Eldarwen’s Comments (group member since Feb 21, 2015)

Eldarwen’s comments from the Nothing But Reading Challenges group.

Sounds good, Janine!

Lara wrote: "Our reading only counts if we start after 9 PM on the 11th, right?"

That's correct.

Any books started before the Countdown goes to 0, ie before 9pm UK time on 11th October, will NOT count for the challenge.


But you know, if you don't have much reading time over the weekend, just pick up a book you might still be in the middle of and want to finish? Or something quick? Then you start fresh once you're free again :-)

I'm spending today and tomorrow reading books from my currently-reading shelf (which is still too big...) and will hopefully finish at least one of them. And then start a new book on Sunday morning.

In less than 36 hours, we can start!!

Are you excited? :-)
I am, a little hehe.


And I can't quite decide which book I should start with haha.

As for them being repeatable, that's always a good option to have, and we'll get there eventually, but it would also be a shame not to finish the other minis in favour of repeating minis 1 and/or 2. Especially since there's a completion bonus for the others.

Janeylou wrote: "Mini 1 & 2 seem to be the only ones that can be repeated, so is it best to concentrate on them first ???"

Those are probably the easiest tasks to find. I'd actually go for the more difficult tasks first so they're out of the way, since we have no idea what else might be coming ;-)

I'd get minis 4 (the words in text), 5 (specific tasks) and 7 (previous BOMs) out of the way first.

But it's also personal preference. We will get it all done one way or another, of that I'm convinced. If you prefer to hunt down MPGs and colours rather than specific tasks, that's fine! Go for it :-)

Audrey Jane wrote: "Regarding mini 7 with the past BOMs, I've checked the books and I would be interested to read Vespertine, Dead of Winter or The Survivors. Let me kno..."


I could match some of those with the following - but we have to keep in mind that it needs to be a square, so everything has to fit somehow hehe.

They Both Die at the End - Everything I Never Told You - Stillhouse Lake

===

If we put this against the tasks, we could have one square almost finished, if we find a fourth that fits the very strict requirements:

- Top of Square 1: The Survivors
- Left Side of Square 1 (starts with first letter of Top): They Both Die at the End
- Right Side of Square 1 (starts with last letter of Top):
- Bottom of Square 1 (starts with last letter of Left, ends with Last letter of Right): Dead of Winter

We would need to find a previous BOM that starts with the letter S and ends with the letter R.

If we can't find that specific a title, we're going to have to reevaluate hehe. Or maybe you see a different way of fitting them together?

====

Here are some other options I could read:

Nevernight
Cop Town
The Miniaturist
The Lies of Locke Lamora
A Gentleman in Moscow
The Forgotten Garden
The Paris Apartment
Cruel Beauty

We can have several on the go at the same time, but we cannot leave any of the unfinished when the round is up. By the end of the round, all spell-outs need to be finished, only the very last one we're working on can be left incomplete.

Melindam wrote: "Just dropping by to say helloooo from Team 🏔️ Mount Doom Tongariro Alpine Crossing! ☺️👋

You are the only Team, besides my own for which I still have notifications and I know I can consider myself ..."



Haha, lucky us! :-)

Hellooooo Mel! How is the air up on Mount Doom? ;-)

Oh, and while you're all checking things out, please have a look at Mini 7.

It requires us to read previous BOM books, where first and last letters need to fit together to form a square.

I'll have a browse tomorrow, but there's at least one I can read if it helps while you are browsing, namely Nevernight.

And now I'm really off ;-)

Bloody hell, the above really is very long, sorry guys!!

I added one of my books to the spreadsheet to give you an idea. Since I'm probably not going to start with that one, I've added it lower down in the spell-out.


I am however heading to bed now as it's getting late and my headache is back. If there are any issues, I'll check back in the morning :-)

Attention Attention!

A little novel shall follow ;-)

Louise and I have set up a planning sheet for you here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/...

You will also find the link on the first page of this team thread, along with other important information.

The planning sheet is for exactly that purpose: planning! And nothing but planning!
If you have trouble with spreadsheets, not to worry, just give a shout in the thread and someone will always be around to slot your book in on the planning sheet for easy overview for everyone.
If you are not a planner, not to worry either! We shall find a spot for your book one way or another. Books have a tendency to fit more than one task. What is important is communication in some form or other.

