Take It or Leave It Challenge - November 2010 - Page 3

Continued from Page 2.

For those new to this challenge: More info and monthly index can be found in post #1 of this thread.
Simple directions for posting to the wiki can be found at the bottom of each month's wiki page.


...logo by cyderry

------------------
Hi Challengers!

Welcome to November’s TIOLI challenge which is to Read a Book in Alphabetical Order.

READ THESE DIRECTIONS CAREFULLY as this challenge will work a bit differently than previous challenges!

I picked the first book which has a title starting with letter “A”. The next person to sign up for this challenge may either match an existing book (in this case, the one I’ve already picked whose title starts with letter “A”) or add a book with a title starting with letter “B” (the next letter in the alphabet). The third challenger may match any existing book (“A” or “B”) or add a book starting with the next letter of the alphabet (“C”).

No letters may be skipped. Not even “Q”, "X" or “Z”. After “Z”, begin again with an “A” title, but add it after the “Z” title for this challenge only, please. You may list more than one book for this challenge, but not sequentially. In other words, one person may *not* list two books back to back at the same time (in case of a shared book, this might happen, but then it would be okay).

To be consistent with alphabetization elsewhere within the TIOLI challenges, the words “a”, “an”, and “the” will *not* count as the beginning word of any title for this challenge. Sorry!

In summary, either match an existing book title (anywhere within this challenge) or add another book in alphabetical order only.

Addendum #1: No two books beginning with the same letter of the alphabet may be listed unless they are shared books or unless we being a second (or third) “A” to “Z” cycle.

Addendum #2: A shared read may be added at any time and may be slipped in anywhere to the main challenge.

In case you decide not to read a book you listed for this challenge, please do NOT remove it from the wiki until after November 30 (or you’ll mess up the alphabetical order. I will remove all further unread books from the this challenge when I do the monthly stats).

As always…have fun!

-----------------

Wiki Page 1 - Challenges # 1-8
#1: Read a Book in Alphabetical Order - thread
#2: Read a Book translated from the French
#3: Read a Book whose Title Includes the Letter Z
#4: Read a Book written by a Nobel Laureate - thread
#5: Read a Book about the World of Harry Potter
#6: Read a Book with Four Letters or Less in the Title
#7: Read a Book with a World War I or World War II setting - thread
#8: Read a Book that has been reprinted after being out of print for a while

Wiki Page 2 - Challenges #9-16
#9: Read a Book recommended by Stasia (L to Z)
#10: Read a Book about History (Fiction or Nonfiction) - thread
#11: Read a Book that follows (prequel/sequel/series/related) another Book and is written by a woman - thread
#12: Read a Book by an author whose first name ends with the same letter with which his/her last name starts
#13: Read a book whose title refers to heaven or hell
#14: Read a book that has won or been nominated for the Hurston/Wright Legacy Award
#15: Read a book whose title contains the word ‘color', 'colour', or a an actual color
#16: Read a book published after 2005 and has 5 or more words in its title

Wiki Page 3 - Challenges #17 and on
#17: Read a book about or featuring time travel - thread

Zoe's thread for non-TIOLI books! :)
-----------------

Other Fun Stuff (not part of the TIOLI challenge):
1. The November 2010 TIOLI Meter - Some challengers use this page to track which challenges they're doing.
2. I Know I'm a TIOLI Addict When... - Frog Logo is on this page!

Terri made me do it!

I was wondering how long it would take before someone showed up to lay down "the law"! ;-)

I threatened to take away her frog.

lol, can't resist that darn alphabet challenge, I've added a 'g' book and am currently reading my 'e' and 'n' entries.

LOL!! ...and it gets longer and longer...and longer!

Thread police, on duty 24 hours a day.

I added an 'H' title to the main challenge, so we are on to 'I' now.

Interesting month. I notice that potential TIOLI points dropped from 107 to 87. Is that typical?

People having too much fun with the alphabetical challenge, perhaps?

Last night I finished My Kind of Girl by Buddhadeva Bose for challenge #8 (Read a Book that has been reprinted after being out of print for a while); it was originally published in 1951, and Archipelago Books reissued it this month.

Today I'll resume reading Death in the Andes by Mario Vargas Llosa for my Nobel laureate challenge.

> 9

potential TIOLI points dropped

I corrected it to the 121 points it really is. I thought 87 sounded "off", but was too tired to recount it at the time.

Thanks for the warning!

Completed The Lacuna for #9 challenge Read a bood recommended by Stasia L-Z. Very interesting book. Still continuing on with Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix and perhaps I'll begin Glory by Nabokov.

> 9

You know, counting TIOLI points has now reached the point that it's like doing sums on a hand-held calculator. Every time I add them up, I get a different total. Keep me on my toes, folks!

