Take It or Leave It Challenge - December 2019 - Page 1

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


...logo by cyderry

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

Hi Folks! Here's a fun challenge for December, 2019.

Read a book which pictures on its cover a person, an animal, or a creature with horns.

Please post a picture of your book cover on the separate thread.. This is optional, of course, but I'd love to see those book covers!

Rules
1. Pictures of creatures with one horn (unicorn, rhinoceros) will be accepted.
2. Pictures of animals who might have once had horns once, but they now have been cut off will NOT be accepted.

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

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

1. The December 2019 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.
3. FAMeulstee's 2109 TIOLI Sweeplette Meter - Use this page i

Wiki Index of Challenges:

Challenges #1-6
1. Read a book which pictures on its cover a person, an animal, or a creature with horns - msg #1 - thread
2. Read a book where there is a dance in the title - msg #3
3. Read a book you have acquired (by any means) in 2019 - msg #4
4. Read a book with something connected to winter in the title - msg #6
5. Read a book with snow on the cover - msg #7
6. Read a book that was touchstoned by a group member between 1/1/19 and 11/30/19 - not self! - msg #10

Challenges #7-12
7. Read a book where the first word of the title fits a rolling challenge based on the word Christmas - msg #11
8. Read a book for the December CFF Mystery Challenge Challenge - msg #14 - thread
9. Read a book that fits a Trivial Pursuit Genus I Category (rolling challenge) - msg #17
10. Read a book with a hot word in the title or set somewhere hot - msg #18
11. Read a book set in the first half of the 20th century - msg #25
12. Read a book from one of the lists that rate the 10 best books of the last decade (2010 to 2019) - msg #26

Challenges #13-18
13. Read a book that is dedicated to husband or wife and is the same sex as the author - msg #34
14. Decorate a Christmas tree with words from title or author - msg #57
15. Read a book from NPR's annual Book Concierge - msg #59
16. Read a book with a (predominantly) blue cover for the December birthstone challenge - msg #62
17. Read a book by an author whose name has an odd number of characters - msg #65

Hold you challenge until the January, 2020, TIOLI challenges are posted. Thank you!

Challenge 2: Read a book where there is a dance in the title.

I suspect that I could spend all of this month reading books that fulfill this challenge. In a bid to try and start the year without toooo many books acquired in 2019 hanging over me:

Challenge #3: Read a book you have acquired (by any means) in 2019

Acquired being an entirely inclusive term meaning bought, recieved as a gift, borrowed etc. If it was not in your possesion as of 01Jan2019 and it now is, then it has been acquired in 2019 and you really ought to read it before 2019 sees it way out.

In my case, I have a pile of books from the library and am several books behind on my subscription box. I intend to have finished all of them before the end of the year. You now watch me be distracted by some other shiny object >;-)

You might be scratching your heads over my challenge #1...in which you might find a scarcity of books that meet the parameters.

Here are a few suggestions:
Black Unicorn - Tannith Lee
The Black Unicorn - Terry Brooks
Click, Clack, Moo, Cows That Type - Doreen Cronin
Dance Dance Dance by Haruki Murakami
The Devil in Velvet - John Dickson Carr
Duck, Duck, Moose! by Sudipta Bardhan-Quallen
Fire Bringer by David Clement-Davies
If You Give a Moose a Muffin by Laura Joffe Numeroff
Imogene's Antlers by David Small
The Last Battle by C. S. Lewis
The Last Rhinos - Lawrence Anthony
The Last Unicorn - Peter S. Beagle
Moose, Goose, Animals on the Loose - Geralso Vaerlio
Mr. Brown Can Moo! Can You? - Dr. Seuss
Narwhal: Unicorn of the Sea! by Ben Clanton
The Only Child by Guojing
Rhino Boy - John Brindley
The Wildlife Detectives: How Forensic Scientists Fight Crimes Against Nature by Donna M. Jackson

I also discovered that there are lots of books about moose for kids. There are also lots of teen and young adult unicorn books. Check out some of those. :D

Wow, this is a surprise.
Challenge #4: Read a book with something connected to winter in the title
The word can connect in any way - to winter weather or winter holidays or winter feelings.
I’ll be reading Evergreen Tidings from the Baumgartners by Gretchen Anthony. Evergreen trees get their name from staying green in winter, and tidings are in Christmas carols.

Challenge #5: Read a book with snow on the cover

Just a bit different from Joyce's challenge.

Initially, I envisioned this as photo/artwork of snow on the cover but it can also be the word "snow" in the title or author's name. Even the word "snow" in a blurb, such as "perfect for a snowy evening."

>6 Citizenjoyce: I know. Thanksgiving is coming up, and I wanted to be ahead of the game.

>8 SqueakyChu: I always want to be ahead of the game yet never seem to make it any more.

Challenge #6: Read a book that was touchstoned in a group member's thread between 1/1/19 and 11/30/19 - not self!

group = The 75 Books Challenge group, the thread must be one of 2019 Threadbook

I will also accept prequels to touchstoned books. Yes, if you must you can conspire for a friend or friends to touchstone your reading list between 11/24/19 and 11/30/19.

We all know that selecting Conversations(#) on the book's page under the cover shows where it has been touchstoned.

Challenge #7: Read a book where the first word of the title fits the rolling challenge based on the word "Christmas"

You may disregard "The", "A" and "An" for this challenge

>10 quondame: That's such an interesting challenge, Susan. I wasn't sure I understood what you meant, but then I chose a book at random from here in my house, plugged it into "Conversations", and it immediately fit into your challenge. Thanks, DeltaQueen! :D

One question, though. Which group do you mean? The 75 Books Challenge group? I guess I got lucky with a TIOLI challenger group book! Haha!

>12 SqueakyChu: You're welcome, Madeline. I was also wondering about which group is meant as well - the LT Group, The 75 Group, or the Group of us that play TIOLI?

Challenge #8: Read a book for the December CFF Mystery Challenge Challenge

The challenges this month are all related to winter* holidays around the world.

* Northern Hemisphere for the most part from what I can Romberg** off-hand.

**That was supposed to be "remember." I'd like to know how it got "Romberg" - whatever the heck that is.

I'm getting over yet another virus - this hasn't been my year. I'm feeling muzzy-headed and uninspired at the moment. My intention is to get the thread up and going by the 27th, but I might be as late as the 1st. (No later or you'll have to take me out back.)



There will be 10 different book challenges. (The challenges change each month.) They include everything from genres/subgenres to well known (inter)national challenges, from something about a cover to the book's setting, from LT tools to title quirks. You won't know what your particular challenge will be until you roll a random number.

You can use https://www.random.org/ (the widget at the top right) or simply Google "random number 1 to 10."

NOTE: After a certain number of challenges have been given out, I will re-randomize the list. So you really will not know what you will get!

