I am making a decent dent in the books and articles I need to read for Belize. Spending eight hours in airports and on planes does wonders for catching on reading. The book that I nearly finished on the flight to Ohio Rising Up: Life Stories of Belizean Women focuses on a series of stories from women who either work in the house, community, or are professionals.  It is a striking book that makes you analyze your own life and the lives of others. It’s an enlightening read in many ways. I was especially interested to learn about Belizean healing and…..child-birth (who knew?!). Without labeling a specific group, I did find the stories about most of the house-working women especially harrowing. All of the their stories were about them living in poverty, having ten or more children, and barely any food. They were stories of women getting beat by their husbands, then their husbands cheating on them, leaving them or impregnating their daughters. I started to cry on the plane when one story finally focused a nice husband and then he DIED from cancer. He was the one husband who hugged the woman after she gave birth to a still-born baby and thought about buying Christmas gifts for his children. Sniff, sniff. I had to stop reading before I got too depressed and made weeping noises on the plane. It was a book that I had to put down.

Which got me thinking about the pleasure reading I have been able to indulge in this year and the many discoveries of Books-I-Can’t-Put-Down. I have rediscovered my library card and have been reading whatever strikes my fancy – like science fiction or fantasy or young adult books. It has been a joy to read purely to escape into magical, fantastical literary worlds. A few made me want to live in them by the way. And, I could judge books solely on how late I stayed up to read them. Good books made me not want to go to bed before 2 a.m. I finished the Harry Potter series. I have been shouting praises for literary goddess Suzanne Collins and her books The Hunger Games & Catching Fire. However, I also read a gem of a book a few months ago, Graceling by Kristin Cashore, and haven’t been able to properly sing its praise .

First, let me explain how I discovered Graceling. [I appreciate learning how people discover a good book to read because, well, that is half of the battle. A lot of times, one has to sort though a lot of what my sister calls "lemons" (duds), before finding a Book-I-Can't-Put-Down. It's a process.] I had finished The Hunger Games and in the woe-be-gone process of finding the next Book-I-Can’t-Put-Down. People on Library Thing recommended Graceling as the number one choice for those who enjoyed The Hunger Games. It also had a waiting list to read at my local library, which is always a good sign. When I finally got my turn to read Graceling, I soon discovered it was not a lemon but a Book-I-Can’t-Put-Down, and finished it in less than two days.

The book is set in the land of seven kingdoms and centers around Katsa. She is the niece of the King of the Middluns, has lost both of her parents, and is one of the few to call themselves a Graceling - a rare individual who has two different colored eyes and is ‘graced’ with an extreme talent in a specific area. While there are many different graces (cooking, juggling, singing, etc), most all of them live an isolated life and are exploited for their gifts. To make her situation even more dire, Katsa is a graced killer. She is indestructible in battle. She has very few friends and no one looks her in the eye because of her grace. At a very young age, she becomes her uncle’s personal assassin and brute messenger. While Katsa is on a rescue mission for the top-secret council in the land that is helping to bring justice to the kingdoms, she meets Po. With unusual gold and silver eyes, Po is graced with combat skills and is Lienid prince. He also is the only one who can actually fight with Katsa and look her in the eyes. A first for her. Without divulging too many details, Katsa struggles as she tries to stand up to her evil uncle, manage her deadly grace, and figure out a puzzling mystery happening in the seven kingdoms.

It’s a serious page-turner and I’m not the only one singing its praise. Kristin, the author, is a clear, evocative writer with a true knack for character development. I mean, is it possible to get literary crushes on characters? Read it and you will know who I mean. Currently, she just finished her second book, Fire (also a page-turner), and is working on a sequel to Graceling that will take place in the future and focus on another character you meet later in the book. I can’t wait to read it. Hurry up Kristin! You can see what Kristin is up to at her witty and adorable blog. I dig that she incorporates book recommendations, great videos, baby pictures, Buffy polls, and Beethoven on her site. She also writes candidly about her writing process and her words are what inspired me to start playing with my blog again. [Despite the fact that my mom and sister just told me last night that they rarely read my blog....wha-what?....thanks a lot you two.] She essentially says that writing is hard, write as much as you can, and get good at ignoring the voices that say your writing sucks. My favorite line comes at the very end when she says,

“Writing is a strange activity, but humans are weird, right? A writer is an extremely human thing to be.”

Can I be her friend?

Would love any good book recommendations for me to read after Belize. Moi – thanks for the earlier comment.…Ender’s Game is definitely next on my to-read list.