I forgot to mark The Brutal Telling as completed on the wiki. It looks like I might be over there awhile checking out all the new entries to the alphabet challenge. As soon as I finish Bury Your Dead, another shared read, I'll start in on my own entry to the alphabet...Love in the Time of Cholera. I'm not looking forward to this one, but it is for a RL reading group discussion in early December.

#10 I haven't yet started on Death in the Andes - hope to get onto it soon so we can make it a shared read...

If there's ever an award for "most books read, not shared," it'd be mine.

Donna, I finally will have a shared book when you finish Bury Your Dead.

Madeline, does breaking TIOLI points down by challenge, as we've been doing, help at all?

Donna, I thought Love in the Time of Cholera was a wonderful book. I hope you like it.

>16 lindapanzo: are we supposed to be doing that for the threads we create? I haven't been, but will if it's helpful.

#18 I don't know if we're supposed to do it. I noticed that some people did it for "actual TIOLI points" and "potential TIOLI points" so I did it for mine.

Mine has no actual TIOLI points yet, though it will if I ever finish the book I've been carrying around to fill time, when I've got a few minutes to wait, here and there. From Altoids to Zima

Truth be told, I think I did it for another thread, too.

#14 I loved Love in the time... too Donna (many years ago mind). I hope you enjoy it.

I've finished Wolf Hall for the history challenge and posted some thoughts on the thread for that challenge.

I make it 116 points at the moment - 22 already completed and another 94 on the Wiki.

> 14

...Love in the Time of Cholera. I'm not looking forward to this one,

Oh, Donna! I *adored* Love in the Time of Cholera. I hope, by the time you finish that book, you've changed your mind about it.

> 16

Madeline, does breaking TIOLI points down by challenge, as we've been doing, help at all?

Turthfully, I've been ignoring those totals because they change all the time when people add or delete entries. I have no idea if they're accurate when I do my totals (which I do at really random times). Whoever wants to do those subtotals can if they want, but I personally think it's too much work.

The only time that the *final* totals really mean something is after the fact - i.e. when I do the monthly stats of COMPLETED books and shared reads for the previous month. I like to get those numbers as acurate as I can.

ETA: I update the final total periodically because it's like "Rah! Rah! Go, team, go!", but that's about it.

ETA2: By the way, others can update the final total (on all three pages of the wiki, that is) during the month (even daily, if you'd like!) if I don't do it often enough for you. That, however, is totally not necessary (and borders on the obsessive). ;)

I finished Death in the Andes by Mario Vargas Llosa for my Nobel laureate challenge, and I'll start two more books for this challenge tomorrow, A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway and Désert by Jean-Marie Gustave LeClézio.

I also just finished Remarkable Creatures for the History challenge and it's truly remarkable from the choice of subjects to the characters to the topic. Now I'm on to Great House by Nicole Krauss for the same challenge

#25 -- I loved that when I read it earlier this year, and it's on my memorable books list for 2010 -- am always excited to find a new and different kind of historical novel, and that one, I thought was incredibly creative. For anyone who is looking for a book to read... :-)

Meanwhile, I couldn't resist adding to challenge #1. My personal list for that challenge definitely looks aspirational at this point.

>26 Chatterbox: Suzanne, are you referring to Remarkable Creatures or Great House? I loved the former, was not very fond of the latter.

Sorry, was thinking of Remarkable Creatures. Haven't read any Krauss yet, although I got an ARC of her new book at BookExpo and a discount copy of her last one at Strand last month. (it's one of the numerous books listed on the first challenge...)

I've finished a couple more, loved The house on the Strand which was for the time travel challenge, and finished Illyria by Elizabeth Hand for the 'authors first name ends with same letter as surname' challenge. This was my first Elizabeth Hand book and her first at the young adult level, though definitely at the older end. She knows how to create atmosphere, and I really liked her style of writing, I've definitely been won over by this writer and will be looking out for more. Hand won the inaugural Shirley Jackson Award for psychological suspense for her book Generation Loss so I'll be adding that to my must-read list to begin with.

I love, love, love all three of my TIOLI books this week. Cutting for Stone is not what I expected & one of the best books I've read this year so far. The Year of the Flood is a great addition to the Oryx and Crake world and there's surprising humour in it. Plus, it was high time I revisited Mr Potter & his pals - I spent too many nights outside bookshops at midnight watching children getting excited about reading (OK, so maybe I was just an itsy bitsy bit excited too) not to read these at least biannually. I've had a storming reading week so next week, I'm going for another three & I'm only going to pick things that are on my shelves already and that are shared TIOLI reads (I think there's only one book that isn't a shared read for me this month).

I finished the restored edition of A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway for my Nobel laureate challenge this afternoon.

>30 klarusu: Nice work Claire! Wasn't Cutting for Stone just remarkable!? Glad to hear you liked Year of the Flood, too - that's on my list for next year.

