Team Long Commute

[Moderators of NBRC, Challenger-in-Chief]

Team Long Commute




🚦 Christina (Captain)
🚦 Judy (Co-Captain)
🚦 Ashleigh (Co-Captain)
🚦 Jhmingos or Lizzie
🚦 Alyana
🚦 Jessica M
🚦 Kate
🚦 RachelG.
🚦 Vi
🚦Linda C
🚦Zuza
🚦maria helena
🚦Laventeli



Team Spreadsheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/...
Challenge Status Spreadsheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/...

[Moderators of NBRC, Challenger-in-Chief]

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[Moderators of NBRC, Challenger-in-Chief]

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[Judy]

🚦 PLANNING SPREADSHEET https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/...



🥱 Good to know
- Starts 12 October and runs for 8 weeks - end 7 December
- Start / end time for each round: 9pm UK time
- Each round is 2 weeks


🥱 Rules
- Mods will "spin the wheel" to assign each team a word, teams read the spell-out of the word
- Only one incomplete spell-out is allowed
- Only books STARTED after the challenge begins can count
- Min. 100 pages
- Audiobooks: use default edition page count
- MPGs Childrens / Kids / Poetry / Play / Graphic Novel / Illustrated / Photography / Art (or which have "Illustrated" in the title or an "Illustrator" contributor in the metadata) must have at least 30,000 words, verify on arbookfind (https://www.arbookfind.com/). If not on there, audiobook must be over 3h
- Any language works
- Rereads are allowed, if it's been longer than 6 months
- Books must be started & finished after the challenge start date. They cannot be banked, i.e. must be used in the round they're finished during


🥱 Spell-out rules
- book / series title - feel free to ignore articles (the/a/an)
- author first/last name
- character name - first, last or nickname - must be significant to the plot!
- if listening to audio: narrator first/last name
- if reading a translation: translator first/last name
- Non-fiction books don't have characters!


🥱 Bonus points
- 5 points for books published more than 2 years ago / 10 points for books published more than 50 years ago / 20 points for books over 100 years old
- 5 points for books over 400 pages / 10 points for books over 600 pages / 20 points for books over 800 pages
- these points stack!!!!! (meaning we can get bonus for both publication & pages)



‼️ NEW RULE: INDIVIDUAL READING CAPS

The mods are trying out a different type of reading cap for this game. Each player will be capped at either 4 additional books or 50% over their sign up number (whichever is higher) per round with a max of 30 books per round (reminder: round = 2 weeks). For example, if you sign up with 10 books per round, the maximum number of books you can read in a given round is 15.

Books read by team members over their cap can be kept in reserve in case of players ghosting. To use any of these however, a discussion needs to be had with the NBRC Mods about the number of reserved books that can be used.



👉 FULL RULES

[Judy]

📚 BOM DISCUSSION 📚

Participating in the BOM discussions is a great way of bringing a bit of change to your boring, repetitive daily routine – AND it really helps out the team with some additional bonus points!

If you're interested in participating in the BOM, feel free to volunteer to write DQs! They're really not as scary as they might sound - and we can always brainstorm as a team if you're stuck!


📚 Points
- Writing a day's worth of discussion questions = 40 points
- Participating in a current BOM discussion (3 sets min.) = 20 points


📚 October
- 16 Oct: The Road Trip by Beth O'Leary - thread


📚 November
- 2 Nov: The Spellshop by Sarah Beth Durst - thread
- 16 Nov: The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie - thread
- 22 Nov: The Secret History by Donna Tartt - thread

[Judy]

🥱 SHELVES

Christina: https://www.goodreads.com/review/list...
Judy: https://www.goodreads.com/review/list...
Ashleigh: https://www.goodreads.com/review/list...
Jhmingos/Lizzie: https://www.goodreads.com/review/list...
Alyana: https://www.goodreads.com/review/list...
Jessica M: https://www.goodreads.com/review/list...
Kate: https://www.goodreads.com/review/list...
RachelG.: https://www.goodreads.com/review/list...
Vi: https://www.goodreads.com/review/list...
Linda C: https://www.goodreads.com/review/list...
Zuza: https://www.goodreads.com/review/list...
maria helena: https://www.goodreads.com/review/list...
Laventeli: https://www.goodreads.com/review/list...

