Nothing But Reading Challenges discussion

Team Helen - TROJAN



• Apoorv (Captain)
• Lynne Norris (Co-Captain)
• Judy (Co-Captain)
• LaurLa (Co-Captain)
• Megan
• Dawn
• Nicole
• Sharon A.
• Mary
• Diane
• Bobbi
• Jhmingos
• Darren
• M
• Jackie
• Diana Costa
Debra Monteith

Official Team Sheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/...

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

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OMG! I AM SO EXCITED!
WHAT IS ALL THIS ABOUT?

Some important pointers!
- Read! Read! Read!

That's it, that's the challenge! Ciao! :P
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But, the Mods will scold me if I don't remind you folks about the rules.
(These Mods, I tell you! :P)

Tower Teams Rules

In short,
- Books should be over 100 pages
- Re-reads allowed if the last read was 6 months ago
- Box-set books not allowed
- Audiobooks allowed (use default GoodReads page)
- Children's, Graphic Novels, Poetry etc. allowed (ensure it is 30,000 words+, use ArBookFind to verify)
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Team Information (alphabetical)

✔ Apoorv | Challenge-NBRC-TT9
✔ Bobbi | TT9 Team Helen
✔ Darren | Tower 2
✔ Dawn | Dawn TT9 Shelf
✔ Diana Costa | TT 2022
✔ Diane | TT9
✔ Jackie | TT 2022
✔ Jhmingos | Tower Teams 9
✔ Judy | Tower Teams IX
✔ LaurLa | NBRC Tower Team 9
✔ Lynne Norris | Tower Teams 2022
✔ M | Tower 2022
✔ Mary | Tower Teams The Muses 2022
✔ Megan | Tower Teams 2022
✔ Nicole | Towers 9
✔ Sharon | Towers 22

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COUNTDOWN!
(https://www.timeanddate.com/countdown...)

We start May 15th, at 9 PM London UK (BST).

ALL THAT IS FINE,
BUT WHERE IS THE FUN BIT?

Yeah! Yeah! Hold your (Trojan) horses! ;=)
Didn't you know all this is to gain points for reading to rescue Helen?
Priorities, people! :P

But as a side bonus, here is what we are rewarded:

For reading books
◈ Books less than 100 pages = 0 points
◈ Books between 100 and 1000 pages = 0.1 points/page
◈ Books over 1000 pages = 100 points

◈ For current BOM (Book of the Month) discussions
Writing a day's worth of discussion questions = 40 points
Participating in a current BOM (participating in discussion) = 20 points

More about the Point System here.

And then there will be MINI CHALLENGES throughout, because how else would those pesky Mods trouble us? :P

HOLY ZEUS, APOORV! :P
STOP YAPPING AND TELL ME WHAT I WOULD NEED TO DO... OR ELSE...



UFFF! Ummm.. sorry, got distracted there for a bit!
What was I saying? Oh, yeah - what to do!

Here is our master spreadsheet, that all us cappie's will take care of! We have some awesome co-captains, who know everything there is to know! :) (See, how I am already shirking my responsibilities? :P)

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

You don't have to worry about this one!

Team Helen Planning/Tracking Spreadsheet
(https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/...)

Now, THIS is your playground!
The "Books" tab is where you should cause all the ruckus! :P
So, bookmark this baby because you will be needing this one a lot over the next three months!

What is Book of the Month?

👉 BOOK FOR THE MONTH OF MAY

✔️ The Travelling Cat Chronicles | Hiro Arikawa
Starts: 16-May-2022
Discussion Thread

Discussion Questions Volunteers
★ Judy
- Lynne

✔️ BACKROOM BOM: Wildfire | Sam Burns
Starts: 22-May-2022
Discussion Thread

Discussion Questions Volunteers
- N/A


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👉 BOOKS FOR THE MONTH OF JUNE

The Book of Cold Cases | Simone St. James
Starts: 02-Jun-2022
Discussion Thread

Discussion Questions Volunteers
- Sharon
- Bobbi

The Witch's Heart | Genevieve Gornichec
Starts: 16-Jun-2022
Discussion Thread

Discussion Questions Volunteers
- Lynne
- Dawn
- Judy



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MUSE MAY MINI
Rules for the Mini
Books read and finished from the start of the challenge until 9pm GMT+1 on 31st May only.

