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Archives > 2021 Read-a-Thon #1: Team Carnation

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message 1: by Emily, Conterminous Mod (last edited Feb 12, 2021 08:53PM) (new)

Emily Bourque (emilyardoin) | 11188 comments Mod
Hello, Team Carnation!

This week, you will be working together to complete a series of prompts. While some prompts only require one single book, others will require 2 or 3 or 4!

Use your spreadsheet to track which prompts you've completed, as well as any Wild Cards you've earned. Please place only completed books on the Tracking tab, and use the Planning tab for planning purposes.

*Wild Cards: For every 1000 pages read or 15 hours of audio listened, you will earned one Wild Card, which can be used in the place of one book. Your spreadsheet will track how many Wild Cards you've earned and used.

MEMBERS:
Team Captain: Meghan
Karissa
Laurel
Sarah (Message 26)
Alison
Sandra
Deborah (Message 45)
Fee
Kelly
Ali

THE PROMPTS:

Single Book Prompts
For those who are rocking it solo this Valentine's Day

A coming-of-age book
A book with themes related to hope, self-love, or self-respect
A book with an inspiring title or cover
A debut author
A book featuring an activity you consider "self care" (i.e. travel, pets, video games, reading, cooking, etc.)
A book about fresh starts
A travel book
A book where the character moves to a new home
A book with just one person on the cover
A book with the word "one" in the title (can include "someone", "no one", "everyone", etc)

2 Book Prompts
For those of us in love

Two books whose titles start with "L"
Two LGBTQIA+ books featuring a love story
A book written by a male and a book written by a female
Two books featuring elderly characters
Two books with "matching" covers (however you define that)
Two books with two people on the cover
Two books with hearts on the cover
Two books featuring the enemies-turned-lovers trope
Two YA rom-coms
Two books connected to Shakespeare

3 Book Prompts
Grab a friend and share a book

Three books featuring a theme of friendship
Three books that span more than 10 years
Three books in which a romantic love story is not featured
Three books featuring protagonists at different stages of life (one YA, one new parent, one elderly character, for example)
Three books that feature roommates who are not romantically involved

4 Book Prompts
We love our four-legged friends

Four books featuring characters who have pets
Four books that make you feel "warm and fuzzy"
Four books that have the letter "P" in the title


message 2: by Meghan (new)

Meghan Chiasson | 74 comments Hi Team! I am super excited for this Read-a-Thon. I have an aggressive TBR this week, as follows:
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab
Tweet Cute by Emma Lord
Shadow of Night by Deborah Harkness
The Last Book Party by Karne Dukess
Reverie by Ryan La Sala
Binti by Nnedi Okorafor


message 3: by Alison (last edited Feb 12, 2021 08:03AM) (new)

Alison | 76 comments HI Team Carnation!! I am from Santa Fe where it is supposed to get extremely cold and snowy in the next couple days (perfect reading weather)! I am a newbie so don't really know how this works but I have the following books planned (I definitely want to read the first 5 and would try to fit the last one in if we need to).

The Royal We...I just started this so it could be Book 1 of the prompt "Two books with Hearts on the Cover"

Jar of Hearts...Book 2 of the above prompt :)

Meet Me at the Museum...which is a "book about Fresh Starts" OR "Book written by a Female"

Out Of Range...a "book written by a male" or "book where a romantic love story is not featured"

Every Heart a Doorway...Audio book that I am going to listen to which would fit "book with a heart on the cover" or "book with a travel theme" (I think this could fit because the characters "travel" through a doorway to another world and then come back to their own world)

Possible (if I get through the above :): A Touch of Stone and Snow...a "book with one person on the cover" or possibly "an enemies-to-lovers trope"


message 4: by Sandra (new)

Sandra Lourenço (ssandraa) | 180 comments Hello from Portugal!

I'm currently in the middle of a lot of books that I hope to finish during the readathon. Hopefully some of them will work for any of the prompts.


message 5: by Deborah (last edited Feb 12, 2021 09:56AM) (new)

Deborah | 348 comments Hey Team Carnation!! Hello from Utah. I am new to to this read-a-thon thing, but I have a few books that I hope to be able to finish this week. I am hoping to take advantage of a long weekend and be able to finish at least four books this week (Cross your fingers).

These are the books that I would like to read that would fit some of our prompts.

Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate ... a"Book written by a female" or "A book with two people on the cover" (I have actually already started this, but I have over 100 pages left so we can still count it for the read-a-thon).

