Take It or Leave It Challenge - August 2011 - Page 2

Continued from here.

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

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


...logo by cyderry
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Here’s your August challenge, folks!

I challenge you to: Read a book that follows a “w” adjective tag here on LibraryThing.

Why “w”? It’s a great adjective letter. You can use it for books that are wacky, weird, whimsical, wild, wired, witty, wonderful, or wonky. You may pick your own “w” adjective. However, do NOT use the word “wishlist (a noun, anyway)” or “wishlisted”.

You may not select your own "w-adjective-tagged" book for this challenge unless you entered that tag before today. I have to trust you on this!

How to find a qualifying book:
1. Put your “w” adjective in the search box at the top of the page and press enter.
2. Go to the column on the left hand side of the page and click “tags”.
3. Click the top word (which should be the adjective you selected).
4. You’ll now see the list of qualifying books. Pick one!

When you list your book, add the adjective you’ve chosen as follows:
A Fraction of the Whole (wacky) - Steve Toltz - SqueakyChu
Perfume: The Story of a Murderer (weird) - Patrick Süskind – SqueakyChu

Some tags are really strange. I just looked up “wet” and came up with a list of 45 books. Go figure!

As always, you are free to list and read a matching book at any time.

It’s now your turn to play with this. Enjoy!

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

1. The August 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:

Challenges #1-6
1. Read a book that follows a "w" adjective tag here on LT - suggestions
2. Read a book with a pig-boy or pig-girl trope - thread
3. Read an Arthurian themed book - thread
4. Read a book with a three-word title, with the middle word being "of" - rules
5. Read a book in which one of the title words sounds like a letter of the alphabet
6. Read a book published by Europa Editions - suggestions - clarification

Challenges #7-12
7. Read a book that you acquired in an unusual location
8. Read a book with a friend on your profile, or make a new friend to read together - thread
9. Read a book about or set in the year that you were born - thread
10. Read a book with an element of the Periodic Table in the title - list of elements - thread
11. Read a book by an author using his/her first two initials and last name
12. Read a book with word(s) related to holidays/travel in the title

Challenges #13-18
13. Read a Western - thread
14. Read a book whose author was born in August - suggestions
15. Read a book with a food item in the title
16. Read a book where every word in the title has the same number of syllables
17. Read a biography or autobiography of a 19th century figure - thread
18. Read a book with a reference to music in the title

Challenges #19 -23
19. Read a book with an expression of greeting or parting in the title or subtitle
20. Read a book about the history of a major city or one of its neighborhoods
21. Read a Man Booker Prize 2011 longlisted book, or a previous winner
22. Read a book with an uncommon main character name - rules - reference
23. Read a book initially written in French in the original or translated version

Really? I'm the first? Now I've forgotten what I was going to say . . . Oh well!

Try walking out of the room and coming back in again. At least it gives you something new to think about.

#251 (on the first thread to Lyzard) - Very impressive!

I read The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler for my challenge #16 (read a book where every word in the title has the same number of syllables) and realised I could add the sequel, Farewell, My Lovely to challenge #19 (read a book with an expression of greeting or parting in the title).

I've managed to finish a few TIOLI reads so far this month.

#16: Under heaven by Guy Gavriel Kay was fantastic - a great tale of love and honour against the background of Tang dynasty China. I didn't think the end was as good as the beginning of the book - the author seemed to lose interest after one climactic moment. But even with that, this was a great read, I was left wanting more.

#8 Case histories by Kate Atkinson I enjoyed this. It was a bit episodic, but it has great characters and a pretty satisfying ending. A very modern take on the crime novel. Well-written with a great detective.

#18 Ballet shoes by Noel Streatfield - a grand wee book that took me right back to my childhood when I adored ballet and horsey books - although truthfully, there wasn't much else to read! A charming story that was a real pleasure to re-visit.

Oops - I had to remove Borderline from the Western challenge when I picked it up and realized I'd just read it. I thought it was still waiting for me.

I'm impressed, ffortsa, that you realized so soon that you'd read the book. I sometimes have to get half way through one before I come to that conclusion

>>#5 I love it when a plan comes together! :)

For Challenge #22, I've finished The Vor Game.

6>: Case Histories was my favorite of the series.

>8 Citizenjoyce:: Me too

>10 humouress:: I love that series!

I've just completed by third book for the August challenges, The Siege of Krishnapur by J.G. Farrell for Challenge 11. An excellent book.

The White Tiger currently has entries in both 1 (w-adjective tag) and 21 (Man Booker winner) - I'm thinking of reading it but am thinking of reading rather more books than I'm likely to get to.

I've finished my first August book, Can You Hear the Nightbird Call, for Challenge #5 - it was excellent!

I finished up The Righteous Revenge of Artemis Bonner by Walter Dean Myers for Challenge#13. (Western)

Finished lullabies for little criminals for challenge #22(?) - unusual protagonist name. Glad it ended on optimistic note. Now, what's next for August?? :-)

And on the 8th day of August I finished my first TOLI book and only the second of the month. Who knew, eh? Thought I hadn't finished one yet, but apparently George is an uncommon name. At least not in the top 100 in the last 11 years. And so . . .

Finally finished the book I've been reading since June 16. Ron Chernow's Washington: A Life. Quite full biography.

apparently George is an uncommon name, but Jayden is a common one. Go figure.

I had read All Mortal Flesh and was able to place it in challenge 22 (unusual character name) for Reverend Clare. Then I got I Shall Not Want of the same series, and am including it in the same challenge for Police Chief Russell. This way, I can honor both characters of this terrific set of books.

The name Clare was least popular in 2009, with a ranking of 709. Russ doesn't even make the list, while Russell hit 408 in 2008.

These are terrific police stories/mysteries/love stories/social commentaries.

Karen O.

I can't believe Clare is so unpopular. Or Karen. OK, I know it's just the last few years and I'm not so young, but I once had 3 Karens in my class at school - we were born in 1968/69.

It's been a slow month for me so far, but I did finish my second TIOLI book, Pao by Kerry Young, a novel about a godfather in the Chinese community of Kingston, Jamaica that I received as an LT Early Reviewer book. I read it for the uncommon name challenge (Pao), and my review of it is here.

>17 MikeBriggs:-20: The popular names are fascinating to me. I just knew that Naomi wouldn't make the list, but it was #96 last year. Lucky for me the book that featured Naomi as the main character, After Life also fit into the "unusual location" challenge as I found it in my mailbox one day - a surprise gift from an LT friend!

I just finished my fourth book for TIOLI this month: The Sisters Brothers, a shared read for Challenge #1, tagged as western. It could have also fit in the Booker Challenge.

My other two books are a Europa edition (Ch. #6), A Novel Bookstore and a shared read with several LT friends (Ch. #8), The Memory of Love - my favorite of the month so far.

I just finished Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris and wanted to add it to Challenge 22. What do I do if the main character's name is not in the 1000 most popular names in the last 11 years???

