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Member: alaskabookworm

CollectionsYour library (7,596), Read (678), To read (5,370), Currently reading (2), All collections (7,596)

Reviews101 reviews

TagsFiction (1,503), Read (669), Nonfiction (477), Youth (208), History (151), 1001 (123), Classics (91), Christianity (82), Historical (80), Memoir (71) — see all tags

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Groups1001 Books to read before you die, 75 Books Challenge for 2008, 75 Books Challenge for 2009, Church Libraries, Early Reviewers, His Wondrous Works to Behold, What Are You Reading Now?, What did YOU buy today?

Favorite authorsG. K. Chesterton, John Irving, Anne Lamott, Madeleine L'Engle, C. S. Lewis, Christopher Moore, Anne Tyler, P.G. Wodehouse (Shared favorites)

Favorite bookstoresBarnes & Noble Booksellers - Anchorage, Borders - Anchorage, Homer Bookstore, Old Inlet Bookshop, Title Wave Books - Midtown Store

Favorite librariesAnchorage Public Library - Z. J. Loussac Public Library

About meI am a 39-year-old happily-married mother of four, whose greatest passion (other than family) is books and reading. Since 2003 I have lived in Anchorage, Alaska, a haven of leisure and contemplation.

LibraryThing has both saved me from my obsession, and empowered me to "run with it."

My friends are deeply concerned about my book-addiction. (And yet, these same people often come to me for book recommendations and loans... An oddly satisfying dichotomy.)

I have led a "literary" book club since 2004. I am so delighted that members actually READ the assigned books - and they aren't always easy. (It was for book club that I was reading Dostoyevsky's "The Brother's Karamozov" while in labor with my 4th child back in 2004 - my OB walked into L&D and did a double-take when she saw what I was reading; she thought I was insane. The very fact she was asute enough to recognize my insanity pegged her up more than a few notches in my book.)

Since I joined LibraryThing, I have volunteered to be "head librarian" at my church, which has given me yet another library to obsess over (LibraryThing user name: abchurchak).

Meanwhile, I continue to debunk the myth that motherhood destroys the ability to read. I have four gorgeous, healthy kids, and still try to read 100+ pages per day. My two oldest kids read well above grade level. So, I console myself that my neglect of them while I read is not a total loss.

I desire to be a spiritual person, and a great deal of what I read is an exercise in better trying to understand the "human condition". In recent years, it has been my profound delight to find there are amazing writers who are thinking people of faith - I used to not think this possible.

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About my libraryAccording to my mother, my first sentence was: "Read-a-book". This used to be a clever anecdote she would share at cocktail parties back in the 70s (in those days, all it took to entertain were salted nuts and dinner mints). Now I think she's troubled by where this initially-innocent phrase has taken me.

Every few months, I go to LT's Zeitgeist tab and calculate how large my library is compared to the entirety of LT users. Once I am reassured of continuing along in the top 1% (or .001%, as the case may be), I can sleep at night.

When my first child was born in 1998, I had a "to read" pile of about 25 books. Now, that pile is....... a bit larger. I can neither stop buying books, nor can I get rid of any. (I love the concept of a library, but typically only use it twice a year when they have their "Friends of the Library" book sales.)

The weird thing about LibraryThing is that it came along at EXACTLY THE RIGHT TIME. I was just beginning to amass "troubling" numbers of books (with ever-increasing numbers of duplicates); I could no longer remember what I had. My savant-like ability to find any book anywhere in my house was being crippled by the sheer numbers. My discovery of LT was the result of an Internet search, employed in a moment of desperation.

I rarely loan books out for fear they will return damaged, or not return at all (I daren't give examples for fear of horrifying you and exposing the worst offenders).

I realize that there are people who have far more books than I. I salute them. Some day when I'm 60, and have been amassing books at 100+ per month, those same folks can weep at my feet. I will not give up; I will not give in....

My personal library is a blend of Toni Morrison and Charles Colson; Neil Gaiman and G. K. Chesterton; Christopher Moore and C. S. Lewis.

That's the way I like it.

My dream is to have a dedicated room in my house JUST for my lovely books and me. (Although, at this rate, I'll need an entire separate living space for them.)

Homepagehttp://www.alaskabookworm.blogspot.com

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Real nameLinda

LocationAnchorage, Alaska

Emaillindajo528hotmail.com

Account typepublic, lifetime

Connection NewsConnection News

URLs http://www.librarything.com/profile/alaskabookworm (profile)
http://www.librarything.com/catalog/alaskabookworm (library)

Common KnowledgeSeries (1189), Awards (897), Characters (18656), Places (3320)

Member sinceApr 29, 2006

Currently readingThe Lost: A Search for Six of Six Million by Daniel Mendelsohn
Last Night in Twisted River: A Novel by John Irving