Read-a-Thon #3 - Team 3 Group Discussion

[Laura, Celestial Sphere Mod]

Hello Team 3! Welcome to your 3rd read-a-thon of 2018! This topic is just for you to discuss your strategy and progress throughout the week. Make sure to take a moment to read over the rules of the challenge here before you dive in.

Team Roster
Bryony (mod)
Lori
Chrissy
Sarah
Tracy
Veronica
Hannah
Lisa
Christine
Rachel
Peter


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Note: Tasks with a 🍁can be overlapped with the other tasks

READING TASKS
2. Every team member recommends a book
3. Complete 10 books total (max 2 per team member)🍁
7. Read a book by an author who was born in 1950 or earlier
8. Read a book first published in August or September (of any year)
11. Every team member reads a poem and tells the team what they read
14. Listen to 10 hours of audiobook (max 2 hours per team member)🍁
15. Listen to 25 hours of audiobook (max 5 hours per team member)🍁
17. Complete every readathon game (Saturday through Tuesday)
24. Complete 20 books total (max 5 per team member)🍁


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1. Read 3,000 pages total (max 500 pages per team member)🍁
2. Read a book with trees or a plant on the cover
3. Complete 30 books total (max 4 per team member)🍁
4. Read a book with a red cover
5. Read a book that fits a “reject” prompt
6. Read 5,000 pages total (max 1,000 pages per team member)🍁

7. Every team member shares a favorite book to movie adaptation
8. Read a book with a child/elderly main character
9. Read 7,500 pages total (max 1,500 pages per team member)🍁
10. Read a romance book (or a book with a romance element)
11. Read a book that you borrowed from the library
12. Read a book with F-A-L-L in the title
13. Read 10 picture or children’s books (3 per member)

14. Listen to 30 hours of audiobook (max 5 hours per team member)🍁
15. Listen to 45 hours of audiobook (max 9 hours per team member)🍁
16. Read a comic book or graphic novel
17. Complete every readathon game (Wednesday through Monday)
18. Read a book set in a country different from your own

19. Read a book with a beautiful cover
20. Read a non-fiction book
21. Finish a book or story in one sitting 🍁
22. Read 6 books that count for the AtY challenge (max 2 per member)🍁
23. Every team member participates in the 2019 list making process
24. Complete 40 books total (max 8 per team member)🍁

[Bryony]

BOARD ONE


READING TASKS remaining
11. Every team member reads a poem and tells the team what they read

BOARD TWO



Reading tasks:
✔️ 1. Read 3,000 pages total (max 500 pages per team member)🍁
✔️ 2. Read a book with trees or a plant on the cover
3. Complete 30 books total (max 4 per team member)🍁
✔️ 4. Read a book with a red cover
✔️ 5. Read a book that fits a “reject” prompt
✔️ 6. Read 5,000 pages total (max 1,000 pages per team member)🍁

✔️ 7. Every team member shares a favorite book to movie adaptation
✔️ 8. Read a book with a child/elderly main character
✔️ 9. Read 7,500 pages total (max 1,500 pages per team member)🍁
✔️ 10. Read a romance book (or a book with a romance element)
✔️ 11. Read a book that you borrowed from the library
12. Read a book with F-A-L-L in the title
✔️ 13. Read 10 picture or children’s books (3 per member)

✔️ 14. Listen to 30 hours of audiobook (max 5 hours per team member)🍁
15. Listen to 45 hours of audiobook (max 9 hours per team member)🍁
✔️ 16. Read a comic book or graphic novel
17. Complete every readathon game (Wednesday through Monday)
✔️ 18. Read a book set in a country different from your own

✔️ 19. Read a book with a beautiful cover
✔️ 20. Read a non-fiction book
✔️ 21. Finish a book or story in one sitting 🍁
✔️ 22. Read 6 books that count for the AtY challenge (max 2 per member)🍁
23. Every team member participates in the 2019 list making process
24. Complete 40 books total (max 8 per team member)🍁

[Chrissy]

I have two books underway that will be finished in time and count as over 100 more pages: Provenance (audio) and Spinning Silver. They could both count for 19 and 21, the former is over 5 hours of audio, and the latter would count for number 10.

