Read-A-Thon #1: Team Fruit Loops

[Emily, Conterminous Mod]

Hello, Team Fruit Loops!

As a reminder, here are the people on this team:
Team Captain: Joi
Samantha (Message 5)
Sara
Kelly
Amani
Brittany
Suzanne
Kathy
Robin
Patricia
Jackie
Dana
Marina

The rules can be found at this thread.

Your team should begin by choosing which level they will tackle first! You must complete the level you chose before moving on to the other levels.

For each word/phrase in a level, you must fill it in one of four ways:
1: Both of the author's initials are in the word/phrase
2: The word/phrase is in the title
3: The cover depicts something related to the word/phrase
4: The word/phrase is written exactly or acted out within the book

The words/phrases are:

Big Cat Level

1. Sahara desert
2. pride
3. fastest mammal
4. kittens
5. whisker
6. tigers and panthers
7. rescue
8. The Lion King
9. roar
10. Shere Khan

Puppy Level

1. dog breed
2. animal shelter
3. labrador
4. lick your face
5. sit and stay
6. tennis ball
7. who's a good boy?
8. Snoopy
9. let's play fetch
10. fluffy

Dinosaur Level

1. carnivore
2. extinct
3. munching on leaves
4. stomp
5. Jurassic Park
6. triceratops
7. ancestors to birds
8. roaming the land
9. t-rex
10. ancient predators

Insect Level

1. spider web
2. creepy crawling
3. legs
4. thorax
5. millions of bugs
6. ants
7. grasshoppers
8. many species
9. springtime
10. don't step on them!

Don't forget to track your pages read each day! This can earn you Wild Cards to knock out those tricky words.

Here is a link to your group spreadsheet, where you can track and plan: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/...

Happy reading!

Reminder: The Read-A-Thon does not begin until you wake up on Saturday. Use this time to plan your books and start strategizing!

[Kathy]

Hello Team Fruit Loops! I’m excited to get started with the Readathon.

[Dana]

Hi! This is my first RAT, and I'm excited!

Can one book fit more than one category?

[Kelly]

Hello Team FL! Does anyone else here watch Big Brother? Being on the Fruit Loop team reminds me of someone....

Anyway, thank you to Joi for being captain! This looks like an interesting read-a-thon, and I am excited to get started.

[Emily, Conterminous Mod]

Dana, a book can only be used to cross off one word/phrase. So in order to reach the "Bought the Zoo" achievement, your team would need to read 50 books total.

[Dana]

Emily wrote: "Dana, a book can only be used to cross off one word/phrase. So in order to reach the "Bought the Zoo" achievement, your team would need to read 50 books total."

Thank you!

[Robin P, Orbicular Mod]

This is my first time and I don't understand the strategy. Do we "divide and conquer", like each person agreeing to take on certain ones of the tasks? Otherwise multiple people would be doing the same thing. Should we all post if we have a book in mind that fits one of the prompts? And it seems like it is good to read short books, but there is also some kind of bonus for pages read.Also, do you have to finish the book within the time frame, or just read a certain number of pages?

Sorry for my confusion, but I want to make sure I am helping the team! I guess I am the competitive type, especially when it is for a group and not just myself.

[Brittany]

Hi everyone, super excited to get started tomorrow!! I lucked out and had taken vacation this week because I needed a break. I'm not actually going anywhere so I should have plenty of time to read. I'm planning on starting The Year of the Flood by Margaret Atwood tomorrow. It's the second in a series so I'm thinking their are a couple places it could fit content wise and it definitely fits a few places for author initials.

[Marina]

Hi team,
I just decided to join the readathon so I haven't had time to look at the rules but I'll have a better look tomorrow morning.

[Kathy]

Robin wrote: "This is my first time and I don't understand the strategy. Do we "divide and conquer", like each person agreeing to take on certain ones of the tasks? Otherwise multiple people would be doing the s..."

Robin--We divide and conquer. If you go to Fruit Loops spreadsheet you can add a title and author and your name and choose which phrase your book fits.

I believe books have to be at least one hundred pages to count. Also you have to finish the book for it to count.

Whoever finishes their book first can choose which word/phrase to use by checking the box next to it.

[Kathy]

I'm finishing up Witch World by Andre Norton tomorrow. I have 109 pages left to read. I've added my name to the spreadsheet under the "Big Cats" tab.

[Emily, Conterminous Mod]

Hi Robin!

Most teams are going the "divide and conquer" route, so you can put books that you are reading on the spreadsheet and mark which categories it fits.

The shorter books vs. pages read is meant to balance out books that people want to read... if you don't complete a book but read a lot of pages, you can earn a wild card, but if you read a few short books, you can knock out some words/phrases. The goal is for everyone to be reading books they want to read, so go with whatever you want to read there!

