Romance Readers Reading Challenges discussion

Team Members

*Team Captain

*Shannon (wckdktty)
Jennifer - penguin
Skandia
Lauren
Ella
Nicole

1. Introduce yourself to your team. Definitely let your team members know where you are from. This is a 'nice to know' when categories are announced and when team-mates can expect other members to post their book choices.

2. Pick a Team Captain. The team captain will track the books read by the team and double-check that your book selection complies with the rules - eg make sure that the selection and completion posts are as per the formatting and information requested below (msg 3).

Anyone is free to ask questions in the Q&A/Announcement thread - here. If you are unsure, please ask.

Once a Captain has been decided, the Team Captain should reserve a couple of posts in this thread to track their team's book selection and completion. (Alternatively they could convert one of their chat comments to the tracking post/s.)

3. Name your team. This is not mandatory, but it is fun. Given we are an open/public group with no age limit, so please make sure any chosen name is smart, not smutty ;)

Please PM your name to Jane(PS) by 10 September.

4. If you have a private profile, please 'friend' your team-mates. This is really important, because without this, your team-mates can't see your shelves to select a books under option 2.

5. Please post your book selections/completions in the format provided below. (This format is also posted in both the Q&A and Sign-Up threads.) We need to know the week that each book corresponds to, the page numbers, and how the book qualifies including links to lists/shelves (where applicable), etc. I can't stress this enough. When in doubt - link it*!

* please don't link to your review in your completion post - reviews in your completion posts should be included in full in that post.

You don't want to start reading a book and then find it doesn't meet the requirements because some information (eg page count or theme link) was missing from your original post.

I will be monitoring this and your book will not be considered complete until I am satisfied that your selection and completion posts comply with the format rules of the challenge.

Remember - you can ONLY change your book selection in the week that the theme is called.

6. You MUST check in with your team each week, ideally once the theme is announced. Please let your team know if you except to have spotty communication or are on holidays or having an operation.

7. When you post the completion of your book, you must post a review; enough for us to know you have actually read the book. Please don't link to a review. You must post the review in this thread.

8. Re-reads are allowed but you can't read the same book twice within this challenge.

9. There is no prize for the winning team - bragging rights only :)

10. Each week, the theme will be announced in the Q&A/Announcement thread. The full list of themes announced during this round will be maintained in msg 1.


The Rule on the Pass Option
* Each team can only have ONE member using their pass each week.
* Each member can only use that pass once each 5 weeks.
* This means that one or two team members (dependent upon the size of your team) will miss using a pass in each 5 week block.
* No-one can use the pass option in the last week of the challenge.
* In the final week Option 2 has altered and I will be allocating each team another team from which their book selection must be chosen :)

Key selection and completion post information. You must have ALL elements in your book posts.


For the initial selection post Option 1 I need:
Week #
Bookcover/link
Page numbers
How the book qualifies - please insert a link to the qualifying bookshelf/list.
If the theme is based off the bookcover or a letter in the title etc, please just repeat the theme.

For the initial selection post Option 2 I need:
Week #
Bookcover/link
Page numbers
Name of the team-member, their star rating, the date they read the book.



For the completion post I need:
Week #
Bookcover/link
Rating (1-5)
Review


Please DO NOT CHAT in these selction/completion posts. It needs to be super clear.

If you 'waffle' about your decided book - please REPOST your selection once you decide. DO NOT go back and edit your waffling post.

I'll be tracking each team's progress separately, using the Captain's summary in each team's thread to check for accuracy.

A summary chart will be posted in the last week to let teams know their progress against other teams :)

Hi team! So excited to start playing again. I played the first round, missed the second but could not stay away this time :)

I'm Skandia. I'm a reading challenge addict. I read mostly romance and historicals, almost no non-fiction and no m/m genre at all.
I'm currently in Europe, in Estonia, but planning to return to California at the end of September. Nothing sure about it yet, so I'm in GMT+3 time zone for now.

There are some familiar faces. Hi Lauren!

HI. I'm exited, too. This is my first time, I'm a newbie at this challenge.

