The Tuesday Thing on Wednesday

I have extolled the virtues of LibraryThing here in the past. The site has proven useful not only as an online catalog for my books, but it also introduced me to yet another community of book lovers, many of whom share my peculiarities and passion for the written word. I admit that my online world seems to evolve mostly around books and reading related topics, be it when I am visiting one of the yahoo groups I belong to, stopping by my favorite blogs, or spending time wandering around the LibraryThing site. I do not have to worry about where to go to get my next bookish fix.

Last week's Tuesday Thing's question dealt with discussion groups. Marie of The Boston Bibliophile wanted to know:

Do you belong to any? Approximately how many? Are there any in particular that you participate in more avidly? How often do you check?

The answer to the first question is a resounding yes. At least online. I have not yet been a part of a face to face reading group. For many years my work schedule made any sort of participation in face to face meetings impossible. A few years ago, I discovered that Yahoo had a long list of online groups, some of which focused solely on reading and books. I also found a couple of MSN groups. I could not believe my luck! Since that time, I have been a part of many different groups, floating in and out depending on the direction my reading has taken, sometimes being a part of themed or genre based groups while others were more broad in scope. I go through periods of high participation to times when I lurk in the background, poking my head out once in awhile to say hello. Much depends on the books being discussed, the direction of conversation and what is going on in my own life at any given moment. Not only did online groups like these provide me with the opportunity to talk about books, I also made a few new friends. It opened doors for me that I never imagined.

I never would have discovered the book and lit blog community had it not been for those Yahoo groups. Who would have thought I would find a place in such a community for myself? I have mentioned before that it was a big step for me, putting myself out here like I did. Yet here I am.

It was through the blogosphere that I first learned of LibraryThing and added it to my growing list of book related communities. I had not intended for LibraryThing to be anything more than a place for me to catalog and organize my books. I was not particularly interested in the social aspects, although that was a nice perk. The advent of the Early Reviewer Program changed that, however. I took a closer look at the discussion groups on the site and have enjoyed taking part in a few of the discussions there.

All of these avenues have provided me with invaluable opportunities. I have met people from around the world that I never would have met otherwise. I have discovered books and authors I most likely would not have come across, and I have grown not only as a reader but as a person.

There have been a handful of discussion groups unrelated to reading that I was a part of at one time: a couple of music groups, a support group for Weight Watchers and a handful of pen pal groups. I do not belong to any of these groups anymore, but they served a purpose in my life during the time I was a part of them much like the book and reading discussion groups I belong to today.

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This week's Tuesday Thing's question is:

How many books do you have cataloged in your LibraryThing account? How do you decide what to include-everything you have, everything you've read-and are there things you leave off?

As of right now, I have 2,155 books cataloged in my LibraryThing account. My objective in creating the account was to catalog all of the books that my husband and I own. Part of it was curiosity in seeing just how many books we did own and another was a desire to have a listing of all those books. There are a few books that have not found their way onto my catalog unfortunately. The books are hidden in the corner of a closet, and I just haven't gotten around to adding them in. There are also a few reference books that I probably have not logged in for one reason or another. My husband was not too enthused about my adding in all of his graphic novels--although I did offer!