The Challenge Factory discussion

Team 3 - Read, Roll, Repeat

Captain: Kirsten
Diane ~Firefly~
Bouchra
Kari
Moondance
Joeera
Michelle



Bonus Points:
Earned: 1
Used: 0

Helpful Links:

Dice Roll: https://www.random.org/dice/ (2 dice on Fridays, US Central Time)
R16 SS Post Your Spot
R16 SS Discussion Thread

Time Zone Converter: https://www.timeanddate.com/worldcloc...

ALTERNATE LIST:
**titles exclude leading articles (a, an, the)

2. Author F
3. Number in the Title (e.g.Third Grave Dead Ahead or Every Fifteen Minutes)
4. Young Adult/New Adult
5. Award Winner (must state which/when)
6. Set in a place you've visited
7. Title G
8. Several authors
9. MC travels by train
10. Author K
11. Cover Item: Hat/Helmet/Other Headwear
12. Set on an island
13. Asia
14. Title L
15. Book with a funeral in it
16. Set in space
17. Published 2021-2026
18. Author T
19. Cover Item: Sky
20. Published 2011-2020
21. Title Y
22. Author R
23. Movie/TV Tie-in
24. Seasonal Theme (i.e Christmas, Halloween etc)
25. Cover Item: Fire
26. Published 2001-2010
27. Title Z
28. Science Fiction
29. Oceania
30. Cover Item: Weapon
31. Author U
32. Four or More Words Title (excluding articles like A, An, The) (e.g. The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet or Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone)
33. Title D
34. Cover Item: Jewelry
35. LGBTQ+
36. Author W
37. Less than 100 ratings
38. Title H
39. South America
40. Author O
41. Three Word Title (excludes articles like A, An, The) (e.g.Behind Closed Doors or Etched in Bone)
42. Cover Item: Sun/Moon
43. Title has a subtitle
44. Cover: Yellow/Gold
45. Set in the 20th century
46. Title N
47. Africa
48. Author P
49. Cover: Orange
50. New to You Author
51. Originally published in a language other than English
52. Cover Item: Building
53. Published before 1950
54. Title I
55. Author uses a pseudonym
56. Cover: Brown
57. One Word Title (excluding articles like A, An, The) (e.g. The Witness or Divergent)
58. Book to Movie/TV (must state how book qualifies: listopia, imdb, precis)
59. North America
60. Re-Read
61. Cover Item: Food/Drink
62. Fantasy
63. Set in the future
64. Cover Item: Water
65. Cover: Black
66. Romance
67. Cover: Blue
68. History/Historical Fiction
69. Author E
70. Set anytime before 1600
71. Cover Item: Flower
72. Debut Novel or Debut Author
73. Title V
74. Author uses their middle name/initial (e.g. Robert J. Sawyer, Rita Mae Brown)
75. Cover Item: Two or more people
76. Europe
77. Cover Item: Money or other form of payment
78. Published 1950-2000
79. Author C
80. Set in a Fictional Location/Universe
81. Cover Item: Hands/Arms/Feet/Legs (no other body parts visible)
82. Title Q
83. Cover: Purple
84. Mystery/Thriller
85. MC is a child
86. Book that a teammate rated 5 stars
87. Cover: Red
88. Cover Item: One person
89. Author B
90. Nonfiction
91. Cover: White
92. Cover Item: Mode of Transportation
93. Two Word Title (excluding articles like A, An, The) (e.g. Deadly Silence, The Hunger Games)
94. GR average rating <3.7
95. Book with a wedding in it
96. Cover Item: Animal
97. GR average rating >4.0
98. Set anytime between 1600-1900
99. Title M
100. Cover: Grey/Silver
101. Author S
102. School/College/University setting
103. MC travels by boat/ship
104. Title J
105. MC is 60+
106. Cover Item: Book
107. MC has a pet
108. Cover: Green
109. Author A
110. MC travels by airplane
111. Cover: Pink
112. Title F

A couple of things to keep in mind:

✸ Communication is key. Please make sure to check in regularly with your team.

✸ Let your team know if it looks like you won't get your review posted by Thursday, 11:59pm. You do have all of Friday to submit your review, but it can be intensely frustrating for your captain if they don't know when or if they can expect your review before the deadline.

✸ If you know beforehand that you won't be able to read and review a book during a certain week, you can request a pre-arranged absence from me, either by posting the request in the discussion thread or by sending me a pm. The request has to be submitted before the team rolls for the week in question, can only be approved by me as the mod in charge of running the game, and has to state a reason for the absence. (Reasons for pre-arranged absences can include e.g. going on vacation or work trips, planned hospital stays, exam period, etc.)

