Nothing But Reading Challenges discussion

Team Members

Paula

Rafaela

Am

Christine

Chie de Dios

Alaina

Carol CB

Roger

Your itinerary is here

When you have a team name, just let me know and I'll update this thread name :)

First stop - Madinah, Saudi Arabia

So just to get you started...

Your first stop is Madinah, Saudi Arabia

You can choose as a team to:
TASK
- Read books set in Saudi Arabia, or by Arabian authors or
- Do a spell-it-out of Madinah or Saudi Arabia

OR
You can elect to do the detour, which for this stop, means that four of you need to "Read a book with an atom or DNA helix on the cover"

reserved

I'm 15 years old, I love filmmaking, animals and of course reading. In the summer time, I can read up to 4 books a week.

I don't have any ideas for team name :/

Hi everyone, my name is Anna I come from Greece and I find this an exciting challenge!

To state my preferences, I would rather read books from Arabian authors or set in Saudi Arabia. My reasoning is that I haven't ever red such books and would love to do so.

Hello!
I'm Paula from Chile (southamerica), I'm 27 and I love reading challenges haha
I hope for we to have more teammates soon =)
I can also read for task one, I think it'd be interesting, what do you think Rafaela?

Found an interesting article exploring the literary landscape of Saudi Arabia
https://arablit.org/for-teachers/saud...

I never read any books set in Saudi Arabia or from Arabian authors so why not give it a chance.

Ok, then I'll read Girls of Riyadh, what are you planning to read?

Hi! I am Christine from Austria :) I love challenges and this one really intrigued me.

Am wrote: "To state my preferences, I would rather read books from Arabian authors or set in Saudi Arabia. My reasoning is that I haven't ever red such books and would love to do so."

Same here

Hey Chie, sounds like a good team name!

Actually, I am also planning to read Girls of Riyadh :)

Hello everyone! My name is Alaina, I'm 21, and I'm from the US (Florida to be more specific). I'm excited to be a part of this team :)
I would also like to contribute to task one. I plan on reading A Hologram for the King, which is set in Saudi Arabia.
As for the team name, based off of Chie's comment about Madinah being considered The Radiant City, I was thinking Radiant Readers or something along that line, maybe? Whatever you guys think is good!

Chie wrote: "Alaina wrote: "Hello everyone! My name is Alaina, I'm 21, and I'm from the US (Florida to be more specific). I'm excited to be a part of this team :)
I would also like to contribute to task one. I ..."

I agree that really sounds good!

I think I will read The Dove's Necklace by Raja Alem

I hope I'll be able to read , but I can't promise anything.

How is your reading? I finally chose Princess: A True Story of Life Behind the Veil in Saudi Arabia it's pretty interesting

I like Radiant Readers as team name haha.
I'm a little confused though, when do we finish the task? Do we set the time limit?

I was thinking we weren't supposed to start until we have 8 members and then from there we have a week for each task unless we want to take longer. It's taking a little while for us to get those last two members though... I hope more people sign up soon.

Alaina wrote: "I was thinking we weren't supposed to start until we have 8 members and then from there we have a week for each task unless we want to take longer. It's taking a little while for us to get those la..."

You can start whenever you like. Up to all of you if you'd rather wait for a full team or not

Hello ! I am from montreal qc and i am really excited for this challenge !

Oh okay! Well then I guess I'd better get started! Has anyone else started yet? If so how's it coming along?
And welcome Carol! Glad to have you! What are you thinking about reading for this task?

I finished a book set in Saudi Arabia yesterday, is anyone reading too? I can start another if we decide to do that task next week

Alaina wrote: "Oh okay! Well then I guess I'd better get started! Has anyone else started yet? If so how's it coming along?
And welcome Carol! Glad to have you! What are you thinking about reading for this task?"

