Coffee & Books discussion

Team Four! This is your main hub to track, log, discuss, and all of that fun stuff during the Winter Games!

The duration of the game is from November 19th, 2018 to March 4th, 2019

You can find the linked info page here!

You can find the linked obstacle page here!


* All team members, please SAVE your log spot so it is up at the top and is easier for you to find and update! *


Your Team Leader is: Sheena (m.39)

And the team!

Karen (m.28)
Samantha (m.14)
Sara (m.25)
Sepideh (m.17)
Manuel (m.37)
Kelly (m.48)
Valerie (m.33)
Place holder – for even teams!

TEAM ANNOUNCEMENTS!! (Mar 2019)

Great job reading everyone!! hope you had fun!!

Final Totals:

Books: 184
Pages: 71 699
Points: 428
Team Obstacle Points: 0
Total Points: 428

Obstacles Complete:


TEAM READ
The Book Thief

COFFEE & BOOKS ARCHIVE
The Forgotten Garden

--------------------------------------------------------------

TEAM TOTALS** (Updated Dec 16)



Team Totals Spreadsheet

** totals are adjusted with average team reads x 2 to account for 2 missing players. (7 readers + 2 averages = 9 total readers)

Team Obstacles Tracker

- Seriously, series?
1. The first book of a series:
✔ Karen - Wizard of Oz
✔ Samantha
✔ Sara
Manuel
✔ Kelly
✔ Valerie
✔ Sheena - Illuminae (book #1)


2. Each member must finish a saga, trilogy, etc.:
✔ Karen
✔ Samantha
✔ Sara
Manuel
✔ Kelly - Illuminae Files
Valerie
✔ Sheena - Harry Potter


- Genre Based: 3/7
1. A book from a genre you do not normally read from and CANNOT be a Fiction:
Karen
✔ Samantha - Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood, and the Prison of Belief
✔ Sara
Manuel
Kelly
✔ Valerie - Born a Crime: Stories From a South African Childhood (book #1)
✔ Sheena - Eligible (book #4)


2. Read a Self-Help, or Personal Growth book:
✔ Karen - One great way to write stories
Samantha
✔ Sara
Sepideh
Manuel
Kelly
✔ Valerie - Girl Wash Your Face (book 5)



3. Read a comic book or graphic novel:
Karen
✔ Samantha - Marvels
✔ Sara
Sepideh
Manuel
Kelly
Valerie



- Buddy System
1. Read a book recommended by another person participating in the games:
Karen (wide variety, not horror/romance)
Samantha (likes fantasy reads in winter)
✔ Sara (nearly everything, generally exclude sci-fi, fantasy, romance)
Sepideh
Manuel (reads everything)
Kelly
Valerie (mostly fantasy)



2. Team Read! Read a book as a group: The Book Thief
✔ Karen
✔ Samantha
✔ Sara
Manuel
Kelly
Valerie
✔ Sheena

- C&B Related
1. Read a book where the title starts with a letter in COFFEE AND BOOKS:
✔ Karen
✔ Samantha - Night Film (book 17)
✔ Sara
Manuel
✔ Kelly
✔ Valerie
✔ Sheena - Obsidio (book #3)


2. Each member must read a book as a group (same book!) from Coffee & Books archived BOTM's: The Forgotten Garden
Karen
Samantha
✔ Sara
Manuel
Kelly
Valerie

Sheena's Log

Books: 33
Pages: 14567
Points: 79


Book Log
1. Illuminae
Pages: 602
Points: 2 x 3 = 6
Obstacle: Seriously Series #1

2. Gemina
Pages: 659
Points: 2

3. Obsidio
Pages: 615
Points: 2 x 3 =6
Obstacle: C&B #1 - Starts with O in Coffee & Books

4. Eligible
Pages: 492
Points: 1 x 3
Obstacle: Genre Based #1 - A genre I don't typically read (romance & chick lit)

5. Winter Street
Pages: 249
Points: 1

6. Sea of Shadows
Pages: 406
Points: 1

7. Daughter of the Blood
Pages: 412
Points: 1

8. Empire of Night
Pages: 432
Points: 1

9. The Fault in Our Stars
Pages: 313
Points: 1

10 . Forest of Ruin
Pages: 448
Points: 1

11. The Color of Magic
Pages: 228
Points: 1

12. The Light Fantastic
Pages: 241
Points: 1

13. Equal Rites
Pages: 228
Points: 1

14. The Catcher in the Rye
Pages: 227
Points: 1

15: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
Pages: 320
Points: 1 x 3 series

