Take It or Leave It Challenge - October 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

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Here's a fun and easy up-and-down rolling challenge for October…

I challenge you to...
read a book whose title’s first word has 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, or 10 letters.

REWRITTEN AND SIMPLIFIED Rules:

1. NO skipping numbers.
2. The number of letters in the first word for your book may go up OR down, but they may go NO HIGHER THAN 10.
3. Only a matching book may have the same number of letters in the first word back-to-back.
4. The words "a", "an", and "the" DO COUNT as first words of the title for this challenge.
5. The same challenger may NOT have back-to-back (adjacent) book listings. There must be at least one other challenger between each challenger’s listings.
6. You can NEVER go from 10 to 1 (or vice versa).

The challenge will look like this:
A Visit From the Goon Squad (1) – Jennifer Egan - SqueakyChu
An Inconvenient Truth (2) – Al Gore - Dejah_Thoris
How It Was for Me (3) – Andrew Sean Greer – kidzdoc
Dark Matter (4) – Greg Iles - pbadeer
The Cut (3) – George Pelecanos - gilroy
and so forth...

The race is on...so go have fun!

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

1. The October 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 09/23/13)

WIKI index of Challenges:

Challenges #1-6
1. Read a book whose title’s first word has 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, or 10 letters - msg #1
2. Read a book from the library of an LT Author - msg #3
3. Read a nonfiction book that has reached number one on the New York Times bestsellers list - msg #4
4. Read a book that expresses an opinion or viewpoint or is written by someone who represents such an opinion or viewpoint that is the opposite of one you hold - msg #5
5. Read a book where letters from the title can spell words related to Halloween - msg #11
6. Read a book written by someone who has been a judge for any of the Man Booker prizes in any year - msg #12

Challenges #7-12
7. Read a book from the list Banned Books That Shaped America - msg #13
8. Read a book with a unit of time in the title - msg #14
9. Read a book that takes place in the American Southwest (Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Texas, & Utah) msg #18
10. Read a book with a 'harvest' word in the title or author's name - msg #34
11. Read a book everyone has read - bar you - msg #42
12. Read a book written by a Swiss author - msg #47

Challenges #13-18
13. Read a book by an author that is on the Top 75 Authors list - msg #48
14. Read a book that won or was nominated for the Bram Stoker Award - msg # 52
15. Read a biography, autobiography/memoir or (auto)biographical novel about/by an author who has written books for children - msg #60
16. Read a book that is set in a country that is a current member of the United Nations Security Council - msg #62
17. Read a book with a cover that is the color of autumn leaves - msg #71 - thread
18. Read a book written by a New Zealand born or resident author - msg #72

New challenges should be held until the November, 2013, TIOLI challenge is posted. Thank you!

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Challenge # 2: Read a book from the library of an LT Author
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Read a book listed in the library of an author who LibraryThings. The list of LibraryThing Authors is here. You can tell a "LibraryThing Author" by the badge in the upper right corner of their author page. This challenge is not for a book they wrote, but one which they've presumably read, or at least catalogued.

Examples:
Brian Keene: The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
Sam Enthoven: We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson
Richard E. Dansky: The Heart Shaped Box by Joe Hill
Louis Maistros: Dracula by Bram Stoker
Robert Shearman: Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
Scott Nicholson: Rosemary's Baby by Ira Levin
Guy Adams: Ghost Story by Peter Straub
Melissa Marr: Salem's Lot by Stephen King
Michelle A Belanger: H.P. Lovecraft's Book of Horror by H. P. Lovecraft
Stacia Kane: Hell House by Richard Matheson
Anne Frasier: The Shining by Stephen King
Steve Berman: The Books of Blood by Clive Barker
Kaaron Warren: The Exorcist by William Peter Blatty
Sandra Brown : The Winter Sea by Susanna Kearsley
Meg Waite Clayton: Family Pictures by Sue Green
Jamie Ford: The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
Diana Gabaldon: Kydd: A Naval Adventure by Julian Stockwin
John Green: Empire Falls by Richard Russo
Sarah Addison Allen: The Blind Contessa's New Machine by Carey Wallace
Hillary Jordan: Bel Canto by Ann Patchett
Lance Parkin: Doc by Maria Russell Doria
Sharon Kay Penman: To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

(The first baker's dozen on the examples list are LT Authors who have a good amount of horror in their catalogues, so if you're doing the halloween theme read, and your book doesn't fit any other challenges, it might match up in one of those author's libraries. A few of them use the "horror" tag, but horror books can be found in the others by using the tag mirror found on their member profile page linked from their author page.)

Challenge #3: Read a nonfiction book that has reached number 1 on the New York Times bestsellers list.

For a list of such titles, go here...
http://www.hawes.com/number1s.htm

Madeline, you're just so complex!

My Challenge #4: Read a book that expresses an opinion or viewpoint or is written by someone who represents such an opinion or viewpoint that is the opposite of one you hold - name the opinions

I do tend to read people who agree with me, so this month I'm going to take a little step away from my comfort zone. My planned reads are:

The Social Animal: The Hidden Sources of Love, Character, and Achievement (liberal democrat - conservative republican) David Brooks
The Spiral Staircase: My Climb Out of Darkness - (atheist - theist) Karen Armstrong

I like that challenge Madeline.

What happens if we get up to 10? Do we start over or can we only go back down to 9?

> 5

you're just so complex!

LOL!

> 6

If you get up to ten, you just go back to nine. However, you can go up or down a number any time. Example: 1-2-3-4-3-2-3-4-5-6-5-4-5-4 etc. Well...you get the idea.

You can NEVER go from 10 to 1, though.

I don't want to make these challenges too easy for everyone. Ha!

#8 Thanks. We'll probably stay in the lower range, I would imagine. You never know though.

> 8

Staying in the lower range will make it easier for other challengers. I challenge you to go for the higher numbers! :D

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Challenge #5 Read a book where letters from the title can spell words related to Halloween
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use only the list at http://www.enchantedlearning.com/wordlist/halloween.shtml

Examples:
Bran New Death = Death
Empty Mansions = mist
Gilt Trip = RIP
House at Riverton = haunts

If you have another word, just ask.

Have fun!

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CHALLENGE #6
Read a book written by someone who has been a judge of any of the Man Booker Prizes (the main one, the international prize, the "lost" Man Booker) in any year
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At the Man Booker exhibit at the Morgan Library, I was interested to note how the roster of judges has changed in recent years, including more celebrities (Nigella Lawson, that Downton Abbey guy), more critics and fewer authors. So I thought it might be interesting to revisit some of the works written by the judges.

Here's a list of some of those who would qualify; your choices range from poetry to serious fiction to light stuff and on to biography and scholarly writing. Something for everyone!

