TEAM Literary Detectives: I Spy

[bailey, Challenges]

2024 I Spy Readathon
Team: Literary Detectives

This thread is for members of Team 3 to use however you wish in relation to the readathon. Feel free to come up with your own team name during the planning phase! our teammates are: Lisa, Lorraine, Dr. Rashimi, Shari, Blagica, Theresa, Carmen, Creed

Here is the link to your team’s spreadsheet, where you’ll be tracking your progress as you go. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/...

While awaiting the start of our reading please discuss a team name amongst yourselves and let the mods know of your choice so your thread can be re-titled accordingly.

If you have any questions about the readathon, how to interpret the prompts, how to use the spreadsheet, and so on, ask your Captain or Assistant first. If they don’t know, they can post the question(s) on the Readathon Central thread.

Happy reading! Let’s have a blast during this 10-day readathon!

[bailey, Challenges]

YOUR PROMPTS


Singles:

Units of time (hour, minute)
Planet (Mars, Jupiter)
Season (Fall, Spring)
Article of clothing (shirt, hat, sock)
Biome (desert, rainforest)
Children’s toys (dolls, trucks)
Rooms/Parts of a House (attic, hallway, basement)
Elements (iron, carbon, oxygen)
Deities/Gods (Hecate, Buddha, Aphrodite)
Fruits and veggies (carrot, lemon)

Doubles:

Vehicles (tractor, limousine)
Family member (sister , mother)
Mythical creature (dragon, unicorn)
Something you find in the garden (dirt, shovel, grass)
Occupation (lawyer, nurse)
Body part (arm, foot)
Accessory (ring, purse)
Bugs (beetle, grasshopper)
Things in the sky (cloud, airplane)

Triples:

Flowers (Lily, sunflower)
Buildings (church, bank, barn)
Animals (cat, horse)
A proper title (prince, viscount)
Type of crime (arson, theft, murder)
The color blue (any shade)
Number
Weapon (scythe, poison, gun)

Bonus Prompts:
Singles

Nationality
A made up word
Tools
Temperature
Famous landmarks

Doubles

Something you find in an office
Books (library, page, ink)
Things found in the ocean

Triples

Farm
Restaurant
School

[Lisa]

Hey and welcome, Team Literary Detectives !

I'm Lisa, and I'll be your Team Leader during this year's summer readathon.
I'm super excited to get started, and figure out how many titles and/or covers we can spy from our collective TBRs! It's gonna to be so much fun, and I can't wait to see what everyone will be reading!😊

If anyone has problems with editing the spreadsheet, let me know, or post it here, and one of us can certainly do it for you :)

Happy reading 📚, and/or listening 🎧

[Lisa]

MEMBERS' PROGRESS TRACKER

☑ Blagica - (5)
📚 Books: 15 + 6
📃 Pages: 6,064

☑ Carmen - (3)
📚 Books: 24 + 1
📃 Pages: 7,953

☐ Creed - (2)
📚 Books: N/A
📃 Pages: N/A

☑ Dr. Rashimi - (6-8)
📚 Books: 10
📃 Pages: 3,427

☑ Lisa - (4+)
📚 Books: 12
📃 Pages: 3,793

☑ Lorraine - (8-10)
📚 Books: 11 + 1
📃 Pages: 3,220

☑ Shari - (5-6)
📚 Books: 4
📃 Pages: 1,356

☑ Theresa - (3-4)
📚 Books: 3 + 3
📃 Pages: 1,180

[Lisa]

For quick reference, this is the breakdown for the point system:

🔎 Singles: 50 POINTS PER PROMPT COMPLETED
🔎 Doubles: 150 POINTS EACH PER PROMPT COMPLETED
🔎 Triples: 300 POINTS EACH PER PROMPT COMPLETED

📃 Pages Read: 1 POINT PER PAGE
🎧 Audiobook Hours: Please use the Goodreads most popular hardcover edition of your book in the language you read it in to calculate page points.