I’ll start a murder mystery soon, The Brutal Telling for an AtY prompt, and it is possible Louise Penny was born before 1950 - not sure. It’s also part of a series.

[Veronica]

Hi team!
I just started Lab Girl, so that cam count towards the page counts and no. 20, a non- fiction book. I also plan to read The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, which would count for no. 4, a book with an orange cover.

[Tracy]

Hi Team!! Starting in 2 minutes!!!!!

Heres what I've got for the week:

All counting towards my ATY Challenges:
American War Sci/Fi- Dystopian
Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood Female MC
The Spider and the Fly Children's
When Breath Becomes Air Non Fiction
The Smell of Other People's Houses YA
The Japanese Tsunami, 2011 Author has written >10 books


I also have 2 in progress, but I have to double check the rules to see how far in we're allowed to be. I think I'm over the limit on both, but one of them I have to finish and return to the library by the 31st.

Edit: My 2 books already started will count towards the challenge as I have over 100 pages left of each. They are :
The Voyage to Magical North Part of a series ( Book #1 of 2) YA
Five Days at Memorial: Life and Death in a Storm-Ravaged Hospital Published September 10, 2013 Non Fiction

And.... will start The Cuckoo's Calling on audio since I've been doing a lot of driving back and forth lately, so I can put in some hours towards that ( at least 2- probably not as much as 5).

[Tracy]

Ok, its officially Saturday, 12:06 am in Connecticut.

I'm going to recommend Born a Crime: Stories From a South African Childhood.

I listened to it on audio and it was incredible... I'm actually on my 2nd go round because I want to make sure I didn't miss anything. Trevor Noah was amazing narrating this book, I laughed and then the end had me crying. If I can finish an audio book and feel like I actually listened to the story, then that is a damn GOOD audiobook because usually I just tune out.

Highly recommend it :-)

[Rachel]

It's 12:14 am for me, so I'll go ahead with my recommendation. I would highly recommend Starfish, which I finished recently. It's a YA book and it was absolutely amazing.

I'm currently reading Days of Blood & Starlight, but only 130 pages read so far (before midnight, so those don't count).

It's too bad the readathon wasn't last week -- I somehow managed to read 6 books in 7 days last week! My plan is to read the rest of Days of Blood & Starlight and then move on to Dreams of Gods & Monsters. After that, I have no idea but I have quite a few library books to choose from.

[Tracy]

Read a Poem from a book I never finished during the last read-a thon : Beautiful And Damned.

Ugh. So my friend HIGHLY recommended this author and ALL of his books because "THEY ARE SOOOOOOO GOOD".... but who am I to critique? I had to skim through to find the actual poetry , because it seems like the majority of this one is short stories, and all I kept coming across were sad 3 liners about young love.

But I did find the poems. On my kindle edition, Location 2697 at 85%, the first poem is called "The Night Escape"

Ha! The first three lines sound like my life as a single mom...
It's been awhile since
I last went out,
perhaps too long-

and then.....BLASPHEMY!!!!

You can't always stay
in and expect to learn
something new about people
by reading books.
Human understanding
does not work that way

ummmm, pretty much EVERYTHING I understand about people, I've learned from reading books......

You have got to feel the people,
not read about them

I'm calling BS....this poem was awful, it went downhill from there.
I'll stick with Rupi Kaur and stop taking poetry book recs from angsty younger generation friends.

I took one for the team there guys lol

[Tracy]

Rachel wrote: "It's 12:14 am for me, so I'll go ahead with my recommendation. I would highly recommend Starfish, which I finished recently. It's a YA book and it was absolutely amazing.

