Take It or Leave It Challenge - May 2021 - 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 challenge for May, 2021, is to...

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Read a book with the letter X in the title or the author's name.
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So simple! Enjoy.

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

1. The May 2021 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 2021 TIOLI Sweeplette Meter

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Supplementary thread --- In the past, this thread was used to talk about the pandemic which had been weighing heavily on each of us. Going forward, this thread is open to all supplementary talk. Should you think you are too far off topic for the main thread, well, just skip over there for a group conversation about almost anything!

Link to our SUPPLEMENTARY THREAD

Index of Challenges:

Challenges #1-6
1. Read a book with the letter X in the title or author's name - msg #1
2. Read a book with the same 3 letter sequence repeated in title/author's name - msg #3
3. Read a book set in a country that starts with a vowel - msg #10
4. Read a book with a title with three or more words containing at least one article - msg #12
5. Read a book where a color or shade of color is named in the title - msg #14
6. Read a book where at least some of the book takes place within 50 miles of your home - msg #15

Challenges #7-12
7. Read a book that was filmed or adapted for TV within five years of its first publication - msg #16
8. Read a book that has the word 'novella' on its cover or is tagged 'novella' in LT - msg #17
9. Read a book with a title containing a verb - msg #20
10. Read a book in honor of National Photography Month - msg #25
11. Read a book in which the story is told in dual timelines - msg #27
12. Read some "trash" - msg #30

Challenges #13-18
13. Read a book from a series - msg #31
14. Read a nonfiction book about books or libraries - msg #33
15. After all that work, relax or read a European mystery (alternating challenge) - msg #37

Hold your challenge until the June, 2021, challenges are posted.

oh! That's a surprise, I'm first in!

Challenge #2: Read a book with the same 3 letter sequence repeated in title/author's name

You're looking for runs of 3 sequential letters that appear more than once in either the title or the author's name. Sub-titles do count. They can be embedded or across words. If your title start "The" you may use that in your letter sequence. The letter sequence can be forwards and then backwards.

I will be reading Snow in May by Kseniya Melnik
You could read D A Tale of Two Worlds: A Dickensian Fable by Michel Faber (FAB in title and author's name, both forwards)

The only proviso: you cannot use the same letter twice.
You could not read a book on Kayaking and use KAY then YAK, as the same Y is used twice. It would count if your book was Kayaking with my Yak or was written by Kay Jones.

Can you find a sequence of longer than 3 letters? There may be a small prize for the longest sequence if you can...

>3 Helenliz: Shhh! Don't tell anyone we're here! LOL!

>5 SqueakyChu: Too late! We've already been discovered! :D

I see you!! On the road to my sister’s. Just looking here for now.

>6 lindapanzo: :D

>5 SqueakyChu: Oh dear. I thought I was on for a whole real and genuine sweep for a moment there >;-)
You watch all those challenges appear...

>8 Helenliz: I might (or might not) be able to complete a sweep of only two challenges! LOL

Challenge #3: Read a book set in a country that starts with a vowel

>9 SqueakyChu: Just made your sweep more difficult! ;-)

>10 cbl_tn: LOL! As if!

>1 SqueakyChu:

Well, thank you so very much, Madeline!

You've ruined the challenge I was going to post but in a way that does *not* accommodate the book I was mostly creating it for! :D

{...slinks off to think of something else...}

Challenge #5: Read a book where a color or shade of color is named in the title

Please note that by shade of color I mean words that are used as a color name such as Forest green, Navy blue, Silver grey. In these instances the words forest, navy and silver are all acceptable. Not acceptable are simply descriptive words like pale, dark or bright that could be used with any color.

Acceptable Titles: By the Shores of Silver Lake by Laura Ingalls Wilder, Forest of a Thousand Lanterns by Julie C. Dao, Red Rising by Pierce Brown

Challenge #6: Read a book where at least some of the book takes place within 50 miles of your home

Fine, then:

Challenge #7: Read a book that was filmed or adapted for television within five years of its first publication

You do *not* have to have seen the adaptation! :)

Please list the two relevant dates on the wiki.

