MARCH ROOT - Progress Thread

LIBRARY OF THE MONTH - Trinity College Library, Dublin

In honor of St.Patrick's Day were are visiting the Trinity College Library in Dublin.














The Library began with the founding of Trinity College in 1592. In 1661, Henry Jones presented it with the Book of Kells, its most famous manuscript. James Ussher (1625–56), Archbishop of Armagh, left his valuable library, comprising several thousand printed books and manuscripts, to the Library. His complete works were published by the Library in twenty-four volumes.

According to the Republic of Ireland's Copyright and Related Rights Act, 2000, the Library is entitled, along with the National Library of Ireland and others, to receive a copy of all works published in the Republic of Ireland. Also, as a result of the British Legal Deposit Libraries Act 2003, which continues a more ancient right dating from 1801, the Library is entitled, along with the Bodleian Library at Oxford and others, to receive a copy on request of all works published in the United Kingdom. Many works are now being received electronically rather than in print under new UK regulations which came into force in April 2013.

The 65-metre-long (213 ft) main chamber of the Old Library, (picture #2) the Long Room, was built between 1712 and 1732 and houses 200,000 of the Library's oldest books. Initially, The Long Room had a flat ceiling, shelving for books only on the lower level, and an open gallery. By the 1850s the room had to be expanded as the shelves were filled due to the fact that the Library had been given permission to obtain a free copy of every book that had been published in Ireland and Britain. In 1860, The Long Room's roof was raised to accommodate an upper gallery. The Long Room is lined with marble busts. The marble bust collection was formed when 14 busts from the sculptor Peter Scheemakers were acquired by the college. Many of the busts are of great philosophers, writers, and men who supported the college. The most outstanding bust in the collection is of the writer Jonathan Swift, created by Louis François Roubiliac.

The Long Room also holds one of the last remaining copies of the 1916 Proclamation of the Irish Republic. This proclamation was read by Patrick Pearse near the General Post Office on 24 April 1916. Visitors may also view the Trinity College harp (also known as the "Brian Boru harp") in the Long Room that is the oldest of its kind in Ireland dating back to the 15th century. The harp is made out of oak and willow and includes 29 brass strings.(picture#7)

Password is ROOTS

The percentages will be calculated and a star awarded for those on target to reach their goals. More stars for farther toward their goal. If anyone's number is incorrect, please let me know and I will make the necessary adjustments. So go out there and dig those ROOTs.

Ameise1 2 / 12 ★ 16.7%
beach85 6 / 36 ★ 16.7%
benitastrnad 16 / 62 ★★ 25.8%
bragan 15 / 85 ★ 17.6%
brakketh 4 / 30 13.3%
ca_dmv 2 / 12 ★ 16.7%
Caramellunacy 8 / 20 ★★★ 40.0%
Carmenere 6 / 25 ★ 24.0%
cecilturtle 14 / 50 ★★ 28.0%
clue 3 / 50 6.0%
Coach_of_Alva 5 / 25 ★ 20.0%
connie53 9 / 50 ★ 18.0%
crazy4reading 1 / 30 3.3%
curioussquared 7 / 50 14.0%
cyderry★ 119 / 84 141.7%
detailmuse 12 / 40 ★★ 30.0%
DisassemblyOfReason 11 / 100 11.0%
enemyanniemae 16 / 60 ★★ 26.7%
FAMeulstee 5 / 24 ★ 20.8%
Familyhistorian 7 / 65 10.8%
floremolla 8 / 40 ★ 20.0%
fuzzi 16 / 100 16.0%
HelenBaker 8 / 48 ★ 16.7%
Henrik_Madsen 10 / 50 ★ 20.0%
h-mb 3 / 20 15.0%
Jackie_K 14 / 60 ★ 23.3%
johnxlibris 3 / 20 15.0%
justchris 5 / 100 5.0%
kac522 10 / 50 ★ 20.0%
karenmarie 7 / 30 ★ 23.3%
Kristelh 15 / 50 ★★ 30.0%
Kwharton 0 / 12 0.0%
LadyBookworth 2 / 20 10.0%
lepensuer 0 / 51 0.0%
leslie.98 17 / 80 ★ 21.3%
lilisin 5 / 60 8.3%
lindapanzo 9 / 72 12.5%
LoraShouse 3 / 15 ★ 20.0%
Lynsey2 7 / 50 14.0%
madhatter22 8 / 50 16.0%
majkia 18 / 65 ★★ 27.7%
mandymarie20 1 / 25 4.0%
martencat 4 / 30 13.3%
misscleasia 0 / 20 0.0%
Miss_Moneypenny 18 / 80 ★ 22.5%
MissSos 1 / 25 4.0%
MissWatson 14 / 75 18.7%
nebula21 9 / 36 ★★ 25.0%
Nickelini 9 / 26 ★★★ 34.6%
Quaisior 7 / 50 14.0%
QuestingA 10 / 35 ★★ 28.6%
rabbitprincess 14 / 60 ★ 23.3%
readingtangent 17 / 25 ★★★★★ 68.0%
Rebeki 2 / 18 11.1%
ritacate 1 / 24 4.2%
Robertgreaves 19 / 96 ★ 19.8%
rocketjk 6 / 30 ★ 20.0%
rosalita 13 / 48 ★★ 27.1%
Sace 1 / 21 4.8%
sallylou61 8 / 40 ★ 20.0%
si 5 / 25 ★ 20.0%
sibylline 1 / 16 6.3%
susanj67 12 / 50 ★ 24.0%
This-n-That 7 / 14 ★★★★★ 50.0%
torontoc 7 / 30 ★ 23.3%
Val_Reads 5 / 75 6.7%
vestafan 13 / 60 ★ 21.7%
wandaly 5 / 18 ★★ 27.8%




