Take It or Leave It Challenge - July 2013 - 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

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

For the month of July, I'm going to try to entice as many of you as I can to visit the National Book Festival this fall. It will take place in Washington, DC, on the National Mall on September 21-22, 2013. If you've ever wanted to visit Washington, DC, that would be a great time to do it. Norabelle414 is planning an exciting LibraryThing meet-up for that weekend. The thread about it is here.

Your challenge for July is to read a book whose cover pictures an animal seen on the 2013 National Book Festival poster.



Here is a larger, more clear close-up of the same poster.

Rules:

1. This is a pretty detailed drawing so look at it closely. I think these are all the animals: alligator (or crocodile), armadillo, bear, beaver, bird (black & white, pink, yellow, white), butterfly, chameleon, chimpanzee, cockatiel, deer, dragonfly, duck, elephant, frog, hedgehog, hippo, ladybug, leopard, monkey, mouse (or rat), owl, parrot, peacock, pelican, penguin, rabbit, snail, snake, spider, squirrel, tiger, worm.
2. If you cannot identify an animal by its picture, let’s discuss it. Do not use any other animals.
3. You may use each animal only once in this challenge. Your second book must feature a different animal.
4. You may match any book at any time – even if it’s the same animal that you already used for another book. Note: You may optionally match a book using a different animal if more than one qualifying animal can be seen on its cover.
5. If you have an e-reader, you may use any book cover with a matching animal for that work. If you have a different edition of the book, you also may use any edition with a matching animal.
6. Since some bird species are hard to identify, you must use the color of bird specified above in rule #1.
7. Name the animal when you list your book.

Here are some ideas for this challenge:

Brief Encounters with Che Guevara (pink bird) – Ben Fountain
Enslaved by Ducks (duck) – Bob Tarte
Wesley the Owl (owl) – Stacey O’Brien
You’re an Animal Viskovitz (deer) – Alessandro Boffa

By the way, I think we’re ready for another contest so, after the end of July, let’s vote for the most charming animal from all of the covers of the books that are COMPLETED by month’s end. A very small prize will be sent to only one winner. In case of a tie, the first person listing the book wins.

I hope to see many of you at the National Book Festival in September.

Have fun!

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

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

1. The July 2013 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 07/11/13)

Wiki Index:

Challenges #1-6
1. Read a book whose cover pictures an animal also seen on the 2013 National Book Festival poster - msg #1 - thread
2. Read a TBR that has been on a previous TIOLI in 2012-13 and still isn't finished - msg #7
3. Read a book that contains previously published newspaper, journal or magazine articles - msg #8
4. Read the last book in a series - msg #10
5. Read a book that you requested through LT's Early Reviewers program but did not win - msg #12
6. Read a book having an ARCH in title, author or cover - msg #13 - thread

Challenges #7-12
7. Read a book whose title includes the name of a bird - msg #15
8. Read a book involving women and health care - msg #16
9. Read a book recommended on Bookbrowsr.com - msg #17
10. Read a book first published in the decade before the decade in which you were born - msg #18
11. Read a sequel or follow up that was not written by the same author as the book it follows - msg #19
12. Read a book where the reason the main character goes on a journey is a child - msg #25

Challenges #13-18
13. Read a book from the Most Popular by TIOLI Challenge List - msg #26
14. Read a book by an author who has passed away in 2013 in tribute to him/her - msg #28
15. Read a book where one of the main characters has a condition classified in the newly published DSM-5 - msg #30
16. Read a book with less than 300 pages - msg #32
17. Read an autobiography or biography regarding your favorite author - msg #36
18. Read a book set in one of the original 13 United States - msg #37

Challenges #19-24
19. Read a book that has been published by The New York Review of Books - msg #48
20. Read a book that you acquired while traveling - msg #52.
21. Read a quest or adventure book- msg #21
22. For Better or Worse: Read a book about Man interacting with Nature - msg #60
23. Read a book featured on the Bridging Cultures Bookshelf: Muslim Journeys - msg #64
24. Read a book about or that takes place during the American Revolution (July 4th) or French Revolution (July 14th) msg #79

Challenges #25-27
25. Read a book that was recommended in a newsletter - msg #94
26. Read a book that has a title taken from a song lyric, or which includes song lyrics in the text
27. Read a book that has a personal name in the first line - msg #114

Challenges now closed until the August challenges go up!

Great challenge Madeline, off to check my books.

I've been discovered!! :D

You have!! :D

What a cool poster. This is a fun challenge, Madeline, and it gives me a chance to read Enslaved By Ducks!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Challenge#2 Read a TBR that has been on a previous TIOLIs in 2012-13 and still isn't finished
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I can't believe that I found it when Madeline was still working on development!

If you need to check the TIOLI lists for the number check here...
http://www.librarything.com/wiki/index.php/Category:Take_It_or_Leave_It_Challeng...

I'm one of those people who makes a HUGE list of books each month for books to fit into the TIOLI challenges and then I end up not reading them all, this is for all the ones that haven't gotten finished.

Challenge #3: Read a book that contains previously published newspaper, journal or magazine articles

One of my goals this summer was to read books by classic New Yorker contributors such as Joseph Mitchell, John McPhee, A.J. Liebling and Whitney Balliett, but I also wanted to read Algerian Chronicles by Albert Camus, a collection of articles he wrote in Alger républicain, Combat and elsewhere that was recently translated into English.

Any book that contains at least one previously published article counts. Some examples from my library:

James Baldwin, The Fire Next Time
James Baldwin, Nobody Knows My Name
James Baldwin, Notes of a Native Son
Whitney Balliett, Collected Works: A Journal of Jazz 1954-2000
Albert Camus, Algerian Chronicles
Andrei Codrescu, New Orleans, Mon Amour: Twenty Years of Writings from the City
Umberto Eco, How to Travel with a Salmon & Other Essays
Ralph Ellison, Living with Music: Ralph Ellison's Jazz Writings
John Hershey, Hiroshima (the entire content of the book was published in The New Yorker on 8/31/46)
Christopher Hitchens, Mortality
Tony Judt, The Memory Chalet
A.J. Liebling, Just Enough Liebling
John McPhee, A Sense of Where You Are: Bill Bradley at Princeton
Joseph Mitchell, Up in the Old Hotel
George Orwell, Books v. Cigarettes
George Orwell, Why I Write
Caryl Phillips, Colour Me English
Jean-Paul Sartre, The Aftermath of War
Zadie Smith, Changing My Mind: Occasional Essays

> 6

I have Enslaved by Ducks, too! Maybe I'll read that one with you first! Pbadeer gave it to me. It's actually sitting right by me here on this desk as I type.

We've danced around this before:

*************************************************

Challenge #4: Read the last book in a series

*************************************************

...but I'm doing it anyway because there are some things I just want DONE WITH!! :D

Sequels are allowed, and so is the last book in a series as it currently stands (i.e. it's okay if there's another one in the works).

#7: Cheli - I'm not sure on the order that you are after for your challenge - I've put my book in alphabetical order after Seraphina but you have a few that aren't sorted that way....

