The Perks Of Being A Book Addict discussion

Team Galaxy Quest

Team Members:
👾
❅ Apoorv Moghe - Captain
❅ Christine - Co-Captain
❅ Jammin Jenny
❅ Christina
❅ Jill Rox
❅ Judy
❅ Raquel-Shah


🚀 Team Spreadsheet
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/...

R

R

PSSST! KEEP AN EYE OUT FOR THOSE MODS? THEY LIKE TO TEST US ON THIS! :P
Rules - UNO 2025

➦ Only books STARTED after the challenge begins can count.
The challenge starts on Monday 1 Feb, 2025 at 9am UTC

➦ Books must be more than 100 pages in length.
If it is a Children's book or a graphic novel, we need to verify it is more than 25,000 words on arbookfind.com (https://www.arbookfind.com/UserType.a...)

➦ Your finished books need to be on your Uno shelf
AND marked as "read" for them to count.

➦ Please make notes of how your book may count.
The more options we have the better!
(Letters used in UNO are Z, O, T, H, F, I, V, E, S, N, K, P and of course if another team member has read the book before. Please friend our team members!)

➦ For colored cards, the cover needs to be 50% or more of the color.
You can ask us in this thread for our opinion, or use https://labs.tineye.com/color/ to get an idea. If in doubt, ask me or our co-captain as we can check it and/or take it to the captains group for another opinion.

➦ This is a social challenge, not a competitive one.
We'd love to get points, but the main aim of the game is to have fun, read lots and get to know each other :)
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Team Information (alphabetical)

✔ Apoorv | Challenge-PBBS-UNO2025
✔ Christina | z-Uno2025
✔ Christine | perks-uno-2025
✔ Jammin Jenny | 2025-uno-shelf
✔ Jill | uno-2025
✔ Judy | uno2025
✔ Raquel | Uno-2025

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

We start February 1, 2025 at 9AM UTC.
---------------------------------------------------------

LEADERBOARD!
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/...

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I AM LOOKING AT YOU! :P


Well, I mean that the cap and the co-cap see you. You are seen!
(Uff, this is turning into therapy. Eh, well! :P Two at the price of one!)

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

You don't have to worry about this one!
I got this (till I don't - but then we have an awesome co-cap, so we are totally fiiiiiiine!)

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

Now, THIS is your playground! Bookmark this baby because you will be needing this one a lot over the next three months!

OMG! I AM SOOOO EXCITED NOW!
I CAN'T WAIT!! LET'S GO ALREADY! :D

I know! I know! Your excitement is palpable. I totally get it! :D
So, let's get started, shall we?

A couple of things:

1. You can read absolutely ANYTHING you want! The only request is you track every little thing that the book offers you! Names, locations - the works!

The best way, of course, is Team Galaxy Quest Tracking Spreadsheet (https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/...). You can start filling in information as you come across it in the "February" (and later "March", and "April" folders). The reason for having all that information is that we can then move things around to complete our hands without waiting on someone to finish a certain book.

2. Color Cards: This is a fun one! We can have folks claim certain color cards if they want, but irrespective of that, I would request you to note any cover color-related information from your book that would fit the bill.

Always better to have multiple books that may fit multiple options. Again, you don't have to read for a particular color, but you can if you so choose.

WELP! I FINISHED A BOOK.
WHAT DO I DO NOW?

YAAY! Well done, you smart cookies!
Now we make sure that we count that book.
Every book is precious and we do not want to miss tracking it.

So, three things:

1. Stop by here and make a quick post about the completed book with as much information you can provide.

Here is an example how:
--------------------------------------------
Completion Post

Book: This Is Your Life, Harriet Chance! |
Author: Jonathan Evison
Pages: 296
Date: 01-Feb-2021
UNO Cards it fits:

0: Standalone
1: Character O - Osier, Terrance
2: Title T
3: Character H - Harriet Chance
4: Character F - Fitsimmons, Charlie
6: Character S - Skip
8: Author E
9: Character N - Nathan, Harriet
Skip: Character K - Kurt Pikins

Cover Color : Blue (73.3%) (https://labs.tineye.com/color/50aeebd...)


