Take It or Leave It Challenge - May 2020 - 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.


...logo by cyderry

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Your TIOLI Challenge for May 2020 is to,,,

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Read a book whose author’s name contains a food or drink.

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Rules
1. The food or drink may be embedded in one name word or across more than one name word.

Suggestions:

Enslaved by Ducks by Bob Tarte
The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck
Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice
Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto
Quantum by Patricia Cornwell
Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare
The Tiger’s Wife by Tea Obreht
A Time to Kill by John Grisham

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

1. The May 2020 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.
3. @FAMeulstee's 2020 TIOLI Sweeplette Meter

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Temporary Thread --- to help us all through this pandemic

TIOLI Challengers' Corona Virus Support Thread

Wiki Index of Challenges:

Challenges #1-6
1. Read a book whose author’s name contains a food or drink - msg #1
2. Read a book written by a foreigner - msg #3
3. Read a book by a woman from a very different cultural tradition to your own - msg #6
4. Read a book which finishes the sentence "Mother, MAY I......" - msg #7
5. Read a book for the MAY rolling challenge - msg #8
6. Read a book that has Fire, Earth, Air or Water as one of the title words - msg #9

Challenges #7-12
7. Read a book with a number in the title - msg #10
8. Read a science fiction or speculative fiction book that was made into a movie - msg #11
9. Read a book with a sentient thing or about AI - msg #12
10. Read an espionage novel published in the 1970s - msg #17
11. Re-Read a book you haven't read in 10* years - msg #18
12. Read a book from your TBR with a colour in the title - msg #32

Challenges #13-18
13. Read a book with J, K, Q, X, or Z in the title - msg #39
14. Read or re-read a sci/fi or fantasy book by an author you have read before - msg #47
15. Read a book with an ampersand & in the title, or written by two authors - msg #79
16. May birthstone challenge - read a book with a predominantly emerald green cover - msg #90
17. Read a book with mystery / mysteries / mysterious in the title - msg #91
18. Read a book that you won't be keeping - msg #97

Challenges #19-24
19. Read a book using the vocabulary of an Horologist in the title or author - msg #101
20. Read a Book with Dead or Death or any Cause of Death in the title - msg #103

Please hold your challenge until the June challenges are posted. Thanks!

Challenge #2: Read a book written by a foreigner

Read a book written by an author not from the country you live in, list the country of the writer.

>3 FAMeulstee: That was fast!! :O

>4 SqueakyChu: Just around at the right time :-)

Challenge #3: Read a book by a woman from a very different cultural tradition to your own

So what's "very different"? Well I don't just mean from another country. I'm in the Uk, and I would suggest that the US, Canada, Australia and probably most of Western Europe don't qualify as "very different". We share too much to misunderstand each other at a basic level. Having said that, someone in the UK writing from the perspective of first or second generation imigrant probably is writing from a different cultural perspective. As would someone in North America or Oz writing from a native peoples perspective. I think it does us good to be stretched outside what we know and this aims to broaden our horizons. I'm hoping that makes enough sense.

Challenge #4: Read a book which finishes the sentence "Mother, MAY I......"

Easy peasy. The only requisite is you use the entire title from your chosen book. No need to include subtitles. A, An and The may be dropped from the title.

Challenge #5: Read a book for the MAY rolling challenge

For this challenge, there must be an entry for each of the five challenges, spelling out the word M-A-Y before the next "set" of letters, spelling out M-A-Y, can be used.

Challenges can be taken in any order within the set. One person can take no more than one challenge per set.

Embedded words are acceptable unless otherwise stated.

Short version:
- Read a book with something written or drawn inside the front or back cover.
- Read a book where the first sentence is at least twenty words long.
- Read the book The Year of Wonders or one of challenges related to it.

Long version with explanations and links below.

(There will be similar "spell the month" rolling challenges through July. August is too long a word.)

~*#~*#~*#~*#~*#~

# M (Marked) -
# A (At least 20) -
# Y (Year of Wonders) -

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M - Marked

It could be by an author, family member, friend, stranger, or yourself. It must be something that was there before April 15, 2020. Please provide what was written/drawn and by who in the wiki.

For ebook readers ONLY, has a drawing(s) or hand-writing as part of the book itself. Please provide page number/location.

For audiobook listeners ONLY, has a handwritten note or anything handwritten mentioned in the text. Google Books is an excellent reference for this. Please provide time reference or other identifying location mark.

A - At least 20

Read a book where there the first sentence is at least twenty words long.

Please provide the number of words in the wiki.

Y - Year of Wonders-themed challenge

Read the book The Year of Wonders or something related to it.

Read The Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks. Or read a book by Geraldine Brooks. Or read a book with the tag "plague." (That means that just in this challenge, you are allowed to click on "show all".)

Or read one of the twenty books from the article I found today (4/28), Pandemics: An Essential Reading List.

ON HOLD: Or read a book with one of the household items listed found in the book in the title.

ON HOLD: Or for a REAL challenge, read any book with one of the household items listed mentioned in the text that you can take a picture of (not something pulled off the web) and post it to the picture thread. You'll need to put a piece of paper with your LT username next to it for verification. On the picture thread, list item, book, and page number/location/time.

Please be sure to mention which part of this challenge you are doing if it's not obvious, i.e. tag, title, article.

Challenge #6 - The 4 Elements. Read a book that has Fire, Earth, Air or Water as one of the title words

The title word must be one of the four elements in order to fit the challenge, words like soil, dirt, ocean, sea, blaze etc. will not work

The words may be embedded and may be pluralized.

Challenge #7: Read a book with a number in the title

Pretty self explanatory. Can be written out, such as Four and Twenty Blackbirds or else 4 and 20 Blackbirds. Either way is fine.

Wow, it's not even 1 am, the usual time I find the new challenges.
Challenge #8: Read a science fiction or speculative fiction book that was made into a movie or tv show
because I'm finding that when I go back and read earlier science fiction written by men I am no longer enamored of it; however, I've heard Dune is the exception. Time for a reread, I know I loved it many years ago.

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TIOLI Challenge #9: Read a book with a sentient thing or about AI.
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This is a completely self serving challenge. Probably the most self serving challenge I have ever posted, lol.

I challenge you to read a book with a sentient thing which, for the purposes of this challenge, will include non-biological (or in some cases, partially biological) objects with intelligence, consciousness, and/or a will of its own.

It could be a sword like Need in Mercedes Lackey’s By the Sword or a magical inn in Ilona Andrews’ Innkeeper Chronicles, a computer based AI like Lovey in Becky Chambers’ A Long Way to a Small Angry Planet or a sentient robot/android/cyborg like Murderbot.

This is all Murderbot’s fault. I’m hosting the SFF-KIT this month over on the Category Challenge thread and I picked May and Sentient Things strictly because the new Murderbook novel, Network Effect, is being published May 5th. I’ll be rereading the four novellas and devouring the novel as soon as it arrives on my Kindle.

For anyone who doesn’t care for this type of fiction, I’ll also accept nonfiction books about AI / artificial intelligence. Anything with either tag will count.

If you have any questions, please ask!

>12 Dejah_Thoris: Oooh! I picked up Today I am Carey AND the free books 2-4 of the Murderbot series from Tor. I messed up and missed the first one. Thankfully, I have it already in another format. And I've only read the first!

>13 Morphidae: Perfect!