Post the number on this thread and I will give you your challenge. For any questions, please ask on that thread or in a PM. Embedded words, as a rule, are allowed but partial words are not. For instance, in one case, a word like "walked" must include the entire word and not just the word "walk." Tags must be first level, i.e. do not click on "show all." I'll allow *some* leeway in interpretation of the challenges, but try not to push it. When I say "significant" or "major" or "main" I will be strict. This is me, being strict:



Shared reads ARE allowed. Shared challenges ARE NOT allowed. That is, if someone reads a book published in 2019. You can read the SAME book. You can't read a different book published in 2019 (unless you get that challenge yourself.)

Post books in the wiki alphabetically since, as I said above, I will, at random, re-randomize the list. So placing them in numerical order will not work.

You can have TWO uncompleted challenges at one time. If you roll a repeat number, you cannot reroll. If you reroll the same number a second time, all I can say is "ouch" and maybe you can plead your case.

Please share how your book fits your challenge on the wiki at minimum. Please keep it short there, e.g. "subject twins - MC is a twin" or "animal on cover - anteater." You should not repeat the entire challenge.

Also, it would be nice if you shared how it fit more at length on that thread.

>12 SqueakyChu: Yes, group = The 75 Books Challenge group. Limiting it to participants of TIOLI challenges seemed too complicated.

>15 quondame: Heh! I guess I got lucky!

===CHALLENGE 9: ROLLING CHALLENGE: READ A BOOK THAT FITS A TRIVIAL PURSUIT GENUS I CATEGORY===

December 2019 marks the 40th anniversary of the creation of Trivial Pursuit. For this rolling challenge, books will be entered in order of the Genus I card questions: Geography, Entertainment, History, Art & Literature, Science & Nature, Sports & Leisure.

I leave the relationship to the category to you. For example, a book in the Geography category could be about geography or set in a single geographic region, but it could also contain the name of a geographic feature or a country in the title or author’s name, or have a map on the cover, or it could have a blue cover to match the Geography wedge in the game. If the connection isn’t obvious, please make a short note in the wiki indicating how your book fits.

For easy reference, category wedge colors are: Blue for Geography, Pink for Entertainment, Yellow for History, Brown for Art & Literature, Green for Science & Nature, and Orange for Sports & Leisure.

Oh, here we go...

It hits December, and suddenly all the challenges are about winter, and snow, and cold.

Meanwhile, some of us are melting...melting...! :D

***************************************************

Challenge #10: Read a book with a hot word in the title or set somewhere hot.

***************************************************

Embedded words allowed. If you are listing a book for its setting, please list it on the wiki.

ETA: By 'somewhere hot' I mean either that conditions within the book are explicitly described as hot, OR (loosening it up a bit) it is set in a country that we tend to think of as 'hot', even if it can get cold there.

The latter definition to my mind would exclude both the US and the UK unless the book met the 'conditions' proviso.

If that still isn't clear I'll take another stab at it. :D

>1 SqueakyChu: I have made the language of challenge #6 a bit more specific to disqualify books only touchstoned in this thread or in this groups threads that aren't specifically one of a members thread as listed on 2019 Threadbook

>19 quondame: Oh, well. Sadly, that removes me from your challenge. I’m disappointed now because I’d been excited to have picked a book that DeltaQueen read this year. I like the book so I’ll read it anyway.

>20 SqueakyChu: Nope, I just touchstoned it in my thread. Also it was touchstoned in Kittenfish tries for 75 **2019**

>21 quondame: I couldn’t find it on Kittenfish’s thread, only other books by Kepnes. Not You...unless I didn’t look hard enough.

ETA: Okay, I found it on your thread. I think I finally figured out how your challenge is supposed to work! :)

I also didn’t see Kittenfish on Jim’s threadbook. Weird, but that doesn’t matter any more.

>18 lyzard: Liz, Jerusalem’s not always hot. It’s 55 degrees Fahrenheit there now at 8am. Rarely it even snows there in the winter. Does that matter for your challenge? I lived there in the summer of 1973. Yep. It was hot there then. :D

My planned reads
Challenge #1: Read a book which pictures on its cover a person, an animal, or a creature with horns. - started by SqueakyChu
✔Afternoon of a Faun: A Novel - James Lasdun (4)
Longhorn - Dusty Rhodes Abandoned
Challenge #2: Read a book where there is a dance in the title. - started by Ameise1
*✔The Water Dancer: A Novel - Ta-Nehisi Coates (3.5)
Challenge #3: Read a book you have acquired (by any means) in 2019 - started by helenliz
✔Catch and Kill: Lies, Spies, and a Conspiracy to Protect Predators - Ronan Farrow (5)
Challenge #4: Read a book with something connected to winter in the title, highlight the word - started by Citizenjoyce
✔Evergreen Tidings from the Baumgartners - Gretchen Anthony (3)
Challenge #5: Read a book with snow on the cover - started by lindapanzo
✔The Child Finder - Rene Denfeld (4.5)
Challenge #6: Challenge #6: Read a book that was touchstoned in a group member's thread between 1/1/19 and 11/30/19 - not self! - started by quondame
*✔Know My Name: A Memoir- Chanel Miller (5)
Challenge #7: Read a book where the first word of the title fits a rolling challenge based on the word Christmas - started by DeltaQueen
✔Tricks - Ellen Hopkins (3.5)
✔Multiple Listings -Tracy Mcmillan (2)
Challenge #8: Read a book for the December CFF Mystery Challenge Challenge -- started by Morphidae
✔The Iron Trial - Holly Black (4)
Challenge #9: ROLLING CHALLENGE: Read a book that fits a Trivial Pursuit Genus I Category - started by JeanneD
✔The Beautiful Ones by Prince (3.5)
Challenge #10: Read a book with a hot word in the title or set somewhere hot - started by lyzard
✔Desert Cut - Betty Webb (3.5)
Challenge #11: Read a book set in the first half of the 20th century - started by FAMeulsteeedit
*✔Miracle on 34th Street - Valentine Davies (2)
*✔They Called Us Enemy - George Takai & Harmony Becker (5)
Challenge #12: Read a book from one of the lists that rate the 10 best books of the last decade (2010 to 2019)- started by dallenbaughedit
Citizen: An American Lyric - Claudia Rankine
✔Vox - Christina Dalcher (4)
Challenge #13: Read a book that is dedicated to husband or wife and is the same sex as the author - started by _Carmenere
*✔Christmas Days: 12 Stories and 12 Feasts for 12 Days - Jeanette Winterson(4)
Challenge #14: Decorate a Christmas tree with words from title or author - started by paulstalder
✔Crime in Progress: Inside the Steele Dossier and the Fusion GPS Investigation of Donald Trump - Glenn Simpson (4)
✔Gods and Beasts - Denise Mina (4)
✔The Marrow Thieves - Cherie Dimaline (4)
The Starless Sea: A Novel by Erin Morgenstern ABANDONED
Challenge #15: Read a book from NPR's annual Book Concierge - started by susanna.fraser
*✔Darwin Comes to Town: How the Urban Jungle Drives Evolution - Menno Schilthuizen (4)
Challenge #16: Read a book with a (predominantly) blue cover for the December birthstone challenge - started by humouress
✔After the Flood - Kassandra Montag
✔Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead - Olga Tokarczuk (4)
*✔The German Midwife - Mandy Robotham (5)
✔The World That We Knew: A Novel - Alice Hoffman (4.5)
Challenge #17: Read a book by an author whose name has an odd number of characters. - started by Dejah_Thoris
✔Escape from Asylum by Madeleine Roux (3)
✔The Little Red Guard: A Family Memoir - Wenguang Huang - (4)
✔Trump and His Generals: The Cost of Chaos - Peter Bergen (4)
A Warning by Anonymous