Robert Macfarlane
Stuart Kelly
Elif Batuman
Aminatta Forna
Tim Parks
Yiyun Li
Peter Stothard
Stella Rimington
Susan Hill
Justin Cartwright
Amanda Foreman
Tobias Hill
Andrew Motion
Andrei Kurkov
Jane Smiley
Victoria Glendinng
Giles Fodden
Nadine Gordimer
Colm Toibin
Hermione Lee
Simon Armitage
Alberto Manguel
Azar Nafisi
Beryl Bainbridge
AS Byatt
Rebecca West
Frank Kermode
Antonia Fraser
Saul Bellow
John Fowles
John Gross
Cyril Connolly
Elizabeth Bowen
Mary McCarthy
Edna O’Brien
Elizabeth Jane Howard
Peter Ackroyd
Philip Larkin
Clare Boylan
Paul Theroux
Claire Tomalin
Margaret Forster
Hermione Lee
Fay Weldon
Angela Carter
Libby Purves
Nina Bawden
Marina Warner
Bernice Rubens
PD James
Sebastian Faulks
Maggie Gee
Edmund White
David Lodge
Hilary Mantel
Kate Saunders
Penelope Fitzgerald
Ruth Rendell
A.N. Wilson
Rachel Billington
Rose Tremain
Michele Roberts
Philip Hensher
Kate Summerscale
Lisa Jardine
Salley Vickers
A.C. Grayling
DJ Taylor
Robert Macfarlane

Challenge #7: In honor of the just passed Banned Books Week read a book from the list Banned Books That Shaped America - started by auntieclio

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Challenge #8: Read a book with a unit of time in the title

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Both definite (second, hour, day) and indefinite (moment, eternity) terms are allowed.

>5 Citizenjoyce:: citizenjoyce, is it ok for your challenge to share a read, even if you yourself in fact do agree with the author's viewpoint? Or do you have to disagree if you do a shared read as well?

I think Challenge #1 in the Wiki-List needs adjustment, Madeline! :)

Fixed. Thanks, Liz!

***Challenge 9: Read a book that takes place in the American Southwest (Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Texas, & Utah)***

People as diverse as Georgia O'Keffe and Geronimo have called the Southwest home, finding great beauty in the desert landscape. For this challenge, read books that take place mainly in the Southwest or are about the Southwest, which I've defined for our purposes as the states of Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Texas, & Utah.

Here's what I'll be reading, but the choices are endless.

Death Comes for the Archbishop by Willa Cather
The Eagle: The Autobiography of Santa Anna by Antonio López de Santa Anna
Lamy of Santa Fe by Paul Horgan
Spider Woman's Daughter by Anne Hillerman

Lyzard -- could it be something like "night" or "day" or "summer"? Technically, these are units of time, but...?

>15 Britt84: Shared reads allowed, Britt.

>>#19

"Day", as in 24 hours, yes; "night" or "summer", no. Those are not time measures. At least not in my head.

Just being difficult. :)

ETA: I couldn't think how to put this before, but while I would accept "season" as a unit of time, I would say that "summer" is a description of a season and not a unit of time itself.

CHALLENGE # 1 ALERT!

Some books have been taken out of the challenge due to being disqualified. Re-read the rules and re-add your books if they still fit.

I told you to be careful and read the rules!

In addition, if you add a book after one that is disqualified, you yourself have to re-add it. Watch carefully for books that don't fit, and don't add your book under one that does not qualify!

I'm being tricky. Yes, the colon after the first word disqualifies it - even if there is a sneaky space after the colon because a space does not belong after the first word and before a colon!

Hmm, I added a book but then deleted it because I think the first disqualified book should count after all. Thirteen is excluded for being a number, so it's the second word, diamonds, that has 8 letters?

Only first words of the title count. You cannot count a second word. It's the first word I want. I don't want to delete any of the word titles. Maybe "excluded" was the wrong word. I'll have to re-word my rules.

I also wonder whether the Calcutta book could be listed just as "Calcutta", without the subtitle at all?

>24 SqueakyChu: Oh, then you may want to clarify that in the description. I took "excluded" to mean that we treated that word as if it just wasn't there.

> 25

I also wonder whether the Calcutta book could be listed just as "Calcutta", without the subtitle at all?

No, because LT lists the title of the book with an attached colon!

I'm going to check all of the titles to see how LT lists them. Check your own titles before I do!

>11 cyderry: Cheli, elf is on the approved words list for your Halloween challenge. Can I use the plural elves?

Haha! I just went back and had to disqualify my own first book and the one that followed it because of a hidden colon. :O

Challenge #1 now starts with the third book listed (3). All of those books qualify.

I think I'm now officially confused. Why was my Do or Diner tossed out? No colons there. It's a modest little mystery.

Where's the colon in your first book, Madeline?

ETA: Never mind, I see. I just don't understand why LT is putting those colons in as the official name of the book. Very strange.

> 30

Linda, I got tricked by my own rule! Oh, well... :)

Madeline, I'm questioning some of your disqualifications and would suggest that you need to clarify some of the rules, because you're applying slightly different and stricter rules.

"5. You may NOT use words with punctutation attached (e.g. colon or space colon, apostrophe, comma, period)."

This should say that titles mustn't include punctuation at all if that's the rule you're applying, not just the word that you're using - the colon isn't after "The" or "Do". I also don't think "a comfort mystery" is actually an intrinsic part of the title. I know that's how it's listed on LT but it's not even shown on the cover, and I often edit my titles on LT to remove stuff like that. Given how many books are absurdly listed as x and x: a novel or whatever.

6. "You may NOT use words that are numbers (whether written as a number or in words (ex. one, 8, ten, 10). "

Does that mean we can't use titles which include a number of any kind, or just ones where the number is the first word?

Luci/Madeline:
that was my understanding, too -- that the colon simply followed a word, and wasn't attached. For instance had the word been Winston's War, "Winston's" wouldn't have qualified. The kind of colon you're referring to, Madeline, isn't a part of a word, simply a way to separate a title from a subtitle of a book. Of course, you can still exclude it, but suggest that as Luci says, you specify that it follows the word. I don't see that as being attached, because a colon isn't part of the title, in the same way that a comma, dash, apostrophe is, where the punctuation serves a specific grammatical purpose. If you look at the jackets of books that use this, you'll see what I mean -- no book jacket has a colon after the title to represent the break between title and subtitle. It's only used when writing about the book.

I'm not, at this point, arguing that the book in question should be restored to the list; that is clearly too late for consideration. But I did read the rules, and that is not how I interpreted them after reading them.

#30 -- Linda, it's just the device used when we have to write about books, to make clear the break between what is a title and what is a subtitle. Someone at Random House explained it all to me, but I promptly forgot. But it was that person who told me I would never see this on a book jacket, and they were right, I never have!

ETA: I also remain puzzled by the disqualifications based on words that are not the first words. According to this interpretation, we can't use any titles that contain a colon anywhere (since the first word in The Broken Road is "the", and the colon only occurs after word #3.

As written, the instructions don't cover that: 5. You may NOT use words with punctutation attached (e.g. colon, apostrophe, comma, period). ETA: Please check your book's title against the original title on LT to be SURE you have no "colon" sticking to the end of the FIRST WORD of your book's title. In the case of the Patrick Leigh Fermor book, the colon followed the THIRD word.

So, does this mean no punctuation anywhere in the book title? And no numbers anywhere in the book title?

If not, then at least one of mine -- the PLF travel narrative -- should stand. If so, then I think the instructions need to be reworded. Regardless of the views on how colons are used, clearly the PLF travel narrative DID fit within the way the rules are written. Also worth noting -- if no colons are allowed anywhere in the title, this means banning about 75% of non-fiction books, and a chunk of fiction whose title is followed by : A Novel or : A so and so mystery. Again, that may be precisely what you want to do, even if there are many words between the first word and the title. But if so, I think this should be explicit, i.e. the title cannot include any punctuation or any numbers. Right now, as worded, it says the first word can't be a number or have a punctuation mark attached, but nothing about the title as a whole.