I really like A Moveable Feast, it almost made me think I'd like Hemingway, but there's a little too much testosterone worship in his work for me.

Nine (!) challengers have either planned to read or finished reading Room by Emma Donoghue for the Four Letters or Less in the Title challenge.

Do I hear challengers number ten and eleven in the distance? :)

Anyone who read it want to give it a good word here?

I finished The Smithsonian Institution by Gore Vidal for the time travel challenge. I still have Wolf Hall for the history challenge, but I'm planning to read that over the Thanksgiving holiday. I think I'll join kidzdoc in reading A Moveable Feast.

I'll give Room a good word. * Word *

OK, so much for being excessively literal-minded. Seriously, it's a moving and thought-provoking novel, one that manages to deal with dark themes without swamping its reader in darkness. Read it!

Room - read it, but temper your expectations. It was a good book, but not nearly as mind blowing as I was lead to believe (I actually skimmed a couple of sections because I was bored). It's a great concept, there are some very dynamic and interesting sections, but if about 50 pages were trimmed throughout, I feel it would have been far more powerful.

I will mention that I'm a guy, and a couple of people have told me that means I don't have the genetic code to "get" this book. So, like everything, take my comments as only one of many.

I can see how a person might not like Room, but I can't understand skimming it. Could it really be a guy thing? Guys have kids. I don't get it.

Okay I finished the 754 pages of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Bring on the movie!

I enjoyed Room very much. I almost became bored with it but thankfully that was close to the end. I found it hard to put down.

I finished Blonde Roots by Bernardine Evaristo for challenge #14 (Read a book that has won or been nominated for the Hurston/Wright Legacy Award), but I didn't like it.

I'm very glad I read Room, even though I did feel like it dragged a bit in places.

>>38 Citizenjoyce: - I don't think it's a guy thing, but that's what some women told me as a reason why I didn't gush over its unbelievable power. But I'm glad to see some women also agreed with me on this post that it dragged in places (thank you Zoe). It was still a good book, I just think it was a combination of the ongoing 1st person writing style through the eyes of the boy (written in the voice of a five year old), and a little too much time establishing initially a sense of place and then a sense of wonder at his "new place". I think it would have made a great short story.

I finished a couple more TIOLI books: Zeitoun for the 'Z' challenge and Half Magic for the main challenge.

I finished Sag Harbor by Colson Whitehead for the Wright/Hurston Legacy award. It was extremely well-written and funny, but I think my patience for coming of age novels is wearing thin.

I've begun The Lives They Left Behind: Suitcases From A State Hospital Attic which explores 20th century psychiatric care in a state mental hospital for the History Challenge. I've been on the waiting list for this at the library, and I'm so glad its finally come in.

I finished Pereira Declares by Antonio Tabucchi this morning, for challenge #1, and it's one of the best novels I've read this year.

#43, I thought some of the things you mention about Room would have bothered me a lot more than they ended up doing; they were reservations that I had that stopped me reading the book for a month or two. But they turned out to be unfounded.

I definitely don't agree with the "guy thing". After all, even if someone can't identify with the mother or the captor, every guy at some stage has been a five year old little boy. That's like saying none of us have any imaginative powers, or ability to be moved by a good story. By that rationalization, I shouldn't have liked it at all -- I'm a woman, sure, but not a mother, and I've never been a little boy. I think that explanation is a bit of a cop-out. Fair enough if the book doesn't resonate with certain readers, but it's like saying you can't read some books because you're female, or not native American or not African-American or Chinese-American or...

OK, will hop down off soap box and go do some work now...

Suz, I agree with you.

I haven't read Room yet, but I think that a good author can, with his or her writing, bring resonance from feelings exoressed by a character. Good writing has the ability to transport a reader into a different place, a different time, and often a different age or gender. On the other hand, poor writing will not allow resonance for me even with a lead character who is a contemporary woman who shares my passions.

I don't mind being transported to these different arenas. It helps me understand others, often from very different viewpoints.

> 48

Addendum:

A book that comes to mind is Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden. That was a story of a young girl who, due to family poverty, was taken by her father to a geisha house to become a geisha. The story was magnificent and led my husband and I into more reading about Japanese culture in general and geisha in particular. So...there was this male author who wrote about a female geisha and made his story intriguing enough to captivate my male husband's further interest in the subject of the novel.

Madeline, exactly! The combination has to be a very good/imaginative author, and an open-minded/receptive and imaginative reader. Some books may require a bit more effort than others, and some may just not appeal for taste reasons. But I don't think "who" you are is the X factor in any of this, male/female, old/young, short/tall. etc. True, you may experience it differently, but I don't think it's a make or break factor. I'd definitely say that anyone who is a mother with a young child is going to respond differently to this book, but that doesn't mean that only mothers with young children can respond to it. Knowing about Japan meant that I approached Memoirs of a Geisha differently than some readers, but not in the same way that a Japanese person would have reacted.

