Nothing But Reading Challenges discussion

Team Typhons




⚔ Tara (Captain)
⚔ Laura (Co-Captain)
⚔ Maria Jo (Co-Captain)
⚔ ChrisP
⚔ Diane
⚔ Lucy
⚔ RachelG.
⚔ Lauri
⚔ Elisabeth
⚔ Melanie
⚔ Heli




Team Spreadsheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/...

Challenge Status Spreadsheet:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/...

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Welcome to Team Typhons! Myself, Laura and Maria Jo will be your semi-fearless leaders for this challenge!

Soon we will have a tracking SS for you all which will be located in this thread.

To get us started, introduce yourselves! Is this your first wheels? What book stood out to you this summer? Where are you in the world?

I've done Wheels quite a few times, this is my 3rd time captaining (I think?!). I am a librarian at an independent school in Southern California and the book(s) that stood out to me the most this summer was Seek the Traitor's Son and London Falling: A Mysterious Death in a Gilded City and a Family's Search for Truth.


Tracking SS:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/...

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Hi Team, I'm excited to start playing. I live in Texas and I think I've done every Wheels so far.

My favorite genres are romance, cozy mystery and urban fantasy. I read the Scythe series by Neal Shusterman recently and was very impressed. I also finished up Dungeon Crawler Carl and can't wait for the next one to be released.

:) First time doing Wheels

I like to read everything, especially if it is for an odd challenge. Lately I've been going down the rabbit hole of fantasy/spicey.

I volunteered for DQs for Queens of the Jungle the backroom group for NBRC. If someone else would rather bite that bullet I would gladly not write them:)

When some people write them it is "What is the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow?"
When I think about writing them "What is your favorite color?"

I would say the books the stood out most over the summer would be.

June: Dungeon Crawler Carl
July: A Court of Wings and Ruin
August: Crooked Kingdom

It is so hard to pick just one.

Hi all-

My wheels shelf- nbrc-wheelsxi

I have done wheels a couple times before but some years my schedule doesn't work out so luckily it does this year! I live near Seattle, Washington and I am a caregiver so I tend to get a chance to read more than some. My favorite genres are cozy mystery, fantasy and Litrpg. I recently read a light novel series that might be my favorite of the year. The first book is A Late-Start Tamer's Laid-Back Life: Volume 1.

I am planning on trying Michael J. Sullivan's books during the challenge. Has anyone read them before?

Hi Team.
I’m in Canberra, Australia. I read all sorts of things in a challenge but my favourite genres are crime, historical and classics. I’m slowly rereading 3 series which I really like and reread every few years.
A Dance to the Music of Time: 1st Movement by Anthony Powell which comprises 12 books in four groups set in England from the 1930’s to 1960’s.
Philip Kerr’s Bernie Gunther series set in Germany and Europe before and after WW2.
The Harry Bosch series by Michael Connelly
At the moment I’m reading Broken Homes fourth in the Rivers of London series which is fun.

I’m retired but trained as a classical clarinetist. I still play in a community orchestra and a wind trio. I’m also an author but have slowed right down with that and am here because I love reading!

Oh and I’m off on a family holiday to Europe for a few weeks mid Sept and probably won’t be able to access the spreadsheet but can post on here when I finish something if that’s okay. I’m planning on taking a bunch of books and leaving them behind as we travel. A friend told me about someone she knew who tore pages out and tossed them as she read when travelling, to lighten the load. I don’t think I could bring myself to do that! 😃

That sounds like it will be a fun trip Elisabeth!

Welcome, everyone! I'm Maria Jo, your novice co-captain for this challenge! I think this is my third or fourth Wheels, although not consecutively. I'm not sure I've been on a team with many of you before, so I'm excited to get to know you through the course of this challenge!

I live in Kansas with my husband and son, who will be 1 in October! I work as a tutor for a family, homeschooling their kids for them, and I love it! My son gets to come with me and play with their youngest, and he enjoys that and I'm glad to have him with me. With the school year starting, my reading time will be much less, but hopefully Wheels will keep me motivated to do as much as I can!

One of my favorite books from the summer was a surprise. I read The Will of the Many only because it was a Towers BOM, and I enjoyed it quite a lot! I'm hoping to read the next book in the trilogy during Wheels.