I think the month is going to veer toward science fiction for me.
My planned reads:
Challenge #1: Read a book whose author’s name contains a food or drink - started by SqueakyChu
✔The Secret Messenger - Mandy Robotham (3.5)
Challenge #2: Read a book written by a foreigner - started by FAMeulstee
✔After Atlas - Emma Newman (4.5)
Challenge #3: Read a book by a woman from a very different cultural tradition to your own - started by helenliz
*✔The Unlikely Adventures of the Shergill Sisters - Balli Kaur Jaswal (4)
Challenge #4: Read a book which finishes the sentence "Mother, MAY I......" - started by Carmenere
✔Bury Your Dead - Louise Penny (3.5)
✔Find Me - Laura Van den Berg (4)
Challenge #5: Read a book for the MAY rolling challenge - started by Morphidae
✔The Fever of 1721: The Epidemic That Revolutionized Medicine and American Politics - Stephen Coss (4)
Challenge #6: Read a book that has Fire, Earth, Air or Water as one of the title words - started by DeltaQueen
*The Fire and the Darkness: The Bombing of Dresden, 1945 - Sinclair McKay
The Uninhabitable Earth: Life After Warming - David Wallace-Wells
Challenge #7: Read a book with a number in the title - started by lindapanzo
*✔The Three-Body Problem -Cixin Liu (3)
Challenge #8: Read a science fiction or speculative fiction book that was made into a movie - Started by Citizenjoyce
✔Dune - Frank Herbert (4)
Challenge #9: Read a book with a sentient thing or about AI - started by Dejah_Thoris
✔Atlas Alone - Emma Newman - (4.5)
✔Before Mars - Emma Newman (4)
✔You Look Like a Thing and I Love You by Janelle Shane (4.5)
Challenge #10: Read an espionage novel published in the 1970s - started by JeanneD
Challenge #11: Re-Read a book you haven't read in 10* years - started by quondame
Challenge #12: Read a book from your TBR with a colour in the title - started by wandering_star
✔On Gold Mountain: The One-Hundred-Year Odyssey of My Chinese-American Family - Lisa See (4)
Challenge #13: Read a book with J, K, Q, X, or Z in the title - started by susanna.fraser
*✔The Marvelous Land of Oz - L. Frank Baum (3)
*✔The Wizard of Oz - L. Frank Baum (4.5)
Challenge #14: Read or re-read a sci/fi or fantasy book by an author you have read before - started by SilverWolf28
*✔ Down Among the Sticks and Bones - Seanan McGuire (3.5)
✔The Lost Sisters - Holly Black (3)
Challenge #16: May birthstone challenge - read a book with a predominantly emerald green cover - started by humouress
*✔Snow Flower and the Secret Fan - Lisa See (5)
✔The White Woman on the Green Bicycle - Monique Roffey (3)
Challenge #18: Read a book that you won't be keeping - started by madhatter22
Love, Lies, and Hocus Pocus: Beginnings - Lydia Sherrer Abandoned cutsey
✔St. Francis Society for Wayward Pets: A Novel - Annie England Noblin (4)

>8 Morphidae: For The Year of Wonders or a challenge related to it, do you mean I could read a book about plague?

Challenge #10: Read an espionage novel published in the 1970s

As I've mentioned before, I quite enjoyed the rather fantastical world of 1960s espionage novels in April. Some followed the aftermath of WWII while others looked forward to the beginnings of the Cold War. So I thought I would carry on to the 1970s.

Again this month I've listed a few books I will likely read which are available as ebooks, and these include some true classics of the genre. Hopscotch by Brian Garfield was adapted to film, starring Walter Matthau, Glenda Jackson, Sam Waterston, Ned Beatty, and Herbert Lom.

Challenge #11: Re-Read a book you haven't read in 10* years

*At least. For readers 35 and under, you may subtract 1 year for every 2 years of your age, but no more than 5 years.

>18 quondame: Lol! I love the age adjustment policy - it's not an issue for me, of course.

Question: Would you allow a book I read about half of more than ten years ago?
ETA: I can find another place for it, if you'd rather I didn't use it here.

And I may join you for The Snow Queen. It's a favorite of mine and I've definitely reread it in the last ten years, but that's the advantage of shared reads, right?

I already have more books that I might "possibly" read for May than I will ever get to....

>19 Dejah_Thoris: Yes, it's fine if the book was left unfinished. I believe in second chances.

I wish there was just a shared read thread, because at least one, and I think more, of the books I've read this month were shared with group members who don't enter them in TIOLI challenges, and I'd feel squiffy entering books for other people.

>20 quondame: I've been know to PM people about books, usually about them being in different challenges. Surely no one would mind if you pointed out a possible shared read?

>11 Citizenjoyce: Joyce, is it too big a stretch to add We by Yevgeny Zamyatin to your challenge as the movie made was a 1982 German television movie?

>16 Citizenjoyce: If it has "plague" as a first level tag, yes. Tomorrow I'm hoping to get the household items list up so you could read a book with a household item from that list in the title or in the text if you take a picture of it and post it.

>1 SqueakyChu: Would you accept 'dough' as a food? (Louise Doughty)

>22 DeltaQueen50: Looks good to me. In fact, I'll add tv show to the challenge.

>23 Morphidae: It has epidemic. Is that good enough?

>26 Citizenjoyce: I'll open it up for discussion. I can either accept "plague" and "epidemic" as first level tags or I can accept plague as a tag at any level (as I changed it for The Fever of 1721) instead of only first level.

What say you TIOLIs?

>25 Citizenjoyce: Thanks, Joyce.

>27 Morphidae: Morphy, with books sometimes difficult to get hold of these days, I say "yes" to anything that makes our challenges a little easier so I think plague as a tag at any level would help. :)

>24 wandering_star: I’ll accept it, but I hope you’d bake it before you’d eat it!

>27 Morphidae: Pestilence is used as synonymous tag, shouldn't that work?

>29 SqueakyChu: I'd bake *most* of it... but I am very fond of cookie dough ice cream!

Challenge #12: Read a book from your TBR with a colour in the title

My library has been doing a wonderful job updating its ebooks for the past couple of months - but I am due to be moving house later this year, the situation permitting, and so I have a big pile of physical books I need to get to.

I am not going to specify when your TBR pile starts - some people may be better at keeping this small so for you it may just be a few month's worth of purchases. All the books I have picked out for this challenge so far have been in the pile for several years!

>32 wandering_star: Does smoke count as a color? Smoke colored is sometimes a description.

>24 wandering_star: I was shocked the first time I noticed there was a cookie dough flavored ice cream. I can't believe people eat cookie dough. Well, I can believe it, but I can't figure out why. Cookie dough is to make cookies.

>33 quondame: I don't think I can accept this one - I can't really think of any descriptions of something as smoke coloured.

>34 Citizenjoyce: We'll have to agree to disagree on this one! I love the texture, the crunch, the saltiness in the sweet ice-cream...

Well, I've got one vote for the plague tag at any level and one vote for plague synonyms as first level tags. I'll do one or the other. I need at least a tie breaker.

>34 Citizenjoyce: >35 wandering_star: I eat premade Tollhouse cookie dough raw. Have for years. Yum yum.

>34 Citizenjoyce: I love cookie dough ice cream, and I still can't make cookies or a cake without sampling the batter or dough. Something about the salty-sweetness and the flavorings that's sharper in the raw blend than in the finished product...

Challenge #13: Read a book with J, K, Q, X, or Z in the title

These are the five least commonly used letters in the English language. Read a book that has at least one such letter in the title. (Subtitles don't count for this one.)

>36 Morphidae: I'll vote for plague tag at any level, Morphy. It can be tough to get a hold of books right now....

>39 susanna.fraser: Nice one!

We have some really interesting challenges this month, and so many were posted so quickly? Could it be that most of us have some time on our hands?

>35 wandering_star: Re: >33 quondame: OK, I won't use that book, but I stand by smoke-colored, so I give you the smoke-colored PeWee:

Alrightie, I've updated >8 Morphidae: to show you can read a book with a tag of "plague" at any level, i.e. you can click on "show all." (Unlike my usual rules where it had to be a first level tag.)

I'm now going to work on the household item list. This is going to take longer than I thought as I wasn't able to find a word list online and will have to manually filter it out of the entire text. Whoo eeee! Off to play with searching, filtering and massaging text in Excel!

>38 susanna.fraser: and >35 wandering_star: saltiness? I have to admit, I've never tried or even thought of trying cookie dough ice cream. I never would have thought it would be salty. See the things you learn on LT?

>31 wandering_star: There you go! You WOULD eat it in ice cream so it should be fine for my challenge! :D

>43 Citizenjoyce: It depends on the dough, of course, but IME if a cake or cookie has salt in it at all (which it should) the taste is stronger in the dough/batter than in the finished product. Kinda like that sprinkle of salt on a salted caramel candy.

Saltiness? Salted caramel? 👎👎👎

Boooooooo...

Read or re-read a sci/fi or fantasy book by an author you have read before

You don't need to have read this particular book before just something by this author.

Please say whether this is a read or a re-read.
Also whether it is sci/fi or fantasy.