I feel like some shorter reads this month!

Challenge #8: Read a book that has the word 'novella' on its cover or is tagged 'novella' in LT

>13 lyzard: How could I possibly have ruined your challenge?! My challenge was so simple!

>18 SqueakyChu:

Yet it managed to second a third of mine. :D

Challenge #9: Read a book with a title containing a verb

To keep this from being TOO easy, no embedded words, and the word in question has to be used as a verb (as opposed to an adjective, noun, etc. that can be a verb in other contexts).

>5 SqueakyChu: Stealth mode ;)

>13 lyzard:: I'm a bit shocked that you are posting a challenge for books which are likely to be a bit more recent, although when I first read it I was thinking of TV adaptations and I suppose books were adapted for films a few decades earlier.

>13 lyzard: I'm suspecting that you were going for x, y, or z in the author's name or title.
Sorry, it's not nice to laugh at the misfortune of others.

>23 Helenliz: May that be all of our greatest misfortunes presently.

Challenge #10: Read a book in honor of National Photography Month

Read a book that has a photograph(s), negatives, or camera(s) on the cover.

This doesn't mean that the cover *IS* a photograph else tons of books would qualify. Here are examples of books that would be acceptable:

Picture Yourself Getting the Most Out of Your Digital SLR Camera by James Karney
Flash Burnout by L. K. Madigan
Sixty Lights by Gail Jones
Out of Focus by Margaret Buffie
Curveball by Jordan Sonnenblick
The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh (in cover choices)
Two Can Keep a Secret by Karen M. McManus

OR

Read a book about photography or a photographer(s).

OR

Read a book where a main character is a photographer.

OR

Read a book from Vertigo's Photography-Embedded Fiction – Annual Lists (1970 - 2020) - includes fiction, short stories (SS), and poetry (P).

https://sebald.wordpress.com/photography-embedded-fiction-lists/

Examples:

Griffin and Sabine by Nick Bantock
Carver: A Life in Poems by Marilyn Nelson - P
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer
11/22/63 by Stephen King
Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs
Eight Girls Taking Pictures* by Whitney Otto - SS
Almost Famous Women by Megan Mayhew Bergman - SS
Make Yourself Happy by Eleni Sikelianos - P

*Also qualifies for camera on cover

OR

Read a book that starts with a letter in PHOTO

OR

Read a book where the author's LAST name matches a photographer's LAST name from the list "The 50 best photographers ever."

When the last name is hyphenated, either name can be used.

https://www.digitalcameraworld.com/features/the-best-photographers-ever

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Please be sure to explain how your book fits one of the six available choices in the wiki. Thanks!

>22 elkiedee:

Books have been adapted for film since about 1896. So this is totally in character! :D

>23 Helenliz:, >24 SqueakyChu:

You suspect more or less correctly.

Well, I suppose something worse than this is just possible... :)

***** Challenge # 11: Read a book in which the story is told in dual timelines – two or more story lines set in different periods of time. ******

Here’s a few ways to find books:

Search tags on LT for such tags as:
dual timelines
dual time periods
dual narratives
two time periods
parallel narratives
multiple time periods
intertwining timelines

Use the LT Search:
Search Box > multiple time periods (or whatever your phrase is) > Book World / Other > Member review text

Find a book on a list:
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/b/books/historical-fiction/multiple-timelines-his...
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/98415.Dual_Timeline_Historical_Novels
https://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/dual-time-periods
https://www.librarything.com/topic/31440

>25 Morphidae: I oopsed. It's PHOTOGRAPHY not PHOTOGRAPH month. Could it be corrected in >2 SqueakyChu: please?

>28 Morphidae: Fixed.

Challenge #12: Read some "trash"

The prurient, the puerile, the pulpy -- if it's somebody's "trash" then it fits here. I'll be reading Jacqueline Susann's The Valley of the Dolls.

