Hooked on Books discussion

The Timekeepers — 2026: Time Traveler's Challenge ⏳
Duration: January 2026 to December 2026

Welcome, temporal navigators! This thread is your crew's headquarters for the year-long journey through history. Use this space to coordinate reading plans, share era-specific book recommendations, discuss your adventures through time, and celebrate your progress on both your Personal Timeline and our Shared Timeline!

🚀 Crew Manifest
• Michalina
• Patti
• Carrie
• Jacqueline
• Cindy

🧭 Our Mission
- Personal Timeline: Advance your crew from Prehistoric Times (Year 1) to Timeless Classics (Year 6000) by earning years through reading!
- Shared Timeline: Contribute to our community's collective journey. Every year you earn helps move everyone forward through history.

📜 Earning Years
- Base Years: every 100 pages = ~1 year
- Bonus Years: 2 years per completed bonus
- Monthly Era Champion: Winning crew earns a +30 year boost!

Example: A 280-page book with 4 bonuses earns: ROUND(280*0.01)=3 base years + (4*2)=8 bonus years = 11 Total Years

📊 Crew Log (Spreadsheet)
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/...

🎯 Check-Ins
We'll post monthly reminders and tasks here! And please, post in your team thread at least weekly — Let's support each other to keep our timeline advancing!

Let the temporal adventure begin! May your books be compelling and your timeline be ever-forward! ⏱️✨

🪙 Time Traveler's Challenge - Bonus System Explained

Earn bonus years to accelerate your team's progress through the timeline! There are 8 possible bonuses per book (max), across several categories.

📅 Monthly Theme Bonuses (2 per month)
• Each month will have 2 Main Page Genre (MPG).
• Complete a task with a book from the monthly bonus genres to earn the bonus.
• These change monthly — check the HOMEBASE thread or your Team SS!

🗺️ Geographic & Temporal Collection Bonuses
• Unique Country Bonus: Earn a bonus for each new country (book setting ONLY) your TEAM reads from.
• Unique Publication Year Bonus: Earn a bonus for each new publication year your TEAM reads.
• Important: Uniqueness is tracked per team, not individually. Coordinate with your crew to maximize collection!

🌍 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.)

Underrepresented groups include: BIPOC authors, LGBTQ+ authors, authors with disabilities, neurodivergent authors, authors from marginalized religious groups, authors from developing nations, and indigenous authors.

⭐ Personal Badges
• Each month features unique personal badge challenges.
• These will be revealed when monthly tasks are posted.

🏺 Team Artifacts (Collective Bonuses)
These require entire team participation!

Team Read 📚
All team members read the same book and participate in an approved Buddy Read discussion thread.
Thematic Treasure Hunt 🔍
Your team finds books from your individual reading that share a common theme, motif, or symbol (like "fire," "moon," "rebirth," "keys," "mirrors"). Submit a combined "catalog" with quotes/examples showing the connection in your thread.

📝 Bonus Submission Notes:
• Claim bonuses on your team spreadsheet.
• For Diversity Bonus: Select the author's identity from the dropdown when claiming.
• For Unique Country/Year: Your team tracker will show your growing collection via a map.
• Team Artifacts require special submission in the thread!

Remember: Each bonus earned = +2 years on your timeline! Strategic bonus hunting can accelerate your journey dramatically. ⏱️✨


🌀 TEMPORAL ANOMALIES (Special Limited-Time Bonus)
• Watch for surprise bonus tasks with specific time-limited windows.
• A fun way to earn a quick burst of years — stay alert!

Hi Team! Checking in. This looks fun!

Hello team, checking in! It does look fun. A little daunting also, but I could just be overthinking everything

Cindy wrote: "Hello team, checking in! It does look fun. A little daunting also, but I could just be overthinking everything"

I agree, Cindy! I’m a bit overwhelmed but I’m sure we will figure I’m out ;)

Hi Team, checking in! Excited for this challenge! :)

Hi all! So excited to be here. This was one of my favorite challenges last year and I can't wait to do it gain this year!

