Team Readers without Borders

[Dima]

Can someone please suggest books for the Africa week? Please and thank you :)

[Helen]

link to list of books for South Africa:
https://www.goodreads.com/places/143-...

[Elinaly]

Martina wrote: "Great! We have a name! ** I start now to look for a new book for next week, set in Africa, right?
I'm halfway through with my book for this week, also :)"

Yep, South-Africa it is!
Helen posted a listopia list and here is another link that can be useful: Around the World in 80 Books

PS! You can start next book anytime, i.e. you dont have to wait until the next week ;)

[Jackie]

Completion Post

Book: by Amanda Flower
How it fits: Set in USA (Ohio)
Date Finished: 2/8/16
Rating: 3 stars

[Elinaly]

Completion Post

Book: by John Green and David Levithan

How it fits: Set in USA (Chicago)
Date Finished: 9. Feb.
Rating: 5 stars

This was nothing like the books I usually read.
(First - I'm twice as old as the main characters, secondly - romance-genre is definitely not in my top 10 of favourite genres, thirdly - I think I have seen only up to 2 musicals in my life...)
But I still found this book hilarious!
And since I'm amazed how much I loved everything about this warm hearted story, I gave it amazing 5 stars!

[Elinaly]

So teamies, are we ready to start packing and heading to our next stop? :)
Should we stay or should we go? - a song by The Clash is haunting me..., hehehee

Martina and Shy how are you doing with your USA readings?
Hopefully enjoying the books, but what you think - approximately for how many days should we extend our stay in Colorado Springs?

We have earned so far 25 points (6 team members have done the task). 10 more if we wait everyone to finish with their books.

Have you all already decided what to read for the next stop (St Lucia) - Set in South-Africa?
I think I'm going with Agatha Christie (The Man in the Brown Suit.

[Shy The WidowMaker]

Hhm should I be reading faster I thought we got a week at each stop.

[Elinaly]

Shy The WidowMaker wrote: "Hhm should I be reading faster I thought we got a week at each stop."

Well, first of all - you need to enjoy the book you are reading :)

But as I understand our week started on 3rd Feb when our team was formed and our itinerary revealed, so our week ends on 9th Feb and we could move on starting from 10th Feb if we want to.

[Jackie]

I'm reading The Man in the Brown Suit also for the South Africa book, Elinaly.

[Elinaly]

Jackie wrote: "I'm reading The Man in the Brown Suit also for the South Africa book, Elinaly."

So great! :)
We can later compare who of us guessed earlier (in which chapter) who was the murderer... hehehee
But in case of Christie-books I must confess that I usually never guess it before it's revealed by the author itself.

[Jackie]

I'm the same with Christie books. This is actually a re-read for me but it's been so long that I don't remember it.

[Martina]

Hi! I'm almost finished, I thought the challenge would end tomorrow, so I just need another day to finish it, I misunderstood :( how could we do? About next week I'll try a book by Nadine Gordimer that I go and take tomorrow (always wrong day),sorry everyone!

[Helen]

I was going to read Mafeking Road by Herman Charles Bosman.
but it will not be available this week so I am going with The Man in the Brown Suit by Agatha Christie. I have always enjoyed her books.

[Angie ☯]

Hi all! I hope everyone is enjoying the first stop!

What does everyone think about deciding on the setting/location or spell it out for our two tasks?

Glasgow (United Kingdom)
Novyj Urengoj (Russia)

It's okay if we don't. I just feel like I need to pick my books! ♥☺

[Martina]

I just finished my USA book! :) Really enjoyed it and I'm ready for the next one :)

[Elinaly]

Great job Martina! And dont worry about it next time - one day later or sooner, it´s not really something to stress about ;)

Shy, how are you doing?
sry, for the impatience, I´m just so eager to travel to the next stop and catch other teams, LOL

Helen- welcome aboard (with Christie)! ;)

And yes, I´m with Angie - lets decide whether its gonna be setting/location or spell-it-out.
We could mark our preferences in spreadsheet or name them here (voting time again!)

Glasgow (United Kingdom) - I would prefer UK setting/author (Glasgow seems a bit difficult to find letters for spelling out);
Novyj Urengoj (Russia) - I would prefer spelling out Russia, but I dont mind the setting/author either.

[Shy The WidowMaker]

Completion Post:

Finished 2/10/16
3 Stars
Setting USA(Chicago)

[Elinaly]

Yay! Pack your bags ladies! LOL
I will send message to the NBRC Travel Agent right away and we are ready for the next stop!

Great work everyone!

