The Challenge Factory discussion

Let's practice gratitude by playing a gratitude game.

team member: Mrs W
team member: Charlotte
team member: Ira
team member: Claire

The game begins Monday, Sept. 29 and ends Sunday, Nov. 23.
There are 8 weeks of the game.

Week 1: Sept. 29 - Oct. 5
Week 2: Oct. 6 - Oct. 12
Week 3: Oct. 13 - Oct. 19
Week 4: Oct. 20 - Oct. 26
Week 5: Oct. 27 - Nov. 2
Week 6: Nov. 3 - Nov. 9
Week 7: Nov. 10 - Nov. 16
Week 8: Nov. 17 - Nov. 23

Details:
You have seven (7) days to read one (1) book.

Rules:
You can't begin reading your book until Monday morning, 12:01 a.m. your time.
You must finish and report your book by Sunday night 11:59 p.m. your time.

If a team member does not make a Completion Post for a week, the team misses out on the points that team member's book would have added to the total. If that team member misses a second week, they will be removed from the team.

Exceptions are made for a planned absence or emergency. Another player on the team can use a second book to replace the missing points caused by the absence or emergency.

A player may roll for the next Week's task on the Friday before the next Week.

Books must be 140 pages or more.
Graphic Novels must be 200 pages or more.
Audio books must be at least 3 hours long.

Sample Completion Post
Book and Author:
Pages:
Date Read:
Task:
How it fits:
Is the word 'gratitude' or 'grateful' in the text of your book? (If so, quote the phrase and page or location in the book for an additional point.)

How the game works:
* Each week one player on each team rolls two dice.
https://www.random.org/dice/?num=2
* Using die 1 for the row and die 2 for the column, find the intersection on the grid.

Example: if you roll a 3 and a 2, move down the Rows to #3, and scan across for #2 on that Row. It is "Name a book you are thankful for"

* Read a book for the task in that intersection. As easy as that.
* Each book read during the week receives one (1) point for the team.
* Your book will receive an extra point if 'gratitude' or 'grateful' is in the text.

The team with the most points wins.

A team can only read the task in a certain box once. If you roll the exact numbers (in the same order) from a previous week, you must re-roll the dice for a different task.

Because the picture is difficult to read, all boxes are listed below with their tasks.
Row 1:
1) Name a friend you are grateful for - read a book from a teammate's Goodreads shelf
2) +2 points - read a book with '2' in the page count or publication date; your team gains 2 points
3) Share a memory you are grateful for - read a book set 50+ years ago, about an event that happened 50+ years ago, or published 50+ years ago
4) Name a holiday you are thankful for - read a book centered around or about a holiday
5) -1 point - read any book you'd like; your team loses 1 point
6) Share an activity you are grateful for - read a book with an action verb in the title

Row 2:
1) +3 points read a book with '3' in the page count or publication date; your team gains 3 points
2) Name a place you are grateful for - read a book about or set somewhere you have lived or visited
3) -4 points - read any book you'd like; your team loses 4 points
4) Share a family moment you are grateful for - read a book where family is important to the plot, or about an entire family
5) Name an object you are grateful for - read a book with no human or animal on the cover
6) +1 point - read a book with '1' in the page count or publication date; your team gains 1 point

Row 3:
1) Take another turn - read a book with two words in the title that begin with the same letter
2) Name a book you are thankful for - read a book in a series that you have started
3) Name a family member you are grateful for - read a book written by an author with any initial found in FAMILY
4) +4 points - read a book with '4' in the page count or publication date; your team gains 4 points
5) -3 points - read any book you'd like; your team loses 3 points
6) Name a person you admire - read a book by a favorite author that you have not read yet, or read a biography or autobiography

Row 4:
1) Name an ability you are thankful for - read a book where a significant character has a disability
2) +1 point - read a book with '1' in the page count or publication date; your team gains 1 point
3) Share something that makes you happy - re-read a book that you rated 4 or 5 stars
4) Take another turn - read a book with two words in the title that begin with the same letter
5) Name a song you are grateful for - read a book with 'song(s)', 'sing(s)', or 'singing' in the text
6) Share a moment when someone helped you - read a book from a teammate's Goodreads shelf

Row 5:
1) +2 points read a book with '2' in the page count or publication date; your team gains 2 points
2) Name a game you are grateful for - read a book where a competitive sport is mentioned
3) -3 points - read any book you'd like; your team loses 3 points
4) Share a vacation memory you are grateful for - read a book where the MC goes on vacation or holiday, or about a popular vacation site
5) +5 points - read a book with '2' in the page count or publication date; your team gains 5 points
6) Share a experience you are grateful for - read a book with 'X' anywhere on the cover

