Take It or Leave It Challenge - July 2010 - Page 3

(continued from here)

For those new to this challenge: More info and monthly index can be found in post #1 of this thread.
Simple directions for posting to the wiki can be found at the bottom of each month's wiki page.


...logo by cyderry

Man, oh, man! Have I been making this TIOLI challenge too easy for you!! This will change. Your challenge for the July 2010 TIOLI is to Read a book with an ISBN ending with the digit 4. Why? I like that number. It was my dad’s lucky number. Now that I’ve effectively eliminated about 90% of your TBR pile, I want to see what you come up with! This month, rather than you picking the book to be read, you might find that your book is going to choose itself! :)

You’ll notice that some books have two sets of ISBNs (a 10-digit number and a 13-digit number). Each might end in a different digit. If at least one of them ends in a “4”, you’re good to go. If you want to learn more about the ISBN numbering system, have a look here on wikipedia. Addendum (6/26/10): If you can pull up your book by putting the ISBN into the Search box on the Add Books page of LibraryThing, it counts for the challenge whether or not it is printed in the book. The reason for this is that some books do have both a 13-digit and a 10-digit ISBN, but the 10-digit ISBN may no longer be printed in newer copies of the book.

To help you find “digit 4 books”, just keep an eye on the wiki as this challenge fills up. Those should be good suggestions for others. Just think of this as a scavenger hunt. I hope you enjoy the book you finally find!!

This is how you should list your book choice on the wiki:
A Good Place for the Night – Savyon Liebrecht – SqueakyChu (9780892553204)

If you’re having difficulty finding books to fit this challenge, check out some of these:

Books I've read and recommend:
Beach Music - Pat Conroy (0553574574)
Don't Eat This Book - Morgan Spurlock (0739462954)

Books I've not yet read:
Blindness – Jose Saramago (0156007754)
It Takes a Village – Hillary Rodham Clinton (0684818434)
NP - Banana Yoshimoto (0671898264)
Rash – Pete Hautman (0689868014)
White Apples – Jonathan Carroll (0765303884)

Happy hunting… and have fun!!

________________

July 2010 Wiki Index
Wiki page with Challenges 1-6
Wiki page with Challenges 7-13

Other Fun Stuff (not part of the TIOLI challenge):
1. The TIOLI Meter
2. The Challenge Within the Challenge

Three threads? Wow!

You can thank Richard for them. He forces me off the longer threads. :)

He does the same thing to everyone!

:)

I'm thinking up a new feature. It's called The Challenge Within the Challenge

More later...

News Flash! New Feature...

The Challenge With the Challenge is now posted. There is also a link to it from the top thread.

This is the first month I've participated in the TIOLI challenge, and it's addictive! I finished The Eaten Heart for the body parts challenge, and I'll probably finish Kitchen Confidential this weekend for the cooking challenge.

and it's addictive!

I hope so!! :D

Thought I'd give you a peek into what Club Read is doing for their August reading challenge. I think it's a great idea. If anyone here wants to present it as an August TIOLI challenge, be my guest!

I'm still trying to get out of the basement in the "1 book" slot and we're talking August already?!?!?! To top it off, I was running late for the airport and FORGOT MY BOOK. So I had to buy a new one. Of course, I picked one for a challenge - one I hadn't found a book for yet - the Walla Walla challenge. When the Astors Owned New York: Blue Bloods and Grand Hotels in a Gilded Age by Justin Kaplan. Stretching a little to pull the alliteration out of the subtitle, but I think that's allowed. Now we'll see which I can finish by the end of the month - I now have 3 TIOLI books running and one for another challenge - all for this month.

#11: I read that one. I will be interested in seeing what you think of it, Patrick. BTW - since the Walla Walla challenge was mine, I say it is OK to use the subtitle :)

#11 Ugh, forgetting your book on the way to the airport is no good. At least you found a replacement (and it sounds good!)

I've just finished Every Man Dies Alone and added it to the "Recommended by a LTer" challenge. It's the best fiction I've read this year, but I'm really glad it's over because it was so tense. Its main recommenders were rebeccanyc and arubabookwoman - thank you! If you want a book about life in Germany during WW2, I can't think of anything better.

I'm still trying to get out of the basement in the "1 book" slot and we're talking August already?!?!?! To top it off, I was running late for the airport and FORGOT MY BOOK.

LOL at Patrick!

I finished Cooking with Fernet Branca in the wee hours this morning for Cheli's(?) challenge.

Discussion:

I'm being curious about Mike's challenge (Read a book in a new medium to you). All of you who are participating in this challenge so far have chosen to read a book via e-reader. Please share your comments about this new-to-you way of reading. Like it? Have some reservations? Do tell!!

News Flash!

TIOLI points break 70 today!

This morning our TIOLI points were up to 71 points due to all our good readers who are sharing reads with others. I hope your shared reads are promoting some good conversations among challengers.

#10: I'd be happy to post the Club Read August challenge, as I'm definitely planning to participate. However, I also have my own challenge that I'm planning to post, so any other Club Readers are welcome to create that challenge as well.

#7

I just realized what I like most about TIOLI and why I anticipate the next month's challenges. It's a chance to start over each month, wipe the slate clean, investigate the TBR shelf and begin anew. Patiently awaiting August challenge.

I finished Beyond Black and have started Codex - the last of the books I added to the wiki earlier this month but I'm still adding books to July's challenges. A visit to the library means that I have a couple that will add to the TIOLI points - The Uncommon Reader (Books about Books Challenge) and Montana 1948 (LT Inspired Challenge) are now at the top of the TBR pile. They are both fairly short so there should be no problem completing them by the end of the month.

I'm not even thinking about August yet;)

#16 I got my Kindle as a birthday gift in March of 2009 and I absolutely love it. I wish every book were on the Kindle. My Kindle (nicknamed Lindle Kindle by my friends) and I are inseparable. I get my books, magazines, newspapers, and some blogs delivered to it.

I travel a lot and also have quite a few long weekends away and hate lugging books around. The Kindle is perfect.

I also like the fact that books are much cheaper, sometimes even free.

The only drawback, as far as I'm concerned, is that I can't share my purchases with family and friends, though I suspect that will be coming soon, now that the Nook allows it.

#16 - I'm a fair fan of e-books. I don't travel much, but when I do the Kindle, and now my iPhone, is the perfect way to take one or more books, not a lot of space, when I finish one it's easy to start the next one.

I don't do it much for nonfiction because I take notes when reading nonfiction and that's a bit cumbersome when reading an ebook. Although, the ability to highlight text and add notes and easily find all of those later is a benefit to the e-reader.

I have also shied away from e-reader for really large tomes because I need some visual queue that I'm making progress and on the Kindle (and even worse on the iPhone) that little line of dots across the bottom takes FOREVER to move along with a long book. I think if I had started Atlas Shrugged on an e-reader I still wouldn't be through :-)

But, for fiction with a good story that keeps me moving and of a reasonable length - the e-reader is great. Even on such a small device as the iPhone, I had no problem reading The Moonstone (and it was free!). My only complaint was having to put it down during takeoff and landing when they insist you turn off electronic devices.

Having said all that, I still gravitate to real books that I hold in my hand, with cool covers, and I can loan them to friends and family.

16> I've somewhat fought getting an ereader for a long while. But I have found a lot of positives with it. One I noticed after I returned to physical books: I'm constantly trying to keep my book open so I can read it. The ereader is always open. I do not have to weight it down with anything else. A corresponding negative for the ereader is that in the early days I would sometimes accidently hit the forward arrow too hard, or impatiently, and end up three pages forward. Then three pages back trying to find the correct page.

Another "negative" to the ereader is that it is easy to get free sample chapters. And, if the sample meets your undefined qualifications, it is easy to immediately purchase the rest of the book. I haven't hated anything I bought that way, but I haven't loved anything either. Also, there has only been one book that I have read the sample but then decided to not buy the book.

There's the pile of books difference, also. Last night, I gathered up about 10 books I own to see which book next to read. All books that could be used for one of the challenges. A huge wad of books. Next to it I had my ereader with its 56 books. All in one thin slim container weighing little. The 10 books were pulled after much examination from bookcases containing hundreds of books. Each book glanced at to see if it meet the challenge. Then 10 and ereader dragged elsewhere.

On the one hand, gathering those 10 books took a lot more work than just grabbing the ereaders. Lugging them around, the 10 books, was somewhat ackward. On the other hand it was a lot easier to weed through the physical books to see what really interested me, and put the others off to the side. Compared with 56 books just sitting there hidden in the machine. Frankly, when searching my books, looking to see what I have and what I might read next, I tend to look at my digitial books over at BN, which has all but the ones I added myself (which I always forget about; you need to click on "view my documents" instead of "view my library" to find them, which means I had about 20 more books I just now remembered are on my ereader).

Reading, carrying ease, finish and start another ease, etc. all point to the ereader. Weeding, finding, sorting, examining all point to physical books being the better of the two options.

oh and club read (10) - most of the time I am somewhat randomly grabbing books to read. Without paying attention to recommendations, awards, author name, etc. So . . . I'd end up putting most of my books on that "Club Read August challenge."

I've thought of several different challenges.

"For August - read the 8th book in a series, or read the 8th book, for you, of an author"
- in addition, you could pull this further, like "For August, read a book set in, written by, featuring, or about the 8th state to join the USA (South Carolina)"
- "For August read a book with 8 in the title"

"Read a book by an author with less than 100 copies on LT (overlooked author)"

"Read a book by an author with at least 250 copies on LT, but the book must have less than 20 copies on LT (overlooked book)"

If you want to be really cruel, "For August, read a book with a total number of pages that has an 8 in it" (example: 815 pages, 283 pages, 308 pages). Can't you just see all the people digging through their piles of books; flipping through them?

>18 kidzdoc: (carmenere): Love that image! That would be descriptive of me at any number of points during the day!

Karen O.

I got my Nook a few weeks ago and at first since I was busy with REAL books I didn't do much with it. But since starting the Scarlet Pimpernel for a group read, I'm beginning to see the light.

The feature that I love most is the adjustable font. My eyes at the end of the day have a hard time with small print so being able to adjust the font up to very large, makes it possible for me to read without wearing my glasses - a definite plus as far as I am concerned. Also the pages seem to fly by because I am constantly clicking next page, next page.

My Nook allows me to lend my books to another person and also to borrow books from the library. That was my biggest worry because I am so well known at the library (I go 2-3 times a week) that I didn't want to buy this e-reader and then be spending all my money on books as well. I needed a happy medium and I found it.

I noticed someone above who wanted to be able to judge how far along in a large book they were. The Nook actually has page numbers at the bottom, so I can see how I am progressing. The one aspect that I'm still checking out, is pictures. If there are pictures in a book, do they appear in the e-reader? I have been known to check out a hardback and audio version of the same book, ,just for the pictures.