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Challenge #10: Read a book with a 'harvest' word in the title or author's name
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For example, The Haymeadow is my first choice.

The word should reflect the time of harvest, like "sheaves", or "barn", or a crop that is usually picked close to winter, not just a vegetable name.

You are all right. I was trying to do this with other things on my mind and while cooking dinner. Let's just make this simple instead of a fiasco.

I'll simplify and rewrite the rules. I seemed to be making them up as I was going along. Not a good idea. Truly, a bad idea.

I'm not, at this point, arguing that the book in question should be restored to the list; that is clearly too late for consideration

It's not too late. I'm putting it back.

I added all the books back into the challenge. I took out the requirement about the punctuation and being a number. I made it so confusing that I myself did not understand my own challenge.

It should be straightforward and clear now. Everyone has been reinstated. There is only one entry that needs to be moved up, but that can be done by whoever makes the next entry.

I'm so sorry to have started our new October challenges this way. :(

I hope the other things on your mind are nothing too worrying.

You've taken out the number rule altogether now - I assume you just meant to change it.

Thanks, Luci. I'll be okay. I was just feeling kind of down today, but I can't really put my finger on why.

I did mean to take out the number and the punctuation rule completely. Let's just keep it all simple for now. I promise you that, in the future, I'll make a more tricky challenge. However, I'll be sure to study it well ahead of time before allowing it to go "live".

28>>Elves is fine!

*hugs Madeline* Don't feel down :)
And hey, at least confusing challenges give us something to talk about ;)

Awww, Madeline, don't feel bad on our account. You do a great job on TIOLI and we don't thank you often enough for it.

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Challenge # 11: Read a book everyone has read - bar you
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You know that feeling that everyone else has read a book that you haven't got as far as reading yet? This challenge is to read a book that is new to you, but that has been catalogued by more than 5000 LT members. I do realise cataloguing a book doesn't mean they've read it, but without viewing each library I'm not sure how you'd differentiate - and that might be asking a bit much!

Please include the number of members when you list the book.

> 40, 41

Okay. This group really does say thank you very often, and I appreciate it. I'm off to a friend's today and will visit some Little free Libraries I've not yet seen on the way, so I'll be cheerful by the time I get back.

To relax last night, I took out an old jigsaw puzzle and started to do it. Sometimes just mindless entertainment can be calming. Now I know why they also sell gently used jigsaw puzzles in my local used book stores. They're magic - just like books! :)

On a happier note...I'm still "catching" challengers with my tricky (simple and new, but easier to understand...) rules. :D

Libraries: instant Rx for Happy! Enjoy, Madeline, and thanks for the clarification...

I'm loving the challenges this month. So far my planned reads are:
Challenge #1: Read a book whose title’s first word has 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, or 10 letters
✔Bumped - Megan McCafferty (3.5)
✔Gift From The Sea - Anne Morrow Lindberg E-Audioboook (3)
✔Tango: The Tale of an Island Dog - Eileen Beha - Audiobook (3)
✔Thumped - Megan McCafferty (3)
Removed Christian Nation: A Novel - Frederic C. Rich
Challenge #3: Read a nonfiction book that has reached number one on the New York Times bestsellers list
✔America (The Book) A Citizen's Guide to Democracy Inaction - Jon Stewart, Ben Karlin, and David Javerbaum - E-Audiobook (3)
✔We Are Our Mother's Daughters - Cokie Roberts E-Audiobook (5)
Moved to November My Beloved World - Sonia Sotomayor - E Audiobook
Challenge #4: Read a book that expresses an opinion or viewpoint or is written by someone who represents such an opinion or viewpoint that is the opposite of one you hold - name the opinions
✔The Social Animal: The Hidden Sources of Love, Character, and Achievement David Brooks - Audiobook - Book Club (2.75)
✔The Spiral Staircase: My Climb Out of Darkness - Karen Armstrong (5)
Challenge # 5 Read a book where letters from the title can spell words related to Halloween
Moved to November The Baby Business: How Money, Science, and Politics Drive the Commerce of Conception - Debora L. Spar
✔A Beautiful Mind - Sylvia Nasar - E-Audiobook (4.5)
✔Founding Mothers: The Women Who Raised Our Nation - Cokie Roberts - E-Audiobook (4)
✔The House of Velvet and Glass - Katherine Howe - Audiobook (3.5)
✔Never Have Your Dog Stuffed: And Other Things I've Learned - Alan Alda Audiobook (4)
✔Someone -Alice McDermott - Audiobook (4.5)
Challenge #6: Read a book written by someone who has been a judge for any of the Man Booker prizes in any year
Removed The Beginning of Spring - Penelope Fitzgerald
Challenge#7: In honor of the just passed Banned Books Week read a book from the list Banned Books That Shaped America
✔The Scarlet Letter - Nathaniel Hawthorn Audiobook (4)
Challenge #9: Read a book that takes place in the American Southwest (Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Texas, & Utah)
Removed Blood and Thunder: The Epic Story of Kit Carson and the Conquest of the America West- Hampton Sides - Audiobook
✔Our American West, Volume 1 - Gary McCarthy (3.75)
✔Stories of the Western Range: Three Tales by Louis L'Amour - Louis L'Amour - E-Audiobook (3.5)
✔When She Woke - Hillary Jordan - Audiobook (4)
Challenge #11: Read a book everyone has read - bar you
✔A Room of One's Own - Virginia Woolf (5)
Challenge #13: Read a book by an author that is on the Top 75 Authors list
✔The Long Earth - Terry Pratchett, Stephen Baxter - E Audiobook (3.5)
✔The Ocean at the End of the Lane: A Novel - Neil Gaiman - Audiobook (4.5)
Challenge #14: Read a book that won or was nominated for the Bram Stoker Award
✔The Drowning Girl - Caitlin R. Kiernan (3.25)
Challenge #16: Read a book that is set in a country that is a current member of the United Nations Security Council
✔The Klan Unmasked - Stetson Kennedy (5)
✔Montana 1948: A Novel - Larry Watson - Audiobook (5)

My book was the one with the number, and I'll log an apology: I simply missed the "not a number" requirement. Sorry for complicating things!

I'd offer to replace it with a title that conforms to the original rules, but I suspect that restoring the rule at this point would *really* throw a wrench in the gears ...

Challenge #12: Read a book written by a Swiss author
you may check http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liste_Schweizer_Schriftsteller

the author could have written in German, French, Italian, Romansh, etc., (s)he can (have) lived in Switzerland or not, that's not important, but citizenship is required (the English wikipedia page also lists authors who live(d) in Switzerland, but who are/were not Swiss, like Elias Canetti)

Anne Cuneo, Johanna Spyri, Pascal Mercier, Jeremias Gotthelf, Friedrich Dürrenmatt, Max Frisch etc.

Challenge #13: Read a book by an author that is on the Top 75 Authors list

The list can be found on the Zeitgeist tab:

http://www.librarything.com/zeitgeist

Right hand column, second item down.