◈ Each Task = 5 points
◈ Complete all Tasks for a Muse = +10 points
◈ You may only complete each task once.
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Letters Required

👉 A : 7
👉 C : 3
👉 E : 10
👉 H : 3
👉 I : 6
👉 L : 6
👉 M : 3
👉 N : 3
👉 O : 6
👉 P : 5
👉 R : 5
👉 S : 1
👉 T : 4
👉 U : 2
👉 Y : 2

What can be used?
- Title (Ignore Articles)
- Author First, Last Name
- Character First, Last, Nickname
- Series Title
- Narrator First, Last Name
- Translator First, Last Name

Tasks Required

👉 MPG Humour
👉 MPG History/Historical Fiction
👉 MPG Tragedy

👉 COVER: Mask
👉 COVER: Stars
👉 COVER: Sword
👉 COVER: Musical instrument

👉 Map at the front of the book
👉 TITLE: Letters of HYMN
👉 TITLE: Letters CLD
👉 TITLE: A Royal title
👉 Author initials in SACRED

👉 Poetry quote in the text
👉 MC is a writer
👉 1st in series
👉 A celebration in the book
👉 Characters attend a musical performance
👉 Dancing in the book

(view spoiler)[
List of all tasks:

1 spell out Thalia - T
2 Spell out Thalia - H
3 Spell out Thalia - A
4 Spell out Thalia - L
5 Spell out Thalia - I
6 Spell out Thalia - A
7 MPG Humour
8 Mask on cover

9 Spell out Urania - U
10 Spell out Urania - R
11 Spell out Urania - A
12 Spell out Urania - N
13 Spell out Urania - I
14 Spell out Urania - A
15 Stars on the cover
16 Map at the front of the book

17 Spell out Melpomene - M
18 Spell out Melpomene - E
19 Spell out Melpomene - L
20 Spell out Melpomene - P
21 Spell out Melpomene - O
22 Spell out Melpomene - M
23 Spell out Melpomene - E
24 Spell out Melpomene - N
25 Spell out Melpomene - E
26 Sword on cover
27 Tagged Tragedy

28 Spell out Polyhymnia - P
29 Spell out Polyhymnia - O
30 Spell out Polyhymnia - L
31 Spell out Polyhymnia - Y
32 Spell out Polyhymnia - H
33 Spell out Polyhymnia - Y
34 Spell out Polyhymnia - M
35 Spell out Polyhymnia - N
36 Spell out Polyhymnia - I
37 Spell out Polyhymnia - A
38 Letters of HYMN in title
39 Author initials in SACRED

40 Spell out Erato - E
41 Spell out Erato - R
42 Spell out Erato - A
43 Spell out Erato - T
44 Spell out Erato - O
45 Poetry quote in the text
46 MC is a writer

47 Spell out Calliope - C
48 Spell out Calliope - A
49 Spell out Calliope - L
50 Spell out Calliope - L
51 Spell out Calliope - I
52 Spell out Calliope - O
53 Spell out Calliope - P
54 Spell out Calliope - E
55 Royal title in book title
56 1st in series

57 Spell out Clio - C
58 Spell out Clio - L
59 Spell out Clio - I
60 Spell out Clio - O
61 MPG History/Historical Fiction
62 A celebration in the book

63 Spell out Euterpe - E
64 Spell out Euterpe - U
65 Spell out Euterpe - T
66 Spell out Euterpe - E
67 Spell out Euterpe - R
68 Spell out Euterpe - P
69 Spell out Euterpe - E
70 Musical instrument on cover
71 Characters attend a musical performance

72 Spell out Terpsichore - T
73 Spell out Terpsichore - E
74 Spell out Terpsichore - R
75 Spell out Terpsichore - P
76 Spell out Terpsichore - S
77 Spell out Terpsichore - I
78 Spell out Terpsichore - C
79 Spell out Terpsichore - H
80 Spell out Terpsichore - O
81 Spell out Terpsichore - R
82 Spell out Terpsichore - E
83 Dancing in the book
84 Letters CLD in title of book (hide spoiler)]

Reserved

And another.