-------------------------------------------

2. Hop over to your profile and make sure you have logged in that book in your respective UNO folder as "read".

This is important because at the end of the month, only books logged into the respective shelves can be counted. And these mods are pesky (shhh!), they like to sneak, I tell you! Oh, you'll see! :P
------------------------------------------

3. Take a minute to go to our planning/tracking spreadsheet (yes, the same one!) (https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/...) and put in the relevant information of your next read.

I mean, we can't stop at 1, or 2, or errm 6!

APOORV, SERIOUSLY SHUT UP!
YOU'RE YAPPING AROUND WAY TOO MUCH. GET TO THE POINT! :P

Eeks! Sorry!
So, here are our FEBRUARY hands.
------------------------------------------

Required Reads
👉 0 : 3
👉 1 : 8
👉 2 : 6
👉 3 : 8
👉 4 : 7
👉 5 : 6
👉 6 : 9
👉 7 : 5
👉 8 : 9
👉 9 : 3
👉 Skip : 8
👉 Reverse : 9
👉 Draw 2 : 8
👉 Wild : 6
👉 Wild Draw 4 : 2

We also have eight (8) colored cards:

Required Reads
👉 2 Blue : 1
👉 2 Green : 1
👉 2 Red : 1
👉 3 Green : 1
👉 5 Yellow : 1
👉 7 Red : 1
👉 8 Yellow : 1
👉 9 Blue : 1

---------------------------------------------
Quick peek at what can be used for each of the cards:
(view spoiler)[
O (Zero)
(view spoiler)[Read a book that:
- has a 0 or Zero in the title
- has a title starting with Z
- has an author first name or surname starts with Z
- has a character with a first name, surname or nickname starting with Z
- is set in a place name starting with Z
- is a "stand-alone" book (i.e. not part of a series)
(hide spoiler)]
1 (One)
(view spoiler)[Read a book that:
- has a 1 or One in the title
- has a title starting with O
- has an author first name or surname starts with O
- has a character with a first name, surname or nickname starting with O
- is set in a place name starting with O
- is book 1 in a series
(hide spoiler)]
2 (Two)
(view spoiler)[Read a book that:
- has a 2 or Two in the title
- has a title starting with T
- has an author first name or surname starts with T
- has a character with a first name, surname or nickname starting with T
- is set in a place name starting with T
- is book 2 in a series
(hide spoiler)]
3 (Three)
(view spoiler)[Read a book that:
- has a 3 or Three in the title
- has a title starting with H
- has an author first name or surname starts with H
- has a character with a first name, surname or nickname starting with H
- is set in a place name starting with H
- is book 3 in a series
(hide spoiler)]
4 (Four)
(view spoiler)[Read a book that:
- has a 4 or Four in the title
- has a title starting with F
- has an author first name or surname starts with F
- has a character with a first name, surname or nickname starting with F
- is set in a place name starting with F
- is book 4 in a series
(hide spoiler)]
5 (Five)
(view spoiler)[Read a book that:
- has a 5 or Five in the title
- has a title starting with I
- has an author first name or surname starts with I
- has a character with a first name, surname or nickname starting with I
- is set in a place name starting with I
- is book 5 in a series
(hide spoiler)]
6 (Six)
(view spoiler)[Read a book that:
- has a 6 or Six in the title
- has a title starting with S
- has an author first name or surname starts with S
- has a character with a first name, surname or nickname starting with S
- is set in a place name starting with S
- is book 6 in a series
(hide spoiler)]
7 (Seven)
(view spoiler)[Read a book that:
- has a 7 or Seven in the title
- has a title starting with V
- has an author first name or surname starts with V
- has a character with a first name, surname or nickname starting with V
- is set in a place name starting with V
- is book 7 in a series
(hide spoiler)]
8 (Eight)
(view spoiler)[Read a book that:
- has an 8 or Eight in the title
- has a title starting with E
- has an author first name or surname starts with E
- has a character with a first name, surname or nickname starting with E
- is set in a place name starting with E
- is book 8 in a series
(hide spoiler)]
9 (Nine)
(view spoiler)[Read a book that:
- has a 9 or Nine in the title
- has a title starting with N
- has an author first name or surname starts with N
- has a character with a first name, surname or nickname starting with N
- is set in a place name starting with N
- is book 9 in a series
(hide spoiler)]
Skip
(view spoiler)[Read a book that:
- has a title starting with K or P
- has an author first name or surname starts with K or P
- has a character with a first name, surname or nickname starting with K or P
- is set in a place name starting with K or P
OR you can choose to "skip" reading a book for this cards (and get no points for this card)
(hide spoiler)]
Draw 2
(view spoiler)[Use the same book for two cards in this hand (and get points for both cards)
(hide spoiler)]
Reverse
(view spoiler)[One member of your team must read a book another team member has already read
(hide spoiler)]
Wild
(view spoiler)[Read a book that can fit for any of the cards in that SAME hand (i.e. you are duplicating one of the cards in that same hand)
(hide spoiler)]
Wild draw four
(view spoiler)[Read a book that can fit for any of the coloured cards you have that month (i.e. you are duplicating one of your coloured cards. Each coloured card can only be duplicated once)
(hide spoiler)]
Coloured cards
(view spoiler)[Special coloured cards will be randomly provided each month. for these cards you need to read for the card number (as above) and the book must also have a coloured cover for the colour specified (blue, red, yellow or green) (hide spoiler)] (hide spoiler)]