>23 Ricey: The challenge is actually for uncommon names so you would want the main character's name to not appear in the top 100 names for the past five years. Hopefully that helps and you can add your book to the challenge. :)

22/23: I think there's at least one Sookie book already in the challenge, and it fits.

I find it quite weird though, I know popular names change a lot, and I also think some names popular here are not so popular in the US and vice versa, though some are the same - my older son has a name which has been popular on both sides of the Atlantic forever - and it no doubt helps that it's one that's used in other countries as well.

An FYI:

In the upcoming week or two, I will only have very limited internet access. Therefore some of my "regularly scheduled features" such as stats and awards may be delayed this month. If you don't hear from me much, know that all is well and I'm fine. Feel free to proceed with "Quick Reads" on August 21st. Thanks!

Missing member names:

December 2010, Challenge 13
Men in the Sun and Other Palestinian Stories by Ghassan Kanafani

December 2010, Challenge 16
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J. K. Rowling

One Grave Less by Beverly Connor

I need the members to speak up by 8/13. Thanks!

Have fun, Madeline, boating down the Amazon.

I finished and reviewed the gut-wrenching Matterhorn by Karl Marlantes for the Uncommon Name Challenge. Now I'm reading Parnassus on Wheels as a palate cleanser for the Read a book with a friend on your profile, or make a new friend to read together.

Thanks for the heads up Madeline. Are you really going boating down the Amazon? That sounds pretty exciting.

Are you really going boating down the Amazon?

No. That sounds like something that my younger son might do one day. If he does, I'll let you know. :)

I guess Joyce got me there!

Sorry. I just think of Madeline as the Harrison Ford of LibraryThing.

LOL :-D

Ditto that . . .

I just think of Madeline as the Harrison Ford of LibraryThing.

I'm LOL at that line, too!

Cueing the music for Madeline. . .
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5pNlMgH2p-Y

28: I read Another Thing to Fall in December, sorry!

>39 elkiedee: Got it. No worries. Mistakes are made by all sorts of people. Missing authors, missing member names, misspellings of titles. Only thing I haven't seen in the near 4,000 records so far is a missing title. Heh.

Finished another one! Unfortunately, it wasn't very good - Snowdrops by A.D. Miller, for the initial challenge.

I've read four TIOLI books so far this month:

The Stranger's Child by Alan Hollinghurst (Booker Prize challenge)
Pigeon English by Stephen Kelman (Booker Prize challenge)
Pao by Kerry Young (unusual name challenge)
The Wandering Falcon by Jamil Ahmad (unusual name challenge)

>41 Cait86:: That's disappointing, Cait, as I have Snowdrops checked out from the library and up next on my list of TIOLI books. I am gobbling up these Booker nominees. I just finished and reviewed my second one, A Cupboard Full of Coats for Challenge 21, which I liked better than I thought I was going to considering the subject matter.

>43 Donna828: - Oh, I haven't really heard anything about A Cupboard Full of Coats yet. I'm off to read your review Donna!

Uh-oh, I also have Snowdrops on hold at the library for the initial challenge as well.

I just finished Dog Company Six about the Korean War, read for the Year of Birth Challenge. It was a good read.

The Mr. and Ms. Hottie Author Contest is still going on!

If you haven't cast your votes yet for the Mr. and Ms. Hottie Author contest yet, please do so by private messaging me your votes. You may cast up to three votes for each Mr. Hottie Author and Ms. Hottie Author. Here's the link (message #62) to the post with those authors in the running.

We have a clear winner for each one so far, but a few votes might changes who they are, so don't be left out. Cast your votes! I'll have the results for you when I get my computer access back (in about a week or two) with a (small) prize to go to the two winners.

I finished A Tree Grows in Brooklyn tonight, which brings my current TIOLI total to 12 books. I'm sure Suz will blow us all out of the water soon enough!

I'm back from my vacation, on which I accomplished much more hiking and canoeing than I did reading. But, I did finish lullabies for little criminals for challenge #22 and The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie for challenge #15. I'm almost done with Little Bee for challenge #5 and, as The Washington Post predicted, it's blowing me away. It's by far the best of these three novels, all of which involve a young adolescent girl as 1st-person narrator.

I've added Once Upon a Time in the North to the uncommon name challenge (#22). The main character's name is Lee Scoresby, which was at 464 at it's most popular in 2001.

I just completed Little Bee by Chris Cleave for challenge #5 (word in title sounds like a letter of the alphabet). Wow. This really did blow my socks off.

Ah, heck. I read Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie and I thought it was going to be for #8 (with friend) but it's the only book I'm reading in the next few weeks that has a food item in it.

Anyone want to be my friend? *whines*

Morphy - name your poison - if it's in the local library (remember UK) - I'll have a go.....(but only to stop the whining!!) :o)

ETA: just saw your list on the "friends" thread - honey, they're nearly all 2nd in a series! How about the Hemingway - I've not read one in years.

I've finished a few more TIOLI reads (doing pretty well so far)

#4 Bridge of birds by Barry Hughart Master Li Kao and Number Ten Ox set off on a quest to find the cure for a plague affecting their village - along the way they encounter their share of crooks, monsters and Gods. An amusing quest story with the feel of a Chinese fairy-tale.

#5 Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys A prequel to Jane Eyre that concentrates on Mr Rochester's first wife. An engrossing and pretty short read that casts a whole different light on some of the Jane Eyre characters.

#22 Bury your dead by Louise Penny Another excellent instalment in this Canadian crime series. This time the crime takes place in Old Quebec and the city is so well-drawn, you want to hop on a plane straight away!

>52 Athabasca: You got it! I'll bump The Sun Also Rises to right after City of Bones which I have to read ASAP as it's due back at the library.

Actually on the first two are the second book in a series. The rest are standalones as far I know.

#53 Bridge of Birds has been recommended to me so many times that I can't wait to get to it, but it will still have to wait as I'm pretty well overbooked for the next 20 years (might have to make a spot for it sooner though).

I loved Wide Sargasso Sea earlier this year, as you say, it casts a different light on some of the characters, so it was even better reading it as a follow up to Jane Eyre.

I can't wait to discover the Louise Penny series, especially as I lived in Old Quebec city at one point, so will be neat to compare notes as I don't often get to read stories that take place in locations I've lived in and am intimately familiar with.

eta: I just added Brokeback Mountain by E. Annie Proulx to challenge #14 (August birthday), but I think I'll move it over to to challenge #13 since I don't have any other Westerns listed this month, whereas I have 2 Diana Wynne Jones books listed in #14 already. Anyone looking for shared reads, it's a mighty short one!

As it's starting to look doubtful whether I am going to get either of my entries for Challenge #1 from the library this month, I have added a third one, Stardust by Neil Gaiman under the adjective "whimsical". This one I know I can get my hands on as it's sitting on my TBR shelves!