In order to count a book towards a word/phrase, it needs to be completed in the time frame. However, you can count pages read at the end of each day, so books don't have to be complete in order for the pages to be counted.

Hope this helps!

[Robin P, Orbicular Mod]

Great, thank you for all the clarifications! I have already entered 1 book on the spreadsheet. I have a bit over 100 pages left and the author's name works for having initials in the word/phrase.

I looked at the other teams when I was searching for answers and they mostly focused on one level at at a time (because you get a bonus for finishing one, I believe). It looks like we mainly started with the first one, Big Cats.

I'm impressed by how much work the moderators have to do to come up with the lists, publish all the rules, and make up the spreadsheets!

[Emily, Conterminous Mod]

You can only work on one level at a time, and you have to finish that level before you can move on to the next one, so y'all should choose which one you want to focus on first!

[Robin P, Orbicular Mod]

Do you think the pink blob with legs in this picture looks enough like a spider to count for that? The Penelopiad If not, Margaret Atwood's name works for many categories, as Brittany said above.

[Dana]

I’m learning as I go, too. Haha! I think we should maybe focus on Big Cats, if that’s okay?

Also, Robin, I hesitate to say it but to me that looks more like a cell or octopus or something? Lol

[Kathy]

I think Big Cats should be our focus first like Dana mentioned.

[Jackie, Solstitial Mod]

I'm cool with starting with Big Cats; I think there's a simplicity to just starting at the top and working our way down.

I'll be travelling tomorrow and Sunday, so will be interacting minimally, but I've got some audiobooks downloaded. I've only just barely started The Hunting Party and definitely have more than 100 pages left, so I'll probably finish that over the weekend.

Go Team!

[Patricia]

I found a title on my TBR with kittens in it! Starting it tomorrow! let's go team FL!

Q: Are the Emily B entries in each tab examples or is she part of the FL team?

[Laura, Celestial Sphere Mod]

Patricia wrote: "I found a title on my TBR with kittens in it! Starting it tomorrow! let's go team FL!

Q: Are the Emily B entries in each tab examples or is she part of the FL team?"

Those are examples :)

[Sara]

Just checking in to get acclimated. I will look over the prompts and determine what I might read next that would work. See you all tomorrow.

[Robin P, Orbicular Mod]

Dana wrote: "I’m learning as I go, too. Haha! I think we should maybe focus on Big Cats, if that’s okay?

Also, Robin, I hesitate to say it but to me that looks more like a cell or octopus or something? Lol"

That's fine, I didn't really think it was spidery enough!

As of now, we have all 10 prompts covered for Big Cats, so those who haven't signed up for anything yet might want to go to the next tab.

[Robin P, Orbicular Mod]

I am listening to The Viscount Who Loved Me, a humorous Regency romance, and there is an obstreperous dog. Someone calls it "a dog of indeterminate breed" and the heroine indignantly replies that it is a corgi. I know we aren't starting with the Puppy Level, but I wondered if a quote like that counts or if it has to be "dog breed" exactly. Or since it is kind of a plot point in this case, would that count as "acted out"?

[Marina]

Goodmorning loops,
I started early this morning and finished my first book Det tavse vidne / A Dying Fall by Elly Griffiths. This is one of my favorite series at the moment.
I put it down for The lion king and author's initials. If you want to move it feel free 😊

[Jackie, Solstitial Mod]

Morning everybody! I'm about to head off on my drive, and will hopefully get some quality audiobook time in today. Happy reading!

[Dana]

Good job, Fruit Loops!

I just finished The Body: A Guide for Occupants, which fits in the Puppy category as "In text" with the words tennis ball. Would it be okay if I marked as complete? There aren't other options for that one, yet...?

[Marina]

I'm listening to Find Me Gone and I'm 3 hours and 44 minutes in. That will be my total today, but I'm not sure what the format is on the spreadsheet. If any of you know please add it 😊

[Suzanne]

Dana wrote: "Good job, Fruit Loops!

I just finished The Body: A Guide for Occupants, which fits in the Puppy category as "In text" with the words tennis ball. Would it be okay if I marked as co..."

I think we can only work on one category at a time. We are doing the Big Cats first. Maybe it would work for something there.

[Dana]

Suzanne wrote: "Dana wrote: "Good job, Fruit Loops!

I just finished The Body: A Guide for Occupants, which fits in the Puppy category as "In text" with the words tennis ball. Would it be okay if I..."

Oh, I see! Sorry! I've got one that fits in Big Cats that I will hopefully finish tomorrow. Thanks!

[Kathy]

I finished Witch World and put it under "rescue." Feel free to move if needed.

[Robin P, Orbicular Mod]

I finished my book for Sahara Desert, the author's initials actually are S.D. I marked it complete.

