Fantasy Buddy Reads discussion
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2024 Team Competition Tracker / Google Sheet Central
Thank you. Re Graphic Novels: My first buddy reading series of the year is Spy x Family, Vol. 1. There are 11 (English Language) books in the series. I'm not sure how this plays into the page count, but they are novel size page number-wise.
Re eye vs audio: I read both simultaneously - immersion reading. Again, I don't know how that will affect anything.
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Hi Iain, if you have time (no rush or anything), could I get the genre tracker like Melissa has on her 2023 sheet? And ..."
I think I did what you wanted, and didn't break anything...
The coloring is quite different, because alot of the auto colors are based on colors in your sheet, and you and Melissa have quite different sheets... tested with some fake books... gonna delete those now...
Mod
Re Graphic Novels: My first buddy reading series of the year is Spy x Family, Vol. 1. There are 11 (English Language) books in the series. I'm not sure how this plays ..."
For accurate points, you need to divide the pagecount of graphic novels by 4 when inputting... for accurate pagecount on the sheet, we need to rework some columns/formulas...
For simultaneous format reading, I guess we count it 50/50?...
Both of these together means, for your sheet, I probably need to reimplement format tracking, maybe using a catch-all system similar to Nirkatze's sheet?...
It's something I'll have to work on, over the next few days... means changing alot of things...
EDIT: Nirkatze's sheet has alot of options for that column, because it doubles as format and source...
But the general idea, for you would probably be:
g or c = graphic novel / comic book
a or y = 100% audio (yes)
e or n = 100% ebook/eyebook (no)
number = percent audio vs ebook... 50 for 50/50... 40 for 40% audio/60% ebook... etc... (a return to default formula)...
This would mean scrapping the monthly hours of audio from the monthly breakers, for obvious reasons, and sort everything...
Graphic Novels are 25% points (because not nearly as many words per page)
Audiobooks are 1x points base...
Ebook/Eyebooks are 1.25x points...
50/50 would be 1.125x points...
Re: Eye & Audio, are you saying I would type in the percentage? I either read 100% eye book or read eye and audio simultaneously, but I do not read audio-only.
With graphic novels, I can toggle "y" when it applies.
Oh. Question about your Challenge Column. Am I breaking a rule if I use it to show series I've started, finished, caught up, etc? I don't plan on joining any other challenges outside of this one.
Mod
I either read 100% eye book or read eye and audio simultaneously, but I do not read audio-only.
With graphic novels, I can toggle..."
My sheet doesn't have a graphic novel column, I was going to make the audio column a multipurpose column as explained above with examples...
for Graphic novel you'd use G or C... for 100% eyebook you'd do E or N or blank... for 50/50, you'd type 50, and that would be your simultaneous...
The challenge column is pretty much already setup for Started, Finished, etc... UTD is my syntax for caught up, and it all goes into a bar graph in the top section for number of series started/continue/UTD/Finished/Abandoned, during the year... Continued tends to be the most common answer, unless you read alot of trilogies and duologies... since it's used for anything that isn't the first last or newest in a series...
I don’t read graphic novels and I 100% audio so I shouldn’t run into problems with that.
Timelord Iain wrote: "Nyssa wrote: "Re: Eye & Audio, are you saying I would type in the percentage? I either read 100% eye book or read eye and audio simultaneously, but I do not read audio-only.
With graphic novels..."
Oh, okay. I get it. Yes , please & thank you.
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And then, I expanded/adjusted my genres to include cozies (year-round distinction) and horror (mostly for Spooktober)
I’m so excited!! I’m forcing myself to not play with the spreadsheet tonight. I’m audiobookibg tonight and putting together legos.
I added my January list except for page numbers (which I might still do tonight).
Mod
Hi Iain, if you have time (no rush or anything), could I get the genre tracker like Melissa has on her 20..."
Thank you so much!!! I can't wait to try it <3
Nyssa wrote: "I added my January list except for page numbers (which I might still do tonight)."Question: Do we use the page count from GR or our Kindle?
