Melissa’s Comments (group member since May 12, 2019)

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

Insiyah wrote: "Melissa wrote: "I have put the tabs on our tracker. I'm sure other formatting will need to happen! So you might want to wait a day or two before adding anything.

I MUST get to work now!!!

Let me ..."

Thanks Insiyah!
For now, let's just put our plans in this thread.

I have put the tabs on our tracker. I'm sure other formatting will need to happen! So you might want to wait a day or two before adding anything.

I MUST get to work now!!!

Let me know if you have any questions! I love the chaos the mods throw into the mix :)

Here is a trick. If you are wondering if there is a word in your book, look it up on https://books.google.com/

Often you can then search for one of the words in your book.

This is often a fun one to share with friends! (NOT)

"Why are you reading that book?"
"Because it has the word yam in it!"

If you know, you know! But most people don't....

That one's my favorite. But don't expect to read sci-fi and find food - I swear they don't eat.

FEEDING THE FAMILY MINI-CHALLENGE


This is an optional mini challenge for Boring Life Wheel, which will run from 26th October 9pm UK time until the end of the challenge.

Keeping the family fed is a thankless task, with fussy toddlers who only eat beige, teens flirting with vegan food and hulking men who want mounds of meat! And no sooner has one meal been cleared away then it seems like it's time to open the fridge again. Sometimes picking up the phone and calling for take-away is the best option!


A: Cooking from Scratch
Find the listed food items in the text of a book; plural variants are ok, and the word found doesn't have to mean the food (e.g "it's a bit of a squash to get everyone in")
- potato
- rice
- pasta
- bread
- beef
- lamb
- chicken
- fish
- lentil
- broccoli
- carrot
- pumpkin
- squash
- yam
- bean
- corn
- okra
- tomato
- onion
- lettuce
- cucumber
- apple
- peach
- fig
- grape
- banana
- salt
- pepper
- sugar
- spice

B: Let's Just Get a Takeaway!
Read books with country tags (at least 5) (yes, we know Hawai'i isn't a country anymore):
- China
- Mexico
- Italy
- France
- India
- Greece
- Japan
- Thailand
- Korea (South Korea and North Korea will also work)
- Turkey
- Nigeria
- Jamaica
- Bangladesh
- Hawaii
- Fried Chicken - needs "Southern Gothic" tag


◈ Each task will earn 5 points.
◈ 5 bonus points if a book used for this mini ALSO contains either of the words VINEGAR or LOBSTER.
◈ Captains are to use their discretion whether a book fits a task or not.
◈ Standard rules apply.
◈ Books used for this mini must also be used for the spell-out.
◈ Books can be started at any point since the beginning of the Boring Life Wheel challenge, but only books finished after 26th October 9pm UK time will count for this mini.
◈ Spreadsheets will be updated for the Captains to update and track the teams points.
◈ You can work on both parts simultaneously.
◈ You can complete this mini as many times as you like, but you cannot bank books (i.e. books for a repeat task must be finished after all the tasks have been completed once).

The GARDENING MINI CHALLENGE


This is an optional mini challenge for Boring Life Wheel, which will run from 26th October 9pm UK time until the end of the challenge.

When juggling the demands of family, work, and society in general; a relaxing hobby is in order. And of course that hobby should be productive and improve the household. What are we talking about? Gardening of course! Build and maintain your garden to be the envy of the neighbourhood.

Prep:
Get the garden areas ready, building climbing trellises and the like.
Read two sets of 5 books that are consecutive numbers in series (eg 2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
- do not need to start at 1
- do need to be in a continuous sequence (i.e. 2, 3, 5, 6, 7 does NOT work)
- do not need to be from the same series
- do not need to be read in order

Tend:
Find books with words in their title (or subtitle) that meet the following.
Germinate: is 6 or more letters long
Plant: is exactly 5 letters
Mulch: contains one of the following digraphs: CH, PH, SH, TH, WH
Weed: contains a double vowel
Water: contains and H and 2 Os
Pest Control: contains two letters consecutive in the alphabet (e.g AB in alphabet)
Feed: contains a double letter
Prune: can be cut to reveal a different word of at least 2 letters (e.g PRUNE - RUNE / AFFAIR - FAIR)
Harvest: that could be a noun or verb (e.g TRAIN)
Deadhead: contains a repeat set of at least two letters (e.g BEGINNING repeats IN)

Bloom:
Read 10 books with colour covers (50%+) to reflect the colours in your flowers.
MUST include 1 brown and 1 green colour.