I might be the #10 for Room. It's sitting on my bedside table. I am kind of bogged down in The Lacuna for some reason. It isn't that I don't like it, but it is slow going.

Had to take a break from Hemingway. A little can go a long way.

#32 teelgee, I just loved Cutting for Stone, seriously one of my favourite books this year. It was magical in its way - full of rich, evocative prose. I probably wouldn't have picked it up if it wasn't for TIOLI so that's a big TIOLI win!

>52 klarusu: Yay for TIOLI win! That book also has a remarkably high rating. I may have to give it a try despite that little "literary fiction" tag in the cloud....

Meanwhile, I stopped by here to say that I'm already starting to anticipate next month's TIOLI. I know there's still more than a week left in November, but I can't help it!

#53 Same here. Although I've LOVED the ABC challenge and others this month, I'm starting to think ahead to December.

By the way, those who have at least one book in the Alphabetical challenge can enter a contest on this thread. It's just for fun. Entries ONLY good through November 23rd (tomorrow) mdnight EST (Daylight Savings Time/Eastern Standard Time - which is MY time).

I finished Lawrence Jackson's excellent biography Ralph Ellison: Emergence of Genius for challenge #14.

Last night I finished American Nerd: The Story of My People by Benjamin Nugent for the last letter/first letter challenge. It was excellent! Very amusing and insightful. It's been a long time since I read a whole book in less than 24 hours, and I don't know if I've ever done it with a non-fiction book.

>>57 norabelle414: - I'm glad you liked American Nerd. To be honest, I struggled with it a little. I think I had a different idea of what it was going to be about, and I found it was more "analytical" than I had anticipated. There was some humor, but I think I was hoping for more.

>58 pbadeer: I thought it should've been more analytical, but that's the nerd in me speaking :-) I especially loved the chapter on how Asperger Syndrome relates to nerdiness.

I just finished Christmas at The Mysterious Bookshop for the 21st century challenge. This makes my self-imposed limit of 3 books per challenge, so even if I read more that qualify, I'm not counting them towards that one. Though in all honesty, I won't anyway. :)

I've just started The Death of the Adversary, which fits the war theme challenge. It's slow going - I have to finish by December 7, but will try to accelerate that to make the challenge.

And I've got an audio of Death in Venice, which would be nice to finish this month as well, although it's not due for my book club until January.

Of course, I might always be distracted by the stack of mystery stories piling up.

I finished Black Water Rising by Attica Locke for challenge #14.

I finished Middlemarch for the Author's First Name Ends in the Same Letter That Their Last Name Begins With Challenge. All I'll say is WOW! I reviewed it over here.

Next up is O Pioneers for the main challenge.

I finished Glory by Nabokov for the alpha challenge. Next up is the Big Short because it is due at the library on Tuesday and can not be renewed. Someone must have requested it. Also trying to finish up HP and the order of the phoenix.

Wonderful review, Bonnie. I'm putting Middlemarch on my 2011 list.

I've gone off on a tangent. I am reading My Name is Memory. I think this is the book I was expecting when I read The Time Traveler's Wife. I like it so much better. No idea if this fits a TIOLI, but I am really into it. Will return to TIOLI books soon. :)

I finished Suite Francaise for the World War challenge. Just as I knew little about what life was like in the UK during WWII until I read Night Watch and The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, I didn't know what life was like at the same time in France until reading this book. The most amazing thing to me is that Irene Nemirovsky was devoting herself to her art, trying figure out how best to show the conflict of the individual with the community as Germany was invading her country and targeting her and her family individually for death. She knew they were coming for her, and she wrote anyway. It's almost beyond understanding.

Now I'm starting At the Dark End of the Street: Black Women, Rape, and Resistance--A New History of the Civil Rights Movement from Rosa Parks to the Rise of Black Power by Danielle L. McGuire for the history challenge.

#66 - I started My name is memory a few weeks ago but didn't get past the first couple of chapters, just wasn't my thing at the time though the premise interested me and reminded me a little of The Gargoyle. Would it fit the time travel challenge which has a fairly loose sort of criteria.

Completed March for challenge #10.

> 67

I, too, found Suite Francaise a fascinating read, but for a different reason. I loved learning about the transition periods during Germany's invasion of France. That is, what is felt like to be there pre-war, during the Nazi invasion, and after the occupation. I can't imagine what it must be like to live one's daily life under an occupying force. This is the beauty of historical fiction (if done well). For those who have not yet read Suite Francaise, I highly recommend it.

