Take It or Leave It Challenge - March 2015 - 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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Your challenge for March 2015 is to...

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Read a book whose title contains the first three-letter combination in your city’s name.

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For example, I live in the city of Rockville so I will choose a book which has “ROC” in its title.

Rules
1. The three-letter combination can be embedded or across two or three words. The three letters can only be separated by a space or punctuation.
2. If you have a shared read, you do NOT have to live in that city.
3. If you live in more than one city, if you are on vacation, or if you are traveling, use the name of the city in which you are now located (as you are reading this!).
4. If (and only if) privacy is a concern, use the name of your county instead of your city.
5. You may include the book’s subtitle.
6. The three-letter combination must only be the first three letters of your city's name. No other three-letter combination is acceptable.

Include your city/country name in your listing.
Example:

Halfway to Heaven: My White-knuckled--and Knuckleheaded--Quest for the Rocky Mountain High (Rockville) – Mark Obmascik - SqueakyChu

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

1. The March 2015 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 09/23/14)

Wiki Index of Challenges:

Challenges #1-6
1. Read a book whose title contains the first three-letter combination in your city’s name - msg #1
2. Read a book whose title includes the name of a country other than the one in which you currently reside - msg #6
3. Read the third book in a series - msg #7
4. Read a book with a 2015 copyright - msg #10
5. Read a book about change - msg #12
6. Read a book where the author's last name has more syllables than his or her first name - msg #16

Challenges #7-12
7. Read a book by an anthropologist or about anthropology - msg #19
8. Read a book about or set in a post WW2 war or civil war - msg #21
9. Read a book that describes the preparations for a theatrical performance - msg #28
10. Read a Book Where the Author's Last Name Could also be a First Name - msg #30
11. Read a book with something you should beware of in the title - msg #33
12. Read a book whose title has at least eight syllables (not counting the subtitle) - msg #34

Challenges #13-18
13. Read a book that acknowledges the book designer or cover artist - msg #37 - thread
14. Read a book in which one of the characters is a working woman - msg #51
15. Read a book of which at least three books in the "LibraryThing Recommendations" section are featured in your collections - msg #58
16. Read a book with at least one Irish character - msg #71
17. Read a book with "ides" in the title or the 15th book in a series - msg #78
18. Read a book with the name of a chocolatier in the title or the author's name - msg #79

Challenge #19-21
19. Read a historical novel written by a woman - msg #101
20. Read a book in which one of author's names begins with an "A", "J", or "E" - msg #118
21. Read a collective biography about members of the same immediate family - msg #122

Save your next challenge until the April 2015 TIOLI challenges are posted. Thank you!

Hah! I know what comes next…:)

:D

Question: How far ahead, if at all, before the end of the month do you think of a challenge for the new month?

Challenge #2 is to read a book whose title includes the name of a country (not the country in which you currently reside).

I will be reading Canada by Richard Ford.

>5 SqueakyChu: It varies. I haven't posted a challenge in a long while, but when I do, sometimes I think of it way in advance, and sometimes I don't think of it until all of the other challenges have been posted and I'm still looking for a home for a particular book.

Please reread rule #1 in message #1. I edited that rule for clarity.

Sorry if my previous rules were not explicit enough.

Challenge #3: Read the third book in a series

Please include the series name, if possible. And I got challenge 3 to match! Bwhahaha.

The third book in a trilogy is acceptable.

>8 Morphidae: Three 3's!!! Sounds lucky to me!

Challenge #4: Read a book with a 2015 copyright

Just as it says read a 2015 copyright book. That is, a brand new book. Some books released late in 2014 might also have a 2015 copyright.

>8 Morphidae: Morphy, would you accept the 3rd book in a trilogy?

***Challenge #5: Read a Book about Change***

My definition of change is rather flexible. As long as something changes over the course of the book, it fits. So books where a character has a change of personality, books about societal change, books about remodeling a house, etc. all work.

>5 SqueakyChu: I think it through starting from when you put up the new thread, Madeline. Thinking cap is now on.

My challenge #1 seems to be very confusing. You must use the first three letters of your city's name, not just any three- letter combination.

How can I make my challenge easier to understand? :/

>5 SqueakyChu: This is terribly geeky/neurotic of me, but I keep a running note on my iPhone where I list challenges as I think of them. When the new thread goes up, I choose from the list unless there's a book I particularly want/need to get to that matches neither my list or the challenges already made, in which case I'll invent one for it.

Challenge #6 - Read a book where the author's last name has more syllables than his/her first name

Just as simple as it sounds...

>14 SqueakyChu: Sorry about that. Sometimes, I'll focus on part of a challenge and miss the key point.

Still too busy humming American Pie (see Feb TIOLI thread) to notice details, I guess.

>10 lindapanzo:: I have a few newly released books and I'll probably read one anyway, so I'm really asking this out of curiosity, but you said "a 2015 copyright". What about a book with a new translation or introduction count?

Read a book by an anthropologist or about anthropology
I'll be reading, finally, Coming of Age in Samoa and, since Zora Neal Hurston was trained in anthropology, Dust Tracks On A Road.

>5 SqueakyChu: I usually think of a new challenge when I get a book or a group of books I want to read and know I can't fit them into the current month.
>15 susanna.fraser: I love that.

Going through the list of books released February and will be released March . . .

Mr. Kiss and Tell has been staring at me since it got released Feb 1st. To remind myself it exists, I add it to challenge 6.

Castaway Planet added to challenge 4. Another one I'm adding more as a reminder of its existence. Especially as I didn't realize it existed and it was released Feb 3rd. 4th in a series I didn't recall, though reading the description of first book, I recalled. And recall liking.

hmms. The X-Files: Year Zero might be one to try. By an author I've read before and liked. Never read an X-Files graphic novel though. Might add it to some challenge at some point. It does fit challenge 4, though.

Dead Heat is the only one I know I'm going to read. Being released March 3rd. Currently only fits challenge 4.

Tentatively put The Given Day into challenge 5. It's the first book in a series by Dennis Lehane. I had been dipping into his work for a while. Hadn't read much, though. 3rd book in the series being released March 10, which is what lead me to the series.

Highly likely I'll read Live Right and Find Happiness (Although Beer is Much Faster): Life Lessons and Other Ravings from Dave Barry by Dave Barry. Currently only fits challenge 4. Will be released March 3rd.

Superman/Wonder Woman, Vol. 2: War and Peace gets released March 24th. Likely I'll read it. Currently only fits challenge 4.

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Ah. Pocket Apocalypse is being released March 3rd. 4th in the InCryptid series by Seanan McGuire. I hated the first book in the series. Since I've had this happen to me before, disliking or hating the first book in a series by McGuire, but loving books after that, I attempted book 2. Which I'm reading now. Still kind of hate the series. Unlikely to get up to and read Pocket Apocalypse.

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CHALLENGE #8

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Read a book about, or set against the backdrop of, a war or civil war that took place after World War II. In other words, any book about a war that started after 1945 is fair game, or a novel if a war is a major part of the plot.

Sadly, while WW1 and WW2 are major choices for novels, there are plenty of other wars to pick from, too. Adding civil wars to the list just makes it longer. My definition of a war is that shooting must have taken place (or violence causing death.) So, the Cold War and Cold War spy thrillers don't count.

-- Korean War
-- Vietnam War
-- Algerian war of independence
-- Malaysian insurgency (Tan Twan Eng...)
-- the Mau Mau rebellion in Kenya
-- the Biafran war (opens up a lot of African fiction...)
-- Afghanistan, from 1979 onwards
-- Iraq
-- Northern Ireland
-- Cambodia (the war pre 1975, and then the invasion by Vietnam in 1979)
-- China (if the book is set against the backdrop of the revolution or specifically about the revolution)
-- former Yugoslavia
-- El Salvador; Nicaragua
-- Congo
-- Sri Lanka (there have been several good books recently about Sri Lanka and the civil war)
-- Iran/Iraq (during the 1980s)
-- Pakistan/Bangladesh (Tahmima Anam's novels)
-- Israel and most of its neighbors; Israel and Palestinians

Some kind of formal armed military force must be involved; it's not just rival terrorist groups going after each other.