I am much too old to squeal, Morphy, but I love your challenge. Well, actually, I love all the LT-site focused challenges. Off to find a book that works for me!

eta: I don't think it's ever happened before that 3 of the challenges in one month have utilized the zeitgeist!

Hmm... the book I added to challenge 11 is the book with the most readers so far... Not sure if this should make me proud, or should make me feel very ashamed of myself ;)

I just had this very wicked idea for a new kind of TIOLI challenges. Don't worry. I won't do it myself, nor will I change our own TIOLI challenges as they now stand. I thought it was a cool idea, however, so I wanted to throw it out to our crowd.

If someone else wants to take up this idea at some point, I won't mind. Seriously. It could be done parallel to or instead of our current TIOLI challenges.

It works like our own beloved TIOLI challenges with the following differences.

More rules... Ugh!
*makes frightened face*

1. It would be called the 12-12 challenge.
2. The total number of *original* challenges may not exceed 12 presented by 12 different challengers.
3. Each challenge may have no more than 12 books listed.
4. Books listed may not be back-to-back by the same challenger (so one person doesn't have too much control).
4. The challenger who lists the 12th book in any challenge would then have to present an *additional* challenge.
5. The are no limits to the number of additional challenges.
6. There is no date limit to when *additional* challenges can be posted.

What do you think? My brain must be fried by now!

I spent a quiet day yesterday with a friend and her mom, visited some Little Free Libraries in the Baltimore area, and I'm now back to my old (not that old) happy self! :)

I haven't participated in TIOLIT challenges for a while, but I decided it's time to try and get back into them.

Since it's October I thought a horror challenge was in order:

Challenge #14: Read a book that won or was nominated for the Bram Stoker Award.

50> It's OK, I may have to add my current read to that category if it won't fit anywhere else. Jane Eyre will happily beat your number of readers.

I'm thinking it better to ignore the fact that I'm a late-comer to the party and embrace the idea I turned up at all. >:-)

#51 -- sounds as if it would be a bit of a challenge (pun fully intentional) and probably far too much effort for me, at least! The fun of TIOLI is the creativity required to shoehorn what I want to read into a category of TIOLI... I think I'd just stick to the plain vanilla.

I would prefer to keep TIOLI as it is.

It will stay just as it is. That was just a wild and crazy idea I had to share! :)

I think it's a fun idea! I wouldn't mind trying it one month in addition to the regular TIOLI.

I agree with Zoe. Would be fun to try . . .

If you want to try it, you have to set it up and do it! That's the catch! :D

Challenge #15: Read a biography, autobiography/memoir or (auto)biographical novel about/by an author who has written books for children - started by elkiedee

You may choose an author who has only written children's books, or who has written books for children and adults. I won't get to all of them this month, but I have biographies of Dodie Smith, Rumer Godden and Noel Streatfeild, and memoirs by Nina Bawden and Penelope Lively to read.

I may try to read Rumer Godden's memoirs, or at least the first volume.

Any more challenges out there??
I still have a bunch of books that need a home...

Because October 24th is United Nations Day, I have just added the following challenge:

TIOLI Challenge #16: Read a book that is set in a country that is one of the fifteen current members of the United Nations Security Council

Link to current Security Council Members

Please list the country your book is set in on the Wiki.

Nice, Judy!

Am I really the first to finish a book? Cool! The TIOLI Meter needs a little adjustment, tho'! :)

What's wrong with the TIOLI meter?

Ah! Sorry, badly phrased - the TIOLI Meter link at the bottom of the page for Challenges #7 - #12 still goes to last month's.

#62, Thank you DeltaQueen. I believe Michael Ruhlman's Reach of the Chef will fill nicely there.

#62 thank you DeltaQueen from me too - I like to try and gets the books into different categories, so now have a slot for my current read.

Author Tom Clancy has died, at the young age of 66.

I've already offered a challenge for this month, so I can't add another.

Does anyone want to start a challenge to read one of Tom Clancy's books in memory of his life?

68> as he currently appears in the top 75 listed authors (number 50, I'm informed by LT's FB post) he actually already qualifies for Morphy's challenge #13.

That's obviously not stopping anyone posting a Clancy specific challenge, but there is a home for them if people did want to read him.

There is probably room for a thriller specific challenge, although I'm barred from launching it...

Challenge #17- Read a book with a cover that is the colors of autumn leaves

Self explanatory?

Challenge #18 - Read a Book written by a New Zealand born or resident author

New Zealand and it's writers are in the news again with Eleanor Catton a hot tip for the Booker prize and our Jenn relocating there!

To help this is a wikipedia list of New Zealand writers which is, of course, not exhaustive.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_New_Zealand_writers

Paul I love your challenge!! For once I am reading a New Zealand book and with only 450 pages to go in it I might even finish it in October.

It looks like a few Canadians are getting confused about Eleanor Catton... this article is in the paper here today:

http://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/books/9240947/Canadians-claim-Kiwi-Booker-P...

(oh and it is SO good to see a books story in the paper.)

72: I like that challenge! The Luminaries is currently at the top of my library book pile. I've just added a few writers to the New Zealand authors list, including Fiona Kidman and Alison Wong.

I have a few NZ born or resident writers on my shelves including, of course, Ms. Catton.
Maurice Shadbolt, Maurice Gee, Keri Hulme, Katherine Mansfield, Alan Duff, Ruth Park, Janet Frame, Lloyd Jones, Barbara Ewing, Ngaio Marsh and Ronald Hugh Morrieson are the other NZ writers on my shelves (Australian's will claim Ruth Park as their own but she was born and brought up in Auckland).

I really like the challenges this month.

Helen's challenge on the books "everyone has read bar you" had me thinking that there wouldn't be much to choose from. Well according to zeitgeist there are fully 865 books which qualify. One or two of 'em I haven't read either!

Here is the list for those interested.

http://www.librarything.com/z_books.php

>76 PaulCranswick: yeah, I looked at the zeitgeist as well. Lord of the Flies was the book highest up on the list that I hadn't read yet, and it happens to be sitting on my nightstand, so I figured it was a good choice :)

I'll give a shout out for Lloyd Jones after reading Hand Me Down World last year or the year before.

Wow, I had to get to #48 Sense and Sensibility before I got to a book I was willing to read* and haven't read yet. I won't be reading that, but I will be reading the next one I haven't read - #52 Of Mice and Men - as it's on hold waiting for pick up at the library!

*I read Twilight and was thoroughly unimpressed. I'm not reading anymore Meyer. Plus three classics I honestly tried to read and couldn't stand.

76> I'm mildly embarrased to admit I hadn't looked at that list - only now twigged that its there. That does make picking a book easier. I wasn't sure where to put the member cut off, plumped for 5000 and crossed my fingers! Seems there's plenty of scope. *phew*

I just wish it marked which books you had cataloged/read!

I never thought to look at the zeitgist either for challenge #11. The highest book I haven't read is #22 The Hunger Games which I have and in easy reach too... but I've been strangely resistant to it.

I read all three of the hunger games books, and actually liked them, though I did feel that Katniss was sometimes frustratingly oblivious to everything that was going on around her.
And, yes, I also read all of the twilight books :P Didn't really like them, but wanted to know what the fuss was about. I'll agree that I could have read just the first, but hey, I figured I'd just make my way through to the end. They're very quick reads anyway, so it didn't take much time.