===Challenge #11: Read a book set in the first half of the 20th century===

The largest part (more than half) of the book has to be between 1901 and 1950

Challenge #12 Read a book from one of the lists that rate the 10 best books of the last decade (2010 to 2019)

If they list more than 10 books try to pick one out of the first 10. The list must say the best of the decade not of 2019, but this is a busy time of year so you can even read one of the best picture books. You can choose any list. The following are just ideas.

https://www.fatherly.com/play/50-greatest-childrens-books-last-10-years/

https://lithub.com/the-10-best-debut-novels-of-the-decade/

https://time.com/5719966/best-fiction-books-2010s-decade/

http://forreadingaddicts.co.uk/news/the-20-best-books-of-the-decade-2010-2019/37...

>26 dallenbaugh: Thanks. I love “best of” lists.

>22 SqueakyChu:

It gets cold here too, just not in December. :)

I have modified my challenge conditions slightly to be a bit more explicit.

>28 lyzard: it is set in a country that we tend to think of as 'hot', even if it can get cold there.

LOL!

>28 lyzard: Liz, is my title with the embedded word "hell" ok? I hear that's a very hot place!

>30 DeltaQueen50: Isn’t it supposed to “freeze over” one day? ;)

>30 DeltaQueen50:

Yes, that's fine!

>31 SqueakyChu:

:D

>31 SqueakyChu: & >32 lyzard: Whew!

Challenge #13: Read a book that is dedicated to husband, wife, partner or significant other and is the same sex as the author

check out this link to find authors who may fit this challenge

On a whim I decide to look and see if the December TIOLI is up - sometimes, I thought, Madeline has it up by the 25th. Well sheesh! Not only is it up, it's been up for over a day!

You are so sneaky.....

>34 Carmenere: Since it will probably be 3 months before I get a copy of Me, do you know of a way to find books for your challenge?
ETA Yahoo, the book I just started reading fits your challenge. Christmas Days is dedicated to Jeanette Winterson's wife Susie Orbach and other loved ones. The last line of the dedication says, "You can't beat a Jewish Christmas." Ha, ha.

>36 Citizenjoyce: One pair that came to mind were Vivian Shaw and Arkady Martine. If I recall correctly, I've read a book by one dedicated to the other. Let me check a few....

ETA: Well drat. It must not have been the dedication - it must have been somewhere in the acknowledgements. Sorry.

Edited AGAIN to add: I just saw your revised post - how cool is that!

>34 Carmenere:

Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim by David Sedaris

Dedicated to Hugh, his spouse.

>36 Citizenjoyce: Good idea! I'll look around when I get a chance later today. In the meantime, I'm glad you found something
>38 dallenbaugh: Yes, that works.

>35 Dejah_Thoris: You are so sneaky....

I am!

>36 Citizenjoyce: In regards to Challenge #13: Maybe this is one place to start and hope one of these books is dedicated to a same sex spouse.

>41 Carmenere: ah, that’s a great resource.

>42 Citizenjoyce: I'm going to open my challenge #13 to include partner, significant other or term that is similar that I am not aware of. But it still must be same sex as author.

>43 Carmenere: That makes sense. Marriage is still not as common among gays as straight people. It’s the relationship that’s important.

>44 Citizenjoyce: Exactly! And in some countries same sex marriage is still prohibited.

For those of you reading They Called Us Enemy by George Takai & Harmony Becker for Challenge #11, that is a GREAT book. I highly recommend it for everyone! It makes a fabulous shared read as well.

If you've never read a graphic novel, or if you remain skeptical of them, read this one anyway. :)

>46 SqueakyChu: Great idea. My library has it.

>46 SqueakyChu: Thanks for the info, Madeline. My library system has copies so I've reserved one for ILL.

Me too, Madeline. My library system will have it delivered to me by December :0)

>47 dallenbaugh: >48 lindapanzo: >49 Carmenere: Hurray! It's a quick read, but so moving. I now follow George Takei on Twitter. :D

Apologies, I can't work out how to put in a shared read for challenge 9 without messing up the numbering...

>51 wandering_star: I think you can repeat the title, such as sports, and then put your matching book in.

>51 wandering_star: I took care of it. :)

Thank you!

Hmm. I hope a few more challenges roll in in over the next couple of days, because right now I'm struggling to place almost everything on this month's reading-list.

Thinking-caps on, people! :D

I’ll be adding my challenge this weekend after I’m back from my Thanksgiving travels.

Challenge #14: Decorate a Christmas tree with words from title or author

Let's decorate a Christmas tree. Well, first get a suitable tree (a douglas, fir, pine ...), then put on some ornaments (baubles, lametta, angel, tree-topper ...), add some edible stuff (apples, chocolate, candy ...) and finish with lights (candle, bulbs, string of lights ...). Embedded words are fine. Rolling challenge. One participant can add one part to the tree.

# CHRISTMAS TREE 1, tree:
# ornaments:
# edibles:
# lights:

If you put on a very rare or special item on the tree, which is usually not part of such a decoration, please document it with a picture or a reference in the additional thread. https://www.librarything.com/topic/313439

Have fun. Let's see how many trees we get. Be careful with burning candles.

>57 paulstalder: I have just been to a Christmas craft fair here in Bangkok and come back with these little beauties:



which are creatures from Thai myth (a bird and a mermaid) - so if anyone wants to list a mermaid as their ornament, here's your evidence ;-)

ETA: sorry - I can't seem to correct the rotation of the photo! Please tilt your head to the left.....

Challenge #15: Read a book from NPR's annual Book Concierge

For the past several years, NPR has put together a Book Concierge in late November or early December to help readers choose good reads for themselves or gifts for others across a wide variety of genres and interests. I will update this post with a link to the 2019 Concierge as soon as it's up, but you can choose from any of the years using the concierge format, i.e. going back to 2013.

ETA 2019 NPR Book Concierge

>57 paulstalder: Excellent. I do love your slightly complicated challenges, Paul, even if I rarely manage to actually place a book in one of them. I like the way your mind works, it seems to be to be beautifully devious at times. >:-)

>60 Helenliz: I have to agree, down to not being able to place a book. 'Beautifully' however I'm not sure about; 'devious' certainly. ;0)

So; while my reading seems to be even slower than usual, I still want to attempt posting a year of birthstone challenges. Oddly enough, birthstones aren't something I'm that fussed about; just curious. Each time I set the monthly challenge, I have to look up the birthstones and learn something about them. They're not always consistent across the board or even across time. For instance, from the 15th to 20th centuries the December birthstones were bloodstone and ruby.