[Judy]

📄 MINI 1: ADMINISTRATIVE

Starts: Round 2 (26 October, 9pm UK time)

- 5 points per book
- 5 BONUS points if book also contains COFFEE TABLE or QUILT
- we have to finish all tasks before we can do a second run of these tasks
- books cannot be banked for the second runthrough (i.e. have to be finished after the first run is finished)


Find books that fits one of the following criteria:

- the main character works in an office
- the plot revolves around an office romance
- typical administrative material on the cover
- tagged non-fiction / nonfiction (at least 10x)
- tagged office (at least 10x)
- the main character works in taxes
- the main character works in finance
- the clue to solving a murder is found in paperwork
- cover colour is at least 50% grey
- cover colour is at least 50% orange
- someone is murdered in an office
- the plot revolves around white-collar crime
- the main character needs to know how to handle a budget
- letters GREY in title
- letters TAXES in title
- letters ADMIN in title
- author first & last initials in FILING
- author first & last initials in PAPERWORK
- author first & last initials in SHREDDING
- tagged DNF (or direct equivalent) (at least 10x)

👉 OFFICIAL RULES


🌷 MINI 2: GARDENING

Starts: Round 2 (26 October, 9pm UK time)

- 5 points per book
- 5 BONUS points if book also contains PIANO or VIOLIN
- we have to finish all tasks before we can do a second run of these tasks

Prep

- read 2 sets of 5 books that are consecutive numbers in series (e.g. 2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
- do not need to start at 1
- do need to be in a continuous sequence (i.e. 2, 3, 5, 6, 7 does NOT work)
- do not need to be from the same series
- do not need to be read in order

Tend

- find books with words in their title (or subtitle) that meet the following.

Germinate: is 6 or more letters long
Plant: is exactly 5 letters
Mulch: contains one of the following digraphs: CH, PH, SH, TH, WH
Weed: contains a double vowel
Water: contains and H and 2 Os
Pest Control: contains two letters consecutive in the alphabet (e.g. AB in alphabet)
Feed: contains a double letter
Prune: can be cut to reveal a different word of at least 2 letters (e.g. PRUNE - RUNE / AFFAIR - FAIR)
Harvest: that could be a noun or verb (e.g. TRAIN)
Deadhead: contains a repeat set of at least two letters (e.g. BEGINNING repeats IN)

Bloom

- read 10 books with colour covers (50%+) to reflect the colours in your flowers.
- MUST include 1 brown and 1 green

👉 OFFICIAL RULES


🍽️ MINI 3: FEEDING THE FAMILY

Starts: Round 2 (26 October, 9pm UK time)

- 5 points per book
- 5 BONUS points if book also contains VINEGAR or LOBSTER
- we have to finish all tasks before we can do a second run of these tasks


A: Cooking from Scratch

- find the listed food items in the text of a book, plural variants are ok,
- word doesn't have to mean the food (e.g. "it's a bit of a squash to get everyone in")

Apple, banana, bean, beef, bread, broccoli, carrot, chicken, corn, cucumber, fig, fish, grape, lamb, lentil, lettuce, okra, onion, pasta, peach, pepper, potato, pumpkin, rice, salt, spice, squash, sugar, tomato, yam


B: Let's Just Get a Takeaway!

- books with country tags (min. 5)

Bangladesh, China, France, Greece, Hawaii, India, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Korea (South Korea/North Korea also work), Mexico, Nigeria, Southern Gothic (food idea: fried chicken), Thailand, Turkey


👉 OFFICIAL RULES

[Judy]

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[Christina]

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[Ashleigh]

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[Ashleigh]

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[Ashleigh]

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[Christina]

Hi team, I'm Christina (she/her) and the captain of your long commute into work 🥱

I'm currently traveling (aka visiting a friend in the Netherlands and going to a bunch of concerts lol, classic me) but I know Judy and Ashleigh have everything under control in the meantime and I will be back by the weekend ✈️

Why don't you all introduce yourself until then, and don't forget to share the link to your shelf please :)

[Alyana]

Hey there team! I’m Alyana from Queens, NY and glad to be back on your team, Judy! Our team name fits me since I commute to work but it’s just short though 😅

I currently work part time at our public library which made me love books more than ever! 😍

I have a history of not liking the BOMs here because of mostly fantasy books and I’m not a fantasy reader, so I’m crossing my fingers that I can pick up at least one BOM!

Enjoy your travel Christina! :)

Here is my shelf: https://www.goodreads.com/review/list...

[Vi]

Hi team, I'm Vi. I live in Netherlands (Hey Christina!) now. I have two kids (10,5). I read mostly romance, fantasy with a bit of SF or Mystery thrown in.

The group name is really apt for me. I just started working after 5 years and my commute with public transport is close to 2 hours one way. By car, it can take anywhere between 45 mins to 1,5 hours depending on the traffic. This is a long commute (for me). Now I've started exploring audiobooks to read during my drive.

Let's all have fun this round!

Shelf: https://www.goodreads.com/review/list...

[Ashleigh]

Hi team! I'm Ashleigh (she/her) and I'll be one of your co-captains for this round of Wheelathon!

