Hooked on Books discussion

Team Railroad Reading Raiders
Duration: July 1 - September 30, 2024

Team Members
Bernadette (Captain)
Michelle (Co-Captain)
Christina T (Co-Captain)
Jazzy
Brooke
Geri
Megan
Karen
Laura
Anastasia
Krystyna
Keli
Jessica
Shannon
Ariel
Sharon
Ivelisse

Team Tracking Sheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/...
Game Board: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/...
(The Game Board is viewable by all, but only Captains/Co-Captains can edit)

Important Links
📌*HOW TO PLAY*
📌*PROPERTY QUICK REFERENCE*
📌*TURNS THREAD*

Important Dates
📅 June 28th: Members must check-in by the end of the day, or they will be removed/replaced!
📅 June 30th: Books may be started on this date, but cannot be finished until after midnight (EST) on July 1st!
📅 July 1st: Start Date! The first roll can happen after midnight (EST). The FIRST ROLL (chosen at random) belongs to Team Ventnor Verse Venturers.
📍Play will continue as follows: Team Boardwalk Bibliophiles ➡️ Team Railroad Reading Raiders ➡️ Team Water Works Wordsmiths
📅 September 30th: End Date! Turns must be completed and Books finished by 11pm (EST)!
📅 October 1st: Winners will be OFFICIALLY Announced!

Team Members
Check-In

✔️Bernadette (Captain)
✔️Michelle (Co-Captain)
✔️Christina T (Co-Captain)
✔️Jazzy
✔️Brooke
✔️Geri
✔️Megan
✔️Karen
✔️Laura
✔️Anastasia
✔️Krystyna
✔️Keli
✔️Jessica
✔️Shannon
Ariel
✔️Sharon
✔️Ivelisse

R

R

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Hello fellow Railroaders! – I'm Bernadette and I will be your captain with the help of Michelle and Christina. I live in a suburb of Philadelphia with my husband and his cat. During the day I'm a CPA/tax accountant at a national accounting firm, I have a flex schedule so this time of year I work 2-3 days a week.

I am a big library user and am currently on the Board of Directors of the local library where I live now and served on the Board of Directors of a local library where I grew up for 25 years!

I'll read almost anything if I have to for the team, but my favorites are Historical Fiction, Fiction, Mystery and Thriller. I'm not a fan of Sci-Fi but I do like Fantasy.
For those of you that played last year, you will notice or already have, that Ashley has upped her game (pun intended) this year. The board is larger and I’m sure there are some surprises in there. Looking forward to playing with you all.

I'm Jessica and this is my first time playing, so bear with me as I learn how this works. I work full-time in the prior authorization department of a local healthcare system (I work prior auths for advanced imaging).

My favorite genres are psychological thrillers (Shari Lapena and Mary Kubica) and romance (in particular sports romance). I read about 8 books a month and most of them are thru Libby.

Hi everyone! I'm Brooke and I live in Dallas, TX. I read a lot of mystery/thrillers and some historical fiction. I also listen to romance audiobooks (some sports, nearly all with witty banter) while doing household chores, walking and driving.

I am not working at the moment so have plenty of time to read, but in general I've been in ingredient sales for 20ish years, with most in food and 3 years each in specialty pet food and supplements.

I didn't play last year so I'm looking forward to learning this year!

Hi everyone! I'm Anastasia and I live in Sydney, Australia so am ahead of everyone time wise. I'm a retired G.P. so have a lot of time for reading when not kept busy with my 15 month old grandson. My favourites are crime, mystery and thrillers but will read anything I need to for the challenge. This is my first time playing.
Am I right in thinking that we need some long books for the salary parts and short ones for the penalties?

Hi all,

I'm Megan from the UK specifically England. I'm happily married, no children from my end(yet) but 1 step daughter who is 12 going on 21, we also have 2 dogs called Floss & Odin. I'm an IT professional so I spend a lot of time working from home when I can and listening to audiobooks.

My genre of choice is mainly Romance but I do like fantasy, paranormal and some cosy mysteries. I try and use libby where I can, the local library never seems to have the books I look for but their ebooks on libby aren't so bad, I also rely heavily on KU most my kindle reading is through that and I have Everand(scribd) to fall back on. We don't have to talk about the physical books I own!!!

I did play last year, was a lot of fun. I'm looking forward to seeing the changes as well :-)

Hi everyone! I'm Laura, I live in Canada with my dog and cat. I work in sales, selling furniture and appliances. I did play last time and it was fun. Like Megan said I'm looking forward to seeing the changes for this round.
Anastasia, you are correct in that we need both longer and shorter books. The longer books are great for the salary.
I like to read a variety of books romantic suspense is probably my favorite but I will read almost anything except sci-fi.

Hi all, I'm Keilani. I live in Norwich, UK. I read about 8 - 10 books a month. I will read just about anything, though true crime, YA and biographies/memoirs are my least favourite, but I still read them.
I've never played this game, but I am looking forward to it.

