Romance Readers Reading Challenges discussion

The Amazing Race Team Challenge - Round 4
September 21, 2021 through November 17, 2021
Are We Just Running in Circles?!

Team:
✓ Shan~A~
★ Mony
✓ M
✓ Maggie

The Amazing Race Team Challenge - Round 4
September 21, 2021 through November 17, 2021
Are We Just Running in Circles?!

Tracking:
Task 1 - 0. Each teammate reads a book initially published in a fall month, teams decide which month. 9.21.2021 - 9.23.2021
Task 2 - 2. Each player reads the first book in a series, can be same or different series - no pass for this task. 9.23.2021 - 9.27.2021
Task 3 - 7. Read 4 books that are stand alones. 9.26.2021 - 9.28.2021
Task 4 - 23. Each teammate reads a book that has been read by one of the RRRC moderators. No pass for this task. 9.28.2021 - 10.2.2020
Task 5 - 19. Each teammate reads a book another teammate read and rated 4 Stars or higher in the last 3 months. No pass for this task. 10.2.2021 - 10.7.2021
Task 6 - 14. Read a minimum of 1000 pages in books with Contemporary Romance as MPG. 10.7.2021 - 10.9.2021
Task 7 - 45. Read 6 books with 3 word titles. 10.9.2021 - 10.12.2021
Task 8 - 22. Read 4 books #5 or higher in a series. 10.12.2021 - 10.15.2021
Task 9 - 49. Each teammate reads a book published in the same month and year, teams decide. No pass for this task. 10.15.2021 - 10.18.2021
Task 10 - 15. Read a minimum of 600 pages in books with an audio edition. 10.18.2021 - 10.21.2021
Task 11 - 36. Read 6 books with animals on the cover. 10.21.2021 - 10.26.2021
Task 12 - 72. Read 4 books published in the decade of a teammate's birth, team decides which teammate. 10.26.2021 - 10.29.2021
Task 13 - 10. Read 4 books by authors who write under more than one name (Nora Roberts/J.D. Robb). 10.29.2021 - 11.4.2021
Task 14 - 18. Read over 750 pages in books tagged/shelved with 'favorite'. 11.4.2021 - 11.8.2021
Task 15 - 79. Read 6 books that have the same romance trope, teams decide which trope. 11.8.2021 - 11.11.2021
Task 16 - 103. Read over 1500 pages in books tagged ‘family’. 11.11.2021 - 11.16.2021
Task 17 - Last Task. Read books with more than one person on the cover. 11.16.2021

Information required when posting your completion/s:

Task
Book/cover link
Page numbers with source
How book qualified, with links or cover as necessary.
Date Completed.
Rating/Review.


**Remember to use the first edition Kindle page count only! If your page count comes from a Kindle edition published on the initial publication date on the editions page, it will count. If your page count comes from a Kindle edition labeled '1st edition', it will count. If your page count comes from the earliest dated English language Kindle edition, it will count. I am looking for one of those three things when confirming your books! As long the page count you list is correct, I will accept any link to the book. Ebook page count will be acceptable if no Kindle page count available. The acceptability of other page counts will be made on an individual basis.**

Please note that a rating is now required in your completion posts! A small review is also welcome. 😊

I think most of you know each other, at least a little, but feel free to introduce yourself again. Please give any relevant information, especially time zone as that helps know when it is best to communicate. 😊

Please select a team leader to help keep track of where your team is in any given task. And as necessary guide discussions for task decisions. Any teammate can report your completions though.

Remember, it is the team's responsibility to notify the host (me) if a teammate fails to complete the task in a timely manner or otherwise goes missing! I am not checking all the team threads regularly to notice and may only check when notified a task is complete.

PS - If you want to be known as anything other than Team 9, you are free to come up with a team name. 😉

SHAN ~A~
Time Zone: Central
Hometown/state: Louisiana
Birthday: 42 yrs. old
Year Joined RRRC: 2009
Challenge shelf (5 favs): https://www.goodreads.com/review/list...
Favourite authors: Karen Marie Moning, Kristen Ashley, Vi Keeland, Brittainy C. Cherry, Nora Roberts
Likes/Dislikes in books: NO: TSTL heroines is a major dislike. I need the woman I read to have a backbone or to develop one at some point during the story.
YES: All tropes. Some mystery/thriller/suspense, a bit of non-fiction (bios/autobios)

M
Time Zone: Pacific
Hometown/state: California
Birthday: 1980
Year Joined RRRC: 2020
Challenge shelf (5 favs): https://www.goodreads.com/review/list...
Favourite authors: M. Robinson, Penelope Ward, Rachal Leigh, Meghan Quinn, C.M. Radcliff
Likes/Dislikes in books: No: historical, fantasy/PNR, horror, cheating.
YES: Reads lots dark romance- enemies to lovers/bully, mafia and RH. Cleanse my palette with sports rom, rom-com, F-T-L, second chance. Lots of different tropes.

MAGGIE
Time Zone: Eastern
Hometown/state: Connecticut
Birthday: 1977
Year Joined RRRC: 2020
Challenge Shelf(5 favs): https://www.goodreads.com/review/list...
Favourite authors: Maria Luis, Alley Ciz, Kayley Loring, Pippa Grant, Max Monroe
Likes/Dislikes in books: NO: Mafia, MC, clean/fade to black, SciFi, horror, non-fiction, bios, inspirational/self-help.
YES: Military based thrillers/suspense, mystery novels, fiction of all sorts. YA & some children's books.

