Take It Or Leave It Challenge - January 2012 - Page 1

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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Welcome to the TIOLI challenges for 2012!

I want to start this New Year in powerful way, so my challenge to you for January is to read a book (fiction or nonfiction) set in one of the states (special rules- see below) of the USA mentioned in the famous “I Have a Dream” speech by the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. To fulfill this challenge, you must begin by either listening to or reading the entire speech and, only later, choosing your books. Though the books you choose may or may not have something in common with the topic of Dr. King’s speech, you will have either read it or listened to it by then, and will, hopefully, think about its universal message in the year ahead. In the United States, the birthday of Dr. King on January 15th is celebrated as a national holiday.

Special rule for this challenge: You MUST begin this challenge with your FIRST book being set in one of the southern states listed below. Any ADDITIONAL books you add to this challenge may be set in ANY of the states listed below.

Southern states within the USA mentioned in King’s speech:
Alabama
Georgia
Louisiana
Mississippi
South Carolina
Tennessee

Additional states within the USA mentioned in King’s speech:

California
Colorado
New Hampshire
New York
Pennsylvania

Indicate the state in which your book is set like this:

Turning Angel (Mississippi) – Greg Ile – SqueakyChu
South of Broad (South Carolina) – Pat Conroy – alcottacre
Zeitoun (Louisiana) – Dave Eggers – norabelle414

To find qualifying books, just plug in the name of one of the above-named states into the search box on LT. Then click on “tags” to find the name of the state you picked. Click on that state’s name to get a list of related books.

Feel free to recommend books for “southern states”. Two authors that I’d recommend are Pat Conroy and Greg Iles. Pat Conroy is a favorite author of mine who sets his novels in South Carolina. Greg Iles sets his mysteries in Natchez, Mississippi. I’ve also recently discovered the interesting but lesser-known author G.D. Gearino who sets his novels in Georgia.

Hope this is an inspiring challenge and one you that find fun.

Have a great 2012!

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

1. The January 2012 TIOLI Meter - Optional page on which you may track your TIOLI reading. FYI: This is not meant to be competitive - only fun!
2. I Know I'm a TIOLI Addict When... - Frog Logo is on this page!
3. Morphidae's List of Previous TIOLI Challenges - You may use this reference (Do a control-F scan) to avoid repeating a previous challenge. If your idea is similar to a previous challenge, just make it unique by adding a new "twist" to it. (Updated 01/3/12)

Wiki Index:

Challenges #1-6
1. Read a book set in a state mentioned in Dr. Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech - thread
2. Read a book in honor of Dragon Appreciation Day
3. Read a book about China or Chinese Immigrants - thread
4. Read a book with a cover which depicts a winter scene - thread
5. Read a book that mentions a form of transportation in the title
6. Read a book that was long or short listed for or won the Orange prize

Challenges #7-12
7. Read a posthumously published book
8. Read a book where a word in the title can be used as a verb or another part of speech
9. Read a book with the name of a body of water in the title
10. Read a work of *FICTION* from the NY Times notable books of 2011
11. Read a work of narrative non-fiction
12. Read a book with an imperial title or subject

Challenges #13-18
13. Read a book written by someone who was already famous for something OTHER than writing
14. Read a book you got for Christmas (this year) that you DIDN'T ask for
15. Read a book by an author who was born in Sub-Saharan Africa
16. Read a book with a fraction in the title
17. Read a book in which either a title word, or the first or last name of the author, has three or more of the same vowel
18. Read a book about shopping and/or retail

Challenges #19-23
19. Read a book which has a beverage mentioned on page 10
20. Read a book which has an Acknowledgements section which is no longer than 6 paragraphs
21. Read an author's first book
22. Read a book whose chapters are prefaced with a poem or quotation
23. Read a first book (either debut or first in a series) by an author you've never read before

New challenge postings are now closed until next month. Thank you.

Challenge #2 - Read a book in honor of Dragon Appreciation Day

January 16th is Dragon Appreciation Day. Read a book about dragons or one that has the word "dragon" in the title or has a picture of a dragon on the cover.

Ha! You found this...among the hoopla of the new 2012 75 Books Challenge group being posted.

Congrats, Morphidae!! :)

Yahoo! I've never been here this early. Way to start the new year. My challenge kind of goes along with Morphy's and is the opposite of Madeline's.

Challenge #3: Read a book about China or Chinese Immigrants.

I'm thinking of reading:

The Binding Chair: or, A Visit from the Foot Emancipation Society by Kathryn Harrison Library
The Chinese in America : A Narrative History by Iris Chang
A Concise Chinese-English Dictionary for Lovers by Xiaolu Guo Orange Prize List
The Dissident by Nell Freudenberger Orange Prize List
Dreams of joy by Lisa See
Factory Girls: From Village to City in a Changing China by Leslie T. Chang - Audiobook
Nothing Sacred by Elizabeth Ann Scarborough
The Rape of Nanking by Iris Chang
Shanghai Girls by Lisa See
The Silent Girl: A Rizzoli & Isles Novel by Tess Gerritsen
White Ghost Girls by Alice Greenway - Orange Prize list

Yahoo! I've never been here this early.

Neither have I. I was trying to fly under the radar while Jim was posting his new 2012 75ers group. Ha!

This month's TIOLI is only for those with eagle eyes. :)

ETA: Please start a separate thread for books about China. There are so many which are *so* good!

Challenge #4: Read a book with a cover which depicts a winter scene.

Self-explanatory. Might start a thread for most beautiful winter scene cover later. For this challenge, you may read any edition of the book with the winter cover.

Might start a thread for most beautiful winter scene cover later.

Do it. I'll add a secret vote at the end of the month and a (small) prize for the book cover with the most beautiful winter scene. Great idea, by the way!

Challenge #5: Read a book that mentions a form of transportation in the title.

I added a book that mentioned a cab and a bicycle as examples on the thread. I hope to get to these two!

> 10

Be sure to add your challenge to the wiki!

I've already added a few to the Orange challenge.

Challenge #7: Read a posthumously published book

Quite a lot of these around:

A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway
Suite Francaise by Irène Némirovsky
Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank
Persuasion by Jane Austen
Austerlitz by W. G. Sebald
Every Man Dies Alone by Hans Fallada
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Steig Larsson
The Pale King by David Foster Wallace

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shafferson
Towards another summer by Janet Frame
Bog Child by Siobhan Dowd
One dog and his boy by Eva Ibbotson

more here at wikipedia or here: 50 famous books that were posthumously published

Took a nap and missed the start, DARN.

Challenge #8

Read a book where a word in the title can be used as a verb or another part of speech - Specify the word and the other part of speech

> 12

Found it. Thanks!

Madeline, does the entire book have to take place in the state or just some portion?

> 18

Madeline, does the entire book have to take place in the state or just some portion?

Some portion of the book must be identifiably set in one of the qualifying states.

Oh, boy! I sit down to set up the tutored reads and what do I find?

First things first. :)

My challenge to start the year is: Read a book with the name of a body of water in the title.

The book may be fiction or non-fiction. Feel free to interpret "body of water" liberally - ocean, lake, river, swamp, pond, puddle, pool, raindrop, tears...but it must have a name - so, "Pacific Ocean", not just "ocean". The title cannot be a description - "Pond Of Doom" - unless that is also the water's official (or most commonly used) title within the text.

Eta: For the second month in a row, I am Challenge #9.

Madeline, I love your challenge. I'm going to read Elizabeth and Hazel: Two Women of Little Rock for it. I actually gave this book as a Christmas gift to two people but haven't gotten around to reading it myself yet. It's about the 15 year old black girl (Elizabeth) who was shouted at by a crowd of white students when she was one of the first people to integrate the Little Rock High School in 1957. One of the white girls shouting at her was Hazel and they became friends forty years later although apparently it was a difficult friendship for both of them.

> 20

First things first.

LOL!!