Believe or not, cyderry has reached her goal!
Our ★★★★★ readers or those closest to reaching their goals, are:
readingtangent 68.0%
This-n-That 50.0%

The goal for March is 774.

Go read those ROOTs!

Wow, congrats for already reaching your goal, Chéli! That is truly amazing.

And beautiful pictures of the Trinity College Library. I've actually been there and it was truly magnificent.

My congrats to you as well for finishing! Beautiful amazing library.

Congrats Chèli!

And lovely photos of Trinity College library :-)

>1 cyderry: Ooh, ooh, a library I've actually been to! And it really was as amazing as it looks in the pictures, too. *happysigh*

Trinity College Dublin library is on my wishlist! I really really want to see the Book of Kells.

>2 cyderry:
Beautiful pictures! I did want to just flag that my numbers above aren't up-to-date. I should be at 8 / 20. Thanks!

>1 cyderry: oh, wow...I'm almost speechless.

Wow. Sorry I didn't get a chance to see that when I was in Dublin. It is gorgeous.

>8 Caramellunacy: fixed!

1 March is St. David's day, so in his honour here is a picture of Gladstone's Library in Wales, a library which provides accommodation if you want to stay overnight.

>12 Robertgreaves: On my travel wishlist! It looks gorgeous.

>1 cyderry: I visited Trinity College in 2014 and loved it! Great choice of destination for this month :)

>12 Robertgreaves: A library that provides overnight accommodation -- my dream vacation come true!! Thanks for sharing.

Two very special libraries shared. Thank you from someone who hasn't ventured far and relies on books to transport her. I would love to tour the world visiting remarkable libraries and bookshops.
Congratulations Cheli on reaching your goal. What might you achieve by years end!

Congrats, Chèli! A wonderful choice for this month's library, I so long to go.
>12 Robertgreaves: Wow, what a great idea. And such a beautiful library, too!

Congrats, Chèli. I love that library in the first post but the one in >12 Robertgreaves: is also very beautiful.

>12 Robertgreaves: Thanks for sharing — truly a beautiful library.

Both of the libraries in this month's topping are inspiration's for other libraries.

Trinity College library was the inspiration for the Bill Clinton Library in Little Rock, Arkansas. He wanted his library to be reminiscent of the Long Hall at Trinity College. He had visited there when he was a student in England, and then later in his life. He said it inspired him and he wanted his library to have that same look.

Gladstone collected books of all kinds and he designed the shelving in the library he had in his home. Franklin Roosevelt used the same kind of book shelving for the library at Hyde Park and when he had to expand his library (before he was President) he had more of those shelves made and installed because he thought they would hold all of his papers because he thought he would only serve two terms.

Finished my first book for March: The Time Machine by HG Wells. Very short but since this was my train read and I don't ride the train that much these days, it took a few days. But it was fun. I think maybe my 2nd favorite Wells? I'll have to reflect more on my ranking.