Challenge #5: Read a Book That You Requested Through LT's Early Reviewers Program But Did Not Win

If you go to your Early Reviewers page, you can see a list of books requested.

Note that, if someone else lists a book, you can match it if, even if you won the book via ER.

*********************************
Challenge # 6 : Summer Arches
*********************************



The Arch. A staple of summer weddings and vacation destinations at parks and museums. For this challenge, read a book with ARCH in the title, author's name, or cover. The arch can be on any cover of the title you choose (does not have to show on your own edition). {ETA: arches of any kind whatsoever will work.} In title or author's name, ARCH can be embedded, as long as it shows up intact-in order.

Examples:
Ordinary Grace, William Kent Krueger (cover)
My splendid concubine, Lloyd Lofthouse (cover)
Angel's Rest, Emily March (author)
Destiny, Alex Archer (author)
March, Geraldine Brooks (title)
The secret archives of Sherlock Holmes, June Thomson (title)

Here are a couple of good websites that list words contained in other words which I've found helpful for other embedded-word challenges.
More Words.
Scrabble Finder.

ETA: If you are so inclined, here is a thread to post pictures of your book cover or vacation arches:
Arches supplemental thread for pictures.

wooo hooo! Perfect timing! 20 minutes until the end of the working week. By the time I get home from running errands and eat dinner this thread would have aged nicely :)

**************
challenge #7

Read a book with a bird's name in the title

**************

Pretty self explanatory. Not shaped by Madeline's challenge, but it dovetails nicely, I think. (Pun fully intentional...)

embedded words are fine (wrench/wren, for instance); but it MUST be a real bird, not a sci fi creation.

Bring on your eagles and other birds of prey; your blackbirds, cardinals and sparrows; your doves and pigeons; robins and jays.

I really didn't think it was possible this was up but gave it a quick check before settling down to read. That's a happy surprise.

Challenge #8: Read a book involving women and health care
the women can be patients, care givers, scientists, health reporters or anyone one else connected with some aspect of health care.
My planned reads:
Handle With Care - Jodi Picoult- Audiobook
I Wasn't Strong Like This When I Started Out: True Stories of Becoming a Nurse - Lee Gutkind
Rereading The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks - Rebecca Skloot for my RL book club

Challenge #9- Read a book recommended on bookbrowsr.com

Bookbrowsr is a fun little website where people recommend their favorite books. They've got all genres.

Challenge #10 - Read a book first published in the decade before the decade in which you were born

I know people are going to quibble with me about this, but I was born in "the 1960s" and I will read at least one book published in "the 1950s." Yes, I was born in 1960 and that is officially the last year of the decade 1951-1960, but I'm going for decades as we name them in our common cultural vernacular.
Please note the year in which the book was first published.

*************************************************​

Challenge #11: Read a sequel or follow up that was not written by the same author as the book it follows

*************************************************

There are probably loads of ideas, but some that spring to my mind are:

Dorothy L Sayers wrote the Wimsey novels, Jill Paton Walsh finished 2 that had been sketched out but not finished. Either of the two by JPW would count.

There is a whole heap of Pride & Prejudice followups, Pemberley, and Death comes to Pemberley being 2 I know we have on our shelves. There are almost certainly others...

Sebastian Faulks is writing continuation of the James Bond novels, as originated by Ian Fleming.

And so on and so forth.

>>#13

Cindy, for your 'arch' challenge, are arched windows okay?

So, for the sequels challenge, would Laurie R. King's Sherlock Holmes and Mary Russell books be okay?

>21 lahochstetler: yup, don't see a problem with them being a follow up to the original Sherlock Holmes stories. I don't know them myself, the the blurb seems to indicate that they follow on, although Mr Holmes has found a lady?! Shock! Horror! What would Dr Watson say!!

Goodness, this thread is moving along nicely already. Glad I found it (via the Arches thread, would you believe?)

That's also how I found it!

To tie in with the 2013 Category Challenge Random Cat theme of travel, but not leave it too open, my challenge is

Challenge #12: Read a book where the reason the main character goes on a journey is a child

Hope that is reasonably clear but I will leave it up to your own interpretation.

I have listed

The Missing - Tim Gautreaux - a man goes searching for a missing child
To the End of the Land - David Grossman - the main character goes on a journey when her son is sent to the front.

Challenge #13: Read a book from the Most Popular by TIOLI Challenge List

When I create the list of previous TIOLI challenges, I note the most popular book read for each challenge unless there is a tie. This challenge is to read one of those books.

Here is a plain list of the books:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AmSg5qorIw0jdGxHWHJ1Y0tFU2VZa1V5Ull...

Here is the list of all the previous TIOLI challenges in case you want to note which month the challenge is from:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AmSg5qorIw0jdEctb3I3M3Y3ald0THlhZlJ...

The most popular of the books:

By number of months:
Case Histories by Atkinson, Kate - 4 months
The Night Circus by Morgenstern, Erin - 4 months
84, Charing Cross by Hanff, Helene - 3 months
Things Fall Apart by Achebe, Chinua - 3 months

By number of books:

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens - 18 readers - Dec 2012
A Child's Christmas in Wales by Dylan Thomas - 16 readers - Dec 2011
Beowulf translated by Seamus Heaney - 14 readers - Jan 2011
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen - 14 readers - Mar 2011

>20 lyzard:. Liz - arches of any kind whatsoever will work.

Challenge # 14 - Tribute Read - Read a Book by an Author Who Has Passed Away in 2013

Darryl requested someone take up the mantle with this challenge so I'm happy to oblige.
Chinua Achebe, Tom Sharpe, Iain Banks and Yoram Kaniuk are amongst the authors lost to us in 2013 but whose work lives on.

>28 PaulCranswick: Thanks, Paul. There will be a group read of The Wasp Factory by Iain Banks in July; the thread is located here:

http://www.librarything.com/topic/155666

Tying in with the APA's newly published DSM-5 (published May 18, 2013), my challenge is:

Challenge #15 - Read a book where one of the main characters has a condition classified in the newly published DSM-5.

#10 - Liz, I'm just checking that it's ok that I just listed Talulla Rising in your challenge. It's currently the last book published in the series with the next one due out sometime in 2014.

My challenge is short and simple:

************************************

Challenge #16: Read a book that has less than 300 pages. With so many summer distractions I like to reach for some shorter books at this time of year.

*************************************

Perfect Judy! I"ll add my short summer reads right away :0)

>>#27

Thank you, Cindy!

>>#31

Yes, that's fine, Judy; that's exactly what I meant by "as it stands at present".

Bless you for #16! :)

Wow... I always miss this thread going up :)

Okie dokie, I've just added Challenge #17 Read an autobiography or biography regarding your favorite author and indicate the authors name.

Selfish me, had to put this one in as I'm reading it right now but won't finish till Julyish :0)

I just added Challenge #18: Read a book set in one of the 13 original United States. I thought that would be a great challenge to celebrate Independence Day (aka the 4th of July).

