Take It or Leave It Challenge - September 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

In search of an obscure challenge, yet one which would honor LibraryThing, I thought of the following...

For September 2010, you must Read a Book with a LibraryThing Three-Letter Combo in its Title. What does *that* mean?! Let me explain. In the word "LibraryThing", pick out (the first) three-letter combo which you can then detect in your book's title. For example, let's say I choose the three-letter combo of "ing". I then may choose the book Ring and list it as follows:

Ring – Koji Suzuki - Squeaky Chu (ing)

For a book such us The Wild Things by Dave Eggers, use the first matching three-letter combo (i.e. use "thi", not "hin" or "ing") that you find in the book's title. Listed, it would look like this:

The Wild Things - Dave Eggers - SqueakyChu (thi)

The three letter combo may be embedded across words. Here are some other ideas for books that would fit September's challenge:

The Liberated Bride - A.B. Yehoshua (lib)
The Myth of Sisyphus – Albert Camus (yth)
City of Thieves - David Benioff (thi)
Loving Frank – Nancy Horan (ing)

Now start searching for your September read. Have fun!

------------------

Wikis for September 2010 Challenge:
Page 1 - Challenges # 1-8
Page 2 - Challenges # 9-18

Challenge #1: Read a book with the first LibraryThing Three-Letter Combo in its Title
Challenge #2: Pen Name Challenge: Read a book written using a pen name by a popular author
Challenge #3: Read a book with a Building in its Title - thread
Challenge #4: Read a book with North, South, East or West in the title
Challenge #5: Back to School: Read a book with an educational setting or about education - thread
Challenge #6: Read a book with the word "white" in the title
Challenge #7: Read a book with the number 9 (or nine or ninth) in the title - thread
Challenge #8: Put your money where your mouth is: Any book regarding finances, money, Wall Street, Madoff etc. - thread
Challenge #9: Read a book by two (or more) authors writing as one
Challenge #10: Read a "Chunkster": a book with 480 pages or more.
Challenge #11: Read a book with a paranormal being - thread
Challenge #12: Read a Controversial Book: standard deviation of ratings at least 1.00 - thread
Challenge #13: Read a book with a title in the title (e.g. Mr., Queen, Captain, Senator)
Challenge #14: Walla Walla with twist - Characters in the title (Characters need to be identified in the title and then meet the WallaWalla challenge)
Challenge #15: Once Upon A Time - Read a book that retells a fairy tale or myth - thread
Challenge #16: Read a book from the ALA's list of books challenged or banned in 2009-2010 (in honor of banned books week Sept. 25-Oct. 2)
Challenge #17: I've Got You Babe - Read a book with a possessive apostrophe in the title
Challenge #18: Read a book for the Club Read Books with Three Criteria Challenge - thread on Club Read
________________

Other Fun Stuff (not part of the TIOLI challenge):
1. The September 2010 TIOLI Meter - Some challengers use this page to track which challenges they're doing.
2. I Know I'm a TIOLI Addict When...

I'm suddenly making great progress on The Devil in the White City and may finish by month's end, after all. That'll probably be my last TIOLI for the month, though.

Even though I am not participating this month, I am still sticking around :)

I read The Finishing School by Muriel Spark, for the Education challenge I started, as someone else has read it this month. Strange but quite enjoyable, though nowhere near as good as The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie which would also fit the theme. I'd love to reread but as they say, so many books, so little time.

I've been poking along all month, what with a chunkster to read, a family emergency, a big birthday bash (mine) -- but now I'll have several days of quiet ocean time, starting Monday, just me, my dog and a bag of books. I should be able to knock off a few more before the end of the month.

teelgee, "quiet ocean time", are you trying to rub our noses in it? Having a boring time, wish I were there.

elkiedee, I've never read The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie but keep thinking I want to.

Joyce, I'm sure I won't have a good time at all. Just sit around reading. Go out and gaze at the waves every once in awhile. Read some more. Nap. Gaze at the trees. Read. Yeah, boring. Yawn.

Madeline - when does the October challenge start? Or can I just choose from the above list because we are still in September??

