Take It Or Leave It Challenge - August 2017 - Page 1

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

Simple directions for posting to the wiki can be found at the bottom of each month's wiki page.


...logo by cyderry

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I had a lovely trip to Ontario, Canada, this past end of June/beginning of July to celebrate Canada's sesquicentennial. I stayed with jessibud2 (a most kind and gracious hostess) and got to meet torontoc and also see _Zoe_ and radicarian again.

In honor of the 150th anniversary of Canada (July 1, 2017), this is your challenge for August, 2017.

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Read a book whose author was born in Canada without two of the same birth provinces being listed back-to-back in the wiki.

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The wiki list should look like this

(Edited on 7/29/17 for correction: Please INCLUDE "a" and "the" as part of the title's alphabetical order. Thx!

A Complicated Kindness (Manitoba) - Miriam Toews
Fugitive Pieces (Ontario) - Anne Michaels
Losing Eddie (New Brunswick)- Deborah Joy Corey
The Sisters Brothers (British Columbia) - Patrick deWitt
Still Life (Ontario) - Louise Penny

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To further explain....

Note the province in which the Canadian author was born. Try to insert your book into the alphabetical listing on the wiki. If your entry touches (either above or below) the same Canadian province of birth, you may NOT use that book.

It might be challenging to try to understand my challenge, but if you have questions, just ask.

Feel free to ask others for help on the main thread in order to insert a book that does not qualify "just yet". This is all in fun.

Warning: if I see two provinces "touching" in the alphabetical listing, I will disqualify them both...so be careful! :D

Note: If your book has been disqualified and is moved to the bottom of the list, you may move it back up into the listing later if you find a qualifying place for it.

ETA (7/31/17): The words "a" and "the" do count as part of the title in this challenge.

Ideas for books...

On another thread @jessbud2 (my lovely Canadian hostess!) posted this great link for 150 Canadian Books. Look through the list for book ideas for this challenge.

Have fun!

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

1. The August 2017 TIOLI Meter - Optional page on which you may track your TIOLI reading. FYI: This is not meant to be competitive - only fun!
2. Morphidae's List of Previous TIOLI Challenges - You may use this reference (Do a control-F scan) to avoid repeating a previous challenge. If your idea is similar to a previous challenge, just make it unique by adding a new "twist" to it. (Updated 01/05/17)

Wiki Index of Challenges:

Challenges #1-6
1. Read a book whose author was born in Canada without two of the same birth provinces being listed back-to-back in the wiki - msg #1
2. Read a book where one of the main characters is described as being “august” or a synonym thereof listed somewhere in the first chapter - msg #3
3. Read a book with DEATH in the title - msg #6
4. Read a work numbered in the (Melvil) Dewey Decimal System starting with 0xx through 9xx and beginning again - msg #16
5. Read a book with a New Yorker magazine connection - msg #18
6. Read a book featuring student protests or student politics - msg #19

Challenges #7-12
7. Read a book where a name appears in the first complete sentence on page 48 - msg #20
8. Read the next book in the series - msg #22
9. Read a book of at least 450 pages and 4 LT stars - msg #26
10. Read a book with at least two words in the title where all the title words are of one syllable - msg #35
11. Read a non-fiction book written by a woman - msg #41
12. Read a non-series book by an author who has at least three books you've already read - msg #43

Challenges #13-18
13. Read a children's or YA book that was published between 1901 & 1999 - msg #45
14. Read a book with a musical term in the title or author's name - msg #61
15. Read a "wordless" book - msg #82
16. Read a book by one of the authors from the first seven months of this year's American Author Challenge (run by msf59) - msg #87
17. Read a non-Virago Press book by a Virago author - msg #91
18. Read a book with either a wedding or eclipse word or phrase in the title - msg #92

Challenges #19-24
19. Read a book in which somebody is washing clothes - msg #102

Hold your challenge until the September challenges are posted. Thank you!

Challenge #2: Read a book where one of the main characters is described as being “august” or a synonym thereof listed somewhere in the first chapter

Use any of the synonyms for august listed in thesaurus.com http://www.thesaurus.com/browse/august

The word to describe the character must occur in the first chapter. Tell us the word you are using. I'm changing this to finding the word in any part of the book.

>3 dallenbaugh:

We clashed again! My turn to step aside. :)

>3 dallenbaugh: >4 lyzard: You two didn't take any amount of time to find my challenges tonight! Were you both spying on me?!

Not to be morbid or anything, but---

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Challenge #3: Read a book with DEATH in the title

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All variants of "death" allowed - death, dead, die, dying, deceased - plus any euphemisms like "passed on".

However, cause of death is *not* allowed: murdered, shot, accident, etc.

Embedded words allowed.

>5 SqueakyChu:

Always, Madeline! :)

>4 lyzard: I think I might have squeezed in before you as I didn't get any clash message, but if not, thank you for being gracious.

This time I got the editing message, so you beat me fair and square! :)

>6 lyzard: However, cause of death is *not* allowed: murdered, shot, accident, etc.

LOL!

>5 SqueakyChu: Yes I was waiting for you to finish your index of challenges. What does that say about my life away from TIOLI.

>1 SqueakyChu: Argh! First two Canadians I looked up (both from the Canadian Author Challenge) were born elsewhere. Ozeki was born in the States and Coupland was born in Germany on a Canadian Forces Base. I'll keep looking!

eta - another one ! Nationality Canadian but born in Massachusetts.

>1 SqueakyChu: Madeline, I think I understand your challenge and I've added a book to the wiki, but just to be on the safe side, please check it and let me know. I wouldn't want to be responsible for both you and I being disqualified! ;)

>13 DeltaQueen50: I wouldn't want to be responsible for both you and I being disqualified!

LOL!

>13 DeltaQueen50: We're safe! Your entry is good. :)

I alphabetized your entry, though. :D

ETA: I did this in error...so now I changed the rules, but you're still okay! I just confused myself!

++++++++++++++++++++Challenge #4: Rolling Dewey+++++++++++++++

Rolling Dewey: Read a work numbered in the (Melvil) Dewey Decimal System starting with 0xx through 9xx and beginning again.

For example:
Outwitting History (002.075) - Aaron Lansky
It’s All in the Frijoles (170.8968073) - Yolanda Nava
I Am Hutterite (289.0792) - Mary-Ann Kirkby
We Should All Be Feminists (305.42) - Chimamanda Ngozi Adiche

I was thinking how rarely I just wandered through the nonfiction stacks at the library the other day - and then I saw the nifty new LT feature, Your Library in Dewey, which allows you to see, graphically, how your personal library stacks up ala Dewey vs other libraries of a similar size.

To see Your Library in Dewey, use https://www.librarything.com/profile/MEMBERNAME/stats/ddc - if you're logged in, you'll see your info.

For purposes of the Challenge, you may use the Dewey number given to a work here on LT (I understand some are less than accurate, but they still count), the number assigned by the library you use OR any of the numbers that show up for the work on OCLC Classify, which you can find :
http://classify.oclc.org/classify2/ For the life of me, I can't embed this link......

While most libraries shelve them separately, most fiction falls in the 800s and most biography in the 900s.

You may list two books in a row, as long you have an actual intent at that time, of reading both.

I was having so much trouble getting my Challenge posted - everything I did made it worse! I hadn't planned on posting a Challenge for August. Perhaps I shouldn't have tried, lol.

Challenge #5: Read a book with a New Yorker magazine connection

For this challenge, the book can be about the New Yorker magazine itself or about someone who worked there or wrote for them. Books by New Yorker magazine contributors are fine as well. Not surprisingly, this is a very self serving challenge as this is my category challenge category that is lagging

Some New Yorker contributors I'm considering include:

--David Denby
--Malcolm Gladwell
--Juniot Diaz
--Zadie Smith
--David Sedaris
--Jeffrey Toobin
--Ian Frazier

List of current New Yorker contributors includes: http://www.newyorker.com/contributors

List of past New Yorker contributors includes: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_The_New_Yorker_contributors

Challenge #6: Read a book featuring student protests or student politics

This is to mark the passing last month of Nobel Peace Prize winner Liu Xiaobo, who first came to public prominence during the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests.

There are some possibilities here . Linda Grant's Upstairs at the Party would also fit.

Challenge #7: Read a book where a name of a person appears in the first complete sentence of page 48

This is a totally random challenge, I chose page 48 simply because that is the first two numbers of my house address.

