Fall '20 Read-a-Thon: The Finch Family

[Johanne]

Aimee wrote: "Sorry for commenting three times in a row, but do you think it's worth guessing L to see if the first word is 'all' (as in 'all the')?"

No need to be sorry for that :)

Trish already submitted L, and proposed H and S next, depending on what happens with L.
I think Emily is probably asleep right now.

[Ellie]

I have no idea what the book is if it does start with "all the". The ones I can think of don't fit the rest of the puzzle.

[Johanne]

Emily is up! So, it looks like the first two words are 'all the' and then a 4 letter word. We have two guesses, but let's submit one at a time. I'll go with H

[Trish, Annular Mod]

Phew. I'm glad L panned out.

All, ill or I'll seem the obvious fits for the first word, but like Ellie, I'm looking at books and nothing comes up. There are a few "All the Time", but we don't have a second T.

I'm just hoping Emily hasn't missed a letter that we've guessed.

[Johanne]

Trying to come up with 4 letter words without T F N R L.
Boys? maps? does? dove?

[Johanne]

book, hook, cook.

[Johanne]

Only one H there - so it's probably 'the'
should we try S or something else? we have one guess available

[Johanne]

Just updated pages read today so far, and that gives us one more letter.

[Trish, Annular Mod]

I bottled and asked Emily if she's missed a T, as I keep getting stuck on All the Time for the first three words, but she says not.

I've also asked for an S, to see if that clarifes word 3 at all.

[Trish, Annular Mod]

And Yess! S got some hits.

[Johanne]

Alright that gave us a little. As I'm counting we still have a guess. This is NOT an easy round, geez.

[Emily, Conterminous Mod]

I'll give y'all a hint on the book title: It was a book that was published in 2020 by previously published authors.

[Dori]

Could it be All The Ways We Said Goodbye?

[Trish, Annular Mod]

Thanks, Emily.

Dori wrote: "Is it maybe All The Ways We Said Goodbye?"

That's not a book I've ever heard of, but I'm certainly not coming up with anything else, and it would fit the clue.

I think Dori just earned the next guess by ticking us over 6,000pg - should we try a D?

[Johanne]

Oh good guess Dori, I was completely blank. Let's try a D, and if that fits let's make the title guess.

[Ellie]

I haven't heard of that book either, but it looks like it would fit. I just finished Big Hard Sex Criminals: Volume One (weird and silly) so added another guess to the spreadsheet. Will hopefully get back to Afterland once I get work out the way, been a busy week.

[Aimee]

Dori wrote: "Could it be All The Ways We Said Goodbye?"

Definitely looks like it and it fits with Emily's clue, though I hadn't heard of that book either. It sounds great though *immediately adds book to already-bloated TBR*

[Trish, Annular Mod]

I've submitted it in the guesses thread.

[Emily, Conterminous Mod]

Since you made it through the first six puzzles I had planned in record speed, you are now entering our LIGHTNING ROUND!

New Rules for the Lightning Round:
- You must get either 2000 pages, 10 audio hours, or 2 books in order to earn one guess.
- In addition to vowels, you are not allowed to guess R, S, or T!

*All previously earned guesses will carry over into the lightning round.

PUZZLE 7: BEST SELLER
This book has been in the first place spot on the NY Times Best Sellers list.

[Johanne]

Oooh cool Emily!
And well done Dori, I'd never have gotten that on my own :)

[Emily, Conterminous Mod]

All the Ways We Said Goodbye is one of my favorite books this year. The three authors that wrote it each wrote a different POV... this is their third book together and I've loved all of them. If you're a historical fiction fan, I highly recommend!

[Johanne]

It seems we have one guess available. Should we start with N?

[Johanne]

I went ahead and submitted it.

[Dori]

Yay! We are doing great! N was a great guess too! No idea about the book though!

[Trish, Annular Mod]

Nineteen Minutes, by Jodi Picoult would fit (which I'd also never heard of, but I was noodling nineteen and it came up first - plus, it was an NYT best seller).

But if anyone else agrees, to test the theory, maybe T, then M, then S?

[Johanne]

Oh yes of course! The rules are stricter in the lightning round, so S and T are off the table. But lets guess M next.

