The Challenge Factory discussion

Team 2 - Touch My Shelf

Captain: Mandy
Christina
Denise
Krissy
Jamie (TheRebelliousReader)
Danielle Gypsy Soul

(view spoiler)[
Used 30 Mar 2024 (hide spoiler)]

Bonus Points:
Earned: 3
Used: 0

Helpful Links:

Dice Roll: https://www.random.org/dice/ (2 dice on Fridays, US Central Time)
R15 SS Post Your Spot
R15 SS Discussion Thread

Time Zone Converter: https://www.timeanddate.com/worldcloc...

ALTERNATE LIST:
**titles exclude leading articles (a, an, the)

2. Author 'G'
3. Title 'O'
4. Number in the Title (Third Grave Dead Ahead or Every Fifteen Minutes)
5. Cover Item: Building
6. Asia
7. Author 'Z'
8. LGBTQ+
9. Book with a funeral in it
10. Set on an island
11. Title 'I'
12. Cover: Blue
13. Set in the future
14. Title 'M'
15. Author uses their middle name/initial (e.g. Robert J. Sawyer, Rita Mae Brown)
16. Cover Item: Food/Drink
17. MC has at least one child
18. Three Word Title (excludes articles like A, An, The) Behind Closed Doors or Etched in Bone
19. Cover Item: Jewelry
20. Author uses a pseudonym
21. Europe
22. Title 'S'
23. Cover Item: Book
24. MC is in their 20's
25. Book with a wedding in it
26. Cover: Red
27. Debut Novel or Debut Author
28. Author 'T'
29. Cover Item: Mode of Transportation
30. Title 'F'
31. Set in a Fictional Location/Universe
32. MC has a pet
33. Cover Item: Money or other form of payment
34. Non-Fiction
35. Two Word Title (excluding articles like A, An, The) Deadly Silence, The Hunger Games
36. Author 'E'
37. Set anytime between 1600-1900
38. Title 'Y'
39. Four or More Words Title (excluding articles like A, An, The) The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet or Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
40. Set in the 20th century
41. Author 'L'
42. Cover Item: Hands/Arms/Feet/Legs (no other body parts visible)
43. Cover: Purple
44. Set in a place you've visited
45. Published 2021
46. Cover Item: One person
47. Seasonal Theme (i.e Christmas, Halloween etc)
48. Cover: Brown
49. Title 'P'
50. Fantasy
51. Book to Movie/TV (must state how book qualifies: listopia, imdb, precis)
52. Published 2023
53. Cover Item: Weapon
54. Young Adult/New Adult
55. Book that a teammate rated 5 stars
56. Author 'G'
57. Published 2016-2020
58. Cover Item: Furniture
59. Originally published in a language other than English
60. GR average rating >4.0
61. Cover: Yellow/Gold
62. Author 'B'
63. Less than 100 ratings
64. Oceania
65. Science Fiction
66. Published the year you were born
67. Africa
68. Set in space
69. Cover Item: Lamp/Candle
70. Published 2022
71. Cover: Orange
72. Title has a subtitle
73. Set sometime before 1600
74. Cover Item: Hat/Helmet/Other Headwear
75. MC is older than 60
76. Title 'W'
77. MC travels by train
78. Title 'D'
79. School/College/University setting
80. Cover Item: Two or more people
81. Mystery/Thriller
82. Author 'J'
83. MC travels by airplane
84. Published 2001-2010
85. South America
86. Cover Item: Water
87. Award Winner (must state which/when)
88. Cover: Green
89. Cover Item: Animal
90. Author 'B'
91. Published 1950-1999
92. Cover: White
93. Re-read
94. Published before 1950
95. Title 'F'
96. Published 2011-2015
97. Cover Item: Sun/Moon
98. Several authors
99. Cover: Black
100. Title 'R'
101. New to You Author
102. Cover Item: Umbrella/Parasol
103. Cover: Pink
104. Favorite Author
105. Author 'C'
106. One Word Title (excluding articles like A, An, The) The Witness or Divergent
107. Romance
108. Title 'N'
109. North America
110. Author 'H'
111. Title 'V'
112. Author 'S'

A couple of things to keep in mind:

✸ Communication is key. Please make sure to check in regularly with your team.