Follow My Leader By James Garfield..."A book where a love story is not featured" or"A book featuring characters who have pets"or "A book written by a Male"

Way to Be!: 9 Ways To Be Happy And Make Something Of Your Life by Gordon B. Hinckley ..."A book with themes related to hope, self love, or self-respect" or "A book written by a male" or "A book where a love story is not featured"

God Wants A Powerful People by Sheri Dew ..."A book with an inspiring title or cover" or "A book that has the letter "P" in the title."

I have other books aligned with prompts so if I get these done I will attempt to read them as well, but 4 books is asking a lot for me.

Dicey's Song by Cynthia Voight ... "A book where the character moves to a new home"

Come a Stranger by Cynthia Voight..."A book about fresh starts" NOTE: If I read both this and Dicey's song...they have similar covers and would Qualify for "Two books with Matching Covers"

Austenland by Shannon Hale ... "A YA Rom-com"

Beatrice and Benedick..."A book connected to Shakespeare"

The Education of Bet..."A Book connected to Shakespeare"

I am also listening to Allegiant on CD, but since I mostly listen to audio books in my car to and from work, I don't know if I will finish it during the Read-a-thon. If I get it finished before February 21 it would qualify for pages read, but I don't think that it fits any prompts this time round.


message 6: by Fee (last edited Feb 12, 2021 11:19AM) (new)

Fee | 233 comments Hi Team. I’m very excited for this read a thon. I’m currently reading rather long books so I do not know how many of them I’ll be able to finish but I will try to add as many pages read as possible.


message 7: by Emily, Conterminous Mod (new)

Emily Bourque (emilyardoin) | 11188 comments Mod
Just a suggestion: On your Planning spreadsheet, you may want to use the blue bar at the top to list the books you are planning to read, then marking that it fits each prompt with an X. That way, if one person has multiple books that fit a prompt, it would count each book individually and you'd have a better idea of how many books you have for each prompt. Of course, you're welcome to complete the spreadsheet however you'd like, but that's how some other teams are using their planning thread.


message 8: by Deborah (new)

Deborah | 348 comments I took Emily's Advice and added my books and the prompts they fit (Marked with an X...I marked the books I may not get to with a X*). I think it is a good suggestion, but since I am not the team leader I will fill out the form however we choose to. Let me know if you want to do something different to plan and I will adjust.


message 9: by Alison (new)

Alison | 76 comments I also took Emily's Advice and added my books and the prompts they fit in the same way as Deborah :) I can adjust if you want to do something differently! Looking forward to reading with You All!!


message 10: by Emily, Conterminous Mod (new)

Emily Bourque (emilyardoin) | 11188 comments Mod
Oh! I love that y'all did this, but I meant on the Planning tab, not the Tracking one. Tracking is for books completed only! I would move those that y'all did put on the Tracking tab to the Planning one!


message 11: by Deborah (new)

Deborah | 348 comments Emily wrote: "Oh! I love that y'all did this, but I meant on the Planning tab, not the Tracking one. Tracking is for books completed only! I would move those that y'all did put on the Tracking tab to the Plannin..."

Oops! Obviously I misunderstood the suggestion, Sorry if I mislead anyone else. My books are in the planning section now.


message 12: by Alison (new)

Alison | 76 comments Emily wrote: "Oh! I love that y'all did this, but I meant on the Planning tab, not the Tracking one. Tracking is for books completed only! I would move those that y'all did put on the Tracking tab to the Plannin..."

I didn't even see the planning tab...all fixed! Sorry about that :D


message 13: by Emily, Conterminous Mod (new)

Emily Bourque (emilyardoin) | 11188 comments Mod
No worries! :)


message 14: by Ali (new)

Ali | 66 comments Hey everyone! Looking forward to getting stuck into this with you. Joined at the last minute but just in time....

I'm not really a planner when it comes to reading but I'm in the middle of reading The Fountains of Silence by Ruta Sepetys so that will be my first book for the readathon!


message 15: by Alison (new)

Alison | 76 comments Good Morning Team Carnation and glad you joined us, Ali! I had to get up early to take the Dog to the vet (needed ☕️ first) so I thought I would check in 😊
Looking forward to reading with you all...I am about 150 pages into “The Royal We” at the moment.


message 16: by Ali (new)

Ali | 66 comments Turns out I lied.... ended up helping my sister with a massive spring cleaning project and we've listened to the entire audiobook of Dear Edward by Ann Napolitano today!

It would fit quite a few of the prompts:
- coming of age
- theme of hope
- fresh start
- moves home
- theme of friendship

I however have slotted it into self-care on the spreadsheet for the time being. One of the character becomes pretty obsessed with caring for ferns in the book and it's totally introduced as a self-care activity. Obviously happy to move it somewhere else in a reshuffle!