✸ If you do not have a pre-arranged absence and won't be able to finish your book in time for an unforeseen reason, please let your team know as soon as possible. If the team has earned the free pass, it can be used to cover the missing review. Without a free pass, the team has to sit out the next roll.

✸ We all know that real life gets in the way sometimes, be it through family emergencies, work emergencies, natural disasters, technical problems making it impossible to get online, or in other ways. That being said, please do keep in mind that this is a team challenge and your team relies on you to do your part unless an emergency occurs.

✸ If you find that the pressure of keeping up with the pace of the game gets too much for you or you wish to stop playing for any other reason, you can drop out of the challenge at any time. In that case, please let your team captain and/or me know that you wish to drop out rather than just disappearing without a word so your team won't be penalized when you fail to turn in your review. Thank you!


Captain's Handbook

✸ The team's captain is its chief organizer. This includes rolling the dice, posting the team's new spot to the team thread and the Post Your Spot thread, collecting links to team members' review posts in a single post to be linked in the Post Your Spot thread, doublechecking that books and review posts comply with requirements, reminding team members to post their reviews in time if necessary, etc.

✸ The captain may delegate some tasks, such as rolling and posting the new spot to the team thread, to another team member if they so choose. (Either a designated roller who fulfills this role every week, or whichever team member is online first once rolling is possible.) Collecting reviews into a single post and posting to the Post Your Spot thread should always be handled by the captain.

✸ Instead of having everything handled by a single team captain, teams can also choose two co-captains to handle the workload.

✸ Selection posts are not strictly required by the game's rules and I won't be checking for them. It's up to the team captain to decide whether they want them.

✸ If the team captain requests a pre-arranged absence, it's their responsibility to arrange for another team member to step in as temporary captain.

✸ The team captain is my primary point of contact for the team and should allow receiving private messages.

Hi
Everyone it's nice to meet u all i think i some of us have been in a team before. This is going to be fun

Here are some team name suggestions

The sexy book lovers
The bookest gramers
From here to infinite ( or eternity )
THE Honorable renegades
Alhpa heros rock

Hello, everyone!! I’m terrible at team names. I’ll think about it this morning and get back with you. I look forward to playing with you all.

Hi team, looking forward to playing!

Hello, checking in!

Hi! I'm here!

I always like alliterative names:

Super Series Sisters
Roll, Read, Repeat

With this starting in two days, we probably need a captain (Not it), team name and figure out if anyone wants to do the bonus points.

From the team names mentioned, Roll, Read, Repeat gets my vote

I like Roll, Read, Repeat too. Would rather not be captain as I've never played before.

I will be the captain, but when I've played before, whoever is the last person to post (or whoever is online and sees it) usually rolls and posts the number.

If we can agree to share this load (it just makes things easier for everyone, I think, and I am busy at work during most days), then I am happy to captain.

Sounds good to me, thanks Kirsten 👍

I like Read, Roll, Repeat as well. Thanks for offering to be the captain Kirsten.

We can only roll on Fridays, right?

Yes, Friday is rolling day, with the first roll after midnight (central time) tonight.
Though generally, as long as all reviews are in on time, it's fine with me if you only get around to rolling on Saturday. The only "penalty" for rolling late is that you have less time to finish your books for the next deadline.

Denise wrote: "Yes, Friday is rolling day, with the first roll after midnight (central time) tonight.
Though generally, as long as all reviews are in on time, it's fine with me if you only get around to rolling o..."

Thanks, Denise!

Hello, Team!

I've let Denise know about our name and my decision to captain. As Kari and Denise point out above, our first roll is tonight at midnight CDT, about 9 hours from now. If you are going to be up, can you roll for us? Otherwise, I will get to it as soon as I can tomorrow morning. I will post the weekly roll below, whether I roll or I find it in the thread.

Please plan to check in with the group AT LEAST once a week (your completion post can be your check in, but it's more fun if you stop by to say hi).

I've got a template below for filling in the completion posts. I don't want to require all y'all (a decade in Texas made that a permanent part of my vocabulary) to do selection posts, but it's really helpful to post your completion post (without the date completed, etc) when you choose your book and then fill it in when you finish so I can keep track of who is still reading and what.

For cover colors, Denise explains that we should use our own judgement, check with tineye (https://labs.tineye.com/color/), and ask each other and by extension Denise in the thread if we're in doubt. See more here: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/....

For the bonuses, each can only be used once by the team. We can earn bonuses by

✸ Reading three or more books in a series.
✸ Reading a book with >500 pages.
✸ Starting and finishing a series of at least 4 books (with no re-reads).
✸ Reading a book that fits both the series number and the alternate for the spot you are on
✸ Never reading a book from the alternate list.
✸ Never reading a book from the series number list.