I'm Ella. Love the challenges here, they push me to read books I normally wouldn't. The last couple of years I started reading mostly romance novels. It doesn't matter if it's contemporary, historical, paranormal, suspense or any other subgenre, if it's well written I'll give it a try. Not big on m/m(read a couple), but it's not my favorite.

I plan to read a book every week, so u can count on me not to pass on any theme.

I'm in Europe, too - Romania (GMT +2). It's funny cause I lived in California for almost 3 years and I also plan to return. I have no definite date, there are some things that keep me in Romania for a while longer.

Hi Everyone. My name is Shannon. I have completed the other 2 PTP challenges and was a member of the winning team on Round 2. I love this challenge.

I primarily read Paranormal Romance but have branched out Occasionally, especially for PTP.

I live in Florida, and have a son who just started Kindergarten. Meaning I have a lot more time to read.

Cant wait to meet the rest of my team. Only team name I can think of so far is The Sixth Sense.

Regarding names:

There are some common phrases with 6 in them like the one Shannon suggested or six pack, six feet under(but that's a bit morbid)

*A cube has 6 faces so it can be something like: The Reading Cube. A hexagon has 6 sides so: The Hexagon Sides.

*There are some bands with nr. 6 in their names like:
Six O'clock Saints, Electric Six, Six in Six.

*From the Christmas carol: Six geese a-laying

*Sports: In football a touchdown earns 6 points; "The Original Six"- in hockey - is the name for the oldest remaining teams in the league

*A standard guitar has six strings - so we can use exactly that for a name(ex: The Standard Guitar)

* 6-meter band in amateur radio includes frequencies from 50 to 54 MHz

* In the ancient Roman Calendar - June(the 6th month) - was called Sextilis

* The Super 6 - an animated cartoon series from a long time ago

* There are 6 Cardinal Directions (north south east west up down) ex: The Cardinal Directions

___________________________________________________________

We also have to choose a Team Captain. I think it should be somebody who participated in this challenge before, and has the time to coordinate our efforts. I propose Shannon.

Ella, I like how you think!
As for names, I like The Sixth Sense or The Original Six but I'm good with whatever name the Team chooses.

Hi, I'm Jennifer! I'm a newbie to this challenge. I'm from Ohio. I've been on a romance kick lately but I will just about read anything.

The only names that comes to my mind is a variation of the rock group The Sex Pistols...the Six Pistols

and that name made me think of The Six Shooters

but I'm good with what the team likes :D

Hi teamies! Hi Skandia *waves*

I'm Lauren and I love this challenge :0)

I also read mostly romance (historical, paranormal, suspense) and I'm not really that into m/m either. Mysteries and thrillers are another of my favorite genres.

Love the name suggestions so far. I also like The Sixth Sense as well as The Reading Cube and The Original Six.

I live in Israel (GMT+3)

I thought of another name, this one with symbolism: The Eclectic Six - we're team nr 6 with 6 members and eclectic means:
1: selecting what appears to be best in various doctrines, methods, or styles
2: composed of elements drawn from various sources

- we're from various parts of the world, and it's always nice to have a winning attitude, so why not consider ourselves the best.

I like all the names discussed, but we have to choose one.
1. The Sixth Sense
2. The Original Six
3. The Eclectic Six
4. The Six Shooters
5. The Reading Cube

We should all choose just one, and the popular choice wins.
We're 6, there are 5 possible choices, at least one should appear twice.

And regarding the Team Captain, I proposed Shannon because she's 3 for 3 at PtP, and she has a bit more free time, but if anyone wants to volunteer, they're welcome.

I'm both exited and nervous about this challenge, when that happens I tend to become a bit of a chatterbox, on line this translates to me posting a lot of messages.

I like the Eclectic Six

I also like The Eclectic Six and having Shannon as captain sounds great if she is amenable :0)

Lol - the moral of this thread is 'don't mention that you now have more time to read' (Shannon) ;)

My name is Nicole. I participated in the last challenge and had a blast. I like to read anything romance and for me the more smut the better. I like the name the eclectic six and I vote for anyone to be captain other than me.

