Nothing But Reading Challenges discussion
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Pewter Blue
Vicky wrote: "Glad you made it home safe, Mary. I finally finished A Breath of Snow and Ashes last night. I love the series but they take SO LONG to read. I've been reading it on and off for almost 2 months!"
I may be the only person on this planet who didn't like Gabaldon's books. I read Outlander and then Dragonfly in Amber and said no more. But a number of years later one of my online book groups was talking about this series so much that I went back and reread the first two books so I could continue on and remember everything. But once again, I never continued with any of the other books.
Moderators of Nothing but Reading Challenges wrote: "If you like, Pewter Blue may move to a "new" Pewter Blue. It is not necessary, but an option. Totally up to you."What is the "new" blue?
Nancy wrote: "Vicky wrote: "I may be the only person on this planet who didn't like Gabaldon's books. I read Outlander and then Dragonfly in Amber and said no more. But a number of years later one of my online book groups was talking about this series so much that I went back and reread the first two books so I could continue on and remember everything. But once again, I never continued with any of the other books."You definitely aren't the only one, I've found that they are very polarizing books. The first time I read them, I stopped after Dragonfly in Amber because it seemed so boring compared to the adventure in Outlander, which is pretty representative of the series. I found Outlander (1), Voyager (3) and Drums of Autumn (4) more fast paced and adventurous while Dragonfly in Amber (2), The Fiery Cross (5) and A Breath of Snow and Ashes (6) are slower and more of a mix between political intrigue and slice of life moments.
Nancy wrote: "Moderators of Nothing but Reading Challenges wrote: "If you like, Pewter Blue may move to a "new" Pewter Blue. It is not necessary, but an option. Totally up to you."
What is the "new" blue?"
We've had two people leave our challenge recently, so the numbers for challenge we're all signed up for are a bit skewed which makes it harder to make sure we are up-to-date and correct. The mods are giving us the option to have a new challenge created and all the active members of the team would move over to that one so our numbers line up. This isn't a definite thing yet though, just an option. Mary or I will let everyone know if we decide to move to a new challenge.
I finished reading When She Woke, which was a BoM for this group this month. I participated in the Q&A on that and that took up a lot of my online time. Other than that, I'm slowly making my way through Second Sight, by Amanda Quick. Too lazy to link books at this time. I'm about to get off the computer. Been busy working or doing family things, hanging out with my boy while summer vacation is still here. Time is flying too darn fast for me. Going to visit family in a few weeks (end of July) for a 3-day weekend so that'll be fun.Take care all!
That's what I get for speed reading the posts earlier. I missed the offer a new challenge so we'll only have the active participants on our tracker. I'm all for it if all our players will be willing to move over to the new one.
Did our challenge not count now? I am confused.
Sarah wrote: "Did our challenge not count now? I am confused."We're talking about the challenge over in the sister group, here, that everyone signed up for when they first joined. This is what we use to update the spreadsheets every week.
We had two members quit playing, but they haven't removed themselves from the challenge (and we aren't sure that the will) so the numbers are off.
Right now, we are ~370/1362 books read. These are the official stats for our team and they reflect all of the active participants on our team. Because of those members who have quit, our challenge homepage (as linked above) says we are 423/1562. It makes it more difficult to do the Sunday update since we always have to compensate for that difference.
If we take up the mods offer for a new challenge, they would set up another challenge for our team just like the one I linked above. All of our active members would move over and join it and our numbers would be back to normal.
Absolutely nothing is going to change about our progress, it's just going to make it easier for us to keep track of.
I'm confused to on how we get points for the overall challenge. What place are we in?
Holly wrote: "I'm confused to on how we get points for the overall challenge. What place are we in?"The primary way we get points is by reading books. Each book counts as a point.
We got 4 Book Advantage Points (BAP) for finishing the June/July 7% Challenge and we have 12 BAPs from completing Captain Cupcake's Puzzles and redeeming our chunkster (450+ page) books.
We're currently in 8th place. The mods post the updated ranks via a screenshot of the spreadsheet every Sunday in this thread. Note that we are in the 9th row of the spreadsheet, but because row 1 is the header row we are in 8th place. :)
We have moved up a couple of notches in the last month or so. Primarily from finally having a "full" team. Until about a month ago we were short on members because we were one of the newer teams. But also because we are awesome readers. We're like the dark horse or the underdog that stealthily creeps up to overtake the competition. The OCD part of me that compulsively counts & double checks things really wants a correct tracking bar. But if there are players who don't want to deal with moving, then we can keep the old one and just keep adjusting it on the spreadsheet. Too bad the mods can't remove inactive players themselves.
I'm really tempted to PM Melissa and Alexia again to ask them to remove themselves.
I do have a concern that if we "move", some of the less active players who never post in the threads but still mark books read will drop out. But the fact they are marking books read even when they don't post is encouraging that they might.
