Nothing But Reading Challenges discussion
Tower Teams VI
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Team Tom Riddle

Book: Mail Order Motherhood
Author: Kirsten Osbourne
Series: Brides of Beckham
Date Read: 5/22
Rating: 3 stars
Pages: 138
Characters: Clara, Albert, Robert, Gertie, Elizabeth
Letters: M, K, O, B, C, A, R, G, E
Additional: Charms - Watermaking spell (Clouds on cover, find a cover with rain?)

What?! Why?! That's not fair. The Emperor of Mars is 357 pages long and only has maybe 12 (???) full-page illustrations. If book one, with its 322 pages, was 67,254 words long, WHY can book two NOT COUNT? (???) Even if book two had 30 full-page illustrations (and I don't think it did; there weren't that many named characters, I don't think), it still has more pages than book one.
I will be seriously upset if The Emperor of Mars cannot count for this challenge. The minimum word count for middle-grade books is only 25,000 words. And again, this book was 357 pages long!
:-(

Book: The Viscount's Christmas Temptation
Author: Erica Ridley
Series: The Dukes of War
Date Read: 5/22
Rating: 4 stars
Pages: 148
Characters: Amelia Pembroke, Benedict Sheffield
Letters: T, V, E, R, D, A, P, B, S
Additional: Herbology - Chick Lit
Summoning Spell - holding an apple (if we get a cover with apple trees on it)

The AUTHOR tells me that The Emperor of Mars has 74,000 words in it. So can it count for the challenge now?
You can read his tweet yourself here. :-)

Suicide Notes from Beautiful Girls
Lynn Weingarten
5-23-2018
4*
Characters: June, Delia, Ryan, Jeremiah, Ashling, William
Letters: S, L, W, J, D, R, A
Buddy Read: My First Thoughts
Other:


This is AWESOME! Yes, definitely!
I was upset as well that we couldn't use it, but it does make sense. It's nothing strictly against this book (and I bet they also realize that it does work) but if they make the exception for us then other people will start asking for exceptions and it may not always be such a clear-cut case of this book definitely works.

Book:

Author: J.D. Robb
Series: In Death
Pages: 372
Date Read: 5/23
Rating: 4 stars
Characters: Eve Dallas, Roarke, Peabody, Feeney, McNab, Summerset, Nadine
Letters: C, J, R, I, E, D, P, F, M, S, N
Additional: Care of Magical Creatures - Medical Caduceus on cover, twined snakes
Herbology - hard cover
Potions - Knife on cover; Salamander blood

The Butterfly and the Violin
Kristy Cambron
Pages: 336
Read: 5/24/18
Characters: Sera James, William Hanover, Adele Von Bron, Peggy, Valadimir , Omara Kraus
Letters: S, J, W, H, A, V, P, O, K, B, K, C
Classes:
Banishing Charm? Main character is sent to concentration camp.
Defense against the dark arts? Violin to sooth an angry beast.


Completion Post for May 23:

Pages: 203
Date Read: May 23, 2018
Genre: Sci-Fi Space Opera (for adults or teens)
Important Characters: John Starfire, Jaqi, Akaskar, Rashiya, Quinn, Kalia, Toq...
Task: Divination - Prophcy/Vision is Described/Felt 3? (A prophecy from the Third Book of Joria says that one will come who will face the giants who stride the worlds. Jaqi is thought to be "the one.")
OR
Alternate Task, if needed: Potions - Orange 1? (Cover is +50% "orange")

I was upset as well that we couldn't us..."
Great! I was mostly upset because I felt that my initial justification should have been accepted. (The one that shared the word count in book one - book two longer - same illustrator - blah blah blah.)
But I'm glad that Patrick's tweet to me can serve as "proof" of word-count. :-)

Book: The Magnolia Story
Author: Chip Gaines & Joanna Gaines
Pages: 208
Date Read: 5/24
Rating: 4 stars
Letters: T, M, C, G, J
Additional: Not sure there's much here. Although if we get a woman riding a horse, can we transfigure horse to man (or vice versa)? Actually, is that sand/dirt on the bottom? If so, it would work for Herbology.