There's a line in the template for reporting your bonus, and I'll track which are still available in a separate post. If you plan on never reading from one or the other list, let the team know. We can only do these bonuses once. More information on bonuses is here: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/....

Let's have fun! I'm always way less interested in winning than I am in reading good books and chatting about them with friends.

Roll Record

https://www.random.org/dice/

(view spoiler)[
Week 1:
Roll: 4 + 6
Spot: 10
(hide spoiler)]

Week 2:
Roll: 3+4=7
Spot: 17

(view spoiler)[
Week 3:
Roll:
Spot:
(hide spoiler)]

Bonus Tracking

Each point can only be earned once per team.

✸ One point can be earned for reading three or more books in a series. (Jooera)
✸ One point can be earned for reading a book with >500 pages. (Jooera)
✸ One point can be earned for starting and finishing a series. There must be at least 4 books in that series. Series + spin-off totalling ≥4 books also counts. For series with >9 books, point will be awarded for reading books 1-9. For still ongoing series, all books published to date (OR up to #9 in longer series) must be read.~ No re-reads on this one. (Michelle)
✸ 2 in 1: One point can be earned for reading a book that fits both the series number and the alternate for the spot you are on. (Kirsten)
✸ One point can be earned for never picking a book from the alternate list. This point is awarded when your team rolls past 90. (Diane, Moondance)
✸ One point can be earned for always picking a book from the alternate list. This point is awarded when your team rolls past 90. (Kirsten)

Completion Post Template

Week:
Spot or Alternate Task:
Book:
Author:
Completion Date:
Fits:
Rating:
Review:
Bonus:

reserve

Perfect, thanks again Kirsten!
Midnight (central time) is 7am for me, of the next day, I'm in Europe. I'll check when I wake up and can roll if no one has done it, hopefully we have a night owl among us :P

Sounds terrific, Kari, and thanks for that. I may or may not be up--I'm not a consistent sleeper.

Thanks for taking on being captain Kristen!

Kirsten wrote: "Bonus Tracking

Each point can only be earned once per team.

✸ One point can be earned for reading three or more books in a series.
✸ One point can be earned for reading a book with >500 pages.
✸ ..."

For some of these it is a lot easier if people claim what they plan to do at the beginning. Especially the start and finish a series of 4 or more books and only read from the alternative list.

I personally plan to never read from alternative list, but that usually ends up being the same for most.

Diane, thanks for this--you are absolutely right. This is my first time captaining, and I was trying to remember how things had worked in the past.

So, team --

If you plan to
✸ read three or more books in a series
✸ start and finish a series
✸ never read from the alternate list
✸ never read from the series list

can you let us all know with or before your first completion post?

Thanks so much, and I really do appreciate the help making sure we're getting all our bases covered.

Week 1
Spot or Alternate Task: 10. Author K and standalone
Book: The Library at Hellebore
Author:Cassandra Khaw
Completion Date: 22 Jan
Fits:The Library at Hellebore
Rating:****
Review:
Monstrous professors
suck life from learning. But here,
ruthless girl bites back.

Really terrific non-linear horror, without too much gore (for me--ymmv). I think Khaw is a terrific writer, and this confusing but believable parable about the evils academic gatekeeping and idea theft is no exception. As a professor, I loved it and hated it in equal measures.
Bonus: ✸ Reading a book that fits both the series number and the alternate for the spot you are on

Yeay great roll!

Looking for one of these if I understand correctly:
✸ Standalone books can be used for a 1 or a 0
✸ First in a series can be used for a 1
✸ Author K

Yes, and #10 in a series works as well!

Denise wrote: "Yes, and #10 in a series works as well!"

That's right, thanks :)

Thanks for clarifying! We’re off!

Week: 1
Completion
Spot or Alternate Task: 10


Book: Gravity
Author: Tal Bauer
Completion Date: 1/17
Fits: Standalone
Rating: 4 stars
Review: This is a hockey mm romance set mostly in Canada. My main problem with this book was all the French language expressions thrown in constantly, it was annoying and distracting. There was some insta-love going on, especially on Bryce’s part. It was very sweet though, watching them hang out with their teammates and falling in love. I absolutely loved the hockey team and how they supported each other. Bryce’s injury was horrifying, and I’m glad he recovered at the end.
Bonus: N/A

Week: 1
Spot or Alternate Task: 10
Book: Double Wide
Author: Gretchen Archer
Completion Date: 1/19/26
Fits: Davis Way Crime Caper #10
Rating: 4 stars
Review: Davis, Fantasy and a mystery woman (Mango) are kidnapped in a doublewide motorhome and dropped on a deserted island. Mango seems to be involved but will only spout trivia facts (she would have driven me crazy). (view spoiler)[Turns out there was a deserted casino on the island that might be full of gold and Mango and the shadow boss wanted Davis and Fantasy to find (hide spoiler)]

It was interesting as the story was told entirely through letters, articles and posts.