Thanks for explaining Vicky, I was confused as well. Whatever you two think will work best seems like the right way to go, since you two are the ones that keep track and keep everything in line. I guess there is no way that you can remove them yourselves?On a book note ~ today I finished up ~
Mary: Harry Dresden's Love Slave wrote: "We have moved up a couple of notches in the last month or so. Primarily from finally having a "full" team. Until about a month ago we were short on members because we were one of the newer teams. ..."That's a good point Mary. Not everyone is active on all the discussions and stuff, so if we move groups then they might not. If we can organize it though, moving to a New Pewter Blue could definitely work, and I'm all up for it.
Isn't there any way that the captains or mods can remove these people?
Nancy wrote: "Isn't there any way that the captains or mods can remove these people?"Unfortunately, no. :(
I talk with Alexia occasionally, so if I do talk to her again I can tell her to actually leave the challenge and stuff.
"Moving" is really not that difficult, either. You don't have to change a book shelf name or anything. And this board will still be here. We'd just join a "new" Pewter Blue Challenge on the sister group and then the original Pewter Blue challenge would just get deleted, most likely. So, it's really the same as when you first joined Pewter Blue, how you had to join up at the sister group, etc. I'm all for it because I know that it will help the captains track our reads without having to wonder about the two people who left without removing themselves from the challenge.
Mod
End Time: Universal Countdown - Showing Your Time Zone. Friday, July 19th, 12 Noon, N.Y. U.S.A.
If you have NOT finished, it is time to start organizing your books and thinking about your categories to submit.
If you are going for those five extra cupcakes, you may post them in 7% Solution Finished Category Posting thread tomorrow.
Not sure about this 7% solution - will have to spend more time trying to figure this out. Also as I wander around if I read the same book as a person on another team can I add that to my list as well once I read it?
Nancy wrote: "Not sure about this 7% solution - will have to spend more time trying to figure this out. Also as I wander around if I read the same book as a person on another team can I add that to my list as w..."Nancy ~ you don't have to worry about the 7% challenge. We already finished it, twice. We almost did it a 3rd time. :) You add everything to your shelf that you have read, as long as it is over the page requirement, even if someone else read it.
For now, just do the July Mini Challenge, only if you want. Next big challenge will be the August Challenge in which as a group we'll have to collectively read at least 75 books.
Thanks Brooke. I am really feeling my way here and so appreciate all of the help from the mods, captains and other members. I( am going to look at the July Mimi Challenge for now.I wonder over the 20 years I have been with America Online, just how much reading time I have lost by talking about reading, reviewing books and surfing the web about books as well.
Nancy I think many of us active goodreaders are like that. I know I could probably read another 50+ books a year if I spent less time on my online reading related groups. But part of the fun of the reading is talking about them and hunting out new books I might want to read some day.
Ok Brooke and others - I just went looking for the July Mini Challenge and can't seem to find it Can you lead me to it? Also, is there one folder where I can also list all of my challenges? Thanks in advance.I'm leaving now for a day of errands which includes two libraries. I'm sure you'll be glad I'll be out of your hair for a while. LOL
It is very easy to transfer teams but there might be someone who will see it as an inconvenience. Hopefully not. I have not put pressure on the players who don't actively post to participate more in the discussions. They've been told where the discussions are and I for all I know, read the threads and just don't post. And that's fine because they are adding books to our team totals. They just aren't chatty. I really don't think we'll lose anyone, I just wanted to put that out there as a possibility.
Nancy ~ it's over in the sister site. The other group you would have joined when you got assigned to Pewter Blue. Mary ~ hopefully we wouldn't lose anyone. If they are actively adding books to the challenge shelf, then they must be on enough to see it soon if we move. My only concern with moving is if we keep getting new people and they end up dropping out and we have the problem again and again. I'd definitely up for whatever is easiest for you all.
Yeah that it might happen again. I think if it it did then we would just deal with it and not start a 3rd one. There's no need to rush into the decision. Vicky & I have been discussing it in PMs and we think we might go ahead and do a new team tracker. But it doesn't have to be done ASAP. We have another possibly inactive player that I think I'm going to PM and ask if she's still participating or not. If she also wants to be removed then that's 3 players who will be on the tracker that aren't active anymore.
I will post links to the other Pewter Blue threads. (the threads wouldn't change, we would just get a new team page where it shows the trackers for all the players and how many books we've read etc..,)
Sounds good Mary. Stinks that we are losing a few. Too bad we can't just all mesh up the active ones from all the teams still forming to try to get a group of people going to stick with it.
OK for the newbies or anyone who missed where these are or just wants easy links to them (I'll copy/paste these other places to so they're easy to find)Remember all the mini-challenges are optional. They are just for fun and to encourage team interraction. We do get bonus points for the August one so the more who participate the easier it will be to earn bonus points.
Lunar-Madness-Mini-Challenge
Around-The-World-In-80-Days
Scavenger-Hunt-Mini-Challenge
August-Challenge-Discussion This is where we discussed our ideas to submit to the mods for the challenge.
August-Not-Quite-An-Octogon-Challenge-Player-Updates-This is for players to keep track, if they want to, of what they might want to read for the August challenge & what categories their books might fit.
Mod
Lunar Madness Mini Challenge July .
Nancy wrote: "Also, is there one folder where I can also list all of my challenges?"