My List of 12:

Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil by V.E. Schwab
Buckeye by Patrick Ryan
Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman
I, Medusa by Ayana Gray
Canticle by Janet Rich Edwards
Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver
Cursed Daughters by Oyinkan Braithwaite
The Women of Wild Hill by Kirsten Miller
Heartwood by Amity Gaige
The Reformatory by Tananarive Due
The God of the Woods by Liz Moore
We Used to Live Here by Marcus Kliewer

I glanced at all of our TBR's. I think we have a pretty eclectic group here so I pulled a variety of different things.

My list of 12:

1. Pax by Sara Pennypacker
2. Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo
3. Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid
4. A Room of One’s Own by Virginia Woolf
5. Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid
6. The Story of Doctor Dolittle by Hugh Lofting
7. A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman
8. Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman
9. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
10. Lonely Castle in the Mirror by Mizuki Tsujimura
11. The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
12. Vicious by V.E. Schwab

Hello Everyone!

I am just checking in, I am excited to be a part of the group. I will post my list a little later on today.

Here is my list of 12:
1. The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah
2. Funny Story by Emily Henry
3. Moon Called by Patricia Briggs
4. Me Before You by Jojo Moyes
5. Firebolt by Adrienne Woods
6. Illuminae by Amie Kaufman
7. Leaving Time by Jodi Picoult
8. The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah
9. A Bend in the Road by Nicholas Sparks
10. Boy Toy by Barry Lyga
11. Magic Bites by Ilona Andrews
12. Neon Gods by Katee Robert

Is there a book that we want to try to read as team?

Cindy wrote: "Is there a book that we want to try to read as team?"

I’m up for anything! I think it would be good to do a team book. 📕

My list of 12
1. Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy
2. We Begin at the End by Chris Whitaker
3. As Long as the Lemon Trees Grow by Zoulfa Katouh
4. The Passengers by John Marrs
5. This Is How It Always Is Laurie Frankel
6. The House in the Cerulean Sea by T.J. Klune
7. Trail of Broken Wings by Sejal Badani
8. A Time to Kill by John Grisham
9. The Lion Women of Tehran by Marjan Kamali
10. The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell by Robert Dugoni
11. His & Hers by Alice Feeney
12. Beartown by Fredrik Backman

Hi just checking in on a group read — I put some books on the SS but I can move them around I’m you guys pick something for one of the categories ;)

Maybe brown cover would be easiest? I can take my book for that off and read whatever you guys decide on.

This is the book I have planned for Brown cover: . Not sure how everyone is feeling about that or if there are other ideas?

Other books I was thinking of using for the challenge are:
Sky in the Deep
Fourth Wing or Remarkably Bright Creatures
Five Days at Memorial: Life and Death in a Storm-Ravaged Hospital
Station Eleven
Salt to the Sea
Granite Mountain: The Firsthand Account of a Tragic Wildfire, Its Lone Survivor, and the Firefighters Who Made the Ultimate Sacrifice
The Maze Runner

All depends on what I can fit in with work and school. I can always switch out books if we can decide on something to read

I would be interested in buddy reading Station Eleven or The Maze Runner.

Which prompts were you thinking to use these books for?

I could do The Maze Runner!

Do you think it would work for prompts "survival against nature" and "vivid imagery to bring a harsh, natural environment to life"?

I could also do your brown book above

Station Eleven can work for: Read a book that uses vivid imagery to bring a harsh, natural environment to life and Read a book where a character invents, discovers, or learns something that changes their way of life.
The Maze Runner can work for: Read a book where survival against nature drives the entire story and Read a book that involves caves, underground worlds, or hidden places and Read a book that uses vivid imagery to bring a harsh, natural environment to life

I read station 11 on 1/14/24 so I can do a re-read, I think.

I’d prefer to do Maze Runner but I’m totally fine with either

I’m good with the Maze Runner as our group read

I am okay with The Maze Runner!

Jaqueline — are you ok with this as the team read?

Sure.... I never read it!