Hi Team! I live near Chicago. I read a lot and love challenges. I’ll read anything fiction. Not much non fiction, though. I really love the library, both Libby and Hoopla. I use them as much as I can. I played last year. But like others have said, it will be interesting to see how things have changed.

Hello fellow railroad rebels!
Im from newcastle upon tyne in the north of england - closer to edinburgh than london.
I prefer literary classics
I broke my wrist so hard to type and read books but BUY everything we land on!

Hi, everyone. I'm Karen and I live in Chicago with my hubby and our dog. We have 3 grown sons, 2 are married and we are both retired so plenty of time for reading. I enjoy all types of Romance (except Sci Fi).

I played last year and also am looking forward to what changes were made.

I use my local library, KU, Kobo & Everand & Audible.

Greeting all...

I'm Michelle and one of the co-captains. I live in New York (The central part near Syracuse) with my husband, 3 kids, several in-laws, and 3 cats. I'm currently out of work at the moment due to having foot surgery in February, but I suspect my surgeon is going to release me about the 2nd or 3rd week of July. When I am working I work for a pretty big grocery store in the accounting department. Just because I work with lots of money does not always mean I can count right. So please speak up if I add something like it's my first day in a math class.

I played last year as a captain and had a lot of fun. I read many different genres. The only books I really do not like are the dark romances with 32 pages of trigger warnings. I'll pass on those. I have many resources for requiring books such as KU, audible, Everand, and my local library.

I can't wait to get started.

Hello I’m krystyna. I live in Wisconsin. I’m a lead one year old teacher. I have three steps sons. This will be my first time playing

I’m a big romance reader, fantasy, and thriller.

Hi all! I'm ChristinaT, one of your co-captains. This is the first time I've played this game and the very first time I've attempted to help pilot a game....ever. so be gentle please! 😆

I love in southwestern Iowa right next to Omaha, Nebraska and work at one of our local casinos on the overnight. So my posting is all over the place. It could be 7am or 4pm (like now) or on my days off 3am. I'm single (never been married) with no kids. I had a dog but had to make the hard decision last year after his quality of life just wasn't. His name was Bastien and he was 16. He's in my profile picture. I'm dead set against getting another at this time but we'll see 😏

I have been on an MM Romance kick for the last 2 years but will occasionally dip into other genres. I rarely read Non-fiction but did read 2 memoirs this last year and thought they were ok. I rely on KU, Audible Plus, and the library (Libby and Hoopla) for all of my reading. Love audiobooks but wish my library system had a bigger MM selection.

I am one of those people who simply cannot read a book just for the sake of a challenge. Mostly because I'm a mood reader and if the mood and the book can't get it together the book has got to go. On that note if it's short enough (under 200 pages or so) and I'm already into it by more than 25% I'll stick with a stinker just so I can discuss with others exactly why it wasn't working for me.

Just wondering if there are any particular books we should start reading when the challenge starts. I have the buddy read ones ready to go as I saw we can get extra points for these but just wondering if there is likely to be ones that we need more of for the game that may be difficult to get?

Anastasia, I’m not at home until tomorrow night so I can’t access the SS. I’ll let you know.

Anastasia wrote: "Just wondering if there are any particular books we should start reading when the challenge starts. I have the buddy read ones ready to go as I saw we can get extra points for these but just wonder..."

At this point, just start reading on June 30th but don't finish July 1st. If you can read & participate in the Buddy Reads, that would be great. I will be for the extra points here and the (Impossible) Disney Challenge.

can the books be finished at midnight our time? i dont understand your foreign time zones I am UTC + 1

If you google 12am EST to UTC +1 google should work out the time for you. So as you're in the UK it would be 5am our time :-)

zre you counting BST british Summer Time which is what we are on?

it will be easier to ypte when i get the cast off |

It would syill be easier 12pm in your own time zone esp whe you go to bed an hour or so after midnight kind of an unfair start beginning when we are sleeping. seems like so many games online only geare3d to smericans

you could say 2pm and give us all a chance

Yeah google seems to know we're in BST so it showed as 5am.
I think it depends on the challenges you join or the groups, if the mod running the challenge is US based its more likely its going to be in their time. So as we wake up on 1st July the captains if their timezones work will have rolled and we'll see the roll. Its not a huge deal us not being up and about for when it starts just try and not finish anything you want to use in the challenge. Maybe try something smaller to finish before or go longer so you'll be finishing after the start.

Yeah it just upsets me a LOTG that people never have a world view :(

But it would make more sense to have books read over a day midnight to midnight like every othe cholleng ever

Tried to add a countdown, but GR wouldn't let me add a link to an outside website.

As of now, the countdown to 12AM EST on 7/1/2024 is 2 days, 13 hours and 30 minutes.

