Nothing But Reading Challenges discussion

Members
Elena (CAPTAIN)
Lesley (CO-CAPTAIN)
Tea
Laila
Cristal Punnett
Alison
Vi
Marie
Jenna

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

Reserved

Reserved

Awesome!!!

So excited to begin!!!

If you check spreadsheet we already have our first color - it's MAIZE (brown)


I need Elena & Lesley to PM me their emails so I can give them access to spreadsheet. :)

Tea, just pm'ed you with my email!

Hi everyone,

Just checking in. So happy that I have found a spot on a team. Can't wait to get started although the Z in Maize might be difficult.

Hi everyone! Wow, that was fast. I wasn't expecting to join so soon.

The challenge starts only next week, right? I just finished two 'M' books.

We can't actually start reading until the 22nd for this right? We can start planning though.

Do we need a private group or at least a private spreadsheet where we can all see what our plans are? My team had a private spreadsheet for the last wheelathon, and it was especially helpful for the weeks with the shorter words to fill, to be sure that we weren't all reading for the same letter. It also was a great way to move books around based on where they'd fit best, taking in account name, author, character, series name, etc.

Lesley wrote: "We can't actually start reading until the 22nd for this right? We can start planning though. "

You can start reading. Only finish date counts. :)

No need for private group if you ask me. As mod I have to say we'd prefer chat to stay here. ;)
Private spreadsheet? That's between you and Elena since I've put you two in charge :) (that doesn't mean I won't try to take over after a while - just slap me when the time comes)


As a mod, I'll be 'mentoring' pink teams *glares at Sonia* so if you need anything, I'm here.

Hello Team!!! So excited to meet everyone and start playing! I'm sending you guys friend requests so I can have access to your shelves in case your account is private.

Tea, i sent you my email as well, thanks!

Team Morganite


Members' Shelves
Elena
Lesley
❀Tea❀
Laila
Cristal
Alison
Vi
Marie
Jenna*

Team Morganite Tracking Spreadsheet
Books of the Month Folder

◈10 points per letter for books of less than 500 pages and 20 points per letter for books of 500 pages or more
◈ Extra 15 completion points if all the letters in the colour name are part of their spell-it-out
◈ Additional 30 bonus points if at least one person in the group reads a book of that colour (the book cover must be about 50% of that colour)
◈ Once teams have read their colour name for the week they can "re-read" the colour name to gain more points (10 points per letter for books of less than 500 pages and 20 points per letter for books of 500 pages or more, but no additional completion points).
◈ BOM bonus: Have a team member write discussion questions for a day of a Book of the Month (BOM) and receive 20 points (limit one BOM bonus per book per team ; that is, if two of your teamies write DQs for the same BOM, you still only get 20 points).
◈ Books must be more than 160 pages in length. Children's books, Graphic Novels, Cookbooks and Poetry books cannot be used unless by word count they can be verified as more than 160 pages
◈Only books read during the specified week can be used (“read date” is what counts, not the day you start.) Books cannot be “banked” from previous weeks to use later in the challenge

Week 4 (4/12 - 4/19)
Color: FUCHSIA (purple )

F
U
C
H
S
I
A

F
U
C
H
S
I
A

F
U
C
H
S
I
A

F
U
C
H
S
I
A

reserved

I too agree that there's no need for private group since there really isn't any strategy to keep secret and I believe discussing our reading plans right here will keep the chatter flowing :)

Lesley if you think the spreadsheet will help let's try it! Do you have a layout in mind?

And I can cover Z in the first round, I started Zoo City 2 days ago and can stretch it till 22nd ;)

Elena wrote: "I too agree that there's no need for private group since there really isn't any strategy to keep secret and I believe discussing our reading plans right here will keep the chatter flowing :)

Lesle..."

Having had a quick look through my to read list I seem to have mostly M and A books. I'm glad you have a Z. I'm also doing an alphabet challenge and that is one of the letters I've been struggling with.

Maybe some introductions...