[Shy The WidowMaker]

I am going with

[Elinaly]

:D we have our own BOW (Book Of the Week) reading going on this week...

[Helen]

Glasgow is shorter but United Kingdom is ok with me.
Russia

[Martina]

I like Russian authors but spelling is OK, I just need a little explanation of how to do it. As for Glasgow I think I'd be fine with either, let me know which you prefer.
Thank you Elinaly, I'm overworried because it's my first challenge so I don't want to slow anyone down...so, to be sure:this week ends Feb 17 or 16? :)

[Elinaly]

Martina wrote: "so, to be sure:this week ends Feb 17 or 16? ..."

I would say that if we start today (10th Feb) then we have to spend our time in St Lucia until 16th Feb and we could move on to the next stop starting from 17th Feb.

But it also depends on the TravelAgent (maybe she will post our next stop tomorrow and starts counting the week from 11th... and then there is the time-difference..)
So I would say that lets try to finish our this week books on 16th.

[Elinaly]

Monika and Dima how are you doing with this South-African detour?
At least one of you has to try to do the detour in order to get max points (and this time it would be 50 points!)

[Monika]

I would rather read any other book, so I will let decision on Dima, if you want to read South African book to be last needed person for detour.

[Jackie]

Glasgow (United Kingdom) - I would prefer UK setting/author

Novyj Urengoj (Russia) - Either spellout or setting is okay with me

[NBRC Travel Agent]

Welcome to St Lucia (Caribbean)!

[NBRC Travel Agent]

Elinaly wrote: "Martina wrote: "so, to be sure:this week ends Feb 17 or 16? ..."

I would say that if we start today (10th Feb) then we have to spend our time in St Lucia until 16th Feb and we could move on to the..."

You can count your week for stop 2 from the time you completed stop 1 :)

[Angie ☯]

I am okay with either setting or spell-it=out for both Russia and Glasgow. If everyone wants, we can do the setting for both. Nothing says we have to spell-it -out

[Angie ☯]

I have completed my book for our St Lucia stop, but am no longer able to update the spreadsheet.

[Elinaly]

Angie wrote: "I have completed my book for our St Lucia stop, but am no longer able to update the spreadsheet."

Hmmm... really? I am able to make changes there, just tried.
Maybe send a message to the Travel Agent?

PS! I updated spreadsheet - read date 09. Feb..

[Elinaly]

Dima, will you read The White Giraffe for South-Africa? (I peeked at your to-read shelf... :))
So that Monika could register any book for this week.

About 3rd stop (United Kingdom)...
... I dont know... lets go with the UK setting/UK author then (I believe that includes Scotland aswell, since Glasgow is really Scotland´s city).
But if anyone of us is completely not comfortable with UK setting/author (if so, please tell it as soon as possible) we could try to spell out Glasgow.

F.e.
I´m planning to read The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman.
Setting: UK, Sussex, Author - from England

But if more than 2 of us (we need at least 6 members to full the task) dont want to read UK book, then I could use this book for spelling out like this (for Martina :)):
G: Gaiman (authors family name)
L: Lauri Vahtre (if I read the translated version of the book, then I can use also translators name, but then I cant use the headline (O), because in estonian the headline starts with "J")
A: -
S: -
G: -
O: headline ((The) Ocean at the End of the Lane)
W: -

(also you can use name of the series, if the book is in series - mine isn´t, and characters names - which I will know only after finishing the book)
One read book is good to go for one letter (f.e. mine book will cover O this time and other team members have to cover other letters - so for Glasgow we need to read at least 7 books).

:)

[Helen]

I am reading Scandal's Bride by Stephanie Laurens. It is set in London and Scotland. Part of the Cynster series.

Stephanie Laurens is also a UK author.

I am also reading The Great Escape by Susan Elizabeth Phillips. Set in US. Will it make the second G in the spell out?

[Angie ☯]

Elinaly wrote: "Angie wrote: "I have completed my book for our St Lucia stop, but am no longer able to update the spreadsheet."

Hmmm... really? I am able to make changes there, just tried.
Maybe send a message to..."

Thank you for updating!! I don't know what the problem was, but it is working perfectly today....

[Angie ☯]

For our Glasgow, UK stop I will be reading "Drums of Autumn". It will work for either setting or spell it.

Setting: UK, Scotland
or
G: Gabaldon, Diana (author)
or
O: Outlander series, book 4
or
S: Sassanech (Nickname of character)

Am starting it now; it is a good size book. ♥☺

[Monika]

South Africa done! I wasn't expecting it to be such hassle. There is like zero books set there in my local library. In the end I got myself some cycling travel log. :D

As for UK, I don't mind either task or spell-out. I am currently reading Led pod kůží, which doesn't have author or setting in UK but can be used for "L" in spell-out. None other books I read fit, so I will decide on book once we are in our destination.