MONY
Time Zone: Eastern
Hometown: Canada
Birthday: 1961
Year Joined RRRC: 2012
Challenge Shelf (5 favs): (updated Oct 25) https://www.goodreads.com/review/list...
Favourite authors: K. Ashley, Kleypas, Tijan, Loring, TL Swan
Likes/Dislikes in books: No: Instalove, hard core dark, military except HR, fluffy, poor ratings
Yes: Yes: Most tropes, love alpha, E-T-L, quirky with banter, slow burn, edgy, boss & manwhore. 🤷‍♀️ Only very good PNR/UF & HR.

I'm here. And I have no problem being the team leader if all of you are okay with that.

I am in central time zone and I usually don't log on until sometime after 6pm my time, unless it's the weekend, then the time varies throughout the day.

Does anyone have any ideas for team names?
I was trying to think of something to with the MMMS, but I'm stumped.
Then I was trying to think of a reading related not much luck there either, but here goes.
1. Devouring the Pages (probably because I was also hungry at the time, lol)
2. Articulate Butterflies
3. Foxy Readers
4. United We Read

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UPDATED SEPT. 21

Tasks:
✅ - 0
⭐1. Each player reads a book by same author, teams decide author - no pass for this task. KAYLEY LORING
✅ 2. Each player reads first book in a series, can be same or different series - no pass for this task.
3. Each player reads a book by a new to you author - no pass for this task.
4. Read 4 books tagged/shelved as PNR or fantasy.
5. Read 4 books first published within the last year.
6. Read 4 books with fewer than 500 reviews.
✅ 7. Read 4 books that are stand alones.
⭐8. Read 4 books with beach on the cover.
BEACH- Mony's Beach Shelf: https://www.goodreads.com/review/list...✓
⭐9. Each player reads a book in same series, teams decide. KISS QUOTIENT Series
10. Read 4 books by authors' who write under more than one name.
11. Read 4 books in continuing series, one that has not been completely published.
12. Read a book recommended to you by teammate - no pass for this task.
13. Read a minimum of 750 pages in books tagged/shelved as sports.
✅ 14. Read a minimum of 1000 pages in books with Contemporary Romance as MPG.
✅ 15. Read a minimum of 600 pages in books with audio edition.
⭐ 16. Read a minimum of 750 pages in books tagged/shelved as childrenhttps://www.goodreads.com/list/show/9...
⭐ 17. Read 4 books written by a male author. Romances written by Men: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/2...
18. Read over 750 pages in books tagged/shelved with 'favorite'.
✅ 19. Each teammate reads a book another teammate read and rated 4 Stars or higher in the last 3 months. No pass for this task.
20. Read 4 books 300 pages or longer.
21. Each teammate reads book with a night sky on the cover, no pass for this task.
✅ 22. Read 4 books #5 or higher in a series.
✅ ⭐ 23. Each teammate reads book that has been read by one of the RRRC moderators. No pass for this task.
24. Read 6 books on RRRC's bookshelf, the books can not be added by anyone on your team within the last year. https://www.goodreads.com/group/books...
⭐ 25. Read 4 books by one of the 2021 FACs. (different time frame may be given when assigned.)
Jayne Ann Krentz/Amanda Quick/Jayne Castle, Shalvis, Kristen Callihan, Eloisa James, Kaje Harper, Thea Harrison, Keeland, Jewel E. Ann, Sarah MacLean, Lynsay Sands
⭐26. Read a minimum of 750 pages in books featuring shifters.
BEST SHIFTER BOOKS: https://www.goodreads.com/list/tag/sh...
27. Read a minimum of 750 pages in books published in any one year prior to 2018, team picks the year.
28. Each teammate reads a book from a teammate's to-read shelf, no pass for this task.
⭐29. Read over 750 pages in books about the same profession, teams decide which profession. BOSS (OK BY MK, ABLE TO SHOW HER) mony's shelf: https://www.goodreads.com/review/list...
30. Read 6 books with nekkid man chest on the cover.
31. Read 6 books rated over 4.0.
32. Read 6 books with over 2500 ratings.
⭐33. Read 6 books in the same sub-genre, teams decide CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE
34. Read 6 books first published between 2000 and 2010.
35. Read 6 books first published between 2011 and 2020.
✅ 36. Read 6 books with animals on the cover.
37. Read 6 books set in the US.
38. Read a minimum of 1000 pages in books with a non-English language edition.
⭐39. Read 6 books set outside of the US.
INT'L/NOT UK: https://www.goodreads.com/review/list...
UK: https://www.goodreads.com/review/list...
40. Read 6 books with over 500 reviews.
41. Read 6 books with over 10,000 ratings.
42. Read 6 books featuring best friends.
43. Read 6 books published in June. (A different month may be used when assigned.)
44. Read 6 books by authors who use initials in their name.
✅ 45. Read 6 books with 3 word titles. (A different number may be used when assigned.)
46. Read over 1000 pages in books written by duo authors.
Max Monroe, Ilona Andrews, Christina Lauren, Piper Rayne, Kennedy Fox; Keeland/Ward, G.D. Taylors SERIES
47. Read 6 books set in a major city.
⭐ 48. Read 6 books featuring cowboys.
Cowboys: https://www.goodreads.com/review/list...✓
✅ ⭐ 49. Each teammate reads a book published in the same month and year, teams decide. No pass for this task.
⭐ 50. Read 6 books set in the same location, teams decide the location.
CHICAGO - Mony's Chicago shelf: https://www.goodreads.com/review/list...✓
⭐51. Each teammate reads a different book by the same author, no pass for this task. DAWS
⭐52. Read 6 books with the same color cover, teams decide color.
CHOOSE WHEN ASSIGNED (BLACK SEEMS MOST COMMON)
⭐ 53. Each teammate reads a book set in one of your teammates' STATE (born in, raised in, currently live in - all work), teams decide. No pass for this task.
