Take It or Leave It Challenge - December 2024 - 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

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Your TIOLI challenge for December, 2024, is to...

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Read a book with a two-word title in which the first word starts with the letter "O"
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Rules
1. Do not use a book with a title that starts with "the", "a", or "an". The first letter of the title must be "O".
2. You may ignore the subtitle.

Some suggestions:
Our Malady
Opa Nobody
Open Heart
Our Holocaust
Observatory Mansions
On Parole
Outwitting History
Oddly Normal
On Freedom
On Tyranny
Once Removed

Have fun!

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Other Stuff (not part of the TIOLI challenge):
1. FAMeulstee's 2024 TIOLI Sweeplette Meter
2. FAMeulstee's Our TIOLI Sweeps
3. Morphidae's List of Previous TIOLI Challenges (2010-2016) - A reference (Do a control-F scan) to avoid repeating a previous challenge. If your idea is similar to a previous challenge, make it unique by adding a new "twist" to it. (Exception: Any challenge previously entered by FAMeulstee)
4. The December 2024 TIOLI Meter - Optional page on which you may track your TIOLI reading. Not competitive--- just fun!

Index of Challenges:

Challenges #1-6
1. Read a book with a two-word title in which the first word starts with the letter "O" - msg #1
2. Anita Memorial Reads: Wild Card - msg #3
3. Inspired by Anita: 3 letters from the word “December” are in the title - msg #4
4. Read a book for the Zodiac Challenge (Sagittarius: Rolling Half and Half (A-M first name/N-Z last name) - msg #5
5. Read a book in honor of lindapanzo's recently deceased father, Edward (Ed) - msg #6
6. Read a book whose title completes the sentence "All I want for Christmas is..." - msg #11

Challenges #7-12
7. Read a book that links to the PDG's Centenary - msg #13
8. Rolling challenge: alternate between books that have a wintry/cold word and a summery/warm word in the title - msg #12
9. Read a book with a title that conveys generosity, however you define it - msg #14
10. Read a 'leftover' book that you've been planning/intending to read since Jan 1, 2024 - msg #17
11. Read a book in which someone's or something's beauty plays an essential part - msg #19
12. Read a book with some tie to Spain - msg #21

Challenge #13-15
13. Read a book about something magic - msg #26
14. Read a book you put on, and took off, the TIOLI challenge in 2024 - msg #41
15. Read a book whose title implies something that gives comfort or joy - msg #43

Please hold your challenge until the January, 2025, TIOLI challenge is posted. Thank you!

Challenge #2: Anita Memorial Reads: Wild Card

This is the last month in 2024 for our memorial reads for Anita and I am hoping everyone can finish out the year strongly for her. In December, we are choosing any of the books from her wiki: https://wiki.librarything.com/index.php/User:FAMeulstee (Please note that this is a link to the original and should not be edited by us. See below. . .)

Please indicate on the wiki from which years you are choosing your books. Thank you!

Nina has created a duplicate of Anita’s list which she copied and pasted elsewhere after Anita’s sudden death to encourage LTers to list their matching reads onto the duplicate list without changing anything on Anita’s original list. (For all of us, this should be the place where we actually list our shared reads…in other words…our “work page”.)
https://wiki.librarything.com/index.php/User_talk:FAMeulstee

According to Madeline, this is the way it works:

The way you would enter your name and date (DD/MM/YYYY). in the book list would be to

1. Find the book you read on the wiki.
2. Click the “edit” button on the right.
2. Go to the end of the book’s line and hit the enter button on your keyboard which will open up and start a line under the book.
3. Type #(whatever your username is) and the date read
4. Scroll down to “I’m not a robot”. Click that little box.
5. Click “Save changes”.

Please update the wiki as you are reading books in Anita's memory! I think this is a wonderful way to memorialize her and my hat's off to Nina for thinking of it!!

Challenge #3: Inspired by Anita - 3 letters from the word “December” are in the title

Anita posted this challenge in December of 2023 and I would like to respectfully repeat it this year.

Please note that the only multiple letter in December is “e” and so is also the only letter you can use more than once in the challenge.

AI comic image created by Morphidae

Challenge #4: Read a book for the Zodiac Challenge (Sagittarius: Rolling Half and Half)

For the holiday season and the last of the Zodiac challenges, I'm doing an easy one.

