Nothing But Reading Challenges discussion

Team Traffic Jam



🚗 Judith (Captain)
🚗 Teddie (Co-Captain)
🚗 Lexi (Co-Captain)
🚗 Susan
🚗 Melissa
🚗 LaurLa
🚗 Melanie
🚗 Michelle's Empty Nest
🚗 Ann
🚗 Trinia
🚗 Keri
🚗 Amy




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

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Team Shelves

🚗 Judith: wheel2024
🚗 Teddie: this both sucks and blows 24
🚗 Lexi: wheel2024
🚗 Susan: wheel 2024
🚗 Melissa: wheel 2024
🚗 LaurLa: nbrc wheel 9
🚗 Melanie: wheel of life
🚗 Michelle's Empty Nest: wheel 9
🚗 Ann: wheel 2024
🚗 Trinia: wheel9
🚗 Keri: wheel a thon 9
🚗 Amy: wheel2024

Important Links and Information

Spreadsheets
Tracking Sheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/...
Status Sheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/...

General Links
General Rules
Water Cooler (Pre-Challenge Chat)


Resources
Cover Color: https://labs.tineye.com/color/
Word Count: https://www.arbookfind.com/UserType.a...
https://www.arbookfind.com.au/UserTyp...
https://www.arbookfind.co.uk/UserType...

Round 3 Word

INCOME TAX RETURNS

r

Book of the Month Information
Writing a day's worth of discussion questions = 40 points
Participating in a current BOM (participating in discussion) = 20 points.

October:
October 16th -The Road Trip - Discussion is here

November:
Nov. 2 - The Spellshop
Nov 16 - The Mysterious Affair at Styles

December:
Nominations close October 27th - here

Also this one

Welcome to team Traffic Jam, may we always have a great audiobook to listen to when stuck in traffic!

I'm Judith (she/her/hers) and your captain for this spin round the beltway. Personally speaking I live in the US on the East Coast and professionally am an economist for the USEPA in the toxic chemical office. Outside of work and reading, I spend most of my time chasing after an active 6 year old. I read almost any genre of books and am always looking for new recommendations.

But, in short, welcome to the 9th Wheel-a-thon here at NBRC.

I’ve captained many a challenge here and have been a mod for the past few years.

We’ll get our Round 1 spelling in a couple days and for those that like too, the planning can commence. And we’ll get a tracking sheet together then as well.

Books used for this challenge cannot be started until the challenge officially begins. After that, books can be used in the Round where they are finished. So you can start a book in Round 2 but finish in Round 4 to use in the round 4 spelling.

Please post any questions you may have. Lexi and Teddie are excellent captains and are also here to help with whatever people may need.

Again, welcome to the team!!

Hi all, My name is Lexi (she/her/hers). I live in Atlanta, and I work in global health and parasitology. I enjoy reading fantasy and sci-fi generally, but I've been on a big mystery kick recently. I have co-captained before with Judith. I am ready for fall, as it is still hot here, and my poor longhaired cat is already getting her full winter coat in.

I will get the BOM details up this evening since the first one starts October 16th and is The Road Trip.

Please feel free to ask any question now and throughout.

Shelf: Wheel2024

Hi team! I'm Teddie (she/her/hers) and I live in Buffalo (go Bills!) New York. I read across most genres and love getting book suggestions, especially those perhaps not on the beaten path. I really started listening to audiobooks during covid days, as I would go for drives to get out of the house sometimes, and now can't imagine driving in traffic without one!

Looking forward to sitting in traffic with all of you :)

Hi All—I’m Susan (aka Lexi’s mom) and I live in Louisville KY. My go to genres are literary and historical fiction, sci fi/fantasy and mysteries. But I do these challenges so that I read outside my comfort zone. And I like the sense of urgency to find and read the book that just fits the next task.

Hey, team! I'm excited to see several familiar names and it's great to meet some new people as well.


I'm Michelle from Georgia. I have participated in Wheels a couple of times in the past.


My husband and I are empty nesters (hence the name) with three sons ages 30, 32, and about to be 34. No daughters-in-law or grandchildren yet.


