Take It or Leave It Challenge - May 2023 - Page 1

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Take It or Leave It Challenge - May 2023 - Page 1

1SqueakyChu
Abr 26, 2023, 10:47 pm

For those new to this challenge: More info and monthly index can be found in post #1 of this thread or this TIOLI FAQS wiki.


...logo by cyderry

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Your TIOLI challenge for May 2023 is to

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Read a book with a ten-letter (or more) word in the title, sub-title or author's name.
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Rules:
1. You may use a hyphenated word.
2. The word may be in any language (as I know that German has some pretty long words!).

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

2SqueakyChu
Editado: Maio 9, 2023, 10:03 pm

Index of Challenges:

Challenges #1-6
1. Read a book with a ten-letter (or more) word in the title, sub-title or author's name - msg #1
2. Read a book with at least 2 title words that begin with vowels - msg #4
3. The "Read Me a Story" Challenge: Read a biography of one of your favorite authors - msg #3
4. Read a book with a word in the title naming something that can be broken - msg #11
5. Read a book with the word father or daughter in the title, or about a father/daughter relationship - msg #5
6. Read a book whose author has at least 2 of the letters that spell May in their name - msg #12

Challenges #7-12
7. Read a book that has a judgemental adjective in the title - msg #13
8. Read a book in honor of fishing opener - msg #15
9. Rolling challenge: read a book with a colour of the rainbow in the title or that colour cover - msg #18
10. Read a book that would have fit into a Jan to April TIOLI challenge that you participated in - msg #21
11. Read a book about a group of childhood friends - msg #25
12. Read a book with 2 or more words of exactly 5 letters in the title - msg #40

Challenges #13-14
13. Read a book by a foreign author - msg #45
14. Read a book where the title has a word or phrase you don't want to encounter while walking in the woods - msg #53

Please hold your challenge until the June 2023 TIOLI challenge is posted. Thank you.

3alcottacre
Editado: Abr 28, 2023, 7:35 pm

Challenge #3: The "Read Me a Story" Challenge: Read a biography or autobiography of one of your favorite authors

4susanna.fraser
Editado: Abr 26, 2023, 11:46 pm

Challenge #2: "Can I Buy a Vowel?" Read a book where at least two words in the title begin with vowels

Should be self-explanatory, and subtitles count.

5Chatterbox
Abr 26, 2023, 10:59 pm

Challenge #4: Read a book with "father" or "daughter" in the title, or about a father/daughter relationship

No broad dysfunctional families, no sons or mothers in the title, etc. Just as plain vanilla as it sounds.

6Chatterbox
Abr 26, 2023, 11:08 pm

>2 SqueakyChu: LOL, we're front-running the challenge!

7SqueakyChu
Abr 26, 2023, 11:09 pm

>6 Chatterbox: Hahahaha!

8SqueakyChu
Editado: Abr 26, 2023, 11:19 pm

Remember folks! Your challenge number comes from the wiki, not from this main thread!

9SqueakyChu
Editado: Abr 26, 2023, 11:21 pm

>4 susanna.fraser: Can you use subtitles for your challenge?

10susanna.fraser
Abr 26, 2023, 11:46 pm

11Citizenjoyce
Abr 27, 2023, 12:00 am

>5 Chatterbox: Oops, sorry. I beat you to challenge #4.
Challenge #4: Read a book with a word in the title naming something that can be broken
Like a heart or a limb or a plate.
I'll be reading The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls.

12DeltaQueen50
Editado: Abr 27, 2023, 12:41 am

Challenge #6: The Letters M – A – Y spell May. My challenge is to read a book whose author has at least 2 of the letters that spell May in their name.

Please note **The two letters must be adjacent**

Some examples of authors: Ma Jian, Yann Martel, Maya Angelou, Jessica Day George

13quondame
Abr 27, 2023, 1:51 am

Challenge #7: Read a book that has a judgemental adjective in the title

Good, bad or indifferent, your choice but it has to convey some sense of value, moral or esthetic or whatever other qualities are subject to valuing and comparing.

14Citizenjoyce
Editado: Maio 29, 2023, 6:33 pm

My planned reads, I'm loving the challenges so far:
Challenge #1: Read a book with a ten-letter (or more) word in the title, sub-title or author's name - started by SqueakyChu
*✔The Sinister Mystery of the Mesmerizing Girl - Theodora Goss (3.5)
*Space Opera - Catherynne M. Valente - Abandoned
Speculative Los Angeles - Denise Hamilton (3)
Challenge #2: Read a book with at least 2 title words that begin with vowels - started by susanna.fraser
The Book of Form and Emptiness - Ruth Ozeki (3.5)
Challenge #3: The "Read Me a Story" Challenge: Read a biography of one of your favorite authors - started by AlcottAcre
*✔Charles Dickens: A Life - Claire Tomalin (4)
Challenge #4: Read a book with a word in the title naming something that can be broken - started by Citizenjoyce
The Blue Sword - Robin McKinley (3.5)
Fever by Mary Beth Keane (5)
Challenge #5: Read a book with the word father or daughter in the title, or about a father/daughter relationship - started by Chatterbox
*Daughters of Paris - Elisabeth Hobbes
The Glass Castle: A Memoir - Jeannette Walls (5)
*Mussolini's Daughter- Caroline Moorehead
Challenge #6: Read a book whose author has at least 2 of the letters that spell May in their name - started by DeltaQueen
China Dream - Ma Jian
Not Funny: Essays on Life, Comedy, Culture, Et Cetera - Jena Friedman (4)
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid (4)
Challenge #7: Read a book that has a judgemental adjective in the title - started by quondame
The Good Wife of Bath by Karen Brooks
The Indifferent Stars Above: The Harrowing Saga of a Donner Party Bride - Daniel James Brown (5)
Challenge #8: Read a book in honor of the fishing opener- started by Morphidae
Salmon Wars: The Dark Underbelly of Our Favorite Fish - Catherine Collins (5)
What a Fish Knows: The Inner Lives of Our Underwater Cousins - Jonathan Balcombe
Challenge #9: Rolling challenge: read a book with a colour of the rainbow in the title or that colour cover - started by wandering_star
The Dispossessed - Ursula K. Le Guin
Witches Abroad - Terry Pratchett (5)
Challenge #10: Read a book that would have fit into a Jan to April TIOLI challenge that you participated in - started by lindapanzo
Birth: Three Mothers, Nine Months, and Pregnancy in America - Rebecca Grant (4)
Commitment: A novel - Mona Simpson (3)
Foster - Claire Keegan
*✔Hild - Nicola Griffith (3.5)
The Measure - Nikki Erlick (4)
Challenge #11: Read a book about a group of childhood friends - started by lyzard
*✔Girls with Sharp Sticks - Suzanne Young (4)
Challenge #12: Read a book with 2 or more words of 5 letters in the title - started by helenliz
The Woman All Spies Fear: Code Breaker Elizebeth Smith Friedman and Her Hidden Life - Amy Butler Greenfield (4)
Challenge #13: Read a book by a foreign author - started by FAMeulstee
The Dry by Jane Harper (4)
Witchmark - C. L. Polk (3)
Challenge #14: Read a book where the title has a word or phrase you don't want to encounter while walking in the woods - started by streamsong
Tastes Like War: A Memoir - Grace M. Cho (4.5)
We Are a Haunting: A Novel - Tyriek White