Wow Rachel, I added this to my TBR, Thanks.... the cover is gorgeous!! ( And it got some pretty impressive reviews, because cover love doesn't always count )

[Lisa (the.running.bookworm)]

Hello. Have just woken up so I can begin! Heading to the bookcase shortly to pick my first read!
My recommendation is Buriel Rites, by Hannah Kent. A much talked about book on good reads and I can certainly say it lived up to the hype. If you haven’t yet read it, do!xx

[Bryony]

Morning everyone, hope everyone is looking forward to the weekend.

Would anyone like to be team captain and keep track of our progress? I saw that Emily (the spreadsheet genius!) has shared a spreadsheet she made in the introduction thread so we could adapt that for our team.

[[deleted user]]

Lisa wrote: "Hello. Have just woken up so I can begin! Heading to the bookcase shortly to pick my first read!
My recommendation is Buriel Rites, by Hannah Kent. A much talked about book on good reads and I can..."

I loved that book.

I'm currently reading The Adventures of Pinocchio which works for:
5. Read a book with the letters R-E-A-D in the title
7. Read a book by an author who was born in 1950 or earlier
13. Read a children’s or young adult book
19. Read a fantasy or sci-fi book
23. Read a book originally published in a language other than English

[Lisa (the.running.bookworm)]

Have started to read Suicide Notes From Beautiful Girls, by Lynn Weingarten, which is towards my ATY challenge and a book with READ in the title xx

[Rachel]

Tracy wrote: "Rachel wrote: "It's 12:14 am for me, so I'll go ahead with my recommendation. I would highly recommend Starfish, which I finished recently. It's a YA book and it was absolutely amaz..."

The cover is what first drew me too it, although it took me a ridiculously long time to realize there aren't any actual starfish on the cover...

[Tracy]

Rachel wrote: The cover is what first drew me too it, although it took me a ridiculously long time to realize there aren't any actual starfish on the cover...

hahaha I noticed that right away but theres a question on the summary page and someone mentioned that its explained in the book...

[Christine]

hello everyone this is my first read a thon right now I am reading Lord of the Flies which came out before 1950 on audio... as fast as I can so far its been 2 hours going for 5 hours then reading the rest to finish the book.

[Sarah]

Hi everyone. I've just finished a horrendously long day at work and excited to get reading. I'm currently reading The Hunchback of Notre-Dame which works for quite a few challenges. Definitely pre-1950, different language and has READ in the title.

[Tracy]

Finished The Spider and the Fly, a children's book.


Also, if everyone can come up with a poem to read we can check that off the box along with the recommendations :-)

I have a last minute engagement party to go to, so will sit down later tonight and try and finish The Voyage to Magical North, which could count as a book in a series (#1 of 2). Tomorrow I'm planning on doing NOTHING but reading.

Do we have a team leader yet?

[Chrissy]

I think for my recommendation I’ll go with Homegoing, which I read for “a book set in Africa”, although there were chapters set in the USA as well. It was beautifully written and constructed, and I find it kind of rare to find a writer that does both those things so well.

I read a bit of poetry for my challenges last year, let me “read” a favorite to you all:

Power, by Adrienne Rich

Living in the earth depths of our history

Today a backhoe divulged out of a crumbling flank of earth
one bottle amber perfect a hundred-year-old
cure for fever or melancholy a tonic
for living on this earth in the winters of this climate

Today I was reading about Marie Curie:
she must have known she suffered from radiation sickness
her body bombarded for years by the element
she had purified
It seems she denied to the end
the source of the cataracts on her eyes
the cracked and suppurating skin of her finger-ends
till she could no longer hold a test-tube or a pencil

She died a famous woman denying
her wounds
denying
her wounds came from the same source as her power

[Chrissy]

It seems like they should have asked on the team sign-up list of questions if we wanted to lead a team! I would do it but during the week I’ll have less time due to work. What all does it entail? Just entering things on the team spreadsheet? Or is there more?

