Take It or Leave It Challenge - February 2011 - Page 1

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

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Hi Challengers!

Here’s fair warning. This month’s challenge might be tricky. I definitely needed to do something to make my challenge harder for all of you. Therefore, for the month of February, your challenge is to Read a Book with an Embedded Word in the Title. The term “embedded” means that the word must stretch across at least two words of the title and must be at least five letters long. The embedded word may be plural with the “s” in the second word. However, the word may not be an abbreviation nor a proper noun. Think Scrabble rules, everyone! Your book will be considered a match even if you choose a different embedded word for the same book.

Please list your titles as follows:
Coming Up Roses (prose) – Sarah Laing – SqueakyChu

Here are some suggestions:
Brave New World (raven) – Aldous Huxley
Every Man Dies Alone (salon) – Hans Fallada
Like the Red Panda (there) – Andrea Siegel
The Road to Wellville (towel) – T.C. Boyle
A Wall of Light (flight) – Edeet Ravel

Here’s an idea: For fun and for Valentine’s Day, see if you can find and read a book with the embedded word “heart” – such as Hear The Wind Sing by Haruki Murakami

Now it’s your turn to find these. Feel free to list more suggestions for others in this thread. Have fun!

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Other Fun Stuff (not part of the TIOLI challenge):
1. The February 2011 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!

Wiki Index of Challenges:

Challenges 1-7:
1. Read a book with an embedded word in the title
2. Read a nonfiction book about winter - thread
3. Read a 75-Book-Challenge favourite book of 2010 - thread
-----3a. Quicksand and Passing - thread
4. Read a book from the 16-book longlist of the Tournament of Books
5. Read a book with only 2 vowels in each of the title words (excluding words: a, an, the, etc.) and makes you think of being warm
6. Read a book by or about an African American woman - thread
7. Read a book with a 12-word title.
-----7a. The Possessed: Adventures with Russian Books and the People Who Read Them - thread

Challenges 8-14:
8. Read a book with a title that the Touchstone interface thinks could be a different book
9. Read a Canada Reads winner or finalist - thread
10. Read a book that fits into both of two previous challenges in which you did not participate
11. Read a book by a new-to-you author from China, Korea, Mongolia, Vietnam, or related communities - thread
12. Read a book about someone trying to do things in a different way
13: Read a nonfiction narrative of travel and discovering new places
14. Read a book with the word Valentine in the title or authored by a person named Valentine - thread

Challenges 15 and more:
15. Read the second book in a series or by an author
16. Read a book whose title, author, or first page contains reference to a doctor - thread
17. Read a book about an animal that travels - thread
18. Read a book with one title which actually consists of two books
19.
etc.

Please note: You may only list new challenges through February 7th.

Yay, the Feb TIOLI is up.

My challenge is to:

Read a nonfiction book about winter. Books about cold weather, snow, blizzards, or avalanches are fine.

A good example of such a book is The Children's Blizzard by David Laskin. Quite good.

I've started a thread at:
http://www.librarything.com/topic/108584

Ooh! The moment we've all been waiting for :D

My challenge for this month is to read a 75-Book-Challenge Favourite Book of 2010. I'll dig up the original thread later, but for now, here's the composite list of books that were mentioned as favourites multiple times:

Nonfiction
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
84, Charing Cross Road
My Reading Life
On Hallowed Ground: The Story of Arlington National Cemetery
Packing for Mars
The Devil in the White City
Mountains Beyond Mountains

Fiction
Bury Your Dead
Room
Harry Potter (series)
Middlemarch
Fingersmith
Major Pettigrew's Last Stand
Wolf Hall
Cutting for Stone
The Lacuna
The Imperfectionists
Soulless
The Doomsday Book
The Elegance of the Hedgehog
The Graveyard Book
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
The Help
Matterhorn
The Picture of Dorian Gray
Shades of Grey
The Siege
Troubles
The Uncommon Reader
Where the Mountain Meets the Moon

My Challenge is to Read a Book From the 16 titles in the longlist for the Tournament of Books Challenge. They are:

* The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake, by Aimee Bender
* Nox, by Anne Carson
* Bad Marie, by Marcy Dermansky
* Room, by Emma Donoghue
* A Visit From the Goon Squad, by Jennifer Egan
* Freedom, by Jonathan Franzen
* Lord of Misrule, by Jaimy Gordon
* Bloodroot, by Amy Greene
* Next, by James Hynes
*The Finkler Question, by Howard Jacobson
* Skippy Dies, by Paul Murray
* Model Home, by Eric Puchner
* So Much for That, by Lionel Shriver
* Super Sad True Love Story, by Gary Shteyngart
* Kapitoil, by Teddy Wayne
* Savages, by Don Winslow

To learn more about this Challenge, which has taken place every year for the last seven years, check out the website.

ooooo, the embedded challenge is, well....so challenging. Off to my book shelves to find some embeddedness, all the better with heart!

Oh, I love the embedded challenge! This will be fun.

The embedded word challenge looks good. You're back on form Madeline!

I love the embedded challenge. I keep finding books and thinking they'll fit but they don't.

It will be, dare I say it, challenging.

> 8

You're back on form Madeline!

LOL!!

> 9

It will be, dare I say it, challenging.

Exactly!! :D

Here's the thread for the 2010 Favourites challenge.

Ah ha! I've found my book for your clever challenge, Madeline. A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. It also fits in with my 11 in 11 challenge. *Happy Dance*

Oops. Missed the five-letter part. That would've been too easy.

> 14

That would've been too easy.

Linda, when I first though up this challenge, I set it up as okay to have a minimum of four letters. However, when I took real notice of the easy challenges that were currently being posted, I decided to make my next challenge fairly hard.

My thought was to do something to make the TIOLI challenges remain quite a bit different than challenges posted elsewhere on LT. It almost seemed as if the TIOLI challenges were turning in another "categories" challenge. To keep TIOLI different, I'd say we should go for more challenging challenges. Others may not agree with me, but those who disagree are free to post whatever challenges they like. We'll have takers for all of them, I'm sure!

> 13

A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man.

Very clever, Lynda!!

I got here early, I can't believe it! Must be the snow!

I guess it pays for snow to fall! Were you without electricity, too? I had to go a fairly long time without the ability to check into LT! :(

I really like your challenge #5, Cheli! I have a suggestion for people who want to join in:

The Fire by Katherine Neville

ETA: Sobriety

Nora! Go back and count those vowels again!!

OOO.. I've got one for #5 Elfland

eta: oh, someone sneakily added an additional condition. pooh.

Does "and" or "of" count as a word for #5?

Oops! My mistake. Sorry!

No, but do recount the other vowels...

The only other one I can see might be "Harry" but I thought the Y would count as a vowel in this case since it's pronounced the same as "Harri". It's Cheli's call I think. Unless all the nyquil is going to my head and you're seeing something I'm not.

Sorry to be a party pooper, but there are so many books I want to read, so, Challenge #6 in honor of Black History Month Read a Book By or About an African American Woman. I know this is broader than broad. I Plan to read:
Mama Day - Gloria Naylor
Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl - Harriet Jacobs
Quicksand - Nella Larsen
Passing - Nella Larsen
The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms - N. K. Jemisin
The Warmth of Other Suns - Isabel Wilkersen
Getting Mother's Body - Suzan-Lori Parks
Their Eyes Were Watching God - Zora Neale Hurston

and for Zoe's challenge The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
and for Bonnie's Tournament challenge 9530166::A Visit From The Goon Squad

Example: Harry Potter has "a", "o", and "e".

Which vowel are you not seeing? :)

Toss that Nyquil quickly, Nora. It's going to your head!!

Cheli has the *only* say about her own challenge. I was only giving my opinion. :D

Re: post #25

Do we have any African American women doing these TIOLI challenges?

If so, please stop lurking and jump right into this thread. I'd like to know if any of you will be taking part in Joyce's challenge #6. I'd also like to hear of your reaction to the books Joyce will be reading (if you've already read them) and if you plan to read any of these which you haven't yet read.

#7 - read a book with 12 words in the title.

This was going to be saved until December the twelfth month but thought it was a good tight challenge

Some examples :

American Bee: The National Spelling Bee and the Culture of Word Nerds

Cheerful Money: Me, My Family, and the Last Days of Wasp Splendor

An Eye for Glory: The Civil War Chronicles of a Citizen Soldier

School of Dreams: Making the Grade at a Top American High School

>26 SqueakyChu: My mistake! I was misunderstanding it as: Each word in the title has no more than 2 vowels in it (regardless of what they are). I'll go back and edit.

Re: Nyquil: NOOOO I need it to live! :-(

> 28

This was going to be saved until December the twelfth month but thought it was a good tight challenge

It is. I love it!

I think this is challenging, but maybe it's also more of a fun challenge than a challenging challenge!

#8 Touchstone Confusion:

Undoubtedly, you have attempted to make a touchstone in the past, but it pointed to a different book than the one you wanted. This challenge is to read a book with the same/similar title as a book you have previously read (or, read two+ books with the same/similar title). as another book which appears in the touchstone list.

For example, there are at least two YA dystopia books titled Feed: one by M.T. Anderson and one by Mira Grant.

