Marie the Boston Bibliophile says: 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?
Hmm, searching for some good lyrics for this question … I won’t post the entire song, here’s the first stanza from At Seventeen by Janis Ian:
I learned the truth at seventeen
That love was meant for beauty queens
And high school girls with clear skinned smiles
Who married young and then retired
The valentines I never knew
The Friday night charades of youth
Were spent on one more beautiful
At seventeen I learned the truth
I have three unique books in my library, catalogued by no others:
- Reading Disability: A Human Approach to the Evaluation and Treatment of Reading and Writing Difficulties
- TUTOR: Techniques Used in the Teaching of Reading
- A Guy Walks Goes a Bar …
The first two I have tagged “education”. Similar in nature, one was used when I tutored at the Harvard Reading Lab as part of a class, the second was the guidebook when I spent time with Literacy Volunteers of America in Syracuse.
The third book is tagged “humor”. I got it for my husband because he has a fondness for teaching our kids clean bar jokes. It’s quite endearing to hear a 3-year-old recite “a termite walks into a bar and asks, is the bartender here?” Unfortunately, many of the jokes in the book are not fit for kids, so we’ve stashed it up on a high shelf!
Books shared with exactly one user:
- fredy shares Ocean Potions~ Royal Caribbean Cocktail Recipe Book
- st1gma shares Concord Guidebook: Tourist Information for Concord Mass
We picked up Ocean Potions on a cruise; I’ve never referred to it, it may be weeded out to provide shelf space to another book! The Concord Guidebook is a fairly new acquisition (see my post about our library book sale); I have a love of local history, and that’s a “keeper!”
All of these were entered using the ISBN; I haven’t had the patience to hand-enter any books. If it’s too old for an ISBN it hasn’t yet been catalogued by me.
As for making friends on LT based on our catalogs, I haven’t “invited” anyone due to our shared libraries. I find I’m communicating more by posting on blogs or responding to posts on the forum. Does that make me an LT snob of sorts?
Bar jokes… hehehehe… I’ve got a couple:
A string hops into a bar, and ask the bartender for a drink. Bartender says, “Get outta here, I don’t serve strings!” So the string hops down and out the door. Outside, he jumps around and twist himself all up. He hops back in and onto the bar and says, “Bartender, get me a drink” Bartender says, “Hey, weren’t you the string I threw outta here a minute ago?” and he replies, “No, I’m KNOT.”
My second one is really short:
Two men walk into a bar, the third guy ducks. (Pah-dah-dat… ((-: )
No, I haven’t really done a lot of friending either. I tend to wait for other people to friend me first!
Lol I never heard the termite joke before. Cute
koolaidmom- thanks for the jokes. Must be a sign that I was tired … I had to read the second one a few times before I got it!
kegsoccer – It’s especially cute coming from a 3-year-old! and he understands it. He’s “ringmaster” (his word) in my nephew’s wedding this weekend and can’t wait to have a captive audience to share his jokes with (wearing his “costume”; that’s the tux!)
Marie – I’m glad I’m not the only one who’s reluctant to make the LT connections official “friendships”. Maybe I just don’t know what that entails (besides showing up on a list of Friends)
I communicate the same way on LT, I don’t think that makes us snobs! I’m just hesitant to friend people without response, I think, and find it easier to get to know them through their blogs or posts as well as through their books.
Meghan – maybe it’s also a privacy issue for me. Although I just posted a photo of myself with Samuel Shem at a book-reading, so I’m not going to remain anonymous!
Your bar book reminded me of when I first began cataloging my books. I came across one I didn’t remember seeing before. The title escapes me, but it was a book about what men know about women and it was completely blank inside.
Ocean Potions . . . I can see thumbing through that one just for kicks.
LiteraryFeline – OK, another joke, and it’s book-related:
NEVER ARGUE WITH A WOMAN
One morning, the husband returns the boat to their lakeside cottage after several hours of fishing and decides to take a nap. Although not familiar with the lake, the wife decides to take the boat out. She motors out a short distance, anchors, puts her feet up, and begins to read her book. The peace and solitude are magnificent.
Along comes a Fish and Game Warden in his boat. He pulls up alongside the woman and says, ‘Good morning, Ma’am. What are you doing?’ ‘Reading a book,’ she replies, (thinking, ‘Isn’t that obvious?’).
‘You’re in a Restricted Fishing Area,’ he informs her.
‘I’m sorry, officer, but I’m not fishing. I’m reading.’
‘Yes, but I see you have all the equipment. For all I know you could start at any moment. I’ll have to take you in and write you up.’
‘If you do that, I’ll have to charge you with sexual assault,’ says the woman. ‘But I haven’t even touched you,’ says the Game Warden.
‘That’s true, but you have all the equipment. For all I know you could start at any moment.’
‘Have a nice day ma’am,’ and he left.
MORAL: Never argue with a woman who reads. It’s likely she can also think.