FEBRUARY? DONE AND DUSTED!
BRING ON MARCH, BABY! :)

Woot! Woot!
So, here are our MARCH hands.
------------------------------------------

Required Reads
👉 0 : 4
👉 1 : 8
👉 2 : 8
👉 3 : 9
👉 4 : 8
👉 5 : 10
👉 6 : 6
👉 7 : 7
👉 8 : 8
👉 9 : 10
👉 Skip : 3
👉 Reverse : 4
👉 Draw 2 : 7
👉 Wild : 2
👉 Wild Draw 4 : 4

We also have fourteen (14) colored cards:

Required Reads
👉 0 Blue : 1
👉 0 Yellow : 1
👉 1 Yellow : 2
👉 2 Red : 1
👉 4 Red : 1
👉 5 Green : 1
👉 5 Red : 2
👉 6 Red : 1
👉 Skip Blue : 1
👉 Skip Green : 1
👉 Skip Red : 1
👉 Skip Yellow : 1

---------------------------------------------
Quick peek at what can be used for each of the cards:
(view spoiler)[
O (Zero)
(view spoiler)[Read a book that:
- has a 0 or Zero in the title
- has a title starting with Z
- has an author first name or surname starts with Z
- has a character with a first name, surname or nickname starting with Z
- is set in a place name starting with Z
- is a "stand-alone" book (i.e. not part of a series)
(hide spoiler)]
1 (One)
(view spoiler)[Read a book that:
- has a 1 or One in the title
- has a title starting with O
- has an author first name or surname starts with O
- has a character with a first name, surname or nickname starting with O
- is set in a place name starting with O
- is book 1 in a series
(hide spoiler)]
2 (Two)
(view spoiler)[Read a book that:
- has a 2 or Two in the title
- has a title starting with T
- has an author first name or surname starts with T
- has a character with a first name, surname or nickname starting with T
- is set in a place name starting with T
- is book 2 in a series
(hide spoiler)]
3 (Three)
(view spoiler)[Read a book that:
- has a 3 or Three in the title
- has a title starting with H
- has an author first name or surname starts with H
- has a character with a first name, surname or nickname starting with H
- is set in a place name starting with H
- is book 3 in a series
(hide spoiler)]
4 (Four)
(view spoiler)[Read a book that:
- has a 4 or Four in the title
- has a title starting with F
- has an author first name or surname starts with F
- has a character with a first name, surname or nickname starting with F
- is set in a place name starting with F
- is book 4 in a series
(hide spoiler)]
5 (Five)
(view spoiler)[Read a book that:
- has a 5 or Five in the title
- has a title starting with I
- has an author first name or surname starts with I
- has a character with a first name, surname or nickname starting with I
- is set in a place name starting with I
- is book 5 in a series
(hide spoiler)]
6 (Six)
(view spoiler)[Read a book that:
- has a 6 or Six in the title
- has a title starting with S
- has an author first name or surname starts with S
- has a character with a first name, surname or nickname starting with S
- is set in a place name starting with S
- is book 6 in a series
(hide spoiler)]
7 (Seven)
(view spoiler)[Read a book that:
- has a 7 or Seven in the title
- has a title starting with V
- has an author first name or surname starts with V
- has a character with a first name, surname or nickname starting with V
- is set in a place name starting with V
- is book 7 in a series
(hide spoiler)]