December is all about blue, even though there is a choice of three stones - turquoise, tanzanite and (for those following US birthstone charts) blue zircon. So you have a choice of shades of blue.



***************************************************************
Challenge 16: Read a book with a (predominantly) blue cover for the December birthstone challenge
***************************************************************

Thread for the covers:

https://www.librarything.com/topic/310824#6975928

I'm going to be away at the end of December/ beginning of January so I would appreciate it if someone would be kind enough to post the birthstone challenge for January for me in the January TIOLI thread.

January's birthstone is garnet. Although it can come in a variety of colours (like most birthstones, depending on the mix of minerals) the name 'garnet' comes from the Latin 'granatum' referring to pomegranate seeds.

 

So the January birthstone challenge would be to read a book with a dark red cover.

>58 wandering_star: thank you very much for your addition. I put the picture in the thread.

>60 Helenliz: thanks, Helen, for the compliment. I hope you can hang something on the tree this time :)

>61 humouress: thanks for the devious comment - I take it in the early sense of the word of going off the path - sometimes I feel lost in the amount of books there are to read, so wander off, leave the path of well-known challenges and make my own reading challenge, taking a not so straight path. It is sneaky in the sense that my challenges tend to have some twists and turns which can lead off the way.

Here some tanzanite Christmas tree decorations:

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Challenge #17: Read a book by an author whose name has an odd number of characters
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

2019 is an odd numbered year, so read a book by an author whose name, as it appears on the cover or title page, has an odd number of characters. Spaces and punctuation of not counted.

>55 lyzard: Liz, I hope this helps!

>65 Dejah_Thoris:

:D

Thanks - it does!

BTW for those who might be interested, this month I will be reading both Passenger To Frankfurt by Agatha Christie and The Ivory Dagger by Patricia Wentworth.

>64 paulstalder: :0)

>67 lyzard: Before I saw your post, I'd already seen it listed in the challenges and put a hold on The Ivory Dagger from the library. There's only one copy in the extended system and it's already checked out, so we'll see how long it takes to get to me....

>69 Dejah_Thoris:

Fingers crossed!

>63 humouress: I'll try to remember to post it, but, if I forget, anyone else here please feel free to do so. Thanks from both of us!

>67 lyzard: If I have any time left over, I'll join you for Passenger to Frankfurt. No promises, though.

For Challenge #5: Snow on the Cover - Peter Geye's books would fit, and they are all great reads, as well.

>73 countrylife: I feel somewhat smug about Snowblind, not only snow in the title and on the cover, but lots of it inside! Avalanches even. But it doesn't play much of a part in the plot, other than keeping people penned in town, which wasn't entirely required. And, of course, finally being able to use it after holding onto it since October!

>72 PawsforThought:

Please do if you can, but no stress. :)

For challenge #15, the 2019 NPR Book Concierge is finally up!

>76 susanna.fraser: Excellent!

>76 susanna.fraser: >59 susanna.fraser: I recently finished Permanent Record by Edward Snowden and *highly* recommend it...no matter your feelings about him personally.

>76 susanna.fraser: I have a couple of them currently checked out from the library do to LT members recommendations and I've read at least 3 for the same reason.

I was just grooming my LT Wishlist, removing the books I've read but for which I failed to clear the Wishlist tag. It occurs to me that I could, sometime in 2020 propose a read from your LT Wishlist challenge. But that it would be fairest to let interested parties know so that they can stock their own Wishlists.

I was just checking in on my challenge, #9, and noticed that the Science & Nature entry in the second category repetition had been deleted. If you have a Science & Nature entry for Challenge #9, you might want to check in and see if yours was the deleted one.

>81 jeanned: You can check what happened by browsing through "history" under "This page".
It looks like the Science & Nature was never filled there, as it was accidently deleted. I can fill it, if you allow me.

>80 quondame: I was going to say that I don't like using the Wishlist on LT because it's not clear enough that I haven't bought and/or read it (I have far more books in the first category alone, but do have some read but not owned, mostly library books and some that I didn't keep in hard copy, though acquire books I've already read, mostly as Kindle bargains but a few charity shop finds etc. But your post makes me think - if I tag them Wishlist LT at least doesn't show them as owned by me.

>83 elkiedee: I use Wishlist for books I don't own but which look like I may want to read them. Also I used them to get LT to add books w/o going to "Add Books", but I'm not sure that works any more, and anyway when I did that I usually corrected the Tags right away.

>81 jeanned: >82 FAMeulstee: Uh oh, I hope I wasn't the one who inadvertently deleted the science entry. I think I'm the usual "go to person" when it comes to sports but I would've sworn that science was filled in above my sports entry for the Scotty Bowman book.

ETA: I've never used the history function before but, to me, it looks like when I put sports in, the category above mine was Arts and not Science. If it had been blank, I would not have skipped Science but I probably would not have noticed that Science wasn't there.

>82 FAMeulstee: Thank you, and yes please!

>80 quondame: I don't use the Wishlist collection. I use LT Recommended, Want to Read, and Maybe. Though I suppose if this hypothetical Wishlist challenge were to happen, if I was given a couple weeks warning, I could temporarily add all of the above to the Wishlist collection until the challenge was over.

>85 lindapanzo: No it wasn't you, Linda, it was gone before you put your entry in.

>86 jeanned: Done.

>88 FAMeulstee: Well that's a relief. I would hate to think that I deleted someone's entry.

There are some good challenges this month. I've never read Miracle on 34th Street but am just starting that one now.

>89 lindapanzo: I'm looking forward to reading Miracle on 34th Street as well, Linda.

>71 SqueakyChu: Appreciate it, thanks.

>14 Morphidae: äh, sorry, but can you please give the link to 'that' thread again? I can't remember where I should put my lucky number ...

>92 paulstalder: I hadn't updated it yet, sorry. It's there now.

Or you can use this one.

http://www.librarything.com/topic/313641

>90 DeltaQueen50: Judy, I've seen the movie only once (!!!) but really enjoyed the book. It is an extremely quick read and I feel somewhat more Christmasy now than I did before. I don't actually feel like looking forward to Christmas all that much this year. Both elderly parents (aged 82 and 83) are suddenly having somewhat severe medical issues and, to top it off, due to unrelated matters, both are now having trouble walking (Mom due to pinched nerve near her hip and Dad due to back trouble). Mom was just told yesterday to start using a cane but Dad actually needs it more and needs to get his own. He is also having unrelated surgery on 12/17.

Anyway, sorry for all this info. I am exhausted and am (and have been, for the past 6 weeks or so) overcome with worry. The best time of the day lately, is from 10 pm til midnight, when I curl up with my current book and it takes my mind away from my worries for them.

(Fortunately, the recent results of my own medical scan arising out of the pneumonia I had two years ago today (!!!) were good and so at least I don't have to worry about myself. I hope.)