There is a 74-page discrepancy between the two with the book I am currently reading.
Mod
You only use the page count of your own copy when reading in non-English languages, to allow for variations in word length across languages...
On book page, you expand book information dropdown, and view all other additions, sort by num ratings, and look at the first 5 english editions... can generally ignore editions that are audiobooks or lack page counts for some reason...
Timelord Iain wrote: "Top 5 editions on goodreads... alot of this is covered in the Rules page, since we had alot of discussions in the past...You only use the page count of your own copy when reading in non-English l..."
Oh yes, I did read that a few days ago but forgot. Thank you.
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I link all my books to the goodreads book page, in the spreadsheet, so I can then go to the book pages to grab page counts right afterwards, and then so I can go to the book pages to write reviews, when the time comes later on...
Ctrl-K while highlighting a cell opens a popup to hyperlink the text of a cell... usually you can find the right website to link with the book name and goodreads in the search bar, unless the book has a really generic name... then you might have to add author and series... in worst case scenarios, I have to go find the book page on goodreads, and add the exact URL and apply...
That is a good piece of Excel magic to know, thank you...
Timelord Iain wrote: "for Graphic novel you'd use G or C... for 100% eyebook you'd do E or N or blank... for 50/50, you'd type 50, and that would be your simultaneous..."@Iain - Should I leave my tab alone, read-date-wise, until you have had the chance to update it?
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@Iain - Should I leave my..."
You could have just gone ahead... your points would have been inflated for a day or 2...
Doesn't matter now, tho... I went ahead and put the work in, and reconfigured the formula... it's twice as long now, but has all the features I mentioned above, and a smidge more for future proofing...
C or G = Graphic Novel / Comic
E or N or blank/empty cell = 100% Eyebook/Ebookfor
# = percent audio = bit of both...
Example: 50 = 50/50
Y or A = 100% Audiobook (this is the extra bit, you said you wouldn't need)
Also, it's case-insensitive by default... you can use g/G, c/C, n/N, etc...
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@Iain, you are Very Much appreciated! Thank you!!!
Thanks for all of your spread sheet wizardry Timelord!! Much appreciated!! Also, were the notes above (audiobooks and percents) for your sheet only? Or are there some changes for how the sheet operates?
Mod
Also, were the notes above (audiobooks and percents) for your sheet only? Or are there some changes for how the sheet op..."
that was purely me reimplementing some formula stuff (in a condensed way) on to Nyssa's copy of my sheet, since it doesn't/didn't have Graphic Novel and Audiobook (yes/no) columns... everyone else has the same stuff they've always had...
And what I listed above is slightly different than the default, since I'm doing alot of things in a single column that is otherwise done in multiple for simplicity...
gotcha gotcha!! Just wanted to check since I know you have a lot of versions of sheets! I'll have to take a peek and see what everyone else's setup looks like :D
@Iain Lol I just saw your note on my sheet tab. Yes I stole from your sheet. I thought that's what you told people to do if they wanted more cells. Just to copy and paste it into their own. I didn't want to bug you since I wasn't asking for anything specific. I am not going to use all your tabs but didn't want to bug you asking you to customize it. Thanks for fixing it :-)
@Iain, but now that I'm playing with it, how do i get rid of the drop down on the challenge column? I'd rather it just be a yes or no option. I tried to get rid of the drop down rules just for that column but it broke my rating column. So I set it back and figured it's time to ask for help.
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Adding columns, I generally have to fix some stuff that draws data from specific cells in each person's sheet, that shifts when extra columns are added... if you literally copied and pasted my whole sheet, I'm impressed it worked so well... I use the literal duplicate functions and delete the old sheet, when I do it...
Timelord Iain wrote: "Diana Stormblessed wrote: "@Iain Lol I just saw your note on my sheet tab. Yes I stole from your sheet. I thought that's what you told people to do if they wanted more cells. Just to copy and paste..."I was worried the duplicate/delete approach would break something in the summary tab. I thought this was would be better. But guess it wasn't fool proof either.
