2021 Reading Plans

It's time to start planning for 2021! If you would like to host a month next year please let me know and I will add your name to the list. You don't have to have a theme in mind yet, we can add that later. Hosting simply involves thinking of a theme and opening up a thread at least a month in advance, giving people time to plan and get their books lined up. If you would like to see what we have done in the past, please go to the wiki where we have a record of all the themes and all the books read going back over the years.

January: cindydavid4 - Shakespeare's Children - Thread: http://www.librarything.com/topic/326994
February: beebeereads - Fashion - Thread: http://www.librarything.com/topic/328614
March: Tess_W - Arghh, Matey - Thread: http://www.librarything.com/topic/328712#n7388235
April: DeltaQueen: The Sun Never Sets - Thread: http://www.librarything.com/topic/329026#n7397656
May: CurrerBell - Meet the Press - Thread: http://www.librarything.com/topic/327445
June: Famiyhistorian - Rewriting the Past - Thread: http://www.librarything.com/topic/331398#
July: MissWatson - Now We Are Free - Thread: http://www.librarything.com/topic/331859
August: Clue - Food: https://www.librarything.com/topic/333693#
September: SilverWolf28 - Time Travel/Prehistoric: https://www.librarything.com/topic/334426#
October: LibraryCin: Supernatural: https://www.librarything.com/topic/334809#
November: Silver Wolf - Readers' Choice: https://www.librarything.com/topic/336024
December: Countrylife - Brrrrr Cold!: https://www.librarything.com/topic/334492

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask. Also if you would like to host but are a little uncertain about how to go about it, we can work on it together. Let's make 2021 another successful year!

I'll start by saying that I am quite happy with our monthly hosts who present a theme for us to plan our reads. I also enjoy the quarterly challenges that are set by time. So my vote would be to continue as we are, but I am always open to any suggestions for change.

I'm definitely in favor of keeping on the way we are. This is the one group I'm most dedicated to. I've been letting Reading Through Time (oops, I meant Read Our Own Tomes, ROOTs) slip these past months and have to get cracking, but here in this group I really stick with it.

I'm happy with this format. I should mention, though, that I only do the monthly challenges, not the quarterly ones.

Very happy with the format; cant wait to see what themes everyone comes up with!!

I like both the monthly and the quarterly, especially the quarterly! I plan to read at least 5 books per each quarter theme next year.

I'm happy with the current format, too, even if I do not manage as many books as I would love to read. There are not enough hours in the day, alas.

I do like the current system.

I love the RTT as it's settled into itself! I like both the Quarterly time periods and the Monthly themes. I try to read at least one book for each of those each month, though some themes call out to me more, so I get more read. I struggle with the Prehistory time period; haven't loved anything I've read for that period, so as it keeps repeating, I may read fewer books for that one. Still, I wouldn't change the RTT format at all.

I enjoy the monthly themed reads and how each person comes up with their own ideas for a theme. I sometimes have difficulty getting to all the quarterly reads. I vote for keeping things as they are.

I like the format as well, both monthly and quarterly. This group causes me to branch out in my reading, which is one aspect I really like. I look forward to great themes in 2021.

I would say that we seem in agreement that we like the way Reading Through Time is set up and so will continue on in 2021. Now, we need volunteers for each month. You don't have to have an idea for your theme yet, just choose a month that you would like to host and I will book it for you. I will take a month but will wait and see what's left over. I will adjust the first message of this thread so that we can track our progress.

I think I'd like October, please. :-)

I will take March, please and thank you!

I'll take June.

I've added LibraryCin, Tess and Familyhistorian to the list and also cindydavid has volunteered for January with a great theme - just waiting for her to choose the name and I'll post that as well.

Any more vounteers?

I could do February.

I'll take May, and the topic (in honor of May 3's World Press Freedom Day) will be Meet the Press.

Thank you >17 beebeereads: and >18 CurrerBell:, I've added you to the list. I'm going to add myself in for April, but if anyone comes along and wants April I can move to another month.

Five months are still left!

Judy, my topic for March is going to be Arghhh, Matey

I could take July, have to think a bit about a theme, though...

>21 Tess_W: Added your theme to the top list, Tess.

>22 MissWatson: I've put you down for July, Birgit, which gives you lots of time for coming up with a theme. :)

I can take a month if needed. Any month is okay with me.