We have a Yorkie and two Siamese cats. I recently became a crazy chicken lady with seven in my little flock at the moment.


I will read just about anything for the sake of a challenge, but my favorite genres are mystery, thriller/suspense, and historical fiction.


I'm a former middle school math and science teacher and I currently work in the public safety/law enforcement training world.


Here's my shelf: Wheels-9

Another bit of housekeeping,

to those who have provided your challenge shelf, thank you!

I looked at people's bookshelves and grabbed what I thought was your challenge shelf and are linked here: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

please check I linked the proper shelf and if need be can you provide the link in your check in post?

Thank you!

Book of the Month Info

First things first, if you want to go vote in the polls for Book of the Month (BOM) for November, it closes tonight at midnight Pacific time and the polls are here.

I nominated The Count of Monte Cristo for the Old-School theme BOM and Judith nominated Poor Miss Finch if you don't know what to vote for, as the team would be given the first day of questions if it won (points).

For the other BOM, I nominated Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries and Judith nominated Murder Your Employer.

In both cases, feel free to vote for whatever book you would most like to read. If anyone else nominated a book, feel free to share.

Next, feel free to nominate a book for the December non-theme BOM. Nominations are open until October 27th so lots of time. The thread is here.

Finally, there is one BOMs for the rest of October.
Writing a day's worth of discussion questions = 40 points
Participating in a current BOM (participating in discussion) = 20 points.

Starting October 16th is The Road Trip, and it is Judith's nomination, so we are guaranteed a DQs set (See above for yay on more points). The thread for the discussion is here.

I will post tomorrow when the polls close with the two BOMs for November.

Please ask any questions if anything is unclear.

Hi Team! My name is Melissa and I live in PA, US right outside of Philadelphia with my husband. We have 3 daughters (2 in college and an almost 2-year old!) I’m excited to start this challenge as I’ve been in a bit of a reading slump since the end of Games. I did just start the HP series again so hopefully that helps.

I’ve captained plenty of challenges before but I wanted to sit back and enjoy just reading for this one, especially with how busy I am this time of year in my personal life. I’m sooo looking forward to knocking off some big books from my shelf. I’m planning to start with The Way of Kings just waiting for it to come in from the library. I’ve got a couple others planned too but I’m pretty flexible during challenges. I’ve gotten the first BOM from the library so I’ll for sure be reading that. I did sign up for DQs but happy to be a backup since Judith is already getting a spot (Yay!)

My favorite genres are fantasy, mystery, paranormal, historical fiction, and a good chick-lit. I am willing to read pretty much anything during challenges but tend to stay away from Sci-fi. I’ve found it can put me in a slump and that’s definitely not something I want, especially during a challenge!

My shelf is correct- thanks!!

Hi team! I'm Melanie and I live in NJ (just across the river from Philadelphia) with my husband and our two cats. I work in finance and don't find myself in many traffic jams these days as I've been WFH for the last 4.5 years.

I primarily read romance and mysteries/thrillers with the occasional urban fantasy or sci-fi thrown in. I'll read almost anything for a challenge though (but usually I'll avoid high/epic fantasy and Christian fiction). Wheel has definitely had me reading some random books before for a hard letter.

Hi across the river neighbor!

I’ve been WFH too the last 3 years and I am so grateful to be able to avoid traffic everyday. I had to drive somewhere last week at 8am and I was losing my mind 10 mins into the trip 😂

Hi Trinia! 🤗

Hi everyone! I'm Amy, and I live in the Midwest with my husband, my 2.5 year old, our dog, and two cats. I also work from home which I LOVE because winters here are just awful, although I still have to get out of the house more now that I have a toddler.

I go through phases of reading one genre more than another and right now I'm reading a lot of romantasy, fantasy, and a little bit of myster/thriller. I also like historical fiction and contemporary romance!

Here is my shelf!
wheel2024

November Books of the Month

Since the first one especially might be a long library hold, I wanted to share the November books of the month.

Nov. 2 - The Spellshop
Nov 16 - The Mysterious Affair at Styles

I have read both and the first is a charming fantasy with a good plot, lovely characters, a sweet romance and a magically sentient spider plant. I however have read it in July, but I encourage others to read it if that sounds like fun.

