The Perks Of Being A Book Addict discussion

Team Guardians of the Galaxy

Team Members:
👾
❅ Ashley Basile - Captain
❅ Paula - Co-Captain
❅ Elisabeth Rose
❅ RachelG.
❅ Roe
❅ LavenderLane
❅ vian
❅ Teresa Fletcher




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



❅ Chanelle

R

R

Team Guardians of the Galaxy: Welcome to Our Cosmic Crew!

Greetings, fellow Guardians! It's time to assemble for our epic UNO adventure across the galaxy. Let's kick things off by getting to know each other and preparing for our mission to save the universe, one book at a time!

Introductions
Introduce yourselves with your name, time zone, and UNO shelf link. Feel free to share any other details you'd like. If you're stuck, try these cosmic ice breakers:

🚀 Have you played UNO before, and what's your favorite part of the game?
🌈 What's your favorite color in the cosmos?
🛸 If you could have any item from the Milano (the Guardians' spaceship), what would you choose and why?

Don't worry if you're not the chatty type – just check in weekly so we know you're still on board our Milano. For the more talkative crew members, feel free to share anything and everything!

Mission Countdown
⏰ Our mission begins on February 1, 2025, at 0900 hours UTC. Prepare your jump points! https://www.timeanddate.com/countdown...

Important Transmissions
🚀 Official Team Spreadsheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/...
📊 Current Points Spreadsheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/...
📑 Team Planning Spreadsheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/...

Mission Planning
Our Team Planning Spreadsheet is crucial for logging books and completing UNO hands. Fill out as many options as your book can cover. I will add some books ASAP to guide you if you’re confused.

Whether you're a meticulous planner like Gamora or a seat-of-your-pants reader like Star-Lord, add your books as you see fit. Your captains will ensure all books find their place in our cosmic strategy.

Remember, Guardians, we're a team! If you're struggling with rules, etc., reach out to your fellow crew members. We're here to support each other on this galactic journey!

Special Rules for Color Cards and Wild Draw 4's
At the start of each hand, claim a color cover card (or 2 if you’re one of our BIG readers) at the top of the planning sheet. Remember, WD4s are repeats of color cards but can only be duplicated once. Once everyone has had a chance to claim, we'll open up the remaining slots. You aren’t required to do this, I just want to give everyone the opportunity.

Mission Completion Protocol
No need for completion posts in the thread unless you're not comfortable adding books to the Planning Sheet yourself. In that case, provide all relevant information, and your captains will handle it.

⚠️ IMPORTANT: Mark all finished books as read (with a date) and add them to your UNO shelf. Use the edition you actually read! For audiobooks, you can use either the GR audiobook listing or the default edition.

Rules of Engagement
Please review the official "All About UNO" Thread for complete rules, especially if you’re a newbie (we love newbies, don’t be shy!). Here are some key points:

📖 Book Length: Minimum 100 pages.
For restricted genres: 25,000 words or 3+ hours audio (Children's, Graphic Novels, Manga, Cook Books, Plays, Poetry) Check ARbookfind.com!
📚 Color Cover Guide: Use common sense for color determination. When in doubt, use https://labs.tineye.com/color/ (never ever required) or consult your captains.

Helpful Resources
Need help finding color covers? Check out these compiled shelves:
🟦 Blue Covers
🟩 Green Covers
🟥 Red Covers
🟨 Yellow Covers

📌 Ensure your notifications are on to stay updated on all mission-critical information! Check the box at the bottom of this thread!

Are you ready to guard the galaxy and conquer UNO? Let's make Yondu proud and show the universe what we're made of! Remember, "We are Groot!"