> 21

Pat, Elizabeth and Hazel: Two Women of Little Rock sounds really good. I just wishlisted it. :)

wahoo I'm so excited. new group for 2012 and new TIOLI upon waking up on holiday to a rainy day. Breakfast beakons then I'll get to work :) :) bounce bounce bounce.....

eta: read Dr Kings Speech over a cup of tea :)

For my challenge, challenge #10, read a work of FICTION from the New York Times 100 notable books of 2011. The entire list can be found at: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/22/books/review/100-notable-books-of-2011.html?_r...

(I'm not sure how to put the link to the list into the challenge heading)

Note that the only first half (roughly) of the list is fiction.

Hooray, the new TIOLI! I'm away from my bookshelves this week but it's still fun to plan.

21> By the way, I just read Elizabeth and Hazel this month and really really liked it. It is perfect for this challenge.

Madeline, how about Tennessee?

"Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee!"

Madeline, a wonderful challenge!

I'm not getting a valid link in msg #1 to the speech. I found the text here:
http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/mlkihaveadream.htm

Lyzard came up with one of the challenges I had planned for later in the year. I just hope that I can read a lot of books in January because I'm seeing tons of books that fit. I may be a bit slower adding them to the wiki this time because I'm not with some of my lists of books that usually help me with TIOLI. I can reconstruct some of them, but not all!

Oops, sorry! I know how annoying that is. I did it now because of just one book, the very last of the huge library pile that I worked my way through in November and January. I so want to see the back of it...

> 27

Oops! Add Tennessee! Call it a southern state.

I just knew I'd leave one out by mistake. :/

> 28

Thanks, ivyd.

After several tries, I think I have that link corrected. If you find any more broken links (or other issues), please let me know.

A great bunch of challenges already! I had one, but I think I'll save it for later in the year, since the ones posted are motivating me to read some books I've been wanting to read, so I probably won't get to the one I'd intended...

An FYI: For those of you participating in the New Tork Times notable books of 2011 challenge, please note that the challenge was presented so that only works of FICTION may be used. Be sure the book you chose fits that parameter. Thanks!

My challenge (#11) is to Read a work of narrative non-fiction. Several of us have been discussing this genre on my final 2011 thread last week, as I and others realized that we enjoyed books that fit this category. Here is a definition of narrative nonfiction that I thought was helpful:

Narrative nonfiction goes under many names, including creative nonfiction, literary journalism, and fact-based storytelling.

In short form, it's an alternative to the traditional newspaper pyramid structure (in which, if you lopped off the bottom part of the story, the reader would still have all the key information). With narrative nonfiction you don't present the main point in the first paragraph—compelling narrative keeps the reader reading to find out what happens, and the journey to the epiphany is half the point.

"Creative nonfiction" is misleading in that it implies the facts can be made up. You stick to the truth--the storytelling is fact-based--but you adapt some of the features of fiction (creating a narrative persona, setting scenes, presenting interesting characters, creating the look and feel of a setting, telling a story) to the purposes of journalism.

Basically, it's fact-based storytelling that makes people want to keep reading. Forms of creative nonfiction include literary journalism, the memoir, the lyric essay, the prose poem, and the nonfiction short.

Some examples of narrative nonfiction include:

Confederates in the Attic: Dispatches from the Unfinished Civil War by Tony Horwitz
The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer by Siddharta Mukherjee
The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration by Isabel Wilkerson
A Time of Gifts: On Foot to Constantinople: From the Hook of Holland to the Middle Danube by Patrick Leigh Fermor
The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down by Anne Fadiman
An African in Greenland by Tété-Michel Kpomassie

Well, in my enthusiasm for your challenge Madeline, and how perfectly Elizabeth and Hazel: Two Women of Little Rock would work for it, I made a HUGE mistake in thinking it took place in Alabama because obviously Little Rock is in Arkansas which is not mentioned anywhere in Dr. King's speech. So sadly, I am off to remove it from the wiki and I apologize for the confusion.

phebj, Elizabeth and Hazel: Two Women of Little Rock fits very well into kidzdoc's narrative non fiction challenge #11.

Thanks, Joyce! I'll move it there.

> 36

I am off to remove it from the wiki and I apologize for the confusion.

No, problem. I'm glad you mentioned the book. It seems like a book I'd be interested in reading anyway so it is still firmly implanted on my wishlist!

Well, I don't have a challenge to offer up, but I'm excited to have found the 75 Books in 2012 Group and the 2011 TILOI!!! Madeline, I love your challenge and will be listening to Dr. King's speech later this week. Then, I'll choose a book to read. Nice challenge. Really nice.

Sneaky, very sneaky -- new 2012 group and new 2012 TIOLI challenges, all at once!!

OK, my challenge -- #12 -- is to READ A BOOK WITH AN IMPERIAL TITLE OR SUBJECT.

For this, you can read a book that has a title with words like emperor, empress, imperial, empire in the title, or the name of a particular emperor. Or the title can refer to a particular empire -- Rome, Byzantium, Britain, etc.

For the purposes of this challenge, Julius Caesar was not an emperor; Augustus was the first individual to hold that title. Ergo, Caesar is fine, but Julius Caesar isn't. I don't consider tsars to be automatically emperors, but would be open to arguments on anyone post Peter the Great. I don't consider Stalin to be an "emperor", or Soviet Russia to be an empire -- let's stick to individuals and entities that described themselves that way -- unless, of course, the words emperor, empress, imperial or empire are the title. So if you find a book about Stalin with emperor or empire in the title, that's fine. But not if it's a book about Stalin without any of those key words. Similarly, it's fine to pick up a book about the USA as an imperial nation, but only if the words are used. (eg Imperial Life in the Emerald City by Rajiv Chandrasekaran. Feel free to use the name of an emperor out of context. I'll be reading The Napoleon of Crime; there's also The Napoleon of Notting Hill by GK Chesterton.

If the link isn't clear from the title -- i.e. if the book is about Napoleon, but his name isn't in the title -- please put the link in brackets. A hypothetical example: The Man from Corsica (Napoleon) - A.N. Other - LT Reader.

Any queries, just holler...

Some empires:

Austro-Hungarian, following from the Holy Roman Empire -- approx 17th century.
Holy Roman Empire -- Charlemagne, and his successors
Roman Empire -- from Augustus onward.
German empire -- from Bismarck onward -- 1870 to 1914
British empire -- technically post 1860 (Indian Mutiny)
Japan (ongoing)
China (up until the early 20th century)
Mongols (and their leaders, eg Genghis Khan)
The Mughal Empire (in India, up until the Mutiny)
Byzantium (about 400 CE up until 1453)
Ottoman Empire (1453 until WW1)
Napoleon I and Napoleon III
More offbeat: Aztecs, Trebizond
I'll accept some European countries who were imperial powers, as long as the book is about the imperial period and with an imperial theme. Eg, Adam Hochschild's book about King Leopold's depradations in the Congo is OK, but not a book about the Congo or Belgium today.

Oh -- and fiction is fine. You can thow all your ancient Roman mysteries into this category, if you want! (as long as they took place in imperial Rome and not republican Rome...) Troubles and JG Farrell's other books in his empire trilogy would fit. I'll OK Lauren Willig's goofy romantic espionage novels, because they revolve around Napoleonic France. And so on...

> 40

Nice challenge. Really nice.

Thanks, Ellen. I really have to do some deep thinking to keep coming up with original challenges. I especially like this one myself! :)

> 41

Sneaky, very sneaky -- new 2012 group and new 2012 TIOLI challenges, all at once!!

LOL!! If truth be told, it was planned that way. :D

Morphy, would Guards! Guards! by Terry Pratchett qualify for your dragons challenge? I haven't read it yet, but a review says "a dragon summoned from another dimension devastates Ankh-Morpork"?

