Take It or Leave It Challenge - November 2023 - 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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I'm still reeling and in shock from the massacre in southern Israel on October 7, 2023, as over half of my family are Israeli. Without getting into the politics of it all, your challenge for November, 2023 is to

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Read a book (F or NF) by an Israeli or Palestinian author.

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Other Stuff (not part of the TIOLI challenge):
1. @FAMeulstee's 2023 TIOLI Sweeplette Meter
2. @FAMeulstee's Our TIOLI Sweeps
3. Morphidae's List of Previous TIOLI Challenges (2010-2016) - A reference (Do a control-F scan) to avoid repeating a previous challenge. If your idea is similar to a previous challenge, make it unique by adding a new "twist" to it.
4. The November 2023 TIOLI Meter - Optional page on which you may track your TIOLI reading. Not competitive--- just fun!

Index of Challenges:

Challenges #1-6
1. Read a book (F or NF) by an Israeli or Palestinian author - msg #1
2. Read a book where the title completes the phrase, "I am thankful for..." - msg #3
3. Read a book where a color is part of the title - msg #4
4. Read a book whose title includes some kind of food - msg #5
5. Read a book where the author's name consists of 11 or fewer letters - msg #9
6. Read a book where the last word of the title is an animal or plant - msg #10

Challenges #7-12
7. Read a book you've been eagerly awaiting - msg #12
8. Read a book where a main character is at least 50 years old - msg #13
9. Read a book with a female detective character - msg #21
10. In honor of Louisa May Alcott’s birthday on November 29th, read one of her novels, a biography of her, a pastiche or homage to her - msg #28
11. Read a book written by a Nobel Prize winner - msg #29
12. Read a book to escape your current situation - msg #31

Challenges #13-16
13. Read a book which features birds, flying, or migration in the title or text - msg #34
14. Read a book that you bought this year - msg #35
15. Read a work of 100 pages or less - msg #36
16. Read a book that has either "yes" or "no" in the title - msg #57

Please hold your challenge until the December 2023 TIOLI challenges are posted. Thank you!

My 11th* Annual November challenge:

Challenge #2: Read a book where the title completes the phrase "I am thankful for..."

The sentence should be grammatically correct.

Some of my favorite entries over the years:

2012

Runners Up
The Audacity of Hope by Barak Obama - JeanneD
The Uncommon Appeal of Clouds by Alexander McCall Smith - Chatterbox, klobrien2

Favorite
The Wonderful O by James Thurber

2013

My Life as a White Trash Zombie by Diana Rowland - Crazymamie

2014

The Happiest People in the World by Brock Clarke - sturlington

2015

Runners Up
Another Day by David Leviathan - madhatter22

Favorite
The World's Strongest Librarian by Josh Hanagarne - katiekrug

2016

Mehr Raum im Herzen (More space in the heart) by Anna Oehler paulstalder

Some examples from this month's "Hot List" that would NOT work:

Be Useful

Out There Screaming

Let Us Descend

My Roommate is a Vampire

Determined

Some responses are funny, some are heartfelt. All types are welcome. Enjoy!

*Technically, 10th, as Citizenjoyce stepped in for me in 2015. I've been participating in TIOLI for eleven years (since 2012), but I wasn't around LT in 2017.

Challenge #3: Read a book where a color is part of the title

Since we've already had Thanksgiving in Canada and Christmas isn't until December, November is rather a quiet, grey month for me. My challenge is to bring a little color to the greyness.

Challenge #4: Read a book whose title includes some kind of food

A challenge for those who celebrate Thanksgiving
Embedded words are fine.

>5 dallenbaugh: Can the food be imbedded in another word?

>6 DeltaQueen50: Sure, why not

>7 dallenbaugh: Excellent! :)

Challenge #5: Read a book where the author's name consists of 11 or fewer letters

Pretty self explanatory. Note that numbers or punctuation, such as apostrophe's or periods, don't count towards the number of letters.

If the author has a title such as Dr or Prof, no need to count that.