15Morphidae
Editado: Abr 28, 2023, 9:37 am

Challenge #8: Read a book in honor of the fishing opener


MrMorphy's rebuilt aluminum bass boat*

This is not normally a topic of interest; however, MrMorphy will be heading out onto Lake Minnetonka in May for the bass fishing opening. The challenge simply popped into my head!

Read a book about fish or fishing.

This would be literally, as in for animal(s,) not figuratively, as in for answers. Any type of fish - whether in a fish tank (pet or display,) river (fresh water,) or ocean (salt water), extinct or modern - is allowable.

- OR -

Read a book about Star Trek or set in the Star Trek Universe.

- OR -

Read a book with all the letters of FISHING in the title, author's full name, and/or series name.

ƸӜƷ.•°*”˜˜”*°•.ƸӜƷ•°*”˜˜”*°•.ƸӜƷ

Please note which of these your book falls under (fishing, Star Trek, or (bold the letters of FISHING) on the wiki.

ƸӜƷ.•°*”˜˜”*°•.ƸӜƷ•°*”˜˜”*°•.ƸӜƷ

* MrMorphy built this from a 70s, plain aluminum 14' boat with no engine. Pulled out near everything but the rivets and built it up to a full bass boat over the winter before last. Got the name in the Star Trek font up a couple of weeks ago.

ƸӜƷ.•°*”˜˜”*°•.ƸӜƷ•°*”˜˜”*°•.ƸӜƷ

Examples:





FISHING

Big Fish by Daniel Wallace

16SqueakyChu
Editado: Abr 27, 2023, 9:19 am

>12 DeltaQueen50: Please check the books listed for your challenge #12 (about MAY). It seems that a few of them might not qualify.

17wandering_star
Abr 27, 2023, 10:22 am

>13 quondame: Would The Bandit Queens count for this? (with Bandit as the adjective)

18wandering_star
Abr 27, 2023, 10:27 am

Challenge #9: Rolling challenge: read a book with a colour of the rainbow in the title or that colour cover

Hopefully straightforward. For the colour in the title it needs to be an exact match. For the colour of the cover, I trust you!

19alcottacre
Abr 27, 2023, 11:11 am

>18 wandering_star: Can it be an embedded word? I was thinking of reading Greenwood.

20DeltaQueen50
Editado: Abr 27, 2023, 1:04 pm

>14 Citizenjoyce: Joyce, I've had to remove your two entries from Challenge #6 as the letters must be adjacent to each other.

21lindapanzo
Editado: Abr 27, 2023, 2:10 pm

Challenge #10: Read a book that would have fit into a Jan to April TIOLI challenge that you participated in

Please identify the challenge.

Look back at the TIOLI challenges for the first four months of the year and see which ones you've participated in and then pick a book that would've fit into one of those challenges. So, in March, if you did not include a book for the challenge to read a book with a title that sounds naughty but isn't, you could not use that for this challenge.

But, say you did read a book for the March challenge to read a book that you did not purchase, you could put a book you did not purchase into this challenge (but be sure to identify the challenge).

Note that you didn't have to possess the book when the challenge first came up. For example, I haven't "won" an LT Early Reviewers book in many years but, this month, I did. So that would work for the read a book that you did not purchase challenge (because I read several).

22Morphidae
Abr 27, 2023, 3:11 pm

>15 Morphidae: Challenge 8 info is up!

Sorry this took so long. Been dealing with horrid insomnia, e.g. I've been up all night twice in the last week, and finally fell asleep for a few hours around 7:30am-ish after fighting and giving up on getting the pic uploaded.

I need to do a bug report about the Samsung A51 and LT gallery not getting along.

23wandering_star
Abr 27, 2023, 4:02 pm

>19 alcottacre: Yes, embedded words are fine!

24alcottacre
Abr 27, 2023, 4:20 pm

>23 wandering_star: Great! I took a chance and added the book to the wiki last night :)

25lyzard
Editado: Abr 27, 2023, 7:26 pm

Challenge #11:

Read a book about a group of childhood friends


It can be any kind of book including non-fiction, but it should feature a group rather than a pair. A book featuring the friends as adults qualifies as long as there are significant sections dealing with the characters as children.

ETA: Is is acceptable to have siblings within the group but this should not be entirely a family group.

26lyzard
Abr 27, 2023, 6:31 pm

>15 Morphidae:

Too late for me as I have already read it, but anyone struggling for a fishing book could try The Mystery Of Swordfish Reef by Arthur Upfield, part of his 'Bony' series.

27alcottacre
Abr 27, 2023, 6:42 pm

>25 lyzard: Can these friends be siblings? I am thinking along the lines of the Boxcar Children or Enid Blyton's The Famous Five.