I have to finish a book but I should be finished by the end of the week. I will read next the book from this challenge and I think I ll go with Cities of Salt by Abdul Rahman Munif

Unfortunatly I couldnt find the book I wanted on ebook. So I ll read Princess: A True Story of Life Behind the Veil in Saudi Arabia instead.

Paula- Princess: A True Story of Life Behind the Veil in Saudi Arabia
Rafaela- Girls of Riyadh
Am- Girls of Riyadh
Christine- The Dove's Necklace
Chie- ?
Alaina- A Hologram for the King
Carol- Princess: A True Story of Life Behind the Veil in Saudi Arabia

So this is what we have so far. Chie, are you reading anything for this task? If 6 of us finish this task we can get an additional 15 points on top of the first 10. If everyone reads for the task, as long as it's okay that we only have 7 members, we can get another 10 points. Paula's already finished her book for the task, Carol will be starting her book soon, and I want to finish my book by Friday. How's everyone else doing?

Rafaela, Am, and Carol, what do you think about Radiant Readers for a team name?

I am okay with it ;)

Hello a hitchhiker joining in here. I am 48 and usually prefer spellouts as I read a lot and don't necessarily have lots of access to country specific books that fit the other challenges I am in. I live in the USA and often read M/M romance.

I love the Name.

I am reading now

Hey Roger! Glad you are joining us!

Welcome Roger, glad to have you! Now we have a complete team!
So if I'm not mistaken as long as 4 members read a book pertaining to the task it is considered complete. Since we have 6 members participating at the moment we'll be getting the additional 15 points once we're done with the task. I believe Chie and Roger can read any book they'd like and it would count towards getting another 10 more points for the task. Or they can decide not to do this task and wait for the next stop, and that's okay too, we just wouldn't get the 10 points at the end.
I also think we should plan ahead a little bit for the next stops so we can all be on the same page. I know everyone is going their own pace for this task, but I think we'd all be able to move on to the next task more smoothly if we knew what we were choosing to read ahead of time. What do you guys think?

Yey! We are finally a complete team :) I am still waiting for the book I ordered hope it arrives any time now.Looking forward to it! And hello to all the new members!

I just recently finished A Hologram for the King. Unfortunately I didn't enjoy it too much. I found the whole thing pretty uninteresting to be completely honest. I gave it 2 stars. Hopefully I'll like the next book I read for this challenge a lot better.

I have finished the book Princess (journey behind the veil) . I did really enjoyed it and its interesting to read.

I couldn't get into the dove's necklace it was just too weird or maybe it was the translation, it has mixed reviews. I 'm reading The Night of the Mi'raj set in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia now.

Christine wrote: "I couldn't get into the dove's necklace it was just too weird or maybe it was the translation, it has mixed reviews. I 'm reading The Night of the Mi'raj set in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia ..."

Good luck hope that one is better!

Everyone had a good weekend?

hi, mine was fine, I didn't read much but I helped my mom with the cooking, she had to bake 100 empanadas (typical meal from Chile)

Thats cool !!! :) i had it once and it ws really good :) i tried to make them but i can say it wasnt easy so well done making a 100 of them ! :) any special occasion ?

yes! my sister's thesis defense is today, she'll be a master in geophysics

Congratulations !!! Have a great time celebrating tonight !🎉🎉

Finished girls of Riyadh. I have to say I really enjoyed the book it was nice to travel and discover Saudi Arabia through the eyes of a woman living there. Beautiful book definitely one I can recommend :)

Hey everyone ! Where are you guys at ? :)
Just in case i wont have access to internet from the 6 - 24 october so if i dont answer thats why.
Let me know before then if you want to switch town so i can try to read a book during that time.

When can we move on to another book?

Am wrote: "When can we move on to another book?"
I am not sure we are eligible ... dont we need a certain number of people to have finished ?

Yes but there should be a time limit set. I mean it's been 2-3 months since the last book and I am not sure some members are active anymore

Agreed . Maybe we should start there and see who is active as well. Can everyone who want to participate comment within the week ?