16: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
Pages: 341
Points: 1 x 3 series

17: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Pages: 341
Points: 1 x 3 series

18: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Pages: 734
Points: 2 x 3 series

19: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Pages: 870
Points: 2 x 3 series

20: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Pages: 652
Points: 2 x 3 series

21: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
Pages: 759
Points: 2 x 6

22: Harry Potter and the Cursed Child: Parts One and Two
Pages: 343
Points: 1 x 3

23: The Book Thief
Pages: 552
Points: 2 x 3

24: Frostblood
Pages: 376
Points: 1

25: Fireblood
Pages: 416
Points: 1

26: Nightblood
Pages: 440
Points: 1

27: Dreamer's Pool
Pages: 434
Points: 1


28: Tower of Thorns
Pages: 415
Points: 1

29: Den of Wolves
Pages: 435
Points: 1

30: Hunter
Pages: 374
Points: 1

31: Elite
Pages: 368
Points: 1

32: Apex
Pages: 304
Points: 1

33: The Final Empire
Pages: 541
Points: 2

****************************
SHEENA'S OBSTACLE PLANS
Seriously, series?
✔ 1. The first book of a series: Illuminae
2. Each member must finish a saga, trilogy, etc.:
ideas

Genre Based
✔ 1. A book from a genre you do not normally read from and CANNOT be a Fiction:
2. Read a Self-Help, or Personal Growth book:
3. Read a comic book or graphic novel:

Buddy System
1. Read a book recommended by another person participating in the games: (recommended by Manuel)

2. Team Read! Read a book as a group:

C&B Related
✔ 1. Read a book where the title starts with a letter in COFFEE AND BOOKS:
2. Each member must read a book as a group (same book!) from Coffee & Books archived BOTM's:

Valerie's Log

Books 9
Pages 2928
Points 11
Obstacle Points

Book Log:

1.Name of Book: Born a Crime
Pages: 304
Obstacle Points: 3 Autobiography- genre don't normally read.

2. Strange the Dreamer (book 1 of Strange the Dreamer-- 2 books total)
Pages: 536

3-Fahrenheit 451
Pages 194
Point 1

4-Girl Wash Your Face
Pages 240
Points 1
*Self help book

5-Alex & Eliza (book 1 Alex and Eliza)
Pages 368
Points 1

6-Becoming
Pages 426
Points 1
**Michelle Obama's book

7-Storm Siren (Book 1 Storm Siren)
Pages 333 Pages
Points 1

8-Undead and Unwed (Undead series bk 1)
Pages 255
Points 1

9-Undead and Unemployed (book 2)
Pages 272
Points 1

Samantha's Log

*****LOG COMPLETE*****
Books: 27
Pages: 11648
Points: 73

**************************************************

Obstacles completed:
~A book from a genre you do not normally read from: Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood, and the Prison of Belief
~Read a comic book or graphic novel: The Marvels
~The first book of a series: Nevermoor: The Trials of Morrigan Crow
~Team read: The Book Thief
~title starts with a letter in COFFEE AND BOOKS: Night Film
~read 3+ books in a series: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

**************************************************

Book Log
1. Name of book: Sadie
Pages: 311
Points: 1
Obstacle: --

2. Name of Book: Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood, and the Prison of Belief
Pages: 538
Points: 6
Obstacle: A book from a genre you do not normally read from