I finished my first ROOT for the month. This one was a hefty work of nonfiction and well worth the time it took to read it. Jim Crow's Children: The Broken Promise of the Brown Decision by Peter Irons. I read it for the nonfiction challenge. The topic for February was Minority Lives Matter. This book was also the winner of the American Bar Associations Silver Gavel Award in 2003 and it deserved it. It was a powerful book and a good way to start out the month.

Wow Cheli! Way to go!

Reporting ROOT # 9 and 10 for the year, # 1 and 2 for March

De vliegeraar by Khaled Hosseini

and

Het stille huis by Ruth Rendell

My own ticker is updated

ROOT #8 for the year and first for March. The Review is on my thread and no tickers updated.

Great photos of Trinity College Library, Dublin. I was in awe when I visited in 2019. The Gladstone Library looks like an interesting one as well.

I'm missing my stars on the March roundup. It has been harder to get to the ROOTs this year than usual but I've put a pause on my library holds for the time being and hope to earn at least one star for March.

Finished my lunch read book today, Stories of the Sahara by Sanmao. I have a lot to say about this one so I hope I'll actually put down my thoughts about it soon.

Tonight I'll be reading the last 50 pages of volume 1 of The Story of the Stone by Cao Xuequin. I'm LOVING it! Onward to volume 2 tomorrow!

I've added my first book of March (#15 for the year) to my own ticker. I'm going to leave the group tickers alone :)

I've added my first book for March (#15 for the year), Les roses fauves, which I loved! I believe I have another of her books which has been laying on my shelves forever - I'll have to ferret it out.

I have updated the Group Tickers!

Bravo to the readers who're already achieving their goals!
I love the harp.... my daughter is a harpist so I have a soft spot for them :)

I have finished Les élucubrations d'un homme soudain frappé par la grâce by Édouard Baer, a play which also has some beautiful illustrations by Stéphane Manel.

Group tickers are updated.

My first root for the month, Acts of Love by Susan Pearce after completing two library books. My tally is 9/48. I tied to update my ticker but the ticker website was flashing very unpleasantly. I will try to update another time.

>31 HelenBaker: Oh, that happened to me, too. The relaunch of that site didn't really improve it.

On the reading front: three ROOTs so far.

Finally finished my first ROOT of March - The Fifth Man. My thread and ticker have been updated but not the group tickers...

>31 HelenBaker:, >32 MissWatson: Whatever that problem was, it seems to be resolved. But I still agree with >32 MissWatson: that the new design isn't an improvement....

Just added my first book for March but I have been reading several books at once so the rest will be added in the next week. I don't like not having a star by my name. :)

Oh...and that library! It's definitely on my bucket list.

Went for another old favourite: The Adventures of Robin Hood, by Roger Lancelyn Green. I'm at 15/60. Personal ticker updated; I'm not touching the group tickers.

My reading pace has picked up so far this month, but it's early so I'm not celebrating yet. I've finished three ROOTs so far:

• The Marrow Thieves by Cherie Dimaline
• A Fatal Lie by Charles Todd
• Long Bright Riverby Liz Moore

Three very solid reads to start March!

I think I can do just that, Chèli. Although the time may be a bit of a thing.

Reporting ROOT # 12 for the year, # 3 for March

1953 by Rik Launspach

My own ticker is updated

I must have mist one in February

Added ROOT 16/60 to my personal ticker: Shadow in the Glass, by Justin Richards and Stephen Cole.

I've added ROOT #2 for March (#16 overall) to my personal ticker only.

I finished listening to my second ROOT of the month. This one was Smell of Other People's Houses by Bonnie-Sue Hitchcock. This was a well done recording with a cast of characters and it worked very well. It made the 2016 list of ALA's Amazing Recordings for YA's list and it deserved it. This is a book I will be recommending.

I finished In the Company of Secrets by Judith Miller, a book I found almost three years ago in a movie theatre.

Tickers have been updated

Added ROOT 17/60 to my personal ticker: Checkpoint Charlie and the Wall, by Werner Sikorski.

My second root for the month, Two Brothers by Ben Elton. An interesting tale with a few twists and over 500 pages.
>45 cyderry:. Happy St. Patrick's Day to you too. My maternal grandmother was Irish.

I finished my 13th ROOT of the year, the quietly brilliant Persuasion by Jane Austen, and have just picked up Ragtime by E.L. Doctorow. Very different in style but also promising.

>47 Henrik_Madsen: I really enjoy Persuasion and I am pleased that you found it quietly brilliant.