My Nook also comes with WiFi access so when I am at the bookstore, I can pull up Librarything and check my Wishlist to see if I wanted this book or even if I already owned it. It stopped me last week from buying 2 books that are already on my shelves - close to $30 saved!

Now don't get me wrong, I still read BOOKS. I listen to Audiobooks and I read e-books but I still love to hold a book in my hand and reach up and turn the page to find the next word that leads me to a magical place whether it be fictional or non-fiction in a place far away or long ago. Several times I've even listened to a book while looking at the same pages in print. I hope that real BOOKS never disappear but I do like the ease of an e-reader.

I agree with Mike that a large advantage of the Nook is that it's always open, no need to prop. That just makes reading so easy I feel cheated when I go back to a paper book. The page numbers on the bottom are also great, but the larger the font used, the more pages you have to turn on the Nook to equal 1 page in the book. Still, you can easily judge your progress.

Yes, the ability to increase the font size is wonderful on the Kindle. I do that when it's a bit too dark.

Cheli, on my Kindle, the pictures are there, though they're a bit small.

The danger is that I can buy any Kindle book anywhere, anytime.

The new Kindle update I just received also lets me organize my books into "collections" which is a nice feature.

>28 Citizenjoyce: Ah, I was wondering how the page numbers worked in the Nook. We've had some confusion in my book club, because people with the paperback book refer to page numbers when they are quoting something, and the people with the Kindle go 'where? where?'. I see the Nook won't solve that problem. Alas.

Why do I get the idea that Madeline is going to post the August TIOLI Challenge any minute now?? (I's OK, I have mine ready, heh, heh.)

Heh, heh!

>24 MikeBriggs: Mike, I particularly like the August-in-South Carolina and the "8 in the title" variations!

>33 richardderus: I like the 'Eight' in the title idea too!

>10 SqueakyChu: I actually had the idea of a challenge where you read a book not recommended to you on LibraryThing, as sort of a counterchallenge to this month. But when I considered this, it might make things difficult for people to read the same book and thus defeat the purpose of the TIOLI (or at least, what I gather to be the point of this all).

As for keeping track, I'm sitting all alone (for the moment) at 8 books. I finished The Thirteenth Tale which was a divinely satisfying gothic tale for the books about books challenge. I also finished Monster, a YA novel about a young man on trial for murder, for the ISBN-4 challenge. I liked both of these equally for very different reasons. I love gothic lit, and I'm always pleased to find contemporary fiction that has the same feel as reading old ghost stories. Monster I read more for teaching, as I might use it in an English class next year. I think a reluctant reader might have trouble with the screenplay format, but the story is very engaging and the ambiguity of the plot would mean lots of good discussion. Both recommended.

I finished The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake. Aimee Bender is a miracle. The book starts off being one thing, morphs into something else, then just soars away. I have to read more of her.

For now, however, or tomorrow because I can't put anyone in my head to spoil Bender right now, I'll be starting on Ms. Hempel Chronicles by Sarah Shun-Lien Bynum for the 20 under 40 challenge.

Quick add in to my ereader notes - I forgot to mention that I got a holder that allows me to have the book stand up. So I can have it standing on a table and read.

Apologies if this was already mentioned, but I was away for a couple weeks and there are SO many posts to go thru.

Anyway, I came back to find the touchstones on my 75 books page all wonky. The book listings that used to be touchstoned and looked like this:

A Long Way Gone - Ishmael Beah

are now NOT touchstoned and look like this:

2358731::A Long Way Gone - beahishmael::Ishmael Beah

I tried going in and deleting the numbers and colons, but they just pop back up the next time I try to edit.

Did this happen to anyone else? Is it fixable? I started to just un-touchtone all the books and authors on the page, which I hate to do, but otherwise it just looks too cluttered.

trying to fix

A Long Way Gone - Ishmael Beah

Just go back to the page and put the usual square and double square parenthesis around the items as they are and they should work. Sometimes you have to go over and over them.

Go to the group New Features There's a topic touchstone fix where they're discussing the new fix.

I've added Ash by Malinda Lo to the ISBN challenge after reading a few books that don't fit into any of the other challenges.

Is it already time to be thinking about next month's challenges? Eep! I better get reading if I'm to finish the other two TIOLI books I put in this month!

>10 SqueakyChu: oooh....I like that idea! And it wouldn't necessarily be a recommendation if we were to overlap reads, since others reading it may only have heard of it because someone else picked it up on a whim, right? (Note to self: must finish as many of the library books that were recommended by someone before August)

Finished Death Claims by Joseph Hansen for Luci's challenge.

> 40

And it wouldn't necessarily be a recommendation if we were to overlap reads, since others reading it may only have heard of it because someone else picked it up on a whim, right?

To my way of thinking, you're right.

For the sake of TIOLI points and the idea of TIOLI being for shared reads, the way this could work is that, if someone has already posted a book (unknown to the original poster), anyone else may match that book if they've not heard of it before, but merely from the posting. This is not only a good way to discover a new book or author, but also to have someone with whom to talk about that relatively unknown book.

I would suggest that, if someone uses this idea for August's challenge, that you clarify this issue in the main thread when you post the challenge.

News Flash!

Our top three "frogs" (Leap Frogs) on the TIOLI meter for this month so far are elkiedee (14 TIOLI books completed), generalkala (13 books), and Alcottacre (11 books). You guys are so far up on the meter, I could hop all I wanted and never reach you! :)

Just finished my ninth TIOLI book, Codex by Lev Grossman - meh .. disappointing. I'll have to find something better to read;)

>43 SqueakyChu:. 'Our top three "frogs" (Leap Frogs) on the TIOLI meter for this month so far are elkiedee (14 TIOLI books completed), generalkala (13 books), and Alcottacre (11 books). You guys are so far up on the meter, I could hop all I wanted and never reach you! :)'

Yay! Haha, I love the title 'Top Frog!'

Yay! Haha, I love the title 'Top Frog!

Me, too! It'll be easy to see who that person is for the month as I can see when entries are made into the wiki based on day and time. Unfortunately for those around the world, I'll be naming the TOP FROG based on who has the highest leap on LT time (i.e. USA: Eastern Time) - which is the day and time listed on the wiki.

It might not be about the number of books, fellow challengers. If individuals have achieved the same number of books read, ultimately it might be about the last person to leap to the highest spot! :)

Remember that all the names will be cleared from the TIOLI meter at the beginning of a new month.

*pondering deep thoughts*

Do you think that anyone joining the TIOLI challenge now will be so confused by all of our shenanigans that they'll just run away screaming? ;)

> 47

Love it, Terri!!!!!!!

Shall I add it to the Leap Frog wiki?

>48 SqueakyChu: If they don't like shenanigans then it's probably best if they leave. For their sake AND ours.

> 50

Shall I add it to the Leap Frog wiki?

Oh, yes!!

37> I'll copy over what I posted in another thread, with some modifications.

Touchstones have been "upgraded". You can continue to use the normal open bracket and closed bracket, and then search for the correct book or you can put in the exact book.

You will want the correct number, the work number, not the book number.

For example, someone was trying to get Dracula's Guest into a touchstone and couldn't get it to work. They were using the number "62230671", which turned out to be the book number, which does not work in touchstones.

The work number is needed for touchstones. Some urls to show:

This shows work and book. http://www.librarything.com/work/884309/book/62230671

and

work number by itself.
http://www.librarything.com/work/884309/

(note, sometimes the url shows only the book number, to make sure you have the work number click on the "Main Page" link under the book cover photo, that should give you the work url)

Touchstones use the work number, 8884309 (from above), instead of the book number, 62230671.

Also you need to use an open bracket, work number, ::, then work title, then close it all off with a close bracket.

So you get: dracula's guest

For your example, A Long Way Gone:
A Long Way Gone

Just put brackets around the number::title.

This currently works for works, not for authors.

I do not know why all your touchstones "morphed" on you, though, in your 75 challenge thread. And I do not know how to fix without going in and working with each book (which I have run into myself when I decided a while back to delink/remove the touchstones for the 50 book challenge and just keep the link in the 75 book challenge - impossible, so I just stopped updating the 50 book challenge).

It would probably just be easier to just start a new thread. Set up all that you read with or without touchstones, and then continue. 75 Challenge group seems to love to create new threads. heh. Like this thread itself is the third page for July 2010 ToLI challenge.

>52 SqueakyChu: I'm having trouble getting it to embed. I have it on PhotoBucket here:
http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u240/teelgee7/leapfrog.jpg
but when I put that in the IMG brackets it doesn't like it. Suggestions?

You need different code to put a picture onto a Wiki.

I'm not sure it is legal, and it might have to be taken down, but I've put the picture on the meter.

Hm. How does it know where to find the picture?

Oh. I saved a copy to my computer then uploaded it. Click on the picture and it will take you to another page.

That is too cute!!

Why might it not be legal?

This is all so complicated!

Not really.

I've just not had much time this week for working on the computer, because (big smile here, plus the Award for Bravery in a Techno-Phobic Role) I got a Nook and had to spend a bit of time working with it, getting used to it, and ordering books.

More on the use of it later (I'm running late for an enagagement right this minute), but I love it. I'll be adding A Study in Scarlet to Mike's Challenge when I do my updating here, tomorrow or Sunday. Will also be adding A Gentle Madness (love, love, love that book) to Challenge 3 and Chef to Challenge 8. A hectic week for me!

57 I figured that, but the code just has the image name with no path, so I'm curious how it finds it.

58> There is a word on the picture, something like "photo" that indicates to me that it is a stock photo for something or other. The legal comment came from my time on Wikipedia where all pictures had to have strong indication that it was legal to use the image.

60> Well, it is the same as anything else on a Wiki. The double brackets tells the Wiki to go to another page. The image is being pulled from this other page, the page titled something like "image: leapfrog.jpg". Single brackets tells Wiki it is a url.

> 61

Oh, yeah. I see some letter on the "top frog". Perhaps you and Terri could look for an alternate picture?

ETA: Oh, well. The onus is on both of you. ;)

Two more down - Widow's Walk by Robert B. Parker for the PI challenge, and The Weed that Strings the Hangman's Bag by Alan Bradley. Flavia is a trip, I enjoyed this second installment.

I'm up to 8 TIOLI for the month, one more that I'll start tomorrow.

>61 MikeBriggs: So it knows to pull it from your computer? without a path? That's pretty smart.

Reminder:

The July TIOLI challenge ends next weekend. No more posts to the July wiki or to July's thread after the end of July in your time zone, please.

