The Lost Challenges discussion

✔Mai
✔Melanie
✔Leslie
✔Sunshine

Game Spreadsheet

Checking in! Haven't played this in a while, but I believe this is my third or fourth time. Excited to play again! :D

WEEK ONE:
Group D | Juice
Bonus | Bottle

Mai: | Group A: Phone | Group B: Computer | Group C: Ceiling
Melanie: | Group A: Phone | Group B: Computer | Group C: Ceiling
Leslie: | Group A: Phone | Group B: Computer | Group C: Ceiling
Sunshine: | Group A: Phone | Group B: Computer | Group C: Ceiling

Hi everyone! It's my first time playing, but I'm all excited about this challenge :)

Hi Team! Can't wait to get started!

Hi Team!! I've played almost every round, I'm pretty sure. Love this game!!

Can we all post a little bit about ourselves, our willingness to be Captain and if we have any ideas for a Team Name.

I am somewhat willing to be Captain. I am captain of another team challenge and have limited free time.

Live in New Orleans -married with 4 grown children, 2 still live at home. I work full time but love to read full time as well. It's a dilemma!

I'm willing to be captain, but on Saturdays and Sundays I won't be online much.

Team names...maybe Oceanside Readers?? Or something related to water?

A little about me: I'm an eclectic and I enjoy suspense, historical, YA, and contemporary. I'm not a huge fan of romance, but occasionally I enjoy a clean read. I have way too many books on my TBR that I need to read and hope this challenge pushes me to read more! :D

Well... I live in Vermont with my hubby and our 2 dogs. I mostly enjoy reading Fantasy, Horror, and Paranormal and can't leave the house unless I have my phone and my kindle. This is my third time playing this game. I'd rather not be captain.

Hmmm names... Aquaholic Readers, Book Sharks

A little about me: I live in Germany with my two cats; I enjoy a wide variety of books - Fantasy, SciFi, Urban/Paranormal, Historical Fiction, Romance and Mystery (I also read in three languages, but will limit myself to English for this challenge, of course). Since I'm on MET I would rather not be captain - the time difference could be an issue.

Melanie, I'm willing to help out with Captain duties if you can be responsible for posting. I'm online a lot on weekends, so that won't be a problem.

I read almost exclusively romance - any subgenre except erotica. And Sunshine, like you I never leave home without my nook tablet!

Mai - it's a pretty easy challenge. The biggest thing is to know how to search for words using amazon if you don't read ebooks.

Also, we need to decide if we are going to all search for the same words each week or each pick our own. I have done it several different ways.

As a help to Captains, I have made individual spreadsheets for each team (there are tabs at the bottom of the game spreadsheet). I will be filling them in for you so it will not be necessary for you to make a team spreadsheet unless you really want to :)

Game Spreadsheet (there is also a link in post 2 for this)

~Leslie~ wrote: "Melanie, I'm willing to help out with Captain duties if you can be responsible for posting. I'm online a lot on weekends, so that won't be a problem"

Sounds great! I am happy to do the posting of called categories and sharing captain duties with you would be wonderful. :)

I've done the searching for words both ways (we all pick what we want or pick the same ones) and I feel like picking the same words is better, but it's also more difficult since not every book has the same words available. I'm fine with whatever you all want to do. :)

The last time I played, we tried to pick the same words but if we couldn't, it was okay. We just picked words that we could find.

Thanks, JenniferPP!! That's a huge help.

Oooh! I like that idea, Leslie! It seems like a great strategy without the stress of having to find a book with all the same words every week.

Either one is fine with me :)

We did it that way last time I played too. We planned what words to look for but if someone couldn't find a word they'd find something else and the rest of us would plan for that one the next week.

Yes, that's it exactly Sunshine. It seemed to work well. We didn't win, but we were competitive the whole challenge.

The other important thing is to try and make sure we finish our books on time each week. Can everyone do that?