>47 SilverWolf28: Congratulations on posting your first challenge!

>47 SilverWolf28: Welcome to our addiction.

>46 Morphidae: I'm with Morphy! I had begun to think I was the only person in the world that couldn't stand salted caramel. urgh.

>46 Morphidae:, >50 Helenliz: I saw dark chocolate covered caramels at Cosco once and bought them because I could hardly think of anything better. My eyes must have skipped over the "salted" part. Ick, what a terrible thing to do to a delicious candy. These, however, are my sister's favorite candy. She was kind of insulted when I told her how much I hated them and had to defend her enjoyment of them. I'm not saying you're wrong to like something I don't, I'm just saying I can't imagine doing so. My imagination can be very limited about some things.

Then I shouldn't mention that one of the most popular / fashionable flavours in South East Asia (where I live) is salted egg yolk. I especially like it as an ice-cream flavour but also sometimes indulge in a salted egg yolk iced latte!

.......(runs away)........

>52 wandering_star: I was thinking, "What's wrong with salted egg yolk? I loved hard boiled eggs." Then I reached the ice cream part and thought, " Ew ew ew." Then I reached the latte part and thought, "🤢."

>52 wandering_star: Sorry I have to agree with Morphy

Due to a death in the (extended) family, I probably won't get to the "household item" part of the Year of Wonders theme until the 1st, if at all. There should be enough options there, especially as I've added an article with 20 more choices.

>46 Morphidae: >50 Helenliz: I just wish that regular caramel was as readily available! Only around caramel apple season and not good brands. Nuts.com has some, and in a pinch I once ordered a block from Amazon.

>55 Morphidae: I'm so sorry. Peace be with you.

>55 Morphidae: I'm sorry about your family member.

>56 quondame: >57 Citizenjoyce: Thanks, I give more info in the support thread. I'm going to take it easy for a couple days. I'm heartsore.

>47 SilverWolf28: Welcome! How nice to have you here...and posting your first challenge. I hope you find these fun!

>58 Morphidae: Dear Morphy...Sending you hugs. :'(

>55 Morphidae: Don't worry about us, Morphy - we have plenty of options. Take care of yourself, and come back when you're ready.

>8 Morphidae: I've bolded the requests for wiki information in my challenge. The one for dead tree books was already there but needed to be highlighted. I added ones for ebooks and audiobooks.

~…~…~…~…~…~

Book: Please provide what was written/drawn and by who in the wiki.

EBook: Please provide page number/location.

Audiobook: Please provide time reference or other identifying location mark.

>8 Morphidae: >62 Morphidae: Does the mark on a print book has to be 1) done by person, not printed on like a map or genealogy and 2) on the actual cover, not any other page preceding text. Does a book plate count if completely printed or if the name is hand written?

I avoid autographed books in general, but the ones I have are usually on the title page.

If I've added a book to the wiki, and then finished it before the month actually began, can I still claim it?

>64 SilverWolf28: That's rather efficient, but unfortunately that's a no. They need to have been finished in the month to count for that month's TIOLI challenges. Will it fit into any of the April challenges?

Ps: I have been known to leave the last chapter or last few pages for a day or two so that it counts in the right month, but that would be sneaky! >;-)

>11 Citizenjoyce: In May, I'm hoping to try some books way out of my comfort zone. Would an alternate history count for "speculative fiction"?

I've also "signed up" for a sci fi book, which I never, ever read. Also started reading a YA book, which I rarely read, though I may finish that before April is out.

>1 SqueakyChu: Madeline, would a book named Dairy Queen count or is "Dairy" too broad?

>10 lindapanzo: Linda, can we use either ordinal or cardinal numbers?

>66 lindapanzo: Sounds good, I love alternate histories. I hope you enjoy your walk on the wild side. Way to go.

>69 Citizenjoyce: For years, I've been using Amazon Prime just for the shipping but just discovered their Prime Video has so many videos. The other day, for instance, I watched the first-ever episode of Petticoat Junction. Anyway, I also discovered that they have The Man in the High Castle.

>70 lindapanzo: - Linda, I highly recommend The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel on Prime, when you are looking for something fun to watch. I am hoarding the 3rd season but thinking it might be perfect viewing for right now, as it's set in the late 50s/early 60s and really transports the viewer.

>68 alcottacre: I guess either would be ok tbough I did not intend it to include ordinal. But there would be a complication since "first" does not include a number but 1st does.

>67 alcottacre: Dairy is really stretching it, but I’ll allow it only because one of the definitions of dairy as a noun is “food made from or containing milk“. You just squeaked by! No pun intended.

>72 lindapanzo: Thanks, Linda, for allowing me to use ordinal numbers. I have a couple of books that qualify that I really want to get read and I need the incentive :)

>73 SqueakyChu: Thanks, Madeline. I have another one to read along with Dairy Queen, The Beet Queen. I could have made a "Queen of May" challenge, but felt fairly sure that books containing the word 'queen' in the title has already been done as a challenge.

ETA: I just realized I misread your challenge, Madeline, and the food name needs to be in the author's name, not the title of the book. Back to the drawing board. . .

>67 alcottacre: >73 SqueakyChu: Isn't it the author name, not the title? I rather liked Dairy Queen but can't find a food in Catherine Gilbert Murdock unless 'dock'.

>71 katiekrug: Thanks. I definitely have to look for Mrs. Maisel. So many people rave about that.

>74 alcottacre: I just edited my response because I realized the same thing, Susan. I have to start all over again now, lol.

>64 SilverWolf28: >65 Helenliz: I usually try not to start books for the next month too early for just that reason. I've been known to save the last chapter until just after midnight....

Challenge #15: Read a book with an ampersand & in the title, or written by two authors

I have two books with ampersands in the title, but I was worried with book access, that that was a little too specific. So I added on a book with two authors in the spirit of '&' or 'and'.

>79 raidergirl3: Perfect! I was just wondering where I was going to put a book by two authors, and you solved my dilemma!

>80 Dejah_Thoris: Awesome! Glad I could help

>79 raidergirl3: Perfect for me too, since I have Eleanor & Park home from the library right now.

>74 alcottacre: I just realized I misread your challenge, Madeline, and the food name needs to be in the author's name, not the title of the book. Back to the drawing board.

LOL! I missed that as well! Oh, no! It is tricky, isn't it?

>75 quondame: I rather liked Dairy Queen but can't find a food in Catherine Gilbert Murdock unless 'dock'.

I will accept dock as some parts of that herb are edible.

>83 SqueakyChu: I thought I was putting Love & Gelato in challenge #1 but then I realized it was the author, so I had to make a new challenge.

>82 alcottacre: and I was worried the & would be too restrictive.

ETA: thank you for not pointing out my spelling mistake! ampersand! I'll fix things up around here.

> I thought I was putting Love & Gelato in challenge #1 but then I realized it was the author, so I had to make a new challenge.

LOL!

>77 alcottacre: Check >75 quondame:/>84 SqueakyChu: Dairy Queen will still work!

>83 SqueakyChu: >87 quondame: I actually ended up putting it in Susanna's challenge and went for There There by Tommy Orange for Madeline's since it is a shared read with Lynda (carmenere).

>65 Helenliz: I had to remove the book I started the challenge with. :) I replaced it with the book two down in the series, and we'll see if I finish the middle book before May or not. (If not I'll add it also.)

****Challenge #16: May birthstone challenge - read a book with a predominantly emerald green cover. ****



The birthstone for May is emerald, which is a type of beryl and there can be some debate over whether a gem is an emerald or a green beryl depending on the richness of the colour. Emeralds are said to be the stone of wisdom and of eternal life - probably because the colour is reminiscent of Spring - and were Cleopatra’s favourite jewel.

Please post your book covers on this thread:
Birthstone book covers thread

Well! - I've never been this late before, but the library shutdown has me all discombobulated! :D

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Challenge #17: Read a book with mystery / mysteries / mysterious in the title

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Any variant I've overlooked and embedded words permitted.

>47 SilverWolf28:

Yes, welcome and congratulations on your first challenge!

Does horror count as fantasy, or are you looking for something - how to put this? - less real-worldly?

>92 lyzard: I would rather not count horror. (I personally really don't like that genre.)