Bonus: n/a

I do plan to not use alternative list for this challenge

Week 1
Spot: 10
Book: The Body in the Bookstore
Author: Ellie Alexander
Completion Date: 01.17.26
How it fits: Book 1 in Secret Bookcase Mystery
Rating: 4 stars
Review:

When your best friend is murdered, it can be kind of hard to get over.

Annie Murray escaped to Redwood Grove, California after her best friend was murdered just before graduation. They were both criminology majors and their last project was to look at an actual cold case. Annie leaves this life behind and works in a specialty bookstore. Independent booksellers are struggling. Annie comes up with an idea to host a mystery-themed festival for the whole town. The response is great until a former classmate ends up dead in the bookstore.

I would love to visit a bookstore like the Secret Bookcase. The setting sounds lovely in an old manor with a true hidden room behind a bookcase. The author notes that author events are not well attended which is what creates the festival. Personally, I attend every author event I can. I love meeting the people behind my favorite books.

The mystery is well done with lots of twists and turns. I suspected pretty much everyone along with Annie. Several I would have been very sad to see as the actual culprit.

It was interesting that Annie's former criminology professor is now a detective in this small town in Northern California. I intrigued about where this will lead us.

The characters are believable and relatable. I feel like I could become friends with several of them. The victim was generally disliked by everyone for her obnoxious behavior so there were plenty of suspects with viable reasons to murder her.

I alternated between reading and listening to the book. The narrator did a good job with creating the different characters. I missed a few clues while listening and referred back to the book to read it myself.

There was just enough mystery and suspense to keep me reading/listening. The reveal was a little surprising until I went back and picked up a few clues.

This is one of my favorite authors and I can't wait to read more in this delightful series.

Week 1 ( Friday )

Nancy Holder

Space:10
How it fits ( #1st book in the Crusade series )
Read:( Jan 20-21 )
Rated:( 4 stars )
Pages:: ( 470 )


Review:

I really enjoyed this plot line, as well as the fast pased action scene which were done amazingly, i loved all the thrills and horror and also the descriptive scenses are very realistic like the sawer scene in Nwe Orleans

I could do 2 bonus points

1) read three or more in a series
This has only 3 books in the series
2) 500 pages the 2nd book has 544 pages

I hope to use all series books.

Completion Post

Week 1: Spot 10

Completion

Thanks, Team -- You only need to post once a week about your books, though you're always welcome to post twice (thanks, Moondance!). I'll be doing a single wrap-up post for all our completions to turn in, too.

It looks like both Diane and Moondance are going for the series only list (if both of you do that, I'll only use one, so let us all know if either of you decide to use an alternate book). Jooera is covering 3 in a series and 500+ (though if someone reads a 500+ before Jooera, I'll probably use that). And I am going to try to read alternates only, though if someone else goes for that it will be great to have a backup.

I'll look for something that fits '2 in 1: One point can be earned for reading a book that fits both the series number and the alternate for the spot you are on.' Not sure how hard that could be, depending on where we land. I'll definitely look, but if someone gets to it first that's ok too :P

Are we getting a replacement player for Bouchra?

Kari wrote: "Are we getting a replacement player for Bouchra?"
Ooh, good question--I have asked for one. I'll follow up.

Also, thanks, Kari for keeping an eye out for "2 in 1." If you're not going for no alternates or no series, please do see if you can make this work.

Kari wrote: "Are we getting a replacement player for Bouchra?"

If she hasn't turned up by Friday when your first set of reviews is due, she'll officially count as a no-show and I'll try to get you a back-up player. We do unfortunately have a few players still missing, so I'll have to see if we have enough back-up players to go around.

Ok, thank you!

Kirsten wrote: "Thanks, Team -- You only need to post once a week about your books, though you're always welcome to post twice (thanks, Moondance!). I'll be doing a single wrap-up post for all our completions to t..."

Sorry! I have OCD and try to make sure that I have a completion post.

I have adhd! Yay neurodivergence! You do what you need to do—I just didn’t want anyone to do extra work.

How’s everyone doing? Did you read anything good this week? I’m nearly done with my book, The Library at Hellebore, and it’s amazing. Assuming Bouchra doesn’t show up(?), that leaves just Jooera and me to finish. Good work!