>46 HelenBaker: I am of half Italian descent (my father's side) and half Irish descent (from my mother). I always joke about how the beginning of my life I lived with an Italian last name and then I married a man of Irish descent (Derry like in Derry Ireland) and now I think of myself more Irish then Italian. But I am proud of all my ancestry.

I finished another ROOT over the weekend. A Question of Upbringing by Anthony Powell is the first in a series of books about a fictional character that is loosely based on the author's own life. It is set in Britain at the beginning of the Inter-War years, 1921 and is a chronicle of manners and life in as an upper middle class/lower aristocracy house. The hero is in his last years of high school and the first year of his college education with the story beginning in 1921 and ending in early 1923. It is one of those books where nothing happens but everything happens. It was also an example of outstanding writing. I am going to continue on with the series, but it is going to be one of those slow adventures in reading as I don't have room on my book calendar to read the second installment right now even if I do plan on continuing the series.

>49 cyderry: What a glorious mix! I meant to also say that i was currently reading an Irish author in honour of St Patrick's Day, Actress by Anne Enright, admittedly a library book.

Just finished #3 for the month, and updated my personal ticker only.

Up Periscope
Native Dancer: Thoroughbred Legends
The Greyhound

I am trying to concentrate on my ROOTs this year, but those shiny newer books keep calling to me...

Just finished ROOT # 13 for the year, # 4 for March

Laten wij aanbidden by Ann-Marie MacDonald

Own tickers updated!

I finished another ROOT this weekend. This one was By Its Cover by Donna Leon. As usual it was another window into the Venetian world that I greatly enjoyed. This is book number 23 in the Guido Brunetti series and I have liked every one of them.

>54 benitastrnad: I love Guido too! I have #29 and #30 I'm hoping to get to in the next few months.

Reporting root #3 for this month, The Good Soldier by Ford Maddox Ford. I have tried updating my personal ticker but the screen is flashing again. So my total is 11/48 on to my next root.

I've added my 3rd ROOT for March (#17 for the year) to my own ticker, group tickers left well alone!

ROOT #4, a DNF for me: Revolt in 2100.

Perhaps someone else will appreciate it more?

I finished ROOT #5 last night, Tiltawhirl John by Gary Paulsen, about a young boy who runs away and winds up working as a carnie. Good read, as most of this author's books are, for me.

I've finished ROOT #4 for March (#18 for the year) and added it to my ticker only.

March is shaping up to be a good month for ROOTing, eight finished so far. My own ticker is up-to-date.

I've finished Going Wrong by Ruth Rendell which I've had since circa 2018.

Group tickers are updated!

I've just finished ROOT #5 for March (#19 for the year) and added it to my own ticker.

FYI I'm up to 16 as of today and added to my own ticker.

Root #4 for March, The Mannequin Makers by Craig Cliff. I don't think I will manage another before the end of the month so my tally is 12/48.
Is anyone else having a problem with their ticker thread screen flashing? So frustrating as I can't update it.

I finished a ROOT yesterday. This one was the third memoir by Puerto Rican author Esmeralda Santiago - The Turkish Lover. Santiago is a good writer and the memoir reads so well. However, I am not sure that I like her as a person that much, but it doesn't matter because the story of her life is written well and I did wonder what happened to her in the rest of her life. She has only published the three memoirs so this is one series I can also say is finished.

I finished another ROOT late last night. This one was Travels With Epicurus: A Journey to a Greek Island in Search of a Fulfilled Life by Daniel Klein. This book is one of the titles in my personal "short books" project that I started last year. I went through my book shelves last spring and took all the books off that were under 200 pages in length. My goal was to read them all during 2020. I didn't meet that goal - I am still working on it. This book was one of those and it turned out to be one of those books a person should keep on the bedside table and read before going to sleep at night as it makes you appreciate old age and find the virtues in that stage of life.

I finished two more books today, #6 and #7 for March (#20 and #21 for the year) and added them to my own ticker.

I have been neglecting this thread, although I have been keeping my own thread and ticker current. But I have managed to finish a couple of ROOTs recently - including a few books that I had read before but either from the library or in a different format from that I now own and have completed. Since I have been rereading a lot over the past few months, it was nice to have a few that counted for this challenge!

