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The YLTO (You'll Love This One) Olympic Committee is proud to host the 2014 Reading Olympics, sponsored by Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ, where you'll find all your reading needs.

Your first task is to determine which country you are representing. The book you read will either be set in that country, or written by an author born in that country.

The next task is to decide which sport you will be participating in. In addition to your country criteria, your book will also have the following criteria based on your sport:

1. Alpine Skiing - Your book will reflect this sport by being set in the mountains.

2. Biathlon - Being a superb shot with a rifle is mandatory in this sport. The book you choose will have some kind of weaponry in it. There is one restriction in this category. The theme of the book may not be about war.

3. Figure Skating - Your book must involve the creative arts (dancing, art, singing, etc).

4. Curling - Rock it out, people! Anything to do with rocks (archeology, diamonds, rock music, etc.)

5. Ice Hockey - This sport can be all out war! Your book choice must have a war theme (and now you know why you can't use it for Biathlon).

General Rules:

1. The book may be in any format - paperback, ebook, audiobook.
2. The book may be in any genre.
3. The book may NOT be combined with the Year Long Chunkster Challenge.
4. The book must be read between February 1 to February 28, 2014 (based on your own time zone).
5. The challenge is for one book. You may read more books if you chose, but only the highest scoring book will apply.
6. The book must be 150 pages or more determined by the issue you read. If reading eBook or audiobook page numbers will be deteremined by the issue that comes up on a Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ search.

Scoring: (Count all qualifiers that apply)

10 points if book is set in the country you represent AND the author is born there.
5 points if the book's theme is any of the winter sports .
5 points if the book's theme is the Olympics.

O:
5 Points - Olympic village: If there is a village in your story
4 Points - Orange on the cover
3 Points - Author's last name starts with O

L:
5 Points - Length is between 300-400 pages long (based on the edition you read or as per rule #6).
4 Points - A Lake is in the story. (Specify)
3 Points - A Lady is on the cover. (Count only once.)

Y:
5 Points - Young Adult genre.
4 Points - Yellow sun is on the cover
3 Points - Year setting is between 1900 and 2000.

M:
5 Points - Title starts with the letter "M". It may be proceeded by "the", or "a".
4 Points - Male author
3 Points - Memoir

P:
5 Points - Poetry is included in the story.
4 Points - Author's first name starts with "P".
3 Points - Pink on the cover.

I:
5 Points - Initials in Author's name
4 Points - Informational (aka non-fiction)
3 Points - International - set in 3 or more countries.

C:
5 Points - Cold - set in Winter
4 Points - Main character is non-human
3 Points - Calligraphy - Title or author's name is written in script on the cover.

S:
5 Points - Series title is same as book title (eg The Shining, The Shining 1)
4 Points - Shakespeare is mentioned.
3 Points - Science Fiction genre.

Great challenge Janice. I love the way you linked the points to the words in Olympics. You are so creative! I was just about ready to log off and saw your post. This will keep me from sleeping tonight, trying to think about all of the books I could apply to the different things you came up with!!!!!

Love the challenges so far this year Janice! Sign me up for Russia and Figure Skating--I found the perfect book!

Nice!!
It will also make me choose a book that I didn't already have scheduled for Feb...which is good for my. " just because" reading.

I do love gophering for books.

Thanks for putting so much thought and creativity in this challenge Janice!

It wouldn't be a challenge if I didn't have a question right away: can we choose any country or only countries that actually participate in the olympics?

A book on my TBR shelf immediately came to mind, but it will earn me practically no points. Got to put the thinking cap on. Good challenge, as always!

This is such a great challenge Janice! Off to gopher - so many options!

I have a question too - would you count a sculptress under creative arts? It's possible that she sculpts stone (which could fall under the rock category although I won't know until I read it). I'm thinking of reading The Gargoyle as it's set in many countries.

Wow! Great challenge Janice! This will really get us in the mood for the Winter Olympics! I had better go and gopher my shelves.

Actually scrap my last questions I think I'm going to go with The Song of Achilles as it's set in Ancient Greece which is very appropriate for an Olympics challenge!

I have it on my shortlist for this challenge too. Most of my suitable books are connected through the war-theme, but I've been reading several WWII books lately and I would like something different.