You should be finishing up your July books this week and thinking of some interesting new challenges with which to present us for August. If you can, don't spread the word of what they are until you post them. That's part of the fun.

I'll be posting August's TIOLI challenge later rather than earlier as I don't want to give everyone too much extra lead time. In addition, I keep changing my mind as to what it will be. It will be up before August 1st, though, so keep your eyes peeled.

A Word of Thanks!

To all of you who participate in the TIOLI challenge, I offer my sincere thanks. You've made playing on the computer, enjoying LT, and reading a variety of books so much fun for me!!

A Word of Thanks!

Right back at'cha, Madeline, and for all the same reasons plus the extra, added, one that your creative energy keeps this little side road humming with traffic.

You da bomb!

64>

from 57>
"Oh. I saved a copy to my computer then uploaded it. Click on the picture and it will take you to another page."

I saved it to my computer. Uploaded it to the wiki (uploaded to the LT servers). It is on the Librarything Wiki now. at . . http://www.librarything.com/wiki/index.php/Image:Leapfrog.jpg

by putting Image:Leapfrog.jpg on the TOLI meter page, between two open and two closed brackets, the image from the wiki page "Image:Leapfrog.jpg" was placed on the TOLI meter page. That is why I said to click on the picture on the Meter page. Clicking on it takes you to the wiki page that contains the image.

I had to put it on my computer to upload it, the LT wiki would not accept a url, a link to another website, to pull the image. My computer is out of it though, now that it is on the LT servers.

Aw, shucks! Thanks, Richard!!

> 67

Thanks, Mike! I always wondered how to add a picture to the wiki. I just added Cheli's logo to our current wiki pages with your help (unbeknownst to you!). :)

I'll let the "smart kids" post the pictures. Good job, Terri and Mike!

I just wanted to add my thanks to Richard's. Madeline, you are a wizard! You've made my TBR pile shrink down to a more managable size, and it's been fun choosing books for each month's challenge. Looking forward to what you conjure up for August.

*conjuring*

Gotcha Mike, thanks.

Also kudos, Madeline, this is quite remarkable! Though I may be in and out of participating (sometimes it feels overwhelming! but fun) I have great appreciation for all the work you put into it and for your creativity. Well done!

I just added A Fatal Grace by Louise Penny to the LT Inspired Challenge. Souloftherose had it listed under it's Canadian title Dead Cold; however, it's the same book so I'm counting it without asking permission! Bold move for me.

Did I like it? Oh yeah. 4 sparkling stars!

Thanks, Terri.

--> 73

Donna, what you did was perfect. Thanks!

Adding my thanks Madeline, your creativity knows no bounds and that's a good thing. I think;-)

I finished another book for the Orange Prize Challenge. It is Fugitive Pieces by Anne Michaels, a gentle, quiet, poetic read. MY review is right here.

Now I'm moving on to The Thirteenth Tale for the Book About Books Challenge and, oh yeah, over to the TIOLI meter to leapfrog:)

Thanks, Bonnie.

Out of the Basement!!! I'm back home, retreived my wayward tome, and finished it! That's TWO, count 'em TWO books complete. OK, stop laughing at me, I can be proud of two.

A Great Idea at the Time: The Rise, Fall and Curious Afterlife of the Great Books is the perfect read for LTers (also perfect for Richard's Book about Books challenge). For those unfamiliar with the concept (as I was), in the 1950's Encyclopedia Brittanica took an idea from a course at the University of Chicago to educate the american public with "Great Books of the Western World". 68 volumes of double column, 9 point text of classic works including scientific texts (can you say Ptolemy's The Almagest? - OK a little shocked there's a touchstone for that one) sold in faux leather bindings along with a Syntopicon - a cross referencing guide of all of the great ideas and which authors commented on them - for the price of $250 (this was 1952 remember) sold by door to door salesman.

Admittedly, reading about the series I felt a little uneducated at times - some of the authors included in the Great Books were completely new to me (and I went to a liberal arts college) - as Beam points out, the works' obscurity and irrelevancy were part of the problem. The initial launch included NO female authors. But the idea behind the series and the business attached to it were fascinating. This book was well written, with a fair amount of humor, at no point talking down to the reader (he doesn't expect anyone to have read, or understood, Nichomachus of Gerasa's Introduction to Arithmetic - WOW another touchstone! - (Great Books, volume 12)) and he pokes gentle fun at an interesting concept and the people and events surrounding it. Highly recommended

#66 Another thanks from me, Madeline. This is the second month I've done the TIOLI challenge and I'm loving it. It's so much fun. The challenges are great and they're really spurring me on to get more reading done and not get stuck in a rut. Can't wait to see what August will be like.

Thanks for your kind words, Pat. Glad you're finding it fun.

>78 pbadeer: There's a fine book on reading the Great Books Great Books by David Denby. He took some time to renew his acquaintance with them by attending two classes at Columbia, and writing about his experience with two excellent professors and the freshman students in the class. Thoguhtful, and the professor's comments, along with Denby's own and the student's (very) Gen-X views were very helpful to my own thinking.

Do you think that anyone joining the TIOLI challenge now will be so confused by all of our shennigans that they'll just run away screaming? ;)

No... I just discovered this last month. I put a blinker on most of the shenanigans at first then slowly got sucked in lol. It's great fun!

LOL!! Glad to have you on board, Lisa.

Am I allowed to participate even though I'm not in the 75-books group? :)

Why don't you just join the group? Reading 75 books isn't obligatory.... Which bits do you want to participate in? I know you from the Virago Modern Classics group, don't I?

I'm sure generalkala will leapfrog me again, especially as I'm away from home, but I've just finished my 15th TIOLI book, in the 20 under 40 category, the wonderfully weird St Lucy's Home for Girls Raised by Wolves by Karen Russell.

I finished A Beautiful Blue Death for my Walla Walla challenge.

You're already in the 75 Books in 2010 challenge group (at least that's what it says in your profie under groups)!! We'd love to have you join us now in the TIOLi challenge, Christina!

elkiedee is right. You don't have to do anything in this group other than the TIOLI challenge if you don't want to. So just pick your book for July (you only have one week left - as it must be done before midnight July 31st to count for this month - and jump right in. Enjoy!

> 86

I've just finished my 15th TIOLI book, in the 20 under 40 category,

Wow! 15 -- to my measly 3! :)

I really like this challenge which I'm also now doing with a book by Nicole Krauss (Man Walks Into a Room).

ETA: elkiedee, Thanks for taking the TOP FROG label up to the top of the meter with you. Any leap-frogger (leaper-frog?) who jumps over elkiedee, please take that label from her and up higher with you.

Terri and Mike,

That frog picture adds so much life (!) to the TIOLI meter. Thanks, again, for working together to put it there.

I like the frog, and the TIOLI meter, although I have no hope of reaching the top of it.

I just finished Boneshaker for the body part challenge, which was totally outside my comfort zone--I just picked it because others had. It was an enjoyable, fast read and had plenty of zombies. I think I have time to add another book to the challenge--I'm starting on Aphrodite: A Memoir of the Senses and I'm going to add Girl with a Pearl Earring to the orange challenge.

I finished three more books in the last couple of days:

I finished the terrific paranormal YA novel City of Bones for the "recommended by an LT member" challenge. It came highly recommended by Stephxsu.

I also finished the third Georgia Nicholson book, Knocked Out By My Nunga-Nungas, for the "body part" challenge.

And I capped the week off with the romance novel Girls Night for the "night in the title" challenge. That last one's been in my "unread box of DOOM" for years. So yay!

And now I've got three more books in the wiki to finish up...

Not nearly as cute, but I changed the leapfrog image so we'd be legal.

Thanks, Terri. This one is pretty colorful, though. Keep your eyes out for others and feel free to change them at whim (now that you know how to post them on the wiki!).

Finished my group read of The Once and Future King by T.H. White for the ISBN ending with 4 challenge.

I'm reading The Once and Future King as well....but my ISBN ends in a "2" -- darn it! I don't see any other possibilities for me to add to the challenges this month, so ya'll just go right ahead and leap over me. ;-)

Oh yummy yummy...I've finished and reviewed The Heart is a Lonely Hunter in my thread...post #81...for the body-parts challenge.

I've finished another 2 TIOLI books - The Uncommon Reader and Montana 1948. Thanks go to the 75ers who read and reviewed these recently - you know who you are;). Good books, both of them!

> 96

so ya'll just go right ahead and leap over me. ;-)

Well, you can count on *me* not leapin' over you as you're up too high! :)

LEEAAAP!!! :D

I'm desperate for August to arrive, my book piles keep collapsing as I pull books out to check their ISBNs!

my book piles keep collapsing as I pull books out to check their ISBNs!

LOL!!

Hanna, I love the line on your profile, "I have an obsession with frogs". Have you come to the right challenge!!

You may laugh, but clearly you've never been the victim of a Book Attack!

clearly you've never been the victim of a Book Attack!

Er, I'm not so sure. When I start collecting books for our spring Bookcrossing festivals, the books seem to take over my house (as if they didn't usually...)

My partner hasn't got round to building my bookcases for me yet after I moved and I can't do it myself without dying in bed for three days afterwards, so they're all in huuuuge piles against one wall. Unfortunately the one I need is always three up from the bottom or something stupid, and I end up half buried under the complete works of Agatha Christie.

:)

Brilliant idea!

If you have been fortunate enough to win an Early Reviewer book from LT, read it at the end of the month (just in case it doesn't fit into a TIOLI challenge category). :D

Hmm, I might have to squeeze in Montana 1948 before next weekend - more points! I have it out from the library.... still have lots of convalescent time this week post- knee surgery.

Did you know that reading helps you heal more quickly?! ;)

Speedy recovery, Terri!

I think I'm giving up on ER books. I just can't seem to fit them in and I'd rather be reading other books, almost always. That said, I have two left that I have to get to soon. **sigh** That whole too many books thing.

--->109 brenzi:: Geeee; I hear ya. Some of those look soooo interesting, then I request them, then I think, oh why? Like you don't have enough to read as it is? But I've found a couple of superb books on ER, including The Brutal Telling (don't yell, Richard) and my latest one, Chef, which is really interesting and odd.

--->97 richardderus:: I'm getting into The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter right now, Richard; thanks for another wonderful review.

I've had several near-death experiences caused by books falling on me or obscuring my vision so that I fall down while hauling them. Well, okay, maybe not "near death" but surely "nearly unconcious".

#109 I also hear what you're saying, Bonnie. As much as I like the idea of ER books, the reality is that I always seem to want to read something else and the review deadlines, while very generous, can start to feel burdensome.

I finally finished In the Bleak Midwinter by Julia Spencer-Fleming. I had a hard time getting into this murder mystery set in upstate New York, but once it got interesting, over halfway through the book, I could not put it down.