I finished A World Out of Time for Challenge #16 and loved, loved, loved it. I found it the best sort of sci-fi classic. Then, at the urging of someone (if you know who you are, thank you), I finished the Border Trilogy by reading Cities on the Plain for Challenge #13. I loved this too. If you've seen my review, forgive me for repeating myself, but this was a Literary Shakesperean American Western Tragic Romance. Others haven't enjoyed this book as much as the first two, but I thought it was fabulous. Finally this week, in keeping with my sci-fi themed month, I read Ragamuffin for food-item-in-the-title Challenge #15. This was a not-so-great sci-fi about the role of the descendents of space-faring Caribbean smugglers in a freedom uprising against alien mind-controlling roaches. Perhaps if I had read the first of the series, Crystal Rain, I might have enjoyed this a bit more.

Listened to Brokeback Mountain in one 'sitting' if you can say that, as I listened while walking my little Coco, then while preparing dinner. Wonderful storytelling and of course, a heartbreaking story.

58 > I'm reading Close Range: Wyoming Stories for challenge #14. "Brokeback Mountain" is the last story in the collection. It will be interesting to see how/whether reading it conjures memories of the movie, which I saw when it came out in 2005, and which broke my heart.

Happy Birthday, Annie Proulx. :-)

>55 Smiler69: Ilana, I would highly recommend the Louise Penny books - they start out pretending to be innocuous cosy crime, but there are layers and layers beneath that. I particularly like the French/English divide that runs through most of the books. If you lived in Quebec, you'll love Bury your dead - the sixth book in the series - the city is almost another character in the book.

#59 Ellen, when I originally typed my message in #58, I started commenting about how vividly the scenes from the movie came to me, and went on to say that I think even if I hadn't seen the movie, it would still have conjured up images in my mind because she describes the scenes in such great strokes and in such a direct and beautiful way... I ended up editing out that part of the comment because I got all tripped up in words and synonyms and whatnot (how many ways can you say 'vivid' and 'immediate'? Well... now I've looked it up, lots actually, but I get lazy sometimes, what can I say?)

#60 Bury Your Dead came up quite a lot back when we had Murder & Mystery month I remember (not sure when that was anymore though), and so it's the only other Louise Penny book I've got on my wish list right now. But it was recommended to me that I start from the beginning with this series, so I've already got the Still Life audiobook copied onto my hard drive from the library and ready to go. Good chance I'll listen to it for September Series & Sequels. And yes, I guess the French/English issue would have to come up if it was in any way true to life since it's so much part of living here, especially in Montreal and other smaller pockets in the province where there is still a larger concentration of Anglophones. I'm sitting right on the fence with that one...

Finished Private Peaceful for challenge #16. Short and very powerful book. I think I'm becoming a big fan of Michael Morpurgo's thanks to Kerry. Thanks Kerry!

Saw a movie preview for "War Horse" when we went to see "The Help" on Friday. It looks good, but I definitely want to read the book first.

I finished and reviewed Tobias Wolff's memoir This Boy's Life for the challenge to read a western.

#62> Anytime!
I've agreed to one more friend's shared read, Retribution Falls with Dejah_Thoris, so will be removing some books off the wiki. I'm reading really slowly this month, and this scifi one looks very tempting.

#65 Oh, I really loved Retribution Falls. I just picked up Black Lung Captain the other day which is the second book

I finished Close Range by Annie Proulx for challenge #14. It's my fifth completed tioli book for August and I'm having a hard time deciding what to read next. I think I'll speed (ha) my way through Just Kids for challenge #16, then tackle Sea of Poppies for #4 and The White Tiger for Madeline's original August challenge.

Oh, the books that make it on the list in those first, ambitious, days of the month......!!! AND what fun to have a list to contemplate each time I complete one book, assessing my mood for what's next. I love it!

Do go for Sea of Poppies as soon as you can - I think it's a wonderful book. Be prepared to be submerged and entertained by lively, half-understood pidgin and dialect!

68 > Will do! Thanks for the encouragement!

I finished my book for challenge number 16. I finished Book Lust by Nancy Pearl. I started reading Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets last night. Working on my review to post later in my thread.

I finished A Cupboard Full of Coats by Yvvette Edwards for challenge #21 yesterday, and reviewed it today. I should finish Real Bloomsbury by Nicholas Murray for my challenge (#20) later today or tomorrow.

Missing member names:

February 2011, Challenge 10
Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

February 2011, Challenge 16
Lives They Left Behind, The by Penny, Darby

Please let me know by 8/21. Thanks.

For Challenge #22 (again; professional risk when reading Fantasy), I've read and reviewed The Amber Spyglass, since that's the only challenge I can find that it'll fit into.

After two rather unfortunate reading experiences, I have turned to Neil Gaiman's Stardust which I am reading for Challenge 1. He is becoming one of my "go-to" authors for when I am badly in need of a good book. A seemingly sweet and gentle fairy story, with twists, turns and lots of humor, just what I needed.

Finished the incredibly rich, dense Shalimar the Clown for the unusual first name challenge, and Wicked Autumn for the author using two initial plus last name challenge.

I started reading The Good Earth for challenge #16.

#74 Judy, I tend to agree with you that Gaiman is a good go-to author, even though I haven't read that much by him yet! I look forward to tackling American Gods eventually soon I hope.

> 74 : I loved the film 'Stardust', and I'd like to get the book, if I can find one with photos from the film. Of Gaiman's work, I've only read Good Omens (which I read because he co-wrote it with Terry Pratchet, of whom I'm a fan); that's a great read, especially if you live in London, and have some knowledge of the film 'Omen'

Got up this morning and completed Just Kids (challenge #16) with my first cup of coffee. I have to admit that it was heading toward only a couple of stars from me --- I wasn't getting what all the hype was about. Now, having finished it, I am feeling very differently about it. It's a wonderful story about a deep and miraculous friendship. I'll write my review later today and I'm still not sure how many stars I'll be giving. Not five.

ETA: Starting The White Tiger for Challenge #1 (although it would also fit for challenge #21).

Well, here's a happy accident. My bookclub was scheduled to read a new book, Following Polly, last month, but I didn't get delivery of my copy in time to read it for the meetup. I read it this week, and lo and behold, the name of the protagonist, Alice, has not been in the top 100 for the last 11 years. Yippie.

It's also a fun book, part mystery, part chick-lit, part Manhattan place-dropper.

I'm starting on Great Expectations tonight. For some reason, I wasted a bunch of time trying to fit it into Madeline's challenge as an added difficulty, but with a name like Pip, I could have made it easier for myself and just popped it into challenge #22, which is what I did.

I've just finished O: A Presidential Novel by Anonymous and am really happy that it fits into Challenge 5 - off to add it to the wiki now!

How was O: A Presidential Novel? I've thought of reading it.

I'm back from the beach, so first things first. Announcing (in reverse order) the ratings for the "Hottie" Author contest.