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When you open the Data Validation menu, it shows you everything... and you need to find the right rule to mess with... I did, and it's sorted...
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It would have, but like I said, it was going to either way :D
Timelord Iain wrote: "Diana Stormblessed wrote: "@Iain, but now that I'm playing with it, how do i get rid of the drop down on the challenge column? I'd rather it just be a yes or no option. I tried to get rid of the dr..."thank you!
Timelord Iain wrote: "If I've forgotten anyone, let me know... this was everyone I wrote down on my request list and scribbled off as I completed..."Hi Iain!!! I had a request earlier about creating a filter & moving the chart to the left + being able to freeze the book title. I saw your comment about just moving entries around so I don't need the filter to sort esp. if it will break stuff, but was hoping the other parts could still be implemented without too much trouble!!
Basically I looked at Mel's sheet and was like oooh, I like this format with the chart on the left side + the frozen book title column. 🤣Is there anyway I can copy just that part to my sheet? 😂
Thanks so much in advance! (and thanks Mel too haha 🥰)
Mod
EDIT: I was wrong... the title column isn't a 2 second thing, because of the merged cells at the top, but making the other changes you requested should make the title column thing easier... since it involves un-merging... means re-checking and redoing the formulas in those little bar graphs if they break, so again I'll say I'll get to it when the mood is right, in the next few days :)
All doable, tho... not sure it's as easy as just copying and pasting Mel's chunk of sheet, tho... that only works if the data it's using is in the same columns, which is unlikely, with all her extra columns, including the death counter...
@Iain ~ My spreadsheet is experiencing an oddity where it lists the Sequential Art genre twice on the pie chart. I have only completed two books so far; only one is a graphic novel.
Mod
You included it twice in the genre list, when you changed the genre list... fixed
Timelord Iain wrote: "You included it twice in the genre list, when you changed the genre list... fixed"..."
Oh! I could have sworn I double-checked that. Sorry & thank you.
Iain, I'm sure you've already answered this but how do I add additional genre's? I see the edit button and when I go in there I can't see how to add. I added my first points! I'm so excited. I haven't created my challenge guidelines yet so I still need to add whether these fit into any of my challenges.
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I adjusted my genres this year, after copying to you guys, to give Cozy it's own section and something else, maybe Horror for Spooktober?...
@Iain - is the BR column specifically for this group and then the Challenge column for any group?For clarification, I am doing group reads with the Goodreads Choice Awards Book Club.
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When I did challenges more, I eventually condensed them all into a super-thread: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
Tracking a different challenge in each comment... now I mostly do the Series Tracker challenge, and the occasional monthly one like New Books / Spooktober / Cozy November / Hugo & GR Awards / etc... I did short story February last year...
What do the the options under the challenge mean? I did all mine as 'finished' because they are books I finished in the bingo challenge but that doesn't make sense to me. Can I edit the options listed as well as the genres?Also, can a book count for multiple challenges and thus get more points or should I plan to have a book fit into only one challenge?
Timelord Iain wrote: "Book title column is a 2 second thing... need to figure out what you want with the chart move...EDIT: I was wrong... the title column isn't a 2 second thing, because of the merged cells at the to..."
Got it, thank you!!! And no rush at all! Ooh I didn't even think about that w/ the extra columns. I already added two for notes and links so it's probably best for me to keep it somewhat simple before I go all out like Mel. Maybe another year!! 🤣
Mod
It only counts once for bonus points in the competition, but can count for as many challenges as you want, if you like doing tons of challenges (that's on you)
The challenge column is currently setup to make my life easier, since I 90% used it to track my incomplete series challenge with a bit more info for the graph in the top left section...
Started = book 1 in a series
Incomplete = book 2+ in an ongoing series
UTD = Up-to-date = newest release in a series
Finished = Series finale
Abandoned = self-explanatory
DNF = turn the row red, skip rating, and explain that I put in a custom page count matching how much of the book I read before quitting... (only safe to do when it still counts for some challenge like a series starter or something)...
