Take It or Leave It Challenge - March 2014 - Page 2
This is a continuation of the topic Take It or Leave It Challenge - March 2014 - Page 1.
Talk 75 Books Challenge for 2014
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1SqueakyChu
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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Today is a red letter day. "What's that?", you may ask. A red letter day is a day that is pleasantly noteworthy or memorable. Our red letter day is today because I'm announcing that your challenge for March, 2014, is to ... read a book whose title is in red letters.
Rules:
1. All of the letters of the complete title must be red. The subtitle letters may be any color.
2. The red letters must be either on the front of the book or on the book's spine. The back of the book does not count.
3. You must have the copy of the book in your possession with the red-lettered title. You cannot use ebooks or other copies of the book. Caveat: A "match" may be an ebook or another copy of the book. However, the original challenger's book listed must have the red-lettered title.
4. If the letters look red to you, although they may be questionably red-orange, I'll accept your opinion.
5. You can match a book at any time - even if you do not possess the copy with the red-lettered title.
Please note where the red letters are found in your listing, like this...
Dead Sleep (spine) - Greg Iles - SqueakyChu
Pygmy (front/spine) - Chuck Palahnik - paulstalder
Find your book...and have fun!
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Other Fun Stuff (not part of the TIOLI challenge):
1. The March 2014 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 12/25/13)
Simple directions for posting to the wiki can be found at the bottom of each month's wiki page.
...logo by cyderry
------------------------------------------------------------------
Today is a red letter day. "What's that?", you may ask. A red letter day is a day that is pleasantly noteworthy or memorable. Our red letter day is today because I'm announcing that your challenge for March, 2014, is to ... read a book whose title is in red letters.
Rules:
1. All of the letters of the complete title must be red. The subtitle letters may be any color.
2. The red letters must be either on the front of the book or on the book's spine. The back of the book does not count.
3. You must have the copy of the book in your possession with the red-lettered title. You cannot use ebooks or other copies of the book. Caveat: A "match" may be an ebook or another copy of the book. However, the original challenger's book listed must have the red-lettered title.
4. If the letters look red to you, although they may be questionably red-orange, I'll accept your opinion.
5. You can match a book at any time - even if you do not possess the copy with the red-lettered title.
Please note where the red letters are found in your listing, like this...
Dead Sleep (spine) - Greg Iles - SqueakyChu
Pygmy (front/spine) - Chuck Palahnik - paulstalder
Find your book...and have fun!
-----------------------------------
Other Fun Stuff (not part of the TIOLI challenge):
1. The March 2014 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 12/25/13)
2SqueakyChu
Wiki Index of Challenges:
Challenges #1-6
1. Read a book with a red-lettered title - msg #1
2. Read a book with a word in the title or author's name suggesting the end of something - msg #3
3. Read a book with a word in the title that starts with a vowel - msg #15
4. Read a book with a predominantly green cover - msg #8 - thread
5. Read a book by or about someone who served in World War I - msg #12
6. Read a book about photography, a photographer or that uses a photograph or camera as a plot device - msg #13
Challenges #7-12
7. Read a book that shares the title of a book you've read previously - msg #14
8. Read a book about an injustice - msg #17
9. Read a book whose title's initial letter spells out DAYLIGHT, on a rolling basis - msg #24
10. Read a book you consider a classic - msg #25
11. Read a relative "chunkster" - msg #26
12. Read a book with "Ides" or "Caesar" in the title or author's name - msg #30
Challenges #13-18
13. Read a book that includes characters from myth or folklore - msg #38
14. Read a book by an author from a Commonwealth country other than UK or Ireland- msg #51
15. Read a book with something in the title that you might give up for Lent in the title msg #67
16. Read a book that was offered as part of Early Reviewers, but that you got elsewhere. - msg #92
17. Read a mystery written for a children's or young adult audience- msg #110
18. Read anything Korean - msg #133
Challenge #19-21
19. Read a Book That is About Birth, Rebirth, or Resurrection, or Contains a "Birth" Word (baby, seed, sprout, etc.) - msg #134
20. Read a Book about an orphan/orphans - msg #139
21. Read a Book for a Rolling Challenge by Number of Syllables in Title (up to 9) - msg #158
Hold the rest of your challenges until the new ones go up at the beginning of April. Thank you!