>15 susanna.fraser: This is terribly geeky/neurotic of me, but I keep a running note on my iPhone

Haha! I don that as well, but not on my iPhone (since I don't have one yet, but on my PC. I used to do it here on the LT wiki, but people were peeking! :D

I like how you match the challenges to your books. I think I do the same sort of thing. Greta minds think alike. :)

>17 lindapanzo:

Still too busy humming American Pie (see Feb TIOLI thread) to notice details, I guess.

That is a completely valid excuse!

*sings* "And them good ole boys were drinking whiskey and rye..."

>18 elkiedee: I hadn't thought about those. I intended this to include brand new books but, to me, if a book is newly translated into a new language for the first time, such as a Turkish mystery finally translated into English, that could count.

However, a new translation of War and Peace would not count. A new introduction to an old book isn't a new book and definitely would not count.

>19 Citizenjoyce:

I usually think of a new challenge when I get a book or a group of books I want to read and know I can't fit them into the current month

Haha! Very useful!!

Susanna, Question for Challenge #6 . I placed Daphne du Maurier in this challenge but I'm not sure how her surname is pronounced.
Would she be acceptable for this challenge? (not as simple as it sounds, in my case ;0)

I would say Du Maurier has 4 syllables and Maurier has 3, compared to 2, surely it fits!

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Challenge #9: Read a book that describes the preparations for a theatrical performance

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By "theatrical" I mean something that could take place on a stage - a play, musical, opera, ballet, kabuki, etc. By "performance" I mean actual human movement, so a concert wouldn't count. (Splitting hairs, I know, but that's the way it is!) The book may be either fiction or non-fiction. The final performance need not be described, or even take place; for instance, a number of mysteries are built around the rehearsals for a play being disrupted by murder. The preparations do not need to be the whole subject matter or even a major component of the book.

Please list the type of performance on the wiki.

>27 elkiedee: Thanks, Luci, I was thinking it, at least, had 3 syllables.

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Challenge #10: Read a Book Whose Author's Last Name Could Also be a First Name

Read a book where the author’s last name could also be a first name, male or female. I will allow embedded names but remember it has to be found in the Last Name only.

Examples: Agatha Christie
Ben Aaronovitch
George R.R. Martin
Donna Leon

Re >5 SqueakyChu: When I get my ideas for a challenge varies, sometimes I think of it beforehand and keep a list, other times I try to think of a challenge that will help me fit in the books I want to read that month.

>27 elkiedee: Agreed.

>5 SqueakyChu: I have a shortlist of ideas that I keep ticking over. In addition, sometimes I will notice that two or three of the books on my TBR have something in common, or I will need a definite place to list a book for a group read.

I've decided to do an Ides of March challenge this month:

Challenge #11: Read a book with something you should beware of in the title.

By my definition things that you should beware of are things that could be at least plausibly dangerous to the average person, but don't have to be things that really exist. Feel free to include monsters, criminals, dangerous animals, poisons, etc.

Challenge #12: Read a book whose title has 8 or more syllables - not counting the subtitle (list the number of syllables).

This is mainly to make myself get to the ER book The Immediacy of Emotional Kerfuffles!

>34 wandering_star: What an absolutely amazing title!

>34 wandering_star: Oh good, somewhere to put The Pomegranate Lady and her sons

Challenge #13: Read a book that acknowledges the book designer or cover artist

By acknowledging, I mean that the book designer or the cover art illustrator is specifically noted either on the copyright page or elsewhere, but not in a general acknowledgements section where the author is thanking everyone she/he ever met.
I'll also allow nonfiction focusing on book design or cover art.

I've started a thread so we can post the cover art which will be useful when we are reading a specific edition of a book.
TIOLI Book Design Art: http://www.librarything.com/topic/188350

NB: I won't be accepting photographers

I just noticed that whoever added Garlic, Mint and Sweet Basil to Challenge 13, has omitted to add the readers name.

That's me, thanks.

>11 cbl_tn: Yes, I've added trilogies to my original posting.

>38 DeltaQueen50: The same thing happened in Challenge #6 with Hungry Hill and Prisoner 489. And in Challenge #8 with the book Matterhorn.

Mansfield Park is listed in two challenges - Challenge #6 and Challenge #9. Ilana and Heather, if you decide to move yours, feel free to move me, too.

ETA fix my typo

>26 Carmenere:: Was that the listing for Hungry Hill? You've forgotten to include your username if it was you. I might try to join in as a shared read, as I want to start reading a Virago Modern Classic a month again.

I can't believe it took me this long to find this post!

I'm already concerned that I can't fit a few books in! I know, I know - there will be more Challenges posted and I can always post one myself. It's just that I wasn't planning on self-serving challenges two months in a row, lol.

>19 Citizenjoyce: Okay I think this means I finally need to read my hubbie's ethnography Roosters at Midnight.... I read it in draft form and helped create the index but I've never ever read it from start to finish....

>41 Crazymamie: >42 elkiedee: Oops, that was me. Thanks Mamie and Luci!

>41 Crazymamie:

Yeah, it's being discussed. :)

>40 Morphidae: Lovely! I'll go add mine to the wiki now.

souloftherose, I see you are living in Leighton Buzzard. My cousin's son once told us that one of his university friends lived in "a town with a really strange name... it's something like Lizard Gizzard..." - it took us a while to stop laughing at him but in the family it's been Lizard Gizzard ever since!

>6 AnneDC: Does the country have to be in the main title, or can it be in the subtitle?

====Challenge #14: Read a book in which one of the characters is a working woman - started by auntieclio====

I will leave the definition of working up to you. Please list the character and her job.

>45 lalbro: Well, good. If you put that much into it, and especially since the author is your husband, it makes sense to read the whole thing.

I was just about to devise a challenge for Rock Springs by Richard Ford but then it hit me to check out the possibility of fitting it under Challenge #10. Read a Book Where the Author's Last Name Could also be a First Name and voila! based on this link http://www.babycenter.com/baby-names-ford-468855.htm.

>50 AuntieClio: I'm fine with including the subtitle for Challenge 2

>1 SqueakyChu: I am reading Philomena: A Mother, Her Son, and a Fifty-Year Search. The original title of this book is The Lost Child of Philomena Lee: A Mother, Her Son And A Fifty Year Search. The first 3 letters of my city are "lee". Can I use the original title for your challenge?

>55 LoisB: The original title of this book is The Lost Child of Philomena Lee: A Mother, Her Son And A Fifty Year Search.

Yes, you may. I read that book, and it's very good. Afterward do a web search for the interview with the real Philomena. I was very impressed with her.

>56 SqueakyChu: Thanks! It's rare that I can meet one of your challenges! :) I saw the movie last year and decided that I had to read the book. I'll look for the interview.

As has been one of the TIOLI traditions, my challenge is highlighting one of the newly improved LT features, which is the "LibraryThing Recommendations" section on the book work pages, which now features book covers.

Challenge #15: Read a book of which at least three books in the "LibraryThing Recommendations" section are featured in your collections

To be clear: look at the "LibraryThing Recommendations" section on the work page in the 'covers' or 'visual' mode:

• If it shows you a list of titles instead, just click on an option that shows you the covers (on the upper right corner of that section, there should be some icons to do this)
• make sure there are at least three check marks there without expanding the "show more" feature.
• at least TWO of the books must already be in your library (green), the third may be in your wishlist or any other collection.
• don't worry about the colour green specifically, the main thing is that the books should be in your possession.
• the book you select for the challenge may or may not be in your library already, that's up to you.
• shared reads are allowed and encouraged.

I just created a self-serving challenge for those books which wouldn't fit other challenges, but meanwhile forgot to include Railsea by China Miéville in my own parameters! Anybody know where it could fit??

