Book Quest Q&A

[Ashley, The Tipsy Challenger]

Vicki wrote: "Last question for August (I think). lol Does Time Travel work for MPG Travel?"

This was answered here. No, only MPG Travel

[Ashley, The Tipsy Challenger]

Amanda wrote: "For, "Read a book with a character who is from a different ethnic background than you." would you accept "a nearly eight-foot-tall purple half-giant"?

(LOL)"

If the nearly eight-foot-tall purple half-giant mentions his different culture/ethnicity in the text, yes. If the half-giant is just nearly eight-foot-tall and purple, that doesn't immediately mean he has a different ethnic background. Perhaps he was born in the same place and just so happens to be purple.

[Amanda]

Okay thanks!

[Jessica]

Are we getting the September categories today? 🤞

[Ashley, The Tipsy Challenger]

Jessica wrote: "Are we getting the September categories today? 🤞"

Yes, I should have them up before the end of the day!

[Ashley, The Tipsy Challenger]

🌿 September Challenge: Nature and Environment 🌿
Bonus Genre: Science Fiction

This month we’re turning our attention to the natural world and the many ways it weaves into storytelling. Here are your prompts to guide your reading:

• Read a book where nature takes the center stage.
• Read a book exploring the relationship between people and the environment.
• Read a book that deals with environmental challenges or changes.
• Read a book featuring a character deeply connected to the natural world.
• Read a book where nature influences the story or the characters’ choices.
• Read a book that touches on sustainability or alternative ways of living.
• Read a book with characters advocating for or protecting the environment.
• Read a book imagining a future shaped by ecological or environmental shifts.
• Read a book with outdoor adventure or exploration at its heart.
• Read a book where wildlife, landscapes, or ecosystems play a role.

🌎 But here’s the fun part: books don’t have to look like they fit at first glance. If you frame your reading through the lens of “how nature or the environment matters,” so many genres can work. For example:

✨ Contemporary Romance (Beach Read by Emily Henry)
Even in an urban or beachy romance, if the natural setting influences the characters’ growth or serves as a symbolic escape, it fits!
Prompt match: #1, #5, #9

✨ Dystopian Sci-Fi (Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel)
Post-apocalyptic survival stories are inherently about humans reconnecting with or adapting to the natural world.
Prompt match: #3, #5, #8

✨ Magical Realism (The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern)
The circus may be magical, but its ties to seasons, plants, and landscapes let nature subtly shape the story.
Prompt match: #1, #5, #10

✨ Cozy Mystery (The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith)
Set in Botswana, the environment—the landscape, climate, and wildlife—becomes inseparable from the story’s tone and culture.
Prompt match: #1, #2, #10

🌱 Basically, if the environment plays a role in character choices, plot, or theme, it counts. From romance to mystery to sci-fi, nature finds its way in everywhere—you just have to look for it.

[Jenny]

Woohoo!!!!! Science Fiction at last!!!!!!

[Vicki]

For the bonus book title, does the book have to begin with my first name (Vicki) or will our last initial work (E) which is much easier than a V.

[Sammy]

Love that it's sci-fi, hate that it's teamed with environmentalism. those are my least favourite sci-fi books generally, and I don't have much in my tbr.

shall have to be... creative... 😆

[Janeylou]

Jenny wrote: "Woohoo!!!!! Science Fiction at last!!!!!!"

Nooooo!!!! Not Science Fiction 😫😫😫

[Ashley, The Tipsy Challenger]

Vickie, you can choose your letter, but you have to keep it consistent for the quarter. I'll allow you to fix back to change to E if that's what you want, but let me know, bc I may need to unlock a sheet for you.

[Vicki]

Ashley wrote: "Vickie, you can choose your letter, but you have to keep it consistent for the quarter. I'll allow you to fix back to change to E if that's what you want, but let me know, bc I may need to unlock a..."

I am leaving for FL tomorrow for a month so I went ahead and chose my books for September last night. I only have one E book so it's not a big deal. But if possible for the last quarter, October through December, I would like to change to the letter E for my last name (Evans) if possible; however, if it causes you extra work I don't want to inconvenience you. So for September I have no V's and 1 E so don't worry about unless it's easier for you to make a change now. Thanks, Ashley. :)

[Shaw]

Would you consider L. Ron Hubbard as an author of a religious minority?

[Ashley, The Tipsy Challenger]

From Google: "Yes, Scientology is widely considered a religious minority, with a small number of adherents globally compared to mainstream religions."
So, yes!

[Shaw]

Thanks so much!

[Kat]

I read a lot of thrillers. So could the environment their in (relationship) been toxic work?

[Trisha]

There's a "quarterly milestone bonus" listed for September on the spreadsheet but I wasn't sure what it was for. . .do we have another bonus to complete this month? I'm sorry if I missed it, just hoping for info!