Challenges #1-6
1. Read a book with a red-lettered title - msg #1
2. Read a book with a word in the title or author's name suggesting the end of something - msg #3
3. Read a book with a word in the title that starts with a vowel - msg #15
4. Read a book with a predominantly green cover - msg #8 - thread
5. Read a book by or about someone who served in World War I - msg #12
6. Read a book about photography, a photographer or that uses a photograph or camera as a plot device - msg #13
Challenges #7-12
7. Read a book that shares the title of a book you've read previously - msg #14
8. Read a book about an injustice - msg #17
9. Read a book whose title's initial letter spells out DAYLIGHT, on a rolling basis - msg #24
10. Read a book you consider a classic - msg #25
11. Read a relative "chunkster" - msg #26
12. Read a book with "Ides" or "Caesar" in the title or author's name - msg #30
Challenges #13-18
13. Read a book that includes characters from myth or folklore - msg #38
14. Read a book by an author from a Commonwealth country other than UK or Ireland- msg #51
15. Read a book with something in the title that you might give up for Lent in the title msg #67
16. Read a book that was offered as part of Early Reviewers, but that you got elsewhere. - msg #92
17. Read a mystery written for a children's or young adult audience- msg #110
18. Read anything Korean - msg #133
Challenge #19-21
19. Read a Book That is About Birth, Rebirth, or Resurrection, or Contains a "Birth" Word (baby, seed, sprout, etc.) - msg #134
20. Read a Book about an orphan/orphans - msg #139
21. Read a Book for a Rolling Challenge by Number of Syllables in Title (up to 9) - msg #158
Hold the rest of your challenges until the new ones go up at the beginning of April. Thank you!
3Helenoel
Just entered Too Much Happiness in challenge #14.
4Smiler69
I just started The Colossus of Maroussi by Henry Miller, as a shared read with Kerry in challenge #1. I was initially going to reread it from the 1964 Penguin edition which was given to me by a friend I made in Crete, but the cover has fallen off and the pages are holding by a breath, so I got the Kindle edition to read from and the paperback will go into my personal book museum, which I'm starting as of today for the purpose.
5AuntieClio
Nation by Terry Pratchett - TIOLI #1. Read a book with a red-lettered title
I love Terry Pratchett.
While Mau is paddling back home to Nation, from the boys' island, Little Nation, a tsunami hits and everything Mau has ever known is taken away. Expecting to return home to the celebration of his becoming a man, and getting his tattoo marking Mau as both adult and member of Nation. Instead, he finds nothing but death and destruction. So the boy who is not a boy but not yet a man sets forth building a new Nation.
Mau discovers that since he is not yet a man and, by his culture's norms, has no soul he can question everything. And he does. Everything he ever knew is up for questioning, even the big question of "things happen." Mau changes it all, and says, "Does not happen."
Daphne, aboard the Sweet Judy on her way to meet her father, captain of another ship, gets stranded on Nation. Until she meets Mau, she does not question anything and tries to make things "just so" in that British sort of way.
And so, Mau and Daphne (not her real name) join forces and learn to survive as more people from other islands affected by the Big Wave arrive. Slowly a community is built, and they face down their enemies with brain power and just a little force.
This book was a delight to read, mostly because Pratchett wrote characters who were completely willing to question everything they thought they knew, including their religion. Mau's unwillingness to bend to the rituals of what once was just because it once was is an interesting way of discussing religion on a larger scale.
Nation is about survival, family of choice, friendship, and community. Mostly I think it's about learning to let people be who they are and not try to force them to be who we think they should be.
Thinking
This book contains some. Whether you try it at home is up to you.
(very last page of book)
I love Terry Pratchett.
While Mau is paddling back home to Nation, from the boys' island, Little Nation, a tsunami hits and everything Mau has ever known is taken away. Expecting to return home to the celebration of his becoming a man, and getting his tattoo marking Mau as both adult and member of Nation. Instead, he finds nothing but death and destruction. So the boy who is not a boy but not yet a man sets forth building a new Nation.
Mau discovers that since he is not yet a man and, by his culture's norms, has no soul he can question everything. And he does. Everything he ever knew is up for questioning, even the big question of "things happen." Mau changes it all, and says, "Does not happen."
Daphne, aboard the Sweet Judy on her way to meet her father, captain of another ship, gets stranded on Nation. Until she meets Mau, she does not question anything and tries to make things "just so" in that British sort of way.
And so, Mau and Daphne (not her real name) join forces and learn to survive as more people from other islands affected by the Big Wave arrive. Slowly a community is built, and they face down their enemies with brain power and just a little force.
This book was a delight to read, mostly because Pratchett wrote characters who were completely willing to question everything they thought they knew, including their religion. Mau's unwillingness to bend to the rituals of what once was just because it once was is an interesting way of discussing religion on a larger scale.
Nation is about survival, family of choice, friendship, and community. Mostly I think it's about learning to let people be who they are and not try to force them to be who we think they should be.
6elkiedee
Among the Mad is listed as completed in both challenges 3 and 5.
7PawsforThought
Tordyveln flyger i skymningen by Maria Gripe
TIOLI Challenge #17. Read a mystery written for a children's or young adult audience
I loved this book so much I raved about it in my thread, which is the first time I've truly done that; I usually keep my reviews/notes fairly short. It was originally a radio drama, which is how I was first introduced to it, and the author re-worked it into a novel. I was a bit worried I'd be dissapointed but I needn't have - it's great.
Unfortunately it doesn't seem to have been translated into English, though some of Gripe's other books have. This one is one of her best known (and best overall). It's a mystery with supernatural elements and involving star-crossed lovers, magical plants, blue Pegeots, beetles, chess boards and long-lost Egyptian statues with a possible curse on them.
