Take It or Leave It Challenge - January 2013 - Page 1

For those new to this challenge: More info and monthly index can be found in post #1 of this thread or this TIOLI FAQS wiki.

Simple directions for posting to the wiki can be found at the bottom of each month's wiki page.


...logo by cyderry

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I'm so excited that a new year is about to begin. I wish a lovely 2013 to everyone!

I'm opening up this new year with a tougher-than-usual challenge. It won't stop you though. I'm sure you'll quickly jump aboard with books of your choosing.

For January, 2013, I challenge you to read a book whose title has *no* duplicate letters. At first, this might seem a difficult task, but begin with books that have a title of only one or two words. Then, see if you can stretch this to books with titles of three or more words.

You have the option of using or omitting the subtitle.

Addendum: The words "the", "a", and "an" are part of the book title.

As always, you are encouraged to match reads.

List the number of letters contained in the title as follows:
Fight Club (9) – Chuck Palahniuk – melydia
Gilead (6) – Marilynne Robinson – cameling
I’m Gone (6) – Jean Echenoz – brenzi
Ishmael (7) – Daniel Quinn – kiwidoc
Jasmine (7) – Bharati Mukherjee – teelgee
Quicksand (9) – Junichiro Tanizaki - SqueakyChu
Wench (5) – Dolen Perkins-Valdez - mrstreme
Yalo (4) – Elias Khoury - PaulCranswick

Now…go find your own titles and have a terrific 2013!

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Other Fun Stuff (not part of the TIOLI challenge):

1. The January 2013 TIOLI Meter - Optional page on which you may track your TIOLI reading. FYI: This is not meant to be competitive - only fun!
2. Morphidae's List of Previous TIOLI Challenges - You may use this reference (Do a control-F scan) to avoid repeating a previous challenge. If your idea is similar to a previous challenge, just make it unique by adding a new "twist" to it. (Updated 11/22/12)

Wiki index:

Challenges #1-6
1. Read a book with no duplicate letters in its title - msg #1
2. Read a book by an author you hadn't heard of before you joined LibraryThing - msg #3
3. Read a book that was not published by one of the Big Six - msg #12
4. Read the debut work of an author born in January - msg #13
5. Read a work of genre fiction from outside Europe/North America - msg #15 - thread
6. Read a Book That Has Been Downloaded onto Your Electronic Reader at Least Six Months Ago - msg #16

Challenges #7-12
7. Read a book with a B somewhere in the title or author's name - msg #18
8. Read a book that is part of a limited series, such as a trilogy - msg #21
9. Read a book that has exactly 13 letters in the title - msg #20
10. Read a book about Native Americans (or some other aboriginal group) and crime - msg #24
11. Read a book that's either the first or the last in a series, BUT it has to be the opposite of whatever book is listed before - msg #30
12. Read a book that has a wise man or a king as a character, or has the word 'wise' or 'king' in the title or author's name - msg #33

Challenges #13-18
13. Read a book that has won or was nominated for the Giller Prize - msg #40
14. Read a book by an author who is commonly known by at least a three-part name - msg #69
15. Read a book you discovered through use of the LibraryThing "If You like..." feature - msg #72
16. Read a children/youth book written by a German speaking author - msg #99
17. Read a book that has has a prime number in the title - msg #104
18. Read a book with the word 'new' in the title - msg #143

Challenge #19-24
19. Read a book that was originally published the year you were born
20. Read a book by a new-to-you method - msg #161
21. Read a book that you meant to read in 2012
22. Read a book mostly filled with pictures - msg #30

No more new challenges until the February 2013 wiki goes up. Thanks!

WIN!!!!!!

Posted that first to hold the place. :)

How nice to start the New Year with some good timing! I do hope it's an omen.

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Challenge #2: Read a book by an author you hadn't heard of before you joined LibraryThing

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Obviously we're on the honour system with this one. Another completely self-indulgent challenge, since it feeds into my obscure books, but I hope it will allow people to show how their reading has diversified since they joined LT.

Wow, that is going to be one hard challenge for me. Everything I'm planning on reading so far has double-ups.

I'm first to add a book! So nice to add books onto such a lovely clean wiki-page :) And now I'm off to bed :)

> 5

G'night, Britt!

> 4

that is going to be one hard challenge for me

*break into evil laughter*

I wanted it to be a challenge, Kerry. Not a "plug-in!" LOL!!

Great, I've found one that will fit challenge one and be a good seasonal read for January, at least as far as the title suggests: Cold Earth by Sarah Moss. And my real life book group read for January is The Gift of Rain and I hadn't heard of Tan Twan Eng before this year on LT. If he'd won the Booker with his latest I might have heard of him without LT, but this group has made me pay much more attention to the prize nominees and not just the winners.

Ok, I found 1 of 2 books set in China by New Zealand writers that I want to read fits challenge #1, unfortunately it isn't the one I'm most keen to read but I do like the cover a lot, Zhu Mao by Mark Sweet. The cover of The Phoenix Song is highly unappealing though I won the book and look forward to reading it.

Good luck on your book choices, Kerry. I hope they're not as bad as you anticipate them to be! :)

I found a 3-word/13 letter book for challenge #1: Death in Cyprus by M. M. Kaye.

Three words! That's staggering!! :)

Challenge #3: Read a book that was NOT published by one of the Big Six

#1 This means that the edition that you are reading must not be published by one of the Big Six.

#2 The list below is not exhaustive. If you know that the imprint is part of the big six, don't include them. I've linked the names to the wikis if you want to double check. Or you can Google.

The Big Six are Hachette Book Group, Harper Collins, MacMillan, Penguin Group, Random House and Simon & Schuster. It includes all their imprints.

Hachette Book Group: Grand Central Publishing, Vision, Forever, Twelve, Business Plus, Wellness Central, 5 Spot, Springboard Press, Faith Words, Windblown Media, Center Street, Hachette Audio, Little, Brown and Company, Back Bay Books, Bulfinch, Reagan Arthur Books, Poppy, LB Kids, Orbit, Yen Press, Phoenix/Orion, Headline

Harper Collins: Amistad, Avon, Avon A, Avon Inspire, Avon Red, Caedmon, Collins, Harper Business, Collins Design, Collins Living, Ecco, Eos, Harper Mass Market, Harper Paperbacks, Harper Perennial, HarperAudio, HarperCollins, HarperCollins e-Books, ItBooks, HarperLuxe, HarperOne, HarperStudio, Morrow Cookbooks, Rayo, William Morrow, Amistad, Eos, Greenwillow Books, HarperCollins Children's Audio, HarperCollins Children's Books, HarperFestival, HarperEntertainment, HarperTeen, HarperTrophy, Joanna Cotler Books, Julie Andrews Collection, Katherine Tegen Books, Laura Geringer Books, Rayo