This is the fun part, Amanda. The challenge starts October first. At some point (no one knows exactly when!), I'll post the opening thread to the October challenge. It's at that point a challenger can start listing his books of intended reading (and, optionally, a challenge of his own). Keep your eyes peeled for that post sometime between now and September 30th.

You can still do September's challenge, but it will not count (and will have to be removed from the wiki) if not finished by September 30.

I always like to take the time between the end of one challenge and the beginning of the next to read books that don't fit into the TIOLI challenges (e.g. those ER books that I have been postponing for too long).

aw, Madeline, put those ERs off til next month... read another TIOLI.

Hehe! A better suggestion was never given. I have two ERs just sitting around now (and am waiting for a third one). I'm still reading a September TIOLI...and a good one. It's Dr. Haggard's Disease by Patrick McGrath for the "Title in the Title Challenge".

I removed a couple of books from the "title in the title" category (just not in the mood at the moment) and replaced them with a recommendation from Richard which will fit the myth category - Till We Have Faces by C. S. Lewis - a retelling of the story of Cupid and Psyche.

I must admit I'm not too hopeful of completing the other book I have left on the wiki - it's in the chunkster category and I haven't even started it yet! We'll see:)

Hang onto those ER books.

Looking forward to next month's TIOLI. Just a few days left this month.

Here is my review to Chasing Goldman Sachs. My review.

Just finished The Egypt Game for Banned Books Week - here's my review.

>15 bell7: Zilpha Keatly Snyder is a very good writer, thanks for reminding me of her, Mary!

I finished South Riding for the north/south/east/west challenge and What Was She Thinking? for the school challenge over the weekend. I will finish Frost in May as well. All recommended.

Carly,

It was great to meet you yesterday at the National Book Festival. What a hectic day it was, but great fun! Are you planning to return next year?

I would definitely consider going again, although maybe not next year. I wish I had planned better--we got there later than we intended to and did not really plan in advance which authors to see, and we wandered around a bunch of the tents just checking things out because none of us had ever been before. I liked that so many people turned out for a book festival!

This is the fifth year in a row that I've gone. I've found that often, just sitting in the tent of an author that I don't know, has yielded some fabulous talks. I really saw a lot more authors this year than I had seen before.

I came alone as opposed to coming with a friend (we always disagree on whom to see anyway, and she never wants to get there early enough).

I was not distracted by Bookcrossers (because I couldn't find the ones that were there...and they WERE there!!)

To plan ahead, you should be able to get information ahead of time. If not from the Library of Congress, the Washington Post prints a schedule (times, map, and everything) in the newspaper one week before the festival itself. I brought that down with me.

The authors whose talks I liked the best were:
Chang-rae Lee - I've always been a big fan of his
Michele Norris - new to me
Phillip M. Hoose - new to me
Wil Haygood -new to me

Each year the number of people keeps growing. I have to check out the papers to see what the final number of the crowd was estimated to be.

The crowd estimate was 150,000.

Only four more days to finish September's TIOLI challenge books...

...or to try to fit them into October's challenges.

Time's a-flyin'...

I'll be finishing up my Sept reads at the beach with no internet access, so they won't be posted as read until the 2nd or so.

Just finished Packing for Mars (challenge #1) - what a great book! Here's my review.

All I saw of the National Book Festival was an interesting interview with Ken Follett whose books I haven't read but that may change. On TV the Festival was just listed as an 8 hour block with no author delineations. and I didn't want to just sit and watch and take my chances.

Teelgee, I'll take your "boring" ocean side reading vacation any ol' day.

I finished The Healer's War which I probably never would have read if it hadn't been for the TIOLI Controversial Books Challenge. It's been sitting on my bookshelves for years and I didn't even know what it was about. It won the Nebula Award for Science Fiction/Fantasy in 1989 which is a little surprising since it has only the barest fantasy element: an amulet that allows the wearer to see auras. It's really a Vietnam War novel from the woman's perspective. It follows Lt. Kitty McCully an army nurse in the hospital in Da Nang, as she's lost in the jungle and when she gets home, and is very applicable to the current mid east wars. A main emphasis is that because the Americans can't tell which Vietnamese is the enemy, sometimes they hated all of them. She tries to keep her humanity during wartime, and it's almost impossible to do. She also toward the end is just wishing she could be home, and she realizes the Vietnamese are home and have no where to feel safe. Thank you Zoe for giving me the push I needed to read this very disturbing book.

