Fall 23 Read-a-Thon: Team Ship

[Erica]

I’ve met the requirements for the individual challenge but I just want to see if I can finish more prompts before entering. I have no idea what I’d suggest if I won the raffle.

[MJ]

Erica wrote: "I’ve met the requirements for the individual challenge but I just want to see if I can finish more prompts before entering. I have no idea what I’d suggest if I won the raffle."

I have several suggestions in mind, but they’re certain to make people unhappy! I’ve finished the required four books but want to finish one more before I call it quits.

[Erica]

I made two suggestions that were voted on and both were bottomed. 😭 Oh well. To keep thinking of a prompt.

[Erica]

We've completed Clue twice.

[Joan]

I completed Britt-Marie Was Here and I used it for a character that is retirement age. If someone wants to move it that's fine with me. I was thinking that was the prompt that didn't have a lot of options for.

I'll try and read a graphic novel tomorrow to put towards another book.

[Erica]

That leaves us with one more prompt in The Game Of Life round two.

[MJ]

Good morning! I have 150 pages left on my book set in India, not sure if I’ll manage to finish it today!

[Sherri]

Good Morning Team Ship. You all have been great this week. Thanks for making the week fun. I saw where we finished round two on clue. Good going. I will finish The Kitchen Front. today. There is a pregnant character & they talk about what will happen when she gives birth. So if she gives birth before the end of the book I will use it for the Game of Life.

[Joan]

I picked a graphic book that has a two word title and it has two authors listed on the front of it . It's not listed as two authors on goodreads though.

[Erica]

I’m working on Queen Charlotte so hopefully I can read it for a prompt. It can knock off the royalty prompt easy.

[Joan]

The graphic novel I'm reading is actually non-fiction. I didn't know that. It's about the author's elementary school years. She gives a synopsis in the back about it.

[Joan]

I completed Real Friends. I put it in the two author spot because we had the most completed on that game. Feel free to move it if you think it would help somewhere else more. I'm probably not going to read too much more today. Have to get some housework done. I had fun doing the challenge with everyone. The week sure went by quickly!

[Edie]

MJ wrote: "Erica wrote: "I’ve met the requirements for the individual challenge but I just want to see if I can finish more prompts before entering. I have no idea what I’d suggest if I won the raffle."

I ha..."

I am almost done with the book that will complete my individual challenge. My thought, if I should get the chance to submit a prompt, is to pick one of the prompts that I loved that didn't get voted in. We are a diverse bunch of readers and there will always be prompts I love, that others don't.... and prompts others love, that I don't. However, I often find myself loving a book I read for a prompt I didn't love. For me the challenges have greatly diversified my reading.

[Joan]

It's funny, I never want to try and win for a prompt. I'd rather people voted on it. I'd feel bad if one of mine made it and everyone hated it. One year, maybe four years ago two of my prompts made it in on voting. Nothing had made it since and I really only tried once this year.

But I've pretty much decided I'm not going to try for the challenge next year. I want to complete a lot of my series and read longer books that I always put off in order to finish my challenges. I'm going to post the list but then at the end of the year see how far I got without trying. I think I've done the challenge since 2017. It's been great to expand what I read but now I need to go rogue a bit. I'm still going to participate in the quarterly and read-a-thons. Next year I plan to finally read Anna Karenina and 11/22/63 and then a bunch of my series

[MJ]

Joan wrote: "It's funny, I never want to try and win for a prompt. I'd rather people voted on it. I'd feel bad if one of mine made it and everyone hated it. One year, maybe four years ago two of my prompts made..."

For the last couple years I’ve been thinking that I’ve done the challenge too many times because all the prompts start looking the same regardless of how creative people try to be. But then I add my list for another year. The 2023 was a bumper crop in terms of aligning with my upvotes. I have mostly felt out of sync with everyone else.

[Edie]

I finished The Woman in the Library. All the prompts it fits already have two books completed for them, so this probably is just for pages.... and it completes my individual challenge.

