Trisha’s Comments (group member since Jul 01, 2023)

Trisha’s comments from the Hooked on Books group.

May Vicki and I please get a thread for Isola

for January - for team Anomaly Alliance

Thank you!

definitely having "Speculative" as a bonus is tough when we're reading for that this month!

ok, thank you!!

Temporal Anomaly Spreadsheet page: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/...

11th book?

Since the Temporal Anomaly has a separate page on the spreadsheet, is that our 11th book? In addition to the first 10 or part of the first ten?

Does it need to meet the MPG theme or anything else? Or just the one task written there?

🪨 Time Traveler’s Challenge — January 2026
Era: Prehistoric Times

Welcome, adventurers. Dust off your cave tools, shake the mammoth hair off your reading chair, and let’s kick off this challenge properly.

We’re starting at the very beginning — before calendars, before written stories, before Goodreads existed to judge our choices.

January drops us straight into Prehistoric Times, where your priorities are simple: don’t die, find fire, and read good books.

Grab a chair and lock in — this first one will be a long one (just like the era itself).


🦣 Main Tasks
(view spoiler)[
Here’s what you’ll be tackling this January — each task ties directly to the raw, dangerous, no-internet reality of early humanity.

1. Read a book with a BROWN cover.
Brown = earth tones, hide, dirt, stone… basically the entire prehistoric aesthetic.

2. Read a book with the word "Prehistoric" or "Times" (no variation) in the Title or Text.
A direct line to the era — we’re anchoring the month with something explicitly referencing it.

3. Read a book that features a large, awe-inspiring animal or creature central to the story.
Mammoths, saber-toothed cats, giant birds — the world back then was full of creatures that could kill you or feed you, sometimes both.

4. Read a book featuring a natural disaster.
Before modern tech or infrastructure, nature was the ultimate threat. Storms, quakes, floods, eruptions — take your pick.

5. Read a book where survival against nature drives the entire story.
This era was literally one long "man vs. nature" arc. No cushions, no conveniences, just grit.

6. Read a book that uses vivid imagery to bring a harsh, natural environment to life.
Prehistoric landscapes were extreme — burning sun, frozen plains, dense forests. This task dives straight into that atmosphere.

7. Read a book that involves caves, underground worlds, or hidden places.
Caves = shelter, mystery, art, danger. They’re one of the most iconic parts of prehistoric living and storytelling.

8. Read a book where fire is featured heavily.
Fire was the game-changing technology of the era: warmth, safety, cooking, community. If fire matters in the story, it fits here.

9. Read a book related to "animism" or reverence for natural elements.
Early spiritual belief systems were rooted in the sun, moon, animals, rivers — nature itself as sacred. This taps directly into that worldview.

10. Read a book where a character invents, discovers, or learns something that changes their way of life.
Prehistoric times were one long innovation runway: tools, hunting strategies, language, fire, art. A discovery that transforms life is right on theme.
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📅 Monthly Theme Bonuses (MPG)

For January, the two MPG bonus genres are:

🏕️ Adventure
🧭 Survival

Read any January task in one of these genres for an extra bonus.

🏅 Personal Era Badges
To earn these bonuses, you'll need to personally accomplish one of the following "tasks". This means that whatever book you are trying to gain the bonus for, should not only fit a regular monthly task, but also be related to the badge.

🔥 Firestarter
A book that sparks a group discussion — controversial, emotional, divisive, or just plain chaotic.

🎨 Cave Painter
Create or share something visual inspired by your book: moodboard, sketch, collage, digital art, cave scratchings… whatever your medium, show it off.

🪶 Hunter-Gatherer
A book someone on your team has already finished. Yes, you’re “gathering” from others’ finds. Yes, that’s the point.

******* 📜 Recommendation List Pick: will be an ongoing badge for the entire challenge, so here's a little info to start you off.
Every participant may submit up to 12 recommended books by the end of January. After that, the list locks for the rest of the challenge. You can read anyone else’s rec (not your own!) for a bonus.
How to submit your list: Post your list in your team thread and tag/link here. I’ll add it to the Index. *******

🏺 Team Artifacts (Permanent Collective Bonuses)
These require team-wide participation every time you attempt them:

📚 Team Read
Everyone reads the same book + joins the buddy-read discussion thread.