During the time of Nazi occupation of Europe, both of my parents were fleeing. Fortunately they had the opportunity to escape with their lives, although sadly others in our family did not. I never heard from either of my parents of what it was like in their countries (dad from Germany, mom from Yugoslavia) as the Nazis came to power in Germany and then started invading other countries. Since neither of my parents are alive nor did they talk about this when I was young, I have gotten and still get this information mostly from books.

The reluctance to "talk about it" seems very common. It's a major theme of Great House and other things I've read and seen about PTSD. So, your family is awash in history that you have to discover elsewhere, Madeline. The after effects seem to last forever.

Terri just sent me Great House so I have that on my TBR pile now. I hope to get to it read it before too, too long!

Sadly all of my parent's generation (mom, dad, aunts, and uncles) who lived through WWII are no longer alive. The last aunt of that generation died just a few years ago. Fortunately, I live in Washington, DC, where I can (and have gone to) visit The Holocaust Museum. The archives they maintain are very sobering and important.

What is also nice is that so many of these archives are now online. I recently sent pictures of my maternal grandparents, who died in Auschwitz, to Yad Vashem where the pictures were attached to the archival information about them. Anyone can now pull up their pictures.

As an example this link pulls up a page of testimony that my aunt Emma filled in. If you click on where it says "next image", you can pull up a picture of my grandfather. At least I can feel pretty confident that this information will be preserved for the future.

A Librarything addendum: On my last visit to Israel when my aunt Emma was still alive, I learned that my grandfather's favorite author had been Zane Gray!

Madeline, thank you so much for sharing this! I couldn't get the link to work right, but what a great resource this is! And, you're right--this is a great way to keep a loved one's memory alive.

Karen O.

p.s. Zane Gray! Who'd have guessed?

He looks like a man who would have enjoyed Zane Gray. Thank you for that.

Madeline, that is amazing. Thank you for sharing that link. I love the photo of your grandfather. He looks like a happy person.

I am going for it - adding My Name is Memory to the arm chair time travel category. I really liked this book. The narration is divided into two voices, Daniel and Sophia. I had a harder time with the voice of Daniel, but overall I liked the story.
I started out listening to an audio, but the CD's were so scratched it drove me crazy, and, I didn't like the male narrator's voice. Thankfully, the book came in at the library, and I was able to read the rest.

Thank you for sharing that, Madeline. What an amazing, powerful and (as you say) sobering resource.

One more week in November, gang. That means...

1. Finish up your November reads before November 30 midnight or remove them from the wiki (EXCEPT for the entries in the Alphabetical challenge which I shall remove later when doing the stats).

2. Begin thinking up your own new challenge for December if you plan to offer one. Consider running a related thread along with it.

3. If you have any ideas for something new or changes for 2011, please let's talk about them now or at least within the next few weeks.

4. For those who observe the holiday of Thanksgiving, may you have a safe and joyful holiday with family and friends.

#72 Madeline, that was great. Love the picture of your grandfather. Isn't the Internet wonderful!

Isn't the Internet wonderful!

It's truly amazing.

I just tried to follow on the old thread - it was just so much I missed.

I like the October awards.

I just saw that I read a book which was translated from the French:
So Sweet Zerland by Xavier Casile, a little book about
different Swiss goods and inventions (it could run under the z-challenge as well, I guess)

I love the title - So Sweet Zerland - I am intrigued.

There is a follow up: So Suite Zerland
http://www.goodheidiproduction.ch/
have fun

Bitte Paul - I will check it out.

Back to The Lacuna. It's an up and down read for me, but I am trying to finish it the next day or two. I want to get Remarkable Creatures and Room in before the end of the month. Ernest is going to have to wait until next month I think.

I finished and reviewed my alphabet book O Pioneers. Not sure yet what I'm reading next.

My husband gave me A Week at the Airport and I read it yesterday. I've added it to the 2005 onwards challenge and it's a shared read with phebj, yay!

I finished Great House, my first Nicole Krauss book, and I think I'm a convert. She packs symbolism and emotions into what frequently is very unemotional writing. Someone said last month that one person described the book as 2000 years of Jewish suffering and a desk. I don't know that I'd quite agree, but this is one more book that explores post holocaust Jews in Europe and Israel and the effects suffering has had on their futures. Like Lucky by Alice Sebold it shows that violence is not a temporary act. It's effects can go on for years, or generations.

I finished and reviewed The Return of the Soldier by Rebecca West for the WWI/WWII Challenge.

Tonight we went to see Love and Other Drugs which we were surprised to find was about a drug rep in the 1990's. It was a good accompaniment to White Coat, Black Hat.

Help! I read X: Lannan Literary Selections) by James Galvin and got nothing (correct that to very little) out of the book. I actually bought that book for my own Alphabetical challenge!