I'm Tea and I'm from Croatia. In case you have no idea where that is - South Europe, across the sea on the right from Italy. :)
I have book and challenge addiction. And as it looks like can't stay away from GR.
I can read almost everything you want me to read, but draw a line on horrors (of King's type), non-fiction and biographies. I'll read YA & NA but be ready for some complaining. :) Lately most of my reading was m/m because those are usually short and quick reads (perfect for some other speed challenges)
I rarely know what I'm going to read next, so please don't expect me to tell you that when we get new word.
Since I can read 3-5 books per week, depending on a book (and if I'm not on a trip (which I will be for about 10 days before Easter)), I'm ready to fill up letters that others don't have. If I have them.
I've been storing books with Z, Y, E, I and U (no X sorry!) just for this challenge :P

Shelf: wheels-ii

I'm Lesley, from New Hampshire (eastern part of the US)

Mom to 2 boys, ages 12 and 10, who are big into hockey, so we spend a lot of time during their hockey season (September to the beginning of April) at the ice rink. Luckily the lobby at the rink where they practice is warm, so you can usually find me there, either socializing with the other hockey moms or reading.. At game times though, you'll be more likely to hear me on the stands before you see me. LOL Cheering for their teams is one of the only parts of my life where I'm not shy and softspoken!

I work at the local elementary school as a para in a 2nd grade classroom, so during the day from 8-3:30, I'm pretty much off the grid, but weekends and evenings, I am not usually more than a step away from either my laptop, my iphone or the kindle, and I'm a bit obsessive about keeping up with things going on with my challenges here.

And my addictions include: challenges (I refuse to count how many I'm signed up for but I've been trying really hard to not start any new ones until I can knock a few off the list) and free ebooks from Amazon. If there's any chance that it's a book that I might like, I'm going to get it. I've got over 6,000 books on the kindle right now and my 10 year old just rolls his eyes when he picks up my kindle and sees how many new books are popping up on the carousel. Hey, they're free and you just never know when you're going to need another "pick any letter" title or author.

That being said, E's are usually a letter I always need a ton of, so they tend to be a difficult letter for me to fill, but I'm up to the challenge. I have a problem pre-planning... my moods really tend to dictate what's next but I can pretty much always find something that will work to fit my mood!!

Hi I'm Cristal from West Sussex, (South-East England)

I also have two sons aged 25 and 27. They have now both left home, so it't just hubby and me.

I work as a Learning Support Assistant in a Primary School with 9 year olds which is great fun.

I love reading, Young Adult, Scince fiction and non-fiction but I always opening to try anything new.

Other hobbies are walking and going to the Gym.

I'm going for a short holiday to Spain from 26th March to
1st April, there may be limited internet.

This is the first time I've been in a challenge like this, I'm looking forward to getting to know you all more.

Another challenge addict here! I'm Elena and I was born and raised in Russia but have been living in the States for a long time. Been calling Maryland (East Coast) my home for almost 13 years now.

I'm heavily favouring sci fi and fantasy at the moment but also really enjoy reading general fiction, YA and mystery genres. I'd like to challenge myself to read more of non fiction books someday but not much luck as of yet :)

I noticed that since joining GR and NBRC and participating in challenges (and team challenges especially) my reading pace has picked up greatly and I'm not even mentioning my reading list growth! Also I've read books for no other reason than they fit a challenge or start with a right letter so I think I'm in good company here! :D

Thanks Lesley for friend requesting me, otherwise I wouldn't have realized that I was placed on a team. That was fast!

Hi everyone! I'm Laila. I live in Chicago.

No human children, but I've got a furbaby named Thomas. I am a night shift nurse, so on my days off I'll probably be the person leaving comments in the middle of the night lol

I am also a book and challenge addict. It's absolutely horrible how many I've signed myself up for, and I still can't stop! I'm also obsessed with keeping track of my challenges. The Kindle, Goodreads, and Audible apps are the most used apps on my phone. If I'm awake, it shouldn't be too hard to get a hold of me.