✸ Let your team know if it looks like you won't get your review posted by Thursday, 11:59pm. You do have all of Friday to submit your review, but it can be intensely frustrating for your captain if they don't know when or if they can expect your review before the deadline.

✸ If you know beforehand that you won't be able to read and review a book during a certain week, you can request a pre-arranged absence from me, either by posting the request in the discussion thread or by sending me a pm. The request has to be submitted before the team rolls for the week in question, can only be approved by me as the mod in charge of running the game, and has to state a reason for the absence. (Reasons for pre-arranged absences can include e.g. going on vacation or work trips, planned hospital stays, exam period, etc.)

✸ If you do not have a pre-arranged absence and won't be able to finish your book in time for an unforeseen reason, please let your team know as soon as possible. If the team has earned the free pass, it can be used to cover the missing review. Without a free pass, the team has to sit out the next roll.

✸ We all know that real life gets in the way sometimes, be it through family emergencies, work emergencies, natural disasters, technical problems making it impossible to get online, or in other ways. That being said, please do keep in mind that this is a team challenge and your team relies on you to do your part unless an emergency occurs.

✸ If you find that the pressure of keeping up with the pace of the game gets too much for you or you wish to stop playing for any other reason, you can drop out of the challenge at any time. In that case, please let your team captain and/or me know that you wish to drop out rather than just disappearing without a word so your team won't be penalized when you fail to turn in your review. Thank you!


Captain's Handbook

✸ The team's captain is its chief organizer. This includes rolling the dice, posting the team's new spot to the team thread and the Post Your Spot thread, collecting links to team members' review posts in a single post to be linked in the Post Your Spot thread, doublechecking that books and review posts comply with requirements, reminding team members to post their reviews in time if necessary, etc.

✸ The captain may delegate some tasks, such as rolling and posting the new spot to the team thread, to another team member if they so choose. (Either a designated roller who fulfills this role every week, or whichever team member is online first once rolling is possible.) Collecting reviews into a single post and posting to the Post Your Spot thread should always be handled by the captain.

✸ Instead of having everything handled by a single team captain, teams can also choose two co-captains to handle the workload.

✸ Selection posts are not strictly required by the game's rules and I won't be checking for them. It's up to the team captain to decide whether they want them.

✸ If the team captain requests a pre-arranged absence, it's their responsibility to arrange for another team member to step in as temporary captain.

✸ The team captain is my primary point of contact for the team and should allow receiving private messages.

Hi Team!!! I'm Mandy living in normally sunny Northern California. I love all forms of fiction but romance is my current obsession but monster romance is kind of my addiction at the moment.
I'm excited for a new round to start.

I'm terrible at team names but I'm good with any.

I don't mind being captain

Hi Team! I'm Danielle and live in Phoenix, AZ. I read a lot of different things but paranormal and fantasy are my favorites whether they are MM or FM. I've played this several times before but missed last year.

I'm happy to help in whatever way but would rather not be Captain since I will be on vacation during part of this challenge.

I'm not great at names but a couple thoughts:
Never two many books
One of a Kindle
Library Lurkers
A Tale of Two Books
Touch my Shelf

Hi Everyone! I live in northwest Ohio and will read pretty much anything. I am currently on a fantasy kick at the moment. Some of them fall into the romantasy category, which I love.

Mandy - I'm all for you being captain since this is my first time doing this challenge. I'm still kinda figuring things out, but it sounds like fun.

Danielle - Love the team names. I think my favorite is Touch My Shelf. I laughed when I saw it.

Hi, team! I'm from Texas and I primarily read F/F books no matter the genre but I'm a sucker for contemporary romances.

Mandy, thanks for volunteering to be captain!

Touch my shelf as a team name gets my vote as well. It's pretty funny.

This games easy to be Captain for.