Please include on the wiki, (in brackets), the name that appears in the first sentence of page 48 in your book.

>20 DeltaQueen50: Only names of people, or do place names count as well?

This one should appeal to a number of people in here:

====Challenge #8: Read the next book in the series - started by helenliz ====

We all have series we are reading, and they (obviously!) Have to be read in the right order. In this challenge, you may read the next book in any series you have currently ongoing.

You will note that this challenge excludes starting a new series, you need to be reading it already to add it.

In the wiki, please put 3 pieces of information:
Which series the book forms part of,
How you are reading the series - publication order, alphabetical order, plot order, that one is up to you
When you read the previous book in the series.

So my current entry reads as follow:
1. The Nine Tailors (Wimsey books, Publication, June17) - Dorothy L Sayers - helenliz - Reading
Which: The Nine Tailors forms part of the series of books featuring Peter Wimsey.
How: I am reading them in publication order.
When: And I read the previous book (Murder must advertise) in June this year.

Shared reads are allowed, so those people who are not a bit nerdy and don't mind just leaping about in a series may participate.

>22 Helenliz:

Well...THAT looks helpful. :)

ETA: One question: it has to be a series series, not a publisher's series?

>23 lyzard:. I did think you might be on board with that one >:-)

by "publisher's series", you mean a number of books issued by one publisher that may not necessarily be the same author? That would be like reading all the Virago publications in order of publication. I'm sure there are some people (naming no names) who would consider that as a project. Yes, it would count, as long as you can explain it in the wiki without writing an essay!

My eyes lit up when you posted... :D

Yes, I did mean that. Excellent, thanks!

Challenge #9: Read a book of at least 450 pages and 4 LT stars, list pages and stars
I just have to read Lonesome Dove again 843 pages 4.56 stars.
The challenges this month are making my brain hurt.

>16 Dejah_Thoris: I have a book that I think would fit into your challenge, only I can't find what the Dewey number would be. Where, on LT, can that be found, if it has been entered?

>27 Helenliz: I figured this out late last night - check under 'work edition' from the left hand menu on the book page.

or, you can chose one of your 'your books' styles to have the dewey classification in it.

>28 raidergirl3: Excellent, thanks!
Just need a few people to enter books and I can swoop in with mine. >;-)

Before things get too far, did I put Airborn in the right place alphabetically in challenge #1? I was ignoring the A in the next book, or should I not have?

>30 raidergirl3: You did it right. I did it wrong previously! Thank you for seeing that I was disregarding my own rule!! Please note that I just CHANGED that rule. :O

>15 SqueakyChu: I changed my (alphabetical order) rule so that now we must INCLUDE "a" and "the" as part of the title for alphabetical purposes. I see where I made a correction to alphabetical order previously that I should not have at that time. I should probably avoid creating new TIOLI challenges late at night! :D

My thought for the day: I'd better get alphabetical order down pat before I start teaching it to my four-year-old grandson. LOL!

Helpful List:
Go up to message #1 to see a link that I got from jessibud2 for suggested Canadian books to read for my challenge #1.

Challenge #1 is interesting. Someone could have a sweep, for instance, only to be unswept in the event that someone puts a book in the wrong place and their book is disqualified.

>21 jeanned: Sorry I wasn't clear on this - the name must be a proper name of a person - not a place.

EDA: I've edited the challenge to reflect this.

Challenge #10: Read with at least two words in the title where all the title words are of one syllable

Self-explanatory. You may ignore subtitles and series titles. Examples:

Hate to Want You
Not Quite a Wife
Save the Cat
The Way Home

For anyone looking for a book for Challenge 2, I've just run across a description of an "august patient" in Miss Buncle, Married. I will have finished it by the end of July so it won't work for me.

ETA: Nevermind. It's not in the first chapter. :-(

>36 cbl_tn: You probably could have persuaded me to use it. Too bad it is for July.

>16 Dejah_Thoris: Dejah, I wasn't aware of that LT feature. Thanks for bringing it to our attention. The bulk of my library books are 796's or 900's but it'll be fun to see what wishlist books I've got in other areas.

>22 Helenliz: Will you accept a series that's being reread? I'm working my way back through several series at the moment, so your Challenge will prove very handy if rereads qualify....

>27 Helenliz: It's possible to find the LT Melvil Dewey System classification for a work by going to the work page and clicking on 'Work Details." A short way down you'll see "DDC/MDS" followed by the number. I confess, I really like to use OCLC Classify - it often gives me several choices.

>38 lindapanzo: Isn't it cool, Linda? I love the visual display of information. I am skewed heavily 800s and 900s - fiction and history. I'm going to try to read in a few other number ranges this month.

>39 Dejah_Thoris: Yes, that's perfectly allowable, as long as you are re-reading in some order. Seeing I'm currently re-reading the Wimsey series of books myself I can hardly object!

>39 Dejah_Thoris: I had a play with that as well, The most often listed as feature strikes me as a useful one for your challenge. If I miss 3xx, there's always 8xx to hope for!

Challenge #11: Read a non-fiction book written by a woman

>26 Citizenjoyce: "I just have to read Lonesome Dove again ..."

I love bookpeople.

Challenge #12: Read a non-series book by an author who has at least three books you've already read

The book has to be one you haven't read before - no rereads.
Some or all of the previous books you've read can be part of a series, but the one you read for this challenge can't be.

>16 Dejah_Thoris: Such a great challenge! I'd never seen the Your Library in Dewey page. It's so interesting to see the distribution of my books, and to find books in categories I wouldn't have expected. I thought I'd have to wait for the challenge to roll on to another number when I saw "technology" was the next category up, but I actually had quite a few books that qualified under subsections of medicine and home economics. I ended up adding James Herriot, who I never would've guessed could be found under 'technology'. (Technology > Agriculture & Animal Husbandry) :)

Challenge #13: Read a children's or YA book that was published between 1901 & 1999

Lots of classic children's books and early YA to discover and I will accept crossover adult books that get included on children's book lists such as 1001 children's books you must read before you grow up.

from 1900s:
The Tale of Peter Rabbit (1901)
The Violet Fairy Book (1901)
Just so stories (1902)
Five Children and It (1902)
The Call of the Wild (1903)
Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm (1903)
A Little Princess (1905)
The Wonderful Adventures Of Nils And The Further Adventures Of Nils Holgersson (1907)
The Wind in the Willows (1908)
Anne of Green Gables (1908)

More books by the decade here: http://www.whatdowedoallday.com/classic-childrens-books-by-the-decade-1900s/

>45 avatiakh: Woohoo! I have a bookcase full of middle reader/YA books that I've been slowly trying to read through once more before I give them away. This will be motivating. :)

>46 madhatter22: Great! I filled a box with classic children's paperbacks in January with the intention of reading them this year. So far I haven't read one.

>45 avatiakh: You challenge should make for some great stats this month! :D

At the start of the month, if I can, I like to try to fit a book into each challenge. I hope I'll get to them all but that rarely happens.

Challenge #2 (using august or a synonym to describe a main character in the first chapter) is especially challenging. I've been searching using the "look inside the book tool" on Amazon. I bet I've looked at 50 of my books so far but no luck yet.

>49 lindapanzo: Linda, I've been looking for a book to fit Challenge #2 as well. I wouldn't have thought it would have been so difficult!

>50 DeltaQueen50: I've tried to think logically about it. Now I'm looking at mysteries where wealthy and/or famous people might reside. The adjectives tend to be more glowing there.

Kerry Greenwood is always describing Phryne Fisher's lover in majestic terms but not in the first chapter of the next book I want to read in that series, for instance.

ETA: Tired of looking. I've checked out about 100 of my books. I think I'll just skip it.

>51 lindapanzo: On the difficult challenges I let someone else do the work and hope for a shared read. It usually works, though it's not panning out so well this time.

>52 Citizenjoyce: Well, after 100 books, I've given it my best effort. Maybe someone else can come up with something I wouldn't mind reading. I thought for sure that there'd be something in one of the aristocratic sleuths books, but none where I've left off, at least.

I also don't have anything yet for the name in the first full sentence on page 48 but I feel confident that I can come up with something for that.

I have to agree with you all it was tougher than I thought it would be. I could barely find a book myself since I didn't have one in mind when I thought of this challenge. I'll open it up to just finding a synonym in any part of the book. Hope this helps.