In order of statehood:
1. Delaware
2. Pennsylvania
3. New Jersey
4. Georgia
5. Connecticut
6. Massachusetts
7. Maryland
8. South Carolina
9. New Hampshire
10. Virginia
11. New York
12. North Carolina
13. Rhode Island

Nice, Lori! Perhaps you could add a list? For the benefit of the furriners in the group, you understand! :)

and the quasi-furriners, like me, who didn't ever study US history... (I can figure it out, but why? *grin*)

Very happy about #16. I can squeeze Trains and Lovers by Alexander McCall Smith in there!

lyzard> I added the list of states to message #37.

I'm happy with all the challenges but would love to find a place for The Long Ships by Frans Bengtsson.

edit: I could start a challenge 'to read a NYRB book' - any interest?

I need a place for The Long Ships as well, so yes!

I have The Long Ships on my Kindle, which I plan to bring with me to London next month, so I might be able to read it then.

Darryl - there is a group read planned for July.

Thanks for letting me know, Kerry; where is it?

There's no thread yet but you can add your name on the Group read wiki - http://www.librarything.com/wiki/index.php/Group_Reads_of_2013

The thread will be in the category challenge group. Anyway I better set up my TIOLI challenge

Thanks again, Kerry!

Adding a challenge:

Challenge #19: Read a book that has been published by The New York Review of Books

Your copy of the book does not have to be a NYRB copy, just that the book has been picked up by them.
The website is here:
http://www.nybooks.com/books/

Thanks Kerry. For everyone doing A Dance to the Music of Time GR I put The Valley of Bones in Challenge 16.

>>#40

Thanks, Lori!

Group read thread for The Long Ships is here:

http://www.librarything.com/topic/155852

CHALLENGE 20: Read a Book You Acquired While Traveling

I think this is self-explanatory; traveling for work or pleasure is fine. Traveling by air or sea or land is fine. Purchased books, free books, loaned books - all fine. Matched reads are fine.

I love to buy books when I'm traveling, especially ones I can't get at home, ones set in the place(s)I am visiting, or different editions of favorite books.

If you can remember any details about where you got the book, add them to the wiki!

This is a self-serving challenge, as I am going to be reading The Dinner by Herman Koch for my RL book group, and I couldn't find a place for it in any of the challenges so far.

Thanks for giving me a place to put The Long Ships and I'll see you at the Group Read! :)

I have a feeling that my books (mainly fantasy and sci-fi) aren't going to fit into most of these challenges, so I'm going to set up a self-serving challenge:

**************************************************************************************************
Challenge 21 : Read a book where the protagonist(s) undertake a quest / mission / cause
**************************************************************************************************

That should cover me, hopefully; I don't plan my reading ahead.

(I've zipped through Morphy's list of previous challenges, and didn't spot it.)

ETA: This should work for anyone joining me in the group read of The Eye of the World

Actually, challenge number 5 last month was to "read an adventure story". So, if I remember correctly, all you have to do is change yours up a little.

52: Challenge 20 seems to me to be made for Darryl! I have hundreds of books acquired on trips to crime fiction events in Britain, the US and even Canada, that would fit, the question is which one.

Oh... hmmm. Obviously, I didn't search far enough. I was focussing mainly on the 'quest' part of it. I'll leave it to Madeline to say if it's different enough, or if I change it to 'quest and / or adventure', if that would be different enough. In the meantime, I'll keep pondering on it.

ETA: maybe 'quest /mission / cause' ?

> 57

I think it would be great to modify it to be a bit different. Here are my thoughts. The rest is only up to you and what you'd like to do.

The common understanding (if not a rule) is that it's not prohibited to repeat a challenge, but I do try to discourage "repeat" challenges anyway. They take away from the "freshness" of the TIOLI challenges (for me, anyway) - even if it's only one challenge out of 20 or so.

Tee hee re no 20. *doing happy dance*

I also have a candidate for #19...

Here's mine for July:

Challenge #22: For Better or Worse: Read a book about Man interacting with Nature

In spite of our best efforts, human interactions with nature frequently cause more harm than good. If it involves people dealing with nature, such as backyard visitors, global warming, or natural disasters, it fits the challenge.

Examples:
Flight Behavior by Barbara Kingsolver
Isaac's Storm by Erik Larson
Locust by Jeffrey A. Lockwood
Ring of Bright Water by Gavin Maxwell
Silent Spring by Rachel Carson

>58 SqueakyChu:: I've tweaked my challenge a bit; I'd like to try to stick with the spirit of TIOLI, so I hope that's enough of a change to make it different enough.

Question re "quest/adventure": I have some travel books I want to read, narratives in which the author goes to investigate the path followed by someone else (quest) or up the Amazon (which I would consider adventurous). Do these pass muster?

Judy, thanks for challenge #16. Most of my books are under 300 pages.

Also a rather self-serving challenge, because I'm reading a book now for a book discussion that fits it:

****************
Challenge #23: Read a book from the Bridging Cultures Bookshelf: Muslim Journeys
****************

This is a grant from the NEH and ALA of 25 books organized into five themes, a few movies, and access to an online database that highlights Muslim experiences from around the world. I thought it was an interesting way of exploring cultures that are mostly unfamiliar to me, so I was really excited when our library was awarded the grant. Here's a list of the books:

Minaret by Leila Aboulela
A Quiet Revolution by Leila Ahmed
The Conference of the Birds by Farid al-Din Attar
The House of Wisdom by Jim Al-Khahlil
Prince Among Slaves by Terry Alford
Islamic Arts by Jonathan Bloom and Sheila Blair
Muhammad: A Very Short Introduction by Jonathan A.C. Brown
The Columbia Sourcebook of Muslims in the United States
In An Antique Land by Amitav Ghosh
When Asia was the World by Stewart Gordon
Leo Africanus Amin Maalouf
The Arabian Nights (anonymous), edited by Muhsin Mahdi, translated by Husain Haddawy
In the Country of Men by Hisham Matar
The Story of the Qur’an: Its History and Place in Muslim Life by Ingrid Mattson
The Ornament of the World by Maria Rosa Menocal
Dreams of Trespass by Fatima Mernissi
Rumi: Poet and Mystic, edited and translated by Reynold A. Nicholson
Snow by Orhan Pamuk, translated by Maureen Freely
Acts of Faith by Eboo Patel
The Children of Abraham: Judaism, Christianity, Islam by F. E. Peters
The Art of Hajj by Venetia Porter
House of Stone by Anthony Shadid
Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood by Marjane Satrapi (NOTE: This is only volume 1, as it was published in the U.S.)
Broken Verses by Kamila Shamsie
The Butterfly Mosque: A Young American Woman’s Journey to Love and Islam by G. Willow Wilson

>62 Chatterbox:: Absolutely. That sounds like a quest to me.

Thanks!!

I can recommend The Ornament of the World for anyone looking for a book t o fit #23. I have several of the others, including the original French version of Mernissi's book. Hisham Matar's novel is good, and I will happily presuppose that Leo Africanus also is fab.

Wow! This is the first month I haven't been able to match any TIOLI challenges. :-(

AuntieClio, do you mean that you don't have any matched reads yet?

Or that you can't fit what you hoped you'd read this month into a catagory? If that's the case, you can still propose a new challenge. Or post the name of the book you were hoping to work in and see if someone else can think of how to fit into one of the existing challenges.

streamsong, thank you for the suggestions. It seems that none of my books fit into a category. Although I think Darkly Dreaming Dexter will fit in the the DSM-V category.