Are we throwing out themes out already, as well? I did pick October for a reason. I am planning on Supernatural. Whether or not I come up with a catchier title, we'll see!

>24 clue: I've put you in for August Luanne, if you'd rather have a different month, let me know.

>25 LibraryCin: I've added Supernatural to October - If you come up with a different name just let me know and I'll change it.

We have three months left and remember if you would rather have a month earlier in the year, I will switch out April.

I'll take a month!

>28 SilverWolf28: Thanks Silver, should I put you down for September or is there another month you would rather have?

>29 DeltaQueen50: September is fine.

>17 beebeereads: I will do Fashion for February. I suspect I need to narrow this a bit. When I can focus I will provide parameters and a title.

I'll take December, if it's still open.

>30 SilverWolf28: Added SilverWolf28 to September

>31 beebeereads: Added Fashion as your theme. Looking forward to this one!

>32 countrylife: You've got December, Cindy. :)

Wow, the members of this group are stars! We've filled in 11 of the 12 months - just one more to go and 2021 will be ready!

I think my theme in April is going to be The British Empire in it's heyday.

>34 DeltaQueen50: Ooooh, I've got The British in India: A Social History of the Raj sitting in a TBR pile. I'll hold off on it until April! And also Army of Empire: The Untold Story of the Indian Army in World War I. And I should have a lot else too. My interest is in India, not Britain, but there's obviously overlap.

I just wanted to let everyone know that my computer conked out on me this afternoon and is in the shop. They have to order a part and have said it could take up to 2 weeks or more till I get it back!! (I'm going to go crazy!!)

Anyway, if someone comes forward and volunteers for November please be assured that I am not ignoring you - I just won't have access to a computer very often.

>35 CurrerBell: Glad that you are looking forward to the British Empire. I suspect that I will be reading a book set in India for that theme as well.

>36 DeltaQueen50: What a time for your computer to let you down, Judy. Our computers are lifelines these days.

>38 Familyhistorian: I am going a little crazy, Meg. I have the limited use of my husbands laptop but it's old and does some very strange things!

>39 DeltaQueen50: My laptop also does some very strange things and tends to delete whole lines of text unless I'm careful. I hope you have your own computer back in no time.

I have my computer back and I just wanted to remind everyone that we still have November open.

We still have November open for a host and I am thinking that if no one comes forward between now and then, we will declare November a reader's choice month.

I've updated the quarterly reads for 2021.

>1 DeltaQueen50: I've chosen Food for the August topic.

I've been thinking and my topic will be "Now we are free".

>42 DeltaQueen50: Good idea, catching up on missed themes is always welcome.

I've added the Food and the Now we are free themes to the top of the thread. Looking forward to both. :)

I can take November with readers choice.

>48 SilverWolf28: Are you okay with doing two months? I already have you for September.

>49 DeltaQueen50: I'm not hosting anything else for that month so I'm fine with it. I'll have September's topic soon.

Thanks so much for volunteering - our 2021 plans are now complete! :)

Hi Judy - mine theme for June will be "Rewriting the Past".

>52 Familyhistorian: Thanks, Meg. I'll add that to the top list.

My topic for September will be Time Travel/Prehistoric.

>54 SilverWolf28: Thanks, Silver. I've added it to the top list.

We've got some really great themes lined up next year!

February is up https://www.librarything.com/topic/328614

>56 beebeereads: I've added the link to the thread to the top post.

I notice that the link to the Wikis on the Main Page isn't working so I have added the links to all the current threads and I will try to contact someone to fix this.

I have reposted the links in a slightly different format and they now work.

Is anyone else finding that the threads are all mixed up with old ones from 2011 at the top and the newer ones scattered throughout the listings? I suspect this is another bug in the new format but it's driving me crazy!

Arrgghh! And when you post to a thread it doesn't automatically move to the top of topics list!!

>60 DeltaQueen50: You have to constantly toggle between selecting "Last Message" and "New/Total" at the top of the columns. It used to be that whichever way you "set" that particular page, it would remain. Now it seems that however you set the last list you were on, that format carries over to the next list you open. For some pages (like Group pages), I like it to default to "Last Message", but for other lists (like "Starred Topics"), I like to set it to "New/Total". But by flipping back and forth, whatever page I was on last carries over to the next one I open.

Very, very annoying.

Thank you so much, and you're right - this is so annoying.

ditto.

Mine don't seem to have changed.