My Library at LibraryThing

When I interned with the Art Librarian at the University of Minnesota (check out my first post on creating a blog), one of my regular tasks was collection management. Every week I got to go down to technical services to approve the books that arrived through approval plans, and I got to weed through slips and order books from catalogs too. It was always interesting to see the new load. So many beautiful, inspiring art books–and I got first dibs on checking them out. However, I was always a bit unsettled after reviewing or ordering books, knowing that in a couple weeks, after a short stint on the new book shelf, hidden among the other humanities and social science texts, these book treasures would disappear into the ether–aka, the stacks.

Since the art history, fine arts, and performing arts collections at the UofM were all lumped in the main library, it was especially difficult to draw attention to new acquisitions, either physically or online, which was one reason I was asked to start a blog. The architecture and landscape architecture books, however, were luckier, as they had their own library home, and a large new books table on which to be displayed.

In the case of Indiana University-Bloomington’s Fine Art Library, it is a physically separate library so they can prominently display new books, and they do have their own website where they can also advertise recent arrivals, so that is just what they have done. And they have done it using a web 2.0 tool, Library Thing.

On the library’s homepage there is a link to New Books tag cloud. When you click on it, you are directed to the tag cloud with an introduction notifying you that here you can view up to 200 of the most recent books received by the library in the last few weeks. Currently, Architecture, Exhibitions, Painting, and Photography appear to be the most populated categories. When you click on a category, you are directed to the IU Fine Arts Library’s Library Thing page, where you see a list of all of the titles with that particular tag, as well as the call number for that item. While I had known about it, I had never used Library Thing prior to my discovery of it on the IU Fine Arts Library page. It really is quite intuitive. Entries even link to WorldCat and various citation formats, which is really convenient. If I become a member of Library Thing, I can even add these books to my personal library or wishlist.

I’d say the IU Fine Arts Library’s experiment with Library Thing is a success. While it may be interesting for students to browse, I think it would be especially helpful to art history and architecture professors who study a particular subject, such as Islamic art. They can stay up to date on library acquisitions by just clicking on that category in the tag cloud. It’s also a great way for faculty and students to see what categories are lacking, and they can then request books to suit their needs.

In addition to Library Thing, the IU Fine Arts Library uses reference chat and an Add This widget that allows users to bookmark or share the Library’s website via a number of web 2.0 tools.

Read more: http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1933520_1933522,00.html#ixzz0W0M1jQyP

Slingbox Pro-HD – The Best Travel Gadgets of 2009 – TIME.

We finish our interview with Tim Spalding of LibraryThing, talking about social networking and sharing, and different way of seeing the world.

Tim on Facebook and social networking book applications: “To some extent they’re competitiors, to some extent they’re gateway drugs to LibraryThing”.

This 25 Things has been a great experience; it was fun and useful. It allowed me to explore new things like WordPress, Technorati Delicious, Library Thing and many more. My favorite web 2.0 application in this excercise was Delicious. I have been using it everyday everseice I discovered it through 25 Things.

I opened an account on LibraryThing.  I have actually been very interested in the concept of LibraryThing for some time.  Some public library OPAC’s are integrating it with their online catalog.  That is the best of both worlds – collaborative tagging and precise cataloging metadata all available at the same time.

I added a mix of my favorite books to my LibraryThing book list.  When one looks up a book, one can see comments and ratings left by other users.   I rated my books but I didn’t leave any comments…. yet.

The byline of this site is that you can “catalog” your books online.  You can make lists and add tags, but as a rising librarian, calling that “cataloging” is ridiculous.

Was ich vergessen habe, aber noch nachschieben möchte. Bibliotheken könnten natürlich durch LibraryThing thematische Neuerwerbungslisten relativ leicht und schnell zusammenstellen und von der eigenen Homepage zu den Listen bei LibraryThing verlinken.

Wenn ich aber an die Bibliothek denke, in der ich arbeite, so kann ich mir vorstellen, dass Vorbehalte kommen werden, dass damit der Gesamtinternetauftritt durchbrochen und ohnehin von der Pressestelle genehmigt werden müsste. Wenn eine Bibliothek nicht gerade völlig unabhängig arbeiten kann, dann sind die Gestaltungsspielräume doch arg begrenzt.

Nun also zu Library Thing. Zuvor kannte ich dieses Angebot einer Social Community für Leser nicht.