I'll change the requirements in >3 dallenbaugh: above.

I don't have something for every challenge yet, but this is the plan for the month:

Challenge #1: Read a book whose author was born in Canada without two of the same birth provinces being listed back-to-back in the wiki - started by SqueakyChu
*✔The Blue Castle - L.M. Montgomery (4)
Challenge #2: Read a book where one of the main characters is described as being “august” or a synonym thereof listed somewhere in the first chapter - started by dallenbaugh
*✔The Penderwicks at Point Mouette - Jeanne Birdsall (4)
Challenge #3: Read a book with DEATH in the title - started by lyzard
✔The Death of Expertise: The Campaign Against Established Knowledge and Why it Matters - Thomas M. Nichols (2.5)
Challenge #4: Rolling Dewey: Read a work numbered in the (Melvil) Dewey Decimal System starting with 0xx through 9xx and beginning again. - started by Dejah_Thoris
✔And the Mountains Echoed - Khaled Hosseini RL Book Club (3.5)
The Genius of Birds - Jennifer Ackerman
Challenge #5: Read a book with a New Yorker magazine connection - started by lindapanzo
*✔Dear Ijeawele: A Feminist Manifesto in Fifteen Suggestions - Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (5)
*✔Swing Time - Zadie Smith (4)
Challenge #6: Read a book featuring student protests or student politics - started by wandering_star
*✔The Devil and Webster - Jean Hanff Korelitz (4)
Etiquette & Espionage - Gail Carriger
Challenge #7: Read a book where a name of a person appears in the first complete sentence on page 48 - started by DeltaQueen
*✔The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams (3.5)
Challenge #8: Read the next book in the series - started by helenliz
✔Ancillary Mercy - Ann Leckie (4)
Challenge #9: Read a book of at least 450 pages and 4 LT stars, list pages and stars - started by Citizenjoyce
✔Lonesome Dove - Larry McMurtry (5)
*✔The Weight of Ink- Rachel Kadish (4.5)
Challenge #10: Read a book with at least two words in the title where all the title words are of one syllable - started by susanna.fraser
✔Our Souls at Night - Kent Haruf (4)
Challenge #11: Read a non-fiction book written by a woman - started by FAMeulstee
#Forensics: What Bugs, Burns, Prints, DNA and More Tell Us About Crime - Val McDermid
✔The Girl from the Metropol Hotel: Growing Up in Communist Russia - Lyudmila Petrushevskaya (3.5)
Challenge #12: Read a non-series book by an author who has at least three books you've already read - started by madhatter22
✔Gwendy's Button Box - Stephen King (4)
*✔You Don't Have to Say You Love Me: A Memoir - Sherman Alexie - Audiobook (4.5)
Challenge #13: Read a children's or YA book that was published between 1901 & 1999 - started by avatiakh
*✔Blubber - Judy Blume (4.5)
Challenge #14: Read a book with a musical term in the title or author's name - started by cbl_tn
*✔The Darkest Part of the Forest - Holly Black (3.5)
Challenge #15: Read a "wordless" book - started by fuzzi
*✔Quest - Aaron Becker - Picture Book (4)
*✔Return - Aaron Becker - Picture Book (4)
Challenge #16: Read a book by one of the authors from the first seven months of this year's American Author Challenge (run by msf59) - started by klobrien2
✔Phenomenal Woman: Four Poems Celebrating Women - Maya Angelou - paper (5)
Challenge #17: Read a non-Virago Press book by a Virago author - started by LizzieD
✔The Solitary Summer by Elizabeth von Arnim - Nook (3.5)
Challenge #18: Read a book with either a wedding or eclipse word or phrase in the title - started by countrylife
*✔American Eclipse: A Nation's Epic Race to Catch the Shadow of the Moon - David Baron
✔Ginny Moon: A Novel - Benjamin Ludwig (4.5)
*Oh, Money! Money! - Eleanor H. Porter - Kindle
Challenge #19: read a book in which somebody is washing clothes - Started by paulstalder
*✔The Orphan Mother - Robert Hicks (4.5)

>54 dallenbaugh: Please don't change it just for me.

I can recall a number of mysteries in which a character had an aristocratic nose and the like. Just not in the ones I have next in line. Lord Peter Wimsey, for one.

>56 lindapanzo: Not just for you but also for Madeline. Gotta keep those numbers up so she keeps going with TIOLI. And I really didn't mean to make it so hard, I just wanted to use the term "august" somehow.

Plus remember there are five pages of synonyms for "august" at http://www.thesaurus.com/browse/august

Yipee! I've found a book for Challenge #2, the main character is described as having an "aristocratic" appearance and this appears in Chapter 1. I missed this one before as I had originally planned on reading The Salt Road in July, but ran out of time to finish it. I had already listed it in another challenge, but now I will move it.

>57 dallenbaugh: I love hard challenges! I'd prefer them harder rather than easier. Surely you must know that by now.

I'm not going anywhere. The TIOLI challenges will continue at least through 2018. I like to take a poll at the end of the year simply to see how much interest remains. I think we have continued interest. More important than the TIOLI points are the numbers of challengers who actively participate. Recently we've seen the return of some who have left us for a while. Things are looking good. I must say that we who remain these days are really HARD CORE TIOLI challengers. :D

About changing a challenge after it's posted...
If you can talk the host or hostess into changing it, that's fine. However, the final decision comes from the challenge host or hostess.

>59 SqueakyChu: Thanks for clarifying that Madeline. I do think my challenge will still be hard even though I have broadened it, but I will take your views into consideration for further challenges.

Challenge #14 - Read a book with a musical term in the title or author's name

Embedded words are fine.

Okay...here's where my challenge #1 gets tricky. I changed the challenge once to include the words "a" and "the" in the alphabetical listing. I'm not going to go back and change it again. Therefore, what might have seemed as the correct alphabetical order on the wiki for my challenge was not. I now disqualified two books. See what you can do to fix this. You can enlist the aid of others.

Note: I am watching with eagle eyes! :)

Word of Warning: An incorrect entry can disqualify someone else's book!

Oh, no! Watch the listing carefully!

>62 SqueakyChu: We will have to be on our toes!!

Judy, do you want to put yours back in? I can put the new Louise Penny in the next in the series challenge, if need be.

>62 SqueakyChu: Oh poop! Why did I just know that one of them would be mine. Linda, our titles are quite far apart mine being an A and yours being a G so hopefully someone will come along with a title that fits in between and the author isn't from Ontario!

>63 lindapanzo: We posted at the same time. If you are ok with changing or moving your book that would be great.

>63 lindapanzo: Do I hear of a book with a starting letter between A and G? Now is the time to jump in! :D

>64 DeltaQueen50: One interesting thing I've learned is that some authors I think of as Canadian authors weren't actually born there. Peter Robinson and Maureen Jennings spring to mind.

Not finding many authors from BC or Sask.

>67 lindapanzo: One interesting thing I've learned is that some authors I think of as Canadian authors weren't actually born there

I found that also makes my challenge interesting.

Another challenge to my own challenge is that an author who lives and becomes famous in one province may not have been born in that province. Please be sure you are using the author's birth province when you do your listing.

>67 lindapanzo: I will reinstate my entry to Challenge #1, thanks Linda.

>61 cbl_tn: Carrie, for your musical challenge will you accept the word "re" as in "do, re, mi" the notes on the tonal scale?

>68 SqueakyChu: I found, for instance, a Saskatchewan-born author whose books are set in British Columbia so yes, need to look at place of birth.

Charlotte MacLeod was born in New Brunswick. I had no idea.

>70 DeltaQueen50: Yes, it's a musical term!

>71 lindapanzo: I think I solved your Glass Houses problem. I couldn't put Bill Richardson in without yours to be put in as well.

>72 cbl_tn: Excellent!

>73 raidergirl3: I'll see if I can move it back on my phone.

Never mind. Thanks for moving it.

I didn't finish listening to Neil Gaiman's Norse Mythology last month so I'm continuing on with it. It fits wonderfully into challenge 2. And Neil Gaiman reading Neil Gaiman is always a major treat!

>76 streamsong: Ooh, I have that on audiobook too! I will add it to my reading plans for this month.

I decided to pop by because I need to do some more Canadian reading! But this challenge seems dangerous.

