2020 JLA vs JSA Discussion Thread

[Audrey, Queen of the Potato People]

I think I will finish just in time.

[Johanne]

Audrey wrote: "I think I will finish just in time."

Cool!

Does anyone finish all main roster, portal heroes, bonus and villains? I'm trying not to feel the pressure of attempting that next year. I think it will backfire if I do. If I go for main roster and SOME of the villains etc that's an accomplishment right?

[Vinca]

Some people do, but lots of us don't. I mostly ignore the villains and concentrate on my heroes, so I'll probably finish my main roster and most bonus heroes (I missed the summer bonus and might not manage the last one revealed), but will have completed hardly any villains or energy cells. This makes it plenty challenging enough for me and not so daunting that it becomes a chore - it's all about having fun ☺️

[Johanne]

Vinca wrote: "Some people do, but lots of us don't. I mostly ignore the villains and concentrate on my heroes, so I'll probably finish my main roster and most bonus heroes (I missed the summer bonus and might no..."

Thanks Vinca, I needed that. I don't know why my brain wants to overachieve... This year I've done as you: Concentrated on the main and bonus heroes and done a few of the energy cells and some of the villains. I just now started stressing out over the january villain - and that's when I knew I needed a reality check. The villains I've completed this year have been ones where I've accidentally read books that fit one or two categories, and then it seemed less daunting to find something for the remaining.

I have had so much fun with this challenge - I need to not ruin the fun of it for myself.

[Hayley]

I tried to do the villains last year and found that finding, getting hold of and reading 3 specific books plus the book of the month was a bit stressful too. This year I've just been doing the heroes and finding it alot better as I felt like I have more choice in books. Think I have 3 books left to finish all heroes which I'd normally finish easily but haven't been reading alot lately as I've been playing the new world of warcraft expansion!

[Johanne]

WoW is important too :P

[Lel]

I find it very hard to not try and get everything done, I feel like I need to complete it all. But I’m like that with everything. I have 3 more books to read and I will have done it all 100%......

[Johanne]

I think that's what grips me Lel. But it also stresses me out and makes me want to drop reading challenges completely. I just allowed myself not to do January's villain unless it comes naturally :)

[Sandy]

I would ne"read" read all these books in a year and do other things too. What I do is "read" the villains if they are something else I am reading or a "read" that is audible so I can listen as I work on housework etc. Most of my villains have been audio books. I will admit that sometimes it is hard to keep all the different books straight but it has helped me to get the villains done. That is why the 5 extra days due to covid library restrictions is so helpful to me. I can't get enough books out at one time to keep going.

This month will be tough though because we don't have the 5 extra days. Maybe this might help you.

For the main heroes - I put a hold on the library and when it comes in - do that - but that means that I have a list ahead of time that I can move around but gets filled out early in the year.

This is such a fun challenge if you don't stress about it. This year - a bit more stress because of the library situation - but hopefully next year it will settle back to how it was in 2019.

This is a year I am not likely to forget but really despearately want to... ;-)

[Johanne]

Thanks all, for your thoughts. I will continue like this year, because I really enjoy the way this challenge is constructed.
I review children's and YA books as a side job and I host two book clubs for children/youth, so I have a lot of already set reading. The way this challenge is, I can make a lot fit, but not always in a month.

[Audrey, Queen of the Potato People]

This year I only got one villain, and that's fine. I generally have to choose between bonuses and villains.

[Audrey, Queen of the Potato People]

Audrey wrote: "Wayland, for "a place that moves," does this count? It's a place that has corridors that move around when people walk through it."

Wayland?

[Wayland, Ernest Scribbler]

Audrey wrote: "Audrey wrote: "Wayland, for "a place that moves," does this count? It's a place that has corridors that move around when people walk through it."

Wayland?"

I'd say that works. Sorry I missed it. Things are a bit frantic between some work complications and getting the copyedits back on my next novel.

[Audrey, Queen of the Potato People]

No problem. Yay!

[Melanie]

I'd recommend (for the completionists out there) to set a personal goal for yourself that's less, for example, recruit 10 heroes and 1 book for each villain. Then you can still complete everything you planned to and if you read more you'll feel even more accomplished instead of stressed for not being done.

....It's all about the mind games you play with yourself.

[Christina]

Johanne wrote: "Audrey wrote: "I think I will finish just in time."

Cool!

Does anyone finish all main roster, portal heroes, bonus and villains? I'm trying not to feel the pressure of attempting that next year. ..."

I see a lot of good advice on here.