MacMillan: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, FSG Hardcovers, FSG Paperbacks, Hill & Wang, Faber & Faber, First Second, Henry Holt & Co., Henry Holt Hardcovers, Henry Holt Paperbacks, Metropolitan Books, Times Books, Macmillan Audio, Behind the Wheel, Nature Publishing Group, Palgrave Macmillan, Picador, Quick and Dirty Tips, Scientific American, St. Martin's Press, Minotaur Books, Thomas Dunne Books, Tor/Forge, Tor Books, Forge Books, Orb Books, Tor/Seven Seas, Bedford, Freeman and Worth, Bedford/St. Martin’s, W.H. Freeman, Worth Publishers, BFW High School, Hayden-McNeil, Palgrave Macmillan, Trade Books For Courses, FSG Books for Young Readers, Feiwel & Friends, Holt Books for Young Readers, Kingfisher, Roaring Brook, Priddy Books, Starscape/Tor Teen, Square Fish, Young Listeners, Macmillan Kids

Penguin Group: Ace Books, Alpha Books, Amy Einhorn Books/Putnam, Avery, Berkley Books, DAW, Dial Books for Young Readers, Dutton Books, Dutton Children's Books, Firebird, Frederick Warne, Gotham Books, G.P. Putnam's Sons, G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers, Grosset & Dunlap, HP Books, Hudson Street Press, Jove, NAL, Pamela Dorman Books, Penguin, The Penguin Press, Perigee Books, Philomel Books, Plume, Portfolio, Prentice Hall Press, Price Stern Sloan, Puffin Books, Razorbill, Riverhead, Sentinel, Speak, Tarcher, The Viking Press, Viking Books for Young Readers

Random House: Crown Trade Group, Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, Random House Publishing Group, RH Audio Publishing Group, Random House Children’s Books, RH Information Group, RH International, RH Large Print, Modern Library

Simon & Schuster: Aladdin, Atheneum, Atria, Beach Lane Books, Folger Shakespeare Library, Free Press, Howard Books, Little Simon, Margaret K. McElderry Books, Paula Wiseman Books, Pimsleur, Pocket, Scribner, Simon & Schuster, Simon & Schuster Audio, Simon & Schuster BFYR, Simon Pulse, Simon Spotlight, Threshold, Touchstone/Fireside

Challenge #4: Read a Debut Work by an Author Born in January

I think this is pretty self-explanatory. You can find a partial list of authors born in January here - http://www.authdir.net/dir-january.shtml - but it is not exhaustive. Feel free to do your own research! Many Wikipedia entries on authors list their works by publication order...

lyzard, is it OK to add shared reads to your challenge even if I had heard of the author previously?

Challenge #5: read a work of genre fiction from outside Europe/North America

Genre fiction includes: crime, sci fi, horror, romance, fantasy, true crime etc. (It's not a categorisation I like much but it's good shorthand for this challenge).

Some books on my shelf which I'd plan to read for this challenge:

The Tattoo Murder Case (Japan, crime)
The Blaft Anthology of Tamil Pulp Fiction (India, pulp)
Enma The Immortal (Japan, fantasy)
Tokyo Vice (Japan, true crime)
The Kiss Murder (Turkey, crime)
Zoo City (South Africa, science fiction)

There are a few publishers that specialise in these areas, such as Vertical, which publishes a wide range of Japanese genre including horror, fantasy, crime and historical fiction. Soho Crime also publishes several non-Western crime novels - I can recommend the Qiu Xiaolong series for example.

I'll set up a thread later for recommendations/discussion.

Wow I just stumbled onto this. Yippee.

If you are anything like me, your electronic reader looks a lot like your bookshelves: i.e. full to overflowing. So, with that in mind:

Challenge #6: Read a Book That was Downloaded onto Your Electronic Reader at Least Six Months Ago

Shared reads are fine.

Great challenge. I have a kindle app on my ipod, and therefore have downloaded plenty of stuff, but the screen is a little too small for regular reading. However, I am getting a Kindle Paperwhite for Christmas (I use the future tense as it's being delivered later today) so this is absolutely perfect timing!

Everyone always starts with A I want to start the year with B

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Challenge #7 Read a book with a B somewhere in the title or author's name
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Morphy, is your challenge for the original publication?

I've got Anna Karenina and I'm figuring Tolstoy didn't use the big 6.

In honor of 2013:

Challenge #9: Read a Book That Has Exactly 13 Letters in the Title

My first challenge for the year:

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CHALLENGE #8
Read a book that is part of a defined series -- eg, a book that has a sequel (such as The Magicians by Lev Grossman) or that is a sequel (such as The Purple Shroud by Stella Duffy); that is part of a trilogy, quartet, quintet or any other kind of limited series.

It can be part of Robertson Davies' Deptford Trilogy; it can be Stieg Larsson's Millennium trilogy. It can't be part of an open-ended series, however, which rules out many mystery series. One exception might be Ann Cleeves' Shetland mysteries, where the author is writing a fifth and final book, or Peter May's series set in the Scottish isles, or Morag Joss's trilogy (including books like Fearful Symmetry or Paul Johnston's mysteries set in a futuristic, dystopian Edinburgh. It doesn't have to be a series that is finished: what is important is that the author clearly had the intention of limiting the number of books in the series. Justin Cronin's two books, starting with The Passage, aren't complete yet, but would count here.

Another note: in defining a series, I'm thinking of books that have a clearly defined set of characters and some kind of connnection between the books. Just a linked character isn't enough.

I'm open to discussion on long-running series by now-dead authors, who clearly won't be writing any more. Technically, those qualify, but had Ellis Peters lived longer, odds are she might have written another Cadfael mystery. On the other hand, her stories written under the name of Edith Pargeter would qualify -- there are the books that together make up "The Brothers of Gwynned", and another trilogy. In historical fiction, works by Sharon Penman (but not her mysteries, as she hasn't closed the door on writing more) would qualify, also several by Pauline Gedge. Colleen McCullough's "Rome" novels would work, so would Robert Harris's novels set in ancient Rome (although he has one book still to come.) There are candidates among non-fiction works, too: Patrick Leigh Fermor's two books about his epic trek across Europe in the 1930s, or Tim Mackintosh-Smith's books about traveling in the footsteps of Ibn Battutah.

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>>#14 I'm in a generous mood, so yes, shared reads allowed. :)

Someone has added When Christ and his saints slept to challenge #8 but could add it to the shared read in challenge #2.

Challenge #10: Read a Book About Native Americans (or some other aboriginal group) and crime

The Round House, which just deservedly won the National Book
Award would fit here, but, alas, I just read it.
My planned reads are:
Iron Lake - William Kent Krueger
Listening Woman by Tony Hillerman Book Club
The Oatman Massacre: A Tale of Desert Captivity and Survival by Brian McGinty 3rd time listed
A Thief of Time by Tony Hillerman

#12 Morphy - how strict are you being about your challenge? There are quite a few publishers listed on the wiki who are part of the big six but not in your list and I wasn't sure if we should be going by your list or whether these were just examples?

The Modern Library imprint is part of the Random House group and the Phoenix/Orion imprint has been bought by Hachette for example.

... and Europa has been acquired by Penguin, I think, although it maintains an independent editorial presence (including independent representation at BookExpo)...?