>94 lindapanzo: Linda, I am sorry to hear that your parents are having some medical difficulties, but very glad that your scan was good. In the "getting old sucks" department, I've been laid up since October with my knee then after a cortisone short which had it on the mend I managed to trip. Suddenly cripped again, a visit to the ER today has let me know that I have torn a ligament in my foot. Since I am feeling very un-Christmas-y I had best read Miracle on 34th Street soon!

>94 lindapanzo: >95 DeltaQueen50: Sorry for all of these difficulties at this time of year. I hope everything resolves for you both with minimum difficulty.

>1 SqueakyChu: >5 SqueakyChu: Going through my favorites shelf when I realized how long my first choice was I found The King Must Die, The Bull from the Sea, and Hart's Hope. None of the dragons on my other covers had what I would call proper horns, worse luck.

>96 SqueakyChu: Thanks, Madeline. I am consoling myself with the fact that I will fully recover eventually.

>97 quondame: At least you have started looking, I have no ideas for my horny book.

:'D

Another book for which I have high praise is Being Mortal by Atul Gawande which Carmenere is reading for challenge #17. That book would make a great shared read! Have I ever led you astray?! D

>98 DeltaQueen50: >99 Morphidae: If all else fails, read a children's Christmas book with reindeer on the cover. There are gazillions of those!
https://www.librarything.com/tag/reindeer



Look at those TINY horns/antlers on the baby reindeer! So cute!! :D

>89 lindapanzo: >90 DeltaQueen50: >94 lindapanzo: I don't know why it never crossed my mind that Miracle on 34th Street was based on a print work! I'm really excited to read it - and I will, just as soon as the library gets it to me. Thank you, Judy, for thinking of it!

On the same theme, would anyone be interested in reading The Trouble With Angels aka Life With Mother Superior? I have a copy somewhere that I'm thinking of digging out of a box and rereading. Would anyone join me?

ETA: >101 SqueakyChu: Adorable tiny antlers! I just requested it from the library, even though I already have my horned book in.

>100 SqueakyChu: Yes, Madeline, Being Mortal, was excellent!

>103 Carmenere: Being Mortal, was excellent you are not anymore mortal? How did you do that? Is that an affect of LT?

>104 paulstalder: Hahaha, much to my chagrin, Paul, I continue to be a mere mortal. If anything, LT acts as a constant reminder that I wish to be otherwise ;0)

>100 SqueakyChu:, >103 Carmenere:, >104 paulstalder: I thing about Being Mortal frequently and reference it in much of my reading.

>101 SqueakyChu: I feel like a scrooge pointing out that the author of that book hasn't done his research. Male reindeer shed their antlers in the autumn, whereas female ones keep theirs until a little after Christmas. So that cover is portraying a baby reindeer girl having a moment with her mum while dad watches on.

On a related note, why do they look like deer? I've never seen a reindeer that looks remotely like that and I've seen a few in my day.

>107 PawsforThought: That’s definitely worth telling the illustrator! How about it?

You are so right! I once saw reindeer at a Christmas festivity in downtown Washington, DC. The ones I saw were short and squat and did *not* stand with their heads erect on tall necks. I never thought about it. Illustrators seems to always make reindeer look like deer when illustrating books about Christmas.

I never knew that about reindeer gender and their antlers. So interesting!

https://pediaa.com/difference-between-deer-and-reindeer/

That feeling when...

...challenges collide!!

One of my self-challenge books this month is the 19th century historical novel, Lichtenstein by Wilhelm Hauff. As it is set in the Bavarian Alps, I thought this might be a chance for a cover with snow on it, for #5.

Alas, no snow; but it has a cover with a deer on it! :D

>109 lyzard: But does the deer have horns?!

>110 SqueakyChu:

Would I be popping champagne otherwise?? :D

>111 lyzard: Hahahahaha!

>108 SqueakyChu: Yeah, reindeer look more like smallish moose/elks than deer.

And it's even worse when it comes to Christmas decorations. A few years ago, I tried to find a reindeer statue/figurine-thing for my place but couldn't find any that actually looked like reindeer - only deer. And that's despite living in a town that borders the reindeer lands!

>113 PawsforThought: couldn't find any that actually looked like reindeer :O

>114 humouress: Good reindeer picture!

>114 humouress: Lovely reindeer!

>115 SqueakyChu: >116 PawsforThought: Well, you know, they were just wandering around in the back garden so I thought ‘Why not’? ;0)

Thank you.

>6 Citizenjoyce: Does solstice work? I know it's just as valid for summer, but we just tend to use midsummer's eve and solstice is more commonly paired with winter.

>7 lindapanzo: Does this look like snow on the cover to you? It's hard to tell. I'm trying for a sweeplette this month.

>119 SqueakyChu: That could be snow.

>120 lindapanzo: Great! Thanks.

>119 SqueakyChu: Looks like snow to me. Nothing else crosses my mind that it *could* be.

>119 SqueakyChu: 100% snow. Speaking as something of an expert on Sweden in winter, that is definitely snow.

>122 Morphidae: >123 PawsforThought:

:D

TIOLI Question of the Month

Okay, here comes your strange question...

You are an evil character in a book that you have read so far this month. Who are you? In what book are you? Give us at least one reason we readers should LIKE you! :O

>125 SqueakyChu: Hello, My name is Brock Turner. You met me in the book Know My Name by Chanel Miller. I’m a personable, nice looking young college student. I have pretty blue eyes, curly blond hair and a swimmer’s body. I’m a very good swimmer with a promising future - I may swim in the Olympics, I also may become an orthopedic surgeon. I have so much to offer the world. Right now I’m organizing a group to confront the horrible drinking culture on college campuses. I had consensual sex with this drunk, part Chinese girl at a frat party, she was completely into it. She did end up with bruises on her body and leaves and debris in her private parts, but, you know, sometimes people just get carried away. I have a bright future ahead of me. You don’t want to do anything that might get in the way of that.

Strange question, and great (chilling!) answer!

>125 SqueakyChu: My name is Herbert Blackett, from Chatterton Square. I am handsome, artistic and debonair, and every woman I meet falls a little bit in love with me. My wife? She's quite a limited creature, not as smart or worldly as the women I dream of associating with, but one wouldn't actually marry one of those women, would one? I like things at home to be exactly as I like them - and Bertha is so devoted to me. The woman who lives next door to us is immodest and immoral. I won't let my children associate with hers - who would want to be tainted by such a family? But I know that she has an eye for me, and if I should find myself alone in a room with her... well, as I said, I have an artistic temperament.

The only thing I don't understand is that lately, Bertha seems to have been spending a bit of time with our neighbour, and now she keeps laughing unexpectedly just when I've said or done something. Most unsettling.

>126 Citizenjoyce: >128 wandering_star: !!! :D

>128 wandering_star: I haven’t read that. It looks like I should.

>130 Citizenjoyce: I really enjoyed it

>125 SqueakyChu: >126 Citizenjoyce: >128 wandering_star: Well, that isn't at all creepy....