I have checked out Theft of Swords from the library considering a deep read into the series.

I live in Indiana been here eighteen years, but I will always be an Iowan.

I love me some Bosch, I think I have read around eight books and still need to finish the final season of the TV series.

My favorite series is The Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan. The characters became old friends I will never see again. For 2026 I am rereading the Dresden Series.

Elisabeth wrote: "Oh and I’m off on a family holiday to Europe for a few weeks mid Sept and probably won’t be able to access the spreadsheet but can post on here when I finish something if that’s okay. I’m planning ..."

No problem, Elisabeth! We can definitely add them to the spreadsheet for you. Where all in Europe are you going?

I added A Late-Start Tamer's Laid-Back Life: Volume 1 to my TBR, I am a fan of the genre. I think my goal for 2027 is going to be reading more fantasy works from Asian authors.

Maria Jo wrote: "Elisabeth wrote: "Oh and I’m off on a family holiday to Europe for a few weeks mid Sept and probably won’t be able to access the spreadsheet but can post on here when I finish something if that’s o..."

Land in Frankfurt then to Paris ( daughter-in-law's choice} via Strasbourg ( my choice, my grandma was born there) and Reims to do a champagne tour (daughter's idea and who'd say no?) Then to Geneva to work our way through Switzerland (husband and my choice becase we lived there for a few months back in the 70's). We fly home out of Zurich. We had a family trip to Europe planned in May 2020 but Covid came along. So far so good this time...

RachelG. wrote: "That sounds like it will be a fun trip Elisabeth!"
Hope so! I think we were on a team together once, Rachel. It's ince to meet people again. Lauri and I have just done Tower Teams together.

ChrisP wrote: "I added A Late-Start Tamer's Laid-Back Life: Volume 1 to my TBR, I am a fan of the genre. I think my goal for 2027 is going to be reading more fantasy works from Asian authors."

I hope you enjoy. I like cozy style books and this series is low stakes.

Elisabeth wrote: "RachelG. wrote: "That sounds like it will be a fun trip Elisabeth!"
Hope so! I think we were on a team together once, Rachel. It's ince to meet people again. Lauri and I have just done Tower Teams ..."

Yes, we were on Uno together and I really enjoyed being on a team with you.

Aloha from Hawaii! I’m Lauri and I was born & raised on the island of Oahu. I’ve been married to my husband, Scott, for 37 years. We have one adult son who lives with us.

I think I’ve done almost every Wheel challenge. This is one of my favorites! I’ve never heard of Mr. Sullivan before, but I’ve got Crown Tower on deck & ready to roll.

I will read just about anything, but my favorite genres are mystery, paranormal, historical fiction, chick lit to name a few. I will give any book at least 100 pages before I give up on it. It doesn’t happen too often, but life is too short to read junk. Sometimes it’s just not the right time for a certain book & I’ll set it aside & revisit it later. One just never knows…

I’m looking forward to getting to know you all & going on this adventure with you!

Does anyone have any interest on doing the DQ's for The Frozen River starting 9/2?

I would volunteer but I can't guarantee I will have the library book by than.

I wish I could! I nominated it for the TBR and read it during Towers. It doesn’t happen very often that the BOM is a book I’d actually like to read, not just one I will venture for points.

If you nominated it doesn't that mean you get to do the DQ's automatically?

I really have no clue

Sorry, I nominated it for the TBR list during Towers, not for the BOM.

I have the audio from the library, but no interest in attempting to write coherent questions. If I volunteer, and get picked, would you write them Maria Jo?

Hi everyone! I'm Laura, the other co-captain. I think I've played on teams with many of you and I look forward to reading with all of you!

This is not my first Wheels, but I have a habit of deleting my team challenge shelves after it's over, so I have no idea how many of them I've done. :)

I currently live in North Carolina, but part of my heart (and several of my older/adult children) still lives in California. It is beautiful there in a different way to the new beauty around me.

Favorites from this summer:
Dungeon Crawler Carl. I've made it through book 4, but I needed to take a little break. I plan to finish during Wheels.

Guild Hunter. I finished the last book this summer. I'm so sad to be leaving that world.