Sagittarius which comes from the Latin word for "archer" is associated in Greek mythology with Chiron the centaur (half-man/half-horse.)

This is a rolling challenge between:

- a book written by an author whose FIRST name is in the FIRST half (A-M) of the alphabet, i.e. top half of body

- a book written by an author whose LAST name is in the SECOND half (N-Z) of the alphabet, i.e. bottom half of body

FYI: For names, if it's hyphenated then use the first letter of the first part ("A" for Ann-Marie, "M" for Moreno-Garcia.)

Challenge #5: Read a book in honor of my recently deceased father

As I mentioned, my much loved father Edward (Ed), passed away on October 30 after a 5-year battle with dementia.

For this challenge, please read a book that would have a connection with my father. Words such as Ed can be embedded in the title or author name.

Of course, Dad was a father. He was a proud U.S. Army veteran, having served in the First Infantry Division aka the Big Red one. His life's work involved computers, first data processing in the 1960's and, by the end, computer troubleshooting.

The love of his life was my mother, Dorothy. They were married for 65 years. Dad had two daughters, my younger sister, Laura, and me. He was a devoted family man. Except for his time in the military, he was a lifelong Chicago area resident. He was a Polish-American.

He was a diehard sports fan and loved watching baseball (the Chicago Cubs), American football, not soccer (the Chicago Bears), and ice hockey (the Chicago Blackhawks). Later in life, he took up running and, ultimately, ran and completed 19 marathons.

He was an avid reader and especially enjoyed reading science fiction (which he did not pass along to me) as well as nonfiction books on World War 2. He also enjoyed all kinds of music, including music now called "standards" such as music performed by Perry Como, Frank Sinatra and the like, as well as classical music, and opera and loved attending symphony concerts and the opera.

His family meant everything to Dad. Though he was a quiet man (which we said was due to the fact that he lived in a household with three very chatty and very opinionated women so he could barely get a word in edgewise), Dad loved family gatherings. Especially Christmas and summertime outdoor family gatherings.

>6 lindapanzo: Would a book about WWII be appropriate, Linda? You did not specify if your father fought in any wars, so I wanted to check to be sure.

>8 alcottacre: Dad was a Cold War veteran but, since he was an avid reader on the topic of World War 2, a nonfiction book on that war would be fine.

Books on other wars would be acceptable if the Big Red One unit was involved, as they often were.

>9 lindapanzo: Thanks! I appreciate the quick answer.

Challenge #8: Rolling challenge: alternate between books that have a wintry/cold word and a summery/warm word in the title

Apologies for the northern hemisphere approach to this! Embedded words are allowed.

I'm the secretary of a bell ringing society that covers the diocese of Peterborough (in the UK). We have the snappy title of Peterborough Diocesan Guild of Church Bell Ringers. We usually shorted that to the PDG! On the 5th January 2024, we turned 100 years old and so we have spent 2024 going all out to celebrate. We have had 12 events, one per month, and we just have a Carol Service on 28th December and we'll be done. You challenge is to read a book that connects in some way to our anniversary.

Challenge #7: Read a book that links to the PDG's Centenary

1: You could read a book with 100 or centenary or similar term indicating 100 in the title, where the book was published in 1924 or where someone or something turning 100 is a significant plot point.
2: You could read a book that have bell or bells in the title, author's name or that feature as a plot point.
3: You could read a book that is set anywhere within the diocese. Or, because that might be a bit difficult, set in a place that shares a name with anywhere in the diocese. *
4: You could read a book that features one of our events as a title or plot point. We have had
a: Evensong in the cathedral
b: A barn dance
c: A couple of competitions
d: An Annual General Meeting
e: A quiz
f: An open day
g: A dinner, with toasts and stuff (and me in a dress)
h: Training sessions
i: A picnic
j: A Carol Service
5: A book with birthday cake on the cover. We've had cake at almost every event because you do only turn 100 the once!

Please list your book's connection on the wiki. I'm imagining there's plenty of scope there, but do ask if anything's unclear.

* I will come back with some ideas and try and find you a map of the diocese to help here.