Row 6:
1) Share a challenge you overcame - read a book that fits a current task in a challenge that a teammate is participating in (other than this challenge :)
2) -1 point - read any book you'd like; your team loses 1 point
3) Name a food you are grateful for - read a book with food or drink on the cover
4) +2 points - read a book with '2' in the page count or publication date; your team gains 2 points
5) Name a gift you are thankful for - read a book with a title that begins with a letter in GIFT (you can ignore 'A' and 'An')
6) Take another turn - read a book with two words in the title that begin with the same letter

To do list -

First of all, pick a name for your group.
Second, decide who will roll the dice.
Third, decide who will make the team's Completion Posts. (It can be one person, or you can take turns. The team's Completion Post can be posted as soon as everyone has reported. Please have your team's Completion Post in by Monday around noontime.)
Fourth, decide who will be the team's verifier. I need someone to make sure that a book fits the task for the week. In a few instances, you will have to take the word of the reader that a book matches the task, but if it's a tag, cover, title, author initial, page count or publication date, those are verifiable.
Fifth, practice counting all that you are grateful for. There will be a lot!!!

Tracking our tasks:
Week 1: row 1, column 6 (Share an activity you are grateful for - read a book with an action verb in the title)

Week 2: row 5, column 5 (+5 points - read a book with '2' in the page count or publication date; your team gains 5 points)



Hey everyone!

I'm super excited for this challenge to start, and to get to know all of you guys!
Feel free to send me a friend invite :-)

Hi everyone. I’m a bit nervous about this challenge.
I read a lot, but finding words in a book for extra points is sometimes tricky as I read a lot in Dutch. But I’ll do my best.
I’m sure it will be fun.

I’ll send friend requests or feel free to add me.

Claire wrote: "Hi everyone. I’m a bit nervous about this challenge.
I read a lot, but finding words in a book for extra points is sometimes tricky as I read a lot in Dutch. But I’ll do my best.
I’m sure it will..."

That's totally fine :-)
When I read, I always forget to look for the words lol, that's why I try and not play scavenger hunt challenges. When I do play these sorts of challenges, I often just search for the word on Libby, Google books, or Amazon... that could be a solution for you!

These are some team names that ChatGPT made (I'm not creative enought to make names hehe)

Grateful Gatherers
The Thankful Tribe
Blessing Brigade
Appreciation Alliance
Hearts Full of Thanks
The Gratitude Gang
Kindness Keepers
The Giving Spirits
Seeds of Thanks
The Thank You Crew
Harvest Heroes
Cornucopia Crew
Pumpkin Spice Posse
Gobble Gang
Turkey Trotters
Stuffing Squad
The Bountiful Bunch
Autumn Avengers
The Feast Mode Team
Gravy Train
Gobblin' Good Times
Thankful Trotters
The Pilgrim Posse
The Thankful Plates
Carve & Connect
The Turkey Talkers
Baste & Celebrate

I am happy to be the one that rolls the dice, and/or the one that makes the team's completion posts. We could also alternate who rolls the dice or makes the team's completion posts, if that sounds like a better idea.
If no one else is able to, I could be the team verifier, but I am quite busy, so if anyone else is able to take the job, that would be great :-)

Hi everyone!

I am Mrs W (aka Cindy), I am an empty nester living in Maryland with my husband. We have 3 grown children. I am a substitute teacher in the elementary school. I enjoy reading at the beach and before bed these are my favorite places and times to read.

The books I tend to read the most of are Romance, Suspense (put those two together that is my favorite kind of read), Crime, Psychological Thrillers and Historical Fiction. Books I tend not to read are non-fiction, fantasy, horror and graphic novels.

I have played in several team challenges so I am familiar with posting completion tasks, so can help there if needed. I would be willing to verify if someone else would like to join me that would be great.

I usually suggest a group name, but there are so many good ones to choose from by Charlotte, I don't need too.

Blessing Brigade is my favorite

Ready to meet everyone and begin to read and start this challenge.

Hi team. My name is Ira and I live in Norway. I read mostly fantasy and mysteries, but I will give any genre a chance. I like to mix it up once in a while. My least favorite genre is romance but I will read it if I have to. I too am apprehensive about finding words in the text, because I don't know if the book fits before starting to read. As for names I like the sound of, Blessing Brigade
Appreciation Alliance, The Gratitude Gang. I could help with verification if needed.