[Johanne]

It's kinda funny if that's the book, we only have M available to guess in there (since vowels, R, D and T are off the table). It seems very likely it's that one.

[Johanne]

Sorry I meant to type R S T

[Emily, Conterminous Mod]

(If you run out of consonants before getting to four guesses, I will let you know! It's very likely in the lightning round that this will happen.)

[Sarah]

Aimee wrote: "Sarah wrote: "Aimee wrote: "I've finished my second book (Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea) so that's another guess available."

I've just finished the same book :) I'll update it..."

Yes! It was a difficult prompt for me to fulfil with the library still closed so I had to go with a re-read

[Johanne]

@Emily, good to know :)

In this case I meant we could run out of consonants that fit our guess, but we can still guess others for elimination purposes.

[Trish, Annular Mod]

I've just finished The Colour of Magic, for 261pg, and entered it up.

If the new book is the one I thought it might be, we're totally going to run out of consonants. M is the only one we can guess.

[Fee]

Added my pages read. I had less time than expected to read this week but there is still a weekend ahead of us.

[Aimee]

Sarah wrote: "Aimee wrote: "Sarah wrote: "Aimee wrote: "I've finished my second book (Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea) so that's another guess available."

I've just finished the same book :) ..."

I got it via Amazon Prime reading because I was having the same issue. My local library has reopened but they're not doing reservations (they have limited staff in so that they can all be socially-distanced) and I don't want to trek all the way in to the city centre only to find the books I want have been checked out already.

[Johanne]

Librarian here, we're all open, except for activities with many people. Pretty sure I got this covid at work, no-one I know has been tested positive, and all my close contacts got tested when I was positive, and they were all negative.

[Ellie]

Glad I don't have to go into the office for the rest of the year, at least. I am pretty sure the train is where I catch all the bugs going. I am very grateful for my large personal library!

[Johanne]

I ride my bike to work, that, at least is a relief. But between me working at the library, my 19 year old who works in a supermarket and a computer hardware store, and my two other sons in school, that's a lot of people you get in contact with. I mean there are restrictions, like not mixing classes, keeping a proper distance etc. But still.

[Johanne]

I finished 'Red Wolf Conspiracy' and added my pages. It seems we have guesses! (I'm completely trusting Emily's spreadsheet at this point).
Posting that M right away!

[Trish, Annular Mod]

Morning all

So the M is where it would be for Nineteen Minutes - but what do we do now, as the only consonants left in that title, if it's right, are T and S?

[Ellie]

Do we just have to make a guess that we know is wrong? I'm pretty sure it's Nineteen Minutes too.

[Johanne]

Morning. I'll ask.

[Emily, Conterminous Mod]

Sorry, I should have told you after your last guess that you are now eligible to guess R, S, T or vowels!

[Trish, Annular Mod]

I suggest we go ahead and guess T - it should be in both words, if we're right

[Aimee]

Trish wrote: "I suggest we go ahead and guess T - it should be in both words, if we're right"

I'm happy to second that.

[Johanne]

Me too. I'm a bit confused by the spreadsheet tbh. Do we have a guess or not?

[Ellie]

The lightning round tracking page says we've only used 2 but have earned 3 so I think we have one spare.

[Emily, Conterminous Mod]

You don't have one available. You had one carried over from before the lightning round, and you've earned one guess since the lightning round started. The blue highlighted box where it says Total Guesses represents the total guesses you've used AFTER using the one you carried over. It just makes it easier for me to compare what you've used this round versus what you've earned this round.

So right now, you've earned one guess from completing books, and you've used that guess on M. (The N guess was carried over from previous rounds.)

The formula you were using to calculate earned guesses was incorrect because it was adding decimal points when it shouldn't have been. I deleted it, but you can replace it with a formula that works, if you know one lol.

[Johanne]

Well my spreadsheet skills are light years behind yours Emily.

[Aimee]

We do have a guess available actually - I forgot to fill in a completed book on the spreadsheet earlier! I added my pages but forgot the last section. So guess away!

(The book was The Confessions of Frannie Langton, in case anyone is interested - murder mystery / historical fiction with a WOC MC. Very good and I definitely recommend it.)

[Ellie]

I think we only earn half a guess per book finished now?