Team Ajax

[Deanna]

Honestly I have no idea what the mods have planned for this round. They've done different things in each tower I've played.

[Elisabeth]

Thanks Deanna. It's my first TT so I'll roll with what comes. All good.

[Emma (M)]

Well, here I was thinking we had the entire three months to finish the challenge. This sure is going to be interesting…. I’m excited to see how many we can get completed. Let the games begin :D

[Emma (M)]

Are we able to start popping in books to the planning spreadsheet now to get an idea of the best way to attack the tasks?

I’ve been having a think about the points allocation for the mini-challenge and I’m not sure if reading shorter books to get the tasks done will necessarily be the best way to get the most points, especially for those of us who have 1-2 books per week to work with. For instance, if I chose to read a 250 (25 points) page book for the task instead of a 350 (35 points) page book, then that is a 10 point difference and I only get 5 points for the task (total 30). Reading the 250 page book will also contribute to getting the 10 completion points, but since I lost 5 points for reading the 250 page book (instead of the 350 page) anyway, I’m not sure if the task completion bonus is worth it when you consider the lost points for all the ‘shorter’ books read for that task. If we weren’t restricted in how many we can read it might be different because I could read two shorter books to make up the points but if I use my, for instance, one book per week allowance on the 250 page book, I don’t have much room to read another short book to increase points. Also, if I had just read the 350 page book as the book for that week I can still likely use it in the task and therefore get 35 points for the book and 5 points for the task (total 40).

I think it might different for people who have a multiple book allowance per week though, especially if the multiple books were going to be on the shorter side anyway.

Anyway, just my initial thoughts, keen to hear how others think the best way to approach the mini-challenge may be?

[Raine]

Hi Everyone! I'm Raine!

I'm currently on vacation. I'm in the Chicago area. I work in Tech as a Database Administrator for a Fortune 50 company. I think this is my 4th or 5th TT challenge (I missed the Harry Potter one and was SO bummed!)

I put down that I read about 20 books a month, but that has been my average over the winter months. I completely forgot that spring/summer is coming up and during TT and other long challenges, I get excited and will read 1.5 to 2 books a day. I'm like a bear and sleep more in the winter, but am up at all hours when daylight gets longer! LOL! I used to read about 600-700 books a year, but I switched jobs about 3 years ago and have gotten busier (and challenged!) so reading has taken a little bit of a back seat. Hopefully, the captains will let us know if we are possibly getting close to the over-reading penalty. I think this is the first year we've ever had this penalty, and I really like the idea that the teams are on an even playing field.

I mostly only read romance, but almost all different genres (contemporary, suspense, mystery, paranormal, sci-fi, and the occasional historical). However, I've also read Harry Potter, Dan Brown, James Patterson, Dean Koontz, and John Grisham in the past and am open to book suggestions.

Aside from the captain, I'm glad we have multiple co-captains since I just like to read they are always helpful in getting my books to fit in for the challenge - less management stuff for me and more time to read! Unfortunately, since I pretty much read romance I don't usually participate in the BOM challenge. I also don't USUALLY plan out my reading list, once I finish a book, depending on how I feel after I could read a funny book, a sad book, a mystery, etc, but I make an effort for TT.

I'll be checking in at least a few times a week and don't often participate in the chats, but I'm going to try this TT9 because I'm tired of only seeing my husband and two dogs daily. My company is still letting people work remotely so I miss that 'human' connection.

I'm really excited to be on this team!

My reading shelf for TT9 is: nbrc-tower-teams-9

[Deanna]

Emma (M) wrote: "Are we able to start popping in books to the planning spreadsheet now to get an idea of the best way to attack the tasks?

I’ve been having a think about the points allocation for the mini-challeng..."

For those who like to plan ahead, you can absolutely start adding books to the planning spreadsheet. I added a couple of mine as an example.

[Deanna]

Welcome Raine!

[Deanna]

June BOM

For those who might be interested in participating in June's BOM reads and need time to get the books from their library, here are the choices for next month:

by Simone St. James - starts June 2 - BOM thread here

by Genevieve Gornichec - starts June 16 - BOM thread here

[Silje]

I actually have The Witch's Heart in my bookshelf, so I'll join that BOM=)

[Sara]

Silje wrote: "I actually have The Witch's Heart in my bookshelf, so I'll join that BOM=)"

Same. So I'll be joining that one too. And I'll have to check but I might get The Book of Cold Cases from the library in time.

[Karolyn]

There is post at the top of the team thread that covers all things May Mini Challenge so it's easy to find. I added the letters and tasks we have so it's here on the thread if you prefer to not deal with the spreadsheet.

Also want to clarify that our book total is AS A TEAM for the ENTIRE THREE MONTHS. So no one person is held exactly to their monthly target. But our collective monthly team target of 198, meaning we are targeting 594 as a team for the entire challenge.