Team Names
Blue Bayou (Louisiana term for lazy river)
Blue Book
Blue Dog (wonderful painting by George Rodrigue)

Unless something comes up, I should always be able to finish my books in the week. I'm a fast reader :)

I like Blue Bayous for our team name!

I agree, that's a pretty one. A book in a week is no problem at all.

Blue Bayous!

We could spell it phonetically - Blue By You.

Good morning Team! One more day before the first items are found. I'm so excited!


Mai - since you are new to the challenge, I thought of something else. In order to be competitive, it's really important that all of us get the bonus word every week. Bonus words are usually easier to find as the mods aren't quite as picky that it be exact.

Have a great day!

I like Blue Bayous more than Blue By You, but I'm happy with whatever you all want ;)

I'm ready and prepared to find all required words each week including bonus words (I made a list in preparation and it seems I have options for pretty much all the words) and I usually read a book in a day, so I'm determined to get every single point possible. Can't wait to start!

Have a great day, too!

I like Blue Bayous too.

One more day! I get a new Bingo call tomorrow too. Whoo Hoo! Hopefully I can get a 2-for-1!

Were you guys going to go with the name Blue Bayous?

I think that's what we've all agreed on, Jennifer. :) And Leslie and I will be co-captains. :)

Yes, JenniferPP - I think that's the unanimous decision.

That's awesome, Mai! I have to admit that I haven't had a chance to look at the list yet.

The first items have been called!

Week one:

Group D: JUICE
Bonus: BOTTLE

I'd like to read this book: Wrongly Accused

In addition to the called items, it also has these:

GROUP A: basement, doctor/nurse, phone, police/fireman
GROUP B: automobile (Car), brown, midnight, towel, boss, computer, pillow
GROUP C: ceiling, currency (dollar), flash

I will take a look at my books and see what I find.

I'd like to read Hexed which has both juice and bottle and the following words:

(words in common with Melanie's book are bold)

Group A: alcoholic beverage, police/fireman, handcuffs, doctor/nurse, ribbon, treasure, phone, curly hair,

Group B: automobile, brown, midnight, towel, , scar, bathtub, boss, computer, pillow, arrow

Group C: puppy, ceiling, currency, valley, enemy, flash, baked goods, fork

My book

has juice/bottle and the following:

Group A: Phone
Group B:computer
Group C: Ceiling

I'm sure I could find others, but I tried to pick some of the more difficult words.

~Leslie~ wrote: "My book

has juice/bottle and the following:

Group A: Phone
Group B:computer
Group C: Ceiling

I'm sure I could find others, but I tried to pick some of the m..."

I agree with picking the more difficult words and like your choices. :)

Thanks! If everyone can find these then we have our words for the week.

I feel like I'm in book heaven right now - 3 books I've been waiting for at the library came available on my nook! And 2 are Ilona Andrews books! Yippee!!

For the week 1 post above:
Mine has all of them, as well.

Sounds good, Bayou Blues!!

I will read

It has:
juice/bottle
Group A: Phone
Group B:computer
Group C: Ceiling

I've finished my book :)



Week 1

Word of the Week: Juice (Group D)
Bonus: Bottle
Other Words: Phone (A), Computer (B), Ceiling (C)

Book: Hexed


My Rating: ★★★★

Juice: I shoved the juice back in the fridge and hurried for the front door. [chapter 4/ page 33]
Bottle: I held a bottle out to him and he smiled. [chaper 4/page 34]
Phone: He answered the phone with, “Have you changed your mind about Thor?” [chapter 10/page 95]
Computer: With automated inventory control, the computer orders another copy for me whenever I sell something. [chapter 10/page 86]
Ceiling: Beyond was a large, undeveloped office space, with a bare concrete foundation, no dividing walls, open ductwork in the ceiling, and plenty of room to dodge a couple of golems. [chapter 24 /page 222]

