Fall 22 Readathon: Team Squash

[Emily, Conterminous Mod]

Team Squash, it's time to fill those cornucopias with our autumn harvest!

You will work to fill each cornucopia using the prompts provided. You can read to fill them in any order you'd like, and you can refill the same ones multiple times.

Each book read may only be used for one prompt per team challenge. Don't forget about your acorns! You get some for every 1000 pages read (or 15 hours of audio listed to).

ACORNS

- Earn an acorn for every 1000 pages read as a team.
- Earn an acorn for every 15 hours of audio listened to.

Note: Acorns must be accrued to fill the cornucopias. Once you complete a cornucopia, those acorns should not be used on future cornucopias.

CORNUCOPIA #1

- Accrue 3 acorns +

Complete all four prompts:
- A book with a majority orange cover
- A book that is 400+ pages
- A book featuring an animal in the story
- A book that was published in the fall (September, October, or November)

CORNUCOPIA #2

- Accrue 3 acorns +

Complete all four prompts:
- A dystopian novel
- A book with a majority red cover
- A book with a person's first name in the title
- A book set in or about nature (forest, camping, environmental literature, etc.)

CORNUCOPIA #3

- Accrue 3 acorns +

Complete all four prompts:
- A book set in a school
- A book featuring a ghost
- A book with a black and white cover
- A book by an author who is not alive anymore

CORNUCOPIA #4

- Accrue 3 acorns +

Complete all four prompts:
- A book set in the 1900s
- A book about family dynamics
- A book with a majority yellow cover
- A magical realism novel

CORNUCOPIA #5

- Accrue 3 acorns +

Complete all four prompts:
- A mystery or thriller
- A book that features sports
- A book with an item of food on the cover
- A young adult novel

THE TEAM
Captain: Sheena
Captain: Amy
Lynette
Sherri
Jen K
Alisa
Rachel
JennH
Brittany
Lynn

THE SPREADSHEET: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/...

[°~Amy~°]

Hello team! I'm sitting here lining up my planned individual challenge reads with the team read prompts. It's looking pretty pefect so far. I can't wait to get started!

If anyone needs help deciding where to put a book, post it here and I know the group will help you figure it out. Meanwhile, don't forget to track your page count so we can start collecting those acorns!

[Sheena]

Hi Everyone!
I'm so excited to get started on my book plans for the read-a-thon! I just joined the group this year and am looking forward to my first read-a-thon with everyone here.


I've got a bit of a crazy day at work today (payroll day!) but will start planning later and get my head wrapped around the spreadsheet. I just finished Gallant last night and choose Acts of Violet to read next this. It looks like it could fit in a couple of the cornucopias, so yay!

[Jen K]

Hey team, very excited that the work week is pretty much over! Bring on the weekend. Also LOVE the read-a-thons and look forward to reading with you this week!

[Sherri]

Good Evening Team Squash. I love Read-A-Thons. I will finish Gerta tomorrow. It's 447 pages. After tomorrow I'm not sure. I'm hopeful A Psalm for the Wild-Built will come in from the library tomorrow. It has been in transit since Tuesday. So we will see.

[°~Amy~°]

Sheena wrote: "Hi Everyone!
I'm so excited to get started on my book plans for the read-a-thon! I just joined the group this year and am looking forward to my first read-a-thon with everyone here.


I've got a ..."

Hi Sheena! I understand the spreadsheet pretty well. I see a few members of this group that do as well, so between the bunch of us, we will get this figured out! :)

I am trying to decide if I should finish my long-ish book, which might take a couple days or if I should start on a short 150 page book to get things moving. I have a few more hours before the read a thon officially starts (EST). Where is everyone else from?

[°~Amy~°]

Sherri wrote: "Good Evening Team Squash. I love Read-A-Thons. I will finish Gerta tomorrow. It's 447 pages. After tomorrow I'm not sure. I'm hopeful A Psalm for the Wild-Built will..."

