Take It Or Leave It Challenge - June 2016 - 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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It's time for a contest!

Note: A very small prize will be awarded at the end after we vote on the winner.

Your challenge for June 2016 is to...

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Read a book read a book with a happy individual (and no other individuals) on the front cover
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Rules:
1. The individual does not need to be human. It can be a mythological creature or an animal or any object with a happy face.
2. The front cover must show ONLY ONE individual (human, mythological or animal).
3. Please post the cover photo on our separate thread so we can see the happy face.
4. Only books which are COMPLETED during June will be eligible to win the very small prize.
5. Only one prize will be awarded so that, in the event of a shared read, the first person on the list naming a book will be the winner.
6. Voting will take place after the end of June. Details will follow at that time.
7. You may use any cover that goes with your book title.

We will be voting on the book cover with the HAPPIEST FACE. :D

Have fun selecting your book...and reading it!

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

1. The June 2016 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 read a book with a happy individual (and no other individuals) on the front cover - msg #1 - thread
2. Read a book from the Theakston’s Old Peculier Crime Writing Awards - msg #2
3. Read a book in which mushrooms play a part in the plot - msg #6
4. Read a book where every word in the title shares a common letter - msg #8
5. Read a book that has a word or phrase on page 70 that refers to some aspect of marijuana - msg #9
6. Read a book where the author's first or last name begins with a letter that is one of your father's initials - msg #10

Challenges #7-12
7. Read a book with something in the title that makes you go "Oh, no!" - msg #11
8. Read a book (fiction or non-fiction) about a historical event with a 'round number' anniversary this year - msg #13
9. Read a food memoir - msg #16
10. Read a book that has a graduate (of some sort) in the story, or has the word "graduate" in the title - msg #21
11. Just for U challenge - read a book with the letter "U" in the title - msg #22
12. Read a book offered in this years YA Sync Free Audiobooks - msg #35

Challenges #13-16
13. Read a book for which you have a specific reason to read it - msg #49
14. Read a book whose title contains something about SUMMER for which you are grateful - msg #62
15. Read a book written by an Austrian author after 1946 - msg #65
16. Read a YA or children's book by an author who doesn't share your nationality - msg #66

Please hold your challenge until the July challenges are posted. Thank you.

Challenge #2 : Read a book from the Theakston’s Old Peculier Crime Writing Awards

“Old Peculier” is the name of a beer. If you are wondering about the history of the name here is an interesting brief explanation: http://somethingsurprising.blogspot.com/2011/12/peculier-of-masham.html

This crime award started in 2005. Read a book from the past archives or the present 2016 longlist. You must read a specific book mentioned, not just any book by the authors listed.

https://harrogateinternationalfestivals.com/crime/news/2016-theakstons-old-pecul...

https://harrogateinternationalfestivals.com/crime/longlist-theakstons-old-peculi...

https://harrogateinternationalfestivals.com/crime/award/theakstons-old-peculier-...

https://harrogateinternationalfestivals.com/crime/award/

Madeline, I changes the spelling for Old Peculiar to Old Peculier with an "e".

>4 dallenbaugh: Got it. Thx!

CHALLENGE #3: A Shortcut to Mushrooms--Read a book in which mushrooms play a part in the plot

I'll be reading The Dark Valley by Valerio Varesi.

Other options to get you started:

The Fellowship of the Ring by J. R. R. Tolkien
The Grim Grotto by Lemony Snicket
The Documents in the Case by Dorothy L. Sayers
Another Roadside Attraction by Tom Robbins
Play with Fire by Dana Stabenow
State of Wonder by Ann Patchett
Finch by Jeff VanderMeer
The Teachings of Don Juan by Carlos Castaneda
The Debt to Pleasure by Don Lancaster
The Darkest Part of the Woods by Ramsey Campbell
Down Among the Dead Men by Peter Lovesey

Happy hunting!

>6 jeanned: I really enjoyed State of Wonder! Recommended!!

Challenge 4: Read a book where every word in the title shares a common letter

This should be pretty self explanatory. Every word in the title must have at least one letter in common.

The title must have more than one word. Words like A or I count, for this purpose.

Because this month I both celebrate my 70th birthday and get my first medical marijuana card, my challenge is to Challenge #5: read a book that has a word or phrase on page 70 that refers to some aspect of marijuana.

My books are Border Songs (medicinal herb, smoke, burn, seeds) - Jim Lynch and And The Mountains Echoed (smoke, hookah) by Khaled Hosseini.

With a nod to Father's Day:

Challenge #6: Read a book where the author's first or last name begins with a letter that is one of your father's initials.

My fathers initials are G.C.B. so I can use those three letters to start my author's first or last names.

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Challenge #7: Read a book with something in the title that makes you go "Oh, no!"

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I'm not going to be too restrictive on this one---your "Oh, no!" may be either serious or silly, as long as there is something in your book title that could reasonably cause dismay.

For instance, I'll be reading The Poisoned Chocolates Case---what could be more dismaying than poisoned chocolates??

On the May thread lindapanzo commended The Sergeant's Lady as having been written by our own LT and TIOLI Author Susanna Fraser. My library system doesn't have it, but it's very reasonably priced for both Nook and Kindle. So, if anyone wants to share a read, I'm adding it to challenge #6, the father's initials challenge.