Now I have to get to my ER book, The Good Daughters which I've heard such disappointing things about. But, so far so good.

OK - well I am not going to finish Challenge 1 - as my copy of Mockingjay hasn't arrived.

But am happy with my first TIOLI effort - I have read 3 books for two challenges :)

I read:
Heir of Mystery by Philip Ardagh and The Dead Travel Fast by Deanna Raybourn for the paranormal challenge (#11) and I read White Queen by Philippa Gregory for the challenge to read a book with White in the title challenge (#6)

Looking forwards to next month now :)

I just noted that one of the two books I read for challenge #1 ( The Elementary Particles )fits perfectly into challenge #12 (controversial books). So if I finish the two books I am currently reading before October 1st, I will end up having read one book per challenge for the first time! :-)

My 3 favorite books so far this month are Bleak House (chunkster challenge #10) , Giovanni's Room (possessive apostrohe challenge #17) and The Perks of Being a Wallflower (ALA's list challenge #16).

Following right behind Terri I finished and reviewed Packing for Mars. How do you like that? We both liked it.

I'm struggling with the controversial books. I've read one (and it was baaad); tried to start two others, only to bog down permanently. Hoping to finish the fourth one! I took another look at my list, and of the books on there, there are some that I read that I adored, others that I disliked, and some that I have little interest in reading, and not much that falls in between the cracks. It's interesting that they are called "controversial" when the ones I have picked up for this challenge haven't struck me as controversial in nature, but more just badly written. So I assume the 'controversy' has to do with the question of whether or not readers liked them.

Controversial was something of an odd name as it implies things that it might not reflect. On LT the Controversal books list is based solely on book ratings, and standard deviation. Solely on how readers rated the book, as opposed to whether or not the book had any controversial issue/topic/reaction among the general public and or ban/call for death of author, etc.

>16 richardderus: You're welcome! You could probably squeak The Egypt Game in before this month's TIOLI challenges are over, if you wanted to try for the points - I read it in an afternoon.

The Healer's War was my book for the controversial challenge. I gave it 4 1/2 stars, but I noticed that 2 people gave it only 1. I think it's because all the nursing descriptions are so accurate. Not all books work for everyone.

I cleared a few books off the wiki which I know I will not get to this month, but I'm still trying for The Crystal Cave and The Professor and the Madman. There's still more than 3 days left in the month, eh? I had some great reading this month, much of that due to TIOLI.

Karen O.

unfortunately, To Kill a Mockingbird is coming off the banned books challenge. I'm only half way through - listening with my daughter - and I won't be taking her to school the rest of the week.

But I should finish The Chatham School Affair for the Back to School Challenge and Little Big World: Collecting Louis Marx for the LT challenge.

I've removed The Little White Horse from the challenge list for this month - no way I'll get to it and finish Huckleberry Finn before month-end.

I've removed my last hoped for read from the wiki (Red Earth and Pouring Rain by Vikram Chandra) which was in the Chunkster category as I haven't even started it yet so doubt if I would finish it by the end of the month.

So I've read 14 books for this month's TIOLI:-
(* = Favourite reads of the month)

Challenge #1: Read a book with the first LibraryThing Three-Letter Combo in its Title
Incendiary - Chris Cleave

Challenge #3: Read a book with a Building in its Title
I Capture the Castle - Dodie Smith
In This House of Brede - Rumer Godden *

Challenge #4: Read a book with North, South, East or West in the title
Let the Northern Lights Erase Your Name - Vendela Vida
Northanger Abbey - Jane Austen

Challenge #5: Back to School: Read a book with an educational setting or about education
Gentlemen & Players - Joanne Harris *

Challenge #10: Read a "Chunkster": a book with 480 pages or more.
Children of God - Mary Doria Russell *
The Passage - Justin Cronin

Challenge #11: Read a book with a paranormal being
Rusalka - C. J. Cherryh

Challenge #12: Read a Controversial Book
Vita Brevis : A Letter to St. Augustine - Jostein Gaarder

Challenge #15: Once Upon A Time - Read a book that retells a fairy tale or myth
The Penelopiad - Margaret Atwood
Till We Have Faces : A Myth Retold - C. S. Lewis *

Challenge #17: I've Got You Babe - Read a book with a possessive apostrophe in the title
Mao's Last Dancer - Li Cunxin
The Memory Keeper's Daughter - Kim Edwards

When WILL we begin October's TIOLI? Last month, with 31 days in the month, we started on the 27th. This month, we've got 30 days and will start at ???

