The Challenge Factory discussion

For this challenge you will need to read one book a week.

Each week the moderator will announce the Word of the Week. The WotW will have four letters. Each team member will choose one of the four letters. That letter will determine the book they will read that week. You can use the first word of the title (excluding 'a', 'an', or 'the'), or the author's first, middle, or last initial.

There will also be a BONUS Word of the Week. (BWotW)

Example:
The WotW is 'BOAT'. You pick the letter 'A'. You decide to read Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen.

If you find both the WotW and the BWotW in the text of the book, you will earn the Scrabble point value of the letter and a point for each of the found words. In this example, A is worth 1 point, plus 2 points for the two found words for a total of 3 points.

WotW and BWotW will be announced each Monday morning.


Rules, Teams with less than 4 players, Missing Players, and Captain's Duties

Rules:
* You cannot begin reading your book until Wednesday morning (12:01 a.m.) your time.
* Books must be 140+ pages. Audio book page length is determined by the first paper version that shows up.
* Graphic novels and poetry books are allowed, but they must be 250+ pages.

Teams with less than 4 players and Missing Players:
If a team has fewer assigned members than four, one member will need to read an second book. That member may change from week to week.

If a team member has an emergency or has scheduled an absence, a team member can read 2 books that week so that the team will not lose points.

A team member can have one unplanned absence one without repercussions. When they miss a second week, they will eliminated from the team. In the case of an unplanned absence, a team member cannot read a second book.

Captain's Duties:
* Double check your team members' Completion Posts to verify compliance to the rules and tasks.
* Captains will need to post on the Reporting Thread when everyone in their team has made a Completion Post. That entails one post with a copy of or link to each member's Completion Post.
*Report any problems, concerns, missing players, etc. to the moderator.

Sample Completion Post:
If the WotW is Coat, and the BWotW is Chair:

Completion Post:
Coat & Chair Week:
My Letter: C
Book: Charlotte's Web
Read: 6/20/22
Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★
Review: (At least 3 sentences long, please.)

Bonus Items and Points:
Coat: "...his silky white coat..." p. 136
Chair: not found in the text

Total: C = 3; 3 + 1 = 4 points

Team members:
Kira
Jeanne
Abir

hey everyone, I'm Abir from Algeria, 29 years old. Love to read all genre of books with respectable degrees.
Nice meeting all of you

Hi Abir! So excited for this challenge!

WotW was posted - BELT

I can take B, E definitely and probably T!

Edit: not T probably lol couldn’t find anything in my immediate tbr!

I’ll definitely be reading for B and E then. Any takers for L and T?

Hello Kira and Abir. Had a hard time finding you all. I can take any letter and can probably also read two books if no one else can. I am going out of town this week (grandson's HS graduation in Virginia, so 2 books would be a stretch, but possible.

Hi Jeanne! I’ll definitely be reading 2 books so you can take it easy if you want! But I don’t have anything for L and T so it’d be great if you can find something for that!

Great! For T, I have Stamped Out by Tonya Kappes. For L, I can read The Rising Sea by James Lawrence. I"ll read whatever letter Abir doesn't take.

Awesome Jeanne! Happy Reading!

Abir wrote: "hey everyone, I'm Abir from Algeria, 29 years old. Love to read all genre of books with respectable degrees.
Nice meeting all of you"

Hey, Abir! I can read for either L or T and will read whichever letter you don't take.

Hey girls, I'm glad you are all as excited as me for this challenge. This is my first time playing this type of challenges.
I don't have anything planned out yet, so I'll just wait for the word and decide.

Abir wrote: "Hey girls, I'm glad you are all as excited as me for this challenge. This is my first time playing this type of challenges.
I don't have anything planned out yet, so I'll just wait for the word and..."

Abir, the words are already out. They come out on Mondays, I believe. So for this week the WordOftheWeek(WotW) is "Belt". The Bonus word for this week is "Carpet." Kira is taking B and E from Belt and I will take whatever letter remains after you choose.

Jeanne wrote: "Abir wrote: "Hey girls, I'm glad you are all as excited as me for this challenge. This is my first time playing this type of challenges.
I don't have anything planned out yet, so I'll just wait for..."

Hi Jeanne! I think you should go ahead and start with L because its's a more rare letter!

oh! I didnt know that, I wasn't paying attention. I thought the words will be posted in our thread. Silly me
I'm finishing a book today and then I'll decide. you girls choose if you have something planned already

Week 1 - BELT and CARPET Week!

Week 1 Book 1 Completion - Letter B (WoTW - BELT)

Book: Breathless
Author:Amy McCulloch
Date read:08/06/2022 (started today itself)
Task:Letter B
How it fits:Title starts with B

Review: THIS WAS FRICKING AMAZING!