Madeline, I started a thread for my challenge #13 so we can post cover art and discuss book design.
TIOLI Book Design Art: http://www.librarything.com/topic/188350

>59 Smiler69: His books fit in challenge #6.

>59 Smiler69: Challenge #6.

Only 15 challenges up, and I’ve already been able to place all my planned reads for March. Of course, I’m trying to be realistic and limiting myself to just 6 books given that this month it took me nearly 2 weeks to read Perdido Street Station. Here is my list:

Challenge #5: Read a book about change:
Caleb’s Crossing, by Geraldine Brooks

Challenge #6: Read a book where the author's last name has more syllables than his or her first name:
The Scar, by China Miéville (shared read)

Challenge #10: Read a book where the author's last name could also be a first name:
Remake, by Connie Willis

Challenge #12: Read a book whose title has at least eight syllables:
The Sailor on the Seas of Fate, by Michael Moorcock

Challenge #13: Read a book that acknowledges the book designer or cover artist:
Zoo City, by Lauren Beukes

Challenge #14: Read a book in which one of the characters is a working woman:
Breaking Point, by C. J. Box

>61 avatiakh: >62 cbl_tn: Ah, of course! Thanks!

>59 Smiler69: For challenge 15, a question: The only books I ever add to My Library are print books, I have separate collections for audiobooks and Kindle books. Therefore only print books show up as green, even though all of the audiobooks and Kindlebooks are already in my collection. Can I still count these books as the first two checkmarks?

>59 Smiler69: Ilana, I'm afraid I literally don't understand this challenge at all. I'm probably very dense, but... what page do I go to?? Isn't a book's page the same as a work page? So do I go to a book's page and look at the recommendations that it sends me to? I've tried to figure this out and I'm baffled. I don't spend a lot of time looking at LT features just for the sake of it -- I just use it to log my books and track them. Also, it sounds as if we're supposed to back it out -- as if the book isn't already in our library, but the recommendations must be? Am I correct?

>66 Chatterbox: I'm with you! I need to go back and study the challenge.

>58 Smiler69: Please tell me if I have this correct. I looked up War Brides. Under the LibraryThing recommendations The Sisterhood, Orphan Train, and The Kitchen House all have green check marks. So, I can enter War Brides for your challenge.

>60 avatiakh: Noted. Thanks!

>58 Smiler69: I don't own many of the books I've read since joining LT. I get almost all of them from the library. Can I use my "Read but unowned" collection for this challenge?

Challenge #16: Read a book with at least one Irish character

In honor of St. Patrick's day. I thought about waiting to see if I could hit #17, but I'm ready to turn in.

>65 AnneDC: Yes. Though don't worry about the colour green specifically, the main thing is that the books should be in your possession.

>66 Chatterbox: >67 LoisB: Go to the book's main page, which is the same as the work page; different people refer to this page with either term. There is a section which now visually shows you recommendations with book covers. If it shows you a list of titles instead, just click on an option that shows you the covers (on the upper right corner of that section, there should be some icons to do this). The book you select for the challenge may or may not be in your library already, that's up to you, but at least two books from the recommendations should already be in your library, yes (a third could be in any of your collections).

Hope that's clearer, if not, don't hesitate to ask more questions. This goes for everybody.

LT feature challenges tend to be tricky precisely because not everybody uses them, and in this case, this specific feature was recently modified as well.

>68 LoisB: Sounds like War Brides is a perfect contender for this challenge! :-)

>70 Morphidae: That sounds like a great compromise, Morphy.

My planned reads so far:
Challenge #1: Read a book whose title contains the first three-letter combination in your city’s name - started by SqueakyChu
Challenge #2: Read a book whose title includes the name of a country other than the one in which you currently reside - started by AnneDC
* ✔Canada - Richard Ford - Audiobook (4)
*✔My Promised Land: The Triumph and Tragedy of Israel- Ari Shavit E-Audiobook (4.5)
Challenge #3: Read the third book in a series - started by Morphidae
Challenge #4: Read a book with a 2015 copyright - started by lindapanzo
*✔Epitaph: A Novel of the O.K. Corral - Mary Doria Russell E-Book (4.5)
✔Honeydew: Stories - Edith Pearlman (4)
Challenge #5: Read a book about change - started by inge87
✔Bridge of Scarlet Leaves - Kristina McMorris Nook, Book Club (3.75)
✔Silent Voices: People with Mental Disorders on the Street by Robert L. Okin (5)
Challenge #6: Read a book where the author's last name has more syllables than his or her first name - started by susanna.fraser
✔Holy Cow: A Modern-Day Dairy Tale - David Duchovny (2.5)
*✔The Scar - China Miéville E Book (3.25)
Challenge #7: Read a book by an anthropologist or about anthropology - started by Citizenjoyce
*Coming of Age in Samoa - Margaret Mead
*✔Dust Tracks On A Road - Zora Neale Hurston E Book (4)
Challenge #8: Read a book about or set in a post WW2 war or civil war - started by Chatterbox
✔Thieves of State: Why Corruption Threatens Global Security - Sarah Chayes - Audiobook (5)
Challenge #9: Read a book that describes the preparations for a theatrical performance - started by lyzard
Challenge #10: Read a Book Where the Author's Last Name Could also be a First Name - started by DeltaQueen
✔Bad Feminist: Essays by Roxane Gay (3.75)
✔Guess What? - Mem Fox, Vivienne Goodman (5)
Challenge #11: Read a book with something you should beware of in the title
- started by yoyogod
✔The Book of Unknown Americans - Cristina Henriquez E-Audiobook (4)
✔One More Thing: Stories and Other Stories - B. J. Novak (4)
Challenge #12: Read a book whose title has at least eight syllables (not counting the subtitle)
- started by wandering_star
*✔A Natural History of Dragons - Marie Brennan (3.5)
Challenge #13: Read a book that acknowledges the book designer or cover artist - started by avatiakh
✔Rat Queens Volume 1: Sass & Sorcery - by Kurtis J. Wiebe, Laura Tavishati (Editor), Roc Upchurch (Illustrator/cover), Ed Brisson (Illustrator) - Graphic (4)
Challenge #14: Read a book in which one of the characters is a working woman - started by auntieclio
✔All Over Creation - Ruth L. Ozeki E-Audiobook
✔Because It Is My Blood - Gabrielle Zevin E-Audiobook (4)
*✔H is for Hawk - Helen Macdonald E-Audiobook (4.5)
Challenge #15: Read a book of which at least three books in the "LibraryThing Recommendations" section are featured in your collections - started by Smiler69
*Cranford - Elizabeth Gaskell
*✔ The Girl on the Train - Paula Hawkins - E-Audiobook (4.5)
Challenge #16: Read a book with at least one Irish character - started by cbl_tn
Challenge #18: Read a book with the name of a chocolatier in the title or the author's name - started by paulstalder
✔The Lady Astronaut of Mars - Mary Robinette Kowal (4)
Challenge #19: Read a historical novel written by a woman - started by elkiedee
✔I, Pearl Hart: A Western Story -Jane Candia Coleman -E-Audiobook (3.25)
✔The Siege Winter by Diana Norman - E-Audiobook (4)
Challenge #21: Read a collective biography about members of the same immediate family - started by LizziD
✔The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family - Annette Gordon-Reed E-Audiobook (4)

>49 wandering_star: Lizard Gizzard - I like it! I seem to have a predisposition for living in places with strange names. Before we moved to Leighton Buzzard we lived in Tring.

Would you believe I've been hearing about Leighton Buzzard all my life? One of the older ladies at church was a awWII war bride. She was from Leighton Buzzard. I made a point of visiting it during the few years I lived in and around North London.

>33 yoyogod: I've added Footsteps in the dark to your challenge of things to beware of. It seems to me that one might want to beware of the entire title, rather than just one word of it. I'm hoping that is allowable.

