The Perks Of Being A Book Addict discussion

Team Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory

Team Members:
❅ Cat - Captain
❅ Elen - Co-Captain
❅ Cilla Fleig
❅ Marie Riley
❅ Lulu Fritz
❅ Filipa
❅ Andrea


♕ Team Spreadsheet
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/...

R

R

R

THE RULES
Key take-aways:
- books must be started after the countdown (9am 1 Feb London; 4am 1 Feb US East Coast) https://www.timeanddate.com/countdown...
- books must be 101+pages, for Kids and some others, this must also be at least 3 hours audio or 25k words from one of the ARBookfinder sites
- check in with the team at least one a week
- be kind in your postings

Letters
Look out for character names or nicknames, place settings, author or title first word that start with:
Z, O, T, H, F, I, S, V, E, N, K, P

note that non-fiction books don't (usually) have characters, so non-fiction will typically be title, author or standalone only.

Admin
The official sheet is in post 1 above. Add your books - with a hyperlink to your edition for preference - to our tracker, linked below. Add in all the cards it fits for, with the reason, and make sure it is on your UNO shelf with a read date

Tracker sheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/...

Finding Colour Covers
Covers have to be 50% or more the required colour. We'll use our eyes - if there's consensus it's good, if there's a debate (teal! teal is not a useful cover colour for NO!) then we won't use it for the colour card.
These lists have gathered some books that have been used in the past. Note that just because it's on the list doesn't mean it is actually valid. Also, we have to use the edition we read. Some of the covers might not look the right coloir, but it may be that there is an edition that works.
red covers
blue covers
green covers
yellow covers

.

.

MARCH HAND

Colour cards: ✔️

0 Red 📕
2 Red 📕
5 Red 📕
7 Red 📕
0 Yellow 📒
3 Yellow 📒
6 Yellow 📒
4 Blue 📘
3 Green 📗
7 Green 📗


Also, we need to duplicate four of your colour cards:




UNO Pixie colour shelves
UNO Red
UNO Blue
UNO Green
UNO Yellow

Important note
Some books on this list may not seem like the colour cover. This is because GR will show the default version. There may be a specific version that has been shelved that is the actual colour.

The version you read is what you should shelve, and is what counts, for UNO

R

Hi everyone, welcome to Team Chocolate!

I'm Cat (she/hers), based in UK. I've played UNO a few times, and really enjoy the no-pressure challenge (if that makes sense?) - the competition is to finish the hands, not to read the most pages ever - perfect for the new year!

I read most things, though less horror and self-help stuff! My favourite author is Terry Pratchett - I had a lovely time last year doing a full publication order reread of all the Discworld books. They are very much my happy place, but in the absence of Team Ankh-Morpork or Team Lancre I'm pleased to be in the madcap world of Roald Dahl - I am the right age to have had Dahl read to me as a child, plus to stay up reading Matilda under the covers!

In terms of the challenge - two key things: be kind to each other and be kind to Elen and I as captains by checking in here at least once a week, or letting us know if life intrudes and you can't play any more (or to the level you signed up with). We'll be setting up a team planning sheet that everyone can add their own books to, but if that doesn't work for you post completions here.

Also, if you can confirm what shelf you will be using for UNO books please, that would be great. If you can only add books as you start reading them, not for long-term plans that's helpful too - we use the shelves to double check we've got all the books and also page counts.

MY shelf: uno2022

HI folks my name is Marie. I live in the UK in God's own county of Yorkshire. I have played UNO a few times too. I am not reading as much at the moment am on a bit of a health and fitness drive but love the variety of books i can read for UNO.

My shelf is called Unocycled https://www.goodreads.com/review/list...

Hey, I am Lulu and I am from Florida. I have played a few times as well. I'm excited to start reading with you all. I read most things but I am not a huge fan or horror or suspense.

Uno shelf
https://www.goodreads.com/review/list...

Hi everyone! I'm Filipa from Portugal, I have played a few times as well. I mostly read m/m romance, fantasy and historicals are my favorites.

My shelf: uno2022

Hello fellow golden ticket winners!! I am so excited that the teams have been finally announced! My name is Andrea (she/her) and I'm from the west coast of Canada. I work in a public library and I read a little bit of everything but lately I've been into the chick lit and cutesy romance scenes a bit more.

