January State of the Thing

LibraryThing: State of the Thing Dear {NAME}, Welcome to the January 2019 State of the Thing. We're heading to ALA Midwinter this week, and hope to see you there! Plus, check out the latest version of the LibraryThing App, and get ready for our 2nd annual Valentine's Day-themed treasure hunt! If you'd rather receive a plain-text version, [edit your email preferences](. You can also [read it online](. Our newsletter archive lives [here](. You can like LibraryThing on [Facebook]( and follow [@LibraryThing]( on Twitter for up-to-the-minute site news and updates. ALA Midwinter Meetup This weekend is the [American Library Association's Midwinter Meeting](. LibraryThing won't have a booth, though three members of our team will be attending and there will be a LibraryThing Meetup on Saturday. We've got free, [exhibits-only badges]( for anyone who'd like one. Tim will be hanging out at the ProQuest booth (#1708), showing off something LibraryThing and ProQuest made together—it's called [Syndetics Unbound](. So stop by for a quick demo, or just to say "hi." LibraryThing Meetup Longtime LT member benitastrnad has been kind enough to organize a meetup for anyone who'd like to join in. Full details on [Talk](—here's the brief version: - What: LibraryThing Meetup - When: Saturday, Jan. 26th, 5pm (followed by dinner at 6:45) - Where: Sheraton Grand Seattle (dinner at [Tap House Grill]() Make sure to let us know if you're planning on joining us for dinner. Hope to see you there! LibraryThing App Update Meet the latest version (1.1.0) of the [LibraryThing App](! For our first major update since its release, we've focused on adding more cataloging data sources (nearly 5,000 of them!), better filtering and browsing of your books, and making sure the app works well for iPhone X users. Head over to [iTunes]( or [Google Play]( to download the update and see it in action. You can now add your favorite library data sources for cataloging on the mobile app. From the Home screen, tap "Account," then "Edit sources," followed by "Add sources" to get started. You'll be able to choose from popular sources, view sources by country, or see the full list of Amazon data sources available. Browsing your books got a whole lot easier: from Home, tap "Your Catalog." From there, you can select All Books, or choose to filter by Collections, Authors, or Tags. Full details are on [Talk](. Let us know what you think! Coming Soon: Valentine's Day Heart Hunt Following in the footsteps of earlier treasure hunts, on February 8th, we'll be launching our second annual Valentine's Day Heart Hunt. Celebrating the greatest love of all—reading! Members will solve rhyming clues to find pages with hearts on them and win prizes. This treasure hunt will run for a full week. Stay tuned to the [LibraryThing Blog]() for details. Talk of the Thing [Reading goals for 2019.]( Are you setting any reading goals for yourself in the new year? We've got a number of dedicated groups that LibraryThing members use to track their progress. Check them out, and share your goals with us on [Talk](. [When a book is disappointing.]( When a friend lends you a favorite book of theirs that is ultimately a letdown, what do you do? Members have some thoughtful suggestions on [this discussion](. [Most recent library visit?]( When did you last visit a library? Are you a regular at your local branch, or do you tend to focus on reading from your own library at home? Join the discussion on [Talk](. Free Books: Early Reviewers httsps://www.librarything.com/er/listYou are not currently signed up for [LibraryThing's Early Reviewers]( program. You are missing out! Early Reviewers offers free books to members—about 100 titles a month! Since 2007, we've given out over 160,000 books. The catch? Publishers want your honest review. How you review a book won't help or hurt your chances of winning books in the future, but not reviewing your winning will. [» Sign up for Early Reviewers]( The January batch of [Early Reviewers]( books features 5,250 copies of 112 different titles. The deadline to request a free book is Monday, Jan. 28th at 6pm, Eastern. Look for the February batch around the 4th. The most requested books so far from the January batch: Did You Know? [LibraryThing Widgets.]( Did you know that you can highlight your LibraryThing collection on other websites? Our [Blog Widget]( is the most popular, but we also have widgets that allow you to search your library, as well as include your current read in your email signature! Check them out [here](. [75 Books in 2019.]( Did you know that the 75ers challenge group is one of the most active groups on the site, year after year? Members challenge themselves to read 75 books in one calendar year. Give it a try, and join the group on [Talk](. TinyCat News [TinyCat]() is the online catalog for small libraries, created by LibraryThing. It turns your existing LibraryThing account into a simple, professional, web-based catalog. TinyCat Library of the Month Every month we'll be highlighting one of the real-world libraries that uses TinyCat for their collections. You can see this month's Library of the Month on the [LibraryThing blog](. Meet [The Pecorella Library](! Check out our [Tiny Tutorials]( and [LibraryThing for TinyCat Users]( series. Every other week, Kristi highlights a different feature, and walks you through how to use it in 30 seconds or less. Other Resources - Email us tinycat@librarything.com - Follow us on [Twitter]( - More tutorials on our [YouTube Channel]( Weekly Webinars We also offer free, weekly webinars giving an overview of TinyCat Wednesdays, at 1pm Eastern. Join us for our next one, Wednesday, Jan. 30th, at 1pm EST. Head over to [this link]( at that time, and look for the TinyCat Webinar. If Wednesday at 1pm doesn't work for you, let us know—we'll be happy to schedule a session for you. You can also see a pre-recorded webinar from November 2017 [here](. Hot titles this month - [Educated: A Memoir]( by Tara Westover - [Circe]( by Madeline Miller - [Children of Blood and Bone]( by Tomi Adeyemi - [The Great Alone]( by Kristin Hannah - [Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine]( by Gail Honeyman - [Bird Box]( by Josh Malerman - [Pachinko]( by Min Jin Lee - [The Woman in the Window]( by A.J. Finn - [The Hate U Give]( by Angie Thomas - [Crazy Rich Asians]( by Kevin Kwan That's it for this month. I'll see you all in February! Questions, comments, ideas? Send them my way. —Loranne (loranne@librarything.com) This message was sent to {NAME}. Click to [edit your email preferences or unsubscribe from future emails](.