I read a lot of fiction - YA and NA mainly. But as long as something can keep my interest I'll read it. I average about 3 books a week. I pre-plan my books, usually a week in advance, depending on what challenges need to be completed. I am open to completing whatever letters are needed.

This is my first time joining the Wheel-a-thon. Looking forward to doing this challenge with all of you! =)

Hi all,

I'm Alison and I'm from Scotland.

The two main men in my life at the moment are Charlie, my horse, and Harley, my cat, (aka devil cat or trouble).

I work as an accountant but my real love has always been books. I have a total addiction and spend most of my free time reading or browsing in the kindle store.

I joined GoodReads about 4 months and I think the challenges are great. It's definitely got me reading more and has also helped me find a lot of new authors that I hadn't heard of.

At the moment I have been mostly reading science fiction, fantasy and YA but I also like to change it up every now and again with a mystery, paranormal or romance. Like a lot of you I don't tend to plan my reads in advance and on the rare occasions I do I tend to scrap it and read something completely different.

I'm participating in another team challenge at the moment so I may need to plan a bit more to make sure I can find books that work for all.

OK, intro. I'm Vi, from India but living in Singapore for the past 9, going on 10 years. I'm a SAHM to a 14 month old but I'm looking to join back into the workforce. Also, house hunting. And, in addition to that, the Cricket World Cup is happening now. When India plays, I go a little bit crazy. So there's a lot of competition for reading time right now.

But, I've somehow managed to join around 5 team challenges. I'm not sure when or how it happened but it did :O I've sort of stopped participating in individual challenges because I've become too lazy to keep track and update :)

I'm mainly a romance reader with fantasy, mystery/thriller thrown in right now. Very moody reader so I'm going to be reading on the go.

I'd like to remind everyone to post their challenge shelfs here for Elena.

Only books on those shelf will count for the challenge.

Also don't forget that challenge starts on 22nd, but it means books need to be finished after that. They can be started sooner ;)

Looking for books for another challenge I found on my reader. Author starts with Z and I'd say that's brown cover.
What do you think? :)

Can I just say I always hate this pre-challenge-start time? I never know what to read!
Whatever I pick, it's 'oh, I could use that one if we get that and that letter' or 'it is ___ color, what if we need it and no one else has it'
And there is great probability I'm going finish few books before challenge starts. :) I was never good at that keep-one-chapter-until-it-starts

Haha I won't be able to help myself. I will definitely finish a few books before this challenge starts!

❀Tea❀ wrote: "Looking for books for another challenge I found on my reader. Author starts with Z and I'd say that's brown cover.
What do you think? :)"

I vote yes for brown!!! :)

❀Tea❀ wrote: "Can I just say I always hate this pre-challenge-start time? I never know what to read!
Whatever I pick, it's 'oh, I could use that one if we get that and that letter' or 'it is ___ color, what if w..."

I can so relate! I need to finish a couple of books for another challenge that ends in March but now I feel like I'd be cheating on wheel-a-thon if I'm done with them before it starts! :)

Oh and it's very nice to meet everyone!

I would definitely say that cover is Brown.

I'm currently reading Broken Harbour by Tana French which seems to be taking forever. I think there is a fair chance I won't finish it till after the challenge starts although it wouldn't be the first time I've left the last couple of pages till a certain date to make a challenge.

Unusually for me I do have a couple of books I was thinking about reading next week but will need to figure out if I can make them fit.

Hello Teammies! How is everyone doing today? Anyone got their green on? Happy St. Patrick's day to all who celebrate!!!

❀Tea❀ wrote: "I'd like to remind everyone to post their challenge shelfs here for Elena.

Only books on those shelf will count for the challenge.

Also don't forget that challenge starts on 22nd, but it means bo..."

I've opened a challenge shelf called Wheelathon2 but I don't know how to paste it to this page.

Can anybody help?