- This does not count for things like War & Peace Vol. 1 and War & Peace Vol. 2. It's supposed to be challenging to find books with the same name.

- It does count for anything with subtitles, though. The Book: A history and The Book: A memoir would count.

- It also counts if the titles aren't exactly the same, as long as there's potential for confusion in the touchstone box. There must be at least 2 books with the same/similar titles in the first 10 Touchstone results (or if the book you want doesn't even appear in the first ten!).

(PS: This was totally inspired because Zoë read Mira Grant's Feed in December, and someone else read something like "How to Read ___" and the touchstone came up with a similar title yet completely different type of book. I think it's interesting to see how books can have same/similar titles but rather different styles or writing or completely different topics.)

 

Potentials:

Doomsday Book by Connie Willis is popular, but the touchstone wants to be Any Given Doomsday and the third choice of ten is The Doomsday Key. Perhaps if you've read one, you'd like to try another?

Revolution by Jennifer Donnelly has been popular lately, but touchstones prefer The Russian Revolution or The Revolution: A Manifesto.

The Naming by Alison Croggon is a book I've touchstoned a few times, but it always wants to be Naming Names by Victor Navasky (and there are 9 other options to pick from!).

If you're reading Shades of Grey for challenge #3, perhaps you'd be interested in reading Shades of Gray as well (the one by Carolyn Reeder...or Amanda Ashley...or Kay Hooper...or Brooke McKinley...or Vicki Hinze...) - or there's Between Shades of Gray and Shades of Simon Gray and Shades of Earl Grey.

There are lots and lots of options. :)

EDITED TO EASE THE RESTRICTIONS A BIT.

I just finished The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms and thought it was marvelous! Good choice, Joyce!

Also just finished Starfarers by Vonda McIntyre which would also work for Joyce's challenge.

> 29

Thanks for posting your suggestions, Nora, as it's important for everyone to understand *exactly* for what each challenge is asking. I went back to edit the title of Cheli's challenge to prevent others from the same misunderstanding.

Cheli, if you need to edit the challenge title further (if if I misunderstood your meaning), please do.

I love Vonda McIntyre, must add Starfarers

keristars, Revolution by Jennifer Donnelly would work great for your challenge, the wrong one always comes up.

#25 Joyce, thanks for adding the Black History Month challenge: Read a Book about an African-American woman.

I'm hoping to read The Warmth of Other Suns but, for your challenge, will probably read The Sound of Freedom about Marian Anderson.

ETA: Never mind. I see you have the book I mentioned shown for the challenge so I'll aim to read it, too.

I was unsure about adding The Warmth of Other Suns because I was 33 on the waiting list at the library, but now it's out on Nook, so I'm happy.
The Sound of Freedom looks very good.

35> Ooh, yes! I know there's tons, because I'm always having to poke at the touchstones to get the right ones to show. I'll add Revolution to my post as another example. Thanks!

The Naming is a book I've read which also has many possibilities: Naming of Beasts, Naming Names (which is what the touchstone wants to be), The Naming of the Dead, Naming the Elephant, Naming Spirits, The Naming of Tishkin Silk, Naming Nature, and Naming the Whirlwind are all in the top 10 choices.

Blow-Up & Other Stories by José Cortázar has a lot of options, too: Blow up a storm by Garson Kanin and The Ultimate Balloon Book are just two that show up in the list before the proper one.

Anyway, I'm kind of excited to finish the ER I'm currently reading, so I can visit the library and pick up Shades of Gray (or maybe something else!), which shares a similar title to Between Shades of Gray, which I just finished last night. :)

Help Madeline, I can't get my challenge on the wiki. What am I missing?

Doomsday Book is the weird touchstone that I notice most often.

Sneaky Squeaky. I've found several books I'd like to read that would fit a four word embedded challenge, none for 5 so far.

> 39

Patrick, there've been some problems getting challenges to go up. I've had a problem and so has bonnie (brenzi). I see she finally got hers up.

I think it might be when more than one person is trying to post and save at a time. Keep trying. If you still can't get it to post, private message me, and I'll post it.

> 41

:)

I can't quite put my finger on what was different this month but, somehow, it did seem different. The wiki, that is.

#37 Joyce, do you know Terri (tymfos)? I don't think she does TIOLI but she is reading books for Black History Month in Feb (and read books on cold weather in Jan).

Is everyone adding individual books by clicking only on the edit link for that particular challenge? That should help minimize conflicts.

Looks like Patrick's challenge is up--12 letter titles.

#44, Nope, I don't know her, but my, don't we have good taste?

>>46 lindapanzo: - 12 WORD titles :)

>>45 _Zoe_: - It looks like some titles were being added in the "counter" at the top. On my phone email, I couldn't scroll down far enough to add another line. Now that I'm on a desktop, I can. If I am correct, I believe only the first line of the challenge name needs to be there. Titles should be added using the "edit" button next to the title name lower on the page

Oh, you're absolutely right, Patrick. Twelve WORD titles.

Also, I noticed someone (Cheli?) excluded certain words and I'd thought that you had done so, too, Patrick. Still trying...

I have a feeling my challenge will require every word you can get to get up to 12 - although I had five titles already sitting on my shelf which qualify

Patrick - is your challenge for exactly 12 words or 12 words and more. Just asking, my book has 12 words in the title luckily, The Possessed: Adventures with Russian Books and the People Who Read Them.

Patrick, so far I have a 13-word title and a 14-word title. Still looking...

I'm going to clarify my Challenge #5

1. Words such as The, and, an, a , with, to, etc. do not count.
2. There have to be only 2 vowels in each of the main words of the title (no matter how many words there are).
3. I will accept Y as a vowel.
4. The main words of the title (or phrase) need to make you think of being warm (inside or out).

Madeline, could you please add #4 to the description. (and answer #18>> I was only without power for about 15 minutes, thank the Lord, since I took in my SIL and her dog (no power) and a friend without power. SIL still powerless so far. My husband's office still has no power.)

Some examples are:
Heat Wave
With Warmest Regards
Warmest Room
The Hottest State
Cozy: A Stanley Hastings Mystery
A Cozy Book of Herbal Teas

They all make you think of being warm!

>53 cyderry: So "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" would work?

>>51 avatiakh: - to meet Madeline's challenging challenge challenge, it needs to be EXACTLY 12 words. And I want to read your book. My minor in college was Russian Area Studies.

I reckon The Life and Letters of R. S. Hawker: Sometime Vicar of Morwenstow works for the 12-word challenge - assuming the initials each count as a word, and since there's not only a space but a line break between them on the cover they ought to.

54>>>Nora, If HP&GF makes you feel warm, then go for it.

I will join in once I finish up with January's reads. I cannot think about this right now, lol.

Challengers (and, especially, keristars), when you post your challenges, try to keep the challenge title concise on the wiki. If you need to do a lengthy explanation, please do so either on the main thread (as Cheli/cyderry did above) or start a separate thread for your topic. Thanks!

keristars, I moved your example down in the wiki. When you post as challenge, always include an example of a book you think you'll read. You can always delete it later. It helps others to know how to list their own books under your challenge.

Thanks, Madeline. I wasn't entirely sure how to start it off, now i know. :)

You're welcome. It's a confusing topic so it really *does* need a lengthy explanation (which you did give in message #38 above). An example helps in few words.

I also just discovered that challenge #3's "Shades of Grey" has about fifty million opportunities to convert into the Confusion challenge - that title is very common.

I added it to message #31, so there are several examples plus the explanation of the challenge.

Aha, I have a 12 word ER book by Carl Safina The View from Lazy Point: A Natural Year in an Unnatural World.

I'd like to add Challenge #9 for all the Canadians and Canadian lovers out there: Read a book for Canada Reads 2011.
Here's the link: http://www.cbc.ca/books/canadareads/

I should add that Canada Reads only has 5 books for the main challenge, but I think to make it a little more open people could also read past winners: (http://www.cbc.ca/books/canadareads/previous.html)

Aha, found ya'll - LOL.

Ok, I'm an African American woman so I will have lots of books for that particular challenge. My take on the books that Citizenjoyce listed:

Mama Day - Gloria Naylor
This is my fave Gloria Naylor; running a close second is Linden Hills. Naylor's birthday was this week (Jan 25th) - I had created a little blurb about it on my blog. Shakespeare's Tempest is an inspiration for Mama Day. So, if you are familiar with that, keep that in mind while reading. Oprah brought her Women of Brewster Place to tv way back when - the uncut version is actually being re-released on Feb 8.

Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl - Harriet Jacobs
I read this last year and was blown away because of the lengths the mother went through to try to escape slavery. When you read it, you will say "no way" is this true but when you get to the commentary at the end you have witnesses to hardships that say that it was true. There was a play here in Durham a few months ago that dramatized this book which is why I read it at the time. A few other books I have recently read have a similar theme (what women will do where there children's fates are concerned). These two books are Wild Seed by Octavia Butler (my fav author) and Wench by Dolen Perkins-Valdez (lots of accolades for this book)

Quicksand - Nella Larsen
Passing - Nella Larsen
This was on my TBR list for February - wahoo. This year I'm focusing on a lot of the Harlem Renaissance readers. My book contains both stories in 1 volume. Have not read.