And one more just in case!

MAZE MINI CHALLENGE


Together with our fellow Trojans – Hector, Cassandra, and of course our (new) husband Paris – we must navigate through the labyrinth. Our “supergroup” of Trojans receives one maze – link to be added – and we’ll be working together to move from the top left to the bottom right. You will receive invitations to the group with all Trojans teams, in which we’ll be planning the challenge and discussing strategy.


⭐️ Timeline

June 1st to finishing the maze (or the end of TT)


⭐️ How does the maze work?

When in the maze, you must choose a direction to travel: North, South, East, West.
Each direction has a specific quality to the book you need to read.
🏆 North - Book title starts with A-M
🏆 South - Book title starts with N-Z
🏆 East - Even number of pages
🏆 West - Odd number of pages

A task will generate automatically when you change squares in the maze. The book you read needs to meet the criteria for both the direction you want to travel and the task you have drawn.

For Example:
- Task: Read a book with the MPG Science Fiction.
- Wants to travel North (title first letter A-M).
- Ender's Shadow

Important: While you can use books started at any point after June 1st, you must finish it only after the task it’s being used for is revealed!

⭐️ Books

- Standard TT criteria apply (rereads allowed (6 month rule), page count = minimum 100 pages)
- Books used in the maze cannot be used for any other mini-challenge
- As always, if the first letter of a title starts with ‘A’, ‘An’, ‘The’, etc., you may use the first letter of the second word in the title to spell out your chosen word.

⭐️ Points

Each book used in the maze will gain 5 points for the team. The first supergroup to complete their maze will get 150 points, the second will get 100 points, the third will get 50 points. Each team in the supergroup will get this bonus.

⭐️ Don’t worry!

This is a challenge in which faster readers have an advantage, but that doesn’t mean you can’t participate if you’re slower! The maze will not be finished on the first day. Keep your eyes peeled for new tasks dropping when you get close to finishing a book – maybe what you’re already reading anyway will be the perfect fit.

R

R

R

RR

RR

RR

Well, hello there, you wonderful people!
Welcome to the best team challenge with the best team ever!
Umm... did I overdo that? Eh, well, we will prove it in three months time! :P

I am Apoorv (he/him) - the captain! (I know! I know! I rolled my eyes at that news too! :P) I live in Boston, Massachusetts in The United States and my association with the game goes as far back as 2014 with TT3 - so, yeah - I'm the old horse in the barn! :P

I have played other challenges with a few of you before and seen a few of you around in other teams and some are new friends. So, I'm just super excited to get started. I am sure the Mods have some very exciting stuff lined up for us this year - and I can't wait to share the fun with all of you.

I try and read almost everything (genre no bar), so it's always an exciting aspect of this challenge for me to see all the plethora of books my teammates read.
So, as an icebreaker, how about, if you don't mind, each of you share your top 3 books that you read so far in 2022?!

I'll start:
- The Book of Accidents | Chuck Wendig
- Razorblade Tears | S.A. Cosby
- The Good Girls: An Ordinary Killing | Sonia Faleiro

Please feel free to ask any questions that you may have.
As I like to say, I promise I'll answer all the easy ones, and make sure our wonderful co-captains, Judy, Lynne, and LaurLa, answer the difficult ones! :P

SUPER-EXCITED! Let's do this! :D

Hi everyone!

I’m Judy (she/her), I’m in my mid-20s and from Germany. I’m still currently in PST on the NA west coast but I’ll be back in Europe next week before the challenge starts.

I’m a grad student who’s supposed to work on her master’s thesis but I also have 2-3 jobs so all of that is kind of hard to balance. Grad school has sucked the joy out of reading books for a while for me but now that the worst is over I think I’ve finally dug my way out of that hole and am loving what I’m reading again.

