Team Moriarty's Three Wise Men

[UNO Pixie, Our UNO Helper]

Team Moriarty's Three Wise Men

Team Members:
❅ Helke - Captain
❅ Gustaf - Co-Captain
❅ Skye Blue
❅ Diane Bayley
❅ Sharon
❅ JL Roberts
❅ Erin O'Donnell
❅ Fiona Findlater


♕ Team Spreadsheet
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/...

[UNO Pixie, Our UNO Helper]

reserved

[UNO Pixie, Our UNO Helper]

reserved

[Helke]

Hi team. Glad to meet you all and finally get to play UNO. I'll fill everything in the evening when I'm back from work. If you happen to look in please wait for Gustaf to reserve some spots for himself first before commenting. Thanks.

I´m Helke from Germany. Half the team are already my friends but I hope at the end we all will be good friends. I live near Berlin with my hubby and my kids. I love to read and if I didn´t need to go to work I would spend whole days reading.
Hope you all enjoy this challenge. As a challenge addict I´ve played quite a few others too but this one is my favorite as you nearly can read every book you like and still make it fit for the challenge.

So please for the sake of the whole team tell us who you are, what you like to do and what books you like to read. Please accept friend requests from each others as we might need to take a look at each others book shelves.

[Helke]

This is the link to our team spread sheet. (The one above from Uno Pixie is only for the captains, sorry.) But our ss is essentially the same as the one for the captains so you are not missing out.

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

You can take a look and send me a pm with your email address. I´ll give you editing rights then. The sheet for February is already set up. So you can look at the cards we will need to fill in. If you need help with working these form of spread sheet please don´t hesitate to ask me or Gustaf. We are glad to help.

At times during this challenge I'll be super busy with work. So please try to go these steps for your books:
1. If you find a book you would like to read go to the ss and find a place for it there. You don't need to fill all informations in at that time. A title with a link and your name will be enough.
2. After you finished your book please make a completion post. Post all possible cards the book could fit with the reason it fits the cards f.e. card 1 because book is #1 in series. For an example look at message 7 please.
3. Go to the ss, find your book and enter the read date in the correct column. If you like to do it also enter the info about the other cards the book fits. Then change the line colour to yellow so Gustaf and I know there was a new book completed. This way we don´t need to search the whole ss for new entries. That helps with working economical with our time.

[Helke]

INFORMATIONS TO HELP
Colour extractor to find out the main colour of a book cover if we can´t decide by vote. You are not required to use it, but it might help.
https://labs.tineye.com/color/

Shelfs with mainly colored covers:
red covers
blue covers
green covers
yellow covers

THE CARDS AND THEIR MEANING
(view spoiler)[

O (Zero)
Read a book that:
- has a 0 or Zero in the title
- has a title starting with Z
- has an author first name or surname starts with Z
- has a character with a first name, surname or nickname starting with Z
- is set in a place name starting with Z
- is a "stand-alone" book (i.e. not part of a series)

1 (One)
Read a book that:
- has a 1 or One in the title
- has a title starting with O
- has an author first name or surname starts with O
- has a character with a first name, surname or nickname starting with O
- is set in a place name starting with O
- is book 1 in a series

2 (Two)
Read a book that:
- has a 2 or Two in the title
- has a title starting with T
- has an author first name or surname starts with T
- has a character with a first name, surname or nickname starting with T
- is set in a place name starting with T
- is book 2 in a series

3 (Three)
Read a book that:
- has a 3 or Three in the title
- has a title starting with H
- has an author first name or surname starts with H
- has a character with a first name, surname or nickname starting with H
- is set in a place name starting with H
- is book 3 in a series

4 (Four)
Read a book that:
- has a 4 or Four in the title
- has a title starting with F
- has an author first name or surname starts with F
- has a character with a first name, surname or nickname starting with F
- is set in a place name starting with F
- is book 4 in a series