I don't typically purchase graphic novels but I'm tempted with They Called Us Enemy because... Takei.

Also because many TIOLers are reading it. Any feedback on the book?

>133 Morphidae: It's fabulous...and you can't help but be impressed by it. I even got my husband to read it! I got my copy out of our public library. I pre-ordered it so I got it right away when this new book came in!

If you like Takei, you also should know about this part of his life.

>133 Morphidae: It's very good. He shows various views of the Japanese Americans about the forced incarceration and rejection of their status as Americans. Well rounded and shameful of past and present racist American policies.

>133 Morphidae: I agree with >134 SqueakyChu: and >135 Citizenjoyce: . This TIOler loved it. I knew a little about the Japanese internment but coming from Takei and his personal experience in two camps is really quite touching and informative.
Thanks, Challenge #11 - Without you, I probably wouldn't have gotten to it this quickly.

I've abandoned The Starless Sea which I had listed in Challenge 14, Paul's tree decoration challenge under lights. If anyone is needing the slot, let me know and you can put it there.

>137 Citizenjoyce:

Unfortunately I'm not sitting on a 'light', but I do have an 'edible' and am very much hoping for a 'tree' and an 'ornament'...?? :D

>137 Citizenjoyce: That bad or just not in the mood?

>137 Citizenjoyce: >139 Morphidae: I second Morphy's question - it just came in for me at the library.

>139 Morphidae:, >140 Dejah_Thoris: To me it was self-indulgent cuteness, metaphors inside of metaphors, kind of a "look at me, I'm a writer" kind of cleverness. But it has a 4.18 rating, so it's probably just me.

>137 Citizenjoyce: >139 Morphidae: >141 Citizenjoyce: I finished it, and 4.18 is at least .5 too high a rating, while I didn't quite have Citizenjoyce reaction, I can see what she means. If you have time and don't need an urgency driven plot it's not bad. Just not all that. Though I rated it the same as A Memory Called Empire, I enjoyed reading MCE a good deal more.

>126 Citizenjoyce: I just read an article about the book in the papers and could barely get through that. I don't know how you can survive the whole book. Chanel Miller sounds like an amazing person.

>143 humouress: Unfortunately in interviews she comes off drunk or at least very slow. It’s hard to fight glib, highly paid lawyers with her personality. She’s very intelligent and perceptive in her writing, but that doesn’t help on the witness stand.

>137 Citizenjoyce: >138 lyzard: Well we still can use cypress or cedar or Paul permitting artificial, for a tree type or aluminum. In a pinch another fir should be findable in Fire or Confirmed etc

>145 quondame: A re-read of M. M. Kaye's Death in Cypress had occurred to me. Would anyone join me?

>137 Citizenjoyce: >138 lyzard: Well we still can use cypress or cedar or Paul permitting artificial, for a tree type or maybe aluminum? In a fir should be findable in Fire or Confirmed etc

>141 Citizenjoyce: >142 quondame: Did either of you read and enjoy The Night Circus by the same author?

>148 Morphidae: Not yet. It's next up on my reading list. Actually I skipped it to read something regrettable which I hope to be done with tout suite..

>148 Morphidae: I did, and I liked it but didn't love it as many did. I think, as I remember, it was similar but maybe not quite so challenging. It's possible it didn't require quite as much commitment from the reader to the poetic style of the author. I admit I'm not a big fan of metaphorical poetry, To me, it's kind of like a literary game where you guess the meaning of the author. I'm too prosaic to immerse myself in the pursuit.
ETA also, it's 100 pages shorter. If The Starless Sea had been 200 pages, I would have finished. If it had been 300 pages I might have bitten that bullet too, but 512 pages of literary narcissism were just too much for me.

With a kid's book that I shared with Dejah_Thoris, I did it! A sweeplette for December. Hurray!

>152 SqueakyChu: Congratulations, Madeline! And it was a cute book - thanks for the shared read!

>152 SqueakyChu: Congrats

>152 SqueakyChu: Hurrah!

>152 SqueakyChu: Congratulations, Madeline!

>152 SqueakyChu: Woo hoo!

>153 Dejah_Thoris: >154 Citizenjoyce: >155 Helenliz: >156 FAMeulstee: >157 Carmenere:

Thanks! I end the year on a high note!

...and the TIOLI challenges (with their sweeps, sweeplettes, and guiltless bailed books...Haha!) will continue into 2020.

Wishing everyone Happy Holidays and a Happy New Year!

>152 SqueakyChu: Hurray on the sweeplette, Madeline.

Very pleased, too, that all of this will continue for 2020. I haven't seen the start of a 75er's book group for 2020 yet but I'll check from time to time.

It's been a slow reading month. Mom's pinched nerve in her hip is giving her trouble but, even worse, I thought she was going to be hospitalized with pneumonia. Thankfully, "just" bronchitis but a bad medical month for her. Dad's surgery was "a complete success" the surgeon said on Tuesday, so that was some good news.

I haven't read much this month and December is shaping up to be one of my slowest reading months in years. Good think we have guiltless bailed books here.

>159 lindapanzo: I’m glad your dad is on the mend and your mom “just” has bronchitis. I had bronchitis last year. Can’t say I recommend it. I hope her nerve becomes unpinched and you have lovely holidays.
>158 SqueakyChu: a great Solstice present to know this lovely game will continue.

>160 Citizenjoyce: Thanks, Joyce. One Monday, about two weeks ago, I flew out of work almost in a panic when she told me she couldn't breathe and was going to the doctor. Her cough sounded just like my pneumonia cough. Her new doctor tends to direct comments to me and addressed my concern that it was pneumonia and she'd have to be hospitalized. She said she could understand why I'd think so but it's not.

Anyway, things are calming down now but we have no Christmas spirit whatsoever this year.

>152 SqueakyChu: well done, Madeline!

>161 lindapanzo: Wish you some peace and quiet in all that turmoil.

Anybody joins Oliver for a Twist for the dance challenge #2?

It looks like the wiki is sick - at least Page 3. I'm afraid to look at the other pages.

>163 quondame: Yep, all three are sick. They were ok when I made a change an hour ago though.

>163 quondame: >164 lindapanzo: Yikes! I'd wait it out. It looks as if the whole wiki system is down.

The Wiki seems to be working fine now.

Is there an opposite of a sweep? Maybe a pile of books in the corner? If so, that's me this month. Having created a challenge to read books you'd acquired this year I am now trying to clear my library loans - all of them - which means that all the books I'm reading have been acquired this year. Some of them for too long ago (the perils of a generous renewal policy!)
It would help if I stopped reserving books and collecting them, wouldn't it?
Mind you, at this rate I could post the same challenge in January and still not be short of reading material.

Hope the season is treating you well and that there were lots of good books in Santa's sleigh* for good TIOLIers everywhere.

* Or other fictional gift giving deity of your choice

I hope everyone here is enjoying the festivities of the season. For those under the weather, may the coming year bring relief and peace.