Of course, we have no idea what the Muses will throw at us, but we can all think about how we want to balance shorter and longer reads across the three months. The over/under reading penalty is charged to us as a collective team because even the Muses understand life happens and someone may have times where they can't read (or read more) than planned.

[Bee]

Hi everyone,

I'm so excited to be part of Tower Teams again after I missed it last year due to some family commitments. And I'm happy to be in this team with you guys.

Name is Abir, 29 years old from Algeria, which is in North Africa. I have been a NBRC for years and participated in 3 or 4 TTC so far.
I don't have a specific genre when it comes to reading, I just read what I feel is the best world to escape to at that moment.

I'm not much of a talker, but I'll try to be as much active with guys as I can, and as my time allows.

My self this year is:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/list...

[Lisa - (Aussie Girl)]

Hi Abir, great to see you and be on the same team again!

[Lisa - (Aussie Girl)]

Hi Team, regarding volunteering for BOM dq’s. I see team mates have already volunteered. I have 4 previous BOM credits. Do you want me to volunteer and use one to try and guarantee one of us gets picked or hold off till later in the challenge?

[Elisabeth]

I've added the 885 page under MPG Historical/ Historical Fiction, It will probably take me most of the May two weeks but I should be able to chip in a few shorter ones to help with the Mini tasks we need.

I'm looking forward to reading that book.

I don't think I'll be doing any BOM activities.

[Emma (M)]

Lisa - (Aussie Girl) wrote: "Hi Team, regarding volunteering for BOM dq’s. I see team mates have already volunteered. I have 4 previous BOM credits. Do you want me to volunteer and use one to try and guarantee one of us gets p..."

I reckon use it on the BOM you are most interested in reading/writing questions for. If there is something that appeals now, use it now, and if not maybe wait for later BOM options.

[Deanna]

Welcome Abir!

[Deanna]

Emma (M) wrote: "Lisa - (Aussie Girl) wrote: "Hi Team, regarding volunteering for BOM dq’s. I see team mates have already volunteered. I have 4 previous BOM credits. Do you want me to volunteer and use one to try a..."

I would agree about using it on one you are interested in.

[Bee]

Lisa - (Aussie Girl) wrote: "Hi Abir, great to see you and be on the same team again!"

Hey Lisa, it's so good to hear from you again. I hope you are doing well, and I'm happy to be on the same team again.

[Bee]

Hi Team,
I just wanted to let you know that I won't be much of a help when it comes to writing DQs. I'll try to read the boom books but that will be it.
I'm good with the mini challenges, so I'll help with that as well.

[Shannon]

Hi guys!

Sorry I’ve been away. I’ve been finishing finals at college but I’m all done now so I can focus on this :)

My name is Shannon! I’m one of your co-captains and I’m from Pennsylvania! My favorite genres are mystery and sci-fi. I’ve co-captained and captained a few times for this group before and I’m really excited to get to do it again!

Can’t wait to get reading with you guys!

[Saar The Book owl]

Only 1 week to go now :)

[Lisa - (Aussie Girl)]

So I turned in 3 of my bom points for an extra chance for dq’s for A witches heart.,

[Bee]

I have a question, please, about the Mini challenge.
We have to read a book for every letter of the muses name and a book for each of the other two tasks.
EX: for the muse Thalia, we have to read 8 books total

[Deanna]

Abir wrote: "I have a question, please, about the Mini challenge.
We have to read a book for every letter of the muses name and a book for each of the other two tasks.
EX: for the muse Thalia, we have to read 8..."

Yes, that's correct.

[Karolyn]

Four days to go!!!! Is everyone getting excited?

I’m binging a few podcasts before TT kicks off and am preparing for a loooonnnnggg Steven King book that I’ve been putting off for awhile.

[Elisabeth]

I'm reading my current book slowly so I finish at the right time to dive into my long Hilary Mantel book.

[Sara]

Karolyn wrote: "Four days to go!!!! Is everyone getting excited?

I’m binging a few podcasts before TT kicks off and am preparing for a loooonnnnggg Steven King book that I’ve been putting off for awhile."

Which Stephen King are you tackling?

[Karolyn]

Sara wrote: "Karolyn wrote: "Four days to go!!!! Is everyone getting excited?

I’m binging a few podcasts before TT kicks off and am preparing for a loooonnnnggg Steven King book that I’ve been putting off for ..."

Under the Dome, which I’ve never read. And I may re-read It, which I last read in high school.

[Sara]

Karolyn wrote: "Sara wrote: "Karolyn wrote: "Four days to go!!!! Is everyone getting excited?

I’m binging a few podcasts before TT kicks off and am preparing for a loooonnnnggg Steven King book that I’ve been put..."

