Today's Question from Marie at The Boston Bibliophile:
Last week I asked what was the most popular book in your library- this week I'm going to ask about the most unpopular books you own. Do you have any unique books in your library- books only you have on LT? How many? Did you find cataloging information on your unique books, or did you hand-enter them? Do they fall into a particular category or categories, or are they a mix of different things? Have you ever looked at the "You and none other" feature on your statistics page, which shows books owned by only you and one other user? Ever made an LT friend by seeing what you share with only one other user?
While I may not pay much attention to the most popular books on Library Thing, I have been known to visit my stats page to check out just how many books I only share with one other person on the site. Some come as a surprise, but others are, well, kind of obvious.
Books I share with only one other LT user:
- Dead Birds Don't Sing by Brenda Boldin (my review) - I initially reviewed this book for Front Street Reviews. I thought the premise sounded interesting (and it was!).
- Jailbird: Book Two in the Alex Masters Series by Brenda Boldin - I liked the first book in the series so much, I added the second to my collection.
- Rabbit in the Moon by Deborah and Joel Shlian - I will be reading this one soon. It sounded too good to pass up.
- 英文版 火車 - All She Was Worth by Miyuki Miyabe - I won this copy in a contest hosted by my blogging friend, Tanabata. I'm looking forward to reading it.
- Watches of the Night (Ben Reese Mysteries) by Sally Wright - It's not the first in the series (a series I haven't yet started), but I was offered a chance to review this particular book, and it sounded like it would be worth giving a try. I hope to get to it soon.
- Jackfish, The Vanishing Village (Inanna Poetry & Fiction) by Sarah Felix Burns - Another one I want to get to soon. Wendy's review pushed me past temptation and into the must have status.
- Overleaf Hong Kong: Stories & Essays of the Chinese, Overseas by Xu Xi - I picked up a copy of this one so that I would meet my "X" obligation in an alphabet challenge, which I ended up not signing up for in the end. I have heard good things about the book and am still looking forward to reading it.
- I'm Sorry... Love Anne by Andrea Peters - I found this one on my first trip to the L.A. Times Book Festival. The author had a way about him that made it impossible to say no--plus the book sounded interesting.
- Don't You Know It's 40 Below? by Jack Kates - A local author was signing books in town, and I decided to show my support and buy a signed copy of his memoir.
- The Thinking Cat's Guide to the Millennium by Anne Richmond Boston - A gift to a pair of cat lovers.
- ドラゴンハーフ (2) (Dragon Half Trilogy, Volume Two) by Ryusuke Mita - Manga in the original Japanese, which no one in my house can actually read.
- ドラゴンハーフ (3) (Dragon Half Trilogy, Volume Three) by Ryusuke Mita - This one too is in the original Japanese.
- The Fault of Kaïber by Mathieu Gaborit - It came with a game my husband owns.
- For a Special Teenager published by Blue Mountain Arts - Still scratching my head, wondering why I still have this . . .
I own fifteen books that no other LT member has cataloged in his or her library, one of which I entered manually because I could not find it listed in any of the reference sources. Most of the books that fall into the "owned only by me" category are books that are printed by small presses or were self-published. One is a reference book and another is a children's cookbook.
- Baked Alaskan by William Scarborough
- Beneath a Buried House by Bob Avey
- California Juvenile Laws and Rules 2006: Desktop Edition
- Discord in Harmony by A.G. Copeland
- A Disturbing Presence by Joy Lee Rutter
- Dust Covered Dreams by E.A. Graham
- I, Tutus: Book One: The Son of Heaven by Don Phillips
- Lost to Them by Gaytri Saggar
- Media Justice by G.B. Pool
- Pariah Stigma by Howard Selden
- Say Goodbye by E.J. Rand
- Scenes from the Blanket by Ted Torres
- Tragedy in South Lebanon: The Israeli-Hezbollah War of 2006 by Cathy Sultan
- The Thoughtful Spot by Eric R. Weule
- Young Children's Mix and Fix Cook Book
I would not go so far as to classify most of these books as unpopular, meaning they are disliked or out of favor. Rather, they are unique and still relatively unknown. Some I have read and others I have yet to read. A small few I had mixed feelings about while others I quite liked.
What unique books do you have sitting on your shelf?
I have 3 books on Librarything that no one else has yet.