>33 yoyogod: good idea, I was going to add it myself, but you thought of it first. :)

Challenge #17 Read a book with "ides" in the title or the 15th book in a series.

My first attempt at a Challenge so I hope I am doing this right. Oops, I just noticed another "Ides of March' challenge. I guess Caesar's death will be abundantly commemorated.

I used The Virgin Suicides as my example, but I will also allow the 3 letters "ide" which must be together with an "s" somewhere else in the title. Example: Ride a Pale Horse. Any questions or suggestions let me know.

Just wanted to mention that the "Ides of March" or March 15th is when Julius Caesar was reported to have been killed on his way to celebrating a victory.

Challenge #18 Read a book with the name of a chocolatier in the title or the author's name

Check http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cat%C3%A9gorie:Chocolaterie_suisse or http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Chocolate_companies or http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kategorie:Schokoladenhersteller and find a chocolatier which fits a title or author's name of a book you read. No embedded words. The words chocolate, Schokolade, chocolatiers, company, house, candy, factory and such parts of the names do not count. No names of chocolates (Toblerone does not count, but Tobler does).

Please indicate the company's name and their country. If you have a book of a company which is mentioned in wikipedia, then indicate that.

Sweet readings

Ritter des Ku-Klux-Klan by Damaris Kofmehl (Ritter, Germany)
Rain fall by Barry Eisler (Barry Callebaut, France, Switzerland)
Sir Apropos of Nothing by Peter David (Peter, Switzerland)

>72 Smiler69: I'm not worried about it being hard, I'm worried about it being hard for my feeble brain to grasp! So, the page I go to is the page of the book that I'm contemplating reading for the challenge, correct? And then, if there are three books in those recommendations are in my collections (when I use the images and not the list), I'm good to add it?) Sorry if this is overkill, but when I have difficulty grasping something, restating it in a way that I understand and seeing if that works for the other person is often a way I try to address this!

>74 souloftherose: maybe when you are bored with Leighton Buzzard you can move to Frant ;-)

I was thinking of the cities where I've lived in my life, and thought of one where I'd be limited to books about the town for this challenge, I think: Brno. It's lucky I'm not there now. Would I get extra credit for reading The Lonely Londoners?

>80 Chatterbox: I'm glad I'm not the only one feeling baffled.

I think I'm getting it. Maybe.

Since there are a few TIOLI-ers participating, I thought I would let them know here that the thread is up for the tutored read of Mansfield Park - here.

Participants and lurkers most welcome! :)

>79 paulstalder: Paul, I plan to read The Forbidden Worlds of Haruki Murakami in March. Would the worlds in the title be a match for the World's in World's Finest Chocolate?

Just finished Expo 58 by Jonathan Coe - listed in challenge 15 as I already have 6 of the recommendations in my library

Reading

David Mark, Dark Winter 10, 11
Irene Nemirovsky, Le Bal 6
Anne Tyler, Digging to America 2, 6
Mick Houghton, I've Always Kept a Unicorn 4, 6, 12, 14
Emma Hooper, Etta and Otto and Russell and James 4, 12

Choosing another book to start reading. Might be

Adrian McKinty, In the Morning I'll be Gone 3, 8, 16

If there's anyone else who didn't manage to finish Brideshead Revisted in February, it fits very nicely into #17 this month!

>75 cbl_tn: I certainly wouldn't expect anyone who's not from the local area to have heard of it Carrie. How funny!

>81 wandering_star: :-)

>87 cbl_tn: Thanks for point that out! I'm also still listening to that one.

And for those who didn't finish Fingersmith, I've added it to Challenge 11, since a fingersmith is a thief.

Can you tell I got behind with the February BAC challenges?

>85 AuntieClio: Stephanie, I think, it is a match - although I miss the apostrophe, but that's not a catastrophe - all the letters are there and it is not embedded, so go ahead and list it under my challenge.

>80 Chatterbox: Suz, you're all set to go!

>83 lindapanzo: it sounds harder than it is:

Click on the touchstone for your book (my choice is Lilies of the Field), and just below the Tags section on the page is the LT recommends section. See if there are three books in your collections listed there. If so, you can do this challenge! I did. :)

I've found I have 3 books or more in my collections for all the books I've tried. For Dark Winter, I have 8 out of 10, I need to add a 9th as I'm way behind on adding Kindle acquisitions. And although I don't have one recommendation, it's #2 in a series and I have #1 in the same series.

>93 elkiedee: Luci, I set a minimum of 3 books, but it's the same for me; many times I have 8 or more books in my collections from the recommended section. Sometimes none at all too, though that's rare. I figured 3 books would be an easier requirement to meet for most people, plus one of the books I wanted to fit into my own challenge only had three, and as it was a self-serving challenge to begin with...

I need to see if there is a place where The Little Stranger will fit. I'm going to read that one this month due to the "snow delay."

>95 thornton37814: Maybe #11? There are some situations where you need to beware of strangers.

>96 cbl_tn: Thanks, Carrie!

I really enjoyed being involved in the February challenge so have spent a pleasant evening assembling my books for March. I better get started!

Read the third book in a series: DONE
Ride With Me, Mariah Montana
This was an excellent end to the Montana series. Doig pulls together all the threads with a bit of a surprise ending.

Read a book about change DONE
The Windward Road
This book, originally published in 1956, really changed the conversation about conservation, focusing on the plight of the sea turtles.

Read a book where the author's last name has more syllables than his or her first name: DONE
The Sea is My Brother
Often called The Lost Novel, Kerouac did not want the novel published. It is rough and sometimes descends into lectures, but there are glimmers of the genius of Kerouac with its rich description.

Read a book about or set in a post WW2 war or civil war: DONE
The Things They Carried
Powerful mediation on Vietnam but also on how stories are different from life

Read a book whose title has at least eight syllables (not counting the subtitle): DONE
The Men Who United the States
A terrific read that looks at the history of the United States through the lens of technology

Read a book with at least one Irish character: DONE
The Winter King
A somewhat odd telling of the Arthurian legend but with all Cornwell's flare for rousing adventure

Read a book by an anthropologist or about anthropology
Dust Tracks on a Road

Read a book of which at least three books in the "LibraryThing Recommendations" section are featured in your collections
Foul Matter

Read a book whose title contains the first three-letter combination in your city’s name
Waverly: Waves and War

Read a book whose title includes the name of a country other than the one in which you currently reside
The Time Travelers Guide to Medieval England

3/7/2015

I'm adding

Mosquitoland for Challenge #4. Read a book with a 2015 copyright

I may have bit off more than I can read, especially as I have a dissertation to proofread for someone and 19 student reports to read in the coming week.

3/28/2015

Somehow, I don't think I'm going to finish FIVE books in the next FOUR days! I'm almost finished with Hurston. I think I'll keep reading the other four just to finish them and then I'll be ready to take a break from challenges and just read what comes my way. But the challenge has led me to books that I probably would not have written.

>20 Lexxi:

Castaway Planet is only very loosely related to the first three books in the series. I liked the idea of scientist making discoveries on earth and out in the solar system. Castaway Planet is something completely different. A Lost in Space, a Swiss Family Robinson. Therefore I've removed it from my potential reads and challenge 4.

I hate when series do that. Just suddenly start veering off on other characters. Without changing the series name. The only time I 'liked' it was when the series name changed. S.M. Stirling's Emberverse books. First set of 3 involved people during apocalyptic events. Second batch, under a new series name, was about the next generation living in a post-apocalyptic world.

Then I found out, after dragging myself through the first two books in Seanan McGuire's InCryptid series, that the third and fourth books follow a different lead character than in the first two. And so . . . I'm done with that series. I don't recall if I placed either the third or fourth books in challenges, but don't think so. Did mention them as possibles, though, in post 20.

>19 Citizenjoyce: - does a mystery with a component of archaeology /anthopology work for challege #7? The Dance Hall of The Dead - also in the Navajo/western series read, is the book in question. I haven't finished, so not sure how key the topic is to the wrap up.

