean, rural Michigan, year 2; more details on my profile.

Hey all, I'm Anki and I live in Nashua, New Hampshire. This is my third year in Club Read, but only my second of being any sort of active participant.

I read primarily fiction, but I have been increasing the amount of non-fiction that I read over the past several years. In 2019 I am aiming to have at least 10% of my reading be non-fiction, though I hope it will be higher than that by the end of the year.

A few months ago I actually went through and made a list of books I own and have not read. This is list not yet complete (I am at the "have to physically pull books off shelves and out of boxes to determine their status" stage, which is by its very nature a much slower process than checking my lists of ebooks/audiobooks/catalogued-on-LT books), but said list is complete enough for me to state with certainty that one of my primary reading goals for 2019 is to read more of the books I already own, along with being much more discerning about what I actually add to my "owned but unread" piles. Ideally, I will get and keep the number of owned but unread books under 1000, but honestly that is more of a pretty unicorn pony goal. I'll be quite happy if I can keep the number of owned unread books trending downward in the coming year.

All that said, I am not the type of person who plans out her reading well in advance. Making definite lists of books to read (or even specific piles of books to read) has actually proven to be a fairly sure way to kill my interest in those particular books for a period of months. I am in one IRL book group that meets and discusses specific books eight times a year, and that is about as much planned reading as I want to deal with. I will read whatever piques my interest, and stick to numbers-based goals.

Hi everyone, I'm Jennifer and I think this is my 7th year in Club Read? I know I started on LT in 2009 and found Club Read after a few years in other groups. I live in Northern Virginia, outside of Washington D.C.

I'm a professional musician (I play french horn in the U.S. Marine Band) and have two little boys, age 9 and 6, that keep me busy.

Despite my schedule, I manage to read quite a bit - usually 80 books a year. I love the classics, new literary fiction (mainly by women, just what I gravitate to), the 1001 books to read before you die list, nonfiction (mainly historical biography, cultural studies, historical events), and the occasional mystery or historical fiction for something lighter.

Hi, all, I'm Karen (karspeak), and this is my first year in Club Read. I was in the 75ers group for the past seven years, but I think this group is a better fit. I've enjoyed following quite a few of your threads over the past few years. I read a mix of fiction (literary, general, mystery, sci-fi, fantasy) and non-fiction (climate change, life sciences, food history, geopolitical/cultural, travel, etc). I've lived in various states and a few different countries, but I'm currently living in Destin, Florida, on the panhandle. I am a pediatric speech therapist and am married with 2 sons, ages 9 and 12. Happy reading!!!

Hi there! I'm Betty, and, rather to my astonishment, this will be my eleventh year in Club Read. I have no idea how time slips by this fast. I live in New Mexico, where I operate radio telescopes for a living, which is much less exciting than it sounds. But it does leave me a lot of time for reading during night and weekend shifts, as long as said telescopes are all actually behaving themselves. Although the weird rotating shifts I work sometimes leave me too tired to keep my eyes open when I sit down at home to read, so it's all a trade off, I guess.

I read a lot of science fiction and fantasy -- really anything that might remotely be categorized as "speculative fiction" -- and a lot of non-fiction on various topics. But I read a lot of other stuff, too. I like to think of my reading habits these days as "eclectic," if only because it sounds better than "indiscriminate." But, basically, I'll read just about anything if it sounds good or looks interesting. I am also an obsessive book-hoarder, book-buyer, and book-finisher. But at least I've managed to keep the number of books on my TBR shelves down to triple-digit numbers. If only just barely.

I haven't set up my new thread here yet, but I'll be sure to do so sometime before Jan. 1.

Helloo I'm Kat. It is hard to believe it has been eleven years, lots has happened. I'm in the north of the uk. I like to read but I get way less of it done than so many of you others. I read poetry, fiction, biographies (especially of poets, writers, artists at the moment), some drama, some philosophy, some spiritual and some therapy reading. Growing up I nearly always finished books, but these days I don't at all - I drift, oh how I drift. I don't think I like that, but it seems entirely necessary nowadays. I suppose it means I do read a bit more than my threads ever suggest - sometimes I think of writing on such progress, may do so occasionally, but, life is too short mostly than to keep a live reading journal. Maybe I could start listing unfinisheds in some way, may help prompt me finish a few too. Speaking of which at this time of years I usually have a short burst of trying to finish some and into the New Year. I do seem to need space away from books, and time to think on them, part of how I need to take care of me. I like lots of other things, especially films, which I sometimes write about. I used to be sporty, I got back to running this year but am laid off that again for now, just after getting to 5k (grrr), I do a little yoga. Making lots of changes really, as some of you appreciate, lots of new stuff (even some of the old). Also began learning piano this year, wonderful, why it took me so long another mystery, but surprised myself a bit, even as very much a beginner.

I'm Margaret (Aunt Marge to the kids), and this is my 10th year in Club Read. It's the perfect group for me: not too, too many posts, and many members whose threads give me ideas of titles to investigate. I also quickly consume new issues of "Bookmarks Magazine", an annual gift from nephew and wife Ian and Amy, who list their books on my thread.

I learned to love reading as a child. My family read the Bible aloud each evening, and my Mom was a primary school teacher who encouraged reading, so I was an early borrower from both our little public library and from friends, especially those who had runs of Nancy Drew and similar series. In 7th grade I read all the great Russian novels, then went in the other direction and read all the Emily Loring I could find (she wrote sweet little romances, as I recall). The Brontes, a bit of Marquis de Sade, and probably half the other books at the library later, and I ended up in library school. Now I'm retired after years as a public librarian, and I read whatever keeps me interested: lots of fiction and some NF, many mysteries, and various SF titles that I try to share with two nephews who are nuts about Star Wars and Game of Thrones. I like space opera and stories that take place in our solar system, especially on Mars (and in Antarctica!).

My preference now is to read on the Kindle, or on a tablet if there are illustrations. Although I live in semi-rural NJ, I make heavy use of the Brooklyn PL, which welcomes out-of-area registrations and has a huge ebook and audiobook collection.

Hi, I'm Rhian from Perth Western Australia and this is my first year in Club Read. I've been an LTer for many years but haven't participated in the social aspects, mostly because I'm a bit shy (even online!) but I've decided to become more active given I love books and here is a whole community of people that also love books.

My earliest book memory is my mum buying me a Little Golden Book each week while we were grocery shopping. My mum always had books and I spent lots of time in my school libraries. I'm a book collector in the sense that I never get rid of any books. I have books that I know I either won't finish or will never read again and yet whenever I consider giving them away my heart hurts. I volunteer in my local charity bookshop and my planned retirement job is to be a librarian (I'm currently a business consultant for an HR/Payroll system which pays *way* better).

I mainly read fiction - sci-fi, urban fantasy, YA, and historical mysteries make up the bulk of my recent reading - but I also like memoirs and travel stories. I also like a good contemporary romance though I don't read them as much as I used to. If a book is good I'm prepared to give it a go regardless of genre, though I'd have to be convinced if it was paranormal romance!

I'm really looking forward to participating in this group, so now I'm going to have a look through the 2018 threads so I know what I'm letting myself in for.

Hello, I'm Dilara. This is my second year in Club Read. I live in Western France. I read fiction - mostly novels - and non-fiction. I have a soft spot for speculative fiction and magical realism. My aim this year is to read as much non-Western writing as I can and to look out for female authors, especially on the non-fiction side. I'll be following Reading Globally's quarterly themes.

