The History Book Club discussion

This is Vicki's "To Be Read" List (2021) for the 50 Books Read in 2021. This list will be added to as Vicki sets up the thread.

Whatever books are not completed on the list can be carried over to the 2022 Personal Reading List thread.

Sample Format Choices:

Sample Format for initial set up before completing books:

✓1. The Restless Wave: Good Times, Just Causes, Great Fights, and Other Appreciations Hardcover – May 22, 2018 by John McCain

by John McCain

2. The British are Coming by Rick Atkinson

by Rick Atkinson

3. Salt: A World History by Mark Kurlansky

by Mark Kurlansky

Note: See the sample checkmark in number one that would show that I completed that book.

And if you like to see the strikethrough example that the book has been completed - see number 2.

On the Personal Reading Lists - you have a choice of either using checkmarks or strikethroughs.

For comprehensive assistance - we always have the "how to" thread.

See link: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

You can always check Bentley's Thread for the Personal Reading List Thread.

See Bentley's Sample Thread for the Personal Reading List Thread.

Link:

https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Basic Information to help you get started:



For 2021, we are going to set up for all participants two threads - the first will be each participant's Personal Reading List thread where they can create lists of books that they want to read for the 50 Books Read challenge.

And as they read them - they can check them off or do a strikethrough.

It is your working thread.

You can check off each book as you read it by adding & # 10003 ; (with no spaces in between) right before the title of the book with additionally no spaces after the semicolon and before the title of the book.

If you would like to bold the title of the book and author - and number them - in addition to adding a checkmark - you would then add & # 10003 ;(with no spaces) and then < b >1. The British are Coming by Rick Atkinson< /b > with no spaces. You can easily preview what you have done to see if your code works.

✓1. The British are Coming by Rick Atkinson

or without a number

✓The British are Coming by Rick Atkinson

You can also do strikethroughs if you like - that is the same as bolding but using an s instead of b.

For example: < s > The British are Coming by Rick Atkinson < / s>
You would use this code without the spaces within the brackets or in front of the book title or after the name of the author.

It would look like this:

The British are Coming by Rick Atkinson

If you want it bolded as well:

< s >< b >The British are Coming by Rick Atkinson < / b >< / s >
You would use this code without the spaces within the brackets or in front of the book title or after the name of the author.

It would end up looking like this:

The British are Coming by Rick Atkinson

The second thread is just like it has always been.

If you want to also number the books as well as bold them using a strike through:

< s > < b >1. The British are Coming by Rick Atkinson < / b > < / s>
You would use this code without the spaces within the brackets or in front of the book title number or after the name of the author.

It would end up looking like this:

1. The British are Coming by Rick Atkinson

The second thread is the formatted reading thread for 50 Books that we always have done and includes your reviews using the designated format.

You must sign up for 50 Books Read in 2020 to get both threads - the Personal Reading List thread just for you and your own 2020 Books Read in 2020 thread. You must use the format on the Books Read in 2020 thread. If you would like to participate - then please add your name here and I will set up both threads. Active participants in the 2020 50 Books Read in 2020 get their own two threads in 2021.

The format for the Personal Lists when setting them up is easy:

Just number or list and skip one line in between.
After skipping one line - just add the citation.

bookcover, the word by, the author's photo and then the author's link

Then skip another line before adding your next book. As you read and complete them - either use a strikethrough or a checkmark - that means that you have added your review according to the standard format on your review thread (same as every other year).

Check the how to thread for additional directions and assistance. We will always be there to assist.

And even if you do not finish all of the books on your list or many on your list - remember whatever books are not completed on the list can be carried over to the 2022 Personal Reading List thread. All you have to do is to do an edit, copy and then a paste on next year's thread. So the sky is the limit.

Have fun with your list thread - you are ready to go!

Thanks, Bentley. This is going to be a challenge since I'm mostly too cheap to buy books if I can get them from the library, but my library is closed for the duration of the stay-at-home edict here in California. Plus I don't like to read e-books, which my library does have. Poor me!