I can move the Orion/Phoenix book to the 'b' challenge. There is no mention of Hachette in the book, just says it's published by Phoenix, an imprint of Orion. I never bothered to check who Orion was owned by.

#27 I think the only way to work out if an imprint is part of the Big 6 is to check their website or wikipedia. I don't think the information will be in the book unfortunately.

>19 cyderry: cyderry, the challenge is specifically for the edition you are reading.

>25 souloftherose:-28 My list is not exhaustive. The idea is to be reading books by independent publishers. So, yes, I'm being strict. If you know about an imprint I missed, let me know and I'll add it to the list.

Can anyone confirm Europa is owned by Penguin?

> 25

I moved my book to the "B challenge". It had been published by Modern Library - which turned out to actually be a part of Random House. Who knew?! :)

> 30

Samantha_kathy,

Post your challenge and book on the wiki. Your posting it on the wiki gets it onto the wiki index in message #2.

See message #36 below.

I've added mine as challenge 12, leaving a space for Samantha_kathy, just to not mess up things...

In honour of the arrival of the three wise men from the east on January 6th (aka epiphany)
Challenge #12: Read a book that has a wise man or a king as a character, or has the word 'wise' or 'king' in the title or author's name

This challenge has two options:
You can look for a book with a wise man or king as a character; I'll leave it up to you to decide whether a character counts as a 'wise man'. It doesn't have to be the main character in the novel, as long as a wise man or king makes an appearance at some point...
Alternatively, you can look for the words 'wise' or 'king' in the title or author's name.
Of course, if a book has a wise man/king as character AND one of the words in the title/author's name, that's fine as well :)

Britt: Raised in a family with multiple religions, I always thought of Epiphany as Second Christmases! My Hobbit-like appreciation for two of anything that involved food and presents, I guess. :)

Well, one of the things I loved about epiphany when I was a kid was that we always got lots of cookies, so for me the food-thing was very important as well ;)

ETA: Where I come from the holiday is actually just called 'Three Kings' so that makes it a bit more clear what is being celebrated :)

> 30

Samantha_kathy, I added your challenge to the wiki. Now go back and add your book. Going forward, add your challenge to the wiki before you post information about it (name, rules, etc.) on the main thread. Doing that helps keep the wiki challenges in proper numerical sequence. Thanks!

> 37

Tee hee! No problem.

I'll have to see if I have a list of books I intend to read in January with me before I head to the library to use wifi this afternoon. It is so hard to do this on an iPhone.

Not participated in the TIOLI for a year so I want to start January as I mean to continue - trying to keep up.

Challenge # 13 - Read a book that has won or was nominated for the Giller Prize.

One of my 13 in 13 challenges this year is reading winners of 13 major literary awards and I have selected this as my first one mainly as a result of promising Richard to read The In-Between World of Vikram Lall quickly and report back.

The prize started in 1994 and is for Canadian writers. Altogether there are around a hundred books to choose from. This may help: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scotiabank_Giller_Prize

I've read a few Canadian writers. Apparently, though, none have ever won or been nominated for this Giller Prize. Of those that have, I've only heard of Margaret Atwood. Her condescending attitude towards Science Fiction, despite winning Science Fiction awards and writing works that can be called Science Fiction, leaves me unable to get myself to read her work.

Mike - Glad to see that I am not in a minority of one in hating the dystopian rubbish put out by Ms. Atwood. Her other stuff is actually not half bad - Alias Grace, I have to admit liking.

I have read The Book of Secrets by MG Vassanji and A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry which with Alias Grace make the first three winners. All are good but the Mistry is extraordinarily so.

I've never read any of Atwood's works, so I can't really judge those, though I've heard many positive sounds about them... I've read A Fine Balance though, and that really is a great novel that definitely deserves prizes...

For challenge #3, New York Review Books (NYRBs) are, according to its Wikipedia entry, distributed by Random House but the parent company is the New York Review of Books. Is this acceptable?

I've just started one--#14--read a book that is last in a series. Not just the latest book in the series by the author, but the final one that finishes off the series. It can be the third book in a trilogy, it can be one where the author died without completing another book in the series, or it can be one where the author wound up the series before moving on to a different style.

> 40

I looked through the list of Giller Prize nominees and none of them called out to me except for the one written by Edeet Ravel. I've read other books by that author (whom I know writes novels about Israelis) and found them quite readable.

Newbie question: How exactly does one join the TIOLI challenge/s?

> 47

Private message coming to you!

Ok, so I find the 3rd challenge mildly confusingwith all the imprints, and I'm not sure how to find out who imprints what and why, but I've added a book that I think would fit...
I've added Anna Karenina, which I own in the Wordsworth Classics edition. It has also been published by other publishers of course (penguin, amongst others), but it was said somewhere that your own edition was the one that counted. And as far as I can find Wordsworth is not part of the Big Six in any way...
Just let me know if I'm mistaken :P

> 47

One doesn't really "join" the TIOLI challenges; one just jumps in and participates.

The very first step would be to list a book in a challenge, trying to match another book if you can (and not worry if you can't). Then read that book and mark it COMPLETED. Don't forget to do this, though, or it will be deleted after the month's end.

Morphy,

I think the best way to manage your Big Six challenge would simply be to check on those publishers entered and pull out the ones that don't qualify. The way I usually do this this is to move the disqualified entry underneath your specific challenge, mark it disqualified and state why it's disqualified. Be sure to add your name to this so the challenger knows it was you who did this. Let each challenger then fix his/her own entry.

Thanks for the PM and the explanation. There's a TIOLI-type challenge over in the 2013 Challenge too, the CATs, but it's not as complicated as the TIOLIs. ;)

> 52

We were the original "TIOLI" challenges here on LT, though! :)

I'm glad they changed their name to CATs as people were getting thoroughly confused as to why there were two different TIOLI challenges in different places. Some people never even found out the difference. :)

I like the new name too - but then I'm prejudiced as I'm a big cat lover.

I'm prejudiced as I'm a big cat lover.

Me, too!

(Three feral cats own me.)

>44 katiekrug: I think that should be fine as distributed is different than published, right?

>49 Britt84: That's correct. As long as the one you are actually reading is not by one of the Big Six, you are fine.

>51 SqueakyChu: Yeah, I'll do that.

OK, I misspoke re Europa. They are distributed by Penguin, but not owned by.

Yes, there's a difference, Morphy. It's a commercial transaction -- Penguin handles getting the logistics of getting books into the bookstores and takes a fee for that. The editorial decisions are made by the original publishers.

ETA: There are a number of fabulous Giller titles out there. Linden Macintyre's powerful novel The Bishop's Man is one, and I really enjoyed "The Free World" by David Bezmogis. (Touchstones just went wonky -- for some reason can just get about 18 options, a mish-mash of classics like Austen and Robert Louis Stevenson, for this title...)

The Cat's Table by Michael Ondaatje was one of the best novels I read last year, and was a 2011 Giller nominee. Lots of people have heard me rave about Through Black Spruce by Joseph Boyden, which is probably one of my favorite novels of the last decade.