[Bryony]

Hope everyone is having a good start to the readathon.

Welcome Christine, I hope you enjoy your first readathon in our group. If you have any questions about how it all works don’t hesitate to ask here.

Tracy, I just saw the extract from the poem you read. It sounds terrible! Hope your books for this readathon are better!

Chrissy, I loved Homegoing too, it’s one of my favourite books from last year’s challenge. Also, the team captain will just need to enter updates onto the spreadsheet so we can track which tasks have been completed. And then, once a task is completed they can let me know and I’ll update our board to reveal part of a book cover.

[Bryony]

For my recommendation, I’m going to suggest The Day of the Owl by Leonardo Sciascia. It’s set in Italy and through a story about the police investigation into a murder it explores the impact the mafia has on society. It’s beautifully written and very thought provoking. I hadn’t even heard of the author until this year but I’m planning to read more by him when I get chance.

[Bryony]

For a poem, I read The Swing from A Child's Garden of Verses by Robert Louis Stevenson. I love reading poems from this book with my son at the moment and this is one of his (and my) favourites.

The Swing
By Robert Louis Stevenson

How do you like to go up in a swing,
Up in the air so blue?
Oh, I do think it the pleasantest thing
Ever a child can do!

Up in the air and over the wall,
Till I can see so wide,
Rivers and trees and cattle and all
Over the countryside—

Till I look down on the garden green,
Down on the roof so brown—
Up in the air I go flying again,
Up in the air and down!

[Chrissy]

In that case, I can do it - as long as one update each evening (during the week) is enough.

Here's the link to our spreadsheet:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/...

I'll enter the tentative books in categories shortly, probably in a lighter color text, and then when folks finish a book I'll see where it will fit best (hardest to fulfill category?) and change it to bold text.

[Chrissy]

Rachel wrote: "My plan is to read the rest of Days of Blood & Starlight and then move on to Dreams of Gods & Monsters."

Rachel, what categories do you think these would fit into? I'll put them as tentative in the spreadsheet.

[Chrissy]

Hannah wrote: "My first book during the read-a-thon is An Angel At My Table "

Hi Hannah, what category(ies) do you think would fit?

[Chrissy]

At the end of each day's reading, if everyone could post their updated page count, that would be helpful too. (Also audio hours/minutes, if you are doing that.) Once you surpass 500 pages and/or 5 hours, no need to keep count.

[Rachel]

Chrissy wrote: "Rachel wrote: "My plan is to read the rest of Days of Blood & Starlight and then move on to Dreams of Gods & Monsters."

Rachel, what categories do you think these would fit into? I'll put them as ..."

Part of a series, female main character, and fantasy/sci-fi for sure.

[Bryony]

Thanks for volunteering Chrissy, the spreadsheet looks great.

I’ve just read Dancing at Lughnasa which could be counted for a book by an author born in 1950 or earlier, or a book with a female main character.

I’ve read 140 pages in total today (Dancing at Lughnasa and Wuthering Heights).

[Peter]

Wow, this kicked off fast!

Ok, for my recommendation, I highly recommend Senlin Ascends. It's a self published book full of quirky characters, imaginative settings and a great story. It's starting to pick up steam this year because it's been recommended by Mark Lawrence and Emily May on Goodreads, but it's still not widely known. It's one of the best books I've read this year.

Books I can expect to finish this week are Arm of the Sphinx (the sequel to Senlin Ascends), and Old Man's War. For topics these will cover, I'm listening to Arm of the Sphinx as an audiobook, so I've got about 2 hours already. Old Man's War is sci-fi. I'm not sure if we have that one checked off, but my books have it covered if we don't.

I'll update as I go for audio time and page counts, and I'll find a poem to read as well.

[Rachel]

I read 262 pages of Days of Blood & Starlight today. Doesn't look like it will count for anything until I finish it, which I'm hoping will be tomorrow.