Nice to meet you Mrs. W and Ira!!
If you have any good ideas for names, Mrs. W, it never hurts to hear them :-)
I am also happy with Blessing Brigade!
I'm excited to get to know all of you guys better as the challenge goes on!

Ira wrote: "Hi team. My name is Ira and I live in Norway. I read mostly fantasy and mysteries, but I will give any genre a chance. I like to mix it up once in a while. My least favorite genre is romance but I ..."

Nice playing another team challenge with you Ira. We played on a team once before.

Good Morning from Maryland, USA

If we are all good lets get rolling so we can find our books for Monday and get verification.

Good morning!!

Sounds good!
We also need to confirm a name and who will be sending in completion posts and verifiying everything...

I can verify, Ira agreed to help.

We can take turns posting or if you are good with taking on that roll okay with me. If you need help you can drop me a message.

I say Blessed Brigade as the team name...3 of us have agreed to it.

My only comment is to communicate if we need help. I can step in where needed.

Lets ROLL!!

Blessing brigade sounds great to me.
Nice to meet you, Ira and Mrs W.

Mrs W wrote: "I can verify, Ira agreed to help.

We can take turns posting or if you are good with taking on that roll okay with me. If you need help you can drop me a message.

I say Blessed Brigade as the tea..."

Sounds good! I can take on the rolling and posting, as long as no one has a problem with that :-)
We can definitely let eachother know if we need help or anything!

Claire wrote: "Blessing brigade sounds great to me.
Nice to meet you, Ira and Mrs W."

Blessing Brigade it is then! I can let them know :-)

Charlotte - as the roller will you be notifying us on what book task we are supposed to read each week?

Cindy (Mrs W) - will verify (Charlotte and Ira selection) once selection has been done so I can give the go ahead to begin reading on Monday.

Ira - could you verify me (Mrs W and Claire)

Mrs W wrote: "Charlotte - as the roller will you be notifying us on what book task we are supposed to read each week?

Cindy (Mrs W) - will verify once selection has been done so I can give the go ahead to begin..."

Yes, I will let you guys know as soon as I have rolled.
I can also keep a tracker of all the tasks and stuff in the first message I sent (message 4).

I can roll now. Give me a minute, and I'll come back with the square :-)

Charlotte wrote: "Mrs W wrote: "Charlotte - as the roller will you be notifying us on what book task we are supposed to read each week?

Cindy (Mrs W) - will verify once selection has been done so I can give the go ..."

Perfect!! ☺️

We got row 1, column 6 (Share an activity you are grateful for - read a book with an action verb in the title)

*edit*
I updated message 4 as well, so that we don't forget/lose which tasks we have by having to scroll back and find it in the messages :-)

Stupid question (I know), but I just want to confirm so that I don't accidentally read the wrong book, but is the word "fall" considered an action verb? It is in the title We All Fall Down.

How is it used in the title

Charlotte wrote: "Stupid question (I know), but I just want to confirm so that I don't accidentally read the wrong book, but is the word "fall" considered an action verb? It is in the title [book:We All Fall Down|33..."

Not a stupid question...I have been googling words too.

Yes...fall is an action verb. So this book works for our challenge

Completion Post Week 1

Book is:

Share an activity you are grateful for - spending time with my family 💓

Book and Author: Stay Awake by Megan Goldin
Pages: 340
Date Read: 10/2/25
Task: read a book with an action verb in the title
How it fits: Both Stay and Awake are action verbs
Is the word 'gratitude' or 'grateful' in the text of your book? Yes

"My dad sold insurance. I'm grateful that didn't get into my blood!" p113

Mrs W wrote: "Charlotte wrote: "Stupid question (I know), but I just want to confirm so that I don't accidentally read the wrong book, but is the word "fall" considered an action verb? It is in the title [book:W..."

Great! Thanks for the help lol :D

Book and Author: Lowcountry Lost, T.I. Lowe
Pages: 368 pages
Date Read:
Task: read a book with an action verb in the title
How it fits: lost is an action verb
Is the word 'gratitude' or 'grateful' in the text of your book? (If so, quote the phrase and page or location in the book for an additional point.): ch34 (88%) "I'm grateful to have my best friend..."