[Elinaly]

Yay - way to go Monika! You saved the team :)

I´m getting worried about Dima, though...
Dima, you can check any book now for this week since 7 team members are doing the detour!
Just let us know which book will it be and... if you are all right?

[Dima]

Elinaly wrote: "Yay - way to go Monika! You saved the team :)

I´m getting worried about Dima, though...
Dima, you can check any book now for this week since 7 team members are doing the detour!
Just let us know ..."
Hello everyone... Elinaly, I am so sorry for not being around. it's been super busy this week. Anywho... I am reading The Man in the Brown Suit and I should have it done tomorrow.

[Martina]

Thank you Elinaly for the explanation! Now I get it, and for the spell-it-out I could read "The colour purple" by Alice Walker (W in Glasgow), which I was plannin to read later on this month, or something else if a different letter is required :) As it is all about America, I need to know if we go for spell-it-out or Task so I can pick a British/scottish book if needed

[Elinaly]

I'm so glad we found Dima and are all in board!
(it's so sad to see how some teams have difficulties completing their weeks)

Here's the LEADER BOARD and I think we are doing pretty good! considering that we were one of the last teams to be formed
Let's keep it up! :)

As a reminder:
week 1 was from 3rd to 10th Feb
week 2 from 10th to 16th Feb
we could start week 3 on 17th Feb

[Elinaly]

Martina wrote: "I need to know if we go for spell-it-out or Task so I can pick a British/scottish book if needed ..."

Maybe we could try UK setting/author first and if more than 2 of us dont find a book for UK setting/author, then we try spelling out.

I see that most of our team-members can read a lot books in a week, so I believe we can manage either way :))
Btw, what is your secret?
Ah, how I wish I could have more time for reading.

[Jackie]

Completion Post

Book: by Agatha Christie
How it fits: Set in South Africa
Date: 2/12/16
Rating: 4 stars

[Elinaly]

Completion Post


Book:
Translation of The Man in the Brown Suit by Agatha Christie
How it fits: Set in South Africa (DETOUR)
Date: 2/13/16
Rating: 4 stars

Ahhh... how I still love Christie's stories, her writing style and that time-period (before WWII). She creates such a romantic atmosphere that even murder doesn't seem cruel.
And all the time something is happening - never one dull moment.

This story was actually quite humorous, I especially enjoyed excerpts from Sir Eustace Pedler's diary.
And the whole time I suspected every single character to be the "colonel" or at least "colonel's" right hand :)

(view spoiler)[I have to say that this time I was so certain that I get it - there was no doubt that "colonel" was (view spoiler)[Suzanne (hide spoiler)].
Well, yeah...
After finishing the book, I think there were many similarities with Christie's other book "And Then There Were None" (hide spoiler)]

[Jackie]

I'll read by Susan Cooper for the book set in UK (England). If we do the spellout, it could work for S (author name) or W (character - Will).

[Dima]

I finished The The Man in the Brown Suit . So I'm done with South Africa detour.

For the UK stop, I just finished Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children which takes place in an island close to Wales. Would that count? or do I need to find another book to read next week?

[Elinaly]

Dima wrote: "For the UK stop, I just finished Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children which takes place in an island close to Wales. Would that count? or do I need to find another book to read next week?..."

I´m not sure... according to GR the setting is Englewood, Florida (United States). Author is also from USA.
Though the description of the book says: "A horrific family tragedy sets sixteen-year-old Jacob journeying to a remote island off the coast of Wales".
I believe that is a fictional island?
Is the part of the setting also in USA?

If majority things are happening on this island (rather than in USA) then I would say it counts as set in UK.

If everyone else is also reading UK setting/author book, then we don´t have a problem at all and it can count anyway (even as ANY read book.

[Helen]

I finished reading Scandal's Bride by Stephanie Laurens, an English Author. The story is set in Scotland and the last chapter is in London.

[Shy The WidowMaker]

Completion Post

Book:
How it fits: Set in South Africa (DETOUR)
Date: 2/15/16
Rating: 3 stars

[Shy The WidowMaker]

Im off to look for my UK book now will be back soon with what reading.

[Elinaly]

Seems like we are done in St Lucia :)
And we got the maximum from it - 50 points!

Still we have some time to kill... arriving to the next stop (UK) on 17th Feb.
I will send our Caribbean completion message to the Travel Agent tomorrow, when our week officially ends