Challenge #6: Read a book where the last word of the title is an animal or plant

Humans don't count as animals for the purpose of this challenge!

If your book has a subtitle you can choose whether or not to use it.

>10 wandering_star: Does it have to be a real animal, or would dragon count?

Challenge #7: Read a book you've been eagerly awaiting

AKA "Susanna makes sure she has a challenge to place the new Murderbot book in." This can be any book you've had to wait for, whether it's a new book you preordered months ago, one where you've been on the library hold queue for months, or a hard-to-find book where you've finally been able to track down a copy, or however else you define eager anticipation.

Challenge #8: Read a book including a main character over the age of 50

Now that I'm working with people who all are much younger than I am -- I'm feeling even older. And 50 starts to sound positively young.

But, let's use the AARP definition: anyone 50 or older is eligible for the status of a "retiree" according to the association, and often can live in a seniors-only housing complex.

So your challenge is to read a book in which a main character is at least 50 years old. Note that I specify A main character, not THE main character. The key? That individual should be someone who plays a significant role in driving the plot forward, not just pops up on the scene as a grandmother in a romantic comedy or a witness to a homicide. (You don't need to be told the precise age by the author, but it should be reasonable to assume that the character is 50 plus based on their life history, etc.)

One possible case might be an older narrator looking back through time and telling the story of what happened to them in their youth. That is OK ONLY if a reasonable portion of the plot involves something the older version of that person is doing as well...

This will be a good challenge for me, as well, since looking around, I realize I don't have all that many books that will fit easily into this category (at least, based on a quick first glance).

>13 Chatterbox: Would The Summer of the Danes qualify, Suzanne?
Brother Cadfael is in his fourties in the first book in 1137, so probably (over) 50 in 1144 when this book is set.

>11 cbl_tn: Mythological animals are fine!

>4 DeltaQueen50: Judy, can the color be embedded in another word. I'm thinking a book with blueberry in the title. I seem to have way more food title books than color title books.

>44 Morphidae: Sure, that would work. But NOT the earlier books in the series! :-)

>16 lindapanzo: Hi Linda - yes, the color can be embedded in another word. :)

>18 DeltaQueen50: That's good. Thanks, Judy. I'd have to read the Cookie mystery (book 2) first but I should be able to get to the blueberry one after that.

>15 wandering_star: Wonderful!

Challenge #9: Read a book with a female detective character I guess I finished the latest Cormoran Strike a month early so I'll be reading a new Stephen King, Holly.

>5 dallenbaugh: Would you allow salt as a type of food? I need to return Salt to the Sea to the library, so I must get it read.