Challenge #13: Read a book written by someone who was already famous for something other than writing

This is designed to capture authors who were famous BEFORE they wrote their book(s) – that means J.K. Rowling is out (she became famous BECAUSE she wrote Harry Potter).

In most cases, the books will likely be memoirs, but let’s stretch a little – both Madonna and Julie Andrews have written children’s books. I trolled my shelves and found three examples I’ll try to read for this challenge, and none of them are direct memoirs:

No Opportunity Wasted by Phil Keoghan, host of The Amazing Race
Squandering Aimlessly by David Brancaccio, host of NPR’s Marketplace
Gunn’s Golden Rules: Life’s Little Lessons for Making it Work by Tim Gunn, mentor on Project Runway

NOTE – when posting on the wiki, go ahead and include what the individual was originally famous for. You can decide the definition of famous.

What! Already? I'm still in 2011.

>44 Chatterbox: Guards! Guards! fits in perfectly!

I'm a newbie for the TIOLI challenge but I love it!

Here's a newbie question: If a book fits into more than one TIOLO challenge, does it count for more than one, or do you just pick one catagory?

Oooh, I was almost caught out by the early posting! I have a challenge which is time-appropriate, that is, to read a book you got this Christmas which you didn't ask for - so no books from your wishlist or heavily hinted to the purchaser.

Most of the books I get as presents are ones I've specifically asked for, but this year I was very excited to find in my stocking one I hadn't even heard of, Memorial by Alice Oswald, a poetic reworking of the Iliad. (I also received a poetic reworking of the Iliad which I did ask for, Christopher Logue's War Music. I'll try and fit that into another of this month's challenges so I can read the two back-to-back.)

>48 streamsong: - You can only count each book once, so just pick which challenge you want to put it in.

Have fun!

When I first glimpsed Madeline's challenge, and just saw the bold headers, I had a moment of confusion: "a state mentioned in King's Speech"? You mean the movie about the English king? Hehe.

#41 Thanks for that challenge, Suzanne - ideal to make me put Stella Duffy's Theodora: Actress, Empress, Whore at the tope of my TBR pile. Empress in the title and set in the Byzantine Empire, it couldn't be more imperial!

Madeline, for the first challenge, can I start listing books set in one of those non-Southern states you mentioned, as long as my first one is one of the Southern states mentioned? In other words, can I list a non-Southern state book before I finish my first Southern state book?

Wow! So many interesting challenges. I plan to look more into these after work.

I just started the following challenge for purely selfish reasons:

Challenge #15: Read a book by an author who was born in Sub-Saharan Africa

I plan to read one Coetzee a month in 2012 and was panicking because I couldn't fit any of his novels in the January categories. (Is this normal behavior? Ha!)

Anyway, I looked on the list of past challenges and didn't see a similar one, so I think it's ok.

Ah, I have a Coetze on the list for January - thanks!

I just have to chime in with a recommendation. I suspect I'm not alone in having heard Dr. King's famous "I Have a Dream" speech more than once (and, having heard it many times, it still gives me goosebumps and teary eyes). However, I had never read his speech. I can certainly hear MLK's voice as I read it, but reading it is still a different experience. I recommend giving it a try (here's a link). Thanks again, Madeline, for prompting a bit more exploration on my part.

Now, what book am I going to read? :-)

#14: But no one will actually give me books! - they either think I have too many already or that I will already have any they give me.

Hmm, this might actually galvanize me to read a Coetzee!

I'm glad that I'm promoting Coetzee-reading!

Here is a link to a list of other African Writers (it includes all of Africa though, and my challenge is only Sub-Saharan):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_African_writers_by_country

> 53

can I list a non-Southern state book before I finish my first Southern state book?

Yes, you can. However, you must COMPLETE reading a southern state book before reading one set in an "additional" state.

> 48

Welcome to the TIOLi challenges, streamsong. I hope you have lots of fun here!

This is my first time doing the TIOLI challenge! Three books from my TBR pile were able to fit into various challenges, so I'm excited! I've added them to the wiki - one of them is a shared read, but I didn't change the points. I hope that's okay.

Hi Kriti!

It's so nice to have you here with us in the TIOLI challenges. Have a great time with them!

It's perfectly okay not to change the points (or even to change the points, if you so desire). From time to time, I upgrade all of them.

#61 Thanks, Madeline. I'll add Cannery Row for California but won't read it til I first read my Louisiana book.

#58 - elkiedee, I have a similar problem, but I still occasionally receive a 'surprise' book - which I did this Christmas and wanted to commemorate with this challenge ;-)

#65 Thanks Linda, somehow, I found challenges for all my planned reads and forgot about Cannery Row.

I'm ashamed to say that it's very unlikely that I'll have time to read L'Assommoir in December, for which I created a challenge, as some of you know. I'm hoping someone will come up with a challenge I can fit it into...

Here's how my month is looking so far:

Challenge #1:
Cannery Row by John Steinbeck (Steinbeckathon, 12/12 Category #1: The First Half 1901-1951)

Challenge #8: Word in the title can be used as a verb
♫ The Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk (12/12 Category #4: Guardian Knows Best)

Challenge #9: Body of water
The Secret River by Kate Grenville (group read, 12/12 Category #12: From My Treasure-Trove)
Sea of Poppies by Amitav Ghosh (12/12 Category #12)

Challenge #11: Narrative non-fiction
♫ Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson (TIOLI 12/12 Category #8: Hot Off the Press )
The Worst Hard Time by Timothy Egan (12/12 Category #10: Beyond Fiction)
♫ Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea by Barbara Demick (12/12 Category #10)
Zarafa: A Giraffe's True Story, from Deep in Africa to the Heart of Paris by Michael Allin (12/12 Category #6: Going Places)

Challenge #13: Famous for something OTHER than writing,
From the Mouth of the Whale by Sjón (ER book, 12/12 Category #6)

I was really hoping to fit in some Orange books, at least one, but I'm already overbooked! Maybe I'll reshuffle a little, we'll see.

I added my first challenge - a book with a fraction in the title. It has nothing at all to do with the fact that I teach math, and more to do with the fact that I know the library will send me Half-Blood Blues on 7 day loan very soon.

I'm adding a self-serving challenge: Read a book in which either a title word, or the first or last name of the author, has three or more of the same vowel.

For example,
Kokoro by Natsume Soseki (o)
Waiting for Snow in Havana by Carlos Eire (a)
Kitchen - Banana Yoshimoto (a)

I'm hoping to read Kokoro before it's due back at the library and couldn't fit it anywhere else.

Madeline, you've really out done yourself with January's challenge! What a great tribute to revisit this awesome and inspiring speech. I've chosen to read my Christmas Swap book from fourpawz2 for this challenge, The Awakening which takes place in Louisiana and involves freedom for another section of society who struggled for their freedoms.

Plus! I can now add Cannery Row to this challenge which takes place in California for the Steinbeckathon.

Another self serving challenge here and I feel a little guilty doing this but Matterhorn does not fit into any other challenge in January. I think this may be Challenge 17.
Read a book which has a beverage mentioned on page 10. and list the beverage mentioned.

71 > It may be self-serving, but it's also quite creative and funny! I love the image I now have of everyone on TIOLI going to their TBR mountains, skipping to page 10, and looking desperately for a beverage. Well done.

#69 I was a bit confused but finally realized what you're looking for, for this one. I think that Explosive Eighteen, the new Janet Evanovich mystery, will fit the bill nicely, having three e's in the word "eighteen."

#71 I can look but, these days, most of my reading is on my Kindle. I was thinking about the next in the coffeehouse mystery series which I would expect mentions the word coffee throughout.

ETA: Never mind, I've figured out how to access page 10 on Amazon.

Yea, Anne. I've been wanting to read The All of It, it's due back at the library next week, and it fits into your challenge with 3 e's in the author's first name Jeannette Haien.