[Lisa]

Linked below is a compilation that could be useful for the double/triple prompts, in particular. If anyone has more, or other resources they think would be beneficial - please, let me know and I'll add them to the list!

Doubles:
➾ Vehicles (tractor, limousine)

➾ Family member (sister , mother)

➾ Mythical creature (dragon, unicorn)

➾ Something you find in the garden (dirt, shovel, grass)

➾ Occupation (lawyer, nurse)

➾ Body part (arm, foot)

➾ Accessory (ring, purse)

➾ Bugs (beetle, grasshopper)

➾ Things in the sky (cloud, airplane)
Hot Air Balloons

Triples:
➾ Flowers (Lily, sunflower)
Flowers Cover / More Flowers / Flower Titles

➾ Buildings (church, bank, barn)
Buildings in the title / Buildings on the cover

➾ Animals (cat, horse)


➾ A proper title (prince, viscount)
Royal Titles / Royal and Noble Females / Male Nobility

➾ Type of crime (arson, theft, murder)
Murder Titles / Fire Titles / Non-Murder Books

➾ The color blue (any shade)
The Color Blue / More Blue Covers / Shades of Blue in the Title / "Blue" in the Title

➾ Number
All the Numbers / Lots of Numbers / Even More Numbers

➾ Weapon (scythe, poison, gun)
Weapons in Title or Cover / Bows, Arrows, Spears / Guns and Knives / Poison

[Lisa]

Hello, Team 3 readathon-ers!
Now that I'm done spamming with all the "official stuff" (... at least for now), I thought we could start by introducing ourselves 😊. And also, feel free to share your suggestions for a team name.

I'm Lisa. I live in Denmark, and I've been a member of this group since 2016.
This will be my third (or fourth) time participating in a team readathon, which is hilarious given how extremely opposed I was to the thought of them a few years ago. What can I say? I've really gotten caught up in the excitement of reading with a team.

Whenever I'm not reading or passing time on Goodreads, I'm working, mommy'ing, and.... uhm... that's pretty much it 😂.

I'm very much looking forward to reading with you all and getting know everybody better in the upcoming weeks 🙂.

Who's up next on the hot seat?

[Blagica , Challenges]

My Name is Blagica I live in New Jersey. This is mt first readathon. I am a mod of this group and love seeing what everyone reads. I also work part time at a center for independent living that helps people with disabilities apply for government funding and so much more. In my free time which isnt much i love to read all things thriller and horror.
I will be honest it is Gala season at work so I will be busy but I am committed to reading as much as I can

some name ideas
Book Sleuths
Literary Detectives
Novel Navigators
Chapter Chasers
Word Warriors
Mystery Mavens

[Lisa]

For whatever reason, it's honestly so weird to me that this is your first readathon. I just figured you would've because you've been longer in the group.

Anyways! I love those names, Blagica.
I too had found some suggestions, but cannot find where I jotted them at the moment, so I guess I'll be back later with my ideas.

[Blagica , Challenges]

these are the 3 books I plan to read that are prompt based

Season-Same Time Next Summer
Deities/Gods-Neon Gods Hades/ Persephone
Units of time (hour, minute)-
10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World

the other 2 i'm not sure but i plan to add page points

[Theresa, Readathons]

Hi, team! I'm Theresa. I live in southwest Missouri. I grew up here.

I joined Goodreads nearly 12 years ago.
I joined this group in 2019. It's been a great reading motivator for me.

I love dogs. Our house now has a spoiled Shih-Tzu boy and we're considering another dog from a local shelter. We just haven't found THE one, yet. We went to a shelter twice this month. It's heartbreaking how full the shelters are around here.

I'm looking forward to this readathon!

[Lisa]

My team name suggestions:

- Reconnaissance Specialists
- Spy Masters
- Clue Catchers
- Sharp Wits

[Lisa]

Theresa wrote: "Hi, team! I'm Theresa. I live in southwest Missouri. I grew up here.

I joined Goodreads nearly 12 years ago.
I joined this group in 2019. It's been a great reading motivator for me.

I love dogs. ..."