>91 lyzard: Is "mystic" acceptable?

>93 SilverWolf28:

Fair enough! :)

>94 FAMeulstee:

Yes, I'll allow that.

>95 lyzard: Thank you, Liz.

***Challenge #18: Read a book that you won't be keeping.***

This can be a book that you borrowed from the library or a friend, or one from your library that you are definitely going to give away when you're done reading it.
It must be a book that you already have now. (Let's define that as, "It was already in your possession/downloaded when you woke up on April 30th. :)

*edit: This can be any form of book - physical, audio, e-book ... anything that you are giving away/returning/deleting when you are done so that you no longer own/have access to it.

Note what is happening to the book after you've finished it.

I had no idea so many people didn't like salted caramel or salted sweets. I have a recipe for salted chocolate chip cookies that's one of my favorites.
>51 Citizenjoyce: So funny. Just a few days ago a friend posted on FB that she'd discovered dark chocolate salted caramels at Costco and I was soooo wishing I could head right over.

>52 wandering_star: That's so interesting. Does it taste strongly eggy? I can almost imagine an ice cream - but a latte? I don't think I'd like it, but I'm so curious now.
The strangest ice cream I'd heard of previously was a Filipino one with chunks of cheddar cheese in it. I love ice cream and cheddar, but I wasn't quite brave enough to try it.

>97 madhatter22: Would something like "deleting from my Kindle" count?

>98 madhatter22: I didn't either realize that either. One of my favorite desserts is salted caramel gelato.

I finished an enjoyable YA book today. That and cozy mysteries seem to be all I'm capable of reading right now.

>99 lindapanzo: Yes. As long as you no longer own it or it's no longer accessible to you, it counts. (if you removed it from a device, but it's still yours and accessible from the cloud or an external drive, then no.)

Challenge #19: Read a book using the vocabulary of an Horologist in the title or author

Horology is a big industry in Switzerland, and they have a special vocabulary. Here is the online Professional Dictionary of Horology http://www.fhs.swiss/berner/?l=en by the Swiss Watch Industry.
Now, check any word of title of book you want to read in the dictionary, if you find a definition of that exact word, you're in. No embedded words, exact spelling. If you find a reference of your word tro another word, then your word would not be accepted for this challenge. Example: jig. Searching for that word gives a 'see' entry (jig see template), the same with kilometer (see kilometre), so, jig and kilometer are a no-go here.
If you find a two-word-definition, then both words must appear in your title, a single word which is not in the dictionary does not count. Example: 'letting down', a title like 'Letting down my hair' would count, a title like 'Letting people down' would not, nor 'Letting it shine' or such.
You may search for a name (family name/surname/last name) - if your author ha the exact surname as there is a definition in the dictionary, that author would count. First names do not count.

There are only four languages in the dictionary: German, French English and Spanish. If you read a book in these languages, check the word in the dictionary of that language and then write the English translation in the wiki. If you are reading a book in another language, like Swiss German or Korean, the book would not count, unless it is a translation (then list the original title in the wiki) or the work is translated into one of these four languages (then list the title in that language).
Always indicate the relevant word or name in the wiki.

Okay, did I forget any wheel or number or hand?

Then, the time is running, the clock starts now, the hands are counting the time ... have fun and stay sane

I read: A Thief of Time - Tony Hillerman

>9 DeltaQueen50: A "Judy challenge sweeplette" if we read four books, each with a different Fire, Earth, Air or Water word in the title?

>100 madhatter22: OK, thanks. Unless I intend to lend a Kindle or print book, I usually delete it from my device and remove from the cloud (Kindle) or donate it (print). When they're Net Galley books, they aren't lendable anyway, I don't think.

For the first time in two months, I have a bit of time off, this afternoon. The weather is beautiful and I suddenly feel very optimistic about reading etc again.

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

Challenge #20: Read a Book with Dead or Death or any Cause of Death in the Title

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

This is totally self-serving. I have three that fit the category (which has nothing at all to do with pretty little May), and I likely need the boost to read them.

Wow! Hasn't it been a while since we've had 20 Challenges? What fun!

For all Murderbot fans and/or anyone who wants a quick shared read:

In case you missed it (I did, until recently), Martha Wells published a Murderbot short story Wired called The Future of Work: Compulsory. It's a prequel to All Systems Red.

You can find it here. I've added it to the wiki in my Challenge - #9.

>105 Dejah_Thoris: Thanks
>97 madhatter22: I missed your challenge until today. Lord o' Mercy, I could fit all my books in there. Thanks. Of course, I've bitten off way more than I can read, but it's nice to find a place for everything just in case.

>98 madhatter22: I wouldn't say it's *strongly* eggy, but you do need to like the taste of eggs. It's nicest in the ice-cream - if you like that salty-sweeet combo, and you can get over the psychological barrier. Once (in Nice) I had a pink peppercorn ice-cream, which sounded good to me, but in the end I couldn't eat because the only thing I'd ever eaten with pink peppercorns before was salmon. So even though there was no fishy taste in the ice-cream, eating it made me think of the taste of fish and I just couldn't get it down.

>2 SqueakyChu: How do you link the message numbers to the actual challenge? (I want to do something similar in my thread.)

>104 Dejah_Thoris: You're right. We haven't had this many challenges in one month since May, 2018. Woot!

>108 SilverWolf28: You click on the number. That gives you the URL.
Then you post it like this:

(A HREF=“http://www.librarything.com/topic/319504#7147277”)msg #108(/A)

Leave no spaces. Substitute pointed brackets for the parentheses.

>107 wandering_star: How funny.

>102 lindapanzo: Absolutely, Linda! :)

>101 paulstalder: I was agreeably surprised to find a number of perfectly ordinary words in that horology dictionary.

>112 quondame: thanks for compliment, susan :) Not all my challenges are so difficult to fulfill.
But what bothers me more, is the fact that so many challenges have to do with the title, namely challenges #4, 6, 7, 12, 13, 15, 17, 19, 20. Usually I would first check what kind of challenges there are and then think of something a little bit weirder ... but it's a nice variety of working with titles

>17 jeanned: Are there any books by women that qualify? I searched a bit, but no luck.

>109 SqueakyChu: Thanks!

>114 quondame: Wow, I could only find one author, Helen MacInnes. Four of her books qualify, see https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helen_MacInnes .

>113 paulstalder: I so appreciate your "weird" challenges, Paul. I can't even begin to thank you enough for those!

>113 paulstalder: & >117 SqueakyChu: I too, love your challenges, Paul. Although I have already over-booked myself for May, I have put aside a book for your challenge if I manage to get through all the others.

>17 jeanned: >114 quondame: >116 Morphidae: Dorothy Gilman's Mrs. Pollifax books would probably work. They're a bit of a mashup of cozy and espionage. Agatha Christie's Passenger to Frankfurt would also work, I think.

Ooo, brave!

Challenge 1 Gods of Mars Edgar Rice Burroughs

Challenge 11 The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club Dorothy Sayers (shared read)

Challenge 17 Mystery at Underwood House Clara Benson (key word: Mystery)

Challenge 20 Death in Room 5 George Bellairs (key word: Death)

None of these are long or difficult, so should I should be able to fit them in sometime during the month. And they help me with internal goals: read more of my own books and read more sf/f books.

>116 Morphidae: >118 DeltaQueen50: Thanks! It's good to know there's something!

>113 paulstalder: Good point, Paul. I will attempt something a little more challenging for June. Hmmmm

>113 paulstalder:, >122 Carmenere:

I do set quite a lot of title-related challenges. I actually had something more difficult and serious in mind this month, but then (circumstances being what they are) I couldn't hold of the book that made me think of it! :D

>120 Matke:

Whoo, go Gail! :)

>117 SqueakyChu: welcome, Madeline. I love being here and bringing in my little ideas.

>118 DeltaQueen50: Thanks, Judy, I hope you will succeed in reading what you planned, and maybe even a bit more.

>122 Carmenere: >123 lyzard: title and author challenges are easier to handle: just look at the book and you see if it fits ar not. If it's about first words or content or dedication or such, I have to open to book and look into it :) but I have more fun hunting down such books. I think, sometimes I just spend too much time searching for a book than actually reading it ...