I have been having a hard time finding something I wanted to read that would fit in Madeline's challenge #1. I have a few that would fit, but am just not in the mood for them this month.... SOOO, I'm adding Adventures of Huckleberry Finn as my Mississippi read for January. And I've put it on hold at the library. It's a re-read for me, but it's been years and it's such a classic. I bet I'll get something out of it now that I didn't get out of it when I last read it (probably about 15 years ago).

67: I'd also like a challenge that L'Assommoir will fit into, as I've started it but haven't finished anything since 20/21 December when we came up here. (Does anyone have a drink on page 10 of your copy? - that would do!)

My challenge is inspired by all the coverage of the January sales - which all start on Boxing Day at the latest these days and often before Christmas! - a book about shopping/shops/retail - fiction or non fiction, from the viewpoint of a shopper or staff.

Books I'd like to read in this challenge (unlikely to read all of them!) include

Checkout: A Life on the Tills - Anna Sam (memoir/worker)

Au Bonheur Des Dames - Emile Zola (novel/worker) - my copy is translated as The Ladies' Paradise and is about a Parisian department store in the 19th century

Shopped by Joanna Blythman (critique/consumer?

21 Dog Years: Doing Time at Amazon.com by Mike Daisey (memoir/worker)

Last year I liked Tazeen Ahmad, The Checkout Girl and Dorothy Whipple, High Wages - a behind the till memoir and novel respectively - or there are the Shopaholic and Secret Shopper chicklit series!

67: My copy of L'Assommoir, English translation by Margaret Mauldon, Oxford World's Classics, has the word "gin" within the word "shrugging" near the end of page 10.

Luci, there is also Malled by Caitlin Kelly, although it's a book I quite loathed...

Lynda, I'm not seeing your challenge in the wiki??

I would read Malled for a low price, but not for £9+ in pb and £13+ Kindle!

> 68, 69

It has nothing at all to do with the fact that I teach math, and more to do with the fact that I know the library will send me Half-Blood Blues on 7 day loan very soon.

I'm adding a self-serving challenge:

LOL!! You guys!!

Well, at least if you pick your challenges in this way, we're apt to come up with all sorts of new ideas!

> 71

Another self serving challenge here and I feel a little guilty doing this

This is hilarious!!

#78 Thanks for reminding me, Suzanne. I had a sudden impulse to clean the kitchen and forgot to enter my challenge. It is now Challenge #19 Read a book which has a beverage mentioned on page 10 and indicate the beverage mentioned.

> 70

you've really out done yourself with January's challenge! What a great tribute to revisit this awesome and inspiring speech.

Yeah. I like it myself. I'm hoping that no one thought of it as an "assignment".

Truthfully, I don't think I've ever read or listened to the entire speech before having thought up this challenge. It's so moving that I'm happy to be able to share it with everyone, even those of you who do not live in the United States.

> 72

I love the image I now have of everyone on TIOLI going to their TBR mountains, skipping to page 10, and looking desperately for a beverage. Well done.

I agree wholeheartedly!

You guys!! I've already been through my TBR pile looking for a book with an animal on Page 10, and now I have to start again and look for a book with a *beverage* on page 10? You've got to be kidding me!! ;-0 Oh, well....just part of the fun of TIOLI! I love it!!!!

Sorry -- I must be losing it! I just went back up to look at the challenges and there isn't one mentioning a book with an animal on page 10. I'm thinking of a previous challenge, aren't I? So that earlier search really was a waste of time! I think maybe I had better take a break from TIOLI and come back tomorrow. (It probably doesn't help that I've been without an internet connection most of the day and spent almost two hours on the phone with AT&T trying to get everything straightened out!) But obviously it's working now!

> 84

I've already been through my TBR pile looking for a book with an animal on Page 10, and now I have to start again and look for a book with a *beverage* on page 10?

Nancy, This is yet easy. Just wait until someone has a challenge asking for an animal that's drinking a beverage on page 10!

> 85

I just went back up to look at the challenges and there isn't one mentioning a book with an animal on page 10.

Using Morphidae's handy-dandy TIOLI challenge finder, I found that the challenge to which you're referring is one which asks you to find an animal on page 50 (not on page 10!). That challenge took place in November, 2011 (last month).

FYI: Morphidae's challenge finder is permanently linked to the main thread in message #1 now and will continue to be there in the future.

> 86 This is yet easy. Just wait until someone has a challenge asking for an animal that's drinking a beverage on page 10!

ROFLOL --- I even shared this with P (who thinks I spend far too much time on LT with people I "haven't even met") and she laughed.

I love you guys.

#77 Luci, I've got the French copy of L'Assommoir (Folio Classique)—page 10 is the intro and has both water and wine mentioned on it. Yippee! :-)

#80 I don't know about the others, but my challenges have always been self-serving up till now... didn't realize this was *wrong* in any way. :-s

> 89

didn't realize this was *wrong* in any way.

It's definitely not "wrong" in any way. I just find it funny that so many challenges more recently have been based on books that people want to read rather than books being chosen because they fit into a pre-determined category.

#71 Carmenere, I like your challenge because it lets me fit in one of my large collection of unread Best American Short Stories (I'm trying to read one a month and I found suitable challenges for the last two months as well)!

This time it's Best American Short Stories 1988, selected by Mark Helprin, and the first full sentence on p10 is: "We'll run some tests tomorrow to be sure, but I don't think there's anything much wrong with him, besides being dehydrated." So give him a drink of water, she thought...

elkiedee's challenge on reading a book on shopping/retailing from the point of view of the shopper or staff is an intriguing one. I've read plenty of books on this topic but almost always looking at these in terms of the store.

Well, as is usual, I tend to think first of mysteries and recalled that there's an Elaine Viets cozy mystery series about a secret shopper. The first of these is Dying in Style.

Lots of great challenges for January. I'm at the library and finding I'm looking at page 10 of every book I'm considering, looking for a beverage. I don't think that steam counts, do you?

I don't think steam counts because you inhale it, you don't swallow it. Of course, I'm not the official authority of the page 10 beverage challenge. :D

#93 I didn't think so. I've already got one with Pepsi, Diet Pepsi, and Mountain Dew on page 10 so I'm covered. Plus it's an ER book, which is even better.

92: Thank you for keeping me company

steam may not be a beverage but look again at the letters - sTEAm - off now to have a cuppa!

> 95

but look again at the letters

You win, Luci! Ha!!

Oooh, I can squeeze The Night Circus into #19 thanks to a cup of tea...

And I can fit either Bel Canto (liquor) or The Tiger's Wife (water) into Challenge #19. I can read either or both of them for Challenge #6 (and am planning to read them for Orange January, in any case), but I do like to spread the love around -- but then there are fewer shared reads.... hmmmm.....

I was planning to read The Hare with the Amber Eyes this month and was pleased to see WINE on page 10. I love it when a plan works out . . . Not! Completely by accident : )

For Challenge #18, I would recommend the fascinating Deluxe: How Luxury Lost Its Luster by Dana Thomas.

100: That one's funny but it may well help with some of my review books (I think I have 12 to read, not necessarily all this month, but I will need to read at least 4 - I can't believe I've let the Amazon Vine books stack up so much - all except one are from that source).

101: I needed a place to put The Last Spymaster because I won't be finishing it before midnight tonight. :)

Considering that I haven't added any of my Endless Europe Challenge books to the TIOLI yet (because I don't have my list of what I intend to read with me) and that I've already signed up for 13 titles, I will probably be removing books at the end of the month unless we have a snow day! I'll make great efforts to complete the shared reads though. I will have to read mostly books that are on my Kindle for a few days though. Unfortunately most of those are not shared reads! I'm excited to get started with my 2012 reads.

I've learned from past attempts not to sign up for more challenges in the month right off the bat because I get demoralized when my ADD kicks in and I don't feel like a reading a book I signed up for in one of the challenges when I get to it.