Place ideas:
There's a series of detective novels by Adam Croft which are set in Rutland, England's smallest county, which is part of the diocese. https://www.librarything.com/nseries/323591/Rutland-Crime
Platform Seven by Louise Doughty is set on Peterborough railway station.
Katherine of Aragon is buried in Peterborough Cathedral, Mary Queen of Scots was executed at Fotheringhay.
This tag is for our Peterborough, there are others. https://www.librarything.com/place/Peterborough%2C+Cambridgeshire%2C+England%2C+...
Jerusalem by Alan Moore is set in Northampton. Obviously there are a number of other Northamptons in the world.
This tag is for our Northampton https://www.librarything.com/place/Northampton%2C+Northamptonshire%2C+England%2C...
There have been a number of battles in our area, which might feature in historical novels or history books. Naseby, Edgecote, Northampton amongst others.

Places. I've struggled to find a map that works. Best I can do is the map of places in our area that have bells, which can be found here: https://pdg.org.uk/towers
There's a map of Northamptonshire on wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northamptonshire
Ditto Rutland: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rutland
Hope that helps

>13 Helenliz: Oh, how fun! If I hadn't fairly recently read Dorothy L. Sayers' The Nine Tailors that would have been perfect for your challenge.

>15 PawsforThought: That would have been the perfect fit!
I had to find my copy out recently, as I wanted an extract for a reading at out Carol Service. I might just have to have a re-read.

Challenge #10: Read a "leftover" book

I think of this as a "time to eat your leftovers" holiday reading equivalent challenge.

Many of us (ahem) set out each year with reading goals. Many of us (ahem) fall short. Here's a chance to read any book that you have been intending to read all year and have fallen short on... I'll be mining my own "TBR" lists that I set in place in Janaury for ideas.

Any book, as long as you've had it on a TBR list since January. It doesn't need to have been in your possession that long -- just that you intended to lay hands on it, and read it, and haven't done so yet.

>17 Chatterbox: Thank you for that one! I have been trying to read one book in particular since February, I think?

Challenge #11: Read a book in which someone's or something's beauty plays an essential part
I'll be reading A Song to Drown Rivers about Xishi, one of the famous Four Beauties of Ancient China. The book can't just mention that someone or something is beautiful. The beauty has to be essential to the plot or characterization of the book.

>19 Citizenjoyce: How about pretty instead of beautiful?

Uglies by Scott Westerfeld

Challenge #12: Read a book with some tie to Spain ...or Spanish.
I'll be reading Hotel Florida: Truth, Love, and Death in the Spanish Civil War for December's War Room Challenge on the Spanish Civil War, hopefully.

>20 Morphidae: It looks like the term pretty is interchangeable with beautiful in the book, so it fits.

>21 avatiakh: Ach, I just read Opus which describes the founding and rise of Opus Dei in Spain. I hope I'll find something as good. My stepfather came from Spain and was orphaned here in the US. I should have more affinity for it than I do. I found their coffee disappointing. Maybe that's the reason.

>23 Citizenjoyce: Oh, that often happens when a new challenge comes. I read Ghosts of Spain several years ago. Another one I liked was Isabella: The Warrior Queen by Kirstin Downey.

What part of Spain did your stepfather come from, the regions are so different. I holidayed in Spain several times in past years, mostly Andalucia. I recall tapas more than the coffee, we had some memorable meals.

>24 avatiakh: He came from Galicia which I gather is much different from Madrid where we went. My most memorable meals there were a great paella and some very thick hot chocolate one morning for breakfast.

The wiki isn’t working so I’m posting here first. Will add to the wiki as soon as it stops 504-img.

Challenge 13: Read a book about something magic

Of course all the books about magicians, wizards and witches would be a shoe-in here, as would any book featuring a magic item, a magic being or creature or anything of the like. But even if you’re not a fantasy fan, you can find a book to read! It can also be a book about someone being mistaken for being magical, such as books about the witch trials, etc. I will also accept books about quacks like mediums, snake oil salesmen and others who claim to be able to heal illnesses and injuries without actual medical intervention (aka magic).

Please add what magical thing the book is about.

If you have any questions, feel free to ask!