Well, I tried, I really did. But after about 100 or so pages, I still wasn't all that interested in the characters or the events of The Cookbook Collector. Slight loss of points (sorry).

But the good news is, I started Daddy-Long-Legs today, which I can add to another challenge instead. It's been a much smoother read so far!

Edited re: which challenge to put it in.

I finished The Cookbook Collector and quite liked it -- perhaps because I remember the dot.com boom.

My TIOLI books so far are:
The Cookbook Collector
The Book of Spies by Gayle Lynds (for the books about books)
A Perfect Proposal by Katie Fforde (Walla Walla)
The Summer House by Marcia Willett (summer in the title)
I'll be finished The Thirteenth Tale tomorrow, for another book about books.
And I'm hoping to get to The Help by Kathryn Stockett before month's end.
And I'll tackle an audiobook, which I have only tried once before and it was on cassettes -- so an audiobook on CDs is new to me! Perhaps I could download an audiobook onto iTunes...

Finished The Heretic's Wife by Brenda Rickman Vantrease. Initially picked for Richard's "Book about Books" challenge, this admittedly strayed a little from just being about books. In short, it was illegal - and considered heretical - to sell or own an English translation of the bible IN ENGLAND prior to Henry VIII's split from the Catholic Church. So the written translation and the selling/reading of the bible plays throughout the narrative, but the book covers a LOT more than that. An excellent read.

See the full review here

I'm not sure I can finish it before the end of the month, but I needed to start another audiobook, and I had To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis on my shelf. It was a recommendation from Richard to me earlier this year when I read Jerome's Three Men in a Boat, so I'm going to give it a try and add it to the LTer Recommended Challenge. I have to drive to Michigan this week, so given enough traffic, I think I can do it. No one else is reading it, so it doesn't have any impact on points, but it may get me a little higher up the frogger list.

I should get finished Mountains beyond Mountains in the next few days - am just about to add it to the Wiki.

Hoping to get time to finish Burnt Shadows, so far the 2nd best book I have read this year and only just behind Susan Abulhawa's Mornings in Jenin, arguably the book of the year.

I finished Seven Summits for the Walla Walla Challenge.

>114 Chatterbox:, Glad you enjoyed The Cookbook Collector! I felt kind of bad dropping it, because I couldn't even put my finger on why it wasn't interesting me. I think it was purely a "what I am in the mood for" issue, and that given another day, I might pick it up and enjoy it. But in the meantime, it's due back at the library with holds on it, so I'll let someone else enjoy it and put it in the "maybe another day" pile of my TBR list.

> 113

Slight loss of points (sorry).

No apologies needed, Mary, because part of the TIOLI challenge is to require you *not* read a book you're not liking (that's the "or leave it" part).

Better luck on your next book choice, though!

I just finished Kitchen Confidential for the cooking challenge, and I've added two more for the Walla Walla challenge: Captains Courageous and 84, Charing Cross Road. They're both short, so I think I will be able to finish them in time!

Finished Atlas Shrugged. Phew!
I really, really liked it.

I've finished and reviewed The Monty Hall Problem by Jason Rosenhouse, the tenth TIOLI for the month; it was either Steve Wynn or Dr. Jim who alerted me to the existence of it, and since I'm always interested in probability discussions, I got it. I mean, the liberry got it via ILL...I'm not at all sure I got the book at all. Fun, though.

Review is in my thread...post #23.

I finished White Teeth for the body parts challenge. Wow, what a ride.

I finished my "Walla Walla" book for July--Harriet Hume: A London Fantasy by Rebecca West. Fascinating book! You can read more about it on my thread, if you'd like.

Okay, I just made a new thread for myself. The Harriet Hume review isn't there yet, but it will be.

Please go to http://www.librarything.com/topic/95537
Hope to see you there!

Karen O.

>121 SqueakyChu: Thanks, Madeline. I only have guilt about abandoning shared reads. :)

But I am very much enjoying Daddy-Long-Legs. This is one that could've fit in a couple of challenges, but I decided I'd prefer to add to the number of challenges I entered, so it's in Stasia's alliterative challenge. It's a really fast read, so I may even fit in another book (The Brutal Telling, maybe?) by the end of the month.

Phew, just finished my ninth challenge book for the month. If I didn't have a newfound bookmooch addiction, my unread stacks would have serious dents in them.

Finished Just Desserts for the cooking challenge and Gods Behaving Badly for the "walla walla" challenge.

Well, it was a lousy book, but I can at least add it to the Walla Walla challenge.
The Independence of Miss Mary Bennet, a waste of a perfectly good afternoon.

TIOLI book #4 is done - and it's for the ending with "4" challenge (didn't even plan that).

Dictator Style by Peter York is nothing that you'd expect. Not your typical interior design book. Laughed my head off. For something different, give it a peek - but don't take it too seriously.

See the full review here

Just did a double leap frog -- I'd miscounted my TIOLI books and had 6 rather than 5. So if anyone was paying attention, that last jump was NOT a 30 minute read!

Now starting on #7, my ISBN book.

#129 -- that was a dreadful book... I like McCullough's Rome books a great deal, but most of the rest of it is not worth reading. And The Ladies of Missalonghi is, to all intents and purposes, direct plagiarism (just moving the setting from Canada to Australia) of L.M. Montgomery's The Blue Castle. The latter is a great read, btw.

Thanks for the warning #129 - I'll take it off my wishlist.

#129 I bought that book as I liked the Rome series and I also like Austen spin offs - two good reasons right? Ugh like you I thought it was a waste of time, money and space!

I finished and enjoyed Ms. Hempel Chronicles for the 20 under 40 challenge. Not great literature, but enjoyable. It's a series of interconnecting stories told from the perspective of a middle school teacher covering her whole teaching career. I would think many teachers, especially new ones could relate to the way she feels about the students and other teachers and the way she fears and hopes they relate to her.

I have finished two more: Assassination Vacation for the 'Recommended by another LTer' challenge and The Day of the Triffids for the Day/Night Challenge.

I'm happy, no, really happy to report that I've finished Stori Telling for the ISBN ending with 4 challenge.
With that, I've moved my name up to 4 TIOLI's. My frog seems to be content on this lillypad, so I'm done with TIOLI's for July and get to some ER's I need to read.

I've finished my 16th TIOLI book almost accidentally! I started reading The Uncommon Reader when I found it shoved in with the Legal textbooks at the University library, and only afterwards realised that it's a book about a book for the challenge!

I'm at 11 TIOLI books for the month and am about a quarter of the way through two more.

Terror on Tuesday by Ann Purser for my day/night challenge. Also, The Whole Five Feet by Christopher Beha, which is about reading the 5-foot shelf of books in the Harvard Classics. I would expect to finish both by Saturday.

Updated: Not so sure about finishing The Whole Five Feet so I've removed it from the Wiki.

I finished The Scarlet Pimpernel on my Nook for a new format.

Just zipped through Montana 1948 for the LT recommended book. Wow, what a great little story!

I'm adding The Vagrants and Chef to the wiki. That will bring me up to 6 TIOLI reads this month, which is a new record for me. I will be traveling Thursday-Sunday and should easily be able to finish them.

I removed Life Work by Donald Hall from the LT-inspired challenge because I'm not going to get it read in July.

I also added The Enormous Egg by Oliver Butterworth to the Walla Walla challenge. It's a children's book from the 1950s that I just finished and really liked. I did a review of it on the book's work page.

I finished Bel Canto today for Orange July. I enjoyed it a lot!

>144 lauranav: Amazing book, isn't it Laura?

I've finished two more books - Stoneheart for the 'body part in the title' challenge and Inspector Montalbano #6: The Scent of the Night for the 'book with a "day" or "night" in the title' challenge. Both were good.
I've removed 3 books from the wiki as my reading has strayed somewhat this month and I have two more shared reads to go, though I'm pretty sure that I won't be able to finish The Lacuna in time.

> 137

My frog seems to be content on this lillypad

LOL! Cute!!

> 140

I finished The Scarlet Pimpernel on my Nook for a new format.

My daughter just got a Kindle from her fiance for her birthday.

Okay, people, which should it be? Kindle or Nook?

I'm going to add Chef by Jaspreet Singh for the cooking challenge -- I need a better book set in India than the one I just finished!

I just finished The Brutal Telling for another LT-inspired book. Spoiler warning That ending was one of the most depressing things I've ever read. It was so sad, I'm still thinking about it, and I'm just glad I have to go to bed now so that whatever else I start reading won't be marred by my thinking about it /spoiler

Anyway. Next up is Northanger Abbey, which I will attempt to finish before Saturday, and I think that will do it for me this month.

My most recent read took a little longer than expected, so I've removed a couple of books I won't get around to this month -- fortunately, neither was a shared read.

From the "LT-inspired" challenge, I'd like to heartily recommend Walter Moers's 13 1/2 lives of Captain Bluebear, which I first read about on bryanoz's thread, and finished today.

#148: I just got the Sony E-Reader Daily edition and like it! It really depends on what you want, though. Each one has some different features, and I think different ones are better for different people.

> 152

How did you know which e-reader to choose?

I chose the Nook because I wanted to be able to Lend my books to my sister and also I wanted to be able to download books from the library.

#154 I think the lending feature is the key feature for the nook. I'm less interested in lending books and more concerned with ease of buying books.

With the Kindle whispernet, you can pretty much buy anything anytime and anywhere. On a recent trip, my friend with the Sony e-reader had to be connected to a pc in order to buy but, with the Kindle, that's not necessary.

Every type--Sony e-reader, Nook, and Kindle has its pro's and con's. It boils down to what you're looking for.

Amazon has shown some instances of homophobia, so I don't buy from them. Therefore no Kindle for me, but I got a Nook and love it.

When they get caught in their little homophobic schemes they describe them as glitches or misunderstandings:

http://www.informationweek.com/blog/main/archives/2009/04/dont_jump_to_co.html;j....

http://www.salon.com/technology/log/1999/10/28/amazon/print.html

Green Dragon has a big topic on why do you like or dislike e books and it goes in depth into lots of areas.

When I bought my Kindle, it was pre-Nook. Generally, I'm happy with everything except for the new feature that allows me to see when lots of other readers have highlighted a certain passage. I don't really care if 457 people thought a particular paragraph was important to highlight! I want to focus on MY reading...

That said, the key thing to me was having a bug-free machine and access to as much as possible in terms of content. I'm not sure I'd like the Nook's touch-screen keyboard -- I tend to find that VERY annoying with friends' iPhones. I'm always accidentally hitting the wrong thing and ending up somewhere I don't want to be.

