The Challenge Factory discussion

Let's practice gratitude by playing a gratitude game.

team member: lorii
team member: Ela (Mouse333)
team member: Christy
team member: Jade aka MrsTosh

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!!!

Hi everyone! I'm Ela and I live in the UK. Most of my reading is romance books (all subgenres) and some of my favourites are Eyes of Silver, Eyes of Gold, The Kiss Quotient, Feral Sins and Red Winter.

I'm awful at coming up with team names - does anyone have any ideas?

Hi all! I'm Christy, and I live outside of Austin, TX, with my 2 small dogs. Most of my reading is romance, mainly contemporary.

I asked AI for help with team name suggestions and here is what it came up with

Grateful Readers Guild – Reflects the gratitude focus and a love for books.
Thankful Page Turners – Combines the idea of gratitude with avid reading.
Book Blessings Brigade – Suggests books as a source of joy and thankfulness.
Gratitude Book Bunch – Simple and ties directly to the challenge’s theme.
Thankful Tales Team – Emphasizes storytelling and gratitude.
Joyful Chapters Crew – Evokes happiness and the journey through books.
Grateful Story Seekers – Highlights the search for meaningful stories.
Pages of Thanks Posse – Fun and ties gratitude to the act of reading.
Heartfelt Reads Squad – Suggests emotional connection to books and gratitude.
Thankful Tomes Tribe – A nod to classic books and the gratitude theme.

Hi everyone waving hello from tropical northern Queensland.
I have genre moods that typically last several months, currently I am hip deep in romantic suspense, but that might change to epic fantasy, historical romance, space opera, pnr or romantic fantasy, and sometimes but not often police procedurals.

If you have a team member who hasn't checked in yet, feel free to message them. Time is running out. The challenge begins in just two days!

Someone should roll the dice so that you can plan what you'll begin reading tomorrow.

Christy wrote: "Hi all! I'm Christy, and I live outside of Austin, TX, with my 2 small dogs. Most of my reading is romance, mainly contemporary.

I asked AI for help with team name suggestions and here is what it..."

I like Thankful Page Turners and Grateful Story Seekers

I tried messaging Jade but she's not accepting messages.

I rolled the dice for this week since the challenge is starting soon and it was a 2 and 4, which is:

4) Share a family moment you are grateful for - read a book where family is important to the plot, or about an entire family

Does anyone want to do the dice rolling, team's Completion Posts or verifying? I'm happy to do any of them :)

Ela (Mouse333) wrote: "I tried messaging Jade but she's not accepting messages..."

I have messaged Jade. Hopefully she checks in soon.

Lanelle wrote: "Ela (Mouse333) wrote: "I tried messaging Jade but she's not accepting messages..."

I have messaged Jade. Hopefully she checks in soon."

Thanks Lanelle!

Thanks Ela, you're a gem.

lorii (Loriidae) wrote: "Hi everyone waving hello from tropical northern Queensland.
I have genre moods that typically last several months, currently I am hip deep in romantic suspense, but that might change to epic fanta..."

I just realized we're on the same team in 2 challenges right now! Also, I wasn't getting the notifications on this thread, since I failed to opt in, lol

Ela (Mouse333) wrote: "Does anyone want to do the dice rolling, team's Completion Posts or verifying? I'm happy to do any of them :)"

I'm happy to do any of them as well. I tend to check in mostly while I'm at work, since that's where I have the better computer setup, so anything that can be done during work hours Central Time is best for me. And yes, I work from home, but I tend to stay offline in the evenings or weekends.

Ela (Mouse333) wrote: "Christy wrote: "Hi all! I'm Christy, and I live outside of Austin, TX, with my 2 small dogs. Most of my reading is romance, mainly contemporary.

I asked AI for help with team name suggestions and..."

I like both of these as well. But I think I like the Grateful one a bit more. Happy with either one, though.

Ela (Mouse333) wrote: "I tried messaging Jade but she's not accepting messages.