5 (Five)
Read a book that:
- has a 5 or Five in the title
- has a title starting with I
- has an author first name or surname starts with I
- has a character with a first name, surname or nickname starting with I
- is set in a place name starting with I
- is book 5 in a series

6 (Six)
Read a book that:
- has a 6 or Six in the title
- has a title starting with S
- has an author first name or surname starts with S
- has a character with a first name, surname or nickname starting with S
- is set in a place name starting with S
- is book 6 in a series

7 (Seven)
Read a book that:
- has a 7 or Seven in the title
- has a title starting with V
- has an author first name or surname starts with V
- has a character with a first name, surname or nickname starting with V
- is set in a place name starting with V
- is book 7 in a series

8 (Eight)
Read a book that:
- has an 8 or Eight in the title
- has a title starting with E
- has an author first name or surname starts with E
- has a character with a first name, surname or nickname starting with E
- is set in a place name starting with E
- is book 8 in a series

9 (Nine)
Read a book that:
- has a 9 or Nine in the title
- has a title starting with N
- has an author first name or surname starts with N
- has a character with a first name, surname or nickname starting with N
- is set in a place name starting with N
- is book 9 in a series

Skip
Read a book that:
- has a title starting with K or P
- has an author first name or surname starts with K or P
- has a character with a first name, surname or nickname starting with K or P
- is set in a place name starting with K or P
OR you can choose to "skip" reading a book for this cards (and get no points for this card)

Draw 2
Use the same book for two cards in this hand (and get points for both cards)

Reverse
One member of your team must read a book another team member has already read

Wild
Read a book that can fit for any of the cards in that SAME hand (i.e. you are duplicating one of the cards in that same hand)

Wild draw four
Read a book that can fit for any of the coloured cards you have that month (i.e. you are duplicating one of your coloured cards. Each coloured card can only be duplicated once)

Coloured cards
Special coloured cards will be randomly provided each month. for these cards you need to read for the card number (as above) and the book must also have a coloured cover for the colour specified (blue, red, yellow or green) (hide spoiler)]

[Helke]

How to post books
We don´t need you to post a selection post. Please go to the ss insted and fill your book into a slot where it fits.

But we need you to do a completion post like the following:

Completed
Six Ways from Sunday by Mercy Celeste
227 pages
read: 02/05/20

1: #1 in series
6: title
9: set in New Orleans

This way we can see wich cards your book could also fit if needed. It is a huge stress for us to find out which cards a book could also fit if you don't do it. As you read the book you know best which cards fit.
Please don´t get angry if you don´t find a book where you put it. Sometimes Gustaf and I swap the books around to fill in for more cards. F.e. if you put a book for a 3 and we see it will also work for a 5 and we need a book fitting a 3 and a 5 for a Draw 2 card we will put it there.
Or we will put it in one of the first hands to finish them as we only get points for the finished hands from hand 1 down. F.e. if we have finished the hands 1, 2, 3 and 5 we will only get points for the hands 1, 2 and 3 as we have not finished hand 4.

And last we have a colour code. Please mark your book in your colour as you put it into the ss. After completing the book and posting it here please go back to the ss, add your read date and change the colour to yellow. After Gustaf or I added the book to the captains ss we will finally change the colour to green. This way we can easily see wich books you have newly finished that have to be added to the captains ss and we can see what has been done already. It saves us a lot of trouble and time if you all keep to this colour system. Thank you.

I know it is a lot to take in especially for a newby but don´t worry we will all help each other and over time you will find it easy.

[Helke]

February Mini

[Gustaf]

x

[Gustaf]

x

[Gustaf]

x

[Gustaf]

Hi team!
I'll give you a better presentation after work. Can't wait to get this round of Uno started.

[Diane]

Thrilled to be on your team again Helke and Gustaf!!!

[Gustaf]

Diane wrote: "Thrilled to be on your team again Helke and Gustaf!!!"

yay!!

[Helke]

Diane wrote: "Thrilled to be on your team again Helke and Gustaf!!!"