Challenge 8: Read a book (fiction or non-fiction) about a historical event with a 'round number' anniversary this year

Self-explanatory. I was inspired to suggest this challenge because of all the news coverage a couple of weeks ago of the centenary of the Sykes-Picot agreement, as I have the book A Line In The Sand on my TBR pile.

Serious or fun events are all included!

Please check the rules for my challenge #1. I changed the wording to clarify what I want.

*Your book cover may not have more than one individual pictured on it, and that individual must appear happy.
*You may use any cover that goes with your book title.

>12 Citizenjoyce: ::blushes::

Challenge 9: Read a memoir about food

One of the categories in the Seattle Public Library 2016 Summer Book Bingo, which I'm trying score a blackout on again this year. (I don't read fast enough for a TIOLI sweep, but 24 books in a summer is eminently doable.)

If you're looking for suggestions, here are some lists:

AbeBooks list of 50 food memoirs
25 must-read food memoirs
They Came, They Saw, They Cooked

Once again, I'm loving these challenges. My planned reads for the month:

Challenge #1: Read a book read a book with a happy individual (and no other individuals) on the front cover - started by SqueakyChu
*✔The Danish Girl - David Ebershoff - E-Audiobook (3.5)
Challenge #2: Read a book from the Theakston’s Old Peculier Crime Writing Awards - started by dallenbaugh
✔I Let You Go - Clare Mackintosh - E-Audiobook (4)
Challenge #3: Read a book in which mushrooms play a part in the plot - started by JeanneD
✔Spill simmer falter wither - Sara Baume - E-Book (4)
Challenge #4: Read a book where every word in the title shares a common letter - started by lindapanzo
*✔Big Little Lies - Liane Moriarty - Audiobook (4.5)
*✔The Evening Spider - Emily Arsenault - E-Audiobook (3)
✔Lady Midnight - Cassandra Clare - E-Audiobook (3.5)
Challenge #5: Read a book that has a word or phrase on page 70 that refers to some aspect of marijuana - started by Citizenjoyce
✔And The Mountains Echoed - Khaled Hosseini - E-Audiobook (4)
Border Songs - Jim Lynch - Nook
*✔Contact - Carl Sagan - E-Audiobook (3.5)
Challenge #6: Read a book where the author's first or last name begins with a letter that is one of your father's initials - started by DeltaQueen
✔Fire Touched - Patricia Briggs - Audiobook (3.5)
✔The Good Good Pig: The Extraordinary Life of Christopher Hogwood - Sy Montgomery (4)
The Red Market: On the Trail of the World's Organ Brokers, Bone Thieves, Blood Farmers, and Child Traffickers - Scott Carney
*Station Eleven - Emily St. John Mandel - Audiobook (4.5)
Challenge #7: Read a book with something in the title that makes you go "Oh, no!" - started by lyzard
Giants: The Dwarfs of Auschwitz - Yehuda Koren, Eilat Negev
*✔Sister Bernadette's Barking Dog - Kitty Burns Florey (4)
✔The Widow - Fiona Barton - E-Audiobook (4.5)
The Tropic of Serpents - Marie Brennan - E-Audiobook
Challenge #8: Read a book (fiction or non-fiction) about a historical event with a 'round number' anniversary this year - started by wandering_star
✔The United States Constitution : a graphic adaptation - Jonathan Hennessey, Aaron McConnell Graphic (5)
Challenge #9: Read a food memoir - started by susanna.fraser
*✔Heat: An Amateur's Adventures as Kitchen Slave, Line Cook, Pasta-Maker, and Apprentice to a Dante-Quoting Butcher in Tus - Bill Buford - E-Audiobook (4.5)
Challenge #10: Read a book that has a graduate (of some sort) in the story, or has the word "graduate" in the title - started by fuzzi
✔Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right - Jane Mayer - E-Audiobook (5)
✔The Story of A New Name - Elena Ferrante - E-Audiobook (5)
Challenge #11: Just for U challenge - Read a book with the letter "U" in the title - started by cbl
✔ Double Cup Love: On the Trail of Family, Food, and Broken Hearts in China - Eddie Huang - E-Audiobook (3.5)
Challenge #12: Read a book offered in this years YA Sync Free Audiobooks - started by raidergirl3
*✔Bone Gap - Laura Ruby - E-Audiobook (3.5)
*✔Every Last Word - Tamara Ireland Stone - E-Audiobook (4.5)
Challenge #13: Read a book for which you have a specific reason to read it - started by cyderry
✔The Lowland (Book Club) - Jhumpa Lahiri - Book Club - E-Audiobook (3.5)
Challenge #14: Read a book whose title contains something about SUMMER for which you are grateful - started by klobrien2
✔Into the Forest - Jean Hegland - E-Book (4.5)
Salt to the Sea - Ruta Sepetys - E-Audiobook
Challenge #15: Read a book written by an Austrian author after 1946 - started by paulstalder
✔The Great Ghost Rescue - Eva Ibbotson (4)
Challenge #16: Read a YA or children's book by an author who doesn't share your nationality - started by avatiakh
✔Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - J. K. Rowling - Audiobook (5)

>13 wandering_star: Is a round number only one that ends in one or more zeros? Wiki has a different explanation.

I would say it can end in a 5 too.