Since I've been out of the TIOLI loop for a long time, let me just refresh myself on the rules: do uncompleted books still get removed at the end of the month? And could that possibly lead to a chain reaction, disqualifying a bunch of other books on either side? Eek!

>78 _Zoe_: Welcome back!!

They get removed unless it's a rolling challenge like the Dewey Decimal system one or Madeline's Canadian challenge.

If those instances, I think you keep the book in and just mark DNF at the end of the month.

>79 lindapanzo: Thanks!

That's a relief to hear that it's not quite as dangerous as I'd feared to list titles in challenges like those ones. In that case I'll try to add a few books.

>78 _Zoe_: So glad to have you back here. It was sooooo much fun to see you and Mark in Toronto!! I would love some day to return to Canada.

Books STILL do get removed at the end of the month. There will be no chain reaction when the month is over. I never even thought of that so don't go giving me evil ideas! Haha!

I just discovered a wonderful author, and want to share him with others, so I've based my challenge on his books:

*****Challenge #15: Read a "wordless" book - started by fuzzi******

The author I'm recommending is Aaron Becker, who has a wordless trilogy that is gorgeous, and a joy to read even though there is not one word in the entire story: Journey, Quest, and Return.

But there are other authors who have written wordless books, like Shaun Tan, and Mercer Mayer, and while some are aimed at children, enjoyment of them isn't limited to young people. I also love the Find Momo books.

Try to get a book that has NO words at all, though if there's a word embedded in a picture, that's okay.

Just checking in so I can find this thread again. I have a few ideas, especially for the 'next book in series' challenge.

>59 SqueakyChu: Aww, you missed me :0)

>82 fuzzi: Now I'm curious. How does one "read" a book without words? I need to check out some of these books to see what they look like.

>61 cbl_tn: Carrie, an old favorite mystery series by Sara Hoskinson Frommer is set in a local orchestra and I realized I'd somehow missed the most recent one. Alas, no musical reference in the title.

However, my current mystery, which was said not to be available until Sept 1 yet I already have in hand from the library, is doing yeoman duty. I've shifted The Missing Masterpiece three times already. If I can find an august, majestic, pompous etc reference in it, it might get shifted again.

>84 lindapanzo: Alas, my library system doesn't seem to have the pull yours does, so no shared read with the well-traveled book. For your sake though, here's hoping for pomposity.

>85 Citizenjoyce: I mention the "it's not due to be released until Sept 1" because this means I can't search it. Or at least need to find another place to search. This early release thing seems to happen often with Dams books. There are 19 copies in our north suburban library system and 15 libraries have already gotten their copies. (Note that my library doesn't own a copy but will typically get a copy to me within a day or two of my request, if available.)

Hmm, it's been out for several months in the UK. Aha, that explains it!!! I have the British edition from publisher Severn House in hand.

Well, I tried to restrain myself, but I have a book that I haven't been able to place, and felt we were still a little low on challenges this month, so...

*****Challenge #16: Read a book by one of the authors from the first eight months of this year's American Author Challenge (run by msf59) - started by klobrien2*****

Here is a list of this year's authors (first eight months):

January- Octavia Butler
February- Stewart O' Nan
March- William Styron
April- Poetry Month (so, any book of poetry!)
May- Zora Neale Hurston
June- Sherman Alexie
July- James McBride
August- Patricia Highsmith

(Edited to change "seven" to "eight"!)

>84 lindapanzo: we don't always need words to communicate a story. Music also can tell stories without words.

Think outside the (text) box! :)

>88 fuzzi: I was a little disbelieving about the wordless books but, once I "read" them, I was very pleasantly surprised and in awe of the Aaron Becker books (Journey by Aaron Becker, Quest by Aaron Becker, and Return by Aaron Becker). I think you get out of them what you put into them--they set your imagination to work!

I'm looking forward to the Shaun Tan Rules of Summer, also a wordless book.

Karen O.

>89 klobrien2: glad to see someone else who's read and enjoyed Aaron Becker's trilogy. I showed a page of Return to my dh, who went "Wow..." Watercolors are not easy to master, and Aaron Becker's use of them is awe-inspiring.

I got Rules of Summer at the library this evening, looking forward to reading it. I love two other books of Shaun Tan's: The Arrival and Lost and Found.

UPDATE: Rules of Summer does have a few words in it, so I am removing it from the challenge. It was a fun read, and is recommended!

************Challenge #17: Read a non-Virago Press book by a Virago author************

Virago doesn't reprint every book an author wrote. Check the Virago Group wiki to check out authors and their books.

*********************************
Challenge #18: Read a book with either a wedding or eclipse word or phrase in the title
*********************************

On August 21, a total solar eclipse cuts a swath across the states. Naturally, my geeky daughter has chosen that day and event to celebrate her marriage. So - in honor of Hannah's wedding, I invite you to read a book with a wedding word (wed, bride, groom, bouquet, etc.) or an eclipse word (sun, moon, solar...) in the title. Your interpretation rules, because I'm slightly busy this month!

>87 klobrien2: Hi Karen! Your challenge says the first seven months, but you also include the 8th month in your list of authors. Is Highsmith included?

I am intrigued by the wordless books so have placed a library order for Journey by Aaron Becker.

>92 countrylife: Congratulations in advance on your daughter's wedding, Cindy. I've been Mother-of-the-bride twice and I know how busy you will be this month, just remember to relax and enjoy the actual wedding. :)

>98 Citizenjoyce: Just guessing but since Karen herself put in a Patricia Highsmith, I'm thinking it's ok. I've never read a Highsmith but might add Strangers on a Train.

>94 DeltaQueen50: Intrigued that you're intrigued. I'm very word-oriented. If a book has drawings or photos, I barely glance at them. I may scan through the books people are reading and, if able, check one out of the library and see what the fuss is about.

Sadly, I may end up doing more reading this month than I'd hoped. We just found out that my 80-year old mother has severely blocked carotid arteries. I'll probably be accompanying her to her tests and/or surgeries/procedures. Hoping all will be well but it is worrisome.

>95 lindapanzo: Linda, I am a fan of graphic novels which often rely more on the artwork than the actual words so I know that a lot of emotion and information can be passed through illustrations. I read that Journey was a 2014 Caldecott Honor Book so I am looking forward to it. I'm sorry about your Mom, but she will be pleased to have you along for company, I'm sure. I'll keep my fingers crossed that all goes well for her.

>96 DeltaQueen50: Thanks Judy. I just had lunch with her. I asked her if she's worried and said that word is not in her vocabulary. It looks like there are several treatment options, at least, and, for an 80-year old, she's strong.

>95 lindapanzo: I'm glad to hear your mother is strong and hope all will go well with her.

>95 lindapanzo: I'm wishing your mom well. too.

>92 countrylife: Congratulations on your daughter's upcoming wedding! What a fun day to choose to be married. I'm sure it will be an unforgettable occasion.

>93 streamsong: and >95 lindapanzo: Aarrgghhh! I knew I was going too fast! I meant to include Highsmith, of course, just lost track of what month it currently is! (the year is flying by, that's for sure).

I will change both the wiki page and the description above. Sorry!

Karen O.

Challenge #19: read a book in which somebody is washing clothes

In Israel and in the Alps, too, I had to do some washing of my clothes. So, now I am looking for books in which somebody else is doing that: Either using a washing machine or by hand. Indicate the 'event' and the page on which that happens.
Bringing the clothes to a launderette does not qualify.

#Die einzige Zeugin (page 241: Chelsea schloss .... ) - Brandilyn Collins

Thanks for the good wishes for Mom. Our family--Mom, Dad, and I--have all had serious medical issues over the years. Somehow, my younger sister, now 50, has managed to avoid this.

On a cheerier note, I will be 10 years cancer free on Tues!!

I'll recommend Sidewalk Flowers for the wordless picturebook challenge. Also The Snowman by Raymond Briggs & Istvan Banyai's Zoom.

>92 countrylife: Gotta love the geeks, where would we be without them. Congrats.

>103 lindapanzo: 10 years, what a great anniversary!

>103 lindapanzo:
On a cheerier note, I will be 10 years cancer free on Tues!!

That IS a reason to cheer.

>103 lindapanzo: wonderful news!!

>95 lindapanzo: I'm very word-oriented, too. I love words, and books about words, and used to read dictionaries, thesauruses, and encyclopedias for fun. One of my favorite books is The Story of English.