>64 Tess_W: Do you mean that yours in the right order, Tess? I hope so.

Thanks heavens this was an easy fix as I am so bad at technology!

>65 DeltaQueen50: Yes, mine did not seem to have changed any in order.

<65, >66 Tess_W: I haven't had trouble with mine in that way either, my only problem has been with touchstones, here one hour, gone the next.

>67 clue: Me, too! Touchstones are being very touchy!

I've posted the topic for April: http://www.librarything.com/topic/329026#n7397656

I've pinned our 2021 reading plans so that it will stay at the top and everyone can find the current threads.

>70 DeltaQueen50: Thanks Judy, that is a good idea.

I don't know about others, but with 4 monthly themes up already, Im gettinng confused by what books for what group and when. Is it possible not to post new themes say for a few weeks before? Even a month before would be helpful. Thx

>72 cindydavid4: I actually like knowing the themes ahead of time. It gives me time to determine what I'm going to read and book possibilities. Plus, should I need to order something from the library, I have the extra time.

>73 kac522: I agree.

ok, maybe a month a head? We still have april up, plus may, and now june and july. I find it confusing to remember them all and what Im reading.I guess Im used to other places on LT where the new themes pop up closer to the end of the month.

>72 cindydavid4: I just try not even to look until a few weeks before the new month.

ETA: I'm also more used to things only being posted a week or two before month end. In fact, so much so, that when it's my turn here, I don't know how early mine will be up.

For those who like to plan, the entire year is planned ahead in the planning thread. (So, if anyone is antsy for my month (I can't even recall what it is without checking, but I have reminders in my calendar to get it written and posted at some point!), you might have to check the year list.)

>76 LibraryCin: thats an excellent idea!!! its all right there!

I like to see the threads going up early as I love to have lots of planning time, but I understand that not everyone feels like this. How about we try to have our themes posted at least a month in advance - so if you are doing July - then it should be posted by June 1st?

I usually pick my reads spontaneously, so I'm happy to do it the way the majority prefers.

>78 DeltaQueen50: thats fine, but no earlier, pls. for those who want to read ahead the list is up; makes it much less confusing for me anyway.

To me, it doesn't matter when the challenge threads post. I'd say - whenever it's convenient for the host. I keep a tab on my reading list spreadsheet for RTT, the lists for both the monthly and quarterly challenges, plus my ideas for each as I think about them.

I prefer to plan ahead, but as hubs is now retired, my planning is hit or miss, so the longer ahead the details for each month are posted, the better for the way my brain-on-LT works. Having the list in the O.P. is somewhat helpful, but the details the hosts post are so much more so. The Sun Never Sets is intriguing, but impossible to plan for until the host expounds on it.

That said, though, I love this group, and am happy to go with the majority.

I've got COPD, congestive heart failure, and (currently, very successfully treated) prostate cancer, among other medical issues. That's why I try to post my own thread early, just in case I wind up hospitalized as the month approaches and I mess everyone else up by not having the thread up and ready.

yikes, ok then, Im good. Wishing you better health, and hope you don't need to be hospitalized. Take care

>82 CurrerBell: Oh, wow! I'm sorry to hear about all the medical issues. I hope things are going well for you, though.

I'm certainly happy with the choice of when to post being up to the host - I will continue to issue a gentle reminder a month ahead of the topic.

Does the time travel/prehistoric for Sept mean that only time travel to a prehistoric period counts? I do read time travel, but that sounds kind of limiting. When will a list of options go up?

>86 cfk: I've been wondering about this theme for months, too! Looking forward to an explanation/books recs.

Im assuming its time travel and/or ancient times. If not pickings are slim. Baxters sorta sequel of The Time Machine time ships which I generally thought was very good, with some editing needed. Cant think of anything similar (there is Bradburys The Sound of Thunderbut its a short story. powerful, however

>88 cindydavid4: Time travel using Cambrian Period as a "humane" penal colony: Robert Silverberg's Hawksbill Station. Quite clever and interesting.

==========

ETA: There's also Daughter of Is by Michael Davidson. Human scientists create a sentient race on another planet and observe its development over the eons by using relativistic time travel into the future. Since these human scientists are in fact the "creators," their observations include the earliest stages of the race's existence, which I guess would qualify as "prehistoric." A really intriguing sci-fi novel that I read oh, probably thirty or more years ago. I see there are several copies on ABE quite reasonably priced and in good condition. Paperback only.