TIOLI Challenge #17. Read a mystery written for a children's or young adult audience
I loved this book so much I raved about it in my thread, which is the first time I've truly done that; I usually keep my reviews/notes fairly short. It was originally a radio drama, which is how I was first introduced to it, and the author re-worked it into a novel. I was a bit worried I'd be dissapointed but I needn't have - it's great.
Unfortunately it doesn't seem to have been translated into English, though some of Gripe's other books have. This one is one of her best known (and best overall). It's a mystery with supernatural elements and involving star-crossed lovers, magical plants, blue Pegeots, beetles, chess boards and long-lost Egyptian statues with a possible curse on them.
8cyderry
Question on Challenge #13 - Read a book that includes characters from myth or folklore
I'm reading the complete works of the Wizard of Oz and I'm at the third book - which includes the Scarecrow and Tin Man. Would they be considered characters from myth or folklore?
I'm reading the complete works of the Wizard of Oz and I'm at the third book - which includes the Scarecrow and Tin Man. Would they be considered characters from myth or folklore?
9calm
>8 cyderry: as far as I know the Scarecrow and Tin Man were Baum's own creations not characters from another myth or folklore but it will fit in Challenge 3 as at least one of the title words starts with a vowel.
10PawsforThought
8 & 9. It would fit challenges 10 (Read a book you consider a classic) & 20 (Read a Book about an orphan/orphans) as well.
Also, I'd say it fits in with challenge 19 (Read a Book That is About Birth, Rebirth, or Resurrection, or Contains a "Birth" Word (baby, seed, sprout, etc.)).
Also, I'd say it fits in with challenge 19 (Read a Book That is About Birth, Rebirth, or Resurrection, or Contains a "Birth" Word (baby, seed, sprout, etc.)).
12Chatterbox
I've just added Below the Salt by Thomas Costain to the "classics" challenge, since I consider it to be one of the classics of this genre, that helped revive historical fiction in the 1950s, (along with books like Katherine by Anya Seton), bringing it forward from the Victorian interpretations (Walter Scott, Eliot's Romola, et al). Hoping to get it finished, but it's also a chunkster, so...
13fuzzi
(12) I love Thomas Costain. :)
14Chatterbox
>13 fuzzi: My grandfather introduced me to his books when I was 14 or 15! I only read a few of them at that time, but now have all of my grandfather's editions as well as some paperbacks that were published during what I think was the last wave of re-issues in the 1970s. Since my paperback of Below the Salt is falling apart, I'm reading a library edition. I'd just finished Sharon Penman's latest epic, and it reminded me of this book, which deals -- in a creative way -- with the fate of his niece, Eleanor, who spent the bulk of her life shut safely away by her cousin, for no conceivable reason, in an English fortress.
15PawsforThought
Ture Sventon, privatdetektiv by Åke Holmberg
TIOLI Challenge 17, Read a mystery written for a children's or young adult audience.
This is a mystery, but it is a very funny one. Ture Sventon (his name is actually Sture Svensson but he has a peculiar lisp that only makes itself known during certain words, including his name, so he changed it). He considers himself the best private detective in the country but never has any clients so spends his days eating his favourite pastry (semla, or as Sventon says, temla).
He does eventually get hired, and with the help of a flying carpet he bought from his friend Omar he tries to catch his arch nemesis Ville Vessla before it's too late.
TIOLI Challenge 17, Read a mystery written for a children's or young adult audience.
This is a mystery, but it is a very funny one. Ture Sventon (his name is actually Sture Svensson but he has a peculiar lisp that only makes itself known during certain words, including his name, so he changed it). He considers himself the best private detective in the country but never has any clients so spends his days eating his favourite pastry (semla, or as Sventon says, temla).
He does eventually get hired, and with the help of a flying carpet he bought from his friend Omar he tries to catch his arch nemesis Ville Vessla before it's too late.
16AuntieClio
Help please. I will be reading Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Store this month, and can't find a challenge where it will fit. Any ideas?
17Chatterbox
>16 AuntieClio: You can put it in as a matched read for #16....
18fuzzi
(14) @Chatterbox, my Mom had several first edition Thomas Costain, but I don't know what happened to them. I have a modest collection that I have found in either hardcover or paperback, see my library for details.
19AuntieClio
>17 Chatterbox:
Thank you!
Thank you!
21Chatterbox
Argh did I misstate the challenge #? I had intended to say the Lent challenge. Perhaps the need to type in the post # and the challenge # confused me. Sigh. Stuff here gets more complicated by the day.
23AuntieClio
Dune Messiah by Frank Herbert - TIOLI #21: Read a Book for a Rolling Challenge by Number of Syllables in Title (up to 9) - (4 syllables)
Not nearly as action packed as Dune, Dune Messiah is filled with political intrigue as a plot to assassinate Paul-Muad'dib, who is now Emperor, unfurls.