[Ashley, The Tipsy Challenger]

Trisha wrote: "There's a "quarterly milestone bonus" listed for September on the spreadsheet but I wasn't sure what it was for. . .do we have another bonus to complete this month? I'm sorry if I missed it, just h..."

This is an ongoing Bonus (it's in the bonus section of your thread)

Quarterly Milestone Bonuses
25 points if the team maintains an 80% or higher completion rate of their reading goals for the entire quarter

It will figure automatically, so you don't have to do the percentages.

[Trisha]

oooh great! Thank you!

[Ashley, The Tipsy Challenger]

🗡📚 Book Quest Adventures: October Challenge 🕯👻

Adventurers, sharpen your stakes and light your lanterns — October has arrived, and with it a new set of quests! This month’s theme is:

🎃 Fear and Survival
Bonus Genre: Horror / Thriller

Your October quests to choose from:

• Read a book where characters deal with scary and stressful situations.
• Read a book where characters experience fears and phobias.
• Read a book that revolves around Halloween and explores themes of mystery or the supernatural.
• Read a book about historical events that involve fear, like wars or oppression.
• Read a book that explores fear through mystery or the unknown.
• Read a book about a society in trouble and how characters survive.
• Read a book that highlights the horrors faced by people in tough situations.
• Read a book that includes ghosts.
• Read a book with characters who struggle with lies and deceit.
• Read a book that looks at deep fears like death or loss and how they affect the characters.

✨ New Quarter Bonus!
📚 Q4: Book Recommendations Exchange

Spread the love of reading in Q4! Each team member may recommend one book per month to another teammate. The goal: read and discuss each recommendation within your team.

🎯 Points:
• Readers earn 20 points for each recommended book they read and discuss by the end of the month.
• Each team member can both give and receive a recommendation, so you can earn points for reading all your teammates’ recommended books.
• Maximum: 1 recommended book per teammate per month.

⚔️ Teams, gather your courage, choose your quests, and prepare for a month of thrills, chills, and survival stories. Good luck, adventurers — may your TBR stacks not haunt you too badly! 👻📖

[Sammy]

Making sure I understand correctly... If all 5 of us rec a book and we read them all as a team, this would give us all points for each of those books (as well as the team bonus)?

[Ashley, The Tipsy Challenger]

Sammy wrote: "Making sure I understand correctly... If all 5 of us rec a book and we read them all as a team, this would give us all points for each of those books (as well as the team bonus)?"

Sure - if you ALL recommend a book, and ALL read those books, then yes, you'd get both the Q4 bonus for each player who reads (you can read your own recommendation if it's been more than 6 months) and the Team Reading bonus.

[Sammy]

awesome, just checking it wasn't just one person per book kinda thing. I'm not sure whether 5 team reads is going to be a thing 😆

[Erin *Proud Book Hoarder*]

Sammy wrote: "awesome, just checking it wasn't just one person per book kinda thing. I'm not sure whether 5 team teads is going to be a thing 😆"

Unfortunately all five of my team can't read same books, so that knocks us out of this particular bonus.

The tasks and theme look fun for October though, thank you Ashley - I enjoy spooky season :)

[Sammy]

Erin *Proud Book Hoarder* wrote: "Sammy wrote: "awesome, just checking it wasn't just one person per book kinda thing. I'm not sure whether 5 team teads is going to be a thing 😆"

Unfortunately all five of my team can't read same b..."

You don't all have to read! But if you do, you get points for each person that does.
even just one person reading a recced book will get you points!

[Erin *Proud Book Hoarder*]

Sammy wrote: "You don't all have to read! But if you do, you get points for each person that does.
even just one person reading a recced book will get you points!.."

That can be doable then I'm sure, thank you Sammy :)

[Ashley, The Tipsy Challenger]

It definitely makes sense to at least make a recommendation, in case someone DOES read it!

[Janeylou]

Do we get extra points for reading a book recommended by another team that we normally do BRs with

[Ashley, The Tipsy Challenger]

no, within your team only!

[Janeylou]

Ok ta

[Shaw]

Does it still count as reading my own recommendation if it’s a book I haven’t read? For example if I recommend a series in which I have read all the books and mention a different series by the same author then does the book in the series I haven’t read count for me? Or if it’s the last book in the series and I’ve read the others.

[Ashley, The Tipsy Challenger]

No. You need to recommend a book that you have read, and a reason why you're recommending it. If you haven't read it in the last six months, you can do a re read and get points. You can't recommend a series.

[Kirsten]

Our team tends to list a bunch of books we're considering before we make our final picks. Can we still do that (some of them we've read, most of them we haven't) and then each make an official recommendation?