8 (Eight)
(view spoiler)[Read a book that:
- has an 8 or Eight in the title
- has a title starting with E
- has an author first name or surname starts with E
- has a character with a first name, surname or nickname starting with E
- is set in a place name starting with E
- is book 8 in a series
(hide spoiler)]
9 (Nine)
(view spoiler)[Read a book that:
- has a 9 or Nine in the title
- has a title starting with N
- has an author first name or surname starts with N
- has a character with a first name, surname or nickname starting with N
- is set in a place name starting with N
- is book 9 in a series
(hide spoiler)]
Skip
(view spoiler)[Read a book that:
- has a title starting with K or P
- has an author first name or surname starts with K or P
- has a character with a first name, surname or nickname starting with K or P
- is set in a place name starting with K or P
OR you can choose to "skip" reading a book for this cards (and get no points for this card)
(hide spoiler)]
Draw 2
(view spoiler)[Use the same book for two cards in this hand (and get points for both cards)
(hide spoiler)]
Reverse
(view spoiler)[One member of your team must read a book another team member has already read
(hide spoiler)]
Wild
(view spoiler)[Read a book that can fit for any of the cards in that SAME hand (i.e. you are duplicating one of the cards in that same hand)
(hide spoiler)]
Wild draw four
(view spoiler)[Read a book that can fit for any of the coloured cards you have that month (i.e. you are duplicating one of your coloured cards. Each coloured card can only be duplicated once)
(hide spoiler)]
Coloured cards
(view spoiler)[Special coloured cards will be randomly provided each month. for these cards you need to read for the card number (as above) and the book must also have a coloured cover for the colour specified (blue, red, yellow or green) (hide spoiler)] (hide spoiler)]

APRIL AWESOMENESS!

Well then, now that you folks have all the information you need I am going to go to the beach (in the middle of the winter! :P) - call me if you need me. ;=)
How you ask? Ah! Ofcourse!

I am Apoorv (he/him) - the captain! (I know! What were the Mods thinking?! :P)
I live in Boston, Massachusetts in The United States and my association with the game goes as far back as 2015, which was I think the first edition of UNO! This is my 10th year doing this - so, yeah - I'm the old horse in the barn! :P

I know a few of you as we have bumped into each other across different challenges - and we have some new friends here. I am so excited. I always leave UNO with a pile of new books to read (because I go snooping through all your 5 star reads *guilty, not guilty!* :P)

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 5 books that you read in 2024?!

I'll start:
1. A Little Life | Hanya Yanagihara
2. Evil Eye | Etaf Rum
3. Black River Orchard | Chuck Wendig
4. Lessons in Chemistry | Bonnie Garmus
5. Happiness Falls | Angie Kim
6. Hell of a Book | Jason Mott

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-captain, Christine, answers all the difficult ones! :P

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

Checking in!