When I bought my first Kindle two years ago, it was about the same price as the Sony, but had easier access to more books. I still love the fact that I get the free Whispernet. Also, it's global now. I remember going to a premiere of the film, The Reader, and when Kate Winslet et al couldn't answer some audience questions about the author's intentions re characters, i downloaded the book right there in the cinema...

What I DON'T want is for the Kindle to get even more interactive. Reading, for me, is a solitary pastime. I don't need any distractions pulling me out of the narrative.

Ha, that just looks funny for someone named Chatterbox: What I DON'T want is for the Kindle to get even more interactive. Reading, for me, is a solitary pastime. I don't need any distractions pulling me out of the narrative

I really do want a Kindle, but I adore seeing all my books stacked everywhere.

I wish they'd include a free digital copy with every material one. You know, like a code you can type in to your kindle and it automatically downloads. I'd buy one then.

I've deleted Night Watch by Sarah Waters from the TIOLI as I could not get into it at all. I replaced it with The Seven Dials Mystery for the ISBN challenge. I've finished it now, so that's 17 for me :)

#155 Every type--Sony e-reader, Nook, and Kindle has its pro's and con's. It boils down to what you're looking for.


I'm looking for one which smells like a book bought from a bookstore or perhaps the library. I would like one which feels like a paperback so when I roll over it during the night it won't hurt me nor wake me up.

I just finished up Grave Goods by Ariana Franklin for the 'Walla Walla' challenge.

#159 - I'm with you! I love the look and the feel of books. There's just something about the paper version that I just don't think can be translated into digital.

I finished The Uncommon Reader for the Book about Books challenge and Four Perfect Pebbles for the Walla Walla challenge.

I finished reading The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society for the Walla Walla challenge and started One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich for the Day and Night Challenge.

Off to play leap frog:) - It's addictive!

ETA - touchstones!!!

I'm getting a Nook in September... my brother did all the research on the different readers before he purchased one, and turns out the Nook was, in his opinion, the best choice (he's a tech geek & engineer). I wonder why people purchase the Kindle when there are such limitations on what you can purchase & read -- you have to rely on Amazon for nearly everything. I like the option of variety, but I suppose there are pros and cons for each person depending on what you want your eReader for.

That said... back to the challenge! I didn't think I'd be getting anything in for TIOLI this month, but I've just read & reviewed Scott Pilgrim's Precious Little Life which fits into the Walla Walla challenge.

>145 teelgee: - Yes, Bel Canto really was amazing. She did such a great job with all of the characters and the development of the relationships - such typical human nature in such an odd situation.

I have such a hard time with the touch screen that I think I'd have to be a Kindle boy. The flexibility is sure attractive, in the Nook.

148> re: "Kindle or Nook"

Depends on the actual Kindle/Nook. The Nook 3G and the Kindle 2 are roughly similar in size, capacity, viewing screen, etc. Neither has color. Nook allows lending, Kindle does not. Kindle allows storage and redownloads on Amazon. Nook allows storage and redownloads on Barnes and Noble's website. Nook has some but less product range than Kindle in newspaper/magazine subscription offerings. Both are roughly the same price with a Kindle 2 currently, I think, $189, and Nook 3G at $199. Both Nook 3G/wifi and Kindle 2 allow free 3G access to getting books anywhere anytime, free download. There is a beta web browser on Nook 3G/wifi but I do not know how good it is as you need to be in a wifi hotspot to get it to work. It doesn't work everywhere. I do not know if Kindle 2 has a web browser.

Nook without 3G (whatever that is called) is $149, and only has access to downloads at BN or other wifi hotspot.

Kindle 1 is prior Kindle version, and I do not know if they still sell it or what its stats are.

Kindle DX (latest generation) is $379. Free 3G, 9.7" screen vs. Kindle 2's 6" screen. Somewhat like a paperback = Kindle 2/Nook, hardback = Kindle DX. Supposedly Kindle DX has a bunch more stuff associated with it, though all I could see is that it is larger, has automatic tilting (if you hold it vertical, text is vertical, if you hold it horizontal, text/graphics are horizontal), and greater capacity. 3,500 books for Kindle DX, 1,500 books for Kindle 2 (and Nook).

The only think different I could immediately notice between Kindle DX (Latest Generation) $379, and Kindle DX (2nd Generation) $359, is that Latest Generation was recently released and black, while 2nd Generation was released last year and has a white surface.
--
I started another digital book this morning after a long run of physical paperbacks. I will note that the Nook allows me to carry many books, but took me something along the lines of 15 minutes to turn on and "work". It does not normally take 15 minutes to turn on and work, but it froze. I had to turn off and on to get it to work. That is somewhat scary and frustrating when I want to read.

---
Note: One thing a casual examiner of digital books might not notice when noting the pricing is that neither the Kindle nor the Nook comes with a carrying case/cover/etc. Any variation/version of Nook/Kindle. Kindle coverings seem to average around $34 for Kindle 2 and $54 for Kindle DX (unless a famous artist has dribbled their name on the cover, then the price shoots up at least an extra $100 just for the name, it isn't even a limited edition, just a mass produced artist name). I do not recall what I paid for the cover for my Nook, but it is slightly different than the norm in that I am able to stand the Nook up. Uses a magnet to keep the back cover tied to the front in such a manner to keep Nook upright. I mention that as that was the only version that could stand up.

155> You can buy books anywhere, anytime with a Nook. At least with the $199 free 3G version.

I have the 3G version of the Nook and the web browser is a bit slow but for me it was great because I could check LT when I was at the bookstore and see that I already had a book so I didn't buy it again.

Yes, I did that also when I first got the Nook, and I saw a hardback copy of a book that had been released a year ago, and I thought I had read it but it was in the "New" section. Turned out I had read it. Book was just rereleased not really "New". That is a wifi issue there, though. Since you were in the store, in the wifi hotspot, you could use the browser.

The difference being: if you were on the way to the store and thought of a particular book and wanted to check LT - having 3G would not enable you to use the browser. Being in a wifi hotspot would. So you might be able to get the browser working while zooming along towards the store, but it would be iffy. I got it working for 2 seconds while I was riding the train the first week I had the Nook, but I haven't tried it again. (I think I might have been stealing the military's wifi at that moment on the train, based on where I was located)

Finished up Thirteen by Richard Morgan for the ISBN ending with 4 challenge. I have started Wolf Hall this morning. I'll keep an image of James Frain as Cromwell in my head while reading :P

#153 & 155: The Sony Daily edition also has wi-fi and 3G access so you can download books without being connected to a PC. The smaller versions don't have that. I also liked that, with the Sony, you can get ebooks from the library, if your library offers that service, which mine does (the Kindle doesn't do that, but I'm not sure about the Nook). I didn't care much about the Nook's lending feature, so that wasn't a factor for me. Other differences in the 3 brands--notes using a keyboard v. stylus on touch screen; privacy and data-gathering issues; screen size; how books are stored; capability for using memory cards; included dictionary; and what kinds of books you plan to read and which store has the best selection for your tastes.

I thought the Nook and the Sony were pretty close as far as features and quality go. Best Buy now has the Sony Daily for $250 including a case and charger, so that seemed like a good deal. (That price wasn't advertised online or in the circular, though.) When I looked at the Nook in the store, nothing on the box told me anything about the features or what was included in the box, which I thought was annoying and kind of odd.

ETA: I think the wireless access for the Sony only works with the Sony store, not with free downloads like Project Gutenberg and Google books. But maybe I just haven't figured that out yet.

Getting close to the end of the month...

I should finish up Terror on Tuesday today for my day/night challenge and then call it a month with 12 TIOLI books read.

I'm looking forward to the challenges for August. Every month, I think that the following month's challenges could not be better and, somehow, they have been.

#173 That's interesting about the Sony. My friend must have a different Sony e-reader because she couldn't download books as we travelled on Amtrak, and I could.

Do they have different versions?

Another friend at work has a Sony e-reader and likes it a lot. I know she goes in for the free public domain books and not the newer books that Amazon and B&N would have so this was fine for her.

The $199 Nook comes with the cord to plug into wall to recharge, the plug to connect to the computer to recharge and/or move non-Barnes and Noble digital books over to the device, and the Nook itself.

(actually, the $149 Nook comes with that also).

That is kind of odd about that - "When I looked at the Nook in the store, nothing on the box told me anything about the features or what was included in the box, which I thought was annoying and kind of odd." - I've found the Nook booth attendents to be quite helpful. And you can play with the Nook in the store. The store near me. Maybe they have different set-ups elsewhere.

Oh, and just an add-on: I noticed that Target now sells the Kindle 2 in store. Though there you can't do anything but fondle the Kindle 2. And buy it immediately without having to wait for shipment.

---
Maybe it is the book itself, but the Nook has really annoyed and frustrated me today. Took forever to load the book this morning and on the train. Then at lunch it simply would not move to page 81. No matter what I did or tried for 20 minutes, no getting to page 81. I tried to get around the issue by moving far ahead, but the "GOTO" only had two chapters, both I had already read, go to cover, and go to furthest read.

Stupid thing was close to being tossed in the trash.

It was on page 88 when I got back to my desk at work. Apparently stuffing it back in its carrier and transporting it without turning it off allowed it to finally get past page 80.

#175: yes, Sony has different versions. I think the two smaller ones, and maybe earlier versions, do not have the wireless capability. And some e-readers have wi-fi but not 3G. ETA: Yes, I like the free public domain books so far as well. While Sony has an online bookstore, I do think that Amazon/B&N have better selections of new books.

#176: There wasn't a Nook attendant at the Best Buy I went to. They had one out to play with, but the batteries were dead, so I couldn't remind myself of some of the features I had seen online (but I had pretty much already decided to get the Sony). I think the Nook looks like an excellent product and am certainly not trying to disparage it! I've just never seen a product like that that didn't say what other pieces were in the (opaque) box.

ETA: I don't want to clutter up this thread with too many more ebook posts, so I'm just editing this one. I just discovered that you can buy ebooks in some formats from Powells.com, and I assume from other non-Amazon, non-B&N, non-Sony stores as well. (I knew about the free sources already.)

oh. I overlooked the Best Buy part of your earlier post. I've never seen the Nook elsewhere. I thought it was only sold at Barnes and Noble.

I tried to use the Nook at Barnes and Noble here, but their over-attentive salesman pretty much took over and just wanted to show me what it could do. Which was irritating as I had already read online pretty much all the Nook can do, what I really wanted was to see what the controls were like, how easy was it to use, how easy was it to read from, etc. Sigh.

I just started The Lovely Bones today for the Read a book with a body part in the title challenge.So far I'm really finding it compelling. I've only read the first three chapters, which are short, but I think I may really get into it and just read it right through in the next day or so.