Review:
This time, Atticus O'Sullivan, the last druid and over twenty-one centuries old, got himself into trouble with witches again. The local coven and he don't get along that well, anyway (mostly their ways of magic are completely different, also the witches are a little too controlling to be buddies with) - but there's a new coven in the area, who try to claim the valley for themselves and cooperate with demons (in ways that I thought are rather... *ewww*). They attack Atticus magically and he agrees with Malina, head of the local witches, to take them out.
But if it rains, it pours and there are more problems ahead: A group of Bacchants from Las Vegas come to town and spread decadence and madness and on top of that Atticus finds himself in the middle of the rivality of two ancient Irish goddesses...

Let's talk bad things first: I really have an issue with the representation of female characters here. Almost all women appear to be the stereotype of the evil seductress - with the exception of the old Irish lady who lives on his street (who is endearingly eccentric) and Granuaile, his druid-trainee. The latter is still depicted as attractive and sexy, but also as genuine, intelligent and educated. Her role is very minor yet, I have great hopes for her character-arc in the future books.
But the rest? Evil (or at least shady), mad, sexy. And Atticus, who says he stayed biologically twenty-one for centuries also has the hormons of a 21-years-old, he seems unable to control himself and has to think of baseball *rolls eyes*
Don't get me even started about a very problematic scene involving sexual relations between The Morrigan and Atticus, which screamed rape to me. The Morrigan decided, she wants him - and got him. He did get something out of this (magical healing, she grew his ear back, that got injured in the last book), but at no point he consented to anything. And yet - he seems not that bothered by the incident, he kinda shrugs it off as unavoidable: That's the way the old gods behave. Sadly ,Atticus isn't emotionally involved in a great deal of things unless it comes to Oberon, his dog. And maybe, maybe Granuaile: there are hints, that he does start to care and worry about her. I just want to see him being affected a lot more by stuff that happens to him.

Yet I gave the book four stars. So, what did I like that much? It is incredibly witty. The makes-you-snort-your-coffee-over your-e-reader kind of witty. The mythology is really well researched and indeed the behavior of ancient gods match the myths. The prose is full of pop-culture references and a true delight to read. It has Star Wars references! YAY! I adore Oberon and I love all those details of herbalism and history and myths from all over the world. Atticus might be a jerk at times, but he's also really really funny. So, yes, I enjoyed it a lot and will continue to read the series, but I hope future books will work on the stereotypes.

Nice review, Mai! I have the first one in that series on my nook and never seem to get to it.

Thanks! I loved the first book, too - I'm really curious where this series will go :)

I am currently reading the third. I find Atticus pretty funny

The 'Iron Druid' series is one of my favorites. I just love Atticus and Oberon :)

I can't wait to start the next book in the series :) I really enjoyed the first two (even with my nit-picking).

I'm going to have to start it!

Hello Team!

I hope everyone has had a good weekend! I am reading my book and should be done in another day or so.

Ugh, this weekend wasn't long enough! My puppy was so snuggly this morning, I didn't want to get out of bed.

I finished my book. Will get my review posted sometime tomorrow.

Week 1

Word of the Week: Juice (Group D)
Bonus: Bottle
Other Words: Phone (A), Computer (B), Ceiling (C)
My Rating: 4 stars
Finished: 8/11/15
My Review:
Wrongly Accused was a really good story! I enjoyed the mystery and couldn't figure things out ahead of time - which was nice. I liked the romance and there was even a surprise involving his daughter that I didn't expect. All in all, a very nice book! Great if you're looking for an inspirational romantic suspense novel.

*I received a complimentary e-copy for my honest review. As always, all thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.*

WORDS:

Juice: "Fish crackers and juice" Page 200
Bottle: "Caleb said, handing her an ice-cold water bottle." Page 51
Phone: "Do you want to borrow my phone to call a tow truck?" Page 52
Computer: "But where to find a computer?" Page 67
Ceiling: "Caleb stared up at the ceiling..." Page 66