The setting, the characters, the plot and the mystery - full points to every damn thing!

I loved this storyline - mountain climbing - it was something different and I hadn't read before anything like this so it was an amazing new experience. Cecily was a great character and so were everyone on Charles' team.

With every chapter my suspiscions kept shifting among different characters and that is what kept me hooked for it's entirety. I simply couldn't put down the book without knowing what actually was happening!

It was a great read for me personally and I can't give it anything less than 5 stars!

WoTW: Belt
How it fits: @57% - The older sherpa unhooked a knife from his belt

BWoTW: Carpet
How it fits: @64% - ..blanketing the ground in a soft carpet of white

Abir wrote: "oh! I didnt know that, I wasn't paying attention. I thought the words will be posted in our thread. Silly me
I'm finishing a book today and then I'll decide. you girls choose if you have something..."

Great Abir! I'll take on the Captain's duties since I am almost always here and check us in once we have all the completions.

Kira wrote: "Abir wrote: "oh! I didnt know that, I wasn't paying attention. I thought the words will be posted in our thread. Silly me
I'm finishing a book today and then I'll decide. you girls choose if you h..."

That's good by me Kira. I hate that duty I just love to read books and I love the challenge of finding a book that fits my mood and my tasks.
I'll be reading for the letter T, if that's still available.

Abir wrote: "Kira wrote: "Abir wrote: "oh! I didnt know that, I wasn't paying attention. I thought the words will be posted in our thread. Silly me
I'm finishing a book today and then I'll decide. you girls ch..."

That's great Abir! Post your completions here once you are done and I'll compile them all :)

Week 1 - BELT and CARPET Week

Week 1 Book 2 Completion - Letter E (WoTW - BELT)

Book: Breaking Point
Author:Emma Darcy
Date read:12/06/2022 (started today itself)
Task:Letter E
How it fits:Author's first name starts with E
Review: I don't even know why I read this misogynistic piece of shit book.

TW: R*pe

So, Rafe doesn't have even one admirable quality apart from being "devastatingly handsome" and yet Tanya is deeply in love with him. He mishandles her, ignores her and even forces himself on her at one point but all this is brushed off. WHY ? Oh because he had a sad childhood, he had to look after his oh so many siblings curtesy of being the eldest. I don't understand how does that give him the right to act so shitty all the time. He keeps doubting Tanya, accuses him of sleeping with someone else, doubts that he's the father when she falls pregnant and acts as if he owns her all the fucking time.

And Tanya, for someone so fiery in the first two chapters, she sure took all that abuse without batting an eye.

What's more, the shittiest part about this book isn't even everything mentioned above. It was the last chapter, where the blatant rape was now worded as Rafe being "rough in bed." I can't even!!

1 star is a generosity because sadly GR won't let me rate it any less.

WoTW: Belt
How it fits: @6% - tightened the belt to emphasise her narrow waist

BWoTW: Carpet
How it fits: @4% - The rich cream of the carpet was repeated in..

Hi Abir and Jeanne! How are you guys doing with your books?

I think my last post got lost in the ether. Wanted to know when the reviews are due?

Week 1 Book 1 Completion - Letter B (WoTW - BELT)

Book: Rising Sea
Author: Lawrence, James
Date read: 06.13.2022
Task: Letter L
How it fits: Author's last name starts with "L," and "Belt" appears in the text.
• Location 1799
“Our new reason for existence is to become a hindrance to China’s Belt and Road Initiative or Silk Road or whatever they call their imperialistic plan to conquer the world.
• Location 1844
“The Americans have begun to sabotage the Roads and Belts Initiatives. The deep-water port we acquired in Mombasa, Kenya, has been attacked twice in the

Review: The Red Flags is the largest assembly of pirates in the world (some 1700 strong), battling and controlling dominance in the disputed South China Sea. It raids and plunders land treasures as well as sea going oil cargo enroute from Saudi Arabia to ports in China. In order to thwart the pirates, the Chinese form an army of junks supported by Portuguese battleships, isolating a large segment of the pirate fleet. The pirates bargain a release in return for pirate gold reserves, the fleet of junks, and amnesty for the pirates.
Before the bargain can be consummated, a battle ensues and the oil convoy is severely damaged. Two American planes, observing the battle from a distance are shot down by the Chinese. American retaliation sinks two of the Chinese frigates and tensions increase exponentially. Then the Chinese Navy flexes its muscle in a series of unprovoked strikes against U.S. military air patrols, and a plan is hatched to end the Chinese global advance.
Seeking a way out of this unwarranted escalation, the US plans to cripple the Chinese menace by creating a man-made, natural disaster. Under the guise of treasure hunters, Pat Walsh and his team of CIA mercenaries are to conduct a series of deep-water dives to plant explosives along a fault line in the Palawan Trench. The resulting tsunami will take out the Chinese airfields along the reef islands that are fomenting the problem and cripple the Chinese with what the world and the Chinese will assume is a natural disaster.
In executing the plan, Walsh and his mercenaries discover millions in sunken pirate treasure. Keeping the treasure out of enemy hands and surviving a Chinese government bent on revenge form the balance of the book.