>19 wandering_star:, oops. I was thinking you meant an even number. Best look for a different book for the challenge.

Here's mine:

*****Challenge #10: Read a book that has a graduate (of some sort) in the story, or has the word "graduate" in the title*****

Simple enough?

****Challenge #11: Just for U - Read a book with the letter "U" in the title***

Read anything U like for this challenge....as long as the letter "U" is somewhere in the title!

Here's a great article from The New Yorker on bibliotherapy:
http://www.newyorker.com/culture/cultural-comment/can-reading-make-you-happier?u...

>22 cbl_tn: Yay! That allows me to list two of my planned reads for the Canadian Authors Challenge in June: The Piano Man's Daughter by Timothy Findley, and Through Black Spruce by Joseph Boyden.

>23 Citizenjoyce: Thanks for posting the article about bibliotherapy, Joyce. That's a good therapy for everyone! :)

>23 Citizenjoyce: Yes, an interesting article.

Oh, no! This month I have to graduate, memorize my food, get a round anniversary (get 70?), eat mushrooms and 70 pages of marijuana, get challenged by a U and share every word with a common letter, get an award drinking Old Peculier and then remember my father's initiation - and keep a happy face to it???

>27 paulstalder: LOL!

The trouble with reading so many mysteries is that no-one on the covers ever looks happy---in fact, they're usually dead!

>29 lyzard:

!!! Haha!

>29 lyzard: I bet you know what your July challenge should be.

>27 paulstalder: You're so clever.
>29 lyzard: On Game of Thrones the High Sparrow keeps saying how happy he and his followers would be to die. Guess you have to find one of those happy corpses.

>31 dallenbaugh:

Noted! :D

Another suggestion for challenge #3 - mushrooms are a big part of Joe Hill's new one, The Fireman, which I thought was quite a fun read.

Challenge #12: Read a book from this summers YA Sync Free Audiobook

Each summer, Sync offers free audiobooks to download, usually a newer author paired with a classic. The challenge is to read or listen to any of the books. You certainly don't have to be downloading from the site. Here's a link to the titles offered this summer:

http://audiobooksync.com/2016-sync-titles/

It never ceases to amaze me how, even after many years of TIOLI, inventive challenges are still created!

>35 raidergirl3: Oh great, thanks for reminding us about Sync—I downloaded a few great titles last year and had already forgotten about it, and have signed up now to make sure not to miss out on what's coming next.

>36 Carmenere: It never ceases to amaze me how, even after many years of TIOLI, inventive challenges are still created!

I think the best ones have been some of those we've created recently.

>38 SqueakyChu: I think the best ones have been some of those we've created recently.
your manga challenge?

>39 paulstalder: Well, that* included, although yours have been mighty creative! :)

*If truth be told, I was extremely hesitant to put that manga challenge out there. Now that I've done so, I'm glad I did it,

>37 Smiler69: SYNC is such a great program- I like to see more people getting audiobooks. You can sign up for email or text reminders that new books are available.

>38 SqueakyChu: my favourite was the 4 corner word challenge.

>9 Citizenjoyce: I have a question about Challenge #5. If there is a word on page 70 that could be used in reference to marijuana, but in this book it isn't referring to that, can I still put the book under your challenge? The word on page 70 in my book is "high".

>41 raidergirl3: I signed for the email reminders when I saw they'll be offering a few books that are on my Audible wishlist. Saves on credits, gotta love that!

>41 raidergirl3: my favourite was the 4 corner word challenge

I thought that one was so creative. I never even thought of anything close to it!

I have enjoyed the various challenges having to do with Scrabble points, even though I'm not a Scrabble player.

>42 DeltaQueen50: Yes indeed. Whether or not the book applies the word to marijuana, if it can be applied it counts.

>46 Citizenjoyce: Yipee! Thanks for your prompt answer, Joyce.

For challenge #8, I just saw a commercial that said this year is M&M'S 75th Anniversary.

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Challenge #13: Read a book for which you have a specific reason to read it
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I noticed when I looked at my list for June, every book I had on it, I needed to read for one reason or other. - Book Club, Need to review, etc. so this one is my motivation to get these books read.

>1 SqueakyChu: Is this a happy face??
search for cover of "A Serpent's Tooth"
It is the Navajo mystery project book for the month. I haven't read enough to have an answer from the plot.

I have other categories for the book, but wondered about your opinion.

If you think it's happy, post it! Remember, we're going to take a vote so it's up to our crowd to determine the happiest face. :D

I guess that you could argue that the serpent is smiling. It's okay with me.

LOL!

>50 Helenoel: Several of us have already listed this book in challenge #7 - A book with something in the title that makes you go "Oh, no!"

Also, I know of a few people with snake phobias in this group (including myself). This image comes out very large in my browser. Is it possible to resize the image to make it smaller so we won't scare off any TIOLI participants this month? I'm OK with it since it's a drawing and not a photograph, but I know that even a drawing is too much for some.

>49 cyderry: Thank you, Cheli! Challenge 13 has allowed me to list all the books I have set aside for June in the TIOLI Challenges. I probably won't read all the of 20 books I have listed but I'll give it a good try!

>49 cyderry: what an interesting challenge!