3. Name of Book: Ivy Aberdeen's Letter to the World
Pages: 320
Points: 1
Obstacle: --

4. Name of Book: Next Year in Havana
Pages: 361
Points: 1
Obstacle: --

5. Name of Book: The Marvels
Pages: 665
Points: 6
Obstacle: Read a comic book or graphic novel

6. Name of Book: Becoming
Pages: 426
Points: 1
Obstacle: --

7. Name of Book: Nevermoor: The Trials of Morrigan Crow
Pages: 513
Points: 6
Obstacle: The first book of a series

8. Name of Book: The Book Thief
Pages: 592
Points: 6
Obstacle: Team read

9. Name of Book: The Hammer of Thor
Pages: 459
Points: 1
Obstacle: --

10. Name of Book: The Ship of the Dead
Pages: 410
Points: 1
Obstacle: --

11. Name of Book: This Is Kind of an Epic Love Story
Pages: 304
Points: 1
Obstacle: --

12. Name of Book: 1984
Pages: 237
Points: 1
Obstacle: --

13. Name of Book: Black Hammer, Vol. 1: Secret Origins
Pages: 184
Points: 1
Obstacle: --

14. Name of Book: Black Hammer, Vol. 2: The Event
Pages: 152
Points: 1
Obstacle: --

15. Name of Book: Deadly Class, Vol. 1: Reagan Youth
Pages: 160
Points: 1
Obstacle: --

16. Name of Book: Darius the Great Is Not Okay
Pages: 316
Points: 1
Obstacle: --

17. Name of Book: Night Film
Pages: 592
Points: 6
Obstacle: title starts with a letter in COFFEE AND BOOKS

18. Name of Book: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Pages: 734
Points: 6
Obstacle: read 3+ books in a series

19. Name of Book: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Pages: 870
Points: 6
Obstacle: read 3+ books in a series

20. Name of Book: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Pages: 652
Points: 6
Obstacle: read 3+ books in a series

21. Name of Book: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
Pages: 759
Points: 6
Obstacle: read 3+ books in a series

22. Name of Book: My Squirrel Days
Pages: 240
Points: 1
Obstacle: --

23. Name of Book: A Visit from the Goon Squad
Pages: 341
Points: 1
Obstacle: --

24. Name of Book: Wonderstruck
Pages: 640
Points: 2
Obstacle: --

25. Name of Book: My True Love Gave to Me: Twelve Holiday Stories
Pages: 355
Points: 1
Obstacle: --

26. Name of Book: Veronika Decides to Die
Pages: 191
Points: 1
Obstacle: --

27. Name of Book: Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
Pages: 326
Points: 1
Obstacle: --

Karen's Log:

Books: 16
Pages: 5211
Total Points: 32
Obstacle Points: 14

Book Log:
Name of Book:
Pages:
Points:
Obstacle:

The Map That Changed the World - done
Pages: 352
Points 1

The Hate U Give - done
Pages: 444
Points: 1

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz - done
Pages: 154
Obstacle: 1st of series
Points: 3

Strawberry Girl - done
Pages: 208
Points: 1

Unsheltered - done
Pages: 480
Points: 1

Disappearing Spoon: - done
Pages: 394
Points: 1

One Great Way to Write Short Stories
Pages: 200
Obstacle: Self Help
Points:

A Hiss Before Dying - done
Pages: 359
Points: 1

Don't Know Much About Anything - done
Pages: 320
Points: 1

The Book Thief - done
Pages: 552
Obstacle: Team Read
Points: 6

The Battling Prophet - done
Pages: 226
Obstacle: series book
Points: 3

The New Shoe - done
Pages: 189
Obstacle: series book
Points: 3

Now You See Her - done
Pages: 642
Points: 2

Night Witches - done
Pages: 224
Obstacle: Letter in Coffee and books
Points: 3

The Sands of Windee - done
Pages: 217
Obstacle: series book
Points: 3

Everything, Everything - done
Pages: 307
Points: 1

Captain John Smith by E. H. Emerson - done
Pages: 143
Points: 1
There is a problem with this book. It is not listed on GR. I finally found it on Amazon, but haven't added it to GR yet. I got the number of pages from the book.