Hi, I'm Jennifer, living in Alameda California (SF Bay Area). This will be my fourth year in Club Read. I read ridiculous numbers of books (my 2018 count was over 250 - admittedly, some of them are pretty small books), mostly SF (science fiction and fantasy, I lump them) and other genre books - mystery, animals, romance, childrens, etc. Nonfiction - I read science (from astronomy to mathematics to biology), biographies, craft books, cookbooks, and almost anything that catches my eye. I avoid stuff marketed as "literary fiction", and horror - both because I don't enjoy being depressed by my reading.

I'm amused by the connections I see in these intros - >9 shadrach_anki: I'm also dealing with my BOMBs (Books off my bookshelf), which is actually boxes of books which need (re-)cataloging. Waaaay too many unread books.
>14 auntmarge64: I still have a bunch of Emily Lorings that I haven't read, or read so long ago I've forgotten. She does encourage binge reading...
>10 japaul22: Just amusing - Hi, Jennifer, I used to live in Northern Virginia, in Arlington. Never played french horn, let alone in the Marine band, though (clarinet in high school).

>17 jjmcgaffey: Nice! I live a little farther out in Springfield. You've got much better weather now!

Hi, I'm Alana and this is year 1 for me in this group. A few years back I was active in the Category Challenge group, but since then I haven't really taken part in the social side of LT - and my reading has suffered as a result. I'm wanting to expand my reading horizons again and I miss having some kind of review to look back at when I'm struggling to remember details of a book. So in a fit of optimism about how much time I'll have to dedicate to a thread in 2019, here I am :-)

I read mostly genre fiction (historical fiction, fantasy, sci-fi, romance, crime/mystery) as well as non-fiction, incuding pop science that tends towards genetics, evolution and conservation themes, biography and politics/significant world events. Whatever catches my eye at the time really.

I live in Wellington, New Zealand, and am an administrator at a University. Outside of work I'm a bit of a sports junkie (I play netball and badminton regularly), I volunteer at our local SPCA centre, love a cocktail with friends and, of course, I spend a lot of time reading.

This will be my fifth attempt to maintain a reading thread in Club Read. While I love reading and list-making, I do not enjoy writing and am perpetually behind on reviewing. I have realized the derailment usually occurs after I go on vacation without my laptop, read 4-7 books in a week, and never get around to writing the reviews.

So this year, instead of reading a half-dozen short books on vacations, I am planning to read one long book instead, as I have also been avoiding some of the big books I own, such as Anniversaries, U.S.A., Infinite Jest, 2666, Daniel Deronda, Celestial Harmonies......

The books listed above are, not coincidentally, part of the 1001-Books-to-Read-Before-You-Die list, which I have been somewhat obsessively reading for the past decade. Other reads are dictated by my real-life book club (alternating contemporary literary fiction with non-fiction) and, now and again, a contemporary novel found on one of your threads.

Aside from reading, my weekdays are spent working for a large performing arts organization in NYC and my weekends are for eating brunch out, walking around my Brooklyn neighborhood/Prospect Park, visiting MoMA or the Met Museum, and cooking vegetarian meals for myself and/or baking the occasional treat for the office.

Hi, I'm Colleen. I joined LT and Club Read in January of 2013, and enjoy reading everyone’s threads, even if I don’t always post.

I'm retired, and live with my hubby in a rural town in Northwest New Jersey, USA. I have three married children and seven grandchildren.

My love of reading probably started when my mother would read The Bobbsey Twins to us at bedtime. From there I graduated to Nancy Drew and Cherry Ames. I read Oliver Twist several times as a tween, and that lead to my love of Dickens. I enjoy historical fiction, non-fiction, and mysteries. I have been on a mystery kick for a while, as I’ve needed comfort reading, and mysteries do it for me. I have many series that I enjoy (mystery and other), and I keep track of them on FictFact.

In addition to reading, I enjoy spending time with my family, and knitting (that's where most of the audio books I listen to come in). I started bowling again a couple of years ago, and after not doing it for about 30 years, I found out that it can still be a lot of fun.

As I said, I do read everyone’s threads, and I enjoy getting suggestions from those threads. I’m looking forward to spending another year with all of you.

My new thread is http://www.librarything.com/topic/301200

Hi I am Barry and I live in South West France. I was born in London and moved to France when I retired some thirteen years ago. I have always loved reading and thought that in my retirement I would have plenty of time to read all the books I had no time to read when I was working. Unfortunately or fortunately we always fill our lives with other things and I am still not reading enough books to satisfy my need to read more, perhaps this year will be different.

Last year I spent the first five months preparing for my application for French naturalisation, I really needed to improve my French language skills, but this has proved to be a bonus because I can now read more comfortably in French, however as a downside I am now the secretary of my local Comité des Fêtes and so I am continuing to fill my life up with other things.

I have been a member of club read since 2010 and that was the year I started on a project to read English literature through the ages starting with Chaucer, progress has been slow because I keep finding interesting stuff to read and I am now immersed in Tudor literature. I am also interested in science fiction again mostly stuff from the earlier years of the genre and I am going through my book collection reading all those unread or forgotten books that have mostly kept me company for a good many years. I am not a quick reader and rarely skim, I usually finish what I start.

My politics are quite far along the left of the spectrum and I am depressed by the current surge in right wing nationalism.

Hi I am Barbara and this will be my 4th year on Club Read.
I am from the Netherlands (Amsterdam) and are not as active on LT as I used to be. I like to keep track of my reading though with short reviews and those are what I’ll post here.
I like to read books from the 1001 list and nominated books for the Man Booker Prize and the Tournament of Books. I am also on Litsy as @BarbaraBB

I'm Katherine, a computer programmer (primarily medical imaging) residing in Lancaster PA. I joined LibraryThing in 2007, and participated in the 75 Books Challenge from 2011-2016. In 2016 I fell significantly short of 75, and realized it was nice not to feel the pressure. Alas, it seems that lack of pressure results in lack of reading. I kept threads here in 2017 and 2018, sporadically updated and ultimately neglected altogether. I participate in two local book groups that overlap only partially with my interests though also expand my horizons a bit. I dutifully do the homework because it's the price of admission to a compatible social network, but I rarely have much to say about the books. I'm involved in several garden/habitat-oriented organizations where I've taken on clerical and administrative scutwork to earn my keep on the planet, which occupies a fair chunk of spare time, and in recent years I've been accumulating associated books that are intended more for browsing and reference than for reading cover to cover. So... I already have a bundle of doubts about starting a thread this year, but I may as well... here: https://www.librarything.com/topic/301495 .

Happy new year, group, and thanks for letting lurkers haunt your threads! :)

Hi, I'm Monkey, I've been part of CR since 2013, so this will be year 7 (though I'm awful about maintaining a thread for more than a few months >_>). I live in Belgium with my 3 feline furbabies and my husband, though I'm actually American.

I've loved books my entire life, mom read to me constantly as a baby and I've never stopped! :) I read some of nearly everything (just keep the romance/chicklit away from me!), though most abundant is generally classics & literary fic, and suspense/thriller of all types. But my shelves are quite varied with all manner of fiction as well as a range of topics of nonfic. My reading tends to go up & down a bit, as I hit slumps (sometimes due to real-world things getting me down, other times just from winding up more focused on games or whatnot) and spurts, but I try to make sure I don't let slumps last too overly long. However, it's usually when they hit that I wind up wandering off from LT and dropping off from my (and others') threads. Oops! But I love this group, and will once again make the attempt to keep things going! ;P

I’m Deborah. I spent my first 16 years in Aruba, graduated from high school in London, lived in New Orleans for 18 years, and have lived the last 33 years in the Seattle area. I have 5 grown children (all of whom abandoned Seattle for the east coast), and I retired from the practice of law when our first grandchild was born in 2010. Our 5th grandchild was just born in October. I have been married to my best friend for almost 48 years.
My reading is eclectic, usually about 65% fiction 35% nonfiction. Last year, though, it worked out to be about 50/50, and although I didn’t plan it I read the exact same number of books by female authors as male. I like literary fiction (esp. by non-US/GB/Canada authors), classics, mysteries, and sci fi. Usually don’t care for horror, romance, or fantasy. In nonfiction, I read a lot of science, political, history, true crime, and memoirs.
I enjoy reading everyone’s threads even if I’m not a frequent commenter.

