Take It or Leave It Challenge - November 2012 - Page 1

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

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


...logo by cyderry

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Fall harvest is almost over, everyone - at least up here in the northern hemisphere. In celebration of a good food year (I’m a foodie, in case you haven’t guessed), I challenge all of you for the month of November to read a book with a culinary fruit in it.

Your fruit can be anywhere in the book. It can be a picture of a fruit, a word in the title or in the book itself, or even an embedded word. You have to identify the fruit and its location when you list your book on the wiki.

You may not use the word “fruit” for this challenge. You also may not use a tomato or other vegetable that is botanically a fruit but is also a culinary vegetable. For further clarification, see this diagram and stay to the right of that left hand circle! If you are still not sure what qualifies as a fruit for this challenge, be advised that you may use any of the culinary fruits that are listed in this Wikipedia article. Other fruit may be eaten but will not be accepted for this challenge. Heh!

Do your listing like this:

Cherry (cherry/book title) – Marry Karr - pbadeer
Driving Over Lemons (lemon/title word) – Chris Stewart – alcottacre
Quicksand (strawberry/text p. 49) – Junichiro Tanizaki – SqueakyChu
Left Neglected (apple/cover picture) - Lisa Genova - DorsVenabili
The Olive Farm (fig/text p. 61) – Carol Drinkwater - MikeBriggs

By the way, along with this challenge, I am also going to start a separate thread on which you may post your book cover and a recipe to go along with the fruit your book represents. We all should be cooking up a storm by November’s end...

Have fun!

P.S. I'm starting November's challenge up early, not because I love all of you (which I do), but because we're expecting Hurricane Sandy to hit our shores in the near future, and I don't want to be caught at month's end without the next TIOLI challenge going up. It happened once before...and I don't want it to happen again. A stitch in time...well, you know!

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

1. The November 2012 TIOLI Meter - Optional page on which you may track your TIOLI reading. FYI: This is not meant to be competitive - only fun!
2. Morphidae's List of Previous TIOLI Challenges - You may use this reference (Do a control-F scan) to avoid repeating a previous challenge. If your idea is similar to a previous challenge, just make it unique by adding a new "twist" to it. (Updated 11/22/12)

Wiki index:

Challenges #1-6
1. Read a book with a culinary fruit in it - msg #1 - thread
2. Read a book with a tag which includes the word 'time' - msg #16
3. Read a book set during the Regency Period Book (1811-1837) - msg #17
4. Read a book with one of the words "good", "better", or "best" in the title or author's name - msg #19
5. Read a book where the title completes the phrase, "I am thankful for..." - msg #21
6. Read a book whose title includes a word related to a card game or board game - msg #22

Challenges #7-12
7. Read a book about labor, union or management or with those words in the title - msg #23
8. Read a second-hand book from a bricks-and-mortar bookstore - msg #29
9. Read a book where the first letter in the title words has a Scrabble value higher than 6 - msg #31
10. Read a book with a LT Average Rating of 4.00 to 4.50 - msg #37
11. Read a book with a precious or semi-precious gemstone in the title - msg #52
12. Read a book where the author's name contains the name of a U.S. state or state capital - msg #53

Challenges #13-18
13. Read a book about adolescence, or with an adolescent as a main character - msg #54
14. Read a Non-Fiction book about Criminal Activity - msg #61
15. Read a book with "who" "what" "where" "when" or "why" in the title - msg #71
16. Read a book by an author whose surname is no more than three letters long - msg #84
17. Read a book in which an ampersand is used rather than "and" in the actual title, no matter what the Touchstone says - msg #103
18. Read a book with a cover showing someone wearing a hat or other headgear - msg #107

Challenges #19-24
19. Read a book that you have checked out from a library - msg #108
20. Read a book which contains a series of essays - msg #156

New challenges accepted only through midnight November 4, 2012.

Wow, What a surprise! I just logged on to send my hopes to Richard and Suzanne that the Frankenstorm moved out to sea and away from the mainland and lo and behold I see November TIOLI.
Well, you just entirely changed my plans for today, Madeline. But I still need to wash the windows before I look for fruity books.

> 4

But I still need to wash the windows

Lynda, I'm going to let the rain do that for me! :)

LOL, my windows need much more than, even a powerful, rain to clean them off!

...even with 75 mph winds?! :)

Wow, what a surprise! I've got the first one covered, though (but now I'm late to work!)

Be safe, Madeline!

> 8

but now I'm late to work!

Er, sorry, Janet!

From wiki...
Apple--throughout book--sorry it's an audiobook--trust me **grin**)

LOL!

Yeah. I guess you would find "apple" mentioned in the Steve Jobs book! :D

Oh my TIOLI already:)

Thanks Madeline - though I hope your power stays on and you don't lose internet connection in the storm.

Haven't thought of a challenge for this month - though I might come up with something. I'll have to take a look at my TBR stacks for something fruit related anyway:)

> 10

I hope your power stays on and you don't lose internet connection in the storm.

Me, too, calm! We have a generator but when Comcast goes down, that's it for internet connectivity. :(

Guess I'll just do some baking instead of web-surfing then. :)

Current track has it going slightly north of Balitmore, though it isn't a normal hurricane storm as they tend to stay compact. This one potentially could have hurricane force winds 120 miles away from center. heh, it actually says hundreds of miles. How'd I convert that to 120 miles?

"Sandy will be more like a large nor'easter on steroids. It could have the strength of a Category 1 or 2 hurricane. Tropical storm and hurricane-force wind gusts will extend out hundreds of miles from the center, so focusing on the center alone in terms of the severity for wind and rain is not recommended."

Making forcasts this far out is tricky, though the interactive map shows it making landfall at Rehoboth Beach Delaware. Curve and head through Edgewood Maryland. Everything from the Northwestern tip of North Carolina up through Connecticut is in the potential landfall path.

It's going to be one big, scary storm...no matter where it lands!

Madeline, I just remembered that you're in Maryland. So sending storm begone whammies in your direction too!

I just want it to go back out to sea...

*sigh*

Challenge #2: It's About Time

In the October TIOLI thread, MikeBriggs had a question about tagging of time travel/time slip books ... which led me to the search page for 'time', to see what other iterations members have used ... which made me think, gracious, a person could just pick one word and have variations galore to play with. Let's play with 'time'!

Search for time in the search box at the top of the page. Click 'Tags' in the left column. Choose any tag (there are multiple pages of results to choose from). NOTE WHICH TAG YOU CHOSE. Then when you click on it, that results page will show books tagged with that particular tag AND all it's aliases. Choose a book from the pages of results.

Examples:
Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel (Time: Era Medieval)
The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger (time travel)
Labyrinth by Kate Mosse (timeslip)
Four Past Midnight by Stephen King (time warp)
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee (Time Magazine top 100)
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen (all-time favorite)

Challenge #3: Regency Read

Read a book set during the Regency period in England 1811-1820, plus the years 1820-1837. George IV was regent from 1811-1820 when he became king. He was King George IV until 1830 when his brother took over. King William IV ruled from 1830-1837. The Regency era tends to be somewhat confused in dating depending on what you are attempting to discuss. I've chosen to have the years 1811-1837 qualify. Georgian era covers 1714-1830, then we have Victorian period from 1837-1901. Leaving a 7 year gap. So I've included the literal Regency (1811-1820), the time when the Prince Regent ruled as regent, and as king (1811-1820), then the time when his brother ruled without apparently creating his own period (1830-1837). Fiction or nonfiction works. Include the date, or dates the work occurs (though only if the date is known, if the book is set during the Regency period but without stated dates, then leave date blank).

Frederica (1818) - Georgette Heyer - MikeBriggs
The Reluctant Widow (1813) - Georgette Heyer - MikeBriggs
Venetia (1818) - Georgette Heyer - MikeBriggs

if I'd included Sylvester here instead of challenge 2:
Sylvester (1817-1818) - Georgette Heyer - MikeBriggs

I love the fruit/ food idea for one of the challenges for November, Madeline. I'm off to my TBR Tower to look for a suitable book.

Challenge #4: Good/Better/Best Challenge - Read a book with one of the words "good", "better", or "best" in the title or author's name.

> 18

Thanks, Caro!

Sometimes I have a hard time choosing a challenge. One day I think what I've chosen is a good one, but, by the time the next day dawns, I think the one I've chosen is either boring or stupid. I did get excited about this one - once I had it refined to include recipes, though! :)

In honor of Thanksgiving Day in the US...

Challenge #5: Read a book where the title completes the phrase, "I am thankful for..."

OK, here's an offbeat one.

************Challenge #6*************

Read a book whose title includes a word related to a board game or card game.

NB: I've received a couple of PMs asking me to reconsider my ban on embedded words. I'll do that, so embedded words now ARE allowed -- but not variations (eg Family/Families).