Nicole wrote: "My name is Nicole. I participated in the last challenge and had a blast. I like to read anything romance and for me the more smut the better. I like the name the eclectic six and I vote for anyone ..."

Lol wih the last statement sound like something I would also say.

Hi team, I just thought of some questions.

1. Regarding the themes that don't have lists attached to them, are we free to chose any book we want, as long as it matches the theme, or are there restrictions?

2. If we go with option 2: selecting a book from the Read list of a team-mate, does that book have to match the theme or just any book read in the last 6 month with at least 3 star rating will do?

3. What happens if, from a theme 2 or more members choose the same book?

I already have a tentative list with the books I plan to read for this challenge, hope I can find some of them at the library

And another thing, if Shannon doesn't want to be team captain, who volunteers for the position?

1. Yes, any book as long as it fits the theme.
2. Any book read after the cut off date and is rated 3 stars or more - it doesn't have to fit the theme
3. Team members can read the same book.

Ella wrote: "And another thing, if Shannon doesn't want to be team captain, who volunteers for the position?"

My brother is visiting from Belgium for the next few weeks so I'm not going to be online as often and would prefer not to be captain.

Ella wrote: "Hi team, I just thought of some questions.

1. Regarding the themes that don't have lists attached to them, are we free to chose any book we want, as long as it matches the theme, or are there restrictions..."

Lauren was exactly right with her advice. With regards to your first question, the restrictions for each of the non-listed themes are pretty clear. If you aren't sure on a particular theme, just ask me in the Q&A thread. (Because if you need clarity, it's likely others do too :)

For all themes - you need to link to either a list, shelf or the GR book summary to show that it qualifies, unless it is one of the very obvious ones like 'title starts with the letter 'G', in which case, you just note that the book starts with the letter 'G'.

I guess I am captain. I also will assume that we are The Eclectic Six. Now I am going back to bed where I have been while this conversation was happening, cause once the challenge starts sleeping will take a back burner.

LOL - I'm hoping the reading won't be quite so challenging that you won't get any sleep ;)

**Reserved for Team picks and completion**

*Shannon (wckdktty) 355 Pages COMPLETED

Jennifer - penguin 323 Pages COMPLETED

Skandia 295 Pages COMPLETED

Lauren 367 Pages COMPLETED

Ella 392 Pages 3.5 Stars COMPLETED

Nicole 240 Pages COMPLETED

WEEK 1 COMPLETED

WEEK 2

*Shannon (wckdktty) 336 Pages COMPLETED

Jennifer - penguin 258 Pages COMPLETED

Skandia 240 Pages COMPLETED

Lauren 329 Pages COMPLETED

Ella 350 Pages 4 Stars COMPLETED

Nicole 337 Pages COMPLETED

WEEK 2 COMPLETED

WEEK 3

*Shannon (wckdktty) 318 Pages COMPLETED

Jennifer - penguin 332 Pages COMPLETED

Skandia 322 Pages COMPLETED

Lauren 455 Pages COMPLETED

Ella 283 Pages COMPLETED

Nicole 250 Pages COMPLETED

WEEK 3 COMPLETED

Week 4

*Shannon (wckdktty) 356 pages COMPLETED

Jennifer - penguin 348 pages COMPLETED

Skandia 276 pages COMPLETED

Lauren 469 pages COMPLETED

Ella 352 pages COMPLETED

Nicole 259 pages COMPLETED

WEEK 4 COMPLETED

WEEK 5 MC is a single parent.

