Nothing But Reading Challenges discussion
Wheelathon 5
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Team Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
Plethora wrote: "Alison (Lady Coffin) wrote: "Ok Carmen, I am confused, and am also going have to get used to your new profile picture. *sigh*But I am remembering that you live in New York state, is that correct, ..."
Ah, ok, was thinking I was missing another.
Ok, got it now.
Thanks
UpdateThe "Book Recs" tab on our planning spreadsheet should now be updated with recommendations from all teams (except The Sword of Shannara and The Travelling Cat Chronicles, since I couldn't find their recommendations mentioned anywhere. Might have to dig through their entire thread.).
But, to get us started we have around 575 different books recommended across the board (some by multiple teams), so hopefully it should help sort out books that we would want to read for those tasks.
Talking of sorting, the sheet has information for book title, author, genre, and if it is a Series or a Standalone book to help us go directly to a book we might have in mind.
Let me know if you'd want me to tweak or change anything to ease the process, and I'd be glad to do so. :D
Fun Fact: The Nightingale is by far the most recommended book, by as many as 6 different teams!!
Today we find ourselves in Yorkshire, land of ruggedly beautiful scenery...Our first point of interest is Sheffield, known for its steel, its musical exports (Def Leppard!) and its football clubs...
And from there it's only a brief dash to Leeds, home to certain fabulous members of Team Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows...
There is also another very strong link to said HP series in Leeds...
(Putting this one behind a spoiler tag, because frankly, sweet little Neville is allllll kinds of grown up, which could be too difficult to cope with if you want to live in blissful ignorance that so much time has passed, lol)
(view spoiler)
Enjoy the rest of your trip through Yorkshire ladies and gentlemen, and I will return soon with updates on the first of our many unusual detours ;)
Apoorv wrote: "UpdateThe "Book Recs" tab on our planning spreadsheet should now be updated with recommendations from all teams (except The Sword of Shannara and The Travelling Cat Chronicles, since I couldn't f..."
You're a superstar!
Sammy wrote: "BOOK RECOMMENDATIONSFantasy:
..."Hi there! Took a break from my travelling around the world (i've got 80 days plenty of time) to see your recommendations. Easily the most organized list i have seen so far. Thanks, can't wait to dive it!
Sammy wrote: "Today we find ourselves in Yorkshire, land of ruggedly beautiful scenery...Our first point of interest is Sheffield, known for its steel, its musical exports (Def Leppard!) and its football clubs..."
That boy turned out very fine. I am guess a lot of the girls look back on Jenny as his date to the Ball with envy.
Sammy wrote: "Apoorv wrote: "UpdateThe "Book Recs" tab on our planning spreadsheet should now be updated with recommendations from all teams (except The Sword of Shannara and The Travelling Cat Chronicles, sin..."
Agree with the "superstar" comment.
OMG!! I'm reading Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine and it has "morris dancing" in it! And I wasn't even looking! *happy dance*
I'm trying to read The Black Book ATM (it's written by a Nobel Prize winner) but it is a bit of a slow burner. 12% in according to kindle and... it's not doing much for me at all.
Elena wrote: "OMG!! I'm reading Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine and it has "morris dancing" in it! And I wasn't even looking! *happy dance*"Nice!
I totally had forgotten about that. Knew I had read something with it in the last year or two, but had no idea what it was.
Rokkan wrote: "I'm trying to read The Black Book ATM (it's written by a Nobel Prize winner) but it is a bit of a slow burner. 12% in according to kindle and... it's not doing much for me at all."Nobel Prize Winner 😁
Slow burner 😩
Elena wrote: "OMG!! I'm reading Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine and it has "morris dancing" in it! And I wasn't even looking! *happy dance*"I've heard good things about that book.
Just finished Eleanor! It was great, I loved it too!! :)
Elena wrote: "OMG!! I'm reading Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine and it has "morris dancing" in it! And I wasn't even looking! *happy dance*"Awesome! I just so happen to have that one on the tbr :)
Rokkan wrote: "I'm trying to read The Black Book ATM (it's written by a Nobel Prize winner) but it is a bit of a slow burner. 12% in according to kindle and... it's not doing much for me at all."You know... I find more often than not, if a book or its writer won one of the major awards, it will probably not be my cup of tea.
I have a particularly bad track record with Nobel and with the Hugo awards...
Mod
AhahahahhahahahaJudith that's awesome!
Hey team, any of you have any sports related recommendations? I really enjoyed The Art of Fielding and am looking for more along those lines (just not so much trashy sports romances please, lol).Any sport will do!
Hi Sammy! Apologies for not doing a little more research on your book list prior buuut, here's my recommendation! I'm not generally big on sports-related books but Fredrik Backman is one of my favorite authors and I found Beartown to be delightful.It is about a group of boys on an ice hockey team. There's also a sequel: Us Against You, but I haven't read it.