Hmm, giving me ideas for next month...

ETA: Nnngh, maybe not. Too close to my challenge for this month.

I haven't read any of the top ten, which includes all the Harry Potter books. I did try to read The Hobbit once, but I really disliked it. I am not one for fantasy. My favorite classics tend to be the dark brooding ones.

Laurie - finally someone else who hasn't read any Harry Potter books!

I haven't read any Harry Potter books either, Paul.

I read the first Harry Potter but that's it for me. Maybe someday.

I've not read any Harry Potter books either. We could start an unfan club... ;)

Now there's a club I could join. One of the munchki got me with a "how can you say you don't like it if you haven't read it" guilt trip. So I read the first one. Now I can say I don't like it legitimately. Years later, a different munchkin got me the same way over twilight. I couldn't even read the whole thing.

October TIOLI #16. Read a book that is set in a country that is a current member of the United Nations Security Council - The Reach of a Chef by Michael Ruhlman (US)

The Reach of a Chef is the third book Michael Ruhlman has written about chefs. In each one he has taken on one aspect of being a chef; just starting, established, and now, when a chef can no longer be in the kitchen and do the thing he loves to do most, cook.

Mostly, he writes about celebrity chefs like Thomas Keller. He also writes about the tv chefs, Emeril Legasse, Rachael Ray, Bobby Flay, etc.

Ruhlman revisits the CIA and chefs and restaurants he's written about in his earlier books to find out what's changed. He discusses not only what's changed but how, what the perception of the well-known chef is, and what it takes to go from chef to celebrity chef or tv chefs.

One of the things I like most about Ruhlman's books is that he challenges the readers to think about their ideas of what being a chef means. This is the existential question for The Reach of a Chef. If a chef can no longer physically work the line, what's the next thing? If a chef begins to own multiple restaurants and spends his time with marketing and branding people, is he still a chef? And what does that mean to the consuming public?

Of course, as with all existential questions, there are no neat answers here. What works for Emeril Legasse and has propelled him into superstar status in the cooking world doesn't work for Thomas Keller. Perhaps I should note that this isn't a question which keeps me up at night, and I understand why it needs to be asked.

Well, I have to say, fair is fair, I agree that the first book in the Harry Potter series isn't that great. I did end up reading the entire series, and I did like the later books, but I really think Rowling developed a lot as an author over the course of the series.
Aside from that, everybody likes different things, so I really don't see why some people seem to think everybody should like Harry Potter. Fantasy is a pretty specific genre, and I know plenty of people who don't like fantasy at all, so, naturally, they don't like Harry Potter either. We should be glad everybody's different, I mean, the world would be terribly boring if everybody was exactly the same and liked exactly the same things.

... We should be glad everybody's different, I mean, the world would be terribly boring if everybody was exactly the same and liked exactly the same things. ...

Hear, hear!

But... but... but...

I love fantasy so everyone should love fantasy!

NYAH!

You're so right, Britt. I don't read much fantasy, but I believe that I've taken a few recommendations from you, Morphy; can't remember now which - maybe Sara Addison Allen or something like that. What would that be? Fantasy light?

I've tried The Hobbit several times in my teens and simply couldn't get into it. It's on the list that I think I ought to try again, but when there's so many books I want to read, those I ought to read tend to get shoved to the bottom of the list again and again and again...
I used to think Fantasy wasn't my thing, but have read more of it in recent years, so maybe it is time to be brave & try again.

>96 Helenliz: Garden Spells is what would be called Magical Realism, a subset of Fantasy. It's "Real Life" with just a touch of magic.

Helen, I do think sometimes something you read years ago can be very different when you read it again. I'm not very old yet, so for me I feel that it might also have to do with being 'too young' when I read certain books the first time, but even if you're older, your tastes still change over time.
Then again, I very much agree with you that reading books you really want to read often gets in the way of reading those books you feel you ought to try again :) I have that same problem, with quite a number of books I didn't enjoy much when I started reading them when I was in my early teens, but which I think I should really try again some time; somehow I never seem to get around to reading those books, though I do read lots of other books :P

And at 95&97: I love magical realism! But I do feel that it is different from ehm, 'real' fantasy. Like Morphi says, magical realism is the real world with some magic added, while a lot of fantasy is set in a completely different universe.

For those who think they wouldn't like fantasy (and I usually don't), try Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere. It's quite enjoyable. For "urban fantasy", try The Land of Laughs by Jonathan Carroll. Don't prejudge them or read what they're about. Just pick them up, start reading them, and put them down only if you find you don't like them. I think you'll enjoy both of them.

#99 I don't like fantasy, though years ago, in college, I took a course on Science Fiction and Fantasy.

Anyway, lots of people recommended Neverwhere. I did not like it at all and put it aside. Maybe someday, I'll pick up another. My mother is raving about the first in a futuristic Chicago trilogy. Divergent? Maybe I'll like it due to the Chicago connection.

Madeline, at some point, maybe I'll try that urban fantasy you mentioned.

Well, now that you mention it, Chicago is recognizable in Divergent. But it's like an anemic, not as well written version of The Hunger Games. I'm not convinced that I want to read the others in that series, although after reading the first "Hunger Games" book, I went straight through the next two books in only two days...

Good to know, Suz. Thanks. I've never read The Hunger Games but saw the first movie and really enjoyed it. Making plans to see the new one when in opens (Nov 21st?).

I *love* fantasy and didn't like Neverwhere. So tastes vary widely even within fantasy.

FYI, On page two of the wiki (challenges 7-12), if you click on the link to the TIOLI Meter, it takes you to the one for December 2012. For a second though, I thought someone had already read 37 books in 4 days!

> 104

Fixed. Thanks.

I thought I wouldn't like fantasy until someone convinced me to read Tigana by Guy Gavriel Kay and I loved it. I ended up reading his The Lions of Al-Rassan too and loved that even more so I consider myself a fantasy reader now.

I read the first Harry Potter, didn't like it much so never continued in the series. I know when it comes to series, the first is often improved upon as the series continues but I have no desire to revisit that series.

The reason I enjoyed Harry Potter is that they were a fantastic twist on the English boarding school stories that I devoured as a young girl -- Enid Blyton, the Chalet School, etc. Just those with magic instead of midnight feasts, and Quidditch instead of lacrosse or field hockey... :-)

cyderry - for the list of Halloween words- I just finished My Friend Dahmer. Although death is on the list, die is not. Would you accept that? I can also make 'fiend' and even 'damned' from that title which are also not on the list. Do any of these sound good?

You can also make fear, which is on the list, streamsong.

Aaaaaaah, thank you, Crazymamie!

Remember that in challenge 1, words like "the", "an" and "a" count. You probably will get a chance to list The Fall of Arthur in Challenge 1, or you could move it to Challenge 5, but it doesn't fit in the sequence at the moment.

or The Fall of Arthur would also fit in Challenge #5 with the word fall, fear, hat, or troll

Doh! I totally spaced out on the concept of challenge 1 and thought we were counting words in the title (we've had a lot of variations on that one in TIOLI, I guess). I'm using challenge 5 so much that I'd like to find another spot for The Fall of Arthur but I'm not worrying about it quite yet.

Karen O.