[Robin P, Orbicular Mod]

Dana wrote: "Suzanne wrote: "Dana wrote: "Good job, Fruit Loops!

I just finished The Body: A Guide for Occupants, which fits in the Puppy category as "In text" with the words tennis ball. Would..."

It looks like we have at least one person working on something for all the Big Cats prompts, so if you have one for Puppy, you could at least put your name and the book title there. That way once we complete Big Cats, you can go in and mark complete the one you read. Otherwise, we will have multiple people completing books for Big Cats and if you finish yours 5 minutes after the other person, you have to find somewhere else to put it.

Joi, as our leader, if I am not understanding right, please correct me.

[Jackie, Solstitial Mod]

Away from home so cant update spreadsheet but finished Chasing Down the Dawn, 2 hrs of audiobook. I put it in the cat plans so if somebody wants to mark it for a prompt go right ahead

[Kathy]

Jackie wrote: "Away from home so cant update spreadsheet but finished Chasing Down the Dawn, 2 hrs of audiobook. I put it in the cat plans so if somebody wants to mark it for a prompt go right ahead"

Jackie, Great job on finishing ! But I don't see that book listed under Big Cats. The book, The Hunting Party, is listed but not that one. I can add it if you want but what does it fit? - author's initials or one of the phrases?

[Marina]

I'm not sure how it works if we finish a book but it doesn't fit any of the leftover words for the level we're working on?
Can we save the book and use it for the next level or do we need to wait finishing it until we've started the next level?

[Emily, Conterminous Mod]

You would need to wait to finish it until your level is complete and the team has chosen which level they want to work on next.

[Brittany]

Hi everyone, I’m still working on The Year of the Flood. As long as I finish it before we get to the last category it will work for something in every category so I’m just going to keep chugging along there. I have a lot of driving to do so I grabbed the audiobook for Elevation by Stephen King. It’s less than 4 hours long so I should be able to knock it out while I’m in the car today.

[Robin P, Orbicular Mod]

Emily wrote: "You would need to wait to finish it until your level is complete and the team has chosen which level they want to work on next."

Thanks for clarifying!

[Jackie, Solstitial Mod]

I thought I added it on the spreadsheet before leaving home...I think it fits pride for in text, but probably nothing else. sadly she doesnt talk about cats very much

[Kathy]

Yup, it was there on the spreadsheet, Jackie. So I put it for "pride." Also marked your two hours of audio on the spreadsheet. :)

[Kathy]

We have only 4 categories left! Great job, Loops!

We also have two wild cards available to use for categories we're having a hard time finishing. We have 555 pages read and 13.7 hours of audio.

Remember to wait to finish the books you have ready for the next category until we're done with Big Cats. What level do we want to do next? Go right on to Puppies? or ?

[Marina]

Hi team,
The audiobook I'm currently reading doesn't fit any of the remaining words so I'm going to wait finishing it until tomorrow.
We're still missing 4 words on our first level but I'm hoping some of you will fill those today 😊
It seems like we're missing some updates on pages and hours on the spreadsheet, so it's difficult to know where we're at. If you don't have time to fill it in you could just write it here and maybe our team leader could update the spreadsheet?

[Marina]

Kathy, I was just going to ask about which level we should pick next. Puppies sound good to me

[Kathy]

Me too, Marina. I'll have a book ready to go for "who's a good boy" for the author name - Anna Gavalda. That's the only one it fits unless this does:

In text, a guy has the personality of a lapdog. Would that count for Acting Out for "lick your face?" or is that going too far. Lol.

[Marina]

Haha, that might be a bit of a stretch! But isn't lapdog sort of a dog breed?? 😉

[Kelly]

Hey everyone! Sorry I had a kid down with the stomach flu yesterday and didn't get much reading done. I have already been reading today. I am not going to commit to any prompts because I am a slow reader. You all will blow through the first three categories before I am done. I will add page total every night though.

I am reading- We Set the Dark on Fire by Tehlor Kay Mejia and The Only Plane in the Sky: An Oral History of September 11, 2001 by Garrett M. Graff.

Has anyone heard from our Captain?

[Kathy]

Marina H wrote: "Haha, that might be a bit of a stretch! But isn't lapdog sort of a dog breed?? 😉"

Well..! Haha! Should I add it for that?

I'll stick with the author name. Or wait till the next level.

[Marina]

No worries Kelly. And every hour and every page read is a step closer to a level done!

[Sara]

I am trying to time the book I am reading for the "puppies" category, assuming it is next. I couldn't make it fit any of the "cat" prompts.

[Marina]

I striked out the books we've already used to get better overview which books fit the missing words. We can also just delete the columns if that's better?
There are four books not used for the big cat level and they fit the remaining words, so hopefully we can complete that level soon. If anyone has problems finishing their book we can also use a wildcard.