Sara’s Log: COMPLETE

Books: 28
Pages: 10,722
Points: 79

*******************************************************************

Obstacles completed:
- Seriously Series: Inkheart
- Trilogy: Illuminae, Obsidio, Gemina
- Don't normally read: Sci-Fi: Ready Player One
- Self help: The Gut Health Protocol: A Natural Approach To Healing SIBO, Intestinal Candida, GERD, Gastritis, and other Gut Health Issues
- Graphic novel: The Invention of Hugo Cabret
- Recommended:
- Team Read: The Book Thief
- C&B related: (several of mine would count, but want to read a 6 pointer): Crazy Rich Asians
- BOTM archived: The Forgotten Garden

*******************************************************************

Book: The Dinner by Herman Koch
Pages: 292
Points: 1
Obstacle:

Book: Wish by Barbara O'Connor
Pages: 227
Points: 1
Obstacle:

Book: The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
Pages: 550
Points: 6
Obstacle: Team read

Book: Emma-Jean Lazarus Fell Out of a Tree by Lauren Tarshis
Pages: 199
Points: 1

Book: Love That Dog by Sharon Creech
Pages: 119
Points: 1

Book: Hate That Cat by Sharon Creech
Pages: 160
Points: 1

Book: Project Mulberry by Linda Sue Park
Pages: 259
Points: 1

Book: The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan
Pages: 375
Points: 1

Book: It's Ok That You're Not Ok: Meeting Grief and Loss in a Culture That Doesn't Understand by Megan Devine
Pages: 257
Points: 1

Book: Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
Pages: 384
Points: 1

Book: Illuminae by Amie Kaufman
Pages: 602
Points: 6
Obstacle: trilogy

Book: Gemina by Amie Kaufman
Pages: 659
Points: 6
Obstacle: trilogy

Book: Obsidio
Pages: 628
Points: 6
Obstacle: trilogy

Book: Ghost by Jason Reynolds
Pages: 192
Points: 1

Book: Nine Perfect Strangers
Pages: 453
Points: 1

Book: Bitter Orange by Claire Fuller
Pages: 320
Points: 1

Book: The Incendiaries by R.O. Kwon
Pages: 214
Points: 1

Book: Sometimes I Lie by Alice Feeney
Pages: 387
Points: 1

Book: The Chalk Man by C.J. Tudor
Pages: 280
Points: 1

Book: Forever, or a Long, Long Time by Caela Carter
Pages: 320
Points: 1

Book: The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton
Pages: 648
Points: 6
Obstacle: team archived read

Book: The Last Days of Jack Sparks by Jason Arnopp
Pages: 336
Points: 1

Book: The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick
Pages: 525
Points: 6
Obstacle: graphic novel

Book: Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
Pages: 581
Points: 6
Obstacle: Don't normally read: science fiction

Book: Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan
Pages: 546
Points: 6
Obstacle: Title in Coffee and Books

Book: The Homework Machine by Dan Gutman
Pages: 146
Points: 1

Book: The Gut Health Protocol: A Natural Approach To Healing SIBO, Intestinal Candida, GERD, Gastritis, and other Gut Health Issues by John G. Herron
Pages: 506
Points: 6
Obstacle: self-help

Book: Inkheart by Cornelia Funke
Pages: 560
Points: 6
Obstacle: seriously, series

Kelly's Log

Books: 29
Pages: 10365
Points: 50
Obstacles completed:
+Genre Based - Stripped
+First in a Series - My Brilliant Friend
+Complete Series - Illuminae, Gemina, Obsidio
+Starts w/COFFEE & BOOKS - Crosstalk