I have quite a few rounds of Towers under my belt by now (I think my first one was in 2017?) and have been captain/co-captain for a bunch of NBRC challenges over the last couple of years.

My favorite books so far this year... hmmm... probably Nemesis Games, Delilah Green Doesn't Care & Troy (on theme, even!)

Here’s my TT shelf: https://www.goodreads.com/review/list...

Looking forward to playing with all of you! :)

Hi there!

I'm Bobbi and this is my first Team Towers, but I have participated in quite a few team challenges. I'm 36 and come from the Mitten state (Michigan, US for international friends). I've been taking care of my mother for the past little while so books are my escape.

My favorite books this year so far in no particular order:
1. Born a Crime: Stories From a South African Childhood
2. Vox
3. #Murdertrending

My shelf can be found right here.

Looking forward to getting to know you all and kicking some booty. Remember, go for the heel. 😂

Hi Team!

I'm Diane (she/her) located in TX (US) and work a corporate job so rarely available before 5pm. Looking forward to this challenge as Tower Teams are always fun. My preferred genres are: romance, cozy mystery and urban fantasy.

My shelf is TT9

Top 3 books so far this year was difficult as I've read a lot of good ones, but I'll go with

Hi Team Helen,

I'm Lizzie or Jhmingos. Either name is fine. This will be my second year doing Tower Teams but I've done a lot of reading challenges before. It keeps me motivated with my reading. I'm from Southern California where I have pretty much grown up. Looking forward to getting to know you all and finding more books for my TBR. I like to have a big range of reads but mysteries and classics are my staples. I read a lot of Greek mythology growing up so I'm excited by this year's theme!

My shelf: Tower Team 9

Top 3 reads of 2022 so far...
1. My Cousin Rachel
2. Cold Sassy Tree
3. Howl’s Moving Castle

Hello team!

I'm Diana, currently living in Portugal, and this is my second TT. I'm always super busy and I currently have too many unfinished books on my bedside table. Hoping to get them out of my way until TT starts :)

Top 3 of 2022:
The Queen's Gambit
Anxious People
Louisiana's Way Home

Hi, I'm Nicole. This is my second time doing tower teams but the first was no 5 so its been a little while. I'm fresh off Perk's Uno challenge though and looking forward to continuing a team challenge.

Ill link my shelf in a few days but away at a wedding so dont have access to a laptop.

Otherwise top 3 books? Going by my ratings and ignoring rereads The Martian, Red Sister and Under the Whispering Door

Nice to meet you all :)

Hello lovelies!

I'm Megan and I'm from Hertfordshire (just North of London), UK.
I think I've played Towers Teams every year since the infamous WOBBLE in 2016 so I recognise a few of you!

My favourite genres are fantasy, sci-fi and horror, though I dabble in most genres apart from romance.

My shelf for the challenge is here

Top 3 books so far this year for me are:


Can't wait to get started playing with you all!

Hello all!

I'm Mary and I'm from Pensacola, Florida (USA). I've participated in a couple TT before but sadly not consistently. However I love challenges and recognize a few of you from other challenges. :)

I don't have a favorite genre really. To be honest I don't pick favorites unless they are absolute. I'm weird. So far this year I've read a lot of fantasy and a lot of romance.

My shelf can be found here

My top 3 books so far would be:

Hello everyone. I am M from Vancouver Canada. I think this is the fifth time I have been part of TT.

My favorite genres are fantast, sci-fi, horror, and historical fiction. I honestly will read almost anything.

My shelf can be found here
Tower 2022

My top 3 books of this year


Is anyone else so excited that they have already made a TBR for the challenge? My nightstand is about to collapse under the weight.

Hi hello welcome everyone! Nice to meet you!

Hi, I’m Lynne from Texas. I am one of the co-captains, and I am so excited about this challenge. I think this is my third time to do TT, so still relatively new.