I'm reading my 10th TIOLI for September, Searching for God Knows What by Donald Miller and hope to finish it today. It's ok but I liked Blue Like Jazz better.

>36 lindapanzo: It's over here.

#37 Thanks for the info. I must've missed the announcement.

The challenges are all looking pretty tempting! This is one of my favorite parts of TIOLI--finding the right book for the right challenge!

Karen O.

Have been cleaning up my TIOLI September books. Now I've finished The Case of the Missing Books -- another controversial book that just turned out to be bad -- I'm polishing off Team of Rivals, a chunkster I've been reading all month. I hope to finish three others by Friday morning -- Telling Tales by Ann Cleeves, White Noise by Don DeLillo, and The Master of Verona by David Blixt.

cleaning up my TIOLI September books.

A good idea!

To everyone: Finish up reading your September books now and then delete them from the September wiki if not done by 12 midnight September 30. If they will fit in October's challenges, place them there. If not, oh, well! :D

A note to TIOLI newbies: Do not start posting "Reading" or COMPLETED" on October's thread until we reach October (which is not to say that you can't be reading those books). It's just that the October wiki is not "active" or "live" until the month of September is over.

An FYI: Although both wiki pages have been set up for October, you may still introduce your challenge if you have not yet done so. Just squeeze it in the end (on page 2 of the October wiki). I guarantee it'll fit and you'll get some takers!

A reminder: Be sure that your challenges are clear to prospective challengers. Use the main October thread to explain in detail what you want. If challengers do not understand your challenge, they'll skip it completely!

To keep in mind: Each "owner" of a challenge should "tend" his challenge. That means keeping the entries in alphabetical order, adding asterisks for matching books, and being sure the information is entered in the correct form. Links are not mandatory.

You may also add an optional separate thread related to your challenge which I will later link to Message #1 of the main October thread.

If you have any questions, please ask.

Finished The Chatham School Affair by Thomas Cook. It was fantastic - far better than I had anticipated. It's kind of a mystery (which I have been shying away from lately) but done in such a way that the narration is from the current time looking back to the events of the school year in the 20's. Each time we flashback, a little more of the story comes out, with brilliant uses of foreshadowing in very subtle ways. Not until the last chapter does the complete story finally flesh out - and it's not what you would think. If it hadn't been for the Back to School Challenge, I probably never would have picked this up.

Now I have to finish Little Big World: Collecting Louis Marx before tomorrow - I hate that one as much as I loved Chatham School, but it's an ER and I want to write my review.

I just finished Five Children and It which I noticed someone else was rereading for the Paranormal being challenge. Didn't write it down before because iddn't think I'd finish this month. Fancied some Nesbit after The Children's Book.

Thanks Zoe, now I can read another Nesbit for October TIOLI (old fashioned books)

Just finished my Chunkster Challenge book - The Berlin Wall by Frederick Taylor, 668 pages. 1 day to spare! I gave it 4 stars, 5 for the content and 3 (just) for the writing, which drove me nuts. Will write a review tomorrow. If anyone else on LT is planning a trip to Berlin, I recommend it.

#43 - I love E. Nesbit and I think Five Children and It is my favorite, although I really like The Woodbegoods and The Railway Children as well. My children have enjoyed the film (2 yrs ago?) made of Five Children and It. It is pretty true to the book. There is also a film of The Railway Children that was well done. We have read the books aloud then watched the films. Family fun.
I had a hard time getting into The Children's Book I quit after about 50 pp. Did you have any trouble getting into it? Should I give it another 50 pp? I really liked Possession.