CALIFORNIA - California Shelf: https://www.goodreads.com/review/list...✓
⭐54. Read 6 books set on a beach or in the mountains, teams decide which.
BEACH- Beach Shelf: https://www.goodreads.com/review/list...✓
Beach Romances: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/7...
⭐55. Read 6 books set in the same country outside the US, teams See task #39 for book ideas
⭐56. As a team, pick a list with over 100 romance books on it, each member reads a book from that list. No pass for this task.
Best Book Boyfriends: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...
57. Read over 1000 pages in books that are MPG Romance.
⭐ 58. Read 6 books published in the year one of the teammates joined RRRC, teams decide which teammate. 2020
59. Read 4 books that are NOT MPG Romance.
60. Read 6 books with MPG Historical Romance.
61. Read 4 books rated over 4.5 on GR.
62. Read a minimum of 1000 pages in books written by an author whose first or last name begins with the first letter of a teammate's screen name.
M or S
63. Read a minimum of 1200 pages in books tagged 'magic' or 'magical'.
64. Read 6 books not set on a continent of a teammate. Space does not count - must be a real continent. See # 39 for book links
65. Each player reads 2 books in a series, teammates can read the same or different series.
66. Read over 1000 pages in books with Mystery or Suspense as MPG.
67. Read 6 books by an author whose first or last name begins with A. (A different letter may be used when assigned.)
68. Read a minimum of 1200 pages in books with one word titles.
69. Read 6 books that have won/been nominated for an award.
⭐ 70. Read a minimum of 1200 pages in books of the same sub-genre, but by different authors.CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE
71. Pick another team and each member reads one book that was read by a member for this challenge. No pass for this task.
⭐72. Read 4 books published in the decade of a teammate's birth, team decides which teammate. 1980s (FIRST PUB. DATE)
GENERAL 1980s: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/9
ROMANCE 1980s: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/4...
73. Read a minimum, of 1500 pages in books by the same author, teams decide author. based on authors not yet taken for other tasks (+ on all of our TBRs/Mony to re-read):
JANA ASTON
⭐74. Read 6 books published in a teammates' birth month, you may not use your own month. Aug, July, Jan, March
⭐75. Read over 1000 pages in books that start with the same letter (no articles), teams decide letter. CHOOSE WHEN ASSIGNED
⭐ 76. Read 6 books with a specific item on the cover, team selects item. MAN/WOMAN - CHOOSE WHEN ASSIGNED
⭐77. Each teammate reads a book that the teammate after them alphabetically has rated 5 stars. No pass for this task.
M reads Maggie, Maggie reads Mony, Mony reads ShanA, ShanA reads M (OKed MK)
78. Read 6 books with alliteration in the title or author's name.
e.g.
⭐79. Read 6 books that have the same romance trope, teams decide which trope. ENEMIES TO LOVERS
⭐ 80. Read 4 books initially published in different decades. if not okay, please let me know
Mony-1990s, Maggie- 2000s, ShanA-2010s, M-2020s
81. Read a minimum of 1500 pages in books with a dog/dogs on the cover. (A different animal may be used when assigned.)
⭐ 82. Each teammate reads a different book from the same series.
ROCK CHICK- K. ASHLEY
83. Read 8 books with a white flower/s on the cover. (different color may be used when assigned.)
84. Pick a category from the current RRRC Monthly Challenge and read 6 books for that category. Reader's Choice is exempt from this task. October: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
85. Each teammate reads a debut book by an author. No pass for this task. 5 Rounds - Castle, Everything Girl- Mayer, Tangled- Chase, Real- Evans, Bully- P. Douglas, Evvie Drake Starts Over, Strongest Steel- S. Cole, Murderbot
86. Read at least 1500 pages in books with a hat on the cover. (A different object may be used when assigned.)
87. Read 8 books set in NYC. (A different city may be used when assigned.) https://www.goodreads.com/review/list...✓
⭐ 88. Read 6 books with a boat, plane, car or motorcycle on the cover, teams decide which. MOTORCYCLE
89. Read 8 books tagged with 'wedding' or 'proposal'.
⭐ 90. Each member reads a book published in sequential months, Teams decide which months. No pass for this task. May, June, July, August 2021
⭐ 91. Add up the years of the teammates' births and each teammate reads a book with that minimum number of pages. No pass for this task. 1977, 1980, 1961, 1979= 297
⭐ 92. Read over 1500 pages in books set in the future or the past - teams decide. PAST
⭐93. As a team, pick a Romance List from GR Listopia with less than 100 books on it, each teammate reads a book from that list. No pass for this task.
BookTok Romance Recommendations: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1... OR
2019 Contemporary Romance Releases: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...
⭐94. Read 6 books published in sequential yrs- teams decide years. 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21
95. As a team, select an animal. Read 8 books tagged with that animal.
⭐96. Read a minimum of 1200 pages with the sun or the moon on the cover, teams decide which. MOON
97. Read 8 books by authors with more than 10 letters in their name.
98. Read 8 books with fewer than 10 letters in the title.
99. Each teammate lists 5 favorite books. Select books from 2 different teammates and read them.
100. Read 8 books with more than 10 letters in the title.