Es ist natürlich so gesehen ein Angebot, was zeigt, was alles in einem Bibliothekskatalog möglich wäre. So wäre es eine Anregung  für Entwickler und Bibliothekare, wohin sich der Online-Bibliothekskatalog der Zukunft hinbewegen könnte.

Bei aller Begeisterung für die Möglichkeiten des Internet und ich bin ja unter der Woche … und nun auch noch am Wochenende bibliothekarisch im Internet unterwegs … wenn ich an meinen Berufsalltag denke, so erfahre ich immer wieder, dass Bibliotheksbenutzer schon jetzt oftmals mit den Recherchemöglichkeiten der existierenden Online-Bibliothekskataloge überfordert sind. Sie finden jedenfalls nicht das, was sie suchen, auch wenn sie meinen: Ach, das kann ich schon. Viele nutzen ja nicht einmal die erweiterte Suche von Google.

Von daher ist mir nicht ganz klar, wie die Zielgruppe von Library Thing eigentlich aussieht.

Ein Buch mit einem Eintrag unter “Wissenswertes” habe ich bei “Library Thing” nicht finden können. Mein subjektiver Eindruck ist, dass viele “nur” die bibliographischen Daten unter “ihrer” Bibliothek dort eintragen und das war es schon. Und wenn es eine Diskussion zu einem Buch gab, dann ging es dabei nicht um das Buch, sondern darum, welch anderes Buch ganz toll ist.

Irritierend finde ich auch den Mischmasch zwischen englischen und deutschsprachigen Literaturangaben innerhalb eines Titels schon einmal vermischt werden in der Anzeige.

Mein Fazit also: Na ja. Persönlich wäre ich nicht auf die Idee gekommen, bei Library Thing teilzunehmen. Beruflich ist es aber durchaus eine Ideenschmiede, um zu schauen, was von Library Thing im Bibliothekswesen sinnvoll sein könnte.

Ach ja: Ihr findet hier meine Bibliothek bei Library Thing.

Ayer por la mañana me enteré, vía Twitter, como no, de un experimento para posicionar el hashtag (etiqueta en Twitter) #biblioteca. Se trataba de, a partir de las 12 horas de ayer, hora peninsular, tuitear recomendaciones de libros y bibliotecas utilizando el hashtag #biblioteca en cada tuit. La idea partió de Natalia en su blog, que se preguntaba cuantos tuits hacían falta para convertir un término en trending topic, es decir en una palabra de las más usadas en Twitter. Los resultados del experimento también los explica Natalia, un día después, y  se pueden ver en la página What the Hashtag.

Pasé un rato muy agradable tuiteando y recomendando los libros que he leído, y viendo las recomendaciones de los demás. También tuiteé sobre el “Rincón para leer“, una de las secciones de mi blog, donde se pueden leer algunas obras de forma virtual. Por cierto, gracias a un post escrito ayer en el blog Barcepundit, mi biblioteca virtual ha aumentado considerablemente el número de visitas.

Lejos de finalizar, y aunque con menos intensidad, hoy sigue utilizándose en Twitter el hashtag #biblioteca, y en el buscador de Twitter se pueden ver todos los tuits.

Y hablando de bibliotecas, ayer también conocí, gracias a un tuit de Dolors Reig, la existencia de Library Thing, una red social configurada en torno a los libros que nos apasionan y que poseemos, y que queremos compartir. Aunque de momento mi biblioteca sólo tiene 3 libros (todavía estoy trasteando con la web), estoy disfrutando mucho añadiendo mi colección. Las portadas de los libros son las mismas que en el libro físico que tengo en mi casa, y si no encuentro la imagen en Internet, la escaneo. Es divertido y apasionante colgar mis libros, algunos de ellos algo envejecidos, al albur de las posibilidades de las nuevas tecnologías.

Und jetzt also auch noch die eigene Favoriten-Bibliothek anlegen. Das was jedem Bibliothekar/jeder Bibliothekarin nachgesagt wird und wo ich mich bisher immer standhaft geweigert habe. Aber was tut man nicht alles für die berufliche Fortbildung

Library Thing- This tool is all about books! I like the fact that students can sort and categorize themselves based upon the types of books they read! The fact that there is a visual representation of the book is motivating also. The tool connects to blogs by authors which makes the reading experience more personal. You have more than a face to put with the author. The simple posting of your own book collection is advertising for the authors! I have noticed more people conversing about books than in the past. This can only be a good thing!

I could not create a widget for Library thing on wordpress.  So I copied and pasted it onto my blog. I really like the idea that you can access this remotely to keep track of what you have read!