I've finished my last September book with an hour to spare before the month ends here in NZ. Jan de Hartog's The Inspector would have probably stayed on my tbr pile for a few more years if it hadn't met the criteria for the 'Club Read Books with Three Criteria Challenge', a very enjoyable read that made the 1960 New York Bestseller list. Comments on my thread in the morning.
Sorry flissp, no shared read for Baba Yaga Laid an Egg, I'm having to take the 'Leave It' option and remove it from the wiki.

I finally finished another chunkster for Challenge #10, The Colony of Unrequited Dreams. It was a good book totally wasted on me in my state of preoccupation with a new granddaughter. I should have been reading something very light instead. I'll put a few comments on my thread when I get time and will leave the reviewing to those able to do it justice.

I did discover in looking over the wikis that I had neglected to mark Dreaming in Chinese as finished. I had to remove my first book ever -- The Things They Carried. I've heard such good things about this one, I didn't want to rush through it. No one else was reading it so no points were lost.

--> 47

Oh, no! The Things They Carried deserves to be read, TIOLI or non-TIOLI. It won't take long. Tim O'Brien just happens to be one of my favorite authors, by the way, and this book is amazing. You're of the age (!) to appreciate its contents. :)

ETA: ...which reminds me that I have a copy of In the Lake of the Woods, by none other than Tim O'Brien, which *does* fit an October TIOLI category. Thx!! :D

>48 SqueakyChu:: Oh, I definitely will read Things They Carried; I just didn't want to try and speed read the entire book in a 36-hour period, especially since my reading is limited to 20 page stretches these days. I may leave it here in Texas for my son to read. He picked it up and started it already. But I will get it back and read it soon.

I just didn't want to try and speed read the entire book

That's the way I feel about The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Theoretically, or maybe that's physically, I could finish it tonight, but I find myself lingering over episodes and taking time to think and absorb. There is such sadness in the book, and such cruelty. Huck is a great observer, not taking sides (most of the time), conveying what he sees and what people do.

So I won't rush it. I have until next Tuesday to finish it for my face-to-face book club meeting, and I'll remove it from the wiki and take my time.

This was the first time I've participated in the TIOLI challenge. Only one of my TBR books fit into any of the challenges, so that's the one I posted. And I'm glad I did. I almost gave up on it a couple of times, but knowing that I'd already listed it here is what kept me going. Turned out to be a pretty good book. Death in the Garden by Elizabeth Ironside for challenge #1.

#51 Sandy, how about Mrs Bridge? That would fit under the title challenge.

#52 You're right - I'm listing it now!

Finished one and moving one to October. September just flew by!

I didn't manage any TIOLIs in September - or August. I think I got carried away too much in previous months, until it took over all my reading and got to be too much. In keeping with the spirit of the title, first I 'took it' and then I 'left it' for a while.

Will have a look at the October list and see if I can work in just one or two this coming month.

I have 18 pages left on a book that fits the N,S,E,W Challenge. Hope I can finish it tonight. I may not be able to post it until tomorrow afternoon if I do. Can I do that Madeline, or are you cutting things of at midnight?

Finished White Noise last night; am likely to wrap up both Telling Tales by Ann Cleeves and To the Lighthouse by midnight tonight. Anything else will have to be dropped -- or punted over into an October challenge!

My thoughts

It makes me feel bad to see many of you trying to rush through reads to get them finished before the end of September midnight. I'd encourage the bulk of you, in the future, to try to limit your TIOLI reads to those books you can comfortably finish within the month and then use the interim period (end of one month into beginning of next month) for other books.

Alternatively, if you run out of time, so what? Finish those books you like and drop the others. If they fit into next month's challenge, put them there. If not, so what again? Reading should be done at your own pace when and how you like to do it. Deadlines and requirements were really not meant to be part of this challenge.

I mostly have the deadline for stats and to keep the challenges from overlapping.

No one should be forced to speed read to meet a deadline. To me, that takes away from the fun of reading. :(

I completely agree! I didn't get as much read this month as I would have liked, but really, who's counting? For next month, I've only signed up for two books and probably won't sign up for more until I've finished those. Just a little strategy I'm using to keep my sanity.

