Team Purple Rain

[UNO Pixie, Our UNO Helper]

TEAM PURPLE RAIN

💜🌧️ https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list...



Team Members:
❅ Captain Apoorv
❅ Co-Captain Stacey
❅ Raquel Shah
❅ Maddy
❅ Keri
❅ Ashley Elig
❅ Catherine



💜🌧️ Team Spreadsheet
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/...

[UNO Pixie, Our UNO Helper]

Reserved

[Apoorv]

THE MODS HAVE SUMMONED ME AND ASKED THAT WE ALL READ THIS OR ELSE... :P
Rules - UNO 2026

➦ Only books STARTED after the challenge begins can count.
The challenge starts on Monday 1 Feb, 2026 at 9am UTC

➦ Books must be more than 100 pages in length.
If it is a Children's book or a graphic novel, we need to verify it is more than 25,000 words on arbookfind.com (https://www.arbookfind.com/UserType.a...)

➦ Your finished books need to be on your Uno shelf
AND marked as "read" for them to count.

➦ Please make notes of how your book may count.
The more options we have the better!
(Letters used in UNO are Z, O, T, H, F, I, V, E, S, N, K, P and of course if another team member has read the book before. Please friend our team members!)

➦ For colored cards, the cover needs to be 50% or more of the color.
You can ask us in this thread for our opinion, or use https://labs.tineye.com/color/ to get an idea. If in doubt, ask me or our co-captain as we can check it and/or take it to the captains group for another opinion.

➦ This is a social challenge, not a competitive one.
We'd love to get points, but the main aim of the game is to have fun, read lots and get to know each other :)
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Team Information (alphabetical)

✔ Apoorv | Challenge-PBBS-UNO2026
Ashley |
Catherine |
Keri |
Maddy |
Raquel |
Stacey |

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COUNTDOWN!
(https://www.timeanddate.com/countdown...)

We start February 1, 2026 at 9AM UTC.
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LEADERBOARD!

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[Apoorv]

PRINCE IS LOOKING AT YOU! :P


Well, I mean that the cap and the co-cap see you. You are seen!
(Uff, this is turning into therapy. Eh, well! :P Two at the price of one!)

Team Spreadsheet
(https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/...)

You don't have to worry about this one!
I got this (till I don't - but then we have an awesome co-cap, so we are totally fiiiiiiine!)

Team Purple Rain Tracking Spreadsheet
(https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/...)

Now, THIS is your playground! Bookmark this baby because you will be needing this one a lot over the next three months!

[Apoorv]

OMG! I AM SOOOO EXCITED NOW!
I CAN'T WAIT!! LET'S GO ALREADY! :D

I know! I know! Your excitement is palpable. I totally get it! :D
So, let's get started, shall we?

A couple of things:

1. You can read absolutely ANYTHING you want! The only request is you track every little thing that the book offers you! Names, locations - the works!

The best way, of course, is Team Purple Rain Tracking Spreadsheet (https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/...). You can start filling in information as you come across it in the "February" (and later "March", and "April" folders). The reason for having all that information is that we can then move things around to complete our hands without waiting on someone to finish a certain book.

2. Color Cards: This is a fun one! We can have folks claim certain color cards if they want, but irrespective of that, I would request you to note any cover color-related information from your book that would fit the bill.

Always better to have multiple books that may fit multiple options. Again, you don't have to read for a particular color, but you can if you so choose.

[Apoorv]

WELP! I FINISHED A BOOK.
WHAT DO I DO NOW?

YAAY! Well done, you smart cookies!
Now we make sure that we count that book.
Every book is precious and we do not want to miss tracking it.

So, three things:

1. Stop by here and make a quick post about the completed book with as much information you can provide.

Here is an example how:
--------------------------------------------
Completion Post

Book: This Is Your Life, Harriet Chance! |
Author: Jonathan Evison
Pages: 296
Date: 01-Feb-2021
UNO Cards it fits:

0: Standalone
1: Character O - Osier, Terrance
2: Title T
3: Character H - Harriet Chance
4: Character F - Fitsimmons, Charlie
6: Character S - Skip
8: Author E
9: Character N - Nathan, Harriet
Skip: Character K - Kurt Pikins

Cover Color : Blue (73.3%) (https://labs.tineye.com/color/50aeebd...)


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2. Hop over to your profile and make sure you have logged in that book in your respective UNO folder as "read".

This is important because at the end of the month, only books logged into the respective shelves can be counted. And these mods are pesky (shhh!), they like to sneak, I tell you! Oh, you'll see! :P
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3. Take a minute to go to our planning/tracking spreadsheet (yes, the same one!) (https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/...) and put in the relevant information of your next read.

I mean, we can't stop at 1, or 2, or errm 6!