Week 8, thing 19  LibraryThing

Wow!  Did she save the best for last?  I love LibraryThing.

I joined a group on there called Librarians who LibraryThing and found tons of discussions revolving around book recommendations, reviews of non-fiction, etc.  One post said, “What do you recommend for fans of Twilight?”   And another, “Beyond HS musical”.   It took me probably 15 minutes to join, edit my profile in detail, add 5 books, and find something interesting.  There were discussions on some of my books and I immediately was led to a Doris Lessing book that I want to read.

Zet de titels van al je boeken die je thuis in de kast heb staan op librarything. Waarom? Een van de voornaamste redenen zou kunnen zijn omdat je dan suggesties kan krijgen voor andere boeken, gebaseerd op de titels die je al hebt. Je kan gelijk (door gebruikers geschreven) recenties lezen over de titel.

Ik heb maar even snel 10 boeken ingevoerd en op “aanbevelingen” geklikt: het was vooral een lijstje van nog meer boeken van dezelfde schrijvers, ook als deze schrijver heel ander soort boeken had geschreven. Maar er zaten ook interessante titels bij en ik denk dat als je meer titels van jezelf invoert het misschien nog wel nauwkeuriger wordt.

Er zit ook een optie bij “verbindingen” waarbij je kan zoeken op andere gebruikers van librarything die (zo veel mogelijk) dezelfde boeken hebben. Nog een manier om op ideeen te komen.

Zou het niet handig zijn als je je leenhistorie van de bibliotheek met 1 copy-and-paste handeling in librarything in zou kunnen voeren? Ik heb geprobeerd, maar hij heeft de ISBN nummers nodig - die “oogst” hij dan uit de pagina - maar die staan niet bij je leenhistorie. Het enige alternatief dat ik zag is alle titels handmatig in voeren (of misschien een statistieken-uitdraai te maken en daarbij de ISBN nummers laten vermelden – maar dat kan een klant nooit zelf doen).

Ook nog even bij Dizzie gekeken, ziet er uit als een leuke site. Ik miste 1 ding en dat is genre indeling. Ik heb een wat afwijkende smaak qua boeken dus heb ik zelf niks aan bijvoorbeel een top 100. Wel kan je natuurlijk gewoon op titel zoeken.

Milo’s dad pointed me in the direction (via Russell Davies’ blog), to this really rather good book recommendation site called The Book Seer. Basically, you type in the last book that you’ve read and who it was by, click search and it brings back recommendations from Amazon’s “Other’s who bought this, also bought” service and Library Thing.

As with anything like this and to a certain extent that includes people, it is a bit hit and miss. Reading is such a subjective thing that it is hard to predict exactly what we will enjoy next. I guess it’s only as good or as bad as people’s book buying behaviour as that’s what it’s serving you – what other people have read or recommended in relation to other titles. However, despite this I found The Book Seer to make some fairly good suggestions.

I typed in Mr Gum by Andy Stanton and Amazon brought back Michael Broad’s Jake Cake series which is an enjoyable series for a similar (although I would say slightly younger age-group), and Spy Dog by Andrew Cope – definitely a good fun suggestion.

Is it as good as standing in a bookshop holding a book in your hands and reading the carefully written blurb on the back? No, but as an alternative for when you can’t get out, it is a pretty good one. And fun too.

Okay, I confess, I have never heard of flash-mob cataloging.  I guess Library Thing-ers descend on a library and catalog their uncataloged books.  In fact there is even an LT group dedicated to Flash-Mob Cataloging.  Of course I thought flash mobs were spontaneous gatherings, but I’m learning that some of them are well planned and organized in advance.  So far LT-ers (according to the LT Blog) have tackled Rhode Island Audubon Society, St. John’s Church in Beverly MA, North Carolina State University’s Joel Lane Museum House in Raleigh, The Puerto Rican Cultural Center in Chicago and have plans to mob the Clemson Montessori School in South Carolina this weekend.  This seems like a great way to help small libraries develop an inexpensive online catalog.  For more about Library Thing check out their website and take the tour:  http://www.librarything.com/

Had a few goals today. The first was to get to 45,000 words in Space Mine, which I did. That brings the writing for the weekend to nearly 5800 words. Or 23K+ for the week, 52K so far this month. More importantly I finished the 9th chapter this week in Space Mine, fleshed out chapters 2 and 3 that needed them, decided there is another chapter after chapter 7.