I finished The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield and reviewed it here. That was for the Read a Book About Books Challenge. That's it for me this month. I'll read my ER book right after I play leap frog:)

Great review brenzi. If you want more gothic and you like Du Maurier, try Jamaica Inn. I thought is was even creepier than Rebecca. My Cousin Rachel is also very creepy, more psycho-gothic, if that's a term. More like Mary Higgins Clark meets Wuthering Heights...
I do like Daphne Du Maurier.

>181 brenzi: Nice review! I was also enthralled with this book. I will have to move Rebecca further up my TBR list.

>183 wisechild: Rebecca is one of those "OMG why didn't I read this before?" Type of book. I read it for the first time last year :) I also read The Thirteenth Tale and really liked it but Rebecca was awesome.

> 177

I don't want to clutter up this thread with too many more ebook posts

This is not clutter at all. I asked the question about Nook versus Kindle, not only because my daughter got the Kindle, but also because this information is related to Mike's challenge of "Read a book in a new medium to you". I'm sure many of us are trying to decide whether or not to get an e-reader, and the responses seem to be very helpful. Personally, I think I'm going to stick with real books in the meantime. In addition, I'll see how my daughter gets along with her Kindle...

Well, I think I'm done for the month. I've just finished The Camel Bookmobile, which was interesting. But now I've exhausted my tbr of books about books, 4 ISBNs and orange prize winners!

>182 nittnut: I recently picked up du Maurier's The Scapegoat and My Cousin Rachel so I hope to get to them sometime soon. Then I'll look for Jamaica Inn;-)

>183 wisechild:, 184 Yes I would also categorize Rebecca as awesome. The Thirteenth Tale was merely incredibly good;-)

>182 nittnut:, 183, 184, 187 etc – if you enjoyed those ones, you'll love The House on the Strand. She really is a fabulous writer.

re: posts about e-readers - I was really interested in the amazon.com. I had no idea what was going on. Had a great discussion about it with a co-worker today at lunch.

Re du Maurier; I discovered her books as a teenager; later, in my 20s, I discovered (completely by chance and independently) the towns of Fowey and Polruan, where she lived and wrote. (She leased a manor house nearby that served as the basis for Manderley.) It wasn't until I was there and looking at my walking maps, and started seeing all the familiar place names -- Par, Polkerris, Menabilly -- that the proverbial penny dropped. For several years, Fowey has hosted a du Maurier festival, and the town's tourist office is full of her books. My faves, in addition to Rebecca, are The House on the Strand and The King's General, although I also like The Scapegoat.

I'm hanging out for the August challenges. I know it might seem sad but I look forward to it :)

My bf just got told he has 4 more weeks on crutches - which for me means perpetual servitude for 4 more weeks *sigh*

I'm going to add Excellent Women by Barbara Pym to challenge #12 and hopefully I'll finish before the month is up!

#Message 180: Deesirings, I hope you like The Lovely Bones, it's about a thousand times better than the movie. If you do like it you might want to follow up with her memoir Lucky describing her actual rape and it long lasting after effects. Powerful stuff.

I finished The Lacuna - terrific book!

I finished Baking Cakes in Kigali this morning - it's occurred to me that it could also fit in as a book I first heard of on LT (and on this group) though I'd put it down as one with a food theme. But I don't have an alternative book in either category, that I'm likely to finish.

I'm now reading The Uncommon Reader as it's short and very sweet so far, and I found a copy in Oxfam in Ilkley last week.

My ER book The Gathering Night and a mystery, Peter Lovesey's Upon a Dark Night (#5 in the Peter Diamond series) would fit in to the TIOLI but I don't think I will finish either.

Thanks, Citizenjoyce -- I think Lucky may already be on my wishlist. Memoirs may be my favourite genre. I haven't seen the movie version of The Lovely Bones but it's likely I'll watch it at some point after reading the book.

Just chiming in here because I have a Kindle and I have no trouble using it for ebooks I've gotten elsewhere.

Many people say that the Kindle makes you a slave to amazon, but I haven't found that to be the case so far.

When I get an ebook from another source, I have to make sure it is a text file of some sort (converting it if necessary), and then I just move it onto the Kindle. The Kindle also reads PDF's now too, which has made a big difference for me.

I did research first, but in the end I didn't really care which ebook reader I got, for the most part. I ended up choosing the Kindle because I found out that it could read pdf's, and I had a bunch of amazon gift cards, so I bought it for a great price.

I got a fake leather cover for it for $20 on ebay, and I love it - it feels just like a real book with that cover on!

Well let us see . . .I last mentioned finishing
@Farewell, My Lovely -Raymond Chandler - for the PI challenge. Since then I've completed.

*Catering for Nobody - Diane Mott Davidson - for the cooking one.
One Dead Dean - Bill Crider - for Walla Walla
*Hidden History of Northern Virginia -Charles A. Mills - for Walla Walla
*Tumor -Joshua Hale Fialkov - for bodyparts (it works for the PI challenge also if someone doesn't want a "growth" as a bodypart)
Summer Fires - Bob Reiss - for the Summer one
@Something New - Pelham Grenville Wodehouse - for the New to You challenge.

@Currently reading: Day of the Moon - Bill Pronzini & Jeffry Wallmann - for the Day/Night challenge.

@ = read something by them before, but not full-length book
* = new author for me

I think I'm going to have to take Girl with a Pearl Earring off the wiki, I just don't think I'll get to it. I'm actually not even sure I'm going to finish Aphrodite: A Memoir of the Senses but I'm going to try. I've been extra busy packing for a camping trip this week and sadly haven't had as much time for reading.

Looks like 77 points, as of yesterday. That's got to be a record, right?

I'm done for July and now thinking about August.

And we're approaching 3 full threads! Is that another record?

I found 2 more possible TIOLI books in the library today, The Voluptuous Delights of Peanut Butter and Jam (like Baking Cakes in Kigali I first heard of it here and it's about food) and Forest Gate has an ISBN ending in 4. Shame I don't have time to read them by the end of the month...

I've finished One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich and that's me done for this month's TIOLI. Looking forward to August's challenges.

I thought I was done with TIOLI challenges for July, but I just looked at the ISBN on the 5-months-late ER book I received last week -- and it ends with a 4! Now I just have to get it read pronto!

completed When the Astors Owned New York: Blue Bloods and Grand Hotels in a Golden Age for the Alliterative challenge. I'll post my review on my thread when I have more time. Now I have to go listen to an audiobook - my last TIOLI for the month - and see if I can finish by Saturday

I was a long way into A Guide to the Birds of East Africa before I realised I could count it for the challenge because it was a recommendation from Richard, so I've managed to notch up another book. I'm working on The Lacuna, but I don't think I'll finish it before the end of the month. :(

#186: I have The Camel Bookmobile on the shelf. I need to finish Captains Courageous first, but maybe I can read both before the end of the month!

My goodness.

I finished The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter, an excellent book by the way, for the body part challenge, and thus finished my challenges for July---that is, the ones I'm going to get to. I'm reading Rough Riders on the Nook; I thought it might make it for Stasia's Walla Walla Challenge, but I'm not too sure I'll finish it in time. We're leaving on an extended trip (so anxiety-maiking with the d.h. and his pharmocoepia), but I'm taking the laptop (will wonders never cease??), so I'm hoping to keep up with all y'all.

As for the e-reader thing: I'm very happy with the Nook WiFi. I don't want to have a mini-computer, just something I can read and order books on. I've had no connectivity issues or tech. problems with it. The print is super-clear and adjustable from eensy to huge. I actually find it easier to read in bed on the Nook, when compared with an actual book. Also, it's lightweight (important if one reads Dickens, Tolstoy, etc.) One thing, as noted above by chinquapin, the salesman kind of took over the demo. in the store, and I had to ask to hold and use it myself. I really, really like it, but of course it would not replace real books for me. Just another venue for the mad passion...

I'm starting The Lacuna today, which I should finish by the end of the month.

I predict you'll like it Darryl.

I've finished The Uncommon Reader and written a Bookbag review of The Happy Home for Broken Hearts tonight.

Stasia has overtaken us all at the top of the TIOLI meter. I predict generalkala will be 2nd and MikeBriggs and I will be competing for 3rd place!

Donna828, after your post, I checked my very late arriving ER book and find it does have an ISBN ending in 4, so I'm going to give it a try. Is yours also Talk Softly b y Cynthia O'Neal?

Frogs:
The topmost frogs are giving Stasia (Alcottacre) a run for her money. Keep it up!! Unlike our topmost frogs, more of us are finishing this month on the average of having read four or five (or nine!) TIOLI books.

TIOLI Thoughts:
Here is some food for thought as we move into August. I'm putting this information here for newer TIOLI challengers.

The Basic TIOLI challenge remains the same and will not change. The idea is ONLY to read one or more books within the challenge categories, preferably a book that matches someone else's book. The matching is NOT required. Any unfinished books at the end of the month must be removed from the wiki.

The Advanced TIOLI Fun Stuff are things such as the TIOLI Meter and the Challenge Within the Challenge. They are here only if you need some extra "oomph" for your TIOLI challenge. They are not required at all.

My Suggestion for August:
As you may have noticed, the TIOLI is growing by leaps (no pun intended!) and bounds. My suggestion (and it is only a suggestion and does NOT need to be heeded) is to try to make your counter-challenges a little more difficult. It seems that many of us (including me!) are now simply "plugging in" what we read into one of the many TIOLI challenges. To keep it as a real challenge, let's try to make it a little harder to fit our books in. You have all come up with some stellar ideas in the past. Keep up the great work. Your challenges are such fun!!

Etc.
...and, no, the August TIOLI challenge will not be posted tonight. Sorry! :D

I was disappointed in Man Walks into a Room, a book by Nicole Krauss, which I read for kidzdoc's 20 under 40 challenge.

Madeline, as our Grand Poohbah and general, all around TIOLI cheerleader, I would like your insights into some of the "better" challenges you've seen born under your midwifery this year. I too have felt that some of the challenges were so broad and so many things fit, that the points were difficult to build. But, since I've never been much of a point hound, I've loved the broad challenges (I'm actually disappointed I couldn't fit my only non-TIOLI read into one of the challenges this month) and it helped build the community. But at mid year (a little over) maybe a balancing act is in order.

I have a challenge in mind for August, and I think it's tighter, but still flexible, and I'm curious what your thoughts are.

I know you are just making a suggestion, and picking highlights is like shining a spotlight on only some of your children, but I think we're all grownups and your thoughts are valuable - since without you we wouldn't exist (well, I would exist, but in a much more diminished and unsatisfied manner)

well, I would exist

Phew!!!

You know what, Patrick? I can't really pick the "better" challenges. Probably the challenges I liked more were liked less by others and vice versa. That's really why I let everyone have free rein. If the challenges "work", people jump on board. If not, they don't get quite as many takers.