I did finished The Year of Magical Thinking for the main challenge, and Chanda's Secrets for my own apostrophe challenge, both of which were depressing but really good. I had actually wanted to read more books in my own category (I came up with the idea after noticing how many of my books fit in the patter of the Somebody's Something), but I was reading Chanda's Secrets almost exclusively during silent reading time at my school, so it took awhile.

On a positive note, I really enjoyed seeing who posted what for my challenge, and got a little kick out of being a small part of other's reading choices. While I won't be posting another challenge for Oct, it's definitely something I'd like to do again so I'm glad we'll be keeping things open to all participants, at least for now.

Finished! Review tomorrow.

I liberally list books -- and then toss many of them out again later, as I find I'm not interested in reading them yet. When I do race to finish something, it's largely because if I put it down, I KNOW it will weeks or months before I pick it up again, and it will be yet another book staring at me in silent reproach. For instance, White Noise I have been trying to read since January -- the TIOLI gave me the nudge to get across the finish line (even if it was only 24 hours or so before Oct 1 arrived!) Ditto To the Lighthouse, which I had originally planned to re-read in August, only to stall because I wasn't in the mood.

I never read just to fill in the challenges, but having my 1010 challenge and the TIOLI has helped me broaden my reading, and bring some unexpected books to the fore, and I'm glad of that. For me, listing the books in the wiki is just a way to map out what I might read (and this month that is VERY broad indeed, thanks to the 21st century challenge, which means about 1/2 of my TBR stack, or hundreds of books, are fair game). I can then follow that map -- or not -- in whichever way appeals to me. A book doesn't get into the wiki if it isn't something I really want to read.

I so much agree with you, Chatterbox. I come up with a list of possibilities (usually about half are books I'm looking at already). If I get to the end of the month and know I won't finish them, and don't even want to try to finish them, I just erase them off of the wiki.

The TIOLI is working so well for me--it's so much fun, and I'm reading a lot more, and reading differently. I look for chances to read a book with someone else, and how great is that?!

I'm trying to read a book for each challenge this month, and I've just added my books. I was going to list them all here, but that would be too crazy! Let me just say that I'm really excited about this month's reading!

Karen O.

I finished my last book with 8 hours to go, Marked for the banned books challenge. Then tonight I went to a banned books symposium and heard some great readings. My, we anti-banned books people are pretty neat.

> 56

No cut-off at midnight, Cheli, because midnight happens at different times all around the world! In addition, not everyone has computer access at the time they finish their books. We just use the honor system here.

I will delete books that are not marked "COMPLETED" when I do the monthly stats. That, however, I usually do about two weeks after the end of the month.

Sorry I didn't answer your question earlier...but I saw you did finish your book before midnight! :)

I am much less stressed this month by only listing a book at a time in the wiki so that I'm not frustrated that I can't finish all the books that I want to read when the challenges come out. I'll always want to read more books than there is time available, but at least now I feel better about it. Long live the TIOLI!

That's the spirit, Bonnie. TIOLI is not about NOT reading lots of books. It just supposed to be a way of making that process fun and stress free! Glad you've figured out how to make this work for you.

Clearly, if anyone is stressed* by participating, something's wrong! :(

*P.S. Don't forget about or ignore the "leave it" part of the TIOLI. That's just as important as the "take it" part of this challenge. I know the long menu of TIOLI challenges is tantalizing, but, "Hey!" :)

A Heads Up:

Don't forget, folks! Books on the September 2010 wikis that are not yet marked COMPLETED *must* either be changed to COMPLETED if they were finished before midnight of September 30 or removed from the wiki. There are still a sizable number of books on the wiki either marked Reading or marked by nothing at all. If not updated, they will be removed from the wikis at a later date. You have been duly warned. :)

Hope everyone is already well under way in the October 2010 TIOLI challenges. If not, time to get started!!

First book for October is The Shape of Water, which I am very glad to match to a category for the month, since I was going to read it anyway. An impressive first book in the series, well-written with none of the usual expository establishment ofplace and player that normally mars firsts in series. I look forward to subsequent performances.

Oops - how did I end up back in September???

*gently nudges ffortsa into page 2 of October's thread*