Like in challenge 13 (top LT authors)! Good old Tolkien finds a comfy spot here. Sorry about the goof-up!

Karen O.

>113 klobrien2:

That's okay, Karen. I total and completely spaced out about the "rules" of my own challenge - so much so that I almost didn't have an entry for it. I've gotten over that severe trauma by now, though! :D

I added Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand to challenge #3

(116) i liked her book about Seabiscuit. I think I'll put your book on my 'to read' list, thanks!

Fuzzi I have yet to read Seabiscuit. I have it on my to read list. I hope you enjoy the book as much as I did.

Finished The Cat who Went to Paris for the Halloween words challenge. I had read it about ten years ago, and found it to be an enjoyable reread.

I just finished Barbara Pym's An Unsuitable Attachment, an enjoyable social comedy which was sadly rejected by her publishers when she sent it in - my copy has an introduction by Philip Larkin, one of her best known fans. It was serialised on the radio a few years ago and made me more keen to try Barbara Pym's books (though I've owned at least one of her books intending to read it for about 20 years).

I know it's been listed by two people in Challenge 5, and I will list it there for the sake of shared reads if you say no, but I'd like to suggest a move to Challenge 2 - I think it's probably in quite a few LT author libraries but I found NancyKay Shapiro and Liz Broomfield (several of us know Liz from the VMC group). Challenge 5 is shaping up to be one of the catch all challenges and I already have two completed books listed there - the UN Security Council is another as I have so many books set in the US or UK, but I'm reading a book set in Australia.

Paul, I love your entry of Howards End is on the Landing for Challenge 4 - I don't think I can bear to read some of the possibilities for me in this one, and I also won't buy books by Tory MPs (unless you count P D James, who is a Conservative peer) . I've since discovered that Susan Hill enjoys hanging out on Twitter, despite the views on the internet expressed in her book. I do have a memoir called Too Nice to Be a Tory (which I didn't buy new) and was about to start reading it but remembered that I need to read a book for my own challenge.

I have been searching for a place to fit The Inheritors by William Golding and I was so happy to find I could fit it into Challenge #1, I didn't think my timing would ever be good enough to find the 3 letter spot open!

Oh dear. There's something about the rolling challenge that makes trying to add a book there almost irresistible. I've manged to add a book I'd already posted in challenge 17 (autumn colours). But - fear not - I'll not let my blunder impact on those who've put in books after me - it stays in #1 and is removed from #17.
Bother - must remember where I've put books!

Thanks Luci; I was tempted to go with Ron Paul and his strange isolationist brand of capitalism for the same challenge but had similar "stomach" issues.

Paul, for challenge 12, are non-fiction books allowed? (the link is for Swiss literature). Elisabeth Kubler-Ross had joint US/Swiss citizenship. I know I could put On Death and Dying in Halloween words - which seems crass, somehow- and probably also challenge 1 where I already have several books, but I like to spread things around a bit, too.

>125 streamsong: No hindrance there, I just mentioned the authors which came to mind. It says 'Read a book written by a Swiss author' - I didn't intend to limit that to so called literature, it's open to any Swiss who wrote a book.

Thank you, Paul. It's been added.

Crud, I actually have about ten books that I am actively reading right now.

>120 elkiedee: I'll move An Unsuitable Attachment to Challenge 2. It doesn't really matter to me.

128: Thanks for that!

>120 elkiedee:, 128, 129 Me, too.

Thanks!

For Challenge #13 I chose To Ride Pegasus. I enjoyed reading Anne McCaffrey's Rowan series, but I am unable to find anything I like about her characters in this book.

Hi, SqueakyChu!

I've added a book to challenge 1 that has six letters in the first word (the previous entry has five). But...the first word also has punctuation--I assumed that we just skipped over the punctuation, but you know what they say about assuming (!)

The book is 'Salem's Lot by Stephen King. Okay for challenge 1?

Karen O.

I've added 2 Neil Gaiman reads to challenge #13 a book by an author that is on the Top 75 Authors list - Fortunately, the milk, a children's book and Make good art which takes Gaiman's 2012 commencement speech, applied imaginative typography & colours and presto a cool little inspirational gift book.

> 133

Okay for challenge 1?

Absolutely!

When we had that giant hullaballoo at the beginning of the month (when even I did not understand my own rules), I threw out the rule about punctuation.

Keep 'Salem's Lot* in challenge #1. I love the writing of Stephen King (usually). My husband just finished reading Doctor Sleep in two days!

*...which really does have a lot of punctuation for a word of only five letters. :)

I've finished Mudbound in challenge 2. After The help last month that's two books in the deep south in quick succession. I do not even begin to understand racism of that nature. So it's not that either story was bad, it's that I simply fail to have any point of connection, I can't comprehend the starting point. Maybe that's just me.

Quotes Day!

Share a quote from a book you've read so far this month...

Madeline - Just read A.A. Gill Is Further Away which is eminently quotable. Here is the comment he made which qualified him for TIOLI Challenge #4.

"There is also a divide between north and south Albania. The north is called Gheg, the south Tosk. Gheg is tough, uncouth, aggressive; the south, educated, civilised, Italianate. It's a bit like England."

:)

The essays of A.A. Gill in your book look like good reading, Paul. Feel free to share other notable quotes.

From an interview with blogger Karyn Reeves:

I think of the books I own as providing some kind of record of my life, and the collection is a reminder that time has passed to some purpose.

Songs of Willow Frost by Jamie Ford:

"William had been to the public library only once before, on a field trip, and even though he wasn't allowed to check out anything, he never forgot how it felt to wander in and see books on shelves as high as the ceiling. The library is like a candy store where everything is free."

I had missed the fact that there was a thread for challenge number 17 - Read a book with a cover that is the color of autumn leaves.

I'll repost the addy in case others have also missed it. http://www.librarything.com/topic/159743

From Heidi by Johanns Spyri: The German grandmother explains Heidi about prayer:
Siehst du, was du nun von ihm erbitten wolltest, das war in diesem Augenblick nicht gut für dich, der liebe Gott hat dich schon gehört, er kann alle Menschen auf einmal anhören und übersehen, siehst du, dafür ist er der liebe Gott und nicht ein Mensch wie du und ich. Und weil er nun wohl wusste, was für dich gut ist, dachte er bei sich: Ja, die Heidi soll schon einmal haben, wofür sie bittet, aber erst dann, wenn es gut für sie ist, und sie darüber recht froh werden kann.

(Look, what you asked of God wasn't so good for you at that moment. God has heard you, as he hears everybody, for he is God, and not a mere man like you and me. Since he knows what is best for you, he thought by himself: Yes, Heidi will get what she prays for, but then when it will be good for her and she will be happy then.)

Challenge #11 A book everyone else has read - bar me.

Going through the Top 1000 List looking for titles I have on my shelf but haven't read. Here's my shortlist - help me decide.

The Shack
Wuthering Heights
The Shadow of the Wind
Longitude

Most votes by the time I wake up Saturday morning wins (it might only take one vote!)

Dear lord, not Wuthering Heights. It's awful. I'd pick The Shadow of the Wind.

I second The Shadow of the Wind.

Oh yes, definitely The Shadow of the Wind!

My vote would also be for The Shadow of the Wind. Haven't read the other two so cannot comment and Wuthering Heights is something to read in deepest midwinter.