>50 Helenoel: >52 cbl_tn: to resize the image you just have to add the following after the url:

" width=200> (yes, there's a space after the " and before the word width)

>54 fuzzi: Most of the time I get a "feeling" and just want to read a particular book, but this month I have so many that I'm supposed to be reading, I thought others might have a few as well.

>56 cyderry: I do that too, but I try to discipline myself to work on some of the ROOT/older books on my shelves. I'm determined to get about 70 of the old books (on the shelves for a year or more) read this year.

>52 cbl_tn: , >55 fuzzi:
Sorry to set off triggers. I edited to remove the picture. I'll probably join the group on the "Oh No" TIOLI

A note to @citizenjoyce:

Since I cannot win the contest for this month with The Danish Girl (since it's my own read and I can't win my own prize), if YOU post it on that separate thread, you can enter the contest as well even though it's the same book since you are listed second under that book. To "officially" enter the contest, you would have to post that picture on your own post on that thread (only if you would like).

If @citizenjoyce doesn't post the picture, any other person who is reading the same book can enter the contest in this way. Since only one prize will be awarded, the highest person for that book might have a chance of winning.

>58 Helenoel: oh, I was fine with the picture, but I do understand some people have issues with snakes.

The only snakes I don't like are the venomous types, but if they show up in my yard, I just re-home them.

>59 SqueakyChu: Madeline, I'll post the picture for The Danish Girl if Joyce doesn't, and if I end up reading it of course!

Minnesota has had some glorious summer weather lately, so I want to sing the praises of summer!

Challenge #14: Read a book who title contains something about SUMMER for which you are grateful.

I've started it off with Stars Above: A Lunar Chronicles Collection by Marissa Meyer.

Karen O.

>61 Smiler69: Okey-doke!

>61 Smiler69: feel free to post the cover. I have a great deal of difficulty doing so.

Challenge #15: Read a book written by an Austrian author after 1946

I challenge you to read a book written by an author of the 2nd Republic of Austria. So, the book should be published after 1946. (Elias Canetti did not publish in Austria after WWII, so he would not count, but Ingeborg Bachmann and Elfriede Jelinek would.)

Here a list of Austrian authors: http://www.literaturhaus.at/index.php?id=3498&L=0%25252F%25252C0%25252F%252C and the wikipedia article about Austrian Literature https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Austrian_literature

Have fun

Challenge #16: Read a YA or children's book by an author who doesn't share your nationality

Fairly self-explanatory.

Dammit.

There must be somebody on my reading list who looks happy...

ETA: Okay, I've done the best I can. :)

Planned reading for June:

Challenge #3: Read a book in which mushrooms play a part in the plot
The Dark Valley, by Valerio Varesi

Challenge #4: Read a book where every word in the title shares a common letter
Be Near Me, by Andrew O’Hagan
Dark Magic, by Christine Feehan

Challenge #5: Read a book that has a word or phrase on page 70 that refers to some aspect of marijuana
Silent Joe, by T. Jefferson Parker

Challenge #6: Read a book where the author's first or last name begins with a letter that is one of your father's initials
Jeeves and the Wedding Bells, by Sebastian Faulks

Challenge #7: Read a book with something in the title that makes you go "Oh, no!"
The Body in the Snowdrift, by Katherine Hall Page
Three Girls and Their Brother, by Theresa Rebeck

Challenge #10: Read a book that has a graduate (of some sort) in the story, or has the word "graduate" in the title
The Black Hour, by Lori Rader-Day

Challenge #11: Just for U challenge - read a book with the letter "U" in the title
Scales of Justice, by Ngaio Marsh

Challenge #13: Read a book for which you have a specific reason to read it
The Gods of Gotham, by Lyndsay Faye

Challenge #14: Read a book whose title contains something about SUMMER for which you are grateful
Black and Blue, by Ian Rankin

Thank you, challenge posters....all of my library books found a spot.

I have moved Dunger by Joy Cowley from Challenge #6 to Kerry's Challenge #16. I think it's a better fit for that challenge since it is a YA story, the author is a different nationality from me, and I took the original recommendation from Kerry. :)

A question about Challenge #6:

If a book is published under a pseudonym, can your father share an initial with the author's real name?

>70 lyzard: Yes, I think that works. Go for it, Liz!

Thank you, Judy!

>35 raidergirl3: I was surprised when I saw the book about David Ring in this week's offerings on AudioSync. I used to work the Gaither Concerts and National Quartet Convention for the Southern Gospel Music Association, and I got to meet and talk to David on several occasions. He really was an inspiration to a lot of folks then. I really want to get Juba later this summer when it is offered also. Thanks for sharing Sync with us.

Streamsong

I just shared your Station Eleven book on Challenge #6

The month is nearly half over, and I've just finished the library books I thought I would finish in May (but, of course, found places for in June's TIOLI challenges).

I'm not sure how I fell so far behind! (No, I know, 4 intricately plotted and lushly detailed books in May.)

I think I can, I think I can....

>75 jeanned: you can do it, you CAN do it!

>75 jeanned: >74 dallenbaugh: Great! How did you like it?

I go to a lot of trouble to avoid bad books. I give everything at least 100 pages. But I couldn't even do that with Dark Magic. Happy to LEAVE IT! Deciding not to read something is the fastest way to delete it from TBR, but not so satisfying.

>76 fuzzi: So it's looking more likely that I can!