If the challenges tend to be hard, I think people will work even harder to get a book to fit. I personally think it's more fun if it's harder to get a book to fit.

I thought it was hilarious to picture all our challengers ripping books off of their own and library bookshelves to find a book with an ISBN that ended in "4". I also spent an afternoon in the library looking at books with red spines and being amazed at how few worthwhile reads there were with books that had those red spines.

So, challengers, in answer to Patrick's question, what were your three favorite TIOLI challenges (including counter-challenges) so far this year?

I'll start..
my 3 favorites were (in no particular order)

LT authors in March
LT ER books in April
Walla Walla in July

But I enjoyed so many more!

My 3 favorite challenges thus far have been:

Book with a one word title
Debut novel
Audiobook challenge for National Audiobook month.

I still find myself picking up one word titles thinking about the one word title challenge. I'm always a sucker for a debut, and I listen to audiobooks all the time (since it's part of my job).

But I've participated in multiple challenges every month (I have 23 books tagged TIOLI, but I'm sure I've read books and not tagged them properly) so I'm up for anything.

I prefer challenges which are applicable to everyone with a copy of a book. The problem with colour of the cover and ISBN is that we will have different editions in different countries and so these things will be different.
What I'd like to do for future challenges is read more shared reads, and that to me is a good reason for some "easier" challenges.

I'm with you, elkiedee. I've deliberately avoided the TIOLI Frogs because of the deep depression it would induce – this month I've only managed one TIOLI book! And I know they are all optional, but the inclusiveness of the challenges is one of the things I've really enjoyed. A mixture of the esoteric (for the buzz you get when you finally find a book that fits) and the generous (so that there's a good chance you'll be able to take part in a at least a couple of them) seems about right to me.

I finished up Tales of the Seven Seas for my book with an ISBN ending with the numeral 4.

August's TIOLI challenge will be exciting...!

Taunting! =)

:)

I've added one last TIOLI book for July. I picked up Ellen Foster by Kaye Gibbons after Whisper's wonderful review of it and I expect to finish it later today. It is a great read.

I have enjoyed the variety of challenges. I like some that are more focused and harder to meet like ISBN with 4 and red cover. But I also love having a few that are wider where I can fit a few more books on my TBR into them.

Go ahead. Label our frog categories... :D

#220/221/226 I also like a mix of difficult and easy categories because I like to fit as many of my books as possible into the month's TIOLI challenge.

213> re: "To keep it as a real challenge, let's try to make it a little harder to fit our books in."

Well, I do not think the challenges are too broad. Last month only one of the 31 works read in June matched up to a TIOLI challenge. And this month, only 16 of 45 works read have matched up with a TIOLI challenge. Granted, I've been paying more attention to what the challenges are and have read books I already owned that fit them. I've seen them as an excuse to go ahead already and actually read a Chandler book, or that Crider book, or that Reiss book, and that Catering book. All of which probably would still be sitting there waiting to be read.

Well, I suppose what it boils down to is that I moved from one TOLI read in June to 16 in July (and counting) because I actually paid attention to the challenges when making reading decisions instead of the categories being so broad as to allow me to put in anything.

>212 Citizenjoyce:: Joyce, my "late to the party" ER book is In the Company of Angels by Thomas E. Kennedy. There was no explanation about why it was so delayed. I had totally given up on it so it was a nice surprise! It was the second book I've been awarded that was a "real" hardcover copy (i.e., not an advanced reader copy).

Hmmmm....my favorite challenges this year?

1) I liked the Debut Novel challenge because I enjoy discovering new authors.

2) Read a book with a One Word Title. I had some good choices in this category which helped me reduce my TBR pile.

3) Short Story Collections because I usually need a nudge to read this genre.

Note that all my choices are the primary challenge "conjured" up by Madeline. I always do that challenge first and then "fill in" with other books that may fit into the other challenges. I get overwhelmed by too many choices easily so I'd be perfectly happy with one challenge per month -- but that's just me with my Disneyland phobia. ;-)

favorite challenges this year:
based purely on books read by me for them, and not including my own challenge.

Challenge #1: An author's debut book. - started by SqueakyChu (January; 3)

Challenge #7: Read a book with a body part in the title - started by teelgee (July; 3)

and then the third favorite is a tie between

Challenge #1: A book by an LT author - started by SqueakyChu (March; 2)

Challenge #1: A Book with a One-Word Title - started by SqueakyChu (May; 2)

Challenge #11: Walla Walla: Alliterative Titles - started by AlcottAcre (July; 2)

I've only participated in the last month, but these are my favourites, looking back -

1) the ISBN challenge because it meant I've read books I would never have gotten round to otherwise.

2) the red spine challenge, for the same reason as above.

3) the one word title challenge.

Realistically, with auntie-doctor appointments and a garage sale and my usual work, I can't post reviews of my remaining TIOLIs. Makes me sad. Capsules for now:

The Unquiet Bones is a medieval medical mystery that I found perfectly nice. If I run across others, I'll read them.

A Summer Place by Sloan Wilson is the novel the movie was based on and the theme song will break anyone over 40 out in hives or tears or both. It's a very, very well-written book. I like The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit too; I started liking his work with All the Best People in the 1970s.

Built of Books is about the relationship of Oscar Wilde, pill extraordinaire, to his vast, eclectic library. I like the book, but I've conceived a dislike for Wilde.

The Big Sleep is a terrific, exciting, wowee-you're-kidding! read. Loved it, am going to read lots of Chandler now.

The Lumby Lines is delightful, relaxing, and very comfy-cozy. Everyone in this book made me smile, even the ratfinks, though that was more because I liked knowing their comeuppances were approaching. No one is treated harshly, but everyone receives just treatment.

The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake is a less raunchy, less quirky version of Like Water for Chocolate. Very nice to read, not deserving of all the hoopla really, since it's not fabulously original and extraordinary like Laura Esquivel's book was; but it really made my grisly, annoying day much better.

Real reviews another time.

There's also a sequel to The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit, Richard, which (being a contrarian), I ended up reading first. Haven't read A Summer Place yet.

Just finished my Ending in 4 book; now two more to read before Sunday!

I have to confess that I don't do too well on the TIOLI meter. Part of the problem is that, now I've catalogued all my books, my personal challenge is to re-read my library (which is mainly fantasy), and they aren't so easy to fit into the challenges. I think I might go for the lowest frog. Or ... make everyone read fantasy next month ....

(not complaining - just getting this thread into my posts, before I lose track entirely)

#236>> Okay, I have to ask...

I understand about reading the books you love over and over, I really do, but with all the great new finds that are brought to our attention here at LT, why are you concentrating on re-reading your library?

I'm not saying that's a bad thing, I just don't understand. I personally, would be reading new books and old books just so I wouldn't miss the great books that are being discovered. If fantasy is your genre, there are wonderful new fantasy books coming out all the time. They would give you an opportunity to grow your library.

I'm just curious.

>236 humouress:, 237

I totally get it. Every time I reread a book, it's a whole new experience, especially if it's been 10 years or so since the last time. Plus, what's the point in actually owning the books (vs. borrowing from a friend or the library) if you're not going to read them again and again?

>236 humouress: ... make everyone read fantasy next month ....

I'm down with that. It could be something like "read a book that has been tagged as fantasy at least 1000 times"

I've added my third (and possibly last) TIOLI book for this month, under the 'books about making a difference' challenge: The Vikings: a short history. The vikings did not always a very peaceful or positive difference - at least not to the people whose lands they raided or settled in, but they certainly had a big impact reaching across Europe, into the North Atlantic and beyond, and the world would have been quite a different place without them.

Richard, I was surprised to see your unfavorable comparison of The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake with Like Water for Chocolate. Aside from the fact that both stories are told using the vehicle of emotions transmitted by food, they have nothing in common. Esquivel wrote a big loud book about Love and Revolution while Bender questions in her quiet way whether or not there are benefits to claiming membership in the human race. Comparing the two is like comparing a medieval tapestry to a Chinese calligraphy scroll. They're both art but have no other points of resemblance. Admittedly, though, Benders's unique method of understatement is not for everyone.

And just when you think you've finished... I read The Well of Lost Plots today for the Books about Books challenge. Mm, I adore Jasper Fforde.

One more for me, too. In the Company of Angels by Thomas E. Kennedy has an ISBN ending in the digit 4. I finally got an ER book that delivered its promises. My review is here.

ETA: I give up on that crazy touchstone!

News Flash!

The TIOLI Meter is up for August. Whoever is going to use it (not required) may leap into the top position under 0 TIOLI Books, but may not leap up any higher until August.

Reminder!

Any TIOLI books not finished by midnight Saturday night must be removed from the July wiki. Don't forget!!

I believe Madeline is toying with us;-)

Any TIOLI books not finished by midnight Saturday night must be removed from the July wiki. Don't forget!!

The Pressure!!!

#245, - Well, it's working! I am going away for the weekend and will be out of internet contact, but I have a challenge I really want to post! I am on tenterhooks...

>247 wandering_star: Me too!!

I finished up Lips Touch: Three Times by Laini Taylor for the Walla Walla challenge.

:D

Good review, Donna. Tell me, is there graphic description of torture in the book?

>251 Citizenjoyce:: Thanks, Joyce. Thankfully, Nardo does not want to discuss his experiences in Chile, but there is one scene where he tells how his captors "break" him. **Slight spoiler ahead** --It involves a pregnant woman, but the actual deed is only threatened; he signs his "confession" first.--
I've read steamier sex scenes. These are more on the "icky" side.

I finished Secrets Of A Summer Night yesterday, and The Pioneer Woman Cooks and The Secret Life Of Bees today.

Pheww, am done for the month. Twelve books total in ten different challenges. All twelve were my own books, all but one of which had been previously unread.

Tabatha, that's impressive to read that many of your own books -that's the way to reduce the TBRs!

This is quite confusing with the many different names and nicknames. Like ninjas with secret identities.

>240 Citizenjoyce: Joyce, I'd say that Esquivel's love and passion themes are well and truly dealt with in Bender's book, too. I thought Bender's quiet, floaty-feeling voice was pitch-perfect for this tale!

But I must disagree that the books are as unalike as your comparison makes them sound. Bender's tale lacks a revolution, true; but it lacks none of the passion, none of the loss, none of the tenderness that leaks out of the pages of Esquivel's book. (Though the tenderness in Bender's book is a lot more on the surface.)

I loved the Esquivel; I liked the Bender. I came to each with an expectation of reading a slantwise story, I came away satisfied on that count both times.

256>

hmm. Bender. Rats. I forgot new Futurama was on tonight.