For this week I intend to finish the fleshing out of the short chapters, 4, 5 and 8 which need about 4200 words between them, and doing chapter 7a for the 5000 or so words it needs. That would take us to the place that the story should be, and if I do that by the end of this coming week it will be good.

In other goals for the day, I had two. One was to digitize another tray of slides for my parents. Apparently they were in Switzerland, France and England in 1964 when I was almost 2. I didn’t get to go. So I got those from slides into digital pictures. Then I wanted to make some headway on the pile of Forbes magazines. Getting through one so far. And also finally getting the last of the information on my library that I have in Bookpedia into Library Thing.

Finished in time to watch a Time Commanders, where the contestants did horribly. But it is still fun to watch and I am glad YouTube has all these. Then after Cheryl returned from Pet Sitting, we made it over to a friends graduation party. She had just picked up her MBA, (her second masters degree) and so there was a party to celebrate.

Gratitude Log

1. Higher Education
2. Pets
3. Carrot Cake
4. Chocolate Cake
5. Chocolate Cream Pie

Word of mouth – always an important influence on booksellers and other early reviewers when it comes to deciding what to read next – is gaining ground on the web via blogs and Twitter. That’s what we learned at last week’s richly anecdotal and completely unscientific #followreader discussion on, yes, Twitter. The hour-long conversation about how professional readers decide what to read drew scores of responses from the U.S., and even the U.K. and beyond.  See below for highlights, including valuable tips for publicists on how to pitch bloggers and booksellers, and the question of using e-galleys.

Please join this week’s publishing discussion on Thursday May 21 from 4-5pm ET. We’ll be on Twitter at #followreader, a day ahead of our usual Friday timeslot because of the Memorial Day holiday in the U.S. This week’s topic is the connections between librarians/publishers/authors/readers. To follow to our discussion in real time, go to Twitter Search and type in #followreader. To join in the discussion, follow @charabbott and @katmeyer on Twitter, and include #followreader into your responses.

Blog and Tweet Power Rising

Book blogs are clearly exerting influence on booksellers and book bloggers trying to decide what to read, based on the large number of comments we received, though each group seems to trust recommendations from other readers of their own ilk above all (e.g. bloggers trust bloggers; booksellers trust booksellers).

Tweets are also an important new source of recommendations for books, say publishers, booksellers and bloggers (big surprise, since this discussion took place on that very social network). Tweets and retweets only amplify the effect. “I have been really enjoying bookseller recs from their blogs, something I only discover via Twitter,” said one publisher (@AZPress).

Some idiosyncratic rules also guide some readers: one bookseller reported, “I throw in backlist every 4 or 5 ARCs, usually make sure it’s widely in print; out of print books are for vacations! (@jtpm). A blogger said, “If I find a new-to-me author, I usually start reading all backlist. But have a two-books rule: two bad ones and I move on.” (@susanmpls).

Other major influencers are pretty much what you’d expect, depending on the reader’s awareness of an author, interest in plot or subject, the visual appeal of the cover (“I totally read books based ONLY on the cover” @mawbooks), industry buzz, author blurbs, and the book’s release date. For booksellers, the physical quality of the galley is also a factor: “POD is still not up to par, for a lot of book people at least. Bad quality of book = turnoff.”(@leighmcdonald)

E-galleys elicited mixed responses, with some reporting openness to the format but hesitation about the cost of e-readers and the platform issues involved.

What Influences Bloggers

Buzz among bloggers is a key factor in choosing what to read, say bloggers, along with their personal familiarity with the author or interest in the subject. For example, several mentioned that one blogger got about 12 other blogs in the romance community to read a small press title by Judith James.

Author blurbs also influence this group: bloggers are less likely than booksellers to discount blurbs as motivated by politics and logrolling than booksellers are.

New releases, new authors and more genres appeal to bloggers more now than before they blogged, many agree with gusto.

Library and store displays and outreach, and award lists also influence some bloggers.

•  “My library is really on top of things with weekly newsletter, contests and digital sources.” @BethFishReads
• “My library displays a lot of local writers’ books. I’d never hear of them otherwise.” @chrisbookarama
• “Updates is not something my library does. I think the U.S. is ahead on this.” @insidebooks
• “I’m tempted by 3’s for 2’s in bookstores.” @helenawaldron

Traditional book reviews are an influence to some degree: some read prepub reviews in the print editions of PW, Booklist, Audiofile or Bookmarks, or major publications like the New York Times (“the NYTBR is more influential for nonfiction”), while others read reviews online and on reader networks like Library Thing. Some don’t read reviews at all.