[Apoorv]

APOORV, SERIOUSLY SHUT UP!
YOU'RE YAPPING AROUND WAY TOO MUCH. GET TO THE POINT! :P

Eeks! Sorry!
So, here are our FEBRUARY hands.
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Required Reads
👉 0 : 3
👉 1 : 5
👉 2 : 9
👉 3 : 8
👉 4 : 3
👉 5 : 8
👉 6 : 8
👉 7 : 9
👉 8 : 11
👉 9 : 5
👉 Skip : 5
👉 Reverse : 7
👉 Draw 2 : 9
👉 Wild : 4
👉 Wild Draw 4 : 3

We also have eight (8) colored cards:

Required Reads
👉 0 Red : 1
👉 1 Yellow : 1
👉 3 Blue : 1
👉 5 Green : 1
👉 5 Yellow : 1
👉 8 Red : 1
👉 9 Yellow : 2

---------------------------------------------
Quick peek at what can be used for each of the cards:
(view spoiler)[
O (Zero)
(view spoiler)[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)
(hide spoiler)]
1 (One)
(view spoiler)[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
(hide spoiler)]
2 (Two)
(view spoiler)[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
(hide spoiler)]
3 (Three)
(view spoiler)[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
(hide spoiler)]
4 (Four)
(view spoiler)[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
(hide spoiler)]
5 (Five)
(view spoiler)[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
(hide spoiler)]
6 (Six)
(view spoiler)[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
(hide spoiler)]
7 (Seven)
(view spoiler)[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
(hide spoiler)]
8 (Eight)
(view spoiler)[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
(hide spoiler)]
9 (Nine)
(view spoiler)[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
(hide spoiler)]
Skip
(view spoiler)[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)
(hide spoiler)]
Draw 2
(view spoiler)[Use the same book for two cards in this hand (and get points for both cards)
(hide spoiler)]
Reverse
(view spoiler)[One member of your team must read a book another team member has already read
(hide spoiler)]
Wild
(view spoiler)[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)
(hide spoiler)]
Wild draw four
(view spoiler)[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)
(hide spoiler)]
Coloured cards
(view spoiler)[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)] (hide spoiler)]

[Apoorv]

MARCH MADNESS!

[Apoorv]

APRIL AWESOMENESS!

[Apoorv]

Righty O! That should hopefully cover it. Time for introductions.

I am Apoorv (he/him). I live in Boston, Massachusetts in The United States and my association with the game goes as far back as 2015, which was I think the first edition of UNO! This is my 11th year doing this - so, clearly I love the madness and fun this challenge brings.

I know a few of you as we have bumped into each other across different challenges (Raquel and I were in the same UNO team last year too haha) - and we have some new friends here. I am so excited. I always leave UNO with a pile of new books to read (because I go snooping through all your 5 star reads *guilty, not guilty!* :P)

I try and read almost everything (genre no bar), so it's always an exciting aspect of this challenge for me to see all the plethora of books my teammates read.
So, as an icebreaker, how about, if you don't mind, each of you share your top 5 books that you read in 2025?!

I'll start:
1. Family Family | Laurie Frankel
2. Young Mungo | Douglas Stuart
3. The Wedding People | Alison Espach
4. Worst Case Scenario | T.J. Newman
5. Blacktop Wasteland | S.A. Cosby

Please feel free to ask any questions that you may have.
As I like to say, I promise I'll answer all the easy ones, and make sure our wonderful co-captain, Stacey, answers all the difficult ones! :P

SUPER-EXCITED! Let's do this! :D

[Raquel]

Hi Team!

I am Raquel and live in Texas! I've been playing UNO for about 5 years now and its still one of my fav's of the year! And last year I loved my team captain so much that I actually requested to be on his team again (Hi Apoorv!) I read a little of everything but I love romance/dark romance the most as everyone will notice! =)

Some favorites from last year
(hard to choose)....

The Favorites
My Friends
Shield of Sparrows
Onyx Storm
One Golden Summer

Happy Reading Team!

[Catherine]

Ooh Raquel The Favorites and Shield of Sparrows was really good!
I passed thru Boston (19*F) on my way to St Thomas US Virgin Island (81* F) still on the plane actually My Birthday trip to somewhere warm, super excited. But wanted to check in.

Catherine from Salt Lake City, Utah. I work for a large US Airline with nice perks. I travel more than the average person. Enjoy Hot Springs, and high adrenaline adventures, and most definitely anything water.

I’ll post my favorites later but excited to be joining UNO for the second year. I am determined to read Quality over Quantity this year and with that said will probably not read a bad book for a challenge this year. So far so good fingers crossed 🤞 this is doable. I love the challenge to find odd books such as cover colors and hard to find letters. This challenge is easier than most with being able to use characters.

[Stacey]

Hello everyone! I'm Stacey, and I'm from Ohio. This will be my 7th year playing, so when Aproov says I'll answer the hard question, he means I'll go ask the Mods and come back with the answer.

My favorite genres are thriller, horror, and sci fi/space opera, but some of my favorite books are in genres I rarely read (such as the non-fiction book in the list). I also intersperse lighter reading such as romance when I read too many dark books. I love reading and love to find new books and authors!

The top 4 was an easy pick for me, but the Taylor Jenkins Reid5th was more challenging, but here goes:
Death of the Author by Nnedi Okorafor
A Prayer for the Crown-Shy by Becky Chambers
Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Eve: How the Female Body Drove 200 Million Years of Human Evolution by Cat Bohannon
Audition for the Fox by Martin Cahill