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Mony wrote: "Shan~A,
Thanks for agreeing to lead. Much appreciated.
All the names are good but my favs are 3 &4...
Good to know your hours...I'm in eastern time zone."

So we only have an hour difference. That's awesome!

Completions to date

Mony
Love the One You're With by Lauren Layne
Counsellor by Celia Aaron
That Guy by Kim Jones
At Last by Jill Shalvis
Stuck-up Suit By Vi Keeland
Mr. Perfect by Huss
About last Night by Ruthie Knox
The Good Lie by Torre
After the Kiss by Lauren Layne
Just One Look by Rosalind James
The Rebound by Noelle Adams
Smooth Talking Stranger by Lisa Kleypas
Everything Girl by Mayer
Most Eligible Billionaire by Annika Martin
The Bride by Julie Garwood
Undead Pool by Kim Harrison

ShanA
How To Fail at Flirting by Denise Williams
Feral Sins by Suzanne Wright
Trouble by Tia Louise
An Offer From a Gentleman by Julia Quinn
My Lucky #13 by Piper Rayne
Ever After Always by Chloe Liese
The Bound Prince by Michelle M. Pillow
Dark Desires After Dusk by Kresley Cole
Jilted Jock by Rebecca Jenshak
Tempt Thy Neighbor by Teagan Hunter
A Bad Day for Sunshine by Darynda Jones
Bad Behavior: Stories by Mary Gaitskill
Indigo Ridge by Devney Perry
Conjugal Visits by Lani Lynn Vale

Maggie
Humbugged by Pippa Grant
Bending the Rules by Mariah Dietz
The Varsity Dad Dilemma by Lex Martin
Dirty Letters by Penelope Ward Vi Keeland
The Lies We Steal by Monty Jay
Looking to Score by Alley Ciz
Match Me Up by Weston Parker
Wild for You by Kendall Ryan
Writing Dirty by Alley Ciz
Crushing on My Billionaire Best Friend by Jolie Day
Fetching by Kylie Gilmore
Stay by Sabrina Bowen
Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency by Douglas Adams
Talk Nerdy to Me by CM Owens

M
Man Hands by Sarina Bowen
The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea by Amelia Wilde
Playing with Fire by L.J. Shen
Getting Played by Emma Chase
A Deal With The Devil by Elizabeth O'Roark
The Psycho by Nikki J. Summers
My Darling Arrow by Saffron A. Kent
The Bonds We Break by Becca Steele
Of Boys and Men by Renee Harless
Forever Golden by Rachel Jonas
Good Boy by Sarina Bowen
The Way to a Man's Heart by Debbie Macomber
Gypsy King by Devney Perry
Fighting Silence by Aly Martinez

Hi! I'm checking in real quick! I'm in California so Pacific time.

Shan ~A~ I'm excited you want to be captain! Thanks so much! I played last round and had tons of fun.

M wrote: "Hi! I'm checking in real quick! I'm in California so Pacific time.

Shan ~A~ I'm excited you want to be captain! Thanks so much! I played last round and had tons of fun."

Great! Do you have any ideas for team names?

Here are a couple names..

Sole Readers
Race for the cliff....hanger
Chapter Chicks

M wrote: "Here are a couple names..

Sole Readers
Race for the cliff....hanger
Chapter Chicks"

ooh..chapter chicks...nice

I also like Chapter Chicks

Hi Ladies!

I'm in eastern time zone (CT) and I'm typically on and off the computer all day M - F. Saturdays and Sundays are touch and go. Kids and sports - killer on the schedules.

Shan ~A~ Thank you so much for being captain!!
-And I just about snorted coffee out of my nose when I saw Jane's note about adding an M to your name 🤣

For team names I really like Chapter Chicks

I'm looking forward to this challenge. I haven't played this one before and I just finished the Bachelor one and had a ton of fun.

I know for Bachelor I had a separate group set up for the team to discuss books for each task. Is that something we wanted to do for this challenge?

Maggie wrote: "Hi Ladies!

I'm in eastern time zone (CT) and I'm typically on and off the computer all day M - F. Saturdays and Sundays are touch and go. Kids and sports - killer on the schedules.

Shan ~A~ Tha..."

Hi Maggie...I like your idea of discussing books for each task. I'm in for that & could help.

I saw that some groups write a little blurb about themselves - bit of background, kinds of book they like / don't like, 5 favourite books, books coming up they have their eye on. If anyone think this is a good idea I could set that up for people to fill in.
Your thoughts Shan ~A~?

I'm retired so likely have more time than moms & worker bees. Although I do take care of toddler grandson from time to time & find doing nothing can take some time....really :)

I've only participated in this challenge once before, but I remember my team discussing things where it came to the team deciding on the task - so we would be prepared incase it came up.

Like these ones
1. Each player reads a book by the same author, teams decide author - no pass for this task

9. Each player reads a book in the same series, teams decide. No pass for this task.

29. Read over 750 pages in books about the same profession, teams decide which

33. Read 6 books in the same sub-genre, teams decide.

52. Read 6 books with the same color cover, teams decide color.

56. As a team, pick a list with over 100 romance books on it, each member reads a book from that list. No pass for this task.

76. Read 6 books with a specific item on the cover, team selects item.

More, but I stopped there.

I start a google doc for the challenges I'm in and try to find books ahead of time that might fit the task called. I'm a planner lol.

M wrote: "I've only participated in this challenge once before, but I remember my team discussing things where it came to the team deciding on the task - so we would be prepared incase it came up.