Samantha wrote: "Hi Sammy! Apologies for not doing a little more research on your book list prior buuut, here's my recommendation! I'm not generally big on sports-related books but Fredrik Backman is one of my favo..."I've not read that yet, so thank you, I'll check it out!
Hi Sammy! Visiting from The Pants Team with a couple sport book suggestions: Steeplechasing
Dick Francis' was a former steeplechasing jockey, becoming a national champion jockey and jockey to the Queen - so he knows whereof he speaks. I'm partial to the Kit Fielding duo:
The Sid Halley books are also really good:
etcNo matter which you read, (and there are a ton to choose from,) you will know a heck of a lot more about the British racing industry, steeplechasing, and what jockey and trainer lives are like, all delivered in Francis' laconic yet engaging style.
Samantha wrote: "Hi Sammy! Apologies for not doing a little more research on your book list prior buuut, here's my recommendation! I'm not generally big on sports-related books but Fredrik Backman is one of my favo..."Oh, totally second the Beartown and Us Against You suggestions!
Teddie wrote: "Hi Sammy! Visiting from The Pants Team with a couple sport book suggestions: Steeplechasing
Dick Francis' was a former steeplechasing jockey, becoming a national champion jockey and jockey to th..."
Thanks Teddie! I'm a "start at book 1" kinda person, so that's what I'll do, lol.
Sammy wrote: "Thanks Teddie! I'm a "start at book 1" kinda person, so that's what I'll do, lol."Me too :) Most of his books are standalones, but he sometimes wrote a followup or two.
Mod
I commend both of the series Teddie mentions but would add in Nerve too.
Beartown ditto.
Also, how about slightly out there suggestion of Head On - investigating death in a futuristic ball game.
Or, proving that Sir Pterry never lets you down for a genre, Unseen Academicals for a spot of foot the ball?
Lastly, a pair of nonfiction: Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game and Night Games: Sex, Power and Sport
I just finished the 5th Gender. just trying to figure out what to start next.
Hi Sammy! Pulling the emergency brake of the Orient Express because I loooooove sports! While I do also love me a good trashy sports romance, I thought I'd read quite a few not-romance-sports-books, but I was shocked to discover I apparently haven't actually read that many! I guess I get my fix from the real thing (and uhm, from reading other things on the internet)...
I did actually read The Art of Fielding many years ago when I was tentatively trying to get back into reading books but I don't think it was a great choice for that... I didn’t really end up liking it all that much - though I did finish it, which wasn’t happening frequently at that time.
Anyway, recommendations! I love anything by Taylor Fitzpatrick - I've been reading all her stuff serialized online for years and years and by now she has three books published, You Could Make a Life, Thrown Off the Ice and my personal favorite Coming in First Place (though there's a lot of that particular character's story still to come in the sequels, to be published over the next year or so). They do all have pretty prominent relationships but the sport (hockey) plays a massive role - and the author is obviously a huge fan and gets it right (which unfortunately can't be said about a lot of the sports romance out there).
Teddie wrote: "Samantha wrote: "Hi Sammy! Apologies for not doing a little more research on your book list prior buuut, here's my recommendation! I'm not generally big on sports-related books but Fredrik Backman ..."I second those suggestions too!
I have come from Don Quixote to answer Sammy's call for Sports novels...If anyone reads MM, I highly recommend these two hockey series by Avon Gale:
Scoring Chances series:
https://www.goodreads.com/series/1655...
Hat Trick series (co-authored with Piper Vaughn):
https://www.goodreads.com/series/2091...
I discovered these when I had to find a "hockey player" book for a task during the Right Side Up Spring challenge last year. At first I was like... ugh, sports. But these books are addictive, and now I know all about hockey! :D
ETA: just to be clear, these are MM romance, but not trashy. They are real books! lol
Greetings from Team Pants! I've come to request recommendations from you all 😊 Lately, I’ve been in the mood for some great nonfiction. Any favourites? I don’t have a genre preference – biography, memoir, history, science are all fine! Thanks in advance!
Sammy, not sure if you can find this one, but it is a fun read. Walk on This Way: The Ongoing Legacy of the Wisconsin Football Walk-On Tradition
Sorry, I don't read a lot of sports books, I prefer to watch them. I assume someone has recommended Beartown already.
Navi wrote: "Greetings from Team Pants! I've come to request recommendations from you all 😊 Lately, I’ve been in the mood for some great nonfiction. Any favourites? I don’t have a genre preference – biography, ..."We have over 20 non-fiction books listed in message 17 of our thread if you want to take a gander at them Navi.
