Team Gremlins

[Dawn]

I looovveee discworld so super excited for this mini challenge!

[Jenny]

Angela wrote: "Jenny wrote: "Sorry Angela, which Grisham book were you referencing?"

A Time For Mercy.

I am having difficulty following this game. I am also having difficulty figuring out how to get to this thr..."

No problems!!!!
Let me give you a quick tutorial.
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The spreadsheet is not part of goodreads, but is part of google docs. There is a link to the spreadsheet called Working Gremlins in message six (on page one) of this thread.
You can add as many books as you want. Enter all of the books that you think you might read in February, or just enter them as you finish. Either is fine. If you are reading a book that you can't find an open card for, don't worry, there will be some juggling of cards towards the end of the month. Just enter anything that doesn't fit at the bottom of the spreadsheet, with cards you think it might work for, and I will put it somewhere.

Or, if you don't want to deal with the spreadsheet at all, that is just fine. Enter your books here, in this thread, and I will put it on the spreadsheet for you. If you choose to do that, list the title, author, date read, (or no date if you haven't finished yet and want to list books you are planning to read), and whatever cards it will fit. If you have questions about the cards, let me know, and I will walk you through it.

Also, if you have questions about the mini-challenge, it is also linked in message 6, and I will be happy to answer anything that isn't clear.

[Alla]

Amanda wrote: "Okay, I think a few of the books I'm reading can be tied to the mini-challenge. I'm hoping to finish a few this weekend. *fingers crossed*

I'm getting my second covid vaccine today, so I'm hoping..."

Fingers crossed for you!! Many of my co-workers got sick from the second shot...mine is in about 10 days... :/

[Alla]

phez wrote: "Alla wrote: "Katie wrote: "I am off to a slow start but I'm reading! Also, I highly recommend Anxious People by Fredrik Backman if there are any fans out there. I finished it right before we starte..."

I loved Ove, not my usual picking, but it was recommended to me and I did not regret reading it.

[Dawn]

I have linked what I am planning to read for the rest of the month within the mini challenge- if the connections do not work, please just remove :)

Both covers with a capital P on them may be too much of a stretch...

[Jenny]

Personally, I think the weirder the connection the better, but I like trying to get a giggle out of people when I can. The mods have asked for creativity, not specific rules, so go forth and be as off the wall, or as sensible as you like. If there is one that truly doesn't work, we can discuss it, but I don't foresee any big problems.

[Jenny]

Do any of you want to read the Pratchett book, or should I grab it?

[Alla]

I'm not interested in that one

[Jenny]

Alright. I have a non Uno related request. I love weird, I have never heard of them, recommendations. So, bring them on. I would love it if you guys listed a book or two that are not not any bestseller list, that you love to try to get others to read.

I will start with two that I have purchased and given away several times.
and , ok, three...

[Jenny]

I just got our 80's book on Kindle, and I thought I would grab the characters' names to possibly use for connections to other books. Well, I think maybe not. teehee...
Rincewind. Twoflower, Hrun, Ymor, Broadman, Stren Withel, Lies Wymbidder, Blind Hugh, Kring,
Bravd, (my personal favorite) Zlorf Flannelfoot,
Great A'Tuin, Tethis, Liartes, Bel-Shamharoth, Druellae, Garhartra, Greicha, Bronze Psepha, Rerpf, Marchesa, Blind Io, Goldeneyes, Gorphal, Scrofula, Terton, Gorrin.

Things that might help...
Story contains a flat world carried on the backs of four elephants, who in turn stand on the back of a turtle.
It contains wizards and magic,
an insurance clerk,
attempted arson,
a tavern.
a suitcase,
a mountain troll,
a crocodile,
a dryad,
a magic portal,
dragons,
an ocean, and the edge of the world,
mountains,
a sword,
a space capsule,
and Fate.

Terry Pratchett (Sir Terence David John Pratchett), born in Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire, England in 1948, and died in March of 2015.
He was awarded the OBE in 1998, and was knighted in 2009.
He won tons of literary awards.
He had a species of sea-turtle named after him.
He was a trustee of the Orangutan Foundation.
He wrote books with other authors.
He usually wore a hat.
He was an atheist and humanist.
He was an amateur astronomer.
He owned a greenhouse.
He as a youth, has a speech impediment.
He played video games.
He wrote children's books
He wrote The Unadulterated Cat, so, clearly a cat lover.
Some of his books were turned into tv shows.
He wrote a ton of books.

The Color of Magic is the first book in a series.
It has a bunch of genre tags, including Fantasy, Science Fiction, Humor, Adventure, and Fiction.

