Nothing But Reading Challenges discussion

I've got #101 and #108 done, now I'm trying to find #74, 77 and 96 to see if I can knock those out too.

Thanks Barb. Work has been nuts today or I would have attempted them. Hopefully they aren't sliders!

Barb, did you post them here?

http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/1...

I found them, but I'm stumped on the cover for #74. Sure would be nice if more folks read mystery books so they'd use those covers now and then. I don't have time to track down answers for #77, but I'll work on #96 if someone else from the team wants to tackle the other two :)

Did #77

Did 74, I mean...

NOW I did 77. :D

Barb, make sure to post 101 and 108 in the specific catch up thread

OK, I see that Steven just submitted #74 and #77, and I just posted #101 and #108. I'm about to email #96 to the mods, then we should be caught up ... I hope?

Thanks Steven and Barb. You two are puzzlers extraordinaire.

I agree with Lisa. Steven and Barb you have done ( and are still doing) an awesome job with the puzzles. But Lisa as far as I remember you have also done some.
I tried to do some but I just don't have the patience so thank you all for doing them which is great for our team.

Steven wrote: "Barb, did you post them here?

http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/1..."

Yep, right after you posted your comment :) I was waiting till I had all the puzzle done and could post/email them all at the same time.

Lisa - (Aussie Girl) wrote: "Thanks Steven and Barb. You two are puzzlers extraordinaire."

It's a good thing the two sliders were EASY or I wouldn't have gotten them without tearing my hair out :)

And remember, everybody: Even though we're not doing the mods' challenge this month, we can still do the puzzles/games they'll be posting. So keep an eye out for the September puzzles thread, then jump in when you can. If you can let the rest of us know you've done a certain puzzle, it will give us more time to read instead :)

Jane wrote: "I agree with Lisa. Steven and Barb you have done ( and are still doing) an awesome job with the puzzles. But Lisa as far as I remember you have also done some.
I tried to do some but I just don't ..."

I'd love to do it too, Jane. I just don't get it. After a half hour reading through the rules, I just sort of went back to reading ;)

If you're ever unsure of what's required to complete a puzzle or game, post here and we'll explain to the best of our ability :) I don't know about Lisa, but I know that Steven and I both *detest the slider puzzles that they seem to love, so if any of you like to do those, we'd LOVE to have you help us out LOL

Yes I hate sliders!!!!

Here's my confession... I just don't get how to do the sliders. Are you supposed to link to another place to be able to move the pieces around? I have not a very mathematical brain, the puzzles I really enjoy are the wheel ones.

So it's another down vote for the sliders.

No, you have to slide the pieces around until you get the picture of the book cover correct and then post a picture of the program saying you've completed it

You need to move one of the existing pieces into the blank space on the slider, then keep working that way until you get all the pieces into their proper places except the one piece in the lower right corner (the one that's left blank). When you get everything else in place, the last square will fill itself in automatically, and you'll get a pop-up window saying something like "congrats, you win!"

Then you need to take a screen shot (there are lots of different ways to do that) and save that screen shot to your computer. Then you upload it to a website somewhere -- a photo sharing site, your own personal website or GR group, whatever -- so you can post it in the puzzles/games thread. It's a lot of steps for a little cupcake, but we all know we need to collect and hoard those cupcakes, right? :)

Right. I get the technicalities now but even so it's not making rush over there to complete one. Thank you Steven and Barb but I think I'll just stay with what I'm good at.

Got a new gadget today. I didn't get a new nook but instead i got a tablet. A Samsung galaxy 3 tablet.

Oooooh, cool! Have fun learning how to play with your new toy, Nancy :)

I'm loving it already

Ooh, I'll be getting my first tablet in the next couple of weeks too, for work. Looking forward to it!

I'm loving it so much. Glad i got this one. Hope you like yours too when you get it Nicole.

I'm sure I will. You know, after I figure out what I can do with it ;) I've been writing a list of things I want to try, other than work. There are quite a few games I would enjoy, I think.

Do you know which tablet you are getting for work?

I do. It's an iPad, so different to the Samsung, but compatible with the apps that work uses.

which generation if you know?

Not until I get it, unfortunately.

alright just thought I would ask

According to the latest team standing update, we're now in 6th place :) And the 5th place team is only 8 books ahead of us. Go team!!

Yes, it seems 5th place is where the jockeying for position is taking place the last several weeks. Certainly makes for an exciting race. Sometimes it isn't always at the beginning of the pack.

Congratulations team! And the places between 5th to 8th are all interchangeable they are that close. This is SO exciting.. Oh, you know you're a book nerd when you say something like that!