Oh nice! I hope you will put that in the prompt for a 400+ page book prompt. I don't think we will get many of those so that would be a big help!

[JennH]

Hi Team Squash! Excited about the readathon. I am away, and will be until Monday evening, so my participation online will be sparse until then. I will be starting A Spell for Chameleon and will be listening to Once Upon a River tomorrow EST. Happy reading everyone!

ETA: I forgot that I'm also reading The Hobbit which I might or might not finish during the readathon as I'm reading that aloud to the kids. But it'll at least count for acorns.

[Sheena]

I've got a huge pile of TBR waiting so I think I'll wait and strategically pick my next book based on what holes need to be filled.

Just want to check for consensus .. do you thinkThe Bodyguard is yellow or orange? Getting mixed replies from my family :D Personally I think yellow but what do you all think?


I'll be out of touch quiet a bit tomorrow (good friend's 50th bday party) but will pick up the slack Sunday.

[Brittany]

I started Good Girl, Bad Blood today which works for a few different prompts. I’ll definitely finish it this weekend. I’ll have to look through my tbr and the prompts to see what will be after that and I’ll let you all know!

[Sherri]

Sheena wrote, "Just want to check for consensus .. do you think the Bodyguard is yellow or orange?" Yellow.

[°~Amy~°]

Sheena wrote: "I've got a huge pile of TBR waiting so I think I'll wait and strategically pick my next book based on what holes need to be filled.

Just want to check for consensus .. do you think[book:The Bodyg..."

To me, it looks orange, but I ran it through a color app and it came up with seven shades of yellow. I'd still use it for Orange or Yellow cover.

[°~Amy~°]

Getting ready for work this morning and I need to decide on an audiobook for the day.

My choices are:
What If? Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions - published in the fall

An Antarctic Mystery - black and white cover

Just So Stories - author who is not alive anymore

I think I am leaning toward Just So Stories.

I also need to pick a new physical read but I'll decide on that after work!

[L Y N N]

I just got signed up (late) for the Team Challenge and I'm now on Team Squash! Hello there, fellow teammates! :)

I am completing Buddy Reads this week as well as the Individual Challenge, so am rather limited in the books I can add or substitute.

I'll add my books to the spreadsheet.

Thanks for letting me on your team!

[L Y N N]

Sherri wrote: "Good Evening Team Squash. I love Read-A-Thons. I will finish Gerta tomorrow. It's 447 pages. After tomorrow I'm not sure. I'm hopeful A Psalm for the Wild-Built will..."

I loved A Psalm for the Wild-Built! I need to get the sequel!

[L Y N N]

JennH wrote: "Hi Team Squash! Excited about the readathon. I am away, and will be until Monday evening, so my participation online will be sparse until then. I will be starting A Spell for Chameleon..."
Awww...I miss those days of reading to my kidlets!

[L Y N N]

Sheena wrote: "I've got a huge pile of TBR waiting so I think I'll wait and strategically pick my next book based on what holes need to be filled.

Just want to check for consensus .. do you think[book:The Bodyg..."

I vote yellow. If you block out the author's name it definitely looks yellow to me... :)

[Sherri]

Welcome to the team Lynn.
I finished Gerta. I put it on the spreadsheet for the first cornucopia under a book with 400 + pages. On the planned page I marked the book complete. I can move it to the complete tab if you don't mind. I started The Purrfect Murderlast night. It has animals in it as characters.

[Sherri]

I went ahead & moved Gerta to the completed tab. I put a X next to the prompt I used it for.

[L Y N N]

Sherri wrote: "I went ahead & moved Gerta to the completed tab. I put a X next to the prompt I used it for."
Whoo! Whoo! One done! Nice to see that 400-page prompt done!

[L Y N N]

Sherri wrote: "Welcome to the team Lynn."
Thank you!

[°~Amy~°]

Welcome Lynn!

Great job Sherri!