I have heard good things of Good to a Fault by Marina Endicott, which I may end up reading for this as I've been meaning to for some time, and also of Stanley Park by Timothy Taylor. If you like short stories, there is the inimitable Alice Munro, or Vincent Lam's collection, Bloodletting and Miraculous Cures. There are some better known "new" Canadian authors -- Ann-Marie Macdonald, Anne Michaels, Rawi Hage, Annabel Lyon, etc. as well as better-known/established ones -- Rohinton Mistry, Mordecai Richler, Timothy Findley, Anne Hebert, Guy Vanderhaege. There are several books on there that a lot of people ended up reading last year when they made the Booker list: Half-Blood Blues by Esi Edugyan and The Sisters Brothers. I think Richard just finished reading Better Living Through Plastic Explosives.

I've never heard of the CATs.

These are the CATS.

ETA: When I look at the CATS wiki pages, I feel as if the matching books need asterisks. LOL!

Christi, it sounds like #14 is a subset of mine, as any book that is the last in a series would automatically qualify. Not saying that we can't have two that overlap, but if you had another idea that you wanted to use, all of your books would qualify under #8.

CATs is short for Categories and Themes and is the TIOLI-like challenge over in the 2013 Category Challenge group. We're very friendly over there.

> 61

There are many TIOLI challengers who do the Categories challenge, even if they don't do the CATS there.

I did the 2011 Categories challenge, skipped the 2012 Categories challenge, but I'm already back there for the 2013 challenge. It's got to be better than reading Orange Prize books! ;)

I know, I've seen you over there!
(You know the Orange Prize is one of the CATs for January, right?)

You notice I'm not doing it, eh? ;)

I've been trying to read 5 Orange prize books over two years...and still can't do it. Maybe one day...

Haha! I'm doing it, though I'm reading a shortlisted book, not a winner. I like that the rules aren't very strict in the CATs - it means I can fit them into my reading schedule even though I have set reading lists for the year.

By the way, challenges here on the TIOLI can also overlap other challenges that you're doing elsewhere on LT (even group reads!).

I figured that might be the case. I'm doing the same with TIOLI and with the CATs - checking to see if any of the books I'll be reading anyway fit in with the challenges. If not, I'll be "leaving it" for that month. Not going to add more stress to my reading lists - that would be counter-productive.

>60 Chatterbox: Chatterbox--that's true. I'll just place mine under yours (or #11 when 'last' comes up). There does seem to be a theme of series. :) I'll think of something else to change mine to.

Okay, since mine had so many overlaps with others, I changed mine to: Read a book by an author who is commonly known by at least a three-part name. Middle initial doesn't count.

>70 Samantha_kathy: Yes. Perhaps I could word it better?

Challenge #15: Read a book you discovered through use of the LibraryThing "If You like..." feature.

Step-by-step instructions:

1. Go to your member profile page.
2. Click on one of your favorite authors (if you have none listed, see below).
3. On the left hand side of the page, about an inch below the author's photo/image, you'll see "If you like..." Click on that.
4. Read one of the books listed by one of the top 5 authors that appear on the "If you like..." page.

Hopefully that makes sense. If you don't have any favorite authors listed on your profile page, you can just find the author page and start at step #3 above. Here is how to find an author page:

1. Search for your favorite author, using the main LT search function.
2. In the yellow box on the left side of the page, click on "Authors."
3. Once on that page, the first name listed is usually the main author page. Click on that.

If anyone knows an easier way, please feel free to let me know and I'll change the instructions. That's just how I do it, and I have a tendency to over-complicate things.

Thanks Kerri! - Another LT feature that I didn't know existed. So much fun!

#73 - I know! Isn't it great? I plan to use it a lot this year.

> 72

Hey! Even I never saw that feature before!!

..and I practically live here in LT. ;)

72, 73, 76. That was one of the first things I discovered about LT, and one of my favourite things (it's the one that seems to work best for me).

72> Not sure when that feature appeared, but I'm not sure it's completely functional at the moment. I saw it eons ago, voted on the authors also eons ago and I just now looked at it when you mentioned the challenge. The authors are supposed to move up and down based on votes. Except, that's the same list I saw long ago, just with my ratings. And the authors have not been pushed down or pushed up based on my ratings.

Still, an interesting way to check out some other authors which may or may not be related.

> 78

The authors are supposed to move up and down based on votes.

Maybe we should try to vote on the authors and let TPTB know if this feature is not working. I'd say to direct your concerns to Jeremy.

ETA: I just tested this feature, and it does seem to work for me. The thing is, though, that simply starring an author to your favor doesn't shoot the author to the top. There are other factors in the algorithm that gives the authors their place in the rankings.

ETA2: Yikes! I just gave one author a bad ranking and knocked her out of the rankings all together!

...so, Mike, it's working!! :D

I'm a bit of a wuss, I would feel so bad about knocking an author out of the rankings! I just like to give everybody good ratings :P

Madeline - the Edeet Ravel title that was nominated for the Giller Prize, Wall of light is unfortunately #3 in her Tel Aviv trilogy. I have the first book but not up to reading the whole trilogy this month.

> 80

I would feel so bad about knocking an author out of the rankings!

I hear you, Britt, but for every bad author I knock out of the rankings, a better one will get in!

> 81

Kerry, I actually have Look For Me (#2 of that trilogy) here at home. I already ready the first book. With all the series/trilogies challenges that were posted for January, surely there should be some spot into which I can insert it! :)

By the way, the first book Ten Thousand Lovers is great. The ending is very moving.

#82 Mind you, the rankings are not meant to be about the quality of the author, but the appropriateness of the recommendation, as I understand it. I have tried to do my ratings in terms of whether I agree that this author's books would be enjoyed by someone who enjoyed the first author's books. It's just as subjective a question of course, but not the same as whether you think the author is a good or bad one.

I understand that, but I get my impression of the authors from the names of the books which are listed along with the author names. However, I would neither want to recommend an author nor book that I didn't like.

Well, it isn't about "bad/good" author, i's about matching authors. Like I voted on Pete Abrams similarities. It had Scott Adams. Adams = Dilbert. Pete Abrams = SLuggy Freelance. Not similar comics, but both comics. I think I rated Adams 4 stars. David Weber second on list. Weber writes Fantasy and Science Fiction. No comics, not even graphic novels. I gave him 1 star (lowest at the time I rated). Not because I disliked Weber at the time, but because Weber's work is not similar to Pete Abrams work.

ETA: or I could read the rest of the thread before replying. heh.

re: it working - admittedly I was going with past ratings and not attempting to rate new authors since I had already rated Weber 1 star, he remained in second position on Abrams list despite my being the only rating and others having higher ratings below Weber on thelist.

I'm not sure it's completely about similarities. To me, it's more about, "if you like this first author, you will like these works by this second author (and basing it on the works named).

However, even if two authors are similar, could you, in all good conscience recommend an author whom you didn't like and whose work you didn't like because they were "similar"? I'm talking about if you loved the first author and hated both the second author and the work of the second author.