I'm Raquel from Texas, mom of 2 boys who keep me busy driving them around from sport practice to sport practice. I'm mostly an audio book girl who listens all day while working (with little interruptions) and waiting for kids, so I get a decent amount of reading/listening in during the week. I read everything from the darkest of romance to historical fiction to YA fantasy, but if I had to choose a favorite genre, I guess it would all romance.

Favorite reads of 2024:
All Rhodes Lead Here by Mariana Zapata
Paradise Problem by Christina Lauren
Blood Orange by Karina Halle
The Women by Kristin Hannah
Anita DelMonte Laughs Last by Xochitl Gonzalez

This is my third year playing UNO and its always a favorite. Can't wait to get started! =) Happy Reading!

Here! So excited to be back playing Uno. I've been away a few years, but enjoyed it the few times I played. I'm in Metropolis, Illinois, the official hometown of Superman. I live with my daughter, her fiance, and our pets (2 dogs and 4 cats). It's pretty busy around here.

I love all kinds of genres, so my favorites will probably scan the globe (editing down to top 5 now):



ETA:
Link to shelf: https://www.goodreads.com/review/list...

Hi everyone, I'm Christina (she/her) from Austria.
I've been doing UNO since (just checked) 2016 so this is actually my 10th year participating, wild!
I read a lot of different genres, especially for bonus points (which isn't the case here but for other team challenges), but I've come to realize I need to be more selective about my reading since most books don't excite me anymore and 2024 was a bit of a meh reading year for me.
A few favourites though:

(I love how Apoorv asked for a top 5 and proceeded to give us 6 😂)

And last but not least, here's my uno shelf https://www.goodreads.com/review/list...

Apoorv gave us 6 and I upped the ante to 11 lol

ETA: I reduced mine down to 5 :)

Hi everyone!

I'm Judy (she/her), from Germany. This is my first time doing UNO ever after thinking about it for many, many years. I wasn't sure I had another team challenge in me, but Christina managed to convince me to give it a shot this year...

I've had a terrible reading year in 2024 (both in terms of volume and in terms of the books I read) but here are some rare gems:

LOL! I mean, what's 5 and what's 11 when it comes to books now, innit? :P

I love some of the books recommended here and I have some that I am literally starting in a few days time (The Husbands and Bury Your Gays ;=)) - I am going to have a jolly good time scavenging through all your shelves! Mwahaha! :D *not even ashamed* :P

Oh, also, add in your challenge shelves here when you get a chance, pretty please! :)

Apoorv wrote: "Oh, also, add in your challenge shelves here when you get a chance, pretty please! :)"

Here you go: https://www.goodreads.com/review/list...

Hey all ~ I am Christine your co-captain, a.k.a first mate or Number One (whoops, that's Star Trek, wrong show :)

I am from White Bear Lake, Minnesota. This is my first year playing UNO and I am hoping to catch on quickly. I suppose I would say I like mysteries and thrillers the best, but I also really enjoy technical non-fiction books. The more details the better!

I would say that I am in the same boat as Christina. I will read almost anything, especially for challenges. However, I found myself rating most of what I read last year 3-stars. For 2025, I am hoping to find books that work for challenges AND pique my interest.

I didn't have a ton of 5 star reads last year, but here are 5, ok 6 of them:

The Art of Racing in the Rain ~ I'm a sucker for a book told from an animal's point of view

~ I would recommend all three books in this series or just about anything written by Fredrik Backman.

~ I started this "cozy mystery" reluctantly as part of a challenge and loved the series!

~ A Minnesota mystery writer with a long running series

~ Another Minnesota writer that I have been reading for about 30 years. My grandmother recommended the first book in the series to me LOL.

~ I loved everything about this story!

I am off to start perusing all of your 5-star books :)

Here is Raquel's Uno shelf -
uno-2025

And my shelf - perks-uno-2025

Good morning. Sorry for the late check in.
P.s. on my way out but have read through the thread and will add my introduction later. Looking forward to starting.