I also found a book with a girl who has a shattered Olympic dream, but I can't make it fit with the 5 sports. Or did maybe someone read The Lost Hours and knows if there are weapons, mountains, rocks or creativity involved?

Okay, I've gone gophering and come up with The Year of the Death of Ricardo Reis - representing Portugal in Figure Skating.

Fun challenge! Can't wait to check out my tbr for this one. thanks. :)

I think I am going to go with Dance of Shadows representing the USA in Figure Skating.

I'm thinking of reading The Cellist of Sarajevo. The setting is Sarajevo in Bosnia so that is the country I will be representing. Looking forward to knocking this one of my tbr as it's been sitting there since 2010. Woot!

Tasha wrote: "I'm thinking I'm going to read The Cellist of Sarajevo. The setting is Sarajevo in Bosnia so that is the country I will be representing. Looking forward to knocking this one of my tb..."

I really liked that book. Good choice!

good to hear! :)

I might represent the US with figure-skating If I Stay. Apparently the main character is quite musical (plays the cello).

This is a terrific challenge! I have to scour my books to see what will work, what fun!!

Peggy wrote: "Thanks for putting so much thought and creativity in this challenge Janice!

It wouldn't be a challenge if I didn't have a question right away: can we choose any country or only countries that act..."

It's always great to have new countries participate in the winter Olympics. Remember when Jamaica entered a bobsled team?

Tasha wrote: "I'm thinking of reading The Cellist of Sarajevo. The setting is Sarajevo in Bosnia so that is the country I will be representing. Looking forward to knocking this one of my tbr as it..."

Figure skating I presume?

Sometimes it's hard to determine what sport a book could qualify for until you've actually read it. I'm thinking of reading Cocaine Blues. I think there may be a diamond heist, a bunch of dancing going on (at least she's having an affair with a dancer), and I suspect she packs a pistol. Has anyone read it and can confirm?

Tasha wrote: "I'm thinking of reading The Cellist of Sarajevo. The setting is Sarajevo in Bosnia so that is the country I will be representing. Looking forward to knocking this one of my tbr as it..."

Figure skating I presume?

Yep. :)

although it might also fit for Biathalon as the description says there is a sniper involved protecting the cellist. I guess I'll know better what I feel like going with after I read the book.

Hi Janice, There are jewels, there's dancing and dancers, and a pistol is definitely packed!

Tasha wrote: "although it might also fit for Biathalon as the description says there is a sniper involved protecting the cellist. I guess I'll know better what I feel like going with after I read the book."

It's also set during war time so could also represent Ice Hockey!

Janice wrote: "Peggy wrote: "Thanks for putting so much thought and creativity in this challenge Janice!

It wouldn't be a challenge if I didn't have a question right away: can we choose any country or only coun..."

Yes, I do! :D

In that case, I might reconsider my choice and also have a look at the not so winter-sporty countries.

Janice wrote: "Peggy wrote: "Thanks for putting so much thought and creativity in this challenge Janice!

It wouldn't be a challenge if I didn't have a question right away: can we choose any country or only coun..."

Apparently, Jamaica have qualified in the bobsleigh at this year's Olympics too :) I think it might be in the two-man event rather than the four-man event this time though.

Oh! It actually happened? I thought Janice was referring to Cool Runnings. Ah okay, some research, and apparently that was based on a true event. In my defense, I was only 4 at the time!

Oh boy, I'm so not into sports, is it obvious?

Looks like The Cellist of Sarajevo is full of options! lol :D

Peggy wrote: "Oh! It actually happened? I thought Janice was referring to Cool Runnings. Ah okay, some research, and apparently that was based on a true event. In my defense, I was only 4 at the time!

Oh boy, ..."

Don't worry Peggy, I know several people who didn't realise that Cool Runnings was based on real events :) A bit of trivia for you, the scene near the end of Cool Runnings, their final run, contains real footage of the actual (view spoiler)[crash (hide spoiler)].

Now I should watch the end of the movie again (or go do a youtube-search)! But that's pretty cool, that they put actual footage in.

YLTO always has the best challenges ever!