Chess would give you The Rook or Pawn in Frankincense, for instance. Poker would give you anything with the word "house" in it (as in Full House) or Flush by Virginia Woolf. You can use words like "hand" -- after all, every card game involves a hand. There's a card game called "War"; In the Spirit of Crazy Horse would work for Crazy Eights.

What doesn't work? This time, no embedded words, please. (This is a pretty generous challenge already...) Also, if you want to use Happy Families, please note that "family" is NOT acceptable.

Please note the game after the book's listing.
eg,

The Rook (chess) - Daniel O'Malley - Chatterbox

Have fun playing!

Some ideas for card games and board games:

Gin Rummy
Crazy Eights
Old Maid
Happy Families
Bridge (including "trick")
Hearts
Wizard
Winner
Castle
Poker (Flush, Straight, etc. all OK as well)
Blackjack
Patience
Tree Solitaire
Heads and Tails
Concentration

Checkers
Chess (King, queen, bishop, knight, rook, pawn are all OK)
Trivial Pursuit
Risk
Chinese Checkers
Snakes & Ladders
Candy Land

,,, and so on

Dice/die are acceptable.
Anything that is integral jargon to a game (eg, hand, a "tell", a bet, etc.) also is fine.

Some ideas:

Anarchy and Old Dogs by Colin Cotterill (Old Maid)
Pawn in Frankincense by Dorothy Dunnett (pawn - Chess)
The Invisible Bridge by Julie Orringer (Bridge)
Memoirs of an Imaginary Friend by Matthew Dicks (Gin)
The Devil of Nanking by Mo Hayder (King - chess)
kingdom of Strangers by Zoe Ferraris (King - chess)
The Care and Handling of Roses With Thorns by Margaret Dilloway (Hand -- card game term)
The Patience of the Spider by Andrea Camilleri (Patience)
Patience and Fortitude by Nicholas Basbanes (Patience)
Hearts and Minds by Amanda Brown (Hearts)
The Pursuit of Love by Nancy Mitford (Trivial Pursuit)
In an Antique Land by Amitav Ghosh (Candy LAND)
The Shape of Snakes by Minette Walters (Snakes & Ladders)
Three Maids for a Crown by Ella March Chase (Old Maid)
Scandalous Risks by Susan Howatch (Risk)
The Risk of Darkness by Susan Hill (Risk)
The Devil's Candy by Julie Salamon (Candy Land)
The Bishop's Man by Linden MacIntyre (Chess - bishop)
The Chinese Bell Murders by Robert van Gulik (Chinese Checkers)
We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson
Blandings Castle by PG Wodehouse (Castle)
Trick of the Dark by Val McDermid (trick)
Liar's Poker by Michael Lewis

Looking good so far. I must now find a book with fruit in it, and no doubt eat whilst I read.

Challenge #7:Read a book about labor, union or management or with those words in the title
My planned reads:
In dubious battle by John Steinbeck
Life in the Iron Mills and Other Stories by Rebecca Harding Davis
The masters of enterprise : American business history and the people who made it - H.W. Brands
Mother Jones : the most dangerous woman in America - Gorn, Elliott J.
The road to Wigan Pier by George Orwell
The Yiddish Policemen's Union by Michael Chabon Book Club

> 23

...and no doubt eat whilst I read.

LOL at you, Joyce!

Looks like it's going to happen. I joined Countrylife in listing Pomegranate Soup and just harvested a bunch of pomegranates from my bushes. Couldn't be more perfect.

Looks like it's going to happen

Hooray!

...but pomegranates can get kind of messy to eat while you're reading! I *love* pomegranates.

Love pomegranates! Thanks for joining me, Citizenjoyce. I wanted to join MikeBriggs with Sylvester - had it on my wishlist since '09 - but my library doesn't have it. Making do with The Black Moth instead. Some interesting things to choose from already. And Madeline: Thank you for thinking of us and how much we'd be a'whining if you ended up without computer power just when we started looking for your post.

Good lord! I'm sure I never found the new TIOLI thread on my very first conscious check before!

>>#27

Cindy, sorry - The Black Moth isn't Regency. When she started writing her novels were mostly set in the Georgian period.

I've been holding off my re-read of Barchester Towers waiting for this... :)

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Challenge #8: Read a second-hand book from a bricks-and-mortar bookstore.

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For the purposes of this challenge, online shopping is allowed, but only if the book is ultimately purchased from a store that has a street address where it does business - so Amazon is out, but Better World Books is in. Amazon Marketplace and AbeBooks are in, as long as you know that there was a real bookstore at the other end of the purchase.

When you list your book on the wiki, please also list the name of the store where you bought it. If you don't remember, you can participate anyway, as long as you're sure your book came from an actual bookstore.

So! No shiny new books this month, no library books, and no ebooks, either!

Nooooooooh...not another excuse for hitting the second-hand bookshops! Have you seen my TBR pile?

Challenge #9 Read a book where the first letter in the title words has a Scrabble value higher than 6

Back in February, Chatterbox had a challenge using the last name of the author and scrabble values and I thought it would be fun to do it with the First letters of the Title words.
So here is the reminder of the letter values for Scrabble:

# 1 point: E,A,I,O,N,R,T,L,S,U
# 2 points: D,G
# 3 points: B,C,M,P
# 4 points: F,H,V,W,Y
# 5 points: K
# 8 points: J,X
# 10 points: Q,Z

Thanks, Liz! Most of my books come from Half Price Books, a secondhand chain store here, so this may be my default challenge :)

>>#30

No, but I've seen the stack of books on my dining-room table! :)

>>#32

Welcome, Katie!

Wow, November TIOLI already. Madeline, I sure hope that storm veers away from you, but if it does hit, I hope it's not too bad.

I haven't thought up a challenge for November, but all the ones listed so far sound great. Now I'm off to my TBR piles!

I just had a great idea. When the month is over, I'll copy the recipes from the separate thread of the main challenge (including the colorful book covers) to a PDF file. Then we can all download our own TIOLI Fruit Cookbook! All you'll need to do then is print out all the pages and place them in a pretty file folder. Whatcha think?!

P.S. Please cite the source of your recipe if it is not your own. Thanks!

Some ideas for card games and board games:

Gin Rummy
Crazy Eights
Old Maid
Happy Families
Bridge (including "trick")
Hearts
Wizard
Winner
Castle
Poker (Flush, Straight, etc. all OK as well)
Blackjack
Patience
Tree Solitaire
Heads and Tails
Concentration

Checkers
Chess (King, queen, bishop, knight, rook, pawn are all OK)
Trivial Pursuit
Risk
Chinese Checkers
Snakes & Ladders
Candy Land

,,, and so on

Dice/die are acceptable.
Anything that is integral jargon to a game (eg, hand, a "tell", a bet, etc.) also is fine.

I am in the mood for some really good reads so I just added:

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Challenge #10: Read a Book with a Average LT Rating of 4.00 to 4.50
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The Average LT rating can be found on the top of the Book's Main Page, please include this rating when you place the book on the wiki. Also as a comparison, when finished reading the book, as you enter COMPLETED include (in brackets) what you would rate the book.

Judy, we can't go above 4.5? I've got one for 4.7 that I'm itching to read... :-)

Sorry Suzanne, I originally was going to go for 4.00 to 4.30, but decided to widen the challenge a little. Maybe in a month or two we can have a challenge for books between 4.50 and 5.00!

Thank you, Judy! Finally a place to put Team of Rivals. It comes in at 4.44. That's a major group read for 75er's in November.

BTW: for any Steinbeckathoners who are reading Travels with Charley in November, I placed it under Challenge #2

Question for those participating in the Barchester Towers turtored read:

I currently have my copy of BT listed for my own second-hand challenge, but I'm happy to move it to Judy's 4.00 - 4.50 challenge if that would help more people get a shared read - how are people planning on reading it? New copy? Ebook? Library? Second-hand? :)

Woo HOO, lots of fun challenges already!

Liz, to answer your question, I'll be getting the audiobook version of BT, so none of the above! :-)

OR audiobook?? :)

Liz, question: can we not match reads for the second-hand challenge? If so, why would you need to move it to another challenge?

Because (I am assuming) not everyone who intends to read along this month will own a second-hand copy; I figured we'd get a better shared read in a less restrictive challenge. The rating challenge looks like it might be the most inclusive option. (Barchester Towers is currently at 4.17 rating.)

Say, Chatterbox - would you mind copying those great suggestions you listed in your post @ 36 into your original challenge post @ 22? I'm afraid they're going to get harder and harder to find as this thread explodes. And Madeline's handy-dandy challenge links make it so handy to jump straight to what the challenger needs.

lyzard (@28), I think that's why Mike put The Black Moth in challenge #2 instead of his regency challenge. I chose a non-Georgette Heyer book for his regency challenge.

Please do put Barchester Towers in the Rating Challenge Liz. I'm reading it on my iPad and I have plenty of other books from second hand bookstores.