>124 paulstalder: I think, sometimes I just spend too much time searching for a book than actually reading it

Haha! I do that, too!

>124 paulstalder: >125 SqueakyChu: I resemble that remark.

>91 lyzard: Is a subtitle acceptable if it's on the cover? Such as Curiosity Thrilled the Cat - A Magical Cats Mystery?

I appreciate Paul’s and Morphy’s complicated challenges but as I retrofit my reading to the challenges at the end of the month I can rarely shoehorn my books into them. :0/

>128 humouress: This month many common words are in the dictionary that Paul references. I found ice, blue, even. So if you have a book that you don't have a challenge for, at least check that dictionary! I must admit, @Morphy's has me a bit dizzy this month. I did find a few books that I'd written my name into the front cover of in the mid-70s, before I got, then abandoned, my book plates.

>125 SqueakyChu: >126 Morphidae: :)

>128 humouress: thtat's often the case with running challenges, isn't it? It happens that I read a book thinking of a specific challenge and then when having read the book, the slot is closed, the challenge run away ...

>127 Morphidae:

Yes that's fine, just include the subtitle on the wiki.

>129 quondame: Thanks Susan. As it happens, my first book for May, The Icebound Land already seems to fit about three challenges :0)

>130 paulstalder: But in your case, Paul, you can book your slot and label it ‘reading’. Shhh!

>101 paulstalder: Paul, just wondering what you would do in the case of Leonardo da Vinci. He's listed in the dictionary under Vinci (Leonardo da), but Vinci is not a surname. You'll find him in library catalogs as Leonardo, da Vinci, 1452-1519. No surname, just a given name and "from Vinci." I'll be reading a book called The Last Leonardo. The way your challenge is written I didn't think I could use Leonardo to qualify. There are two subtitle words in the dictionary ("secret" and "painting") so I've listed the book in your challenge using those words to qualify.

>128 humouress: >129 quondame: I'm feeling better so let me see if I can get that household word portion up in the next day or so.

Also, I think you'll find next month, which won't be following the current pattern, much easier.

>129 quondame: That's a good tip. Thanks.

>132 humouress: If I check at the right time only ... the right time slot is as important as the right challenge slot :)

>133 cbl_tn: that's weird. I didn't see that entry so far. Well, I would have to accept your choice as Vinci as a surname since the dictionary treats it as such ...

>136 paulstalder: Hi Paul, it's the other way around. Vinci is used as a surname in the dictionary but it actually isn't a surname, and I have a book about Leonardo with his given name in the title that doesn't go on to include his place of origin (da Vinci) in the title. Just wondering if I could use it as a match since there is definitely a dictionary article about Leonardo. There are a couple of subtitle words that are in the dictionary so there's no question that it fits either way. I'm just curious!

For me, Morphy's challenge, in particular the M (Marked) was an easy one. I buy a lot of second hand books and they have often been signed by a previous owner, or enscribed as a gift.

>101 paulstalder: Paul, are plurals acceptable? Attachment is in the dictionary - the title is Attachments. What do you think?

>139 Dejah_Thoris: no, because that would be an embedded word and those I excluded (both ways), sorry

>140 paulstalder: I thought that might be the case - thanks for confirming!

@SqueakyChu - So would you allow 'Rain' as something to drink?

I do have somewhere else it fits.....

ETA: Never mind. I think I'm going to bail on the book. It's just not working for me.

>141 Dejah_Thoris: I was going to say you could use it since it's just water. Oh, well. :D

I think I'm probably going to bail on two books I've been reading for the past four weeks. It's just that kind of time now, I guess.

I just bailed on a book by one of my favorite authors. Sigh.

Still, no need to waste time if something’s not working. Even if that something is my concentration.

>142 SqueakyChu: >143 Matke: I don't like to bail on books, but there's no need to force it - especially right now.

Sometimes I'll go back and try a book a second time and love it - and sometimes not. There are plenty of books in the world.....

>144 Dejah_Thoris: Did you like Junkyard Cats? (I just noticed that you posted it on my challenge.)

>145 SilverWolf28: Actually, I liked Junkyard Cats very much. It was an Audible Original freebie I picked up in January - I've been saving it for the SFF-KIT this month. I wasn't entirely certain what to expect, but it worked for me. I've read some reviews on the Audible site from listeners who didn't particularly enjoy it - from the comments, I suspect they were not regular SFF readers and they found it confusing.

I liked it enough that I did some checking - according to Faith Hunter's blog, she's written a continuation of the story that she hopes Audible will purchase. Frankly, I'd love to see a full length novel.

I remember trying Hunter's novel Skinwalker years ago - for some reason I never got far with the series. Based on my appreciation of Junkyard Cats, I'll give it another try. Not this month, though - my list of possible books is already way to long!

>8 Morphidae: Today's release of The Physicians of Vilnoc is about tackling a plague. So would you have a problem with inserting it in the 'Y' Portion of your challenge? I did tag it myself.

>8 Morphidae: >147 quondame: I just read it too, Morphy, and Susan is absolutely correct that plague is a perfect tag.

>103 LizzieD:

Peggy, would you consider 'murder' a cause of death, or would it need to be something more specific, like 'poison'?

>147 quondame: >148 Dejah_Thoris:

"When a mysterious PLAGUE breaks out in the army fort guarding Vilnoc, the port capital of the duchy of Orbas, Temple sorcerer Penric and his demon Desdemona are called upon by General Arisaydia to resurrect Penric’s medical skills and solve its lethal riddle."

Yes. That's fine.

>148 Dejah_Thoris: >150 Morphidae: I've moved it from #14 to #5!

>150 Morphidae: >151 quondame: Perfect!

Quondame - I see you read The Nakano Thrift Shop. What did you think? I had it for that challenge as well but I bailed on it. (For the first time ever! I always think it's silly to force myself to finish a book but I've never been able to just quit.)
I just couldn't get into it at all, but I'm wondering if I was missing something. I saw a lot of comparisons to Murakami, who I've never read but is on my "must" list. If the comparisons are accurate I'm not sure I'll like Murakami!

>153 madhatter22: I can't help out with Murakami, either Haruki or Takashi, but it was something akin to Sayaka Murata's Convenience Store Woman in dealing with life off the mainstream in Japan. Nakano Thrift Shop was interesting but not compelling and doesn't provide anything much new.

>1 SqueakyChu: Would Carnegie's Maid by Marie Benedict as in Eggs Benedict be acceptable?

>6 Helenliz: Would The House on Mango Street fit? It seems a very different culture to me. But it might not seem so to others. Please advise?

ETA: Some reviews do mention it is about (Mexican-American) immigrants.

>155 Morphidae: Go ahead. I'll stretch it this time. I looked up the definition,,,and sure enough, Benedict described eggs Benedict. Who knew?

>156 Morphidae: Morphy, it's not the subject matter, but the author that needs to be from a very different culture to your own.

>158 Helenliz: Ah! Whoops.

ETA: On the other hand, take a look at her bio?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandra_Cisneros

>159 Morphidae: That assumes I know how you define your cultural situation. I don't. It's your own judgement - is her background significantly different from your own? Is her upbringing and were her cultural norms something alien to you? If so, fine. I'm not sure I can answer the question for you.

>160 Helenliz: Yes, significantly different. I can't imagine living life like that. I'm from white, middle class America with strong maternal figures and no real community. She's from an almost migrant (constantly moving between Mexico and the US), poor, Latin, deeply patriarchal, isolated community. She might as well be from a different country.

>161 Morphidae: You're fine then >:-). The way you describe it as I can't imagine living life like that is the sort of disconnect I was hoping people would try and bridge with this challenge. It does us all good to be pulled out of our comfort zones, just a little bit.

TIOI Question of the Month

How has the COVID-19 pandemic affected your reading? Are you reading more or less? What issues are making you do either? Is this change in your reading habits a problem for you or not?

>163 SqueakyChu: I've noticed I've been reading a lot of trash porn erotica romances. Really fluffy romances. Raw sex, billionaires, hot sex, regencies, steamy sex...

Pure escapism. And I'm flip-flopping between days of binge reading and days of no reading at all. On those days, I either spend all day web surfing or playing games on my iPad.

While our daily lives haven't changed significantly with the virus, it's still a stress. There are medical things we need to take care of and can't (or won't.) I'm homebound and depend on friends visiting for company and they can't.