Well, look what I started! : ) It seems we might be resurrecting the somewhat well-hidden "If you like" feature. I actually haven't played around with the ratings much yet, but I will.

christiguc and I both ended up choosing the same book based on different favorite authors -- cool!!

Question about #3 - are shared reads allowed or does my edition have to qualify as well?

>90 cyderry: Shared reads are allowed as long as the original person's book qualifies.

Wandering_star -- is the emphasis on your challenge the nationality of the author or the location in which the story takes place, or do they both have to be outside N. America or Europe? For instance, some readers might want to add Colin Cotterill's Laos-based mysteries (he is a Brit residing in Thailand); Qiu Xiaolong now lives and works in the United States but writes about his native China, and there's a book on the wiki by a South African whose novel is set purely in England. Clarification very welcome... Thanks!

#89 - I saw that! Neat!

Chatterbox - thanks for the question! My intention was to look at non-Western genre fiction, so I think it should be both about the author and the setting. Therefore, Qiu's books would fit because he is native to China and the setting is there - they also fit well with my intention because I think that they are written to give a bit of an insight into China as well as being good detective stories. Cotterill wouldn't because he's a Brit, similarly the Mma Ramotswe series or Paolo Bacigalupi's The Wind Up Girl (sf, set in Thailand, US author).

I've just started a thread for recommendations, reviews and discussions - come on over!

In Challenge 3, Faber and Faber UK remains an independent publisher, whereas the imprint has been swallowed in the US by Macmillan. This is a link to something about independent UK publishers, though I can think of others - eg Constable and Robinson, Bitter Lemon.

http://www.portobellobooks.com/The-Independent-Alliance

Planned reads for the month:
Challenge #2: Read a book by an author you hadn't heard of before you joined LibraryThing
✔Bloodsucking Fiends: A Love Story - Christopher Moore (1.5)
✔Endangered - Eliot Schrefer (5)
✔Mrs. Woolf and the Servants: An Intimate History of Domestic Life in Bloomsbury - Alison Light (4)
✔The Rocky Mountain Moving Picture Association - Loren D. Estleman - Audiobook (4)
Challenge #5: Read a work of genre fiction from outside Europe/North America (specify the country/genre)
Mindgame- Yang-May Ooi
Challenge #6: Read a Book That Was Downloaded onto Your Electronic Reader at Least Six Months Ago
✔Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell - Susanna Clarke - Nook (4)
Challenge #7: Read a book with a B somewhere in the title or author's name
Moved to February Bonobo Handshake: A Memoir of Love and Adventure in the Congo - Vanessa Woods
The Hobbit - J. R. R. Tolkien - Audiobook
✔Why be happy when you could be normal? - Jeanette Winterson
Challenge #10: Read a book about Native Americans (or some other aboriginal group) and crime
✔The Blessing Way - Tony Hillerman - Audiobook (4)
✔The Branch and the Scaffold - Loren D. Estleman - Audiobook (3.75)
✔Dance Hall of the Dead - Tony Hillerman (4.5)
✔Iron Lake - William Kent Krueger - Audiobook (2.5)
✔Listening Woman - Tony Hillerman - Audiobook, Book Club (3.5)
✔The Oatman Massacre: A Tale of Desert Captivity and Survival - Brian McGinty - (3.75)
✔Seldom Disappointed - Tony Hillerman
A Thief of Time - Tony Hillerman
Challenge #12: Read a book that has a wise man or a king as a character, or has the word 'wise' or 'king' in the title or author's name
✔King of Capri - Jeanette Winterson (4)
Challenge #13: Read a book that has won or was nominated for the Giller Prize
Alligator - Lisa Moore
Challenge #21: Read a book that you meant to read in 2012
✔Mystic River - Dennis Lehane (5)
✔Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain - Oliver Sacks (4)
Challenge #22: Read a book mostly filled with pictures
✔Hillerman Country - Tony Hillerman (5)
✔Mothers & Daughters: An Exploration in Photographs - Tillie Olsen, Julie Olsen Edwards (5)

> 96

Good luck with Yalo. I'm finding it very confusing, but maybe the confusion will clear up, the more I read of it.

So many great challenges and here I am away from home and my books! I will be home after the New Year and can hardly wait to jump into the 2013 Challenges!

Challenge #16: Read a children/youth book written by a German speaking author from Germany, Austria or Switzerland. Read it in Gerfman or any language you have access to. There are Johanna Spyri, Lisa Tetzner, Kurt Held, Michael Ende, Otfried Preussler, James Krüss, Karl May and some others.

Have fun

edited to clarify: the books must be published in German first. So, a book published by a German author in another language first would not qualify. Yes, and Erich Kästner surely counts

some more: Christine Nöstlinger, Cornelia Funke, Gudrun Pausewang, Peter Härtling, Ursula Poznanski, Andreas Steinhöfel, Kai Meyer, Wolfgang Hohlbein, Olga Meyer, Johann David Wyss, Damaris Kofmehl.

99: Erich Kastner? And does an author who was born and brought up in Germany (and of course speaking German) until she was 9, eventually settling in England and writing in English, count? (Judith Kerr)

100: good question, but no, it wouldn't count. I clarify: the work must be written also in German.

I just realized that I am not quite hundred (du bist nicht ganz hundert - is that expression known in English too?)

Paul -- not an expression known in English. Not the full shilling??

full shilling? yeah, sounds like it ;) thanks

Challenge 17 is to read a book with a prime number in the title. This is a number greater than 1 that cannot be divided by any other whole number than one and itself,

examples: 2, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13, 17, 19, 23, 29, 31, 37, 41, 43.

Here's Wikipedia on prime numbers - there is some useful information here though I certainly haven't attempted to read all the more technical maths stuff.

1. The prime numbers can be included in related words - thirteenth or 13th are acceptable

2. As words they can be embedded in the title - I've just found a few obscure books with an embedded seven.

3. A number as a whole word in a spelled out date would be acceptable, such as nineteen in Nineteen Eighty Three by David Peace

4. Year dates which are prime numbers may be used eg 2011 (do tell me if I'm wrong about that)

5. A number in figures that is part of another number can not be used, such as the embedded 19 in 1984 and other dates which are composite numbers (they can be divided)

Nevermind. elkiedee has answered my question in her post.

#104: You are not wrong about 2011, Luci. It is prime.

For challenge 16, Emil and the Detectives by Erich Kästner is very good.

Edit: I'll be reading The Neverending Story by Michael Ende. I didn't realize this was a German translation!

Streamsong, what was your question?

I was wondering about numbers written out as words, which, according to your post, looks like that should be OK. I suspect I won't finish A Tale of Two Cities by midnight tomorrow (although I'm going to try!)

Yes, that is fine. This started off as books with Eleven in the title, though it was only when I looked at Wikipedia that I realised two is a prime number (I think only odd numbers can be prime, but of course two is an exception).

Yes, only odd numbers can be prime (except for 2), as every even number can be divided by 2... Hmm, shall have to look around! If I don't finish 11/22/63 by Stephen King, it could squeeze in there, with the 11.