Good luck everyone!!


message 17: by Meghan (new)

Meghan Chiasson | 74 comments Hi Everyone!

I am excited to get started and see that Ali is already dominating the read-a-thon, finishing Dear Edward!! Way-to-go!

I have updated the planning tab like Emily suggested, putting the titles, reader's name and counted how many prompts it could hit.

In total there are 57 slots that need to be filled - with the Wild Cards we can earn I am sure we will crush this goal.


message 18: by Alison (new)

Alison | 76 comments I think that I will try to get through my long book The Pillars of the Earth this week to fill in 'a book with the letter "P" in the title'...I noticed that we don't have many books slotted for that prompt and it is on my list for this month!

I also made great progress on The Royal We and should finish tomorrow. I entered my pages read for Saturday on the tracking page :)


message 19: by Deborah (new)

Deborah | 348 comments I hope everyone is enjoying day one of the Read-a-thon. I have been working on two books so far this month and I finished them both today. There was more than 100 pages left in both novels so I figured that I would try to finish them for this read-a-thon before starting new books.

The 1st book was Allegiant by Veronica Roth...I am not sure what prompt to put it under, it would definitely qualify as a book written by a femaleor a book where a character moves to a new home Any thoughts?

The second book Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate really tore me apart. It really pulls at your emotions, if you haven't read it, you should. It would qualify for "a book with elderly characters", a "book with two people on the cover", "Three books that Span more than 10 years", and "A book where the character moves to a new home" (in this case it wasn't voluntary). I decided to put it on "A book that spans more than 10 years" because I feel that would be the hardest of the 4 prompts to fill.


message 20: by Kelly (new)

Kelly Brown | 371 comments Hello everyone! I had a pretty busy day, but that is every Saturday for me. I didn't get a chance to get on the computer to update the spreadsheet, so I will have to do that tomorrow. I listened to 2.35 hours of audiobook today, and I will update my page count when I finish reading for tonight. I have finished the book Maids, and started the book The Snow. I am listening to A Cold Dark Place by Gregg Olsen.


message 21: by Fee (last edited Feb 13, 2021 10:07PM) (new)

Fee | 233 comments Hi. I also added my books to the Spreadsheet. I haven’t go much reading done yesterday. My kids and I all have a cold. So I made us hot milk with honey and I will try to read a bit now. : )


message 22: by Laurel (new)

Laurel Kristick | 874 comments Finished One Last Stop today (couldn't put it down!) and added it to the spreadsheet


message 23: by Sandra (new)

Sandra Lourenço (ssandraa) | 180 comments I have finished A Terceira Índia and I'm adding it to the spreadsheet to the prompt A book with just one person on the cover.

A Terceira Índia by Iris Bravo


message 24: by Alison (new)

Alison | 76 comments I have finished The Royal We and added it to the spreadsheet for "book with hearts on the cover". I am unsure how to mark it complete on the planning page, however (turn it green)?

I have started Out Of Range and Meet Me at the Museum today :)

Out Of Range (Joe Pickett, #5) by C.J. Box


message 25: by Meghan (new)

Meghan Chiasson | 74 comments I just finished Tweet Cute and it was an adorable YA rom-com. Next on the list is The Last Book Party and hopefully finishing up Shadow of Night in a day or so :)

Great job everyone! Keep up the reading.


message 26: by Deborah (new)

Deborah | 348 comments I just Finished Follow My Leader by James B. Garfield. It is about a young boy who loses his eyesight and is lucky enough to get a Guide dog. Quick but good read. I put is under a "book where a character has a pet". I also finished Way to Be!: 9 Ways To Be Happy And Make Something Of Your Life by Gordon B. Hinckley this afternoon. I put it under "A book with themes related to hope, self-love, or self-respect"

I am now out of quick reads so it will most likely take me longer to read my remaining planned books. I am now currently reading Dicey's Song by Cynthia Voight.


message 27: by Kelly (new)

Kelly Brown | 371 comments Hello everyone! I am finally on my computer, so I got myself updated for the weekend. YAY! I hope everyone had a good Valentine's Day. My kids are off from school today, so it feels like the weekend is extended. Hopefully I can get some me time. Happy reading!


message 28: by Meghan (new)

Meghan Chiasson | 74 comments Sarah wrote: "Hii team! I didn't have access to internet this week-end, so I couldn't check Goodreads, but I could read!