The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms - N. K. Jemisin
Read this last year. This got a lot of accolades even in the mainstream scifi community. I collect a lot of Afrofuturism (tagged in my library as such) - speculative fiction by and about people of color. She has released book 2 (it's a proposed trilogy) - I have not read it yet. The book concentrates on "Gods" -- nice complement to reading Neil Gaiman's American Gods last year.

The Warmth of Other Suns - Isabel Wilkersen
Huge accolades for this book. This is also on my February TBR list. I have seen a couple of shows on C-Span book TV.

Getting Mother's Body - Suzan-Lori Parks
More familiar with Parks as a playwright than a novelist. I have this book but have not read it yet. I saw a play of hers when I was in DC called Topdog/Underdog for which she won the Pulitzer. I am planning a read of Topdog for one of my 11 in 11 challenges.

Their Eyes Were Watching God - Zora Neale Hurston
Well this, of course, is a classic from Hurston that was brought to the small screen by Oprah starring Halle Berry. Hurston was a Harlem Renaissance author/playwright. Alice Walker re-discovered this book and launched the revival of Hurston's popularity. Btw Suzan-Lori Parks was one of the screenwriters for the Oprah production. I read a great biography of Hurston by Valerie Boyd which sparked my interest in reading a lot about the Harlem Renaissance this year. In fact, the annual Zora Festival in Eatonville, FL is going on now. Also read YA novel Zora and Me (this would fit the challenge) which is about a young Zora - really captured Hurston's spirit.

If you are looking for other African American women to check out:

J. California Cooper
Toni Cade Bambara
Carleen Brice - her Orange Mint and Honey was recently on Lifetime as "Sins of the Mother" starring Jill Scott (mother/daughter tale dealing with effects of alcoholism)
Maya Angelou
L.A. Banks (fantasy, vampires, werewolves)
Octavia Butler (recommendations would be Kindred, Parable series, Fledgling - a different vampire tale)
Tananarive Due - horror
Gwendolyn Brooks, Rita Dove, Nikki Giovanni, Lucille Clifton, Sonia Sanchez, June Jordan - poets
Paula J. Giddings - just awarded the John Hope Frankin Award from Duke - wrote biographer of anti-lynching activist Ida B. Wells and other non-fiction
Pearl Cleage
bell hooks - essays from Black feminist perspective
Jessie Fauset, Anna J. Cooper, Angelina Weld Grimke, Anne Petry, Dorothy West (The Wedding brought to small screen by Oprah) - Harlem Renaissance
Paule Marshall
Toni Morrison
Alice Walker
ZZ Packer - on the New Yorker's 20 Under 40 list
Ntozake Shange - playwright/poet
Jewell Parker Rhodes - magical realism
Jewelle Gomez - lesbianism, feminism

Oooohhhh....I'm ready.

My challenge for February is the Ghosts of TIOLI Past Remix: Read a book that would have fit into two past challenges that you did not read a book for the first time around. Here's the summary (through October 2010) with links to the monthly wikis so you can look at past challenges and remind yourself what you read.

Some examples might be:
East by Edith Pattou (Four Letters or Less and Directional Challenge)
War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy (Chunkster and Classic)
The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas (Originally in French and Chunkster)

Also, you can't count challenges that already overlap - like the WallaWalla challenge and the WallaWalla with a twist, or the original challenge plus the Ghosts of TIOLI past or "multiple readers" challenges.

I hope that's all clear, but I know I sometimes explain things perfectly in my head and leave something out in the explanation, so let me know if there's anything unclear...

#66 That makes sense to me, Mary.

There are several books I can think of that I intend to read for TIOLI but it just never comes about.

This sounds like another opportunity to read them.

Oops, didn't notice the additional part about "that you didn't participate in." This could be quite interesting.

>67 lindapanzo: "that you didn't participate in" - I just mean you didn't finish a book for in the given month - it's fine if you listed a book and took it out in the end. :)

I think I am a bit confused. What if I participated in that challenge but with a different book?

In your East example, say I read a book called West for that challenge. Can I now read East?

>69 lindapanzo: No, you can't have a book in the challenge at the end of the given month. For example, I created the "Four-Letter" challenge and planned on reading a particular book, but I never got to it and took it off - that could go in this challenge. But since I read six volumes of High School Debut and counted it towards the "school" challenge, I can't read Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows for 10,000+ copies on Librarything plus the "school" challenge.

>66 bell7: Ooh, Mary, that sounds like a fun and tricky one!

>>56 Eat_Read_Knit:-initials should definitely count as individual words, since if you replaced them with what they stood for they would end up as indivual words. I'm trying to think of a case when multiple initials would not count individually - I guess something like EPCOT could be one word even though the initials would stand for five different words...hmmm. I guess everyone just has to be able to justify the decision.

Ooh, there's lots of great challenges already! Very intriguing!

Karen O.

bell7, I really had to work for your challenge - good one.

wisechild for the Canada Reads, can we do previous nominees or just previous winners?

I just had lots of fun going through the old TIOLI lists to find books for the Ghosts of TIOLI Past challenge. I ended up listing four:

In the Bleak Midwinter - first in a series AND winter in the title
Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea - North/South/East/West in the title AND published after 2005 with more than 5 words in the title
The Postman - received from another LT member AND profession in the title
Yes You Can! - red spine AND offered for ER

Plus a couple for other challenges:

Shades of Grey (2010 favourites)
Voodoo Queen: The Spirited Lives of Marie Laveau (African American woman)

For the Canada reads, I had a look at the link and I'm interested, but then the screen changed and I couldn't read it - any chance of adding the list to the challenge post on this thread, together with a list of previous winners? I think I might read A Complicated Kindness.

I LOVE the TIOLI remix challenge, especially with the extra elements you added to make it trickier. If only I had kept my lists of books I was planning to read for each challenge... but never mind, I will go and start looking through my shelves!

My challenge is a bit broader, but it's in honour of Lunar (Chinese) New Year which is starting next week. It's to read a book by an author new to you from a culture which celebrates Lunar New Year - Chinese, Korean, Mongolian, or Vietnamese. That includes authors from those ethnic communities in different countries, so Hong Kong, Taiwan, Chinese communities in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, as well as immigrant communities in other parts of the world would all apply. In a nutshell, if there's a reasonable chance the author themselves would celebrate the lunar new year, the book will fit.

I'll go and make a thread for it now.

My challenge is A Personal Challenge - books about an attempt to change a lifestyle or to do something within limits imposed by someone on themselves and/or a group of people doing it with them.

The examples I plan to read are non-fiction though I've thought of one chicklit novel I read last year that would fit the challenge (not necessarily one I'd recommend)

Paul Smith, Twitchhiker: How One Man Travelled the World by Twitter
The author set out to travel using only offers of transport and accommodation on Twitter

Susan Maushart, The Winter of Our Disconnect - a single parent of three teenagers resolved that her family should turn off the internet, their mobiles, TVs and computer games etc

The novel I've thought of is Bernadette Strachan, Why Do We Have to Live with Men? a chicklit novel about a group of women who spend a few months living in a temporary women-only communal house - I read it for the Bookbag last year but didn't think it was as good as the two other novels by her I've read, rated 3.5*.

> 55

"Madeline's challenging challenge challenge"

:)

The funny thing, Patrick, is that I had the same challenge lined up for the future - only mine was for a book with 13 words. Thirteen is my lucky number.

So...back to the drawing board for me...

>79 elkiedee: Ooh, The Winter of Our Disconnect sounds interesting.

I had several already lined up for Black History Month that will fit Challenge 6:

The Color Purple by Alice Walker
The Hemingses of Monticello by Annette Gordon-Reed
Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl by Harriet Jacobs
My Confederate Kinfolk by Thulani Davis

I also listed a book under Madeline's challenge:
Swiss Watching (swatch) by Diccon Bewes

Lunar new year thread is here.

> 65

Thanks for jumping in, Deseree! . I hope Joyce starts a separate thread for this subject and you pop in with comments from time to time. I really enjoyed reading your thoughts about some of the books above.

I just saw a book review for Wench in The Washington Post this past week so it's already on my wishlist.

Of the few African American women authors I've read, I've enjoyed ZZ Packer the most so far. I thought that the story "Brownies" in her book Drinking Coffee Elsewhere was superb. I thoroughly enjoyed other stories in that book as well.

It will be interesting to see which books people choose for this challenge. This should be a great topic for discussion as well!

I'm definitely loving the tighter challenges this month! Joyce, I don't even think yours is overly broad; I felt lucky to find one book on my shelves that fit there.

> 66

I finally understand your challenge, Mary. It looks to be a fun one!

I have my book for Madeline's challenge #1: The Evolution Man or How I Ate My Father (manor). It's the book I just got from Santathing, so that's doubly exciting. I may also do Invisible Eden by Maria Flook (bleed).

My challenge is to read a travel narrative of some kind. It can be a personal memoir or a straightforward here's where I went and what I found there -- but NOT a travel guide or a novel.