I was a little stumped at first, but find I like this month's challenges. I've been introduced to some new authors I might not otherwise have found.
My planned reads:
Challenge #1: Read a book (F or NF) by an Israeli or Palestinian author - started by SqueakyChu
The Art of Leaving: A Memoir - Ayelet Tsabari
✔The Blue Mountain - Meir Shalev (3.5)
*More than I Love My Life - David Grossman
Challenge #2: Read a book where the title completes the phrase, "I am thankful for..." - started by Morphidae
Americana: Dispatches from the New Frontier - Hampton Sides
✔Dawn - Octavia Butler (5)
Challenge #3: Read a book where a color is part of the title - started by DeltaQueen
✔The Blue Machine: How the Ocean Works by Helen Czerski (4)
*✔The Red Palace - June Hur (4)
✔Waking Up White, and Finding Myself in the Story of Race - Debby Irving (4)
Challenge #4: Read a book whose title includes some kind of food - started by dallenbaugh
✔Cod: A Biography of the Fish That Changed the World - Mark Kurlansky (4)
Challenge #5: Read a book where the author's name consists of 11 or fewer letters - started by lindapanzo
✔Blood Born - Linda Howard (4)
The Door-to-Door Bookstore - Carsten Henn Abandoned
Challenge #6: Read a book where the last word of the title is an animal or plant - started by wandering_star
✔For the Wolf - Hannah Whitten (3)
*✔To Catch a Raven - Beverly Jenkins (4)
Challenge #7: Read a book you've been eagerly awaiting - started by susanna.fraser
*✔Enough - Cassidy Hutchinson (4)
✔The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick (4)
✔System Collapse - Martha Wells (3.5)
✔Testimony: Inside the Evangelical Movement That Failed a Generation - Jon Ward (4)
✔The Woman In Me by Britney Spears (4)
Challenge #8: Read a book where a main character is at least 50 years old - started by Chatterbox
*✔Celine - Peter Heller (4)
✔The Man Who Died Twice - Richard Osman (4.5)
Challenge #9: Read a book with a female detective character - started by Citizenjoyce
✔Dreamland Burning by Jennifer Latham (4)
*✔Evergreen - Naomi Hirahara (4)
✔Holly - Stephen King (4.5)
Challenge #10: The “Invincible Louisa” Challenge: In honor of Louisa May Alcott’s birthday on November 29th, read one of her novels, a biography of her, a pastiche or homage to her - started by AlcottAcre
*American Bloomsbury - Susan Cheever
*✔Louisa May Alcott: The Woman Behind Little Women - Harriet Reisen (4.5)
Challenge #11: Read a book written by a Nobel Prize winner - started by FAMeulstee
✔Last Witnesses: An Oral History of the Children of World War II - Svetlana Alexievich (5)
Challenge #12: Read a book to escape your current situation - started by helenliz
✔The Human Origins of Beatrice Porter & Other Essential Ghosts - Soraya Palmer (3)
Mary and the Birth of Frankenstein: A Novel - Anne Eekhout Abandoned
✔Magic for Beginners - Kelly Link (3)
✔The Wishing Game- Meg Shaffer (3.5)
Challenge #13: Read a book which features birds, flying, or migration in the title or text - started by quondame
*✔Starling House - Alix E. Harrow (4.5)
Challenge #14: Read a book that you bought this year - started by bell7
*✔The Displacements by Bruce Holsinger (4.5)
The Quiet Little Woman - Louisa May Alcott
Challenge #15: Read a work of 100 pages or less - started by lyzard
*✔The Lifted Veil - George Eliot (3.5)
*✔Marigold and Rose - Louise Glück (3.5)
Challenge #16: Read a book that has either "yes" or "no" in the title - started by AnneDC
✔Nothing but the Rain - Naomi Salman (4.5)

Thank you to those who have chosen to join me in my challenge to read a book by an Israeli or Palestinian author. I feel it is important to listen to voices of both nationalities and hopefully all of the authors you choose bring insight into both cultures. My favorite author is Meir Shalev and probably The Blue Mountain is my favorite book of his as it echoes the history of my family’s kibbutz in Israel. You might not have known, but more than half of my family is Israeli, and I’m terrified and heartbroken over what is happening in the Middle East. I also love reading books by Amos Oz with A Tale of Love and Darkness being my favorite book of his. I recently read Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari and marveled at what that book contained - so much to think about. I also recently read Waking Lions by Ayelet Gundar-Goshen which was a painful, but interesting book. I’m eager to hear your thoughts about what you read. Another interesting author whom I like very much is Sayed Kashua who is an Arab Israeli. David Grossman is also an excellent Israeli author.

>24 SqueakyChu: Thank you for all of the excellent suggestions.

Would a book by an Israeli-American or Palestinian-American author suffice?

>25 lindapanzo: If the author was born in Israel/Palestine, that would work. Also, if the author holds dual citizenship, that would work. Children of Israelis/Palestinians born in other countries would not work. The author does not have to be living currently in Israel/Palestine.

>3 Morphidae: Had it typed up but forgot I hadn't posted!

Also, have favorites for 5 of the 11 past years posted. Will add more later.

The “Invincible Louisa” Challenge: In honor of Louisa May Alcott’s birthday on November 29th, read one of her novels, a biography of her, a pastiche or homage to her

Challenge #11: Read a book written by a Nobel Prize winner

Last month the Nobel Prizes were awarded. I want to read a book by Jon Fosse, winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature this year, and hope to get to some others.
You can find all winners of the Nobel Prize in Literature here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Nobel_laureates_in_Literature

Of course you can also read a book by a winner of any other Nobel Prize.