I'd also go for The shadow of the wind.

Read Shadow of the Wind, but Longitude is good too, and probably a little shorter. Gotta add a little Sobel love.

Hmm, I guess my vote won't really make much of a difference now, but, yes, Shadow of the Wind is really nice.

I thought Shadow of the Wind was brilliant, but is a book to be savoured. Longitude was very interesting. Both good in different ways.

It's uncomfortable on this fence, can I have a cushion?

I would say not The Shadow of the Wind because its written by a man who obviously has never met a real live woman. His female characters are pure fantasy. I'd go with Wuthering Heights or maybe Longitude, though I've never read the latter.

>153 Citizenjoyce:: lol! I have to say I didn't really find that annoying in Shadow of the Wind, but it is a problem many male authors seem to struggle with :P
I personally also really loved Wuthering Heights, but I know many people who didn't like it at all so I'm more hesitant about recommending it to people. Shadow of the Wind seems like something that appeals to many different people, so a more safe bet if you make a recommendation.

I never read Longitude or The Shack. Longitude sounds really interesting, might need to check that out some time...

I'm really enjoying your discussion. I own Shadow of the Wind and realize I take it off my shelf, sounds like a lot of you think highly of it. And unsuspectedly hit by a bb, Longitude goes on to my Christmas wishlist.

Wow! Look at all you night owls and early birds. Thanks for all the responses.

Looks like the winner is The Shadow of the Wind by quite a margin. And for added enjoyment, I'll have your assorted comments rattling around my brain as I read.

I'll have to look for other challenges to put the others in - keep that in mind all of you adding Longitude to your lists.

For challenge #5, I can make jack o lantern without the punctuation (jack-o'-lantern). Is that OK?

yes!

Quick Reads Day!

Feel free to post your suggestions...

The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman is short enough (192 pages) to manage quickly yet this month. And sufficiently spooky for the season. It's not my genre of choice, but I thoroughly enjoyed the chills. It is currently listed in two challenges: 2 and 13.

Thanks for noticing, countrylife, I moved my The Ocean at the End of the Lane to challenge 2. I loved it and found it much spookier than I was expecting. I wanted to share it with my 12 year old niece but decided it would probably be too much for her.

I can't remember, is today quotes day? Thanks to Challenge 11 and Carmenere I'm reading my first ever Virginia Woolf, A Room of One's Own and came upon this idea which is a staple of modern times, but I hadn't known it came from Woolf:
Women have served all these centuries as looking-glasses possessing the magic and delicious power of reflecting the figure of man at twice its natural size. Without that power probably the earth would still be swamp and jungle. The glories of all our wars would be unknown. We should still be scratching the outlines of deer on the remains of mutton bones and bartering flints for sheepskins or whatever simple ornament took our unsophisticated taste. Supermen and Fingers of Destiny would never have existed. The Czar and the Kaiser would never have worn their crowns or lost them. Whatever may be their use in civilized societies, mirrors are essential to all violent and heroic action. That is why Napoleon and Mussolini both insist so emphatically upon the inferiority of women, for if they were not inferior, they would cease to enlarge.

Quotes day was October 14, but for you, Joyce, today can be Quotes Day! :)

Oh citizenjoyce! I haven't started ARoOO yet. It looks to be a quick one, so I shall start it tomorrow. Great quote.

A few recommendations for quick reads:
Challenge 2: Neil Gaiman's Stardust, a lovely fairy tale that I enjoyed much more as a book even after having seen the movie.
Challenge 8: Kazuo Ishiguro's The Remains of the Day, period piece about a butler, which made me look at Carson in a somewhat different light on watching the next episode of Downtown Abbey.
Challenge 10: Jefferson B. Parker's Promised Land, Spenser of TV fame takes a look at feminism in the 70s.
Challenge 11: Laura Esquivel's Like Water for Chocolate, magical realism and shared family history surrounding food against the backdrop of the Mexican Revolution.
Challenge 16: Mohammed Hanif's A Case of Exploding Mangoes, dark comedy following events leading to the death of Pakistani dictator Zia ul-Haq may be a bit long for a quick read at just over 300 pages, but it I found it quite engaging and it was over too soon.

One week to go...what do you have left?

I have two:

1. A Tale of Two Cities
2. The Phantom Rickshaw

Announcing...

The September TIOLI Stats!

In September, 2013, 503 books (the same exact number as in August, 2013) were read in 22 challenges. Of these, 89 or 17% were shared books. They accumulated 47 TIOLI points for a YTD total of 570 points (less than any year since 2010).

The most popular books were Maddaddam by Margaret Atwood and How the Light Gets In by Louise Penny - both books each were read by 5 challengers.

The most popular challenge was Carmenere's "Serendipity Challenge' to read a book containing one element (author, location, theme, etc.) from previously listed book. It had 86 books listed.

My (SqueakyChu's) challenge to read a book with at least one word of an apple variety in the book title had 8 TIOLI points, the highest per any challenge this month.

Coming soon...September's awards!

How lucky can I get? I just completed a book that I'd originally not placed in a TIOLI category. It had 6 letters in the first word (other than "a", "an", or "the") and that spot was open on the first challenge!

This is probably my worst reading month of the year (in terms of both quality and quantity). Hopefully, November will be better.

#169 - I'll keep my fingers crossed that better books are just on the horizon for you, Linda.

I have three more books that I hope to finish before the month end, I have been saving The Woman In Black so I could finish the month with a ghost story.

>168 thornton37814: In Madeline's list of rules for challenge #1 is: 4. The words "a", "an", and "the" DO COUNT as first words of the title for this challenge.
The first word of your title is the which has only 3 letters, so it does not seem to fit where you put it, Thornton.

I misread that then. I thought I read it as they do not count. Oh, well. I'll find another place.

ETA: I found the word "dead" in the title, so it fits Challenge #5: Read a book where letters from the title can spell words related to Halloween.

Challenge #5 has been my favorite this month! I've been reading a lot of Halloween-ey books, but any book can work if you do a little scrabble thinking.

Karen O.

I've finished Lord of the Flies, so that's one less 'classic' that I haven't read ;)

I still want to finish The Spiral Staircase before the end of the month; many thanks to Citizenjoyce for adding it to her challenge, I really love it so far, I'm finding it a very impessive read. And... Karen Armstrong will be holding a lecture and discussion session at my university the 31st, so I'm really really excited about that :)

Oh, you're so lucky, Britt. I'd love to hear her speak.

Has the November TIOLI challenge started yet? Can't seem to find anything and usually the new month starts before the old one ends.

Don't think it has Jen.. it's always a bit of a surprise when the new month is started ;) and there's two more days in October...

Madeline likes to mess with our minds...

Hope she is ok.

Maybe she is planning a Halloween trick... or treat!

I hope Madeline is ok as well, she never did post the September Awards. Has anybody seen her around the threads in the last few days?

that's true... odd... hope everything is all right :/

I suspect she's cooking up something devilish for us for November...

I'm here...the awards are coming tonight!

LIKE

Here are the September, 2013, TIOLI Awards...