Hi Diane. Glad you´re here.

[Diane]

Sorry, Helke, I couldn't access the spreadsheet because I have a weird Google account -- can you add mlst.mgr@gmail.com to the access list when you have a chance.
Thanks!

[Diane]

Hi everyone, my name is Diane. I live in Toronto, Canada with my husband and two grown boys who have special needs (on the autism spectrum). I also have two other adult children who use they/them pronouns and are off living independently. Keeping everyone on track and managing the house is my full-time occupation. I read every chance I get and have played this challenge for the last two years. It is my favourite one too. I pretty much read all M/M Romance, but love all different genres -- adventure/ spy / paranormal / contemporary etc...

Can't wait to meet you all and get started!!

Fiona, if you're who I think you are, I was on your Scavenger Hunt team a few years ago.

[F.]

Hi everyone. Some of you already know who I am (waves) but for others...
My name is Fiona, I live at the top of the world in New Zealand so am hours ahead of most of you. I am happily (most of the time) married (we celebrate 40yrs this year) and we have one son.
I suffered a major reading slump for the past 2 years and have only recently got back into it but definitely not reading as much as before.
Looking forward to playing with you all and yes I have played before.

[Helke]

Diane wrote: "Sorry, Helke, I couldn't access the spreadsheet because I have a weird Google account -- can you add mlst.mgr@gmail.com to the access list when you have a chance.
Thanks!"

Will do tomorrow. Going to bed now.

[Skye Blue ☆*~ﾟლ(´ڡ`ლ)~*☆]

Hi everyone. Nice to be on a team with so many familiar players. I look forward to getting started.

I live in California, so I'm late in the time zone.
Married. My 3 boys are grown, 2 still living at home. I read a 1/4 of the number of books as I did a few years ago...but still quite a bit. Normally slim to none on the weekends though. That is Hubby time.

[Skye Blue ☆*~ﾟლ(´ڡ`ლ)~*☆]

F. wrote: "Hi everyone. Some of you already know who I am (waves) but for others...
My name is Fiona, I live at the top of the world in New Zealand so am hours ahead of most of you. I am happily (most of the ..."

Congratulations Fiona! 40 years is amazing.
We'll make 30 years this year. Very lucky to be able to say, we are still in the happily married camp.

[Sharon]

Hi team! Looking forward to playing UNO with you all :)

I’m Sharon from Northeast Pennsylvania, where I live in a small town with my husband (also an avid reader) and our dog, Millie. By day I am the director of a community foundation.

I like reading mystery/thrillers, chick-lit, historical fiction, literary fiction, and I’m a sucker for a juicy celebrity memoir. I read a mix of physical books, ebooks, and audiobooks.

Feel free to send me a friend request, if you’d like!

[JL]

Hi all! Looking forward to playing UNO with you guys!

I'm Jillian from Michigan where I live with my husband and our two sons and two puppers. I enjoy watching movies, doing puzzles and reading of course. This will be my 4th time doing UNO and I usually jump right into the Tower Teams after.

I read romance and most sub-genre under romance. I also enjoy a good thriller or suspense. They don't have to have romance in them, but I enjoy them more when they do :) I mostly read e-books on my tablet, but I have quite the home library going too (about 300+ paperbacks and hardbacks), and when I'm at work or on a road trip I enjoy listening to audios.

That pretty much sums up me, I can't wait to start!

[JL]

Congrats Fiona and Skye 40 and 30 yrs married is amazing. Me and my husband will be celebrating our 20th this year.

[JL]

I now have access to the ss, thank you Helke, when can start claiming cards? Or at least our first read.

[Skye Blue ☆*~ﾟლ(´ڡ`ლ)~*☆]

Congrats JL.
20 years is a long time.

When it's good, the time flies by.

[Skye Blue ☆*~ﾟლ(´ڡ`ლ)~*☆]

I can't plan that far ahead.
Best I can do, is plan on a color book.
I am horrible at the colors, but I tried to find a few to get ready for Uno

[Sharon]

I forgot to add to my post that I have played UNO before and love doing these team challenges.