Third place for Mr. Hottie Author:
Atul Gawande (4 votes)
Matt Baynon Rees (4 votes)

Third place for Ms. Hottie Author:
Sandra Brown (3 votes)
Meg Cabot (3 votes)
Gayle Zemach Lemon (3 votes)
Zadie Smith (3 votes)

-------Comments-----------
1. cyderry says (re Sandra Brown): "I think she looks a lot like our own Whisper1."

I'm having fun with Zoe's challenge to read a book acquired in an unusual location. Just back from the beach in Emerald Isle, North Carolina, USA, I purchased a debut novel written by the owner of the (one) bookstore there. My copy of the book was signed, and I got to speak to the author. It took him seven years to write the book, and he self-published it in 2010.

I'm the only LT owner of his book! So far, I'm liking it very much (although I winced at one contraction that I don't think exists). The story is of a Baptist pastor who was accused of child abuse just prior to an eight-year-old's disappearance from Vacation Bible School. The author himself served as a Baptist minister for years, but now is a bookstore owner ... and novelist. More later on my reaction to this book, but so far I'm glad I picked it up.

The book is The Accusation by Curt Finch.

Second place for Mr. Hottie Author:
Benjamin LaCombe (5 votes)

Second place for Ms. Hottie Author:
L. Divine (5 votes)
Sadie Jones (5 votes)

-------Comments---------
1. jolerie says: "Yum! This is my vote for the HOT author. Benjamin Lacombe :)"

What??? Sadie Jones didn't win? Didn't you count my 12 votes for her?

Aw man! To think Lacombe made it to 2nd place while I, probably his biggest fan on this side of the Atlantic didn't even bother to vote!

> 86

Oh, was it 12? I only counted 11... ;)

> 87

Didn't vote! How could you not?! I gave you 13 days to vote! There's always a next time, though...

...and the winners are...

First Place: Mr. Hottie Author

Jasper Fforde (7 votes)

First Place: Ms. Hottie Author

Jennifer Bradbury (11 votes)

-------Comments----------
jeanned: "Jasper Fforde, because, well, just LOOK at him!"
avatiakh: "Jasper Fforde - very handsome rugged Welsh guy"

jeanned: "Jennifer Bradbury, for her wholesome girl-next-door prettiness"

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

Congratulations, Kerry (avatiakh)!! You picked *both* of the winning "hottie" authors. You have a good eye for hotties. Hey, since you are the same person, I'm only sending you one (small) prize, though. Private message me your mailing address, and I'll get your prize in the mail to you soon.

An FYI: The books Kerry read and COMPLETED for this challenge were:
1. One of Our Thursdays is Missing by Jasper Fforde
2. Wrapped by Jennifer Bradbury

Thanks, everyone, for playing along.

>91 SqueakyChu:: Have you been reading thrillers on the beach, Madeline? You created quite a build-up of suspense in your announcement(s). Jasper and Jennifer make a cute hot couple!

No thrillers. I just like to tease all of you. It's really fun to do these contests. I am so exhausted from the beach. I need a vacation from my vacation. :)

I'll have the stats and awards for all of you later this week - most likely toward the end of the week. Just hang on!

Yikes! There's a new month moving in as well, isn't there?

Yes, new month just around the corner. I can't wait to find out what the new challenges are already!

eta: congrats Kerry!

Way to go, Kerry!
and: Jasper and Jennifer. Jasper or Jennifer. Whatever. They are both beautiful.

ETA: Oh, and welcome back, Madeline! I'd say we missed you (because we did) but I hate to add guilt to your vacation exhaustion! :-D

I'm already excited about September challenges, even though August has been less productive than I had hoped and, with a new job title (read: new responsibilities, no new pay --- I'm a state employee), I will be waaaaay too busy to do as much reading as I'd like in the fall months!

Welcome back Madeline - and wow, I 'won' both votes. I don't think they were my own top picks (Darryl - Sadie Jones was my top pick for the girls!).

Back to TIOLI - I'm sure that I won't complete even my shared reads this month, I'm reading but so slowly....it's painful.

Welcome back Madeline, and congratulations to Kerry for having such a good eye!

If anyone is looking for a quick read to fill out Challenge #1, I recommend Stardust by Neil Gaiman.

Missing member name:

March 2011, Challenge 1
Clear Your Clutter with Feng Shui by Karen Kingston

Please let me know by 8/25.

> 98

Please let me know by 8/25.

Er, that would be me! :D

Uh-huh. There are all sorts of things I can say to that. But I think I'll let it stand as is.

:D

:)

I'm not sure if we're at the point where we are recommending "quick reads" to finish off the month, but I just completed The End of the Alphabet for the two initials challenge. It was a very good (and very short) book with a lot of depth. Both my wife and I read it, and we each took something different away from it - which isn't surprising because on a superficial level, it's about how a husband and a wife react to the news that the husband has less than a month left to live. But the book is about much more than that, with some humor, quirky aspects (the husband's name is Ambrose Zephyr and the wife is Zappora Ashkenazi (AZ/ZA)) and a quest to travel to destinations alphabetically. Poignant without being overly sappy (my wife cried, I caught myself short) and definitely worth a look - if you can find it. My wife wants to use it for her book club but it appears to be out of print.

#102 I heard a radio play version of that book a few months back on BBC Radio 4 - poignant it was indeed.

Ack, I can't believe there's only a week left until the end of the month! I recommend City of Bones as a quick read; it's not a short book, but the pages go by fast.

104 > Ack, I can't believe there's only a week left until the end of the month! I'll say!!
And I have no quick reads to recommend. Everything has felt like a slow read this month....

If there's anyone else who hasn't read Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury yet it's a very quick and very thought provoking read which fits challenge #14 for authors born in August.

#106 Oh, that's handy, I'm currently listening to that one as an audio (one of a small selection now available to loan from my local library) so I should finish that before the end of the month. I do find audio is much slower than reading the book myself, but I have a long car journey coming up so can do some concentrated listening then.

I'm adding a book to the pig boy challenge: The Book of Mormon: The Complete Book and Lyrics of the Broadway Musical by Trey Parker, Matt Stone and Robert Lopez. I love this play, love the music and was so glad that my library had the play book. I guess I shouldn't say how the play fits the challenge, but it does.

I'm going through and deleting some of the books I know I'll not get to this month. I know it's a bit early, but I had signed up for waaaaay too many! :-)

This is about the time of the month that Madeline sometimes sneaks in the next month's wiki.... guess I'd better keep an eye out, eh?

eta: completed The White Tiger for challenge #1 (although it could also fit in #21, being the 2008 Man Booker Prize winner). Next up: Sea of Poppies for challenge #4.

Yesterday I finished Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, which completed my re-read of the entire series I've been doing this month, and all of which fit into challenge #2. Now to see how many of the other books I have lined up I can squeeze into the final week. :)

Missing member name:

March 2011, Challenge 18
Red Thunder by John Varley

Please let me know by 8/27.

I don't have any easy reads to recommend. I am almost finished Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets I don't think I will be finishing any other books for this months TIOLI.