28Citizenjoyce
Abr 27, 2023, 7:09 pm

>20 DeltaQueen50: I've never been diagnosed with ADHD, but once again I ignored the fine print. Sorry.

29alcottacre
Abr 27, 2023, 7:10 pm

>28 Citizenjoyce: Happens to me all the time, Joyce. You are not alone!

30lyzard
Abr 27, 2023, 7:25 pm

>27 alcottacre:

Some siblings in the group is fine (as per the Famous Five) but they should not all be siblings. I will clarify that above.

31alcottacre
Abr 27, 2023, 7:36 pm

>30 lyzard: OK, thanks, Liz!

32DeltaQueen50
Abr 27, 2023, 8:48 pm

>28 Citizenjoyce: I've been known to misread the odd challenge or two as well! I hope you are able to find a home for your books, Joyce.

33SqueakyChu
Abr 27, 2023, 8:49 pm

>15 Morphidae: Very cool about the bass fishing boat. I haven't been bass fishing for years and years. I wish him fun, success, and some good fish meals.

34Citizenjoyce
Abr 27, 2023, 9:29 pm

>32 DeltaQueen50: Thanks for the support. I had no problem finding another challenge.

35quondame
Abr 27, 2023, 10:03 pm

>17 wandering_star: It's pushing it, but OK.

36Chatterbox
Abr 28, 2023, 2:14 am

I'm starting to realize how few books I have with adjectives in the title at all! Judgemental words are there -- but they tend to be nouns or adverbs. And when I stumble across an adjective, it tends to be descriptive. Oh well...

37wandering_star
Abr 28, 2023, 8:36 am

>35 quondame: thank you!

38streamsong
Abr 28, 2023, 10:46 am

>3 alcottacre: Stasia, is an autobiography OK? I'd like to read Dust Tracks On a Road but it could also fit into other challenges.

39FAMeulstee
Abr 28, 2023, 11:06 am

>13 quondame: Not sure about what adjectives are.

I have a Dutch book (translated from Armenian) 'De eigenwijze helden van Sassoen', that would translate as 'The stubborn heroes of Sassun' and/or another possible book: 'Dangerous Liasons'.
Would they qualify?

40Helenliz
Editado: Maio 9, 2023, 4:19 pm

I'm feeling uninspired, this was all I could see that linked several of my next planned reads

Challenge #12: Read a book with 2 or more words of exactly 5 letters in the title

You may use subtitles, you just need 2 or more words of 5 letters to fit this.

41countrylife
Abr 28, 2023, 11:55 am

>40 Helenliz: Exactly 5 letters or at least 5 letters?

42Helenliz
Abr 28, 2023, 12:01 pm

>41 countrylife: 2 words of exactly 5 letters. There may be other words that have different numbers of letters.

43Chatterbox
Abr 28, 2023, 2:06 pm

>13 quondame: Is "delicious" enough of a judgmental/subjective adjective to work??

>39 FAMeulstee: Both "stubborn" and "dangerous" are adjectives. I ran adjective through Google translate and came up with "bijvoeglijk naamwoord" in Dutch -- does that help? In terms of a definition -- it's a word used to describe or modify a noun. So, words like old, new, scary, blue, red, tall, rainy, hot, sweet, sour, good, healthy, suspicious, excellent, wicked, etc. etc.

44FAMeulstee
Abr 28, 2023, 2:48 pm

>43 Chatterbox: Thank you, Suzanne. Yes 'bijvoegelijk naamwoord' does help. And think they are both judgemental.

45FAMeulstee
Editado: Abr 28, 2023, 3:04 pm

Challenge #13: Read a book by a foreign author

Any author who is not an inhabitant from the country where you are currently living. Name the country where the author is from.

46quondame
Abr 28, 2023, 3:03 pm

>39 FAMeulstee: Dangerous yes, stubborn as well.

47quondame
Abr 28, 2023, 3:05 pm

>43 Chatterbox: Of course, delicious is often a matter of opinion or judgement.

48FAMeulstee
Abr 28, 2023, 3:05 pm

>45 FAMeulstee: Thanks, I will put them in your challenge.

49alcottacre
Abr 28, 2023, 7:31 pm

>38 streamsong: That is just fine, Janet. I will update the challenge to indicate that autobiographies are also acceptable. Thank you for pointing that out!

50alcottacre
Abr 28, 2023, 7:34 pm

>45 FAMeulstee: With that challenge, we have tied April for the number of challenges in May. Come on, people, we can do better!!

51dallenbaugh
Editado: Abr 29, 2023, 10:48 am

Mensagem removida pelo autor.

52streamsong
Abr 29, 2023, 1:11 pm

>49 alcottacre: Thank you, Stasia! I'll add it there.

53streamsong
Abr 29, 2023, 1:13 pm

Hooray! It's starting to look like spring and it's time to enjoy some nature!

But....

Challenge #14: Read a book where the title has a word or phrase you don't want to encounter while walking in the woods

Embedded words OK.

Have fun!

54alcottacre
Abr 29, 2023, 5:50 pm

>52 streamsong: No problem, Janet. I was going to do a shared read of that one until I discovered that despite owning several of her books, Dust Tracks is not one of them!

>53 streamsong: Woot! More than 13 challenges for May!!

55elkiedee
Abr 30, 2023, 9:50 am

>39 FAMeulstee: I think you made a pretty good guess at what adjectives are. There's probably a better definition but they are words used to describe nouns, so ''stubborn''' describes heroes and ''dangerous" describes liaisons. And "judgemental" describes the noun "adjective"!

56jeanned
Maio 1, 2023, 2:58 pm

I've listed the human-plotted but AI-written murder mystery Death of an Author in Challenge #13 should anyone be curious and want to join me.

57Matke
Editado: Maio 1, 2023, 3:02 pm

I never realized how many nine-letter words there are in English.

58SqueakyChu
Maio 1, 2023, 3:48 pm

59Citizenjoyce
Maio 1, 2023, 7:07 pm

>57 Matke: Tantalizingly close.

60Chatterbox
Maio 2, 2023, 12:29 am

>57 Matke: I know; an entirely new source of stress in my life!!