I have never finished all of the challenges and this was actually the first year I finished the main roster and I have been doing this challenge for as long as it has been running. So, that will be my goal moving forward. I simply do not have the time to do it all. Plus, sometimes there are books I want to read that simply don't fit and I found that in years past I was trying to race through books to finish or reading books I didn't care about to fit the criteria and I simply was not enjoying it. So, I don't stress it now. We do this for fun!

[Johanne]

Thank you all! The main roster is the goal and we have fun, got it :)

[Audrey, Queen of the Potato People]

Melanie wrote: "I'd recommend (for the completionists out there) to set a personal goal for yourself that's less, for example, recruit 10 heroes and 1 book for each villain. Then you can still complete everything ..."

Yes, the mind games. Someone understands.

[Melanie]

Wayland,

Question and Cloak's second challenge: [] Now You See Him…-read a book where someone can teleport, something disappears,

Would a missing person count?

[Wayland, Ernest Scribbler]

Not what I had in mind, Melanie, let me think.

I don't see why not.

[Melanie]

Thanks :)

[Roger, Knight Radiant]

Johanne wrote: "Audrey wrote: "I think I will finish just in time."

Cool!

Does anyone finish all main roster, portal heroes, bonus and villains? I'm trying not to feel the pressure of attempting that next year. ..."

This is what happened to me, reading became about finishing alllllll the people and then it was not relaxing and I was finishing books i did not like, it also affected my personal life because I had to keep reading. I know me and I know that I cannot resist doing them all so I had to step away from it. It's disappointing because I love the idea, I love that it makes you read books outside your norm, but the pressure I put on myself is too high.

[Johanne]

Roger wrote: "Johanne wrote: "Audrey wrote: "I think I will finish just in time."

Cool!

Does anyone finish all main roster, portal heroes, bonus and villains? I'm trying not to feel the pressure of attempting ..."

I did actually find a good level this year, where I only did villains and bonus heroes if it came naturally. My brain has now understood that that's the way it's going to be next year as well ;)

[Hayley]

I know what you mean. I have 2 books left for this year's challenge that I got from the library that while they look ok I'm not that excited to read. I also have loads of books I own that I really want to read and series I want to carry on with that I haven't got to as I've been doing the challenge ...But I've really enjoyed doing the challenge ...But I want to read my other books.

Maybe I'll just do the main heroes next year. Or make sure I read 2 books a month I really want to read regardless of if they match a challenge or not.

[Johanne]

The good thing about this challenge is that a very large portion of what I'm reading anyway, actually fit. A lot of other challenges are more fixed, here theres is some wiggle-room. And I like that you're doing it with a team.

[Sandy]

At the beginning of the year last year - I put books on my wish list at the library that matched the items. Then I would put holds on them as I cleared others up. However, this year they only allow a minimum number of holds and loans - so it has left me with stretches of time when I have nothing and am waiting on a hold. This year has caused some pressure - luckily I am sitting at home a lot more than I was the previous year so have more time when I do get the book. I am so ready for this to be over!!!!

[Audrey, Queen of the Potato People]

The first half of the year, most of what I read will fit somewhere. Then I have to find library books for the rest of the categories.

[Vinca]

Now that Wayland has thrown a spanner in the works with the opening up of expired bonus heroes, I find myself compelled to at least try to get the last book for the summer bonus. Does anyone have a suggestion for a book to fit the following criterion?

1. Solar Power- read a book where solar power is important, where something ends up close to a sun, or with a mostly silver cover

(Preferably not a doorstop of a book...)

[Melanie]

Legend

[Audrey, Queen of the Potato People]

I just finished Genesis Girl, which has solar power as part of the story. It's short. The Phantom Tollbooth has a silver cover; my copy does.

[Nadja]

Hey Wayland, i have a question regarding Mister Blizzard - Attack the City. Would it count, if a group of aliens attack a city? Thanks :)

[Vinca]

Thanks for the suggestions Melanie and Audrey, I'll take a look!

[Wayland, Ernest Scribbler]

Nadja wrote: "Hey Wayland, i have a question regarding Mister Blizzard - Attack the City. Would it count, if a group of aliens attack a city? Thanks :)"

Sure, go for it.

[Shawnie]

Hayley wrote: "I tried to do the villains last year and found that finding, getting hold of and reading 3 specific books plus the book of the month was a bit stressful too. This year I've just been doing the hero..."