Challenge 19: Read a historical novel written by a woman to celebrate International Women's Day

International Women's Day is on 8 March. Books for this challenge don't have to have anything to do with that date, just to have a female author and to be set in the past

>101 elkiedee: *Like*

>101 elkiedee: Great challenge, since I already planned to read Beloved for just that reason.

>103 sturlington: Beloved is on my list, too.

This month I'm going to try to read:

4. Read a book with a 2015 copyright - At the Water's Edge by Sara Gruen
9. Read a book that describes the preparations for a theatrical performance - Phantom of the Opera (already finished)
11. Read a book with something you should beware of in the title - The Book of Strange New Things by Michel Faber and Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri
18. Read a book with the name of a chocolatier in the title or the author's name - Lady Astronaut of Mars
19. Read a historical novel written by a woman - Beloved by Toni Morrison

And I'll see if I can get to anything else.

>100 Helenoel: Well, that's kind of pushing the intent, but i'm going to say yes. There's lots of anthropology in Hillerman's books.

>106 Citizenjoyce: Thanks Joyce- I'll see how the month goes- I may have a real anthropology book to use instead, but this Hillerman seems to have a bit more archaeology than even most of his.

>102 Chatterbox: Thank you!

>19 Citizenjoyce: Would one of Kathy Reichs' Temperance Brennan mysteries work, since she is forensic anthropologist? I'm not sure that's the kind of anthropology you're looking for.

If anyone is interested in reading along, I have added:

- Quo Vadis to Challenge #6
- Murder On The Orient Express to Challenge #12
- The Grand Sophy to Challenge #19

I'm looking to put My brilliant friend by Elena Ferrante into a challenge. I don't know if one of the characters is a working woman or if it's considered a historical novel. Anyone read it who can help me?

>110 lyzard: I've Murder on the Orient Express on my TBR pile, will join you on Challenge #12. :)

>111 avatiakh:: It's set in the 1950s so fits the historical novel challenge. Working women - teachers? Or have you looked at the recommendations? - it might fit there.

>113 elkiedee: Thanks, I have downloaded the e-book from my library so can't flick through it to get an idea of the plot. The sites I went to were full of blurbs and I didn't want to read a spoiler. So I'll put it in Hististorical fiction.

Other quandery is with The Queen of Tearling, recommendations doesn't work, and she's journeying to the castle so isn't yet a 'working' queen.

Author's last name could be a first name? JOHANsen.

Thanks again, my brain is totally not engaged at present.

>109 rosalita: I've seen the TV series Bones, but I haven't read any of her books. On TV she doesn't seem to have much to do with anthropology, just occasionally witty interjections. If her anthropological work is more fleshed out in the books, you can include it.

*********************************
Challenge #20: One of author's names starts with an "A", "J", or "E"
*********************************
My first grandchild is one year old this month, so this challenge is in honor of Avery's birthday. She shares a birthday month with her father, James, and her great-grandfather, Edward. (Actually, all the first-borns in our family line have been born in March, as far back as anyone can remember. Up until I ruined the streak by arriving a week and half early. But I'm not including all those who've passed on, or we'd be using the whole alphabet!) For this challenge, read a book written by an author whose first or last name starts with an "A", "J", or "E".

>109 rosalita: >117 Citizenjoyce: Brennan is a forensic anthropologist, a different subdiscipline of anthropology than the examples listed for challenge #7, who were cultural anthropologists. Kathy Reichs' Temperance Brennan series or Jefferson Bass's Body Farm series should work unless the subdiscipline of cultural anthropology is what you had in mind for challenge #7.

I'm very excited because I've found a book to fit every challenge. Of course, it's not very likely that I'll read them all, but I love this part of the month!

1. Read a book whose title contains the first three-letter combination in your city’s name
Washington Square – Henry James
2. Read a book whose title includes the name of a country other than the one in which you currently reside
Canada – Richard Ford
3. Read the third book in a series
The Snack Thief - Andrea Camillieri
4. Read a book with a 2015 copyright
A Spool of Blue Thread – Anne Tyler
5. Read a book about change
Moth Smoke – Mohsin Hamid
6. Read a book where the author's last name has more syllables than his or her first name
The City & the City – China Mieville
7. Read a book by an anthropologist or about anthropology
Euphoria – Lily King
8. Read a book about or set in a post WW2 war or civil war
Anil’s Ghost – Michael Ondaatje
9. Read a book that describes the preparations for a theatrical performance
Mansfield Park – Jane Austen
10. Read a Book Where the Author's Last Name Could also be a First Name
Daisy Miller – Henry James
11. Read a book with something you should beware of in the title
To End All Wars: A Story of Loyalty and Rebellion, 1914-1918 – Adam Hochschild
12. Read a book whose title has at least eight syllables (not counting the subtitle)
An Atlas of Impossible Longing – Anuradha Roy
13. Read a book that acknowledges the book designer or cover artist
A Legacy - Sybille Bedford
14. Read a book in which one of the characters is a working woman
Pardonable Lies – Jacqueline Winspear
15. Read a book of which at least three books in the "LibraryThing Recommendations" section are featured in your collections
The Narrow Road to the Deep North – Richard Flanagan
16. Read a book with at least one Irish character
The Dancers Dancing - Éilís Ní Dhuibhne
17. Read a book with "ides" in the title or the 15th book in a series
A Game of Hide and Seek – Elizabeth Taylor
18. Read a book with the name of a chocolatier in the title or the author's name -
Life on Mars: Poems - Tracy K. Smith
19. Read a historical novel written by a woman
Frenchman’s Creek – Daphne du Maurier
20. Read a book in which one of author's names begins with an "A", "J", or "E"
Dido and Pa – Joan Aiken

>118 countrylife:

That's a perfect challenge in which I can enter the only book in progress of mine that didn't have a challenge going for it. Thanks, countrylife! :)

>122 LizzieD: Peggy, one more here that I think you'd be interested in, I still have to read it, maybe this month but I'm rather spoiled for choice of reading as ever.

Judith Flanders, A Circle of Sisters - about the 4 Macdonald sisters who were connected to Rudyard Kipling, Stanley Baldwin, William Morris and Edward Burne-Jones.

Chilliest Book Cover Contest:

Folks, get your vote in for the chilliest book cover for February, 2015. I have a very small prize waiting for the winner.

Send me a private message with your top three picks. Voting closes 12 midnight on 3/4/15. I'll announce the winner shortly thereafter.

Here's the thread:
Chilly Book Covers

P.S. If you haven't posted your book cover for that challenge, please post it now if your book had been COMPLETED on time.

>119 cbl_tn: Sounds OK to me.

I am reading Des Mauren letzter Seufzer by Salman Rushdie for challenge 14 (cover art by Dennis Leigh) - the same cover on most English, German, Spanish ... editions

>111 avatiakh: I would say that one of the themes of My Brilliant Friend is change, so you could put it in that challenge. It's a great book - enjoy.

Delighted that you are reading There once lived a mother who loved her children, until they moved back in for my challenge - I saw this in a bookshop and was very intrigued by the title!

>122 LizzieD: There's also Daphne Du Maurier and Her Sisters: The Hidden Lives of Piffy, Bird, and Bing and The Soong Dynasty about a Chinese family that produced some of the most powerful women of the 20th century (Soong Ching-ling, who married Sun Yat-Sen, and Soong May-ling, better known as Mme. Chiang Kai-shek).

I may join you on The Knox Brothers. It's been sitting on my shelves unread for several years now.

Anyone who's looking for a book for Challenge #2, I can highly recommend Three Minutes in Poland: Discovering a Lost World in a 1938 Family Film which I read last month.

Great Challenges this month - and I think I can fit everything I was thinking of reading into one or another!

>129 Dejah_Thoris: I saw a clip of that film on the news. Amazing. The book looks good too.