But as much as I enjoy the written page, I also love illustration, art, visual media of different types. I have seen how stories can be communicated through the use of visual effects. Artist and author Wendy Pini is a master of this in her Elfquest series.

Best wishes for your mother. I was the support for my father during all his doctor visits, tests, and pre-op procedures for both of his hip replacement surgeries. I took both a book and my current knitting project.

>81 SqueakyChu: I hope you have a chance to return sooner rather than later!

I've started adding some books to the wiki.

First, one that I finished earlier today, The Upside of Unrequited, for challenge #14—I'm glad someone had come up with the clever idea of using names of notes!

Then for #5, Dear Ijeawele by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, who according to the wikipedia page was a contributor to the New Yorker from 1997 to 2015. I'll note that this book is only 80 pages long, and according to my Kindle takes less than an hour to read on average. Just saying.

I'm hoping to get to a couple of more as well (most notably, Hidden Figures for non-fiction written by a woman), but I don't want to be too hasty.

It's fun to be back!

>103 lindapanzo: Fantastic news!

>102 paulstalder: I'd recommend Longbourn for that one. I recall one scene where petticoats are being scrubbed because there are mud stains on the hem.

>111 _Zoe_: Any reason to read Longbourn is a good reason.
>110 _Zoe_: Thanks for the suggestion of Dear Ijeawele by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. I'm hoping to share Swing Time by Zadie Smith with Linda, but if it doesn't come in, it's good to have a backup.

>103 lindapanzo:, etc. Dear Linda, I hope that things go very well for your mother. And CONGRATULATIONS on the 10 year anniversary of freedom from cancer! Now do another 10 and another and another and another - you get the idea.
Peace to all of you. The waiting room is a tiring, emotional place. Read some and talk to folks some.

>110 _Zoe_: Glad you're having fun here so far! I like having you back. :)

>102 paulstalder: I have spent a good part of the morning looking for books that have a clothes washing scene. I actually did find a few, but since I have already listed 18 books which I will have trouble completing, I decided to hold off listing any more right now! I do love your challenges, they always make me look at my books in a new way.

>116 DeltaQueen50: Feel free to share that clothes-washing book list. I have a feeling that others here might find it helpful! :)

I apologize for being quite the "Rolling Dewey" challenge (#4) road hog, but I just happen to have a lot of non-fiction in the works this month, so the challenge is very helpful to me! I think that will be it for me for this one, but I just got Neil deGrasse Tyson's Astrophysics for People in a Hurry and lo! and behold! the 500s were the next up!

Karen O.

If you're taking the 5s, I'll take the 6s! I've put Jamie's 30 Minute Meals in.

I haven't read it end to end yet, but I have filled the gaps in my kitchen from the equipment list at the front and cooked a couple of said meals. Would you accept that as 'completed'? Or maybe I shouldn't have said anything and sneaked it in under the radar. Darn!

(Did anyone notice? No? Okay.)

>119 humouress: Have you read the first page, the last page a more than a couple in the middle? In that case I would claim it as read. >;-) But then, I'm the kind of philistine that reads a series out of order, so I'd not trust me either.

I am going to remove my book from Lyzard's challenge, as that is the only book I have planned to read this month by a male author. It's entirely by chance I seem to be able to have a month of entirely female authors, not a concious decision. Currently 4 of the 5 planned books are by ladies. So I am sorry, Peter Ackroyd, but you're shunted to next month.

D'oh!

But you should be able to find a female author: there's an appalling number of 'deaths' on my series lists! :D

>102 paulstalder:

Pretty sure I know the answer, but I thought I'd check anyway:

We have to see someone doing the washing? Talk that someone *has done* the washing isn't enough?

>112 fuzzi: >116 DeltaQueen50: Thanks for the support :)

>122 lyzard: If the 'has done' is detailed - i.e. mentioning the filling of the machine or taking it out of the water - things like that would be okay. But sentences like: 'She was just doing her laundry when she was murdered.' or 'The police caught him when he left the laundrette where he was washing his dirty pants.' would not qualify.

Okay, thanks - I will re-check the passage in question...

Madeline
The link from this page to Challenges #19-24 does lead to Challenges #13-18. Can you check that please? Thanks

>125 paulstalder: Fixed. Thanks!

The books that I found had a reference to clothes washing are:

Gap Creek by Robert Morgan - "He washed his stale clothes by stirring them in boiling water with a stick."

Broken Jewel by David Robbins - "Her mother was washing the clothes with water from the fountain outside the Catholic church."

The King's Last Song by Geoff Ryman - "They are washing their clothes in the same bucket and hanging them in the doorway to dry."

The Sheepfarmer's Daughter by Elizabeth Moon - "They all bathed in the river and washed their clothes along it's banks."

If I have time, I would probably choose to read Broken Jewel by David Robbins later this month.

>127 DeltaQueen50:. Thanks for your help!

>127 DeltaQueen50: Great, thank you so much for all your recommendations

Unfortunately I don't think my potential passage will work: there is a reference to washing on a line and to newly washed clothes, but not to anyone actually doing the washing.

Ah, well. I shall continue to keep an eye out. :)

That is a tough challenge! I'll keep an eye out, too!

Karen O.

>92 countrylife: I'd like to add a book to challenge 18 (weddings/eclipses) that seems a little cynical, so I thought I'd ask first. I saw that you will be busy this month, and may not have time to respond, so I might go ahead and add my book--I think it contains a "wedding" word. I can always take the book out later if you object!

Here it is: Oh, Money! Money! by Eleanor H. Porter. So, yes, could be seen as a bit cynical, but the book is highly recommended, and seems to be quite humorous (at least, in the first several pages) (but what a title!)

So, unless you screech about it, I think I'll add it and hope for the best.

Karen O.

>133 fuzzi: sorry to hear you're not feeling well.

As others pointed out, do as you want/feel. Remember, TIOLI is "Take It or Leave It". Most months I don't even get close to a sweep, but I like putting my ROOT books (more than a year on my shelves, unread) in a challenge of some sort.

I'm craving a Louis L'Amour myself...

At the beginning of the month I try to fit my "challenge reading" books into TIOLI, that is, the two or three books I definitely intend to read that month; after that I use the challenges to help me decide what series works to choose from my monstrous lists.

>140 fuzzi: ah Louis L'Amour , that'll cure what ails ya'.

>142 Citizenjoyce: instead I went for an unread book on my shelves by Scott O'Dell called Sing Down the Moon, and it was good enough to "cure" my L'Amour itch, lol. Nice read, btw, see my review on the book's main page.

>141 susanna.fraser: I try the same, Liz, but filling up all challenges there are always more library books than originally intended ;-)

There are definitely times where I don't feel like reading the book(s) I have listed and I have learned that it's important to listen to my inner self. I find if I try to force read something that I really have no interest in I usually end up regretting it. On the other hand, I have been surprised by some excellent reads when I listed a book simply to fit something into a challenge. That's the beauty of the TIOLI's - you never know how it's going to work out for you!

>143 DeltaQueen50: Love the westerns, at least the good ones.

>146 lindapanzo: Louis L'Amour is good, and keeps it clean.

I like Robert B. Parker's "Cole and Hitch" series, too.

I tried reading a Zane Gray, didn't think much of it.

Shane and The Virginian are both very good, though the former is probably the best of the genre that I've read.

I'm having more trouble than normal matching reads to TIOLI challenges this month because I'm also trying to finish a blackout on my library's annual summer reading book bingo. I won't have a place for Murder in the Bayou, the true crime book I read for "genre that's new to you," unless the Dewey challenge gets moving again (it's 364.15232). And I can't find a home for The Martian either ("adapted into a movie").

>145 Helenliz: Speaking of being surprised by a book you listed just to fit into a challenge, I'm almost done with The Weight of Ink listed by avatiakh in my Challenge #9. I'd never heard of it before and probably would have missed this great Jewish, feminist historical novel if I hadn't wanted to share a read with her. Yay, LT and Madeline and avatiakh.

>149 jennyifer24: That does look interesting, I should have known the moment you said it was one of avatiakh's, I take a lot of book bullets from her!

>149 jennyifer24: >150 raidergirl3: Let's also point the finger at Suzanne cos she gave the book a 5 star rating on her thread. I just picked it up from the library today for the second time as my first loan ran out and I couldn't renew. Can't wait to get back into it.