Broadly, I think of "trash" as literature written without any pretense of educational or artistic goal beyond the demands of a certain market, leading readers outside that market to conclude it has no value at all: "hack work," "beach reads," "fluff." But for this challenge, the definition of "trash" is amorphous: if you have a sense that somebody thinks you shouldn't read it, then it fits. If you have a sense that it's worthless but you love it anyway, it fits. If you read it and, having read it, decide you shouldn't have done, then it fits. If you stopped caring what others think so long ago that you don't know what might fit, then you are my secret hero this month and for guidance you can check out lists like these:

https://www.goodreads.com/list/tag/trash

https://www.flavorwire.com/409714/40-trashy-books-that-are-actually-worth-readin...

https://domesticate-me.com/my-favorite-medium-trashy-books/

... or others. (If you use another list, feel free to indicate your source.) I'm not interested in policing the boundaries of "trash," I'm interested in seeing where others draw them.

And in case it doesn't go without saying: "Trash" is in scare quotes for a reason. No actual judgment or guilt allowed.

Challenge #13: Read a book from a series

If LT has it as part of a series in the wiki or you can make a convincing argument that it is part of a series, go for it.

>30 swynn:

:D

I have the Flavorwire article on my 'potential future challenges' list: having disposed of VOTD, I'll have to see what else it offers...

...or maybe fall back on a re-read of Peyton Place??

ETA: Though I retooled my own challenge to accommodate it, I'm kind of hoping The Arrangement will turn out to be trash. Apparently the film is, though that means nothing of course.

Oops, I forgot that April would actually end.
Challenge #14: Read a nonfiction book about books or libraries
For my R L book club I’ll be rereading The Library Book by Susan Orlean. I loved it the first time around yet I’ve still forgotten so many facts. It will be good to refresh my memory.

My planned reads
Challenge #1: Read a book with the letter X in the title or author's name - started by SqueakyChu
✔An Excess Male - Maggie Shen King (4)
*✔Exhalation: Stories by Ted Chiang (4)
*✔Inside of a Dog - Alexandra Horowitz (4)
Challenge #2: Read a book with the same 3 letter sequence repeated in title/author's name - started by helenliz
*✔Every Day Is a Gift: A Memoir by Tammy Duckworth (5)
✔The Women in the Castle - Jessica Shattuck (4)
Challenge #3: Read a book set in a country that starts with a vowel - started by cbl_tn
✔At Home in the World: A Memoir - Joyce Maynard (3.5)
✔The Wanderers - Meg Howrey (4)
Challenge #4: Read a book with a title with three or more words containing at least one article - started by FAMeulstee
✔Gideon the Ninth - Tamsyn Muir (3.5)
✔It's Not About the Burqa: Muslim Women on Faith, Feminism, Sexuality and Race - Mariam Khan (3.5)
Challenge #5: Read a book where a color or shade of color is named in the title - started by DeltaQueen
*✔The Midnight Bargain - C. L. Polk (4)
Challenge #6: Read a book where at least some of the book takes place within 50 miles of your home - started by lindapanzo
*✔Once We Were Brothers - Richard H. Balson (4)
Challenge #7: Read a book that was filmed or adapted for TV within five years of its first publication - started by lyzard
*✔This Sweet Sickness by Patricia Highsmith (3.5)
Challenge #8: Read a book that has the word 'novella' on its cover or is tagged 'novella' in LT - started by wandering_star
*✔Ajax Penumbra: 1969 - Robin Sloan (4)
Challenge #9: Read a book with a title containing a verb - started by susanna.fraser
✔Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee - Dee Brown (5)
✔If I Had Your Face - Frances Cha (4.5)
✔Raise Your Hand by Alice Paul Tapper (4)
✔We Ride Upon Sticks - Quan Barry (3.5)
Challenge #10: Read a book in honor of National Photography Month- started by Morphidae
✔Picture Perfect: The Jodi Arias Story: A Beautiful Photographer, Her Mormon Lover, and a Brutal Murder - Shanna Hogan (4)
Challenge #11: Read a book in which the story is told in dual timelines - started by countrylife
✔Sparks Like Stars: A Novel - Nadia Hashimi (4)
Challenge #12: Read some "trash" - started by swynn
✔Victories Greater Than Death - Charlie Jane Anders (3.5)
Challenge #13: Read a book from a series - started by quondame
Billy the Kid and the Vampyres of Vegas: A Lost Story from the Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel - Michael Scott
✔Parable of the Sower - Octavia E. Butler (3.5)
✔Magic Lessons by Alice Hoffman (4)
*The Unbroken - C.L. Clark ABANDONED
Challenge #14: Read a nonfiction book about books or libraries - started by Citizenjoyce
✔The Library Book - Susan Orlean (5)
Challenge #15: After all that work, relax or read a European mystery (alternating challenge) - started by paulstalder
✔Love and Ruin - Paula McLain (4)