The second is Agatha Christie who generally needs no introduction and gets the 100 year bonus points as well.

Hi all - I'm LaurLa (she/hers) - quite a veteran of team (not to mention individual) challenges. Here's my shelf: nbrc-wheel-9.

What do I read? I have been known to read just about anything to get through a team challenge task, but my preferences are any genre of romance... although I don't really like old skool historical fiction. I'll read YA romance but not YA in general, if that makes sense. Anyway, the only other genre I avoid whenever possible is straight-up horror. Now, there are some paranormal romance out there sometimes shelved as horror. If I can get away with that, there you go. My top favorites are romantic suspense, sports romance and any romance with more than a dollop of humor. My book boyfriend is Roarke, forever. If I were not firmly hetero, Eve would be my book girlfriend, hands down! She might be anyway!

I live in Indiana, totally a US midwest gal. I am married with 2 grown boys and a fur puppy (not really a puppy). My older son is just got married this summer, so I now officially have a daughter too. And my younger graduated college this past summer also and have moved away to Lexington, KY for his job. I am feeling the empty nest syndrome!

Looking forward to one of my favorite team challenges!

I added it to a top post, but our Round 1 word is:

CLOGGED SHOWER DRAIN

Love me some Roarke! 🤤

Thanks Lexi. I’ve put The Spellshop on hold at the library so we’ll see if I get it on time.

Are we claiming letters? Just reading what we have and posting where it fits?

Hey gang ! I’m checking in, sorry hectic days.
I’ll share my link in the morning, just getting ready for bed.
Quick summary, I live in the great state of Texas, rural area outside of Dallas. (Not a Cowboys fan! 👎🏼 Go Bills !👍🏼 😉 Teddie).
I’ve been playing for several rounds and always look forward to this challenge. Started working more , so that means less reading and GR time, so I’ll do what I can.
We have family in Florida so all prayers are welcome as Milton heads their way 🙆🏼‍♀️🌊
I’m an Occupational therapist and focus on Hand therapy, married with 3 grown boys (22,22,21 😅)
I’ll be back to chat soon! 😘
G’nite y’all ! 🤠

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

Prayers for your family! A friend of mine works at Tampa Hospital and she’s 6 months pregnant. I’m so worried about her so I’ve been praying like crazy everyone stays safe. It’s so scary and so sad people have to go through this.

Melissa wrote: "Prayers for your family! A friend of mine works at Tampa Hospital and she’s 6 months pregnant. I’m so worried about her so I’ve been praying like crazy everyone stays safe. It’s so scary and so sad..."

Thank you Melissa :)
oh no , Tampa is really getting pounded. My brother in law lives there as well and they left days ago. We also have a niece due in two weeks living in Orlando... It's stressful enough being pregnant but to deal with the hurricane as well. Our family is spread out across the state, each week it's a different person in the path. Last week it was my son in Tallahassee.
I will be keeping all in my prayers <3

Thank you! It’s so scary especially when you can’t do anything to help! Such a bad time of year to live in those areas. I hope this is the last one.

Her husband and 2 dogs evacuated this morning but she can’t leave because of her job. God Bless the first responders but man I could never be that brave.

Hi Team,
Excited to get started. I am from upstate NY. Go Bills! I retired about a year ago so I have plenty of time to read!!!
Sending prayers to all impacted by Milton!
My wheel shelf:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/list...

Hi everyone! I'm looking forward to getting to know all of you better! Like Melissa (love that drooling emoji btw - lol), I've been in a bit of a reading slump lately too, but I'm thinking about trying to read a few longer books that have been on my TBR.

We've got our first phrase: CLOGGED SHOWER DRAIN
so I hope you all are starting to find some books! Ours isn't too tough wrt letter selection - keep an eye out for Os Gs Ds Rs and Es as we'll need twice as many of those.

Our planning/tracking sheet will be ready soon, but I'll just point out that when you're looking for books, you may want to add a few that are older for some bonus points:
+ 5 points for books published more than 2 years ago (2021 or earlier)
+ 10 points for books published more than 50 years ago (1973 or earlier)
+ 20 points for books over 100 years old (1923 or earlier)

We can also earn bonus points for longer books:
+ 5 points for books over 400 pages
+ 10 points for books over 600 pages
+ 20 points for books over 800 pages

Finally, hoping everyone's family and friends in Milton's path, stay safe.

