Hooked on Books discussion

Got questions? I've got answers... I hope.

Ashley wrote: "Got questions? I've got answers..."

I have a quick question…I’m new to this since I didn’t do the 2025 challenge. But in reading this over, is the main overall genre historical fiction? The concept of eras makes me wonder if this accurate.

danielle wrote: "Ashley wrote: "Got questions? I've got answers..."

I have a quick question…I’m new to this since I didn’t do the 2025 challenge. But in reading this over, is the main overall genre historical fict..."

No, it spans ALL genres. You can read whatever you want to fit the tasks, but each month has bonus genres, so if you match a book to a task and it's also the bonus genre, you get extra "points".

Ashley wrote: "danielle wrote: "Ashley wrote: "Got questions? I've got answers..."

I have a quick question…I’m new to this since I didn’t do the 2025 challenge. But in reading this over, is the main overall genr..."

Awesome, thanks!!!

🌍 Diversity Reading Bonus
• Earn a bonus for reading a book by an author from an underrepresented group. (Updated from Book Quest: this is now author-related only, not based on genre or content.)


Wait, does that mean BQ was allowing content rather than author? We thought it was only author related too... If so, we've lost out on a TON of bonus points this year 😆

Sammy wrote: "🌍 Diversity Reading Bonus
• Earn a bonus for reading a book by an author from an underrepresented group. (Updated from Book Quest: this is now author-related only, not based on genre or content.)

..."

It was author - I worded this weird - I really meant "you can only use these groups that I specifically specified this time, so you can't ask, does this count, does this count, for the bonus", because then I confuse MYSELF.... - I think I was in some sort of fog when I was getting the templates ready.

Lol! totally makes sense. You had me second-guessing myself there for a minute 😆

I just wanted to say this challenge is so creative!! Kudos to whoever planned it!

Amanda wrote: "I just wanted to say this challenge is so creative!! Kudos to whoever planned it!"

takes a bow
Thank you!

Also, for the "recommendation pick list" - it's 12 books per person, not per team, right? & then do we pick only from our lists or from any teammate's list?

My first question (of many I'm sure)... for this one:

🪶 Hunter-Gatherer - is it a book they have done that month, any month or can it be a book they have ever read in the past?

Amanda wrote: "Also, for the "recommendation pick list" - it's 12 books per person, not per team, right? & then do we pick only from our lists or from any teammate's list?"

12 per person, yes! These absolutely MUST be submitted by the end of January, or you will not have any to choose from throughout the year. (the only exception for this rule is late starting players)

You can read from anyone else’s recommendation list (not your own!) for a bonus.

danielle wrote: "My first question (of many I'm sure)... for this one:

🪶 Hunter-Gatherer - is it a book they have done that month, any month or can it be a book they have ever read in the past?"

Ever! :)
These change monthly, so this will be the only month this bonus exists!

Ashley wrote: "danielle wrote: "My first question (of many I'm sure)... for this one:

🪶 Hunter-Gatherer - is it a book they have done that month, any month or can it be a book they have ever read in the past?"

..."

ooo... I mixed up which are the same and which change!

🏅 Personal Era Badges - CHANGE MONTHLY
🏺 Team Artifacts - DO NOT CHANGE

Ok, next question - for "Unique Country Settings" - if a book takes place in several countries, can one of them be used? Or does it only count if all, or most, of the book takes place in ONE country?

Also.. I assume no geographic areas that are water count, right? (I actually have The Hunt for Red October planned for Jan so I was wondering if that could be used for this somehow since it primarily takes place in the Atlantic Ocean).

danielle wrote: "Ok, next question - for "Unique Country Settings" - if a book takes place in several countries, can one of them be used? Or does it only count if all, or most, of the book takes place in ONE countr..."

These need to be actual countries, not fantasy worlds or "middle of the ocean" and the book should take place there at least 50% of the time. So, characters who are jet setting all over, are out of luck.

1. Do we need to add the second part of the challenge with ‘the recommendation list’ and ‘hunterer/gatherer’ to our thread ourselves or is that coming later?
I got a bit confused by the questions here until I found it in another team’s thread?

2. If we get a task like black covet prehistoric, it is just the black cover I suppose. Or de we need to read a book about prehistoric times ?

Does the unique county/publication year mean unique monthly, or does that continue into the next month for the rest of the challenge? Also, what is the color percentage on the specified cover colors?

Since the Temporal Anomaly has a separate page on the spreadsheet, is that our 11th book? In addition to the first 10 or part of the first ten?

Does it need to meet the MPG theme or anything else? Or just the one task written there?

Claire wrote: "1. Do we need to add the second part of the challenge with ‘the recommendation list’ and ‘hunterer/gatherer’ to our thread ourselves or is that coming later?"

How to submit your list: Post your list in your team thread and tag/link here. I’ll add it to the Index on your SS so you'll be able to view it.

Claire wrote: "2. If we get a task like black covet prehistoric, it is just the black cover I suppose. Or de we need to read a book about prehistoric times ?"

Just read for the task.

Sarah wrote: "Does the unique county/publication year mean unique monthly, or does that continue into the next month for the rest of the challenge? Also, what is the color percentage on the specified cover colors?"

It's cumulative for the year.
More than 50%

Trisha wrote: "Since the Temporal Anomaly has a separate page on the spreadsheet, is that our 11th book? In addition to the first 10 or part of the first ten?"

YES.