>3 Helenliz: Does the three-letter sequence have to be across the title, or is having it twice in one count? Like a book of poetry by Billy Collins?

>35 bell7: that will be fine.

Challenge #15: After all that work, relax and/or read a European mystery (alternating challenge)

After all this work with dishwashers and wikipedia we need some relaxing action: either relax bodily (take a nap, sleep, have a massage, meditate) or intellectually (read a mystery by a European author who lives in Europe), and we do that alternatingly

relax: read a book which starts with a nap, sleeping, having a massage or meditating (one of these actions must be referred to in the first words, no embedded words please), list the appropriate words in the wiki
mystery: read a mystery by a European born author who still (or again) lives in Europe (including Russia till the Ural mountains); indicate the country(ies) in the wiki

# relax: Briefe aus Atlantis (Der Prinz '''schläft''' jetzt) - Robert Silverberg
# mystery: Das Ende vom Lied - Alfred Bodenheimer (Switzerland)

>37 paulstalder: : Paul, are your "first words" to be found within the first sentence or first paragraph?
Does the word "dozing" fit into the actions you've listed, or does the word need to be one of those four words you've listed specifically?

>38 countrylife: thanks for the question: it is 'The first sentence of the work.' as it is written in the CK (Common Knowledge) 'First Words' section. So you may do a CK search in 'First Words' for any word and look if somebody has entered the appropriate word there.
Dozing is okay (well, not if it's got the meaning of bull dozing)

>37 paulstalder: Can I put two entries in a row in your challenge, Paul?

>40 FAMeulstee: yes, that's fine this time

>41 paulstalder: Thanks.

>10 cbl_tn:

Carrie, how much of the book needs to be set in the vowel country? I'm in a couple of places with mine.

>43 lyzard: That's fine! I counted one that starts out in Sri Lanka, with 3/4 of the rest alternating between the UK and Italy.

>44 cbl_tn:

Excellent, thank you! (And just as well, too, it doesn't fit anywhere else!)

>34 Citizenjoyce: Sorry, 2 of the books you have listed for challenge 3 don't count. Letters need to be adjacent in each case.
I've moved them out of the challenge list, for you to place elsewhere.

>46 Helenliz:, Oh, ok. I guess I didn't understand.

My May reads to date:

TIOLI 3. Read a book set in a country that starts with a vowel - Murder in an Irish Bog ***
TIOLI 6. Read a book where at least some of the book takes place within 50 miles of your home - Death at Sea World ****
TIOLI 11. Read a book in which the story is told in dual timelines - Beneath Devil's Bridge ***.5
TIOLI 13. Read a book from a series - Squeeze Me ***

TIOLI Question of the month

Have you read any new-to-you authors this month? If so, how were you introduced to their writing, and how did you like their book(s)?

>49 SqueakyChu: 3 finished, one on the go.

2 of them were book subscriptions, where you get what you're given. Sometimes with mixed results.

Of the new authors I picked up this month, one was contemorary memoir addressed to readers, the other a selection of Victorian short stories that I heard about twice, in quick sucession, from people whose judgement I trust on LT.

