Around the Year in 52 Books discussion

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Archives > Fall 2024 Read-a-Thon: Team Bears

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message 51: by Sheena (new)

Sheena Davis (sheenad) | 562 comments Sherri wrote: "Good Morning. I haven't had a report card in a long long time. Looks about right. I'm listening to a lot of audio hours but not reading too much. I'm stuck on my book. It's a book club read that I'..."

I had a stinker of a book club pick a month or so ago and it was the worst. I'm not a huge DNF-er but I would have stopped if it wasn't for book club. Hopefully it's not too long, and the fun of club will make it worth the read.


message 52: by Joanna G (last edited Sep 18, 2024 06:34AM) (new)

Joanna G (joanna_g) | 357 comments Pencils don't matter until we get to the top right? Like we need them to go from B to A, but they won't take us from D to C?

So then maybe we should go for a couple A's at least so any pure 'pencil reads' don't feel meaningless?

If you can finish The Younger Wife for southern hemisphere, Sheena, I can finish Kafka on the Shore and use it for Asian author, which would give us an A in Geography, with the pencils.

Bad book club reads are the worst! Especially when a lot of my fellow book clubbers do feel free to DNF but I still feel compelled to finish them.


message 53: by Joanna G (new)

Joanna G (joanna_g) | 357 comments And if we move The Celebrants to geometric shape, and Abbie can finish If Beale Street Could Talk and use it for under 200, that would also give us an A in math (Ugh, math, but I'll take it).

We'd need one more pencil for that, but I'm sure we can get that!


message 54: by Sheena (new)

Sheena Davis (sheenad) | 562 comments Joanna wrote: "Pencils don't matter until we get to the top right? Like we need them to go from B to A, but they won't take us from D to C?

So then maybe we should go for a couple A's at least so any pure 'penci..."


Correct about pencils! I'm making good progress on Younger Wife on audio and should finish tomorrow.

I've still got yesterday's pages read to log too, I forgot my Kindle at home (currently at work) and forget where I stopped, so I'll add those when I get home


message 55: by Abbie (new)

Abbie | 47 comments I did finish Beale Street and add it for less than 200 pages. Yay math! Clearly, we have different opinions on the subject, but I like math enough to have made a career out of it and to have an abacus as my photo (Abbie + math major = Abacus, or it did to some friends in grad school).

@Sherri - Sorry your book club book is a dud. My club just formed this year and so far there hasn't been anything that I really hated reading. I assume if we stick around long enough there will be.

The Beale Street event is tonight and my book club is tomorrow night, but I'm still trying to fit in reading/listening where I can. I'll have more time Friday and over the weekend.


message 56: by Sherri (new)

Sherri Harris | 1494 comments I did it!!! I made myself sit still all day & finish By Way of the Moonlight by Elizabeth Musser . I put it under an animal on the cover.


message 57: by Sherri (new)

Sherri Harris | 1494 comments Good Morning Team Bear, My goal is to finish Can't Spell Treason Without Tea today. This book is just like Legends & Lattes so if you liked it you would like the Treason book.


message 58: by Sheena (new)

Sheena Davis (sheenad) | 562 comments Way to go to team! Lots of progress made yesterday. I had a change in plans for last night and instead of going out, finished my paper book, spent hours listening to Younger Wife (only 1 hour left to go) and cleaning the house.

Abbie, love that! I think math is interesting but get's too complicated for me sometimes. My son's in uni taking economics and pure math and always trying to teach me things LOL Currently working on bases (octal right now) which is so cool, but some of the questions are so hard to wrap your head around.

@Sherri thanks for the rec! Definitely going to give that a read.

Going to add all my pages and hours and then figure out what's we need most next.


message 59: by Sheena (new)

Sheena Davis (sheenad) | 562 comments Our marks are coming up, we finished our first category and have an A in Geography!! YAY. Go team!!

History F
Literature F
Math B
Science C
Geography A
Art F
Recess F


message 60: by Joanna G (new)

Joanna G (joanna_g) | 357 comments Sorry, Abbie! My comment wasn't meant to be a dig - just my personal opinion. Of all the classes on our list, math is the one I struggled with the most.


message 61: by Sheena (new)

Sheena Davis (sheenad) | 562 comments I'm going to try and check off some of the history section, I've got a short audio book I should be able to finish today that fits a few prompts there. Once I finish that, I'll reevaluate my next pick based on what we need most.