Touch my shelf is great

I'm sorry I'm a little late. I'm Denise in Northern California. I love this game because it motivates me to get myself reading and finishing. I read across most genres.

Touch my Shelf gets my vote, too!

I'm happy to be a part of this team.

Hey team! I have missed the last few rounds and am excited to hop back onto the horse. My name is Krissy. I've been captain several times before but would rather not. So, Mandy, you are welcome to it.

I read literally EVERYTHING. Recently I have been reading more MM than anything but I do not limit myself to only that.

Touch My Shelf also gets my vote

Oh, and I live in Missouri (unfortunately)

looks like we all made it! woo hoo!

Awesome! Looks like I'm captain and sounds like Touch My shelf for names?

Sounds good!

yep!

Let's get this party started! :-)

When can we roll?

Game started today, go for it! I think you're actually the only team that hasn't rolled yet.

Week 1 - Team 2
Dice Roll 1+3 = 4
Previous Space: Start
New Space: 4


Alter
4. Number in the Title (Third Grave Dead Ahead or Every Fifteen Minutes)

Someone should roll for us next week mine are unlucky.

4 is a good number :-)

Selection Post
Week 1 Spot 4
by Josephine West
Pages 167
How it fits - 4th in the Everland Ever After

SELECTION POST
Week 1, Spot 4


My Choice: Pansies by Alexis Hall
Pages: 454
How it Fits: Spires Universe #4


[*book:Pansies|40025027]

Week 1 Selection Post

Pages: 328
How it fits: #4 in the Psy-Changeling series

I was going to try to read , but it's on hold from the library. I'm going with which is the 4th in the series.

Week 1, Spot 4

Mine to Possess by Nalini Singh
Date Read: 4/17/24
How It Fits: #4 in the Psy-Changeling series
Pages: 328
Rating: ★★
Review: It’s books like this one that remind me why I don’t reach for M/F books as much anymore because wtf was this? Awful. I hated both characters and the romance left me feeling cold.

I sympathized with Talin because of what she had gone through but I didn’t like her. She was such an inconsistent and annoying character. I downright despised Clay. Awful hero. He has no emotional intelligence whatsoever and is just a jackass. He knows she’s traumatized and what she’s gone through and he still decides to poke and prod at her every chance he gets. “Where’s your backbone?” “Why are you so spineless?” antagonizing little shit like that. He even sluts shames her by saying that she ’sold herself cheap’ and ‘why did you give away what you should’ve protected?’ WTF? I kept hoping he would get hit by a bus but I never get what I want ugh! He also knows hows her trauma surrounding sex and pushes her for it anyways. I hate it here. I hated this book. I liked books two and three in this series so I don’t know how Singh dropped the ball so hard here but this was bad. I’m in no rush to continue on with this series.

I'm going for the alternate, number in title, with One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

Selection Post
Week 1, Spot 4


Gateway Catastrophe by Louisa Masters
Pages: 261
How it Fits: #4 in Ghostly Guardians

Jamie (TheRebelliousReader) wrote: "Week 1, Spot 4

Mine to Possess by Nalini Singh
Date Read: 4/17/24
How It Fits: #4 in the Psy-Changeling series
Pages: 328
Rating: ★..."


That was my least favorite book of that entire series - and I've read them all. I felt the same way and didn't like either main characters but there are some great books in the series. #10, #12 and #16 were my favorites. I do love the bears!

Week 1 Spot 4
by Josephine West
Date Read 2/16/24
How it fits- 4th in the Everland Ever After Series
Pages - 167
Rating - ★★★★

Review
Meri and Jack are adorable they have this sweet chemistry that just works even if they had a magical hand. The concept for this series is adorable each book has a different couple with just a little magic mixed in. I have devoured each book in just a quick reading session. Every story has it's own unique story and I loved every moment of them. I plan to continue and finish the series as I enjoyed seeing the authors unique twist on the retellings.