Book Log
1. The Power, 341 pg, 1 point
2. Stripped, 304 pg, 1 point x 3 for genre rarely read - ROMANCE
3. Fahrenheit 451, 194 pg, 1 point
4. The Incendiaries, 214 pg, 1 point
5. The Female Persuasion, 454 pg, 1 point
6. Illuminae, 602 pg, 2 points x 3 - SERIES
7. My Brilliant Friend, 331 pg, 1 point x 3 - FIRST IN A SERIES
8. Everything is Horrible and Wonderful: A Tragicomic Memoir of Genius, Heroin, Love and Loss, 288 pg, 1 point
9. Crosstalk, 480 pg, 1 point x 3 - COFFEE & BOOKS
10. Modern Lovers, 353 pg, 1 point
11. The Story of a New Name, 471 pg, 1 point
12. Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay, 418 pg, 1 point
13. Gemina, 659 pg, 2 point x 3 - SERIES
14. The Story of the Lost Child, 480 pg, 1 point
15. I Can't Date Jesus: Love, Sex, Family, Race, and Other Reasons I've Put My Faith in Beyoncé, 257 pg, 1 point
16. Landline, 310 pg, 1 point
17. Love, Sincerely, Yours, 273 pg, 1 point
18. Obsidio, 628 pg, 2 point x 3 - SERIES
19. That Guy, 372 pg, 1 point
20. The Mothers, 288 pg, 1 point
21. Dance Dance Dance, 393 pg, 1 point
22. American War, 333 pg, 1 point
23. Giovanni's Room, 159 pg, 1 point
24. The Raven Boys, 409 pg, 1 point
25. The Twelve Lives of Samuel Hawley, 376 pg, 1 point
26. Give Us the Ballot: The Modern Struggle for Voting Rights in America, 384 pg, 1 point
27. The Association of Small Bombs, 288 pg, 1 point
28. Heartbreaker, 261 pg, 1 point
29. The Great Believers, 4212 pg, 1 point

I am so sorry! I totally forgot about this.

Here's my log:

Manuel's Log

Books:
Pages:
Points:
Obstacle Points:

Book Log:
Name of Book:
Pages:
Points:
Obstacle:

OK Team, Let's do this!! :D

We're only waiting for Sepideh to check in ... I'll message her again and just hyperlink to her log.

Let's open up the comments .. start with introducing yourself and tell us a bit about you, then we'll get to planning a group read or two?

I’m Sheena from London Canada. I married with two teenagers and a crazy Jack Russel TerrierX. I’m a full time bookkeeper, part time Race Director for an annual road race running event, active volunteer in my community but still seem to spend the vast majority of my time stopping my dog from ripping stuffing out of the couch and driving my kids around for one thing or another (volleyball, rock climbing, piano and mall shopping are high on their lists : ) )

I love all books. I read mostly fantasy and sci-fi these days but am open to reading almost anything from any genre. Except poetry – I’ve tried, I really have but I just don’t love it.

I’ve been a leader in some of the previous games and the most important thing I want you all to remember is we’re doing this for FUN! And to win. But mostly for FUN! Some of us will have 30 or more books by the end of the challenge, and some will have 5. Every single book counts! Sometimes life get’s in the way of reading and that’s never anything you need to apologize for. I’ve seen some teams and teammates get stressed out about not reading enough, and then stop checking in because they feel guilty. I promise you all we all understand – don’t hesitate to pop into our thread and share your struggles to find time to sit down with a book.

Only 9 more days till we start logging books .... Go Team 4!!

Hey everyone :)

I'm Manuel, 25, I live in Austria and I've always loved books and reading. I'm a student of English and American studies, with a minor in French; I live with my cat, and well... that's about it about me.

Hi Team,
We have 3 things to do to get ready for the race: most of the book picks for the obstacles can be different from reader to reader but there are two obstacle that specify the whole group must read the same book. Please post your suggestions for ...
1. A team name
2. A group read (any book)*
3. A Coffee and Books book (from here https://www.goodreads.com/group/books... )* ***EDITED TO ADD: Must be from 2017 or earlier (no books from this years reads are eligible)

*It's fine if not everyone ends up reading the books we chose but we still want to pick them so that anyone wishing to can score individual bonus points can complete the the obstacle.

hey team!

i'm samantha and i live in minnesota in the us. i'm an ecommerce administrator for a small business and a bit of a homebody outside of work. i read across all genres really, but for some reason lean more towards fantasy in the winter. i'm excited to get started!