I've got a Dexter to read too. What is his diagnosis?

> 69, 70

I don't watch Dexter (nor read) but I would class him with a personality disorder - Sociopath or at least Borderline Personality Disorder but I am no psychiatrist. Maybe he has actually been diagnosed with something?

The best I can figure out is Antisocial Personality Disorder which covers a whole raft of things like sociopath. By what I know and have read, Dexter isn't a psychopath but rather a sociopath. If I remember, I'll ask someone at work.

> 72

I found this in a Wikipedia article:

"One last note on sociopathy vs. psychopathy

Whoever said that there is a recognized difference between these two disorders in the DSM-IV is incorrect. Both conditions are correlated to Antisocial Personality Disorder, for which the standard term is Sociopath. This is listed in Wikipedia's own articles on the subject. Therefore I see no harm in listing Dexter as a sociopath."

What's it say in the DSM-V? :)

I seem to be having difficulty shoe-horning this month's planned reading into any category! Morphy's "read a book that's been top book before" has so far come to the rescue with 3 fitting in there.

Sometimes it's hard to know where a book will fit until you've read it. I think I can put The Persian Expedition in 21 (a mission) but am struggling with Daughter of the River by Hong Ying and The boy in the Striped Pyjamas by John Boyne.

Just a note: I do *not* think Dexter has Borderline Personality Disorder.

Just thought I'd mention that I'm planning to read Lady Liberty on the 4th of July in honor of our freedom - it's only 40 pages so it might be something that others would want to read sometime this month.

Any ideas on where I might fit Telegraph Avenue by Michael Chabon?

Had you planned to read it for a previous month's challenge within the last year, CJ?

Challenge 24: In honor of two national birthdays, read a book about or that takes place during the American Revolution (July 4th) or French Revolution (July 14th)

I've added Titus Groan to Suzanne's bird challenge as 'tit' is a type of bird. There is a group read of the Gormenghast trilogy kicking off this month and I've just created the GR thread which can be found here: http://www.librarything.com/topic/155916

>78 Chatterbox: alas, no.

>81 Citizenjoyce:--I see that midwife and midwifery are two of its tags. Would it work in number 8?

Chatterbox, can I use hen as the name of a bird? Lookiing for a home for The Kitchen House.

Much of my planned reading for the month of July has to do with preparing myself for the next adventure after I lose my current job at the end of the month. These recommendations came from a lovely email newsletter delivered every Sunday called Brain Pickings

The Meaning of Anxiety by Rollo May
The concept of anxiety by Soren Kierkegaard
The Pleasure of Finding Things Out by Richard Feynman
Lighten Up by Peter Walsh
Ignore Everybody by Hugh MacLeod

I've put a request in to the main library to have them sent to the local branch so have no idea what they look like, how big they are or what they're going to be like to read.

There's several <300 page books I've picked out, but I really want to concentrate on the ongoing prep work for whatever comes next.

So this is part of why I can't seem to find books that work with this month's challenges. On the other hand, it may come to me.

As to Dexter and the DSM-V, it's a moot point where I'm concerned. Unexpectedly, I finished Darkly Dreaming Dexter by Jeff Lindsay while still in June so I will list it as a June read.

83: How about creating a challenge of your own - self help books, or "read a non-fiction book about thinking" (the latter might offer scope to those of us who don't really want to read a self-help book) - I have a book I want to read that sets out to challenge the whole positive thinking thing for example.

Challenge 15: This may sound like a weird question, but does a main character in a book have to be alive in the "present" of the book? - it's occurred to me that I'm actually reading two books in which people are coming to terms with the death of a loved one, but there is a lot of description in both cases of the dead person - and it seems likely those people had definable mental health conditions. Looking at the list, I don't think these books fit anywhere else, so I'm probably going to have to make up a challenge 25+. Gulp.

A Just-For-Fun Question...

What symptoms do you get when your chosen book-for-the-month does not easily fit into a TIOLI category? :)

> 86

Luci, do you want another wiki page?

>86 elkiedee:

Challenge 15: This may sound like a weird question, but does a main character in a book have to be alive in the "present" of the book?

No. Even if they are not alive, they may still be a main character.

>36 Carmenere: re: Challenge #17 Read an autobiography or biography regarding your favorite author and indicate the authors name

Does it have to be my "favorite author"? I don't have one favorite author. Could it be one of my favorites?

>87 SqueakyChu: Madeline, you know how obsessive we can be. When I can't fit a book into a challenge I get anxious and depressed. How can I read a book that "doesn't count"? And I really want to read that book. Truly, it's a sad, desperate situation.

>87 SqueakyChu: I find myself feel getting preemptively guilty about wondering how far can I possibly streeeetch a challenge to persuade my difficult book to fit.

I get anxious if I can't fit a book into my category challenge but, with 13 self-chosen categories, that rarely happens. (Twice last month, though.)

Not sure what I'd do if I can't fit it into the category challenge or TIOLI but, fortunately, that hasn't happened yet.

====Challenge #25: Read a book that was recommended in a newsletter - started by auntieclio====

#94 Very timely as, only this morning, I read a blog/newsletter talking about an atypical book from a favorite author and I'm eager to read it.

Do we need to indicate the newsletter?

Linda, not necessary to indicate the newsletter, but certainly welcome.

Great, thanks, AuntieClio. Gives me even more incentive to read it, this month, then.

My planned reads for the month(the less than 300 pages challenge is great for fitting in unfittable books I've been wanting to read):
Challenge #1: Read a book whose cover pictures an animal seen on the 2013 National Book Festival poster
Removed/b>Alligator - Lisa Moore
✔Mudbound- Hillary Jordan - Audiobook (4.5)
✔The One and Only Ivan - Katherine Applegate -Audiobook (4)
Challenge #3. Read a book that contains previously published newspaper, journal or magazine articles
RemovedThe Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing by Melissa Bank
Challenge #8. Read a book involving women and health care
✔Handle With Care - Jodi Picoult - Audiobook (2.5)
✔I Wasn't Strong Like This When I Started Out: True Stories of Becoming a Nurse - Lee Gutkind (4.75)
✔The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks - Rebecca Skloot - Book Club (5)
✔Me Before You- Jojo Moyes - Audiobook (4)
Challenge #13: Read a book from the Most Popular by TIOLI Challenge List
✔A Tree Grows In Brooklyn - Betty Smith - Audiobook (4.5)
RemovedWide Sargasso Sea - Jean Rhys
Challenge #15 : Read a book where one of the main characters has a condition classified in the newly published DSM-5
✔The Girl Who Fell from the Sky - Heidi W. Durrow (4)
✔Maisie Dobbs - Jacqueline Winspear - Audiobook (4.25)
✔The Silver Star - Jeannette Walls (4.5)
Challenge #16: Read a book with less than 300 pages
A Short History of Women - Kate Walbert
✔Something from the Oven: Reinventing Dinner in 1950s America - Laura Shapiro (5)
Challenge #18: Read a book set in one of the original 13 United States
✔Baker Towers- Jennifer Haigh - Audiobook (4.5)
✔The Burgess Boys - Elizabeth Strout - E-Audio (4.75)
Removed Who will run the frog hospital? - Lorrie Moore
Challenge #21: Read a book where the protagonist(s) undertake a quest / mission / cause
✔Gentlemen of the Road: A Tale of Adventure -Michael Chabon - Audiobook (2.5)
Challenge #27: Read a book that has a personal name in the first line
✔The Bookseller of Kabul - Asne Seierstad - Audiobook (5)
✔Tales of the City - Armistead Maupin Audiobook (3.5)

>87 SqueakyChu:: Disappointed.