And, just to be clear, the recommendation needs to go to a specific person? Like, I will recommend a book that's light on horror to Lisa, because I know she's not a big fan of the genre, but the whole team could read it if they wanted to?

Thanks--

[Ashley, The Tipsy Challenger]

I do not care how you go about recommending a book, so long as it's a book you have read before. You are each recommending 1 book to the entire team, not to any individual team member. If everyone participates, the team will have 5 books to choose from and read for bonus points.

[bamaace83]

Thanks for the clarification. We totally did that wrong. Runs back to fix that.

[Kirsten]

I think we've got it. We're each going to officially recommend a book we've read before.

[Erica]

Hi Ashley - I messed up the SS for Narrative Nomads. I entered my books in the wrong section. So I cut and paste them into my section (immediately below where I originally put them) but the numbers are all messed up now for both of those sections for October. Please help!

[Ashley, The Tipsy Challenger]

Erica wrote: "Hi Ashley - I messed up the SS for Narrative Nomads. I entered my books in the wrong section. So I cut and paste them into my section (immediately below where I originally put them) but the numbers..."

Fixed! :)

[Julia]

"Read a book about historical events that involve fear, like wars or oppression."

Can we also use a book about a fictional war in a fantasy world, or do they have to be actual historical events?

[bamaace83]

It's not really a question but as you are over there planning out fun things for 2026, I would like to put a shout out for doing this challenge again. Our team has really enjoyed this one and would love to have it as an option for 2026. I know it's a lot of work but you've done a great job and I know that it has challenged me to look outside my normal reading comforts and pick new and challenging books. :)

[Ashley, The Tipsy Challenger]

Julia wrote: ""Read a book about historical events that involve fear, like wars or oppression."

Can we also use a book about a fictional war in a fantasy world, or do they have to be actual historical events?"

Mmm... I'll allow it

[Ashley, The Tipsy Challenger]

bamaace83 wrote: "It's not really a question but as you are over there planning out fun things for 2026, I would like to put a shout out for doing this challenge again. Our team has really enjoyed this one and would..."

Noted.
How similar are you thinking? Do you like the team element, the year long aspect? The BR part? Do you like the competition, or the comraderie?

I'd been thinking of a more laid-back version, teams but not a competition...

[Trisha]

Ashley wrote: "bamaace83 wrote: "It's not really a question but as you are over there planning out fun things for 2026, I would like to put a shout out for doing this challenge again. Our team has really enjoyed ..."

our team really has had so much fun! The competition added an element to keep us striving to read books together, try to find those titles with our first letters and those diverse authors! it really kept us on our toes! lol

definitely the year long together was fun and the tasks that we had all month to complete so we could fit them in where we could!

[Sammy]

I would LOVE to do this again, but am personally not a fan of the reviews... I'm trying to get my time spent updating challenges after I read a book to under an hour, and they definitely don't help 😆

I could of course aim to take part in less challenges, but really that's not the most realistic solution 😂

[bamaace83]

I think the only thing that is hard for me is the reviews. I haven’t completed one of those this year, and the competitive side of me gets frustrated but the practical side of me knows that it’s hard for me to do so I look for other ways to get bonus points. I’ve really enjoyed trying to find books to fit the tasks and get the bonuses even when I’ve had to read things outside my comfort zone. Overall this is a very good challenge and you’ve done an amazing job on it. This month was fun when we each had to suggest a book for the team. I’ve liked how each month has a fun little challenge or twist and thats kept it engaging. I will say you think you can knock out ten books easily and then the last week you’re sitting on four and going oh man but then you just do it anyway. I also say I’m not gonna be involved in as many challenges but life happens. 😉

[Jenny]

Ditto what other have said about the reviews. I love every other aspect of this challenge. But, I don't often want to share my reading experience with strangers on a web site, especially if I wasn't particularly moved by the book, and I am not a fan of just rehashing the plot for a review.
I prefer to save my reviews for books that I want to get others to read.

Other than that, my vote is that you do it again!!!!!!!

[Teddie]

Jenny wrote: "Ditto what other have said about the reviews. I love every other aspect of this challenge. But, I don't often want to share my reading experience with strangers on a web site, especially if I wasn'..."

Ditto on this ditto :)

[Bernadette]

I agree with all the dittos 💯

[Ashley, The Tipsy Challenger]

Excellent feedback! I have an idea I'm cooking up - and this is helping guide me.

I'm actually really glad so many of you enjoyed it.

I think the biggest issue I've seen is with players dropping out, and that creates some loss of "competition" for some teams, so I'm creating a way to circumvent that frustration.

And I HEAR YOU - I'll drop the review part 🤣😂

[Kat]

Also no eco environmental section lol