>128 inge87: I should have remembered that one, read it last year. I have two library books that would fit two, both about a mum and daughters family group, The Pankhursts and Marie Curie and Her Daughters.

There's a Lynne Reid Banks bio of the Brontes, Dark Quartet.

How many family members have to be included? There's also The Viceroy's Daughters but I think there were only two, one of them was Oswald Mosley's first wife before Diana Mitford, and he had an affair with the other. ETA: No, there were 3. But I must stop thinking of books I want to read that fit this challenge, really I'll be doing well to read one of them!

And another one, Lisa See's On Gold Mountain

>122 LizzieD: I really liked Victoria's Daughters when I read it a few years ago.

>127 wandering_star: Thanks for that info about My brilliant friend, I've been trying to read this for a few months and my loan keeps expiring so this month I'm making it my e-book must read.

And hoping my request for There once lived a mother who loved her children, until they moved back in comes in in time, I've read her other collections and enjoyed them alot. Couldn't resist adding it to your challenge in advance of reading it, that title resonates around the world.

SqueakyChu, I goofed up. In challenge #TIOLI #6. Read a book where the author's last name has more syllables than his or her first name on the wiki, I accidentally removed the name of the person who is reading Hans Christian Anderson, directly below my entry for Dance Hall of the Dead. I don't remember who it is, so I can't fix it. Sorry. :-(

>106 Citizenjoyce: >134 AuntieClio: I'll add Dance Hall to #6 along with Auntie Clio. Maybe I'll get some other anthropology off the shelf this month.

>134 AuntieClio: although that wasn't me you deleted, in the past I have had my entry removed by mistake, several times. Stuff happens. :)

>134 AuntieClio:

Fixed. Thanks for letting me know right away. That makes it a gazillion times easier to trace and fix. All is now well in TIOLI-Land! :D

>117 Citizenjoyce: >119 cbl_tn: Thanks, ladies.

If anyone ever does that by accident, and realizes it right away, they can use the "history" function to catch what it is that they deleted and restore it. (But after a certain # of changes to the wiki, the data is lost... so act quickly!)

Well, for the first and probably only time, I end up both Top Frog and Top Co-Newt at the same time. For one reason or another, I never really seem to read as many shared books as I should. Just finished one. No one else has more than 1 shared read, and so, for one shinning moment, I get to be a newt. Or something like that.

The Cornish Coast Murder by John Bude was originally published in either 1933 or 1935, I forget exactly which year. It's an interesting twist on a murder mystery that I hadn't really seen before. It's both a professional investigation, involving a police investigator, and an amateur investigation involving a Vicar (do you capitalize vicar?). I've sometimes seen something vaguely similar when the police investigating a crime, mostly murder, lock in on a certain individual and so that individual has to try to find the real murderer. Which, in its way, is an amateur and professional investigation. Here, though, the Vicar was never a suspect. So it is two simultaneous investigations. Sometimes working together, sometimes working separately, and mostly following the police investigator.

A good solid book. Had a rather modern feel to it. Well, I guess maybe not. Modern murder mystery's seem depressing and filled with violence and drinking. This one didn't have that. Ah, I recall now how I thought of it while reading it. It had the feel of something written now, but set back in the 1920s, or 1930s (there is one moment when the year is given, though given with a dash; 193-). Not exactly sure why I felt that way while reading it. Anyway, good solid book. A three and a half star book.

>139 Chatterbox:
But after a certain # of changes to the wiki, the data is lost... so act quickly!)

I don't think the data ever gets lost, but, after a while, there is just too much information through which to sift.

I'm off to an incredibly slow start this month. I was plugging dutifully along at one book, only to forget to take it to work to read at lunch yesterday. I realized that I didn't really miss it that much, since I found the heroine vaguely unpleasant and didn't really care what became of her, her friends, or her cause. So I decided to cut my losses and move on to the next book on my list, leaving me almost 5 days into the month without a completed book to my name!

>37 avatiakh: For challenge 13, will you accept graphic novels where the cover has been drawn by one of the authors?

>143 streamsong: Yes, that's fine.

>142 susanna.fraser: while, technically, you've not read one book yet this month, you have removed one from your "To Read" list, right? And since you quit sooner than later, avoiding dragging it out, you have more time for your next read, right? :)

I notice The Book of Strange New Things is listed in both challenges 11 and 13. I'm also interested in reading it.

I was thinking I might add The Book of Strange New Things to my to read list for March as well - so do tell which challenge I should add it to!

>147 lalbro: You could match the one already listed in Challenge 13, the book cover challenge.

>137 SqueakyChu: Thanks!

>145 fuzzi: Mmm, a nice glass-half-full approach. I like it.

>149 AuntieClio: You're welcome!

>146 elkiedee: and >147 lalbro: I've moved my instance of The Book of Strange New Things from challenge #11 to #13. It has been an absorbing read so far--about halfway through.

Thanks!

>152 sturlington: Thanks-I'll add mine to the wiki now!

Alright. I don't normally list my planned reads - but I was excited to see how many of my planned reads were on the wiki, so I decided to put them all together here!

1. Read a book whose title contains the first three-letter combination in your city’s name
The Rosie Project – not my city, but a matched read

4. Read a book with a 2015 copyright
A Spool of Blue Thread - matched read

7. Read a book by an anthropologist or about anthropology
Dust Tracks on a Road – matched read
Roosters at Midnight

11. Read a book with something you should beware of in the title
The Sixth Extinction - matched read

12. Read a book whose title has at least eight syllables (not counting the subtitle)

The Assassination of Margaret Thatcher: Stories
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao – matched read

13. Read a book that acknowledges the book designer or cover artist
The Book of Strange New Things – matched read

14. Read a book in which one of the characters is a working woman
H is for Hawk – matched read

16. Read a book with at least one Irish character
Nora Webster

This is an ambitious list for me - but better to aim high, right? And March is a long month! Wish me luck.

Chilliest Book of February 2015

We have a winner!

The chilliest book of February 2015 is this one:



Our winner is @souloftherose!

Please private message me with your mailing address...and I'll send you your very little prize for the having the winning "cold" book. :)

Congrats, Heather!

>156 SqueakyChu: I won something?!? Thank you (especially to Louise Penny's cover designer...)

That is a COLD book cover!!

Chatterbox, your teeth are chattering...it's so cold!

They have been chattering since November, pretty much nonstop. Delightful. Especially when combined with hot flashes.

LOL! Oh, Suz!!

>157 souloftherose: congratulations!

>51 AuntieClio: for your working woman challenge, pictures of working women
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/03/06/womens-work-international-womens-day_n_...

special notice for the 90 year old electrical welder.

>163 Citizenjoyce: Thanks Joyce. . . Those are terrific pics!

Just out of interest, how many of us are struggling with an uncooperative home town for Challenge #1??

I'm being driven towards books that actually have "Sydney" in the title, which seems like defeating the purpose! :D

>165 lyzard: Glad to see that my challenge is at least a little bit challenging! ;)

>165 lyzard: The only one I've come up with for Omaha is Letters to Oma , which I've had problems reading in the past.

On a happier note, I FINALLY finished Faithful Place, which has seen its fair share of challenge entries since I started it in Jan. 2014.

>165 lyzard: yup. I couldn't think of very many words that had "thr" in them at all, let alone books that would have that combination in the title!

>165 lyzard: Also me, Auckland isn't user friendly for this challenge.

>165 lyzard: two suggestions: A Very Easy Death by Simone de Beauvoir or Daisy Duck 2 by Carl Barks

>165 lyzard: I haven't found any for "yor" yet- but have not searched diligently

>170 paulstalder: Thanks, but I already threw in the towel and started Sydney St. Aubyn, an epistolary novel from 1794.

>167 Miela:- Books with woman in the title would work!

>167 Miela: here is a list of words that contain OMA morewords.com

>168 Helenliz: more words for THR
>169 avatiakh: more words for AUC

I found this website as the first one that pops up under googles search engine when I type in words that contain "THR" or "AUC" there are a lot of words to help you pick a book for the challenge....