This is pretty depressing as Galvin is an award-winning poet, prose writer, and novelist. I mostly did not know what the author was trying to express. Somewhere between all the words was a man mourning the loss of his wife through divorce and his daughter who went along with his wife. The rest of the book was too obscure for me. This book has received nothing but the highest praise from others. I was too intimidated to either rate or review it.

Has anyone else had such an experience? I feel so discouraged.

Has anyone read anything else by the same author? Would you care to share your experience about his writing?

Poetry - can't help you.
I just finished Amos Oz's first novel, Elsewhere, perhaps for the alphabet challenge, it was at one end of a string of completed reads. Also finishing up two books for the Remembrance challenge - Appointment with Venus is an entertaining look at the Nazi occupation of a fictional Channel Island, something about a pedigree cow. The Wars is set in WW1 and I should finish later today.

I read Elsewhere Perhaps so long ago that I can't remember a thing about it other than I've always liked reading books by Amos Oz.

I *do* like poetry, but I guess some kinds of poetry work better for some kinds of folks.

#92: I have to say that for a first novel it was pretty impressive. And I'm the same, I've enjoyed everything of his I've read so far. It was about life on a border kibbutz in the 1960s, focusing on a couple of families and their problems. Lots of interesting depth in there and I especially liked the referencing of the Red Riding hood story.

I've finished up Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire which will be the last of my HP marathon that'll get there in time for November's TIOLI. I've just got Suite Française to finish, which I picked up from my shelves on squeaky's recommendation. I am enjoying it and the authors' history is fascinating. Great call!

I'm reading Suite Francaise too.

So I didnt finish Wolf Hall for one of the October challenges because I couldn't get into it, but I really wanted to finish it for the history challenge this month. I took it on the family Thanksgiving trip, read quite a bit of it, started to like it, and promptly left it in my parents' car, so I won't be able to get it back before the end of the month. I'm taking it off the wiki.

FINALLY finished The Lacuna. I liked it, but it took me a really long time to read. Harder going than her other books.

#90: I've had a similar feeling occasionally, mostly with Wallace Stevens (usually I end up his poems by saying, "Wha?????"). But you're much kinder than I am; I typically put it down to author failure, rather than my own. At one time I held the dubious theory that the literati (not folks here at LT, but a different set of people entirely) were afraid to admit that they hadn't understood a particularly obscure/dense/difficult/ piece of literature and would give rave reviews to hide their own insecurity. Kind of like the Emporer's New Clothes. Perhaps that's happened here?

Finished Middlemarch which took an unbelievable amount of time to read. Loved it. Have to check the Wiki to see if I need to add/delete any items for this month.

Really looking forward to the December TIOLI, which already seems the best of the year.

> 98

I've had a similar feeling occasionally

Take a look at my thread (message #68), Gail. Woould you have any interest in participating in this sort of thing?

would give rave reviews to hide their own insecurity

I don't want to give a false review so, if I read something I cannot understand, the review almost has to be bad. On the other hand, I don't want to give a bad review to something good that I simply don't understand. There *are* works that are over my head, but I always have the ability to learn.

Poetry is weird by virtue of the fact that what it tries to say is not always explicit. I know this from trying my own hand at writing poetry in the past. I can understand what I'm trying to say and the feelings I have when I write a poem. These, however, are not always apparent to those who read my poetry.

Really looking forward to the December TIOLI, which already seems the best of the year

I also very much like the choices for December!

#99: Left a (too-lengthy) message at your thread, Madeline. Great idea!

I just deleted some things from the November wiki which I won't finish or even get to:

#4 Nobel Laureate--For Whom the Bell Tolls (I've transferred this to the December TIOLI)

#7 WWI or WWII--The Siege

Unfortunately, I also never got to my books in Challenge #1 (Out of Egypt and O Pioneers) but I've left these in place based on my understanding of Madeline's instructions.

I did finish:

#2 Translated from the French: The Waitress Was New which was excellent

#8 Reprint: The 13 Clocks--also good

#16 21st Century: A Week at the Airport--good

and I'm still working on A Gate at the Stairs which I may or may not finish in time.

I doubt I am going to finish the book I have listed for Challenge #15 (my own challenge, lol). The book is slow going and I will be out of town for the next several days. I am going to transfer it to the December ER challenge instead and go ahead and delete it from the wiki.

Way over extended this month, so I deleted Wide Sargasso Sea and The Good Earth. I also won't get to the two I had in the alphabet challenge, On the Occasion of My Last Afternoon and When Elephants Weep, but I've added the last to the animal challenge for December. I will finish At The Dark End of the Street tomorrow or the next day. Hanukkah starts Wednesday so I have to get all my grandson's presents ready by Tuesday, there's a day's reading gone. Time flies. I always think I have more time than I do.