Sammy, answering your call from Don Quixote!Mariana Zapata’s Kulti is about a female soccer player, and centers around the sport. And From Lukov With Love features two figure skaters. She has several other sports themed ones, but most feature the player rather than the sport.
Sammy wrote: "Rokkan wrote: "I'm trying to read The Black Book ATM (it's written by a Nobel Prize winner) but it is a bit of a slow burner. 12% in according to kindle and... it's not doing much for ..."Same here, however if the book won a Bram Stoker award it's usually right up my alley.
Sammy wrote: "Hey team, any of you have any sports related recommendations? I really enjoyed The Art of Fielding and am looking for more along those lines (just not so much trashy sports romances..."This one is young adult and not trashy.
Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes
Ok time for stupid question time..SorryWhen finished, do you want the completed post on the planning spreadsheet or the team spreadsheet?
It's says view only, I'm assuming since I am not spreadsheet intelligent, that I need to ask for access? If so, Do I ask for both?
I don't want to screw something up that is why I ask.
Michelle wrote: "Ok time for stupid question time..SorryWhen finished, do you want the completed post on the planning spreadsheet or the team spreadsheet?
It's says view only, I'm assuming since I am not spreads..."
You only need to ask for access to the planning spreadsheet.
If you put your info and completion date in the planning sheet that is good enough. If you aren't comfortable with spreadsheet use you can post a completion and ask that it be added.
Hmm a few Non - Fiction Recs..
Swimming over from Watership Down to give sports recommendations. I already noticed that several people voiced my thoughts about Beartown and Us Against You. Two of my all time favorite books. Before the world of Goodreads, I read Bleachers and I really enjoyed it.
Navi wrote: "Greetings from Team Pants! I've come to request recommendations from you all 😊 Lately, I’ve been in the mood for some great nonfiction. Any favourites? I don’t have a genre preference – biography, ..."
Stuff Matters: Exploring the Marvelous Materials That Shape Our Man-Made World
I really enjoyed this. Passed to my husband who really liked and he passed to his brother. So 3 recommendations.
Plethora wrote: "Michelle wrote: "Ok time for stupid question time..SorryWhen finished, do you want the completed post on the planning spreadsheet or the team spreadsheet?
It's says view only, I'm assuming since..."
Ok..Thank you. That sounds reasonable enough that I can't muck it up.
Cat wrote: "I was coming to suggest Dick Francis too!I commend both of the series Teddie mentions but would add in Nerve too.
Beartown ditto.
Also, how about slightly out there suggestion of..."
Thanks Cat! I love what I've read of Scalzi so far, so that's definitely going on the list, and of course I've read Unseen Academicals (and enjoyed rather a lot at that, but that's hardly surprising, lol!)
Judy wrote: "Hi Sammy! Pulling the emergency brake of the Orient Express because I loooooove sports! While I do also love me a good trashy sports romance, I thought I'd read quite a few not-romance-sports-boo..."
Thanks Judy! I don't mind there being relationships and such (like there were in The Art of Fielding too), but mostly it's the excitement of the sports that i'm craving, so I'll give one of those a whirl!
I'm beginning to think my subconscious is protesting the postponement of the footie this year! lol.
So many suggestions! thanks everyone for the recs! Looking forward to trying them out! :)
Hey Team!So I was wondering... do you mind if I play word tetris with our planning spreadsheet? I don't want to step into anybody's toes, is just that 1) I love doing it and 2)It's killing me not to know how many words we already can have spelled and which letters will be better suited to tackle next.
I promise not to mess up all the pretty formats.
Mod
The really clever bit about Head On (and its predecessor, Lock In) is that we never know what gender Chris is - and the audio comes in two versions, one read by Wil Wheaton & the other by Amber Benson. I've only listened to the Wheaton ones so far, but I believe that Amber Benson does just as good a job!
Mod
Cat wrote: "@Sonia: hahahahahahahaha! didn't even last a week without wanting to be sub-co-captain! :D"shush you!
Just because I'm climbing walls because I have nothing to do but read, doesn't mean you can start teasing me. I have Eni for that. She has been doing it merciless since the teams were announced! I'm starting to consider spiking her food... if I manage to make it without her kid noticing it... never underestimate the protecting streak of a 7 y.o.
Nothing But Reading Challenges
Books mentioned in this topic
Fish & Chips (other topics)Peace Talks (other topics)
Turn Coat (other topics)
Turn Coat (other topics)
Peace Talks (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Ian Fleming (other topics)Stephen King (other topics)
Alan Bradley (other topics)
Pat Kirwan (other topics)
Taylor Fitzpatrick (other topics)
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But I am remembering that you live in New York state, is that correct, but you keep posting pictures..."
I know Carmen always is messing with me and changing her profile pic on me.lol
Puerto Rico is the flag she post, but yes she is in NY.