Social networks for readers also attract some bloggers looking for recommendations, but reactions are mixed.

• “Most of my recs came from Library Thing before I started reviewing & I still look to it as a good source of quality recs” @BookishRuth
• “I’ve looked at the reviews on Good Reads of books I’m considering. @janicu
• “I like concept of LibraryThing et al. but it’s hard to spend time in so many different social networks” @katmeyer
• “Library Thing’s interface annoys me” @janicu
• “Disappointed in Good Reads for finding books I wouldn’t find otherwise.” @AZpress
• I hardly look at Shelfari and Library Thing anymore” @chrisbookarama
• “I find my friends’ bookshelves on Completely Novel a good influence” @helenawaldron

A personalized pitch from the publisher increases the chances a blogger would look at a galley, though some dismiss publisher cover letters altogether.

• “I appreciate if author or publicist sends me gentle reminder about a month before release date.” @jane_l
• “Not asking for help, just my consideration. Well crafted and personalized is best.” @mawbooks
• “Best ones mention things found on my ‘about’ page, compliment my family and blog” @mawbooks
• “Best ones reference who referred them to my blog, why they are glad they followed through.” @mawbooks

Few mentioned the book’s publisher as an influencing factor. One who did followed the New York Review of Books.

What Influences Booksellers

The look and feel of an ARC matters more to booksellers, particularly the cover.

Buzz or word of mouth is equally important, particularly from other booksellers, but also from customers and publishers. And while booksellers cast a suspicious eye on politicking and payback in author blurbs, they acknowledge that blurbs still have power.

• “My wife’s rec carries big weight. After that, other booksellers or book bloggers can get me excited.” @vromans
• “Author blurbs influence whether I feature a title on front table or leave in section.” @RickRennicks
• “A blurb from a beloved writer will make me at least look at the book @bookdwarf
• “In my market, a blurb from Neil Gaiman would sell copies of the phone book” @RickRennicks
• “Re: big blurbers, a co-worker and I get a big chuckle out of every books with an Eggers or Shteyngart blurb @ErinHere
• “When it’s a personal rec from a rep, always read it and often book ends up  as a staff pick. Love our reps!” @michelleinkwell

Mixed Responses to Digital Galleys

Booksellers and bloggers who read digital galleys wish more were available. Some who don’t reported they would if they had an e-reader, but the price is too high. Some just love paper.

• “I would love a system where I could pick and choose, download what I’m most likely to read.” @booksquare
• “If I had an e-reader, I would read digital galleys but I’d still like a copy of book once published.” @mawbooks
• “Without an e-reader, I know I would never read it on my computer.” @bostonbookgirl
• “E-readers are good for space, time management.” @helenawaldron
• “Maybe with one or two more generations of e-readers. So far, too hard to do my page flip scans” @history_geek
• “I’m not yet reader to buy an e-reader. Until format is standard and universal.” @BethFishReads
• “When I do an ebook it’s usually a last resort for a book that didn’t arrive in time for my stop on a blog tour.” @Wayne Hurlbert

Thanks again to all who participated!

Shimmer by Eric Barnes

My review

I’m so lucky to be a member of the Library Thing Early Reviewer’s Club. Occasionally I will receive free books in the mail, which is the best gift ever, and then I have the opportunity to review them. They actually want to know what I think!

So, I think this is a book worth reading. It’s a book about morals, set in an ultra-modern world. If that makes it sound preachy or moralistic, let me clear that up. It’s NOT. It’s about a young man, responsible for his employees, and he finds himself in a difficult situation. We are privy to all of the quickly played out actions, reactions and counter-plays, and we learn about his motivation as the book progresses.

I’m an action/adventure, sci-fi fan and this book kept my attention all the way through. Even in my totally sleep deprived state (keep in mind that I have two little boys, still not sleeping through the night.  That may have had an influence on my opinion!  ). So I would definitely recommend this book to those with an interest in similar genre’s.

I have wanted to check out this application for a long time, just never had a chance. But now I am excited, I have a little notebook at home that lists all the books I have ever read since 1999 and I can’t wait to add them to Library Thing. I have quite a few favourite authors too, but off the top of my head can’t remember them all. So my project tonight, other than a tennis lesson is to dig out my “Book of Books” and start adding them into Library Thing. I love getting recommendations from others on what to read, so I look forward to reading people’s views on Library Thing!!!!!