Herbert asked his readerss to suspend belief and accept his particular brand of religious mumbo-jumbo as reason enough for the failed assassination attempt, the "oracular" vision of Paul after he loses his physical eyes in a bombing, the turning of a clone into a "flesh and blood" Duncan Idaho, and the death of Paul's concubine, Chani, while giving birth to twins. In addition, we are also expected to buy into the sudden loss of "oracular" vision which leaves Paul truly blind and wandering the desert, as the book ends.
I didn't love this book, but I didn't quite hate it. Being invested in some of the characters, and wanting to read what happened next, made the plot easier to swallow. How far it moves the story forward remains to be seen in book three Children of Dune.
Not nearly as action packed as Dune, Dune Messiah is filled with political intrigue as a plot to assassinate Paul-Muad'dib, who is now Emperor, unfurls.
Herbert asked his readerss to suspend belief and accept his particular brand of religious mumbo-jumbo as reason enough for the failed assassination attempt, the "oracular" vision of Paul after he loses his physical eyes in a bombing, the turning of a clone into a "flesh and blood" Duncan Idaho, and the death of Paul's concubine, Chani, while giving birth to twins. In addition, we are also expected to buy into the sudden loss of "oracular" vision which leaves Paul truly blind and wandering the desert, as the book ends.
I didn't love this book, but I didn't quite hate it. Being invested in some of the characters, and wanting to read what happened next, made the plot easier to swallow. How far it moves the story forward remains to be seen in book three Children of Dune.
24thornton37814
I haven't read anything by Costain in decades.
26Chatterbox
>25 fuzzi: But someone else did? Oh, I see, you were waiting for it... Commiserations...
28fuzzi
I've been trying to add Beloved Bride since I was reading it, about three weeks ago.
It's okay, I'll pull up my big girl panties and go on... ;)
It's okay, I'll pull up my big girl panties and go on... ;)
29Citizenjoyce
I just finished a wonderful book by Rutu Modan, The Property. This is the first graphic novel I've read that equals the quality of Alison Bechdel's Fun Home. This time the family involved is a woman and her grandmother who travel from their home in Israel to Poland to claim the grandmother's property which was lost to the family in WWII. Modan manages to combine stereotypes for Jews, Poles and old people with both romance and practicality to make a story that appeals to anyone trying to understand family dynamics, international politics and interpersonal relationships. Right from the opening scene in the airport you realize the grandmother is a pistol, and she's going to get what she came for no matter who tries to stop her. I'll be reading more of Modan, I'm sure. Thank you Kerry for recommending it. Madeline, I'm going to send it to you hoping you'll love it as much as I did.
By the way, I put it in Challenge #7 to read a book that shares the title of a book you've read previously - if anyone's lucky enough to find a copy and want to join me.
By the way, I put it in Challenge #7 to read a book that shares the title of a book you've read previously - if anyone's lucky enough to find a copy and want to join me.
30SqueakyChu
>29 Citizenjoyce:
Madeline, I'm going to send it to you hoping you'll
love it as much as I did.
Thank you, Joyce! I was just about to put it on my wishlist! After I read it, I'll pass it along to a Jewish friend of mine (who also lived in Israel the year I did). She is planning a possible vacation trip to Poland this year.
Joyce, have you ever read Art Spiegelman's Maus? If not, do so.
I had the weirdest dream this morning in which I was in a house with Adolph Hitler and two other Nazis who were planning to kill me, others in my current family, and another couple. We sneaked out of the house and tried to hide in an area with lots of people walking about outdoors. I woke up before any harm could come to any of us. I have no idea what precipitated that dream!!
Madeline, I'm going to send it to you hoping you'll
love it as much as I did.
Thank you, Joyce! I was just about to put it on my wishlist! After I read it, I'll pass it along to a Jewish friend of mine (who also lived in Israel the year I did). She is planning a possible vacation trip to Poland this year.
Joyce, have you ever read Art Spiegelman's Maus? If not, do so.
I had the weirdest dream this morning in which I was in a house with Adolph Hitler and two other Nazis who were planning to kill me, others in my current family, and another couple. We sneaked out of the house and tried to hide in an area with lots of people walking about outdoors. I woke up before any harm could come to any of us. I have no idea what precipitated that dream!!
31Citizenjoyce
What a terrible dream. Isn't it great when we manage to wake up before the really bad part?
32PawsforThought
Have you ever read Art Spiegelman's Maus? If not, do so.
Hear, hear! It's one of the greatest books I've ever read.
Hear, hear! It's one of the greatest books I've ever read.
33Citizenjoyce
Sorry, forgot to answer that part. Yes, wow, a very uncomfortable but very good read.
34Smiler69
I picked up The Incorrible Children of Ashton Place: The Mysterious Howling, and wasn't sure whether I should list it under challenge 17 or 20, as it fits both, but since no one else has listed it yet, I put it in the orphans challenge.
35sturlington
Probably finished my last read for the month and added it to Challenge #10: Read a book you consider a classic - the book was Other Voices, Other Rooms by Truman Capote. I just finished it and I'm not sure what I think of it yet.
36Morphidae
Second request:
Anyone know what happened to the Bold button on the wiki edit pages?
Bueller? Bueller?
Anyone know what happened to the Bold button on the wiki edit pages?