Me too, Liz. I have a copy that I bought at the local library sale, but I don't think that counts.

#46, done, Cindy! Also, after a couple of PMs, I have relaxed my edict on embedded words (my arm must be easily twisted...) That means you can now include books like:

Heartstone by CJ Sansom (hearts)
The Last van Gogh by Alyson Richman (Go, or Go Fish)
The Coldest Winter by David Halberstam (old maid)

I also have added a lot of suggestions to the original post.

>>#48 & #49:

Done! Please join me at Challenge #10!

Out of sheer necessity, I must create Challenge #11: Read a book with a precious or semi-precious gemstone in the title.
A list can be found here.
Imbedded words are acceptable.

Challenge #12: Read a book where the author's name contains the name of a U.S. state or state capital

For those of us outside the U.S. - there is a list of states and state capitals here.

The author's name needs to contain a recognisable state or state capital. I will waive the need for North, South, West or New, so York or Carolina will work but not Caroline.

My challenge is made purely to fit my own needs:
Challenge #13: Read a book about adolescence, or with an adolescent as a main character (non-fiction is allowed)

I'm currently studying adolescent brain development, so I'll be reading non-fiction on adolescence, but any book about adolescence or with an adolescent as (one of) the main character(s) is fine.
I'm not really presuming many of you will join me in reading non-fiction on brain development, but I am hoping some of you will read interesting novels or non-fiction works that I can read as well :)

I love the challenges for November so far. They are so creative. Keep it up, folks!

I wish I could read at a faster rate so I could try to at least attempt to read a book for each fo your challenges. At least otehrs of you have this option.

@35: I would absolutely love to have my very own TIOLI fruit cookbook! That would be totally awesome Madeline! I'll go look for a fruity book to add to the list :)

My idea for the 2012 TIOLI Fruit Cookbook is as follows:

1. To have as many of you who participate in the TIOLI challenges as possible to contribute to this effort. You need not have COMPLETED a book to submit it for inclusion in this cookbook. It must, however, have been posted on the wiki at least some time during November, 2012.

2. If you hate to cook, just ask a relative or friend to submit a recipe on your behalf that has been tested and is known to be good (rather than copy an untested recipe). This makes the cookbook more personal rather than generic. Credit the person who gives it to you, but (to protect their privacy), you may say that the recipe is from your best friend or maternal aunt or whatever. Alternatively, you may choose to submit their full name.

3. After the end of the month, I'll convert each post into a page on a PDF file. You will be able to download the actual cookbook, page by page and print it out for a permanent folder.

4. In order to give each of you the PDF file, I'll ask anyone who wants a copy of it to private message an email address to me. You'll receive it as an attachment to your email. All you'll have to do is print it out, hole punch it, and put it in a folder to keep.

5. In addition (and this would be optional to do when you private message me), send me
a. your first and last name (only if you want),
b. your city, state, and country of residence (only if you want)
c. any comments or greetings you want posted in this cookbook.

6. I'll make the very last pages of this cookbook the information you pass on to me from item #5 above.

7. For anyone who is doing a "shared read" for this challenge, you may post the same book cover to this thread, but do post a *different* recipe!

Here's a link back to the separate thread (fruit cookbook).

*thinks she can't believe she has just thought of this new project to do as she whines about having too much else to do*

I have a question about Challenge #7

I have a book about the competition and development of electric light by three different individuals(Edison, Westinghouse, Tesla) "as each vied to create a vast and powerful electrical empire."

would this qualify?

>58 cyderry: cyderry, that sounds to be completely in the spirit of the challenge.

Question for Citizenjoyce about Challenge #7 - how are you defining "labor"? Coincidentally I had planned on doing a challenge similar to this which was more generic, focusing simply on a Career or Job. For your challenge does the book need to include a career that is related to the union or could be unionized? Or are books about individual jobs OK, too? (As an example, I was looking at the memoir Dog Days: A Year in the Oscar Mayer Wienermobile as one of my planned reads for this challenge)

CHALLENGE #14 - Read a NonFiction book about criminal activity

There are no real parameters for this challenge other than the fact that the book needs to be nonfiction. It can be a memoir, biography or analysis of criminal activity. List the criminal activity in parenthesis on the wiki page. My planned reads for this challenge are:

The Art of Making Money by Jason Kersten (counterfeiting)
The Art of the Steal: Inside the Sotheby's-Christie's Auction House Scandal by Christopher Mason (price fixing)
Hermann Goring and the Nazi Art Collection by Kenneth Alford (Nazi art theft)

Madeline, do we have to provide a recipe in order to do the challenge? Sorry, but I don't do much more than pies or cookies, and nothing involving lemons, and no one I know cooks sweets at all, I'm afraid. I'll go through old recipe books, but that is the best I will be able to do.

> 62

do we have to provide a recipe in order to do the challenge?

Suz, you do not have to provide a recipe to participate in the culinary fruit challenge.

However, if you have a friend or relative who can provide a recipe to attach to your book on the separate thread, submit it. In that way, you'll get your name as a contributor into the 2012 TIOLI Fruit Cookbook that I'm in the process of putting together even as we speak! :D

The recipe does not have to be something sweet. Lemons are used in tons of things, including salads, vegetable dishes, meat dishes, and even...ta da!...beverages (i.e. lemonade). A very simple recipe is fine.

If you don't want to submit a recipe, just "leave it", and *don't fret* about it.

It is not required. It was just a fun afterthought that I had after posting my challenge.

So Liz, I must ask you again, just to be 110% percent clear: for your challenge, are matched reads possible only if the books being matched were also sourced from brick-and-mortar stores?

OK Madeline: tomato: fruit? Or vegetable?? There's a picture of one on a book I'm very much wanting to read.

All right, I know it's still very early and there will probably be lots of other challenges added (I may even contribute one yet), but I've already made selections for November, all based on the fact that the books must also fit into the 12/12 categories that I have yet to complete. Therefore, I'll be listing the following on the wiki:

Native Son by Richard Wright (TIOLI #2: tag with the word 'time' - Time 100)
The Pearl by John Steinbeck (Steinbeckathon, TIOLI #2: all time favourite)
Maus: A Survivor's Tale by Art Spiegelman (TIOLI #2: all time favourite)
A High Wind in Jamaica by Richard Hughes (TIOLI #2: Time reading program)
The Hound of the Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Connan Doyle (TIOLI #2: Time: Era Victorian)
Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte (TIOLI #2: all time favourite)
The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins (TIOLI #2: all time favourite)
Wind, Sand and Stars by Antoine De Saint-Éxupery (TIOLI #2: Time reading program)
Travels With Charley by John Steinbeck (TIOLI #5: title completes the phrase, "I am thankful for...")
Good Behaviour by Molly Keane (TIOLI #5)
Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert (TIOLI #5)
The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver (TIOLI #6: title includes a word related to a card game or board game - Tree Solitaire)
The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers (TIOLI #8: second-hand book from a bricks-and-mortar bookstore)
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley (TIOLI #8)
Barchester Towers by Anthony Trollope (TIOLI #10: LT Average Rating of 4.00 to 4.50)

eta: if I spot any fruit anywhere, I'll move the qualifying books over to Madeline's challenge!

eta2: I may also move some of the ones currently in challenge #2 to other challenges they may qualify in as they come up to balance things out a little

eta3: Carmenere and Citizenjoyce: would you you very much mind if we moved Travels with Charley to challenge #5? (see eta2 for explanation)

Thanks, Madeline. It is a lovely idea; it's just that since moving to NYC I don't cook much any more, and neither does my mother. I could ask my sis in law, but she has a very ill sister and three young children plus a more than full time job as a physician, so I'm not optimistic! I know there is chicken with lemon, and I could get a recipe, but it would be a cookbook one, not from anyone I know, alas. Such is life in NY, where takeout/delivery/eating out rulez...

> 65

Tomato is a botanical fruit , but *not* a culinary fruit. You may NOT use a tomato for my challenge Sorry, Bonnie. I just *knew* ahead of time that someone was going to come up with a tomato! :)

By the way and for future reference, I did leave a link to the list of acceptable culinary fruits in message #1 at the top of this page.

> 66

if I spot any fruit anywhere, I'll move the qualifying books over to Madeline's challenge!

Haha!

> 67

Such is life in NY, where takeout/delivery/eating out rulez...

Suz, I won't rule out a recipe from a chef in your neighborhood! ;)

Here's my challenge for November

Challenge #15: Read a book with "who" "what" "where" "when" or "why" in the title

Of course, the word in question can be embedded.

Looks like TIOLI's been up for over a day and a half and I've only just noticed it. I must be slipping.

#37 Judy, I note that the Missouri Readers group read for November, Stoner by John Williams has a 4.4 rating so it fits the bill for your challenge.

>>#64

Sorry, Ilana, missed that one!