1
I'm the worst at name picking, so hopefully someone else can come up with a great one. Here are some brainstorming ideas to start with and build on (from google :D )

Team Afterthoughts (maybe work the number four in somehow ... a-4-thoughts, doesn't quite work)

4 Book's Sake

All 4 Books

Just one more chapter ...

2 - I'm super open to anything ... something holiday/winter related might be fun?
Circe - Maneul recently read this
Evergreen Tidings from the Baumgartners
Yule Log Murder Book 25 in a series, not clear if it's stand-alone.
Winter Street
or maybe one of the December C& B reads?

3
Again, I'm open to anything .. I picked a few from the lists in a few different genre but don't feel really strongly about any in particular.

Eligible
Commonwealth
Illuminae
The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry
Brave New World
In the Woods

I can't think of a "usually don't read category" book as I read pretty much everything - biographies, also started a poetry book recently.... can't think of anything else that's not fiction.

Circe is an amazing book, recently read it! Yule logs sounds interesting too, but seems to be a part of a series (and 25 books is a lot)

Open to everything though :)

Hey Manuel ... Just to clarify the "not fiction" book. It's a bit confusing because it can be fiction, but not JUST fiction, it must have another sub-genre listed too. When looking up books that fit, just check the genre to the top right and look for anything that includes something that is not a usual read (i.e contemporary, classic, mystery, ya, romance, children's, fantasy, etc).

Clear as mud? LOL
Rachel explains it here too ... https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

And ... as for Circe, I think I'll take that as a recommendation for my Buddy System Obstacle :D

Good catch on the series ... I totally missed that

team name idea needing 4 reading I know it might not make sense but it's the first thing that popped I to my head ...feel free o
to week that or we could also go.with We are number 4!

group read ...I'm not real sure in this one as I read a lot of series in mostly fantasy.

need to look at the C&B book link

Also, to introduce myself im Valerie I live in the states - Ohio I have 2 kids both girls that always having me trying to do something never a dull moment. I listen to audiobooks mostly as that's the least interruptions...I'm extremely excited to get started this is my first year in the winter games!

Nice meeting everyone here!

I bought a graphic novel omnibus (Cemetery Girl by Charlaine Harris), do you guys think that would count as sth I usually don't read? I can't remember if I've ever read a graphic novel.

Thinking of team names and of ways to motivate us all now.

I'm Karen from the Missouri Ozarks. I'm supposed to be retired. I raise Nubian dairy goats (yes, I milk twice a day, every day), chickens and a garden. I write and am presently involved in NaNo.
My choice for a book in a genre not often read is a book of short essays. I'm considering reading Wizard of Oz as the first in a series. I've never read it. The trilogy or more is difficult as my reading time is limited.
I read a wide variety of books. Not on my list are horror and romance. I tend to read older books as I have piles of them at home. Newer books are checked out of the library.

Hi everyone! This is my second time with the Winter Games. I enjoyed myself so much last year, and I will add that I had Sheena as my team leader and she ROCKS!

I am in northern Illinois in the States. I am an elementary teacher. I enjoy reading nearly anything, but generally exclude sci-fi, fantasy and romance from my rotation. I am primarily a fiction reader.

I really can’t think of a clever team name. The only thing I came up with is Read ‘em and Reap.

I noticed that Winter Street has not been crossed off and I’m willing to read that. If other ideas pop up from y’all, I’m willing too.

As for Coffee and Books, I do have Commonwealth on my bookshelves, but am open to most anything. I’ve read AJ Fikry, Brave New World, and Eligible.

Welcome to everyone! I’m excited to begin!

I love your team name idea, Sara!

I'm really looking forward to it too, I could really need the distraction at the moment.

Happy Friday Team!
Games open in just a couple days!!! Who's ready? What book are you starting with? Remember that if you have at least 100 pages left in the book that your are currently reading it CAN COUNT as your first book.