*Shannon (wckdktty) 187 Pages COMPLETED

Jennifer - penguin 291 Pages COMPLETED

Skandia 294 Pages COMPLETED

Lauren 266 pages COMPLETED

Ella 312 Pages COMPLETED

Nicole 291 Pages COMPLETED

WEEK 5 COMPLETED

WEEK 6

*Shannon (wckdktty) 224 Pages COMPLETED

Jennifer - penguin 536 Pages COMPLETED

Skandia 328 Pages COMPLETED

Lauren 400 Pages COMPLETED

Ella 320 Pages COMPLETED

Nicole 629 Pages COMPLETED

WEEK 6 COMPLETED

WEEK 7

*Shannon (wckdktty) 384 Pages COMPLETED

Jennifer - penguin 379 Pages COMPLETED

Skandia 336 Pages COMPLETED

Lauren 356 Pages COMPLETED

Ella 208 Pages COMPLETED

Nicole 332 Pages COMPLETED

WEEK 7 COMPLETED

WEEK 8

*Shannon (wckdktty) 346 Pages COMPLETED

Jennifer - penguin 372 Pages COMPLETED

Skandia 405 Pages COMPLETED

Lauren 361 Pages COMPLETED

Ella 385 Pages COMPLETED

Nicole 281 Pages COMPLETED

Week 8 COMPLETED

Week 9

*Shannon (wckdktty) 218 Pages COMPLETED

Jennifer - penguin 323 Pages COMPLETED

Skandia 256 Pages COMPLETED

Lauren 378 Pages COMPLETED

Ella 354 PAges COMPLETED

Nicole 215 Pages COMPLETED

WEEK 9 COMPLETED

WEEK 10

*Shannon (wckdktty) 525 Pages COMPLETED

Jennifer - penguin 371 Pages COMPLETED

Skandia 337 Pages COMPLETED

Lauren 375 Pages COMPLETED

Ella 354 Pages COMPLETED

Nicole 382 Pages COMPLETED

Week 10 COMPLETED

Week 11 Final week

*Shannon (wckdktty) 379 Pages COMPLETED

Jennifer - penguin 214 Pages

Skandia 400 Pages

Lauren 224 Pages

Ella
Nicole 246 Pages

Jane (PS) wrote: "LOL - I'm hoping the reading won't be quite so challenging that you won't get any sleep ;)"

If its a good book and a good challenge then I am going to lose some sleep reading.

Shannon wrote: "cause once the challenge starts sleeping will take a back burner. "

Thanks for taking on the captaincy, Shannon. Sleep is overrated anyway, lol!

Thanks Lauren. I have some experience being captain as I did it on Round 1 of PTP. Yes, sleep is overrated.

Week 1:
Option 1:
12. MC is a nerd/geek/genius - from the following lists:
Books With Nerdy, Geeky or Genius Heroes and Heroines
Brainy Genius Romantic Heroes
Nerdgasms
Best Gay Romance with Bookish Nerdy Geeky Characters

Option 2:
Key date: 8 March 2014

Week 1 12. MC is a nerd/geek/genius - 355 pages Found on Nerdgasms page 1 Number 21

I have my book picked out. Now what do I do?

Week 1~MC is a nerd/geek/genius


by Rainbow Rowell
323 pages
Found on Nerdgasms page 1 #8

Week 1: MC is a nerd

240 pages per good reads
From the list
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/6...
Number 205

Will update when I am back at my computer. Happy reading.

Week 1: Theme - MC is a nerd/geek/genius
by Elizabeth Hoyt - 392 pages/Goodreads
on the list: Brainy Genius Romantic Heroes [page #1, book #12]

Hi,

I want to start by apologizing to Shannon for putting her on the spot regarding the team captain position ... I'm really sorry, it was never my intention to force your hand, but u were the most qualified.

And a question: When can we start reading the book we selected?

You can start reading now Ella :)

Oh, I was so not prepared for this theme in a sense that I have too many options for that!

I'm choosing between and

@Shannon - I love the Jane Jameson series. So fun and full of colorful characters.

Ella wrote: "Hi,

I want to start by apologizing to Shannon for putting her on the spot regarding the team captain position ... I'm really sorry, it was never my intention to force your hand, but u were the mos..."

No need for an apology. When I was reading the intro's and seeing that many of you were trying this challenge for the first time, that I would volunteer. Was just waiting to make sure no one else wanted it first. So rest assured that you did not force my hand.

