You'll love this one...!! A book club & more discussion

One Tile Ahead

Noon on Saturday, October 17th, to noon on Saturday, October 24th EDT.

Each book must be at least 175 pages long.

Use only first 7 characters of longer words.

One Tile Ahead Team Spreadsheet

Part 1 -> You'll get the points from the first letter of the first word of your book title when you read it. That's automatic.

Part 2 -> At some point the teams will start playing around with fitting those first words onto a Scrabble board or a grid. The points will be counted just as in Scrabble (remember only the first 7 letters are used if the word is longer). This will take more work to try and fit all the words. No points for words not connected.

Just a thought: The team will probably have over 20 words to arrange on the board. So don't necessarily avoid smaller words, that can squeeze into tight spots.

Click Board to see larger version in Photobucket

Things To Do!
Knock some team names around...
One of a Kind
We Are the Only Ones
One for All
One Step Ahead
✔One Tile Ahead
One Small Step
Some 1 Special
Some 1 Like Us
There Can Be Only One
A-0nes
Wonderful Ones
One-derful
Spooky Ones
Spell One Word

✔Get some Kristie and Lisa are Volunteer Cheerleaders! Anyone else want to officially cheer us on?

✔Choose someone Sarah is going to keep track of what everyone reads, on a spreadsheet.

✔Choose someone Almeta is going to to design our final 15 squares x 15 Scrabble Board (with team assistance of course!)!

Hi team 1!! :D

very cute emoticon

Hi Team 1! *waves*

This is a great team! I think we will have a lot of fun :)

From your team name suggestions, I like One Tile Ahead. What does everyone else think?

Hello Team #1! I'm reporting in to say I have Z to read for sure. One Tile Ahead works for me, too.

I think I have the perfect book to read! If I'm reading the rules correctly, you get points for each letter (up to 7) in the first word of your title. So... I did some gophering and found a book worth 25 points that is short enough for me to read quickly! I was so excited when I found it. :D It is not on my TBR yet, but I have already requested it from the library. I have plenty of other selections prepared as well, but none as point-heavy as that one.

Kristie, I'm totally confused on scoring! Post #1 says, "Using the first letter of the first word of the title (excluding The and A) will determine how many points your book is worth." An example says a book starting with "Quiet" is worth 10 points but one starting with "All's Quiet" is worth 1 point. Then Post #2 talks about scoring from the words on the board. I've asked for clarification.

I just noticed that too (thanks to your comment). I have two different books chosen, one for each scenario. One starts with a Z and the other contains a Z.

Theresa~OctoberLace wrote: "Kristie, I'm totally confused on scoring! Post #1 says, "Using the first letter of the first word of the title (excluding The and A) will determine how many points your book is worth." An example says a book starting with "Quiet" is worth 10 points but one starting with "All's Quiet" is worth 1 point. Then Post #2 talks about scoring from the words on the board. I've asked for clarification. ..."

Soooo, Part 1 is the point you get for reading the book(s). Part 2 is about the points the team gets when placing the word on the Scrabble board.

I used a 10 x 10 grid for my example, but please use a 15 x 15 board/grid for part 2. After Part 2 is completed I'm going to have the fruit machine pick some squares for the bonus points, so the boards need to be the same size.

Oh good! So, the book that I picked will get decent points in part 1 and awesome points in part 2. Plus, it will connect with my z word (depending on how the board works out). Either way, I think my two first choices should work out and I will have time to read them both! Woot!

Kristie wrote: "Oh good! So, the book that I picked will get decent points in part 1 and awesome points in part 2. Plus, it will connect with my z word (depending on how the board works out). Either way, I think my two first choices should work out and I will have time to read them both! Woot!
.."

Excellent planning Kristie!

Thanks! I'm excited to get started. :)

Hi all! I had a lot of library holds come in a few weeks ago and I'm still digging myself out, so I'll do my gophering a little closer to the start date. Yea Topplers!

Hi guys. I've only just seen all this do I'm going to make myself a cuppa and head on over to the main thread to see what's required as I only know about the part 1 scoring at present. Pleased to be on a team with you guys.

Oh, and I also like One Tile Ahead.