I finished The Vagrants. I liked it, and I didn't. I'm away for the weekend, so I won't review right now, just wanted to say that I finished it. I will be finishing Chef tomorrow. I am not fond of it.

Bender - Futurama, Oh my.

>257 MikeBriggs:, 259 - clueless....

I'm thinking Mike's referring to Bender's writing style which is a combination of science fiction, magic realism and surrealism. Or maybe he's just fantasizing about hot cyclops chicks.

I finished Freedom From Fear for the Walla Walla challenge.

I finished The Voluptous Delights of Peanut Butter and Jam and will include it under the culinary heading as there is another entry there. It would also fit in the Orange challenge and for me, is a book I first heard of here. I thought the writing was beautiful and the story of an unusual childhood and of the relationship between two sisters very close together in age was moving and very disturbing, but I was quite put off by the fact that this is a very racist white Rhodesian family.

I am now racing through The Lacuna, but still only 124 pages in: I'm not sure I can manage 225 pages today and the same tomorrow, but I shall try.

Futurama... haven't seen that for years.

I finished The Camel Bookmobile last night for the books-about-books challenge. That makes 7 for me, and that's probably it, unless I get inspired and read my book group book tomorrow (Madeleine is Sleeping), which qualifies for the 20-under-40 challenge.

Well shesh. You already have 12 challenges set up for August. And I had one all picked out out of all the ones I mentioned in the past in these threads.

Bender is a robot from the animated television series Futurama. From the creator of Simpsons. It was on the air from 1999 until 2003 before it was cancelled. Then several Futurama movies came out. Then the series was revived and new episodes now appear Thursday nights on Comedy Central at 10pm EST. Seven new episodes have appeared so far. There are release dates for 12, and names for 26 for this 6th season of Futurama.

For "Challenge #11: Read A Book in a Genre Seldom Visited " I'd suggest including the genre next to the book. Like for
1.Lonesome Dove - Larry McMurtry (western) - Citizenjoyce-fi

>267 MikeBriggs:

Mike, take your suggestion over to August's thread!

ETA: ...and feel free to add your own challenge. I'd only worry if you didn't get any takers. That does *not* seem to be a problem.

ETA2: Thanks, again, for doing the TIOLI summaries and editing the wiki.

I finished Still Life by Louise Penny this morning. Shocking I know ;-), but I highly enjoyed this murder mystery set in Quebec. I loved Inspector Gamache and the villagers of Three Pines.

>237 cyderry:, 238: norabelle414 has it.

When we moved house, I finally got my books organised into one place (and found some duplicates), and then catalogued them on LT. I realised I hadn't read some of them more than once, or visited some well-loved books in a while. I'm far too possessive to give up my books (I do try to select judiciously), so my current project is to re-read them.

Not that it's going smoothly - I keep buying books, too, so I have an unread TBR pile to get through as well.

Oh boy. I definitely cannot keep up with this thread. I'm just jumping in to say I've begun Adventures in the Alaskan Skin Trade, which will fit into July's challenge if I finish it by tomorrow night!

I would have loved to read more books for this challenge. Working really cuts into my reading time!

Working really cuts into my reading time!

I'd stop working! :)

I'm almost done Wolf Hall but I won't have time for Prince Caspian so I'll take it down. Sigh. I almost got through everything.

Thanks for the clarification, Mike. All I could remember of Futurama was the cyclops woman.

@ wisechild, I just finished Wolf Hall myself. Onwards and upwards to The Thirteenth Tale

#264 CatyM - I'm at the halfway point on The Lacuna and will be trying really hard to finish it by tonight as well.

Crazy month - I only finished two challenge books and have removed the others from the wiki. And I never did find an ISBN-ending-in-4 book that I wanted to read! I really liked that idea too. :)

I read Joe Hill's Heart-Shaped Box and Jasper Fforde's Shades of Grey, both of which I enjoyed. At some point maybe I'll be able to get around to writing more about them on my 75 page.

Madeleine - I know it's driving people crazy, but I like this waiting until the last day or two of the month to post any TIOLI stuff for the next month. :)

I like this waiting until the last day or two

I do, too! I like to make everyone nuts!!

You know what it reminds me of? Did you every dig in the garden annd accidentally dig into an ant nest? All of a sudden, ants are scurrying everywhere trying to find a new place to hide their larvae. I can see all of our TIOLI challengers rummaging around bookshelves, just looking for new reads...

Well, you get the picture. :)

I've conceded defeat and taken The Lacuna out of the wiki: there's no way I can read the remaining 400+ pages in the next 25 hours.

Finished Chef. I didn't love it. Will review later. At least I finished all six of my challenges this month. Hooray.

I had nearly finished reading Tau Zero by Poul Anderson - my first book by this author - when I noticed that it had a 4 at the end of the ISBN. Now finished, so sneaking in another last-minute entry into the challenge. I wouldn't have read it this month, had someone not reserved it at the library so I had to read it quickly and return it.

#279 I was hoping to read The Lacuna this month but haven't even started - I think I've been avoiding big books, mine have all been shorter reads in July.

#279, 282: I'm also removing The Lacuna, as I'm not even to page 100 of the paperback Faber and Faber edition (670 pages in all). I will continue to read it, I just won't finish it by tomorrow.

I'm adding The Weed that Strings the Hangman's Bag. I'm listening to it now, and will be finished long before the end of the day tomorrow... :-)

Finished Wonderful World of Oz for Walla Walla.

News Flash!

The TIOLI points break 80! Tonight we hit an all-time high of 81 points for shared reads.

I recently finished The Deep Dark: Disaster and Redemption in America's Richest Silver Mine for the Walla Walla challenge--which was good--and just now finished Chasing Goldman Sachs for the LT-inspired challenge, which I thought was excellent. I plan to write reviews for both, but first I have to try and finish Purple Hisbiscus for the 20 under 40 NYr writers challenge.

Finished up Night Train to Lisbon by Pascal Mercier. Only 3 more to go before tomorrow, lol.

Yay! I finished up my last book - Excellent Women by Barbara Pym with 6 hours spare!

Finished up Boneshaker. 2 more to go before midnight!

Sorry to say I deleted Northanger Abbey from the list. There's just no way I'm going to finish it by midnight tonight. I'm definitely enjoying it more than when I tried it once as a teen (the humor and sarcasm went completely over my head - I was a much more literal reader then), so will continue reading it next month whether it fits in a challenge or no.

Final Reminder:

Either finish your TIOLI books by midnight tonight (July 31, 2010) or remove them from the July wiki!

Don't despair! You have the option of moving any unread July TIOLI books to an August challenge (if they fit).

For those playing on the (optional) July TIOLI meter, be sure that your "frog" is in the correct position. You may not move your frog up after the end of July.

I'll see you again on August's thread. Thanks for your participation!!

Just finished The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield for the Books About Books challenge. This was my favorite read of the month.

Finished another WallaWalla book just under the wire....Death on Demand.

Continuing the anthill metaphor - the last day of the month I see all the ants scurrying to get all their food stashed before the storm hits (or, for those who are A Bug's Life fans, before the mean grasshoppers come back!)



I've really gotta get off those pain meds.

:)

Finally finished Waking the Witch so I'm done for July. Yay! :D

I am finishing up A Shadow in Summer, but I do not think I am going to be able to read Sea Strike by the end of tonight, especially since I have not gotten any sleep yet today :)

To Say Nothing of the Dog is coming off the July list (no points lost). I still have 3 discs left, and no time to finish today. Moving it to August for the less popular genre challenge (I think this is the first SciFi I read all year)

291: You can add Northanger Abbey to Challenge #9, the Classics challenge.

I finished The Lacuna and also How to ruin a summer vacation in time.

I'm going to have to remove Purple Hisbiscus from the 20 under 40 NYr writers challenge. I still have 150 pages to go and with company coming for dinner, I'm not going to be able to finish it.

Bah, I've had to take two books off the list (one with points The Children's Book - sorry!) - fairly unrealistic to say I'll finish them before the end of the day, when I'm only half way through Nights at the Circus (which I will finish, even if it means donig nothing else all day)! ;o)

> 303 Angela Carter is my all-time favourite author! Hope you enjoy Nights at the Circus. I do think its great but I prefer Wise Children (if you couldn't tell by my screenname!)

Finished Wolf Hall just in time! Phew! I'll post a review on my thread shortly.

>300 elkiedee: I did. :-) That worked out well, huh? I should definitely finish it sometime in August!

I haven't put my remaining challenge books on the Wiki. Sadly I don't think I can put Upon a Dark Night, The Gathering Night or The Clothes on their Backs on any August categories! I will be adding challenge books as I finish those and my other two books which don't fit on the TIOLI in either month, but are review books.

Well, if you "would like to be" _Upon a Dark Night_, or _The Gathering Night_, or _The Clothes on Their Backs_, then you could put them there.

Of course then you would desire to be the night or clothing. Or . . .desirous of being upon a dark night. Of being in a particular situation. Which would be a dark night.

Okay I finished 2 of my last 3 books: Among the Gently Mad: Strategies and Perspectives for the Book Hunter in the 21st Century by Nicholas Basbanes for the Books About Books challenge and The Future of Freedom: Illiberal Democracy at Home and Abroad by CNN's Fareed Zakaria for the ISBN ending in 4 challenge.

I'm removing The Hand I Fan With from the Body Parts challenge.

Squeaking in right under the wire with Montana 1948 for the ISBN that ends in 4 Challenge!

I finished The Heart is a Lonely Hunter and am so filled with melancholy I think I need a night of escapist television before moving on to The Girls.

Jumping up to 10 on the frogometer I find I am ascending to frog martyrdom. While that may fit with my melancholy, I just don't think I'm ready for that much amphibious commitment.

I am squeaking in under the wire with A Summer in Shadow. I took Sea Strike off the wiki because there is no way I am going to finish it in an hour, so I am officially done for July. On to August!

Squeak;
Have I been missing you girlfriend or what!~!
Not gonna have another year like this one. Come 2011, I am going back to a "normal" thread but continuing where I am as well. I am having a great year of reading although R/L has really killed my reading time but I am not complaining. I still have my husband and the books will wait patiently for my time. He cannot.
Hope your world is wonderful and that you are reading some "killer" books.
big warm hug,
belva

># 311:
Stasia;
That was real punny of you!~! LOL!~!
Am working my way toward your thread although I may wait until morning for: "Sunday Morning on the Acre".
luv n hugs,
belva

Ah well. I didn't finish Adventures in the Alaskan Skin Trade in time for July. But at least I'll finish it in time for my book club meeting tomorrow. Whew.

And I had other books just waiting for the challenges. So now, on to August. Lots of opportunities on the TBR.

As an FYI to others, the current TIOLI conversation continues on this thread.

(I know! We're already on page 2 for August...)