>25 Citizenjoyce: Not been to Galicia, it's so far north. The Celtic music from that region is interesting, Hevia made it accessible a few years ago.
I'm not into seafood so paella was not attractive for me, annoying for my husband as you mostly have to order for two people minimum. In Cordoba we dined a few times in a restaurant that featured Sephardhi Jewish dishes. I liked simple dishes such as berenjenas con miel (eggplant with honey), lentejas (lentils), and albondigas con salsa almendra (meatballs in almond sauce). My daughter was remembering the magdalenas we often had in the mornings fresh from the bakery and the lengua de gato biscuits which I bought just becasue of the name.

Everyone feel free to add your challenges here so others can choose their books now if they’d like. As I always do, I’ll wait until the wiki is up and running and do my indexing from the wiki. I’ll also number the challenges according to their place on the wiki list. I hope this gets resolved soon. I and someone else reported it on the Bugs group.

Because the wiki is down, I cannot compile the list of prize winners for November yet. I will get to them as soon as the wiki is back up again - hopefully before next Saturday when I am going out of town with no Internet access.

The wiki is back up!

Yay!

Because the wiki has been down for several days, I am going to wait until the 4th to issue the list of prize winners for November. Hopefully that will give everyone plenty of time to update the wiki.

I will give everyone up through midnight December 4th to update their November wiki with books COMPLETED or DNFed.

>17 Chatterbox: Would a book on my "To Read" list since 2013 qualify? I've actually had it here at home since then. :D

https://www.bookcrossing.com/journal/12346099/

>34 SqueakyChu: Madeline, I think you meant to send your question to Suzanne at #17?

>35 alcottacre: Right. Fixed. Thanks.

>36 SqueakyChu: No problem

My planned reads:
Challenge #1: Read a book with a two-word title in which the first word starts with the letter "O" - started by SqueakyChu
*Old Baggage - Lissa Evans
✔Open Throat - Henry Hoke (4)
*Our Team - Luke Epplin abandoned
Challenge #2: Anita Memorial Reads: Wild Card - started by AlcottAcre
*✔The Fountains of Silence - Ruta Sepetys (4.5)
Challenge #3: Inspired by Anita: 3 letters from the word “December” are in the title - started by DeltaQueen
✔Calling for a Blanket Dance by Oscar Hokeah (3.5)
*✔A Cosmology of Monsters - Shaun Hamill (4)
✔Fleishman Is in Trouble: A Novel by Taffy Brodesser-Akner (4.5)
✔Where the Light Enters - Sara Donati (4)
Challenge #4: Read a book for the Zodiac Challenge (Sagittarius: Rolling Half and Half (A-M first name/N-Z last name) - started by Morphidae
✔The Cartographers - Peng Shepherd (3.5)
✔The Chosen - Chaim Potok (4)
*Graceling - Kristin Cashore
Challenge #5: Read a book in honor of my recently deceased father, Edward (Ed) - started by lindapanzo
*✔Translation State - Ann Leckie (4)
Challenge #6: Read a book whose title completes the sentence "All I want for Christmas is..." - started by susanna.fraser
✔Someone We Know by Shari Lapeña (3)
Challenge #7: Read a book that links to the PDG's Centenary (see main thread) - started by helenliz
✔Babel: Or the Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators' Revolution - R. F. Kuang (4)
*✔The Djinn Waits A Hundred Years- Shubnum Khan (3.5)
*✔The Nine Tailors - Dorothy L. Sayers (3.5)
Challenge #8: Rolling challenge: alternate between books that have a wintry/cold word and a summery/warm word in the title - started by wandering_star
✔That Summer - Lauren Willig (3.5)
*Winters in the World - Eleanor Parker abandoned
Challenge #9: Read a book with a title that conveys generosity, however you define it - started by dallenbaugh
✔Be My Guest: Reflections on Food, Community and the Meaning of Generosity by Priya Basil (4)
Love, Dishonor, Marry, Die, Cherish, Perish: A Novel by David Rakoff abandoned
*Pay it Forward - Catherine Ryan Hyde
Challenge #10: Read a 'leftover' book that you've been planning/intending to read since Jan 1, 2024 - started by Chatterbox
✔Bipolar General: My Forever War with Mental Illness - Gregg F. Martin (5)
Challenge #11: Read a book in which someone's or something's beauty plays an essential part - started by Citizenjoyce
*The Picture of Dorian Gray - Oscar Wilde
*✔A Song to Drown Rivers - Ann Liang (4)
✔A Thousand Ships by Natalie Haynes
Challenge #12: Read a book with some tie to Spain - started by avatiakh
*✔Ghosts of Spain - Giles Tremlett (4.5)
Challenge #13: Read a book about something magic - started by PawsforThought
✔Graceling by Kristin Cashore (4)
✔Sorcerer to the Crown by Zen Cho (4)
Challenge #14: Read a book you put on, and took off, the TIOLI challenge in 2024 - started by raidergirl3
Lucky - Jane Smiley
✔Shadow Witch - Kim Richardson (2.5)
Challenge #15: Read a book whose title implies something that gives comfort or joy - started by Kristelh
*Abide With Me - Elizabeth Strout
✔Butter: A Novel of Food and Murder by Asako Yuzuki (4.5)
✔Pony Confidential - Christina Lynch (4)