BWoTW: Carpet
How it fits:
• Location 1620
I unlocked the triple glass doors and went into the salon. The interior was white, with a beige carpet. A sixty-inch TV was mounted against the wall to the right of the entrance. Facing the TV was
• Location 1622
and two grey chairs arrayed in a horseshoe with a coffee table in the center. Farther in, the carpet turned to blonde wood and I moved past the living room to a dining area and then to the wheelhouse.
• Location 1631
king bed and a large modern bathroom plus a seating area and walk-in closet. All four bedrooms were carpeted with large picture windows. The galley was a long, narrow, stainless-steel professional kitchen

Hi Jeanne, that looks good! Did you not find WoTW in the text as well??

I think they are due Wednesday so less than 24 hours my time!

Kira wrote: "Hi Jeanne, that looks good! Did you not find WoTW in the text as well??"

Sorry, the thing was so long, I forgot to put in finding "belt" in the text. I amended my answer above. Thanks for bringing it to my attention.

Kira wrote: "I think they are due Wednesday so less than 24 hours my time!"

I thought we were to get new words on Mondays. Did that happen?

I looked up the words for this week and they are "wage" and "barn". If no one minds, I would like W this week.

I am waiting for Abir's submission and then we can get checked in. Is there a deadline for submissions?

Also taking A for this week's word!

Week 2 - WAGE and BARN Week

Week 2 Book 1 Completion - Letter A (WoTW - WAGE)

Book: Written in Red
Author:Anne Bishop
Date read:15/06/2022
Task:Letter A
How it fits:Author's first name starts with A
Review: I would like to start off by saying that I absolutely loved and was fascinated by the whole of The Others and Humans coexisting with each of their laws and rules & regulations in place. The gards within the Others were amazing and I just loved all the details about their world.

Sam was my absolute favourite wolf pup, his friendship with Meg was wholesome! I liked all their interactions and the part where Simon goes off for a week is best lol. I am NOT shipping Meg and Simon together!!! I don't like the idea of their romance at all.

I did find a few parts a bit tedious to get through especially the third quarter, I felt like there was something missing and so it didn't become a 5 star read for me!


WoTW: Wage
How it fits: @4% - It's a basic hourly wage and you're responsible for

BWoTW: Barn
How it fits: @53% - Three hawks claimed a similar bit of fence on the other side of the barn.

I'm sorry for the late submission, my mother fell sick and it has a been a chaos.

WoTW: Belt
Book: A Thousand Splendid Suns
Author: Khaled Hosseini
Task: Letter T
The word BELT appears in the text: "...his hands hooked in his belt loops..." Chapter 18
Read: 15/06/2022
Rating: 5 stars
Review: it is painful to read about the suffering of other women by the hands of men, or just those who hold more power then them, it is even more painful to know it is done under the pretenses of Islamic laws, which is false and has no foundation. My religion has given women their full rights, more than men, dignity and respect, it protected and cherished them.
What these men paint of my religion shames me.

BWoTW: Carpet:
"...land in Farah, Three carpet stores, a clothing shop,..." Part One - Chapter 1

Hi Abir! It’s okay. Did you look for WoTW (belt) in the book as well? Asking because I forgot to look it up at first lol and didn’t realise we get points for both words!

Since the deadline for submitting completion posts is tomorrow, I will compile ours in the morning!

Also, for this week’s words, G and E are left. I am currently reading a book that works for G, would you be okay with E?

there is the word Belt in the book, I just checked. I'll edit my submission.
And I'm sure I can find something for the E, don't worry about it. I'm cleaning my TBR so everything works for me.

Abir wrote: "there is the word Belt in the book, I just checked. I'll edit my submission.
And I'm sure I can find something for the E, don't worry about it. I'm cleaning my TBR so everything works for me."

Great Abir! Happy Reading!

We are checked in for week 1! :)

Week 2 Book 2 Completion - Letter G (WoTW - WAGE)

Book: The Girl Who Was Supposed to Die
Author: April Henry
Date read:16/06/2022
Task:Letter G
How it fits: Title starts with G

Review: This fared better than my expectations.

When I read the description, I was a bit on the skeptical side that this would be the same old murder mystery except the person to be murdered escapes somehow. But I ended up really liking the plot about vaccines and corruption and biological warfare.