>77 streamsong: Only 3.5 stars for My Name Is Red, but 4.5 each for The Tiger's Wife, The Secret Chord, and The Moor's Account. They were all wonderful. But not as wonderful as The Death of Bees, by far my best read for 2016. All in May! It was rather an embarrassment of riches.

>78 jeanned: So happy to see your praise of The Death of Bees by Lisa O'Donnell. It is my best read of 2016 so far as well.

79> I loved it, and immediately ordered a copy for my daughter.

TIOLI Question of the Month!

What three adjectives best describe your most current read?

I just finished League of Dragons, which was gripping, satisfying...and a tiny bit disappointing, in that the ending was a bit abrupt and didn't allow me to catch up with some of my favorite characters.

>81 SqueakyChu: Rape, Abuse, Motherhood: three words that describe Big Little Lies which is much better than I thought it would be.

>81 SqueakyChu: For me and my read of The Diary of a Mad Old Man by Jun'ichirō Tanizaki , my three adjectives are surprising, engaging, puzzling. It's the diary...of an old man. If he's mad in any sense of the word, I really cannot yet tell. I like the experience of reading this book, though.

>83 Citizenjoyce: We still need your three adjectives.

My question is more about the experience of reading than the theme of your book. This makes the answer to the question just a bit harder! :)

Oops. I didn't pay attention to the question. I'll say controversial, enlightening and engaging. The book shows situations in unusual lights and opens up my mind to further questions. It would be great for a book club discussion.

>81 SqueakyChu: I'm listening to Barkskins, the latest novel by Annie Proulx. Three adjectives to describe it would be epic, historical, environmental. If anybody would like to share this read with me, I've listed it under challenge #13, as I'm reading it for the American Author Challenge.

Absorbing, Reliable and well-plotted. I am reading the 21st book in Peter Robinson's series featuring DI Alan Banks. After a couple of less than stellar books, I'm turning to something I knew I would enjoy.

ETA: I forgot to mention that the book I am reading is Children of the Revolution by Peter Robinson.

>81 SqueakyChu: I'm reading Heat by Bill Buford thanks to citizenjoyce posting it in the food memoir challenge. It's eye-opening, infectious (the author's curiosity makes me want to know more too) and uncensored.

*Grumble grumble*. Just tried making a change on a wiki page, and got the following:

You do not have permission to edit this page, for the following reason:

Your IP address has been automatically blocked because it was used by another user, who was blocked by Lorannen. The reason given is:

Autoblocked because your IP address has been recently used by "Ionpenningsheld".
The reason given for Ionpenningsheld's block is "Spamming links to external sites"

I posted a message in the bug collectors, and about to send a PM to @lorannen so hopefully it'll get looked into soon.

>90 Smiler69: How frustrating!

>90 Smiler69: >91 SqueakyChu: I'm blocked as well. Same reason given.

>90 Smiler69:, >92 avatiakh: Me too! I feel better knowing it's not just me!

I think everyone may be blocked. I get the same message. We can't all be connecting from the same IP address.

This happened once before, that I know about. It was an identical situation, and everyone was affected. It should get resolved within the next 24 hours.

I messaged lorannen and she sorted it out quickly!

edited- now that I'm actually trying to make changes, I'm still blocked too. New dates- this one says ending tomorrow at 1:00.

I'm still blocked.

I also messaged lorannen. I think she's getting a little frustrated with the whole thing, so I don't think we each need to tell her. Evidently it's a hard thing to fix this time.

>96 jennyifer24: >97 avatiakh: >98 Citizenjoyce: I just now successfully edited a wiki page, after seeing on the Bug thread that they'd found a fix. Seems everything is back to normal.

Thanks, I've also updated.

Yay!

I still can't edit the wiki. :(

I reopened this bug thread:
http://www.librarything.com/topic/225674#

Thanks Madeline, I'm having the same problem.

I hope it gets fixed before the month changes! :O

It worked yesterday.

I'm sorry, but who is @lorax and what exactly is her role on the Bug group? She just seems to keep telling us not to report stuff and fills up the pages with tech jargon 'explanations' which are incomprehensible to most of us, I'm sure.

Sorry, just had to vent that rant. Every time I've gone to that group she's gotten on my nerves with her snarky responses to everybody.

>102 SqueakyChu: I also was able to edit yesterday but can't today.
>106 Smiler69: Grrrr.

>107 Citizenjoyce: Well, I went and did it and posted a snarky comment back at her. May be childish, but I'm fed up with her unpleasant and unhelpful interventions every time we report problems.

>108 Smiler69: I saw the comment, very snarky. I almost chimed in beside you but didn't want to get bogged down in a war that wouldn't fix anything. We'll hope your comment opened her eyes. People who can do things have such disdain for those who can't do those particular things. I couldn't fix a bug to save my life, but if she were having distress in childbirth my skills would come in mighty handy. Sorry, looks like I needed to vent too. I will now patiently await the fix.

>109 Citizenjoyce: Joyce, I just hate that every time I venture out to one of the 'general public' sections of LT (i.e. away from the relative safety of the 75ers), there's always someone ready with a snarky comment, and I've identified a few LTers I try to stay away from, but who can't help themselves with dishing out general unpleasantness. I have very little patience for that, and it really gets my inner warrior going unfortunately. I'm just tired of being put down every time I do something as simple as reporting a problem in a group that's there: TO REPORT PROBLEMS!!!