Like the..."

I am as well. In the not so distant past I was a non IT project manager. Now it's just a habit.

Let me play around with shelves. I keep my profile and shelves public, but I'm assuming there are privacy or sharing options.

LOL I'm another planner but looser these days.

I was also looking at the tasks and thinking about common popular authors, potential common books / series, books just for me by task. But it made head hurt a bit. :)

A table is a great idea.

I'm not quite sure how the tasks get assigned - guess just one at a time.

Me - yet again. (I'm super chatty in person too)

Mony mentioned above writing up a little blurb about ourselves so we can get to know each other, so I thought I'd start.

As I mentioned, I live in CT. I actually live in the town I grew up in. I'm sort of a full time mom right now. My kiddos are turning 15 and 12 (daughter and son). Both are active in school activities and our son is a very active soccer player. If anyone wants to know - professional soccer (or football as Jane would call it) does NOT have an off season. Yay?? Prior to COVID I was a non IT project manager for over 20 years. I like puzzles, I enjoy cleaning up big messes and I speak geek and can translate it into corporate human so project management was a great fit. My last day as an office person was 12/31/2019. I left my job as we were planning on moving to Seattle for my husband's job and so I could finish a few master's degrees at UofW. I think we all know how 2020 turned out.

I love reading romance and it's my main go to for reads. I don't have many troupes or genres in romance that I won't read. I guess clean reads and alien reads are the ones I tend to avoid the most. I'm not much of a sci fi reader either. I also enjoy military based thrillers and suspense, mystery novels overall, and fiction of all sorts.

My shelves will also include YA and possibly some younger children's things. I will read what my kiddos are reading. I have a deal with both of them that if they have a required reading book for school that I haven't read yet, I will read it when it is assigned. This way we all suffer in the same way.

My mom is a retired children's librarian and I'm the oldest of 4 kids, my mom is retired, but she still keeps up with children's books and literature for her grand kids. Also, she STILL uses the 4 of her kids as guinea pigs for new children's books, so don't be surprised if you find a picture book or 17 on my read shelf.

I tend to avoid horror (like Stephen King), non fiction, biographies of any sort, and inspirational/self help books. I've found that these just aren't for me.

I will read anything for a challenge though.

I guess, overall, I talk a lot in real life, I write novels disguised as "comments" and I'm very much a Type A extra extrovert.

Mony wrote: "LOL I'm another planner but looser these days.

I was also looking at the tasks and thinking about common popular authors, potential common books / series, books just for me by task. But it made h..."

Yes. I believe it is one at a time and I need to go back and reread but I believe they may be "called" like they are in the other challenges.

I know when I was in Pass the Parcel last round two of my teammates were also in the Race challenge and would hold off on picking for Parcel until the Race challenge had been posted for the week as well.

And planning - I've started to just give up. As long as I know which day of the week it is, have a general idea of where I need to uber people to, and if I may be playing host to random teens....I call it a successful day :-)

Maggie wrote: "Mony wrote: "LOL I'm another planner but looser these days.

I was also looking at the tasks and thinking about common popular authors, potential common books / series, books just for me by task. ..."

Yes it's one task at a time. It's different from PTP and Bachelor since once a task is completed and someone from the team updates the main post for Mkat to see and we will be given a new task. Most likely that day. Where the other challenges switch tasks weekly. It's a race to see which team can complete the most tasks. I really like this challenge.

I'm a fairly fast reader. I do read lots of arcs though, but if I remember correctly books don't need to be MPG romance unless stated for that task. It made it hard for the bachelor challenge since that's a requirement and I why I passed up on PTP last round.

M wrote: "Maggie wrote: "Mony wrote: "LOL I'm another planner but looser these days.

I was also looking at the tasks and thinking about common popular authors, potential common books / series, books just f..."

THAT is amazing news! I'm trying to get my blog back up and running so I will have a lot of ARCs as well. It was difficult in TBC as it had to be MPG romance.

YAY!

Maggie wrote: "M wrote: "Maggie wrote: "Mony wrote: "LOL I'm another planner but looser these days.

I was also looking at the tasks and thinking about common popular authors, potential common books / series, bo..."

Great! what's MPG? :)

MPG stands for Main Page Genre - it's the list of Genres that appear on the right hand side of Goodreads when you have a book up.

For some reading challenges or challenge tasks you'll need a specific genre to appear on that list.
For The Bachelor Challenge any book read for that challenge had to have "Romance" as one of the genres in that list.

Then as we got deeper into the challenge there was a week we needed other genres in that list as well. So I'd need to find a book that had Romance, Military, and Suspense Romance listed in the genres on that main page in order for the book to "count"

I'm here you guys. I'm going to go drop my daughter off at the football game, then come back and read through the comments. I've skimmed, but I want to be able to fully read before replying.

Maggie said "I know for Bachelor I had a separate group set up for the team to discuss books for each task. Is that something we wanted to do for this challenge?"
I'm on board with this if everyone thinks it will be beneficial to discuss tasks (especially the ones mentioned below by M) so no one else can see, but it may not be necessary since there isn't a lot of strategizing with this game, since we have to wait on calls.

Mony said "I saw that some groups write a little blurb about themselves - bit of background, kinds of book they like / don't like, 5 favourite books, books coming up they have their eye on. If anyone think this is a good idea I could set that up for people to fill in.
Your thoughts Shan ~A~?"
I can tell you about myself all day, but I'll never be able to narrow down favorites to just 5. I don't really have a favorite book per se anyway. I have authors that I absolutely love and who are one clicks or must reads (because if my library has it I may not buy it right away or if it's on KU I'll read it that way), but that is starting to grow exponentially as I continue to read new to me authors.