I hadn't actually thought of that... Ummmmm, yes, I guess it's okay to have matched reads - so in that case your book does not have to be second-hand, etc.

#72 - Glad to be of service, Linda :)

I am doing as Ilana is doing, trying to finish my 12 in 12 Category Challenge and so far, (with one exception) all my books are fitting into these Challenges nicely. I will also have to be on the lookout for fruit somewhere in the one book I haven't been able to fit in yet!

>68 SqueakyChu:. Thanks Madeline, I didn't see that link to culinary fruits but I will check it out. I am pretty sure the book I want to read has fruit in it since its a book about cooking but I will have to take the time to skim a few pages to see if I can find one.

#74 Same here, Judy. I've got a pretty good idea of what I want to read to finish my 12 in 12 Challenge. I think I have about 16 books left. As a result, I'm not signed up for as many TIOLIs as usual.

You're doing better than I am on the 12 in 12, Linda! Yet again I'm falling behind, largely because of two of my categories.

Suzanne, what's the 4.7 book you're wanting to fit into a challenge? No promises, but it's possible that one of us who still plans to think of a challenge can come up with something.

On the same note, I have a brand new copy of Chinua Achebe's There Was a Country: A Personal History of Biafra (courtesy of Amazon Vine) which I'm really looking forward to, which has no ratings at all yet and doesn't clearly fit into any of the other categories.

I'm very excited by some of the challenges - I particularly like the labor/union/management challenge and the adolescent one but the others look great too.

elkiedee--Achebe's book would fit into the scrabble challenge, I think.

I'm loving the challenges, too. I especially like Morphy's 'I am thankful for' challenge. So far my candidates from off MT TBR for that one include:

Love Sex and Tractors
The Company of Cats
Some Horses
A Walk in the Woods
Wisdom of Experience

I'll probably only have time to read one of them so I haven't listed any of them on the challenge yet.

79 and 31: I read 79 and thought surely not, then I reread the challenge. Is that the total of the initial letters eg T + W + A + C? (9)

80> It took me a while to figure that out, too. But judging by the books already listed on the challenge, it appears to be the total scrabble value of all the initial letters of the title words. So your book would work there.

November TIOLI up already, and 81 posts in! Seems like I'm not the first to discover it (yet again).

Checking in.

> 82

:)

In anticipation of Hurricane Sandy (and an internet outage), I posted it early.

I've posted Challenge 16 - a book by an author whose last name is no more than three letters long. This is linked to the ongoing Reading Globally challenge for 'China and its neighbours'; this challenge will be going until the end of the year, but we already had a direct TIOLI challenge linked to it in October... so this one has a bit of a twist, based on the idea that many Chinese surnames are two or three letters long.

This challenge will enable me to read some of the books I'd planned for this challenge, including Taipei People by Hsien-Yung Pai, Orphan Of Asia by Zhuoliu Wu, and Bound Feet by Catherine Dai - but it will also open up wider reading such as Epileptic by David B. or The Ice People by Maggie Gee.

Thinking of everyone who might be affected by Hurricane Sandy. I hope that it will bring you all nothing more serious than some quality reading time...

What about authors who order their names in Chinese fashion rather than Western style? I always assume that Qiu Xiaolong has kept to this and that Qiu is his family name/surname.

Just a little pitch again for Life and Death Are Wearing Me Out. It would fit just fine into Challenge 16. If I don't finish, I'll be putting it there.
By the way, The Pearl is listed in both Challenge 11 and twice in Challenge 2.
For the Adolescent challenge # 13, I just say The Perks of Being a Wallflower and it was pretty good. I'll list the book there if it comes into the library, but I'm #72 on the list, so I won't get my hopes up.

My planned reads for the month:
Challenge #1: Read a book with a culinary fruit in it
✔The Garden of Evening Mists by Tan Twan Eng (4.5)
✔Pomegranate Soup - Marsha Mehran (3.75)
Challenge #2: It's About Time: Read a book with a tag which includes the word 'time'.
✔Housekeeping - Marilynne Robinson Nook (4)
✔Travels with Charley - John Steinbeck Audiobook (3)
Challenge #6: Read a book whose title includes a word related to a card game or board game
Removed The Invisible Bridge - Julie Orringer
✔Lillian's Story, One Womans Journey through the 20th Century- Sally Patricia Gardner - Nook (4)
Challenge #7: Read a book about labor, union or management or with those words in the title
✔In Dubious Battle by John Steinbeck Audiobook (4)
Removed Life in the Iron Mills and Other Stories by Rebecca Harding Davis
✔The Masters of Enterprise : American business history and the people who made it - H.W. Brands (4.5)
Removed Mother Jones : the most dangerous woman in America - Gorn, Elliott J. Audiobook
Removed The road to Wigan Pier by George Orwell Audiobook
✔The Yiddish Policemen's Union by Michael Chabon Book Club (4.5)
Challenge #10: Read a book with a LT Average Rating of 4.00 to 4.50
✔The God Delusion - Richard Dawkins Audiobook (4)
✔Team of Rivals - Doris Kearns Goodwin (5)
✔We Band of Angels: The Untold Story of American Nurses Trapped on Bataan - Elizabeth M. Norman (4.5)
Challenge #13: Read a book about adolescence, or with an adolescent as a main character
✔The Last Dragonslayer - Jasper Fforde
✔The Orchardist - Amanda Coplin Audiobook (4)
Challenge #16: Read a book by an author whose surname is no more than three letters long
✔Life and Death Are Wearing Me Out - Mo Yan (4)
Challenge #18: Read a book with a cover showing someone wearing a hat or other headgear
Removed Changeless - Gail Carriger
Challenge #19: Read a book that you have checked out from a library
Moved to December The Oatman Massacre: A Tale of Desert Captivity and Survival - Brian McGinty

#85, Elkiedee - yes, Qiu Xiaolong would count as Qiu is his surname. Almost all Chinese surnames are one syllable (the exceptions that I know of are Ouyang, Murong and Sima), so if one name is two syllables that will be the given name. If both names are one syllable it's harder to tell, but I think Wikipedia usually identifies the family name...

Some people in this group are "thankful for" some very odd things! Not me, of course. :)

I rather like that about the challenge :) I mean, it didn't specify that it had to make sense, so I guess we can be thankful for anything. I'm having a lot of fun trying out booktitles for that challenge :D

If anyone is interested in organising meet-ups, I've created a LOCATION WIKI. Add your name and location, and then whenever anyone wants to organise a meet-up in a particular area, the details of other people who are interested in meeting should all be in one place.

Hopefully it makes sense, and is self-explanatory; if not, please let me know.

Nina

>89 lyzard: & 90 Yeah, it can be true or funny. Whatever works for you. My favorites so far are The Book on the Bookshelf and The Soul of Kindness.

I like the Ben & Jerry's one... Sometimes I am definitely very thankful for Ben & Jerry's :)

Neat idea, humouress. Maybe drneutron can add it to the useful links in the group description.

Yes, I've been wondering about the thankful challenge. I could put some books in there but it would probably raise some eyebrows... :-)

Luci, the book I do want to read this coming month is Ancient Light by John Banville. I suppose it will fit into the "thankful challenge", at least grammatically, if need be!

Waiting for the worst of Sandy to hit. Atlantic City is underwater, and there has been big flooding down by the Brooklyn waterfront, so already worse than Irene, and the storm hasn't even arrived yet. Just a bit rainy and windy, like a normal rainstorm.

Can anyone help me? I have two more books next month and can't find a challenge to put them in. I've managed to find a challenge for every book I've read this year so I know there has to be a place for these two.

Fixer Upper by Mary Kay Andrews
Doctored evidence by Donna Leon

"I am thankful for Doctored Evidence?" I'm sure many people have said that over the years! :)

I think Doctored Evidence works very well with the thankful-challenge :)
And for Fixer Upper.... Hmmmm... No fruit in it? Not bought second hand?
Or you should just create another challenge to make it fit, we don't have that many challenges yet ;)

>97 lyzard: Absolutely works! Funny too.

> 96

Keep looking for embedded culinary fruit in the test of Fixer Upper.

Look for apple (dappled), fig (figure), plum (plump), date (dated), gac (gackle), or citron (citronella).

I haven't gotten the book yet from the library. I'll look for fruit when I get it.

:)

*******************************************************************************
CHALLENGE #17: THE AMPERSAND PAPERS: Read a book with an ampersand instead of an "and" in the title, no matter what the Touchstone says - with thanks to Michael Innes for the title
**********************************************************************************
I'm moving Mrs Woolf & the Servants to this challenge and adding The Finkler Question to challenge #9 if slow service this morning will allow it!
Oh! If anybody wants to read the Innes mystery, I'll gladly accept that too.

Lizzie, when do you count a book as having an ampersand in the title? That might seem a strange question, but I've been looking around here on librarything, but some titles have an ampersand in some editions, but 'and' in other editions.