>102 alcottacre: Oh good, I'm not the only one who deleted a book from my own challenge. :)

Just updating the wiki here and there, so I should be all caught up as far as books I will finish by tomorrow. Besides it being in the can't-delete alphabet challenge, I'm still hoping to finish Reckless by midnight tomorrow. It's a fast read, so I'm optimistic.

I've moved Desert by J.M.G. Le Clézio to my December Nobel laureate challenge, as I almost certainly won't finish it by tomorrow.

I'm at the "what was I thinking???" place and will remove several books from the wiki today. I thought I'd get at least 4 books knocked off on my beach vacation, but only finished one that was almost done anyway, and half way through another. Oh well, at least I'm enjoying what I'm reading.

I'm also at the "what was I thinking?" stage but I'm going to wait to remove things from the wiki until after midnight tomorrow. On the bright side, I can transfer all my current reading to the December TIOLI under one heading or another.

I thought I'd not read any WWI books for my challenge, but read Private Peaceful. Have finished 3 WWII books and another (and a shared read) is top of my pile but I probably won't finish it this month.

#106 LOL. I am always at the "what was I thinking?" stage.

ETA: Even 5 minutes after I've added an item to the wiki.

I've managed to sneak one last one in for #16: Read a book published after 2005 and has 5 or more words in its title, Confessions of a Liar, Thief and Failed Sex God, an Australian YA which just won the Prime Minister's Literary Award for YA Fiction. Loved the title but not so much the story.
I've removed The Mezzanine from the 'Z' challenge, I won't get it finished today.

I've removed my last few books from the wiki.

I've just started Wide Sargasso Sea, and it's not inconceivable that I will finish it before tomorrow at midnight. I'd keep my fingers crossed, but then it would be hard to turn the page.

Me too, was wildly optimistic!

Just finished Remarkable Creatures, which I enjoyed very much. I am working on Room and finishing up my history selection Setting the Record Straight, American History in Black and White. These I think I can finish by tomorrow. The Hemingway short stories, not so much. Maybe in December.

Well, trying to help others get their books into the prime challenge, I added two books that I won't get finished this month. But I won't remove them until Madeline says it's okay to delete them.

Just leave the books in the main challenge for now. I'll delete the unread books in challenge #1 later in December when I do the stats (about mid-month). You may remove any unread books in challenges #2-17 at this time.

I've updated the list with books read and removed several books. Life is returning to normal, albeit a new normal as I spent time in Atlanta due a medical emergency.

Just squeezed in my last challenge for the month - Heaven in Stone and Glass by Robert Barron. Wow, did it take itself seriously. Unfortunately, I had to pull two others. I'm listening to both of them (Dragonfly Pool with my daughter and The Imperfectionists on my own), but won't finish them by tomorrow...and Dragonfly was worth a point. oh well. Glad I can move them both to December.

I might try to join you for the Dragonfly Pool in December, I got as far as acquiring the book this month.

Thanks to others drawing my attention to it, I did find a library copy of Miss Ranskill Comes Home which I finished this morning - this was one I've seen in the shop and the catalogue but I hadn't been sure about it - I really enjoyed it so thanks!

Desperately trying to finish off Reformation for the history challenge. Argh. That book has far too many pages - and it's actually pretty entertaining and concise: I hate to think how long it would be if Diarmaid MacCulloch were given to hesitation, deviation or repetition.

I have finished Suite Francaise with hours to spare and that's the last TIOLI for me this month. Onwards and upwards to December.

Speaking of December, for those who haven't found it yet, the December TIOLI challenges are listed on this thread.

Remember to mark "COMPLETED" all of those November challenge books you've finished reading by 12 midnight tonight.

December's list of challenges is wonderful. I'm sure you'll be delighted with all of the new and clever challenges in store for this coming month.

Happy holiday season everyone! Thank you all for your participation and making TIOLI so much fun.

Don't forget to mark Suite Francaise completed - I thought it would be my last TIOLI book too.

It's my second book by her but I will probably try to fit further work in over the next few months.

I liked reading the novel but I was fascinated (and saddened) by the correspondence printed at the end in my copy (Vintage paperback, UK) - there's a biography of her but it's expensive and the library catalogues I looked at show a lot of her fiction but not this. I might borrow some of her work in French though as that is in the library - I'll read the English translations by Sandra Smith but I would like to see her original writing. Vintage, a Random House imprint, is publishing her books here.

Elkiedee, my husband and I really enjoyed reading Fire in the Blood, also by Irene Nemirovsky. See if you can find a copy of that book. If you enjoyed Suite Francaise so much, I'm sure you'll find the book I'm suggesting here a treat.

I'm glad that this author is having a renaissance of her works now. She is surely deserving of it.

I removed the few that I included outside the main challenge. Well, I recall at least Biggest Brother, and Frederica. Left the ones I didn't read in the main challenge (Open Season, the lightening one).