Bueller? Bueller?
38Morphidae
>37 SqueakyChu: Do you use the old (salmon) or the new (brown) LT style?
43SqueakyChu
There did use to be a bold button and other icons. If you want them brought back, why not drop a line to Jon and ask him?
44Morphidae
That's why I was checking about if it was a new/old style issue first. If it was, I wasn't going to say anything because they aren't making any fixes to the old style.
45AnneDC
>42 Morphidae: That's exactly how I've always done bolding and italics on the TIOLI wiki and I'm missing the old edit buttons. I noticed it last month and made some inquiries but never really followed up with it.
46Chatterbox
I've had it appear and disappear again over time. I'm back to typing in the characters ''''. I can live with it. I'm using the old style, still.
47AuntieClio
Mr. Penumbra's 24 Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan - TIOLI #15. Read a book with something in the title that you might give up for Lent in the title (matched read)
San Francisco's North Beach is known for many things, including a stretch of strip clubs at Broadway and Columbia. The Beat Museum is sandwiched between strip clubs, and is also across the street from City Lights Bookstore. I tell you this so you know just what sort of euphemism Robin Sloan is writing about when he describes Clay's first encounter with Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore. The neighborhood is eclectic, to say the least.
I loved this book. LOVED it. But before I tell you why, let me tell you what I did not like.
The epilogue is little more than an afterthought. "Oh, I guess I should explain what happened next." It was unnecessary, the book could have ended without the epilogue and been better for it.
Another thing I didn't like was the Google is the master of the universe nonsense. It stretches credibility to think that Google is as all-powerful as described in the book. And the character Kat, with her obsession with immortality ... please. I've been to the Mountain View campus, and it is nothing like it's described, not even close. It's fun to imagine a company with all those things, but utterly unnecessary for the book.
Now the good stuff. Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore is shrouded in mystery. Penumbra. Get it? It's obvious from the beginning there's more going on than meets the eye. And as interesting and satisfying as that was, the real story to me is discovering that the answer to the question is much simpler than any seeker believes.
In this case, the secret Unbroken Spine society believes that solving the puzzles (by hand with paper and pencil) left in an encoded codex vitae by its founder, Manutius will lead to the secret of immortality.
In any adventure novel, there has to be a Quest with grand heroic themes, which almost always lead to a much more subtle, quieter, nuanced and, satisfying answer. And the protagonist, Clay Jannings, leader of the Quest, discovers the quiet, simple answer sought by generations of members of the Society.
The intersection of traditional technology (paper and pencil) with high tech (computers, crowdsourcing, etc.) is the initial tension in this story. And, it turns out to be the starting point to a much larger and more interesting tension. What is the nature of knowledge, and how it's used? What is the nature of love, in all its messy permutations?
On the surface, Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore is a pretty good mystery story, and it mostly works on that level. But underneath, there's the quest for learning something more, something esoteric, something "deeper" and simpler. And that, is where this book really shone for me.
Now: I was pretty sure "24-hour bookstore" was a euphemism for something. It was on Broadway, in a euphemistic part of town. (p. 7)
San Francisco's North Beach is known for many things, including a stretch of strip clubs at Broadway and Columbia. The Beat Museum is sandwiched between strip clubs, and is also across the street from City Lights Bookstore. I tell you this so you know just what sort of euphemism Robin Sloan is writing about when he describes Clay's first encounter with Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore. The neighborhood is eclectic, to say the least.
I loved this book. LOVED it. But before I tell you why, let me tell you what I did not like.
The epilogue is little more than an afterthought. "Oh, I guess I should explain what happened next." It was unnecessary, the book could have ended without the epilogue and been better for it.
Another thing I didn't like was the Google is the master of the universe nonsense. It stretches credibility to think that Google is as all-powerful as described in the book. And the character Kat, with her obsession with immortality ... please. I've been to the Mountain View campus, and it is nothing like it's described, not even close. It's fun to imagine a company with all those things, but utterly unnecessary for the book.
Now the good stuff. Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore is shrouded in mystery. Penumbra. Get it? It's obvious from the beginning there's more going on than meets the eye. And as interesting and satisfying as that was, the real story to me is discovering that the answer to the question is much simpler than any seeker believes.
In this case, the secret Unbroken Spine society believes that solving the puzzles (by hand with paper and pencil) left in an encoded codex vitae by its founder, Manutius will lead to the secret of immortality.
In any adventure novel, there has to be a Quest with grand heroic themes, which almost always lead to a much more subtle, quieter, nuanced and, satisfying answer. And the protagonist, Clay Jannings, leader of the Quest, discovers the quiet, simple answer sought by generations of members of the Society.
The intersection of traditional technology (paper and pencil) with high tech (computers, crowdsourcing, etc.) is the initial tension in this story. And, it turns out to be the starting point to a much larger and more interesting tension. What is the nature of knowledge, and how it's used? What is the nature of love, in all its messy permutations?
On the surface, Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore is a pretty good mystery story, and it mostly works on that level. But underneath, there's the quest for learning something more, something esoteric, something "deeper" and simpler. And that, is where this book really shone for me.