Here are some of my high scorers:
**8 John Dies at the End 362pgs John - 14
**8 Jingo 5hrs 24mins (audio) Jingo - 13 series
**4 Half a King 336pgs Half - 10 series/monthly challenge
4 Whispers Underground 419pgs Whisper - 15 series
4 Fool Moon 401pgs Fool - 7 series
4 The High Druid's Blade 305pgs High - 11 netgalley priority
**4 Fahrenheit 451 (audio and ebook) Fahrenh - 15
3 Brave New World (audio and ebook) Brave - 10
3 Cobweb Bride 293pgs
3 Point Apocalypse 256pgs Point - 8

Shorter but low first letter scorers (fillers):
The Red Magician 192pgs Red - 4 netgalley priority
Skin Deep 208pgs Skin - 9
InterWorld 239pgs Interwo - 11
Sons of Anarchy: Bratva 256pgs Sons - 5
Dreams Unleashed 264pgs Dreams - 9
The Last Town 285pgs Last - 4 series read/kill
Replica 287pgs Replica - 11
Iron Kissed 287pgs Iron - 4 series
Angelfall 288pgs Angelfa - 11series
Therapy 304pgs Therapy - 15

I'm not sure how many books I'll be able to read. So far, I'm only working 2.5 days that week so it looks promising although the weekends will be hectic for me. It's my birthday on the Thursday of that week so I have a whole day to myself then to read. I'm thinking I can read 2 books and listen to 1 audio. I'm leaning towards Jingo for audio and John Dies at the End but I can't decide on the other print book yet. If I manage to finish these, then I'll try to read some shorter books but they may not be as high scoring as the ones above. I'll see how things pan out.

I also like 'One Tile Ahead'.

I am happy to volunteer to be a cheerleader but I am only going to be around for the first half of the toppler as I am going away for a few days halfway through the week and won't be back until the day after it finishes.

Not everyone has checked in but I am going to go ahead and change our name to One Tile Ahead.

If someone comes up with something more inspiring, it can be changed.☻

Please submit your thoughts.

Sarah wrote: "Here are some of my high scorers:..."

Good list. Don't forget to also consider the total value of the word for Part 2.

Here are books that I am seriously considering.


25~S1=26 Squeeze Play
☠ 19~Q10 =29 Quarrys List
☠ 16~N1=17 Neverwhere
19~J8=27 Jimmy The Kid
10~A1=11 Agatha H and the Airship City
28~Q10=38 Quartzville 5hrs 200pp
14~C3=17 Coq Au Vin
10~H4=14 Housekeeper and the Professor
*16~S1=17 Seizure !
*12~T1=17 Tripwire
*6~Y4=10 ~You Suck
*15~T1=16 Ticktock
*12~H4=16 Heaven and Earth
*11~H4=15 High Midnight
*5~W4=9 We All Fall Down
9~I1=10 Icy Clutches
6~S1=7 Suede to Rest
19~Z10=29 Zombie
17~F4=21 Frankly My Dear, I'm Dead
7~B3=10 Bird Box
6~S1=7 Song of Achilles
9~P3=12 Pity Him Afterwards
6~R1=7 The Race

read 18hrs/day 126hrs
7am-1am

Lisa wrote: "I also like 'One Tile Ahead'.

I am happy to volunteer to be a cheerleader but I am only going to be around for the first half of the toppler as I am going away for a few days halfway through the w..."

Cheering us on at any time will be good! ☺

Almeta wrote: "Good list. Don't forget to also consider the total value of the word for Part 2."

True. The best one would be Jurassic Park but it's a little on the long side for a toppler and I'm guessing I'd struggle to fit much else in so I've struck it off the list. The other 2 J books are smaller scorers for words once they are in the grid but are more realistic reads for me. Fahrenheit 451 will score well once in the grid so perhaps I'll bump that up my list.

I REALLY want to finish my current series challenge level too so I'm hoping to fit series books in if I can. Also if I can fulfill my monthly challenge too that would be awesome!

If no one else volunteers to do the spreadsheet, I can pick it up.

Sarah wrote: "...The other 2 J books are smaller scorers for words once they are in the grid but are more realistic reads for me. Fahrenheit 451 will score well once in the grid so perhaps I'll bump that up my list. ..."

Fahrenheit 451 is a good choice!

Sarah wrote: "I REALLY want to finish my current series challenge level too so I'm hoping to fit series books in if I can. Also if I can fulfill my monthly challenge too that would be awesome!..."

Yeah, some on my list are doing double duty!☻

Hi Everyone! I'm getting ready, though I have too much else in my brain right now to wrap my head around the board scoring. So, let me know if you think I should focus on any of the books I've listed.

Here are books I have that have high first letter scores:
Z: Zoo City, The Zoastra Affair
Q: Quinten's Story, Quinten's Revenge, Quinten's Choice
J: Joy of Witchcraft: A Humorous Paranormal Romance, Jaunten
K: The Keeper of Lost Causes, Kissing Mr. Right, Killbox
W: Wicked Plants: The Weed That Killed Lincoln's Mother and Other Botanical Atrocities, Wild Child, A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future, When She Was WickedWorld After, Witches Under Way, Wit'ch Fire, Wired, Web of Lies, Wallbanger
V: Vortex, Vicious Circle
H: Helen of Pasadena, Hunted, Hex Hall

I've just added some more possibilities in to my list above including some filler books which are short although they are low scorers.