Hopefully all of this (except maybe the character names) helps with the connecting your books to this one.
Once I read it, I will add anything that might be good to use as well.

[Angela]

Ohhhh I love weird books Jenny so I am adding your suggestions. The first one that came to my mind when I saw this last night was . I am sure I will think of others over the course of the weekend.

[Alla]

Jenny did you like The House in the Cerulean Sea ?

[Jenny]

Alla wrote: "Jenny did you like The House in the Cerulean Sea ?"

I did. I thought it was charming. There were many points when I wanted to pat Linus on the head, and say, "there there", and I loved the anti-christ. How weird is that?

How did you like it?

[Alla]

Jenny wrote: "Alla wrote: "Jenny did you like The House in the Cerulean Sea ?"

I did. I thought it was charming. There were many points when I wanted to pat Linus on the head, and say, "there th..."

I got the same feeling, charming and a very nice to read. The anti-christ was so likable, lol, as were all of the children really, each in their own way. I listened to it on audio and the narrator did a fantastic job, made each character unique and stand out.

[Jenny]

Hey all, the mini-challenge has started, so any books you finish from here until the end of the month can be used for it as well.

Anyone have any questions about it?

Anyone want to come to Phoenix today and vacuum and mop for me? I will provide you will alcohol and food!

[Dafna]

checking in that I am still here...finished Man's search for meaning. How do I mark it as finished on the sheet? I have it in my uno shelf. Let me know what I need to do.
I am glad I finally read it after wanting to for a long time. I didn't like it as much as I thought I would.

[Dafna]

Amanda wrote: "Okay, I think a few of the books I'm reading can be tied to the mini-challenge. I'm hoping to finish a few this weekend. *fingers crossed*

I'm getting my second covid vaccine today, so I'm hoping..."

How are you feeling after your vaccine? I got my second dose yesterday and I am definitely feeling it more than the first dose but not too bad. Feeling achy and exhausted and super sore arm.

[Jenny]

Dafna wrote: "checking in that I am still here...finished Man's search for meaning. How do I mark it as finished on the sheet? I have it in my uno shelf. Let me know what I need to do.
I am glad I finally read i..."

Hey Dafna, you just put the date read on the spreadsheet. That's it.

Hopefully you and everyone are having a nice weekend!

[Katie]

Dafna wrote: "Amanda wrote: "Okay, I think a few of the books I'm reading can be tied to the mini-challenge. I'm hoping to finish a few this weekend. *fingers crossed*

I'm getting my second covid vaccine today..."

I got my second one last Friday and felt pretty gross Saturday, but that was it! I'll take one day of feeling meh to get the world back to some semblance of normal!

[Katie]

Jenny wrote: "I just got our 80's book on Kindle, and I thought I would grab the characters' names to possibly use for connections to other books. Well, I think maybe not. teehee...
Rincewind. Twoflower, Hrun, Y..."

This is super helpful, Jenny! I'm sure I can draw some weird connections to books I'm reading.

[Jenny]

Glad to help.
I need to find links for stuff I am reading, or just read. I had a weekend of too many things to do besides GR stuff, so I am playing catch up myself. Not sure today will be any better. But, I will get there in the end.

[phez]

I finished One of us is next but the excel cell didn’t have the points. It says NA.

[Jenny]

No worries, there is a glitch with the color cards. We can enter the points manually.

[Jenny]

Sorry guys, I am having a busy few days here, so I am not posting as much as normal. I will still be checking in this week, so let me know if there are any questions or issues.

Talk amongst yourselves...

[Katie]

I'm late with this question but... what do the "Shelf Checked" and "On SS" boxes on the shared document mean?

[Jenny]

Those are for the captains, so you can ignore them.

[Jenny]

It's quiet here. Too quiet. teehee

Everyone doing ok?
Everyone too busy to chat?
Read any good books lately?

[Angela]

Working on it. This a great day for reading w/a warm fire & hot chocolate!!!

[Jenny]

Are you having a snow day?
I miss those, and remember them well, being originally from Wisconsin.

[Alla]

I´m reading (listening) and doing some housework. Have time off work until Tuesday, so will be doing some listening and knitting.
Just started Just One Damned Thing After Another series. So far it is very good :)

[Jenny]

I bloody love that series. The narrator is very good too.

[Angela]

I am here but have been busy as crap at work this week. I sit in meetings pretty much all day sometimes so my reading has suffered. It snowed AGAIN and I would like nothing more than to cuddle up with my book and the pups. :)

[Amanda]

Yikes.

Time sure escaped me. I haven't been reading at all. I'm going to have to step up here. My mind has been all over the place.