Nice to meet you, Theresa 😊 I think it's a common issue everywhere. Our local shelter recently posted something about the number of cats... But yeah, it really is heartbreaking.

[Lorraine]

Hi team!

I'm Lorraine from Montreal, Quebec, Canada. My first language is French, but I can read and write in English as well. I retired in 2018 and have been loving it ever since. Retirement gives me more time to read and travel, two of my favorite activities.

A few years ago, I had the chance to visit Copenhagen. What a great city! The food was wonderful. We used to have cats, but since we travel for 2-3 months each year, we've decided to wait until we're more settled at home to get pets again.

I've identified many books that would be perfect for the readathon and will post them later.

Lisa, I have a question: If I start a book and leave 100 pages to read after the 2nd, can I use this book for a prompt?

Thanks!
Lorraine

[Lisa]

Lorraine wrote: "... Lisa, I have a question: If I start a book and leave 100 pages to read after the 2nd, can I use this book for a prompt?"

Nice to see you again, Lorraine!
Absolutely you can 😊

Which is as good a chance as any to remind everyone that you can start reading already if you wish! As long as there is a minimum of 100 pages left to read during the readathon week it will still count towards our goal. And to reiterate DNFs count, as do books that don't fall under any of the prompts, as well as books that are under 100 pages!

[Carmen]

Hola!
I am Carmen from A Coruña, Galicia, Spain.
I joined the group in 2018 and have been an active member since then. I think I have participated in all the readathons so far, both team and individual, and I have thoroughly enjoyed them.
This time my participation is going to be a little limited because I am undergoing renovations at home and I cannot dedicate as much time to reading as I would like, but I will do the best I can.
Last week my beloved dog, Coco, passed away so I'm a little crestfallen too, I hope the purpose of having to read will lift my spirits a little.
Well, let's forget the sad things and talk about happy things like the name of the team, we have very good options already, I'd like to propose "Spies like Us"

[Lisa]

I'm so sorry to hear about your dog, Carmen. It's been seven years since I lost my cat and it still feels like it was yesterday.

I'm glad you'll be joining us despite the punches of life, though 😊
I really like that one too.

[Lorraine]

So sorry to hear about your loss Carmen. I hope this readathon will help change your mind from the renovations which are always stressful!

[Lorraine]

Here are the books I am planning to read or has already started that can be used for prompts:

1-Vehicles: Tai-Pan for boats
2 and 3- Something you find in a garden: Fairy Tale for a shed in the garden and Dead Ground
4- Flowers: Le nom de la Rose (The name of the Rose)
5- Crime: The Arsonists' city
6- Fruits and vegetables: Le Ventre de Paris (The Belly of Paris)
7 and 8: Le Roi Lear( King Lear) and La reine des lectrices (Queen Elizabeth)
9- Deities/god: L'odyssée d'Homere where you have Athena, Zeus etc...
10- Planet: Vénus privée for Venus
11- Things in the sky: La septième lune (can be translated as the Seventh Moon)
12- Animals: Le règne des loups ( Rules of Wolves)

Lisa: can we confirm that boats are ok as a way of transportation ?
and do you think my suggestions make sense for now?
thanks

[Lisa]

Lorraine, i would say boats absolutely count as modes of transportation.

I think your choices look great. I'll take a look at it again tomorrow, where hopefully there will be more books added, so I can get a better overall view of where we are 😊

[Lisa]

Hey Team !
It's so great to see so many of you check-in already 😊

We're still missing Dr. Rashimi and Shari, but I think I'll give them the weekend before reaching out.

I've added everyone's names to the spreadsheet and made a few adjustments. Tomorrow's plan is for me to add the links for the prompts, and take a look at what I'll be reading. My strategy is basically to fill in wherever is needed.

You're welcome to start adding your books, if you have an idea of what you'll be reading, and mark all the prompts they could possibly fit.

On that note, a friendly reminder that triple prompts count most, so I suggest we try to focus on triple and doubles prompts first, so we can bring those points home :D

I'm a bit tired now so think I'll head to bed and look everything over tomorrow with a clear head.
Have a good night!