My book I read because it was a shared read was Arabella, which avatiakh listed in challenge 7. Certainly up there in my list of favourite Heyers (although I've not read the entire set quite yet). I had a happy grin and hugged myself in delight as I finished it last night.
Thankyou >:-)

Who knew that there are rival books on the 1878 total eclipse in the Rocky Mountains? I finished the short one but wish I'd read the longer one instead.

I read America's First Great Eclipse by Steve Ruskin, which was good, but quite short. Instead, I probably should've read streamsong's American Eclipse: A Nation's Epic Race to Catch the Shadow of the Moon by David Baron. Anyway, quite interesting.

It made me recall the last eclipse I saw, in Feb 1979, during my freshman year of college near Green Bay, WI.

>153 streamsong: My daughter and I were talking over the weekend about how to watch the eclipse. I said, "Oh, it's not until the 21st, there's no hurry." Time is flying too fast.

>154 lindapanzo: I kept meaning to buy eclipse glasses and then, yesterday, suddenly realized it's less than a week off. I was going to buy some at somewhat inflated prices and then I looked at our weather forecast...

I'll probably watch it online and then poke my head out the office window to see how dark it gets. If there's not a thunderstorm in progress.

My nephew started HS today (his sister is now a junior). They have off on Monday. I think they're calling it an Institute Day but I bet it's because of the eclipse.

Monday is our first day of school, but it's a half day. I know they scheduled it that way months ago because a lot of people had been asking for a half-day first day, but I'm quite happy to send my new kiddos home at noon so I don't have to work an eclipse into the first day of school (or work around an eclipse on the first day of school) :-)

I've read two books by Canadian authors this month that I cannot determine their province of birth (and that don't fit anywhere else). Is anyone familiar with, or know anything about Michael Peterman, author of the wonderful Sisters in Two Worlds or Mark Schatzker author of The Dorito Effect? They both are associated with Ontario now as far as I can tell.

>155 Helenliz: My daughter is a vet tech specializing in rehabilitation. I have to take my fat old dog in in the morning for some rehab on her poor overworked joints. I'm going to ask my daughter then if she can get us some x-ray film. I'm pretty sure that's what I used last time.

I won't be able to see the sun then, either - because it'll be the middle of the night. But we get a total lunar eclipse that will, apparently, turn the moon red next year, so there. Not that I'm feeling left out or anything ;0)

>153 streamsong: American Eclipse was great. This is from my thread before I actually finished it:

"If you're looking for an eclipse book, American Eclipse is fun NNF about the US response to the total eclipse in 1878. Wild west (a trainload of scientists heading west was held up by outlaws and also witnessed a totally botched hanging), women's rights (women astronomers were quite rare as you can imagine), and some very strange history of astronomy (a gadget invented by Thomas Edison who was more of a persistent inventor than a scientist)."

I received the audio through the LT Early Reviewers and this was a really fun one. :)

Although the area where I live in Montana will have 93% totality, I'll be watching it from a place in Idaho with totality and then heading toward Jackson Hole and the Tetons to meet my brother and sister-in-law.

>160 madhatter22: I'll have to pick that one up. Mine shorter one was informative but I never heard about any trainloads of scientists being held up by outlaws. I did hear about the Edison gadget that didn't work.

>158 dallenbaugh: Last eclipse we had, we used Dad's welding goggles to look at it. It wasn't a full eclipse, but it was really very strange as an experience. That classic sense of I know the physics that mean this is perfectly sensible, but it really doesn't feel normal.

>162 Citizenjoyce:. Shoot, I cleaned out the garage and got rid of the welding helmet, and my daughter told me today that it's the 21st century and x-rays are digital - no more film.

I just read an article, from the Today show, I think, about a man and his school friend who looked at a partial eclipse in the early 1960s on his way home from school. He's had a lifetime of damage in one eye and his friend did as well.

My eyesight is already so bad that I hate to take any risks with it.

NPR has a youtube video on 5 safe ways to view the eclipse (without special equipment) if that would be helpful to anyone.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ATz09bOeNP0

Thanks for the well-wishes & advice. I'm having a whole mysterious insect bite/infection/bad reaction to antibiotics thing going on here, but it's finally starting to improve. One bad effect has been not being able to look at a screen or even an actual book for as long as usual, so I'll def. have to cancel some reads. I did get a very nice surprise though. The e-audiobook of Roald Dahl's Matilda that I requested back in May finally became available this week at the exact right time. Kate Winslet is reading it and she does a beautiful and hilarious job. I'd very much recommend it to anyone who's a fan of Matilda or Dahl or Ms. Winslet. :)

>163 FAMeulstee: I just read a list from NASA of things that should not be used to view a solar eclipse. X-ray film was on it, as well as color film, sunglasses, smoked glass and for some reason I can't figure out, floppy disks. Did people think they would be ok viewing an eclipse through the hole in the middle?? It's been so long since I've seen one, but I can't remember them being semi-transparent at all.

>167 klobrien2: That's interesting. In my 1878 eclipse book, the government advocated that people smoke glass and use that to view the eclipse.

>167 klobrien2: Saved by medical progress. Thanks. I ordered a telescope specifically designed to allow viewing of the sun. It cost the same as 5 paper eclipse glasses. Now, let's see if it gets here in time.

With finishing my book for challenge #18, I finished my August sweep:

#1 De vuurbewoners (The fire-dwellers) by Margaret Laurence
#2 Waar het licht is (All the Bright Places) by Jennifer Niven
#3 De Cock en de dode meesters by A.C. Baantjer
#4 De rechter en zijn beul (The Judge and His Hangman) by Friedrich Dürrenmatt
#5 Judas by Amos Oz
#6 De vrolijke revolutie by Fons Strijbosch
#7 De gelukkige krijgers (The Happy Warriors) by Halldór Laxness
#8 Blindeman (Hide & Seek, John Rebus 2) by Ian Rankin
     Verdronken verleden (In a Dry Season, DCI Banks 10) by Peter Robinson
     Kil als het graf (Cold is the Grave, DCI Banks 11) by Peter Robinson
     Het gemene gewas (Monk's Hood, Brother Cadfael 3) by Ellis Peters
#9 De smalle weg naar het verre noorden (The Narrow Road to the Deep North) by Richard Flanagan
     Oblomow by I.A. Gontsjarow
#10 Haat die kat (Hate that cat) by Sharon Creech
#11 Wij houden van Tsjernobyl (Voices from Chernobyl) by Svetlana Alexievich
#12 De blauwe maansteen by Tonke Dragt
       Verhalen van de tweelingbroers by Tonke Dragt
#13 De wraak van Flame, de hengst van Azul (The Island Stallion's Fury) by Walter Farley
       De adelaar van het negende (The Eagle of the Ninth) by Rosemary Sutcliff
       De geheime tuin (The Secret Garden) by Frances Hodgson Burnett
#14 De Soul Brothers en Sister Lou (The Soul Brothers and Sister Lou) by Kristin Hunter
#15 Op reis (Journey) by Aaron Becker
#16 James Brown : op zoek naar de Godfather of Soul (Kill 'Em and Leave) by James McBride
#17 De diddakoi (The Diddakoi) by Rumer Godden
#18 Het vuur van de zon (To Spoil the Sun) by Joyce Rockwood
#19 Blauw licht (Blue Lightning, Sheltand 4) by Ann Cleeves

I have some more planned (and shared) reads to go.

>170 streamsong: Congratulations, Anita!

She says that so casually! :D

>170 streamsong: Wow, it took you all the way 'til the 18th. Congrats.

>170 streamsong: Congratulations, Anita! Another sweep! I bet you're going to make a sweep every month--a great goal to have!

Karen O.

Thanks Judy, Liz, Joyce and Karen
Yes, Karen, that is my goal this year :-)

>170 streamsong: Congratulations Anita!

>174 paulstalder: >175 SqueakyChu: I suppose that'll be a sweep of sweeps, then?

You rock, Anita!

>176 raidergirl3: Thanks Nina.
Probably something like that ;-)

>177 Citizenjoyce: Thanks Janet.

>170 streamsong: Amazing! Congrats!!

>179 fuzzi: Thanks Madeline!

>170 streamsong: well done, Anita

TIOLI Question of the Month:

What nonfiction topic did you explore in your reading so far this month? Is this a topic you've researched before, or is this topic new to you? Was this nonfiction reading to serve an important purpose, or was it just for fun?