Hi, I am Annie. I still live in Phoenix, Arizona, USA after moving from Bulgaria 8 years ago. This is my 10th year in Club Read I think (I missed the very first year, I was here for the second one, I may have missed a year in between).

I read in 3 (and a half) languages: Bulgarian, Russian and English (the half is for German - I used to read in it, I am not that good anymore (don't abandon a language that is not stable enough or you will lose it...) but I am working on it). I also have a fascination with linguistics and languages so I occasionally try to work on a new language - although I am more likely to work on linguistics and not languages :). I highly doubt that I will ever start reading in another language but you never know. :)

I like genre fiction - both the speculative and the crime/mystery genres - and comics and graphic novels. I read an occasional mainstream novel (I like storytellers and some of them stay in the mainstream), I like short stories and albeit rarely, I read poetry. My non-fiction reading leans toward the more academic and better researched ones but if something catches my eye, I am known to read pretty much anything. I tend to read everything that a writer I like had ever written - which sends me into planning for years ahead sometimes (I am 82 novels into Erle Stanley Gardner's works (69 of them Perry Mason novels) for example) - although I tend to veer off script and usually just have a list of authors...

And apparently I drop off the face of LT late in the year - maybe this year I will manage to stay around. :)

Hello -- I'm Jane. I've been on CR since 2009, so I'm one of the ancients. Then I was still teaching LIT and HUM at a community college in FL, now I'm retired, still in FL. I've found reading the last couple of years a bit of challenge, partly because of travel (though I must admit long flights definitely lend themselves to book immersion) and partly because of the dismal political situation which I find desperately enervating. I mostly read literary fiction though I sometimes dip into murder mysteries and sci-fi/fantasy. I'm also intrigued by good narrative poetry. I go AWOL now and then, but I do continue to lurk.

Hello, Readers. I'm Deborah, and this begins my 11th year as a member of Club Read. I had to go back into the archives to see when I started, and it was interesting looking back at my old threads. My taste in books has changed quite a bit. One thing I noticed is how good writing has become increasingly important to me. I just can't bear a poorly written book, no matter how unique or exciting the topic. I still enjoy historical fiction, but I'm reading more and more contemporary literary fiction these days. Those are my two favorite genres, but I do occasionally read history or biography, poetry, and drama.

I'm a retired English professor, expertise in Shakespeare and Early Modern Drama; I haven't had a single moment of regret since retiring on 8/1/15. I used to spend a lot of time rereading whatever I was teaching and reading things that I thought would interest my students and be palatable for me to teach. Home is in south central Pennsylvania (Chambersburg), where I live with two cats, Jasper and Suki.

My name is Beth and I hang out here although I don't keep a thread. I have been around for a few years. I teach English at a community college and am always looking for new works to introduce to students.

Some of my favorite authors are Kate Atkinson, Louise Erdrich, and Michael Chabon.

I look forward to following the reading here during 2019.

My thread is here: http://www.librarything.com/topic/301431

Hi. I’m Marcus Vinicius, from Brasília, Brazil. I will journal my readings and listenings in a thread named “Marcus’s Readings 2019”. I read mostly nonfiction (philosophy and politics), sometimes fiction (mystery and literature).

I'm Meredith, I live in Charleston, West Virginia, USA, with my tubby tabby cat. I'm disabled and don't work, so my time is mostly spent reading, crafting, watching TV/movies, and playing silly games. I'm a semi-keen gardener, but my disability makes it difficult especially once we get to high summer.

I read a little of most genres but with a slight emphasis on non-fiction usually. All bets are off lately though, as I've been clinging to comfort re-reads for dear life (which tend to be fiction).

Hi everyone! Happy New Year! I'm Nicole. I live in Charleston, SC with my hubby (who begrudgingly tolerates my book habit,) our 2 miniature dachshunds, and our new baby lovebird. This is my 5th year in CR.

I read mostly fiction, but I do enjoy the occasional memoir/biography - especially those which feature medical issues, true crime, or cooking.

My goals for 2019 are to engage more within the group, as well as to read more than I did last year.

Hello, and Happy New Year! I'm lisapeet, real name Lisa Peet—I know, very imaginative—and this is my second year on CR. I live at the very top of New York—the north Bronx—and work at the bottom of Manhattan. Not quite a born-and-bred New Yorker, but I've lived in various spots around the city since the ink on my high school diploma was dry, and I'm in my mid-50s now.

I'm married, have a grown son who just finished up his first semester in medical school at St. George's in Grenada, and have a motley crüe of pets: one dog, age 13-1/2, and five cats—15, 12 or 13, 11, 8, and almost six months.

I'm an editor and journalist, covering news about libraries—public, academic, and special (but not K-12). It's as cool a job as it sounds, and also super immersive and it often owns my life (the hour-plus commute each way doesn't help when it comes to a major lack of free time, but it's good for reading). I'm also a site proprietor at Bloom, a website that focuses on writers (and others) who first published after age 40, or who radically changed genres. I'm always interested in hearing about authors who fit that bill, so if you've read anyone whom you think I should know about, please drop me a line. I also write book reviews here and there around the web and a fair amount for Library Journal, and would like to get back into longer-form reviewing again at some point, but again—that time thing.

I read widely and randomly—literary fiction (including short fiction and work in translation), nonfiction of most kinds (esp. science, history, nature, culture), good historical fiction, some poetry, memoir and biography, essays, literary criticism, graphic novels and collections. I don't read much in the way of genre but do like to go outside my zone and enjoy well-written mysteries, thrillers, etc. YA rarely, but not ruled out.

Not sure I really have enough time for hobbies these days, but I do like to bake, write physical letters, sketch, and do fun NY stuff when I remember that that's why I'm here.

I drive an old car, my politics are left of center, and I like cheese a lot. My 2019 thread is here.

Hi, my name is Cheryl aka LadyoftheLodge, this is my second year with Club Read, and 9th year with LibraryThing. I am a college professor and teach online science classes as well as leadership theory classes and senior capstone class. I am retired from full time work as a public school teacher and school administrator. (I don't miss public education.)

I have been married for 2 and a half years (after being married for 28 years and widowed) to a retired policeman and Navy veteran. We live in the Indiana in the woods with four cats, and love to travel to new places. Our house has one wing that is our home library. My spouse and I read very different books, so we have interesting discussions.

I like Christmas stories; cozy mysteries with lady sleuths, quirky careers and unusual locations, librarians or libraries, and cats; or classic mystery novels. I also like historical novels, Regencies, biographies of historical people or authors, travel narratives, pop psychology, fiction about Amish people. I enjoy books about books too, some young adult or kids books.

Definitely no horror, sci fi, blood and gore, gooey romance, police procedurals, graphic sex or violence, cruelty to animals or people, or profanity. Guess I am a squeaky clean sort of girl!

Hi my name is Ardene (markon) and this is my 2nd year on Club Read, though I've been on the 75ers group several years before that. I live in the mess known as Atlanta, Georgia and grew up in Iowa (USA).