Main UNO Hands Dashboard

📚 February UNO Hand 📚

Regular Cards:
0: 6
1: 10
2: 9
3: 6
4: 7
5: 4
6: 9
7: 3
8: 8
9: 12
Skip: 8
Reverse: 5
Wild: 3
Draw 2: 3

Color Cards:

Wild Draw 4: 4
🌈 Gobbelino London and a Menace of Mermaids / RachelG. / 9 Blue
🌈 Clean Sweep / Teresa / 5 Blue
🌈 At Bertram's Hotel / RachelG. / 8 Yellow
🌈 Freedom Is a Constant Struggle / Ashley Basile / 4 Red



🟩 5 Green: In the Lives of Puppets / Ashley
🟥 4 Red: Reina de sombras / Paula
🟥 6 Red: Magpie Murders / vian
🟦 5 Blue: We'll Always Have Parrots / RachelG.
🟦 9 Blue: Flirting with Disaster / Teresa
🟨 4 Yellow: Conversations with Friends / LavenderLane
🟨 5 Yellow: The Insect Crisis / LavenderLane
🟨 8 Yellow: Eggs, Beans, and Crumpets / RachelG.



📚 March UNO Hand 📚

Regular Cards:
0: 0
1: 10
2: 7
3: 6
4: 6
5: 7
6: 6
7: 8
8: 9
9: 7
Skip: 3
Reverse: 15
Wild: 4
Draw 2: 4

Color Cards:

Wild Draw 4: 6
🌈
🌈
🌈
🌈
🌈
🌈

Color Covers: 14
🟦 1 Blue:
🟦 5 Blue:
🟦 8 Blue:
🟦 9 Blue:
🟦 Skip Blue:
🟩 8 Green:
🟩 9 Green:
🟩 Skip Green:
🟥 6 Red:
🟥 Skip Red:
🟨 0 Yellow:
🟨 1 Yellow:
🟨 5 Yellow:
🟨 Skip Yellow:

TBA

Hiya Team! I'm Ashley, your Captain this year UNO!

I'm 39 (shhhh… we’re not thinking about 40… not at all.) years old, and I own/run a family pet-related business. I live in Alabama (CST time zone), but I’m not very “southern” - well, my accent is really getting out of control, but that's beside the point. I have 3 kids and a dog (well, we have an extra dog that is my daughter's - but he’s missing a leg, so we have 1 ¾ dogs), and a husband (I swear he's not an afterthought).

My favorite color is purple. I don’t know why. What do we even have favorite colors? Existential questions… sigh…

What else... I love UNO! It was the challenge that got me hooked on Team Challenges and I’ve never looked back!

I enjoy most book genres - my favorites tend to be Fantasy-related, but not always (Jane Eyre is one of my favorite books). I also have become very into Memoirs and Biographies in the last few years.

Anyway! I’m excited to get to know everyone, reconnect with previous teamies, and READ!

Hi all! Thank you so much Ashley for making the intro so special!
My UNO shelf: https://www.goodreads.com/review/list...

I'm Rachel and this is my first time playing UNO. I have done other team challenge but UNO is one that it seems everyone talks about. I am excited to play! One of the things I have learned about myself for team challenges is that I tend to do best when I have a bit of direction. If a certain color or whatever is needed please let me know and I will try my best to cover it.

I am a caregiver for my adult son who has Autism and can have some very severe mental health challenges. We live north of Seattle, Washington and actually near the town where Chris Pratt was raised. Reading is my main hobby. I enjoy cozy mysteries and fantasy the most. Books focused on romance are not for me.

I like the Guardians of the Galaxy. It's one of the Marvel series that I will watch. Rocket Raccoon and Groot are my favorite characters on the team.

I'm excited to start!

ETA- I added a book to the team planning spreadsheet. Can you please check that I did it correctly? Thanks!