>28 alcottacre: Would it be OK to read American Bloomsbury by Susan Cheever? It's a group biography, focusing on Alcott and her literary circle in Concord that I've been wanting to read.

Unlike Madeline, who is able to convert her current dreadful life experience into something positive, I'm after escaping my current situation and ending up in another time/place/life to forget about mine for a while. Join me in a spot of escapology.

Challenge #12: Read a book to escape your current situation

You define escape and your current situation, no explanation required.

Trust me, some of my earlier ideas were a lot more bleak! >:-D

>24 SqueakyChu: I also love the Israeli author Savyon Liebrecht. My favorite book of hers is Apples From the Desert, a book of short stories. They're so good.

As you probably can tell, I'm watching what people are listing in my challenge #1. I can't help but comment when I see the names of books and author I really like.

>30 Chatterbox: That would be fine, Suzanne. I am familiar with the book.

Challenge #13: Read a book which features birds, flying, or migration in the title or text - started by quondame

NOTE: No Dragons! It's fiat, not logic.
Having dragons in the book does not disqualify a book that otherwise qualifies. Dragonflight is OK, by way of "flight".

If the birds, flying, or migration is in the text is should form a substantial portion of the action or subject. Bird shape shifters and mythological flying creatures with feathers, but not dragons, are acceptable.

Challenge #14: Read a book you bought this year

This may be an easy challenge for some of you, but I am notoriously bad at reading my own books, and often once I buy a book it will languish on my shelf for years before I get to it. So, here's one to prompt a recent buy - in calendar year 2023, and it must be a purchase, not a gift. Matched reads are allowed.

Ridiculous unedited chunksters have ruined my reading numbers this year, so---

Challenge #15: Read a work of 100 pages or less

If your copy is an ebook or conversely large print, it qualifies if you can find (for e.g. via WorldCat) that it was ever issued as an edition of 100 pages or less. This includes as part of a larger work, so short stories / novellas qualify.

Please note your (qualifying) page number on the wiki.

>34 quondame:

So *not* human migration, then? Pity. :)

>36 lyzard: I was thinking this would be tough to meet this challenge but then I re-read it. I'd read it as short stories/novellas do not qualify but I'm pleased that they do. I've got a few novellas in mind but need to check the page counts.

>37 lyzard: Human migration should count. I'm excluding dragons, because they are near ubiquitous. And spite, I suspect, but we're not to suspect that.

>38 lindapanzo:

I was trying to make it easy, anyway. :)

>39 quondame:

Oh good, thanks!

Heh! - I was thinking more along the lines of "Dragons do fly but..."

>22 streamsong: Sorry I missed this question earlier. Yes I will allow

>34 quondame: For anyone looking at Susan's challenge and needing something to read for it, I can recommend The Bird Way by Jennifer Ackerman.

>22 streamsong: I LOVE your entry for my challenge.

I am thankful for A Hope More Powerful Than the Sea.

TIOLI Stats for October, 2023:

For the month of October, 2023, there were 14 challenges with 232 books read. This is the smallest number of books read per month since November, 2020. There were 29 books shared. This is the smallest number of monthly shared books since June, 2021. There were 13% of books read as shared reads. This was the smallest percentage of shared books since November, 2022. We accumulated a total of 15 TIOLI points. This was the smallest number of monthly accumulated TIOLI points since June, 2021. Our YTD TIOLI points was 313. This was the smallest YTD point number for the end of since October, 2021.

Our most popular book was The Last Devil to Die by Richard Osman which was read by 5 readers.

Our most popular challenge, with 33 books read, was the one by @FAMeulstee to read a book with 300 pages.

The challenge with the most TIOLI points (five) was the one by me (@SqueakyChu) to read a book with the number of title letters divisible by 5.