So for now, I'll tackle Challenge #1 for January and start with The Wanderer : The Last American Slave Ship and the Conspiracy That Set Its Sails by Erik Calonius. This is the slave ship that carried African slaves to the slave blocks on Jekyll Island in Georgia. If I finish this before the month is out, I may do one of the other January challenges.

Trying to cover as many challenges as I can, and read my library books, here is my list of possibles for January:

Challenge #1: MLK/Mississippi
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn - Mark Twain

Challenge #2: Dragons
Dragonsong - Anne McCaffrey

Challenge #3: China
Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China - Jung Chang

Challenge #4: Winter scene
Snow - Orhan Pamuk
In the Bleak Midwinter - Julia Spencer-Fleming

Challenge #5: Transportation
The London Train - Tessa Hadley

Challenge #6: Orange
The Road Home - Rose Tremain
A Spell of Winter - Helen Dunmore

Challenge #7: Posthumous
The True Deceiver - Tove Janssen

Challenge #8: Word in the title can be used as a verb
Silence - Shusaku Endo

Challenge #9: Body of water
The Bridge on the Drina - Ivo Andric

Challenge #10: NYT 2011 Fiction
1Q84 - Haruki Murakami
The Marriage Plot - Jeffrey Eugenides

Challenge #11: Narrative non-fiction
The Warmth of Other Suns - Isabel Wilkerson

Challenge #12: Empire/Emperor
Empire of the Sun - J. G. Ballard

Challenge #13: Famous for something other than writing
Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman - Richard Feynman (physics)

Challenge #14: Unexpected gift
Inside Out and Back Again - Thannha Lai

Challenge #15: Subsaharan Africa
Agaat - Marlene van Niekerk

Challenge #17: word with three identical vowels
Kokoro - Natsume Soseki
On Canaan's Side - Sebastian Barry

Challenge #18: beverage on page 10
If on a Winter's Night a Traveler - Italo Calvino

Hope springs eternal...I've posted my PotentiaList for January 2012

My New Year resolution is to limit my TIOLI listings at the start of the month to less than 5.

Challenge#1:
I always put a book in Madeline's challenge, but as I've just finished 2 books set in southern states I'm not inclined at this point to rush back there.

Challenge#5: Transportation in the title
The Necropolis Railway by Andrew Martin

Challenge#6: Orange Prize
The hunter by Julia Leigh

Challenge #7: Posthumous Publication
this is my challenge sparked by reading a couple of posthumously published novels late last year and the story behind A Monster Calls.
American Ghosts & Old World Wonders by Angela Carter
Persuasion by Jane Austen
and will probably end up adding
A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway

My fairly ambitious list for January:

Challenge #3
The Three Daughters of Madame Liang by Pearl S. Buck

Challenge #6
The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver

Challenge #8
Murder at Longbourn by Tracy Kiely
Rebel Fire by Andy Lane

Challenge #11
The Lost: A Search for Six of Six Million by Daniel Mendelsohn

Challenge #12
The Emperor's Last Soldiers by Ito Masashi

Challenge #17
22 Britannia Road by Amanda Hodgkinson
Scones and Sensibility by Lindsay Eland

Challenge #19
The Invisible Ones by Stef Penney

Challenge #20
Improbable Patriot by Harlow Giles Unger

I've got a couple more books I need to read in January that don't fit into any of the categories, so I might not get through the entire list. I'll give priority to ARCs/review books, book club books, and shared reads.

Must spare an hour or two to see where I can fit my books this month. Six already make the "Orange" grade but I'll try to be inventive with some of the others!

Just got home and had to check in to see what the challenges are this month. It's about an hour from the New Year here, guess I will be celebrating by scanning my TBR for books to fit the challenges (with a glass of champagne in hand, of course!)

I am starting off the year by not overcommitting myself here on TIOLI and just taking it one book at a time. The first book of my 2012 reading year is Old Filth, which fits nicely in challenge #20 since the acknowledgement section is exactly 6 paragraphs.

ETA: Finished this one in the wee hours, so now I am off to see if the other books I have on the go fit any of the challenges.

I just finished A Clash of Kings by George R. R. Martin and not sure if I should list it under #8 or #12. Suggestions?

I put it in #2, there are dragons ;-)

Thanks Anita, I didn't even think of checking there because I thought the book had to have dragons as a main topic to fit in that challenge. Off to list it as a shared read! :-)

> 114: Maybe put your own name at the wiki instead of mine ;-)
I haven't completed it yet, but it is hard to put it down!

>114 Smiler69: If there be dragons, it fits!

I've just realized that I have just started a book that fits Challenge #14 which is The Night Circus which my sister-in-law gave me this Christmas. It had been on my wish list, but she doesn't have access to that, and it was a nice surprise. Does this count?

Haha, just finished a book with 7.25 pages of Acknowledgments (of course non-fiction)

I finished All the Flowers in Shanghai for the China challenge, now delving into my stacks looking for a beverage on page 10.

Also getting ready to post a challenge of my own :)

Here's my challenge, number 21:

For the first month of the year, read an author's first book. If an author writes under several names, it needs to be the first book written by the actual person.

I'm going to have to prioritise some review books, and I'm still aiming to do a Persephone, a VMC and a noir anthology each month. I am also trying to squeeze the 6 books I'm currently reading into various challenges - all but one are left over from last month - I started them before Christmas, whereas I started Stettin Station at a point when I knew I wouldn't finish in 2011, I just couldn't resist after enjoying the first 2 in the series so much.

My first read for the year and January TIOLI is Ballad of a Dead Nobody by Liza Cody for Challenge 4: I'm sure the cover photo includes snow (winter scene) though it's hard to see.

For challenge 21, I just read this in December, who knew I should have held off for a few more days. But Old Man's War by John Scalzi is some good scifi and his first novel. In case anyone is looking for a suggestion. And I know all of you need help since your tbr stack is so small :-)

Ah, I came here to share my TIOLI plans:

Instruments in the Redeemer's Hands - Paul David Trip: TIOLI #17
Tripwire - Lee Child: TIOLI #19
The Cloud Roads - Martha Wells: TIOLI #14 from Secret Santa
The Woman Warrior - Maxine Hong Kingston: TIOLI #3

Dipped in to The Woman Warrior tonight and it is good.

Challenge #22 : Read a book whose chapters are prefaced with a poem or quotation

My challenge this month is to read a book whose chapters start with a poem or quotation. Admit this has been rigged to accommodate North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell which I am currently reading but there are loads out there especially pre-1914.

Managed to fit my pre-planned 12 in 12 targets fully into the TIOLIs as follows:

#4 Shadow by Karin Alvtegen (on close inspection it is a winter scene)
#6 Room by Emma Donoghue
Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel
Lyrics Alley by Leila Aboulela
Hearts and Minds by Amanda Craig
The Road Home by Rose Tremain
Bel Canto by Ann Patchett
#8 The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan
The Guards by Ken Bruen
#11 The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street by Helene Hanff
#19 Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami
#22 North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell

Lucky for me the Orange Prize TIOLI surfaced this month!

I finished my first 2 books of the year. I was just going to listen to a little bit of World and Town (for the China challenge) while I was puttering around, but I couldn't stop until it was over. One of the few books with a great older female main character. Then I actually sat down and read the book I'd been planning to be my first of the year, The All of It (for the 3 vowel challenge)- another subtle book about relationships and principles. Next up is The Sense of an Ending for challenge #8.

For challenge #13, I am reading Peggy Guggenheim's Confessions of an Art Addict.

ETA: I am also reading Steampunk, which I want to try and fit to one of the challenges. It would fit challenge 19 if it is ok that they are 'drinking soup from teacups.' Is that an acceptable fit?

Whoppeee.. I've finished my first TIOLI challenge for the month. Just finished reading The Night Circus this morning.

