Archive for September, 2010

Friday, September 24th, 2010

All US Libraries in LibraryThing Local, we think

Thanks to some serious work on the part of volunteers, all libraries (and branches) in the United States have a page in LibraryThing Local. Volunteer members took information for each library from publiclibraries.com, and created or added it to Local. The last bazillion entries were done by lemontwist, to whom we are very grateful.

Since we also added the ability to upload more than one venue photo, I suggest we start an official LibraryThing sport, the goal being to take a photo of yourself in front of as many public libraries as you can visit, and add them to each library’s page. Here, I’ll start.

You can read the thread about adding all the libraries here.

This also means that you should be able to find any US library when you’re out and about with your iPhone, with the Local Books app.

Do we really have them all?
The volunteers were as thorough as possible, but if you find a library or branch that isn’t listed, go ahead and add it (here’s the help page). If you live outside the US and find a list of your country’s libraries, let us know, and we can work on adding all your libraries into Local as well.


Cambridge Public Library photo by Nicole Hennig, Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic. Seattle Public Library photo by the Seattle Municipal Archives, Copyright: Item No. 147779 Use with attribution allowed. Permission info here.

Labels: librarything local

Wednesday, September 22nd, 2010

September State of the Thing

State of the Thing logoIn your inbox, you should be getting this month’s State of the Thing, LibraryThing’s monthly newsletter of features, author interviews and various forms of bookish delight.

This month we have 2,708 free books, a meetup, our fifth birthday, an exclusive interview with Jane Smiley, a podcast with Mary Roach and a list of the popular books this month.

Check your inbox or read it online.

I got to chat with Mary Roach, about her new book Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void. We discuss her tenacity in getting interesting details out of astronaut interviews, her zero-gravity experience, a couple of marriage proposals from LibraryThing members, cross-stitched fly swatters and more. You can hear the podcast here.

We also have an interview with Jane Smiley, about her latest novel, Private Life, a study on choosing a mate who turns out to be an ill fit. Jane talks about her characters and their foibles (a polite term–extreme eccentricity would also work), navigating marriage, and about her writing process. She muses on the Nobel prize for literature and the books that were a special writing experience. As a bonus, she told me what she’s knitting!

Read previous State of the Thing newsletters:
http://www.librarything.com/wiki/index.php/State_of_the_Thing

If you don’t get State of the Thing, you can add it in your email preferences. You also have to have an email address listed.

Labels: state of the thing

Tuesday, September 21st, 2010

LibraryThing meetup at the National Book Festival

Book Festival posterIt’s actually the 5th Annual BookCrossing/LibraryThing Meet-Up at The National Book Festival, 2010, in Washington, DC but that makes for a long blog post title. If you’re interested in socializing with other LibraryThing and Bookcrossing members while you’re at the National Book Festival, this is your chance. The festival is free, and there will be many many authors to see.

Read more about the meet-up here in the Talk group.

Date: Saturday, September 25, 2010
Time: 2-3 pm (the festival runs from 10 AM – 5 PM)
Place: Bottom right side of the steps leading to the Museum of Natural History (the domed building).
What: We gather informally for an hour to chat and get to know one another. Bookcrossing will be giving away free books. Help yourself to any books that you wish to take home. Just look for the yellow Bookcrossing wagon.
Who: Any member of LibraryThing OR Bookcrossing and their family and friends are invited. Wear something that identifies you as a LibraryThinger or Bookcrosser.

Thanks to Squeakychu for organizing!

Labels: 1

Monday, September 6th, 2010

September Early Reviewer batch now open for request

The September 2010 batch of Early Reviewer books is up, and it’s a doozy, from Edward Gorey to Dean Koontz! There are 96 books this month, and a grand total of 2538 copies to give out.

First, make sure to sign up for Early Reviewers. If you’ve already signed up, please check your mailing address and make sure it’s correct.

Then request away! The list of available books is here:
http://www.librarything.com/er/list

The deadline to request a copy is Friday, September 24th at 6PM EST.

Eligiblity: Publishers do things country-by-country. Make sure to check the flags by each book to see if it can be sent to your country.

Thanks to all the publishers participating this month!

Henry Holt and Company Kregel Publications Bromera
WaterBrook Press Signet Ballantine Books
Canongate Books Micron Press Gefen Publishing House
Chronicle Books New York Review Books Dutton
Penguin Young Readers Group Random House Canada Hyperion and Voice
Bloomsbury Penguin Bantam Dell
Kanspira Tundra Books Nolo
BookViewCafe McBooks Press William Morrow
Matador St. Martin’s Griffin Orca Book Publishers
Pomegranate Harper Paperbacks Avon Books
Putnam Books Nimbus Publishing Riverhead Books
Nonstop Press Palgrave Macmillan Hachette Book Group
Faith Words MG Prep Publishing Unbridled Books
Kennedy Press Mountain West Publishing Martin & Lawrence
Chiron Books XYZ Press

Labels: early reviewers

Thursday, September 2nd, 2010

Hunger Games box set winner!

Chosen randomly from over 200 comments on the blog post, the winner of the Hunger Games box set is blueAframe! Thanks to everyone who posted a comment.

Although some of the comments were not visible on the blog post, I assure you I had access to all of them on the admin side, and randomly chose from the entire set of contestants who submitted their comment before the deadline. I keep everyone’s interest in mind, as opposed to President Snow.

Labels: event