My List of Twelve

1.Kindred by Octavia E. Butler
2. The Last Mrs. Parrish byLiv Constantine
3. Masquerade byO.O.Sangoyomi
4. Storm Front byJim Butcher
5. Broken Angels byGemma Liviero
6.The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang
7.Karaoke Queen by Dominic Lim
8. The Red Tent byAnita Diamant
9. James by Percival Everett
10. Julie Chan Is Dead byLiann Zhang
11. The Games Gods PlayAbigail Owen
12.All the Sinners Bleed by S.A. Cosby

Are we reading it for January? I just need to buy a copy of grab it from the library.

I didn't look through the rules, do we need a group discussion thread or anything?

Yes I think we have to request for a buddy read thread to be created. I will go request it.

Here is the link for the buddy read: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

When would everyone be able to start it?

I can start it soon. I'm waiting on a digital copy from the library and it's "available soon". So I can start as soon as I get it.

Maddielucy(Patti) wrote: "I can start it soon. I'm waiting on a digital copy from the library and it's "available soon". So I can start as soon as I get it."

Okay I have my copy already so whenever you start it, I'll start it as well

I think I can start it this week as well - I have just one more book I need to finish first

I have the audiobook but I hate the narration! The digital copy will be available today for me.

I need to grab a copy. I'll do that today!

100 pages in and started a conversation in the chat. Has anyone else started?

I started today and have only read the first chapter though, but I will hop over to the chat

I'm starting it today, will share some thoughts later

I finally got the book. I will start tomorrow;)

I'm a bit confused about the spreadsheets. I see multiple people have marked USA for the setting (for example). I thought only 1 person could claim it since it was a unique setting and each place can only be claimed one time or does that mean we all have to read a book from that country?

I haven't added mine because they have already been used. Is that wrong and I need to add mine?

Same question for publication years...

I've reread the rules and I see TEAM in bold so I'm going to add mine but should we also be discussing what countries we are reading or do we feel looking at the index is enough? (For example, I'm thinking we all need to read a book from say 2019 to get the bonus. Is that accurate?)

From what I understand each unique setting and publication year can only be claimed once for the whole challenge. I thought I read somewhere that if Ashley seen it claimed more than once she was just going to remove the duplicate when she checked the spreadsheets after the month ends

I think the only team bonuses that we get are for the team read and the treasure hunt

I thought the unique country one was one per team, but I saw otgers had added USA so I did that. I will remove.

Maddielucy(Patti) wrote: "I thought the unique country one was one per team, but I saw otgers had added USA so I did that. I will remove."

Yeah I believe it is one per team

I was looking at the index spreadsheet and it separates them (repeats are in one column and unique are in another) but I'm not sure if that impacts how the points are totaled.

Found this in the Q and A:

Team - Don't forget that you can only have 1 Country and Date per team, per year. If you read 2 books from Scotland, only 1 counts, so please remove duplicates before the end of the month.

So we will need to go back and remove duplicates before the end of the month. (We have a lot of USA)

Thanks for finding that!

Has everyone had a chance to check out the new tasks for next month?
Just wondering if anyone has some ideas so far and if you all want to do another team read?

I can do another team read!

Here is a list of books I'm thinking of reading for next month:
A Language of Dragons-yellow cover
Obsidian Butterfly-ancient or civilization in text
Circe
The Clan of the Cave Bear
Black Sun
I, Medusa
Lore Olympus: Volume One
A Touch of Darkness
Blood of Hercules
The Stardust Thief
A Clash of Kings
Aurora Rising-temporal in text

I just can't decide which ones I want to read but I know most of those books work for most of the tasks

I'm good with another team read!

I would be good with:

Circe
Black Sun
I, Medusa

Also thought maybe:
The Song of Achilles

I'd be okay with The Song of Achilles if everyone wants to do that

I'm also okay with doing more than one team read or doing buddy reads if anyone wants to do those. I do plan on reading I, Medusa because we can get some extra points for it being on a teammate's recommendation list

I do plan to read the same books but most of those are on hold for at least 2 weeks on my Libby.

Another alternative would be instead of a team read do a team thematic treasure hunt based on Mythology, just in case someone would be able to acquire the book.