6th place!! We have been doing so so well over these last couple of months. Everyone, pat yourselves on the back :D

Like we said at the beginning, it's a marathon and not a sprint. The top teams might burn out and let us push further up the ladder!

Puzzle #132 sent in for our team.

Yay Lisa, thank you :)

I have a question for the romance readers on our team. My daughter-in-law likes romance but is looking for some authors who don't include explicit sex scenes in their books (Nora Roberts fails this test). Any recommendations? She saw some books by Julia Quinn and thought the plot descriptions sounded good but no idea what to expect in the covers so to speak.

We have a few romance readers, so hopefully we can find your daughter something she'll like without the overly sexual stuff getting in the way.

I'll bet Lisa Kay has some recommendations too, as she reads a bit of romance!

I think Julia Quinn is also failing that test. ☺ There is definitely more than kissing in her books. As far as I know most (all?) of modern romance novels (even historicals) have some kind of sex scene in them.

Maybe Danielle Steel? It's been very long since I've read something from her so I'm not sure.

Evana, has she given YA Contemporary Romance a try? They're often much more tame than adult romance novels.

I'm the same way with a lot of romance - I'm a total prude and get uncomfortable when the grown ups have grown up time :X

Evana wrote: "My daughter-in-law likes romance but is looking for some authors who don't include explicit sex scenes in their books..."

Lynn Kurland is a wonderful writer of romance and her sex scenes are all fade to black.

I also have a bookshelf named one-foot-on-the-floor (named thus because in the old days of pictures, if the couple was on a bed, one person always had to have at least one foot on the floor), though I don't have a lot on it.

However, she might like the Love Inspired section of Harlequin. Of course, she might have to wade through some that are preachy, but not all of them are.

Evana wrote: "I have a question for the romance readers on our team. My daughter-in-law likes romance but is looking for some authors who don't include explicit sex scenes in their books (Nora Roberts fails thi..."

I don't like explicit sex scenes either. You have to be careful with YA Contemporary Romance, it is getting more and more racy.

Roxanne by Jane Claypool Miner is good. It is Historical Romance and an older book (published 1985), so she'll have to found it on Amazon.

The Golden Mask (A Year Down Under, #3) by Robyn Donald is really good. Don't worry that it says it's part of a series, it isn't the type that you have to read any of the other books. The love scene is at the end and is pretty sweet.

All-American Girl by Meg Cabot is a YA Romance. There is a sequel to the book, which I wouldn't recommend. The second book is more focused on sex. The first book could be a stand alone and has a very satisfying ending (at least for me it did).

The Mediator Series and the 1-800-Where-R-You (aka Missing) Series both by Meg Cabot are good as well. They are YA too.

Size 12 Is Not Fat and the rest of the Heather Wells series also by Meg Cabot are good too.

Nicola and the Viscount and Victoria and the Rogue are Historical Romance novels. They are also by Meg Cabot.

Walking Up a Rainbow by Theodore Taylor is a Historical novel. The romance is a secondary plot.

Belle and the Beau by Beverly Jenkins is a Historical Romance

Beauty by Robin McKinley ism a retelling of Beauty and the Beast.

Then there are the classics. Jane Eyre
by Charlotte Brontë and Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen (best book ever!!)

Hoped this helped.

Thanks so much for all the responses. I'll be passing these on to her. She just joined GR today so she now has a place to keep track of a TBR. And she would agree with you Karla about Pride and Prejudice being the best book ever.

Gee, Evana, it's a bit of a challenge because most romance of today definitely has bedroom action.

One contemporary series I read lately with fade to black was the Grace Valley trilogy by Robyn Carr. is the first book. It was really good and leads into the Virgin River Series which is also very good but has tasteful romantic scenes which still may not suit.

Otherwise Inspirational or Christian romance may be the category that suits her needs. I can't recommend here because it is not my genre. But I really hope she finds something to enjoy.

Oh, I just thought of another wonderful author who wrote in the 80's and 90's. LaVryle Spencer. She does have some intimacy but it is very, very tasteful and she writes the most wonderful stories especially her American historicals.

and are classics amongst romance readers.

You might want to look at Tracie Peterson's books, Evana. She's a Christian author, but I haven't found any of her books to be really "preachy," if you know what I mean.

I did just read a wonderful, wonderful book that I can't recommend high enough. Talk about unconditional love! Really a stand out in a year of good books. It does have a love scene at the end, but it is NOT explicit at all and is 'tastefully' done.

Even with books that are 'tagged' as Christian historically, you have to be careful. Some of them have rape and the abuse of women within them. They aren't a sure bet, just because they are 'tagged' Christian.