Nonfiction this month was varied! Perfect question as I've been making a concerted effort to read more nonfiction this year.

The Dorito Effect was about how science created natural and artificial flavours for food but we lose the nutrition. It was very well done and has me reading the food labels. This was a YA Sync free summer download, and was the best I've listened to this summer.

Tiny Beautiful Things by Cheryl Strayed is a collection of the advice columns she wrote as Sugar. I really liked this one and had heard raves about it before I read it which is why I read it.

Sisters in Two Worlds by Michael Peterman was a visual biography (like a scrapbook, but also with text) about Canadian settlers Susanna Moodie and Catharine Parr Traill. I read this one after reading a graphic novel Roughing it in the Bush by Carol Shields last month. Great history biographies of two strong women.

American Eclipse which I read because of the eclipse! and it was a shared read with streamsong which made me notice it when it appeared as a new book on my library site. I enjoy and read quite a bit of science/physics nonfiction books and this was a nice historical look at a significant event. I was only able to see about 35% eclipse where I live, so this made me feel more a part of it.

>182 SqueakyChu: I think I read only 1 nonfiction book this month, The Death of Expertise: The Campaign Against Established Knowledge and Why it Matters by Thomas M. Nichols. I'd heard about in on tv and, of course, the idea is pertinent to politics today especially in the US and the UK. It has some great quotes, but was quite a disappointment in that Nichols seems to denigrate everyone. He emphasizes that this is a republic meaning that we elect people who then make governmental decisions for us. And of course, he emphasizes the need to have expert information before making those decisions. Then it seems to me he says, while it is imperative that citizens stay informed from a variety of truthful resources, lay people shouldn't be expressing their opinions. Opinions should be expressed by experts who have advanced degrees in those specific topics, and their degrees should have come from "good," i.e. Ivy League universities. He decries the term "elitist" then he proceeds to be just that. Oh, and another thing he denigrates are the 24 hour news sites. He gives an example of news as entertainment citing the Clarence Thomas hearing that garnered an audience only because of its salacious content. He seems to have no faith that people, in general, can or will seek accurate information when it is available.

>182 SqueakyChu: I try and read 1 non-fiction a month. This month I read A Room of One's Own by Virginia Woolf. I found this title on Feminist Theory group's thread discussing non-fiction in feminist writing. It's a topic that I have some rather decided opinions on, what with being a woman and all. I was drawn to explore the subject more fully after being subject to some genuine harassment based on gender. I've been subject to comments previously, but they have always been, I felt, good natured. As an example, one of the engineers always greets me as "young lady". But as he also greets my male colleague as "young man" it's clearly his style of greeting and is not demeaning. Odd? maybe, but hey ho, we're all a bit odd.
After finishing the book, I was left with the sensation that while some things have changed in almost 90 years since the book was written, in some ways things have not moved at all. It managed to be both old fashioned and contemporary at one and the same time. I did not subscribe to Woolf's theory that men and women do and should write differently. I think humanity is on a continuum, and while there may be a preponderance of men and women in certain areas of thought, they're not divided in that manner. I accept her point that women have been less visible in literature as they have not had the time and the space to write. I liked her hypothetical story of Shakespeare's equally talented sister, of whom no writing would exist for any number of reasons.
Overall, it was an interesting read.

>182 SqueakyChu: my non-fiction read this month was Twisted True Tales From Science: Explosive Experiments by Stephanie Bearce, an Early Reviewer selection. This was the second book of this nature (no pun intended) that I've read by the author, and found it very interesting. Stephanie Bearce writes in a manner that is not hard for a younger audience to grasp (9 year olds and up), but never writes "down" to them, making her books also good for adults interested in the subject matter. The books include simple science experiments for the students and parents to attempt.

>183 fuzzi: I love to read about the increasing problems and dangers of our food. One book I read in the past (Don't Eat This Book) made me stop eating at McDonald's forever!

>184 raidergirl3: *sigh* That must have been a difficult book to get through. I doubt that I'd have finished it by the way you describe it.

>185 streamsong: I did not subscribe to Woolf's theory that men and women do and should write differently.>/I>

I do think that men and women write differently. I favor writing by men (at least in fiction).

>186 lindapanzo: What drew you to select a book about science experiments for your Early Reviewer. That would never have occurred to me at all!

>182 SqueakyChu: I've been reading more non-fiction lately, and really enjoying it. I'm reading more history of women in particular (not entirely by design, but I'm quite happy with it). This month I read Unmentionable: The Victorian Lady's Guide to Sex, Marriage, & Manners by Therese Oneill and The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America's Shining Women by Kate Moore for my "women's studies" project. Both books taught me things that I hadn't known before; the first brought me lots of laughter; the second, tears of sadness (but great pride in these mistreated women).

I also read You Don't Have to Say You Love Me: A Memoir by Sherman Alexie and Astrophysics for People in a Hurry by Neil Degrasse Tyson, because both of them had come up in my library rotation! The first (the Alexie) is probably the best thing I read this year; the second was a lot of fun, and a relatively painless way to learn about the universe, in theory and practice. Tyson is a very interesting writer.

Then there are the non-fiction books that I HOPE to finish yet this month; well, if not this month, there's always next month! We'll need an alternative to this month's Dewey challenge.

Good question!

Karen O.

>182 SqueakyChu:

What nonfiction topic did you explore in your reading so far this month? Is this a topic you've researched before, or is this topic new to you? Was this nonfiction reading to serve an important purpose, or was it just for fun?

I never intended to read the book that is my nonfiction fascination, but one look at the book convinced me. It's Not in My Neighborhood: How Bigotry Shaped a Great American City. However, I found this book in my Little Free Library, leafed through it, and never looked back. The book is about how racism and bigotry shaped the city in which I grew up: Baltimore, Maryland, USA. I left Baltimore at age 20 to move to a suburb of Washington, DC where integration just opened up the ability of black to buy and rent anywhere in my new city (of Silver Spring, Maryland). I found that such a relief from the "ghettos" of Baltimore. Visiting Baltimore, for me is still like a time warp back into the 1960s. What I did not know then, and I learned from reading this book, is how division of races and religions were securely etched into the city of Baltimore by public policy from the early 1900s through the time I left the city. What I learned was truly mortifying.

I especially like this book because I have heard of many of the neighborhoods of which it mentions. However, I did not know them well because Jews never lived in those neighborhoods. I now know why.

This sounds like dry reading, but it is anything but boring. It is fascinating. Even if Baltimore is not the city in which you live, there is much to be learned by reading this deeply interesting book of how Xenophobia legally and successfully divided a city.

>187 FAMeulstee: I'd received an earlier ER book by the same author, in a similar format (short snippets about science in history, followed by science experiment suggestions) and really enjoyed it. It reminded me of Ripley's Believe It Or Not.

I'll read almost anything, except explicit sex, extreme violence, or occult stuff. I don't like scary.

>187 FAMeulstee: I don't think I'll read that book because I'm not ready to give up McDonalds!

I love everyone's comments on the non-fiction reading.

>183 fuzzi: I'm glad you liked American Eclipse, too. I received the audio from LTER; I had requested it because of the eclipse and I was happy that it was a good one.

You also reminded me that I've been wanting to read The Dorito Effect.

>185 streamsong: I've been meaning to read A Room of My Own for years now. Thanks for the nudge.

I also loved You Don't Have to Say You Love Me and learned a lot from Radium Girls. I listened to both of them last month.

I'm currently rereading The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks because I got shanghai'ed into leading the book discussion next week, having worked with HeLa cells for about twenty years.

I'm also reading Killers of the Flower Moon which just happened to come up in my library rotation. It's a new book, so I can only keep it two weeks. I like true crime and I like reading Native American history, so it was a natural for me when it appeared on the library's 'recent acquisitions' list.

I read the rival (and shorter) book about the 1878 Rocky Mountain eclipse. It's prompted me to want to read more on this topic.

At long last, I also read Malcolm Gladwell's book, The Tipping Point about the little things that can cause an idea or trend or whatnot to suddenly start spreading like wildfire. His books are always thought provoking for me and I'd like to get to (soon) the ones I haven't read yet, such as Outliers: The Story of Success and also What the Dog Saw.