Knock yourselves out... :-)

Finally, I've found a book which is not 11 or 14 words long! The Key To My Neighbour's House: seeking justice in Bosnia and Rwanda by Elizabeth Neuffer. I will have to have a coffee break before identifying a book for the TIOLI remix challenge...

The one I found for Suzanne's travel challenge has a 12 word title! Just as well I'm leaving: to the Orient with Hans Christian Andersen.

In response to the questions about the Canada Reads challenge...sure. Past finalists can definitely count too. I've created a thread here. I've also posted the list of all past winners and finalists.

Oh, good, then I'll be reading Ann-Marie MacDonald's Fall on Your Knees. For the travel narrative challenge I'll be going with Travels with Boogie, about a guy and his dog from London who decide that they're going to travel the English countryside on foot. Hilarity ensues, or so I'm told.

For the ghost of challenges past I'll be using James Villas's Hungry for Happiness as it is a book with a culinary theme, and was offered in ER.

February is shaping up to be a busy reading month what with Fantasy February and my 11 in 11 Challenge but I am still going to try several challenges -

Challenge # 2 - The Children's Blizzard by David Laskin - non-fiction winter read
Challenge # 3 - The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman - 2010 75er favorite
Challenge #4 - The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender - Tournament of Books
Challenge #9 - The Outlander by Gil Adamson - Canada Reads
Challenge #11 - The Gift of Rain by Tan Twan Eng - new-to-me author who celebrates Lunar New Year

I'm off to add to the WiKi!

Thanks so much, goddesspt2, for your post. I could read nothing but these books for the next couple of months, there's such a variety.

This is the thread for the African American Woman challenge:
http://www.librarything.com/topic/108619

For Challenge #12 - Doing things differently - I found something I can read with my daughter - whom I have also gotten to agree to participate in the TIOLI challenges this month. So we have built in points - 2 of us reading together.

We added Lyddie by Katherine Paterson is about a 19th century mill worker who protests poor working conditions. Does something like that count?

95: I hadn't thought of it like that - I don't want to say no, and I'm thinking I'd quite like to read that one - I don't have it but it would be a good excuse to get a copy. I'll sleep on it.

Or you could make up your own challenge for it to fit into - children's/YA historical novel, industrial dispute, a name or a proper noun as one word title.

ETA: Duh, of course, you've already proposed the 12 word challenge this month. I'm sorry, I don't think Lyddie fits on this one but you've made me want to read it now. I really enjoyed rereading Jacob Have I Loved last year.

I guess I was missing the "personal" part - I thought it was about changing a lifestyle. Maybe I'm just not understanding the challenge. I'll pull it and find something else.

I can move it to Challenge #10 - TIOLI Remix

It's a book about making a difference and it was on my (and my daughter's) TBR pile throughout 2010 (I did not participate in either of those challenges, and this is my daughter's first time in the challenges, so I think that meets the rules)

Ha, Madeline, I found one: This Will Not Look Good on My Resume (swill). I am never going to get all these books read.

I don't think protesting about wages is about changing a lifestyle, though it may well have been lifechanging for these girls/young women to do so. I've only just realised that you've already added a challenge this month, but you've given me an idea or two for future ones which I will have to add to the list.

Well, I have one TIOLI book picked out anyway: An Unsuitable Attachment for challenge #1. I am waiting on choosing more until January is over with.

Squeakychu, it's funny you mentioned the Washington Post review of Wench because @Dolen is one of the authors I follow on Twitter and she commented "did the writter actually read the book?" She is coming to town in February, so hopefully I'll get to ask her about that.

Something interesting I found out about historical fiction book covers (discovered while reading Belletrista), including Wench is that publishers re-use cover art and the cover of Wench had been previously used by a romance novel. The cover of Marlon James' The Book of Night Women has been used six times (based on Portrait of a Negress that hangs in the Louvre).

Check out this site: http://readingthepast.com/gallery/reusable-covers.htm

101: I read Wench last year (gave it 4 stars in my review and got to meet the author when I introduced her at a reading she did at our local library in DC. She's really wonderful in person as is the way she speaks about the book. I can't seem to find that Washington Post review online- does anyone have a link?

>86 SqueakyChu: Thanks, Madeline, I know it's kind of a tough one to explain but I thought it would be nice and challenging. :) I'm looking forward to seeing what people read for it.

>97 pbadeer: Yup, that's a perfect example of a book that meets the rules.

Oh, and I suppose I should add that if someone wants to add a shared read - don't worry if the first two challenges listed were ones you participated in, check and see if it fits in another you didn't.

So far I have added to the Wiki:
Challenge #3 Cutting for Stone
Challenge #9 The Birth House

I'm having trouble finding a book to match Challenge #1!!

ForeignCircus, here is the article from the Post:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/01/21/AR2011012102960....

How about The Whiskey Rebels for #5? Mmm... warm on the inside...

I've added myself to #1 with A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man too. I may need some support to get through Joyce. Or maybe the whiskey will help :)

And Michelangelo and the Pope's Ceiling for the Ghosts of TIOLI Past, for #6 (Art/Artists) from last month and the one about having a title in the title from a while back.

I'm still thinking about some of the other challenges...

105: Thanks for posting that link; I had actually read that article but thought there must be an actual review that the author didn't like as I can't see what in that article would have led to a question about whether or nor the writer had read the book?

Just thought I'd mention what great challenging challenges you've all offered up for February. Even Joyce's broader challenge is one of books that are often overlooked by so many people - so that's a fantastic challenge in its own right.

The idea here, folks, is to get people reading what they otherwise might not be reading. Good job!

*thumbs up*

My challenge is one that involves the word "Valentine." Read a book with the word "Valentine" in the title or a book by someone with the name (given or surname) Valentine.

Some examples:

Valentine Murder by Leslie Meier
It's an Old New England Custom by Edwin Valentine Mitchell
A Miracle for St. Cecelia's by Katherine Valentine
Miracle on 34th Street by Valentine Davies

The thread is here: http://www.librarything.com/topic/108653.

My SantaThing books arrived today (hooray!) and one of the books I received fits the Lunar New Year challenge. I added Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress by Dai Sijie, giving me a total of 6 for the month.

Gahh!! I thought I had a 12-worder in my TBR pile, but it turned out to be 13! I'm crushed. :)

I've bought a book which has two possible subtitles - the shorter one makes the total 22 words. I've also asked for a review book with a 14 word title.

> 111

LOL!!

109: You still need to add your Valentine challenge to the Wiki.

ONE HUNDRED AND FOURTEEN POSTS?!?!? Are you guys trying to kill me. So I blinked for what, 24 hours and now I'm this far behind? Sheesh. Going back and taking it from the top...

I have started challenge 15.

In honor of the second month of the year:
Seconds: Read the second book in a series or by an author (Note how the work is a second).

Books that qualify: The second novel, the second nonfiction book, the second book in a series. For example, Steve Martin's The Pleasure of My Company is not Martin's second book written, but it is his second novel. I do not know if Flight of the Hawk is G.R. Grove's second book, but I do know it is the second book in the Storyteller series. And therefore qualifies.

> 115

So I blinked for what, 24 hours and now I'm this far behind?

LOL!!

Oh, I can't resist Challenge #15. I am going to read Country of the Blind which is the second book in Christopher Brookmyre's Jack Parlabane series.

I just added a blast from the past for Challenge #1: Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance (heart is embedded). If I get real industrious, I might try to read Guidebook to Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance...but probably not.

That is such an interesting book, Donna. I remember being thoroughly confused by it (it's not an easy read), but having loved it and being saddened by it in the end.

For "older folks" like myself, I found the "memory lane" aspect of that novel pretty nice. Those carefree days of cross-country trips and motorcycle rides....

A notable quote from that book:
“The Buddha, the Godhead, resides quite as comfortably in the circuits of a digital computer or the gears of a cycle transmission as he does at the top of a mountain or in the petals of a flower.”

I've come up with at least a partial list of TIOLI challenges I'll attempt in February:

#9 (True North category) - The Colony of Unrequited Dreams by Wayne Johnston

#11 (Lunar New Year category) - The End of East by Jen Sookfong Lee

#13 (New Horizons category) - A Year in the World by Frances Mayes

#14 (Valentine category) - A Miracle for St. Cecelia's by Katherine Valentine

#15 (Seconds category) - Birds of a Feather by Jacqueline Winspear and The Janus Stone by Elly Griffiths

I may find another book or two for some of the other categories, but at least this is a good place to begin. I had already tentatively picked out most of these for February reading already.

So far I have:

Challenge #1: The Golden Compass ('encompass')

Challenge #3: L'élégance du hérisson (The Elegance of the Hedgehog)

Challenge #9: Lullabies for Little Criminals and/or A Complicated Kindness

Challenge #10:
Doctor Faustus (red spine, title 'Dr.') moved to #16
The Story of Edgar Sawtelle (debut book, letter 'e') moved to #17
The Shape of Water (one of 4 elements, private investigator)
War Horse (animal in title, WWI) moved to #17
The Beautiful and Damned (problem in title, author with 3 part name)
Of Mice and Men and Cannery Row (classic, nobel laureate) moved to #17
The Kill Artist (member recommendation, popular but new to me)
Dead Souls (Police investigation, existing series)
The Eye in the Door (sequel by a woman, 5 words) moved to #15

for challenge #10, I made sure to only use each challenge no more than once. I may have misinterpreted the challenges somehow, so please let me know if I'm off the mark before I list these in the wiki.