Ugh.

>110 Smiler69: sorry to hear you've had problems with others. Some never learned to play nice while they were in Kindergarten, or learned what many of us do recall:

>106 Smiler69: She's a long time member. Ignore her snarky responses. Otherwise you'll only get yourself riled up. I'm sure admin will fix this problem. I also don't like when people say we don't *need* to report problems. I'll report what I want to report whenever I want to make a report.

>111 fuzzi: Yes, that's a lesson we can always use a refresher on, it seems!

>112 SqueakyChu: I'll report what I want to report whenever I want to make a report.

That's just it: that's what the Bug Collectors group is there for, so I don't take kindly to anyone telling me I'm doing something wrong, when obviously that's not the case. I usually ignore her, but just couldn't take it today for some reason. Someone putting her in her place once in a while can't be all bad, I figure.

Wow, I can't believe it's still not fixed. It must be some big bug.

>114 Citizenjoyce: I know, I was surprised about that too when I tried to edit a page a short while ago.

Can you imagine the increasing anxiety and agitation of our 75ers here on the TIOLI Challenges if this problem persists?! :O

I sent Lorannen a private message about my inability to edit the wiki. The message I got said to contact her or another administrator but the link went to an empty page that I did not have the ability to create, which I thought was strange. I just found her profile to report it. I suspect many of the LT folks are at ALA, but I hope they kept enough people around to fix the bug.

I just did an edit to TIOLI and it worked.

>118 Carmenere: I did it earlier! I just forgot to post it was working.

>112 SqueakyChu: Hear, hear!!

Madeline, I'm afraid you've become a magnet for us OCD types. Oh, the distress in not being able to edit the wiki!

>121 Citizenjoyce: Oh, the distress in not being able to edit the wiki!

Tell me about it! Strangely enough though, this time the problem seems to have resolved itself without any special intervention, if I read Loranne's message from today correctly. She apologized for not responding yesterday, as she was away sick. Let's hope all is well for good now, with a new TIOLI month soon upon us...

>122 Smiler69: Yes, almost time to start keeping an eye open for July.

Glad it all got resolved. I hadn't been on LT for a few days and so missed all the excitement.

>123 lindapanzo: Yes... good times!

I've blocked the irritant now. Something I should have done before opening my big mouth and giving 'her' a piece of my thinking, but that being said, I'm glad I got it off my chest.

>124 Smiler69: After my TIOLI sweep in May, I've been lucky to have finished anything this year so I'm looking ahead to July and just reading whatever at this point.

Moving ahead...

May 2016 TIOLI Stats

For the month of May, 2016, we had a total of 17 challenges, the smallest number of challenges since 2011 (five years ago!).

We read a total of 390 books, the smallest number of books read in one month since 2011. We had 70 shared reads, the smallest number since 2014. The shared reads comprised 18% of our reads.

We accumulated 38 TIOLI points, the smallest monthly number since 2014. We have a YTD total of 203 TIOLI points, the lowest May YTD total since 2010, the year in which we began the TIOLI challenges.

The news is not all bad, however. On the TIOLI meter, I see 20 active participants who use the meter to track their numbers. So we have at LEAST this number of active participants - quite enough to continue our TIOLI challenges into the near future.

There were two most popular books, both with 5 readers each. They were Yotsuba&!, vol. 1 by Kiyohiko Azuma and Old Filth by Jane Gardam.

The most popular challenge, with 69 books read, was the one by cyderry to read a book where at least two letters in the title or author's name are next to each other in the alphabet as seen in the normal layout.

The two challenges with the most TIOLI points (6 each) were cyderry's challenge to read a book where at least two letters in the title or author's name are next to each other in the alphabet as seen in the normal layout and dallenbaugh's challenge to read a book with a title where one of the letters is worth at least 4 points and the total number of points for all letters is at least 15 as designated in the game of Scrabble.

Looking ahead to the May 2016 TIOLI Awards...

>126 SqueakyChu: One of the advantages of less challenges in any given month is we have better odds of managing a sweep, in theory, at least. I'm glad that you consider we still have the numbers to keep going with TIOLI. I've said it before, but this challenge is one of my favourites on LT and it does help shape my reading choices in a big way, even though I always have at least a handful of planned reads going into each month.

I love TIOLI. And I don't use the meter. I don't know how many of us there are.

>126 SqueakyChu: If I'm not the laziest person in the world, I'm probably in the top 10, so I greatly appreciate the effort you expend to maintain this list, Madeline. Thank you so much. I'm glad it will continue. It is truly one of the pleasures of my life.

I too love TIOLI and have never used the meter. I will probably never sweep- but I consider it a landmark if I can fit all my reads in for a month.

I love TIOLI and hope it keeps going and going like the Energizer bunny.

I never use the meter, I love TIOLI, and hope you continue to keep it going!

>132 fuzzi: hope you continue to keep it going!

I plan to keep it going. I need it to plan my monthly reads! :D

I'm another who participates but doesn't do the meter. I wondered if we'd have a few sweeps this month as there are so few challenges....and I can't read a book for challenge #1 as I'm yet to find one with a happy face on the cover.