61SqueakyChu
Editado: Maio 2, 2023, 8:33 pm

>60 Chatterbox: You're too funny! :D

62Chatterbox
Maio 3, 2023, 7:58 pm

For Linda's challenge to read a book that would have fit into a challenge you participated in earlier this year, I decided to share a list of all those challenges, as a springtime gift to anyone else looking for a place to house another May read...

January Challenges:
1. Read a book (F or NF) set in Tokyo, Hiroshima, Osaka, Kyoto, or Numazu
2. Read a book in the public domain
3. Read a book that came into your possession in 2022
4. Read a book with a character who gardens or loves plants
5. Read or Skim a reference book
6. Read a book listed on the Millions "most anticipated" lists during the pandemic years (2020-2022)
7. Read a book where the author uses initials instead of a first and second name
8. Read a book with the name of a famous leader in the title or author's name
9. Read a book where at least TWO title words and/or author names start with R 10. Read a book for the Life Balance Wheel Semi-Rolling Challenge
11. Read a book set in, or about, the 1920s
12. Read a book on a best of 2022 list
13. Read a book of swashbuckling adventure
14. Read the first, second, and/or third book of a trilogy
15. Read a book by an author in 2023 who you read a book written by in 2022
16. Read a book with the three letters of "one" in the title and/or the author's name
17. Read a work of fiction by an author born in North Africa
18. Read a book related to ending

February Challenges:
1. Read a book with a body part in the title
2. Read a book whose first letter of its title fits into the following Rolling Challenge – based on “Be My Valentine”
3. Read a book with a title that pays homage to Cole Porter's "Night and Day"
4. Read a book about twins, or told from 2 POV or has a word indicating 2 in the title
5. Read a book for the Alphabetical Verbs rolling challenge
6. Read a book with the numbers 6 and 0 in the ISBN
7. The Stendahl Challenge - Read a book with either the word “Red” or “Black” in the title proper
8. Read a classic whose adaptation into a movie or play you've seen
9. Read a book with an animal in its title AND that animal on its cover
10. Read a book with something you'd find on Old MacDonald's Farm in the title or author's name
11. Read a book translated from the Portuguese or written in Portuguese
12. Read a book where the first two words in the title begin with the same letter
13. Read a book with at least two one-syllable words in the title (excludes a, an, the, and, or)
14. Read a book with a connection to a book you read in 2022
15. Read a book with a person's name on the page # matching the number of books you read last year
16. Read a book written from a non-human perspective
17. Read a short story
18. Read a Western

March challenges:
1. Read a book with the word "happy", its synonym, or its antonym in the title
2. Read a book by an author that you have read before and given 4 or more stars to
3. Read a book which you did not purchase
4. Read a book with a nationality or ethnicity in the title or author's name
5. Read a book with a word dividable into two words in the title
6. Read a book with a word meaning "all" or "nothing" in the title or author's name
7. Read a book whose title or author's name includes the words green, white or orange
8. Read a book with a title containing two opposite ideas, actions or places
9. Read a book that is the basis of a lesser-known film OR a lesser-known book that is the basis of a film
10. Read a book set in the nineteenth century or before with characters of colour
11. Read a book where the title sounds naughty but isn't
12. Read a book that has been criticised, banned or burnt
13. Read a book with settings on two or more countries
14. Read a book with a word in the title that has a connection with walking/hiking
15. Read a Debut Adult Novel by an Author born in Africa
16. Read a book about Sentient Things

April Challenges:
1. Read a nonfiction book concerning a person about whom you want to learn more -
2. Read a book with trees or flowers on the cover or with the name of a tree or flower in the title or author's name
3. Read a book with a one word title
4. Read a book that has the word “bird” in the title
5. Read a NF book about either a specific ocean liner (Titanic, Lusitania, Empress of Ireland, Andrea Doria, for example) or ocean liners in general
6. Read a book having something to do with age or aging
7. Read a book that shares at least one word with the first listed title
8. Read a book that involves sports
9. Read a book with a word/phrase first used in the year you were born in the title, author's name, text, or tag
10. Read a book by a female author with a female protagonist
11. Read a book by an author of whose oeuvre you have already read 23%
12. APRIL SHOWERS rolling challenge
13. Read a book with a 4 in the total number of page

63Citizenjoyce
Maio 4, 2023, 4:47 am

>62 Chatterbox: Wow, thanks. That's so helpful.

64alcottacre
Maio 5, 2023, 11:38 am

Well I for one was hoping for at least one more challenge this month! 15 just sounds right. Anybody? :)

65SqueakyChu
Maio 5, 2023, 2:35 pm

>64 alcottacre: Time’s up for May. Try again for June.

66alcottacre777
Maio 5, 2023, 9:40 pm

>65 SqueakyChu: I knew the window would close today. I was hoping that someone would chime in with one more!

67Helenliz
Maio 9, 2023, 4:20 pm

>40 Helenliz: I've updated my challenge title slightly, to add the word exactly. I've also noted 3 books that don't meet the challenge requirements.

68Citizenjoyce
Maio 9, 2023, 7:21 pm

>67 Helenliz: That's a pretty big change at this late date, isn't it?

69elkiedee
Maio 9, 2023, 9:46 pm

>68 Citizenjoyce: I think it's a clarification rather than a change, (at least 5 letters, or 5 or more letters, would have changed the meaning).

70SqueakyChu
Editado: Maio 10, 2023, 5:08 pm

>68 Citizenjoyce: >69 elkiedee: I think the clarification is fine.

The challenge host might have a challenge in mind, but it's not apparent that others don't know exactly the intent of the host until books are listed in error. That's happened to me quite a few times. I'm always on the computer and looking at this website so I simply detect this sooner rather than later.

In addition, I sometimes don't even understand a challenge presented so I look for others to ask questions, or I later do so to prevent others from having trouble understanding an individual challenge.

71Helenliz
Maio 10, 2023, 1:19 am

>68 Citizenjoyce: It's not a change. I was asked if that meant exactly 5 letter words when the challenge was posted and replied at the time that yes, it needs to be 2 words of exactly 5 letters.
Having found 3 titles that don't fit the challenge, I have now added that the challenge title as well as to the descriptive text in the post.