The Shape of Mercy
Susan Meissner
5-24-2018
307 pages
3*
Characters: Lauren, Abigail, Raul
Letters: T, S, M, L, A, R
Other ~ Not sure there's much else here to use...probably just a spell-out and for book points.

Completion Post:

Pages: 187
Word Count (YA book): 26,554
Important Characters: Marjane Satrapi, Enrique, Reza, Julie, Lucia, Frau Doctor Heller
Task: It could be one of the "P"s we need for Spells. If it can count. ???
Let me know if it can count or not. If it can, I'll add it to my TTIV shelf. If not, I'll leave it off.

I will be posting tons of books starting today. Get ready for a book dump.

I will be posting tons of books starting today. Get ready for a book dump."
Congratulations!! I loved my Junior year!

I might get half way done with one tonight, but I need to write a paper first. My school term is over in a few weeks and then we have a week off before starting summer term! I don't have any clients in the summer, just clinic, so I will have a ton of time to read!

Just for clarification - The Charms matches have to be cover+cover or title+title, so this wouldn't fit here.

Hmm... can't tell if it's dirt or a road. We could definitely transfigure one of the people though. Or summoning/banishing if we find a girl without shoes or an unworn pair of boots. We could even match it with a shirtless guy for a banishing charm.

Probably, good thought! ;)

That's too much of a stretch, word count or no. Sorry!

I will be posting tons of books starting today. Get ready for a book dump."
Congrats! Man, this makes me wish summer break! ;)

Definitely! I just finished updating through here, post away! :)

Author: J.R.R. Tolkien
Date: 5/23/18
Pages: 398
Characters: Bilbo, Frodo, Sam, Mary, Pippin, Gandolf
Book: The Two Towers
Author: J.R.R. Tolkien
Date: 5/23/18
Pages: 322
Characters: Frodo, Pippin, Mary, Sam, Gandolf, Legolas, Aragorn
Book: The Return of the King
Author: J.R.R. Tolkien
Date: 5/24/18
Pages: 490
Characters: Frodo, Pippin, Mary, Sam, Gandolf, Legolas, Aragorn
Book: The Hobbit
Author: J.R.R. Tolkien
Date: 5/24/18
Pages: 366
Characters: Bombur, Gloin, Bofur, Dwalin, Balin, Bifur, Dori, Nori, Oin, Kili, Fili, Ori, Thorin, Bilbo, Gandolf
Book: D-Day, June 6, 1944: The Battle for the Normandy Beaches
Author: Stephen E. Ambrose
Date: 5/24/18
Pages: 656
People: Stephen, Rommel, Patton, Eisenhower

Author: Herman Melville
Date: 5/21/18
Pages: 648
Characters: Captain Ahab, Ishmael, Queequeg, Moby Dick, Captain Boomer, Starbuck, Stubb, Elijah
Book: Great Expectations
Author: Charles Dickens
Date: 5/23/18
Pages: 656
Characters: Pip, Miss Havisham, Estella, Abel Magwitch, John Wemmich, Mr. Jaggers, Mrs. Joe Gargery, Compeyson, Joe Gargery, Herbert Pocket, Mr. Pumblechook, Orlick, Bentley Drummie, Biddy, Arthur Havisham, Ebenezer Schrooge, Matthew Pocket, Clara Barley
Book: Wuthering Heights
Author: Emily Brontë
Date: 5/24/18
Pages: 464
Characters: Heathcliff, Catherine, Edgar Linton, Hareton, Hindley, Nelly, Lockwood, Isabella, Frances, Dr. Kenneth, Zillah, Joseph
Book: Vampire Academy
Author: Richelle Mead
Date: 5/24/18
Pages: 332
Characters: Rose, Dimitri, Lissa, Mason, Christian,
Book: Frostbite
Author: Richelle Mead
Date: 5/24/18
Pages: 327
Characters: Rose, Dimistri, Tasha, Mason, Lissa, Janine, Christian

Uh oh, I forgot one of my favorite characters in A Red Peace by Spencer Ellsworth! His name is Zaragathora! So if we have a "Z" that's needed anywhere, this book could count for that, since you haven't used it anywhere, yet. :-)

My 3


That would be a tough shift!