My reading has been slow with so many things on my mind this month. Maybe the same is happening with you guys. Ever onward, though. There are lots of good books just out there waiting for us!

>45 SqueakyChu: Hopefully the stats will improve with the extra time off we have here in the States for the Thanksgiving holiday. Lots of time for reading then, right?

Aha, but November is (for me) also the month in which the NYC Documentary Film Festival screens great stuff online, and I think I'll be watching a documentary every single evening between the 9th and when it wraps up toward month's end!

And then there's work... which I'm really enjoying, but is exhausting -- getting back to a beat reporting job for a newswire at my age is not to be underestimated, it appears.

>47 Chatterbox: Cool about getting back to beat reporting, Suz. I’m sure it’s exhausting and keeps you busy, though.

>42 dallenbaugh: Thank you. I know Salt is a bit out of the box, but shakers grace many tables.

>44 Morphidae: I'm glad you like the title, Morphy. It's about a Syrian refugee, so another read about the Middle East. Ive been following along on the monthly suggestions from The Book Girls Global Tour. This month happens to be the Middle East including Israel and Palestine, so if anyone is still looking for a book for Madeleine's challenge, here is their link: https://bookgirlsguide.com/books-set-in-the-middle-east/

>10 wandering_star: Is a generic animal type allowable?
I've got Great Goddesses: life lessons from myths and monsters to read. Is "Monsters" OK as an animal?

>1 SqueakyChu: I'm reading The Blue Mountain and am rather put off by the extreme sexism. Women are for sex, breeding, and cooking. I know this makes sense in a rural, developing country, but it's pretty icky. One woman says she has escaped that role, but it sticks to others from birth onward, at least so far. Maybe as the country develops it will get better.

>51 Citizenjoyce: I had the same experience re sexism in an Israeli novel that I read several years ago and that left such a bad taste in my mouth I've avoided reading anything by the author since. And when I say that the author in question is A.B. Yehousha, well, that kinda sez it all. (eg, it was bad). The story is The Extra and the underlying message is that a Jewish woman who doesn't want to have children is shunning her duties and responsibilities to the Jewish people and to Israel. Even her mother thinks she should have a child by her now-ex husband (remarried and already the father of two), regardless of what the daughter thinks/wants. Ugh.

But then, I just finished reading the latest in the "44 Scotland Street" series by Alexander McCall Smith and came away with the realization that the vast majority of his characters are either helpmeets/cyphers or really obnoxious women/girls. As the series has evolved, we've lost the independent POV of all but one of the female characters, who have just become adjuncts by marriage to the male characters (eg Elspeth, Domenica). Then we get a lot of really one-dimensional portraits of truly appalling women and girls, like Irene, and the little girls, Olive and Galactica. They are appalling but also not terribly true to life, as are the male characters. Meanwhile, the one appalling male character, Bruce, was struck by lightning in a previous book and has had a personality transformation. The underlying tone -- as I realized when I stopped to wonder what was bugging me about this book -- was that poor men are put upon by political correctness. The author still does a good job with a complex character -- Isabel Dalhousie -- in another series, so I'll stick to that one going forward.

These two books are obviously very very different in nature, target audience and literary merit -- but the underlying feeling I had after reading them was eerily similar -- of nagging distaste. Not in the same way that I respond to books with unlikeable (but still convincing) characters, but in the sense of the author perhaps not even aware that he was ignoring the complexity and humanity of half of the human race.

>52 Chatterbox: While there are many great women as leads and characters in 21st century literature, there are not enough for my taste at all. So many of the characters that I love in F&SF are men, and men where they could be women in the society as it is created by the author. But the challenge of making a woman forceful, attractive (not pretty, mind), and a interesting by pleasant headspace for readers to inhabit, is not one many authors take on and fewer who do are able to revel in the womanly (not necessarily feminine) aspects, whatever the hell those are. I figure I'll know 'em when I see 'em, but but am not up to writing the specs.

>36 lyzard: Would short stories in audio count? Amazon says the print version of one I just listened to is 27 pages.