Do you mean as in a folder where other members of NBRCs are posting their challenges, not just Pewter Blue? Then I believe you want this one .
I know it's late in the day but I haven't done a pic theme in a while. Had to get new cell phones yesterday so I though hey lets do unique phones. 
Come One, Come All!Since we have new members, I'm re-posting this. Oo, from Leather Jacket Black and I are both Leos who have birthdays one day apart (different years) so we decided to have a little bit of challenge fun. We challenged one another to see which Leo could read the most Nora Roberts (one of our shared favorite authors) books in the span of a week. Quite a few people expressed an interest in joining along so the challenge is open to anyone who'd like to play along. If you're interested, you can let us know in the Leo vs Leo thread!
When: August 1 - 8, 2013
What: August Girls Faceoff / Leo VS Leo
Details: Who can read the most amount of Nora Roberts novels during the time frame. No penalties. The reward is bragging rights as the ultimate Robster. Only Nora Roberts books, please -- no J. D. Robb for this one.
Nora Roberts
Series List (here at GR)
Single Titles List:(view spoiler)
I just finished
by Beth Hoffman. Is there any other place I should post this to so we get the credit.
I posted to a challenge with something like Camp in the title but I can't seem to find it although I went through the challenges which were under the group Nothing But Reading Challenges.
We get credit for any books, 160 pages or more, that you finish and put on the shelf you made for the Pewter Blue challenge. Right now there's no mini-challenge going for extra credit. But there will be one starting in August. I think I saw a Summer Camp reading challenge somewhere but I don't remember where.
I think there is also camp gotta read challenge in the NBRC
Nancy wrote: "I just finished by Beth Hoffman. Is there any other place I should post this to so we get the credit."Nancy, what did you think of this book. I loved Saving CeeCee Honeycutt.
If we want the credit for the group you mark as read on the shelf you made for this group with the date you finished.
Nancy if you posted on the thread you can find it by looking at your comments. If you go on your main page and scroll down on the right there's tabs with links to your friends, groups, etc.., Click on the comments one and it'll bring up all your comments. That's how I find threads I've lost. Most groups also have a place for members to keep their own thread to track their challenges for themselves. I have one set up in a different group.
Nancy - Was it Camp GottaRead? You can find challenges under different topic headings in the group discussions page. That one is listed under "Monthly/Seasonal Reading Challenges". There is another camp related challenge under that heading, as well.
Mod
If not either of these, you might refer to these two indexes, which are always located at the top of their folders:
Reading Challenges Index
Monthly-Seasonal Challenges Index
It looks like we have another inactive/dropped out player. I sent Holly (QC) a message asking if she's still participating. Hopefully she has just been busy and plans to partcipate soon. If she doesn't respond or says she can't do it anymore, I am going to ask for a new team tracker. We already have 2 inactive players putting our numbers off. All our threads would stay put. We would just have to sign up under the new tracker page for it to combine all our books together for the team total. No one would have to create new shelves or move books around.
Does the quiet mean everyone is busy reading? Not me sadly. I spent the evening at the hospital with my mother. She went in to have a tumor removed only they couldn't remove it this time.
Dang. That sucks that another one may be going. It'd be nice to have some people that stick around. Reading and writing (letters) here. The book I'm reading is a slow start. I hope it picks up. Maybe I should just move on now.
I'm sorry about your mother. I hope she'll be ok!
Mod
ilovebakedgoods (Teresa) wrote: "Nancy - Was it Camp GottaRead? You can find challenges under different topic headings in the group discussions page. That one is listed under "Monthly/Seasonal Reading Challenges". There is another..."Yes that was it and thanks. Now I trying to figure how to do a hyperlink. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Mary: Harry Dresden's Love Slave wrote: "Does the quiet mean everyone is busy reading? Not me sadly. I spent the evening at the hospital with my mother. She went in to have a tumor removed only they couldn't remove it this time."Sorry to hear this. Hope the drs. will find an alternative.
Mod
Do you want add a hyperlink from your ~ Reading Goals ~ Folder to your post in a challenge? (This folder may have a different name, depending on which group you post in.) Here’s how:
1. Once you set up your folder, click on the “some html is ok” look-up at the top of the
comment box and follow the Link directions.
2. You want to copy the following from the look-up
3. Cut and replace the section of html code (in-between the two quotation marks;
made bold in the example below) with the post's link.
4. You can copy that by placing your cursor on the "post's time stamp"
(for lack of a better term) located in the beige bar to the far right.
(Screen #1, red arrow.)
Screen #1
5. On the drop down menu, use your right-mouse-click button on “Copy shortcut”
or “Copy link address” and copy link location.
(Shown below bold & between the two yellow lines. As you can see, it can be quite long.)
6. Next, change the “my link text” to what you want, such as the name of the
challenge and the post number. (In bold below.)
Result :
~ The 50 States ~ Message #210
Nothing But Reading Challenges
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Authors mentioned in this topic
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Thanks Mary. I have read 77 books so far this year and I am sorry this didn't begin in January so thoswe titles would also be included but then again we have 4 months tacked on the end as well.