So... I may want to change my book, but I want to check and make sure it works first. Does the word "lost" work as an action verb? It is used in the title like this: Lowcountry Lost.

*edit*
It has the word grateful in the text. (I didn't check my other book)
I can read either, but I think I would prefer to read Lowcountry Lost.

According to google lost in this context is an adjective describing the Lowcountry…so this would not work

Book and author Slaap maar zacht by Linda Jansma
Date read:
Task: read a book with an action verb in the title
How it fits: ‘slaap’ (sleep) is an action verb. The title means ‘sleep tight’
Is the word 'gratitude' or 'grateful' in the text of your book? (If so, quote the phrase and page or location in the book for an additional point.)
Yes: ‘Al wist ze niet zeker of ze dankbaar zou moeten zijn‘ ‘even if she wasn’t sure she should be grateful p.23

Mrs W wrote: "According to google lost in this context is an adjective describing the Lowcountry…so this would not work"

Just to confirm, you said that it would work after all right?

Yes…I googled lost and it said lost was an action verb

Great! Thanks for your help :-)

I updated message 28 with my new book.

Book and author: The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea by Axie Oh
Pages: 325
Date read:
Task: read a book with an action verb in the title
How it fits: Fall is an action verb
Is the word 'gratitude' or 'grateful' in the text of your book? (If so, quote the phrase and page or location in the book for an additional point.): Acoording to google yes, but I have to find the page number and quote when I read the book

I started my book today, I should be done in a few days latest (hopefully sooner)!

How are you guys coming along with your books for week one?

I'm actually gone this weekend Friday morning-Sunday night, and I won't be active.
So if someone else wants to roll the dice for me this week that would be great!
I could also ask in the q&a thread if I can roll it thursday night, so that I can start figuring out which book I'm going to read the coming week (I can put a book on hold at the library if need be etc.)

I'm rolling now (I got permission in q&a thread), since I'm leaving tomorrow morning.

*edit*
We got row 5 column 5 (read a book with '2' in the page count or publication date; your team gains 5 points)
I'm definitely happy with this one :D
Extra points and an easier task than the action verb in title!

Good roll!!! Yes…alot easier to verify!!

Have a good weekend trip!

Cindy (Mrs W)

Mrs W wrote: "Good roll!!! Yes…alot easier to verify!!

Have a good weekend trip!

Cindy (Mrs W)"

Yeah!

Thanks! Have a great weekend as well (all of you)!!

I'm posting my completion post now, I finished my book for this week :-)

I'll be active again on Monday.

Book and Author: Lowcountry Lost, T.I. Lowe
Pages: 368 pages
Date Read: 10/02/25
Task: read a book with an action verb in the title
How it fits: lost is an action verb
Is the word 'gratitude' or 'grateful' in the text of your book? (If so, quote the phrase and page or location in the book for an additional point.): ch34 (88%) "I'm grateful to have my best friend..."

My book will be finished tomorrow. This roll of the dice is an easy one:-)

Enjoy your weekend.

Thanks!

You too!!

Completion Post Week 1
Team Name: Blessing Brigade

Mrs W (Cindy) - https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
Charlotte - https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
Ira - https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
Claire - https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

How many points did the team earn this week? 8 points

My book will be finished later today

Book and author Slaap maar zacht by Linda Jansma
Date read: 3 october
Pages: 320 p.
Task: read a book with an action verb in the title
How it fits: ‘slaap’ (sleep) is an action verb. The title means ‘sleep tight’
Is the word 'gratitude' or 'grateful' in the text of your book? (If so, quote the phrase and page or location in the book for an additional point.)
Yes: ‘Al wist ze niet zeker of ze dankbaar zou moeten zijn‘ ‘even if she wasn’t sure she should be grateful p.23

Completion Post

Book: The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea
Author: Axie Oh
Pages: 321
Date read: 03/10/25
Task: Read a book with an action verb in the title
How it fits: Fall is an action verb
Is the word 'gratitude' or 'grateful' in the text of your book? (If so, quote the phrase and page or location in the book for an additional point.)
Yes: "When you took my place, I was filled with so many emotions. Relief. Gratitude. Guilt. p. 238

Week 2

Book is:


Book and Author:
Pages:
Date Read:
Task: read a book with '2' in the page count or publication date
How it fits:
Is the word 'gratitude' or 'grateful' in the text of your book?

Ladies

Our Completion Post for Week 1 has been submitted.

Great job! Now to prepare for Week 2 - read a book with '2' in the page count or publication date