50Chatterbox
I loved the fact that an entire mystery was built around the real life character of Aldus Manutius, who is one of my real life most interesting favorite people of history...
51SqueakyChu
> 49
April? Where?!
April? Where?!
52Chatterbox
Hopefully here soon. So that I know what books to put in my suitcase tomorrow...
53lindapanzo
Based on my Super Secret Sensing System, April won't come that soon. But that could change in a hurry. You never know.
ETA: Or maybe sooner than you think!!
ETA: Or maybe sooner than you think!!
54ccookie
For this month I have read 8 books but only 3 fit into the TIOLI challenges
TIOLI #2 - A word in the title or author's name suggesting the end: Mr. Britling Sees It Through by H. G. Wells (seeing it through means seeing it to completion, to the end)
TIOLI #3 - word in the title that starts with a vowel: No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy ("O"ld)
TIOLI # 15 - something you give up for Lent: Bel Canto (Beautiful Singing) by Anne Patchett
TIOLI #2 - A word in the title or author's name suggesting the end: Mr. Britling Sees It Through by H. G. Wells (seeing it through means seeing it to completion, to the end)
TIOLI #3 - word in the title that starts with a vowel: No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy ("O"ld)
TIOLI # 15 - something you give up for Lent: Bel Canto (Beautiful Singing) by Anne Patchett
55Lexxi
hmms. I think I had my best shot this month, given the challenges, to do that 'read all the challenges' thing. At least I thought so until the 10th. Stupid real life and job loss scares. mmphs.
I did/have read 20 so far this month, but I switched on the 10th from reading works to fit challenges to reading comfort reads. So I ended up doubling up on challenges or reading things not fitting challenges.
I did/have read 20 so far this month, but I switched on the 10th from reading works to fit challenges to reading comfort reads. So I ended up doubling up on challenges or reading things not fitting challenges.
56SqueakyChu
>55 Lexxi:
reading things not fitting challenges.
...and that's the "leave it" part of the TIOLI challenges which is just fine! :)
reading things not fitting challenges.
...and that's the "leave it" part of the TIOLI challenges which is just fine! :)
57fuzzi
>55 Lexxi:
Hope your 'RL scares' work out for your benefit.
Hope your 'RL scares' work out for your benefit.
59lindapanzo
My TIOLI book numbers are way, way down this year, as are my total books read. I'm reading a lot more chunksters and a lot fewer mysteries than usual so it shouldn't be a surprise.
TIOLI remains just as much fun as ever, even though I'm pulling more unfinished/unread books out at the end of the month than ever before.
TIOLI remains just as much fun as ever, even though I'm pulling more unfinished/unread books out at the end of the month than ever before.
60Chatterbox
I had to pull the latest Jussi Adler-Olsen Scandicrime book out. I just couldn't cope with all the self-conscious idiotic eccentricities. Sigh. I'll still finish The Bellwether Revivals, probably on the bus to NYC tomorrow, and finish a sweep, which is good as I won't be shooting for that in April, based on the list of challenges. There are too many that don't tie into my reading plans.
61Smiler69
I just removed all but one of my unread or unfinished books from the wiki and updating the TIOLI Meter, saw that as of today I'm the one with the most shared reads so far (6), though might very likely be beaten in the next couple of days. Still, nice to hold some kind of record, however briefly!
62SqueakyChu
I'm the one with the most shared reads so far (6),
Nice!
Nice!
63susanna.fraser
Just cleared all my unread or won't be finished in time books except those that are on rolling challenges. I always bite off more than I can chew--my want-to-read eyes are bigger than my time-to-read stomach. That said, I'm glad I found TIOLI. Such a fun way to decide what to read next because it's open-ended enough to keep the books from feeling like homework.
65thornton37814
I think I left one book in it because I'm hoping I'll finish it this month!
66Helenoel
Just finished American Gods - still listening to A Tale of Two Cities sowill leave that up and see if I get done by the end of the month.
67Citizenjoyce
I too just did my housekeeping and removed 4. On to next month even earlier than usuall
68lindapanzo
I thought I was finished for March but have started getting into one of current reads. Oddly enough, I'd already moved All the Pretty Horses to April. However, I'm off today and tomorrow so I could well finish in March.
69thornton37814
I checked, and I had removed all the ones I wasn't going to get to already. I am reading one which I could possibly complete tomorrow. It wasn't in the original list, but I'll add it to a challenge if it fits somewhere when I complete it -- either here or in the April thread.
70AnneDC
I have one book of short stories I still plan to finish up tonight, and have deleted most everything else from the wiki. But my daughter and I came to the end of our latest bedtime book on Saturday, and before we start another one I thought we might take a break for some favorite picture books--in particular, ones with green covers or red title words. So far we've read Never Tease a Weasel and One Morning in Maine (green covers) and will follow up with The Mitten and Eloise (title in red letters). So I still may get a few more challenges completed this month.