I've got to read 1Q84 next and then I'll get to my other January TIOLI book, which is The Wanderer :The Last American Slave Ship that's set in Georgia

125: Paul, the 5 books on your list I've read are all excellent (Bruen, Craig, Aboulela, Donoghue and Gaskell)

I've added Brazzaville Beach to challenge #8. Very interesting book. I recommend it, but haven't yet written a review.

It's been awhile since I did TIOLI. I think it will be a great way to start off the year. Love the MLK challenge.

>131 nittnut:: I love that challenge, too. In fact, my next book was chosen with civil rights in mind: A Gathering of Old Men set in Louisiana. Then, I'll rush over and join the Steinbeck group read of Cannery Row set in California.

My first book of the new year is an Orange (Ch. #6), One by One in the Darkness about a family affected by the Troubles in Northern Ireland. Good book!

I was going to set a challenge for the first month of the new year : Read a first book (either debut or first in a series) by an author you've never read before. But is that too close to Challenge 21?

I don't think so...sounds different to me, but I think we had it last January.

I just finished The Sense of an Ending for challenge #8. Wow. Read it is all I have to say. Next up is Beyond Black for the Orange Prize challenge. I'm looking forward to it after hearing conflicting opinions.

humoress- go for it- I'm the one who started challenge 21, and I think yours is different.

I've decided to try the TIOLI Challenge this year, as I'm reading only 60 books for the 12 in 12 (as opposed to the 121 I read for the 11 in 11), and I feel kind of lost not having to hurry through a zillion books each month like I did last year.

I just finished the audiobook of The Leftovers for the Notable Books of 2011 challenge, and I'd have to say that notable it is not. If you have absolutely nothing else to read or listen to, it would be a fine way to pass the time. If there's anything else on your tbr pile, go for that instead. Factory Girls is up for my next audiobook.

> 137

I've decided to try the TIOLI Challenge this year,

Hurray!! ...and welcome, casvelyn!

To learn about the TIOLI challenges, just follow all the links in message #1 and message #2 at the top of this page. If you need help with anything, just ask. I think you'll find this challenge very refreshing because you are not *forced* to read any amount of books. You might just find yourself reading quite a few, however, as the challenges here tend to be quirky and fun.

Have a great time!

>139 SqueakyChu: Thanks!

>133 humouress:, 134, 136 Okay, going for it!

A challenge for the first month of the new year :

Challenge 23 : Read a first book (either debut or first in a series) by an author you've never read before

(of course, you can match a read if someone else is reading a book you'd like to read, even if you have read a book by the author before)

Thanks to LT it seems many many of the books I read are by authors I've never read before.

I got an answer to my question as to whether soup was counted as a beverage if it is being drunk out of teacups, so Steampunk is now on the wiki for Challenge #19.

> 141: I am reading The Dragon Chair by Tad Williams, I don't think it is his debut, but it is the first in the Memory, Sorrow and Thorn series, is that okay?

I just realized that the book I picked up early this morning, Reading with Deeper Eyes, fits challenge 22, so I am adding it to the wiki.

>141 humouress: Yes, first in series counts, too.

>147 Samantha_kathy: It's referring to words in a book title than can be more than one part of speech depending on context. For example, I just read The Fellowship of the Ring for Challenge 8. "Ring" can be used as a verb (I'll ring him up tomorrow.) or as a noun (Frodo has to destroy the ring.) For that matter, "Fellowship" can be a verb and a noun as well. Another example from the list is Broken Glass Park--"Park" can be used as a verb or noun (I will park the car. vs. They had a picnic in the park.)

It took me a while to figure that one out. So, the listing afterward lists the word, and the other part of speech it can be. It is already presumed that the word can be a verb. So, for example, in mine it's park/noun. It already presumes its a verb (to park the car), and it can also be a noun (green, leafy area).

Does that make sense?

>147 Samantha_kathy: The way I understood it, in these titles there is a word (or more than one word) that can be used as a verb, although in the title it is usually used another way (most often as a noun, from a quick glance at the list). So, in Broken Glass Park, park is a noun, but it can also be used as a verb (park the car). Or in Catching Fire, fire is again used as a noun, although in another context it could be a verb. Right?

For Challenge 8, I've added Castle in the Air by Diana Wynne Jones; castle (as in chess) and air can both be verbs or nouns. (I was wavering between Challenges 8 and 5 (transportation), since the Castle in question is Howl's Moving Castle) ;-)

Oddly, we weren't taught that much English grammar at school; it was assumed we had absorbed it along the way. Most of my grammar rules I picked up from learning them furrin languages.

>151 Samantha_kathy:, Yes, that's how I understand it.

Is there a separate thread to post our covers on for Challenge #4 - A Book Cover with a Winter Scene?

I thought we were to put the other use of the word in the notation. So I listed the word 'beach' in Brazzaville Beach as beach/verb, since it's a noun in the title.

I've just added The Thirteen Treasures by Michelle Harrison to Challenge #23. It's both a first book and the first in a series by an author I have never read before.

Ooh, all of that discussion was very useful. I have Castle in the Air on my tbr so I'll add that to challenge 8.

I was confused about the verb challenge for a while, but then the description changed to 'as a verb as well as another part of speech' and then it made sense.

I finished the the beautifully written and heartbreaking Sorry by Gail Jones for the Orange Prize Challenge. Highly recommend it. Now, for the same challenge, I'm reading Zadie Smith's White Teeth.

> 154

Is there a separate thread to post our covers on for Challenge #4 - A Book Cover with a Winter Scene?

I was hoping that countrylife would start a separate thread for that. If not, anyone else can do it. My offer for a small prize for the most beautiful winter scene on a book cover still stands. We'll vote at the end of the month.

I added Handle with Care by Jodi Picoult to challenge #4. My first TIOLI for the year.

#160 - Thanks Madeline, I'll go and bug Cindy (Countrylife) about it. :)

Madeline, my mother used to tell the story of how, when I was a little girl and we were out visiting with friends I looked at her with my adorable little face and said, "I wish I could have an ice cream cone, but I know I can't have one." Well, of course, I got that tasty treat. I just discovered the book Behind the Scenes: Or, Thirty years a slave, and Four Years in the White House by Elizabeth Keckley. It's not set in one of the southern states mentioned in the I Have A Dream speech, but it is set in the place it was given. What do you say, can I have that ice cream cone?

Hi, I'm a TIOLI newbie and am furiously reading all the relevant threads so I don't ask stupid questions but I probably will anyway!

Most of the books I've planned for this month are Orange Prize nominees so are covered by that challenge though I am placing The Magician's Assistant under challenge 4 as it has a wintery cover.

I am also planning to read Dark Fire for challenge 8 and Midsummer Night in the Workhouse for challenge 19 -party guests are drinking something called hock cup on page 10!

Edited for touchstones

I somehow managed to over-commit myself in December to a stack of long books of which not a single one fits into this month's challenges.
So "happy TIOLI reading" to all, I hope to be back in February!

How have you managed that? No beverages on page 10 in any of them?

It's mostly Kindle books, they don't have a page 10.
I was tempted to put Nils Holgersson (German title translated means 'the wonderful journey of little Nils Holgersson with the wild geese') into the transport challenge, but it's clearly 'with' and not 'by' or 'using', although the goose is his means of transport. :-(

> 163

It's not set in one of the southern states mentioned in the I Have A Dream speech

I'm a meanie. No, you can't have an ice cream cone...nor a pony. Do what others do. Set up a challenge that matches your book for next month's challenges. :)

By the way, books set in DC are a horse of a different color (no pun intended). We have many more well known authors who use DC (or even the White House) as a setting for their novels. It's more difficult to find novels (at least good ones) that are set in those southern states from the "IHAD" speech.

> 164

Hi, Dee,

A hearty welcome to the TIOLI challenges! So glad you discovered us. Hope you have fun here.

Never be to shy to ask questions. We're all here to help you along.

Enjoy!

> 167

It's mostly Kindle books, they don't have a page 10.