Then I remind myself that if TIOLI only encouraged me to read books I was going to read anyway then there wouldn't be much of a challenge.

Then I'm back to disappointed anyway.

>87 SqueakyChu:: Temporarily Annoyed.

Because, gee, I really wanted to read that book next, but I guess it'll have to wait and try for next month's TIOLIs!

The wiki page 5 is now up!

#90

Yes, christiguc! Any of your favorite authors would do.

>87 SqueakyChu:: Resigned, because it happens quite often. (I don't usually plan my reading, so I finish a book first before looking for a challenge to fit it into.)

But then I shoe-horn it into a challenge any old how. Shh! ;0)

> 87 - somewhat frustrated and then I remember, oh, yeah, it doesn't matter! And I read it anyway. Often though, I can find some challenge to fit the book. However, as someone else mentioned. I am more often looking for books to read to fit a challenge and have read so many books that I would not have othewise read

Challenge #16. Read a book with less than 300 pages
A War of Gifts by Orson Scott Card
The Metamorphosis and Other Stories by Franz Kafka
The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane

Challenge #25: Read a book that was recommended in a newsletter
The Meaning of Anxiety by Rollo May
The concept of anxiety by Soren Kierkegaard
The Pleasure of Finding Things Out by Richard Feynman
Lighten Up by Peter Walsh
Ignore Everybody by Hugh MacLeod

I created a challenge to fit my two books, both novels about coping with the suicide of a loved one, and then saw Christina's response to my question (do characters need to be alive in the present of the book), and realised that I have another book that I'm not sure about fitting into a challenge.

My challenge is to read a book with a title taken from a song lyric or which includes song lyrics in the text - it may be a couple of lines or the whole song.

Bedsit Disco Queen is the memoir of a singer songwriter and Tracey Thorn includes lots of her own song lyrics (presumably she doesn't have to pay herself for the rights to do so).

Kite Spirit would fit into either Challenge 15 or Challenge 26, so I'll decide when I finish it.

Sorry for the delayed response, Streamsong -- sure, a hen is a bird... I'm thinking of it as an abbreviation or shorthand for a chicken, though rather than the generic descriptor for a female bird....

OK, can anyone figure out where I might squeeze in Lawrence in Arabia this month? The odds are that I won't finish it, but I'd like to try...

>108 Chatterbox:--La*WREN*ce

Thanks--I saw somebody else had used hen so I added my book before getting your response. Glad it's legal!

Ha, that's Suzanne's own challenge!

ROTFL.... thanks Streamsong... I can't believe I was that oblivious!

Next problem is The Rosie Challenge, which is an ARC that DOES need to get read this month.

> 110

Ha, that's Suzanne's own challenge!

LOL!!

Challenge #27: Read a book that has a personal name in the first line

Read a book with a name of a human being mentioned in the first line (no aliens, no demons, no angels, no pets, no animals).
The Quiet American by Graham Greene: First line: 'After dinner I sat and waited for Pyle in my room over the rue Catinat;'
Tinkers by Paul Harding. First line: 'George Washington Crosby began to hallucinate eight days before he died.'
Dead before Dying by Deon Meyer: First line: 'In the afternoon hush of the last day of the year, Mat Joubert thought about death.'
Three Junes by Julia Glass. First line: 'Paul chose Greece for its predictable whiteness'

Do we need a thread for the first line? If so, can you create one, Madeleine, please?

Oh, Paul, I LOVE that challenge! Thank you!

I've read The Rosie Project and think it would fit into Challenge 15, if it doesn't fit Challenge 27 (or any other).

114: welcome, Mamie. I hope you enjoy your read also - not just the first line :)

I'm sure glad I picked last month to read books in all categories. This month is TOUGH.

>116 paulstalder: LOL! It's an old favorite, so I will enjoy rereading it.

Challenge #18 - Read a book set in one of the original 13 United States:
I just finished The Accidental Tourist by Anne Tyler and loved it! (Set in Baltimore, Maryland). Am trying to decide whether to keep it one the favourite shelf OR release it for someone else to enjoy ... hmmm...
It was a very quick read.

Oh, I just bought that last month - I'll join you for a shared read!

Thanks, Luci! Sadly, it won't fit in #27; that would have been altogether too tidy!!!

cyderry, I was thrilled to see your listing of Discovery of Witches in challenge 2! I had started a reread of this favorite of mine at the end of last month, casting aside current June reads because *I just had to* read DofW again.

So, I've just finished it, and it was very good (again). And we'll have a shared point, yeehaw!

Thanks!

Karen O.

Paul, challenge 27 has just found me a legitimate home for a problem book, so thankyou! >:-)

123> 'problem book' LOL - do you have to sedate it? or handcuff to your reading table? - or keep it in the fridge like the bookseller in Athens did, I've seen last week... ;) - hope you still enjoy the reading of it

124> no, it's not quite that bad (really? in a fridge?!) - although it may be objecting to having to travel about in my handbag. The "problem book" is one that is on the schedule to read this month, but doesn't (or didn't) fit into any of the challenges. but now it has a home I feel better, even if it might not care two hoots.

Here

> 124

do you have to sedate it? or handcuff to your reading table? - or keep it in the fridge like the bookseller in Athens did,

:)

Just think, challengers! The right challenge is better than any psychiatrist or psychotherapy.

Pick well, and you'll be able, with merely a few keystrokes, to alleviate annoyance, anxiety, depression, disappointment, frustration, guilt, obsessiveness, resignation, and sadness of others.

...and that's not even mentioning the corrective therapy for "problematic" books!

:D

P.S. New challenges can be added only through tomorrow night (i.e. July 4 midnight)!

Is this a record for the # of challenges??

ETA: for those of us whose goal is to read a book for every challenge, this is an intimidating list... So, adding new challenges can solve traumas for some and create 'em for others!!

#129 Suz, it seems like a lot more challenges than usual. I'm glad I read them all last month, when there were "only" 21 challenges.

This month, I'm back to reading quite a few for a handful of challenges and nothing in most, as usual.

Yes, the most number of challenges we've had is 25. Both this year - in February and in March.

Any Brits who want to join me in a shared read of Masaryk Station -- it's today's Kindle Daily Deal.

Today I finished two books:

For challenge #17 - Read an autobiography or biography regarding your favorite author:
The Cat Who Went to Paris by Peter Gethers
This was a re-read of one of my favourite books, EVER and it is still one of my favourite books, EVER!