Also, maybe I missed it, but will there be a list somewhere of which threads are counted as games? I'm always confused about whether things like the Kick-Off post count, or in this case the Miles post.

[Tracy]

Updating my thread (post number 20) from earlier

total pages read: 42

also, I completed the first read- a thon game : Kick-off

[Tracy]

Rachel wrote: Also, maybe I missed it, but will there be a list somewhere of which threads are counted as games? I'm always confused about whether things like the Kick-Off post count, or in this case the Miles post


Rachel this info is in posts 19 & 20 on the Team Challenge Introduction Thread. The game for day one is the Kick- off :-)

Day 2 is Getting to Know you

[Veronica]

My progress for today:
Read 25 pages of Lab Girl
Listened to two hours of the audiobook And Then There Were None
Completed the Kickoff game

[Bryony]

Morning everyone. It’s cold and rainy in London today so I’m hoping to use that an excuse to stay at home and get some reading done.

I’ve just read a short story, “In the Square” from Elizabeth Bowen’s The Collected Stories so that can count for 16 if it hasn’t been completed yet.

[Lisa (the.running.bookworm)]

I have completed my first book in less than 24 hours! Suicide notes from beautiful girls, by lynn weingarten. Could count for book with REAd in the title, YA book or ATY challenge book.

Page count read so far: 335

:)

[Chrissy]

Ok! Good job eveyone!

So far we have completed squares 1, 5, 13, 16, 21.

We are super close to finishing #6, and #2 and 11 should be pretty easy to complete - everyone who hasn’t, please make your book recommendations and poem reports here.

Happy reading, and have a lovely Sunday!

[[deleted user]]

I've finished 2 books:

The Adventures of Pinocchio which works for:
7. Read a book by an author who was born in 1950 or earlier (born 1826)
19. Read a fantasy or sci-fi book
23. Read a book originally published in a language other than English (Italian)

Unhallowed Ground which works for:
10. Read a book by an author who has published at least 10 books (11 books)
12. Read a book that is part of a series
18. Read a thriller or mystery

22. Read 3 books that count for the AtY challenge - I read this for: 29. A book with a "Clue" weapon on the cover or title (lead pipe, revolver, rope, candlestick, dagger, wrench)

I've read 401 pages so far.

[Bryony]

Thanks for the update Chrissy, and great work team!

I’ve updated message 2 in this thread to show the board with squares we’ve completed.

[[deleted user]]

Book 3 is (view spoiler)[ (hide spoiler)]
Book 4 is (view spoiler)[ (hide spoiler)]
Book 5 is (view spoiler)[ (hide spoiler)]

[Chrissy]

I finished Spinning Silver and applied it to square 10, author with more than 10 books.

I’ll get Lori’s books added to the spreadsheet now, and update again at the end of the day.

[[deleted user]]

My recommendation is The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon. I found this book to be a riveting tale of the life of explorer Percy Harrison Fawcett and his (and his son's) disappearance.

I'm not a fan of poetry but here's one I do like:

Warning by Jenny Joseph

When I am an old woman I shall wear purple
With a red hat which doesn't go, and doesn't suit me.
And I shall spend my pension on brandy and summer gloves
And satin sandals, and say we've no money for butter.
I shall sit down on the pavement when I'm tired
And gobble up samples in shops and press alarm bells
And run my stick along the public railings
And make up for the sobriety of my youth.
I shall go out in my slippers in the rain
And pick flowers in other people's gardens
And learn to spit.

You can wear terrible shirts and grow more fat
And eat three pounds of sausages at a go
Or only bread and pickle for a week
And hoard pens and pencils and beermats and things in boxes.

But now we must have clothes that keep us dry
And pay our rent and not swear in the street
And set a good example for the children.
We must have friends to dinner and read the papers.