I finished Fille by Camille Laurens last night, I think it can be conside..."


Hi Sarah - Graphic Novels do count, per the Mods

"Q: Can I use picture books/graphic novels/etc?
A: A book must have at least 200 pages if it has illustrations on a majority of pages in order to count for a prompt fulfilled, but you can always use those shorter books for pages read."


message 29: by Deborah (last edited Feb 15, 2021 06:12PM) (new)

Deborah | 348 comments Hey All! I have been reading like crazy and I suprised myself by finishing both Dicey's Song and Come a Stranger both by Cynthia Voigt. The covers of these books have similar styles so I am choosing to put them under the "Two books with Matching Covers Prompt." I start work again tomorrow so my reading should go down from here on out...but I may surprise myself again.


message 30: by Laurel (new)

Laurel Kristick | 874 comments No reading today - I had cataract surgery this morning and my eye is a little sore. My post-surgery instructions don't limit reading, but I just wasn't up to it today.


message 31: by Alison (last edited Feb 16, 2021 04:37PM) (new)

Alison | 76 comments Happy Tuesday, Team Carnation...hope you all are having a great reading day! :) @Laurel...I hope you are feeling better after your surgery!

I just finished Meet Me at the Museum which could fulfill 3 prompts:
1. a book featuring elderly characters...the main characters in this book are about mid-to upper 60's-ish (not too elderly, IMHOP ;)
2. a book with the protagonists at different stages of life...again, the main characters are mid to upper 60's
3. A Debut Novel!! I didn't know this but was reading about the book after I finished and this was the author's first novel!
I am unsure where this book should be slotted so haven't entered it as finished on the tracking/planning sheet...any thoughts??

I started and will finish Every Heart a Doorway tomorrow and should finish Out Of Range tomorrow!


message 32: by Meghan (new)

Meghan Chiasson | 74 comments Hi Alison! I think option #2 (protagonists at different stages of life) is probably the most difficult to fill? So I vote for that one.

I am in the middle of listening to Reverie by Ryan La Sala (hope to finish tomorrow) and reading The Chaos of Stars by Kiersten White .


message 33: by Sandra (new)

Sandra Lourenço (ssandraa) | 180 comments Hi Team!!

I finished The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue last night and I have added it to the spreadsheet to the prompt A book written by a male and a book written by a female.


message 34: by Alison (last edited Feb 17, 2021 08:26AM) (new)

Alison | 76 comments Ok...I added 3 books to the tracking page (I still don't know how to mark them in green as complete on the planning page :):

Meet Me at the Museum...I added this to the
"book with protagonists at different stages of life" prompt

Out Of Range...this was a "book in which a romantic love story is not featured"

Every Heart a Doorway...this I put under "book that features roommates who are not romantically involved". The main character, Nancy, goes to a school for "Wayward Children" and rooms with another character...there is no romantic attachment between the 2 girls, just roommates :) This book isn't added to the planning page yet...not sure how to do that :)

I started reading Jar of Hearts for a "book with a heart on the cover"" and
A Touch of Stone and Snow for a "book with the enemies to lovers trope". I haven't added this one to the planning page (I don't want to mess anything up by adding columns, etc).


message 35: by Alison (new)

Alison | 76 comments Sandra wrote: "Hi Team!!

I finished The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue last night and I have added it to the spreadsheet to the prompt A book written by a male and a book written by a female."


Sandra...did you enjoy this one? I read it in January...


message 36: by Deborah (new)

Deborah | 348 comments Hey all! Yesterday was not a successful day for reading for me. Work got a little crazy and when I got home I just got busy doing other things. I am currently working on God Wants A Powerful People by Sheri Dew. Hopefully I will be able to squeeze in some reading time this evening, but with the snow that we are getting...I'm not sure. (It took me an hour and a half to clear the driveway and sidewalk this morning and it is still snowing!)


message 37: by Sandra (new)

Sandra Lourenço (ssandraa) | 180 comments Alison wrote: "Sandra wrote: "Hi Team!!

I finished The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue last night and I have added it to the spreadsheet to the prompt A book written by a male and a book written by..."