[Carmen]

Good morning everyone!
Last night I was looking for audiobooks that I can easily listen to for the Readathon. I focused on the triples and doubles, and I'll give priority to the books that better fit our needs

Triples:

Flowers (Lily, sunflower): Sol y guisantes dulces (Nightingale Square nº 1) (Sunshine and sweet peas)
Buildings (church, bank, barn): El motel Sun Down (The Sun Down Motel)
Animals (cat, horse): La liebre con ojos de ámbar (The hare with amber eyes)
A proper title (prince, viscount)
Type of crime (arson, theft, murder): Asesinato en la librería (Murder at the bookstore)
The color blue (any shade) La dama azul (The Lady in Blue)
Number: La chica número 11 (Girl 11)
Weapon (scythe, poison, gun): Una chica con pistola (Girl waits with gun)

Doubles:

Vehicles (tractor, limousine)
Family member (sister , mother)
Mythical creature (dragon, unicorn)
Something you find in the garden (dirt, shovel, grass):
Occupation (lawyer, nurse):
Body part (arm, foot):
Accessory (ring, purse):
Bugs (beetle, grasshopper)
Things in the sky (cloud, airplane):

[Lisa]

Looks great, Carmen 😊

[Lisa]

Good morning team

Is anyone friends with Shari or Rashimi, and can send them a message about the readathon?
They're not accepting messages, but I've sent them both a friend request. Hopefully they'll accept it or report in before next week.

On another note, I'm currently working on the list of links. If anyone finds anything else that could be useful, please let me know and I'll add it to the list 😊

[Lorraine]

While entering some books into the spreadsheet, I started thinking about the rules for categorization. For instance, "Fairy Tale" wouldn't fit the "found in a garden" prompt because the cover only depicts a non-existent flower, and the title doesn't connect to that prompt either. Therefore, I categorized it under "magical creatures" due to the skull flower on the cover. Does that make sense?

[Theresa, Readathons]

I like Spies Like Us and Spy Masters, as a team name.
I thought I'd share my opinion on the suggested names. 😊

I've added a couple of books that I will read to the spreadsheet.


I used "Snake In The Grass," on the spreadsheet, rather than the full title. It's a long title.

[Lisa]

Lorraine wrote: "While entering some books into the spreadsheet, I started thinking about the rules for categorization. For instance, "Fairy Tale" wouldn't fit the "found in a garden" prompt because the cover only ..."

That's totally fine, Lorraine. I think it fits the prompt perfectly.

[Lisa]

Theresa wrote: "I like Spies Like Us and Spy Masters, as a team name.
I thought I'd share my opinion on the suggested names. 😊

I've added a couple of books that I will read, to the spreadsheet.
[bookcover:Sniffin..."

Perfect, Theresa :) And thank you for your feedback on team names. It'll be a tough call, there are so many great suggestions so far.

[Lorraine]

I also like Spy Masters and Literary Detectives

[Blagica , Challenges]

I'm not seeing anyone's books in the spreadsheet.

[Lisa]

Uhm, weird. Lorraine's start from column F, onward to column I. And Theresa's are next to those

[Lisa]

Are you using Firefox, Blagica? Maybe try restarting your computer or use another browser?

[Blagica , Challenges]

I got it I just needed to refresh
I also have My Heart Is a Chainsaw that i have a few hours in my audiobook that i could hold on to

[Lorraine]

I have entered the books I hope to read. I think I'll need to start earlier and keep some 100 pages for some 🤣

[Carmen]

I also entered mine, but I don't think I can read them all...🤞
First we have to know which books we are going to use in each prompt, and then see which ones we have not covered in case it is necessary to change some books.

[Lisa]

Thank you, Blagica, Carmen, Lorraine and Theresa for adding your potential books 😊 I'll add mine tomorrow and then take stock of where we're at in term of possibilities. I'm still hoping our missing teammates will show up soon.

Also, I'll finish working on the resources list tonight and update everything else after.

Does anyone have any questions about the spreadsheet, or need help with anything ?