:(

I admit to being partial to dead tree books, but I find it so hard to believe that not even one book fits our challenges.

Hint: Next month (as it's too late now), be sure to add at least one challenge of your own if your books don't fit the challenges of others.

Some Kindle books have a dead-tree book as referent in their Product Details section. Maybe you could figure out what text is on page ten from reference to those editions?

And, I thought Kindle was releasing some sort of pagination fix? Did that never happen? I ask because I'm struggling to decide on which ereader to ask for this month, and pagination is a consideration.

I believe some Kindle books show page numbers if you click on "Menu" while reading and look at the bottom - it shows the page and location you are on/at. I think this is true for all newer Kindle books purchased through Amazon (as opposed to Project Gutenberg Kindle formatted books or books from other sources).

I have page numbers on some of my Kindle books, but some of the older ones I purchased still don't have them. I've sometimes gone to library catalogs or to Amazon.com to see how many pages are likely to be in something.

>>Deern--'Journey' can be a verb or a noun, so it would fit into challenge 8!

154, 160: Sorry, got myself slowed down. One of the munchki couldn't come home DURING Christ-mas, so we've been having a second belated holiday with her. Up and running now.

The thread for posting your winter covers for Challenge #4 is here:
http://www.librarything.com/topic/130377

>>Deern - you've hit the jackpot (I sneaked a peek at your Current Reading list)

A Dream of Red Mansions - dream can be a noun or a verb

Beowulf on the Beach - beach can be a noun or a verb

and doesn't La Vie Mode d'Emploi translate to Life for Use (maybe my French is too old) but use can be a verb or a noun too.

All these would fit into Challenge #8.

#170-173: My Kindle books are mainly of the free classics sort, without page numbers. The newer editions do also offer pages. I once had an excel spread with some converting algorithm (using the page numbers of the printed versions as offered on amazon). If I find it, I'll see if I find a drink on the assumed pages #10. Thank you for being so generous with the interpretation of the rules!

#174/176: you're incredible - thank you! Somehow I hadn't really grasped how that challenge works! I didn't even know 'beach' was also a verb. (I keep learning new words here, 2 days ago it was 'erudite')

Not all of my 'currently reads' can be finished in January (they are way too long), but at least I'll add Nils Holgersson and Beowulf on the Beach.

Not all Kindle books from Amazon do have page numbers even now, it's true (and very annoying). But I'm glad people were able to help you.

If you need to see what's on a particular page of a book, you can access this info on the Amazon website. I think it's via google books or some such.

Ah, Madeline, no pony either? You are a meany. But then, I'm not nearly as adorable as I used to be.

:)

I just finished Olga Grushin's The Concert Ticket which was a Dec TIOLI leftover and find I can fit it into challenge #4 Cover with a winter scene. Loved it, the US title is The Line. ok, off to post my cover on the challenge thread.

ah... you mean 'to beach' as in a whale! That took me much longer than it should have...

That challenge really helped me out too as I am desperate to read one of my Christmas gifts, The Summer Of The Ubume, and it's the only challenge I could squeeeeeeze it into.

#182 - I'm glad to hear that you enjoyed it. I loved her first book and plan to read The Line this year. She's definitely an exciting new(ish) talent.

I'm lovin' Challenge No. 1 that caused me to dust off a long overlooked copy of A Gathering of Old Men. I'll follow up this book set in LA with one set in CA, Cannery Row. Both of these are books I've been wanting to read for ages. Thanks for the nudge, Madeline!

Thanks for the nudge, Madeline!

It was my pleasure, Donna! :)

I find this quote from soupdragon (elsewhere on LT) appealing...

"There is something about the combination of organisation and randomness which appeals to me about the TIOLI challenges"

Therefore, should anyone ask you for a definition of TIOLI (beyond the obvious "take it or leave it"), just call it "organized random reading"! :)

This reminds me of a complaint my husband often makes. He's a concrete contractor who always winces when a client requests that flagstone be placed in a "random pattern". To him, that's an oxymoron. He prefers use of the term "random manner". :D

How precise!

Is it a sign of addiction to TIOLI that I've already thought up the challenges I want to add in February and March?

Yep. That's one for sure sign! :)

I finished Beyond Black for the Orange Prize challenge, pretty doggone weird book which I'm glad I read. Next up is Behind the Scenes: Or, Thirty years a slave, and Four Years in the White House by Elizabeth Keckley for the author's first (and only, I think) work.

Finished The Awakening from Challenge #1 now I can move in in earnest to Cannery Row.

For those of you challengers who like to count "pages read", have you seen Jordan's new challenge here in the 75-ers group?

It's not a TIOLI challenge, but it might be right up the alley for some of you! :D

> thanks Madeline, I joined :-)

:)

I may have resolved my profound (okay, that's a bit melodramatic) ambivalence and confusion in trying to meet Madeline's challenge. I have an old copy of Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe. Yes, I read it back in 1987 or '88, but it's such a great, fun read. Maybe I'll yet read The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, as well.

>194 SqueakyChu: I thought about joining the 15,000 page challenge, until I tallied up my 2011 page count. 35,351 pages. Seriously, I'm shocked. I thought it'd be somewhere around 10,000. (I recorded the page count of each book read, but it never occurred to me to add up the grand total.) So I think I'll try for 30,000 pages this year, since I plan on reading fewer books than last year.

I also thought about joining but then looked at my page counts for the last two years - both over 100,000. So, since I need to join a new challenge like I need a hole in the head, I decided to pass.

I don't count the number of pages, just the number of books, and I'm not going to start doing so. I've got enough other things to keep me occupied without having to track an additional statistic (that isn't all that easy when part of your reading will be the older Kindle books lacking pagination.)

I discovered when updating the wiki that The Night Circus qualifies for challenge 21, so I added it there.

201: Yay, I'm doing the same book for the same challenge. I'm a TIOLI newbie, but it has been pretty fun I must say.

> 202

it has been pretty fun I must say.

Hooray!

To those of you who chose to read The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn for Challenge #1 (Read a book set in a state named in the MLK "I Have A Dream" speech), please weigh in on the discussion of whether or not that book actually fits the challenge. The discussion of that issue begins in message #19 of this thread.

Everyone may cast a vote.

Anyone have a copy of Still Life by Louise Penny or The Battle of the Labyrinth by Rick Riordan that can check to see if there is a beverage on page 10? I lost my mind and checked them for an animal. Doh!

I lost my mind and checked them for an animal

LOL!

#205: I am checking for you, Morphy. Give me a couple of minutes.

ETA: In neither of the books is there a mention of a beverage mentioned on page 10 - at least not in the editions I have access to. Sorry.

Thanks, Stasia! Ah well. Now I'll remember before sending books back to the library. Maybe.

Completed my second TIOLI, Challenge #23, The Dragon Chair by Tad Williams

#208: Sorry it did not work out the other way for you.

Ha! I'm so excited. I can fit The Sisters Brothers into challenge #20 (the Acknowledgements section is, really, no paragraphs at all, but six lists of names ---- or one list of names with five "breaks" inserted for reasons known only by the author).

>211 EBT1002: Excellent! I have The Sisters Brothers coming to me on 7 day loan from the library in the next few days. I have looked over and over the list of challenges, trying to see where it might fit. I was down to hoping for drinks on page 10 or the acknowledgements but I wasn't sure. Plus, now it will be a shared read.

>212 raidergirl3: I checked page 10 before I checked the Acknowledgements. :-D

>213 EBT1002: obviously!

oh, this looks great! I'm so glad I found this! What a great way to branch out. I don't know if it's required to do this in order or what? But, for the 1st challenge I think I'll try A Streetcar named Desire and I'll throw in a bio on MLK just for kicks

Thanks

Hi, Kittenfish..and welcome!

You don't have to do the challenges in any order. You pick and choose which, if any of them, you want to do. You may skip challenges. You may do the same challenge more than once. The idea is just to have fun with your reads and, perhaps, share a read or two with someone else at the same time.