I read The Catcher in the Rye for challenge #11 over the course of the afternoon. Has the potential to be a quick read depending on how much you want to dig in and really analyze it. :)

...and here we have the Stats for July, 2011:

In July, we had 22 challenges in which a total of 671 books were read. There were 168 shared reads, giving us a 25% shared books rate. Oddly enough, the percentage of shared reads has remained exactly the same for this past May, June, and July!

We have a record YTD number of TIOLI points (593), of which 91 were accumulated in July.

The most popular book of July was Heartless by Gail Carriger. It was COMPLETED by 6 challengers.

The most popular challenge of July was my own (SqueakyChu's) challenge to read a book with 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, or 13 words in the title. There were 110 books read for that challenge.

There were two challenges that accumulated the highest number of TIOLI points for July. One was my (SqueakyChu's) challenge to read a book with 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, or 13 words in the title. The other was CitizenJoyce's challenge to read a woman-authored book nominated for an international prize. Each of those challenges accumulated 10 points (meaning 10 points for each indvidual challenge).

The July awards are yet to come...

This group did some reading in July!!

Awards for July...

The Let’s Look at the Hotties Award goes to kidzdoc for his most fun challenge to read books and post pictures of the “hot authors”. We won’t mention again here that I was called a “cougar” in Darryl’s “hotties” thread. I thought the contest was so much fun as well. Again, congrats to avatiakh (Kerri) for knowing exactly which hottie authors' pictures to post and which books to read. You have a great eye, Kerri.

The So That’s Where They Are Award goes to elkiedee, Chatterbox, klobrien2, and katiekrug for finally reading their overdue library books! This was all part of wisechild’s challenge to read a book that you should have read by now. Just checking… Did you four challengers return those books to the library yet? No?!

The May He Rest in Peace Award goes to EBT1002 for naming a challenge in memory of her departed feline friend – Edgar the cat. Pets are very special. We here on the TIOLI challenges share your sadness over losing him, Ellen. We were very happy to be part of this book challenge that celebrated his life.

The Which Berry was That Award goes to calm (for reading a book with the word “blackberry” in the title) and Smiler60 (for reading a book with the word “huckleberry” in the title) when July was National Blueberry Month. Ha! Don’t be critical. Both of these challengers followed perfectly the directions of DeltaQueen’s challenge to read a book with the word “blue” or “berry” in the title.

The Why Can’t I Roll a Seven Award goes to Morphidae for her delightful challenge to choose the genre of the book to be read by the roll of a die. Very creative! I’m sure this challenge had some challengers reading outside of their normal reading genres.

Congratulations to all our July award winners!

Stay safe from Hurricane Irene, challengers on the east coast of the U.S. You need to stick around for the September TIOLI challenges.

If my power goes out (again), the challenges may be late...but they *will* be here at some point or other. Should they not be up by September 1st (PEPCO, our electric utility often has "problems"), start a temporary thread. Do NOT, however, post on any wiki until the "official" challenge thread goes up.

In case I "disappear", Cheli now knows how to find me! :D

P.S. Did you notice that I didn't disappear during the earthquake we had this week? :)

What follows are some TIOLI polls. Please chime in.

Before you panic, I am not planning any changes going into the new year. However, I thought it would be good to get some feedback now about this year's challenges and what we want for next year. Are you getting bored? Is it still fun? Are there features you want changed? If so, what are they? What changes would you make? When would you do this?

Now is a good time to think about the future. We have four months until the end of the year. I do want to hear your thoughts. Thanks in advance.

111 - that'd be me, it would. Who read that. In March.

117 - I, myself, may end up unpowered for weeks or more by this hurricane.

Love TIOLI. You are doing a great job running them, but you are the only one who knows if you are "burning out." We hope you aren't!

> 127

Poor, Mike! Why for "weeks or more"?

>128 thornton37814:

Nope. Not burning out. Still having lots of fun with TIOLI...and reading as much as ever! I just am not sure about others...so I have to ask from time to time.

Great! Glad you are not burning out!

For those of you who are voting "undecided" about changes, please speak up and tell what changes you'd like to see. I won't promise you'll see them, but I would like to know what they are! :D

I voted Undecided on the change question because the only thing I find a little difficult or challenging (no pun intended!) is the sheer number of challenges we are seeing each month. I know the idea is to let anyone contribute who wants to, but putting a cap on the total number might be something to consider. I truly haven't thought this through and am not advocating for it, it's just a possible change that sprung to mind.

You do realize that we have less than a week before September begins. Let's go clean up the August wiki by marking COMPLETED those books you've read and deleting those you do not intend to finish by the end of the month.

Be thinking of some new challenges to start off the next month. Ssssh! Keep them quiet until they're posted. Let's see how creative you can be with September's challenges.

I already have my September challenge picked out - but probably will change my mind before it goes up. That's what usually happens! :)

> 132

putting a cap on the total number might be something to consider

Katie, I wholeheartedly hear what you're saying and thought so myself back when we were doing something in the vicintity of 18 challenges per month. I had been overwhelmed by the sheer number of challenges back then.

It was at that time that I took some polls to see if others would like a limit on the number of challenges. The polls showed that people overwhelmingly disliked that idea. I scrapped that idea then.

I'll post a poll now to see what others think:

> 132

Katie, this is why I finally decided not to limit the number of challenges.

1. A limit would possibly not allow an individual to post one challenge per month. I would not like to be that individual who did not get to the wiki board in time to post a challenge. I've also heard from people who were disappointed not to be able to get onto page 1 of the wiki. Supposed I closed the wiki after two pages (12 challenges) or three pages (18 challenges)? I can hear people screaming typing harshly now!

2. Occasionally there are challenges I simply dislike. I don't dislike the challenges themselves; it's just that I would not be reading the type of book called for in a particular challenge. Sometimes I find a challenge too wide to appeal to me. I therefore choose not to do it. I would not like to be locked out of fun challenges if the wiki boards are filled up with challenges I either think are too wide or do not include the genre of books that I like. Why run the challenges if there are none in which I want to participate?

3. There is always the possiblity to self limit. For example, if 4 wiki pages of challenges are too many, one could simply limit himself to the first wiki page (or the first 2 wiki pages). Apply the "leave it" part of TIOLI to wiki pages 3 and 4. It won't bother anyone else, but it will make a challenger feel less overwhelmed by the sheer number of challenges.

Care to comment?

I voted not to limit the challenges, I think it's great that we have so many choices, but I can see that it could become unmanagable if too many challenges were presented each month. Perhaps a cap of 25 would work.

I also voted undecided about making changes. I just wonder how long we are going to be able to keep coming up with unrepeated challenges, I think reapeating challenges every now and again would be fun.

That being said, I love the TIOLI challenges, they are definitely one of my highlights here on LT.

** I posted this before I saw your post above Madeline. Not limiting the number of challenges makes good sense for all the reasons you listed above.

> 136

Challenges may be repeated. It's just that it tends to be more fun if the challenges are different from month to month. A repeated challenge can be made different just by adding a little "twist" to it.