Hey there! I’m Roe, a newly minted 40-year-old (Ash, I got your back when you need a shoulder to cry on!). I'm living the Midwestern dream in Iowa with my 16-year-old daughter, 3 cats, 1 horse, and—wait for it—5 dogs! Yep, 5! We’ve got 5 acres and a house that’s way too big for us, so it doesn’t feel nearly as crowded as it sounds—unless it’s dinnertime, then it’s chaos! 😂🐾

My favorite color is green—probably because I love money and plants! I like to think it’s the universe’s way of giving me a little extra love. 🌿💰By day, I’m in finance, but on the side, I’m a photographer. I’ve had several of my photos printed and exhibited all over the world, which definitely makes me sound way cooler than I actually am! lol

I’m a total bookworm—read 295 books last year! It's not unusual for me to have a physical book, e-book, and audiobook all running at once. I blame my overactive Virgo brain for that! I’ll literally read anything once, but I tend to gravitate toward thrillers the most... though I’m not sure what that says about me as a person that they’re kind of like palate cleansers.

This is my third year for UNO, and I’d totally get put on the team named after that one Marvel movie I can never remember the title of. My husband thinks it’s hilarious because he’s the one who even got me to watch it in the first place! 😅 Excited to read with all of you!!!

RachelG. wrote: "Hi all! Thank you so much Ashley for making the intro so special!
My UNO shelf: https://www.goodreads.com/review/list...

I'm Rachel and this is my first..."

This looks great! If the book counts toward any of the other numbers, feel free to add those as well. That way, if they need to shuffle things around, it’ll be easier for them to see where each book fits.

Thanks for the help Roe! I will take a look and see what else it will fit as alternatives.

Happy to help!

Hi from Canberra Australia. I’m Elisabeth, retired and at the moment in bed most of the time recovering from a broken pubic bone that I got from a fall playing tennis last week. Because of this I won’t be able to add books or my uno shelf until I’m at my PC. On my Ipad now.

Anyway! UNO got me hooked on team challenges too. Love it. This is my 7th. I’m not sure if I’ve seen our movie. I looked up the synopsis and it didn’t sound familiar so I think not. Seen some of other superhero ones though.

My fave colour is green, I think, but it’s always a toss up with yellow. Lovely bright sunshine yellow.

I like crime,thrillers, mystery, classics , historicals, bios, memoirs, sci-fi, some fantasy, I read pretty much anything and have trudged through some stinkers for a team haha

If anyone is an Agatha Christie fan I’ve read heaps of hers and still have some unread so great for reverse cards.

For the record I’m an author but I’m here as an avid reader. Sometimes, though , one of my books fits a task. I also trained as a classical clarinet player and still play. Tennis is off the list for the next couple of months though , sadly, as our weather here is beautiful right now.

Ashley and Paula, the link to my name goes to the wrong page. This seems to happen sometimes and it’s to do with the author ID thing apparently. I don’t how it’s fixed but someone behind the scenes will know. Thanks.

Hello everyone!
I'm Paula (cocaptain) and I'm from Santiago, Chile, my native language is spanish, so you'll see english and spanish books in my shelves.

I'm 34 years old (on may I'll turn 35), I'm a chemical engineer and work on mining and environmental consultancy as a project manager (it's been crazy, I have a team of 21 people working under me).
My favorite color is blue =)
I'm recently married (december 14) so we're only 2 at my house hahaha.
I read almost any genre, but historical fiction and fantasy are my favorites, also I like to make videos about books on youtube (in spanish).

This is my 10th UNO, and is the challenge that got me hooked on team challenges too haha. I'm excited for this new version (i watched Guardians of the Galaxy, but I need to watch it again =P

Hi All, my name is Emma, but my Goodreads username is Lavender Lane, purely because I love lavender, it was the first plant I managed to keep alive, and I think the name is pretty 🙂.

I’m also from Canberra, Australia and am about to hit the big five-oh in age soon 😬.

As Elisabeth will attest, Canberra is chock-full of public servants and I am but one of them. I live with my partner Nathan and my 8 yo son and love to read and travel (thankfully the two things go well together).

I’ve taken part in other challenges, but this is my first go at UNO and I’m raring to go.

I really enjoyed the Guardians of the Galaxy movies and it’s my favourite franchise within the Marvel universe. As far as books go, I will read most genres but Sci-fi, fantasy, historical fiction and non-fiction are my faves.