I rolled the dice for this week since the challenge is starting soon and it was a 2 and 4, which is:

4) Share a family moment you are gra..."

Do we know how we determine if the book qualifies? Is this just our judgment?

Christy wrote: "Ela (Mouse333) wrote: "Does anyone want to do the dice rolling, team's Completion Posts or verifying? I'm happy to do any of them :)"

I'm happy to do any of them as well. I tend to check in mostly..."

I think the dice rolling can be done any time on Fridays, while the Completion Posts and verifying seem like something that needs to be done when everyone's finished reading their book or when they've mentioned what they chose for the task. Which sounds more suitable for you?

Lorii, what do you think about the team names?

Christy wrote: "Ela (Mouse333) wrote: "I tried messaging Jade but she's not accepting messages.

I rolled the dice for this week since the challenge is starting soon and it was a 2 and 4, which is:

4) Share a fa..."

I think it's our judgement so if we're not sure we can ask Lanelle.

I'm thinking of reading Elaina from the Dimarco series (about the Dimarco family). I'm also assuming something like a book from the Kowalski Family series would count or something that's tagged 'family'.

I'm debating between A Long Time Coming or Wild Eyes. Both are tagged family, and the series for A Long Time Coming is the Cane Brothers.

Ela (Mouse333) wrote: "Christy wrote: "Ela (Mouse333) wrote: "Does anyone want to do the dice rolling, team's Completion Posts or verifying? I'm happy to do any of them :)"

I'm happy to do any of them as well. I tend to..."

I think I'll take the dice rolling since my Monday mornings tend to be packed, and I don't want to get us in trouble. The joys of e-commerce, where Monday mornings = reporting.

Hi guys, sorry I am late just checking in. I don't seem to have received a notification. I will read through the comments and catch up :)

I also like Thankful Page Turners and Grateful Story Seekers for team names.

Will have a look through my kindle and find something that fits for this weeks challenge.

Grateful story seekers would be my preference.

As I have done a bit of seeking today to find Fated
It fits: found family for this challenge, has black clothing and high page numbers for another challenge and is paranormal for the 3rd challenge. Doesn't happen often...

Jade aka MrsTosh wrote: "Hi guys, sorry I am late just checking in. I don't seem to have received a notification. I will read through the comments and catch up :)"

Notifications regularly drop out for me. I have found on a browser, logging out and restarting the browser and logging back in brings my thread notifications back. I really miss email notifications!!!

I'll go ahead and request Grateful Story Seekers as our team name since we all seem aligned with that.

Completion Post - Week 1

Book: A Long Time Coming
Author: Meghan Quinn
Pages: 473
Date Read: 9/30
Task: Share a family moment you are grateful for - read a book where family is important to the plot, or about an entire family
How it fits: Tagged family by 8 people
Is the word 'gratitude' or 'grateful' in the text of your book? Page 178. "Just grateful you're here. More grateful than you probably know."

I ended up asking Lanelle if a book counts if it's tagged 'family' or if it's part of a series that's about a family and she said:

It does not need to be tagged family.

If you can determine from the book's blurb that the story is centered around a family or that family is important to the plot line, then you're good.

Ela (Mouse333) wrote: "...It does not need to be tagged family...."

Thanks Ela.

Completion Post - Week 1
Book and Author: Reason to Believe by Rebecca Yarros
Pages: 350
Date Read: 2 Oct
Task: 4) Share a family moment you are grateful for - read a book where family is important to the plot, or about an entire family
How it fits: Knox and Harper agree to foster Liam and James and the book is about them being a family and what happens when their father comes back. Also, Knox is working to bring back the town's hotshot crew in memory of his father and the other hotshots who died.
Is the word 'gratitude' or 'grateful' in the text of your book?
31%, "That doesn't mean I'm not incredibly grateful that you've been ridiculously nice about it all..."