We really need to get a PCA for me so MrMorphy can get a hernia fixed. We make too much money for assistance (No MA, no CADI waiver) but make too little to pay for it ourselves. We've done a lot of research and consulted a social worker with no luck. No family in the area in that could help. I don't know what we're going to do.

He can't go out to a coffee shop to get out of the house for a bit. Though I do have a friend coming in once a week for 4 hours (thanks to a state grant) as a respite worker so Ken can at least go fishing (if the weather cooperates.) She'll take the 3pm to 11pm shift if I can figure out something for a PCA for the 7am to 3pm shift.

The state will end the stay at home orders on Monday but have requested we "Stay Safe at Home." As I am at high risk, both of us need to continue as is. I had hoped one friend would come over but it seems he's not ready to risk it either.

So, yeah, lots of escapism reading due to stress. I have been at least reading NEW escapism books rather than old comfort reads though.

(We won't mention I've reread my comfort books so many times now that I have them near memorized.)

I think I've been reading about the same amount, just the pattern of it has changed - binge/nothing vs. even throughout the month. I wouldn't say this is necessarily a problem.

>163 SqueakyChu: For me, my anxiety and lack of concentration has severely affected my ability to read. I have completed only one book since the beginning of April. Yesterday I bailed on yet a third book. The books were either too long for me as I'm only reading a few pages a day or they were novels of which I could follow the plot with my reading at such a slow pace. Yesterday I decided to start reading a biography as that seemed like the kind of book that would work without me having to remember much of anything.

This is a problem for me as I have HUGE "to read" pile, I closed my Little Free Library in March because we live in a hot spot (suburban Washington, DC), and both my husband and I are high risk. At least I'm not taking more donations of books now so there is still some room to walk around my house. Haha!

I read, on average, 10 books a month. In March, I was watching and reading so much news that I only read 5 books -- all in my mystery/thrillers and scifi/fantasy comfort zone.

In April and May, more books than in March, but still in my comfort zone reading.

Now I've become much more selective in my news consumption. I listen to BBC World Service podcasts at night while doing crossword puzzles. This is an hour I would normally have spent reading.

But I have reverted to a reading pattern I haven't had in 20 years.... sitting down about 15 minutes in every hour to read as a break from cleaning or gardening rather than catching up on headlines. So the amount of reading in May is back to normal, just being accomplished differently.

And I just haven't had the urge to read anything beyond mystery/thrillers or scifi/fantasy.

However, I have decided on one nonfiction book for June, Scott Kelly's memoir about becoming an astronaut and spending a year on the space station: Endurance: A Year in Space, A Lifetime of Discovery.

I start a new job on Monday. After having only left the property twice since March 25, I'll be in classrooms teaching study skills to high school students. I imagine this will result in decreased reading in May.

I'm putting a lot of trust in our epidemiologists and national testing program by venturing out again as my husband has multiple complicating conditions that could make COVID-19 quite dangerous for him. If I were anywhere in the world but New Zealand, that would be too scary to consider. But we haven't had a new case in the country in days, and none in our region for 4 weeks.

I seem to be the opposite. I've been reading my normal amount of books. Usually a book every 3-4 days. I understand why people would not be able to concentrate with all going on but I seem to be in the minority and the opposite. My LFL is open and the business has been brisk too with the libraries being closed and probably other LFL being closed also. We put out a table of probably 12 boxes on nice days and people not only have been dropping books off but they have been taking them also. We've had to donate some to other LFL since we have so many boxes. Sharing the wealth. Some people have been wearing masks and some not. We don't have hand sanitizer on our table but we're sure to wash our hands after touching books/boxes going in and out of our house.

Never have I tried to re-read a book. Too many that I want to read. I give a book 50-100 pages usually but once in a while less.

Back in March, I found if very difficult to focus often just roaming from room to room feeling as if I had to do something but didn't know what.

Then I decided to read with a purpose! I've been working on the 100 book challenge sponsored by my County library. It's a two year commitment. Get it done and you have your choice of either a jacket or vest with library logo. Well, I just had to give it a shot - well, I'm now in the second year and discovered that last year I'd only read about 20 books from the list. Yikes

Speed forward to now and I find I have 60 books I need to read by mid-January 2021.
Since the library closed and we have to take a short quiz on each book read in order to get credit, I've been posting my reviews on facebook (to reference later) and it's been a nice way to correspond with family and friends who are readers as well. Who would've known.

We would have been in Mexico these past two weeks and I'm missing that but overall, hermiting isn't so bad. Miss seeing my mom, though.

>166 jeanned: I like your idea of taking a break from chores to read every 15 minutes. I'm going to give it a try.

>169 Carmenere: Where can I see this list of books?

I'm reading less than usual, I've only finished 1 book. Part of that is I'm not commuting, so that's cut down on the listening to audiobooks. I'm working still, and also trying to run communication and the social media site of a society I'm secretary of. That's taking a lot of time, certainly more than I'd anticipated. Moral of this story - don't launch a social media site 10 days before lockdown hits!
What with trying to manage all of that, I'm finding I just have less time to read. We have tea, then I watch a documentary and that's it before bed. I ought to make the time, but somedays I get to bed and just don't want to make the effort to pick up a book. I'm not particularly stressed or anything, it's just I'm busier than anticipated.

>164 Morphidae: I checked to see if you used comfort as a tag. I was hoping to get an idea what works for you. I do Sharon Lee, Carol Berg, Terry Pratchett, Jo Clayton, Lois McMaster Bujold, and others that are tagged "Special Shelf"

I'm at the opposite end of the spectrum - I'm reading voraciously. Seriously. A lot. I do not watch television, I limit my news consumption (which is almost entirely online articles), and I listen to audio books as I work on projects around the house or outside. Add in the fact that the more stressful things are, the more likely I am to read - well, you get the picture.

What I'm reading (I'm lumping the listening in under reading) has definitely been influenced by the current situation. My normal limited tolerance for unhappy / depressing books has been taken to an extreme. I'm having limited success with non-fiction and literary fiction. Genre fiction has been the best for me - SFF, mysteries, and/or romances. I have been much more willing than normal to bail on a book - more often than not, I stick it out, but not these days.

No doubt my reading pace will slow when I'm called back to work. Until then, I'll happily keep reading.

>170 Morphidae: Here is the link you asked about

My numbers are about the same, and also my reading hours (sometimes there's an extra lie-on-the-bed-with-the-cats session), but with the library shutdown the way I am reading has changed. I am pretty much restricted to ebooks and what I can access in that format.

At the moment that means a month dominated by old mysteries which is just fine with me. :)

>163 SqueakyChu: I am still reading a bunch as usual, but I am tending more toward comfort reads for the COVID-19 crisis.

I just finished the Bobiverse series - We Are Legion (We Are Bob), For We Are Many, All These Worlds, and really, really liked it.

>166 jeanned: Yikes, you had me worried, starting a new job. But you're in New Zealand, home of science-based government. I envy you.
I've been watching at least 4 hours of news a day plus all the Facebook commenting. It has finally occurred to me that that's too much, so I'm scaling back - to what, I don't know yet.
I'm reading almost as much as usual, maybe down from 20 books a month to 15 or so. I find almost every book disappointing in the beginning, not grabbing my attention. I found the Planetfall series, which I'd begun last year but had no desire to continue. I read through the next 3 books in as big a gulp as possible. It's the only series I've found in years that I was able to devour book after book at one time. That was wonderful, but now I'm back to disappointment. If I can get through the beginning I find some very good books, though.

>178 Citizenjoyce: I've greatly cut back on COVID-19 news watching. I don't feel the need to watch the governor's daily press conference anymore and try not to watch the first 5 to 10 mins of news broadcasts anymore.

My 19-year old niece and 17-year old nephew have both started summer jobs at Home Depot in the past week or so. Seems very unlikely I'll see them or my sister anytime soon.

My reading is almost, but not quite, to pre-shutdown levels. Still focusing on comfort reads though.

>179 lindapanzo: Wow, I can't imagine working at Home Depot right now. I hope all will be well.