Danielle Gypsy Soul wrote: "That was my least favorite book of that entire series - and I've read them all. I felt the same way and didn't like either main characters but there are some great books in the series. #10, #12 and #16 were my favorites. I do love the bears!"

I really wish that I could just skip to Kiss of Snow because I keep hearing such amazing things about that one in particular.

I have only read the first 2 in the Psy-changeling series. Do these build on each other and have to be read in order? That's one of the series I have been meaning to get back to but I always find something else I want to read more.

Week 1 Spot 4

Date Finished: February 18, 2024
How it Fits: - 4th in series
Pages: over 304
Rating: 4 stars

Review:
This book was a nice light, fun read. Chelsea and Bash live in a small town called Hope. She has a list of qualities for a perfect man, None of which describes Bash. However, they're still drawn to each other. There's a little bit of spice in this book, and some good laughs.

Christina wrote: "I have only read the first 2 in the Psy-changeling series. Do these build on each other and have to be read in order? That's one of the series I have been meaning to get back to but I always find s..."

There is some building on one of the main story lines so while there are probably a few books you can skip - you really get a lot more out of it if you read them in order.

Completion Post
Week 1, Spot 4


Gateway Catastrophe by Louisa Masters
Pages: 261
How it Fits: #4 in Ghostly Guardians
Rating: 4 Stars

Review: I wasn't super caught up in the two MC's for this book but more in the conclusion of the series as a whole and the end to the over arching plot line which I thought was done very well. However, because so much of the book is surrounding that conclusion and all the previous characters in it I think the main romance suffered a little bit. I am happy with way it closed out and look forward to the spin off series.

Completion post

Week 1, alternate - number in title

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
read 2/19/24
325 pages
4 stars

I remember seeing the movie years ago, but only had a vague recollection of it. I realize that there was so much more to the story that wasn't covered in the book, and it made for a fuller telling of the story.

I recommend this book even though it is a little dated.

Does anyone else think the new good reads update sucks? It doesn’t work at all on my Samsung and if I try to use it on my work phone, picture of books don’t show up at all. Basically now I can only use the app on my computer.

The app rarely works for me. I have to use the browser on my phone if I'm on my phone. I can't do anything from the app itself.

Even if the app does work - it usually stops part way through. So if I try to go to a post or load the first page or anything like that it just takes me out of goodreads completely. I also just use the browser if I'm on my phone but find I end up using my laptop for GR's.

Week 1 - Spot 4
Alternate - Number in the Title (Third Grave Dead Ahead or Every Fifteen Minutes)

Christina - Love After All★★★★Review
Denise - One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest★★★★Review
Krissy - Pansies ★★★★★Review
Jamie (TheRebelliousReader) - Mine to Possess ★★Review
Danielle Gypsy Soul -Gateway Catastrophe ★★★★Review
Mandy - The Stepmother★★★★Review

Just waiting on Krissy! How's it going?

I'm at work right now but I'll have it posted in plenty of time. No worries 👍

COMPLETION POST
Week 1, Spot 4


My Choice: Pansies by Alexis Hall
Pages: 454
How it Fits: Spires Universe #4
Date Read: 2/22
Rating: ★★★★★
Review: I am obsessed with this audiobook. Cornell Collins is one talented mf. His ability to show emotion through speech at the level he does is impressive. I love that every character in this story is flawed in some way. Nothing is fixed overnight but it was still a wonderful ending. Amazing book and I highly recommend it


[*book:Pansies|40025027]

😍 I just added this to my tbr! Looks fun!

Krissy wrote: "I'm at work right now but I'll have it posted in plenty of time. No worries 👍"

Your good just wanted to check in =D I'll get it updated in a few and we are ready for the new roll. If someone else wants to roll that works for me.

I'm still up and live in the Central time zone so I can roll for us

Christina wrote: "😍 I just added this to my tbr! Looks fun!"

It's amazing!

NEW ROLL - WEEK #2


Previous Spot: 4
Roll: 4+6= 10
New Spot: 14

●standalone
●1st in a series
●4th in a series
●14th in a series
●Alt: Title 'M'