I read an Early Review book called The Immune Mystery by Anita Kass. As a former EMT I am interested in medical issues and this was a very interesting book written in lay women's terms on how the body's defenses, used to protect us from foreign substances, can instead turn on itself and attack our own bodies. Her explanations were interspersed with real life examples.

I have read 6 books by new to me authors (and hope to read 4 more)

A Woman in the Polar Night) by Christiane Ritter was a great read about the year the writer spended with her husband in Spitsbergen in 1934.
Salt of the Earth by Józef Wittlin is about the start of WWI in an eastern part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire
I rated these two books with 4,5 stars

White Rabbit, Red Wolf by Tom Pollock was a very good YA-thriller

The origin of the world by Pierre Michon, not sure what to make of this story. I have other books by Michon on the shelf to read.

Two Dutch non-fiction books, not translated. One about walking and an other about dolmen.

>49 SqueakyChu: I listened to Victories Greater Than Death by Charlie Jane Anders because I've been listening to the podcast, Our Opinions Are Correct, that she does with her partner Annalee Newitz. I've read, and liked, two of Newitz's books, and love feminist science fiction, but I didn't fall in love with this one. First of all, from the title you can tell it's going to be pretty melodramatic, but I thought that would be in kind of a humorous way, so it would be ok. The main problem is that happy as Anders was to get Hynden Walch to narrate, her perky 13-year-old girlie voice grated on my ears. There were many social issues discussed well in the book, but Princess Bubblegum was a big distraction.

So far I've read one new-to-me author this month. Carry Me Across the Water by Ethan Canin. I was introduced to this author through the American Authors Challenge (although I was supposed to read him in February). This and the British Authors Challenge frequently introduce me to new authors. I loved the book, and the author's writing. I was pleasantly surprised, because some of the group discussion on the challenge thread was lukewarm.

With finishing Portnoy's Complaint for TIOLI #7, I made a sweep :-)

>55 FAMeulstee: Congratulations!

>55 FAMeulstee: Yay, congratulations.

>56 elkiedee: >57 Citizenjoyce: Thank you, Luci and Joyce.

>55 FAMeulstee: Wow! Congratulations, Anita!

>55 FAMeulstee: Way to go, Anita!!

>55 FAMeulstee: Congratulations!

>59 SqueakyChu: >60 lindapanzo: >61 quondame: Thanks Madeline, Linda and Susan!
After nearly a year my reading seems to be back at my usual speed.

>62 FAMeulstee: That's good news. We are working our way out of this pandemic.

>49 SqueakyChu:, Have you read any new-to-you authors this month? If so, how were you introduced to their writing, and how did you like their book(s)?
I actually have a few;
Sōseki Natsume
Ephron Nora
Harlan Ellison
and I currently am reading; Now in November by Josephine W. Johnson and The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab. All our new to me authors.

>49 SqueakyChu: I've read two novellas by Kate Heartfield, Alice Payne Arrives and Alice Payne Rides. I found out about the author and the series via a Google search for good recent time travel stories for this month's SFFKit challenge, and I enjoyed the stories very much.

>49 SqueakyChu: So far these are the new authors this month

Julia Quinn
Rieko Matsuura
David Rhodes
Michelle Gallen
Robin Sloan
Thrity Umrigar
Whitney Gardner
John Y. Cole
Angie Thomas

Some have been because of LT mentions, but at least 3 are due to google searches for TIOLI challenges. And a couple turned up in past months when I was doing searches for challenges.

So far I've read four new-to-me authors this month:

Roma Tearne (an ER win) - Loved the characters but the unusual narrative style with lots of second person passages didn't work for me.
Na'ima B. Robert (for this month's British Author Challenge) - I read three of her children's picture books about Muslim weddings, Ramadan, and the Hajj. All three were outstanding.
Alexandra Horowitz (for Madeleine's author or title with an x challenge) - I am learning lots about my dog as I read this.
Mary McCarthy (for this month's American Author Challenge) - I've just started The Stones of Florence and I don't think McCarthy likes Florence nearly as much as I do.