Jane answered your question on when to start. It's always after you select your book.

Skandia, I am already enjoying the Jane Jameson series. I love the humor. Please let me know when you decide which of those three to go with.

Week #1: MC is a nerd/geek/genius

by Victoria Dahl
367 Pages per GR
#75 on the Nerdgasms List.

Week #1: MC is a nerd/geek/genius

by Graeme Simsion
295 Pages per GR
#50 on the Brainy/Genius Romantic Heroes

Week 1: Theme - MC is a nerd/geek/genius
Bookcover/link: by Elizabeth Hoyt
Rating: ★★★ ½
Review:
This is my first book by Elizabeth Hoyt, and it was a pleasant surprise. I like historical romances, I like the settings and going back in time and imagine how the world was then. What stopped being fun were the stereotypical hero and heroine: 17-18 year old virgins and over 30 years old dukes. This was not the case. A widow and an Earl may not be new either, but Anna and Edward were refreshing characters, unconventional and it was a pleasure watching them interact. Edward suffered a tragic loss, he lost his whole family to smallpox, and although he survived, the disease left scars on his body and face. His first wife died in childbirth revealing an ugly truth: she disliked him and his scars and only married him because she was forced by her father. Anna is a widow who lives with her mother-in-law. Upon discovering she couldn't get pregnant her husband cheats on her and leaves her with a sense of betrayal.
Lack of money and a need for a secretary brings them together. Despite their backgrounds she's a vicar's daughter and he's part of the aristocracy the loss they both suffered and their character makes them alike in a way. I liked that. Through the actions they both took you can see they're good people, that go after what they want and were meant to be together.
One of the things I enjoyed most about the story was the dog, how I wish I had one just like Jock, so fiercely protective. The secondary characters were also a delight: Davis the almost deaf valet, Mr. Hopple the steward with a dreadful fashion sense and others that made the book a truly enjoyable read.

Week 1: Theme - MC is a nerd/geek/genius
Book:
Rating: 4 Stars
Review: Loved the humor in this book. The female character fit a book nerd to a "T". I also enjoyed the references to some classic romance novels.I will definitely be reading more by this author and of this series.

Today is Friday, we have two completed. Please let me know when the rest of the team completes. This is not a nag email but a motivational message.

If I remember correctly, this week's theme was called early so we have until Wednesday to complete our books. Or did I misunderstand?

Lauren, yes the first call you have 11 days to read it from the date called. So you are good, Like I said just motivating everyone.

Thanks for confirming that, Shannon. I was getting a little worried because I haven't started my book yet :0)

Week 1~MC is a Nerd/Geek/Genius


by Rainbow Rowell
Rating: ♥♥♥♥

This book is a quick, lovely read about two (or three, if you count the Best Friend, which I absolutely do) people finding each other at the turn of the century, when stuff like work email, internet security, and Y2K were the big new things, but newspapers still, well, existed. The plot is cleverly written, the emotional/relationship stuff doesn't ever get heavy or overdone, but it's the characters, oh man, the characters that really get you. They are hilarious, intelligent, awkward, interesting, flawed, and wonderful, each and every one of them. Even Mitch, the husband that we hear a great deal about but never once actually meet in a great character. No kidding, people, this author makes you love a character you never even meet. That's some serious talent.

The writing style is well-done, the plot flows well, and comes to a comfortable (if inevitable) end. This is not a surprising story; you pretty much know how it ends from almost the beginning, and it is a pretty short, quick read. I'd file it under 'light-hearted romantic book'.

Completion post
Week 1: MC is a nerd

240 pages per good reads

4 stars
Review: I really enjoyed this book. It was funny and witty. It was about an eighteen year old girl who just finished her first year as an intern, but couldn't get a residency because she wasn't emotionally ready. So she had to return to college and experience life as a regular college freshman. It was very entertaining.

Lauren wrote: "If I remember correctly, this week's theme was called early so we have until Wednesday to complete our books. Or did I misunderstand?"

I won't be calling another theme until Friday, 19 September :) We started WAAAAY early on Monday!