I've always loved to read, and devour books whenever I have a spare minute. I read more fiction than non fiction, and like mysteries, science fiction, and fantasy in terms of genre. But I will basically read anything that looks or sounds interesting.

My 2019 thread is here.

Hello! I am Danielle from southern Ontario, Canada. I live with my husband, also a book lover/hoarder (oddly enough, we are both currently awaiting delivery of new bookshelves) and two cats, Lucy and Marvin. I am an insurance underwriter by day and obsessive book nerd by night. I think this is my third year on Club Read but ten years overall on LT. Posting here is my futile attempt in organising chaos.

Hello, I’m Rachel, and I’ve been in Club Read since the first year, although I don’t always manage to keep my thread going all year.

I’m British, living in Belgium with my Belgian husband and our daughter. After unsuccessfully trying to get my 3 stepkids into reading, I am delighted that my daughter (almost 5) is turning into a regular little bookworm. I can’t remember a time I didn’t love books myself; my mum was just recalling recently how difficult she used to find organising birthday parties for me, as I would inevitably end up in a corner with a book, leaving my parents and sisters to entertain my friends. My manners have improved since then, but the temptation to slink off with a book hasn’t gone away.

I read almost exclusively fiction, often in translation, mostly in English, and not as much as I should in the other languages I use for work.

SassyLassy here from the South Shore of Nova Scotia, a beautiful part of the world.

My reading wanders all over, but much of it is nineteenth century authors, and authors in translation into English. Separate collections within my book list would be China (the country) and Garden. My reading seems to go in fits and starts, but moves forward all the same. Unfortunately the same cannot be said for my posting, which generally falls off as the year progresses. Maybe this is the year for change.

I will soon mark my eighth year on LT, so roughly eight years in Club Read.

One of the things I love doing in Club Read is the Question for the Avid Reader thread, so if you have a burning question, send me a PM.

I like the Questions for the Avid Reader too! Interesting to see what starts a good discussion.

I think I've caught up putting everyone's name on the list at the top. If I've missed you, nudge me.

Interesting to note that all the US members are in the continental US and all border either Mexico or Canada or an ocean or both. No one in the interior.

I am in Indiana--quite the Midwest, not near any oceans or borders except Ohio, Kentucky, Illinois, and Michigan! Cannot catch the cruise ships from here either, unfortunately!

Have we lost VivienneR to CR this year? Missing her thread (unless I've accidentally overlooked it in the group).

>43 LadyoftheLodge: I did think of you as our only interior person, but doesn't that bit of northern border on the lake have a water border with Canada? (Perhaps I assumed it did, when it is instead Michigan...)

I thought we might have had someone from Colorado, too; but alas....

>45 avaland: Nope, you are right! A tiny corner borders on Lake Michigan. I forgot about the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore.

>44 AlisonY: Ah, good point. I also am in the Category Challenge and VivienneR definitely posts there.
http://www.librarything.com/topic/299781

>42 avaland: Sorry, West Virginia definitely in the interior! Granting many think of us as a foreign country...

>48 mabith: How did I miss YOU!!!! (my apologies)

Hi everybody! My name is Susan and I live in Southern California. I've been a member of Club Read for 7 years (I had to go back and look). My reading has changed a little - I definitely seem to always be reading 1 nonfiction and 1 fiction book simultaneously. John Steinbeck is my favorite author (and dream of going to Salinas and going to the Steinbeck Center). When I started my thread here in Club Read my boys were high school students, now they're both in college. They are both English majors: one is a Creative Writing major and the other one wants to go into film studies. (Or????) And I have the best job for a book nerd: I work part time in our local library. :)

This is my seventh year at Club Read (and late joining again!). I'm a retired librarian, having worked mostly in an academic library, with only one fun-filled year in a public library. I've been here at LibraryThing since May 2007.

I live in British Columbia just on the western side of the Rockies. There are long distances between small towns and most people participate in winter sports or at least revel in winter. I'm originally from Northern Ireland and although I've lived in other parts of Canada I like this snowy region best. My only complaint is that there are not many choices when it comes to shopping.

Nowadays I prefer literary fiction, mysteries, and history although I'll try just about anything. I've always enjoyed British authors, but naturally there are now a number of Canadians on my favourites list. My other favourite group is the Category Challenge - I'm at https://www.librarything.com/topic/299781 - and if a reading choice seems to be unusual, it's probably something I've chosen to fill a category.

>44 AlisonY: A wave to Alison!

>51 VivienneR: Yay Vivienne!! Waving right back at ya!

>52 AlisonY: :)

Hi gang, I've just joined Club Read for the first time. I've been on LT for 11 years, and I've hung out primarily in the Green Dragon. This year I want to broaden the list of threads that I read, so I looked at a variety of groups. This one looks very congenial and low-pressure, and I saw a few names I remember seeing before. So I'll be lurking, maybe commenting on occasion, looking for ideas. My reading thread is still on the GD over here:

https://www.librarything.com/topic/302504. I hope you'll stop by and say hi.

I'm a retired technical writer. My wife and I moved to SE PA a year ago after 40 years in North Carolina. >24 qebo: I'm in Cochranville and come to Lancaster twice a month. I read mostly fiction, including lots of genre stuff. This year I'm hoping to broaden out a bit, and I've already read two wonderful novels.

Hi Jim,

Good to see you here :)

Thanks, Annie. Yours was one of the familiar names that lured me in ;-)

>54 Jim53: What brings you to Lancaster?

>57 qebo: My nephrologist and (home) dialysis clinic. When my kidneys failed I went to LGH, and I like the doctor a lot, so I haven't switched to a more local clinic. Plus it's a chance to try out some new CDs in the car. I'm not a big fan of that stretch of Route 30, so I keep looking for new ways to go.

>58 Jim53: That stretch of Route 30 is a horror. Maybe try Route 741 through Strasburg and Route 222?

Hi Jim! Welcome to the group!

This will be my 9th year as a member of Club Read.

In 2017 and 2018 my participation was severely hampered because of limited access to the Internet in China. For the moment it seems I have full access to LibraryThing and can only pray it lasts (I am not looking into using a VPN).

Perhaps as a result of not spending a lot of time on LT, I managed to read 219 books in 2017, and 189 books in 2018. Instead of writing long reviews on LT, I started writing short reviews on a social media platform. I hope I can find the time again to write lomger reviews here, provided I have access.

Over the past two years I have changed my reading habits a little bit. According to my LT catalogue I have at least 3200 unread books on my shelves, but in reality that number is much higher, because not all books have been catalogues and / or not all books have been tagged as unread. In 2017 and 2018 I managed to only read books I already own. I didn't buy and new books. I donated 400 books to libraries in Nanning (China) with another 600 books to be shipped to the Guangxi Library (in Nanning) from my home in Guangzhou (Canton, China).

Another change to my reading habits is that I go into skim-read mode if books bore me or abandon them altogether. I have also started discarding books unread if two or three books of the same author bored me to death.

About myself:

I will be 53 years old this year, born in the Netherlands I have been living and working in China for nearly 20 years. I work as a teacher and textbook author, and have published two textbook series for learning English in China. I divide my time between two cities both in southern China, namely Guangzhou and Nanning. The distance between these two cities is about 500 kilometers.

Hi, I'm Oscar and this is my sixth year on CR and I'm surprised by how late I am this year. I just love being here and adding to my TBR pile as there are so many good reviews here. I always plan to weigh in on book discussions, but don't always find the time unfortunately. Most of the time I'm just starring threads I particularly enjoy (and members who I know will be reading things I might like) and trying to read up on every thread in this group. While I won't always post, be sure that I'll be reading.