My favorite genres are sci-fi and fantasy, including YA, and I also dabble in mystery and horror. I used to read romance but haven’t been into it as much lately. I have been making my way through the Hercule Poirot series so most of the books I have read so far this year have been part of that. 🕵🏻‍♀️

My top 3 books so far this year are:

Hi everyone, I'm Dawn from the UK and this is my second TT challenge, inspired by all the recommendations over at UNO. I spot a fellow Granny Weatherwax player- hello Megan :)

Ooooo my top three books from this year....got to go for





All very different books but always up for any genre- each one had actually stemmed from recommendations.

My shelf is 'dawn-tt9-shelf'

Can't wait to see what the mods are going to throw at us!

Hi all! I'm Sharon from Northeast Pennsylvania (USA). I've done a bunch of team challenges, but I think I've participate in towers only twice. I'm looking forward to it! These always help me get out of a reading slump.

I think I'm realizing more and more that the romance/chick-lit/women's fiction genre is my favorite. I enjoy a good mystery/thriller, but I have to take a break from them sometimes. I've recently gotten into historical fiction. I tend to stay away from fantasy/sci-fi.

Top three books I've read this year are:

Welcome everyone! Nice to meet you all... and nice to see again those of you I've known and seen around GR. I'm LaurLa from Indiana in the US. I think this is my 4th or 5th TT, so I'm quite familiar. I am a challenge junky so I'm also fresh off Uno and currently doing waaaaay too many other challenges. But it keeps me out of trouble 😂.

I will read anything romancy... not a particular fan of YA but if it's of the teen romance variety and not the teen angst variety, I'll give it a go. Also don't really like straight up SF or Fantasy... you know, without that little twist of romance for us gooey hearted. And no horror! I cringe even thinking about it. There's enough horror-like stuff in UF and PNR and Romantic Suspense - I definitely don't need the straight-up kind. But as I said, I'm also a challenge junky, so I'll probably give anything a go if it's really needed for a challenge 🙄.

My top three this year so far. Really hard because the first couple months were difficult for me this year and I don't think I actually retained much of what I read. But if I look back, these made an impact on me.
- this one shouldn't have because there was no romance in it at all but it was sure compelling!



My nbrc-towerteams-9 shelf.

Hello, everyone! I'm Jackie from North Carolina (USA). I've done TT several times and see many familiar names here. Also just finished up UNO and looking forward to another big team challenge. I'm officially addicted to challenges and am in probably way too many but I love them.

I will read almost anything but favorite genres are Fantasy, Science Fiction, and Mystery. I also enjoy Young Adult fantasy but more the middle grade variety rather than teenage angst. I've just recently gotten more into Horror which surprises me because it's a genre that I've stayed away from in the past. Romance is probably my least favorite genre although it's okay if it's just part of the story and not the main focus.

Favorite books so far this year are:




My shelf: tt 2022

The June BOMs have just been announced!!

June 2nd: The Book of Cold Cases - thread
June 16th: The Witch's Heart - thread

This is also a reminder that The Travelling Cat Chronicles is the second May BOM and you can still volunteer for DQs - the thread is here

I've already volunteered for DQs for that one, but the more volunteers we have, the better our chances for collecting some of those lovely bonus points ;)

I volunteered as back-up for The Travelling Cat Chronicles.

And I volunteered for The Witch's Heart, but I didn’t sign up for the other one because I don’t really usually enjoy thrillers.

But yes, everyone sign up! I was intimidated by DQs and then once I did it for the first time, I realized it is pretty fun and no big deal.

Lynne wrote: "I was intimidated by DQs and then once I did it for the first time, I realized it is pretty fun and no big deal.

Yep seconding that! They're pretty easy and fun – and we can also workshop them together as a team if anyone's struggling :)

I need to see where my library hold for Witch's Heart will be at when we get closer before I volunteer for that. And I'm in the same boat re: the other one – thrillers just really aren't it for me.

Judy wrote: "Lynne wrote: "I was intimidated by DQs and then once I did it for the first time, I realized it is pretty fun and no big deal.

Yep seconding that! They're pretty easy and fun – and we can also wor..."

Oh yes good idea - we can definitely work on them together if anyone wants.

I just did my DQs for The Cartographers yesterday (totally didn’t realize that one doesn’t count for TT lol). Not loving the book but had fun with the DQ making and answering.

