Melanie’s Comments (group member since Sep 01, 2014)

Melanie’s comments from the Nothing But Reading Challenges group.

Thank you so much for creating the planning sheet Judith! I know in past teams I've been on with you that it's incredibly helpful.

Most of my books in this first round will be library books I need to finish before my library reopens later this month (assuming it still will since the NJ governor keeps changing his mind on when stuff in NJ will open). You'd think I'd have read them by now because I have had them out since March, but I just kept putting them off as they had so much time before they were due. So because they're a set list, not a lot of them have the harder letters in our word, but I'll slot them where I can.

Lexi wrote: "Melanie wrote: "Quick question, series name can also be used for the spell it out, correct?"

You are correct. I will add it to my list above."

Ok great. Thanks for confirming. I know not all team challenges allow the use of series name and wasn't 100% sure which one Wheel was.

Quick question, series name can also be used for the spell it out, correct?

Lexi wrote: "One tag is fine. Most of the tags this week are one person only tags. You can't use your own tag or try to mess with the system but that book is fine"

Perfect. Some of the tags are out there. I wonder how the mods come up with some of these? They're all way more imaginative than I am. But hey, that's what keeps these challenges interesting.

Lexi wrote: "Yes, that is for the full ten weeks and no one is going to finish it. Also, notice the duplicates. You can do some tasks multiple times as the occur on the list multiple times. Each person gets their own task list so keep track for yourself (and we will double check) so you do not claim the same number twice."

For the task list, would it be ok once we have the planning sheet up for us to add a tab for ourselves with our personal task list to keep track? I'm thinking that may be the easiest (at least for me personally) since we'll already be adding our planned books to that. If the captains prefer to keep the planning sheet uncluttered, I can just create a google sheet for myself to keep track, so no worries either way.

I have a couple of questions.

First, for the tags, does it matter if only 1 person has shelved a book with a tag?

For example, I have the below book on my TBR for this month and 1 person has tagged it as Ireland (last page of tags). I'm wondering if it's fine to use for that tag?



Second, for the list of tasks, that list is for each player over the course of the entire challenge right? As in we each have 200 tasks we can choose from for the books we read during the challenge, crossing each task off the list as we fill the spot?

Judith wrote: "Hello Melanie! Nice to see you again, so soon too :)"

Hello! Great to be on a team with you again!

Hey, my power came back on after 33 hours (thanks storms) and teams were assigned. Today's a good day!

Hi everyone! I'm Melanie (she/her) and I live in a tiny town in New Jersey that no one has ever heard of (less than 4,500 people live here). I work in the finance department of a large book publisher and have a deep abiding love of spreadsheets.

I have played wheel a few times, I think this is my third year? Wheel is definitely one of my favorite challenges, in part because it was the first team one I played.

I am primarily a romance reader and I also pick up a lot of mystery thrillers. Here are some of my 5 star reads so far this year (the last two are rereads).

Geri wrote: "Moderators of NBRC wrote: "Updated for you Geri.

I'm in the midst of the thankless task of trying to sort out teams now, so
NO MORE CHANGING OF BOOK NUMBERS!!!

Also, any sign ups after now are not guaranteed to be placed on a team."

Not thankless. We all appreciate the work that has to be done!"

Seconded! I can only imagine how arduous of a task creating the teams is and we definitely appreciate it.

A little late, but Happy Birthday Sonia!

Lisa - (Aussie Girl) wrote: "The Wheel has been revealed.

Confession - When I come across books with Z< Q< U< or X , I make a note of them for Wheel a thon to read then. And there are a few this time round. Hee Hee."

I really need to start doing that. I'm always scrambling come wheel time.

I made minimal progress, but hey any progress is better than none. Hopefully next month will be better.

Start of month:
Books on shelf: 49
Feedback Ratio: 83%

Added:


Finished:


Hostile Pursuit | My Review
You Are Not Alone | My Review
Whisper of Bones | My Review

End of Month:
Books on shelf: 48
Feedback Ratio: 83%

I'm in again. I really need to make a dent in my backlog. Stupid reading slumps.

Start of month:
Books on shelf: 48
Feedback Ratio: 83%

Books (ordered by pub date):






Added:


Finished:


Bred in the Bone | My Review

End of Month:
Books on shelf: 52
Feedback Ratio: 82%

Oh Sammy I really like your shelves. That's great that your husband is handy enough to build those.

I also have built-ins in my spare room that a friend built after I was having issues finding shelves since my second floor has angled walls due to the house style. I actually have some extra space currently since I recently gave around 700 books away, although there are still almost 1,500 books on these shelves which I've acquired over my 30 years.

All of my books are in this room with the exception of my Secret Garden collection which is on a wall shelf in the living room. The only author I have enough books from for a whole shelf is Nora Roberts, which I grabbed a shelf from Target for so her books wouldn't take up as much room on the main shelves. That shelf also hold some of the collector's editions that I keep on the top.

Everything is organized by author last name then by pub date (keeping series together if there are other books released between installments). My graphic novels are organized by publisher (DC, Image, Marvel, etc.) and then by series name. Manga is just organized by series name and my coffee table/reference books aren't organized but are shoved where they'll fit.

Tomorrow, When the War Began by John Marsden

When Ellie and her friends go camping, they have no idea they're leaving their old lives behind forever. Despite a less-than-tragic food shortage and a secret crush or two, everything goes as planned. But a week later, they return home to find their houses empty and their pets starving. Something has gone wrong--horribly wrong. Before long, they realize the country has been invaded, and the entire town has been captured--including their families and all their friends.

Ellie and the other survivors face an impossible decision: They can flee for the mountains or surrender. Or they can fight.

Déjà Dead by Kathy Reichs

It's June in Montreal, and Temperance Brennan has just left a shaky marriage back home in North Carolina to take on a challenging assignment as director of forensic anthropology for the province of Quebec.

Before she can explore her new hometown, though, Tempe must stop at a newly uncovered burial site in the heart of the city. One look at the decomposed and decapitated corpse, stored neatly in plastic bags, tells Tempe that she'll be spending her first weekend on the new job in the crime lab. This is homicide of the worst kind.

As Tempe investigates the case, she finds more questions than answers, and a startling pattern emerges. As she races to track down a killer who is still on the loose, Brennan plunges herself and those closest to her into mortal danger.

Sammy wrote: "Can I bring something to improve the scenery..?

"

Your scenery improvements are always welcome.

I'm so excited! Wheelathon is my favorite of the team challenges.

I was so sad to miss the HP TT, I've heard so much about it and it seems like it was a ton of fun. I started doing challenges right around that one's time and was way too intimidated to start with a TT. I believe the WAT immediately after the HP TT was my first challenge in this group.

Oh the nefarious ways these listings will likely be used.

Include: Historical Romance, Romantic Suspense, Thriller, Adventure, Urban Fantasy
Exclude: High Fantasy, Horror, Chick Lit, BDSM, Christian Fiction

I'm in again. I really need to make some actual progress soon.

Start of month:
Books on shelf: 49
Feedback Ratio: 83%

Already Read, Need to Review:


Books (ordered by pub date):






Added:


Finished:


Hostile Pursuit | My Review
You Are Not Alone | My Review
Whisper of Bones | My Review

End of Month:
Books on shelf: 48
Feedback Ratio: 83%