[Carmen]

Hola!
I've changed some books in my potential TBR list but I could change some of them if needed. (I have access to the audiobook edition of all except for two that I have on my kindle, so I think I can manage beautifully despite my other commitments 😅)
My list right now includes:


❌️🎧 Los hijos de Anansi (12 hours 2 minutes/400 pp) PROGRESS: 3 h/100 pp (07/28/24) Finished (08/04/24) 400-100=300 pp
❌️📱The Peach Keeper (289 pp) PROGRESS: 15 pp (05/08/24), 131 pp (08/06/24) Finished (08/07/24) 143 pp
❌️📱In the Viscount’s Arms (313 pp) PROGRESS: 18 pp (08/02/24) 199 pp (08/03/24) Finished (08/04/24) 96 pp
❌️🎧 Una jaula de oro (11h 29 m/ 360 pp) PROGRESS: 2 h / 62 pp (08/01/24) Finished (08/03/24) 360-62=298 pp
❌️🎧La chica número 11 (12h 14 m / 448 pp) Finished (08/05/24) 448 pp
❌️🎧Miss Merkel: El caso del jardinero enterrado (8h 47m / 384 pp) PROGRESS: 6h / 175 pp (08/06/24) Finished (08/07/24) 209 pp
❌️🎧El despertar de los dragones (8h 49m / 281 pp) Finished (08/02/24) 281 pp
❌️🎧La liebre con ojos de ámbar: Una herencia oculta (14 h 36 m / 368 pp) PROGRESS: 30%/110 pp (08/02/24) Finished (08/03/24) 258 pp
❌️🎧Temporada de avispas (5h 43m / 240 pp) Finished (08/06/24) 240 pp)
❌️🎧La hermana favorita (14h 47 m / 400 pp) PROGRESS: 2h /54 pp (08/05/24) Finished (08/06/24) 346 pp
❌️🎧 Castigo (14 h 12 m/464 pp) PROGRESS: 3 h /98 pp 08/01/24) Finished (08/04/24) 464-98=366 pp
El color de las cosas invisibles
❌️🎧 Sol y guisantes dulces (10 h 16 m/366 pp) PROGRESS: 2 h/71 pp (07/28/24) Finished (08/02/24) 366-72=294 pp
❌️🎧Asesinato en la librería (10 h 26 m/ 336 pp) PROGRESS: 2 h/64 pp (08/03/24) Finished (08/0524) 272 pp
❌️🎧La dama azul (11h 43m / 416 pp) Finished (08/08/24) 416 pp
❌️🎧Una chica con pistola (13h 34m / 400 pp) Finished (08/07/24) 400 pp
❌️🎧La enfermera del Bellevue (12h 14m / 424 pp) Finished (08/08/24) 424 pp

Enjoy your day! 😘

❌️Book Lovers (448 pp)
❌️Farsa de amor a la española PROGRESS: 225 pp Finished (08/10/24) 279 pp
❌️Otra vez tú 268 pp
El motel Sun Down (75 pp)
❌️The Heartwood Sea (156 pp)
❌️Attachments (338 pp)
❌️Estoy aquí, mi amor (224 pp)
❌️Tapas, Carrot Cake and a Corpse (165 pp)
❌️The Lighthouse Cafe (218 pp)

[Lorraine]

I have removed King Lear from my list. Unfortunately, not in the mood for that book. If we need another formal title, I can reread The Little Prince.

Carmen: I am impressed! 😮

[Shari]

Hello everyone. My name is Shari and I live in Ohio. I have been a member of Goodreads since 2012. I've been a member of this group since 2021.
This will be my third Read-a-thon.
Of course, I love to read. I also make cards, play with paper and scrapbook. I work full-time at an air cargo facility. I do most of my reading at night and some at lunchtime. I can read multiple books at the same time and on different devices.
No kids or animals for me, but I do have a grandnephew named Eli that I love to spoil. He will be 3 next month and he loves Hot Wheels!
I also like to see what others are reading and often find good books. Looking forward to reading with everyone.