>70 SqueakyChu: that's just it, the books listed that don't fit the description made me add the clarification. Been away for almost a week, so only now just seen that they had been added while I was away.

72SqueakyChu
Maio 10, 2023, 4:03 pm

>71 Helenliz: Thanks for the clarification of the clarification! :)

73Cecilturtle
Maio 11, 2023, 9:29 am

>71 Helenliz: I had misunderstood the "exactly" part. I've taken out my book.

74SqueakyChu
Maio 14, 2023, 11:20 pm

Yay! I did my first-ever sweeplette with TIOLIs #13 and #14. :D

75quondame
Maio 14, 2023, 11:56 pm

76Citizenjoyce
Maio 15, 2023, 12:28 am

>74 SqueakyChu: A great gift to yourself for Mother's Day.

77Matke
Maio 15, 2023, 6:19 am

>74 SqueakyChu: Congratulations! Well done.

78Kristelh
Maio 15, 2023, 7:42 am

>74 SqueakyChu:, Congratulations.

79FAMeulstee
Maio 15, 2023, 9:08 am

>74 SqueakyChu: Congratulations, Madeline.

Sorry, it is not your first sweeplette, you did it before in September 2018 and in December 2019.

80SqueakyChu
Editado: Maio 15, 2023, 10:27 am

>75 quondame: Congratulations, Susan, for doing a sweep in the time it took me to do a 2-book sweeplette! :D

>79 FAMeulstee: I did?! How quickly I forget! It's been so long that I had no recollection of that. We've been doing sweeplettes that long?!

Hey! This one was way better than the 1-book sweeplette I did in 2019, but not *quite* as good as the 6-book sweeplette I did in 2018.

Thanks for keeping track of my accomplishments, Anita! :) Kudos to you!

81FAMeulstee
Maio 15, 2023, 10:36 am

>80 SqueakyChu: Yes, Madeline, I started to keep track of sweeplettes halfway 2018 :-)

82alcottacre
Editado: Maio 15, 2023, 10:47 am

>74 SqueakyChu: Congratulations, Madeline! I do not care if you have done it before, it is still worthy of Congrats.

83SqueakyChu
Editado: Maio 15, 2023, 10:55 am

>75 quondame: >76 Citizenjoyce: >77 Matke: >78 Kristelh: >79 FAMeulstee: >82 alcottacre: Thanks! A sweeplette makes me happy, whether or not it is one book or six. After my lull in reading during the pandemic, I really enjoy going back to real life again as well as being able to focus on and enjoy reading once again.

84FAMeulstee
Maio 15, 2023, 11:10 am

>75 quondame: >80 SqueakyChu: Congratulations on your sweep, Susan.

Susan has been sweeping each month since April 2018! That is five years and two months now!!

85quondame
Maio 15, 2023, 12:33 pm

>80 SqueakyChu: >84 FAMeulstee: Thanks Madeline and Anita. The TIOLI challenges have really broadened my reading.

86lindapanzo
Maio 15, 2023, 2:55 pm

>74 SqueakyChu: Hurray for you, Madeline. Congrats.

87Citizenjoyce
Maio 15, 2023, 2:55 pm

>84 FAMeulstee: Wow! What an accomplishment. The thing I enjoy about sweepers is that, no matter how weird my challenge might be, I know there are a few who are going to do it.

88SqueakyChu
Editado: Maio 15, 2023, 4:01 pm

>86 lindapanzo: Thank you.

>87 Citizenjoyce: The thing I enjoy about sweepers is that, no matter how weird my challenge might be, I know there are a few who are going to do it.

LOL!

89lindapanzo
Maio 15, 2023, 4:22 pm

>87 Citizenjoyce: So true. I could challenge people to read a book about baseball by an author born in March. Not sure there is even such a thing but someone would probably find one.

90quondame
Maio 15, 2023, 6:10 pm

>89 lindapanzo: When people do double challenges I go straight to the information desk in the children's books section of SM library. If I can't find something on Becky's shelves. She's kept lots of books since we bought them for baby and child her. Not the board books, worse luck.......

91alcottacre
Maio 15, 2023, 10:04 pm

>83 SqueakyChu: Yay for enjoying reading again!

>84 FAMeulstee: Wow, that is just awesome!

>85 quondame: Mine too and I am very appreciative of that.

>87 Citizenjoyce: The thing I enjoy about sweepers is that, no matter how weird my challenge might be, I know there are a few who are going to do it. Yep, that is us diehards. I do my best to try and find a book for every challenge, no matter how weird.

92Citizenjoyce
Maio 16, 2023, 12:06 am

>91 alcottacre: And I thank you for that.

93alcottacre
Maio 16, 2023, 9:23 pm

94Chatterbox
Maio 17, 2023, 4:01 pm

>89 lindapanzo: Erm, you'd probably lose me on that one...

95lindapanzo
Maio 17, 2023, 4:20 pm

>94 Chatterbox: I'd probably lose everyone. I wouldn't post it unless there was some availability though.

96SqueakyChu
Maio 24, 2023, 10:51 am

TIOLI Question of the Month:

How much of your books do you read? Not how many, but do read them through cover-to-cover, or do you skip parts? Do you bail, or are you resistent to bailing because you are a "completist"? Do you read Introductions, Epilogues, Acknowledgements, etc.?

97dallenbaugh
Maio 24, 2023, 11:04 am

>96 SqueakyChu: As I age there are more and more books that I don't finish even if I am half way through the book. If I do read the whole book then I read Intros, Epilogues, Acknowledgements, etc.

98Helenliz
Editado: Maio 24, 2023, 11:47 am

>96 SqueakyChu: I'm a very much a completist, I read the introduction, the end notes, acknowledgements, the lot. I will skip an index, because while I'm stupid, I'm not that stupid. I have bailed on one book this year, at ~ page 200 of 600 pages. That's the first in print since 2019.