Turns of Fate. I really love anything Anne Bishop writes and I'm currently doing another re-read of her Black Jewels series.

The Courting of Bristol Keats duology. So good!

The Jasad Heir - Actually I read the second one this summer but thought I would like the first one.

Yesteryear was a surprise 5 star read this summer.

Spark the Flames - the only disappointment was that I thought it was completed.

And finally, the sci-fi buff in my loves a good military sci-fi. I am loving the Confederation series by Tanya Huff. Valor's Choice

Is anyone familiar with the series that is the theme this time? We do get extra points for reading books in the series, but only one bonus per book in the series. Which is a convoluted way of saying that we only need one reader for the points but whoever wants to read them can, of course.

Laura wrote: "Is anyone familiar with the series that is the theme this time? We do get extra points for reading books in the series, but only one bonus per book in the series. Which is a convoluted way of sayin..."

I was also thinking we may need to know and plan who is reading what so we can maximize gaining points. I would like to try the books and am possibly flexible about which series I start with.

I sent a spreadsheet request for access.

Laura wrote: "I have the audio from the library, but no interest in attempting to write coherent questions. If I volunteer, and get picked, would you write them Maria Jo?"

I can do that! I’d have to look at it again to make sure I didn’t give any spoilers, but I’m sure I can get a copy from the library or Libby!

ChrisP wrote: "I sent a spreadsheet request for access."

Only the captains/co-captains will get access to the official team spreadsheet. The mods have said they are still working on the spreadsheets, but as soon as we get access we can make a copy for our planning spreadsheet.

I don't think the team spreadsheet is linked here yet, so you may have requested access to the challenge status spreadsheet. That one will be viewable for everyone once the challenge starts and then we can compare ourselves to everyone else!

RachelG. wrote: "Laura wrote: "Is anyone familiar with the series that is the theme this time? We do get extra points for reading books in the series, but only one bonus per book in the series. Which is a convolute..."

I didn't even realize there are multiple series. :)

Hi everyone!

I'm from Finland and have done wheels a couple times before. I'm a practical nurse in a group home for the disabled. I work in three shifts, so my work schedule is rather erratic. My favorite genres are mystery, thriller and fantasy. Police procedurals are the best!

My favorite books from this summer are Such Sharp Teeth and Margo's Got Money Troubles

Our first spellout word is on the team spreadsheet. When can we add books?

Hi all - quick update!

The first round is up and our spell out is THRACEWOOD.

For the mini, the 3 Wheel of Fate spins we got are: Age of War, Age of Swords, and Esrahaddon

As soon as I am granted access by the mods to our SS I will add the mini challenges to it AND make our own tracking copy so we can start planning our reading!

Additionally, welcome to all the members who have introduced themselves, excited to have you!

Do we have a list of all the words on the wheel, so we have an idea of what letters might come up?

Diane ~Firefly~ wrote: "Do we have a list of all the words on the wheel, so we have an idea of what letters might come up?"

Here were the round 1 words:

Pontifex
Robin Sullivan
Gwen DeLancy
Avempartha
Zephyron
Mawyndule
Tim Gerard Reynolds
Robin Sullivan
Hintindar
Swamp of Ith
Gilarabrywn
Medford
Thrace Wood

For those (Maria Jo!) who have read The Frozen River. I thought I heard that is has disability representation. Does it? If so it will work for a mini challenge task.

Yes! It definitely does!

Maria Jo wrote: "Yes! It definitely does!"

Great! I put down for the task and I'll fill in the reason when I get there. :)

Our tracking sheet is up and put in my first intro post, but I am including it here as well!

The only open tabs for non captains are the books tab and the BOM, the formulas will move everything over to their respective tabs!

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/...

Thanks Tara! Do we need to request permission for the tracking sheet?

Hi everyone!
Melanie here. I live in the USA (California) as a stay at home mom to my two kids, daughter age 1 and son almost 3.
I've done Wheels a few times but not consecutively.
I'm a pretty moody reader; my favorite genres are fantasy, romance, and mystery/thriller.
I love chatting about books and real life and sharing book recommendations.
Excited to read with all of you!

My shelf: Wheels 2026