And I've got a lot of books that will fit the recess category but they're all short and easy so thinking I'll leave those till we get our marks up a bit more ;)


message 62: by Joanna G (new)

Joanna G (joanna_g) | 357 comments Alright, with one A on the table, I now feel like concentrating on getting rid of those F's!

About the spreadsheet, I noticed that on our plans page, we have some completed tasks where just the box is highlighted and some where it's a whole line of highlight. Does anyone mind if I make that all consistent? If so, is one of those methods preferred?

Also, Sheena, I see The Younger Wife is in both plans and completed.

Who knew that I'd get very into spreadsheet management? Hee.


message 63: by Joanna G (new)

Joanna G (joanna_g) | 357 comments Oh, I see someone changed the fills. Thanks!


message 64: by Sherri (new)

Sherri Harris | 1494 comments I finished Can't Spell Treason Without Tea. I put it under science. A plant on the cover


message 65: by Sherri (new)

Sherri Harris | 1494 comments Good Morning, I'm rolling along. I'm reading Stet: An Editor's Life. I'm listening to The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared.We're doing great.


message 66: by Sheena (new)

Sheena Davis (sheenad) | 562 comments Sherri wrote: "I finished Can't Spell Treason Without Tea. I put it under science. A plant on the cover"

Great progress, Sherri! I put Can't Spell on hold at the library and looking forward to reading it.

I finished both my books yesterday! They were both quite short so not that helpful with pencils but we can worry about that later :D

I was surprised how much I enjoyed No Better Time: A Novel of the Spirited Women of the Six Triple Eight Central Postal Directory Battalion but the audio was very well done, and the women's stories were fascinating, a bit sad but hopeful. I actually cried a couple times. It's so awesome when a prompt pushes you out of your normal picks to discover something different.

And The Seventh Bride was, of course, amazing. I love Kingfisher so, so much.

I've popped both on the spreadsheet, but happy to juggle prompts if needed when we get a bit closer to the end of the challenge.


message 67: by Joanna G (new)

Joanna G (joanna_g) | 357 comments Finished Anxious People, put it in for translation. I'm fairly confident I'll be able to finish my three in progress (Eclipse the Moon, planning for sci-fi, which could get us to an A in science, The Collected Poems of Emily Dickinson for poetry, and Genesis, probably for YA, but it has some rarer options - set on an island, southern hemisphere, if we wanted to move some stuff around).

I think that might be it for completions for me, not sure if I would have time to get another full book in, I have a few things planned this weekend.


message 68: by Sheena (new)

Sheena Davis (sheenad) | 562 comments That's awesome Joanna!!

I love that you shared your plans for the rest of the challenge!
I don't have much planned (so far ) this weekend so I'm planning on reading as much as possible.

maybe we could make a list of the rest of the open prompts and everyone can claim anything they think they'll be able to finish?


message 69: by Sheena (last edited Sep 21, 2024 02:20PM) (new)

Sheena Davis (sheenad) | 562 comments Here's a start on plans for the rest of the challenge ... I'll update as we figure out who can read what over the next few days ...



A book with a title of 5 words or more
A book with a geometric shape on the cover
✓ A science fiction book - Joanna
A book published at least 50 years ago
A book featuring a real historical figure - Abbie?
A memoir, biography or autobiography
✓ A play, screenplay, or book of poetry - Joanna
A book with all three primary colors on the cover (red, blue, yellow)
A book whose title starts with a letter in EGOT
A book containing a map or illustrations
✓ A book featuring sports - Sheena
✓ A humorous book - Sherri


message 70: by Sherri (new)

Sherri Harris | 1494 comments Good Morning, Thank You Sheena for the list of needed books. It helped. Here are my goals.
1. I have 128 pages left on Stet: An Editor's Life. I plan to finish it today. I'm busy today but I hope to finish it. It can be used for a book about books or memoir or biography.
3. The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared. I plan to finish Sunday. It's a humorous book.


message 71: by Sheena (new)

Sheena Davis (sheenad) | 562 comments Perfect! Thanks Sherri. I'll get my list updated in a few


message 72: by Sherri (new)

Sherri Harris | 1494 comments I finished Stet: An Editor's Life. I put it under literature a book about books.


message 73: by Sherri (new)

Sherri Harris | 1494 comments Good Morning Team Bear, My goal for today is to finish The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared. I have 6 hours left so we'll see if I can do it. I have church this morning & the gym in the early afternoon. It will work for a humorous book.


message 74: by Sheena (new)

Sheena Davis (sheenad) | 562 comments Awesome Sherri! Enjoy your day!!