I have mixed feelings about epilogues. I can think of one that deserves to be ripped out of every copy and poisoned the rest of the book. In contrast there's that frustrated me enormously, for ripping the carpet from under your feet at the last minute, but that is part of the skill of the thing. I read them and then moan about it at length. >:-)

I'm far more willing to bail on an audiobook if the narrator is wrong, the accent doesn't fit or it grates on my ear. That's usually quite a quick decision, within maybe 5 to 10 minutes.

99jeanned
Maio 24, 2023, 2:30 pm

I am a cover-to-cover reader. I haven't bailed on a novel since 2007 (Shot in the Heart). I'll skim the index, glossary, and acknowledgements, but I do like to see which people show up time and again as helping newer authors get started.

100Kristelh
Maio 24, 2023, 2:41 pm

I generally finish a book that I start but recently decided I am not going to read stuff I can't abide unless there is some external compelling need to finish the book.

101PawsforThought
Maio 24, 2023, 4:11 pm

I hardly ever read introductions because I don’t want to be spoiled about books I haven’t read and I don’t want anyone to over-analyse favourite re-reads. Also skip most other extra text bits but will read glossaries and character lists quite carefully.
And I have no issue with dismissing books that don’t grab me fairly immediately- life is too short to read books you don’t like. I won’t have time to read all the books I want to read, why should I sacrifice time on books that I don’t like?

102quondame
Editado: Maio 24, 2023, 4:38 pm

>96 SqueakyChu: It's very hard for me to do what I consider a deep read - every word. I mostly read quickly for sense and know that I'm not absorbing every phrase, but still every page from top to bottom. The less I'm enjoying the read, especially if I don't like the characters, the more lightly I go through the text. With the exception that if I'm pushing myself through a read I do read every word/sentence, I just don't force myself to consider them as I'm reading.

If introductions get too self involved and long I'll skip what I'm not enjoying, the same with acknowledgements and author notes. I dislike study guides but generally like epilogues.

103SqueakyChu
Maio 24, 2023, 7:24 pm

>96 SqueakyChu: Wow! There's quite a difference of what we do for this month's question. Like Paws said, I hardly ever read introductions because I don’t want to be spoiled about books I haven’t read and I don’t want anyone to over-analyse favourite re-read. I hate introductions to books. I don't want an anaysis nor a spoiler before I read something new. I wish that all of those could somehow be addended to the backs of each book!

104susanna.fraser
Maio 24, 2023, 11:49 pm

>96 SqueakyChu: I'm quite open to trying new-to-me authors, but only because I'll happily bail within a few pages if something about the writing or the voice doesn't work for me. The way I see it is that life is too short to read books that don't work for me, and the more time I spend trying to force myself through something I don't like the less time I have to read something else that I'll love.

Whether I skip or skim depends a lot on the genre. With fiction, I feel like I'm reading the whole thing, though I am a fast reader, and in cases where I love a book so much I re-read it, I often discover nuances I missed on my initial read.

I usually at least glance at introductions but don't always read them, especially the dry ones in some nonfiction that just tell you what they're going to tell you, chapter by chapter. I read epilogues because I consider them part of the story. Acknowledgements I usually just skim.

105PawsforThought
Maio 25, 2023, 2:33 am

>104 susanna.fraser: I feel exactly the same about wasting time on things I'm not enjoying.

106Citizenjoyce
Maio 25, 2023, 4:02 am

>96 SqueakyChu: I read the introductions, always the epilogue, usually the glossary unless it seems tedious, and parts of the acknowledgments. I'm glad Sue, Margaret, and Brad liked the book and the author and baked her cookies or let her stay in the guest room, but since I don't know them, I don't care. The older I get, the less time I'll give a book that doesn't grab me. I listen to far more books than I read with my eyes, and I recently almost put aside a book after just a few minutes of listening to the narrator, but since it was recommended by someone I respect, I cringed my way through it.

107FAMeulstee
Maio 25, 2023, 4:27 am

>96 SqueakyChu: A cover-to-cover completist reports here.
Even so stupid to skim through indexes (>98 Helenliz:), where once in a while a word catches my eye, and if I don't remember immediately, I go back to that page to refresh my memory ;-)

I have abandond 6 books since 2008, from over 3,000 books read. I only quit when I can't take the story, or in one case a kind of Google-translation that made no sense at all in Dutch. I am incurable optimistic with reading, I always think the book might get better towards the end.

108Matke
Maio 25, 2023, 8:50 am

>96 SqueakyChu: Mostly a completist here. I read the intros after I read the book. In nonfiction, I often turn to the footnotes first, just to get a feel for the research that’s been done. Glossaries I check to see if I need them, before I start the actual book.

All that said, I’ve become much more comfortable with dnf’ing a book that simp'y doesn’t work for me, although that number remains very small relative to my total reading.

I’ve put books down for weeks or months and gone back to finish them. I’ll madly skim a poorly-written mystery just to see how it worked out.

I guess, as with so many things, it all depends.

109wandering_star
Maio 25, 2023, 10:59 am

>96 SqueakyChu: I have no issue with giving up on a book if it's not working for me, although I have a small sub-category of books I may go back to in a different mood. My thinking is that I can't possible read all the books in the world that I would actually enjoy, so there is no point pushing through with books I am not enjoying. I also find LT reviews very helpful for this - if something is annoying me about a book I often check to see if others have felt the same and if it's something which continues through the book.

I usually start at the beginning and read forwards from there, although if it becomes clear that an introduction is going to give away too much of the story (WHY?) then I will read that at the end. I am fond of acknowledgements largely to see what other writers the author namechecks.

110Helenliz
Maio 25, 2023, 4:45 pm

>107 FAMeulstee: I fall between the optimistic and thinking that this is a prizewinner/noteworthy book, maybe it's me missing something - maybe it will click if I push on. It doesn't always. I know I never need to read Iris Murdoch or Martin Amis ever again (amongst others)

A question for those that don't bail on books often - is that because you pick things you think you know you will like, pick things that you think you might like, pick things from certain genre, or are just a bit of a masochist/hate to be beaten (other descriptions apply)?