Thanks Elena for the St Patrick Day wishes, the sunny has come out here in the UK, it definitly feels like spring.

Cristal, I found your shelf, all you have to do is add books you read to it! :)

We've been having a break from winter weather for a few days here ourselves. It feels great!

Laila and Vi, I couldn't find your challenge shelves guys. Could you please link them if you have them or set them up if you don't? Thanks!

BTW started adding links and stuff to messages 12 and 13 and working on our planning spreadsheet.

Unfortunately where I live St Patrick's day can be a bit dodgy. There is quite a bit of bigotry so any excuse for a fight. I've spotted a few folks all dressed up standing outside the Irish pub already.

Always think some of the celebrations in the states look fab. Bit jealous.

Did you manage to find my shelf ok? I have no idea how to post a link.

Can I change my shelf name? I created a new one for this challenge - wheel-a-thon.

I've never seen a St Patrick's day celeb before. And apparently, there is one here in Singapore. It happened last Sunday. I had no idea. I must check it out next year.

I' still looking for a Z book. I have Rebecca Zanetti on my list but PNR and I aren't so good together. I'm still looking. Has anybody found a Z book yet?

Vi, I'll have to ask Kelly the spreadsheet wizard moderator about your shelf name, hopefully it won't be a problem.

There's a couple of lists on GR you can browse for ideas - Titles that start with X, Y, or Z, Authors with Last Names Starting with 'Z', Authors Starting With "Z".
Of the books I've read I can recommend by Gabrielle Zevin if you haven't read it yet, I really liked it and it's fairly short and an easy read. I'm reading a Z book right now but not too far into it yet.

Alison wrote: "Unfortunately where I live St Patrick's day can be a bit dodgy. There is quite a bit of bigotry so any excuse for a fight. I've spotted a few folks all dressed up standing outside the Irish pub alr..."

Alison, that sucks, I hope you're being safe there. Here St. Paddy's is mostly a reason to go out and have a few and have fun but I guess I'll take it over fighting any day.

ETA: Yep found shelf, no problem!

Here's my shelf!: Laila's Wheel-a-thon

Don't worry about changing shelf name as long as you let us know you changed it. :) I can always fix it in spreadsheet.

Thanks for the recs, Elena! After extensive combing, I've shortlisted The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry (author), Hawksong & Promise of Shadows. I'm not sure yet which books I'll read.

Hi, I about to start a new book which will last till after the weekend, I have several options:

Author Marissa Meyer = M

. = A

authorJojo Moyes = M

I'm quite happy to read any of these, but which one would benefit our challenge best. I don't want to read letter m if someone else will be.

Cristal wrote: "I'm quite happy to read any of these, but which one would benefit our challenge best. I don't want to read letter m if someone else will be. "

I don't think it's going to be a problem if few of us is reading same letter. We have short word and we can spell it couple of times. I'd say start with what you want, and later we'll see what's missing.

I don't know if Elena has strategy/wishes, but last time we all read what we want and then couple of us faster readers (Lesley and me in this group) would fill in the blanks.

Thank you Tea, that is helpful.

All of the books I have lined up seem to be mostly M or A.

I'm currently reading Broken Harbour which is over 500 pages and could work for M if you're allowed character names. I doubt I'll finished before the weekend.

I was also planning to read something by Cecelia Aherne (A) for another challenge which finishes end of next week. I could possibly find an I but struggling for E or Z.

Crystal, I've read the jojo moyes and it was ok. Nowhere near as good as Me Before You. I take it if you have Cress on your list you've read Cinder? Was it any good? I've had it on my wish list for ages but it's £5 on Amazon at the moment which for me is steep for an author I don't know. I tend to go for the £1 and under books :-)

Don't forget we can use any character in the book that says at least one line. So there could be more letters :)

Hi Alison, I have read Cinder and Scarlet which I enjoyed greatly, I borrow books from the local Library if it's not in stock you can order it in for 60p. This will be my first Jojo Moyes as everyone rates I thought I would give her a go.