The Challenge Factory discussion

For this challenge you will need to read one book a week.

Each week the moderator will announce the Word of the Week. The WotW will have four letters. Each team member will choose one of the four letters. That letter will determine the book they will read that week. You can use the first word of the title (excluding 'a', 'an', or 'the'), or the author's first, middle, or last initial.

There will also be a BONUS Word of the Week. (BWotW)

Example:
The WotW is 'BOAT'. You pick the letter 'A'. You decide to read Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen.

If you find both the WotW and the BWotW in the text of the book, you will earn the Scrabble point value of the letter and a point for each of the found words. In this example, A is worth 1 point, plus 2 points for the two found words for a total of 3 points.

WotW and BWotW will be announced each Monday morning.


Rules, Teams with less than 4 players, Missing Players, and Captain's Duties

Rules:
* You cannot begin reading your book until Wednesday morning (12:01 a.m.) your time.
* Books must be 140+ pages. Audio book page length is determined by the first paper version that shows up.
* Graphic novels and poetry books are allowed, but they must be 250+ pages.

Teams with less than 4 players and Missing Players:
If a team has fewer assigned members than four, one member will need to read an second book. That member may change from week to week.

If a team member has an emergency or has scheduled an absence, a team member can read 2 books that week so that the team will not lose points.

A team member can have one unplanned absence one without repercussions. When they miss a second week, they will eliminated from the team. In the case of an unplanned absence, a team member cannot read a second book.

Captain's Duties:
* Double check your team members' Completion Posts to verify compliance to the rules and tasks.
* Captains will need to post on the Reporting Thread when everyone in their team has made a Completion Post. That entails one post with a copy of or link to each member's Completion Post.
*Report any problems, concerns, missing players, etc. to the moderator.

Sample Completion Post:
If the WotW is Coat, and the BWotW is Chair:

Completion Post:
Coat & Chair Week:
My Letter: C
Book: Charlotte's Web
Read: 6/20/22
Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★
Review: (At least 3 sentences long, please.)

Bonus Items and Points:
Coat: "...his silky white coat..." p. 136
Chair: not found in the text

Total: C = 3; 3 + 1 = 4 points

Team Members:

LaurLa
Sally906
Jackie
Laura

Checking in.

Hellooooo!!

I’m here - Amsterdam is one of my most favourite cities, so happy we have this one.

Week one's words are: WofW - Belt, BWofW - Carpet

Jackie wrote: "Week one's words are: WofW - Belt, BWofW - Carpet"

I can take L or T easiest but can also take E if needed.

I can do B or L most easily. Both books have the two words in the text.

Jackie wrote: "I can do B or L most easily. Both books have the two words in the text."

I forgot to look for the bonus word. None of my original choices have Carpet but I found others that do and so can take any letter.

I can take B - about to start Death in a Budapest Butterfly by Julia Buckley

Haven’t looked for carpet as haven’t started it yet

Just checked - both belt and carpet in text.

I'm here! Let me see what I have

None of my planned books for Turf Wars fits E or T, so I'll just pick something.

I've got an E checked out from KU that has both Belt & Carpet.

Also have a T checked out with both of them.

Which do you want, LaurLa?

Looks like we have:

B Sally
E LaurLa
L Jackie
T Laura

Sorry! Forgot to check back in. I found an E with both words in the text so I'll take that.

I’ve got the T, then. Can’t start before tomorrow, right?

Right.

You can start whenever 12:01 am 8th is in your time zone - so I started 08:00 am my time is the 8th

Completion Post

WotW - Belt
BWotW - Carpet

My letter: B
Book: Death in a Budapest Butterfly by Julia Buckley
Read: 09/06/22
Rating: 3★s
Review: The MC, her mother Maggie, and grandmother Juliana are horrified when a guest is poisoned at one of their afternoon tea functions. There is lots of Hungarian history, culture, and myths blended into the story which added to the read. Also a budding romance that didn’t intrude into the investigation.

Bonus Items and Points:
Belt: "...I started unpacking onto her conveyor belt..." chapter 23 - page 3 of 14
Carpet: “…he still sat on the carpet…” chapter 8 - page 10 of 13

Total: B = 3; 3 + 1 + 1 = 5 points

Completion Post
WotW - Belt
BWotW - Carpet

Letter: L
Book: Killing Floor
Author: Lee Child
Date: 6/13
Rating: 4 stars
How it fits: L author first initial
Review: This was my first experience with the Jack Reacher novels and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Reacher is a loner, ex-military, and basically a vagabond. He is unjustly arrested for murder in a small town in Georgia and proceeds to clear himself, develop a love interest, and ruin an evil plot. A lot of action and killing. I plan to continue the series and look forward to the next book.

Bonus:
Belt: Page 3 - ...unclipped the handcuffs from his belt...
Carpet: Page 8 - Carpet in the top corner of the room,...

Total: L = 1; 1 + 1 + 1 =3 points

I've got about an hour left in my book. It needs to be finished tomorrow, right? Because it fits about 5 monster tasks for Tower Teams, but that can't be finished until Wednesday! :)

Completion Post
WotW - Belt
BWofW - Carpet

Letter - T
Book: Club 22
Author: Tate James
Date Read: 6/13
Rating: 5 stars
How it fits: Author FN T
Review: What a roller coaster. I can't believe that cliffhanger! I'm on to the next book right away! The characters are engaging, the plot is gripping!