I have all three books from the Illuminae series borrowed from my local library so I think I'm going to start with that, and use it as my series. We just had our first big snowfall of the year, and I'm ready to snuggle up with some books and coffee (or maybe wine) and have a nice long read.

It's fantastic that most of us have checked in and are starting to get to know one another.

I'm going to start compiling all of our ideas for names and books so if you can think of anything else .. shout it out :D

We'll have a bit of a team vote in the next day or so.

Really looking forward to this! Not sure what I'll start with yet, but I'm sure I'll think of something :D

I'd love to start with the series, does anyone have any suggestions for a nice series? Maybe I'll do Tommy and Tuppence by Agatha Christie, it's four novels and a short story collection.

I just finished the Tommy and Tuppence series - audio. I'd read them years ago and enjoyed rereading them. You might like the Harley Quinn books too. I forget how many there are, not many.

I looked over the archives and noticed Lilac Girls, Chasing Rainbows, Fahrenheit 451 and The Forgotten Garden.

I'm considering Wizard of Oz for the first of a series. I've never read it. I have The Map That Changed the World to finish. I think there's over 100 pages to go. For a set I'm thinking of My Friend Flicka, Thunderhead and Green Grass of Wyoming. Then again, there are the Chinese Murder Mystery books by Van Gulik, but I don't think I have all of them and they can be difficult to get from the library. I try not to buy books anymore and get rid of most of those I have accumulated. For on obstacle I'm reading a set of essays. I have several books on writing I want to read. And, would a book about Uncle Scrooge comics that includes the complete comics work for the comic book obstacle?

@Karen it's quite a long series, though a good one, at least at the beginning. I stopped reading them after a few books for ... no idea what reason.

If you like The Wizard of Oz, you should try the Wicked books! Only read the first one so far, but it was amazing!

Also, what time to we start? I'm a few hours ahead of you guys.

Time Zones ...

Challenge runs Nov 19, 12:01 am to Mar 4 11:59pm.

Any book you are currently reading that has more than 100 pages left counts as your first book. Any book that you are reading at the end of the challenge that has less than 50 pages left counts as your last book.

Manuel, to make it easy to track, just use these hours with your time zone, don't bother converting. Same amount of hours, even if you're off a few.


Fun fact ... As I type this message it is
8:29am for Samantha, Karen & Sarah
9:29am for Valerie and me
3:29 pm for Manuel

I've decided on my first book, do you think a graphic novel will count too?

Series Tip ...

Choosing a series with lots of books would be a good strategy if you want to try for lots of bonus points. Must be at least three books, but can be as long as you want and there are some super long series out there.

I started looking up long series to a) try and get some extra bonus points and b) make it easier to pick books to read for the challenge (no thought needed ... just the one that comes next).

Here are few that I found when I searched for super long book series


Gardens of the Moon - 12 books
44 Scotland Streett
No 1 Ladies Detective Agency - 19 books
Discworld - 41 books
Temeraire
Dresden Files - 16 books
The Wheel of Time - 14 books

Thanks ! I meant to use it as my "usually don't read " category book though.

I think there's also lots of Narnia books if you want to add them to the list.

Manuel wrote: "I've decided on my first book, do you think a graphic novel will count too?"

Yup, Rachel specifically says in the Rules that graphic novels are fine, BUT, there is also a page count rule - I don't read many GN, not sure if the page count will disclude some though?

1. The book must be over 100 pages to count - unless otherwise stated in an obstacle that will be set closer to the start date
2. Any and all formats will be allowed (e-books, audio books, hardback, paperback, graphic novels, manga, etc.)


*** Edited to add ... just looked up a bunch and they seem to hover at just over 100 pages, which is awesome!

Definitely over a 100 pages , I only have the Kindle version though and can't find a definite page count online , it's a 3 book omnibus, should I just add all 3 single "page numbers"?