M said "I've only participated in this challenge once before, but I remember my team discussing things where it came to the team deciding on the task - so we would be prepared incase it came up.

Like these ones
1. Each player reads a book by the same author, teams decide author - no pass for this task

9. Each player reads a book in the same series, teams decide. No pass for this task.

29. Read over 750 pages in books about the same profession, teams decide which

33. Read 6 books in the same sub-genre, teams decide.

52. Read 6 books with the same color cover, teams decide color.

56. As a team, pick a list with over 100 romance books on it, each member reads a book from that list. No pass for this task.

76. Read 6 books with a specific item on the cover, team selects item.

More, but I stopped there."
I totally agree that we should discuss these in advance and just have choices available so we don't spend a lot of time trying to decide when/if they are called and we waste time that could be spent reading.

About me

I'm a wife of 20 yrs, but we've been together 22. I have 4 kids, who are not really kids anymore. My oldest is 26, and is the only boy (man now), my girls are 21, 19, and the youngest is about to turn 16.

My son is former military, and he has 2 sons. One is 2 yrs old the other hasn't been born yet, but is due soon.

My two oldest daughters are in college. One is a Sr. and the other is a Soph., and my youngest is a Soph. in high school.

I work full time in Human Resources for a small, locally owned company. I've been working for them in some capacity for 17 yrs., but in HR the last 4-5 (that's a debate between me and the Account Manager who is also my bosses wife, neither of us can remember when. We go back and forth between 2016 & 2017.) I'm better with other people's information than my own, which is why HR suits me. If you ask me any info about our company or the employees I could answer (if it's not confidential), but ask me a pointed question about myself and it's complete brain fart time. Lol.

Anyway, I am a talker too, which is the reason I've been working in customer service for years (my main role before going to work at HQ).

The rest with team decisions that M didn't post

88. Read 6 books with a boat, plane, car or motorcycle on the cover, teams decide which.

90. Each member reads a book published in sequential months, i.e. June, July, August and September 2019. Teams decide which months. No pass for this task.

92. Read over 1500 pages in books set in the future or the past - teams decide.

93. As a team, pick a Romance List from GR Listopia with less than 100 books on it, each teammate reads a book from that list. No pass for this task.

94. Read 6 books published in sequential years, teams decide years.

95. As a team, select an animal. Read 8 books tagged with that animal.

96. Read a minimum of 1200 pages with the sun or the moon on the cover, teams decide which.

99. Each teammate lists 5 favorite books. Select books from 2 different teammates and read them.

Looks like I'll have to come up with 5 favorite books after all

Shan ~A~ wrote: "Looks like I'll have to come up with 5 favorite books after all"

Dang it. I'm with you. Picking 5 favorites is like openly having to declare a favorite child. I can't do it.

If it helps us, I was looking at the tasks both M and Shan have noted in the following ways:

1- work out the team tasks labeled - no pass first so we can just grab and go with those.

2- the tasks that require an object, animal, color.... selecting the item necessary now so that if/when the task comes up there isn't any debate, we can just go grab a book. (some of these fall into the no pass tasks of #1)

3- Books that need to be read in sequential time order - determine which time/month/order and assign the dates and times to members so if the task comes up... (I think one or two of these were also no pass)

4- author and series - would we like to list out each of our top three authors and see if there is any overlap? Or try for a sub genre or troupe to find an author? (I think this is a no pass task)

5- 5 favorite books - can each of us make a shelf on our profile named "5 favorites" or similar and then drop the link in here for access?

Let me know if I don't make any sense or if I start over thinking things. I'm trying to chunk out the things we may need to look for now so that, like Shan said, we aren't wasting too much time once the task is given.

Maggie wrote: "MPG stands for Main Page Genre - it's the list of Genres that appear on the right hand side of Goodreads when you have a book up.

For some reading challenges or challenge tasks you'll need a spec..."

Aha! yes, I know the MPG - just didn't know the term. thanks!

Maggie wrote: "Shan ~A~ wrote: "Looks like I'll have to come up with 5 favorite books after all"

Dang it. I'm with you. Picking 5 favorites is like openly having to declare a favorite child. I can't do it."

Favourite child?...LOL Actually that was a nice belly laugh.

I started a google docs like M was planning to do. It includes tasks and the books I'd like to read. I also took a peek at your shelves for this task:
"Each teammate reads a book another teammate read and rated 4 Stars or higher in the last 3 months. No pass for this task."
Cool books!

I'll read almost any trope. Love hot alpha guys in an enemies-to-lovers story. Edgy. Quirky with good banter, bully, boss, manwhore, rock, sport, college. Very good PNR/UF and historical romance
Not so much about anything military, fluffy, poor ratings.

Some past fav books:
Rock Chicks, Stage Dive & VIP rock series, Darkfever, The Hollows, Lothaire, That Guy, Can't Fix Cupid, Manwhore, Mystery Man, Owens' The Wild Ones series, The Bride

Some past fav authors:
Huss, CM Owens, K. Ashley, Jewel E Ann, PD Robb, Kleypas, Katy Evans, Tijan, Jaymin Eve ++

Updated:
Just stared moderating the Romance with a Kick group. I've set up a "Monster Love" group read for October. Kinda campy & crazy. LOL https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Maggie wrote: "If it helps us, I was looking at the tasks both M and Shan have noted in the following ways:

1- work out the team tasks labeled - no pass first so we can just grab and go with those.