Once we have set up our initial list of books, do we keep modifying that post or make new posts for the new books? I think I prefer the former. And if we decide we don't really want to read some book we listed, do we just delete it or keep it in the list with a comment that we don't want to read it any more? Sorry for the nit-picky questions.

Another question - do we add books we're currently reading to the list or only ones we haven't started yet?

You can do both: this is what I have done:

1. The Restless Wave: Good Times, Just Causes, Great Fights, and Other Appreciations Hardcover – May 22, 2018 by John McCain

by John McCain

2. The British are Coming by Rick Atkinson

by Rick Atkinson

3. Salt: A World History by Mark Kurlansky - in progress

by Mark Kurlansky

4. The Threat: How the FBI Protects America in the Age of Terror and Trump by Andrew McCabe - in progress

by Andrew G. McCabe

✓ 5. The Mindful Athlete by George Mumford - complete

by George Mumford

✓ 6. Mama's Last Hug by Frans de Waal - complete

by Frans de Waal

7. Blood in the Water: The Attica Prison Uprising of 1971 and its Legacy by Heather Ann Thompson - in progress

by Heather Ann Thompson

8. Angela Merkel: The Authorized Biography - by Stefan Kornelius

by Stefan Kornelius (no photo)

9. The Federalist Papers by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison and John Jay - in progress

by Alexander Hamilton

10. Educated by Tara Westover

by Tara Westover

11. John Adams by David McCullough - this will be a reread for me for the group

by David McCullough

1. Completed The Mindful Athlete by George Mumford
Review posted on my 50 Books Read in 2020

by George Mumford

2. Completed Mama's Last Hug by Frans de Waal
Review posted on my 50 Books Read in 2020

by Frans de Waal

Hope the above helps - you can show in the queue, in progress, completed, and you can have a completed log with the ones you have posted and reviewed. You can checkmark the ones you have completed on the list or do a strikethrough. The directions show you both.

Thanks, it may take me a while to set it up. Should be interesting.

I think it will be - it will be sort of the "drafting/planning" area for your 50 Books thread.

Vicki, you can list any book out there that you want to read whether you own it or not.

This is a staging area for the 50 Books Read in 2021 thread of yours. If you get all of your books from the library - that is fine too - just list the books you plan to read this year on a list here - and you can number them or not but follow the basic format that I showed you in 9 and 10.

You can use checkmarks or not, number or not, use strikethroughs or not, or use a combination of all of them.

The only musts are the first line where you type in the name of the book and the author. I usually bold the book title.

Then skip a line under the book title and author line and add the full citation so that you create a linkable list on the right.

Similar to when we set up our Bibliographies. You can add to the list - and that is the whole point.

So list all of the library books you want to read or the books you want to borrow - there is no obligation to buy any of the books you read.

Vicki asked:

Once we have set up our initial list of books, do we keep modifying that post or make new posts for the new books? I think I prefer the former. And if we decide we don't really want to read some book we listed, do we just delete it or keep it in the list with a comment that we don't want to read it any more? Sorry for the nit-picky questions.

Bentley's Response:

a) You can add kindle books, ebooks from the library, any place you can get a book - you can add it - borrow books - read books that you have that have been in the pile begging to be read. You said that you are cheap about buying books - that is fine - that is always a personal preference - but you can list library books, ebooks, borrowed books, preowned books etc. as well as books you buy or are able to borrow from the library once it is opened up. Many libraries have the option of downloading kindle type books too. You can add any and all from any source to your list - remember it is your plan, your staging area - your tracker.
b) When you have completed a book - you can checkmark it or do a strikethrough or write complete beside. You can set up a separate list where you have books completed. Look at how I did mine - posts 9 and 10 for starters and you can always check my link. Your list will include books in progress - you can mark them as such; books that you want to read but have not started; and books that you have completed or discarded - please mark appropriately. I would always keep all books no matter what their state of completion is on a list somewhere on the thread. That way you can track all facets of your reading in one place for the 50 Books. You can see how I am doing mine for ideas.
c) You can always dispose of a book on your list. What I think would be interesting is to have a separate list on your thread of any book that you discarded or changed your mind on in a separate list and mention why - some of these you might want to pick up at a later time and add back into the working list you have on the same thread. Then you do not have to do the citation again - just an edit, copy and paste in the new location of the thread. What you want to have is for the white space on the right to grow with all of the books and authors that you have referenced and have them there forever in some form as a book that Vicki considered, read, has in progress, discarded, completed and wrote a review for on the 50 Books Read thread.
d) Additionally, I am considering that we will carry this thread over from year to year. I will make the appropriate changes in the topic header and add 2021 and then post on your thread where the 2021 will start. And all you have to do then is to a cut and paste of your in progress list and carry it over for 2021 - without any waste whatsoever. Sort of how we reuse bibliographies.

✓ 1. Palatine (The Four Emperors #1) by L.J. Trafford - completed


by L.J. Trafford

✓ 2. Dombey and Son by Charles Dickens - completed

by Charles Dickens

✓ 3. Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes by Edith Hamilton - completed

by Edith Hamilton

✓ 4. The Odyssey by Homer - completed

by Homer

✓ 5. The Throne of Caesar (Roma Sub Rosa #13) by Steven Saylor - completed

by Steven Saylor

6. e: the Story of a Number by Eli Maor

by Eli Maor (no photo)

7. Raised from the Ground by José Saramago

by José Saramago

Vicki, you’ll find Dombey and Son was a daughter!
Regards,
Andrea
by Charles Dickens

✓ 8. Battling the Gods: Atheism in the Ancient World by Tim Whitmarsh - completed


by Tim Whitmarsh

9. Hero of Rome by Douglas Jackson - decided not to read this one

by Douglas Jackson

✓ 10. Ten Caesars: Roman Emperors from Augustus to Constantine by Barry S. Strauss - completed

by Barry S. Strauss

✓ 11. The Memoirs of Cleopatra by Margaret George - completed

by Margaret George

12. Sulla the Fortunate: Roman General and Dictator by
George Philip Baker

by George Philip Baker (no photo)

✓ 13. Death Ex Machina by Gary Corby - completed

by Gary Corby

✓ 14. Persona Non Grata by Ruth Downie - completed

by Ruth Downie

15. The Year of the Four Emperors by Kenneth Wellesley

by Kenneth Wellesley (no photo)

Great progress

The following will have to wait until my library re-opens.
Yay, the library opened for outdoor pick-up of reserved books a few weeks ago.

✓ 16. Sad Cypress by Agatha Christie - completed

by Agatha Christie

✓ 17. One, Two, Buckle My Shoe by Agatha Christie - completed

by Agatha Christie

✓ 18. Evil Under the Sun by Agatha Christie - completed

by Agatha Christie

✓ 19. Five Little Pigs by Agatha Christie - completed

by Agatha Christie

✓ 20. The Hollow by Agatha Christie - completed

by Agatha Christie

✓ 21. Taken at the Flood by Agatha Christie - completed

by Agatha Christie

✓ 22. Mrs. McGinty's Dead by Agatha Christie - completed

by Agatha Christie

Well it is never too late to read some good books.

✓ 23. After the Funeral by Agatha Christie - completed

by Agatha Christie

✓ 24. Hickory Dickory Dock by Agatha Christie - completed

by Agatha Christie

✓ 25. Dead Man's Folly by Agatha Christie - completed

by Agatha Christie

✓ 26. Cat Among the Pigeons by Agatha Christie - completed

by Agatha Christie

✓ 27. The Clocks by Agatha Christie - completed

by Agatha Christie

✓ 28. Third Girl by Agatha Christie - completed

by Agatha Christie

✓ 29. Hallowe'en Party by Agatha Christie - completed

by Agatha Christie

✓ 30. Elephants Can Remember by Agatha Christie - completed

by Agatha Christie

✓ 31. Curtain by Agatha Christie - completed

by Agatha Christie

Vicki, this is also your Personal Reading List for 2021 and beyond. We will carry over the Personal Reading Lists so you have a thread to keep track of what is being read, completed or scheduled for the 50 Books Read in any given year. Your history is all here for you as you move forward completing 2020 and into 2021 and beyond.