>17 Chatterbox: Is there a way of finding what books we listed in January of this year?
Never mind. I found it.

Just a reminder that all changes to the November wiki need to be updated before midnight tonight so that Madeline can get her stuff done and I can compile the prize winners for the month. Thanks!

Challenge #14: Read a book you put on, and took off, the TIOLI challenge in 2024 - started by raidergirl3

We needed another challenge and I know I erased a good number of books this year.

>41 raidergirl3: Great challenge!

Challenge #15: Read a book whose title implies something that gives comfort or joy - started by Kristelh

No more challenges!! Time’s up for December!!! Save your challenges until next month. Thank you.

I mistakenly posted this to the November TIOLI thread. Sorry about that!

You got it! It is that time of the month again - PRIZE TIME!!




Mini-Sweeplettes in November:
AnneDC for challenges 1-3
antqueen for challenges 2-4
cbl_tn for challenges 2-4
susanna.fraser for challenges 3-5
avatiakh for challenges 4-6
countrylife for challenges 4-6
helenliz for challenges 4-6
JeanneD for challenges 4-6
Kristelh for challenges 4-6 and challenges 7-11

Sweeplettes in November:
DeltaQueen for challenges 1-6

Sweeps in November:
AlcottAcre
Chatterbox
Citizenjoyce
Quondame

Congratulations to all our prize winners!! I was very happy to see so many mini-sweeplettes last month!

I would also like to comment on the wide variety of books that were read last month. Good job, everyone!

DECEMBER 2024

READ

Sefi Atta, The Bead Collector
Beth O'Leary, Swept Away
Elif Shafak, There are Rivers in the Sky
Jocelyn Playfair, A House in the Country

CURRENT

Maxine Morrey, Reach for the Stars
Michelle Magorian, Impossible!
Tony Travers, London's Boroughs at 50
Scott Turow & Otto Penzler (editors), The Best American Mystery Stories 2006
John Fowles, The French Lieutenant's Woman
Jenny Colgan, The Christmas Book Hunt - novella
Richard Osman, We Solve Murders
Elvis Costello, Unfaithful Music & Disappearing Ink
Abi Daré, And So I Roar
Isabella Hammad, The Parisian
Lily King, Writers & Lovers
Coco Mellors, Blue Sisters
Sarah Hall, How to Paint a Dead Man
Mary Cadogan, Mary Carries On
Paula Hawkins, The Blue Hour
Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities
Jo Bloom, Ridley Road

NEXT UP

Clare Mallory, Leith and Friends
Maud Cairnes, Strange Journey

TIOLI Stats for November, 2024

The stats are holding. Looking good, challengers!

For the month of November, 2024, we read a total of 266 books of which 54 (20%) were shared reads. We collected 32 TIOLI points for a November 2024 YTD total of 371.

The most popular books, all shared by three readers were these:
Hershel and the Hanukkah Goblins - Eric Kimmel
I Contain Multitudes - Ed Yong
The Grey Wolf (Sûreté du Québec) - Louise Penny
Love That Dog - Sharon Creech
Turtles All the Way Down - John Green
The Woman Who Split the Atom - Marissa Moss
The Painted Veil - W. Somerset Maugham
Cahokia Jazz - Francis Spufford

The most popular challenge (with 54 books read - Wow!) was the one by DeltaQueen50 and inspired by Anita to read a book by a female author that has a female main character.