>62 FAMeulstee: I still can't get my numbers up, but I sure am enjoying reading much more now that life is returning to normal.

>68 SqueakyChu: life is returning to normal glad to hear (äh read)

>Yes! We had two of our three children and two grandchildren at our house for Shabbat dinner last night. It was so nice...and normal! That was the first time since March, 2020.

Two new to me authors this month were,
When we believed in mermaids by Barbara O'Neal
and The Royal Governess by Wendy Holden

Last week I helped my cousin celebrate her 60th birthday with a bunch of her friends. No masks, no social distancing, even a couple of hugs but we were outdoors. Eek ;0)
Tonight is a real milestone. I'm actually dining inside a restaurant with my sister/brother in laws. I'm still a little uneasy about it all, but I've done all I could to protect myself and others, what more can I do.

>71 Carmenere: Have a safe and wonderful time!

Sweeplette of page 1!

>73 wandering_star: Very cool! Congratulations!

>73 wandering_star: and me!!

>75 Helenliz: congratulations!

>73 wandering_star: >75 Helenliz: Congratulations!

>73 wandering_star: and >75 Helenliz: Congratulations - I have too, actually a few days ago I think. Also happy because that's 3 shared reads for me - The Lamplighters in Challenge 1.

>78 elkiedee: That was my last one for the set of 6. Nothing like the (self induced) pressure of a shared read to get me to finish on time! What did you make of it?

>79 Helenliz: I didn't love it but I found it interesting and a bit disturbing.

>75 Helenliz: Hey! You, too! Nice, Congratulations!

>55 FAMeulstee:, >73 wandering_star:, >78 elkiedee:

Well done, you guys!! :)

TIOLI Stats for April, 2021

In April, 2021, we read a total of 310 books (best total this year) with 58 being shared reads (best total this year), making the shared reads 19% of all reads (the highest percentage this year). We accumulated 31 TIOLI points (the highest monthly total this year). Looking good!

Our year-to-date total is still lame at 97 TIOLI points, but only because the year got off to a slow start. Pandemic anxiety was still running full course at that time, I think.

Our most popular books, each read by three challengers, were:
---Humble Pi: When Math Goes Wrong in the Real World - Matt Parker
---Burnt Sugar - Avni Doshi
---Finna - Nino Cipr
---Home: Habitat, Range, Niche, Territory - Martha Wells

The most popular challenge, with 36 books read, was the one by @cbl_tn to
read a book with a title word or author name beginning with a letter in "April"

The challenge with the most TIOLI points (six) was the one by @elkiedee to read a book listed for an award or on a recommended list to improve representation.

>83 SqueakyChu: it’s about time our stats reflected how important this group is to all of us. That’s good news.

>84 Citizenjoyce: I agree

>83 SqueakyChu: thanks for the stats (and for all the other work you put in here). I think I would have abandoned some of the books I was reading if not the idea of listing that book on LT kept me going. Just to be able to share at least that I have read such-n-such book was good.

>84 Citizenjoyce: Yes!

>85 paulstalder: I also find it fun to see what others in our group are reading in real time. Sometimes I say to myself, “I loved that book!” when I see that someone here is reading a book I particularly liked in the past. Sometimes I even go to our thread to recommend it. Feel free to do the same.

Congratulations to all the "Sweepers"! Well done.

The April 2021 TIOLI AWards!

The Forever Feline Award goes to @wandering_star for reading River King by Cat Jarman for this challenger's own challenge to read a book whose author's name contains the name of an animal or bird. Since, in my own extended family, we have more cats (four) than any other pet, it was easy for me to pick the winner. The four cats among my kids are Sasha, Bug, Nimbus, and Noodle. :D

The Short Title Award goes to @avatiakh and to @quondame for both reading The Dig for lyzard's challenge to read a book or work with a two word title in the format "The ----". Yep, Six letters in the whole two-word title sure makes it short!

The Obscure List Award goes to @dallenbaugh for the challenge to read a book from the “Elevenses” list found on LibraryThing. LT is such a treasure trove of unusual things, and this list is one of them. Thanks for discovering this list and sharing it with us.