>167 Helenliz: Haha! The opposite of a sweep are all of those unread "To Read" books on my shelves which now number over 400. I always use the excuse that I'm a BookCrosser and Little Free Library steward so those books are eventually going to be given away. We shall see...

Peews - all the books we couldn't get to in a given month

Happy Holidays readers!

Greetings, all! I hope the holiday season is treating all the TIOLIers well!

I realize that most of us are already looking ahead to reading for 2020, but I have two quick potential shared reads, if anyone is interested.

If you've read, or are contemplating reading The Calculating Stars, you should read We Interrupt This Broadcast, a brief online story by Mary Robinette Kowal set in the same alternate world and explains how a certain event in The Calculating Stars comes to pass. It can be found HERE, for free, on her website.

DeltaQueen50 Judy, I joined you for River of Teeth, and I really enjoyed it! It turns out there's a short story / prequel by Sarah Gailey free on Tor.com the includes Winslow and Ruby called Worth Her Weight In Gold. It's pretty short, and would serve as an interesting introduction to her alternate history USA with hippos for anyone who hasn't found River of Teeth yet. You can read it HERE.

>170 Dejah_Thoris: Thank you for the nudge to read We Interrupt This Broadcast.

>170 Dejah_Thoris: Dejah, I had a few quibbles with River of Teeth but did enjoy it enough that I used a little of my Christmas Amazon gift card to get the next story, Taste of Marrow. I will also have to pick up the prequel as well.

>170 Dejah_Thoris: >171 souloftherose: Me too!

TIOLI Stats for November, 2019

Interesting stats for November, 2019! We read a total of 310 books, the lowest monthly number since 2017. However we shared 88 books (28%) which was the highest percentage since 2018. We accumulated 48 YTD TIOLI points, the highest number since January of this year (2019).

Our most popular book was Paper Menagerie by Ken Liu which was read by 6 challengers.

The most popular challenge (with 37 books read) was the one by quondame to read a book where the first letter of the title starts with one of the letters in the word Grateful.

The challenge with the most TIOLI points was mine (SqueakyChu's) with 6 TIOLI points. My challenge was the one to read a book that measures approximately 1 cm in thickness.

We seem to have a pretty dedicated TIOLI following so...ever onward into 2020.

TIOLI AWards for November, 2019

The Fat Pages Award goes to paulstalder for reading Wie der Schneemann wieder lachen konnte for my (SqueakyChu's) challenge to read a book that measures approximately 1 cm in thickness. Not only was this challenger's book thickness exactly 1 cm, but it only had 28 pages. So...was it really the pages that were fat...or was it that the book cover was fat? We all shall probably never know! :D

The Discover a New City Award goes to Morphidae for reading The Billionaire's Christmas for lindapanzo's challenge to read a book with the name of a city in the title. The name of the city, Hebi, is one I never knew before. It is located in China.

The Simply Grateful Award goes to wandering_star for reading Simple Recipes. In this season of much cooking (I just finished making several dozen latkes today!), I shall be ever grateful for...you guessed...simple recipes! :D

The Sing it Out Award goes to katiekrug for reading Patience and Sarah for Dejah_Thoris's challenge to read a book that has been adapted from / or into another form. I thought it was pretty cool that this book was made into an opera!

The Guess It Did or Didn't Work Out Award goes to Citizenjoyce for the challenge to read a book about a utopia that either does or doesn’t work out. If the utopia this challenger imagined was a long list of readers, it didn't work out. If the utopia that this challenger imagined was lots of shared reads, it did work out (two of the three books read for this challenge were shared...making a HUGE 66.7% of shared reads. (Haha! I couldn't resist this)

The Mazal Tov/Congratulations Award goes to paulstalder for the challenge to read a book by an author whose first name is Felix or Lars or one of these names appear in the first sentence. We are all so happy for your becoming a new grandfather!

The Scarce Letters Award goes to (yes, once again) paulstalder for reading Öl for elkiedee's challenge to read a book with a title containing up to 9 characters. It's not often that someone finds a book whose title only contains two characters!

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

A Happy New Year to everyone!

>175 SqueakyChu: Thanks for the award. I never expect a long list of readers for my challenges, but the percentage of shared reads was surprisingly impressive.

>175 SqueakyChu: LOL at the scarce letters award!

>175 SqueakyChu: Thank you so much for all the awards - enjoyed reading so diverse things.

The Wie der Schneemann wieder lachen konnte has really thick pages, it's a 'haptic' book for children to 'feel' the snow (and other things) mentioned in the story. So on all pages you find a different surface for the snow, the handkerchief, the trees etc.

Felix is growing well despite his difficulties at his arrival, he didn't breathe at first so they had to take him to the hospital in an emergency.

Ooh, thanks for my award!

>175 SqueakyChu: Thanks for the reward!

I completed a sweep! This month has a number of very challenging challenges!

>181 quondame: Congratulations on sweeping a full year!

>181 quondame:

Oh my goodness, a sweep sweep! Congratulations on your amazing achievement!

>181 quondame: congratulations

>181 quondame: Congratulations!

>181 quondame: Wow! Congratulations!

Oh, well.

It's not quite up there with Susan's achievement, but I have a sweeplette (#1 - #6) to finish the year! :D

>187 lyzard: Congratulations, that makes six sweeplettes in 2019!

>188 FAMeulstee:

Thanks, Anita! Was it really that many? I'm much better at tallying 'Lizlettes', i.e. falling one short all the time! :D

>187 lyzard: Hurray for my sweeplette companion for December! Congratulations, Liz!

>190 SqueakyChu: Lizlettes?!! :D

>190 SqueakyChu:

Thank you!

What I call my dazzling skill at finishing 5/6 challenges on every page, over and over and over... :D

>191 lyzard: I understand. I love the name "Lizlettes". Hence the exclamation points.

Congratulations to all the award winners!

>181 quondame: And kudos to you, Susan, for your full year of sweeps!

>171 souloftherose: >173 jeanned: You're very welcome! We Interrupt This Broadcast is a nice little addition to The Calculating Stars story, isn't it? Btw, is anyone planning on The Fated Sky in January? Or some other month?

>172 DeltaQueen50: I've requested Taste of Marrow from the library, so I'll join you in January if you're planning to get to it that soon. And there's no need to purchase Worth Her Weight in Gold (although you can, of course), because it's free on Tor.com .

>174 SqueakyChu: And while I'm on the topic of short stories, for everyone who was as impressed by Paper Menagerie by Ken Liu (the most popular read of November), I wanted to mention that his collection of short stories, The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories is available on Kindle (US) today for $3.99. I don't usually plug book sales, but I though this was worth mentioning.

And congratulations to SqueakyChu and lyzard for their sweeplettes!

>192 SqueakyChu:

At least I'm good at something, right? :)

>193 Dejah_Thoris:

Thanks, Dejah!

>193 Dejah_Thoris: Thanks, Dejah!

>194 lyzard: Indeed you are, Liz!