I finished hobby yesterday, and working on finishing Murder on the Links, which can fit a few (will decide later based on what everyone else manages to finish) ... and will find a new audio book for today. Lots of cleaning and food prep so thinking if I find a shortish one I should be able to finish both today.

I think this is my first readathon, where my team may not finish but also a much smaller group than than ever so I feel like we've done well. I'm determined to read as much as possible today and at least get the marks a bit higher. No Ds!! LOL


message 75: by Sherri (new)

Sherri Harris | 1494 comments We’re doing great & we’re having fun.


message 76: by Abbie (new)

Abbie | 47 comments I managed to finish Everything I Learned yesterday and am almost finished with My Salty Mary. I have a graphic novel that I can start (would work for illustrations/EGOT) but I can't promise that I will finish the whole thing today. I think we've done a lot with a small group (and we're not failing recess!).

Also @Joanna, I'm not offended by people hating on math. When the answer to "what do you do?" is "I'm a statistician" you get all kinds of responses. Mostly I find it a little sad that so many people have had such negative experiences with math in school.


message 77: by Sheena (new)

Sheena Davis (sheenad) | 562 comments Woot, that's great Abbie!!

I'm currently listening to Gatsby while I fuss in the kitchen. It's short, so will be done in a couple hours and it will fill 50 years ago prompt. I'll finish Poirot for sure today as well .. anything else we'll see ;)
Awesome teamwork all


message 78: by Joanna G (new)

Joanna G (joanna_g) | 357 comments Sorry guys, did a 6 hour hike yesterday (+travel time) which didn't let me get much reading done. But on the upside, all I want to do today is lie on my couch!

I will finish Eclipse the Moon as our sci-fi option, which can get us to an A in science.

I've also started A True Account: Hannah Masury’s Sojourn Amongst the Pyrates, Written by Herself, but I am not promising to finish that one. If I do, it could be +5 word or EGOT title.

I will say we're ending a lot better than I thought we would earlier in the week! Way to go team!


message 79: by Sheena (new)

Sheena Davis (sheenad) | 562 comments That sounds like a fantastic day, Joanna!
We've done really well with such a small number of readers!

I just finished Gatsby! looking for another short audio to fill in something else,


message 80: by Joanna G (new)

Joanna G (joanna_g) | 357 comments Okay, I finished it and put it in, but i don't know if I did the pencil right. I put one in, and deducted one from the first page, but not sure if that's all that needs to be done?


message 81: by Sherri (new)

Sherri Harris | 1494 comments I finished The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared. I used it for literature a book with more than 5 words in the title. That finished the category. I didn't add pencils so that needs to be done. I couldn't move the column from plans to complete because there wasn't space. I put my audio hours on the tracking tab. Good night everyone. I had a lot of fun this past week. We did awesome.


message 82: by Abbie (new)

Abbie | 47 comments I ended up reading the whole graphic novel, so I added it for illustrations. Also made space on the completed tabs and added the pencils. I agree, we did awesome!


message 83: by Sheena (new)

Sheena Davis (sheenad) | 562 comments Really well done team!! I've added to the sheet, still have to log my numbers for yesterday for final pencil numbers which I'll pop back shortly and do! Coffee first, LOL


message 84: by Sheena (last edited Sep 23, 2024 05:20AM) (new)

Sheena Davis (sheenad) | 562 comments Not bad at all for our little team of readers! No D's LOL
Hope to see you all back for the Winter Read-a-Thon!!!

History B
Literature A
Math B
Science A
Geography A
Art B
Recess A

Total completed 32
Book left to read 3


message 85: by Sherri (new)

Sherri Harris | 1494 comments That’s a good report card.


message 86: by Joanna G (new)

Joanna G (joanna_g) | 357 comments Just put my final numbers in. A very impressive ending, thanks everyone!

And thanks Sheena for captaining!


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