I went ahead and color coded the completed tab. It makes it easier to see what has been done. :)

[Rachel]

I purposely left just over 100 pages of Well Matched to read today, so I'm hoping to finish that off by the end of the night. If I'm lucky, I'll start on a second book as well.

[L Y N N]

Love the color-coding. I counted The Pull of the Stars for a book set in the 1900s since the date is so pertinent to the book.

On to more reading!

[L Y N N]

I have deleted one of my planned books and added 2: one to fulfill SPORTS and the other DYSTOPIAN. They are both short.

[Brittany]

I work nights so I’m usually not up until later in the day. Working my way through Good Girl, Bad Blood and I should hopefully finish it tonight. I’ll be working on The Suicide House after that. We didn’t have anything marked down for school setting so it’ll work there! Just wanted you all to know I’m here but won’t be as active during the day!!!

[Jen K]

Looks like a great start! Unfortunately I was starting with mostly new books today. Hoping to finish at least one tomorrow. I have one more library book due this week and then I should be a bit more flexible to fill any gaps.

[Rachel]

I finished off Well Matched (110 pages), but it's currently 1 am so I'll have to check out the spreadsheet tomorrow to see where it might fit. Unfortunately didn't have enough time to start anything else, but I think I have a pretty clear day tomorrow so hopefully I'll be able to read a lot.

[°~Amy~°]

Well, yesterday was not as productive as I would have liked. Work, an unexpected day trip and my (adult) son came down with Covid. My brain was fried by the end of the day. I think I have maybe 30 minutes left of Just So Stories and I had started The Wolf's Trail: An Ojibwe Story, Told by Wolves after my ear buds died. I fell asleep at page 17 of 109. I will at least get the audiobook done today.....if I remembered to plug in my ear buds........oh no...... 🤦‍♀️

[°~Amy~°]

But in better news, we earned our first acorn!

[°~Amy~°]

Rachel wrote: "I finished off Well Matched (110 pages), but it's currently 1 am so I'll have to check out the spreadsheet tomorrow to see where it might fit. Unfortunately didn't have enough time ..."

Well Matched fits for a book published in Fall or family dynamics. I put it in Fall for now but feel free to move it if something else works better.

[Sheena]

°~Amy~° wrote: "Well, yesterday was not as productive as I would have liked. Work, an unexpected day trip and my (adult) son came down with Covid. My brain was fried by the end of the day. I think I have maybe 30 ..."

I totally relate to being too brain-fried to read! Hope today is better and your son feels better soon.

[Sheena]

Busy day for me yesterday, but I just added my pages to the spreadsheet and am going to finish off my book before I get a bit of house work done. And I think I'll see what audio books my library has available so I can listen while I iron :D

[°~Amy~°]

Just So Stories in on the Spreadsheet as an author who is no longer alive. An Antarctic Mystery is up next on audio!

[Sherri]

Good Morning All, I will continue reading The Purrfect Murder. There are several animals in the story that are repeating characters in the series. I won't finish today. I have 236 pages left but I will be gone this afternoon. My goal is to get as far as I can today & finish tomorrow. We are doing really well.

[Jen K]

Good morning Team Squash! Rainy day in the DC area. My plan is to stay and read but also need to some less fun things like cleaning and a bit of work. Hoping I can finish at least 1, maybe both books today.

[Lynette]

Hey everyone! I can update the spreadsheet when I’m on my computer later today, but I’ve finished Tales from the Cafe by Toshikazu Kawaguchi and it can fulfill;

Book with a yellow cover
Book with family dynamics
Magical realism (deals with a coffee shop that sends people back/forward in time)

[L Y N N]

We have already earned 2 ACORNS! YAY! I hope to finish 2 books today...

[L Y N N]

Lynette wrote: "Hey everyone! I can update the spreadsheet when I’m on my computer later today, but I’ve finished Tales from the Cafe by Toshikazu Kawaguchi and it can fulfill;

Book with a yellow cover
Book with ..."
I loved the first book in that series!