I rolled the dice for the week and it was a 5 & 2. Here is our task

2) Name a game you are grateful for - read a book where a competitive sport is mentioned

Thanks Christy! I think I'll read The Playing Game - Kieran (MMC) is a hockey player so I'm sure there'll at least be one game

Completion Post
Round One

Book: Fated (#3 Pack of Dawn and Destiny)
Author: K.M. Shea
Pages: 377
Date Read: Oct 3 ★★★★✰
Task 4: Share a family moment you are grateful for - read a book where family is important to the plot, or about an entire family
How it fits: Tagged: Found Family 4 times
Gratitude in text: I am grateful to the pack for accepting me. 52%

How are you doing with your book, Jade? I'm just checking so that I can make the completion post in the morning

I’ve posted our completions in the tracking thread. I can add Jade’s when she posts it but I’m not sure if that’s going to count

Thanks, Ela!

I'm sorry, but Jade has missed the deadline. Her points will not count :(

hi I'm new here

do I have to buy the books to read them???

VayVay wrote: "do I have to buy the books to read them???"

In challenges on goodreads, very few are book specific. Reading tasks are very broad. This week's is worded "mentions competitive sport " so that could be as simple as a character watching a football match on television or going to watch Saturday baseball. That might be the only phrase in the book about sport.

Many people rely on their local library services. Or have a kindle unlimited subscription. Or there are services such as Bookbub, where there are not only books for sale but a lot of authors offer a free book for signing up to their newsletter mailing list.

I hope this helps answer your question.

Ela (Mouse333) wrote: "How are you doing with your book, Jade? I'm just checking so that I can make the completion post in the morning"

So sorry guys, I have had a family bereavement and haven't been online. Completely forgot about the Sunday deadline.

Jade aka MrsTosh wrote: "Ela (Mouse333) wrote: "How are you doing with your book, Jade? I'm just checking so that I can make the completion post in the morning"

So sorry guys, I have had a family bereavement and haven't b..."

Sending hugs from across the world

Jade aka MrsTosh wrote: "Ela (Mouse333) wrote: "How are you doing with your book, Jade? I'm just checking so that I can make the completion post in the morning"

So sorry guys, I have had a family bereavement and haven't b..."

So sorry to hear that! Also sending hugs your way.

Completion Post - Week 2

Book: Wilder
Author:Rebecca Yarros
Pages: 402
Date Read: 10/7
Task: Name a game you are grateful for - read a book where a competitive sport is mentioned
How it fits: MPG Sports, also pg 34, "you've won a couple X Game medals in motocross or snowmobiling or something"
Is the word 'gratitude' or 'grateful' in the text of your book? Page 79. "You are grateful for the life you've been given."

Completion Post - Week 2
Book and Author: The Playing Game by Ainsley Booth
Pages: 484
Date Read: 10 Oct
Task: 2) Name a game you are grateful for - read a book where a competitive sport is mentioned
How it fits: Kieran is a hockey player and he plays against different teams. His team seem to win and lose a similar number of games, but eventually they get slightly better.
Is the word 'gratitude' or 'grateful' in the text of your book?
7%, "I'm grateful every day that she stuck around because she ended up loving the admin job."

Completion Post Week Two

Book: Hidden Nature
Author: Nora Roberts
Pages: 448
Date Read: Oct 9 ★★★✰✰
Task: read a book where a competitive sport is mentioned
How it fits: "Others flopped down with football on the big screen in the family room downstairs, and shouted their triumph or disappointment. 18%
Gratitude in text: "Our deep and sincere gratitude goes out to the wonderful doctors" 57%

Will post my completion shortly when I get home from work :)

Completion Post Week 2

Book: Blind Date with a Werewolf
Author: Patricia Briggs
Date: 11th Oct
Task: read a book where a competitive sport is mentioned
How it fits: The kind of arenas put over their hockey rinks. Loc 203
Gratitude in text: Respect and gratitude conveyed better with his body than his words. - Loc 1305