I get a lot of books from the library, so I don't plan too far out. I'm more at the whim of what I can get and when my holds come through.

[Diane]

I always have a list of books on my to be read list, and will plan out usually about 5 to 8 in advance and then go from there. I have claimed 3 right now, and was just sitting down to come up with some more possibilities (which I won't put on the sheet until closer to when I might read them).

Oh, and feel like I fit right in as my husband and I celebrated our 30th anniversary last April! Still going strong.

[Helke]

So hubby and I are somewhere in the middle with our 26 years of marriage. But I've known him for 53 years now.

JL what are the Tower Teams? I'm normally playing Scavenger Hunt after UNO.

I love to read physical books. We have around 2000 books laying around the house and are nearly out of wallspace for shelves to put them on. I only started reading on an ebook reader because of the holidays. It was just not possible to take enough books with us for a 4 week vacation with a 2 person motorhome when you are travelling with 4 persons ;)).

[Helke]

I'm not a planning my reading either. That makes SH somewhat extra challenging for me. To make our life as stressfree as possible I would ask you to fill in a book in the ss as soon as you start reading it. It does not help the team reading a book and then finding out the space where it could fit is already filled out. To get all the cards done we will need all the books we can read.

And please don't get cross with me if I place your book on another card. I sometimes have to do that to make the most of the read books.

[Helke]

I approved a lot of access requests. Can you all access the ss now or does somebody still need access? Please let me know.

Has one of you questions about the ss? Some of you haven't played with me before so I'm not sure if I explained it good enough. You know sometimes details get lost in the translation.

[Diane]

Thanks Helke, for sure it's not a problem if you move books around, and I won't start one unless I know there is a space on the spreadsheet for it!!! I was on your team last year, so unless I didn't do something correctly, I am good with using the spreadsheet.

[JL]

Helke wrote: "So hubby and I are somewhere in the middle with our 26 years of marriage. But I've known him for 53 years now.

JL what are the Tower Teams? I'm normally playing Scavenger Hunt after UNO.

I love t..."

Tower Teams is another team challenge. Every Year they have a new theme but it's the same concept we still have to find books that fit in the different categories for the challenges. There are also mini games the teams can do for extra points. Here are the rules from last year. It was TT 10th Anniversary.

What are Tower Teams?
Essentially it is small groups of members in a team who read and discuss books, record them for "points" in order to compete against other teams.
It doesn't matter if your yearly goal is to read five (5) books, fifty (50) books or five hundred (500) books. Anyone can join! We balance the Tower Teams Reading Challenge by Total Books read.

To celebrate Tower Teams X we are going back to the original concept of reading a Tower of books as a team!

>>Each month, each team needs to read 223 books, and these must include the following minimum number of books in each category:

10 x 100-199
20 x 200-299
30 x 300-399
30 x 400-499
20x 500-599
10x 600+ pages

Note: 223 is the minimum you need to read as a team each month and provided you do that and meet the requirements of those page counts above you are eligible to win.

[Sharon]

Helke wrote: "I approved a lot of access requests. Can you all access the ss now or does somebody still need access? Please let me know.

Has one of you questions about the ss? Some of you haven't played with me..."

I just accidentally requested access to the captain SS. Just ignore that. I am able to access our planning SS so all good here,

Hubs and I have been married for 12 year, together for 17 total (wow, that feels weird to say!)

[Gustaf]

Fiona and Skye, you have been married for longer than I’ve been alive 😅

[F.]

Gustaf wrote: "Fiona and Skye, you have been married for longer than I’ve been alive 😅"

You're just trying to make us feel old!!

Our son is 36 years old, so he is probably older than you.

[Helke]

F. wrote: "Gustaf wrote: "Fiona and Skye, you have been married for longer than I’ve been alive 😅"

You're just trying to make us feel old!!

Our son is 36 years old, so he is probably older than you."