◈ Each task will earn 5 points.
◈ 5 bonus points if a book used for this mini ALSO contains either of the words PIANO or VIOLIN (plants respond well to music. not sure about our readers!)
◈ Captains are to use their discretion whether a book fits a task or not.
◈ Standard rules apply.
◈ Books used for this mini must also be used for the spell-out.
◈ Books can be started at any point since the beginning of the Boring Life Wheel challenge, but only books finished after 26th October 9pm UK time will count for this mini.
◈ Spreadsheets will be updated for the Captains to update and track the teams points.
◈ You can repeat this mini as many times as you want, but can't bank books. i.e. books for the second run through must all be finished AFTER all the tasks for the first run through have been completed.

The ADMINISTRATION CHALLENGE

(See this link for nice graphics)
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

This is an optional mini challenge for Boring Life Wheel, which will run from 26th October 9pm UK time until the end of the challenge.

A lot of people do not like paperwork. Of any kind. Yet needs must. So in order to get your office space, and the boxes you hid away in the attic, and the folders that are gathering mold on the shelves, and all those other hidey-holes you found for the paperwork you do not want to do, organised, we have a little something for you to do.

Find books that fits one of the following criteria:
- the main character works in an office
- the plot revolves around an office romance
- typical administrative material on the cover
- tagged non-fiction / nonfiction (at least 10x)
- tagged office (at least 10x)
- the main character works in taxes
- the main character works in finance
- the clue to solving a murder is found in paperwork
- cover colour is at least 50% grey
- cover colour is at least 50% orange
- someone is murdered in an office
- the plot revolves around white-collar crime
- the main character needs to know how to handle a budget
- letters GREY in title
- letters TAXES in title
- letters ADMIN in title
- author first & last initials in FILING
- author first & last initials in PAPERWORK
- author first & last initials in SHREDDING
- tagged DNF (or direct equivalent) (at least 10x)


◈ Each task will earn 5 points.
◈ 5 bonus points if a book used for this mini ALSO contains either of the words COFFEE-TABLE or QUILT (note: coffee-table doesn't need to by hyphenated, but does need to be the pair of words).
◈ Captains are to use their discretion whether a book fits a task or not.
◈ Standard rules apply.
◈ Books used for this mini must also be used for the spell-out.
◈ Books can be started at any point since the beginning of the Boring Life Wheel challenge, but only books finished after 26th October 9pm UK time will count for this mini.
◈ Spreadsheets will be updated for the Captains to update and track the teams points.
◈ You can repeat this mini as many times as you want, but can't bank books. i.e. books for the second run through must all be finished AFTER all the tasks for the first run through have been completed.

I will post the challenges here, and for reference, in my reserved slots on the first page.
But I have to get to work!
So I will probably just post them here for now.

There are three new challenges!!

You must use a book for a spell-out.

In addition, you can use that book for one of the mini-challenges.

Books must be finished after October 26th.

Get ready for some mini - challenges!

Trisha, I hope all will be well soon.

Excellent work, Kelly.
I've got a few left myself.
I might squeeze in the BOM,.... but I'm not sure.

Anyone planning on any of the BOMs?

Insiyah wrote: "Melissa wrote: "Do any of you all have favorite women powered authors?"

Oh, where do I begin?

Jane Austen, Virginia Woolf, Louisa May Alcott, Maggie Nelson, Elif Shafak, Mary Shelley, Samantha S..."


So many authors, so little time!
You reminded me to pick up book 0 of Samantha Shannon's Priory of the Orange Tree series. Maybe I'll try to read that for the big points.

Kelly (Maybedog) wrote: "I love that picture!

I mostly read M/M and other genre fiction but in addition to many of the ones already mentioned (might be duplicates): Alice Walker, Amy Tan, Kathryn Stockett, Sylvia Plath, P..."

Okay, so my TBR just exploded...

M wrote: "Good morning. I have been offline for a bit and will post my books tonight.

it is with so much happiness that my newest nephew was born early Wednesday. My sister in law is amazing, and they are b..."

💖💖💖💖💖💖💖
Congratulations Aunt M!

I'm going to get through the 4 I signed up for - which leaves room for 3 more until my cap. I'm going on a car trip today, so I hope to get in 2 books for there and back. That gives me 2 to read book wise - so I bet I can tackle an O for another book to listen to next week.

Here is the timer for the end of this round:
https://www.timeanddate.com/countdown...

Hooray for week 1!
Our pets are well taken care of.

M wrote: "I added a few more to the list, and I think that is all I can cover for this round. I am saving a few huge ones for the future.

I want to finish the Wandering Inn series by the end of the year an..."

😲
You go!
Getting us some major points!!

Kelly (Maybedog) wrote: "I also am really OCD about things like that and as I said, I love spreadsheets, so if I see something without a link, I usually will put it in. (I fix formatting issues, too.) Feel free to leave it..."

These challenges are developing my love of spreadsheets! Although I still have a lot to learn. I love that you can fix formatting issues. Thanks for jumping in and filling in the links!

Sorry about your knee. That's terrible that it has taken since July 9th. Just terrible.