We still need a new novels in November challenge, if anyone is searching for an idea...

>104 Britt84: Britt, get the ampersand from your book itself. You can't tell very well from LT, I know.

My challenge, #18, is to read a book with a cover showing someone wearing a hat or other headgear. Matched reads are ok, and if you have a copy which doesn't show a hat, but you know that another edition would fulfil the requirements, that's ok too.

I was looking up a new book on Amazon, a historical crime novel set in the 1920s, and was amused that many of the other books shown on the same page had absurdly similar covers - eg books from the Maisie Dobbs and Daisy Dalrymple series set during the same period. However, books from other settings showing any sort of hat, helmet or other headgear would work.

I've added Challenge 19: Read a book that you have checked out from a library.

How simple could a challenge be, right?! I see this as a sort of counterpart to Challenge 8 (Read a second-hand book from a real bookstore). The combination of these two challenges will cover quite a bit of literary real estate, I think.

I seem to pick very broad challenges, not in the least "tricksy." I hope that you will take the challenge in the spirit in which it is offered, as a tribute to the real, live lending libraries that have served us so well. Yay, libraries!

Karen O.

Yay, libraries!

Big big YAY!

Yay, libraries!

More yays for libraries! It's the only way I get to read!

Yay, Karen, finally a proper place for Doctored Evidence and Fixer Upper.

Man, you folks make me laugh! I love that feedback. I was able to fit most of my books in elsewhere, but good old Challenge 19 will be a failsafe for the ones that just don't fit!

Most of my reading is library books. If I read a book and just love it, I'll get my own copy. Or if I get a really good deal, I'll buy books. I apologize to all you authors, but I just can't afford to buy new books (well, not very many, anyway).

Karen O.

I do that, too, Karen, but my conscience sop is that 95% of my authors have been dead for years and years...

And yes, I have one library book so far unassigned to as challenge!

Karen , I see you're reading Book of Lost Fragrances. Have you read the first ones in the series?

114> No, I haven't. I picked up the book on a whim. Would you recommend reading the books in order?

Karen O.

I read Book of Lost Fragrances earlier this year and I had a hard time because I hadn't read the earlier books.

Hurrah, a library challenge! The library here will be happy about this, as it means they'll get some of their books back so that others can read 'em... :-)

I wouldn't apologise to authors for borrowing their books from the library at all. If I ever publish a book, I would love everyone to borrow it from the library, even if they already have their own copy. Because libraries buy books. Maybe not as many as they used to, but still, if I buy a book brand new I'll probably only buy one copy, and I buy a lot secondhand or as Kindle bargains. A library system might still buy two or three copies or more if it's a really popular book, and they're more likely to buy an author's next if that one gets borrowed.

#107 Luci, your challenge with hats is a great way to sneak in a few of the baseball books I've been meaning to read. What's a baseball bio without a picture of the subject wearing his baseball cap?

I've also included a Daisy Dalrymple mystery with a more traditional hat on the cover.

I'm thinking the hat challenge is the perfect excuse to read Heartless by Gail Carriger...

I have several Tolkien related books that I wanted to try to read before the Hobbitt comes out in December. I'd thought about using that for a challenge, but with wizard hats and hoods, if I do manage to get anything read, they'll fit right into the hat challenge, too.

Finished my first book of the month for TOLI. There has to be at least one advantage of week-long unpaid leave due to hurricane. Time for reading.

Momentarily top frog, though I can't move the words as I'm on my phone (which is also reason the book lacks the brackets as I do not have that on phone).

Read the last Parker written Spenser book I hadn't rated, or noted read. Though I had read it at some point, so it was a rare reread. So all I have left of his unread are a few stand-alones, and the Philip Marlowe books. Baring any revelations that Parker has pen names. Like when Crichton died and suddenly a ton of his books, unread by me, suddenly came to light. Mostly written in the 1970s I think. Under 1 or more pen names.

I've moved No Great Mischief by Alistair MacLeod from the October TIOLI into this month's challenge #10 as should be finishing it today, if anyone's interested in a shared read.

Moved the label for you, Mike.
I'm trying to work from home as usual, but it's been weird and tricky.

I'm just loving the challenges this month--they're all so clever and intriguing. My favorite is Challenge 5 ("I am thankful for...). I've gone there a few times now, to check if there are more titles out there for possible shared reads, but also to giggle at the combinations.

Karen O.

I've added The Pursuit of Love by Nancy Mitford to challenge #18 as the cover of my audiobooks has a woman wearing a beret. I'll be finishing it today for those interested in a shared read. It's lots of fun by the way!

#120 - In the "great minds think alike" vein, I saw the hat challenge and immediately starting planning on fitting the in the 2nd Gail Carriger book, Changeless later on this month.

#122 - Sorry, Mike, I just leaped you and have taken the Top Frog label. I'm sure I won't be holding it very long as someone will probably leap me momentarily!

I'll plan to join you for Changeless, DeltaQueen.

Speaking of queens and deltas, I saw Charlaine Harris speak tonight. She says she's written the last Sookie Stackhouse book. It comes out in May, and she's quite thrilled to be done with her. Her next series will be set in Texas. She's such a pleasant woman, but she does enjoy killing off characters. She did say though that she regretted killing off Claudine, as she should have. That was a loss.

I've cross-posted this elsewhere, but know that, for anyone who is doing a "shared read' for the culinary fruit challenge, you may post the same book cover to the separate thread, but do post a *different" recipe.

By the way, this 2012 TIOLI Fruit Cookbook will only be as successful as the number of challengers who add successful recipes to it. The recipe does not need to be your own but it should have already been pre-tested by a relative or friend.

If we don't have an entry, can we still post a recipe?

Woo Hoo! Nancy618 and I have the first completed Shared Read. We read Outcasts United for last night's book group. It was an excellent book about a boy's soccer team from Georgia made up of refugees from 12+ countries. Very inspiring. It was for the Adolescent Challenge #13.

#131 -- You can grab my entries for me!!!

> 131

I like Suz's idea below(see message #133). Use her fruit and post your recipe with her fruit. Make your entry together.

> 132

I remember Outcasts United, Donna! I won that a long time ago as an early Reviewer book here on LT. I also liked it very much.

133>> will lemon juice count for lemons? Can I use any kind of pears?

If anyone wants to post a lime recipe in my place be my guest. The only good fruit recipe I have involves pears and cranberries.

> 136

will lemon juice count for lemons

Yes. Lemon juice comes from a lemon. :)

Can I use any kind of pears?

Yes...as long as it it a pear.

Key Lime Pie anyone?

Okay, suz, I have recipes for your books. Let me know when I should post the recipes.

Go for it Chèli, this is a perfect combo!! I can read the books but don't need to worry about digging up recipes! I can come up with one for apple pie for another book I plan to list in the series, happily.

Madeline, one other question: If I list two apple books, does that mean that Chèli and I between us should come up with two recipes, or is it one per fruit -- or I am overthinking this?? :-)

Key lime pie -- YUM!!!!!

Oh yes, one further query -- in the absence of any fruit, does anyone have an idea on how to squeeze Ancient Light by John Banville into a challenge?

> 141

Madeline, one other question: If I list two apple books, does that mean that Chèli and I between us should come up with two recipes, or is it one per fruit -- or I am overthinking this??

Definitely, it's one recipe per *each* apple! :D

--142 'I am thankful for ...Ancient Light' sounds pretty metaphysical to me. Yes?

Besides joining the read of Cloud Atlas for challenge #2, I also added:
If on a winter's night a traveler - Italo Calvino (#8)
Stuck in the Middle with You - Jennifer Finney Boylan (#9)
Lost at Sea - Jon Ronson (#10)
Every Day - David Levithan (#13)
The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down - Anne Fadiman (#18)

Still looking for some fruit and something to be thankful for ...

I added the recipe for Suzanne's book by Iain Pears. I didn't add the book cover, but if I need to, I can go back and do it. Just let me know.

It's fine as it is now. I looked up the book cover, and added it to the cookbook.

In the future, though, it's easier if you do the whole thing right up front and use the format as described in the first and second message of the separate thread. That would save me tons of time formatting each individual entry.

Thanks for the entry. I love Waldorf salad! :D

I'm running off to give Jermy a heads up about our special project...

:)

I've noticed a couple of missed opportunities for shared read points

The Garden of Evening Mists - 1 and 16
This is How You Lose Her - 9 and 10

Is anyone who hasn't submitted a challenge already interested in a short work challenge? In the absence of one I've listed Cousin Phillis as a story about an adolescent - Phillis is 17 and does go in for some moody teenager behaviour.

#145 -- Tks for joining me on Cloud Atlas! That will galvanize me into reading the sucker at last...

@129 - I've finally added Changeless to the wiki for Challenge #18, so we have our joint read all set up, now I'm off to order it from the library.

I've read and reviewed On Basilisk Station for challenge 18 (Hats).