I'm in my thirties and I work as an English and maths teacher at a German high school. While work constantly gets in my way of reading I find my job quite fulfilling. My reading is all over the board. I enjoy classic literature and non-fiction (especially American history) just as well as popular fiction.

Quite late in 2019 for joining the club, so forgive me for that…
I am raton-liseur, a reading racoon. In French, there is no such thing as a bookworm, we have library rats. But I don’t feel like a library rat, rather a wandering cousin, hence a reading racoon. I mainly read foreign (fairly) contemporary literature, as well as classics or not so classics from the XIXth and early XXth centuries.
I have been in LT for almost nine years now, firstly fairly active on the French-speaking group, Lecture des francophones. Then, for the last two or three years, I had to step down due to “real life” realities. I have decided a few weeks ago to try to make a come back. The francophone community being rather sleepy in LT, I started wandering in anglophone groups, and I found this group that seems quite nice, open and diverse, with no pressure for reading, which I like!
I don’t plan to create a thread and post my reviews here, as I write them in French, but I must admit I will be lurking at a few threads, hoping not to increase my TBR too much, but I already know this is a goal I won’t be able to manage... Thanks to all those who make this group work and be such a nice place to wander around.

>63 raton-liseur:

Welcome! I think you could find a little home here, among our diverse group. And we definitely have some French speakers and readers. (As a west coast Canadian, I admit to reading cereal-box French at a high level)

>63 raton-liseur: >64 Nickelini: Definitely. There are at least one or two longstanding CR members from France, and quite a few other people here read French books some of the time. I’m sure even those who don’t understand French wouldn’t see a French thread as threatening... :-)

(And if you’re really shy about posting in French, you could always make a thread in English just reporting what you’ve been reading, with links to your actual reviews for those who choose to click on them.)

>63 raton-liseur:

Feel free to create a thread even if you only post in French as many of us fellow Frenchies can still comment. (Although I would still comment in English as I'm too self-conscious of my French writing as since I have never lived in France despite being French I don't get to practice my writing skills much).

>1 avaland:

Lilisin / Japan / 10 years with CR

>64 Nickelini: >65 thorold: and >66 lilisin: Thanks the warm welcome! And for the invitation to post in French as well! For the moment, I post on the Lecture des francophones. My thread is simply labelled Raton-Liseur - Lectures de 2019. I had not considered posting in French in this group.
I will ponder a few days over the possibility of starting a thread here and will let you know.
And well, really, thanks again for that wonderful group!

>63 raton-liseur:

Bienvenue! I hesitate to continue in French beyond that since my skills are very, very rusty (four years in high school, 20+ years ago, and more recently Duolingo), but I am glad you have come to join us! I was able to puzzle out from your thread in Lecture des francophones that you read a lot of 19th century and early 20th century literature, plus foreign literature. Do you have any particular favorites?

And for a very American woman who is interested in improving her French and finds herself at a loss in terms of where to start with reading material, do you have any suggestions? I know I have a copy of Le Petit Prince somewhere in my collection, from when I was in school, but I haven't been able to find it (it is probably in my parents' attic, in one of the boxes I have yet to catalogue).

>68 shadrach_anki: Thanks! 19th and 20th century litterature. Some favorites? For the 19th centrury, the first who comes to my mind would be Emile Zola, then Victor Hugo (for his fiction work, I am not into poetry). For the 20th century, I would think about Albert Camus. Not very original, I agree.

Regarding your second question, I would have to think this through. Personnally, when I read in English (and my English is functional, not litterary), I usually read YA and modern fiction. I like YA (despite not being part of this category anymore...), so it is not an issue for me to pick that type of books. And modern books because it is written in a way that is easily understandable (not all, I am making a huge generalisation yet). I would say, if I understand those terms correctly, I can read genre fiction in English, but not literary fiction.
A few examples: it was not an issue to read The Help in English a few years ago, but I could not pass page 50 of To Kill a Mockingbird this summer and now I am waiting to find a used copy in French to read it... Same, I managed to read A fair barbarian (quite a treat...), although starting to feel the tasta of an older language, but I would never venture in reading Jane Austen in English. I am contemplating reading Far from the madding crows by Thomas Hardy but I am not sure I will cope with the language. To be seen...

Not sure if this helps, but I would guess that it could be the same if you want to read in French. Probably picking some more accessible modern fiction? I can pursue this discussion further if you want, but I guess I'll have to know a bit more about your reading first (whiwh I will explore in your thread soon...).

>65 thorold: Just understood what you implied with the French thread not being threatening...
Point taken. And I just edited my previous messages to read more threads than threats...

>69 raton-liseur: I read a lot of genre fiction, and a fair amount of comics, so it seems logical to start with something in those realms. I'm half-tempted to give something like Harry Potter a go, since I am already familiar with the story in English, but I do not know if that would help or hinder my efforts.

You could try Asterix & Obelix - I read them (quite a few years ago) in several languages (not French, I don't think - Spanish, for one). It's interesting because they're often very punny, which makes straight translations difficult... but they were fun to read. And I did usually have the English version as well, which helps with comprehension though not necessarily with the words.

>72 jjmcgaffey: Asterix is one I had thought of, at least in part because I know where I can get my hands on at least a few of them in French, basically right away: my father lived in France for two years when he was a young man, doing missionary work for our church, and he purchased several volumes of Asterix at that time. I also have the first...three? in English, which would help if I were to get totally lost and confused.

>71 shadrach_anki: I guess Harry Potter should be a fine read in French. I should try to think about similar books written in French maybe.

>72 jjmcgaffey: Personally, I would not read comics like Astérix et Obélix in a foreign language, as I think I would not understand half of the jokes... That said, I read Calvin & Hobbes in English and then tried in French, and it was a disaster. Not funny at all in French, while I loved it in English. I guess it's really difficult to know if a book will work for us in a given language without giving it a try. And such a conclusion won't help sharach_anki a lot I'm afraid!

>71 shadrach_anki: For me, the key thing when you’re getting started with reading in a new language is to go for things you know you’re going to enjoy and that are fairly short. If you like YA anyway, that would be good. I got started in French with Maigret novels, simply because they were so easy to find everywhere.

Some people like reading the originals of things they already know in translation - you know you’re not going to lose track of the storyline - but I find it takes a lot of the fun away, and the motivation to get to the end.

Astérix is a bit tricky, because the jokes are very language-dependent, quite different in Anthea Bell’s version from the original French (sometimes the translation is actually better...). And you need a lot of lateral thinking and some knowledge of French culture to spot the puns. But you can always read them for the story and then come back years later for the jokes...

>73 shadrach_anki:

As far as I can tell from your LT profile you like to read manga but you can't actually read them in Japanese so might I suggest reading them in French? French-translated manga is excellent and flows like the original compared to, in my opinion, the very sterile English translations (from what I've experienced but I've read so few as I don't like them and much more manga is translated in French). French manga, while still expensive, is also cheaper than its American counterparts and the binding is like the original Japanese bindups as well which is really nice.

>76 lilisin:

I do like to read manga, and I actually can read a little Japanese (five semesters in college, but kanji continue to be a challenge, along with lack of practice), but reading them in French might be a bit easier. Are the French translations published in a flipped or an unflipped format?

>77 shadrach_anki:

Unflipped of course! Just like the original, just like the bindups as I mentioned before. You might read French manga and never go back to reading manga in English.

I actually can read a little Japanese.

My apologies for my assumption. However, if you want to start getting better at Japanese I highly recommend reading よつばと！: it's a great slice of life manga that is just hilarious and with very easy beginner's Japanese.