The Generosity Award goes to _Zoe_. Why? Well, it's because she created a challenge for only one person with her challenge to read a book that someone else acquired at a bookstore you'd like to visit. Hmmm? If only one other person would have matched that read, _Zoe_ would have had a challenge with 100% of the books being shared reads! :)

The Best Subject Award goes to elkiedee for reading Unexpected Lessons in Love by Bernardine Bishop for fuzzi's challenge to read a book that has a "School" word in the title or author's name, to celebrate "Back to School". Lessons in love... Yep! That's what I want to study in school!

The Lotsa Landforms (say that three times ina row very quickly!) Award goes to both elkiedee for reading The Driver's Seat and to lizard for reading Ruth Fielding On Cliff Island, both books of which have two landforms. ...but, hey! Isn't a "field" a land form also? If so, Lyzard gets a gold award while elkiedee only gets a silver award. But then, again, elkidee already has two awards. Sheesh!

The Good Dectective Award goes to soul of the rose for reading X Y Z: A Detective Story for auntieclio's challenge to read a book whose title or author contains a rarely used letter. Not only did the book contain two rarely used letters, but do you know how hard it is to find a book with a title that starts with the letter "X"?!

The Aibohphobia Award goes to JenMDB for her challenge to read a book with a palindrome in the title or author's name. If you're wondering what "aibohphobia" means, it's a joke word meaning "fear of palindromes", deliberately constructed so as to be one. Heh!

Congrats to the September Award winners...and be on the look out for November's TIOLI challenges coming...whenever! :D

Madeline likes to mess with our minds...

Oh, really?! :)

Mais, oui....

Confess, you love keeping everyone on edge at the end of every month -- and then tormenting us with the complexity of the challenges...

but, hey! Isn't a "field" a land form also?

Ha! I actually thought of that at the time, Madeline, but in the end I decided that a "field" was too man-made to be a landform, so I stuck with "cliff" and "island"!

Happy to share my award with Luci - thank you! :)

Phew! so relieved you're all still here in October and you didn't run away and leave me.

And wow - my first award! I'm well chuffed.

See you in November - whenever that may be.

you love keeping everyone on edge at the end of every month -- and then tormenting us with the complexity of the challenges...

Who? Me?!

LOL!!

#186 thank you! I have been looking hard for a book title that starts with "X" to round out my alphabetical challenge. And it's on Project Gutenberg! Free is even better.

Thank you, Donna! - I've been waiting for a '4' or '6' book in Challenge #1! :)

#186 Yay! I got an award - thanks Madeleine :-)

Housekeeping Day!

After you finish eating all of your Halloween candy and finish reading your last October book, remember to delete those books from the wiki that you haven't finished this month. They can be moved to November's challenges if they fit the requirements.

Happy Halloween!

I finished my last read for the month, Alan Alda's Never Have Your Dog Stuffed (what a life). I was able to move 2 books to November and deleted a few. Now on to the candy.

Pass the Reese's peanut butter cups. Thanks, Joyce!

I was over-ambitious and a slower than usual reader this month...

No candy here -- it all left the house and I had to turn off the lights and hide.

I always think I'm buying less candy than last year, and I always have some left over, including peanut butter cups. I'll have Scotty beam them to you, Madeline.

I managed to completely forget I'd finished the book in my own challenge! Have caught up with the housekeeping now. (well in TIOLI land I have - lets not ask about housekeeping at home...)

> 199

Thanks, Joyce!

*forgets to jump on the scale this morning*

No candy here, we don't celebrate halloween :( And peanut butter cups don't exist here, now that's definitely something I miss :(

I didn't get to finish adding my October-read books yesterday, can I still do so today, or is it too late?

> 203

You can add your books now.

When you see all those question marks on the wiki, that means I'm beginning to tally the stats. That means I haven't gotten to the final tally yet. The final tally varies depending when I have time to do them. I try for sooner rather than later.

October TIOLI #2: Read a book from the library of an LT Author (note the LT Author's Name) - The Grift by Debra Ginsberg (library of Darlene Marshall)

I truly enjoy Debra Ginsberg's gift of storytelling. The Grift is the story of a woman who learned the techniques of cold reading and pretending to be a psychic to protect herself in childhood. Marina makes this her living, all the while determined to "retire" after earning enough money.

Her move to San Diego and building a client base of rich, low self-esteem, needy people goes fairly well. Until the day she meets the Mysterious Stranger (duhn duhn duhn) and things go sideways. Now she's really got the "gift" and it interferes with her ability to keep her clients happy.

Things fall apart, people go mad blaming Marina for things she has no control over. That's what needy people do. Wrap it up in one big angry scene, in which murder is revealed, Marina's life gets back on track and everyone sorta lives happily ever after.

October TIOLI #2: Read a book from the library of an LT Author (note the LT Author's Name) - Orlando by Virginia Woolf (library of John Green)

Orlando is odd, and I can't quite put my finger on why I think it's odd. It's not the gender bending, although the "and one day Orlando woke up and was a woman" was definitely odd. Finding that one of her lovers had been pursuing her in drag was not so odd as puzzling. The three centuries Orlando lives in this tale is a little odd. I understand the parody of biography Woolf is writing, and the pokes she takes at rigid cultural mores which insist women must behave in certain ways and are not allowed to have sexual interest in other women. I just found the whole book odd, and a bit of a slog and finished it because I've never read Virginia Woolf before and felt I owed it to myself to finish.

TIOLI #7. Read a book from the list Banned Books That Shaped America - Howl by Allen Ginsberg

Oh, my beloved Howl. After each reading I find more depth, more which speaks to me. Allen Ginsberg has found a permanent place in my heart.

TIOLI #8: Read a book with a unit of time in the title (50 years) - The Poem that Changed America: "Howl" Fifty Years Later edited by Jason Shinder

This collection of essays goes beyond the text to the meaning and impact on each individual touched in some way by this marvelous poem.. The blurb on the back cover states, "... the poem also contained a strange, subversive power that continues to exert its influence to this day." That's not hyperbole. Every time I read "Howl" I feel closer to the text and to the "true me" screaming to be let out. It's as though Ginsberg reaches out and tells me, "You can do this, you can be this, you can ...."

TIOLI #1. Read a book whose title’s first word has 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, or 10 letters (3): Why Kerouac Matters by John Leland

Those who read On the Road and saw it as a handbook for being irresponsible and rebellious, got it wrong. Kerouac wanted more for himself, and through his character Sal Paradise, showed that the way to get through life is to go through it and mature through its experiences. John Leland takes the reader behind the scenes to dig into the character of Kerouac and what he was trying to achieve with On the Road. Not quite completely biography, nor literary criticism, although a little of both. This is a good introduction to Kerouac and the literary milestone that is On the Road.

TIOLI #11. Read a book everyone has read - bar you - On the Road by Jack Kerouac. I have read On the Road The Original Scroll several times but never actually the published version.

Well. Having read the Original Scroll several times because it was love at first sentence, the realization set in that I needed to read the edited version. And it's very different from the Original Scroll. Better in a lot of ways, I think. The characters are still irresponsible, selfish, jerks with few redeeming qualities. But what pulls me in, time and time again, is the search for self. Knowing there's more and searching for it, whether it's on the road or, as in my case, through photography. I identified so strongly with the feeling of not fitting in and searching for my own way. And the language, I love the language. The frenetic energy, the firehose, it all makes me fall in love again and reminds me to keep searching for me