Looking forward to getting to know you all and hopefully reading some seriously good books!

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

Oh wow Emma. How about that! I’ve been on teams with other Aussies a fair bit but never so close. I took cuttings from my lavender and now have 3 plants in the back garden. It’s lovely and goes well in our climate.

Hi again! I've enjoyed reading everyone's intros today! I was busy yesterday at my IRL book club, so I never got a chance to respond yesterday!

I will look into the link today Elisabeth and see what I find out! And feel free to post your book completions here until you're able to use a computer!

Rachel, you did fine with adding a book, just make sure you update with a link to the book page!

Emma, if you will type out the character's name whenever you get time, we will need that info!

Thanks Ashley. After looking at the spreadsheet I see it’s a different method to which my previous teams used where we had to insert the link and title. If now we just type in the title I can do it on the IPad.

I’ve been holding off reading a green library book and it has multitudes of characters but as far I can tell by flipping through not one starting with I. What a dud! It even has a V. 😀

For Reverse cards can we read any book that another team member has read before or does it have to be a book that another team member has read during the round of Uno?

Hi Rachel. Reverses can be from any time.
I usually check my team mates shelves for authors that I read to see what might work for a reverse. Compare Books is handy too.

I had a quick look at Compare Books on your site and discovered you read the Ovidia Yu books and also Lindsay Davis Falco books. I’ve read a couple of those that you marked as ‘to read’ and if I looked further I’d probably find ones I’ve marked ‘ To read’ that you’ve read.

Thanks Elisabeth! I figured if it was the case for a reverse from any time it might be nice for me to have a look at other people's shelves now that I have some time so I can be prepared if needed.

I have Why Didn’t They Ask Evans? so that’s a definite reverse for me to read from your list.

You have read so many Agatha Christie books that I haven't read I ended up just listing by Agatha Christie on my list and found 10 others that I would be interested in reading. I have a notebook that I keep challenge reading ideas in so that way when something comes up it takes me less time to find a book to get started on.

My mum was a great Agatha fan and had nearly of them, I think. After she died I began reading my way through them slowly and then 2 years ago Dad died so I took them all (and a bookcase). My brother wants them so as I finish them he comes over and takes a bundle. He already had quite a few so I keep the ones he doesn’t want. They are perfect books for these challenges. Short with lots of characters.

Yes, for sure! I used to think I enjoyed reading Miss Marple the most but have found I really enjoy Hercule Poirot.

I think it's wonderful that you and your brother are reading books that meant so much to your mom.

My favourite is Murder at the Vicarage. It’s quite funny. She has a great way of describing the quirks of her characters. Some of the later ones where she gets into espionage plots are ridiculous. They all feel like the 1920’s but she’s trying to write James Bond style stories.😀

Elisabeth wrote: "Oh wow Emma. How about that! I’ve been on teams with other Aussies a fair bit but never so close. I took cuttings from my lavender and now have 3 plants in the back garden. It’s lovely and goes wel..."

I know, it’s always a shock when someone else is from Canberra in these challenges, it doesn’t happen often.

Ashley wrote: "Hi again! I've enjoyed reading everyone's intros today! I was busy yesterday at my IRL book club, so I never got a chance to respond yesterday!

I will look into the link today Elisabeth and see w..."

Hi Ashley, I’ll add the character name now 🙂

Elisabeth, your link should be updated in Message 1 now!

I saw the mini discussion about Reverses and wanted to throw in what I have found over the years is the easiest thing, since looking through people's shelves can sometimes be tedious.

If you are looking at the SS and see a book you've read added by a teammie, add your name in the reverse column!

Thanks Ashley for the link fix.

Yes Reverses are hard to find searching shelves. I reckon the Compare Books thing is interesting apart from anything else, but it is useful for finding books you already have on your TBR shelf that a team mate has read or that you read pre GR.