If anyone repeats a challenge exactly as it was done before, nothing will be said...and probably no one would even notice! :)

Perhaps a cap of 25 would work.

Let's see what others think.but I can see that it could become unmanagable

In what way would it be unmanageable? It's easy for me to add a fifth wiki page and a few more lines under the wiki index on the main thread. I let all of you do the rest of the work!

That being said, I love the TIOLI challenges, they are definitely one of my highlights here on LT.

Thanks!

>135 SqueakyChu: - All excellent points, Madeleine. I definitely wouldn't want anyone unable to contribute a challenge because they happened to be away from the computer the day the new month was posted! As I said, I wasn't advocating for it, just thinking it might be worth discussing. Since it's already been raised and settled previously, I am perfectly happy with things continuing on as they have been :)

Madeline, I was thinking of you having to check all our entries, compile everything for your awards, etc. But if you are ok with it, then I say no limits. Even if I don't participate in all the challenges, I appreciate having such great choices every month.

Ditto what Judy said!

> 139, 140

I was thinking of you having to check all our entries, compile everything for your awards,

It's all done in the evenings as mindless computer time to wind down from work. It's no problem. I just do it whenever. The only time I have to hustle is when I need to start a new TIOLI month (...like now!). That only happens once a month, though.

More time is take up by compiling and sending a "foodie" Newsletter to the members of my CSA (community supported agriculture). I do that for fun as well, but I have to do that every week from May through November. Now *that* takes some serious time. I like doing it, so I'm not ready to give that up yet, either.

Wow, I win an award? How cool! And all just for reading Huckleberry Finn, which was fun all on it's own, though I did think it was extra cool that it fit into a TIOLI challenge. And now it's just... well, beyond cool! Thanks Madeline!

I ADORE TIOLI. It's one of the highlights of my each and every day. Or at least many of my days, when I can go into the wiki pages and keep track of what I'm reading and how many challenges I've participated in and total of books read, AND THEN, when I discover that something I read and didn't think fit into any challenges actually does, it really makes my day. I do admit that I try to fit in as many of my planned reads as possible, as opposed to choosing books inspired by the challenges, but that's only because I plan so many ahead of time, that when I add some to fit into the challenges, I just don't have time to read them. I'd love to plan less and decide what I read as the challenges go up, but it just doesn't work out that way. In any case, as much as I love reading for it's own sake, when I'm reading a TIOLI book, it just adds the cherry on the sundae.

I'm perfectly happy with TIOLI as it is right now, and I think you do a bang up job of running it Madeline. So I voted for NO changes. Also, for all the reasons you've outlined, I agree that not putting a cap on the number of challenges is the way to go. I too worried that maybe more challenges created more work for you, but if that's not the case, then we're all good to go!

Already excited to see what comes up for September!

I pretty much agree with everything Smiler69 said, so for once I'll keep my big mouth shut and just nod in agreement.

Me too

All hail Madeline. We want you to keep doing TIOLI however you want as long as you want to do it.

TIOLI is perfect! Thank you Madeline.

>143 lahochstetler: - 146 I absolutely agree!

Ditto what Ilana said - including the winning an award - Thanks Madeline:)

I love TIOLI and it is such fun at the start of each month to go through the "shelves of shame" and find potential TIOLI reads.

I've had a very succesful TIOLI month - lots of shared reads, which has been fun. I've managed to finish:

#1 Vengeance in death by J.D. Robb - one of the best of this series - a cracking wee read as Eve Dallas chases a religious-nut serial killer who is working his way up a list of Roarke's ex-associates.
#4 Furies of Calderon by Jim Butcher - an interesting beginning to what looks like a good fantasy series
#13 Death comes for the Archbishop by Willa Cather - excellent!!! Great wee stories set against the most amazing New Mexico backdrop
#14 Death in the stocks by Georgette Heyer - an OK crime with a good detective and some interesting (and completely mad) characters.
#18 Key of light by Nora Roberts - a light, fluffy romance of the girl-power type
#22 The magicians by Lev Grossman - a bit meh, I thought

I just took a look at how many more TIOLI books I need to read in the next 4 days: 9. Somehow, I do not see that happening. . .

You can do it, Stasia. I know you can! All you have to do is cut back on your three hours of sleep per night. ;-)

I'm also a 'happy camper' here on TIOLI. I'm glad that you are not burning out, Madeline. You do a fabulous job of keeping things organized - and fun! Thank you.

#151: I am glad to see you have such faith in me, Donna, even if it is completely misplaced!

I love TIOLI just the way it is....I think you're doing a fantastic job, Madeline....thanks for everything! 'Nuf said! :-)

Oh, one more thing...I do have to echo what Smiler69 said about discovering that a book that I've read and didn't think would fit into any of the challenges, actually does -- it really does make my day!

> 153

I do have to echo what Smiler69 said about discovering that a book that I've read and didn't think would fit into any of the challenges, actually does -- it really does make my day!

Me, too. Imagine that! :)

I completely agree with everyone's comment that I am definitely not bored with the challenges since this is my first year participating, everything is fresh as a daisy. :) Seriously, the TIOLI challenges are one of the highlights of my month, even to the point that my husband even knows I'm at it when I spend hours just staring at my bookshelves looking like I'm doing nothing, but really I'm trying to find books!!
My only fear is that since I am new, I may accidentally issue a challenge that has been done before. As long as Madeline, you are still loving it, I say you go girl! Thank you for all your work and dedication and making sure that everyone is still enjoying it. :)

LOL, Valerie - my husband has also learned! And he even asked me last night if the monthly challenges had been posted yet!

#155 & 156 - My husband too, has realized he just better stay out of my way when I am running around the house checking my different bookshelves for books to fill the challenges!

You're welcome, everyone.

my husband has also learned! And he even asked me last night if the monthly challenges had been posted yet!

All the "husband reactions" are hilarious!

Generally I love TIOLI as it is. I'm not in favour of no changes, not because there's anything wrong with TIOLI per se, but I wouldn't oppose all changes as there might be improvements Madeline or we haven't yet thought of.

I love TIOLI to pieces! I was just thinking about TIOLI today and thought, how boring it must have been before TIOLI came about. Read and post, read and post - the monthly challenges are so stimulating and has really put a little dent in my TBR shelf.
Thanks for all the time and thoughtful input you bring to TIOLI, Madeline!!!!!

Woo hoo! I just finished Moby Dick for the "authors born in August" challenge. I can't even remember when I started it--maybe January 2010?

I too love TIOLI beyond all rationality. I skipped over the "TIOLI is perfect as is" question, though, only because probably nothing is perfect--however, to me the OLI part of TIOLI means that everyone can have exactly the experience they choose--or not participate at all if it gets boring. I'd say lack of interest is not a current problem, based on the number of participants and challenges. I'd be worried about Madeline getting bored, though

>160 Carmenere: I'm not so sure that TIOLI makes any dent in my personal TBR shelves, though. For every book I dig up off the shelf, it seems I find two more from the library or bookstore that fit various challenges and that I have to have right now. But it does really influence which books I read.