Challenge #15: The Eye in the Door

Challenge #16: Doctor Faustus

I doubt I'll have time to read all of these, but at least posting them might give others some ideas.

#1 Skinny Legs and All by Tom Robbins (sandal)

#6 The Goodness of St. Rocque and Other Stories by Alice Dunbar-Nelson

#9 Generation X by Douglas Coupland

#15 On the Bright Side, I'm Now the Girlfriend of a Sex God by Louise Rennison (heh, didn't realize this had another title in the UK 'til I bing'd it to make sure it was indeed the second in the Georgia Nicholson series)

I want to pick something for #10; will need to study the previous challenges and then move on to the wiki.

ETA: #10: I chose Jahanara: Princess of Princesses by Kathryn Lasky as soon as I saw the "...chapatis, curries" challenge to read a book set in India for January 2010 (challenge #2).

Then, what an effort to find a second challenge. My edition's ISBN ends in a 4, but the ISBN-13 of the newer edition ends in 8. One of the Walla-Wallas may have worked, but with the subtitle, which always bothers me.

Not considering the subtitle, there's no 'e' in the title or author ... and yet there IS that subtitle. It's been on Mt. TBR for all of 2010, but what hasn't? There's an animal (elephant) on the cover -- nah, too easy.

Finally, in September 2010, success: Challenge #12: Controversial books (SD 1.024). I never heard about this feature until now! (I also never participated in TIOLI until 2011, but I'm getting hooked.)

I claim #16! My challenge is called "Doctor, Doctor" and the rules are that the book must either (1) have the word "doctor" or the abbreviation "dr" in the title; (2) refer to a doctor using either the word or its abbreviation on the very first page of the book's text (not counting introductions, forewords, author's notes); OR (3) be written by or about a doctor.

The doctors in (1) and (2) can be dentists, veterinarians, psychologists, professors, etc. as well as medical doctors. Authors and subjects of biographies don't have to be listed as "Dr" or "so-and-so, Ph.D./M.D./D.D.S." as long as they actually *are* doctors.

If it's a real person whose profession can be verified, the title isn't required -- but the title is required for a fictional character.

Embedded words and slang like "Doctor up your resume" are also acceptable.

So many possibilities: I'm going to read Dr. Sax and am just finishing Our Man in Havana which opens with Dr Hasselbacher; you could choose Doctor Zhivago, a biography of Che, works by William Carlos Williams, Maya Angelou, or Wayne Dyer ...

#124 Ok, so I'm removing Doctor Faustus from challenge #10 and putting it into challenge #16. Thanks for that one!

ETA: Also moving The Eye in the Door to challenge #15.

I'd also like to suggest challenge #17: A book which features an animal (or several) as an important story element. i.e. either the animal is the main character, or helps move the story along in an important way. A character who has a pet that is just mentioned occasionally would NOT count. A good way to ensure your selection fits the challenge would be if the animal is named in the title or in the summary of the book.

The animals should also travel in some way (on the road, in the city streets, by various means of locomotion, through time and space, etc).

A few examples from my own library would be:

The Story of Edgar Sawtelle (dogs, follow a runaway)
War Horse (self-explanatory)
Water for Elephants (animals in travelling circus)
Timbuktu (homeless dog)
Of Mice and Men (not 100% sure about this one—can't remember if Lennie keeps the mouse as they're walking about?)
The Master and Margarita (cat, travels via magic)

I'm sure there are lots of other examples, but too tired to think of them right now.

Now that I look back on former challenges, this might be too close to the 'animal in the title challenge'. What do you think? If so, I'll think of something to make it different. As I said, not thinking clearly right now. Added 'travel' stipulation.

>126 Smiler69: Does the animal have to be real? Or can it be mythical...like a dragon or unicorn or something?

I am going to join in challenge # 3. I have Major Pettigrew last stand on my shelf. Have heard good things about it so is time to read it I think :)

These challenges are so fun! Last month was my first time doing any, and it helped so much with my 11 in 11 challenge. Here's what I've lined up so far:

#1 If You're Reading This It's Too Late (stool)

#3 The Imperfectionists

#5 The Fire Within

#6 The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms

#7 Flora Mirabilis: How Plants have Shaped Knowledge, Health, Wealth, and Beauty

#8 Homer's Odyssey - Gwen Cooper (The Odyssey - Homer)

#11 Death of a Red Heroine (China)

#13 Lost on Planet China

#13 Travels in West Africa

#15 Incendiary (2nd novel)

#17 The Master and the Margarita (a chance to redeem myself for not getting to this last month)

I've only been able to find one book I plan on reading soon that works: Red Seas Under Red Skies Second book of the Gentlemen Bastards series for Challenge 15. Oh well.

>95 pbadeer: Would Little Princes by Connor Grennan count towards your "lifestyle" challenge? It's about a guy who decided to volunteer at a Nepalese orphanage for 3 months.

If not, I can put it in the Touchstone confusion challenge - when I posted it in this message, the touchstone for A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett came up. :)

My planned reads:

#1: The Rehearsal by Eleanor Catton (there)
#4: So Much for That by Lionel Shriver
#6: The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson
#6: Tumbling by Diane McKinney-Whetstone
#6: Sonata Mulattica by Rita Dove
#16: Autism's False Prophets by Paul A. Offit, M.D.

elkiedee - I have a question for Challenge #12
I have a book about Abraham Lincoln titled Mr. Lincoln's high-tech war which is supposed to show how he took advantage of modern inventions to aid the Union in fighting the Civil War. Would that qualify as "someone trying to do things in a different way"?

131: Yes, I think so

133: It's not quite what I'd envisaged but I'm feeling a bit lonely on my challenge, and I'm thinking maybe I haven't worded that clearly what I did envisage. So, if you feel it fits the challenge, ok.

With shared reads, my personal challenges, the library books that fit a TIOLI challenge (I've found 6 possibilities for challenge 1) I don't think I'm going to be able to read more than the two books I've listed for my challenge. One I read a few years ago and would recommend is Barbara Ehrenreich's Nickel and Dimed, about going undercover in low paid jobs. Fran Abrams and Polly Toynbee have written similar books here, and I understand there has also been such a book in Germany (I don't know any of the details). Last year I read the book of a TV series that I've not seen, Undercover Boss for a review, a rather more pro-boss viewpoint on big business, but I think the lifestyle experiment thing is there.

Another I own and haven't read, though it had quite bad reviews, is Not Buying It by Judith Levine, about trying not to buy things for a year.

One I've already read which is on a favourite topic for many of us is Howards End is on the Landing, in which Susan Hill decided to read the books on her shelves rather than buying new ones for a year. (Interestingly, she's judging the Man Booker this year, which might limit her time to read other books in a different way!)

Here are the books I hope to read for this month's challenges:

Challenge #2 (Non-fiction about winter, cold, blizzards, etc): Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer
Challenge #3 (2010 Favorites): Fingersmith by Sarah Waters
Challenge #11 (Lunar New Year/new author): The Vagrants by Yuyin Li
Challenge #13 (Non-fiction travel): Down the Nile by Rosemary Mahoney
Challenge #15 (Second book in a series or an author's second work): A Fatal Grace by Louise Penny

ETA: balky touchstones

> 134

Luci, may I suggest that, if there are questions as to what might "fit" into a challenge, that it might be posted to a poll?

Usually the person who is trying to enter a book will agree with the results of a poll (though sometimes not). At any rate, I think that, if one who posts a book can give a good argument as to why it should fit, that should make it "okay". The person who posts the challenge should have the last word, though. However, let's all remember that we're just doing this for fun. Let's not have any hurt feelings over what can be "counted" and what can't.

How to do a poll:

{vote}Is this how to do a poll?{/vote}

...will look like this when you use the pointed brackets instead of the squiggly ones:

>134 elkiedee: Thanks, elkiedee. I didn't reference the right message, but I did mean to direct the question to you, so thanks for your answer.

I've found a book that will fit Challenge #10 - Appaloosa which fits into the May 2010 One Word Title Challenge and the June 2010 The A's Have It Challenge.

>134 elkiedee:: I'm feeling a bit lonely on my challenge...

I've been intrigued by your challenge. I'm wondering if Reading the OED: One Man, One Year, 21,730 Pages would qualify. Shea was a furniture mover who was obsessed with words. It must have been quite a challenge to read a 20-volume dictionary. I'm not sure what his purpose in doing this was as I haven't read the book yet. ;-)

ETA: I'm going to read it anyway so won't bother to do a poll. I just don't want to list it on your challenge, Luci, if it doesn't fit the criteria...which I'm too lazy to look up right now.

139: It would definitely qualify for my challenge as I envisaged it - you make me want to go and look for the book.

(My mum's parents worked for Oxford University Press, my grandfather was quite senior, but my grandmother worked I think on dictionaries and I used to love looking at the Oxford reference books in their sitting room.)