For now I just have the one shelf that I will be adding books to as I start reading them. Once we know our first hand and start doing planning I may decide to make a planning shelf too and if so I'll update that here. *edit: I see the team spreadsheet now and that we already do know the hands lol. I have some thinking to do now!

uno2022

I have a question about the color cards. I was thinking of trying to take on the Red 7 card in our hand 2. I found 'The Vegetarian' in the list of red books but when I look it up in my library the cover is different.

If this is the cover the book ends up being when I get it, this wouldn't work hey? It's very pink to me but some people have told me I'm don't see colors right so I'm asking you all lol. I've put it on hold so I can check if it matches what's on the website. I could also try to track down one with the more red cover from a book store or online.

edit* I ended up buying the red red cover version, it should be here for February so I would really like to take the Red 7 card from our hand 2 if possible!

Hi everyone! I'm Cilla from Missouri and this is my first time playing UNO. I read a lot of different genres, but not a lot of the vampire/zombie/werewolf stuff. I love history, true crime, mysteries, nonfiction and some romance.

Uno-2022 shelf is where I will add books that as I read them.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/list...

I also have other shelves set up for the game: some ideas for what I may want to read and blue, green, red and yellow. I think I have close to 300 books to choose from. As with every other challenge I always find more and more possibilities.

Do we work on one hand at a time or can we look at all of the hands listed and plan that way? I hope that makes sense. I am just trying to figure out what books I'll be reading in February and if these books are available at the library or KU, etc.

Just dropping by from The Shire to say hello.
Waves to Cat, Marie, Elen, Lulu. :)

If you get overfed on chocolate, you can always visit us at Bag End and raid our food pantry for other stuff. :)

And Cat, while the brown connection is undeniable, I hope you appreciate the nice, colourful team pic I found for you. Only traces of brown. :P

@Andrea, yeah that version of The Vegetarian that you posted wouldn't work. Those lists aren't a guarantee that all editions of the title are the right colour, but that there might be one that works :) Glad you found a red one, and the 7 Red is all yours!

@Cilla, the joy of UNO is in the easiness of the game. I don't fill from the top down, but fill in the trickier cards first and then backfill as needed. In general, apart from colour cards or reverses i don't encourage "claiming" of particular cards, so plan away based on what you want to read (keeping an eye out for yellow covers, though!)
We'll have a planning sheet where we each add our books and plans, with the cards they fit and then Elen and I will pop the books where they work best :) I was going to get that sheet up some point in the next week - we still have a couple of weeks till we start and I didn't want to overwhelm with info immediately ;-P

Hi Mel! Yes, love the colourful image over the chocolate river, which must have been tempting!

Hi everyone!

I'm Elen (she/her) from Estonia. This is my 5th time playing UNO and being co-captain. I love UNO for no pressure, a lot of fun etc.
In the past year, I read mostly thriller/mystery/crime, fantasy, and sci-fi. And least read genre is non-fiction and romance.

As Cat said don't hesitate to ask questions, we are here to help. You can add your books here or to the tracking spreadsheet.


My UNO shelf: uno-2022

Hi Mel!! I'm a huge sweet tooth *yay*! Also, I love all the team names. :)

I am planning on reading Love and Snark: A Polemic in Seven Fits both have yellow covers has anyone read these so that they could be used for reverse

I am glad you do, Elen. :)

Hello - I'm wandering through from Wuthering Heights...and I smelt something delicious... we don't have a lot of chocolate around these parts!


Thought I'd drop in and say hi and perhaps grab a bar or two

@Cat and @Elen that team spreadsheet is WONDERFUL! Just wanted to say well done on getting that together. I have added my other 2 books I for sure want to read in Feb.

I also wanted to double check for The City We Became https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/sho... that it would fall as being #1 in a series like I've noted on the spreadsheet? It doesn't appear that any books come after it yet but Goodreads still states it as Book #1. Thanks!

And if anyone has read the above mentioned book or Razorblade Tears pls let me know so I can add it as a reverse option too.

I've read Razorblade Tears!

I'll double check, but pretty sure that if it's listed as #1 even if there's no #2 or #0.5 it's still a #1

ETA: yup - if the metadata says #1 then we go by that :)

So, for me, one of the best things about UNO is the Reverse card, where we read a book that someone else on the team has read.