But maybe I ought to practice a little now?
So people who know me are not too shocked and surprised
When suddenly I am old, and start to wear purple.

[Lisa (the.running.bookworm)]

Have read a poem. Went with a classic by Edgar Allan Poe.

A Dream within a Dream....

Take this kiss upon the brow!
And, in parting from you now,
Thus much let me avow--
You are not wrong, who deem
That my days have been a dream;
Yet if hope has flown away
In a night, or in a day,
In a vision, or in none,
Is it therefore the less gone?
All that we see or seem
Is but a dream within a dream.

I stand amid the roar
Of a surf-tormented shore,
And I hold within my hand
Grains of the golden sand--
How few! yet how they creep
Through my fingers to the deep,
While I weep--while I weep!
O God! can I not grasp
Them with a tighter clasp?
O God! can I not save
One from the pitiless wave?
Is all that we see or seem
But a dream within a dream?

[Lisa (the.running.bookworm)]

Just reviewed the spreadsheet! We are smashing this team 3!! Go team!

[Tracy]

Book cover guesses:
#1: ( I know this one , its on my TBR, it was a GR choice nominee this year (view spoiler)[ (hide spoiler)]

#3: (view spoiler)[ (hide spoiler)]

#4: (view spoiler)[ (hide spoiler)]

#5:(view spoiler)[ (hide spoiler)]

So, I'm lagging behind in my plans today because the party last night was a bit much on my body right now, but a lot of fun anyways...I'm just paying the price.. I have a migraine, nausea and a slight fever/chills...Trying to hydrate, drink some coffee and took something for the migraine and fever and feeling slightly better. I'm going to try and power through straightening up a little and lay down to read once my double vision goes away.

Hoping to make progress on the 2 books I've been already working on:
The Voyage to Magical North( YA/ or part of a series) and Five Days at Memorial: Life and Death in a Storm-Ravaged Hospital published in September), and I'll definitely at the least read a short story from Unaccustomed Earth

Edit: Are we only counting each category once this time? because if so then I'll scratch the short story for now....

I can also try for series or thriller with The Japanese Tsunami, 2011

I've been lazing around catching up on threads for the read-a thon, which are crazy busy right now lol, every time I finish, 8 more pop up :-) so it looks like everyone is having fun.

For now I'm 2/2 for the games: finished The Kick-off and just did Getting to Know You.

also, Chrissy, The Spider and the Fly was read toward the Gothic prompt for my ATY children book challenge, so not sure if we can use that as #3 for task #22 and check that off the list.

Can we check mark the finished topics so we can see them at a glance??

[Chrissy]

It looks like we have people working on books that will eventually fill every category, and only one book is needed for each. So, mostly, just finish the books you said you were reading (or let us know if you can’t) so something else can fill that slot.

Any more recommendations or poems?

Maybe Bryony can add the list to the bingo card post and cross off completed items as we go?

[Bryony]

I’ve added the list of tasks now and marked all those completed as of earlier today. I just had a glance at the spreadsheet and it looks like 6, 10, 22, 23 are now also completed - is that right? I’ll update the board if so.

[Lisa (the.running.bookworm)]

Started reading Caraval and am loving it! A book for my ATY challenge and a fantasy.

[Tracy]

Ok So I managed to get in exactly 2 hours of cleaning/straightening the house, and threw on an audiobook. So thats 2 hours of listening for me ,The Cuckoo's Calling.

I am going to lay down and work on the 2 that I committed to , which are The Voyage to Magical North, and Five Days at Memorial: Life and Death in a Storm-Ravaged Hospital

So hopefully by midnight Ill have done the series prompt and a book published in September.

Once I finish those I'll start working on American War for Sci-Fi

[Tracy]

Hannah wrote: Great job, by the way, on guessing some of the covers, Tracy!


Thanks Hannah, #1 is on my list for my GR choice awards challenge and also my "own voices"/diverse reads, so I actually recognized it right away :- )