Great reading ship-mates! This has been such fun.

And if you haven't read it, I highly recommend Ann Patchett's Tom Lake

[Erica]

I liked the prompt about mushrooms from a previous poll but I also would like to see more character prompts for overall balance to our list. Anyway I figured looking through the suggestions people had voted on was my plan if I don’t come up with anything and win.


I’ve enjoyed this read-a-Thom with you guys as well. Thanks for the heads up about Tom Lake @Edie. I’ve never read a bad book that’s been a Reese book club pick so it’s on my radar now.

My favourite book I read this week was Why Father Cry At Night by Kwame Alexander. I discovered him as an author earlier this year and this was my 7th book by him and they have all been 5star reads. If you don’t like poetry though he wouldn’t be your author.

I’ll put this out to everyone to list their favourite book they read this week.

[Katherine]

I finished two books today. The first was my audio book A Dream About Lightning Bugs: A Life of Music and Cheap Lessons. It was singer Ben Fold's memoir. While it mentions his 4 marriages and the birth of his children, I can't really say it "features" them. Feel free to move it if you think otherwise. (I put it in the Trivial Pursuit tab).

The second book was The Boy on the Wooden Box. It mostly takes place in Poland before and during WWII, so I put it in the war category. But the author, who is the main character (it's also a memoir) ended up being drafted into the US army once he moved to the US, so technically he was ex-military as well. If someone else has a war book, then it could be switched to ex-military.

I might read a few pages before bed tonight but that's it from me! The Boy on the Wooden Box was my favorite read of the Read-a-Thon this time.

[Erica]

Katherine wrote: "I finished two books today. The first was my audio book A Dream About Lightning Bugs: A Life of Music and Cheap Lessons. It was singer Ben Fold's memoir. While it mentions his 4 mar..."

@Sherri has the wedding/birth prompt covered. I ended up filling the military prompt to finish off risk with Queen Charlotte instead of the royal prompt.

[Sherri]

Good Morning Team Ship. We are done & thanks again. I used The Kitchen Front for a Game of Life wedding/childbirth. We have two rolls left if anyone else finished books late last night & want to use them.
Joan I understand about not doing the challenge next year. I read a lot of series too & I try to fit what I can in prompts but can't always do that.
See you all next time.

[JessicaMHR]

Finished Why Didn't You Tell Me? and put it in for Trivial Pursuit: Non-Fiction book.

I had a VERY successful week and enjoyed doing the read-a-thon again.

My favorite book this week was Starfish.

[Katherine]

I added the last of my pages into the spreadsheet. It was a fun week! Yay, us!

[Joan]

I updated my pages for yesterday! I guess Britt-Marie Was Here was my favorite book I read. I'm in the mood for thrillers though and since it's spooky season I'll be reading a bunch of those and a couple of Stephen King going forward.

I might even go rogue reading for the rest of the year but I'll try to read the spooky ones on my plan first!

Happy reading you all!!

[Sherri]

Joan wrote "since it's spooky season I'll be reading a bunch of those and a couple of Stephen King going forward.
One of my favorite books this year is Billy Summers
I have passed it to several friends who have never read Stephen King & they all loved it too.

[Joan]

Sherri wrote: "Joan wrote "since it's spooky season I'll be reading a bunch of those and a couple of Stephen King going forward.
One of my favorite books this year is Billy Summers
I have passed i..."

Oh! I have that one but haven't read it yet. Was planning on reading Cell and The Institute but maybe I'll change my mind!!

I have somewhat promised myself not to buy any books for the rest of the year. We'll see if that happens. I usually buy them on clearance or at a thrift store. I also still have a small stack that I got from Christmas I still need to read. I think Billy Summers was a Christmas present. I have a ton I need to read but the new shiny book seems to get my attention.

[Edie]

Late to this discussion. Tom Lake was my favorite book for the week ... and one of my favorites so far this year.