We've got 6 for February, so.... what are everyone's top recommendations that they've read in the last year, and why?

I'd mention:
- it's a slow-burn romance (MF, clean) with middle-age, damaged characters with a mystery, a lot of humour and some action. I discovered T Kingfisher last year and have yet to dislike one of her books, though it's fair to say that was a LOT more creepy than the others!

- found family sports competition space opera, and charming with it. IIRC pretty much all the characters were queer.

- long, not much happens bar a lot of politics but it doesn't drag and has a wonderful protagonist.

Sorry, all three are SFF, because that's my wheel-house. The regular fiction I read tends to have a side-order of ISSUES, so are harder to recommend without some warnings.

Hey team!!! I'm just here to grab some chocolate before the trip to Wuthering Heights (my captain ate hers all by herself)

Also, I'm really happy to meet another portuguese that reads MM!!!

I'm definitely going to visit more to talk books :D

Any JD Robb of the In death series I am up to about #39
Any of the Anne of Green gables series

I so loved this book which took a unique view through the narrative of one man's life.

New technologies and a maverick, cruelly twisted man with so much power and so many insider friends that he can get away with anything.

I have read this more than once it is as the blurb says Haunting

Donna Tartt writes and reads like a classical author - I could compare her to Daphne du Maurier who is by the way one of my favourite classic authors

IF anyone likes long books is quite simply the best book ever written imho


I might try The Hollow Places Cat

Sonia wrote: "Hey team!!! I'm just here to grab some chocolate before the trip to Wuthering Heights (my captain ate hers all by herself)"

Hello! You know you're always welcome here! How rude, hogging the chocolate; I'd stir up a rebellion!

Sonia wrote: "Hey team!!! I'm just here to grab some chocolate before the trip to Wuthering Heights (my captain ate hers all by herself)

Also, I'm really happy to meet another portuguese that reads MM!!!

I'm ..."


I do so hope you enjoy the sights around the heights - in God's own County of Yorkshire - make sure you have a warm coat it can be cold even in the summer and it is far from summer at the moment.

Sonia wrote: "Hey team!!! I'm just here to grab some chocolate before the trip to Wuthering Heights (my captain ate hers all by herself)

Also, I'm really happy to meet another portuguese that reads MM!!!

I'm ..."

Hi Sonia, great to meet you! Definitely drop by for some mm chat and some chocolate. :)

Cat wrote: "So, for me, one of the best things about UNO is the Reverse card, where we read a book that someone else on the team has read.

We've got 6 for February, so.... what are everyone's top recommendati..."

- Really liked both books I've read by the author so far, but this one was my favorite. Historical fantasy with great world building and fantastic characters.

- A great ending to the series, if not the easiest one to read. This is more sci-fi than romance, and I've wanted to push both MCs out of an airlock at several points in the series, but it's impossible not to fall in love with them and their jourmey. Needs to be read in order though.

- A very light, very funny historical.

- This one was different, and very good. Definitely a new take on long distance romance lol. It took me ages to pick up because of the cover (it really deserved better), but I'm glad I did. It was funny, and heartwrenching, and just wonderful.

I have really enjoyed the following within the last year. My descriptions are not great. I tend to over share so I am trying to to give to much away

- I listened to the audio and really like this. It's the story of Arthur Less and a trip he takes around the world to avoid a wedding

- I am loving this series. I recently finished book 5. Val is an assassin and throughout the series there are dragons, elves, vampires and a magical tiger.

- this one is not typically something I would pick but I ended up enjoying it. It is fantasy and about Csorwe who gets tangled up with a wizard and forces from her past.

- I found this one odd and delightful. You follow a woman through a series of jobs and while she is figuring out where she wants to be

- This one is sad and deals with grief and moving on.

I am also quite enjoying the series. They are so long and not overly serious. I was bummed when they pushed back the next one.

and

are both on KU. Good mystery/suspense with some twists and turns.

a classic/romance set during the Russian Revolution.

I love Janet Evanovich books and have read several (particularly of the Stephanie Plum series). They are humorous and a lot of fun to read. These books, even if in a series, can be read in any order.







etc. etc........

Looks like they work for color cards as well.

Here are some of my favourites from last year:

- Set in England and all about those "what if" feelings that can start to haunt you during your mid-life crisis. Follows A Christmas Carol kind of storyline.