Oh nice. I need to read 11/22/63 this month haha. So I'm going to be doing Stephen King too.

[Deanna]

I've been reading some more books in the In Death series along with a few rereads. I'll take the next couple of days to clear off tasks that need done around the house, so I can focus on reading when we get started.

[Deanna]

Karolyn wrote: "Sara wrote: "Karolyn wrote: "Four days to go!!!! Is everyone getting excited?

I’m binging a few podcasts before TT kicks off and am preparing for a loooonnnnggg Steven King book that I’ve been put..."

I'm not a big horror fan, so I've never really given Steven King much of a try. I thought I might try The Gunslinger and see how I like it. I should be getting it from the library in a couple of weeks.

[Elisabeth]

I'm not a horror reader but I read If It Bleeds by Stephen King last year and really enjoyed it. It's 4 long short stories none of them horror but all have quirky twists and are very well-written.

I read The Gunslinger last month for UNO and liked that, too. It took a while to get into the odd Western style world he's invented but then it became a bit of a page turner and I wouldn't mind reading more in the Dark Tower series.

[Lisa - (Aussie Girl)]

I'm back from holidays and read to start... My first book for the challenge with be which is the pre-challenge BOM.

[Emma (M)]

I’ve got It on audio and I want to try and get to it this challenge, so lots of Stephen King all round.

[Bee]

Deanna wrote: "Abir wrote: "I have a question, please, about the Mini challenge.
We have to read a book for every letter of the muses name and a book for each of the other two tasks.
EX: for the muse Thalia, we h..."

Thank you, that's a relief to know. I'll plan my reading to that then.
This is what I'll be reading next week:

Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia Page count 352
اليوميات 1955-1962 by Mouloud Feraoun Page count 461
أنتيخريستوس 2 by أحمد خالد مصطفى Page count 431

[Deanna]

Almost there! Just over 2 days left before start. Here's the official countdown.

Countdown to the Start

15 May 9pm BST London, UK

https://www.timeanddate.com/countdown...

Other cities:
Sydney, Australia - Mon, 16 May 2022 06:00
Athens, Greece - Sun, 15 May 2022 23:00
Athens, GA, USA - Sun, 15 May 2022 16:00
San Francisco, CA, USA - Sun, 15 May 2022 13:00 (less)

[Deanna]

One of the reasons I love team challenges is the chance to meet new books read/recommended by team members that I may not learn about otherwise. Please share with us any favorite reads/authors whether recent discoveries or universal ones.

I love Patricia Briggs, Ilona Andrews, Anne Bishop, David Baldacci, and J. D. Robb for my favorite well-known authors. Here are a some lesser known authors I have discovered on Kindle Unlimited that I love to read.

by B.R. Kingsolver - urban fantasy, well thought out worlds with amazing characters and several different series

by K.N. Banet - fantasy, love the world created and the main character Jacky

by Damien Boyd - mystery, police procedural style plots that are well-written and excellent audiobooks

by Marko Kloos - military/science fiction, follow the life of Andrew as he enlists in the military and goes on to travel the galaxy fighting aliens

by Evan Currie - science fiction, Earth's first long range exploration ship the Odyssey responds to a distress beacon discovering a new civilization and finds themselves on the front line against a genocidal threat

[Emma (M)]

Some of my favourite books are:

by Elizabeth Gilbert - historical fiction that is of the slow and contemplative type. I found it delicious and the audio narration by English actress Juliet Stevenson was wonderful.

by Brandon Sanderson - Stand-alone fantasy with a magic system based on colours. As per usual for Brandon Sanderson the world-building was just so good and the characters well fleshed out. I didn’t want this story to end. I’ve loved the two his books I’ve read so far and have the first of the Mistborn series on my tbr for TT.

by David Joy - contemporary literary fiction set in the South about a young man who longs to escape the life of crime he has grown up in. Heart wrenching, claustrophobic and beautifully written is how I would describe this book.

by Arkady Martine - Sci-fi mystery with lots political intrigue. Imagine a culture where you begin a diplomatic position with a complete copy of your predecessor’s mind implanted in your head to help you navigate your new role. Excellent world-building and unique concepts, I loved this book and will start the next in the series for TT.

[Elisabeth]

Here's a question. My date for start/read etc are on US time for UNO which is different to TT. I can't remember how to reset the time so the dates will show correctly for this challenge. It's simple I seem to remember --if I knew where to look.

[Sara]

Ooo, it's always tough for me to come up with favorites haha. I'm so bad at naming anything that's a favorite. But, here's a few that come to me at the moment.

- I'm not sure I'd call this a favorite. I didn't give it 5 stars, but I did give it 4 stars and it's one of the reads this year that's stuck with me. It's very grimdark fantasy though and rather crude. But very creative.