>54 antqueen:

Yes, anything where you can demonstrate an appropriate page number (as you have just done). :)

>55 lyzard: Excellent! I'll put it in.

Sneaking in under the wire to create homes for some current reads:

Challenge #16: Read a book that has either "yes" or "no" in the title

Embedded words are fine as long as the letters are consecutive and in the right order.

>50 Helenliz: yes, go ahead!

>58 wandering_star: much appreciated. >:-)

>51 Citizenjoyce: >52 Chatterbox: I'm too traumatized by the current situation in the middle east to want to get into much of a discussion about Israel here and now. With my challenge, I only wanted to introduce challengers to Israeli and Palestinian authors as a closer look into their respective cultures. In addition, I read The Blue Mountain 25 years ago so the details of the story are not that fresh in my mind, to say the least. I have not read "The Extra". In defense of Shalev's novel, I'm not too sure that a look into a work of literary fiction set in the early 1900s is going to reflect current feelings about gender equality.

>31 Helenliz: With so many negative things going on these days, every book I read could fit in this challenge. I'm reading, almost exclusively, cozy mysteries or other fluffy books, or else history that takes my mind off of things. I definitely don't want to read anything that'll "upset" me in any way.

>60 SqueakyChu: I know we can't expect older books to reflect equality, but still it's disappointing when half the population aren't seen as full human beings. Other than that, The Blue Mountain is an engrossing look at early days of modern Israel. I'm just disappointed when authors who seem to see some things so clearly remain blinded by sex.

>60 SqueakyChu: I wasn't attempting to make any judgment calls about any kind of literature -- more a comment about how a single Israeli author (or a possibly a single book of his? I haven't read enough to know) made my eyes pop out of my head, something that CJ's comments reminded me of -- at a time when I'd just finished reading a book by a Scottish author set in Edinburgh left me pondering precisely the same question. So it wasn't intended as a comment on Israeli (or Palestinian) authors even if it may have appeared to be.

One thing that did strike me when was looking at books that might qualify for your challenge is that I seem to find more poetry among Palestinian writers than fiction; not sure whether that is what's more likely to have been translated or if there is a tile in favor of poetry? And that sent me off on ANOTHER tangent -- about the difference having a great translator for some languages can make. I'm seeing a big boom in Korean titles recently -- I don't know whether it's because more excellent stuff is being written or just that more is available/translated? A lot of Japanese books are translated -- but a lot I'm aware of aren't. (And I think Chinese may be even tougher?) I remember looking for books by Thai and Indonesian writers available in English or French and coming up pretty much dry (I think I found one or two Thai books, and there's Pramoedya Ananta Toer from Indonesia, but after that...) I know of one Burmese novel available in English -- but there are a lot from Senegal (and even more if one includes those available in French.) It is a puzzlement.

>63 Chatterbox: I thought your comments yesterday were interesting because I read them to my friend Barbara who was visiting me and who counts both A.B. Yehoshua and Alexander McCall Smith among her very favorite authors! She was so upset! I've never read books by Alexander McCall Smith, but Barbara said that the female character is supposed to be a stereotype and is written that way purposely. Barbara's favorite book by A.B. Yehoshua is A Late Divorce - if you should ever be willing to read another book by him again, that is. :)

International fiction is my favorite so I'm deeply indebted to all those translators who work so hard at making books in foreign languages available to me as a reader of English. I used to mostly like to read Hebrew books in translation, but now my favorite fiction is contemporary Japanese literature.

The October, 2023, TIOLI AWards!

The Long Time Counting Award goes to @countrylife for reading The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey for my (@SqueakyChu's) challenge to read a book with the number of title letters divisible by 5. This book had a total of 35 letters in its title. Wow! At least it was divisible by five...after all that counting!

The LOL Award goes to @helenliz for the delightful challenge to read a book where adding or removing a letter makes a new title. The results of this challenge in the books listing were absolutely hilarious! I haven't laughed so hard in a long time. I could not choose the best of the title changes because all of them were so funny. High five to this challenger for brightening up my day!