How did you find us?! :)

I'm always amused at how difficult it is to navigate through LibraryThing to find what one is seeking. I thought that, with the TIOLI challenge, I'd take advantage of the hidden nooks and crannies of this website. :D

I discovered LT in 2010 and I was quite thrilled to be able to keep track of my reads. In 2011 I took on the challenge to read 75 books, but did not participate in the "challenge" I felt like I'd be judged on my less than "intelligent" choices. I fall into the 'Reading is for Dummies' category. LOL!! But, this year I'm trying to join in on the fun and I have a thread.

So, I found this thread under "your groups" and I'm very excited about it! :) Not only will it branch out my reading choices for the year, but I'm also excited to hopefully connect with some fellow book lovers.

Thanks again

Love your kitty picture, kittenfish!

I don't think that we pass judgement here on what others read. What each person reads for pleasure, and why we choose to read what we do, is such an individual matter. We do, however, give out recommendations of what we'd like others to read very loudly and clearly based on our own personal reading preferences. :)

You definitely will connect with other book lovers here. You also (hopefully!) will find this group lots of fun.

*hates when reading gets boring*

218> I felt like I'd be judged on my less than "intelligent" choices.

No way! I read manga and children's books last year and tracked them on my thread and no one made me a pariah for it. At least, no one in this group did! (my brother (who is also my best friend) totally made fun of me - not that he's any better when it comes to High Literature, with his Star Wars novelizations and the like)

The more the merrier, and reading is reading, the point of the group is to encourage each other to read more and share what we like (or don't like!) and help pick the next book in the TBR... or add more and more to that pile :P

(And TIOLI is the best part, of course. Because who doesn't love somewhat random challenges to force you to pick something you might not have been planning from your stack? Well, that's just one reason you might enjoy TIOLI.)

Welcome, kittenfish! I echo what Madeline and keristars have to say: this is the most nonjudgmental group I've ever found on line. The TIOLI challenges are fun -- but I must issue a warning that Madeline (SqueakyChu) will neglect to issue: TIOLI can be addictive!!!

*slinks off to read a book that says it's target ages are 4-8 years....* :-)

I completed The Worst Hard Time for Darryl's challenge #11. I highly recommend this wonderful narrative nonfiction account of the Dust Bowl. It made me hungry, though. ;-|

Thanks, guys! I don't know why I feel so ashamed about what I read. I guess because it's so personal. ? Anyway...thank you for the warm welcome and I look forward to getting to know you all better :) Happy reading!!

kittenfish, I notice that one of your current reads is Sick Puppy. Carl Hiaasen: gotta love him.

My husband really enjoys reading books by Carl Hiassen as well.

I agree with everyone who's already said that this is one of the least judgmental groups out there. We read what we like :)

Definitely no need to be ashamed. Sometimes I'm ashamed of my mystery habit, but I've found loads of people in this group who share that habit. Hence, I read even more :)

I finished Bel Canto for the Orange Prize challenge. Am attempting to review it now, so will just say that it was a very interesting read.

LOL~~ so funny. I hated Twillight and heckled and abused all I knew that enjoyed it. Not on here or anything. Just my personal friends. I thought Bella was a B. O. R. E

Then I read my first wonderful YA book. Incantation by Alice Hoffman and I found it to be just a great book. I LOVED that book. So, I thank those here at LT and I look forward to being turned on to many great writers and the best of their best.

I finished Behind the Scenes: Or, Thirty years a slave, and Four Years in the White House by Elizabeth Keckley, and it was quite an eye opener. I didn't really know there was so much controversy about Mary Todd Lincoln; but what was more surprising was Elizabeth Keckley's fond remembrances of her former owners. I think she does a good job explaining why a person might remember some aspects of slavery with fondness, but it gives the reader a creepy feeling. She was, essentially, the sole support for her white family and they wouldn't grant freedom to her and her son until she paid them $1200, yet she remembers them with love and is sure they feel the same for her. Well, I've said it before, apparently there's a definite limit on my ability for forgiveness, unlike Ms Keckley.

>230 Citizenjoyce:: Joyce, that book sounds great. I'd also recommend Mrs. Lincoln and Mrs. Keckly by Jennifer Fleischner. I read and enjoyed that one last May after a rec by Brenda (Brenpike). I had never heard of Mrs. Keckly until then, but she certainly had a ringside seat in history!

I just finished The Marriage Plot for Challenge #10. I liked it but many people didn't because it wasn't in the same league as Middlesex. I also read some negative comments about all the literary references being boring. They were a big part of why I ended up liking the book!

#208 Poor Morphi, forget beverages on page 10 I think YOU NEED a beverage after looking so diligently :0}

"Earl Grey, hot." :D

I can't remember where I just read it, but someone was bemoaning the fact that they were out of all the good tea and all they had left was Earl Grey. Wow, I wonder what their good tea was.

235> Perhaps they don't like the bergamot? I'm not a huge fan of Earl Grey myself unless I get it in a tea latte/London Fog (depending on what you call it).

But I've had some really amazing teas from Adagio and Teavanna. I sent the White Tea "Orchard" sampler from Adagio to friends in December and they're raving over it, so it's next on my order to try.

>235 Citizenjoyce: I can't stand Earl Grey--I don't like the bergamot at all. But I do drink a lot of other teas.

I don't like Earl Grey either, but thought it was an amusing response. When I do drink tea, I stick with hibiscus herbal blends - usually "Wild Strawberry." I used to love comfrey but you can't get that anymore.

Lately, I've been drinking Tension Tamer Tea by the truck load. It's made by Celestial Seasons and makes me go aaaaaaah!

chocolate and vanilla teas are my favorites. I'm not an Earl Grey lover either. It's okay but not something I crave.

Can I add a book that I've already read this month but didn't realise applied to one of the challenges?

241> Yes! Maybe someone else will see it and want to read it, but they might not have thought of it before :)

I finished my book for challenge number 4 - Handle with Care. Updating the Wiki. Now I have to see if my current read fits anywhere. I am now reading The Graveyard book by Neil Gaiman.

242: I added Fannie's Last Supper by Christopher Kimball for Challenge #13: Read a book written by someone who was already famous for something OTHER than writing.

Earl Grey and Lapsang Souchong tea for me, please.

Darryl, do you like Pu'er tea? I have been drinking a lot of it lately because someone came to stay with me and left a big box of it behind! It is supposed to be lower caffeine, although I don't know if that's true, but has a similiar smoky taste to lapsang souchong.

I wasn't sure I was on the right thread when I saw all this talk about tea! lol. I happen to be a big fan of Earl Grey. I also had a very prolonged phase of Tention Tamer by Celestial Seasonings and it is indeed a satisfyingly calming drink.

But what I came here to say was that I finished Steve Jobs for the narrative non-fiction challenge and also To Fear a Painted Devil by Ruth Rendell, which I will list under challenge #8.

eta: Madeline, I hope you'll remember to use the thread continuation feature when you start the next thread, which should be very soon now I imagine...

Oh, oh, they're coming for you, Madeline.

Forgot to mention I also got started on Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea and will shortly start on From the Mouth of the Whale by Sjón, an ER book I've listed under challenge #13.

eta: I think I'm really tired because I keep forgetting stuff... I finished Fight Club which is a shared read (with Madeline so far!) on challenge #8, in which challenge I'll also add The Spiderwick Chronicles: The Field Guide, which was a very fun little book.

>246 wandering_star: I've never heard of Pu'er tea, but if it has the same smoky taste as lapsang souchong then I'll definitely have to try it!

> 247, 248

Hmmm...

> 249

I finished Fight Club which is a shared read (with Madeline so far!) on challenge #8

I'm not sure I'm going to get to Fight Club this month, but we'll see. My reading is going much more slowly than expected.

Disregard the continuation notice below and follow this thread. The link below is WRONG!