2- the tas..."

yes!

A little bit about me...

I'm a stay at home Mama to 2 boys (11 and 9). We live in a small coastal town in California. I'm a night owl and a early bird, unfortunately. We are huge baseball fans in our house! GOOOO GIANTS!! My kids are back to in person school (we kept them home from March 2020 until now) and I crazy worried about that, but they love it! So I have a lot of time on my hands now. I read a lot of arcs, but try to get to my tbr often. I love audiobooks!

I read a lot of dark romance - enemies to lovers/bully, mafia and RH. I also have to cleanse my palette a time or two between books so I also read sports romance, rom-com, friends to lovers and second chance.

I don't read historical or fantasy/PNR. I don't like horror or cheating in books. Other than that, I read lots of different tropes.

M wrote: "A little bit about me...

I'm a stay at home Mama to 2 boys (11 and 9). We live in a small coastal town in California. I'm a night owl and a early bird, unfortunately. We are huge baseball fans in ..."

I want to live in California too... 😎

I've been reading as long as I can remember. My cousin loves to tease me about it. He always says, "When we were kids, if you wanted to find Shan, just follow the trail of cookies and milk, and she would be reading her book and eating her milk and cookies."

The joke is on him though because I wasn't embarrassed then and I'm not embarrassed now, by that story. Also, I've found a life long love that non-readers will never understand.

The things I like to read have changed over the years to mostly romance, some mystery/thriller/suspense, a bit of non-fiction (bios/autobios), and some ya thrown in.

Romance is so broad that it's the perfect genre for me. Contemporary, history, paranormal, suspense, etc... to all of the different troupes.

Mony, I wish I could travel the way you guys do. It's a dream of mine. I don't even have to leave the continent, since there are so many places here that I haven't explored yet.

M, I wouldn't know what to do with myself with free time (any more than I already have), but I think your job is harder than any other, so you deserve a bit of a break.

Hi Maggie...just dropping in to say Hi. 🙂 Good to see you here, its a pretty fun game. I am in Team 11.

How are you n family? Everyone fine, I hope...

Laks wrote: "Hi Maggie...just dropping in to say Hi. 🙂 Good to see you here, its a pretty fun game. I am in Team 11.

How are you n family? Everyone fine, I hope..."

Hi Laks!! Thanks for checking in :-) Great to see you as well. Yes, everything is getting back to normal and we have settled down into the average "my kids play sports" regular injuries. No more weird or craziness. I hope you and your family are doing well too!

I totally agree with Maggie so here goes

Team Decision - No pass

1. Each player reads a book by the same author, teams decide author - no pass for this task

9. Each player reads a book in the same series, teams decide. No pass for this task.

51. Each teammate reads a different book by the same author, no pass for this task.

53. Each teammate reads a book set in one of your teammates' home town state (born in, raised in, currently live in - all work), teams decide. No pass for this task.

56. As a team, pick a list with over 100 romance books on it, each member reads a book from that list. No pass for this task.

90. Each member reads a book published in sequential months, i.e. June, July, August and September 2019. Teams decide which months. No pass for this task.

93. As a team, pick a Romance List from GR Listopia with less than 100 books on it, each teammate reads a book from that list. No pass for this task.

Team Decision - Tags

95. As a team, select an animal. Read 8 books tagged with that animal.

Team Decision - Cover

52. Read 6 books with the same color cover, teams decide color.

76. Read 6 books with a specific item on the cover, team selects item.

88. Read 6 books with a boat, plane, car or motorcycle on the cover, teams decide which.

96. Read a minimum of 1200 pages with the sun or the moon on the cover, teams decide which.

Team Decision - Profession

29. Read over 750 pages in books about the same profession, teams decide which

Team Decision - Sub-genre

33. Read 6 books in the same sub-genre, teams decide.

70. Read a minimum of 1200 pages in books of the same sub-genre, but by different authors.

Team Decision - Setting

50. Read 6 books set in the same location, teams decide the location.

54. Read 6 books set on a beach or in the mountains, teams decide which.

55. Read 6 books set in the same country outside the US, teams decide country.

92. Read over 1500 pages in books set in the future or the past - teams decide.

Team Decision - On the Calendar

49. Each teammate reads a book published in the same month and year, teams decide. No pass for this task.

58. Read 6 books published in the year one of the teammates joined RRRC, teams decide which teammate.

72. Read 4 books published in the decade of a teammate's birth, team decides which teammate.

94. Read 6 books published in sequential years, teams decide years.

Team Decision - Author, Title, Troupe, Series

73. Read a minimum of 1500 pages in books by the same author, teams decide author.

75. Read over 1000 pages in books that start with the same letter (no articles), teams decide letter.

79. Read 6 books that have the same romance trope, teams decide which trope.

82. Each teammate reads a different book from the same series.

Team Decision - Favorites

99. Each teammate lists 5 favorite books. Select books from 2 different teammates and read them.
Shan~A~: https://www.goodreads.com/review/list...
Mony:
M:
Maggie:

NOT Team Decision, but Something to think about
12. Read a book recommended to you by a teammate - no pass for this task.

19. Each teammate reads a book another teammate read and rated 4 Stars or higher in the last 3 months. No pass for this task.

28. Each teammate reads a book from a teammate's to-read shelf, no pass for this task.

74. Read 6 books published in a teammates' birth month, you may not use your own month.

77. Each teammate reads a book that the teammate after them alphabetically has rated 5 stars. No pass for this task.

I'm going to double check to list to make sure we didn't overlook any with team decisions.