Is there a separate thread to post pictures of our hats?

I haven't set one up but I think there should be, just I've been chasing my tail a bit the last few days. I will try and remember to set up a link later (when the kids have gone to bed). Thanks for the suggestion.

I finished and REVIEWED Louise Erdrich's latest novel The Round House for Challenge13. Read a book about adolescence, or with an adolescent as a main character.

Now I'm moving on to Challenge 10. Read a book with a LT Average Rating of 4.00 to 4.50 with Team of Rivals.

>154 brenzi: Thanks, Bonnie--now I know where to put that one!

I just put up:

Challenge #20: Read a book which contains a series of essays - Started by Smiler69

Pretty self-explanatory. I need to finish some art books to complete a 12/12 category. You'd think I'd have aced that one by now since there's relatively little to read in an art book, but it's actually the category I've done least well with so far this year!

I actually read a book of essays a few days ago. It was a series of essays by different mystery writers on Robert B. Parker.

I almost never read books like that. Would have been nice to be able to include it for this month.

I have several books of essays I'd like to read, thanks Ilana. I get so excited about new challenges that I always hope there'll be more before the closing date.

Mike, you could have added some of the essays to the short work challenge.

Oh, I read a lot more short stories than appeared on the challenge. I didn't want to put more than one vowel at one time.

It would have been OK, Mike. I deliberately wrote that challenge so you could have added more than one vowel, although that was only noticed and used a couple times. That way, if a single person had been continuing on with it, it would have stayed alive. If Madeline says it's not too late to add to last month's wiki, feel free.

If Madeline says it's not too late to add to last month's wiki, feel free.

Gah! I've already completed all the stats for the October wiki so would prefer not adding anything new at this point in time.

I usually leave a day or two for late entries, but then I try to finish up and move on to the current month. It's so time-consuming to go back and rehash what I've already done.

However, if you do want those added, Mike, just private message me, and I'll go back and redo the stats for October.

>161 SqueakyChu:: "However, if you do want those added, Mike, just..."; well in that case, Madeline - no, don't worry. Just kidding. I usually put mine on the wiki once I've read them, and if I don't make the end of the month (usually, I'm never sure when I actually finished them), I give them a good, hard shove into the next month.

For now, I'm putting Max Cleans Up into challenge 19 (library books) and Tashi and the Baba Yaga into challenge 18 (headgear). I have a feeling that these two are going to be my default challenges this month.

> 162

I don't make the end of the month (usually, I'm never sure when I actually finished them), I give them a good, hard shove into the next month.

...which, to me, is the very best idea.

We never get 100% accuracy, but, like the game that it is, we play along the best we can.

You know I don't take the stats all that seriously, but I love working them out to see how much participation we get in the TIOLI challenges from month to month. As long as I see that we have an active, interested membership, I plan to continue them. If I see us slacking, I throw out an alert to see what's wrong. That's what's really behind my stats compilations.

I can't believe how many books of essays I have on MT TBR. I'd already added and contemplated several for other challenges, but I've added Randy Pausch's The Last Lecture to the essay challenge if anyone wants to join in.

I may or may not be missing something somewhere along the lines but the other short stories I read were:

Kij Johnson - "Ponies" - 1 star
David E. Walker - "A Clash of Bells" - 5 stars
Jenna Black - "Fangs for Hire" - 3 stars

and do not fit on the challenge (as next letter would be U). So, with the 29 other short stories I read, I read 32 short stories last month. I think my total for 2012, so far this year, is probably something close to 32.

> 165

...and your favorite book of short stories would be...?

I love short stories, by the way!

I got hear Juno Diaz read the title story from This is How You Lose Her at this year's National Book Festival here in DC. He was fabulous. I can't wait to get hold of that book - which I see that others of you already got into for October's short story challenge.

Most of the short stories I read are not part of books. Of the 32 I read, I think the vast majority were read free from Tor.com. A few were Australian Women's Weekly magazines from the 1940s-1950s digitalized and made available from the Australian library system.

While some of the stories I read were from books, the short stories from Mansfield, Checkhov, & Doyle (plus the few Heyer short stories I read from her Pistols for Two book, as opposed to the ones I read online), none of them were "completed". The books I mean. Just a few stories here and there were picked up and read either when I noticed others had read a specific story, so I could match them, or when I noticed a vowel had come free.

I think my favorite collection of short works I read last month was the one I completed, and didn't include in the short stories challenge. Mostly because I saw it more as a work in and of itself that just happened to have different authors for the different sections (essays). That book I read about Robert B. Parker. That professor from Northeastern University who happened to write roughly 70 books. Most in the private investigator genre, and a few in the western genre.

I kind of forget I had read a specific short story if it is read as part of a book read. As in, if I read a short story collection straight through and then record reading the book, I lose track of the individual short stories. So I tend to like to record my thoughts for individual short stories and less on book collections.

My favorite collections back in the day, though, were those "Best of" anthologies put out in the Science Fiction genre. I have some from the 19... hmm . . . I think 1950s to roughly 1999. Maybe earlier and maybe later. What I really liked to do with those was read the essays. The ones that wrote about the state of the culture and state of publishing for Science Fiction for that year. It was a somewhat odd way to go about examining the culture of the second half of the 20th century, but I found it interesting.

Though, to actually mention a specific short story collection, I would have to mention The World Treasury of Science Fiction by David G. Hartwell. A huge book that lead me to many good authors. Though I'm not sure I read any of those authors now. hmm. There are no pages listed on the specific work page, and it links to a 208 page book on Amazon, but I recall the book being gigantic. 600+. Ah. hehe. Amazon lists the page count as 208. But right above that is a quote from Publishers weekly mentioning that it is a "1100-page volume".

> 167


I kind of forget I had read a specific short story if it is read as part of a book read. As in, if I read a short story collection straight through and then record reading the book, I lose track of the individual short stories. So I tend to like to record my thoughts for individual short stories and less on book collections.

I try to stop that from happening by writing a brief summary of each short story in any collection of short stories I read. I don't make those public, however, because I often give the endings as well. I keep them in my private comments section of LT.

That, of course, helps me remember each individual story. I can usually remember the author so it's easy enough to trace my short stories back to their source. As digital sources of short stories are now more readily available, short stories more and more will be recognized for the short works that they are. I'd like to see the reading of short stories become more popular - whether they are read in a collection or as "stand-alones".

Have you read either McSweeney's Issue 10: Mammoth Treasury of Thrilling Tales or McSweeney's Enchanted Chamber of Astonishing Stories? Both are quite fun fantasy/science fiction anthologies, and both were edited by Michael Chabon.

Going by (since I wasn't sure beginning and ending ages of adolescence):
"Medical Dictionary
adolescent ad·o·les·cent (ād'l-ěs'ənt)
adj.
Of, relating to, or undergoing adolescence. n.
A young person who has undergone puberty but who has not reached full maturity; a teenager."

I've read a book in which the main character is a 16 year old. I've included it in challenge 13. I gave the book 2 stars and by no means recommend anyone to join me in reading this book.

By the way, I just love definitions like "Adolescent: of, relating to, or undergoing adolescence." Gee, thanks definition dudes, that's very clear. heh

"Word Origin & History

adolescent
late 15c., from M.Fr. adolescent, from L. adolescentem (nom. adolescens), prp. of adolescere "grow up," from ad- "to" + alescere "be nourished," hence, "increase, grow up," inchoative of alere "to nourish" (see old). The adj. is first attested in 1785. Adolesce was a back-formed
verb used early 20c. by H.G. Wells, G.B. Shaw, Louis MacNeice, but it seems not to have taken."

168> I've not read either book. I've read five of the authors in the "Thrilling Tales" book. I do not know which short stories are included, so I do not know if I've read them. I know I've read 1 of the authors in the other book, and maybe up to three other authors.

What is interesting is that the word itself is so old -- late 15th century!

I just got approved for a collection of essays by Edmund Wilson... :-)

For the research I'm doing we actually do include puberty, so our timeframe for 'adolescence' is quite broad, going from onset of puberty (differs per person, but around ages 10-12, determined by the onset of physical changes), up to full maturity of the brain, which is estimated around age 25.
I actually work with rats, so we take rat-equivalents of these ages.

Question about Challenge #19: I know it's really straightforward, but I've got a bit of a complication. I take out lots of audiobooks from the library, copy them on my hard drive, return the CDs and then listen to them whenever suits me. Technically they ARE library books, only... well you see what I mean. Hope they are still valid for your challenge Karen, but waiting on your all clear. :-)

Oh, I think that would be just fine, Smiler! The point of the challenge was for us to recognize the contribution that the library makes for us. You probably wouldn't be reading or listening to the books if you hadn't gotten them from the library, so you have my all clear!

Karen O.