Trisha wrote: "Does it need to meet the MPG theme or anything else?..."

Nothing needs to meet a bonus, but the Temporal Anomalies have their own bonus, which are found in the Task post: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

ok, thank you!!

Would The Girl Who Played With Fire by Stieg Larsson work for the fire prompt?

Elizabeth wrote: "Would The Girl Who Played With Fire by Stieg Larsson work for the fire prompt?"

I don't want to get into a position where everyone is asking whether "this book" or "that book" works, because it's not likely I've read the book in question. So, if you're going to ask a prompt-book matching question, it should be more broad. (e.g. would a book where a woman lights a car on fire and that serves as the catalyst that moves the plot forward work?)

If you can justify why a book meets the task, then that is usually good enough for me. I am always happy with creative interpretations.

So... I have no idea if it would work, because I've not read The Girl Who Played With Fire. 😊

Ok, I'm going to be the problem child.

I like to know how things work. In this case, the bonus points. But, from what I see, the MPG boxes will count as 1 bonus point - regardless if it's checked off or not.

Can you read more than one Temporal Anomaly each month?

For publishing year, can it be based on the edition you are using? Or, maybe a better question should be, should it be based on your edition? Or can you use the original publishing year?

Would a Korean American author born in Seoul, Korea be acceptable for Diversity?

danielle wrote: "Ok, I'm going to be the problem child.

I like to know how things work. In this case, the bonus points. But, from what I see, the MPG boxes will count as 1 bonus point - regardless if it's checked..."

sigh..... I've fixed it.

Sarah wrote: "Can you read more than one Temporal Anomaly each month?"

No.

Ashley wrote: "danielle wrote: "Ok, I'm going to be the problem child.

I like to know how things work. In this case, the bonus points. But, from what I see, the MPG boxes will count as 1 bonus point - regardles..."

YOU ROCK. Thanks!

danielle wrote: "For publishing year, can it be based on the edition you are using? Or, maybe a better question should be, should it be based on your edition? Or can you use the original publishing year?"

You must always use the original publication year.

Vicki wrote: "Would a Korean American author born in Seoul, Korea be acceptable for Diversity?"

BIPOC stands for Black, Indigenous, and People of Color, an acronym used to highlight the specific experiences and systemic injustices faced by Black and Indigenous communities, while also including all other people of color (like Asian, Latino/a/x, Middle Eastern) in broader discussions of racial equity, recognizing different forms of oppression

Sorry Ashley, this will be my only question (for tonight lol) - would it mess anything up if we added one sheet to the SS for like listing potential books, buddy reads, notes, etc?

If so, no worries, we'll just list everything in the chat :)

Got another one. I see on the Temporal Anomoly it allows for unique country and pub year. But, it doesn't seem to collate that info - on either the first tab or on the Index tab. So, should it? If not, is it only a unique value for THAT tab?

(I warned ya... problem child!!)

Amanda wrote: "Sorry Ashley, this will be my only question (for tonight lol) - would it mess anything up if we added one sheet to the SS for like listing potential books, buddy reads, notes, etc?

If so, no worr..."

You can add tabs to your Team SS, it won't mess anything up - just don't change anything structurally on the existing tabs :)

Perfect, thank you :)

danielle wrote: "Got another one. I see on the Temporal Anomoly it allows for unique country and pub year. But, it doesn't seem to collate that info - on either the first tab or on the Index tab. So, should it? If ..."

Hmm... the country is counting TempA, but it looks like at some point the range was shortened, so I'll fix those.

In answer to the general question - It should

Is the unique country/pub date for the entire team or for each person?

OOPS! I found it - it is for the TEAM. Sorry, I missed that the first time.

Thank you for the explanation of BIPOC, Ashley.

Ashley, I was confused by some questions here. When I started to check these were questions about the January part.
Not everyone has this part in his thread.

So my question is: do we need to add it ourselves and if so, where can we find it?
If you’ll add it later, no problem or pressure. Just wanted to be sure how it had to be done.

And thank you, this is an amazing challenge.

@Claire- Message 84 in the HOMEBASE thread has January's tasks. I added it myself to my team's thread.

Can a title word include the subtitle? Like for January, can "TIMES" be in the subtitle?

RachelG. wrote: "@Claire- Message 84 in the HOMEBASE thread has January's tasks. I added it myself to my team's thread."

Thank you! I missed it 🤦🏼‍♀️

Re: Spreadsheet - what is the Archive Log cell for? (Tried to find answers in all the information but could not find anything)

Made me think of Captain's log on Star Trek, hehe.

Elizabeth wrote: "Would The Girl Who Played With Fire by Stieg Larsson work for the fire prompt?"

I've read it. Given the nature of the task, I don't believe the book qualifies. The title is a metaphor and the word fire/fired appears many times, but not in the context of a fire featuring heavily within the story.

ilovebakedgoods (Teresa) wrote: "Re: Spreadsheet - what is the Archive Log cell for? (Tried to find answers in all the information but could not find anything)

Made me think of Captain's log on Star Trek, hehe."

I’m curious too! I sort of assumed it was our “justification” field, but more in time travel ship & crew speak! But maybe I took it too far…

danielle wrote: "ilovebakedgoods (Teresa) wrote: "Re: Spreadsheet - what is the Archive Log cell for? (Tried to find answers in all the information but could not find anything)

Made me think of Captain's log on St..."

Oh, Danielle, I bet you're right! Let's see what Ashley reveals! :D