Somehow or another despite my abysmal start to the year, I've actually caught up to last year's reading pace. It's not that I have a slow reading pace. It's just that I read 150 pages one day, 80 pages the next, and then 0 pages for a week after. Imagine how much I could read if I had a more consistent reading schedule! And if I read more on the weekends! I do tend to waste a lot of time doing nothing. Literally nothing. As in taking a nap to pass the time even if I'm not tired. It's a bad, wasteful habit that is. Fortunately with spring here now I'm much more energized and wanting to spend every moment productively doing something.

In any case, I finished Hongci Xu's memoir, No Wall Too High: One Man's Daring Escape from Mao's Darkest Prison, this weekend. It was my at lunch work book and then I brought it home to finish off the last 100 pages. I also started and finished two hours later Amelie Nothomb's Petronille. I do much prefer when she talks about herself in her books.

Just finished ROOT # 14 for the year, # 5 for March

De eed van de zwaardvechter by Juliet E. McKenna

Own tickers updated!

No ROOTs read this month, I hope to get back on track in April.

I have had a very successful ROOTing month with 9 books finished. Now I'm off for an Easter break without laptop. Happy Easter to all fellow ROOTers!

I've finished four ROOTs this month and have only updated my personal ticker.

Two more ROOTs for March for a total of 7!

Conan of Cimmeria - did not finish
The Summer of the Swans

Personal ticker updated.

I have 10 ROOT's for March and won't finish another book tomorrow, so I am making my report today while I have time to do the entry. I have not updated any tickers.

It was a good month for me. I had a total of 10 ROOT's.

I had four ROOT's that were Nonfiction. They were
Jim Crow's Children by Peter Irons
Immigrant Architect by Berta de Miguel - This was a children's picture book I had been eyeing for about a year.
Turkish Lover by Esmeralda Santiago
Travels With Epicurus: by Daniel Klein

I had Four fiction ROOT's
Dark Vineyard by Martin Walker
Question of Upbringing by Anthony Powell
By It's Cover by Donna Leon
Motherless Brooklyn by Jonathan Lethem

I had two sound recordings that were ROOT's - both were fiction
Smell of Other People's Houses by Bonnie-Sue Hitchcock
Henna Artist by Alka Joshi

It's turned into a really good ROOT reading month, with 4 books.

Here is my report for March 2021:

UpROOTED books: 11
ROOTless books: 6
Added to the treebook TBR shelves: 4

The ROOTs were:

Memoirs of Hadrian by Marguerite Yourcenar
Cromwell, Our Chief of Men by Antonia Fraser
The Wine Boy by L. J. Trafford
Savage Harvest by Carl Hoffman
Help, One of Our Eunuchs Is Missing by L. J. Trafford
And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie
In A Free State by V. S. Naipul
The Female Man by Joanna Russ
So You've Been Publicly Shamed by Jon Ronson
The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club by Dorothy L. Sayers
Dragonfly in Amber by Diana Gabaldon

ROOTs in YTD: 30

I have only updated my personal ticker and have left the group tickers alone.

Number #9 for the year and second ROOT for March- no tickers updated but the review is on my thread!

Wow! to these stunning libraries. And Wow! to Cheli for reaching the goal already.

I only finished one ROOT this month. I have not ventured to mess with the group tickers.

Well done Cheli ,for reaching your goal!! Way to go!!!

This month I read 4 books.
Only my personal ticker is updated.

Happy reading all!

Thanks to another long train ride I finished as quickly as I started Stefan Zweig's Destruction d'un coeur which consists of three short stories for a total of only 117 pages. But that is still a book off my TBR so it counts and it's even one that was added in 2018 so even better!

I started another ROOT last night, a Newbery Honor book The Moved-Outers by Florence Crannell Means. It's a "wow" book for sure, about the Japanese-American internment camps during World War II.

This month I picked up the pace. I got in 7 ROOTs the same amount that I picked up in the last two months put together. Will this be enough to gain a star? I live in hope. I'm now at 14/65.

9 for me this month, bringing the to-date total to 25.

Rock on, everyone! (or should I say READ on?)

8 ROOTs for me this month, personal ticker updated.

I finished the month on 7 ROOTs for March - I need to read 5 a month to reach my goal by year end, and I've exceeded that by a couple every month so far. So I'll have a bit of wiggle room later in the year if I need it :)

My ticker is updated, both in the ticker thread and on my personal thread. Seven of my nine reads this month were ROOTs.

April thread is up!

https://www.librarything.com/topic/331065#