>140 elkiedee:: With your background, you should definitely read it with me, Luci. It was one of my Christmas gifts to myself because I was so infatuated with the idea. I think I'll enjoy reading about it more than actually doing something like that!

I can recommend Eat Pray Love for Challenge #12. An enjoyable and interesting light read.

Ok, so challenge #17 will be called

Read a book about an animal that travels.

Basically, you can find out about the travelling part either by reading the book jacket or description, or you can glean that part from the title. For instance, I discovered about the dogs and the running away in Edgar Sawtelle by reading the jacket. For Timbuktu, I just deducted that a dog who belongs to a homeless man travels by default. And for War Horse, well, traveling is part of what they do, right?

#127 to answer your question, I would tend to say stick to real animals, but we can have our members vote on it:ETA: am posting the challenge on the wiki as I type this (well not literally, but you know what I mean).

I will start a thread soon to give people suggestions for this one.

I've decided to move Travels with Boogie to the travelling animal challenge. I read a fair bit of travel literature, so it's quite likely that I'll pick up another travel narrative, but very unlikely that I'll select one involving an animal. I'm about 75 pages into Boogie and it's pretty funny- nice, light reading with some fine British wit.

I've got one for Challenge #1, which I'm excited about, since lately I've only discovered books that fit into challenges long after I've read them:

#1 - How to Ditch Your Fairy - Justine Larbalestier (itchy)

> 145

I'm finding it very interesting to see which books show up in Challenge #1 (Embedded word) along with their associated words. Sometimes it's hard to find those words, but I think the looking is half the fun!

> 144

I'm thinking that Ilana's Challenge #17 (a book about an animal that travels) might turn out to be a particularly difficult challenge. However, with recommendations from everyone, this challenge might even turn out to be the most fun. If you have a recommendation for this particular challenge, please do share it.

P.S. Ilana, you might think of starting a separate thread for this challenge so that recommendations of books will not get lost and to provide a better forum for sharing stories about the animals in these books.

For the animal that travels challenge, how about Seabiscuit: An American Legend by Laura Hillenbrand?

So far, for the embedded word challenge, I've got two 6-letter word titles. Buffalo West Wing (lowest) and also Wicked River (driver). Anybody finding any other 6 letter words or longer yet?

Thanks for the recommendations for the Travelling Animals challenge. I'm just quickly going through the threads right now, but I'll start the thread for this challenge and list all the recommendations this evening when I get back from my drawing class.

Keri, what would you think about allowing shared reads for your challenge even if we haven't personally read the other book? I'm planning to read Native Tongue this month and see that someone else has already listed it, but I haven't read the other book with the same name.

> 147

how about Seabiscuit: An American Legend by Laura Hillenbrand?

That's a great recommendation, Linda. That's a wonderful read.

I'm going to be more realistic this month and start by adding only 3 books to the wiki.
#7 12-word title challenge : The Possessed Adventures with Russian books and the people who read them by Elif Batuman
#13 travel narrative challenge: Just as well I'm leaving: to the Orient with Hans Christian Andersen by Michael Booth
#14 Valentine Challenge: The double life of Cassiel Roadnight by Jenny Valentine

The Travelling Animal challenge looks interesting, a few suggestions:
Tschiffely's Ride:From Southern Cross to Pole Star - horses
The Cry of the Wolf by Melvin Burgess - wolf
Plain Kate - cat
I am the Great Horse - horse
The Elephant's Journey by Jose Saramago - elephant
Life of Pi by Yann Martel

I second Life of Pi (tiger) by Yann Martel as well as recommend A Pigeon and a Boy (carrier pigeon) by the Israeli author Meir Shalev for the "travelling animal challenge".

149> Seeing the books that people are reading, I'm actually starting to lean towards doing away with the "previously read" bit - as long as the book causes some kind of touchstone confusion. That is, when you create the touchstone, there are at least 2 options within the first ten that might work.

I don't want it to be too complicated or challenging, and I added the "previously read" constraint mostly in order to create a challenge to discover books, and also for the comparison. But I think just having a title that can be a pain with touchstones is enough, perhaps.

These are the books I'm definitely reading in February:

Any Human Heart by William Boyd for Challenge #10 - fits into Challenge #9 from June, 2010 and Challenge #7 from July, 2010. (I hope I got those right! I didn't participate in TIOLI last year, and the summary link that I saw with this challenge Saturday evening has now disappeared!)
Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston for Challenge #6
My Reading Life by Pat Conroy for Challenge #3

I hope to add at least two or three more, but I haven't made my other choices yet.

I have to say once again that I really am enjoying TIOLI! The best thing it's done for me is encourage me to read books from my OWN library -- books that would have just sat there, unread, for years! Thanks to you, Madeline, and to all the other TIOLI participants!!

>147 lindapanzo:. I found Skinny Legs and All by Tom Robbins on my shelf (sandal, a 6-letter word, is embedded).

Right now I don't think I'm going to read it, because I'm doing a geographical reading order for the Reading Globally group and I'm already past NYC. If anyone else reads it for TIOLI #1, I'll join in, though!

Again, great recommendations for the traveling animals challenge. I'll go create that thread now and let you know as soon as it's up!

For Challenge #10 I am reading The Body in the Clouds by Ashley Hay. (Challenges I did not participate in: 1. June - unreviewed book; 2. December - related to sky and earth.)

Ok, I've started a thread for challenge #17: animals that travel where I've posted all your suggestions so far.

Thread for February TIOLI #16 (Doctor, Doctor):
http://www.librarything.com/topic/108813

I'm probably being overconfident after last month's personal TIOLI high, but I've added these to the wiki:

#1 Invisible Monsters
#3 Devil in the White City
#6 Their Eyes Were Watching God
#10 Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother
#10 Winter's Bone
#15 The Shadow in the North
#15 Prince Caspian
#15 The Girl Who Played with Fire

(Re. challenge #7 - Who'd've guessed I had so many books with 11-word titles?? =)

> 160

Who'd've guessed I had so many books with 11-word titles??

Ha!

>160 madhatter22: I can't believe it was relatively easy for me to find one! with 12, not 11. :o)

Error alert! Under Challenge #1 it looks like someone copied and pasted A Glass of Blessings and forgot to replace my name with theirs. I'm really not reading it twice! ;o)

I just finished my first February TIOLI book, Match Day: One Day and One Dramatic Year in the Lives of Three New Doctors by Brian Eule, for challenge #16. It was written by the husband of a surgery resident, and describes the lives of three medical students as they go through the Match and enter residency in their chosen fields. I'll review this later today, and post a link here.

163: Oops that was me, I've corrected it.

I'm impressed by "inquest" and "encompass"

I have 6 library books which fit challenge 1

A Glass of Blessings (lasso) - planning to read as shared read
Welcome to Life (comet)
Standing Room Only (groom)
Writers Talk (stalk)
The Reluctant Fundamentalist (there)
All Names Have Been Changed (shave)
The Year the Gypsies Came (earth)

3 shared reads I can join in - Glass of Blessings as above, and also it's a Virago Modern Classic
I've started reading The Rehearsal (there) as a shared read
I might join in on An Unsuitable Attachment (bleat) if I can find it

I might also read Mistress of the Art of Death (heart) if I can find my copy
I'd also like to read The Artist's Wife by Shena Mackay (no working touchstones)

3 of these would also fit touchstone trouble

edited because I got it wrong

164: Wow that was fast - only about 3 hours into February for you wasn't it Darryl?

#163 & 165 Dammit! I mailed A Glass of Blessings off to a friend today. And I still haven't found a title to fit Challenge #1.

#166: Right, Lucy. I read half of the book last night, woke up at 1:30 am (bad dream?), and read the remainder of it until I could go back to sleep.

> 167

I mailed A Glass of Blessings off to a friend today. And I still haven't found a title to fit Challenge #1.

LOL!!

151>

Hey, The Possessed is next-but-one on my TBR queue; I'll have to do that for the challenge as well!

>>170 lorax: - If you read The Possessed: Adventures with Russian Books and the People Who Read Them, you would be the fifth person, and I just got notification that my copy just came into the library, so if I can squeeze it in, we'll have a pretty popular book. What an odd title to show so much interest.

Ta-da! I found a book for challenge 1 (The Strange Case of the Broad Street Pump (roads) AND I found a book for challenge 7, with twelve words in the title The Sisters of Sinai: How Two Lady Adventurers Discovered the Hidden Gospels, and these were both books that I was going to read anyway. I had almost given up on these two challenges (they are challenging!).

The "Broad Street Pump" book has been published under different titles, but this is the title of the volume I'm reading. I thought of claiming a six-letter word, "Broads," but thought that sounded a little vulgar. Ha!

I've found several other books listed by others that I want to read, too! Dr. Zhivago--there's a new translation by Pevear and Volokhonsky and my library has it! (will wonders ever cease!)

Karen O.

>165 elkiedee: How do you get 'bleat' out of Honorable Estate? blees, maybe! LOL!

>172 klobrien2: Ooh, The Sisters of Sinai is one that I really want to read too. I doubt that I'll have time for it this month, though.