Bonus:
Belt: p. 26, "...then undid his seat belt..."
Carpet: p. 19, "...vomited right there on the carpet."

Total: T=1; 1 + 1 + 1 = 3

Did we elect a captain to get us checked in and keep us on track?

Week 2:
WofW - Wage
BWofW - Barn

So far, in my planned Turf wars books, I have an A, but it doesn't have Barn. So I'll have to look for whatever letter I have, so I can do whatever is needed.

Sally906 wrote: "Completion Post

Total: B = 3; 3 + 1 + 1 = 4 points"

Should be 5 points, yes?

Laura wrote: "Sally906 wrote: "Completion Post

Total: B = 3; 3 + 1 + 1 = 4 points"

Should be 5 points, yes?"

Yes

One of my Turf War books works for G and has both words. But I'm sure I can find something for any of them.

I'm willing to captain if no one else wants to.

Jackie wrote: "Laura wrote: "Sally906 wrote: "Completion Post

Total: B = 3; 3 + 1 + 1 = 4 points"

Should be 5 points, yes?"

Yes"

😂😂😂 - oh dear, and a lot of my working life I was a statistician and financial officer!

Jackie wrote: "I'm willing to captain if no one else wants to."

I won’t put my hand up - will be travelling up to Darwin at the end of next week to babysit the two youngest grandchildren during the school holidays.

Will have internet access - but not able to give it my full attention 😀

LaurLa - Reminder that books for Week 1 must be finished by midnight tonight.


Books for Week 2 cannot be started until 12:01 Wednesday.

Jackie wrote: "LaurLa - Reminder that books for Week 1 must be finished by midnight tonight.


Books for Week 2 cannot be started until 12:01 Wednesday."

I'm working on it. I was sick (like throwing up sick) all day on Sunday and yesterday between work and recuperating, I didn't get as much reading done as I'd like. But I'm working on my E book... it will likely be right at deadline, so if you want me to check us in this week, I will.

Per the Q&A, captains have until the end of Thursday to check-in.

Hope you're feeling better, LaurLa! No problem. As Laura said, check-ins just have to be done by Thursday.

Anybody have a preference for this week's letters?

I still haven’t found anything with both words. I’ve checked a few of my cowboy books, but I’ll focus more once I have a letter.

LaurLa, hope you’re feeling better. I meant to say that before, but was rushing to reassure that Jackie could do check-in, and then forgot. :)

Thanks, guys. I'm mostly feeling better. Being sick is for the birds!

Especially when it interferes with reading time!

Week Two's words are: WofW - Wage, BWofW - Barn

I have a title that starts with W - it has the wage, but not barn

I have an A author - but that book doesn’t have wage or barn in it.

Completion Post ➺ LaurLa



Words ➺ Belt; Carpet
Letter ➺ E
Book ➺ Pies and Prejudice - Ellery Adams
Date Read ➺ 06.14 ★★★
Review ➺ As I'm not a cozy mystery lover, this book was just okay for me. The writing was somewhat lyrical and sometimes too flowery for me. I think the author's attempt to create an atmosphere of magic. The mystery was okay - in the end it was rather simply solved, at least part of it, so it ended up feeling less dangerous and scary than the book led up to. I may continue to read the series but not at the top of my list.

Belt➺ attached to his utility belt. [loc 273.1]
Carpet ➺ positioned on a square of red carpet. [loc 249.0]
Points ➺ E = 1; Bonus = 2 + 1

I'm not sure I get the scoring. Tile score for the letter. Then 1 pt for each word found in text, so that is 2. But in the example, it looks like she rescored the tile score? I don't know. Smarter people need to figure it out!

For week 2, I have:

W: with barn and wages in text (With True Love's Kiss)
A: with barn and wages in text (Perfect Alignment (author))
G: with barn in text
E: with barn in text

I have found an E with both words! Please don't make me search for another one? Please give me the E! :)

Laura wrote: "I have found an E with both words! Please don't make me search for another one? Please give me the E! :)"

The E is yours

I’ve got 6 books on my challenge list - I’ve searched them all. I really don’t want to look for one that fits them all. I can’t download every book I own to search

So roughly

W - Sally - As Witch Would Have It by Mara Webb (only has Wage)
A - LaurLa - Perfect Alignment - both words
G - Jackie?
E - Laura - E book - both words

This works for me, I'd rather read my A than my W at this point. But I will do any of them!

G works for me.

Team Amsterdam
Week 1: Belt and Carpet

Sally: B Death in a Budapest Butterfly by Julia Buckley WotW - Y; BWotW - Y Review Points: 5
LaurLa: E Pies and Prejudice by Ellery Adams WotW - Y; BWotW - Y Review Points: 3
Jackie: L Killing Floor by Lee Child WotW - Y; BWotW - Y Review Points: 3
Laura: T Club 22 by Tate James WotW - Y; BWotW - Y Review Points: 3

Total Points: 14

We're checked in.