- If you're a fan of his music or any of his movies then you will probably enjoy this book. There's almost a self-help feeling to this book as well. I liked how he could look back at his life and talk about the mistakes that he made.

- A look at two very different lives of teenagers. This book takes place in the 80s (the year I was born actually), so that was kind of fun to experience too. A lot of emotions were experienced while reading this book.

- such a fun read! Quirky characters, STEM talk, a bit of steam here and there. Main characters M/F but there are some M/M side characters.

- This book did such a great job of handling a large cast of characters. They all get their moment to shine and you come away from the book feeling like you really got to know them all and love them despite their flaws. I laughed out loud reading this and held back tears too. Loved it.

- I am slowly making my way through all of her books because I love her writing SO much. This story was probably the most intense one I've read so far but she made sure to throw some laughs in there as well so it's not only heavy. About a woman who loses her memory. She doesn't even remember her 3 kids.

- If you enjoy fast paced, nail biters then I definitely recommend this one. First book I've read that takes place in our pandemic would too. So if you would rather get away from that in your reading I thought I would mention it lol.

- SO funny and so heart-wrenching. I recommend listening to the audiobook for this one as it is read by the author and he is phenomenal.

- I've read all of Beth O'Leary's books. She is my current fav. author. They are all "uplififting love stories - books you reach for when you need a hug"

Andrea wrote: "Here are some of my favourites from last year:

- Set in England and all about those "what if" feelings that can start to haunt you during your mid-life crisis. F..."
I read last year and really enjoyed it too

Yay another Beth O'Leary fan! That makes me happy Lulu (=^･ｪ･^=))ﾉ彡☆

I have had to take one of my books off the spreadsheet as i need to read it now - I am not great at planning ahead but will read for any cards when it starts

FEBRUARY HAND

Colour cards: ✔️

7 Red 📕 - The Vegetarian - Andrea [Title V]
2 Yellow 📒 - The Bridges of Madison County - Cilla [Title T]
3 Yellow 📒 - Ripped from the Headlines!: The Shocking True Stories Behind the Movies' Most Memorable Crimes - Cilla [AFN Harold Schechter]
5 Yellow 📒 - Blind Lake - Cat [Character Iversson]
7 Yellow 📒 - The Quiche of Death - Cilla [CFN Vera Cummings-Browne]
3 Blue 📘 - It Happens in the Hamptons - Cilla [AFN Holly Peterson]
3 Green 📗 - The Toast of Time - Cat [Character Hyssop]
9 Green 📗 - The Maze Runner - Elen [CFN Newt]


Also, we need to duplicate four of your colour cards:
WD4 - 3 Blue 📘 - Malibu Rising - Cilla [CFN Hud Reva]
WD4 - 3 Green 📗 - The Herd - Marie [Title H]
WD4 - 9 Green 📗 - New Spring - Cilla [Title N]
WD4


UNO Pixie colour shelves
UNO Red
UNO Blue
UNO Green
UNO Yellow

Important note
Some books on this list may not seem like the colour cover. This is because GR will show the default version. There may be a specific version that has been shelved that is the actual colour.

The version you read is what you should shelve, and is what counts, for UNO

Hey team,get us! Most of the main colour cards claimed already!

Elen wrote: "FEBRUARY HAND

Colour cards: ✔️

7 Red 📕 - The Vegetarian - Andrea [Title V]
2 Yellow 📒 - The Bridges of Madison County - Cilla [Title T]
3 Yellow 📒 - - [H]
5 Yellow ..."

I can do a 3 green with

@Marie - Added

I can do a 9 Green if you guys think this is green enough?

Cat wrote: "Hey team,get us! Most of the main colour cards claimed already!"

I found one for 3 Yellow and put it on the spreadsheet.

Filipa wrote: "I can do a 9 Green if you guys think this is green enough?
"

I don't think this hits the 50% requirement 😟

Cat wrote: "Filipa wrote: "I can do a 9 Green if you guys think this is green enough?
"

I don't think this hits the 50% requirement 😟"

Ok, I'll keep looking. Thanks Cat. :)

FYI
just finished Violeta if anyone has this on their shelves it has a Z character in (not major but relevant character)

I am not a big planner lately but I will see if I can find a few that will work for color cards