My reading is greatly reduced. Telework means no commute, so no audiobooks, but library is closed so no source for them. I spend more free moments browsing internet., though that is getting less satisfying as the news is more predictable, or I am overloaded. House chores and cooking take more time, i am trying to get a garden in, my son came home from his temporary winter job - currently quarantining in the barn. My volunteer job on a small private school board has ballooned as we try to hire an interim head of school for next year without knowing whether we can have school in the building or not. I used to go through 2 or 3 books a week from the library. There are plenty of unread books in the house, but they do not seem to call to me. I have been binging Netflix and knitting in the evening, which is not my old usual, but is a good escape after my husband’s early bedtime.

>163 SqueakyChu: Reading dropped at the start of the partial lockdown in March. April went better and this month I am pretty much back to normal. Not many books this month, but the average of pages I normally read, as I had some chunksters.
I was very happy that the library offered special service in April, you could get 3 of 5 requested titles. Next Monday all libraries are open again, only for lending and returning books while distancing, but that is all I need. All other activities are still on hold.

I have a sweep for May! Not going for any meta challenges this month and there is this craft project I should support our local sprang artist with.

>183 quondame: Congratulations. What an interesting craft.

>183 quondame: Congratulations, Susan!

>183 quondame:. Congratulations, Susan!

Sprang looks so interesting! I want you to show us what you will be making. I just started back knitting after probably ten years. An unfinished project for myself turned into a scarf I'll be making for my daughter. In the meantime, I think I finally found a book I might actually read all the way through. We’ll see, though, as I’ve been having a tough time with reading recently.

>184 Citizenjoyce: >185 Dejah_Thoris: >186 SqueakyChu: Thanks!

>186 SqueakyChu: What the teacher wants is some test students to work on the technique shown at the top of this, where holes are used to make patterns. Basic sprang is kind of like sideways knitting if you can imagine laying all your yarns out tensioned by two bars and then twisting adjacent threads together until you haven't any room to work. So the top/rightmost yarn is twisted with the second and the second with the first and third. But the individual strands can go much further than one either way, for variations in technique or skip twists for patterns like lace. There is a 3500yr old hairnet of sprang that's pretty sophisticated.

>183 quondame: Congratulations, Susan!

>187 quondame: I think I'll stick to knitting. but I do want to see what you will be working on. :D

>183 quondame: Congratulations, Susan!

>183 quondame: Congratulations on your Sweep!

>163 SqueakyChu: I think my reading is actually up; I'm on target for 75 books by the end of the year for the first time if it continues this way (but I won't hold my breath). I like to read in bed and now that I don't have to collect the kids from school, take them to after-school activities and then chauffeur them home again I have a lot more time at home to finish other stuff first - or even sneak a middle-of-the-day reading session.

I'm not listening to the news; my usual news fix is BBC World Service while I'm driving rather than television news but right now I'm not driving. We get the international news channels (BBC, CNN, CNA, Fox) which my husband watches but I find I get news fatigue if I hear the same topic over and over again analysed from every possible view point (I still can't watch more than half a minute of Trump). My husband and eldest son have an app which updates them daily on local news which my son follows avidly and relays to us.

I've rediscovered my Kindle, which is to say I downloaded some books for a couple of TIOLI challenges and realised I have quite a few books there that I'd forgotten about. Usually I prefer physical books but on our Stateside holiday at the end of the year I worked up the courage to ask my s-i-l if I could share her library card and borrow e-books which gives me access to a lot of books I see recommended on LT but can't find in the libraries I have access to in my own right. So my e-book reading is up, too.

>183 quondame: Congratulations Susan!

>183 quondame: Well done, Susan; congratulations!

I’m veering from on extreme to the other with my reading, but I’ve noticed that my concentration is seriously impaired. That results in me reading lots of mysteries. I love mysteries, but I’d like to read some longer and more...I dunno...just something other than mysteries.

>192 humouress: My Kindle has made a huge difference to me while I've been at home - it's really helped with lack of library access.

>193 Matke: I'm definitely reading genre fiction myself - some mysteries (but not cozies) and lots of SFF. I've got one 'literary' book I'm still planning to get to: Unmarriageable a Pride and Prejudice inspired novel set in Pakistan. I keep trying nonfiction, but that's been tough lately.

Hi folks!

The TIOLI Stats for April 2019 are looking good.

For April, we read a total of 342 books (the most since October, 2019) of which 93 were shared reads (the most since July, 2018). Our shared reads percentage was 27% (the most since November, 2019). Our TIOLI points were 52 (the highest since July, 2018) with an accumulated YTD total for April of 146.

The most popular book was The Perilous Life of Jade Yeo by Zen Cho read by six challengers.

The most popular challenge was the one by @DeltaQueen50 to read a book by an author you have read before with 67 books read.

The challenge with the most TIOLI points was also the one by @DeltaQueen50 to read a book by an author you have read before. This challenge accumulated 12 TIOLI points.

Good job!

>195 SqueakyChu: Well good for us! Nice stats.

I confess that May has turned into a shared read month for me - I keep looking for more!

April 2020 TIOLI Awards!

The Not in the Time of COVID-19 Award goes to @lyzard for reading The Five Red Fingers for the challenge by Carmenere to read a book that has something you would put in a cocktail in the title or author's name. I was shocked (shocked!) to learn that possibly this challenger might put fingers into a cocktail. I'm hoping it's the cocktail of this challenger and that this challenger is not a bartender at this time of contagion! :O

The Repeat Award goes to @LizzieD for reading Second-hand Time for the challenge by susanna.fraser to read a book you started before but put down unfinished. I thought the title of this book was perfect (perfect!) for this challenge. :D

The Mental Health Award goes to @lindapanzo for the challenge to read a book you consider a comfort read. This was so needed in our stressful times. Thank you.

Congrats to our award winners! Feel free to add other awards to this list at this time.

I got an award!!!!! That's phenomenal - I never win anything!
I also just looked at the June thread, and I was first!!!!! I'm going to bed. All this accomplishment is making me heady.

>197 SqueakyChu: Congratulations to all the winners!

>198 LizzieD: Sweet dreams! :)

Hurray!! I got an award. Thanks Madeline. Almost all of my reading remains a comfort read of some sort, even now.

Congrats to the winners.

>197 SqueakyChu:

Yup, that is absolutely the case, me using my fingers to fish olives or maraschino cherries or any other obnoxious contaminants out of my straight liquor! :D

>203 lyzard: Now THAT is pre-COVID-19 behavior!

>103 LizzieD: Peggy - I've added Curse of the Pharaohs to your challenge with "Curse" as the cause of death. Are you ok with that? Not to be pathetic, or anything, but I don't really have another place to put it.....and it'll be a shared read - Stasia read it earlier this month.

>103 LizzieD: >205 Dejah_Thoris: Please, Peggy! Pretty please?

>206 alcottacre: LOL!

For anyone who reads Ilona Andrews' Innkeeper Chronicles, there's a free short story online that gives a tiny bit of Dina and Maud/Matilda's family backstory. It's called Gerard Demille and Helen Meet - and it can be read HERE.

I've added it to Challenge #15, in case anyone would like to join me.

>208 Dejah_Thoris: I did read and add it, but I think the name of the story is Home.

>209 quondame: Hmmm....the LT work and series pages have it as Gerard Demille and Helen Meet - and the only HOME I see on the page is the link to the homepage. Although Home works extremely well as a title for that particular story.

>211 quondame: I figured out that the Home was a link. But it made so much sense!

>211 quondame: It did - it's a perfect title for the story!

The story arc for this series is a LONG one - they've got so many places to go with it.

>208 Dejah_Thoris: I tried to borrow the first book in the series from the library on Overdrive but there was a waiting list for it. Can I read that story before I read any of the other books or do I need more background/ are there spoilers?

>213 humouress: No spoilers, but I don't think it'll mean much without more context. In fact, the story is pretty much a total tease - just one more bit of information on the family's backstory.

The Innkeeper Chronicles, Volume One, which contains the first three books, is on sale for $.99 on AmazonUS. I'm guessing that you can't buy off the U.S. site?

>213 humouress: Actually, I can. Ooh - I might just pop over and do that now. Thanks for the info - have two alexandrite books for the price of one.

>215 humouress: LOL! The authors dropped the price as a kind gesture to all who were Safer at Home and needed reading material. I already had all three books, or I would have jumped on it myself.