>134 avatiakh: I'm yet to find one with a happy face on the cover.

Maybe I should have done a sad face challenge! :D

The May 2016 TIOLI Awards!

The Let's Choose Another Game Award goes to brenpike for reading Your Fathers, Where Are They? And the Prophets, Do They Live Forever? for dallenbaugh's challenge to read a book with a title where one of the letters is worth at least 4 points and the total number of points for all letters is at least 15 as designated in the game of Scrabble. Brenpike's book had an accumulated Scrabble point value of 102. That is going to be a hard Scrabble score to beat!

The Let It Be So Award goes to streamsong for reading The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up for cbl_tn's challenge to read a book that has something to do with spring cleaning. I am now fervently wishing that tidying-up would be magic.

The Turn Off the Stove Award goes to dallenbaugh for reading Inside the Cannibal Pot for JeanneD's challenge to read a book whose title completes the sentence "May is my favorite month to be ...." It's hot enough this summer. Cool off that pot! Get dallenbaugh out of there! Turn on the sprinklers! Make me a rum daquiri! Thanks!!

The Great Idea Award goes to wandering_star for reading Ice Land for LizzieD's challenge to read a book whose title contains the word "water" or any form of water. Ice reminds me of ice cream which reminds me to go into my freezer to see if some chocolate ice cream is still there. I'm so glad to have had that reminder!

The Very Brave Person Award goes to paulstalder for presenting us with the challenge to read a manga where there is a picture of someone eating with chopsticks. I can't believe someone was unafraid to post yet a second manga challenge. I present you with this award and even a medal for bravery!

The Keep Me Out of There Award goes to Citizenjoyce for reading Bitch Planet, Vol. 1: Extraordinary Machine for Carmenere's challenge to read a book which has a word in the title indicating a place where a large amount of people meet. Um...that's not a place I'm going! :)

Feel free to add any awards of your own at this time.

Congratulations to our award winners!

>136 SqueakyChu: Thanks for the award, and I highly recommend that you not go to Bitch Planet. It's really not a nice place to be. Be careful, don't upset your husband, he might have you sent there.

I don't do the TIOLI meter, and I rarely even finish a book to fit in with the challenges, but I still love the TIOLI challenge and get excited about the new challenges. The TIOLI is one of the few LT things I've stuck with (I've dropped out of other challenges/groups) because it's so dear to me.

Yes do keep TIOLI going. Such fun, and thanks for the award. I'm just glad JeanneD came up with that challenge so I had a place to put that book which I also read for the New Zealand/Australia challenge group.

And thanks for mentioning ice cream Madeline because that is what I had decided I was going to make my challenge about this month, but I notice right now the Wiki is blocked again this morning from doing any editing. Ideas???

>137 Citizenjoyce: LOL!

>138 PawsforThought: me too. There are other LT challenges I never finish, but I always get at least six TIOLIs completed.

I'm bad about using the Wiki: I generally don't add my challenge until I finish the book...

>136 SqueakyChu: I loved that challenge! My favorite things all in one place: Scrabble, TIOLI, and, of course, books :)
Thanks for the award!

>136 SqueakyChu: Thank you for the award! The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up is a fun read that generated a **lot** of discussion on my thread. The author has a screw loose (in the nicest possible way) , but somehow it's still very inspiring.

>142 brenpike: I used to adore playing Scrabble, although I haven't played it much in years. I had a former roommate who was ultra-competitive, and we used to like to play Scrabble together. I used to be pretty good, but I've not kept up. Recently we had the chance to visit her, and my score was...like half...of hers!

Another personal Scrabble story.... When I used to work nights in a home health care office, my colleague and I found a Scrabble game on our computer. We would play every night, but it was boring because she was such a bad player. I taught her ways to improve her game to make it more fun for me. One night she actually beat me. She made me sign a paper that I actually lost to her. The following night, the Scrabble game disappeared. Our IT manager found the Scrabble game on our computer and deleted it. *sigh*

That was way before all the hacks that happen these days. This past year that agency (which shall remain nameless here) had its entire computer network (spanning three large jurisdictions, two of them being different states) hit with malicious ransomware. I'll go back to the board game, even though I once found it fun to compete in Scrabble with others online. I now purposely avoid all online gaming because it is such a time sink, and I spend way too much time online as it is.

>143 streamsong: Please do point us to your thread. I'd like to see that discussion. :)

I finished a book for the TIOLI! This almost never happens, but I'm on vacation and the book happened to fit into one of the categories, so hurrah!

I use and enjoy the meter every month, and feel a little sad when a book that I am reading can't be fit into the scheme somehow. :) The one challenge I strive to complete every month is the Challenge #1, and it's especially cool when I can make it a shared read. It's been a great way to expand my reading horizon!

Karen O.

I do not use the meter, but I'm a huge fan of TIOLI. If a planned read doesn't fit, it waits for a new round of TIOLI to try again.

I'm very curious about all this non-meter usage! Madeline stresses (and I hope we all know here) that TIOLI is not a race or a competition, so I wonder why so many people opt out?

>149 lyzard: I just don't think about it...

Speaking for myself, lyzard, I find it just another chore. There's enough stuff needing inputting on LT, that I just save myself that little bit extra by not doing the meter.

I also used to update the meter when it first started but as @countrylife says it just became another task to do.