ReplyDelete1. The Organ Grinder and the Monkey by Sam Moffie
2. New York Echoes by Warren Adler
3. White Metal Murders by J Bruce Monson
I love the little kitty pawprint when I hover over the links! You have some interesting books!
ReplyDelete"I, Tutus"? Wow, what a title. I had to go look at your review of that one just to make sure you weren't making it up!
ReplyDeleteI have four books that no one else on LibraryThing lists. One is apparently quite obscure but an old favorite of mine- May Mellinger's novel set in San Francisco- Cloak of Laughter. Another is a book of poetry produced by a very small publishing house and written by a great-great-great aunt or something of mine.
ReplyDeleteRabbit in the Moon sounds really interesting :-)
ReplyDeleteWhat an interesting stack of books! I'm not familiar with any title, but I like the title of Dead Birds Don't Sing. It sounds so intriguing! ;)
ReplyDeleteJaimie - I'm looking forward to reading your review of The Organ Grinder and the Monkey. I remember your reviews of the other two. I think most of the books listed above that I alone own were books I reviewed for Front Street too. :-)
ReplyDeleteAlisha - I couldn't resist the paw print when I discovered it. :-)
Joy - It's interesting sometimes to see what titles people come up with, isn't it?
Jeane - Cloak of Laughter--that's a great title. :-)
Books by family are especially precious, aren't they?
Marie - I think so too! I can't wait to read it.
Melody - They definitely aren't very well known. Dead Birds Don't Sing was a fun mystery. I'm looking forward to reading more in the series.
I have to
ReplyDelete1. enter the rest of my books on LT
2. expand my horizons, I feel very "middle of the road", sharing 2 books with "one other" and having only 3 unique books.
what an interesting variety of books you have! I agree, they're not unpopular, simply unique!
Huh, never heard of any of these. I may have to check them out!
ReplyDeleteWell those are certainly not well known books! Some of my favorite books no one has ever even heard of!
ReplyDeleteWhat a great question...I think I'll go visit Library Thing and see...
ReplyDeleteDawn - You will probably find more unique books once you get the rest of your books cataloged. :-)
ReplyDeleteKathleen - A few of them are worth checking out, I think. Others, not so much. Haha
Jen - I was surprised that no one else had some, but then not so surprised with others.
Bybee - Please do! It's quite interesting to consider!
Well, I have a full shelf of books on schizophrenia that I used for researching "Mad House" (and two that excerpt "Mad House"!), but I think you mean fiction or books for entertainment, right?
ReplyDeleteI think I'm still the only person I know who reads Hilary Mantel regularly, so I guess I'd have to list "A Place of Greater Safety" and "Beyond Black." But other people SHOULD be reading these!!
You have a wonderful list of diverse books. I read Overleaf Hong Kong when I was visiting my family in Hong Kong last Christmas. I left it for my gweilo (British) friend to read so I don't have it on my LibraryThing! :) As a "wah kiu" (although the term usually implies older people), I can identify many of the issues Chinese living overseas encounter.
ReplyDeleteNonfiction books count too, I think. I have a few lying around related to my profession and while they might not be well known in the general circle, they do seem to get around. :-)
ReplyDeleteI'm not familiar with Hilary Mantel--I'll have to look her up!
Matt - I am glad to learn that you've read Overleaf! I haven't run into too many people who have heard of it, but it does sound like it will be worthwhile reading.
Hi Bookish Kitty,
ReplyDeleteI am the author of Jackfish, The Vanishing Village. If you would like to get your hands on a free review copy just email my publisher and they will be more than happy to send you one:
inanna@yorku.ca
or, luciana@yorku.ca
Cheers,
-Sarah Felix Burns
I have never used the "you and none other" feature at LibraryThing but I am going to head over there right now and check it out. I wonder what I'll find...
ReplyDeleteSarah - Thank you! I am looking forward to reading your book.
ReplyDeleteJennyellen - It's an interesting little stat! I hope you do check it out.
oh wow!!! glad you were able to get a REAL manga in the original japanese... (I can read most of these by the way... albeit slowly...)
ReplyDeleteI have a fair amount of books I share with only one other person but only one that is unique to me - The Minnesota Homegrown Cookbook!
ReplyDeleteMarie - My husband was able to find them at the L.A. Times Festival of Books one year. He was so pleased with the find. :-)
ReplyDeleteTara - It's always interesting to find out which book is unique to you, isn't it?