Hope everyone is doing okay with the huge storm that happened. I live in Northeast Ohio, so it missed us for the most part. Although, we are used to having tons of snow.

I've been finding books from my childhood lately on Amazon for my Kindle. R.L. Stine (Not Goosebumps), Sweet Valley High, and Baby-Sitters Club. I'm so wanting to get all of them.

[Jenny]

What's stopping you? I reread childhood books too. A Wrinkle in Time, From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, The Wolves of Willoughby Chase. I love revisiting those books.

[Alla]

Jenny wrote: "I bloody love that series. The narrator is very good too."

Yes, she´s brilliant! A good narrator is so important. A bad one can make a book that you read and really like, bad when listening to if poorly narrated.

[phez]

Reading claim me, that’ll get us some points with the draw 2. I have so many books I can’t wait to read! So glad I got back into reading more, you forget how fun it is. I found a bag of used books I got at a bag sale and was thrilled to add even more to my shelves

[Jenny]

Ahhh book addicts. I so love to be in good company.

[Angela]

I was just looking at the spreadsheet and I have read The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue of you need to use that as a reverse card.

[Angela]

Does anyone have a book for 9 yellow they want to read? If not, I can probably squeeze in as there is a character with a last name starting with N.

[Ilsen]

I saw Angela Snyder’s note in the spreadsheet and I wanted to know what is everyone’s opinion on it? Should we only put books when we finished it or should we just put everything in?

Personally I agree with Angela. I think we should only put them in when we finished them because then it gets filled up too quickly and people might be pressured to finish a certain book because they put it on there. Yea we could always shuffle it but I feel like it’s a lot more work for the captains, especially since it’s supposed to be a working spreadsheet. I think the only ones that should be filled out ahead of time are color cards because those are very specific. (Also Angela Sc. I think you should take that one. That spot has been empty for a while and it’s the only color card we are missing other than a Wild Draw 4). Maybe a suggestion we can do is that if you started a book and think you can finish it within the month, you can add it?

But that’s just my opinion. I want to see what the whole team thinks! I’m not trying to change anything. Just making note of Angela’s comment! Have a nice night/day wherever you are!

[Jenny]

Go for it if you want!
We can always use it for an N card even without the yellow cover.

[Jenny]

I have no problem with that suggestion of not filling in books until finished. What does everyone else think?
We can structure March differently.

I just sent this up the way the teams I have been on played before. There is not right or wrong way, just what we want to do.

[Angela]

I saw the other Angela’s note too. Either way is fine with me. I only add books to the spreadsheet that I know I am going to read in a given month since I set a TBR for myself every month regardless and it helps me stay on track. I read quite a bit so feel free to replace any of my completed entries with someone else’s.

[phez]

I think putting it on the sheet when you start reading is good. That way you claim your card. If we waited until we finished more than one person could be eyeing the same card. That way it’s not overloaded but every spot is claimed by someone actively reading a book. But I’m flexible so I have no problem with what the group decides

[Ilsen]

@ Angela Sc. I also try to have a set TBR each month but it’s usually really ambitious and I don’t get to all of them so that’s why I just input it as I finish.

@phezweb That’s exactly why I suggested it! I just don’t want the spreadsheet to be overloaded with books that they haven’t read yet but I feel like putting them in as you started them is a good compromise

[phez]

I don’t always see all the comments either, I wish they could make the app more user friendly, so I apologize if I was just repeating someone else! On the phone app I apparently can’t reply directly to people? I’m breezy!! Hahahaha...

[Rachael]

Just looking through the Working Spreadsheet- Angela Snyder you've listed 'Daylight' as having been read but I can't find it in your 'Read' list. Could you mark it as read please?

[Rachael]

Katie could you also add 'We crossed a bridge...' to your Uno shelf please? Thanks :)

[Alla]

Sorry ladies, the later part of the note was from me, not Angela, (after the white lined question mark, I should have put a space between, see that now, or my name under it).
I just wanted to put that out here just so we won´t have many spaces unfilled in the end if someone doesn´t managed to finish everything that was put in the spreadsheet in the first place...just a thought and also then there will be more available spaces for those who read slower to put their books in there... :)
Just an idea to give everyone a chance to put something on it :D
I know I have alot of spaces there, but I have finished all my books so far and I´m more than willing to put the rest of my books in the bottom of the spreadsheet so they can be used only if needed and someone else can have the spaces in the spreadsheet :)

[Ilsen]

Oh I didn’t realize it was a different person. Sorry Alla! But I agree, that we should let the slower readers have a chance to put something in and to make sure there is no chaos in the last few days, just put in your books either if you started it and think you will finish it or have already finished it.