BTW, picking 5 favorite books was torture, lol.

I updated the post I made above to track our decisions with some that were overlooked (hopefully there aren't more), and also some that aren't a decision to be made together, but are tasks that I myself would like to be thinking about before they are called.

1. Each player reads a book by the same author, teams decide author - no pass for this task

a. Brittainy C. Cherry
b. Devney Perry
c. Kristen Ashley

9. Each player reads a book in the same series, teams decide. No pass for this task.
a. Roommate Romp series by Teagan Hunter
b. Cloverleigh Farms series by Melanie Harlow
c. In Death series by J.D Robb

51. Each teammate reads a different book by the same author, no pass for this task.
a. same authors above and/or
b. Nora Roberts
c. Darynda Jones
d. Kennedy Ryan

53. Each teammate reads a book set in one of your teammates' home town (born in, raised in, currently live in - all work), teams decide. No pass for this task.

*As far as I know there is no book set in my hometown ~ Minden, La

56. As a team, pick a list with over 100 romance books on it, each member reads a book from that list. No pass for this task.

*Best Book Boyfriends: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...
*Books with the Hottest Sex: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/4...
*Best Romance Books Ever: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/8...

90. Each member reads a book published in sequential months, i.e. June, July, August and September 2019. Teams decide which months. No pass for this task.

*May, June, July 2021 or June, July, August 2021

93. As a team, pick a Romance List from GR Listopia with less than 100 books on it, each teammate reads a book from that list. No pass for this task.

*Best Single Father Heroes of Contemporary Romance: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/7...
*Great Contemporary Southern Romances: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...
*2019 Contemporary Romance Releases: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...

Maggie wrote: "Laks wrote: "Hi Maggie...just dropping in to say Hi. 🙂 Good to see you here, its a pretty fun game. I am in Team 11.

How are you n family? Everyone fine, I hope..."

Hi Laks!! Thanks for checking ..."

That's good to hear Maggie. Take care and have a great time playing 🙂

UPDATED

Hi Shan ~A~,
Some more suggestions...some popular names...Sorry. a. & b. not a match for me 🤷‍♀️

1. Each player reads a book by the same author, teams decide author - no pass for this task
a. Brittainy C. Cherry
b. Devney Perry
c. Kristen Ashley
d. Jill Shalvis
e. Jana Aston
f. Kayley Loring
g. Lisa Kleypas

9. Each player reads a book in the same series, teams decide. No pass for this task... Sorry. a. & b. not a match for me 🤷‍♀️
a. Roommate Romp series by Teagan Hunter
b. Cloverleigh Farms series by Melanie Harlow
c. In Death series by J.D Robb (3 have this on TBR/new to M)

??? d. The Kiss Quotient series (New release: The Heart Principle) by Helen Hoang (All 4 have one on their TBR)

e. The Brooklyn Book Boyfriends series by Kayley Loring (all have read Loring)

51. Each teammate reads a different book by the same author, no pass for this task. Sorry, c. not a match for me 🤷‍♀️
a. Nora Roberts
b. Darynda Jones
c. Kennedy Ryan
d. Kristen Ashley (3 have TBR for this/Mony for re-read)
e. Jill Shalvis
f. Jana Aston (3 have TBR for this/ Mony for re-read)
g. Kayley Loring
h. Lisa Kleypas
i. Jennifer Crusie

Shan ~A~ wrote: "1. Each player reads a book by the same author, teams decide author - no pass for this task

a. Brittainy C. Cherry
b. Devney Perry
c. [author:Kristen Ashley|2958..."

Shan ..... Same here with the home town. Even worse is that I currently LIVE in my home town and since I work out of my dining room, I'm working out of my home town....which is ..... Bristol, CT. Known only being the headquarters of ESPN and the hometown of Aaron Hernandez. Ugh.
I did do a quick google search and found three books that we could ask MKat about. One is set in a town two over from mine. One is set in New Haven, which is about a 40 minute drive from me, and the last is set in Meriden which is about a 20 minute drive or so from me. Two are mysteries and one was quoted as being "the new Hunger Games" by Cosmo. I"ll set up a quick shelf with these three in case we need them.

Mony or M - any more exciting home towns than us small town gals? :-)

Also - I'm in my 40s so when we hit that "add up the years of your birth" task - just be prepared to be reading a ton of pages. I'm a 1977 baby. EEEEKKKK!

Mony wrote: "About me.
Pleasantly retired after crazy job, hockey galore, and all that stuff. I live in Ottawa, Canada. Kids in Toronto :( Son doing grad studies in epidemiology & covid.

My husband & I travel..."

Mony - I was a project manager in the health care insurance industry in the US for 20+ years. I worked with Fortune 500 companies to set up their benefits with my company, worked with our internal IT area and benefit teams to translate our healthcare legislation into computer language (no. I don't have any background in IT at all. I have no idea how I wound up with that responsibility) and I also created web sites for our members that explained their benefits to them in easy real world words instead of insurance words. Those years ate at my body horribly. My health really suffered and I'm still recovering from some stress induced chronic illnesses.

I hope you enjoy ALL of the travel because even with an NHS, it's still health care and everyone still has their opinions. It's an ulcer a minute some days. I would absolutely love to see Spain. I have an expat cousin who is traveling the globe. She and her family were based in Madrid 4 years ago. That was their favorite city to live in thus far.