Aaaarrrghh - I got it wrong! Never mind, I have plenty to read for challenge 1 anyway.

I'd love to read The Possessed but don't think I'll be able to find it in a library here.

Woohoo! I finished a book thinking it didn't fit in any challenges but then I realized it works for my own - Moon Over Manifest is both a debut (Jan 2010) and a Newbery Award winner (Feb 2010).

177: bell7, that is so funny! I'm glad that you got to fit it in!

Karen O.

Are the challenges for this month still open? If so, I'd like to propose reading a two-for-one book; a book with one title which actually consists of two books. For example, "Bedknob and Broomstick" is made up of "The Magic Bedknob" and "Bonfires and Broomsticks".

Not wanting to commit to too many at present, but scanning the entries already on the wiki I can see some that are in my TBR pile so I will try to read one or two of those - particularly A Glass of Blessings for challenge one (lasso).

Challenge 13 gives me an excuse to read A Time of Gifts which I've recently catalogued, having forgotten that I have it, unread, until I did so.

I finished Monument Eternal: The Music of Alice Coltrane by Franya J. Berkman for challenge #6 (read a book by or about an African-American woman), an analysis of the life and work of the second wife of the great jazz musician John Coltrane, who was an accomplished musician in her own right, along with a spiritual leader and influential teacher.

I'm half way through Wench and it's a winner. I'd have to say, not too much romance goin' on here.

> 179

You may post a challenge on the wiki through the 7th of January.

FYI to everyone:
Next month, I am going to shorten this time to limit the posting of new challenges to the first 5 days of the month (which, of course, includes the days prior to the first of the month as well).

I wanted to read Mr Shakespeare's Bastard this month. Is "aresba" a word??

>184 SqueakyChu: : Challenge #18 is up! The Piscean challenge : Read a two-for-one book; a book with one title which actually consists of two individual books (and state the titles)

I've added to the wiki; doing it on an iPad is an experience. Hope I haven't messed up the wiki (in spite of all assurances that that's impossible)

An iPad... ooooohhhhh. Me so jealous! In a good way. :-)

> 186

The wiki is intact!

I moved your example down to be listed as a book. If you don't read it, simply delete it at the end of the month.

I'm trying to keep the challenge titles as simple as possible by listing examples as books under the challenge title and having any fuller explanations, if needed, go elsewhere (i.e. main thread or separate thread).

-----------

To Everyone:
Please, in the future, your challenge titles should not be as long as a master's thesis!! Keep them brief and to the point. Explain them somewhere other than on the wiki. You have a whole main thread for that. You can even start your own thread and post 250 messages (until the thread police get you!) as to how you want your challenge to be done.

The Reason:
I want the wikis to look clean and inviting - not intimidating. Thanks in advance.

Santa delivered a couple for the whole family to share, this Christmas; but it's awfully hard to get it off the kids. Otherwise I'd be on it permanently.

#171 - I was completely sucked in by The Possessed: Adventures with Russian Books and the People Who Read Them. It turns out my library had a copy on the shelf and I am now in possession of The Possessed. Does that make 6?

I finished Wench, a great read and not one I had even originally planned.
Now on to The Warmth of Other Suns.

rotten touchstones

>185 amandameale: LOL! I think it should be!

> 185

No, but "arroba" is a word. Just find a book title to go with that word instead. ;)

Another fun idea for challenge #1:

Find an embedded word that no one even knows is a word. (Helpful Hints: it must be found on dictionary.com - not be proper noun or abbreviation and have a minimum of five letters) Go to it, folks!

ETA: If it's a very obscure word, you might want to add a short definition! (arroba: a unit of weight)

>193 SqueakyChu: Six letters? I thought it was five.

>>190 nittnut: - you're #6 to add to the wiki with The Possessed, but if lorax from #170 ends up reading it and adding it to the wiki, that would be seven - the most popular book for any of the challenges I've posted

>195 pbadeer: Oh, that's an interesting statistic. I wonder what was the most popular book from my challenges. I don't think it got anywhere close to 7.

I finished my reread of The Color Purple for Challenge No. 6. The second reading was as affecting as the first.

>>196 _Zoe_: - I won't count my chickens (points) before the month is hatched, because 84, Charing Cross Road had more listed participants for my books published in 1970 challenge (possibly more than 7), but only 4 completed it. I'm not even sure I'll be able to finish The Possessed for this month for my own challenge because I have some big books planned for this month - and it's the shortest month.

But that is what makes TIOLI great - it's my own challenge, and I had never heard of the book. Had it not been posted within TIOLI, it's unlikely I ever would have stumbled upon it. I just hope it's good :)

#198 You can never tell, though. In December, A Christmas Carol started out as just a small thing and more and more (and even more) people kept adding it.

I do love when someone posts a book I've never heard of to my challenge.

I have decided to definitely ease up on the challenge for #8, Touchstone Confusion. Now it's more strictly about touchstones and less about previous reads.

Updated challenge details: http://www.librarything.com/topic/108561#2480436

This should make it a bit easier to find something in the TBR piles to slot in.

FYI: Good Omens doesn't count. All those other touchstone potentials are for the perfumes. ;)

I've also updated the wiki description: "Read a book with a title that the Touchstone interface thinks could be a different book".

I'm thinking of reading Revolution or Native Tongue for it, too.

>188 SqueakyChu: Thank you. Actually, when I added the example, it came up in a cute looking box; but since I'd never seen anything like that on the wiki before, I wasn't sure how it would look to everyone else.
That was a January book; I'll pop over sometime and switch it to my February example.

>200 keristars: Great, I'll go ahead and add Native Tongue!

Hopefully touchstones will be revived soon, so that people can continue discovering books for this challenge.

#198 - Hey Patrick - I'm only on page 50, but so far I am really enjoying it. It's helpful to have read a few Russian authors, or to have a passing knowledge of them, but not completely necessary (so far). The author is funny.

> 194

It is five letters as a minimum. I was just picking an odd sort of word.

I notice that people are listing Little Princes in two different categories.

>205 _Zoe_: Good catch. I don't mind moving mine for the points if we all agree on one. :)

Revolution by Jennifer Donnelly is also listed in two challenges at the moment.

Ps - the link back to this page from the TIOLI frog meter isn't up; tried to help out, but I can't seem to put it in properly. Sorry.

>204 SqueakyChu: right, but you said it must be found on dictionary.com - not be proper noun or abbreviation and have a minimum of six letters so I was confused. But I'm easily confused.

> 208

It was me who was confused this time. I went back and corrected the previous post to say *five* letters.

> 207

Thanks, humouress! It's fixed.

I've moved Little Princes from category 13 to 12 because 2 other people were reading the same book in 12.

Isabel Wilkerson will be talking about her book The Warmth of Other Suns on BookTV Saturday the 5th at noon ET.

I finished The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind during the Readathon. What an inspirational book!

I'm reading God's Philosophers: How the Medieval World Laid the Foundations of Modern Science by James Hannam and was staring at the cover yesterday when it struck me that the title has 12 words! Cool. I'm going to add it to Patrick's 12 word title challenge now.

Adding Harlem is Nowhere to Challenge #6.

So pleased with myself, I finally found a book for Challenge#1, and I finished it already, The Return of the Soldier, a great story.

Completed A Fatal Grace by Louise Penny for challenge #15 (second in a series). I liked it much more than the first in the series and now can't wait to get my hands on #3!

I've added Talking to Dragons from The Enchanted Forest Chronicles to challenge #5; I hope it qualifies.

Oh, yay! I decided to run next door (I work next to the Main Library!) and pick up Ash by Malinda Lo to read, because of mention elsewhere, and was bummed that it doesn't really fit any of the challenges - there's only one vowel, so I'm guessing it doesn't fit #5. And then I was making the touchstone and lo, it fits my challenge #8!

(I wanted to get Donnelly's Revolution, but the one that belongs to this branch is currently checked out, and I'd have to drive an hour across town to get a copy today.)

If anyone else wants to read Ash, I think it was also included on BitchMedia's list of feminist YA books, before they edited it.

195>

Make that seven, I finished my current commute read and will start The Possessed on Monday. Seven of us reading it this month is enough to have a conversation; mind if I start a thread on it?

mind if I start a thread on it?

It sure sounds as if it's deserving of a thread!

I've just added Carry On, Jeeves to challenge #15 (2nd in series) when I saw that there are already two people reading it. How I'll find the time to read an additional book is a mystery. It'll be my first P.G. Wodehouse though, since I picked up this brand new copy at the used bookstore for practically nothing.

For challenge #17 (traveling animals) we have three people reading The Story of Edgar Sawtelle, two people reading Zarafa, and Travels with Boogie, Travels with Charley and War Horse already listed. Perhaps you might like to join along with one of those books too?

Oh yes, almost forgot, I'll be joining Kerry (aviatakh) on challenge #1 with The Return of the Soldier, since she recommended the free audiobook from LibriVox.org to me. It's just over two hours long, so I should be able to fit it in somewhere.

>>219 lorax: - a thread for The Possessed: Adventures with Russian Books and the People Who Read Them is a great idea. I just picked up my copy from the library.