The Huge Number Award goes to @countrylife for reading So Shall You Reap by Donna Leon for the challenge by susanna.fraser to read a book by an author you've read at least three books by in the past, but none so far in 2023. The book that this challenger read was book #31 by the same author. To say this author is prolific in an understatement, but our challenger seems to be keeping up with the author!

The Too Many Pages Award goes to @Citizenjoyce for reading The Source by James Michener for the challenge by FAMeulstee to read a book with 300 pages. The book read by our challenger had a total of 1,104 pages. I'd get tired just turning the pages of this book, although my husband did enjoy many books by the same author years ago.

The Treasured Read Award goes to @Chatterbox for reading Treason at York for the challenge by bell7 to read a book with a family connection. The family connection for this book was lovely. Here's what our challenger wrote about the book: "by a friend of my grandfather's; an autographed copy was a gift to me from my grandparents on a birthday".

Congrats to our award winners! Feel free to add awards of your own at this time as we'll be moving right along...

>65 SqueakyChu: Congratulations to helenliz for breaking the string of award winners whose pseudonyms begin with the letter C!

>66 alcottacre: LOL!

Some more suggestions for My Challenge #1: Read a book by an Israeli or Palestinian author
https://www.librarything.com/list/19/Polaris

>65 SqueakyChu: Thanks for the award. I read this long, long book because of the war. In telling the history of Israel, Michener, as usual, had to start in prehistory and go forward to modern days. Since it was written in 1965 it was far more hopeful than a more recent novel would be. The rise of tyrants worldwide has made recent times frightful.

Congratulations to all the Winners.

I read The Source years ago and it was a favorite.

>65 SqueakyChu: Thank you Madeline! Glad it brought some fun to you as well. I had a merry time reading them all and having a good giggle. I'd like to share my award with all the inventive people coming up with the amusing titles. Like you, I struggled to find a favourite.

>66 alcottacre: someone has to be different!

>71 Helenliz: Well, you certainly proved that! Lol

>65 SqueakyChu: Thanks Madeline! I realized that while I have treasured that book for most of my life -- almost 50 years now.... -- and it has accompanied me from one place to another, this is probably the first time I've re-read it since my early teens. It is very much of its era -- I suspect it was written sometime between the late 1940s and early 1960s? -- and is a classic boys' rollicking adventure story. I did read others by the author, from the library when we lived in Ottawa, but have never really thought of revisiting them until now...

So sorry your friend was upset by my thoughts! I do enjoy Alexander McCall Smith and completely agree that the characters are designed to be archetypes or even caricatures. Still, when I finished this most recent one, I found myself wishing that there wasn't as much of a gender distinction between those who are nice and those who none of us would want to spend much time with! As I mentioned, I still relish the Isabel Dalhousie series -- I find the character of Isabel delightfully entertaining: she's someone who is inherently intelligent and kind, but whose struggles to do right by everyone can go awry. Jamie also is a pleasure, and her niece Cat is exasperating but in a convincing way. I don't know about Yehousha -- maybe later -- much later! But thanks for the rec! So many books, so little time....

>73 Chatterbox: Not to worry, Suz. I’ll share what you wrote with her. I told her to write on this thread, but she declined! :D

What fun! Two awards from Madeline! Thank you, awesome TIOLI leader!

Posting this here as it's relevant to Madeline's challenge - https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/nov/12/experts-guide-to-the-israel-palest...

It includes a suggestion (by Ayelet Gundar-Goshen) of a short story which is available online - https://wordswithoutborders.org/read/article/2006-12/cinderella/

>76 wandering_star: Your article mentioned the Netflix drama “Fauda”. Sadly, a production crew member of Fauda, Matan Meir, just yesterday was killed in action in Gaza. :’(

Your article had some interesting book selections. However, in these times, it might be better to choose something to read for my challenge that is not quite so draining. Etgar Keret, an Israeli author, writes some light-hearted short stories. He is one of the authors who makes suggestions for books to read in your article.