Why was I moved down from 8 on the TOLI list to 6? Ah. The number, 8, was changed, not my position. Revision as of 11:20, 9 November 2012.

hmm, that's why. I can't count.

Sorry Mike, but you only seemed to have 6 books listed, both on the meter and on the list. I thought that because the 8 was above the 5, (with no numbers in between at that point) you must have thought it was 6!

Nah, I'd counted and come up with 8. Which is why I say I can't count. Since that was a miscount by me.

#173 Thanks Karen, I figured you'd allow those... but it's good to know for certain.

Chatterbox, I've joined in your read of The Uncommon Appeal of Clouds by Alexander McCall Smith for challenge #5 ("I am thankful for..."). I love the Dahlousie series.

Karen O.

#179 Funny, I was just considering starting on The Sunday Philosophy Club Karen, which interestingly enough, could also go in #5!

eta: Finished Travels with Charley last night. Definitely recommended.

I finished Mary Doria Russell's The Sparrow for challenge 10--Read a book with a LT Average Rating of 4.00 to 4.50. Part science fiction/first contact, part spiritual journey it's the first book in a long time that I picked up the sequel immediately on completion of the first one.

I'm adding The City & the city by China Miéville to #17: the Ampersand challenge.

I finished Gathering Blue, the second in Lois Lowry's "The Giver Trilogy." I loved The Giver, but I think I love Gathering Blue even more (there are textiles! and a female hero!). I would love to have you share this read (see Challenge 13 - the Adolescence challenge).

Karen O.

I might join you... I read The Giver last month, I didn't even know it was part of a series, but I really loved it, so Gathering Blue sounds like a good idea... Just don't know if I'll have time for it :/

Hi, Britt84! Gathering Blue is a really quick read -- about 200 pages, and YA, so very much plot-driven. It would be a great candidate for the official "quickie reads" day, but I'm jumping the gun for this one. Even if you don't read it now, please keep it on your book radar, because I think you would like it.

Karen O.

#179 -- Karen, that's great! Yes, all the titles in that series fit v. nicely into the challenge.

I am really plodding through Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy; to my astonishment, I'm enjoying The Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann far more!

I'm reading some YA for the adolescent challenge. Johnny Tremain was a Kindle daily deal a few weeks back, so I re-read it for the first time since I was an adolescent, and I'm reading Spookygirl now. This was the book that won Amazon's ABNA award last year and was published this summer; I was one of the Vine reviewers that read it on the first round, and it really jumped out at me among the 50 segments of first novels that I read (many of which were dire), so I gave it 5-star ratings across the board. I'm now about 10% of the way into it, and so far it's fulfilling my expectations, although prob not a 5-star book.

I just finished a YA read as well, although I put it under Challenge #11: Read a Book With a Gemstone in the Title. Journey To Topaz is a thought-provoking read about the relocation and imprisonment of the Japanese-Americans as seen through the eyes of an 11 year old girl. Based on the author's, Yoshiko Uchida, own family experiences. At 149 pages, it makes a great "Quickie" read.

I've finished Elizabeth Moon's Trading in Danger, which I'm putting in Challenge 6 (card / board game), as a Trading Card game, if that fits.

Judy - I loved Journey to Topaz when I read it for a YA lit class I took in library school years ago.

Saved by the culinary fruit!

I had not been able to fit my current read, Put Out The Light by Ethel Lina White, into any TIOLI, until on page 101 we find a small boy...gazing wistfully through the glass at the pots of forced strawberries in the conservatories...

Phew!

> 190

Hurray!

I thought of culinary fruit for my book, but though there is a fair bit of it lying around, I don't think Madeleine will accept alien species.

I don't think Madeleine will accept alien species.

Uh, no! It is has to be a culinary fruit that is on the link mentioned in message #1. There are no alien species on that list.

What are those "alien species"? They sound interesting!

Stats for October 2012 TIOLI Challenges:

For October, in 22 challenges, we've read a total of 689 works (books and/or short stories) of which 205 or 30% were shared reads. We ended up with a total of 111 TIOLI points for the month bringing us to a record up-to-the end-of October 894 YTD TIOLI points. This means (1) we've read lots of short stories together, (2) we've shared more general reads together, or (3) both! :D

I have taken note of the popularity of the short works challenge this past month and will bring you the poll about it during December. As an FYI, I don't care if short works skew the TIOLI stats as I only keep them for fun anyway...and they're not for any sort of competition. The competition here in the TIOLI challenges only comes in those over which we vote for something (e.g. best "hottie" author, most boring book cover, etc.).

Here's something interesting. There were two books that shared the title of Most Popular Book of the Month for October. The first was Tortilla Flat by John Steinbeck. The second was The Beautiful Mystery by Louise Penny. The latter was also one of two of the most popular books of the month for September, 2012, as well!

Qualifying for the most popular challenge (146 works read) and for the challenge with the most TIOLI points (50) was the one by streamsong to read a short story or work alphabetized by the first vowel in the title.

If you have not yet submitted your recipe for the 2012 TIOLI Fruit Cookbook, don't wait for the last minute. I'm trying to compile it as I go along so it will be ready for members to print as a PDF when the month is over.

Stay tuned for the TIOLI awards for October..

Read Dragon Strike, which sounds like a game move, and turns out to be a 1993 board game, and so added to challenge 6.

Here they are...

the TIOLI Awards for October, 2012!

The Most Random Tag Award goes to ebt1002 for not only pulling up the random tag "beaver", but also for finding a book about a beaver which to read. That seems to be really rather random (now that's a tongue twister!). Hope it was a good book!

The Fat Chance Award goes to _Zoe_ for her challenge to read an ER book that you won more than a year ago. I saw that there were actually four challengers who took Zoe up on her challenge. However, I seriously wanted to avoid reading a book that I've avoided reading for so long...so, Zoe...you didn't catch me with that challenge! :)

The You Dug Deeper Award goes to pbadeer for his choice in cyderry's challenge to read a book first released for publication over 100 yrs ago or in 2012. Patrick read Camille by Alexandre Dumas, a book which was first published in 1848 (although wikipedia says that this book was written in 1841-44 and was already a European bestseller in 1846). Nevertheless, and to my knowledge, that book had the oldest publication date of all the books read in cyderry's challenge. By the way, Patrick, my oldest son just started reading again after many years (he now has a Kindle!) and told me how much he enjoyed The Count of Monte Cristo, also by Alexandre Dumas.

The How Did You Know Award goes to gennyt for reading Liza's England for citizenjoyce's challenge to read a book about childbirth. The reason is because my own daughter-in-law Liza said I can reveal by Thanksgiving that she's pregnant with my first grandchild! I know...it's still a few days early. Keep it a secret until Thursday. Okay?

The In Loving Memory Award goes to chatterbox for her challenge to Celebrate J*A*S*P*E*R - a rolling challenge. Jasper was her long-time feline companion, and we were all honored to participate in a challenge in his memory.

The How to Make a Good Thing Bad Award goes to swynn for reading Deaths on Pleasant Street for cbl_tn's challenge to read a book with a word in the title or author associated with a cemetery. The title of that book made me think that we needed something more "pleasant" than deaths on Pleasant street.

The Four Times Four is Twenty Award goes to Morphidae for DeltaQueen's challenge to read a book that has two or more 4's in its ISBN. The book that Morphidae read had - not 2, not 3, not 4 - but FIVE fours in its ISBN. Not bad! Four was my dad's lucky number so I'm guessing that The Story of a Beautiful Girl, which Morphidae read for this challenge, was a worthwhile read.

Congratulations to our October award winners!

I won an award! I won an award!
I was rather proud that I took that randomly generated tag and ran with it!

You did great, EBT1002! I'm not sure I'd have read a book about beavers (although I do find them fascinating creatures). :)

>196 SqueakyChu:: "How to Make a Good Thing Bad Award goes to swynn for reading Deaths on Pleasant Street"

Thanks for the award, Madeleine! There's even more good/bad weirdness associated with that historical true-crime book: one of the Pleasant Street victims rots away is buried in Swope Park, a public recreation area which the city of Kansas City calls "the crown jewel" of its park system.

Personally, thinking about that fact would probably cast a cloud over my game of Ultimate Frisbee so ... forget I mentioned it.

Madeline...I'll whisper my congratulations on your secret! You will be a wonderful grandmother. When is the baby due? We will be glad to count down the days with you.

Congratulations to the other winners, too!

Congratulations to all the winners, and especially to you, Madeline, that's wonderful news.

Ooh, I won an award! And what an exciting reason! I hope your daughter-in-law has a less tough time of it than the Liza in my book...

> 199

forget I mentioned it.

Heh!

> 200

*whispers*

June 6th.

> 202

I hope your daughter-in-law has a less tough time of it than the Liza in my book...

For sure, I wish my Liza an easy time! :D

>201 DeltaQueen50:

Thanks, Judy!

LOL, funny award I got there. And yes, The Story of Beautiful Girl was a decent read.