For challenge #16 - Read a book with less than 300 pages:
Friday the Rabbi Slept Late (160 pgs) by Harry Kemelman
This one I inherited from my mother and am so glad that I read it . Fun, fun, fun and educational too.

My mother also read the Kemelman books, and I've never read them -- a good reminder! I'm going to read Gethers' new novel, which is about a vet.

I just rec'd a nice welcome to BookBrowser email! They were curious as to how I heard of them. Dare I tell them about our TIOLI challenges?

Hmmm, can anyone figure out where I might squeeze in The Bat by Jo Nesbo? It's the last to be released (at least in English) in the Harry Hole series, but it's technically the first. Harry does go on an investigative search to Australia, but does that constitute a quest?? It's an Amazon Vine book that has to be read before I can request more...

Suz, could you put it in Challenge #21: Challenge 21 : Read a book where the protagonist(s) undertake a quest / mission / cause? In The Bat, Harry Hole is sent to Australia to help solve a murder. That sounds like a mission to me. I actually need to get to that book also.

Hey, going to Australia is almost the same as going to Mordor, right? :)

LOL! Exactly!

135- Go for it. They're really nice. They somehow got my contact info about a year ago (probably from my blog), and I got an invite email to sign up and recommend books. They used to be called custom reads, I think? In any case, nice folks, fun website to play with.

> 135

Dare I tell them about our TIOLI challenges?

Sure. Go ahead.

136, 137: Thanks for that, Suz and Mamie! I bought The Bat in the Chicago airport (so I could also put it under the "book acquired while traveling" challenge) and will likely read it next.

äh, I just was mislead: When clicking on 'msg #7' in order to get to the explanation of the challenge, I get to the animal thread - interesting
'2. Read a TBR that has been on a previous TIOLI in 2012-13 and still isn't finished - msg #7'

-------

and a question to bookbrowsr.com: How do I search there for a specific title? I didn't find a search field for checking which books are actually recommended. So, how do I find out if a book I read is actually recommended there?

> 143

When clicking on 'msg #7' in order to get to the explanation of the challenge, I get to the animal thread

Thanks. Fixed.

I have removed Jane: The Woman Who Loved Tarzan from Challenge 21, but after I read it I may put it back if the book goes into detail on the expedition that Jane and her father were on when they originally find Tarzan.

Hurrah! Ellen, would you rather list under book bought while traveling or a quest book? I'm agnostic on this and will defer to your preference...

Now I have a new one: Catalina's Riddle by Steven Saylor. Peggy prodded me into investigating the series and the challenge is to find a home for it.

146> Suz, I would like to put it under books acquired while traveling, but I don't have access to a computer until at least Sunday. I'm doing this on my iPhone. Might you put it there for both of us? I would be very appreciative.

# 147 -- Consider it done!

And as for Catalina's Riddle, it conveniently opens with a line of dialog, "According to Cato..." *grin*

Thank you Suzanne!

Crazymamie, do you want to join us over there? I see you had it on #21.

I had it in 21 because that`s where Ellen had it originally· I`m fine with putting it in the other challenge. It makes no difference to me. I'm happy to move it to join you.

I've just read the ultimate book for challenge 27 - The Hundred Brothers by Donald Antrim has the names of all of the brothers in the first (very long) sentence.

Hej Sanddancer - that's fantastic. I read a few books which had a dozen or more names in the first sentence - but one hundred, impressive. Well done. Could you please add that sentence to the CK first line of the book page? that would be good. Thanks

I'm pleased to say that I've read the book for challenge 27, The Persian Expedition, which has a persons name in the first sentence of the text AND the scholarly introduction, so I feel I'm covered on both counts. >:-)

153 - Paul - I got it slightly wrong - the narrator is one of the brothers and I don't think he mentions his own name. I have copied it from Amazon and will try to add it - be warned it is very long because it isn't just the list of names and he uses various punctuation to keep the sentence going.

>154 Helenliz: we definitely count you in, Helen - especially for reading the introduction! :)

>155 sanddancer: oh, Sanddancer, only 99 names???!! tds,ts ,tds (there is enough space on the CK page)

#148 I might try to join you with Catalina's Riddle, Suz - it's the next one up in the series for me. That's if I get any time for reading this month...

Hope you do, Genny -- or at least that whatever keeps you from reading is fun... I'm about to dig into that one. I only get one renewal per library book in Providence, vs 99 in Brooklyn, so I can't let these pile up! And my Friday afternoon foray into the stacks did add a lot of books to the pile. It's an odd library. Most of the branches in New York have shelves on their main floor for their fiction; Providence has stacks kind of hidden away; the classic kind of stacks you'd find in a reference library or college. There is a lot there, but just glancing over their shelves it's clear that the system had a lot of funding in the 70s/80s and into the early 90s and that it has fallen off dramatically since then. The good news is that statewide access means that many newer books are available, and they don't seem to have de-accessioned their older ones as aggressively as many libraries do. For instance, there is a complete selection of the original Helen MacInnes cold war thrillers that are now being reprinted.

I finally finished A Great Deliverance by Elizabeth George. Loved it!

I started reading this book all the way back in March and finally finished it for callenge#2 - Read a TBR that has been on a previous TIOLI in 2012-13 and still isn't finished. Now it is finished!

humouress, for Challenge 21, does a work of travel writing count as an adventure?

cookie - I read it and loved it too!

> 161 I would like to read the next in the series (I inherited the first 12 from my mother in 2007) but they are packed in a box in the garage in preparation for an anticipated move. I think I know what box they are in though so I might be able to get to it for August!

162: I have to laugh at that one because even though I have no plans to move house (not something we can afford to do, basically), I have a lot of books in the garden shed and also boxes in the house, and finding what I want to read for TIOLI is often an issue - I end up borrowing books I know that I own from the library (if they have them) because it's easier (Mike works in the same building as a library with a free reservations system so I just reserve lots of books in his name and he brings them home for me).

> 163
I just requested it from the library lol. Figured that was easier. I am waiting for a condo apartment to come up for sale in the building my best friend just moved into just before Christmas. It is a lovely building, affordable and because it is older the rooms are bigger than the newer condos so I CAN TAKE ALMOST ALL OF MY BOOKSHELVES WITH ME. I just have to give up one of them; mind you it is a fairly large one and I have gotten rid of approx 200 books so far. It just about killed me!

Liz - For your last in series challenge can I include Redemption by Jussi Adler-Olsen. It is the third in the Department Q series and the last one presently published in English. He has number five published in Denmark but numbe four will only be available in english in December?

Paul, I have that book listed for that challenge under its US title... Having assumed that "last" meant "last that we can reasonably be expected to access & be able to read"... :-)

Ok Suz, then I'll join you with it as a shared read unless Liz, erm, intervenes.

>>#!65 / 166 / 167:

I'm happy to go with a definition of "Last I can be reasonably be expected to get hold of at the moment".

I know you need an intervention, Paul, but one book won't do it! :)

So far I've finished 4 of the 20 odd books I have sprinkled through the challenges.
Pushing Ice and The Haunting for Paul's challenge #27. And The gentle falcon for Suzanne's 'bird' challenge, a shared read; Year of the Griffin by Diana Wynne Jones for the last book in series challenge, this was a sequel so sneaked in.

hahaha Liz - thus says our own group member with more than 20,000 books catalogued!