>168 Helenliz:: through, three, thrifty

>175 lovelyluck:: Those are impressively long word lists, but I do wonder about how many of the words feature heavily in LT members' libraries, or whether the books in question appeal that much. A lot of medical words for thr, perhaps some political tracts for auc.

-oma- seems a bit easier - woman, Roman, romance (and variations there of), necromancer, bibliomania....

>171 Helenoel:: Yor - York, Yorkshire, Yoruba, mayor, surveyor - the list is short though - it obviously doesn't feature in many medical and scientific words, or imported words from another language. Or *****y or ....

>165 lyzard:: "Kirksville" leads me mostly to German works on ecclesiology (since "Kirche" is German for "church"). Theology isn't a favorite genre, and theology in a foreign language is right out.

Fortunately there was (exactly) one book in my TBR list which fit the challenge: The Evening Crowd at Kirmser's, a memoir centered on a gay bar in St. Paul. I'd noted it a few years ago as a possible 50-states read for Minnesota but it probably would have been several more years (if ever) before I got around to it. I'm liking it so thanks for the nudge, Madeleine!

>168 Helenliz: The brethren by John Grisham

"Kno"xville isn't as problematic for me since it lends itself to "know" "known", "knowledge", etc. This challenge gives me an opportunity to read a couple of books from my TBR list.

Everyone here has gotten very creative. I like it! :)

Well...I couldn't find anything for "ARL" so I just jumped in with a shared read instead ;)!

Thank you all for your help -- I was confused; I thought that the word had to start with the first three letters of the city name. Thanks again!

>183 lalbro: ChARLie and the chocolate factory??

>183 lalbro: What were you saying, Charlie Brown?

>183 lalbro: The Pearl by John Steinbeck

Oh - you all are great! I guess it was an easy one?!? Now I'll have to decide which one to add to the list! Thanks much.

>165 lyzard: Me too, find somthing with 'Zür' is more or less impossible.

>189 Ameise1: what about Zürcher Familiennamen maybe you find your own family name in there? or the Züricher Novellen by Gottfried Keller? or S Nöi Teschtamänt Züritüütsch, or Die Züricher Affäre : Roman by Armin Och?

>190 paulstalder: LOL Paul, my last name could be find in Basel - so waves back at your place. Keller I've already read. For the testament it would take too long to finish and Och's book I've seen as a movie. But thanks a lot for all your suggestions.

>189 Ameise1:

You could also match an already listed book (for any of you who find my challenge too challenging).

I've already read and enjoyed The Lost Child of Philomena Lee: A Mother, Her Son And A Fifty Year Search for any of you who want to give that book a try.

TIOLI Stats for February, 2015

During February, 2105, there were 22 challenges. In those challenges, there were 604 books read, of which 138 books or 23% were shared reads. That's a total of 178 YTD TIOLI points (...which is new record for us. Hooray!)

The most popular book was Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh. This book was read by 9 challengers.

The most popular challenge was inge87's challenge to read a book with the letter U, V, or W in the title. There were 101 books read for this challenge.

The challenge with the most TIOLI points was inge87's challenge to read book with the letter U, V, or W in the title. This challenge accumulated 10 TIOLI points.

Stay tuned for the February, 2015, TIOLI Awards!

>189 Ameise1: I agree with >192 SqueakyChu: about The Lost Child of Philomena Lee: A Mother, Her Son And A Fifty Year Search. I just read it and rated it 4 stars.

>189 Ameise1: >194 LoisB:

I gave The Lost Child of Philomena Lee: A Mother, Her Son And A Fifty Year Search. 4.5 stars. :)

>195 SqueakyChu: I'm a tough marker! :)

>196 LoisB:

:)

>193 SqueakyChu: I like looking at these stats!!

>192 SqueakyChu: >194 LoisB: My local library has only the DVD but not the book.
Thanks a lot anyway for your recommendation. :-)

>199 Ameise1: My local library has only the DVD but not the book.

:(

I've gotten quite a few friends' recommendations for The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down: A Hmong Child, Her American Doctors, and the Collision of Two Cultures, a book which I have but have not yet read. Maybe that book?

>200 SqueakyChu: Adding to the recommendations - that is an excellent book.

What has happened to this thread? Did you continue it someplace without telling me? (yes, I'm insecure!)

>202 LoisB:

Nope. People just stopped talking! :)

TIOLI Question of the month

What was the most surprising thing that you read this month? In what book did you find this surprising thing, and why did it surprise you?

>204 SqueakyChu: while reading Lusitania: Triumph, Tragedy, and the End of the Edwardian Age I was surprised to discover that this sunken ship was being explored until recently. It sank 100 years ago!

>204 SqueakyChu: My biggest surprise was what I discovered while reading Glenn Greenwald's book No Place to Hide: Edward Snowden, the NSA, and the U.S. Surveillance State. I learned that the U.S. government can eavesdrop on its own citizens by remotely turning on our smart phones to hear our conversations! Er, isn't that against the Fourth Amendment...and completely illegal according to constitutional law? Do we not elect our public officials to protect and defend our Constitution?

*confused and outraged about such a double standard*

This was a month of learning for me. Two of the most important:
While reading Thieves of State: Why Corruption Threatens Global Security by Sarah Chayes I learned that the rise of religious extremism in the Muslim world is due to the people's response to the corruption of their government. Seeing that those in power have no respect for the people they rule and that the people have no recourse to law they turn to the only moral force they know, religion. Then that gets corrupted too.
I also learned, from reading My Promised Land: The Triumph and Tragedy of Israel by Ari Shavit that Israel wasn't really organized for what he terms "oriental" Jews (Jews from Africa and the mid east) but for European Jews and there's much bickering between the various types. Also that, just as in the Muslim countries, the fundamentalist-orthox religious are holding up progress. Also, which was the most pertinent right now, that Netanyahu knew about and tried to communicate the danger of Iran's developing nuclear weapons decades ago. Shavit calls him Israel's only hope of preventing disaster, then bemoans the fact that he's politically blowing his chance.

>204 SqueakyChu: I learned in The Underground Girls of Kabul by Jenny Nordberg that there's an underground group of girls in Afghanistan who pose as boys, with the encouragement of their family. Reasons for this can range from magical thinking that the girl/boy will mean the next baby born will be a boy, saving a family's honor for not having any boys, or just being to help outside the family home. What surprised me is that this is common and that it's all done with a wink and a nod, until the girl/boy hits puberty.

>207 Citizenjoyce:

there's much bickering between the various types.

Having lived in Israel myself, you have no idea to what extent this bickering goes on! If, as so often seemingly reported in Washington Post, Israel is only about "the Arabs versus the Jews", it's clearly not.

I think Shavit's assessment is spot on...and this opinion is from a person (me!) who is, more often than not, quite the bleeding heart liberal.

>206 SqueakyChu: yep. And they can also track our location by our cell phones, doesn't have to even be a smart phone.

I just don't understand people who are on such power trips. I'm a live and let live person for the most part.

>210 fuzzi:

I also learned the defense against this. You take out your phone's battery or put it in the refrigerator. Of course, this makes your phone hard to use! :D

>211 SqueakyChu: and they'll still figure out a way to spy on me/us. I try to live as best a quiet and honest life as I can, and let others work themselves into a tizzy about circumstances that cannot be fixed.

Thank you all for commenting on this thread - I missed you! As far as the question of the month goes, I'm learning just reading your responses! My own reading wasn't especially informative, but I did learn by reading The House on the Strand that I can enjoy a book about time travel. I also discovered from reading The Lost Child of Philomena Lee that the Catholic Church in Ireland went further than I had realized in their horrible treatment of unwed mothers and the ensuing cover-ups.

My biggest surprise came when I found out the identity of the murderer in A rule against murder. Although I never tend to guess "whodunnit", there are some times where the person is more of a surprise than other times. (I've found Louise Penny to be very good at surprising me with the murderer's identity.)