>63 raton-liseur: Welcome to Club Read! I'll be (have been!) following your thread, whether it's here or on Lecture des francophones. I bit the bullet and switched to English as my main communication language on LT last year because there's almost nobody left on the French forums. I guess they're all on Babelio now... I'm staying because I like it better here: LT supports multilingual cataloguing and I like the people and some of the discussions, especially in Club Read and over at Reading Globally.

>71 shadrach_anki: Sorry for barging in with my two cents... My experience is that yes, reading books you already know - such as Harry Potter - in the language you're learning is a great way to improve fast because hopefully, they'll make it easier to immerse yourself in the language without getting bogged down in a word-by-word read.
Also, if I were you, if reading a new (to you) work, I'd start with short pieces - either short stories or novellas - because at first, it's hard to sustain the level of interest and effort needed to finish a longer novel when you language skills are still shakey. And that leads me to a free online ressource for learners of French (intermediate to advanced) I heard of last November, at a science-fiction convention I attended: Histoires d'avenir : Science-fiction pour le cours de français niveaux intermédiaire et avancé by Annabelle Dolidon and Stéphanie Roulon. This is a textbook that can be downloaded from https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/pdxopen/15/. There are links to the short stories discussed in the book, which you can just read independently of the textbook if you like. They're "real", published stories, but they will have been chosen because they're readable by intermediate-level students. I've been planning on mentioning it when I start the Reading Globally quarterly thread on SF from non-Anglo countries later on in the year. I'll have a think and see if I can come up with other genre titles...

>79 Dilara86: Nice to see you here as well! I totally agree with you. I am both on Babelio and here almost since I've started to look at internet to keep me updated on books. As I have decided to try to be more active again, I have decided to "invest" more time on LT and to keep a very low profile on Babelio. I'll post a few reviews, and still participate on the "masse critique" (equivalent of early reviewers), as it has allowed me to do some really nice reads in the past few months.
But I prefer (by far) LT for the same reasons as you: cataloguing (impossible on Babelio), nice people and discussions, and as well a sense of reading for enjoyment (whatever enjoyment means: we all have our definition). I feel Babelio is more competitive (the "award" system, now everybody is supposed to have a target number of books for the year. I don't want that, it is not the way I enjoy reading).
So I feel more welcome and more cosy here in LT, that's why same as you, I'll stick to LT. Hurrah LT!!!

>71 shadrach_anki: and >79 Dilara86: I agree with Dilara regarding the length of a book you'll choose. I had to switch to French one third or so into A Tale of Two Cities as I was getting frustrated not to go faster.
I've been thinking of YA books. I don't know what is available for you, and how easy to it is to find books in French, but I would recommend Jean-Claude Mourlevat. L'enfant Océan (translated as The Pull of the Ocean) is a great read, even for an adult. Not so easy as the narrative structure can be a bit odd at the beginning, but it is a great book.
If you like YA historical books, I would recommend Evelyne Brisou-Pellen. My favorite, so far, is Un Cheval de rêve (not translated to English) but it is very Brittany-specific. There are others that are on the general French history, if I can say so, that could be good. I can dig a few titles if you want too.
And there is also Marcus Malte (not all is YA), for example a noir YA book as Il va venir (not translated either).

Edited: The books above are not young adult books, they are children books.

Hi, I’m Lynda. Joined LT just recently (January) and just discovered this group. I live in eastern Oregon, in a rural area, and it’s sometimes hard to find somebody to “talk books” with, so I’m delighted to find kindred souls here.

Now that I’m retired, I can devote way too much time to my two favorite pastimes – reading and knitting. I don’t remember a time when I couldn’t read, and generally burn through ~150 a year with a pretty consistent 70/30 split between fiction and nonfiction. I read a little of everything (except spy novels, techno-thrillers, and bodice-ripper romances). Favorite authors include John Steinbeck, Sir Terry Pratchett, Barbara Kingsolver, and Margaret Atwood, but Janet Evanovich is my “guilty pleasure”.

Due to budget constraints, I generally buy my books second-hand, so I’m generally behind the curve on The Hot New Novel Everyone Is Reading. When one does strike my fancy, I try to get it from the library.

That's probably enough for now, as I need to poke around CR and see what's up and how it works.

>82 LyndaInOregon: Welcome Lynda! I'm new to CR this year too and am really glad to have found this group. The breadth of reading is such that there's a good chance of overlap in interests. And I'm finding that I enjoy the reviews even for books I'm not interested in reading.

Word of warning - expect your book wishlist to increase exponentially!

>82 LyndaInOregon: Welcome Lynda. I am new too to this group (just a couple of weeks). It's a very nice group here, and I am sure you will find some people with similar interests. However, as said by >83 rhian_of_oz: you are likely to be tempted a lot here and see your to-be-read pile transform itself into a to-be-read mountain!

>Word of warning - expect your book wishlist to increase exponentially!

Oyeah! I started a challenge in another general-interest group to pick 12 titles from your TBR list and commit to read one per month, and to share your picks & progress. The intent was to **reduce** my TBR stack but of course I kept looking at other peoples' picks and saying "Gee, that looks interesting!" know I added more than the 12 I committed to read!

Hello, my name is Drew. I am single and live in Penticton, British Columbia, Canada, working as a part time car driver, part time cartographer and part time djembe teacher. I read mostly non-fiction, with a strong tendency towards science and math topics. Every now and then I deliberately read some fiction because I think it's important to have variety and exposure to literature. I have accumlated as small library of books, and I once thought I would never get rid of a book. That's changed a little bit, partly due to space limiations and partly because I know there are some books I'll never read again, let alone refer to. Fortunately I have several "Little Libraries" in my area which serve as a place to dispose of books I no longer want. Occasionally (actually, rarely) the Little Libraries are a source of good books to add to my collection. I have been on LibraryThing for some years now. I don't know what Club Read is.

>82 LyndaInOregon: Hi there, and welcome! I am also retired from full time work, and enjoy having the time to do what I want, a lot of reading included. As you said, most of my books are second hand, and I rarely read the Hot New Titles. My interests tend to cozy mysteries, and I am currently challenging myself to re-read a lot of the Newbery Award winners.

>86 amakepeace: Hi Drew! You will find Club Read to be a place where you can talk about books. Just about anything people like to read is discussed. No rules, just enjoy reading and talking books with other avid readers. The landing page for Club Read gives a good overview of what to expect. I often take my no longer needed books to the Little Free Libraries in my area, and as you said, I seldom find anything there that I want to read, but I do find some good ones on the exchange table at the YMCA. Club Read will give you lots of ideas of stuff to read.

>84 raton-liseur:, >85 LyndaInOregon:, >86 amakepeace: Looking forward to hearing what the three of you are reading! Have you all created threads to chronicle your reading?

>88 avaland: Hello avaland. Yes, done: https://www.librarything.fr/topic/304020. Reviews written in French, book talks in English or French.

And to answer your question, I am currently reading Lonesome dove, as part of the impromptu group read, and I just have started this morning to listen to a fascinating play by Aimé Césaire about the early days of the Congo independance, Une Saison au Congo, or A season in COngo. Powerful.

Thanks for updating, and including me in the list :-)

>89 raton-liseur: I saw the Lonesome Dove discussion and found your thread. The play intrigues. I used to read much literature from Africa, but much less so now.

>90 edwinbcn: We couldn't leave you off the list! It sometimes takes me a while to get back here but I do eventually.

Hey everyone! I'm Dee, but my username is seascape. I'm from New Zealand, out in the rural, living in a small town of just over 2,000 souls. I don't work now, because of serious effects from a spinal injury. But, I keep myself busy, by reading, adult colouring, watching classic movies and tv, and looking after my various pets. I enjoy reading chick lit, children, contemporary, fantasy, historical fiction, horror, thriller, ya, thriller, non fiction, Christian. Maybe, I should have said everything!