I loved it but I'm still not very sure about how I feel about the ending.


message 38: by Sandra (new)

Sandra Lourenço (ssandraa) | 180 comments I've added The Vanishing Half to the prompt Three books featuring protagonists at different stages of life.


message 39: by Ali (new)

Ali | 66 comments Oh wow! Well done everyone - we're doing so well! I've finally managed to track down a book starting with 'L' that I want to read....


message 40: by Kelly (new)

Kelly Brown | 371 comments Hello everyone! Hope everyone is doing ok. I just read through the messages and it seems like so much is going on. Hope everyone is safe and warm. I know the weather has been insane across the US. I have been trying to get my packages (I make bookmarks) out before that crazy weather hits me here in DE. I have updated my totals in the spreadsheet. I don't have too much left in my audiobook. I will keep on reading! Great job everyone!


message 41: by Fee (new)

Fee | 233 comments Hello. I finished my first book Point Roberts and updated the spreadsheet. I used it for P in the title. It would also fit for the friendship categorie. Puh, this book had so much potential but it was written so badly. Really disappointing.


message 42: by Karissa (new)

Karissa | 440 comments Hello Team Carnation! Sorry I am the worst and completely forgot that my favorite ATY activity, the read-a-thon, was starting on Saturday. Not only did I forget to check-in, but I also did zero reading during my long weekend, ugh. But I am here now, and trying to make up for it.

My reading has been decent at least since Tuesday. I have updated the spreadsheet with my pages and audio hours. I also managed to finish my book, Telephone, yesterday which I put in the spreadsheet for a book featuring a character who has a pet. And I just now finished my audiobook, The Down Days, which I slotted as a book without a romantic love story.

I am hoping to finish two more books between today and tomorrow, and possibly one more over the weekend, but I'm not sure yet if that will happen. Good job to everyone on getting so many prompts checked off only halfway through!


message 43: by Deborah (new)

Deborah | 348 comments Welcome Karissa! We look forward to hearing from you the rest of the week!


message 44: by Deborah (last edited Feb 18, 2021 12:10PM) (new)

Deborah | 348 comments Hey All! Yesterday was slightly better in terms of reading for me. I managed to get a few more pages of God Wants A Powerful People read. I think I will have it finished by Friday night. If so, I have a few books in queue that would fit the "warm and Fuzzy" category or "a book related to Shakespeare" depending on what we need most.


message 45: by Meghan (new)

Meghan Chiasson | 74 comments Yesterday was a hot mess for me. Sorry for not getting any reading done. I promise to make it up today. My goal is to finish The Chaos of Stars and start listening to The Family Upstairs today.

Happy Friday! Happy Reading!


message 46: by Alison (new)

Alison | 76 comments Happy Friday, Everyone, and Happy Reading!!
I am reading Jar of Hearts for "book with hearts on the cover" and will probably finish this tomorrow.

I am also reading A Touch of Stone and Snow for the "enemies to lovers" prompt and while I liked the first book in this series, I am HATING this second book! It may be my mood but I am not connecting at all with the characters and her writing style really bugs me in this book! I find myself skimming sections! I am in the minority here according to the glowing reviews it got...sigh...I will finish this one tomorrow also (I am about 50% done) and will be glad when I am done! If not for this readathon and the prompt it fills, I probably would have DNF'd, sorry to say....hate it when that happens! :)

I have been listening to Catering to Nobody on audio (enjoying this one and found myself laughing in some parts...the narrator is good). This is a cozy mystery...the main character is catering a wake when someone gets poisoned and she has to prove it wasn't her doing. She does have a son AND a housemate so it could go under "roommates who are not romantically involved". It could also be a "self care" book (it involves cooking) or "Warm and Fuzzy" because cooking can make your feel warm and fuzzy and it is a cozy mystery. Thoughts, Anyone?


message 47: by Sandra (new)

Sandra Lourenço (ssandraa) | 180 comments I've finished Eliza and Her Monsters and added it to the prompt Four books featuring characters who have pets.


message 48: by Kelly (new)

Kelly Brown | 371 comments Hello everyone! TGIF! Hope Everyone is doing well. I have finished my audiobook and put it on the spreadsheet. I should finish my physical book tonight. Looks like we are doing pretty well at racking up the wild cards. Great job!


message 49: by Laurel (new)

Laurel Kristick | 874 comments I just finished The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America but wasn't sure how I could fit it into the group challenge. Then I realized that it definitely didn't have a romantic love story, so I slotted it in for the third book in that category.


message 50: by Deborah (new)

Deborah | 348 comments Hey all! I just finished God Wants A Powerful People and put it on the spreadsheet as the final book that has "P" in the title. I have started reading Beatrice and Benedick. I am hoping to finish it before the end of the read-a-thon, but it is a longer book..... If I do finish, it will complete the prompt for "a book related to Shakespeare" I am also working on a shorter book King of the Wind that would fit in the category of a book that makes you feel warm and fuzzy. I will definitely finish at least one of these books...hopefully both.


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