- Another read from this year. A dark, cynical antihero take on the superhero/villain trope. It's probably going to end up being one of my favorite reads of this year.

- Speaking of superheroes, I can't have a favorites list without something from V.E. Schwab, and this duology is the best thing I've ever read. A gritty, dark take on superheroes as well, it's sharp edged and biting from beginning to end.

- Here's probably a pretty popular recommendation, but I read it last year and loved it. I'm trying to work my way through the rest of the series now.

- I could recommend like a dozen zombie related things, but this book is probably the cream of the crop for zombie fiction. Creative take on the Romeo and Juliet trope, and also a creative take on the zombie virus. I only recommend this book though, not the rest of the "series". Author really should have kept it as a standalone.

- I'm sensing a theme here now as I pick favorites. Dark and gritty might be my thing haha. This a dark retelling of Peter Pan. It's utterly spellbinding and brilliant and a pretty obscure gem. I don't think many people have read it.

- And before I go on forever, I'm going to pick one last recent read I've loved and that's, Dune. Another oldie, classic read that are a billion other recommendation lists but I was absolutely blown away with how quickly I got absorbed into the book. I ended up caving and buying all the rest recently and plan to work my way through them.

[Lisa - (Aussie Girl)]

Elisabeth wrote: "Here's a question. My date for start/read etc are on US time for UNO which is different to TT. I can't remember how to reset the time so the dates will show correctly for this challenge. It's simpl..."

Usually the Mods put up a countdown clock with the start date for various time zones around the world. It might be over in the Mods Rules for the challenge thread.

PS - I couldn't find the clock it might pop up yet, but it is based on London Time. So if you put London into your phone it will give you the time difference to where you are.. then you can work out when you should start. eg I'm 9 hours ahead so Sydney Aus starts at 6am on the 16th.

Edited again to say... Here is the link to the time clock that Deanna had posted... https://www.timeanddate.com/countdown...

[Elisabeth]

Thanks Lisa, yes I know the time differences it's just that when the mods check our shelves the GR time will say I started the book ahead of schedule because it's on US time. When I first did UNO I had my GR time set at Aus time and the team leader asked me to change it to US time. Now I can't remember how I did it.

[Lisa - (Aussie Girl)]

Elisabeth wrote: "Thanks Lisa, yes I know the time differences it's just that when the mods check our shelves the GR time will say I started the book ahead of schedule because it's on US time. When I first did UNO I..."

Oh okay. I just don't post my book on Currently Reading until the challenge has started. As most challenges I do aren't on AUS time (unless Aussie Mod extraordinaire Karen is in charge) I'm always working out the time difference and factor it in to my posting. You're in Canberra aren't you... so don't start or finish + 9 hours to keep in line with the official time. I didn't actually know you could change your times .

[Sixty]

Here are my recommendations:

Arthur C. Clarke is my favorite author, and this is my favorite by him.

another great one by Clarke.

a fun historical fantasy.

best zombie book.

I loved this book (and the movie) growing up.

one of my all time favorites, if you like old-school sci-fi this is the book to read.

this is a really great horror novel.

[Deanna]

@Emma - I've been meaning to give Brandon Sanderson a try for awhile. Thanks for the recommendation.

@Sara - I'm looking forward to trying Eye of the World, and I'll have to give Dune another try. I just wasn't in an epic fantasy mood the last time around. I enjoyed Vicious when it first came out, maybe I can pick up the next book in the series.

@Sixty - The Clarke books both look interesting. I hadn't heard of either of them before. I love H. G. Wells and have also enjoyed the first three Temeraire books. I'll have to see if I can grab the next book in the series this summer.

[Sara]

@Sixty - Haha seems I've started a zombie trend. Also, definitely agree that World War Z was one of the best. I read it both physically and also recently listened to the original audiobook (not the extended, I'll do that one later). It was amazing! Totally perfect for an audiodrama. Also, recently read The Last Unicorn and really enjoyed it.

[Sara]

@Emma - I've heard so many good things about A Memory Called Empire! I really need to get to it. I've had it and the sequel A Desolation Called Peace on my bookshelf for far too long.

[Elisabeth]

Lisa - (Aussie Girl) wrote: "Elisabeth wrote: "Thanks Lisa, yes I know the time differences it's just that when the mods check our shelves the GR time will say I started the book ahead of schedule because it's on US time. When..."

Haha, thanks Lisa. Maybe I invented that time change ability.

[Emma (M)]

Sara wrote: "@Emma - I've heard so many good things about A Memory Called Empire! I really need to get to it. I've had it and the sequel A Desolation Called Peace on my bookshelf for far too long."

Oh I hope you love it as much as I did - It was the book that got me over a two-year reading slump :)