Take your time to read through the minis and the various tasks. (Yeah... there are a lot... isn't it great?! :-D)
Some of them do require a little planning ahead or we aren't going to be able to finish them. But the minis are for the entire challenge, so do not stress - yet :-p

Remember! Any book used for mini challenges also has to fit the spell-out. Books not used in the spell-out cannot be used for the minis.


Nooow, how exactly will the rest of this work you wonder?

Once you finish a book, please post a completion post here in the thread. And of course add it to your Wheels shelf. Louise and I will check all is in order and add the book to our official team sheet (only captains have access to that one). On the planning sheet, you do not have to do anything. We will check off the books once they have been finished and added to the team sheet.

In case we have to switch things around, please add as many options your book works for as possible. For the somewhat short word we have to spell out in the first round, it shouldn't be an issue, but if we get a longer word in a later round, it will be useful to know which letters a book can fit to fill up a spell-out.

Please also add potential other tasks your book works for in the mini challenges for the same reason. Sometimes we read a book for the Space Opera MPG only to discover that there is a lobster being grilled on the beach somewhere, and that task might be a better fit than the genre, since those are more easily found.

It sounds crazy and complicated when I put it like that, I know and I apologise, but I promise it is far simpler than I am making it sound. You'll see once we start the game and once you've familiarised yourself with the workings of the game. Hunting for books that fit the crazy tasks is part of the fun after all!

Of course, if you're reading a book for a very specific task in one of the minis, you don't have to mention every single possibility the book works for (like a lobster popping up on a barbecue).

Also, I vow not to ramble like this all the time! ;-)

If you have questions, feel free to ask. But it WILL become clear once we start playing :-)


And this is an example of how a completion post could look like, for those of you who haven't done this before, or haven't done it for a while - you don't have to exactly follow this example but it helps to keep it structured and easily readable:

================

Completion Post

Bookcover (needed for several tasks)
Book: title and author
Date Read:
Pages: **
Rating: optional but it could spark some interesting conversation


Spell-Out Options:
- please list all the possibilities in case books need to be switched around
- please provide the complete character names, first name and surname whenever both are mentioned


Mini 1
- task and why the book works for the task


Mini 2
- task and why the book works for the task


etc. etc.

================

**IMPORTANT!! if your book has a main page genre from the list mentioned in the rules (aka childrens, middle grade etc.) please mention that you have verified the word count and where

It helps to avoid misunderstandings or frustrations to verify the word count before you start reading such a book.

================

Oooh yes, Dracul! I've had a copy of that lying around for years now. The question is... where?! I'm going to have to go hunt for that one.

"The Lighthouse Witches" was recommended to me by a penpal but I've not gotten around to reading it yet, or grabbing a copy. I'll be interested to hear what you think, Audrey.

Maybe I should add a Laura Purcell to my reading plan this month. It's been a while. Most of the other books you have all mentioned so far aren't necessarily up my alley, but I'll definitely look forward to seeing your comments on them here once you're done with them :-)

Hello and welcome, Tory and Stephie!

Our team is now complete, hooray! :-D

Hello and welcome to the team Lara!

I see you have already been duly warned ;-)
Welcome to your doom, aka team reading challenges!

Ok, so several of you have already mentioned wanting to get to a few spooky reads in October.

I'm curious... what kind of spooky reads do you guys read? Anything in particular you'd like to recommend to the rest of us maybe?

Hello and welcome to the team, Beatrice!

Book of the Month

As is often the case with NBRC team challenges, BOMs give a few extra points if you participate in the discussion and/or write a set of discussion questions.


The second book of the month for October is the first one that is going to count for Wheels. As of 16th October, the group is going to read Masquerade by O.O. Sangoyomi.



If you feel like joining, here is the link to the Discussion Thread.


I've changed my mind since chatting about it with Erin a few posts above and ended up ordering myself a copy of the book last night ;-) I've already volunteered for DQs as well.

Audrey Jane wrote: "I saw Mullerthal and thought that must be Eldarwen's team 😄 Glad to have you back at the helm :-) !"


Hahaha, yup! :-)
Happy to have you back on the team, Audrey :-)

Sammy wrote: "*waves from the Silk Road*

That looks so pretty! *adds to travel bucket list*"

Hellooo!

Be sure to let me know if you ever do come here! :-D

Erin *Proud Book Hoarder* wrote: "Speaking on mini's, I notice the Minis are numbered 1-2-4-5-7

What happened to 3 and 6?"

That is a great big mystery!