If you don't want that, you can pretty safely highlight 99% of the column and find the Data Validation that controls the dropdown options... there's no need to change any points formulas if you decide to do something different or add extra options/challenges... the Data Validation should be everything in column L from row 17ish to the end, excluding the rows with the extra monthly info data...
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EDIT: I was wrong... the title column isn't a 2 second thing, because of the ..."
The easiest way to "go all out like Mel", is to just copy Mel's sheet and give you a duplicate of it, and then you use what parts you want...
Adding stuff on the far right, like you did, is honestly the safest way to do it, but it means scrolling...
Timelord Iain wrote: "The BR column is for this group, and so is the Challenge column, technically, but you're basically allowed to port any outside challenge into this group, by creating a thread in the challenge folde..."Then, yeah, I'm also confused about the purpose of the challenge column. I'm doing a personal Popsugar challenge but tracking that on my own.
Besides that, I am doing buddy reads here and group reads there. Thats it. Do I leave the challenge column blank, then?
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I explained what my sheet did with the challenge column above, and you guys got a copy of my sheet... it can easily have the data validation removed, if I didn't already do that... I know I did it for someone...
Individual Set Challenges Folder: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/group...
Timelord Iain wrote: "Felina wrote: "What do the the options under the challenge mean? I did all mine as 'finished' because they are books I finished in the bingo challenge but that doesn't make sense to me. Can I edit ..."Okay, I am just doing the incomplete series challenge and the Bingo challenge so I think I want to leave it as is. I can continue to use finished for the bingo challenge. Doesn’t really matter since it calculates the same either way.
Fantasy Buddy Reads
Books mentioned in this topic
Spy x Family, Vol. 1 (other topics)Spy x Family, Vol. 1 (other topics)
Nyssa and Felina have been given copies of my sheet...
I leave recoloring to the players, unless a problem arises, like conditional formatting is resisting color changes you want
@Felina & @Nyssa: my sheet has some quirks that aren't immediately obvious, that may cause issues to the unaware... (and I might forget some, off the top of my head, since I'm so used to them after 5 years)...
1) and the main one, is that the BR column only really supports dates, not Y/N, as done in the original version... to facilitate this, it has data verification on, and any non-dates put a little red tag in the corner to notify you... this is because I do so many Buddy Reads, and need to track their start dates to meet the 2 week rule and plan my reading order/etc... with this conditional formatting, you can double click the cell on PC, and it'll bring up a mini calendar to input the dates... same with the date read column, but that's pretty standard I think...
2) Since I use the audio column to track book duration, the column no longer supports fractional reading (the original sheet allows you to say you read 50% ebook 50% audio, for bonus point calculations/etc, since you get some bonus points for eye-reading, to offset what some consider the unfair advantage of audiobooks at increased speeds... in early years of the competiton, audiobook listeners were dominating over other readers (and still kinda do in some cases, case in point myself)... if this is an issue, we'll need to code in a workaround or something...
3) My sheet doesn't have the Graphic Novel column... if you read alot of Graphic novels, we might need to come up with a solution for this... if you only do 1-2 per year, you can probably just manually divide the page count by the rules amount to earn the correct amount of points
4) the genres for the dropdown menu are controlled in cells U4 to U14... with changes I made last year, I think we can extend it to U3 to U15, if you need a couple more genres for the list... the data/results populate a bar graph that isn't visible yet in the 2024 sheet but can be previewed in the 2023 sheet, underneath that section...
5) I have data validation for the Challenge Column, to double as a series progress tracker, since that's my main use of the challenge column/bonus points... Abandoned, Incomplete, UTD (up-to-date), and Finished... anything else triggers the error corner again, but I just let it ride when I'm doing a monthly theme like Spooktober or Cozy November or the GR/Hugo Awards... if you're doing different challenges, we can easily adjust that to avoid errors... the bonus points trigger any time the cell isn't empty, basically...
That's all I can think of, for now...