Okay, I've bought it. Temptress :0)

I checked Amazon UK as well and it's available for 99p.

>207 Dejah_Thoris: Begging doesn't hurt, right?

>217 humouress: Hooray! I hope you enjoy the series - I find it very fun. It definitely falls into the comfort read category for me. And how far wrong can you go for $.99 or 99p?

>207 Dejah_Thoris: Not at all! I was begging last night over on Nina's birthday stone thread, too. The things we do to add a book to a challenge...

>218 alcottacre: Bribery too ...

(See >214 Dejah_Thoris: >215 humouress:)

Goodness, the pressure I felt under to complete my latest read. The Stranger Diaries was the book that I'd entered into Morphy's rolling MAY challenge, then it got joined by souloftheose ... But I'm done - and with a few days to spare.

Now I remember why I tend not to add books until I'm finished - so that I'm not letting anyone else down when I fail to deliver. Although I do love the rolling challenges, the anticipation of getting the right slot and all that. Yup, my life isn't all that rock'n'roll!

>221 Helenliz: No guilt!

>222 Dejah_Thoris: I get that - right up to the point someone makes the effort to share a read with me... I get so few of them that it's then the pressure (all of it self induced) piles on!

Apologies to the fellow readers of my intended shared reads this month. Except for The Jane Austen Society, which I did manage to read with Carrie. I'm still feeling the need for comfort reads.

I missed a joint read or two as well, I am just not reading as much as I usually do.

>224 lindapanzo: >225 DeltaQueen50: My reading was way down this month. I'm really struggling to get through the one I'm reading right now. It's good, but I'm just distracted by other things--mainly genealogy-related rather than COVID-related--so that is at least an improvement.

>226 thornton37814: This will be the first time ever in the history of TIOLI that I have not completed even one book by the end of the month. I am on my way to finishing at least one for my own challenge in June. Here’s hoping.

I have been totally distracted by the terrible news in the world and especially in my failing country, the USA. I keep hoping every day that something will improve, but nothing does. I’m trying to keep up my spirits, but reading doesn’t work because my mind wanders. Yesterday was a good day because I spent the whole day baking a Peach Cream Cheese Braid. I should get some kind of credit, though, because I had my cookbook open all day (even though I only read the page with the recipe)!

>227 SqueakyChu: Peach Cream Cheese Braid sounds wonderful!

As for reading/not reading, we all react differently. LT and the TIOLI Challenges have been particularly important to me these last weeks, so please know that your efforts have helped me.

>228 Dejah_Thoris: It is delicious! Yeast baking takes tons of time so now is a great time to do this.

That’s great!

My plans for TIOLI reading have suffered in the last week. I had a good shot at a sweep. But I live in the Twin Cities. While MrMorphy and I live 30 minutes from Minneapolis, his sister is just blocks away from some of the rioting. She is affected by the highway closures, the lack of mail delivery, and the curfew. Sad to say, but she is somewhat "protected" by the fact she lives very close to where George Floyd was killed. The area around there, where all the memorials are, has been quiet.

They have somewhere to go if it gets dangerous but it's all so sad. I'm of mixed minds on the curfew - upset because they had to have one and not happy how how they are going about it. Happy because this way they are catching the ones responsible for the majority of the violence. They are mostly from out of the area, if not out of state.

I'm going to try to get some of Martha Wells' Murderbot read for challenge 12 completed. I should be able to complete at least a couple today.

>230 Morphidae: Murderbot is happy reading (and rereading) for me - I hope it is for you, too.

>227 SqueakyChu: Peach cream cheese braid! I've never heard those words together. It sounds delicious.

>230 Morphidae: Good thoughts for your sister-in-law. I have a nephew there.

I'm also in the not-getting-much-read camp. Anxiety makes me distracted and unable to concentrate. I may have found something though. I don't usually listen to audiobooks except during car trips. I started listening to one this month just because I had a sequel to a book and could only get the first book on audio. I put it on while I was doing things like cleaning out drawers, and doing two things at once seemed to make it easier to concentrate on both better than if I was only doing one. We'll see if this holds up. :)

>232 madhatter22: Audiobooks are working well for me, too - lots of projects in the house and yard more along more quickly with a book in the background.

>232 madhatter22: It was actually Raspberry Cream Cheese Braid, but I only had peach jam and no raspberry jam. That didn't stop me, though. It's reminiscent of the taste of Entemann's pastries which I used to eat all the time years ago...or maybe even those cheese danishes you can buy at the bakery.

I have a picture of my two braids on Instagram where i am SqueakyChusssssss (Yes, seven of the letter s. I was upset that someone else used my screen name). . Every time I try to post a picture of the braids here, the picture comes out sideways, and I don't feel like editing it. If you look for me on Instagram. you'll need to request to follow me as I have a private account,

Housekeeping Day!

Please remove from the wiki any book you do not finish by 12 midnight tonight, or, in the case of rolling challenge books, just mark them DNF. Thanks!

>234 SqueakyChu: Ah! I have seen raspberry & cream cheese recipes, but I'm not a fan of raspberries so I much prefer your version. I'd like to see how those turned out but I'm not on Instagram. So many people I know are and it seems to be the social media site a lot of people use most or even exclusively. I'll break down some time.

>236 madhatter22: I just got the picture posted in my LT gallery right side up, doing the photo transfer on my phone instead of my laptop. Will wonders never cease?!
http://www.librarything.com/pic/7574011

We just finished eating the first braid! :D

I just had a thought! More cream cheese is coming in my grocery order tomorrow, and I have blueberry jam...!!!!!!

HA! In just under the wire with my last Challenge 20 book - I'm happy.

>237 SqueakyChu: Oh yum! That looks so good. And so pretty!

>237 SqueakyChu: I think I *am* going to make another one tomorrow, using blueberry jam instead of peach jam. They are just *so* good!

>227 SqueakyChu: The whole day?! I can't even be bothered to open the fridge and heat something up for lunch. Opening the cupboard for cereal and adding milk is about my level and only because I do it on autopilot on most mornings. I enjoy baking other than the effort of getting started, though; I did manage to stretch to helping my niece in Seattle bake a cake for her sister's birthday over Zoom, assisted by my sons on our end.

I've been off the computer for a couple of days so I hadn't added my books to the wiki. However, since I can't find any shared reads, it won't make a difference to the TIOLI points.

Challenge 1. Read a book whose author’s name contains a food or drink: The Icebound Land by John Flanagan

Challenge 2. Read a book written by a foreigner: The Village Witch Doctor and Other Stories by Amos Tutuola (Nigeria)

Esme’s Wish by Elizabeth Foster (Australia)

Challenge 13. Read a book with J, K, Q, X, or Z in the title: The Queen's Poisoner by Jeff Wheeler

Challenge 14. Read or re-read a sci/fi or fantasy book by an author you have read before: The Queen’s Secret by Jessica Day George

Challenge 16. May birthstone challenge - read a book with a predominantly emerald green cover: Oakleaf Bearers by John Flanagan

Challenge 19. Read a book using the vocabulary of an Horologist in the title or author: The Rose Legacy by Jessica Day George

Challenge 20. Read a Book with Dead or Death or any Cause of Death in the title: The Phantom's Curse by Shelley Wilson

Ooh - is that a mini sweeplette? First time ever, for me.

>241 humouress: Baking something that takes the whole day works for me now. It takes up my days of empty space. I don't watch television and don't have the concentration to read. I knit for a few minutes. Baking something requires that I complete it in a specified period of time. The longer, the better.

Go ahead and add your books, then let me know when you're done. No hurry.

>242 SqueakyChu: Thanks Madeline; nearly done. While I'm here, would you accept Bananas Foster for Elizabeth Foster for your challenge.

I think I'm in hibernation mode; I'm happy to curl up with a good book with my family tucked safely at home around me because I've been reading more than usual. Although my younger son went back to school on Tuesday so I'll have to get out of my comfort(able) zone now.

>243 humouress: That's stretching it, but okay...use foster. :D

Done!

I decided not to stretch it and put her into challenge 2 (foreign author). I have another book that fits your challenge; I always try to get something into your challenges but it's something I rarely actually manage.

>245 humouress:. :)