I got the "oh this is ridiculous" feeling a few times but since this was not listed as anything science or medical related I was able to get over it quite easily.

I enjoyed the book and the main characters were well written so, 4 stars.

WoTW: Wage
How it fits: @47% - How is she supposed to live on a minimum wage if she works only twenty hours a week?

BWoTW: Barn
How it fits: @67% - And then in farms and barns around Eastern Oregon

Kira, could you post either the scores for each of us or the total for the team as we go along. I think it will help me figure out the best books to read to help our score.

Current scores - Week 1

Kira - 8
Jeanne - 3
Abir - 3

Total team points - 14

Jeanne wrote: "Kira, could you post either the scores for each of us or the total for the team as we go along. I think it will help me figure out the best books to read to help our score."

There you go Jeanne!

Week Three's words are: WofW - View, BWofW - Butter

What are your preferences Abir and Jeanne?

Week 2 Book 1 Completion - Letter W (WoTW - WAGE)

Book: Welcome to Piney Falls
Author: Joann Keder
Date read: 06.20.2022
Task: Letter W
How it fits: Book title begins with "W"
Review:
Welcome to Piney Falls, is an interesting mystery novel that immerses you in the history of a small town, the kind often overlooked by most people.

Lanie Anders has a perfectly-ordered life until her house burns to the ground under mysterious circumstances. As a businesswoman turned author, whose life is thus thrown into confusion, she abandons her successful career in marketing to rediscover herself. Searching for some kind of purpose, she is determined to finish her final creative writing assignment, which is to write a fictional story about the history of Piney Falls, Oregon. Finding nothing online, she decides to visit the oceanside hamlet herself.

On her arrival, it doesn’t take long to determine that something isn’t quite right in the picturesque little town. Her neighbor speaks in riddles, the death rate is alarmingly high, the remnants of a cult abound, the mayor with whom she has an appointment is dead, and the impossibly handsome town baker is hiding something.

With difficulty she finds that the history of the town follows the stories of two powerful women, connected across time, through their letters home. Fiona Flanagan, and her sister Faye, Scottish immigrants married to Americans farmers, move to America in the 1900’s. They wind up in Piney Falls and establish a successful fish cannery. But from there forward, people keep dying at an alarming rate, and every clue Lanie uncovers leads her to believe that the townspeople are in imminent danger.

In general, this does fairly well as the first novel in the series. However, at times the writing is a bit unclear and/or long-winded and the jump from present day to early town history is often a bit abrupt. Not really sure whether I will continue this series.

WoTW = Wage

• Page 38
to learn we would be opening Scheddy Salmon Cannery soon. Faye promised him we would pay a fair wage, even though we had no idea what that might be. Mr. Samuel Li assured us we would meet him again.

• Page 289
Opening the hospital, making the school a place for everyone, giving their employees a decent wage…” “We realize all of this,” Cosmo looks irritated, a

BWoTW = Barn

• Page 14
Faye. She screamed, terrified of what might come next. She’s been sad ever since that day in the barn. We always knew how to handle it in our home. To her husband it was a sign she was weak.

• Page 274
a farm animal down before its time. But never the mice. She was happy to see them devoured by the barn cats. Maybe that part of her childhood was the best preparation for our adult lives.

Kira wrote: "What are your preferences Abir and Jeanne?"

After a first look at my TR list, I can do V or W . I'll have to look harder for I and E. Just let me know.

P.S. I have found an "I."

P.P.S. I have found an "E"

Since Abir got E last time, I'll take it this time around, and for the second letter I'll go for whatever's left after Abir chooses the letter! You can have your pick with V and W Jeanne!

Thanks, Kira. Since I have my choice, I will choose V (since I did W last time). But, Abir, I am still flexible if you need it.

Awesome! I'll wait for Abir to choose between I and W!

I finished my book. and I'll take the W

That’s great Abir! I’ll read for E and I then! Also please post your completions whenever possible for you :)

Sorry, earlier I was on my phone and I couldn't submit or have a proper conversation.

Week 2 Book 2 Completion - Letter G (WoTW - WAGE)

Book: منزل أبو خطوة
Author: حسن الجندي
Date read:20/06/2022
Task: Letter E
How it fits: Author's name Hassan El Joundi

Review: Even though it was only a 200 page book it took me a while to finish it, because I found it dull and boring in the beginning. The multiple POV were hard for me swallow and follow or even find any connection between them. And then there is the overly description of places and objects that has no relations with what will happen next.

The book was in Arabic so I had to translate the parts.
WoTW: Wage
How it fits: @79% - ...all the newspaper can afford to give as wages in the beginning is 1000 pounds...

No worries Abir! The deadline for submissions is not until thursday night so we got plenty of time!!