I have a pretty broad reading comfort zone and would be hard pressed to name a favourite genre. I'll happily read new authors, but I almost never read thrilllers/horror, fantasy or sci fi, as I know those usually either give me the willies or drive me nuts with the poor grasp of basic scientific principles (apart from Pratchett's Discworld, which I adore - for every rule an exception). I don't have a kindle, so the self publish route is not one I ever go down. So while I almost never bail, I rarely read something so far out of my comfort zone that not finishing is a significant risk.

111elkiedee
Editado: Maio 25, 2023, 9:28 pm

I think a couple of times recently I've started to read a book and then realised in one case that I'd picked up book #3 in a series rather than book #2. I also borrowed a couple of books from the library before realising that they might be linked to another book by the same author. I read a few pages of one of them, and that made me realise that I had a book by a different author in the library TBR. All 4 books, 2 by Gill Hornby and 2 by Natalie Jenner, weren't linked to each other but had a link to books by or about Jane Austen, and I try to avoid excessive similarity of theme and setting. Ideally only one book at a time to be Austen related or set during WWII/WWI: it simply gets too confusing/strange otherwise.

In 2006 in the early stages of my first pregnancy I put down a novel because suddenly the subject matter was a bit too disturbing, and read a different crime novel with some violence but without an abused child as a major character!

I only hate a very small number of the books I read and I think I carried on reading the ones I can think of to the bitter end - two were boring, one was just nasty and spiteful, and one was well written but the story and the main character's actions were too WTF even for me.

There are books I simply haven't attempted to read because I think I would struggle too much - I've enjoyed several books by Lucy Ellman but am really put off her most recent Booker listed novel by the idea of it being one sentence over hundreds of pages. I don't mind whether or not an author uses speech marks but I do have problems with writing that doesn't have enough natural breaks (full stops and paragraphs, please!)

112SqueakyChu
Maio 25, 2023, 9:50 pm

TIOLI Stats for April 2023

The stats are holding steady even though we only had 13 challenges in April. We completed 313 books of which 53 (17%) were shared reads. We accumulated 28 TIOLI points for an April YTD total of 140.

The most popular book, read by 6 challengers, was Killers of a Certain Age by Deanna Raybourn.

The most popular challenge, with 47 books completed, was the one by lyzard to read a book by a female author with a female protagonist.

The challenges with the most TIOLI points, both with four, were these two:
---the challenge by wandering_star to read a book with trees or flowers on the cover or with the name of a tree or flower in the title or author's name
---the challenge by AlcottAcre to read a NF book about either a specific ocean liner (Titanic, Lusitania, Empress of Ireland, Andrea Doria, for example) or ocean liners in general

Moving forward...

113elkiedee
Maio 25, 2023, 10:06 pm

Generally I'm a completist. I don't normally read indexes though I do use them if they're there when I'm reading non fiction to look up whether people/events get a mention. I've compiled indexes myself and I have commented a couple of times as a book reviewer on a non fiction book which didn't have one. A few years ago I was disappointed to be sent a review copy of a book which was missing quite a lot of the content.

If I'm reading a book with endnotes, whether non fiction or reprints (such as Oxford World's Classics) I read them, even if they're just brief sources. Some OWC and other classics reprints actually include some detailed and interesting information, though it can feel like quite an effort in some cases - I think the endnotes for the first chapter of To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf were longer than Woolf's original text. And a new Penguin Modern Classics translation of a novel set in and about the GDR (East Germany), Siblings by Brigitte Reimann, is 127 pages of story plus 4 of endnotes that contain a lot of very relevant information and explanation. Finally, I think that done well, endnotes offer a reader the choice about whether, how and when to look them up.

I think this book would have benefited from an introduction or afterword (or both), with more information about the author and the novel for several reasons.

I also love introductions etc that offer a perspective on a writer's work whether from another author or just an interested reader (best of all, someone who is both).

114SqueakyChu
Editado: Maio 25, 2023, 11:14 pm

April 2023 TIOLI Awards!

The Trees Please Me Award goes to AlcottAcre for reading Oleander, Jacaranda: A Childhood Perceived for the challenge by wandering_star to read a book with trees or flowers on the cover or with the name of a tree or flower in the title or author's name. The jacaranda tree became my totally favorite tree after visiting my family in Israel in 2001. Here's the story: At that time, I was helping to embroider a chuppa (a Jewish wedding canopy) for our synagogue. I loved the tree with its purple blossoms so much that I took a piece of its bark and embroidered it "into" the trunk of a tree I was embroidering. Later, my younger son and now daughter-in-law got married under that same wedding canopy.

The Teeny Weeny Award goes to labfs39 for reading Ru for the challenge by quondame to read a book with a one-word title. Not only did this challenger pick a book with a one-word title...but that word only had two letters!

The Guess My Newest Hobby Award goes to DeltaQueen50 for the challenge to read a book that has the word “bird” in the title. Haha! Yes...this challenge also has a story to go with it. For Mother's Day, my daughter got me a bird feeder with a camera in it. The camera takes pictures and videos of birds as they visit the feeder and sends them to my smart phone immediately to view. It is so much fun to do this. I have already posted a few pictures on Instagram under the hashtag #birdsMTG.

The Oh So Lucky Award goes to FAMeulstee for the challenge to read a book with a 4 in the total number of pages. This challenge just happened to be challenge #13...which is my lucky number. Four also happens to be my lucky number because my dad always used to bet on number 4 at the horse races when I was a kid...and win. If he lost, he always told my mom and me that he "broke even". :D In addition, my husband just built and set up his Little Free Library #13 for a former neighbor this week.

Okay. My stories are over. Your turn to add awards and/or stories. :D

115DeltaQueen50
Maio 25, 2023, 10:36 pm

>114 SqueakyChu: Thanks for the Award, Madeline - and enjoy your new hobby!

116wandering_star
Maio 26, 2023, 1:42 am

>114 SqueakyChu: what a beautiful story about the jacaranda bark!

117Helenliz
Editado: Maio 26, 2023, 2:31 am

I'd like to award the Uniquely Late award to AnneDC for reading Thank You for Being Late for my challenge number 7. Apart from the shared reads, this was the only title that matched the word "late". No one matched the word "Pig".