I’m always coming across books I’ve forgotten I’ve read because it was in the dim distant past. I just reread which is about the Mau Mau rebellion in Kenya in the early 1950’s. I’d written in it that I’d bought it in Den Haag in 1977.

I find there us a vast difference between reading a now historical book such as that one or an Agatha C and a contemporary author writing a historical. The unconscious sexist and racist attitudes are unnerving sometimes, but the grammar is very good!

Ashley wrote: "I saw the mini discussion about Reverses and wanted to throw in what I have found over the years is the easiest thing, since looking through people's shelves can sometimes be tedious.

If you are ..."

Thanks for this advice Ashley!

Hi everyone I'm vian!
I'm currently calling metro Atlanta home, but I'm originally from Los Angeles.

I work as a theatrical stage manager. I just started rehearsal on a new production so I'm having a lot of fun running around setting props and wardrobe pieces. I'm normally a night owl so most of my updates will probably be later in the evening or in the early morning hours.

I love group challenges - I think this is my third UNO challenge. I'm coming off of a reading slump so I'm excited to get back into a reading groove. I'm normally a mystery/thriller or horror reader. I read a bit in most genres but I'm not a huge fan of romance.


My UNO Shelf

Hi Vian!

Hi Vian. What a fun and interesting job you have.

Vian wrote: "Hi everyone I'm vian!
I'm currently calling metro Atlanta home, but I'm originally from Los Angeles.

I work as a theatrical stage manager. I just started rehearsal on a new production so I'm hav..."

Vian, did Atlanta get heavy snow? I'm down in Dothan, AL and we got around 6-8"!

Ashley wrote: "Vian wrote: "Hi everyone I'm vian!
I'm currently calling metro Atlanta home, but I'm originally from Los Angeles.

I work as a theatrical stage manager. I just started rehearsal on a new producti..."

We are up here in the Midwest wondering why you guys are getting all our snow....not that we are upset mind you lol !

Roe wrote: "Ashley wrote: "Vian wrote: "Hi everyone I'm vian!
I'm currently calling metro Atlanta home, but I'm originally from Los Angeles.

I work as a theatrical stage manager. I just started rehearsal on..."

Hah! Yes, it was wild here!

Do you normally get snow in Georgia and Alabama? I think of those states as quite hot.

Elisabeth wrote: "Do you normally get snow in Georgia and Alabama? I think of those states as quite hot."

No! Definitely not! I don't think we've had snow where I am in 15 years, especially nothing this significant.

So - after reading the introductions - I am feeling very old!
I am 46 :) I live in Fayetteville, NC right out side of Fort Bragg and I am old school so it is EST

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

Fun fact - I have not seen any of the Guardians movies - but it is my all time favorite theme park ride - does that count?

This is also my first time playing UNO - I am looking forward to getting started in just a few days!

I read books to escape reality - I like historical fiction - even if it can sometimes be sad - but I don't want my fiction sad even if it has a happy ending!

Hello Teresa! So nice to "meet" you and welcome to UNO!!

Please feel free to claim a color cover on the SS if you' like!

Hi Teresa. Don’t feel old, I have a daughter almost the same age 😀

And I am only a couple years behind you, Teresa.

OK - I think I filled in a book correctly - hopefully I did it right! I am a little sad though because I have been reading through this series and now I have to wait until the 1st to read the next book! Feel free to let me know if I need to do something different!

Teresa wrote: "OK - I think I filled in a book correctly - hopefully I did it right! I am a little sad though because I have been reading through this series and now I have to wait until the 1st to read the next ..."

You absolutely did it correctly - however, I think the cover is more grey? Maybe even a DREADED TEAL!!

But I will post it here and we can discuss in the group.

Hello!, would you say that is red enough for 4 red?

here's my shelf

Ashley wrote: "Teresa wrote: "OK - I think I filled in a book correctly - hopefully I did it right! I am a little sad though because I have been reading through this series and now I have to wait until the 1st to..."

I say it's blue =P