🔍 Thematic Treasure Hunt
As a team, compile a mini-catalog of shared themes/motifs found across your individual reads: fire, moons, wings, mirrors, rebirth, keys — whatever pops up. Include quotes or receipts.
How to submit your list: Post your "catalog" in your team thread and tag/link here.

🌍 Geographic & Temporal Collection Bonuses
New this year! Your team earns bonuses for:

• Unique Country Settings
• Unique Publication Years

These are team-level, not individual — coordinate, so you’re not all reading 2022 USA books and screaming later because you can only claim one bonus.

🌈 Diversity Author Bonus
Back from last year! Earn a bonus for reading a book by an author from an underrepresented group. This is author identity only (not content-based), and includes:
BIPOC, LGBTQ+, disabled, neurodivergent, marginalized religious groups, developing nations, Indigenous authors.

**** 🌀 Temporal Anomaly Bonus (Jan 1–31 Only!)
Start the year easy:

Read a book with a BLACK cover.

Bonus Genres (unchanging all year):
• Speculative
• Epistolary
(Tag 5+ counts — doesn’t need to be MPG.)


🏅 Personal Temporal Anomalties Badges (unchanging all year):
Perspective Shift 🔄 – Highlight a moment in your book where the narrator or POV tricks you, surprises you, or changes your understanding.
Causal Loop 🔁 – A book you discovered because of another member's post or discussion in the challenge.
Time Dilatation ⌛ – Get completely lost in a book, reading for so long you lose track of time.
Recommendation List Pick 📜 – See above!


If you have questions, put them in the Q&A thread (to keep this thread semi-tidy for New Sign Ups and Challenge Updates!

So sharpen your flint, gather your kindling, and let’s light this challenge on fire. Happy January, Travelers!

okay, posting the whole task post because THERE ARE TONS OF NEW BONUSES IN HERE!!!

We have tasks for our new team!!

other team spreadsheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/...

(to add to the above)

Team: Wind-up Woe

Toy/Chest Answer: 3

(to add to the above)

Team: Wind-up Woe

Toy/Chest Answer: 3

(I added to our check in)

Teddie wrote: "I feel like this one could have been a hundred or so pages shorter and told the same story without the fifth mountain of macarons."

Yes! I did feel like it was loooong!!

Just to confirm - start date is January 1st, 2026, right?

I plan to read - our buddy read, this week! Phew, getting through these slow and steady!

🤞🏼🤞🏼 I hope you get them done!!

Vicki and I would like our team name to be: Partners in Prime Time please!

Our thread: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Thanks!

OH I also think you do need at least 4 comments on the Buddy read thread - in order to claim it.

wow, and done

that was so good but definitely won't be for everyone! lol

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Wow, she was just so so shallow. and she offered nothing to their group out there - she wasn't handy, good at cooking, resourceful, nothing. and yet, she won

just so she could order. . .diamonds? scented candles? make up?

absolutely wild. she was manipulative and so terrible - next best thing to Tom. She was his opposite, even though she never threatened anyone, she was one of the greatest threats on the show.
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oh yes, take it easy and read things you like! it's far too crazy busy to read something you have to push through!!

I feel so behind too! ugh

I found the tiers really confusing too! I kept jumping to the Q&A thread where I knew they posted them

here: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

but it looks like it depends - whether it's an organized buddy read with the group & a mod, if it's a buddy read with 1 other member or if it's 2 or more other people.

The Dragons ones, we read as a team, so I chose the tier with more than 1 person! but the Compound is just me and you, so I chose just 1 other person. lol I hope I'm right! it's the first time I'm posting tiers/buddy read points for this challenge! 🤞🏼🤞🏼

16 chapters

(view spoiler)[
it's shocking, how far down they are
the couple that left on their own! nice but wow!

and I don't love the main character - she's so shallow and it shocks me how much she loves pretty things - but I don't think she deserves to die or have to live with Tom

tom is just awful and scary
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