The challenge with the most TIOLI points (seven) was the one by susanna.fraser to read a book with something fragile, liquid, or perishable in the title.

Good reading, everyone. Hope your holidays will be happy days!

I am very happy that our repeat of some of Anita's Challenges have been so warmly accepted. Anita is missed and has left a hole that isn't easily filled.

I have missed the last couple of weeks here on LT as I had a stroke on Nov. 24th and have been in hospital. I was released yesterday and look forward to getting back to my regular life.

>48 DeltaQueen50:, so sorry to hear this DeltaQueen. Hope your recovery is going well. Glad you’re able to get back to your regular life.

>48 DeltaQueen50: I'm so glad you're able to get back to your regular life. Take good care of yourself.

>48 DeltaQueen50: Oh no, Judy. Sorry to hear this. Hope things can get back to normal for you soon. Please take care!!

>48 DeltaQueen50: How scary to have had a stroke! I hope you have a complete and successful recovery. Aging is no picnic. Wishing you a speedy return to good health.

>48 DeltaQueen50: Hoping you have a speedy recovery.

>48 DeltaQueen50: So sorry to hear about your stroke. It must be very scary to go through. Glad to hear you’re back home and I hope for all the best in your recovery.

>48 DeltaQueen50: What a scary time that must have been. Glad you are back home.

>48 DeltaQueen50: Hi Judy, I hope you are well on the road to recovery. Please take care.

Thanks everyone! I have quite alot of rehab to go through as the stroke affected my left side and I want to regain some of my strength.

>48 DeltaQueen50: I hope you continue to heal and get back all your strength and balance.

The November, 2024, TIOLI Awards!

The Liquid of Choice Award goes to Carmenere and Citizenjoyce for reading Before the Coffee Gets Cold for the challenge by susanna.fraser to read a book with something fragile, liquid, or perishable in the title. If one is going to pick a liquid, let it be something hot, dark, sweet, with an earthy aroma, and caffeinated...like coffee! I can smell it brewing now!

The Finally Finishing a Book Award goes to PawsforThought for reading Grekiska myter och sagor for the challange by wandering_star to get back into (or restart) a book you started before the end of August this year. This challenger was able to finish a book that was started way back in November, 2022. Well done! ...after only two years! :)

The Help with Understanding Award goes to Kristelh for the challenge to read a book about the Jewish American Experience (Fiction or Nonfiction). This challenge touched my soul because reading about the Jewish experience and later reaching out to Jewish individuals is so important in our world today in an effort to counter growing antisemitism. Thank you so much.

The I Was Meant to Be Different Award goes to Chatterbox for reading The Silver Arrow for the challenge by bell7 to read a book with "silver" or "gold" or a name that means silver or gold in the title. Everyone else who listed a book for this challenge "went for the gold". :)

The Vocabulary Enhancer Award goes to antqueen for reading Story Thieves which contains the word "tor", meaning a hill or rocky peak. I did not know that. Thanks for building up my vocabulary!

Congrats to our award winners! Take some time now to add any other award of your own, if you so desire.

>59 SqueakyChu: Thank you for the award! I think this is the first TIOLI award I've received. Yes, it's embarrassing how long it's taken me to finish that book—even more so when you know that a) it's less only 160 pages and b) I had it with me on the train every single day of those two years.

That's exactly the sort of book I created that challenge for! Glad you were able to make use of it.

>59 SqueakyChu: Thanks for the Award, Madeline. I enjoyed reading my selections and learned something new with each one. I hope others also were blessed.

>59 SqueakyChu: Thanks for the award! I think the first time I saw the word 'tor' was as the sff publisher, which has a little mountain symbol. I looked it up because I wondered why.

>57 DeltaQueen50: Good luck and God speed with the rehab. I hope you're doing better every day!

>59 SqueakyChu: Wow! Thanks for the Liquid of Choice Award!! It was so unexpected. My liquid of choice pairs well with my pastime of choice.....reading :0)

Judy, Judy, Judy! I'm so sorry to read of your stroke! But, I'm so happy that you are here to tell us about it!
Wishing and praying for your full and speedy recovery.
Hugs!