>149 lyzard: I'd rather spend the time reading- and I really don't care where I stand in a ranking.

I don't use the meter either, for all the reasons already enumerated :)

>154 katiekrug: love those big words... :)

>136 SqueakyChu: Thank you very much for the award. I felt brave enough to start reading a history of Chopsticks. I wanted to read it for the food challenge this month but I probably don't finish it till the end of the month, so I may have to find a special challenge for that book ... let me think ...

And I'd like to add two more awards:

The drawA ukatO goes to uhCykaeuqS for reading all these mangas for all the different challenges. Imagine - reading everything from right to left, starting the book at the end - :) Congratulations!

The Hydrophobia Award goes to LizzieD for her own challenge to read a book whose title contains the word "water" or any form of water. Making everybody else wet, throwing us into ice, letting us stand in the rain etc. - and then keep herself dry and not reading a single drop, äh water book? It seems that you ran dry of watery books :)

>157 paulstalder: Hahahaha! Thanks for that award, Paul.

Congrats, @LizzieD!

I finished The United States Constitution : a graphic adaptation by Jonathan Hennessey and Aaron McConnell for Challenge #8, never would have read this great graphic without your stimulus >13 wandering_star:, or your previous read of it, Susanna Fraser. Now I have just one more to make the sweep for the month. Delta Queen gently informed me that an Austrian author is not the same thing as an Australian author (who knew?) so I had to make a slight adjustment but found a delightful ghost story, The Great Ghost Rescue by Eva Ibbotson that will fit the correct continent and country. I should finish it tomorrow unless, well, unless life interferes.

>159 Citizenjoyce: Have you read the same author's Gettysburg Address? It's even better, IMHO.

>159 Citizenjoyce:, >160 susanna.fraser: delighted to be of help! Both books sound really interesting.

>160 susanna.fraser: Shoot, it's not in my library system, but they do have The comic book story of beer : the world's favorite beverage from 7000 BC to today's craft brewing.

>162 Citizenjoyce: Go, Joyce, go! Rah, Rah, Rah!

>163 SqueakyChu: Thank you. Alas I got sidetracked by The Widow, but I still have high hopes.

>159 Citizenjoyce: Go Joyce, Go!

>159 Citizenjoyce: Glad you found a book to fit that Challenge, Joyce. I'll be back to extend my congratulations on your sweep. :)

Housekeeping Day!

1. Remove from the wiki any book you do not finish by 12 midnight tonight.

2. If you have COMPLETED a book for our Challenge #1 (the happiest face), be sure it is listed on the Happiest Face separate thread. The contest will begin after July 1st or 2nd. Stay tuned!

The Great Ghost Rescue ended up being not only cute and inspiring but a little premonition of Brexit. It was a fine way to complete the sweep.

>168 Citizenjoyce: Congratulations, Joyce!

>168 Citizenjoyce: Congratulations!

>168 Citizenjoyce: Good work! Bravo!

Madeline, just a note that I'll be away and not updating the wiki until July 4. If you happen to think of our when you're going through, you can leave any of my "unfinished" books listed... And if not, no harm done ;)

Congratulations too!

>168 Citizenjoyce: Way to go. Congrats!!

>168 Citizenjoyce: Yes, such a fun accomplishment

>168 Citizenjoyce: Congratulations!

Thank you, thank you. There is an advantage to having fewer challenges than usual.

Congratulations on your sweep, Joyce, and on the number of joint reads you had in June!

VOTE in our contest!

Let's go with the Happiest Individual Contest from June's Challenge #1. Please private message me NOW your top three favorites from this thread. Only one winner will be chosen at 12 midnight on July 4th. That winner (whose book must have been COMPLETED) will get a very small prize. :)

>179 SqueakyChu: The votes are coming in! Keep 'em coming! Our winner will be announced after July 4th.

>180 SqueakyChu: so many to choose from, it was hard to pick just three. :)

We have a winner!

The winner of our Happiest Individual on a Book Cover Contest is this book ...in first place (by an overwhelming majority):


http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/P/0553418084.01._SX450_SY635_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg

Second place is:


Third place is:


Streamsong, as winner of our contest, you are eligible for a very small prize. Please private message me your mailing address, and I will get it in the mail to you.

Thanks, everyone, for playing along and voting!

I'm outraged! Don't I even get a booby-prize?? :D

>183 lyzard: I don't think so! :)

...although I will tell you that Seeds of Murder did get one vote. :D

>182 SqueakyChu: A deserving winner it is, too! Pure joy!

>184 SqueakyChu: That one definitely deserves a booby prize! ;-)

I love the winner

Yay!!! I'm glad everyone loved the picture! It was so great to be able to share it!

and the book is a darn good look at modern Shanghai, too.

>157 paulstalder: Oh chagrin, shame, humiliation! I did read Waterland, Paul, and I didn't much like it. After I wrote up my little say about it on my thread, I think I suppressed the experience and didn't get back to the wiki to mark it COMPLETED. Mea culpa, etc.
Oh wait. No. That was the May challenge, and I didn't finish the wretched thing until June. I accept the Hydrophobia Award.

>182 SqueakyChu: congratulations to streamsong - and thanks for pointing out that book

>188 LizzieD: Don't make yourself wet, keep dry :)