I don't know what I'm going to read but I'll definitely join in!

I have vague memories of the movie showing the original members of the Jamaican bobsled team during or after the credits. To me, that's what the Olympics are all about. Remember Eddie the Eagle? He was a hit with the public, but also caused a stir because he was so inexperienced at the sport. I believe some rulings were put into place as a result.

Anna wrote: "YLTO always has the best challenges ever!

I don't know what I'm going to read but I'll definitely join in!"

I'm glad you're going to join us.

I'm looking at some prospects : ) Looks fun!!

Wow. Nice one Janice. I am sure it is ok, just in case. If we read a second book, can we switch allegiance? Country and sport?

Regarding weaponry - does a country that routinely uses psychological and physical intimidation meet this requirement?

Another question - would a travelogue meet the requirement as involving the creative arts?

Trying to sort some of these things out in making my selection : ) Thanks!!!

Esther wrote: "Wow. Nice one Janice. I am sure it is ok, just in case. If we read a second book, can we switch allegiance? Country and sport?"

Yes, you may switch allegiance and sport for a 2nd book.

Tejas Janet wrote: "Regarding weaponry - does a country that routinely uses psychological and physical intimidation meet this requirement?

Another question - would a travelogue meet the requirement as involving the ..."

I took my inspiration from the actual sports themselves. Biathlon requires a rifle, so I was thinking more along the lines of hardware.

Figure skating is as much the performance - visual, dance, poetry in motion - which made me think of creative arts such as dance, music, art, sculpture. A travelogue would be pushing the envelope just a bit too much.

Sorry! I'm earning my title of Meany with this one. :(

Would 'and the mountains echoed' qualify for mountains - I'm not sure if the theme of the actual writing fits in this case (I hope that makes sense). So anyone who had read this can you let me know if I can use it for this please. Thanking you muchly.

RachelO wrote: "Hi Janice, There are jewels, there's dancing and dancers, and a pistol is definitely packed!"

Phyrne is never without her pistol!

Lisa wrote: "Apparently, Jamaica have qualified in the bobsleigh at this year's Olympics too :) I think it might be in the two-man event rather than the four-man event this time though. "

And they had to have a kickstarter campaign to get there.

Janice, I'm considering If I Stay for the challenge. I found it on a listopia-list with books that involve music, and though it doesn't say anything about in the description, I googled a bit and apparently the main character is a gifted cellist. Also, the actress playing her role in the movie had to learn how to play the cello. So, I think it will be a recurrent thing in the book, even though it's not the main theme. I'm wondering if that's enough to represent figure-skating?

Rusalka wrote: "Lisa wrote: "Apparently, Jamaica have qualified in the bobsleigh at this year's Olympics too :) I think it might be in the two-man event rather than the four-man event this time though. "

And they..."

I heard about that too. It's Cool Runnings all over again!

This looks so fun. And it'll be the first sort of challenge with the points system I've taken part in. Time to go looking for books. I have a few in mind.

Snoozie Suzie wrote: "Would 'and the mountains echoed' qualify for mountains - I'm not sure if the theme of the actual writing fits in this case (I hope that makes sense). So anyone who had read this can you let me know..."

If any of the settings in the book are mountainous, it will qualify. San Francisco has mountains nearby does it not? What about Greece?

I think we're going to need help on this one from someone who has read it.

Peggy wrote: "Janice, I'm considering If I Stay for the challenge. I found it on a listopia-list with books that involve music, and though it doesn't say anything about in the description, I googl..."

Yes, I think it qualifies.

Yay! I've been here for 6 months now and I have yet to experience your meanie-ness. I don't know where that reputation came from!

Greece does have quite a lot of mountains, some even on the islands. Crete has mountains for example. But I didn't read that book.

If that's the rule, does Savanannah, Georgia have mountains nearby? That's the setting of the other book I'm considering for the challenge :)

Snoozie Suzie wrote: "Would 'and the mountains echoed' qualify for mountains - I'm not sure if the theme of the actual writing fits in this case (I hope that makes sense). So anyone who had read this can you let me know..."

I just finished reading, And the Mountains Echoed. Most of the story refers to Kabul, Afghanistan, which is indeed surrounded by mountains.