Paul - Thanks for posting the German YA/childrens book challenge, now the pressure is off for me to finish The Night of Wishes by Michael Ende by today. It is set on New Year's Eve so a good time of year to read it.
Austrian authors will count for this challenge too so I'll recommend Christine Nöstlinger's books.
Some German books & writers I've enjoyed reading (in translation) include Cornelia Funke, Gudrun Pausewang, Kurt Held, Crutches by Peter Härtling, Erebos by Ursula Poznanski, Andreas Steinhöfel, Kai Meyer.

And look out for picture books illustrated by Wolf Erlbruch

Suz, I have a question about your "limited series" challenge:

I see your point about an author stopping, as opposed to dying---is it fair to argue that the author "stopped" if there was a break of some years between the final novel in the series and the author's death?

'Cos I've got a squillion of those... :)

I fear it might be rather difficult to get my hands on German children's books... I'm only a member of our university library, and I don't think they carry any children's books :/ I'd really like to reread The Neverending Story though, so I'll try to get my hands on a copy :P

Lyz -- yes, excellent point. Let's say, for argument's sake, a gap of more than 7 years between the final novel and the author's death, OR where the last book the author published was not part of the series in question. I'll also accept it if it was a very short series -- maximum of six books. I realize this sounds arbitrary, but some writers (like Ellis Peters) were writing until they became too aged to really focus. The explicit idea that the book is part of a finite series also is OK, so even though technically the Millennium Trilogy was originally viewed as being six or seven novels, it's clear that Stieg Larsson saw it as finite even though only the trilogy was published.

So -- Ngaio Marsh wouldn't qualify, as her last novel featured Roderick Alleyn, was published in the year of her death, and the series features 32 books. Nor would Patrick O'Brian, who left a half-finished manuscript among his possessions when he died, featuring Jack Aubrey and Stephen Maturin. Among the non-dead authors, Colin Dexter is fine, since he kills off Morse, his fictional creation. It kinda goes to the author's intent -- do they intend to be done with this particular series of novels? Some state it explicitly, by bumping off a major character, or by calling it a trilogy, quartet, quintet, etc. Others imply it, by moving on to other projects. For instance, Kate Charles has written two series of ecclesiastical mysteries, the first of which consisted of five books. The last of those was published in the fall of 1995, and since then she has gone on to write several stand-alone books and begin a new series. Although she hasn't explicitly rejected the idea of a new novel in the series, the fact that 17 years has elapsed and she has moved on to do lots of other things indicates that she's left that behind.

Hope this (possibly over-detailed) explanation of the thinking behind the challenge helps. If you want any feedback on specific titles, feel free to post them or shoot me a PM.

It helps me - thanks! :)

I have no planned reads. Though currently reading Dying on the Vine. Which qualifies for nothing yet.

I could make a vaguely specific challenge, I suppose, something like "Read a book written by an American Author set in a non-English country" but I have a few days to kick the book around (A really specific challenge would be "Read Dying on the Vine", slightly less specific than that would be "Read an American Author written book set in Italy in the present time that involves dead bodies.") A less specific one would be "Read a book by an author born in the location you currently live" (since Elkins was born in Brooklyn).

Maybe some challenge will turn up that covers Dying on the Vine.

Mike, how about a challenge that refers to growing vegetation -- vines would fall into that?

I'm really hoping that people will post a few more challenges, go on Mike!

Who is Letters from High Latitudes published by? (I gather there are a few different editions).

I wish I could change my challenge. I can't find anything I want to read for it!

Well, the vines in the title, Dying on the Vine, are grape vines on a vineyard. So growing and raising wine. Though, so far, that's only in the first chapter. Have a day off tomorrow, I'll look to see if I add something.

>121 elkiedee:. I'm with you elkiedee. We need more challenges for January. . . Come on all you creative TIOLIers

123 - well, if you removed that debut work part, I could add Dying on the Vine to that challenge. heh. Elkins born in January. 17th book in a series isn't exactly the debut work for him, though.

123: On the Home Page on LT each day there's a section which shows who was born and died that day, it might be more inspiring than at present, but it does depend on the authors you read - there is more information there often on authors who have died and who have had obituaries in publications which print all their dates, there's often less information on very current authors and particularly in some areas - I've noticed the chicklit readers are much more active on GoodReads than LT.

127: Sounds like Project Gutenberg to me, anyway, a volunteer organisation digitising books is definitely not the Big Six.

Another idea, Mike -- a challenge related to a word in the title referring to some aspect of wine. Grapes, wine, glass, bottle, cork, drink, sip, vineyard, harvest, -- and vine....

Yes, more challenges please. I need a place to put Mystic River and Musicophilia.

> 132

Yes, more challenges please. I need a place to put Mystic River and Musicophilia.

LOL!

Elizabeth I would also fit in Challenge #7 Read a book with a B somewhere in the title or author's name

134: I should have spotted that - I have a book I'd like to read by Elizabeth Speller.

136. If there's no king you could count someone like Francis Walsingham as a "wise man". He was far from stupid...

Yes, seconding the request for more challenges, I have a couple of books which need a home! Also, it won't fit mine, but a wine-themed challenge is surely a good fit with this usually rather austere time of year...

I think Walsingham was most dead during the time in which this book is set, late in Elizabeth's reign, and the only king is strictly offstage (Phillip of Spain). But Robert Cecil (son of William) was certainly a wise man and is a character here. or you could interpret "man" in the generic sense, in which case Elizabeth herself qualifies...

Can anyone figure out how to squeeze in Patrick Leigh Fermor by Artemis Cooper? No b's, sadly... It is published by John Murray, a division of Hachette -- do they count as Big Six?

138: What are they?

139: Sorry, yes, Hachette is definitely Big Six.

136&139: I did say I'd leave it up to you to decide if you thought someone a 'wise man', but I will insist on the 'man'-part of the challenge... So only a king or wise man applies, queens or wise women don't count!

The main one is Divisadero by Michael Ondaatje, which I'm reading for the Monthly Author Theme group so it has to be this month! Also Immortality or The Joke by Milan Kundera.

Because we need more challenges for January, here's the New Year challenge.

#18- Read a book with the word 'new' in the title. 'New' may be embedded.

Sigh... still no luck with Paddy's bio...

Just a minor point: Tanglewood, you put Lolita in the first challenge, but it has a duplicate letter (the l)! I've been thinking about re-reading Lolita myself to join in the group-read, but haven't really decided on it yet. It would fit in challenge #7 though, so you could put it there :)

142: My Kindle copy of Divisadero is published by Bloomsbury, independent publisher, not Big Six - I've just realised that you must be based in the UK from looking at your profile, is yours?

Immortality is published here by Faber & Faber, who are still an independent in the UK though not the US.

>145 Britt84: ha, I can't believe I missed that :)

Hello, everybody and a happy New Year. Here's to the new reading challenges 2013 will bring us!

> 149

I can't believe I missed that

I found that my challenge was really a lot harder than it looked at first glance.