Hi,

My name is Darren, I am 49 and live in Coventry in England.

This is my 2nd Towers Event

My shelf is here

Currently I have been reading a lot of non-fiction but my favourite genres are Science Fiction/Fantasy and Thrillers

My Top 3 Books that I have read this year are:

Judy wrote: "The June BOMs have just been announced!!

June 2nd: The Book of Cold Cases - thread
June 16th: The Witch's Heart - thread

This is also a reminder that [book:The Tr..."

I need to get over my shyness and volunteer.

Bobbi wrote: "I need to get over my shyness and volunteer."

It's honestly a great time – it's so fun to see how people understand your questions and decide to respond to them!

Judy wrote: "Hi everyone!

I’m Judy (she/her), I’m in my mid-20s and from Germany. I’m still currently in PST on the NA west coast but I’ll be back in Europe next week before the challenge starts. ."

Welcome Judy, so glad to have you in the captains pool this year - I'm sure your previous experience captaining/co-captaining will be super helpful! :)

Also, I love that there is an Ashley Herring Blake book in your top 3 - I have only read one of Ashley's books so far, but it is an absolute favourite. Ivy Aberdeen's Letter to the World

Bobbi wrote: "Hi there!

I'm Bobbi and this is my first Team Towers, but I have participated in quite a few team challenges. I'm 36 and come from the Mitten state (Michigan, US for international friends). I've b..."

HAHA! That is an advice I am going to note down. :P
Hope your mother is doing well and books are helping you out through this phase, Bobbi.

Welcome to your first tower teams - hope this turns out to be better than you anticipate and more fun than you expect. :)

Diane ~Firefly~ wrote: "Hi Team!

I'm Diane (she/her) located in TX (US) and work a corporate job so rarely available before 5pm. Looking forward to this challenge as Tower Teams are always fun. My preferred genres are: r..."

Diane, you are speaking my language with your timings. Having said that, I have shamelessly used GoodReads at work (well, I mean there is only as much time that I can stay away from it. :P)

I have also never seen any recommendations/favourites list, across the host of challenges I have been part of, complete without the mention of an Illona Andrews book. So, thank you for keeping the tradition going. Haha :)

I volunteered for DQs for Cold Cases, so fingers crossed my library hold comes through in time!

Jhmingos wrote: "Hi Team Helen,

I'm Lizzie or Jhmingos. Either name is fine. This will be my second year doing Tower Teams but I've done a lot of reading challenges before. It keeps me motivated with my reading. I..."

Not going to lie, your name "Jhmingos" definitely intrigued me. If you don't mind me asking, what does it mean?

It's awesome that you have read a lot of Greek mythology - I will totally be looking forward to reading your recommendations, since I haven't read a whole lot in that genre and I am super curious to explore more.

Diana wrote: "Hello team!

I'm Diana, currently living in Portugal, and this is my second TT. I'm always super busy and I currently have too many unfinished books on my bedside table. Hoping to get them out of m..."

Ah, I am always super giddy when I see Anxious People or really any Fredrick Bachman book in top reads - that was one of my best reads from last year.

And while I have not read The Queen's Gambit yet, but the show was just lit.

Nicole B wrote: "Hi, I'm Nicole. This is my second time doing tower teams but the first was no 5 so its been a little while. I'm fresh off Perk's Uno challenge though and looking forward to continuing a team challe..."

I got your shelf, Nicole, don't worry!
And I am literally picking up Under the Whispering Door as most likely my first book for the challenge - TJ has been a long time favourite, so seeing the book here just pushes me all the more closer to starting it in a week. :)

Megan wrote: "Hello lovelies!

I'm Megan and I'm from Hertfordshire (just North of London), UK.
I think I've played Towers Teams every year since the infamous WOBBLE in 2016 so I recognise a few of you!."

Oh, how I love to interact with another horror lover. It is not a commonly preferred genre, so seeing someone read that primarily, makes me happy - also adds on to the list of exciting books to look forward to. So, I will be scouring your bookshelf, Megan. Haha! :P