>92 seascape: welcome Dee! We have an eclectic mix of reading tastes within the group, so with that wide range of reading tastes prepare to take plenty of book bullets when you visit other people's threads! Look forward to your reading thread.

Hi. I'm joining rather late, but I'm trying to get more active on this board and less active on FB (which just tends to make me sad). I am a teacher and the director of the Writing Center at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, a rather muggy place. I am a fountain pen user/collector (or at least I have a collection but not expensive pens) and I also keep many journals. I am also a poet with one book and publications in journals. I'm not writing much lately--it's hard to write when I am teaching 3 classes and running the Writing Center. I'm hoping to do some reading and writing this summer, though I am teaching one class. I love mysteries and science fiction and historical and Regency romance and so many things. I have two cats and 3 birds. Really, my interests are all over the place, so I wanted to see what others are reading. I have gotten some good ideas already.

>94 Denise701: welcome! You'll fit right in I'm sure. Be sure to set up a thread and let us know what sort of reading genres you prefer. We've a wide range of reading tastes, so there are sure to be plenty of folks to connect with.

>94 Denise701: Hi from New York, Denise! I'm a fountain pen person too—I have a few inexpensive pens and keep saying I'm going to get myself something slightly fancier one of these days, maybe in the over $30/under $100 range. I really need to go to a pen store and try some out, though. I always wonder what it would be like to write with one that costs a few hundred dollars... it's like that mythical $300 bottle of wine—would I know enough to appreciate it? I also keep journals, and write a lot of snail mail, and tend to keep handwritten notes a lot at work (I'm an editor/journalist).

Also hi to the Dee and anyone else I've missed.

>92 seascape: >94 Denise701: Welcome, and good to meet both of you. I am sure you will fit right in.

>95 AlisonY: Thank you for the welcome! I did set up a thread; hopefully I did it right so everyone can see it.

>96 lisapeet: I have only one fountain pen that was more than $200 and that was a custom pen made by Renee of Scriptorium Pens. She does good work. Everything else I have pen-wise is mostly 2nd hand purchases, most well under that. My favorite over $30 dollar pen is probably my purple TWSBI 580AL. I mostly like the old Parker 45s and the Lamy Safaris. I do have quite a number of pen pals that keep me busy when I'm not in school--or reading!

>92 seascape: Thank you for the kind welcome.

sallypursell newbie St Louis, Mo Hi, I thought I typed a message last week, but I don't see it anywhere. Am I supposed to do something specific to join? Avaland, may I join?

I read a lot, and I own a great many books. I think Kipling is underrated. I started to read at age 2, and in childhood I would often read 4 or 5 books a day. I have never successfully kept a reading diary for more than 4 months.

I mostly read fiction, science fiction, fantasy, mystery, paranormal, romance, especially regency. But I also read some science and science history.

This past year I had an acute degenerative change in my spine, and was in such pain that I didn't read much. I have fibromyalgia, and that sometimes prevents me from doing many of the things I love, baking, knitting, socializing, quilting, reading and studying. I often pick something to focus on for a year or two. Once it was speaking Spanish, once the history and politics of the Japanese civil war regarding the control of the Samurai by the Tokugawa shogunate, and their refusal of the "Dutch" learning.
My kids were watching Rurouni Kenshin, and I wanted to understand it better. That took two years, getting into the economics of the situation as well as the politics.

I am all too apt to talk about myself. But I am truly glad to be here.

Hi Sally. Welcome. Nothing special needed to join, just start your own thread and talk about your reading. (If you tried to post earlier and it didn’t take, it just means you caught an unfortunate glitch.) Hoping your pain has lessened. Two years on Rurouni Kenshin and Japanese history sounds fun and fascinating.

>99 sallypursell: You did start a new thread last week :)

I found it over here.

>99 sallypursell: Hi and welcome! You don't have to do anything special to join. Glad to see you here.

Oh, I'm so happy to be here, among other obsessive readers.

I live in the interior of the United States, and apparently that is unusual for this group, who are all coasters, it seems. St Louis is a highly cultured city with several large universities of importance as well as a campus of the State University. We are famous for hospitals and medical research, and I worked as an RN for forty years in the most prominent. That means it was a teaching and research hospital, where the newest procedures and therapies were employed. I saw everything! I am pleased to say that almost everyone reads--the laundry workers and housekeepers at the hospital seldom read the type of stuff I and other professionals were reading, but they read. Housekeeper's carts had paperbacks stashed somewhere almost always.

That said, there are few people who have as many books as my family and I do. Ours is one of those houses with books shelved, stacked on the floors and chairs, and a collection even in the bathroom. Buying books is my worst habit. I'm in my late 60's and I'm still acquiring books at a rapid rate. My kids all read, but I don't know what they will do with them after I die. There are four of them, the kids, that is, but even a quarter of the collection is thousands of books, more than most people want to store. I'm sure we approach 10,000 books. I just try not to think about it. I'll just bet I'm not alone in this group.

How do I reply to certain people?

Eliz_M and dchaikin, thank for for the welcome! LadyoftheLodge, too.

>104 sallypursell: the trick is to use this carrot, >, followed by the post number.

>103 sallypursell: you have more than me. : ) Love St Louis, the little time I’ve spent there.

>105 dchaikin: Thanks, dchaikin! and what timely help! Do you lurk?

>106 dchaikin: dchaikin, my family and my husband's family have been here since about 1840. I have lots of family, and it is one of the loveliest things about an under-rated city.

>94 Denise701: Denise, I also love fountain pens, but I only have one I'm using currently. It's not an expensive one, but I love the way it writes.
Ballpoint pen ink gives me a headache. When I can't use a fountain pen, I use a rollerball. It's the nearest equivalent, I think.

>108 sallypursell: Sally, I have added your name to the list on the top of this thread. Welcome. I've been to St Louis once. My daughter lived on Park? St in St. Louis for a few years. She taught science at that big private school there....Mary Institute...something? When I visited her, I also met LT user "Marise" (who is no longer active on LT) and we all went to a wonderful, overstuffed, used bookstore in a house somewhere in the area, in the 'burbs somewhere SW of the city (and it may not still be there).

I hope you will find some others in the group to follow; readers with similar interests you can converse with. I often go my own way with my reading but I still like to see what others are reading and what they think about it.

>103 sallypursell: - I went to St Louis for a work conference back in the 1990s and I always say I've never been to a city with friendlier people

>107 sallypursell: I probably spend too much time here, but I wasn’t lurking, just happened to catch your post.

>avaland, I know that bookstore! It was only two miles from my home, and it was in a suburb just north of the one in which I live. It is called The Book House. A couple of years ago the landlord raised the rent, the store couldn't pay the new amount, and they have moved down the street to another suburb just east of mine, and is now only three miles away. Unfortunately, they tore down that great old house and put up a storage unit store. There was picketing when all this happened, but it went forward nonetheless. The new Book House is in a storefront in Maplewood, MO.

So glad to know you!

>111 Nickelini: That is a frequent comment, Nickelini, but so kind of you to notice and say so.

>112 dchaikin: dchaikin, I was only teasing! I should learn not to joke with people I am just meeting. Sorry.

>113 sallypursell: Yes, I think that was the name of it.

>103 sallypursell: Nope, you are not alone! I am a Midwestern gal too. Lots of books live in my house as well. I sometimes wonder what will happen to them all when I am no longer here. Maybe someone will just open the door to all book lovers and tell them to take what they want. Or else they will go to auction or a used book sale. . .just not to the pulping bin!!