>63 antqueen: Interesting! I've heard of and seen Tor books, but I never knew tor was a real word!

>48 DeltaQueen50: : Oh, no, Judy! I'm so sorry. I hope books are easing your recovery.

TIOLI Question of the Month:

That book you're currently reading (or the last one you read if you are between books)...Tell us what it is and why specifically you chose that book to read at this time (other than it fits one of our challenges). :D

paper - Prince Edward's Warrant by Mel Starr - it's the 11th book in a series I've been reading and it's overdue at the library!
audio - The Grey Wolf by Louise Penny- 19th in the Gaumache series, but I've not been loving it lately, so it will probably be my last in this series
ebook - The Stranger Diaries - a new-to-me series by Elly Griffiths, as I've finished reading her last series, which has ended

>69 SqueakyChu: I'm reading Feh by Shalom Auslander. I've enjoyed other books by this author in the past. I encountered this new book of Auslander's when I was picking up another book on hold at my local public library, and I couldn't resist getting this new book of his!

I'm reading The Deep Sky by Yume Kitasei because it fits this month's AlphaKIT, it's on my TBR list from before 1/1/24, and it was available as a library ebook with no waitlist.

>69 SqueakyChu: The Wings Upon Her Back was featured in an Locus article for being a good example of Science Fantasy. The features of the world could be science, could be fantasy, it's questioned, but not resolved. Whether it's a good book, well, I'm not going to rate it over 3.5. It's just not mature enough. It concerns very heavy personal and political matters, but the focus isn't disciplined enough to make either seem other than old hat, and the combination messy rather than enlightening.

>69 SqueakyChu: I just finished Nutcracker. I read it for a book club. Since I hadn't read it before I thought it's magical holiday theme appropriate for the season

>69 SqueakyChu: I'm reading
# Citizenjoyce (The Cartographers by Peng Shepherd because it was recommended by the Historical Fiction Book Lovers group on Facebook and also by someone whose taste I share on Girlibooks.

>48 DeltaQueen50: I am so sorry to hear about your stroke, Judy, and hope that you are well on the road to recovery.

>59 SqueakyChu: Congratulations to all the winners! I am especially fond of the challenge posted by Kristel myself.

>69 SqueakyChu: I had been using Michael Dirda's Classics for Pleasure to guide my reading this year but as it only had 11 chapters it meant that I was going to have nothing from it to read for December; however, since I owned his Bound to Please as well, I decided to close out the year by reading it. Several other people are joining in the read of Bound to Please too, which makes it just that much more enjoyable.

Sorry to be so far behind here, but that is what going to visit my mother who has no Internet gets me :)

Just finished The Comfort of Strangers by Ian McEwan. Not recommended. It was the botm for Reading1001. A short novella. But unless you like violent erotica, I cannot recommend it.

>48 DeltaQueen50: Sending prayers and good wishes for recovery your way, Judy.

>69 SqueakyChu: One of my current reads is What Time the Sexton's Spade Doth Rust, the latest in the Flavia de Luce series. I'm reading it now because my turn came up in the library holds list. :-)

I'm reading the final book in Brandon Sanderson's Skyward series, Defiant. I bought the book on preorder a year ago and then it sat on my kindle app for the whole year with only a chapter or two read. I'm finally enjoying it right now and will finish it at the end of 2024 instead of the start.

>69 SqueakyChu: I finished Good Deeds by Kathryn Moon a few minutes ago. I'm on a huge reverse harem kick and this was on Mount TBR because it was a little different from most.

It's sci fi and funny - a space scavenger has to escape to the oldest and most run down android pleasure house. The oldest male androids are all rather quirky. Like the one who smiles WAY too much and tells horrible dad jokes.

I wanted something quick and light to read as I just came off reading a heavily emotional RH.

>69 SqueakyChu: Currently reading My Name Is Red for several different reasons: art theme; I’ve never read a book by a Turkish author (as far as I know); I’m interested in the time period, and this is new perspective for me; and it’s a mystery(!), my favorite genre.

I really like it so far, but it’s one of the most complex books I’ve tried in a long, long time. Pamuk is a marvelous stylist.