129> Well, weeks or more as I do not know how the power works here. I keep hearing people on the news talking about people ending up without power for days, weeks, or more. And so . . ..

Move to New York for job. Have to flee down 13 stories because of earthquake, then, almost immediately, sit tight during hurricane.

This is my first month really getting seriously into TIOLI so I'm not going to weigh in on the discussion of possible changes. And it's been really great way for me to pick stuff off the TBR list this month.

Finished Please Ignore Vera Dietz for Challenge 11 which has an interesting plot but it's the style choices made for the different perspectives included in the novel that really make it worth reading. Now to see if I can make it through two more books before the end of the month. :D

Question about challenge #15 - Read a book with a food item in the title:

Can the food item be imbedded in the title? I just finished The Crows of Pearblossom (pear) by Aldous Huxley and wondering if that would qualify?

Sure thing, fine with me!

Madeline,

The only problem I have with TIOLI is the suspense of knowing when the new TIOLI thread will be posted each month, but somehow I survive.

Idea to think about... since we've had so many challenges in the 1½ years since we've started...what if we designated one month in 2012 as a "Repeat with a twist month" so that the new challenges would all be repeats but with a small change?

> 166

The only problem I have with TIOLI is the suspense of knowing when the new TIOLI thread will be posted each month, but somehow I survive.

Cheli, that's a suspense you'll just have to live with. Sometimes even I don't know when I'll be posting the new challenge! So far (fingers crossed), I still have power. For end-of-the-month TIOLI, that's a good thing.

what if we designated one month in 2012 as a "Repeat with a twist month"

I, personally, don't really like that idea because I wouldn't want to be forced into doing a repeat challenge at any time - even with a twist.

However, let's take a vote to see what others think...

Madeline, I love the TiOLI challenges how they are but would still love them if you changed things a bit I think. For me, not knowing when the challenges will be posted is my second favourite part of the whole thing!

I also prefer the really tight challenges to the broader ones. I still like the broader ones enough to be happy when my books fit them, but they don't have me scouring the bookshelves as desperately.

I took my sweet time reading A Game of Thrones and had no idea when I'd finish it, and just realized it fits into challenge #16. Yay! And a really fat book to add to my 11/11 too.

I finished Cooking with Fernet Branca and just realised it fits the Europa Editions Challenge! I read it on the ipad so didn't notice the publisher till now.

#162 lol, now you know why NYC is called the city that never sleeps, Mike.

I've cleaned up my entries for August - apologies to wandering_star and countrylife for not reading what you were reading. I may get to one of them before the 31st, and if so I'll re-list.

Now, I wonder what's up for next month?

Now, I wonder what's up for next month?

Er, might you want to take a peek?

:D

Thanks, Madeline. I just did. Finding that short first sentence is not easy! And finding a book set in Brooklyn, one I haven't yet read, took a little investigation.

Hey everyone. Just back from a weekend of wine-tasting and hanging out with friends (read: very little reading got accomplished!). Scanning through the thread, I want to say:

Thank you, Madeline, for the award. I'm touched and pleased.

AND

I wholeheartedly agree with Ilana in 142. I ADORE tioli and it has truly changed my reading life for the better. I have discovered reading I would not likely otherwise have discovered and I really feel like I've found a reading community here. I like the diversity of our tastes, the diversity of the challenges, and the warmth and humor we bring to our conversations. Yep, the challenges hold different levels of interest for me -- and I've learned to really take the "leave it" part to heart. Given how precious my reading time is, I give myself 100% permission to skip the challenges that don't appeal to me very much.

SO - Madeline, as long as you are willing to manage TIOLI, as long as you are having fun, and as long as it doesn't feel like a burden to you, I hope it stays pretty much the same as it is. I do think a month with some repeat challenges would be fun for those of us who may not have gotten to participate in a particular challenge, but since the idea of a month *restricted* to repeat-challenges-with-a-twist doesn't sound fun to you, why do it? (I'm always looking for the ways we can do some instead of "all or nothing," so if there is a way to do some of it, that would be cool).

THANK YOU, Madeline, for the time you put into TIOLI. It's been a gift in my reading life.

I took an embarassing 5 books off the August wiki, which leaves me 3 more to complete in the next 2 days (I finished one during the night.) I am planning on not sleeping until August is over :)

I only had to remove one, and the only reason I had to remove it is because it wasn't on the shelves at the library, and no one could find it, even though it was supposed to be there. No guilt about removing it under the conditions.

Since this is the first year that I have really participated in TIOLI I really can't say if I want changes or not. I sometimes feel overwhelmed by all the challenges and seeing how some are reading so many books.

I look for books in my catalogue and then go looking to see if I can find the book before adding it to the wiki. I am in the process of moving at some point (could be months to years) so I am trying to clear out my shelves of the books I currently own so I chose accordingly.

Madeline does a super job of running the whole TIOLI and thanks for all your hard work.

> 175, 178, and others

... thanks...

Aw, shucks. You're welcome!

> 176

Stasia, none of your TBRs can be esily moved to September? Don't you need to sleep? ;)

Sleep? What is that? :)

Last night while doing the laundry I found a copy of Postern of Fate, a Christie I'd never read that fits the TIOLI challenge for this month. Hoo-ey! I'm half-way through, not helped by the mistake of leaving it home when I went to work today. Still, it will be done by Wednesday.

Then I have to turn my attention to Wuthering Heights. Not really looking forward to that. Maybe it will fit a category for September.

I read and finished The Miraculous Journey Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamillo in one sitting last night, and have to agree that it's WONDERFUL, which is quite appropriate, since that's the tag I entered it under in Madeline's challenge. My favourite DiCamillo book of all so far.

I always enter loads of books on the wikis, and have to say that the last couple of months, I've been more than okay with the OLI part of TIOLI, and have no qualms about removing a whole bunch them at the end of the month. I like having lots of options and listing more than less encourages me to read more, so why not? I've also found that if I look very carefully, I'm usually able to transfer at least a few of them over to the next month's challenge, so it's all good.

I agree with Ilana. I went through last night and slashed 5 or 6 books from the wiki, all of which I want to read some day, but now is not the time. I'll finish True Grit then I'll be off on September reads. I'm so thankful this month that I met Willa Cather. Without your TIOLI, Madeline, I wouldn't have even thought of concentrating my reading around a single subject, and westerns turned out to have been great for me.

I have removed two books from the wiki, both were ordered from the library at the beginning of the month and just haven't come in yet. Luckily one will fit next month's challenges.

I just finished a powerful but short book, Blow Your House Down by Pat Barker is a story about prostitutes being targeted by a serial murderer, a nasty yet absorbing story, excellently written.

This completes my August TIOLI Challenges.