[Blagica , Challenges]

Shari wrote: "Hello everyone. My name is Shari and I live in Ohio. I have been a member of Goodreads since 2012. I've been a member of this group since 2021.
This will be my third Read-a-thon.
Of course, I love ..."

I love that Shari! Welcome to the party.

[Lisa]

Welcome to the team Shari! Nice to have you join us 😊Now' we're only missing Dr. Rashimi 🤞

Shari , do you have any thoughts on the team names that have been suggested? Or any new additions?

[Shari]

I have added my books to the spreadsheet.

I like these name suggestions: Novel Navigators and Spy Masters

[Carmen]

Hi, everybody!
Yesterday was a very busy day for me and I didn't have a single free minute to stop by here, but I have to say that I've started to listen to 2 of the books of my list, I hope to restrain myself and not get carried away by the plot and leave at least 100 pages unread, I will have to calculate them in minutes 😁
I'll be tracking my progress in message #38
Happy Tuesday!

[Lisa]

Good evening, Team!

Sorry I've been quiet, I've been a bit busy with real life. But anyways!
Since we're entering the week of the of the readathon, a little housekeeping is due.

First of all, I'm so happy to see most of your names popping up already. It's nice to meet you all. We're still missing Dr. Rashimi but I'm still holding out hope that they'll join us before Friday.

Second, we still need to decide on a team name!
By means of mentions it would be Spy Masters but "Spies like us", "Novel Navigators" and "Literary Detectives" are in a three way tie, so I just want to make sure everyone agrees that these are the contenders, and then make a final decision between them. I would love to have a name sent in to Bailey by Wednesday or Thursday (at the latest).

Third, I was looking at the spreadsheet and wanted to thank you all for adding your books already. You guys are all awesome, and it's looking good so far! I'll admit though I haven't looked much at where we are in terms of prompt completion, but will do so later today, aswell as add my books. The good thing about reading exclusively on Kindle is that it allows me the flexibility to basically fill in wherever needed.

And I think that's it for now.
Have a great day !

[Lisa]

Hey Team,

So, I've taken a second look at the spreadsheet, and got some of you guys "locked down" on certain prompts (for now), because you're either the only person that has marked a book to a particular prompt, or the book only falls under a single prompt.

I did the same thing for the "We are Family"-readathon, and I think it worked quite well to get a manageable visual on everything.

So, for example, Blagica, you're planning on reading Neon Gods, which only covers the Deities single prompt, so that would tick it off as complete .
To take a double prompt as an example, Carmen and Lorraine are both reading a book that fits the Mythical Creature prompt, and both those books (Rise of the Dragons & Fairy Tale), don't have other X-marks, so I'm thinking you guys have that in the bag. Does that make sense?

I've written down who I've "assigned" the prompts to in the "Planning Tab" and marked them in green.
And yes, I realize it may be difficult to actually categorize books before reading them, so please remember nothing is written in stone at the moment. If you need to change something, feel free to do so. If you're not happy with anything, just let me know. Yes?

[Lorraine]

Lisa wrote: " Hey Team,

So, I've taken a second look at the spreadsheet, and got some of you guys "locked down" on certain prompts (for now), because you're either the only person that has marked a book to a ..."

I like this!

[Lisa]

Two more days to go ! Wut wut!
I'm so excited! And I just can't hide it!

Okay, okay, I'll stop. That may have been too many exclamation marks, even for me. 😀 I might need to skip coffee today... or something...

[Carmen]

Hola!
I haven't made any further progress in my listening, since between yesterday and today I will be catching up on my pending monthly challenges (July.)
From tomorrow on I will focus first on the books that I apparently already have in my bag 😉, and also, looking forward to finding out which books I should pay the most attention to, in order to complete as many prompts as possible.
Have a nice day! 😘

[Lorraine]

Starting Friday, I will concentrate on the books Lisa selected for some prompts.For now, I see 8.
I will also need to consider the dates they have to be returned to the library. Need to plan!

[Blagica , Challenges]

Does everyone want to vote on a name?