118Citizenjoyce
Maio 26, 2023, 4:48 am

>114 SqueakyChu: my daughter got me a birdfeeder with a camera too for Mother’s Day, but I can’t figure it out. Hopefully we will get together one of these days and she will set it up for me.

119FAMeulstee
Maio 26, 2023, 4:59 am

>114 SqueakyChu: Thanks for the award, Madeline.
13 is also my lucky number, with 3 for all other purposes that require a number under 10 :-)

120SqueakyChu
Editado: Maio 26, 2023, 10:02 am

>118 Citizenjoyce: I agree that the bird cam
is hard to set up. Read and follow the manual carefully. The worst part of the setup for us was that it would not run on the new router for the wi fi in our house. Lucky for us, our older son is a techie who was able to figure out a way for us to do this (for techies: make an alternate wi fi setting out of a 5GHz setup as the cam only runs on a 2.4GHz setup.)

>119 FAMeulstee: I can also use 2 as a backup lucky number. My dad often bet on a 2/4 combination at horse races. Years ago, I went to one horse race for fun (in Towson, Maryland, USA, where I was attending a flower show with a friend). I only bet on one race with number 4…and the horse won! My dad died in 1975 so that was a particularly sweet win. :)

121Kristelh
Maio 26, 2023, 4:00 pm

>110 Helenliz: Helen...

I find that I have a broad range of books/genre's that I like and I don't have to like the characters to like a book. I like books that are more than outposts for journalism or the current ideology but I do appreciate a book with a philosophical statement about life (from Doris Lessing; The Golden Notebook). I do like learning through the reading of a novel but I detest someone using a novel to preach to me. I don't like books that throw sexual details at you. I don't want to read the details of anyone's sex life even fictional. I think good writing doesn't have to do this. I don't like excessive use of profanity in what I am reading. Like you, I dislike having to pick favorite books or genres because I find that these things can change on any given day.

122alcottacre
Maio 26, 2023, 5:43 pm

>112 SqueakyChu: I am very surprised that my challenge for April got even 4 points. I have noticed that there is not a lot of leaning towards NF in the challenges :)

>114 SqueakyChu: I love the stories behind the awards, Madeline! Keep them coming!

123SqueakyChu
Maio 31, 2023, 10:59 am

Housekeeping Day!

Please remove from the May 2023 wiki any book not COMPLETED by 12 midnight tonight (or mark the rolling challenges DNF). Thank you!

124SqueakyChu
Editado: Jun 1, 2023, 7:38 am

I was so proud of my six books read this month along with a sweeplette...but then I see that Susan did two sweeps this month. That is so amazing! Congrats to all the sweepers. I don't know how you do it, but I’m very impressed.

125lyzard
Editado: Maio 31, 2023, 11:57 pm

>124 SqueakyChu:

Congratulations! FYI your numbers beat mine this month, and no sweeps or sweeplettes here. :D

126SqueakyChu
Jun 1, 2023, 12:06 am

>125 lyzard: Thanks, Liz. I recently started using our public library again (maskless), and they have so many good new books. It’s quite an inspiration to read more!

127lyzard
Jun 1, 2023, 12:15 am

>126 SqueakyChu:

Go for it! :)

128quondame
Jun 1, 2023, 1:24 am

>124 SqueakyChu: Thank you, Madeline. I'd rather read than almost anything else, so there's that.

129Helenliz
Jun 1, 2023, 1:49 am

>124 SqueakyChu: a Sweeplette's an achievement in its own right for you - no need for comparisons.
It's not just reading enough books, it's being able to distribute them across 6 challenges. That's the bit that needs some luck or the ability to find something to fit quickly.

>126 SqueakyChu: Excellent. >:-)

130SqueakyChu
Jun 1, 2023, 7:40 am

>129 Helenliz: Mine was a two-book sweeplette, but that was good enough for me!

131bell7
Jun 1, 2023, 7:51 am

>130 SqueakyChu: I'm with you in the two-book sweeplette camp this month, Madeline, if it makes you feel any better 😁

132Helenliz
Jun 1, 2023, 7:52 am

>130 SqueakyChu: >:-) Still excellent.

133SqueakyChu
Editado: Jun 1, 2023, 9:07 am

>132 Helenliz: Thanks, Helen.

>131 bell7: Yay, Mary!!

134streamsong
Jun 1, 2023, 11:38 am

Me too on the two book sweeplette. Also my first.

I loved all the things people came up with for my challenge of what you would *Not* want to see on a walk in the woods. Think of all the grand scary and doomsday novels we could write from that list!

135Citizenjoyce
Jun 1, 2023, 1:12 pm

>126 SqueakyChu: I'm still wearing a mask in public places. I do interviews for a living, and I've noticed in the past 2-3 months about 90 % of the people I talk to say they have had Covid, even the kids. I haven't. I don't know when I'll feel comfortable enough to give up the mask, but it is summer, so maybe soon.

136lindapanzo
Jun 1, 2023, 3:17 pm

>135 Citizenjoyce: The last required mask holdout is our primary care practice. For the first time in over 3 years, when Mom was unwell yesterday, we didn't have to text our arrival at the doctor's office and have a mini physical at the door and wear our masks the entire time. Except for my college niece, none of my family has gotten COVID. I'm feeling like that's going to change now that all precautions have gone by the wayside.

137alcottacre
Jun 1, 2023, 4:00 pm

>124 SqueakyChu: I was so proud of my six books read this month along with a sweeplette

Honestly, I think we should all be proud of however many books we get read in a month. Some people do not read at all!

Congratulations on your 6, Madeline. That is terrific!

138SqueakyChu
Editado: Jun 1, 2023, 4:59 pm

>134 streamsong: Congratulations on your very first sweeplette! :)

>138 SqueakyChu: Thanks, Stasia.

139quondame
Jun 1, 2023, 5:26 pm

>126 SqueakyChu: >135 Citizenjoyce: I see very few people in masks except at the Dr's waiting room. I wear one except when going to sit down meal.