>204 SqueakyChu: My biggest (and happiest) surprise is how thoroughly Ms. Marvel Vol. 1: No Normal lives up to the hype I've heard about it. I'm becoming more of a graphic novel reader in my middle age largely because my daughter loves them so much and it gives us something to geek over together, but I'm eagerly awaiting the next installment of this series wholly for my own sake.

The February 2015 TIOLI Awards

The Let's Make It Count Award goes to DeltaQueen for her own challenge to read a book with a three-word title but the first word cannot be "The". Get this! *Three* of the books she used for this challenge (In the Forest, Into the Shadows, Shatter the Bones) had the word "the" as the second word!!

The Good Use of Time Award goes to inge87 for reading Brother Petroc's Return in which the protagonist takes a 400-year nap. Well, I hope he was refreshed when he woke up!

The Very Concise Award goes to yoyogod for reading F9 for bell7's challenge to read a book with a title made up of letters and/or numbers rather than words. The parameters of the challenge were met with just one letter and one number in the book's title!

The Glorious Wedding Award goes to jennyifer24 and elkiedee for jennyifer24's challenge to read a book that has a main character with the same name as the book posted above it. The name these two challengers shared was "Mark", an LTer who just married another LTer, Zoe, today (!!!) in Sarasota, Florida.

Congrats to our award winners!

Congrats also to LT's newlyweds, Zoe (_Zoe_) and Mark (radicarian). Best wishes from all of us here on the TIOLI challenges!

Congratulations to all the award winners, AND the newlyweds! :)

Here's a surprising thing that I just read today in The Hemingses of Monticello - Sojourner Truth spoke with a Dutch accent. Did everyone know that but me?

>216 SqueakyChu:: Wow, congratulations Zoe and Mark.

>216 SqueakyChu: Thanks for the award, Madeline, but now everyone knows why I made up that particular challenge! ;)

Congratulations to Zoe and Mark.

>220 DeltaQueen50:

Thanks for the award, Madeline, but now everyone knows why I made up that particular challenge!

LOL!!

A peek at Zoe and Mark's wedding... :D

Scroll to message 188 on that link. I can't get the pics to stay where they're supposed to be!

Congrats to Zoe and Mark!

Great pix. Great flowers

>204 SqueakyChu: TIOLI Question of the month

What was the most surprising thing that you read this month? In what book did you find this surprising thing, and why did it surprise you?

So far the most surprising thing has been Death in the Stocks where I'm at the end of CD 7 or 8. 7/8ths of the way through. I spent the first 5 CDs sure that the murderer was going to be the blacksheep brother, only he was found dead at the start of CD 6, so looks like I was wrong again. I have an inkling of an idea who it might be but I'm not all that confident. That's not a surprise, I rarely get the murderer. Clearly not cut out to be a detective.

An LT wedding! How exciting. Congratulations to Zoe and Mark!

Thanks for the award! Congrats to the newlyweds!

Also, I have great letters for the hometown challenge (LAN) but it's been such a bummer month of reading for me. I feel like I'm just keeping my head above water at work. Might have to read a city book next month even though it won't count. So many books with "land"!

>227 jennyifer24: I never got to read the book I chose for my own challenge...so don't feel bad! :)

>228 SqueakyChu: that's happened to me, too. RL sometimes gets in the way of reading...

I've also had a slow month and have had to remove several books from the wiki.

>229 fuzzi:

You know, sometimes, just writing down that I plan to read a certain book makes me want to read something else. Go figure!

>231 SqueakyChu: or someone's book bullet distracts me, or a book I see for sale comes home, or an Early Reviewer book arrives...

;)

Psst...hey! It's STILL March...

The Girl on the Train is listed as completed by several readers in challenge 15 and just one in Challenge 4.

I'm also having to remove a few books from the March wiki and with particular apologies that includes Fraulein Schmidt and Mr Anstruther from challenge #1 which has also been listed by a couple of people as a shared read under my book and I think the shared reads will also need to be removed.

Madeline - should I delete all three books from the challenge or leave the remaining two books with a note that they probably need to be moved?

Ugh! I'm beginning to get way over my head and, today, will be moving some of my unread March TIOLI's to April. I will dedicate today to nothing but reading!

>235 souloftherose:

should I delete all three books from the challenge or leave the remaining two books with a note that they probably need to be moved?

Only remove your own listing. No need to send any notes. After the end of the month, I remove those books that should be deleted and correct all the misinformation.

FYI: The shared reads can remain even if your remove the original listing. The reason for this is that the intention was for a shared read even if not all of the "sharers" could complete the shared read in the allotted time.

If you remove your original listing, I can still see that the other books were a "shared read" because that is noted on their listings.

>235 souloftherose: Heather, no need to apologize, as I'm quite grateful you provided me with an excuse to read Fräulein Schmidt and Mr Anstruther sooner than later; I enjoyed that book very much, and I hope you do too when you have a chance to get to it. :-)

I've completed a sweep for the first time this year, and in a few months, with Marie Curie and her Daughters in Challenge 21.

Congratulations to Dejah_Thoris who has also done so, with the same number of books: 24 - but rather more shared reads.

Well done! I'm always impressed that people can read so many books and such a varied selection. I'm never getting close to a sweep, but still seem to end up with 2 books in one challenge.

>239 elkiedee: Congratulations! I finished the a sweep, too - I closed out with Five, Six, Seven, Nate! by Tim Federle for Challenge #9.

>216 SqueakyChu: And my very belated congratulations to all the February TIOLI Award winners and to Zoe and Mark!

I've read enough books but not spread across the challenges sufficiently in most months, though I was surprised that I did as well as I did in previous months.

For April though, I plan to try for more shared reads.

>241 Dejah_Thoris:: Congratulations - you also managed for more shared reads - I edited my post while you were posting to acknowledge your achievements.

Congrats to both of you! Well done!!

>239 elkiedee: >241 Dejah_Thoris:

Whoa! Two sweeps already this month. Congrats to you two!

>243 elkiedee: Thank you! As for the shared reads, I find that some months I am easily swayed - or perhaps tempted is a better word - by the choices of others. Other months, not so much! I really appreciate Madeline's original intent to promote common ground for reading conversations, so I try to get a few every month I participate, although I haven't been engaging in much conversation on LT lately.

>244 Crazymamie: >245 SqueakyChu: Thank you very much! I thought it would come down to the wire, but I finished a little earlier than I expected. Now I've just got to squeeze in my du Maurier.....

>239 elkiedee: >241 Dejah_Thoris: Bravo on the sweeps! I haven't even attempted it yet, and I don't know if I ever will, but I certainly admire you two for managing it!

>239 elkiedee:, >241 Dejah_Thoris: Congrats on the sweeps, a seemingly impossible accomplishment.

We're quickly approaching...

Housekeeping Day!

Remember to remove from the wiki any book you do not finish by 12 midnight on 3/31/15. Thanks for your help!

I did not do a very good job of pre-planning my TIOLI reads this month, but I'm happy to say I was able to find a challenge for every one of the books I've read this month, and added them to the wiki accordingly. I'm going to try to get back to pre-planning in April, but who knows?

I read 15 books this month and all of them fit into March challenges!!

>251 nrmay: good job!

>237 SqueakyChu: Phew! I was worried the other books would have to be removed and find a new challenge.

>238 Smiler69: I actually got half way through it but was having to grit my teeth to force myself to continue. No idea why but this one just isn't working for me at the moment.

>239 elkiedee: elkiedee:, >241 Dejah_Thoris: Dejah_Thoris: Congratulations on the sweeps!

Congrats to those who swept the challenges. I doubt I'll ever do that, but did fit all seven books into some challenge- needed to double dip #11 to do so.

Congrats to those who swept the challenges.

I did it once but doubt it'll ever happen again.

I offer my congratulations to the sweepers, as well. I don't think it will ever happen to me, since I only manage to read 10-12 books per month.