*whispers*
YAHOO, Madeline!

Nice going to all the TIOLI winners!

Unfortunately I have had to remove my copy of Salman Rushdie's Joseph Anton from the wiki as I needed to return the book to the library. Apparently other people wanted to read it also.

ETA: I found the book interesting but, for one reason or another, I was moving very slowly with it. I'd read 20 pages and have to stop and turn to something else to read for a while. Which probably didn't help me finish this fat book before two weeks had gone by. Or, at least a week. I didn't start reading it immediately after picking it up.

> 208

:)

Congrats, Grandma Madeline . . .

Thanks, Bonnie.

I love being a mother, but being a grandmother is like that with cherries and nuts on top. Congratulations on beginning a wonderful new part of your life, Madeline.

For Madeline's challenge I'd planned to read Pomegranate Soup but I took it to bed and the poltergeists stole it during the night. Instead I've started the engrossing We Band of Angels, and maybe when I finish that the poltergeists will have finished my soup and brought it back.

Thanks, Joyce.

Thank you all for celebrating Jasper last month.... In an odd way, it helped deal with the grief. Next week I'll be putting his ashes into the garden out back and putting some tulip bulbs in there as well.

Was Jasper a flower lover (eater)?

Madeline, I completely understand the experience of using a TIOLI challenge to honor a beloved who has passed. Back in 2011 when I did my Edgar challenge, it was oddly healing. I still miss him every day but it was helpful to have the support of this community when the loss was so fresh. I recall that a couple of people who don't usually read mysteries even participated just to support me.
I hope you continue to find healing and steadily increasing peace. xo

Congrats, Grandma-to-be. That's very exciting news!!

Quickie Reads Day!

What are your suggestions for great reads that (1) have already been COMPLETED by someone and (2) can be finished by month's end?

My suggestions for a quickie read is Maus: A Survivor's Tale by Art Spiegelman. It may be a quick read because it's a graphic novel, but there's nothing superficial or light about how this comic book artist depicted the Holocaust. There are actually Part I and Part II to this book. Be sure you read both of them. This graphic novel well deserved the Pulitzer prize that it won.

Quickie read: Skios, which I just completed for challenge #19. It's a farce by Michael Frayn, the first work I have read by him. Some say it's not his best, but I enjoyed it.

I've been reading some of the Miss Marple mysteries by Agatha Christie. They are very quick to read. So far this month I've read:
The Moving Finger - favourite
A Murder is Announced
They Do It With Mirrors
currently reading: A Pocket Full of Rye

The Last Dragonslayer starts a new YA series by Jasper Fforde. It's fast and clever.

If you like gentle romantic reads, I'd suggest Angels at the Table by Debbie Macomber. Short and sweet without being saccharine.

I've just added Anarchy and Old Dogs to challenge #19, and I assume it will be a relatively quick read.

Gathering Blue by Lois Lowry! It's the second book in "The Giver" series, following The Giver. Excellent book, very well-paced and easy read. And there are textiles!

It's listed in the "adolescent" challenge (#13).

Karen O.

#213 - Joyce, We Band of Angels is an excellent read, it kept me glued to the pages while I read it!

My recommendation for a quickie read would be The Journey To Topaz, a YA read about the Japanese-American Evacuation during WW II. It's listed in Challenge #11: Book Title Contains a Precious or Semi-Precious Gemstone.

Quickie read suggestion:
I read Ru, by Kim Thuy, which was nominated and won some literary awards in Canada. It is only 141 pages long, and is about an immigrant fromn Vietnam's experience in Montreal. It reminded me of Buddha in the Attic, and was a very good read for a non-linear, lyrical read.

Definitely not a quickie read, I just finished Team of Rivals and was completely impressed, 5 stars from me. I'm always amazed to find the enormity of an impact one person can make on the world, Jane Adams was the last who had such an effect.

Another quickie read recommendation: A Single Shard by Linda Sue Park is a Newbery Medal winner perfect for anyone who enjoys historical fiction, coming of age stories, or books about art.

I've been reading (re-reading) some YA books for the "adolescent" challenge. Johnny Tremain is one that would qualify, as would Spookygirl. Both are fun, and take only a few hours to read.

I added This is how you lose her to the scrabble challenge and was delighted to see that there had already been two completed reads for it. Also added The glassblower's children to the library book challenge and finished my shared read of The Hobbit for the popular book challenge.
Now firmly ensconced in Dunnett's Pawn in Frankincence for Suzanne's board game challenge and only a slight hope that I'll finish the chunkster Great North Road for the popular book challenge where I'm only 250pgs in on an 1100pg read.

I was able to put all my November reads into one of the challenges:
- Long time coming by Robert Goddard as a loan from the library
- Die weissen Handschuhe by Kim Småge as in 'Thanks for the white gloves'
- Das Pinguin-Prinzip : wie Veränderung zum Erfolg führt by John Paul Kotter as change management
- Von Laumen, Deiven, Zauberfrauen : Märchen aus Litauen by Edita Werner as a head gear (crowns)
- Der Tod von Reval : kuriose Geschichten aus einer alten Stadt by Werner Bergengruen as another loan from the library
- Rioja für den Matador : Kriminalroman by Paul Grote as a scrabble challenge (12 in English,11 in German)
- In unnütz toller Wut : Roman by Maarten 't Hart as an another library take out

I missed the tiolis but just didn't have much time for updating my reading in these parts of the world. So this is my first entry since I won the prize for not winning the scrabble prize. A belated thank you. But that made me coming back and have a look at the new challenges.

I added The Scarlet Letter today under the tagged "time" challenge. It was quite interesting to look at the tags and realize how polarizing the book could be, from "all-time favorite" to "throw with great force."

*double post* oops

If any of you have entries for the Fruit Cookbook for the culinary fruit challenge, please submit them before the end of the month (in only three days!). When I finally get a PDF program on my computer (I just updated to Windows 8 so now my PDF is gone and I have to wait for my son to install a new one), I'll email a copy of the cookbook to all who request it. If you private message me your email (you may do this already), I will send you a copy of the cookbook when it's done (whenever that will be, but hopefully before the end of the year).

Be thinking up new challenges...December is on its way! :D

Added:

#5 I am thankful for...
Angels at the Table by Debbie Macomber

#9 Scrabble Score of Title
Fearless Fourteen by Janet Evanovich

#10 Rating of 4.0-4.5
Bloodfever by Karen Marie Moning

#13 About Adolescence
Princess of Glass by Jessica Day George

#18 Hat on Cover
The Arabian Nights by Sir Richard Burton

#19 From Library
Cutwork by Monica Ferris
Time Untime by Sherrilyn Kenyon
Codependent No More by Melody Beattie
Stuart Little by E. B. White
Succubus Blues by Richelle Mead

found a US state capital: Carson City for challenge #12
Madame Zilensky und der König von Finnland by Carson McCullers

Adding :

Tashi and the Big Stinker by Anna Fienberg & Barbara Fienberg to Challenge 18 (hat or headgear),
Troubled Waters by Sharon Shinn to Challenge 1 (fruit)
Swallows and Amazons by Arthur Ransome to Challenge 13 (adolescence)
Froggy Fable by John Lechner to Challenge 19 (library book)
Magic Beach by Alison Lester to Challenge 19 (library book)

The penultimate day of the month and no new TIOLI yet. Hmmmm...

Does anyone know if Madeline is sick? Or is she just out shopping for Hanukkah?

I did see a note from her yesterday that said to be thinking up challenges because the December TIOLI was coming. (It's message #236 above.)

I sort of deviated from my planned reading because I bought Gone Girl last weekend and read that first. Loved it... But now I'm behind on the rest of the reading I had planned :/

I had really hoped that I would be able to finish The Magic Mountain this month, but no joy. It will spill over into December. It's good, but very dense, and I can only read about 20 pages in a single sitting.

It's Friday afternoon here and I have no hope of finishing any more TIOLI reads so have removed 2 unread books and the one I'm currently reading and hopefully they'll fit into the December challenges.

Take some time today and tomorrow to "sweep out" any books that remain unfinished by midnight tonight. Thanks!

...and when does my book with an ampersand in the title arrive? 6.00pm, 30th November.

Thanks a LOT, Book Depository!! :(

:`(

Well, you still have 6 hours...

"Had", dear girl; November is long gone here! (Well - 7 hours, 20 minutes!)

Unfortunately by that time I was already in the throes of A Tale Of Two Cities. Never mind - perhaps I'll add it to this month's "read a book you didn't complete for another TIOLI challenge" challenge. :)

I just added my last November book to challenge 13 (just in time, another 30 Minutes and November 2012 is history, here, too).

With 7 minutes to spare I finished Pomegranate Soup after having made the dish for myself. I have to say, even though it was fantastic heated up the second day, it was quite as life changing as the soup in the book. Still, I do like a book with magical food. On to December.