The other issue I'm having is that now I'm having a hard time finding a book that I really want to read for my own challenge (as someone else remarked earlier). I'm giving a second book a try. It might work. :P

I'm a bit obsessed with the no duplicate letters thing, I'm checking ALL my books :P I'm especially motivated by cbl_tn's 13 letter title though, I sort of want to beat that. Don't think it's going to happen though.
And I quite frequently come across books that I think qualify, and then realizing half an hour later that they don't qualify at all, so I can totally understand overlooking the two l's in Lolita :)

Oh, and there's another one: The Last Unicorn has two t's! I think if I look long enough, one of these days I'll also find a duplicate letter in Death in Cyprus ;)

I'm hoping that someone will come up with a title with more than 13 letters. It would be fun to see how close we can get to 26.

I'm a little embarrassed to admit that I didn't have to work very hard to find Death in Cyprus. I had already made a short list of books I wanted to read in January and it was on the list. It was pretty easy to count the letters in the titles on my list and see which ones qualified for Madeline's challenge.

>153 Samantha_kathy: Now that's smart... I so never would have thought of that :P

Main challenge: So far, I found 2 books with 10 letters and 1 with 11 letters (Oracle Night)... Maybe I'll detect one with even more... :)

Ok, new year, new luck and reading fun :)

Here, my possible reads for this month TIOLI

Challenge 2: Read a book by an author you hadn't heard of before you joined LibraryThing
The Gift of Rain - Tan Twan Eng
The Sparrow - Maria Doria Russell

Challenge 4: Read the debut work of an author born in January
The Catcher in the Rye - J.D. Salinger

Challenge 5: Read a work of genre fiction from outside Europe/North America
Purple Hibiscus - Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Challenge 6: Read a Book That Has Been Downloaded onto Your Electronic Reader at Least Six Months Ago
Life of Pi - Yann Martel

Challenge 7: Read a book with a B somewhere in the title or author's name
Warbreaker - Brandon Sanderson

Challenge 11: Read a book that's either the first or the last in a series, BUT it has to be the opposite of whatever book is listed before
The Knife of Never Letting Go - Patrick Ness

Challenge 13: Read a book that has won or was nominated for the Giller Prize
Oryx and Crake - Margaret Atwood
The Year of the Flood - Margaret Atwood

Read a children/youth book written by a German speaking author
Der Wunschpunsch - Michael Ende
Momo - Michael Ende

as I had a terrible reading slump over the past couple of month, I hope this will help me to pick up again :)

A few challenge questions:

Challenge #14--Kerri, if the first 5 authors that come up under "if you like" are already well-known to me, is it okay for me to choose one of their books, or is the intent to discover a new author? (In some cases I might have to go much further than 5.)

Challenge #11--what about translated series that are translated into English in a different order than they were published? Can I use the first book translated as the first book in the series?

(152) Britt84, somewhere it was stated that the word 'the' was not included when considering duplicate letters. I don't know who said it, but I accepted it. :)

#158 - Hi Anne - Please feel free to choose an author that you are already familiar with for Challenge 15. That's fine with me.

Happy New Year, everyone. I'm still sort of on holiday, but I hope your year has started well.

I'd like to propose, for Challenge #20, that you read a book by a new-to-you method. For example, listen to an audio book, if you've not tried that before. I am going to try to borrow an e-book from my library, which is an intriguing concept to me.

*************************************************************************
Challenge #20: Read a book by a new-to-you method
*************************************************************************

>159 fuzzi:: ow, really? I missed that... Skipping articles would increase the number of books that qualify.
It's not mentioned in the first post though; Madeline, is it ok to skip articles for your challenge?

> 159

The alphabetical order of the wiki does not count the words "the", "a", or "an", however my challenge #1 does include those words as counting...so be careful!! :D

> 182

Madeline, is it ok to skip articles for your challenge?

Harumph!! Absolutely not! :)

#161 -- I don't think there is a new to me method of reading books -- e-books, borrowed e-books, audio cassettes, CDs, digital audio downloads, plain old printed paper, serial novels... I haven't tried Braille, but then I don't know how to read it (and kinda think of it as a language, rather than a "method".)

thoughts?? am I debarred from this? LOL!

I wonder if how you received them would qualify - trying Audible or Net Galley or winning a blog contest or ILL - would that work, humoress?

I already use Audible, NetGalley, ILL. I have some things I have won via Twitter, or have received directly from publishers. While not unprecedented, they would be highly unusual for me...

Madeline, is it ok to skip articles for your challenge?

Harumph!! Absolutely not! :)

:(

You might want to add the word 'are' to make it perfectly clear:

Addendum: The words "the", "a", and "an", part of the book title.

>>#163, 164 - I thought at first I'd breezed this one, since my first book of the year was Four Just Men by Edgar Wallace...only to discover belatedly that its correct title is THE Four Just Men. Oh, the angst!

>168 fuzzi:

Why "are", fuzzi?

> 169

Yeah. You have to look out for the hidden definite article. I'm going by the book title as it is listed on LT, not how many of you are listing them! ;)

Do you want me to start a separate thread where you can find books qualified for challenge #1 and list suggestions? I don't mind doing that.

I just thought it would be clearer that way?

Addendum: The words "the", "a", and "an" are part of the book title.

See?

Or maybe I'm just con-fuzzled, as usual...?

It's okay, I just grabbed a book off my TBR stack, Tex...

;)

> 173

LOL! I see. I thought you wanted me to say that the word "are" was part of the book title. It was me who was con-fuzzled.

That'll work. :)

And updated the Wiki...

:D

I have spent at least TWO hours here, reading and commenting on all (well, not quite all) the new threads...

...if LT were on an electricity meter, it would be spinning fast enough to go into orbit!

>178 fuzzi:

LOL!!

I tried to access the tioli meter page from "Challenges #7-12" and was lead unto the December 12 meter page. Is that only my frog -äh- laptop which jumps to the wrong page?

It's working now, paulstalder!

I think that this month's Challenge #7 (The letter "B," somewhere) will be my most used. It's amazing how many titles and author names contain the wonderful letter "B"! It's brilliant! Breathtaking! Bee-yootiful!

Thanks, cyderry.

Karen O.

I'm wondering whether The Secret Keeper by Kate Morton would fit in Challenge 5 - Australian author who still lives in Brisbane but sets most of this novel (and her others) in the UK. Otherwise, I need another challenge for my first book finished in 2013. Anyone?

I'm back, but I'm too tired to try to figure out what I'm reading and where it will fit. I do have some ideas though, and I'm sure that there will be a few shared reads, so I'm heading to look for those so I can at least get something on the TIOLI before tomorrow.

I just noticed that the deadline for adding a challenge is listed as midnight 1 January rather than midnight 4 January as normal? Is that a change or a typo?

> 180

Fixed. Thanks for the heads up, Paul.

> 184

Typo. I'll change it to January 4th.

Here is my, as always, overly ambitious challenge list for January!