Wishlisted. There's a difference. :)

About AUS$500,000 difference I would say! The research that goes into your cataloguing whether you have hoarded them to your shelves like yours truly or whether they reside temporarily elswewhere as in your case is impressive nonetheless. x

Re: challenge #26: Read a book with a title taken from a song lyric or which includes song lyrics in the text.

For anyone who's interested in a fun (can you call murder mysteries fun?) quick read, the books in the Andy Carpenter series by David Rosenfelt will fit elkiedee's challenge. I'm only up to #5 in the series, but so far in each book, two of the characters try to best each other in "song talking", which is to work song lyrics smoothly into their conversations whenever they meet. So, if you like dogs, legal thrillers, and dry wit (which is perfectly portrayed in the audio versions), give these a try for challenge #26.

cyderry, a question about your challenge, #2, Read a TBR that has been on a previous TIOLI in 2012-13 and still isn't finished.

Does this mean a book I put on the wiki, but then deleted it since I didn't finish it, or does it mean a book I meant to read (to match) with someone else, and didn't get it finished or read, so any book on a previous TIOLI challenge?

That sounds confusing, but maybe you can understand it!

I'm, happy either way.

ok, thanks. The link to the wiki won't show any books that were removed, so originally I figured it had to be a book I removed. but then I wasn't sure.

A question about Challenge #15 - I'm reading a book in which it is fairly clear to me that the main character has antisocial persionality disorder (among other things), but it was written in 1897 before these things were even diagnosed, let alone named - is it acceptable if I use my own judgement, or does the condition have to be named in the book?

I finished Der stille Amerikaner (the quiet american) by Graham Green for challenge 27 (After dinner I sat and waited for Pyle in my room over the rue Catinat)

I wonder why it is that some months you just end up with loads of books in one challenge. I've read 2 in Challenge 13 (read a book that's come top of a previous TIOLI list) and have started a third.

One of which is going into the top 10 books this year - The Shadow of the Wind had me in its spell very early on.

I'm also reading what will probably be a 5 star book -- Travels with a Tangerine. The tangerine in question, incidentally, is not the fruit but a Tangerine, aka, a native of Tangiers, Ibn Battutah. The author is so knowledgeable and witty. Very glad this is the first of a trilogy.

After reading Friday the Rabbi Slept Late, by Harry Kemelman, I moved right on and just finished Saturday the Rabbi Went Hungry. Enjoyed this audio book which is a very quick read. This is another book for Challenge #16 - to read a book with less than 300 pages (190)

>177 lyzard: Yes, you can use your own judgment.

Just finished The Ocean at the End of the Lane -- for either Challenge 16 or 20... A wonderful magical tale of memory, creation, and being.

Here's a problem. I started listening to the latest wonderful Elizabeth Strout novel, The Burgess Boys, thinking I would join in a shared read, but using the Control F feature I can't find it. Guess those reads were in another month. Lori, can I put it in challenge 18, the original 13 states challenge? It's about events and characters in and from Maine, but many of those characters have moved to New York, and a good chunk of the story takes place there.

Caution Notice!

It has just been brought to my attention that we had two challenges posted for June by one person. That's not allowed. I'm really sorry that I didn't catch this earlier (like last month!).

Remember: One challenge can be posted per month by each person. No more!

How it will affect the June stats: I will just mark the affected challenge "disqualified". Since that challenge has 0 shared reads, not much should be affected as I haven't tallied the June stats yet. I didn't want to take away from anyone's accomplishment of a shared read.

No harm done. Ever onward!

Sorry...I didn't realize only one challenge was a rule.

I'll go reread the FAQs again (http://www.librarything.com/wiki/index.php/TIOLI_FAQS). :(

No problem. We're already into a new month anyway. In fact, I didn't even notice it. Someone else pointed it out to me after the fact.

>>#182

Thank you!

As it turns out, the conclusion of the same novel finds the same person under doctors' care for "acute mania", so I feel vindicated in my earlier diagnoses. :)

I really need to stop reading The Wasp Factory before bed . . .

> 189

I wish more people would talk about that book on the group read thread. I finished it...and no one is saying anything there. I have to come to the TIOLI challenges thread to even find that book mentioned! :)

I rarely ever do group reads (maybe this is my first one), so I'm kind of disappointed that book is not precipitating conversation.

I'm still waiting for my copy of The Wasp Factory to come through ILL.

impatiently

The Wasp Factory is very short and will make an excellent shared read for our TIOLI challenges. It's not for the sensitive, though. There's still time to join us...

It's listed on challenge #14 on this wiki page.

>160 elkiedee:: Sorry, elkiedee; I've been moving countries, and am just getting back to LT slowly. I think a work of travel writing would count as an adventure. I bet the travel involved would have been an exciting adventure.

ETA : Actually, I came over to say I've set up the Group Read thread for The Eye of the World, which is the first in Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time series, if anyone wants to join in. It'll fit nicely into Challenge 21 (considering that was part of the reason I created the challenge for this month).

193: Thanks - I was going to assume it counted unless you came back to say otherwise - but I've not yet started The Island that Dared: Journeys in Cuba though I might still do so. I have started another book though, about a quest - Emma Brockes' memoir She Left Me the Gun: My Mother's Life Before Me is about Brockes' quest to find out, following her mum's death from cancer, about her mum's early life in South Africa, a story of a family divided for quite serious reasons (I've already heard some of this serialised on the radio, but our Book of the Week serial is by its nature very abridged, as it's 5 episodes Monday to Friday of 15 minutes each, so only 75 minutes in total - so if I like what I hear I always want to read the whole book or myself).

July TIOLI challenge #16. Read a book with less than 300 pages - The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane - July TIOLI challenge #16. Read a book with less than 300 pages

I really wanted to like this book. It's considered a classic and a "must read" in American literature. Grateful that it was only 100 pages, I'm glad I've read it and just as glad to be done.

>189 brenpike: I am about halfway through The Wasp Factory Madeline, and am finding it compelling. But what I am most curious about is the author. Anyone have more information on Iain Banks?

Brenda, just a couple of tidbits, mostly from the political side. He was an avid Scottish nationalist, and also left of center politically: he was one of a group of public figures who campaigned for Tony Blair to be impeached or something similar for Britain's entry into the Iraq war. His books aren't published in Israel; he refused to sell the rights there due to his support for Palestine. I've not read any of his novels, but if I recall correctly, they are divided into two, a bit like John Banville/Benjamin Black, although Banks didn't use a pseudonym. Some were literary; others were sci fi. I'm sure others here can provide much more insight than I can, but since I'm up late (having stayed awake to finish the bio of Patrick Leigh Fermor) I figured I'd chip in my non-literary knowledge of the bloke!