Ended up reading 13 books, 7 of which were TOLI. And five of the six books in the Codex Alera series.

Madeline,
I marked the ones on the main challenge that I couldn't delete as WILL NOT FINISH just so you know.

That's a good idea, Cheli. I think I will do the same.

Just finished Room. Wow. Disturbing, but very thought provoking. I was especially fascinated by the post-escape adjustments of the little boy. I have never thought about the things my children take for granted, without even knowing that they do.

Hi, Nittnut...I agree with you about Room ("disturbing, but very thought provoking").

He was such a brave little boy, dealing with such an unimaginable situation. The mother was amazing, too.

This was definitely a book that will stay with me for a long time.

Karen O.

I'm squeezing in my final reads, but probably won't be able to update my reading/the wiki until I get back to NY on Friday -- sorry, Madeline, but I may not have much Internet access until then, and tomorrow/Thurs are heavy work/travel days... so prob no final count from me re TIOLI until Friday. I promise, tho, that I"ll stop counting toward TIOLI at midnight NY time... :-)

One book! I've read one book this month! Not one TIOLI book, one book. I'm going to be so annoyed at myself if I get this close to finishing the 75 challenge and lose it in the last month. But ... December isn't usually a month when I get a lot read, so maybe I need to start reconciling myself. =6
I'm tempted to read short or YA books to make it, but I already had a rough list for the year.

Anyway, finished Empire Falls and quite liked it. Took Guns, Germs and Steel off the wiki as I'm only half done and def. won't finish today.

>129 Chatterbox: Suzanne -- will any of them affect the alphabet challenge contest???

>130 madhatter22: Luckily for you, some smart person made a challenge of short books for December, so people can squeeze a couple more in to make 75 this year ;-)

> 125 and others

No need to mark any unfinished books. If they're not marked COMPLETED, they're unfinished. It's as simple as that.

> 129

Update the wiki when you can this weekend, Suz. I don't do the stats until mid-month anyway.

Well, I'm not finishing Reckless today. Fortunately, it fits in the animal challenge for next month, as there is a moth on the mirror on the cover...

> 131

Don't worry about the Alphabetical challenge. I'll decide on the contest winner for that challenge at the time I do my stats. That gives everyone a chance to update the wiki with whatever book(s) they've finished in the month of November even if people do not have computer access at this time.

there is a moth on the mirror on the cover...

Ha, I love this!

Also, for a second there I thought Gail Carriger had managed to sneak out another book....

>137 _Zoe_: LOL, it does sound like one of her titles, doesn't it? Unfortunately, we have to wait until July, I think...

Am finishing off my one and only TIOLI book for this month, Rebecca. I'm sad that I didn't have more for November, but I just couldn't make my TBR pile fit into any of the categories. I'm hopefully for December however...there seems to be lots of potential there.

After having a fairly good October I went into November with high hopes. Alas, I have only finished 3 TIOLI's this month the last being The Big Short for challenge #12. Review will show up in my thread when I get the chance to digest.

>136 SqueakyChu: I'm only worried about it because I'm making room for that FROG! :o)

My November stats are in the usual low single digit, but I did finish Wide Sargasso Sea today. Review to come after I've thought about it for a while, along with one for The Death of the Adversary which I will have to reread, at least in part. Toward the end, through no fault of the author, I kept falling asleep halfway through a sentence and providing my own weird dream finish, only to realize it was nonsense as I jerked awake. Don't try to finish a contemplative book while sporting a bad cold!

> 136

Truly, it is a very tiny frog!

I finished and reviewed the wonderful The Betrayal by Helen Dunmore for the History Challenge. That makes four books for the TIOLI challenge this month which isn't horrible when you consider that one of them was the 800+ page Middlemarch.

>142 ffortsa: ffortsa -- I do that too, adding weird dream sequences to books when I'm nodding off! And that's without a bad cold!

Finished just in time- Setting the Record Straight: American History in Black and White

One of the most fascinating history books I have read in a long time. This is the history of African Americans in American politics from before the Revolutionary War to today. I have some new heroes to admire and teach my children about.
My review - http://www.librarything.com/topic/98572&newpost=1#lastmsg

Just finished in time, too, and nearly forgot to add it on the wikipage:
Zimmer Nr. 10 by Åke Edwardson, people get murdered in Romm No 10

The Betrayal is BBC Radio 4's Book at Bedtime starting tonight at 10.45 pm GMT - that would be 5.45 pm on the US east coast.

Thanks, elkiedee. I haven't listened to BBC on the computer, but I'll try.

Just removed about 10 unread items from the wiki! As usual I was over-ambitious - got off to a good start but ran out of steam mid-way through the month. Two of my unread books were for the Nobel prize challenge so I'll be able to try again with those in December at least.