>117 LadyoftheLodge: Maybe someone will just open the door to all book lovers and tell them to take what they want.

That's a nice thought, actually. I've told my husband which bookstore actually will give him money for my thousands, but that's more work.

>118 Nickelini: Thanks! I once read an article about a professor who was an avid reader. When he passed, his family opened his library to his friends and colleagues. Sounds like the books were gone quickly.

Hi, my name is Melissa. I live in North Carolina with 7 goats and 1.5 Yorkies (my parent's dog visits my house during the day to hang out with my dog who is her best friend and has sleepovers with us on my nights off from work.) This is my second year of actually joining this group. I joined last year, but kind of fell away from being fully engaged - not for lack of interest and enjoyment, just other parts of life got in the way. I have also been a part-time lurker of this group over the years. I like this group because of its variety of people and reading tastes and the encouragement and interest people show in each other. When not reading or working, I enjoy spending time with my family and am very active in my local United Methodist Church.

My own reading tastes are varied, though my true love has always been historical fiction. Since 2013 I have been working on a self-imposed challenge to work my way through the following Reading Lists:

2006 MLA's 30 Books Every Adult Should Read Before They Die: 28 of 30 (93%) Complete
Random Houses's "100 Best Books of 20th Century: 17 of 100 (17%) Complete
2006 Edition of 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die: 57 of 1001 (5.7%) Complete
Pulitzer Prize Winners for Novel/Fiction: 29 of 91 (31%) Complete
National Book Award Winners for Fiction: 3 of 72 (4.1%) Complete
Newbery Medal Award Winners: 27 of 97 (28%) Complete
Caldecott Medal Award Winners: 5 of 81 (6.1%) Complete

>120 exlibrismcp: welcome Melissa! It's never too late to join. Hopefully you will start up a thread so that other people can enjoy your thoughts on the books you read as the year progresses. Sounds like an interesting reading challenge you're working through.

>120 exlibrismcp: Welcome. Hoping you start a thread. I’d like to see how following those lists goes (and we all here like lists...)

ETA - found your thread!

Hi Melissa! Happy reading! I am also reading Newbery books for my own Category Challenge, but I am not as far along on my list as you are.

Hi, Melissa! I'm just one state south of you, but sadly goat-free.

Hi, Melissa! I'm one of the newest of the CRers. Also goat-free, I'm afraid.

>120 exlibrismcp: Have added your name to the group list.

Greetings, all! I've been active on LibraryThing for several years. I was introduced to Club Read a few months back, mainly by finding Mark (thorold)'s thread via the Reading Globally group. I've been listing my reading and posting short reviews with threads in the 50-Book Challenge group for 11 years, already! I plan on continuing there, but I thought I would also create a thread here, as, having spent some time investigating some of your threads, mostly via random selection, I've found the level and types of discourse to be very much up my alley.

My idea for 2019 is to create my own thread here and cut and paste onto it one or two of the reviews from my 50-Book thread each day until I'm caught up, while also keeping up with my current reading. I hope that plan meets with the group's approval.

My name is Jerry. I grew up in New Jersey. Now I live in Mendocino County, California, about 120 miles north of San Francisco. More specifically, I live in a very small town called Boonville in the Anderson Valley region of the county. It's very rural and beautiful here. Working backwards, before my wife and I moved here, I lived in San Francisco for 22 years and in New Orleans for about 8 years. I'm retired now (although active on a couple of non-profit boards). Again working backwards, I owned a used bookstore in Ukiah (the county seat of Mendocino County) for 8 years, worked as a freelance writer (everything from tech writing to jazz journalism) for 11 years, served as the Publications Coordinator of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco for 5 years, and taught English Composition and ESL. During my New Orleans days, I was a jazz/blues DJ and producer at WWNO, the New Orleans NPR affiliate. So it's been a long, swervey road! Cheers!

eta: You can hear me on the radio every Monday morning from 9 to 11 AM Pacific Time as I host a weekly show called The Jazz Odyssey on the local public radio station. We stream live at www.kzyx.org.

Jealous of your summary, Jerry. I’ve logged undergrad in New Orleans (maybe we overlapped, early 1990’s) and less than a week in SF. Not enough in either place. Welcome to CR (finally? : ) )

>128 dchaikin: Thanks, Daniel. I left New Orleans for San Francisco (to go to grad school at San Francisco State) in 1986, so we wouldn't have overlapped. Where did you go to school there? The radio station I worked at was on the campus of the University of New Orleans, out by the lakefront, but if you were in from out of town, I'm guessing maybe you were at Tulane or Loyola.

>127 rocketjk: That's a lot of things that you've done! Very impressive! I share Dan's jealousy!

Hi, Jerry, and welcome! Is your radio show archived? Monday morning isn't a great time for me to listen live (pesky job) but I'd love to catch it sometime.

>131 lisapeet: Well, darn! I had already typed, "Yes it is!" and started describing how to get to it, when I realized my show's gone from the station's online archive list! I'll have to investigate, but I expect it has to do with the dual factors of A) we just changed the time for my show from afternoon to morning and B) the antiquated nature of our archive technology. I will have to investigate and report back.

>129 rocketjk: Tulane. : )

>133 dchaikin: Tulane in the early 90s? Then you're a Radiators fan!

Ha! Dash Rip Rock and later Cowboy Mouth drew me more. Sad about Neville

>127 rocketjk: Welcome to Club Read, Jerry. You’ve had an interesting life journey thus far. 😄

>132 rocketjk: I'll try to sneak a listen in no matter what.

Hi guys! I'm Stephanie from South Carolina - currently unemployed but looking for a teaching job which gives me TONS of time to read these days. I read pretty much all fiction for pleasure, but I read non-fiction history books for work. Historical fiction or historical adjacent fiction is usually my go to. I spend a lot of time dreaming of the past, so I like books that help me do so. I've always wanted to join a book club, but have never been able to find one, so I'm hoping to find a good place to talk about books with others. Oh yeah, I'm brand new to this group and to LibraryThing itself.

Just finished The History of Love by Nicole Krauss and For One More Day by Mitch Albom - absolutely loved them both.

>138 StephaniePettry: welcome Stephanie! We are an eclectic bunch of readers in Club Read, so I'm sure you will fit right in! If you haven't already done so we would recommend starting your own thread so that we can keep up with your reading journey throughout the year, and of course would welcome your comments on the CR threads that fit with your reading interests.

As you're new to LT, I found this thread quite useful when I started as it explains how to do things like inserting images in your posts:

https://www.librarything.com/topic/129158#6816001

If you want to reply to something in someone's thread, enter >post number you're replying to (e.g. see the >138 StephaniePettry: where I have replied to your post here).

>139 AlisonY: Thanks for the tips!

>138 StephaniePettry: Hi, Stephanie! I'm also in SC. Given the shocking teacher shortage we have going into the school year, I hope that bodes well for quick employment!

>141 RidgewayGirl: Thank you!

>138 StephaniePettry: Hi Stephanie, and welcome to our group. I hope you find a teaching job! I am happily retired after many years of teaching middle school and also serving in school administration. Now I just teach college classes online, as a part time job in retirement. As long as I can get an internet connection, I am good to go!

rocketjk and StephaniePettry added to the master list. Welcome!

Hi, rocketjk and Stephanie. I just joined in May myself. Welcome to the group. I just retired in October after 40 years of being a hospital nurse. It was hard work, but I loved it. I have always read a lot, in fact it is the central activity of my life, in many ways. I have a beloved husband of 45 years and four great kids, from 27 to 39 years old. Tell us anything you want to about your lives, or only tell us what you read: your choice!