Karen wrote: "I just finished the Tommy and Tuppence series - audio. I'd read them years ago and enjoyed rereading them. You might like the Harley Quinn books too. I forget how many there are, not many.

I looke..."

Great archive pics, Karen. Thanks for the suggestions. I've added them to the main list at the top of the page.

I hear you about not buying books - I'm lucky to have a great library and try hard to only read books I can borrow :)

I would say yes to your Uncle Scrooge comic since it includes them.

Manuel wrote: "Definitely over a 100 pages , I only have the Kindle version though and can't find a definite page count online , it's a 3 book omnibus, should I just add all 3 single "page numbers"?"

Typically for book pages, we use whatever the goodreads summary says ... but if you can't find it, then yes, just add up the 3 individual books.

Can't find anything, here's the link to the omnibus: Cemetery Girl Omnibus.

Does it matter which obstacle we start with? I need an interesting series!

Manuel wrote: "Can't find anything, here's the link to the omnibus: Cemetery Girl Omnibus.

Does it matter which obstacle we start with? I need an interesting series!"

Cool! I'm a goodreads librarian, so once you figure out how many pages it is in total, I can edit goodreads pages entry.

It doesn't matter at all which you start with - it doesn't even necessarily have to be an obstacle. You can read anything you like during the challenge, you just get more points for reading obstacle books.

Once we all get reading and start logging our books we can pick a couple to focus on as a team to try to get the whole team bonus, for for now just read what you love : D

5 hours and 7 minutes till I can start - I'll have to get up early though , so might be best not to start a book tonight 😂

Haha - took me too many tries to get that image posted right :)

Remember that you can actually start now, as long as you have at least one hundred pages left to go when the challenge officially opens at midnight

Winter Game are open!

You can start logging books now (anything you are currently reading with more than 100 pages left counts)

Please check out the team announcements - message 2 and let us know if you have a name or books suggestion. Let's try to get them picked by the end of the week.

Go Team 4!!

ok apparently I need some help ) can we edit our list we originally made ? or do we just put the book and pages ?

Yes, you can edit the list you originally made.
I just changed mine too :D

You can format your log however you like, as long as it lists the name of the book, number of pages, total points and if it's an obstacle , which one it was.

I'll spend the rest of the day looking for books I guess, if anyone has any suggestions for an interesting series (without too much romance, some romance is okay, but it shouldn't be the main focus of the series, I'm still not over my more or less recent breakup), that'd be appreciated!

Happy Tuesday!
I hope everyone is enjoying your books!

Congrats to Samantha for being first on the board to log a book!! Way to go Samantha!!!

I finished Illuminae - it's an interesting story told entirely with transcriptions of video files, emails, ims, memos and files. It took a bit of getting used to the unusual format but I really enjoyed it.

I'll try to update our points about once a week, but I couldn't resist getting our totals up today since we're off to such a great start.

Still no reply from Sepideh so I'm thinking we're going to be short 2 players, which is no problem because I'm pretty sure Rachel will just tell us to double our 'placeholder' score. That's what I'm doing for the moment so our average will be comparable with other teams, but I'll give Sepideh a couple more days to log in and then confirm with Rachel that's cool.

Might be too late, but I had a look at the best series lists here on goodreads,here are a few of my favourites

His Dark Materials

Farseer Trilogy - Actually the entire Realms of the Elderlings (16 books) is great.

Harry Potter

Percy Jackson - even better is the second series with Percy - Heroes of Olympus

Ender's Game

Red Rising

Gone

Millennium - Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (just the first three books - wasn't fussed on the new author)

Robert Langdon

Jack Ryan Universe

44 Scotland Street

Throne of Glass This does have a fair bit of romance, but it's one of my favourites ever, and there is a lot of story aside from the romance

random question, but if we listen to an audiobook, do we just take the number of pages listed on the book's page? because i'm listening to a nonfiction book and i'm assuming some of the pages are sources, but obviously i don't know how many

yup. use whatever the Goodreads stats say and log away. I really want to listen more audiobooks but I always get distracted and stop listening : )