Any newbies here, you are in good hands with our captain Christina. I've been on multiple teams with her across a variety of challenges and she's a pleasure to be on a team with.

My shelf: https://www.goodreads.com/review/list...

[Judy]

Hello team! I'm Judy, she/her, and I'm from Germany. Me and Christina have been (co-)captains for a whole bunch of challenges together now so and I know Ashleigh also has lots of experience so you're in good hands 😊 just shout if you have any questions!

I mostly work from home so my commute is about 30 seconds from my bed to my desk 😅 but I've been travelling a lot for work recently and will continue doing that over the next few weeks of this challenge - surely that counts too, right?!

My shelf: https://www.goodreads.com/review/list...

[RachelG.]

Hi, I am Rachel. I live near Seattle, Washington, USA and have an adult disabled son who I take care of. I get to spend a lot of time reading as a result of working at home. This is the second time I have done wheelathon and I am certainly looking forward to it!

My shelf: https://www.goodreads.com/review/list...

[Jessica]

Hi I am Jessica. I live in the Hudson Valley in New York. I work in a birthing center full time as unit secretary. I have always been an avid reader (since childhood) and have recently gotten into audiobooks as well! I live with my husband and our two kitties.
This is my first time playing Wheels. I have done other challenges like Uno and Towers. Look forward to playing with you all!

My shelf: https://www.goodreads.com/review/list...

[RachelG.]

For the bonus points on published books are we looking at when they were first published rather than the edition we read?

[Judy]

RachelG. wrote: "For the bonus points on published books are we looking at when they were first published rather than the edition we read?"

Original publication date - so if you're into classics, that will come in very handy here ;)

[RachelG.]

Thank you. I wanted to be positive before I start requesting books from the library. It will certainly help me decide what to focus on!

[Judy]

We've also got our first word already: HOA VIOLATIONS!

At least there's no Us but... triple O! 🙃

[Alyana]

O for O boy lol

[Judy]

Alyana wrote: "O for O boy lol"

Yep hahahaha!

One piece of good news is that the first BOM is The Road Trip by Beth O'Leary ;)

[maria helena]

Hi! I’m maria helena or MH for short and I’m from Sweden.

I have a minimum of 1 hour commute on the days I go in to the office, but that is at least some extra reading time to squeeze into my day.

Here’s my shelf: https://www.goodreads.com/review/list...

[Alyana]

I found some I's on my tbr, and we'll look for O's later...

[RachelG.]

I would love to see more author's have titles that start with U. I feel like I am running out of books that start with U.

[Judy]

RachelG. wrote: "I would love to see more author's have titles that start with U. I feel like I am running out of books that start with U."

Completely agree! I keep saving them up for spell-outs, whenever I come across a new release at the library that works for U, it immediately goes on my wishlist 😅

[Alyana]

I found a couple of I's, a few Os, a V and a U! Yay!

[Judy]

Nice!! We're working on a planning spreadsheet, hopefully we can share it with you tomorrow morning :)

[maria helena]

I usually don’t read the BOM but The Road Trip looks good so I’ll definitely read that one.

[Zuza]

Hi team,

my name is Zuzana, but I use Zuza for short. I am from Czechia, I live near Prague.

I think this is my 3rd participation in this challenge and it's always fun, best part is picking the books 😄. I will read anything that sounds interesting to me, but love YA sci-fi books the most.

I spend total of two hours traveling to and from work every day, but I usually spend reading only half the time. Mostly listen to audiobooks before bed while doing some book coloring 😁.

My shelve: https://www.goodreads.com/review/list...

[Linda C]

Hi,
I'm Linda C and I have no commute. I am a retired librarian and read a little bit of everything. I like a little romance thrown into my reads, but not required.

I'm from Upstate New York, near Rochester. I am also doing the Turf Wars game so I hope my books can work for both 🤞

My shelf: https://www.goodreads.com/review/list...

[Jhmingos]

Hi everyone,

I'm Lizzie or Jhimingos, and I work in the Silicon Valley of the biotech industry, in San Diego. My commute can be hit or miss. Usually, it's pretty tolerable because I can enjoy an audiobook but Friday afternoons are bad. Everyone's trying to go home early for the weekend.

I'm very excited to join my fifth year of Wheels! I'll be honest, I reached my reading goal early so I've been taking it easy this month. Hoping I can get back on track now that Wheels is on.

Also, classics are one of my favorite genres. There's not a lot of us in this group but I'm very excited about the bonus points for older books. Yay!!

My shelf: https://www.goodreads.com/review/list...