We are not old F. Gustaf is still wet behind the ears that's all it is.😁

[Skye Blue ☆*~ﾟლ(´ڡ`ლ)~*☆]

It was only 2 years ago that I announced I was officially an adult. Finally upped my 401k to 10%. Which is the minimum you should be doing your entire working life. I was so proud of myself...until I realized I had a couple of decades to make up for.

[Erin]

Hello, my name is Erin O’Donnell! I’m from Florida. My favorite thing to do is travel. I recently visited Spain which was beautiful. My favorite books tend to be contemporary romance books, young adult books, or fiction.

[JL]

Erin wrote: "Hello, my name is Erin O’Donnell! I’m from Florida. My favorite thing to do is travel. I recently visited Spain which was beautiful. My favorite books tend to be contemporary romance books, young a..."

Welcome Erin!

[Helke]

Erin wrote: "Hello, my name is Erin O’Donnell! I’m from Florida. My favorite thing to do is travel. I recently visited Spain which was beautiful. My favorite books tend to be contemporary romance books, young a..."

Hi Erin. Glad you made it. Do you have access to the planning spreadsheet? The link is in this post https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

[F.]

Less than a week to go now. Have my first few books waiting.
Hopefully once the game gets started, everyone will start chatting.
VERY quiet in here, the back to normal routine after Xmas break must be keeping us all busy.

[Gustaf]

F. wrote: "Less than a week to go now. Have my first few books waiting.
Hopefully once the game gets started, everyone will start chatting.
VERY quiet in here, the back to normal routine after Xmas break must..."

Let's not talk about it. I had a mini breakdown at work the other day because we are understaffed and I was stressed beyond anything...

[Skye Blue ☆*~ﾟლ(´ڡ`ლ)~*☆]

I'm a basket case right now.
My Dad's in the hospital, and he's famous for AMA's.
Trying to keep him in the hospital at least long enough to figure out how to treat him.
My hubby spent the entire night in the parking lot, in case my mom needed a ride.
Idk if that makes him the sweetest man alive, or if I wanna call him a dumb @ss. There is a magical invention called a phone. He could have come home and slept, and had my mom call him.
So now I have a grumpy hubby on top of the rest.

[F.]

I'm hubby free this weekend, yeah!!! He is off playing golf with his mates. It's currently very warm and blowing a gale, the edges of the cyclone hitting eastern Aussie.

[Diane]

Oh Skye, that sounds like a lot right now. I have actually been getting stuff done these last 2 weeks. I made a list a couple of weeks ago (once Christmas was packed up as I am a fanatic about decorations) of all the paperwork and sorting/throwing out I wanted to accomplish and I am steadily working through my list. It's given me a bit of focus.

In Toronto, twice a year, a large number of restaurants join together and offer up fixed price tasting menus for a couple of weeks -- called Winterlicious in Jan/Feb and Summerlicious in July. It's a fantastic way to go out and try different restaurants, knowing what you will be paying and eating in advance. So, my biggest stresser right now is trying to figure out how many I should go to, and with whom (friends or family?) and which restaurants to choose. It starts on Sunday and goes through to Feb 8. I figure I have to get this all scheduled out now before I get too obsessed about reading for UNO!!

Gustaf, so sorry to hear you had a tough time at work -- remember you can vent here!!

[Helke]

We have end of term and I have had a couple of 10 to 14 h days after school started in January. And I've been working through the weekend. Today I had my first free day and I've been lazing on my couch. What a luxury.

Skye I hope your father will be better soon. F maybe we should make good use of your free time and Skype.

[Diane]

Hey, do you think we can count a book that we start now, provided we finish it in February??

[JL]

Two more Days! I've got my first two books on the sheet and am all set to start! Hope everyone is having a good week.
Skye I hope your dad is better.
Gustaf hope work is less stressful now.
Diane, the winterlicious/ summerlicious sounds awesome!
Helke I hope you enjoyed your day lazing on the couch!