TIOLI Question of the Month:

Hey! You get to pick a favorite author...and tell him or her what book to write. Who would it be and what would you tell this author?

>78 SqueakyChu: Right now for me it would be a toss up between Louise Erdrich and Ann Patchett. My only suggestion for whichever author would be: Be Honest. Be honest with your characters and be honest with your readers.

>78 SqueakyChu: Jane Austen and anything she wants.

Living?

Lois McMaster Bujold and again anything she wants to write!

>78 SqueakyChu: I would bring Pat Conroy back to life so he could write a sequel to South of Broad. I fell in love with the characters of that book and want to spend more time with them.

Kind of an eclectic mix, but here goes:

I'd resurrect Laurie Colwin. Her short stories and novels are simply beautiful and elegantly written.

And Hilary Mantel. With the Wolf Hall cycle out of her system, I'd love to see where her imagination might lead her -- and us.

In the arena of mysteries: Susie Steiner, someone else who died too young, and whose Manon Bradshaw books (only 3 of 'em) were just getting going.

In the fantasy world: Terry Pratchett, of course. More Discworld, please!! Reading his novels is a great antidote to the horrors of our own situation, yet Pratchett doesn't shy away from cloaking interesting themes in his books (eg sectarian conflict in Ankh-Morpork is between humans, dwarves, trolls, vampires, werewolves and others...) He allows us to laugh at our own absurdities.

In historical fiction: Reay Tannahill wrote too few novels, and those she did were very good and also entertaining.

I wouldn't dare tell any author, in any situation, what to write or not write. In the case of favorite writers, I'll usually follow them blindly anywhere they choose to lead me.

As you can see, I've not really looked at the classic list of great books, but I wouldn't mind reading Jane Austen on our current social morass and Orwell with a political dimension.

>82 Chatterbox: A great selection here. I would definitely support raising Hilary Mantel and Susie Steiner, but if I only had one choice myself it would be Sarah Caudwell, who wrote four terrific mysteries in the last 20 years of her life.

I also wish Ted Chiang wrote faster!

In terms of a book to wish for, there are several historical things which I would love to know more about - usually involving encounters between different cultures, such as the visit to Europe by the King of Siam in 1897. (I used to joke with my partner that if we won the lottery I would give up my job and write a book about this but I think I have probably now timed out on being able to learn sufficient classical Thai to be able to rootle through the archives!) I would be happy with either readable non-fiction or well-researched historical fiction.

I can think of several authors who died too soon.

However, I'm not sure any writer, back from the dead or still alive, should be told what to write, per se, and in some cases where I wish a series had continued, I suspect the issue is publication related - for example, a writer is told that the sales figures for the third book in a series weren't very good and that publisher won't publish the 4th, or smaller publishers go out of business or restructure, cutting that really interesting crime fiction imprint.

One who's still alive and who has become very famous for children's books based in Greek myth, and I think there's nothing wrong with that though I've not (yet) read them myself - Danny liked them - is Rick Riordan - I'd love more books in his Tres Navarre crime series.

Sue Townsend's last Adrian Mole book left her character, who is 15 months older than me and who I sort of grew up with, being treated for prostrate cancer at 39. At the end there's a potentially very happy ending, and maybe it's just as well there wasn't another book where it's snatched away again. I like to think that, now 55, Adrian is not only alive and well but that he has people who care about him, whether it's a romantic relationship with an old flame or someone new in his life, and he gets to see his kids, even grandkids, and has a settled home.

>78 SqueakyChu: I would like for Jane Austen to have lived long enough to complete Sanditon and The Watsons.

Yay! A page 1 sweeplet.

>86 jeanned: Congratulations!

>86 jeanned: Congratulations

>86 jeanned: That is great, Jeanne!

>86 jeanned: Hurray for jeanned...and the sweeplet! :D

That’s super, Jeanne! Congratulations!

Oops! I guess missed Housekeeping Day! I hope by now you've removed from the November wiki any book you did not finish by midnight November, 30, 2023. :D