And The Nine Tailors, just because. I mean, it fits a challenge, but I’m reading it because I’ve always loved it.

>81 Matke: And The Nine Tailors, just because. I mean, it fits a challenge, but I’m reading it because I’ve always loved it.
Hurrah! Me too. I had to get it off the shelf to find an extract for our Carol Service at the end of the month. And having got it off the shelf, I thought I may as well read it. Still an excellent book.

>81 Matke: I haven't tried any of Pamuk's fiction yet. Twenty years ago, after visiting Istanbul on a cruise, I read his book, Istanbul and it was moody and wonderful. I recommend it!

>81 Matke: My Name is Red is one of my favorite novels. Enjoy!

>81 Matke: >83 raidergirl3: >84 Carmenere: ...and I loved Pamuk's Snow when I read it (19 years ago!)

>82 Helenliz: I’ve finished the Sayers, and it remains an excellent atmospheric mystery, with some good characterization. I don’t think I understood more than the bare minimum concepts of the bell ringing, though.

>83 raidergirl3:: >84 Carmenere:: >85 SqueakyChu:: I’m loving Pamuk’s style and so will go on to read more of his books, even though my progress is very slow. December through February are the very busiest times for my volunteer “job”, and I’ve been right out straight pretty much every day this month. So time for reading is thin on the ground, and my concentration is shot, too. But never mind: things will get sorted, and my reading will pick up again.

I'm reading The Fraud by Zadie Smith because my library hold finally came up! And I'm also reading The Husbands by Holly Gramazio because I was caught without a book and this was one of the ones I had downloaded onto the app on my phone - and it's been such fun to read I kept going.

>86 Matke: If there's anything bell ringing that was puzzling you, ask away. I can try and explain >:-)

>88 Helenliz: Thanks, Helen. I dm’d you with my question.

>89 Matke: Have replied at ridiculously unnecessary length!

>3 alcottacre:, >21 avatiakh: Thanks for posting these challenges. Without them, I would have known little of Spain, but because of The Fountains of Silence and Ghosts of Spain, I wish I could go back. It is amazing to see the change in the status of women and their relationships from one book to another.

Jumping a tiny bit off-topic to say that this year I sold a work of fiction for the first time in over a decade...a 100-word piece of flash fiction that was released today. If you're interested, you can read it here:

Just In Time

>90 Helenliz: Thank you, Helen! I don’t think you could have made the explanation more concise without losing clarity. I appreciate you taking the time to help me out!

>93 Matke: no problem. >:-)

>92 susanna.fraser: Congratulations!

If anyone is interested, LOL, the 75ers group for 2025 is now up and running.

https://www.librarything.com/ngroups/24622/75-Books-Challenge-for-2025

>92 susanna.fraser: Congrats!

>96 lindapanzo: Yay!! Thanks for letting us know!!

>97 SqueakyChu: You're welcome, Madeline. It doesn't take me long to set up my annual thread but I figured you would love to know as soon as possible.

Hope everyone is enjoying the holidays. Family brought much comfort this year.

>92 susanna.fraser: Yes! Congratulations!

>91 Citizenjoyce: I am happy to hear that you found this month's challenges especially helpful, Joyce. I too learned a lot from Ghosts of Spain.

>92 susanna.fraser: That is wonderful, Susanna! Congratulations.

>96 lindapanzo: Thanks for letting us know, Linda. I will show up there sometime in 2025.

>92 susanna.fraser: Congratulations, but now I want to know more. Will there be?

>92 susanna.fraser:, Congratulations Susanna.

>101 Citizenjoyce: I don't have any plans for more time travel EMT stories at this point, but I certainly plan to keep writing!

>103 susanna.fraser: I can't wait to see what you come up with.

Well, the wiki appears to be down - again. *sigh*

>105 alcottacre: I know nothing about creating websites, but this is becoming a regular weekend occurrence. I wonder why it's so hard to fix.

>105 alcottacre:. And I wonder why it goes down on the weekend? I hope it is not a sign of future problems. I love this site and the people here……

>106 Citizenjoyce: >107 Kristelh: It seems to happen close to the end of every month too and I have no idea why. I just know that it is darned inconvenient!