>182 FAMeulstee: >183 lyzard: >184 Citizenjoyce: >185 DeltaQueen50: >186 SqueakyChu: >193 Dejah_Thoris: Thank you!

I just managed also to complete two meta challenges for December TIOLI. First, I did a complete CHRISTMAS for challenge #7, each of which also satisfies #6 AND for each challenge, at least one entry also satisfies #6 so that all the following reads were tochstoned between Jan 1, 2019 and Nov. 30 2019. The location of the touchstone can be reached by clicking on the title - these are links, not touchstones!

1. The Raven and the Reindeer T. Kingfusger souloftherose
   
2. The Water Dancer Ta-Nehisi Coates msf59 in jnwelch
   
3. The Bookish Life of Nina Hill Abbi Waxman Micheller7
   
4. Solstice Wood Patricia McKillip SandyAMcPherson
   
5. Snowblind Ragnar Jonasson vancouverdeb
   
6. Laura Dean Keeps Breaking up With Me Mariko Tamaki jnwelch
   
7. How Rory Thorne Destroyed the Multiverse K. Eason ronincats
   
8. Emergency Skin N.K. Jemisin richardderus
   
9. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks Rebecca Skloot Morphidae
   
10. My Family and Other Animals Gerald Durrell mistrust
    
11. They Called Us Enemy George Takei alphaorder
    
12. The Night Circus Erin Morgenstern msf59
    
13. The Stories you Tell Kristen Lepionka charl08
    
14. Of Wars, and Memories, and Starlight Aliette de Bodard amanda4242
    
15. Calypso David Sedaris Berly
    
16. Astray Emma Donoghue rretzler
    
17. Good Talk Mira Jacobs msf59
    

>196 quondame: Omigosh, challenges inside challenges inside challenges. Congratulations.

Even though I said I would never do it again, with Christmas Days: 12 Stories and 12 Feasts for 12 Days by Jeanette Winterson being my last book of the month, year and decade, I've completed a sweep.

>198 PawsforThought: TIOLI-ception. Well done for getting so many books read AND for getting so many TIOLIs.

>197 Citizenjoyce: Your first sweep of the year, congratulations!

>196 quondame: Amazing! Susan, how do you even manage to keep track of all these challenges? Congratulations!

Wasn't The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks a fascinating book?

Housekeeping Day...for the end of the year!

Please remove any books from the wiki that you don't finish in 2019 (by midnight tonight) or mark any rolling challange DNF.

Thanks for participating in the TIOLI challenges in 2019. Hope to have you with us again in 2020. Happy New Year to all!

>196 quondame: Very cool, Susan!

>197 Citizenjoyce: Never say never, Joyce!

I hope you both enjoyed all your books.

I've probably done for the year, with an anti-sweep, all 9 books read this month in one challenge. I have reduced the number of library books I have on loan to 2, which is, for me, a remarkably low level! Maybe my resolution for 2020 is to learn how to keep my reservation and acquisition habit to a manageable size! (yeah, we all know that'll be blown within the fortnight!)

Happy new year, TIOLI-ers.

>203 Helenliz: Cool! An “anti-sweep”! Love it.

Go ahead everyone. Posts your bookish New Year’s resolutions here now as Helen did above!

Congratulations to all prize winners and sweepers and sweepletters! The personal TIOLI stat I am most proud of was increasing my shared reads from 34% in 2018 to 46% in 2019.

Re: housekeeping. Checking my books, I found one that I'm certain I didn't add. I'd fix it, but I think it may belong to someone else (quondame?)

It's in challenge #3, currently number 22, for "The Hidden World" by Melinda Snodgrass. The link actually points to the page for "Grace Will Lead Us Home," a title I *did* add to the challenge (currently number 20).

Based on the Conversation linked from the "Hidden World" homepage, I think that quondame may have added the line for "The Hidden World". I don't know whether the incorrect link and reader is a copying error, or whether I messed something up when adding or updating "Grace Will Lead Us Home." If it's my fault: apologies. I just don't want to compound the error by trying to fix it.

Happy New Year everyone!

My bookish resolution is to focus mainly on my own books and reduce that pile. I also hope that I can actually get a sweepette or two during the year. (I've set myself up for one in January).

Thanks for another excellent year of TIOLI, Madeline.

With my last book in challenge #7, I completed all challenges on page 2, my first sweeplette :-)

>205 jeanned: The personal TIOLI stat I am most proud of was increasing my shared reads from 34% in 2018 to 46% in 2019.

That is VERY cool!

>207 DeltaQueen50: You're welcome!

>208 FAMeulstee: Congrats to the Sweeplette Page Master on your own sweeplette! :D

> 197 Congratulations, and thanks for giving me another shared read!

>200 SqueakyChu: Thanks! Yes it was, it really speaks to so many issues that are front page now. It also reminded me that my grandmother, who died at 36 before penicillin was available, might well have had a similar medical history as Henrietta Lacks. I'm so glad HPV vaccination is available for this generation.

>202 Dejah_Thoris: Thanks!

>203 Helenliz: I suspect you could have placed books in #6 or #17, but where's the fun in that!

>203 Helenliz: >206 swynn: Indeed, it was one of my reads, the third in a trilogy that started off pretty good, totally crashed in the second book, and was finished with a rubble of mixed quality. I often copy an entry and edit it to add a book to a challenge, and I got even sloppier than usual. Sorry.

>204 SqueakyChu: I just hope in 2020 I'm a little more into checking to see if I will enjoy a book before submitting it to a TIOLI challenge. I should probably stop with the meta-challenges, especially if they restrict the choices too much for that.

>210 quondame: The NO GUILT POLICY remains in effect in the TIOLI challenges for 2020 and FOREVER. You may remove any book from the wiki at any time with *no guilt*.

>211 SqueakyChu: I am not the least bit susceptible to guilt. In a world of challenges, book challenges provide me with "accomplishments" I can achieve with the resources at hand.

My resolution is to reduce my existing TBR pile by 60 before buying any new books or putting additional books on hold at the library beyond the ones already in my queue as of when I made said resolution ~2 weeks ago. The sole allowable exception is if I need to buy a new book for a book club or similar external commitment.

>205 jeanned: I noticed that you were hitting around 50% shared reads every month, and I've been very impressed that you've been able to keep that up! I aim - and will continue to aim - for 33% or better. I don't have your determination, lol.

I'm actually hoping to read a bit less in 2020. We'll see how it goes.

>214 Dejah_Thoris: I can't ever keep up with you! :D Although it has been fun, limiting my planned reads to 3 or 4 a month, and then checking out what other people are reading that are on my ridiculously long list of potential reads. Some of my favorite books of the year were shared reads: The Way West, Go, Went, Gone, How to Be Both, and Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine.

The Ruins of Gorlan by John Flanagan : Challenge 16
Tashi and the Magic Flute by Barbara and Anna Fienberg
Faery Lands Forlorn by Dave Duncan

These were my December books, but I doubt there were any shared reads.