Tuesday Thinger...Let's Check Out Groups and a Bandit.

Yes, I know. Again it is Wednesday and I am just posting my Tuesday Thinger. I plead work (with lack of blogging ability there) and tiredness. So, without further ado, let's check for this weeks question from Wendi at Wendi's Book Corner.

This week, I'd like to take a quick peek into the Groups section. For anyone who hasn't visited the groups section, it is a place that is very much like a normal forum, or a place you can post comments and reply to what others have posted. Some groups are topic oriented, and others are more relaxed...The great thing about these groups?? If you want to talk about a book or author, there is probably a group or thread available for you to read, join, or comment in. There are even some great Book Challenges (75 Books Challenge for 2009)!! You can read about a group and then read the "threads" (topics/conversations), join the group, watch the group, or recommend it to a friend.

Questions: Have you recently browsed any of the groups? Are you actively participating in any groups? Do you have any favorites?

I do belong to a number of groups there and check them out and post from time to time. Let me see....ARC Junkies, Bloggers, Catholic Tradition, Easton Press Collectors, Outside, Philadelphians, Tea!, The Green Dragon, TuesdayThingers ...those are the ones I belong to at the moment according to my profile. It changes from time to time as some groups seem to go idle and others seem to pick up and get a lot of good postings.

The first two ARC Junkies and Bloggers I was much more interested in back when I first started blogging and became aware of the whole issue of Advanced Review Copies being available to be requested from various sources. I found it a great place to ask questions and get information from people that always seem happy to help. Great source for a new blogger.

Tea...well, I love tea and some new tea info is always good. Catholic Tradition...well, I am Catholic and at times there are interesting discussions there and some good info about books related to Catholic subjects. But as seems to happen with many of the smaller groups, there is a certain ebb and flow and this one has been pretty quiet for awhile. Easton Press...they are beautiful books that I had admire for years from the catalog I somehow got on the mailing list for, but they are rather expensive. It was from this LT group that I found out they are often available on eBay. As I have said before, Library Thing is a purchase that just keeps paying off and paying off.

Outside is an interesting group. The name, I believe, comes from a 'discussion' in the Green Dragon group. A thread on there had gotten rather argumentative and maybe a bit hostile, so they were asked to take the discussion "outside". So now this Outside group is for subjects where the talk might get a bit more worked up and is allowed to be a little more combative than most groups do. I read it, but rarely if ever post there. They scare me a bit. Pro and Con is a similar group that I read, but never joined...because I am a bit scared to post there either...lol

The group that I check out the most often and actually post at on occasion is The Green Dragon. Their own description on themselves included this..."Ale & lively funny lusty chat. Join LibraryThing's best pub! This group is known as one of the busiest on LibraryThing - come enjoy our banter!" They are usually in the top two or three most posted to groups, having almost 1500 in the last 7 days. There are also a huge variety of threads there, some silly, some more serious, rather like 'real' discussions in a 'real' pub, always with an attempt to keep it friendly and not get out of hand. Which is always, in my experience, a problem in many online groups.

I like the groups on Library Thing, even though I don't have the time to read and post there as much as I did once. Several of the 'standing groups' are good places to find out about new features on LT or to report a problem or bug and to ask a question. Also, as Wendi says, it is a great source of information about a book or author that you might be interested in or have a question about. There are hundreds of groups there and you can most likely find one, no matter what you are interested in.

Well, let's see what wee Bandit is up to this week, shall we?


Oh, poor sleepy Bandit! Tired, no doubt from his one day at work. You just take a little nap there, my little sweet Bandit Boy.