The Two by Two Award goes to @countrylife for the challenge to read a book or two with a shared title word. I found this challenge to be quite a fun and unique one. I even entered it with two books, but of course, being me, I only finished one of them! :O

The Unusual Discussion Award goes to @paulstalder for the challenge to "After sharing Madeleines and coffee, use a dishwasher". It is very rare indeed for people in a book group to discuss in depth dishwasher brands. However, with this challenge, many of us did that! Ha!

Congrats to our award winners! Feel free at this time to add awards of your own.

Thanks for the award Madeline. It was a fun list to honor the passing of Beverly Cleary

>88 SqueakyChu: Thanks Madeline! I love the cats' names :-)

>90 wandering_star: My daughter gives animals weird names although Sasha is my daughter-in-law's cat. She hust got a whippet which she named Jelly Bean. When we had feral cats here at home, my daughter (then much younger) named some of ours Worm, Dirt, Lord Bravery and other such odd names. I changed some of the names, but Lord Bravery grew to be our favorite cat and lived a very long life (16 years) for a feral cat.

>91 SqueakyChu: I have two feral cats I feed in the front yard. One, Mr. Mistoffelees, was born here on the property but he’s a true feral cat. He’ll let me touch him on occasion when I’m feeding him but usually he’s very skittish and runs away from me. The other one Mr. Rogers is so sweet and so much wants to come inside and be my indoor cat which I would love to do but I have a dog who kills cats. As far as I know, He’s three or four years old and has been neutered I wish someone would take him but everyone says no he’s happy where he is. No he wants to come inside I’m sure..

>92 Citizenjoyce: I miss my feral cats. :’(

I've completed a sweeplette of page 2 (challenges 7 to 12). Ordinarily, this wouldn't be that big a deal for me but 6 books is what I'd read in the past 3 months so this is a return to more normal reading patterns for me.

>94 lindapanzo: congratulations!

>94 lindapanzo: It's good to have the world turning right again.

>94 lindapanzo: Yay, Linda! Congratulations!!

>94 lindapanzo: Yay! It feels good to get reading mojo back!

>94 lindapanzo: Congratulations on your sweeplette, Linda, and on reading back to normal.

>94 lindapanzo: a step on the path of normality is certainly worth celebrating.

I did complete a sweeplette 1-6. I started to read X by Sue Grafton but couldn't finish it in time, so I chose Beatrix Potter as a substitute (was much easier to read)...

>88 SqueakyChu: thank you very much, Madeleine, for the UDA, thanks to everyone as well who took part in this Universal Dishwasher Approach

>101 paulstalder: Congratulations on your sweeplette, Paul!

>101 paulstalder: Congrats on your sweeplette, Paul!

Housekeeping Day was yesterday!

...so do your housekeeping now! Please remove all books not finished by 12 midnight last night from the wiki, or mark unfinished books in rolling challenges DNF. Thank you.

In the last few hours of May I managed to eke out a sweep! (To do this I returned to a book I had not quite finished in April (The Return) instead of a planned read that I never actually started for Challenge 4. And for Challenge 10 I made a last-minute substitution of Henry Huggins by Beverly Cleary for The Photograph which I was definitely not going to finish in time. Both start with a letter in PHOTO, but the Cleary book took me about an hour. Whatever it takes, right? First sweep since 2016 or thereabouts.)

>105 AnneDC: That is great, Anne! I love that you “returned” to The Return. Haha! Congrats in your sweep! That’s a major accomplishment.

>105 AnneDC: Congratulations, Anne!
Yes, your previous sweep was in November 2016.

>105 AnneDC: Congratulations! You worked for that one.

>105 AnneDC: Congratulations on your sweep!

Congratulations Anne. I also have a 4th shared read with The Return by Hisham Matar, despite finishing one book too early and only being half way through another aspired to shared read. | might have originally hoped that The Return could be an April shared read too.

>105 AnneDC: well done