TIOLI #2 - Read a book by an author you hadn't heard of before you joined LibraryThing
Mistress Shakespeare by Karen Harper
A View of the Harbour by Elizabeth Taylor

TIOLI #4 - Read the debut work of an author born in January
Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger

TIOLI #6 - Read a Book That Has Been Downloaded onto Your Electronic Reader at Least Six Months Ago
✔ The Help by Kathryn Stockett
The Hunt for Red October by Tom Clancy

TIOLI #7 - Read a book with a B somewhere in the title or author's name
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling
The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien
✔ Playmates by Robert B.Parker
The Redbreast - Jo Nesbo
Villette by Charlotte Bronte

TIOLI #8 - Read a book that is part of a limited series, such as a trilogy
✔ Fifty Shades of Grey by E. L. James

TIOLI #12. Read a book that has a wise man or a king as a character, or has the word 'wise' or 'king' in the title or author's name
Yseult: A Tale of Love in the Age of King Arthur by Ruth Nestvold

TIOLI #13 - Read a book that has won or was nominated for the Giller Prize
Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood (won 1996)
✔ The Cat's Table by Michael Ondaatje (nominated 2011)
The Sisters Brothers by Patrick (nominated 2011)

TIOLI #14 - read a book written by an author with a Three part name
Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace

TIOLI #15 - Read a book you discovered through use of the LibraryThing "If You like..." feature
Palindrome by Stuart Woods

Hi cathy, that's a very nice reading list you have compiled for this month challenge! Good luck!

HELP! Has anyone of you an idea in which challenge I can fit Low Town by Daniel Polansky? My brain cells are all bit fuzzi at present and I don't seem to be able to find a space for this book :)

I'm trying to find a place to put Get Off the Unicorn by Anne McCaffrey. Suggestions?

For challenge number 19, I googled books written in 1952 and found Baby Animals by Garth Williams. This was given to my son on his 2nd birthday in and I just re-read it. A very cute Golden Books with beautiful illustrations.

Review is here: http://www.librarything.com/work/178992/reviews/92808843

So, nobody's interested in #20? Or are other people looking for clarification?

Well, I really don't think there's a new method of reading books left for me; I have read books myself, in paper form as well as electronically, I've listened to audiobooks (only two so far, so if it were an unfrequent method, that would fit, but the challenge says new, so I guess it doesn't count)... I don't really know what else there is, anybody have any other 'methods' that I might try?

193. "Even" read books while walking? That's a regular habit of mine. I don't see what's unusual about that. What else are you supposed to do while walking? Look at people? Look at the street? Actually see where you're going? Bah!

I'm another one who has tried all the kinds of reading. I can't come up with anything new.

That said, I was excited to find out all the fun books that were published in 1977. I'll probably be reading Quartet in Autumn for the challenge.

Just revisited the lists to see if I could pick up some shared reads, and I did!

I'm joining in for The Cruelest Month by Louise Penny in challenge 2 and The Round House by Louise Erdrich (two "Louise"s--huh!). I'm reading A Plague of Doves, I have The Round House requested, and if I don't get it soon enough, I'll find a rental copy. Done, and done!

I was thrilled that my read of Shadow of Night for the 13-letter-title challenge is now shared--Yay!

I'm finally getting started on George R.R. Martin's Game of Thrones in challenge 11--anybody just been itching to get started on "A Song of Fire and Ice"?

Karen O.

197. I've been dying to start reading A Song of Ice and Fire but I'm not allowed to start until I've read at least 2 1/2 of my January books.

>189 ccookie: ccookie based on the list that Morphidae posted I think you could put it in ''challenge 3: Read a book that was NOT published by one of the big six'' since the wiki says first published by Del Ray/ Balentine books and they don't appear to be on the list.

(188) My brain cells are all bit fuzzi at present...

Say, WHAT???

;)

Karen hopefully, I'll get to it next week or the next.

It's too bad I don't read faster because I saw about 7 or 8 other books that are on my reading list for this year that I just can't fit in this month's reading. :-)

It's curious that the person who posted challenge 20 didn't even sign up for a book in that category. I simply don't know another way to try as I finally listened to books last year--both on CD and by download. That was about the last method for me.

Well, I've signed up for four:
Memoirs of a Midget
Lolita TIOLI 7
The Trail of the Serpent TIOLI 7
and
The Sisters Brothers TIOLI 13
I've already completed a book that would fit TIOLI 12, but not sure if I'll include it.
Several of these are large-ish books and my life's sort of "iffy', so I hesitate to add any more, but will give it some thought.
Forgot how much fun this can be, if I just don't go all CDO...

Hurray for The Trail of the Serpent in challenge #7! :D

> fuzzi *blush* well that's what I say when my brain cells do feel a bit scrambled up. So welcome in my brain. Make yourself nice and comfy there.

Actually, I found a place for my book *Hooray* it will go into challenge two. *smile*

>>199 fairywings: Del Rey/ Ballantine is an imprint of Random House.

>199 fairywings: and 207
Yeah, I had already looked at the 'publisher' angle and found the connection of Del Rey to Random House. Darn!
Oh well, it stays on my reading list even if it doesn't fit anywhere! I guess I could create my own challenge but I think I will just leave it for now. I suspect most people have their reading planned by now.

Now that I get how TIOLI works, I fear I may be hooked....

Here is my plan:

#6 The Widow's War
#7 The Hobbit and Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore
#8 The Giver
#9 Gathering Blue
#15 Bloodroot

If I read all these I will be thrilled. Now to see if any others on my to read list fit in this category....

> 209

Liz, that's not the worst thing in the world... :)

Oh I am so in ... :-)

Welcome to all who are new to the TIOLI challenges. If anything looks confusing, just ask your questions here. We'll all be more than delighted to help you out. Have fun!

I ordered a second-hand copy of Die Unendliche Geschichte online for challenge #16; it just came in and it's actually a really nice, illustrated edition, so I'm very happy with it :) I'll try to finish it by the end of the month :P

Read a book with no duplicate letters in its title

Read a book by an author you hadn't heard of before you joined LibraryThing

I'm going to start here:
Two Graves (9) - Douglas Preston & Lincoln Childs as my book with no duplicate letters in its title

Susan Kay as my author I hadn't heard of before I joined LibraryThing (thank you SantaThing!)

>210 SqueakyChu:

Nope, not bad at all, Madeline. It is appearing that my time should open up a bit, and boy am I ready! Thanks for making this happen - it looks like tremendous fun!

it looks like tremendous fun!

It is. :D

Re Big Six publishers challenge - Headline is part of the Hachette empire, so Neverwhere doesn't fit there.

>217 elkiedee: Thanks. I've checked the rest and added Headline to my original post.

I have a question about reading a book that a wise man or a king as a character, or has the word 'wise' or 'king' in the title or author's name. This may be stretching it a bit, but I'm about to embark on Allen Gisberg's biography, Dharma Lion and wondered since it had the word "Lion" in it that would count. Also, because I think of all the Beats he was the one who was the most stable and outlived them all.

Nope, sorry, just the words 'wise' or 'king' count... But I'll allow you to put him up as a 'wise man', I'd say Ginsberg counts as wise...

Folks, just wanted to remind you we've moved on to thread 2.