I think given previous years that I need to begin getting this in order for the next year right around the beginning of November so we are ready for the holidays and January 1st. So that is what I am doing.

Miss Marple series

✓ 32. Murder at the Vicarage (Miss Marple, #1) by Agatha Christie - completed

by Agatha Christie

✓ 33. The Thirteen Problems (Miss Marple, #2) by Agatha Christie - completed

by Agatha Christie

I may not get to this one - my library doesn't have a copy and I'm too cheap to buy a book of short stories. Actually I found a cheap used copy online, with free shipping.

✓ 34. The Body in the Library (Miss Marple, #3) by Agatha Christie - completed

by Agatha Christie

✓ 35. The Moving Finger (Miss Marple #4) by Agatha Christie - completed

by Agatha Christie

✓ 36. A Murder Is Announced (Miss Marple #5) by Agatha Christie - completed

by Agatha Christie

✓ 37. Three Blind Mice and Other Stories (Miss Marple #5.5) by Agatha Christie - completed

by Agatha Christie

✓ 38. They Do It with Mirrors (Miss Marple #6) by Agatha Christie - completed

by Agatha Christie

✓ 39. A Pocket Full of Rye (Miss Marple, #7) by Agatha Christie - completed

by Agatha Christie

✓ 40. 4:50 from Paddington (Miss Marple, #8) by Agatha Christie - completed

by Agatha Christie

✓ 41. The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side (Miss Marple #9) by Agatha Christie - completed

by Agatha Christie

✓ 42. A Caribbean Mystery (Miss Marple #10) by Agatha Christie - completed

by Agatha Christie

✓ 43. At Bertram's Hotel (Miss Marple, #11) by Agatha Christie - completed

by Agatha Christie

✓ 44. Nemesis (Miss Marple, #12) by Agatha Christie - completed

by Agatha Christie

✓ 45. Sleeping Murder (Miss Marple, #13) by Agatha Christie - completed

by Agatha Christie

46. Miss Marple's Final Cases (Miss Marple) by Agatha Christie - I didn't actually read this book, but I completed all the Miss Marple short stories elsewhere

by Agatha Christie

For my Roman history book club


47. ✓ Brigantia (Vindolanda 3) by Adrian Goldsworthy - completed

by Adrian Goldsworthy

✓ 48. The Storm Before the Storm: The Beginning of the End of the Roman Republic by Mike Duncan - completed

by Mike Duncan

✓ 49. The Memoirs of Hadrian by Marguerite Yourcenar - completed

by Marguerite Yourcenar

50. Libraries in the Ancient World by Lionel Casson

by Lionel Casson

51. The Belgae (Marius' Mules #2) by S.J.A. Turney

by S.J.A. Turney

52. The First Man in Rome (Masters of Rome #1) by Colleen McCullough

by Colleen McCullough

53. The Unwilling Vestal by Edward Lucas White

by Edward Lucas White

54. The Twelve Caesars by Suetonius

by Suetonius

55. Pandora's Boy (Flavia Albia Mystery #6) by Lindsey Davis

by Lindsey Davis

Vicki, very interesting books. I have had the complete Masters of Rome series on my reading list for 20+ years, some of the books even signed by Colleen McCullough. I need to get busy.

Lorna, start reading First Man in Rome now! It's just great.

Vicki wrote: "Lorna, start reading First Man in Rome now! It's just great."

Thanks Vicki, hopefully I will be able to start it in February when we get to Florida; that is where my downsized library is these days.

by Colleen McCullough