I don't actually think we need a Z, but I'll mark it down anyway. Who knows what's coming. ;)


Hey Everyone!
Michelle mentioned a few posts up, but just to reiterate - please head over to The Leaky Cauldron and post your favorite 3 Harry Potter characters! It's an easy 5 extra credit points for our team!
Also, please please review the books you've posted as read so far and make sure that they are:
1) On your challenge shelf.
2) On your read shelf.
3) Have a date read.
It's a bit more work to manually enter everything this time around and it saves me time double checking if everything is shelved correctly!

Hey Everyone!
Michelle mentioned a few posts up, but just to reiterate - please head over to The Leaky Cauldron and post your favorite 3 Harry Potter characters! It's an easy 5 extra credit poi..."
Done. https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Book: Awry
Author: Chelsea Fine
Series: The Archers of Avalon
Pages: 514
Date Read: 5/24
Rating: 4 stars
Characters: Scarlet Jacobs, Tristan, Gabriel, Heather, Nate
Letters: A, C, F, T, S, J, G, H, N
Additional: Defense against the Dark Arts - Zombies/dead reanimated by a witch
Transfiguration - Turn something into an arrow?

https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...


We Are the Ants
Shaun David Hutchinson
5-25-2018
455 pages
2*
Characters: Henry, Charlie, Diego, Audrey
Letters: W, S, H, C, D, A
Other ~ Could we do anything with the night sky? Not much else to go on with the title or storyline.

Possibly we could find a cover with a moon in the sky for a summoning/banishing charm?

Possibly we could find a cover with a moon in the sky for a summoning/banis..."
That's a good idea! Maybe one of the celestial books we have to read will have a moon on it? I didn't think about that.

So I spent an hour or so at the service center, came home and took a bath, and then made a HelloFresh dinner for myself (with leftovers since Mom isn't here to eat her portion).
But, I did do that "list your three favorite characters" thing, and I finished a book!
Here is my Three Favorite HP Characters message.
And Completion Post for yesterday:

Date Finished: May 25, 2018
Pages: 355 (story ends on page 343)
Word Count (middle-grade book): 82,708
Important Characters: Arundhati "Aru" Shah, Yamini "Mini" Kapoor-Mercado-Lopez, Krithika/Mom, Subala "Boo," the Sleeper, Hanuman, Urvashi, Valmiki
Letters: APRCSYMKLBHUV
Task: Could be a "U" (for Urvashi) or a "V" (for Valmiki) for one of the Spells, if needed.
OR
Alternate task? Charms - Summoning: Aru summons the aid of the vahanas (the gods' divine vehicles/mounts). Three of the vahanas are pictured on the cover.

Book: Grave Mercy
Author:Robin LaFevers
pages: 549
Date Completed: 5/26/18
Characters: Ismae Renielle, Gavriel Duchas,
Letters:I, R, G, D, L and more.
This was done as a buddy read.
Book:Lilac Girls
Author:Martha Hall Kelly
pages:487
Date Completed: 5/23/18
Characters: Herta, Kasia, Zuzanna, Caroline, Paul Rodierre, and others
Letters: L, H, K, Z, C, P, R
For the book off the month. I commented twice.
I'm also readingGraffiti Moon which should work for the astronomy?

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
J.K. Rowling
5-26-2018
341 pages
5*
Characters: Harry, Ron, Hermione, Dumbledore, Tom Riddle, Gilderoy Lockhart, Snape, Minerva McGonagall, Draco Malfoy, Hagrid
Letters: H, J, R, P, D, T, G, L, S, M
Buddy Read ~ My First Post
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Great! And I've got a few buddy reads lined up for later this week/early next week! :)