Ill be in bed so a countdown is rather useless

The timing of starting and ending is always going to be harder on some than others. I'm an overnight employee in the States so I'm awake all night expect for Fridays when I have to schedule all my appointments and such. I struggle with the flip flopping but until I can convince the entire world to open up banks, doctor offices, dentists, my pharmacy, etc at 3am for us night owls I just have to deal. 😉

As far as the Challenges here on GR I end up having to just keep checking into the various threads because every single one of my challenges start on a different day and/or hour (if they happen to fall on the same start day).

its ALWAYS harder on the non americans

why does it have to be a joint time why cant we start midnight local times everyone is usually up then. you are too

why are we being forced into an unfair situation

thid has me in tears i dont thinj iwany to play it

Find someone else to take my place im sure theres loads

even though my wrist is boken im doing the precossion in the band tonight so out soon i was almost on thr railroad like buster keaton

Checking in!

Jazzy wrote: "why are we being forced into an unfair situation

thid has me in tears i dont thinj iwany to play it"

Jazzy, the countdown is only for that start of the game. After that, there is none.

There are several other challenges that UTC start times. But if you really feel that strongly about the start time of this one, we can get see if there is another player available.

Hi Jazzy, I have the same problem with the times as I am in Sydney Australia and we are about a day ahead of everyone else. Once the game starts it is not a problem. We are third on the spin so will have a bit of time to sort things out. You are a terrific reader and a tremendous advantage to our team so please hang in there. I think you will enjoy it once we get underway. Waiting to start is always the hardest.

Jazzy wrote: "Ill be in bed so a countdown is rather useless"

Jazzy, you are able to start books early, and as your team isn't first, you won't be required to have a book ready to go. The start time is just to give some continuity across the board, you are not required to "be here" when the time begins! Please don't feel overwhelmed.

What is your timezone specifically, and I will give you your specific dates and times for when you can start a book and when the game "begins".

Again, please don't feel like to have to wake up in the middle of the night for anything, that's completely unnessary!

Ok, I looked up your time zone.

You can start reading anytime after 5am 30-Jun, and you can use any of those books started after 5am 30-Jun, as long as you don't complete them until 5am 1-Jul.

Does that help any with your concern? The time zone is the same across the challenge meaning even though the finish time is 11pm EST 30-Sep, you aren't required to finish until 4am 1-Oct.

Don't forget!
In addition to the normal group Formal Buddy Reads, you are also able to use the upcoming Formal Series Buddy Reads for additional money. If you would like to have input on the books we will read, please respond to the poll here: https://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/2...

I don't know how this game works which is also worrying. I dont want to fail and let everybody down. I'm afraid of not doing it right.
I can try though. im so sorry for having a meltdown on your page.

Jazzy wrote: "I don't know how this game works which is also worrying. I dont want to fail and let everybody down. I'm afraid of not doing it right.
I can try though. im so sorry for having a meltdown on your page."

The game is fairly easy. I played last year and captained a group. It was pretty stress free and was actually a lot of fun. If you get to something that you get confused about, just ask. That's why there is a captain and 2 co captains. And if by some chance you make a mistake on something it can be fixed. Lord know I made some mistakes last year and I probably will this year. It will be ok, you will be ok.

Thank you very much for being so understanding x

how does the game work?

Hello! Checking in!

So happy I was able to play and can't wait to get started!! Looks like this will be a lot of fun :)

Jazzy wrote: "how does the game work?"

Jazzy, it's basically Monopoly. See Message #1 for How to Play. A quick summary - each team will roll and complete one of the tasks assigned to the property they land on (See Property Tracking Tab on the Game Board). After they are done the next team rolls, etc. We are third. In the meantime, we all read books to add money to our bank to have books available for when we land on a property.

You will need to enter each book you read on the Team RRR Bank tab on the Game Board.

Please feel free to ask questions throughout.

Sharon wrote: "Hello! Checking in!

So happy I was able to play and can't wait to get started!! Looks like this will be a lot of fun :)"

Welcome Sharon😀

Okay, finished reading up on how to play so thought I would do my intro. I enjoyed learning more about all your lovely people!

My name is Sharon and was born, raised, and live in North Carolina in the USA. I have a wonderful husband who I have been with for 17 years July 21st. I also have 2 incredible stepchildren, a 23-year-old stepson who is about to graduate college and a sassy 22-year-old stepdaughter.

While I don't have any children of my own, we do have 2 adorable doggies. Nike, the Min Pin who is a big baby and Comet, the Dachshund who is the clown of the family. We also have a 5-year-old snapping turtle who is having the time of his life in his huge pool in the backyard of his large play pen area.

I love getting out of my comfort zone, so I enjoy reading a bit of everything. My wheelhouse tends to be Horror (been a horror girl all my life much to my mother's dismay), Thrillers, Fantasy, and Sci-Fi. I use my library especially for new books if I can get a hold in fast enough but I use my Kindle a lot more because carpal tunnel likes to act up and makes it hard to hold physical books for long periods of time. I do have Kindle Unlimited, Libby, Hoopla, and Everand.

I am a housewife, so I usually have plenty of time to read but starting July 1st, I have been summoned to Jury duty, so I won't be able to read as much lol. If I'm not reading, I enjoy playing video games (mostly horror like Resident Evil) and I also enjoy crafting especially cross stitching, watercolor painting, and sketching.

That probably is more than you all wanted to know but that is me in a nutshell lol. This is my first game with this group!!