I am going to try and read as many challenges as possible this month
Here would be a full house:

TIOLI 1 : A Blessing on the Moon by Joseph Skibell (black bird/crow)Reading
TIOLI 2 : The Natural by Bernard Malamud (up last month)
TIOLI 3 : This is How You Lose Her by Junot Diaz (New Yorker) Done
TIOLI 4 : A Conspiracy of Faith by Jussi Adler Olsen Done
TIOLI 5 : Behind the Beautiful Forevers by Katherine Boo (Nov 11)
TIOLI 6 : In Praise of Hatred by Khaled Khalifa (cover)
TIOLI 7 : The Silver Swan by Benjamin Black
TIOLI 8 : The Immortal Life Of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
TIOLI 9 : On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan
TIOLI 10 : Bonjour Tristesse by Francoise Sagan (1950) Reading
TIOLI 11 : Licence Renewed by John Gardner (Fleming's Bond)
TIOLI 12 : Waiting for Anya by Michael Morpurgo
TIOLI 13 : Moon Tiger by Penelope Lively
TIOLI 14 : The Wasp Factory by Iain Banks Done
TIOLI 15 : The Killing of the Tinkers by Ken Bruen (alcoholism)
TIOLI 16 : We Might as Well Win by Johan Bruyneel (228 pages)Done
TIOLI 17 : Charles Dickens by Jane Smiley
TIOLI 18 : The Clock Winder by Anne Tyler (Maryland)Reading
TIOLI 19 : Great Granny Webster by Caroline Blackwood
TIOLI 20 : Albemarle Book of Modern Verse by FES Finn (UK holiday) Done
TIOLI 21 : The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce
TIOLI 22 : Salvage by Robert Edric Reading
TIOLI 23 : In the Country of Men by Hisham Matar
TIOLI 24 : The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orzy Reading
TIOLI 25 : Among Others by Jo Walton (Kino Newsletter)
TIOLI 26 : The Grapes of Wrath by John SteinbeckDone
TIOLI 27 : The Birds on the Trees by Nina Bawden (Clara Tilney)

go, Paul, go - some work ahead

196: His Wikipedia entry looks like a good starting point - there are over 50 references, many to online sources - even if only some work, I'm sure you'll find more useful info there. A couple of last interviews with him have been broadcast on TV and radio here, don't know if you can find anything on youtube - interviewers Kirsty Wark (Review Show, TV) and Mark Lawson - BBC Radio 4 - and that was quite recent so you might even find it still online on the Radio 4 section of the BBC website.

198: Nice list, at least 5 I own or want to buy and would quite like to join you in shared reads of, but I don't think I'll get to everything this month, I've gone a bit mad on review books, and I have loads of library books and so much else.

It's Share A Quotation Day!

Last month we approved this new feature for the TIOLI challenges. Please share a quotation from a book that you COMPLETED or are currently Reading this month for the TIOLI challenges.

Mine follows. It's about having a positive attitude.

********************************************

“I know one thing: it doesn’t hurt to have a positive attitude. Even if you’re going to fail, be positive about it. That way you’ll be a successful failure.”

~ George Burns in How to Live to be 100 -- or More

********************************************

Remember to also add your quotation to LT's Common Knowledge (CK), if it's not there yet. That way, you'll allow others to find that quotation in the future much more easily. Thanks!

Looking forward to your posts...

"Kunst! Kunst! Das ist es, was uns aus dem Zustand der Verkommenheit retten wird, in dem wir leben!" erklärte er, und seine Stimme überschlug sich fast vor Glück.
in: Alles Gaza by Etgar Keret and Samir El-youssef

("Art! Art! That is what will save us from this state of depravity in which we live," he said, his voice cracking with happiness.)

"Highway 66 is the main migrant road.......over the red lands and the gray lands, twisting up into the mountains, crossing the Divide and down into the bright and terrible desert, and across the desert into the mountains again, and into the rich California valleys."

John Steinbeck; The Grapes of Wrath Ch.12.

> 203

Paul, I liked that you posted your quotation both in German and English. Next time you can also post it in Hebrew and Arabic, if you want! ;)

"Hence anxiety is the dizziness of freedom ...." The Concept of Anxiety by Soren Kierkegaard

>205 SqueakyChu: yes, mam
"الفن! الفنون! وهذا هو ما سوف ينقذنا من حالة الفساد الذي نعيش فيه!" قال وصوته متصدع تقريبا مع السعادة.

Fantastic Mr. Stalder. No criticism of your spelling from me.

And another book read for challenge 13.
American gods is sort of good and odd at the same time. Did it provoke any comment in the US when published? It strikes me as a book that might not be very welcome in the religious centres.

sorry for the wrong translation... google translator is just quick, that's all ... but fun :)

“I was thinking,” I said, “that when my time comes, I should be sorry if the only plea I had to offer was that of justice. Because it might mean that only justice would be meted out to me …”

Murder At the Vicarage by Agatha Christie

"Love, however doomed, had the capacity to attach buoys to the soul."

From Mistress of the Art of Death by Ariana Franklin.

> 205

(the Arabic!) How cool is that?!

'"You never lock your front door?"
"Never."
The phrase "my dog's sexual liberation would not permit it" crossed my mind, but remained unspoken.'

From The Scapegoat by Daniel Pennac

Shared reads spot - I notice that Americanah has been listed under Challenge 27 - several of us including at least two completed reads have listed it at Challenge 2.

Okay, elkiedee, I'll move mine!

I just finished Debbie: My Life by Debbie Reynolds and was searching for a place to put it and lo and behold, Debbie's daughter Carrie Fisher, who has been struggling all her life with Bipolar Disorder, is definitely a main character. Challenge #15.

This was a lot of fun to read for someone who loves movie stars and entertainers. What a tough life she lead, with Eddie Fisher leaving her for Elizabeth Taylor and disappearing from her and her children's life almost completely and then her second husband Harry Karl gambling away all of his millions and hers too.

At the end of this book she has married for the third time and seems happy.

I will now read her second book Unsinkable: A Memoir.

I also have the DVD of Wishful Drinking which is daughter Carrie's one woman show based on her book of the same name, which I was able to see last year, here in Toronto, and was hysterically funny. I will have to watch the show again soon!

Challenge #16 - Sunday the Rabbi Stayed Home by Harry Kemelman and although I am enjoying the character development, the mystery, and the Judaism pieces, I am getting a little tired of the sexism and racism even though I know it is a reflection of the time it was written. Time to head back to Dr. Siri, I think!

Stats for June 2013 TIOLI Challenges:
In June 2013, challengers read a total of 593 books for 20 challenges. Of these, 100 or 19% were shared reads. That added up to 61 TIOLI points - bringing us to a YTD total of 398 TIOLI points.

Here's an interesting statistic. Each year the percentage of shared reads has gone down:
2010 - 31%
2011 - 28%
2012 - 25%
2013 - 21% YTD

:(

The most popular book:
Framley Parsonage by Anthony Trollope read by 8 challengers.

The most popular challenge:
Read a book where a title word or author name starts with B,D,G,J,P,Q,R,U - letters with curves and lines (cyderry - 131 books)

The challenge accruing the most TIOLI points:
Read a book where a title word or author name starts with B,D,G,J,P,Q,R,U - letters with curves and lines (cyderry - 9 TIOLI points)

Coming soon...the June TIOLI awards...