[Brittany]

I finished Good Girl, Bad Blood last night and marked it down for red cover. I also started The Suicide House and will be working on that today!

[Sheena]

I finished Acts of Violet (+197p) but am going to start The bodyguard tonight, so will update the spreadsheet first thing tomorrow with my total page count for tonight. I tend to fall asleep reading so I'll typically be adding my numbers first thing next day ;)

[Jen K]

I finished Tell Me How to Be. Hoping to finish Addie LaRue tonight.

[JennH]

Hi all! Just wanted to poke my head in and say I’ve been reading even though I haven’t posted. I’ve finished Once Upon a River by Diane Setterfield and The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse by Charlie Mackesy. And I’ve started Cappuccinos, Cupcakes and a Corpse by Harper Lin. I’ll update the spreadsheets when I get home tomorrow.

[Rachel]

I read 140 pages of The House Across the Lake, which is actually less than expected given that I had nothing else to do today. I've been in a weird kind of slump lately where even though I'm enjoying what I'm reading and I want to read, every book seems to be taking much longer than expected.

[Emily, Conterminous Mod]

Hi! There was some confusion in my group about how to complete the cornucopias, so I've updated the first message in your thread to make it a bit clearer. Just wanted to let you know -- the prompts and requirements have not changed, just formatted them to be clearer on the requirements.

Just a reminder that I'm not actively checking all of the threads, so if you have any questions about the way the challenge works, feel free to post in the FAQ thread and I'll get back to you!

[°~Amy~°]

We are only one prompt from finishing Cornucopia #4. We only need a mostly yellow cover. I'm holding off from assigning our first three acorns to that category just in case another cornucopia fills up first.

Great job everyone!

[Sheena]

°~Amy~° wrote: "We are only one prompt from finishing Cornucopia #4. We only need a mostly yellow cover. I'm holding off from assigning our first three acorns to that category just in case another cornucopia fills..."

I'm half way through The bodyguard which we collectively decided is/could be yellow .. I'll finish it up tonight!! It's a very easy read :D

I'm so impressed with everyone's participation. Go Team Squash!!

[Jen K]

Good morning! I managed to finish The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue last night. I will use it for name in the title.

Also my library book was unexpectedly renewed so I have a bit more flexibility. I see that the yellow cover is covered now. Any other high needs? I have a dystopian with a school setting or a sports book with a orange cover in mind but could keep looking.

[L Y N N]

I will finish Brave New World Revisited this morning for the "dystopian" prompt. (If you thought Brave New World was scary, this is even worse!) Then I hope to finish Cemetery Boys as well today. If not today, I should finish it tomorrow morning. It would best fit the "featuring a ghost" prompt.

The first 3 books I've completed are extraordinarily wonderful reads for me! I am so happy when that happens!!

It looks as if today and tomorrow will be my busiest days this week, so probably fewer pages read on these two days. That said, it appears I'll be able to easily finish all 7 books I pledged to read and then have time to tackle some others before the end of the readathon. I have already pulled shorter books out to fulfill many of the prompts so that hopefully I can help fill in gaps near the end of the readathon.

I see someone has removed my completed books from the planning spreadsheet. I always like to leave them on so I can tell what other prompts a book could complete just in case we need to move books around near the end of the challenge. So I just started my own spreadsheet so I can still track the completed books in that way. (If that makes sense...) :) Then I won't have to guess. And many times once I have read a book I can add prompts it could fulfill since I know the story in detail. That is important to me, 'cause I'm old and don't remember all that well! LOL I mention this in case it might help someone else...

We have 4 acorns completed and I think we are doing marvelously well, especially considering this is only day #3!! YAY! Go Team SQUASH!

[L Y N N]

Jen K wrote: "Good morning! I managed to finish The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue last night. I will use it for name in the title."

I thought that book was amazing. I hope you enjoyed it as well!