Hayley, that's what I've been doing too! Shadowlands! :D

[Melanie]

I also completed the JLA Roster; still working on some of the JLA portal/ bonus heroes.

recruited! Superman
[1] 3/28 Rocketed to Earth From The Dying Planet Krypton…- The Collapsing Empire
[3] 6/25 Who, Disguised as a Mild-Mannered Reporter- James Potter and the Hall of Elders' Crossing
[2] 4/15 Able To Leap Tall Buildings… - Victory of Eagles

recruited! Batman
[2] 4/11 …and Robin- The Celery Stalks at Midnight
[1] 4/8 World’s Greatest Detective- Howliday Inn
[3] 4/6 Gotham is mine- Exit Strategy

recruited! Wonder Woman
[1] 5/21 Not Actually American- Flunked
[2] 8/5 Invisible Jet- Green Rider
[3] 12/21 Magic Lasso- Truthwitch

recruited! Aquaman
[2] 4/22 Neptune’s Trident- Ptolemy's Gate
[3] 5/27 Mera- My Lady Jane
[1] 3/28 King of the Seven Seas- The Collapsing Empire

recruited! Martian Manhunter
[2] 8/30 Too Powerful- Rip-Off!
[1] 7/1 Mars Needs Chocos!- Everyday Apocalypse
[3] 9/5 Fire!- Lord of the Flies

recruited! Green Arrow
[3] 5/21 Emerald Archer- The Forest of Hands and Teeth
[2] 5/20 Voice of the People- Internment
[1] 4/17 Chili- Wish

recruited! Elongated Man
[2] 5/30 I Didn’t Know That- The Usual Suspects
[1] 5/24 Birthday Present- Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
[3] 6/21 True Love- The Ghost Bride

recruited! Zatanna
[2] 3/28 Uh Oh, It’s Magic!- The Golem's Eye
[1] 2/22 Mind Wipe- Restart
[3] 5/11 Searching for Father- Where the Crawdads Sing

recruited! Firestorm
[1] 6/2 It’s Gonna Blow!- Ballistic
[3] 8/4 Transmutation- Siege Tactics
[2] 6/5 Ronnie/Martin/Arkady/Jason- Anna Dressed in Blood

recruited! Vixen
[2] 7/27 Pride of Zambesi- Blonde Roots
[1] 6/6 Tantu Totem- The Little Shop of Found Things
[] Mari McCabe- The Unlikely Adventures of the Shergill Sisters

recruited! Fire
[1] 4/17 Weird Resume- The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August
[2] 5/2 Green Flame/Green Fury/Fire- Rogue Protocol
[3] 12/13 De Brazil- Teaching a Stone to Talk: Expeditions and Encounters

recruited! Phantom Stranger
[3] 6/16 Love the Hat- Turn Coat
[1] 2/18 The Great Unknown- Blood Tally
[2] 5/2 I Will Be Your Guide- The Lost Heir

[Audrey, Queen of the Potato People]

Wow!

[Melanie]

Justice League of America - Bonus/ Portal Heros
I managed all but 3

recruited! Mr. Terrific (March 30- ??) #coronavirus
[3] 7/31 Widower- Parable of the Sower
[1] 3/27 Genius- My Lady Jane
[2] 6/19 Almost killed himself- The Horse and His Boy

recruited! Jessica Jones (starts 5/24)
[1] 6/1 Private Investigator- Patient Zero
[3] 6/29 Alcoholic- This Is Our Story
[2] 6/19 Kilgrave- Changes

1 of 3 Headquarters (starts June 1)
[1] 7/12 Happy Harbor, Rhode Island- The Operator
[] Satellite-
[] Watchtower-

recruited! Joto/Hotspot/Slagger (summer bonus - starts June 27)
[3] 7/26 Half Alien- The Angel of the Crows
[2] 7/4 Ivy University- Gooseberry Bluff Community College of Magic: The Thirteenth Rib
[1] 6/29 Pointless Death- Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You

2 of 3 Iron Fist (starts August 15)
[] K’un-Lun-
[1] 9/12 Martial Arts Master- We Are Not Free
[2] 12/2 Billionaire- Altered Carbon

recruited! Maya (October 1- November 5) Halloween Bonus
late 11/08 Raised by a cult- Lovecraft Country
[2] 11/03 Indian Heroine- Where the Mountain Meets the Moon
[1] 11/01 Elemental Powers- Hounded

2 of 3 Quake (starts October 8)
[2] 11/26 Hacker- Collateral
[1] 11/10 Agent of SHIELD- Skyward
[] Shake ‘Em Up-

recruited! Captain Atom (July 1 - August 5)
[3] 7/25 Nathaniel Adam, USAF- A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking
[2] 7/20 Quantum Jump- The King of Plagues
[1] 7/13 General Eiling- The Black Cauldron