71fuzzi
Go for it, @AnneDC! :)
I'm going to finish up Wild Brother tonight, and might read my ER book The Bambino and Me, as time allows. The rest will be deleted shortly.
I'm going to finish up Wild Brother tonight, and might read my ER book The Bambino and Me, as time allows. The rest will be deleted shortly.
72SqueakyChu
Housekeeping Day!
Please remove* all books from the wiki if they are not finished by 12 midnight tonight. They may be moved to any of April's TIOLI challenges if they fit the parameters.
Thank you!
See you an the April 2014 TIOLI thread!
*For rolling challenges, just remove your name and the author's name to keep the sequence of the subject intact. In other words, leave the book name on the wiki for any rolling challenge.
Please remove* all books from the wiki if they are not finished by 12 midnight tonight. They may be moved to any of April's TIOLI challenges if they fit the parameters.
Thank you!
See you an the April 2014 TIOLI thread!
*For rolling challenges, just remove your name and the author's name to keep the sequence of the subject intact. In other words, leave the book name on the wiki for any rolling challenge.
73SqueakyChu
Note to newbies: The ???? on the wiki pages are just my editing marks prior to doing monthly stats. You may remove these when you update your entry.
74Helenliz
I have one that I might yet finish, but have removed those where my eyes were clearly too big for my ability to read.
75AuntieClio
Hounded by Kevin Hearne - TIOLI #13: Read a book that includes characters from myth or folklore
Okay, here is where I officially stop giving Richard a hard time for giving me the Kindle version of Hounded. It was so much fun to read, and hardly Richard's fault that I was up past my supposed bedtime reading.
While not as strong as some of my other favorite urban fantasy authors (Richard Kadrey, Stacia Kane, Kim Harrison), Hearne's Atticus and Oberon made me want to read more. Aside from the relationship the man and his dog have, I loved the ancient celtic/druidic mythology, something I've not read before.
Nicely done all you Satanic Book Warblers, nicely done.
Okay, here is where I officially stop giving Richard a hard time for giving me the Kindle version of Hounded. It was so much fun to read, and hardly Richard's fault that I was up past my supposed bedtime reading.
While not as strong as some of my other favorite urban fantasy authors (Richard Kadrey, Stacia Kane, Kim Harrison), Hearne's Atticus and Oberon made me want to read more. Aside from the relationship the man and his dog have, I loved the ancient celtic/druidic mythology, something I've not read before.
Nicely done all you Satanic Book Warblers, nicely done.
76klobrien2
>61 Smiler69: Good job, Smiler! That's one of the things I strive for (as many shared reads as possible=AMSRAP!); the other is to have a book read for SqueakyChu's challenge #1. I have been falling short in both regards, but I'm still trying, and having a great time, anyway!
Karen O.
Karen O.
77lindapanzo
I've been watching Opening Day baseball all day and not reading All the Pretty Horses. I'll remove it for March and probably finish within the next few days.
78Citizenjoyce
After removing 4 of my planned reads, I now have to add one I didn't think I'd finish, The Secret History to the chunkster challenge. I didn't like it as much as The Goldfinch, but I couldn't stop reading. Now I'm wondering if her writing is formulaic - one woman, a bunch of men, lots of smoking and substance abuse, an introspective yet unaware narrator, a crime. I haven't read The Little Friend, and at this point have no plans to, but I wonder if it's the same.
79sturlington
>78 Citizenjoyce: Well, the protagonist in The Little Friend is a young girl, so I'd say it's dissimilar. It's also the book of hers that I liked the least.
80fuzzi
I finished Wild Brother, with two hours to spare!
Mary Patchett was raised in the wild areas of Australia's Outback, and her knowledge of the terrain, weather, and creatures is very evident in her works. In Wild Brother, she tells the tales of the people of the Outback, and those of the wildlife, especially the dingos, the golden wild dogs, hunted and trapped mercilessly for their ravages upon the sheep herds.
What I like about this author's style is that she portrays nature (and man) as they are, without "Disney-fying" them. There is a cruel dingo hunter, who takes delight in enacting petty revenge upon animals, yet the other people, who also try to eliminate the wild dogs, do so without ill-will, but out of necessity.
I really liked Wild Brother, and plan to read more books by this author.
If you appreciate the straightforward nature/animal stories of Rutherford Montgomery, you should enjoy this book.
81bell7
>75 AuntieClio: Oh yay, not only did you enjoy Hounded, that puts me up to 5 shared books (out of nine) for the month!
83AuntieClio
>81 bell7:
Mary, glad to be of service.
Mary, glad to be of service.
84SqueakyChu
:)
85Citizenjoyce
>80 fuzzi: Parts of it sound good, but probably too much animal cruelty for me to be able to read it.
86Citizenjoyce
>79 sturlington:, it appears just from the ratings on LT that each book is better. So, again, I doubt I'll be going for The Little Friend. If she has the same kind of casual amorality but this time in relation to children that sounds pretty icky.
87AuntieClio
I made it! Just under the wire too.