I don't want to say too much to avoid SPOILER, but it's dedicated to C.S. Lewis.

And dang, ya did it to me! I went off and bought myself a copy. Got it in "fine, as new, never read" from a 5***** seller for $10 (plus $4 s/h, plus tax). But there are still several on ABE, and there's one that's in "near fine" from another 5***** seller at $7 (plus $4.50 s/h, plus tax).

Gonna reread this one. It's been so many years, likely more than thirty, considering it's got a 1978 publication date. I remember chatting about it with a friend of mine, now deceased, who by then was a common pleas judge elected in 1991, and I know I'd read it some years before Ken and I discussed it not too long after he was elected. Brings back memories, cuz Ken and I were allies in quite a few political fights before he got his judgeship.

It's a fairly quick read.

>86 cfk: I plan to have September's thread up sometime Saturday.

>89 CurrerBell: I love that cover!! Its so of the time.

Sorry I wasn't here for this but I see all is under control and we will find out exactly what September's intriguing category is all about this coming weekend. I am looking forward to this one!

Speaking of monthly topics, it looks like we still don't have one for December.

delete

>94 cindydavid4: Doesn't that actually mean that the member called countrylife (https://www.librarything.com/profile/CountryLife) choses the topic?

>95 AnnieMod: Correct.

See message >32 countrylife: where user countrylife volunteered for December.

>95 AnnieMod: um i think you miss understood me. Of course it does. Just answering the post saying that there was no theme for dec

>90 SilverWolf28: Thanks!

Cindy is a fairly active member of this group so I am sure she hasn't forgotten that she is hosting December but I will send her a private message asking if she has a theme figured out for December.

I have September's thread up: https://www.librarything.com/topic/334426

Yeek. December's theme coming up soon.

Sorry for the delay. My sister was diagnosed with a rare blood cancer. I've been going to all her medical appointments with her. She was able to get an appointment to see a very specialized specialist halfway across the country, so we're in the middle of planning to make that trip. I'm still doing some reading, but more book reading instead of LT reading. Sorry to keep you waiting!

>101 countrylife: Sorry to hear about your sister. Best of luck with your planning to see the specialized specialist.

>101 countrylife: So sorry to hear about your sister, Cindy.

>101 countrylife: Goodness no need to apologize at all. Keeping you both in my thoughts. safe travels , hoping for the best

>101 countrylife: Don't worry! Hope everything goes well.

I'll be seventy next month, and I just had my third anniversary (on Tuesday the 17th) of my prostatectomy. We followed up with 38 radiation sessions in June-July of 2019 because of lymph node involvement, and I just finished two years of lupron (anti-testosterone) injections at the end of April. Now it's wait-and-see. Great medical team at Jefferson University in Philadelphia.

I switched to Jeff when my suburban urologist wouldn't contemplate surgery because of my age and cardiac history, insisting that I go straight to radiation. Problem is, once you've had radiation, surgery tends to be ruled out because of risks of infection, and I desperately wanted to get surgery first.

I thought my cardiologist was going to need a surgeon when I told him the urologist had a problem with my age, because my cardiologist's jaw dropped open and he started yelling, "But you're not that old!" (My cardiologist's just one year younger than I am!) Anyway, a Jefferson surgeon used a minimally invasive robotic laparoscopy that got all of the prostate and associated lymph glands out and that had me out of the hospital the next day.

My strain of prostate cancer was unusually aggressive, but I've had undetectable PSA markers for three years now. Sometimes you just have to keep looking to find what you need. Best wishes and good luck!

What a journey, CurrerBell. I'm glad you pursued and won your goal. Congratulations on the success of it, and your three years of good news!

And I've finally posted October:
https://www.librarything.com/topic/334809

>105 CurrerBell: he started yelling, "But you're not that old!" Yes!!!! And Im not that far behind you. Best wishes to both of you.

October - December Quarterly thread is up: https://www.librarything.com/topic/335208

It looks like November is "Reader's Choice". Will there be a thread for it (or am I just not seeing it)? I'm wondering if it's any historical topic, or a choice of a previous topic? Thanks!

Here's Novembers thread: https://www.librarything.com/topic/336024

>110 LibraryCin: Thanks mentioning this, I'd forgotten about it.

>111 SilverWolf28: Terrific! Thank you so much!

The January 2022 theme page is posted: https://www.librarything.com/topic/337020