I didn't know if we were sharing books yet, but since I've seen others listed... :)

My top choices:
Fuzzy Mud = 4 +29
Skewed = 1 +14
Zoo = 10 +12
Between Shades of Gray = 3 +12
The Memory Child = 3 +13
The View on the Way Down = 4 +10
Bossypants = 3 +14

I'm planning to read at least Fuzzy Mud and Zoo. I'm hoping to read more. We'll see how many I can get to as the week progresses.

Here are a few possibilities for me:

Q - Queen's Gambit - 10
K - The King's General - 5
W - The Watchmaker of Filigree Street - 4
H - Harvest - 4
M - Marina - 3

I won't be able to read all of these but I will aim to finish 2 before I go away.

I can help out with the cheerleader duties as well.

I'm willing to help in any capacity you need me, but I'm not technologically advanced, so I don't know how to come up with a board and write on it and post it. If someone wants to teach me, I'm willing to do any part.

Oooh! Fuzzy Mud and Zoo are awesome scorers Kristie. I've shared my options but I don't think we necessarily need to commit to the actual books until the week of the toppler. I'm a bit of a mood reader at the moment so I may end up changing which actual books I'll read. It's good to get some ideas though from each others' lists.

Lara wrote: "Hi Everyone! I'm getting ready, though I have too much else in my brain right now to wrap my head around the board scoring. So, let me know if you think I should focus on any of the books I've listed..."

You really should read what you want. There is no guarantee that your book(s) will fit in the Scrabble board.

That being said...You do have some high scoring words!

I like:
20 Killbox
16 Vortex
16 Zoastra
16 Quinten
AND 13 Joy (just because it is small and ends in a "y".)

Here's your list in order:
12 Zoo
16 Zoastra
16 Quinten
13 Joy
14 Jaunten
12 Keeper
12 Kissing
20 Killbox
16 Wicked
8 Wild
11 Whole
10 When
9 World
15 Witches
13 Witch
9 Wired
8 Web
12 Wallban
16 Vortex
12 Vicious
8 Helen
10 Hunted
13 Hex

Sarah wrote: "...Shorter but low first letter scorers (fillers):..."

I like : Red, Skin, Sons!

Pretending that I know what I am doing ☻☻☻, I think small words ending or beginning in "S", "R', "Y" and "D" will be good for filling in those tight spaces at the end/beginning of other words.

Kristie wrote: "II'm planning to read at least Fuzzy Mud and Zoo. I'm hoping to read more. We'll see how many I can get to as the week progresses. ..."

Love the Fuzzy Mud and Zoo combination!

Lisa wrote: "Here are a few possibilities for me:...I won't be able to read all of these but I will aim to finish 2 before I go away. ..."

I like them all for different reasons!

Thanks. I was going through my Audible books to see what I already have and could listen to while packing (I'm moving the end of the month). I saw Fuzzy Nation, which I've already read, and thought I'd see what score Fuzzy would get just for the fun of it. When I saw that it was 25 points, I looked up other Fuzzy books and came up with Fuzzy Mud and Fuzzy Navel. Both looked interesting, but my library had Fuzzy Mud available, so there you go. :)

Kristie wrote: "I can help out with the cheerleader duties as well.

I'm willing to help in any capacity you need me..."

Cheering us on is always welcomed.

Thank you for you willingness to help.

Theresa~OctoberLace wrote: "Hello Team #1! I'm reporting in to say I have Z to read for sure. ...
"

"Z" books are a good thing! Many of us have "z" books picked out. All the better for connecting them on the Scrabble board!

Adorable Z-Dog by-the-way!☺

Anna wrote: "very cute emoticon"

Thanks Anna!☺

Kristie wrote: "...When I saw that it was 25 points, I looked up other Fuzzy books and came up with Fuzzy Mud and Fuzzy Navel. ..."

I think Fuzzy is actually 29 points! ;D

Almeta wrote: "Kristie wrote: "...When I saw that it was 25 points, I looked up other Fuzzy books and came up with Fuzzy Mud and Fuzzy Navel. ..."

I think Fuzzy is actually 29 points! ;D"

Oh! You're right! Oops and yay! lol

Hey team! I'm so excited for this toppler.

Just to clarify for my gophering, do we get to count the first letter twice? Once to score part 1 and again to score the whole word in part 2? So would Queen give 10 + 14 = 24?

Checking in.

I have a lot of Z and Q books ready to go- way over ten.

Sharon wrote: "Hey team! I'm so excited for this toppler.

Just to clarify for my gophering, do we get to count the first letter twice? Once to score part 1 and again to score the whole word in part 2? So would ..."

Hellooooo Sharon,

In theory...yes. Provided your word successfully blends in with the rest when we assemble the Scrabble board.

Bella wrote: "Checking in.

I have a lot of Z and Q books ready to go- way over ten."

That's good Bella. I think we are going to empty all bookshelves of "Z" and "Q" books!☺