I've removed all but my current book, Sea of Poppies. I really don't think there is a snail's chance in Daytona that I'll finish it by midnight tomorrow, and I've already added it to a September challenge, but I won't take it off August until the last minute. :-)

I completed more challenges in August than it "felt" like I had completed. I guess that's because the last two weeks have been very busy with other, non-reading, events and activities.

I've removed all of my unread TIOLI books for August, although I did add The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes to the Booker Prize challenge, which I should finish by Wednesday.

Rats. I finished The Cat's Table by Michael Ondaatje earlier tonight, but it doesn't fit in any TIOLI challenge this month. :-(

Ellen, you have Wednesday too don't forget, since August has 31 days. :-)

I downloaded The Cat's Table yesterday, although I don't think I've actually read any of his books - it was £1.91 on Kindle and I assumed that was a short term offer price.

187 > Ah ha! Maybe I can do it! It's a very enjoyable and interesting read so far, but it does require some focused attention.....

If you both read the book before the end of the month, Challenge #8 will work.

TIOLI is powerful. If it hadn't fit the ___ of ___ challenge, I would never have finished Postern of Fate

It's one of Christie's Tuppence and Tommy stories, which I usually can put up with, but this one is totally aggravating. The Beresfords move into a new house, and Tuppence finds a secret message in a copy of Treasure Island, stating that a woman named Mary Jordan didn't die of natural causes. This propels Tuppence to start investigating a decades-old circumstance that leads the pair into the foggy realm of national security, where everything is told in inference and nothing is resolved. A totally miserable experience.

eta to correct 'naturally' so that it didn't sound like 'Who's on first'.

I may be reading right up to the wire for the August TIOLI challenge. I finished up two books over the weekend, but I am bogging down (once again) in my reread of One Hundred Years of Solitude. I'm fairly certain that the name of what seems like half of the characters in the book, Aureliano, will not be in the top 100 names for boys. If it is, I can research Arcadio - the name of the other half of the characters in the book!

ETA: Aureliano is not in the top 1000 (!) names for the past 50 years!

I really loved One Hundred Years of Solitude but could never have read it in 2 days. Good luck, Donna.

Funny, because I was just saying in #142 that I loved discovering that a book I didn't think fit into TIOLI actually does? Well, I just discovered that I inadvertently ended up participating in the Europa challenge, a challenge which inspired me to take out Europa books from the library, which I didn't take time to read yet. As some of you know, I've been spending the summer on children's books and illustrators and I was just now googling for illustrations for my review of a children's book by German illustrator Wolf Erlbruch which I read in the French translation, and as it happens, it was also translated into English and published by Europa Editions under the title The Miracle of the Bears, which was already listed by Lynda so it's a shared read. How fun!

I am taking Bone China off the wiki. I am hoping to finish up Arc of Justice tonight during the Readathon. I completed Clash of Civilizations Over an Elevator in Piazza Vittorio in the wee hours this morning.

Hurray! I finished up my own challenge with one day to spare with In The Miso Soup by Ryu Murakami. This book gets a big "W" for "weird". :)

I finished my last book and last western for the month, True Grit, a fine read.

I just finished what will be my last August TIOLI book, Arc of Justice.

I finished my last August TIOLI book yesterday. I finished the audio version of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Askaban I added it to the wiki.

I sneaked in one more...I was planning on reading A Trick of the Light for September, but I finished it today...

I have 40 pages left in my 14th TIOLI book for the month.

Wicked Autumn is a pretty quick cozy mystery so I should finish today. I hope so, anyway.

Finished my last book for this month for challenge #4: Built of Books: How Reading Defined the life of Oscar Wilde by Thomas Wright.

My final TIOLI list for August:

Bright's Passage - #7
Charlotte's Web - #11
The Cellist of Sarajevo - #18
Jamrach's Menagerie - #21
The Hunger Games - #22
The Sisters Brothers - #1
Case Histories - #8
The Chopin Manuscript - #22
Plum Lovin' - #15

This month was full of great and interesting books!

I have two hours left to finish reading one last TIOLI for this month - Gilead - I haven't yet removed all the ones I have not got round to, I'll have to do that after I've finished reading.

I did it with over 3 hours to spare! I finished One Hundred Years of Solitude and enjoyed it much more than the first time I read it seven years ago. I think I know why there are so many Aurelianos in it - something to do with repeating past mistakes? - but it still makes the book confusing at times even with the handy family tree chart. But, thanks to the 22 Aurelianos, the book qualifies for Challenge No. 22. How cool is that?

#205 Same here, Donna. I finished my 14th and final TIOLI for August with about three hours to spare. Three hours to start a September TIOLI perhaps.

>206 lindapanzo:: I like the way you think, Linda. I have a short stack of potential TIOLIs for September eagerly awaiting me!

I just finished up a book that will match someone else's TIOLI read . . . if I can just find where I saw it!

Only one more hour to go on the east coast of the U.S. for the August challenges. Be wrapping it up, folks!

Delete your books - those that remain unfinished at 12 midnight in your time zone. You may move them into any September TIOLI challenge that fits.

Don't forget to mark those books you read as COMPLETED, or they will be removed from August's challenges.

If you haven't taken notice, September's thread is here and is now up and running.

Well, there was one book that I didn't get finished in August. My apologizes to my friend Carrie for failing to live up to the pledge.

But I will finish it in September.

Finished Pigeon English just under the wire . . . That was # 19 for August TIOLI challenges.

I finished one last book for calm's Arthurian challenge, almost 2 hours left here on the west coast. Unfortunately, I had to delete more books than I read during August (definitely overbooked), but I've found homes for all of them in September challenges (and I'm almost certainly overbooked again).

I've just removed 17 (!) books from the wiki. Overcommitted? Me??

I did complete 9 books though, and another 3 that I just can't seem to fit into any challenge sadly!

Well I ended up removing a few books from the wiki but I still managed these in August. Completing the last book, a shared read, at 11.55 last night (so close!)

1) The Wind-up Bird Chronicle (weird) - Haruki Murakami
3) The Circle Cast - Alex Epstein
3) Enemy of God : a novel of Arthur - Bernard Cornwell
3) King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table - Roger Lancelyn Green
8) *Emma - Jane Austen
11) *A House for Mr Biswas - V. S. Naipaul
12) The Travels of Marco Polo - Marco Polo
14) City of the Beasts - Isabel Allende
16) Human Croquet - Kate Atkinson
16) *If I Stay - Gayle Forman
18) The Songlines - Bruce Chatwin
22) The Book of Human Skin - Michelle Lovric
22) A Distant Mirror : the calamitous 14th century - Barbara W. Tuchman
22) The Remedy - Michelle Lovric
23) The Sky : Mystery, Magic, and Myth (Le ciel, ordre et désordre) - Jean-Pierre Verdet

On to September:)

#213 I didn't keep track of how many I removed this month, because I knew it would be some outrageous figure, but glad to see I'm not alone taking the OLI suggestion to heart!

Off to remove a few more for good measure :-)