Children of Dune by Frank Herbert - TIOLI #11: Read a relative "chunkster" (median 320 + 50 = 370 pages, book total pages = 408)
It's the children who are the backbone of Herbert's Dune stories. The children who are born knowing things they shouldn't and who become wizened beyond their chronological years. Frankly, it creeps me out a little.
In Dune, it was Paul Atreides' sister Alia who took center stage as religious head of the Empire. In Dune Messiah, Alia takes control of both government and religion. And, in Children of Dune, it is the twin children of Paul with his consort, Chani, who take center stage.
As always, there's political infighting between multiple factions. Each leader pulling a string or being pulled by Bene Gesserit plotting. Alia has grown in power, more dictatorial, and eventually succumbs to the presence of the evil Baron Harkonnen who lives on in her as one of the multitudes of personalities absorbed during an esoteric Fremen ritual while her mother, the Lady Jessica, is pregnant with her. It is Alia's inability to manage the personalities and her own grab for power which leads to her ultimate downfall.
Meanwhile, Leto II and Ghanima, plot their aunt's downfall as well as plans for the undoing of Alia's and Arrakis' obsessive ritualizing of Paul/Muad'dib's religion. A religion which has become rigid, and takes a blind man known as The Preacher to point out the many ways it is not what Muad'dib taught.
There's so much plotting and planning and carrying on, it's difficult to keep up with whom is doing what, or might be thinking about doing, to whom. And Herbert's obsession with creating Dune's religious structure with ancient Buddhist, Muslim and Egyptian religious thought is getting tedious. It's meant to be deep, but it isn't.
In the end, people are assassinated, mysterious identities are revealed, there's a power upheaval which results in a 9-year-old boy who is not a boy, nor human at this point in control of the Empire, assisted by his twin sister who is still human, but definitely no longer a child.
Children of Dune was better than Dune Messiah, but neither have lived up to the promise of the original Dune. That's pretty frustrating.
Children of Dune by Frank Herbert - TIOLI #11: Read a relative "chunkster" (median 320 + 50 = 370 pages, book total pages = 408)
Mystical things always left him {Silgar} in turmoil
It's the children who are the backbone of Herbert's Dune stories. The children who are born knowing things they shouldn't and who become wizened beyond their chronological years. Frankly, it creeps me out a little.
In Dune, it was Paul Atreides' sister Alia who took center stage as religious head of the Empire. In Dune Messiah, Alia takes control of both government and religion. And, in Children of Dune, it is the twin children of Paul with his consort, Chani, who take center stage.
As always, there's political infighting between multiple factions. Each leader pulling a string or being pulled by Bene Gesserit plotting. Alia has grown in power, more dictatorial, and eventually succumbs to the presence of the evil Baron Harkonnen who lives on in her as one of the multitudes of personalities absorbed during an esoteric Fremen ritual while her mother, the Lady Jessica, is pregnant with her. It is Alia's inability to manage the personalities and her own grab for power which leads to her ultimate downfall.
Meanwhile, Leto II and Ghanima, plot their aunt's downfall as well as plans for the undoing of Alia's and Arrakis' obsessive ritualizing of Paul/Muad'dib's religion. A religion which has become rigid, and takes a blind man known as The Preacher to point out the many ways it is not what Muad'dib taught.
There's so much plotting and planning and carrying on, it's difficult to keep up with whom is doing what, or might be thinking about doing, to whom. And Herbert's obsession with creating Dune's religious structure with ancient Buddhist, Muslim and Egyptian religious thought is getting tedious. It's meant to be deep, but it isn't.
In the end, people are assassinated, mysterious identities are revealed, there's a power upheaval which results in a 9-year-old boy who is not a boy, nor human at this point in control of the Empire, assisted by his twin sister who is still human, but definitely no longer a child.
Children of Dune was better than Dune Messiah, but neither have lived up to the promise of the original Dune. That's pretty frustrating.
88fuzzi
>85 Citizenjoyce: tt does have violence, but not overly graphic, and definitely not gratuitous. The animals kill because they need to eat, or defend themselves.
If you've read Jack London's books such as White Fang and Call of the Wild , the descriptive passages are no worse. As author Wendy Pini has said in her fantasy graphic novels: "death to the wolf is neither enemy nor friend, it just IS".
>87 AuntieClio: you nailed it. Dune was great, the second and third books...not so much. I even tried reading the 4th (the title escapes me) but just couldn't get very far into it.
If you've read Jack London's books such as White Fang and Call of the Wild , the descriptive passages are no worse. As author Wendy Pini has said in her fantasy graphic novels: "death to the wolf is neither enemy nor friend, it just IS".
>87 AuntieClio: you nailed it. Dune was great, the second and third books...not so much. I even tried reading the 4th (the title escapes me) but just couldn't get very far into it.
89AuntieClio
>88 fuzzi:
God Emperor of Dune, and I don't have warm fuzzy feelings about it.
God Emperor of Dune, and I don't have warm fuzzy feelings about it.
90Smiler69
Finished The Daughters of Mars at exactly 11:59 last night. I've cut it close before, but I think I beat my own record.