[Jhmingos]

Linda C wrote: "Hi,
I'm Linda C and I have no commute. I am a retired librarian and read a little bit of everything. I like a little romance thrown into my reads, but not required.

I'm from Upstate New York, ne..."

How do you like Tuft Wars? I've heard about it, but haven't participated.

[Linda C]

It's fun. I've done it several times. You should check it out.

[Christina]

Vi wrote: "Hi team, I'm Vi. I live in Netherlands (Hey Christina!) now. I have two kids (10,5). I read mostly romance, fantasy with a bit of SF or Mystery thrown in.

The group name is really apt for me. I ju..."

Nice Vi! Whereabouts are you located if you don't mind me asking? Next bigger city? I'm currently staying with a friend in Ermelo and have been to quite a bunch of different cities here already :)

[Kate]

Hi Everyone! I'm Kate from Toronto, Canada. I'm an RN in a Labour and Delivery unit and I work straight nights. I live with my husband and eight year old daughter. My commute is short, about 13-20 min depending on traffic. This is my first full team challenge ( I have previously joined as a reserve player) and my first time playing Wheel. Here is my shelf: https://www.goodreads.com/review/list...

[Judy]

We've got just over 48 hours to go until the challenge starts... have you picked your first reads yet?

Our planning spreadsheet is here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/...

I input a few things as samples (and that I do hope to read during the first round BUT who knows! I'll be travelling quite a bit...), overall it should be relatively self-explanatory. If you want to claim a letter your book works for, check the "round 1" tab for the reference code and input that into column 1!

[RachelG.]

Is it better to not claim a letter up front if your book works for more than one letter?

[Judy]

RachelG. wrote: "Is it better to not claim a letter up front if your book works for more than one letter?"

Feel free to claim letters, but captains might shuffle books around!

[RachelG.]

Thanks! The captains always have so much work I want to do what I can to make it as effortless as possible. The SS looks very easy to fill out. I am still trying figure out exactly what I'm going to read to maximize points before I start adding very many.

[Jhmingos]

Got some of my books in from the library so I'm ready to go. I plan to read The Road Trip for BOM, but I think my first book will be The Kingdom of Liars. It's been a while since I had an epic fantasy read, and I'm in the mood for one.

[Vi]

Christina wrote: "Vi wrote: "Hi team, I'm Vi. I live in Netherlands (Hey Christina!) now. I have two kids (10,5). I read mostly romance, fantasy with a bit of SF or Mystery thrown in.

The group name is really apt f..."

Oh sorry, my response didn't go through. I live in Utrecht, right in the middle of the country. Have you been to Utrecht? It's really a beautiful city.

[Christina]

Vi wrote: "Christina wrote: "Vi wrote: "Hi team, I'm Vi. I live in Netherlands (Hey Christina!) now. I have two kids (10,5). I read mostly romance, fantasy with a bit of SF or Mystery thrown in.

The group na..."

Yes I've been there twice, at the very least. At this point I'm really not sure haha. I guess if you count me switching trains I've been there more often. I'm currently on my way to the airport so that sucks lol.

Do you have any opinions on Ilse DeLange? She's pretty much the only reason I come here haha and of course me having a super close friend here now :)

[Christina]

I would have liked to post a countdown but my wifi is down and I'll be at work all day tomorrow - BUT we have about 20 more hours until we can finally read for this office heavy wheel and I saw Judy actually did add a countdown to our tracking sheet (cell H3) + there's also several ones in our official team sheet :)

[Vi]

Christina wrote: "Vi wrote: "Christina wrote: "Vi wrote: "Hi team, I'm Vi. I live in Netherlands (Hey Christina!) now. I have two kids (10,5). I read mostly romance, fantasy with a bit of SF or Mystery thrown in.

T..."

Haha. People experience Utrecht when switching trains. Hope you had a good time here.

I didn't know you were a fan. I love her songs.

[Judy]

Vi wrote: "Haha. People experience Utrecht when switching trains. Hope you had a good time here."

I had some of the most stressful minutes of my life when the train system was down and I had to find a taxi from Utrecht to Schiphol while the Harry Styles concert was at the Arena 😭 not easy to get one when all these parents are preoccupied with making sure their 13 year old daughter is going to be 2 hours early! It ended up fine and I made my flight but for a while there it was touch and go 😅

[Laventeli]

Hello everyone!

I’m Leena and I’m from Finland. I have not participated in many group challenges as I prefer solo games (rpg is my favourite) but I thought I’ll give it a try.

I have few questions. I assume that the letters come from the original title, not the translated one. I have one book that starts in finnish with t (same as English translation) and with S in original language. What do you guys think?

What letters are we missing for the first word? I have quite large tbr pile to choose from.

Here is my shelf https://www.goodreads.com/review/list...