Two non-fiction books this month in the TIOLI challenges:
Voices from Chernobyl by Svetlana Alexievich. She interviewed people who experienced and lived through the times of the Chernobyl disaster. An important, but devastating read.
Kill 'Em and Leave by James McBride. He searches for the life of James Brown trough interviews with people who knew him. Sadly the translation was bad, some words not translated and other words completely missing :-(

And I am reading a third non-fiction book, not for a TIOLI challenge, The Hidden Life of Trees by Peter Wohlleben. I am half way and like it very much!

My younger son read Tashi and the Giants to me {therefore counting it as an audio book ;0) } which is a children's book that was first published in 1995, for Challenge 13.

I haven't read any non-fiction for a very long time (unless you count newspapers. On the other hand, that may count as fiction, too...)

>187 FAMeulstee:, I think I would strongly dispute the idea that men and women should write differently. everyone should feel, able to write how they feel fit, not conform to an emotional expectation.

>182 SqueakyChu: I think I've only read one nonfiction this month, No place to lay one's head, and that was a memoir by a Jewish woman during the war years. I've read many of these, this one was about the conditions in the south of France and before that her time running a French language bookshop in Berlin. What was interesting was how in the 1930s many French writers became banned in Germany (too decadent!), their books pulled from the shop's shelves by the Nazis and German customers became intimidated from buying foreign language books.

>191 SqueakyChu: You should read that book to see why I gave up eating at McDonalds!!

>195 Helenliz: On the other hand, that may count as fiction, too...)

LOL!

>196 jeanned: Well, I don't think that men and women should write differently either. I wonder if gender-related writing tends to go with the books I pick? Here's how I see the difference in the books that I choose to read. I like dry, sardonic humor. Those kinds of books seem to be written more by men. I dislike books written from different points of view and are flowery or emotional. Those books seem to be written more by women. This is only how perceive

>197 lindapanzo: That book sounds interesting...but depressing. :)

This is turning into a shared read fest for me. For someone who rarely manages 1 in a month, I'm looking at 4. Hurrah for owning the book someone else listed, so I might get to it in time.

>202 FAMeulstee: I might get 4 this month as well! Very exciting.

>202 FAMeulstee: I had a month like that a few months ago. It's a nice feeling. Usually I'm lucky with one or two shared reads.

Yes, me too, which is remarkable given my reading tastes!

TIOLI stats for July, 2017...

These stats have been temporarily removed because they were WRONG!
I'll post the corrected stats in a few minutes further down this page.

>209 Helenliz: Thanks, Anita, for calling attention to my error.

>206 bell7:

"In July, 2017, we managed to read 336 books of which 88 or 26% were shared reads! This was no small feat as we have not had a percentage of shared read that high since September, 2012...almost five years ago. Woot!"

Yay! That is great! Shared reads have been so much fun lately, with some high counts listed on the Meter.

Also great news is that TIOLI will continue next year! Thank you for all of the work you do on TIOLI--it has improved and expanded my reading life so much!

Karen O.

>207 SqueakyChu: Yay, TIOLI in 2018!

>206 bell7: Thanks Madeline for keeping TIOLI on in the next year!
Sorry, but you have overlooked challenge #8 with 45 books... :'(

(corrected) TIOLI stats for July, 2017... (I hope they're right this time!) :D

In July, 2017, we managed to read 363 books of which 88 or 24% were shared reads! This was no small feat as we have not had a percentage of shared read that high since January, 2015. Nice!

We accumulated a total of 48 July YTD TIOLI points, still the lowest number since July, 2010. We can try for better YTD numbers starting in January, 2018...when the TIOLI challenges will continue!

The most popular books were these two:
--- Journey by Aaron Becker (4 readers)
--- The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother by James McBride (4 readers)

The most popular challenge, with 45 books, was:
--- FAMeulstee's challenge to read a book first published between 1955 and 2017

The challenge with the most TIOLI points, with 11 of them, was:
--- countrylife's challenge to read a book with a name in the first sentence

Coming up soon, our TIOLI awards for July, 2017....

TIOLI Awards for July, 2017

THe It's Getting Crowded In Here Award goes to swynn for reading Can You Feel Anything When I Do This? for countrylife's challenge to read a book with a name in the first sentence. Our winning challenger's book named four people in the first sentence, including someone with a last name of Somethingorother. I always forget names, but this was a surname I just might remember!

The Royal Publishing Date Award goes to wandering_star for reading We Have Always Lived in the Castle for FAMeulstee's challenge to read a book first published between 1955 and 2017. This book not only had the oldest publishing date of the books listed, but was also a book I've read in the past and very much enjoyed!

THe Let's Travel Together Award goes to citizenjoyce for reading Glory over Everything: Beyond The Kitchen House for jennyifer24's challenge to read a book in which a team or group travels together on a multi-stop and/or multi-day trip. This winning challenger's book has the traveler(s) going to Virginia, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania. This book wins because I was in all of those states either in July or August of this year.

The Scurvy Dog Award goes to bell7 for reading Autonomous for DeltaQueen's challenge to read a book with an epigraph in its opening pages. This winning challenger's book had as its epigraph "The Last Saskatchewan Pirate", a song by the Arrogant Worms. I am so into pirates these days because that's the topic of choice for my four-year-old grandson. If anything's about a pirate, we all win!

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

>211 susanna.fraser: I'm going to assume you had a much better time traveling through those states than my characters did.

>211 susanna.fraser: Ha! I love it...and got a kick out of the epitaph myself. Thanks for the award!

>212 Citizenjoyce: I had a terrific time in all of the states. Pennsylvania was a special treat for us because we got to stay in a fun bed and breakfast. This was on our way up to visit jessibud2 in Canada.

>213 SqueakyChu: You're welcome Thanks also go to my grandson who inspired (forced?) me to learn more about pirates! I'll be all set for LT's Talk Like a Pirate Day this year. :D

P.S. Are you coming down tot he National Book festival next Saturday?

I'd like to propose an award. The Shivers down my spine award goes to susanna.fraser for challenging us to Re-read a book you had to read in school. Thanks for the chills provoked by making me remember some of the books we had to plough through, dissecting and dismantling as we went. I half expected a follow up challenge to compare and contrast the reading experience now and then, to be answered as an essay of 3000 words.

>216 SqueakyChu: hahaha!

>216 SqueakyChu: Ha! I would never be so cruel.

Thank you Madeline and Susanna for not requiring essays. Can you imagine TIOLI if that happened? Lots of LI I would presume.

>216 SqueakyChu: LOL! Don't tempt any of us. We just might make such a challenge.

Congrats, susanna.fraser!

What a crazy month. I had a freak insect bite with complications and some (unrelated) problems with my eyes, and then my mom had to have emergency surgery. I don't know when I've gone this long without opening a book. Fortunately, things are looking very good for her, and I'm fine as long as whatever bit me isn't still hiding around here somewhere. :O
Unfortunately, I'll have to delete most of my challenge books, including the ones for my own challenge. Boo.
On to September ...

>221 katiekrug: Wow, I'm glad you and your mom are doing better. What a month!

>221 katiekrug: Glad things are looking up for you and your mom. Hope September turns out better for you both.

Last book just snuck under the wire. It's been an interesting month, 9 books (which is amazing for me!), 4 shared reads (which is very unusual for me!) and all of them were authored by women (something I've never consciously done before).

>224 SqueakyChu: I make a conscious effort to read as many books by women as possible, but for some reason, my reading lately has tilted heavily toward men.
I just finished The Solitary Summer for a sweep. On to next month.

>225 humouress: Congratulations on your sweep, Joyce!

>226 lyzard: Thanks.

I'm about to board a flight and anticipate finishing two books just in time!

>228 Have a good flight, happy reading.

>225 humouress: Nice going on your sweep, Joyce!

Housekeeping Day!

Please delete from the wiki any book not completed by 12 midnight tonight. Thanks so much!

See you all in September's TIOLI challenges! :D

Just remembered; I finished Komarr and have entered it for Challenge 2; august.

ETA: or, in my case, imperial.

Well, the bad news is that I couldn't fit a book into Madeline's challenge this month: all of my authors turned out to be from Ontario, and I wasn't able to list any of them under the rules. :(

But the good news is that I had five shared reads this month, a personal record! Thank you to Steve, Karen, Judy, Helen and Dejah for making it possible! :D

>233 Madeline made a mighty difficult challenge. I was completely inadequate to it and had to share katiekrug's hard work. Congrats on the shared reads.