Haha @Teddie it’s used a lot with Roarke (and Rhys and Barrons 😆)

I'm so glad everyone is excited and ready to start. There are a lot of fun things in store for this year's Wheels.

Just waiting on one more person and then we'll have our full team.

Teddie, Lexi, and I will have a tracking sheet out hopefully today and people can start entering books they plan on reading.

If anyone has questions, please just ask!

Hope everyone’s family and friends are safe after the storm!!

Thanks Judith!

Hi team! I’m so excited for this to begin. I’m Keri and I live in Ohio with my boyfriend and my border collie.

I love reading to escape life stress and just because I loves being sucked in to new worlds and stories. My favorite genres are fantasy (especially epic), mystery/thriller, horror and some sci-fi or contemporary, with an occasional memoir. So quite a lot of things lol.

My shelf above is correct 😃

Yay! We have the whole team 😄

No shows make me sad.

We’ll get the tracking sheet out later tonight, promise!

Alright everyone here is the tracking sheet, Teddie made it look so pretty. Thank you for putting this together for the team!!

I'll also add it to the top post for easy reference, but here is the link: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/...

There are a few books in there already and can be used as examples (including the first BOM for those planning to read it).

The main tab of interest is the R1-Book tab. You'll enter the relevant book information in columns D through V. Which may seem like a lot of columns but it's because we have a long word and each letter has it's own column.

The R1-Spellout tab is locked. As captains check and enter books we'll fill that out. It's connected to the Book tab via formulas, we locked it so nothing accidentally gets overwritten.

If you participate in the BOM, the tab is there to log your participation.

The member tab is fancier than normal and will allow people to track where they are in relation to their reading caps.

Let us know if you have any questions!

Thanks for the SS. Can I say I just love the way the book tab is set up with a column for each letter? That makes is so much easier than trying to put them all in one completion post and you captains having to sort of search them out.

It's a beauty! I love all the countdowns on the Summary tab as well!!

Michelle's Empty Nest wrote: "It's a beauty! I love all the countdowns on the Summary tab as well!!"

yes!

Cool - glad the tracking sheet will work for you all! Let us know if you have any questions about anything, or any suggestions :)

24hrs until we are underway!

I love the spreadsheet! The column for each letter is nice and makes it easy to fill everything out.

I do have a question about the bonus for the older books. Is it the exact number of years from the date the book was published? Or is it only going off of the year?

As an example, if I read How to Survive Your Murder which was published in August 2022 can I use that for the 2+ years old since it's 2 years and 2 months old?

There was a clarification posted in the rules (see below):

Clarification on Bonus Points
For the avoidance of doubt, we are defining publication years by the year only, so 2 years ago means published in 2021. The official team sheet indicates the years that work for the different tiers.

For page count, a book of 400 pages does NOT count as "over 400 pages", ditto the other levels.

Completely missed that as I was only looking in the section at the top where the bonus was mentioned so I didn't see it added at the bottom of the rules.

Thanks!

No worries, you will also notice that it is listed on the drop down menu next to every time you claim the bonus

The years for the publishing bonus are also on our tracking sheet if you have any questions. And if you ever have a question about which book elements count towards the letters, just hover over cell K4 that says "which letters count?" and you'll see the comment with the info display.

Completely missed that the year thing was part of the drop down, that's good to know.

One more question for tonight because I forget what NBRC's rules for this are.

How does it work for a character who is only referred to by their title? Can I use their title like how we can use a nickname?

I'm mostly thinking of historical romances where a lot of time the men are only referred to by their title and not their name (i.e. the Duke of Avendale is called Avendale by everyone). So in that example I wonder if I can use their title for an A.

You can use A, d add once that’s a sort of nickname but you can’t use the D for the title of Duke. Even if he’s referred to a lot as the Duke.

Six hours to go. Just a reminder than any book started before then cannot be used. Hope everyone is having a nice Saturday.