I hadn't started a thread for the challenge itself because other than length, the titles would have nothing to do with each other. But a thread for this specific book makes sense.

The Possessed: Adventures with Russian Books and the People Who Read Them sounds really interesting.

Have finished my only challenge for this month Major Pettigrew's last Stand by Helen Simonson for challenge 3 - Read a 75-Book-Challenge favourite book of 2010

Is there a list of all challenges for #10? I spent a bit of time going to each individual thread to check a book and don't want to do that again.

If not, I'd be happy to put one together. Just let me know.

226> The easiest way is probably the wiki.

> 226

Is there a list of all challenges for #10?

I'm not sure what you mean by "for #10".

1. There is a wiki index (list of all the challenges and the wiki page on which you will find them in message #2 of each main thread (i.e. the top of this thread, for example).

2. In addition, each wiki (there are three this month) has an index at the top of its own page. If you click on any of those challenges (in the pink box at the top of eack wiki page), that will take you right to the specific challenge that you want.

Inspired by the idea of a thread for The Possessed, I have started a thread for Nella Larsen's Quicksand and Passing - at the moment, four people are reading them, and I know that others have read them in the past. I just read Quicksand and am still trying to figure out what I make of it, so if you are reading or have read it, please let me know your reactions here.

#10 is the challenge where you read a book that qualifies for two previous challenges you didn't participate in. In order to check this, I had to go into 12 different threads to look at all the challenges. From the responses, I would say there is no "Master List" of ALL challenges. I'll put one together for myself and if there is interest, I can make it public somehow.

>230 Morphidae:

Gotcha! There is a wiki index set up by MikeBriggs to past challenges. Unfortunately I don't have that link on hand and can't find it just now. If someone (Mike?) would point me to that link, I'd be happy to add it to Challenge #10. I don't know if that wiki page is up-to-date, though, as I haven't looked at it in a long time.

If we can't find it or if you'd like to update it when we do find it, Morphidae, feel free to take that on as your special project!

Here's the summary page. I think we'll probably want to start a new one for 2011.

Thanks, Zoe.

I added that link to challenge #10 and have it linked elsewhere so I won't lose it again. I see that both MikeBriggs and SouloftheRose have worked on keeping it up-to-date. Should anyone (Morphidae?) want to start and/or maintain a similar summary for 2011, please do so and let me know the link.

ETA: MikeBriggs, elkiedee, and bell7 worked on the Multiple Readers Summary (Thanks!) which is very interesting as well. The link to that can be found on the bottom of the TIOLI summary page. Take a peek at it!

> 229

Can you point me to the thread for Possessed? I'd like to add a link to it to message # 2 above. Thanks!

>233 SqueakyChu: Thanks for the credit, but I just did a little cleanup on the Multiple Readers Summary after MikeBriggs set it up. :)

> 235

Thanks for the correction, Mary.

Here is the thread for The Possessed: Adventures with Russian Books and the People Who Read Them by Elif Batuman

http://www.librarything.com/topic/109256&newpost=1#lastmsg

Thanks, Patrick.

Addendum:
To all who start separate challenge threads or individual book threads (but not if they already have their own "group read" thread):
Remember to provide links back to the main thread(s)! Thanks!

To anyone else who wants to start a thread off of a thread:

1. Be sure there are enough people reading the same book to ensure activity on your thread.
2. Post a message here on the main thread about it, and I will include a link to it on the wiki index in message #2.

Thx!

For whatever reason I am unable to post what I tried to post so you'll all just have to guess what I am trying to say :)

I know what you were trying to say Bonnie -- that this thread has reached maximum capacity! (Clever, huh? this way Madeline can't accuse me of griping about the thread again!)

I completed Harlem is Nowhere for challenge #6.

139: I thought the book about reading the OED sounded really interesting but didn't think I'd be able to find a copy. Guess what I came across in a charity shop yesterday. I'm not sure I'll get to it this month but will be interested to know whether it's any good.

> 245, 246

Bonnie... Speak up! Is that what you *really* were trying to say?!

Keep guessing ;-)

Terri,

I'm 100% sure that's not what Bonnie meant to post!!

Just finished Carry On, Jeeves by P.G. Wodehouse for challenge 15 (second in a series). This is my second Wodehouse, and I just love them. I am a big fan of the Steven Fry/Hugh Laurie series of Jeeves and Wooster, and was thrilled to recognize episodes in the original book(s). Very witty, sweet, like reading with vitamins in it!

Karen O.

Currently reading Mr. Monk Goes to Hawaii for 1st challenge. Goest (archaic second person singular present of go).

248: Hugh Laurie wrote a book - The Gun Seller. Could fit first challenge. Gunsel - Noun: A criminal carrying a gun.

> 249

goest?!!!!!!!

LOL!!

Okay. You win. :D

Are you going to read Hugh Laurie's book as well, Mike?

Gotta go. I see a gunsel trying to get into my house...

Uh, careful: Dashiell Hammett used the word 'gunsel' because he knew it would be misunderstood and therefore slip past the censors, but it does have another meaning besides 'a criminal carrying a gun'. :)

> 251

Oops! I *defiinitely* have to keep any gunsel out of my house now. :o

ETA: I knew I needed to improve my understanding of Yiddish!!

*feels proud of having learned a new word today.* Thanks, Mike!

Ha, I just looked it up. Are you sure you want to keep him out, Madeline?

I just finished The Return of the Soldier for challenge #1.
Also completed The Graveyard Book for challenge #3.
Two very different books, but I enjoyed them and would definitely recommend.

>>253 Citizenjoyce: All things considered, I think she'd be a lot safer with a gunsel in the house than with a gunsel in the house.

> 253

Definitely!

Er, wait, can I have a look at him first? :)

250: I had already read the Laurie book and do not plan to reread it this month. :)

I've just finished The Body in the Clouds by Australian author Ashley Hay for Challenge #10. One of the strangest reading experiences of my life and I will put my thoughts into a review sometime soon.

I finished The Weed that Strings the Hangman's Bag for Challenge #15.

While this applies to those participating in the Canada Reads challenge, it's also for everyone: the Canada Reads debates are going on right now, and all this week. 5 Canadian quasi-celebrities debate the merits of 5 Canadian books and whittle it down to one winner.
Even if people have not read the books it's still a very fun program to listen to. People talking passionately about books! What's not to like?
Check out the website for info and to download a podcast: http://www.cbc.ca/books/canadareads/

I just wrote my review for The Golden Compass for challenge #1 (word: encompass). You can find it right here.

#260 thanks for the link to that podcast. I'll be sure to listen to that!

>261 Smiler69:: oooo, is that the longest word for Challenge #1?

For challenge #18: the Piscean challenge, I've added Chronicles of the Chrestomnaci - Volume II, which consists of The Magicians of Caprona and Witch Week

#262 you know, I just went to check on the wiki, and it looks like it is, so far!

#261 - NICE! I never want to play Scrabble with you. Just saying.

I finished and was so impressed by The Warmth of Other Suns, now starting Quicksand and finding I love Nella Larsen's style.

I just finished a re-read of Their Eyes Were Watching God for challenge #6 and also read Sula for the same challenge. I've also finished The Imperfectionists for the favorites of 2010 challenge and will start on A Visit from the Goon Squad for the Tournament of Books challenge (both of these books were on my TBR pile anyway. I am in the middle of The Heart is a Lonely Hunter for challenge #1 and Emily Climbs for the second in a series challenge. I hope to start soon on The Possessed: Adventures with Russian Books and the People Who Read Them for the titles with 12 words challenge.

>267 AnneDC: Ooh, I read The Heart is a Lonely Hunter ages ago and loved it. I just got a copy (don't know what happened to my original one) and am looking forward to a re-read. I'll look for your thoughts on it on your thread...

I finished Are You My Guru? How Medicine, Meditation & Madonna Saved My Life by Wendy Shenker for Challenge #12. Read a book about someone trying to do things in a different way. Having now read it, I think it fit into that challenge really well. It was about the author's experience living with and trying to treat a chronic auto-immune system she develops. She tries and tries numerous approaches over the course of many years. At the end, she comes to think she has had a rebirth and has gained the insight that she is the world's foremost expert on her own body.

has gained the insight that she is the world's foremost expert on her own body.

Good for her, something we all need to learn.

#265 lol, actually, I'm TERRIBLE at Scrabble, so chances are you'd win hands down!

#267-68 I read The Heart is a Lonely Hunter some 20 years ago and it was a huge revelation back then. I connected to it because I felt these were characters I could truly relate to. I got another copy a few weeks ago and I greatly look forward to reading it again and of course curious about how it will affect me this time.

I finished Quicksand (which would work very well on the Touchstone confusion thread because I frequently can't get the right one to show no matter what I do). I think Nella Larsen is one of my new favorite authors. She manages to pack so much into one little story. I discussed it on the Quicksand thread.

I finished On the Art of Writing by Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch. I tried to like it for Helene Hanff's sake, but I really couldn't in the end. Glad it's done, and moving on to the next book.

Moving along to the ... next thread

*tries to outrun the thread police*

*removes teeth from tongue*