Welcome Jill!!

I'm Jill and this is my second time playing UNO. I live in NYC with my daughter, who is going off to college this Fall 🥹 and our cat Mr. Darcy. I too will read anything for a challenge and still have nightmares about a book I read for Turf Wars (but for those points I'd do it again lol.) As for 5 star reads that's difficult for me. There are so few of them that i named the shelf the unicorn shelf. I read mostly romances MM, MF, FF or any combination of all, very few things ick me out except for the aforementioned Turf Wars book) Excited to get started.

(this entire series was amazing but the conclusion? Chef's kiss)





Honorable mention:



My shelf UNO 2025

9 more hours to go!!

Are we ready?
What are your first reads going to be?
I am going to start with All Good People Here.

This is going to be so much fun!! :)

Also, also, do we think these covers are yellow enough?



TinEye, as usual, is weird and calls them white.
And I am looking at them and they are the palest shade of yellow to my eyes.

Apoorv wrote: "Also, also, do we think these covers are yellow enough?



TinEye, as usual, is weird and calls them white.
And I am lo..."

Sorry I'm not seeing yellow 🤷🏿‍♀️

To be honest, they look cream colored to me, so maybe a tinge of yellow??

Christine wrote: "Welcome Jill!!"

I must know the name of that nightmare book!! I am so curious to know.

I am starting with The Rains by Gregg Hurwitz.

Looks like it may apply it in several spots.

Apoorv wrote: "Also, also, do we think these covers are yellow enough?



TinEye, as usual, is weird and calls them white.
And I am lo..."

To me they're more cream than anything, which would be white 😬

I was going to start with The Argonauts but now I'm not sure if I'm motivated enough to read that... Dawnshard will definitely happen in the next few days though!

Christine wrote: "Christine wrote: "Welcome Jill!!"

I must know the name of that nightmare book!! I am so curious to know."

The Party Lords 😱🤢

Good luck all. Happy reading!

Would we agree that this is most definitely mostly blue?

I would say so, Jill (looks blue on my phone at least)

The 'yellow' ones I would disagree with though, but I'm generally quite strict with colours hahaha

Jill wrote: " Would we agree that this is most definitely mostly blue?"

Blue for me!

This is why I have issues with tineye. That's clearly but it's saying grey

@Jill, confirmed that in the Mods group that, that is blue!
Stupid TinEye likes to throw a curveball, just for fun! :P

Speaking of Blue, someone had posted this fun link for the very popular Teal/Turquoise challenge (because I can assure you atleast one of us will have that question through the course of this challenge) :D

https://ismy.blue/

Apoorv wrote: "@Jill, confirmed that in the Mods group that, that is blue!
Stupid TinEye likes to throw a curveball, just for fun! :P"

Thanks!

What's the rule when a book is a .5 in a series? For example, I read a book that's 2.5.

On the spreadsheet the tasks numbers are not being auto generated anymore for me.

Plural "fives" works for "five in title", I assume? I'm reading The Queen of Fives and only just realized that that's in fact a number in the title 😅

Are pets (dogs) considered characters in a book? I never thought to ask this question before. The book I am reading has a dog called Zeus. He has been in the book quite a bit and his name is said often. Of course, I would like to use his name for the challenge :)

Jill wrote: "What's the rule when a book is a .5 in a series? For example, I read a book that's 2.5."

In that case, only the whole numbers count.
So, for a 2.5 series, it will be considered as #2.

Jill wrote: "On the spreadsheet the tasks numbers are not being auto generated anymore for me."

Should be all set now! :)

Thank you

Do we need completion posts? Last time I played we just stuck to the SS.

Jill wrote: "Do we need completion posts? Last time I played we just stuck to the SS."

If adding details to the spreadsheet is working out for everybody, we don't need the completion posts.

But if someone is not comfortable in using spreadsheets, please feel free to add a completion post here.