JennH’s Comments (group member since Nov 17, 2023)

JennH’s comments from the 2025 Reading Challenge group.

Brianna wrote: "Hi friends,

I am finally starting to feel better today. I've been sleeping a lot, so it took me a lot longer to finish The Outsiders than I was hoping. I logged the book into the "completed" secti..."

So glad you're feeling better!

I'm sure someone can help you with the Tracking page. I have to run now!

Lorraine wrote: "JennH wrote: "@Lorraine, I hope you did indeed get a good night's sleep!

Jenn: if you need me to update the spreadsheet while you are away, let me know. Enjoy your time away!"

Thanks. I might need your help to add my books. I will try on the iPad. I just don't love using the app.

It's a bunch of appts. So I should have a decent amount of time to read while waiting.

I'm bringing with me a few books
Peach Tea Smash
Before We Say Goodbye
The Time Machine

I wasn't planning on re-reading The Time Machine but it was there on display at the library, so I thought why not. It is also short and fits a few prompts. If those prompts are met before I read it, I can just put it towards page points. I also have a bunch of audiobooks planned with the same thought process.

Lorraine wrote: "Jenn, I hope this is OK. I added the names of our colleagues beside the prompts to see where we are at day 6. Easier for me to see where help could be needed.

SINGLES
1- Read a book containing tim..."

Of course, it's okay. It would have been too confusing for me to also cross reference the names. 😊

Sylvia wrote: "JennH wrote: "Hi Sylvia! I hope the new reading journal has been a help. There is nothing wrong with having to DNF a book. Life's too short to waste time on a book that you don't want to read! I'm ..."

Sylvia wrote: "JennH wrote: "Hi Sylvia! I hope the new reading journal has been a help. There is nothing wrong with having to DNF a book. Life's too short to waste time on a book that you don't want to read! I'm ..."

That's awesome! I'm terrible at filling out journals. I always start with the best intentions for a couple of days, and then.... invariably I forget.

I'm so glad that the group reads are helping expand your reading. I totally agree, this reading group is awesome. 😁

Hi Emily! Hope all is well! Those are great goals. I'll be rooting for you! Yes, we're already halfway through the year, but another way to look at it is that we have half a year left!! You got this! You've already made a wonderful start. I hope you are enjoying lots of fantastic books along the way. Happy reading!

Hi Sir Asholas! Welcome! Have you been reading or are you just starting your goal for the year now? Hope you make progress on your reading goal and enjoy some terrific books! Happy reading!

Bartholomew wrote: "i just ADDED books to my physical TBR
Three of them
Because a few days ago I looked online at the discount bookstore I used and saw they had hardcover edition of A Day of Fallen Night which I have ..."

You are too funny. Of course you had to get the gorgeous copy of A Day of Fallen Night. Sorry, but you will never be called stupid here for adding more books to your TBR. Wrong place for that. We will actually encourage you! 😉

And I somehow missed that Marvel distracted you from reading for a couple of months. That didn't seem to hinder your progress at all!

Hi Charley! Looks like you're making good progress on your goal! Hope you are enjoying fantastic books along the way. Happy reading!

Silencia wrote: "JennH wrote: "Silencia wrote: "JennH wrote: "Hi Silencia! The year's not even half over and looks like you're smashing your goal! Bravo! I hope you are enjoying lots of fantastic books along the wa..."

I will!

Hi Marion! With 2 books already read, I think you've got this! I'm confident that you will have at least 5 books on your read shelf by year's end! Happy reading!

Cristen wrote: "JennH wrote: "Hi Cristen. At the rate you're going, I think you're going to crush your goal! I'll be rooting for you! Happy reading!"

Thank you! I think I might have set the goal a bit low but aft..."

Cristen, I'm excited to see how far you get, too! And don't worry about the goal — you can always change it. 😀

Jessica wrote: "JennH wrote: "Jessica wrote: "JennH wrote: "Hi Jess! Looks like you're making great progress on your goal! I'm glad you're getting in your 'me' time. It's really important to take time for yourself..."

That's awesome! Reading good books definitely helps with wanting to read more. Happy reading! May you find many, many more good books! Your aggressive goal might end up being a piece of cake! 😉

Congrats on completing the challenge, Carolyn!

You got this, Blakie!

Updated to message # 87

@Lorraine, I hope you did indeed get a good night's sleep!

@Beth, glad that your reading is going well! That's good to know about the spreadsheet. I was very impressed that we suddenly had 41 books completed! 😁

I won't be around much the next few days. I will still be reading! And I will hopefully be able to still update the spreadsheet on my iPad. But I won't have access to my computer until late Friday. To help focus my reading, I went through the spreadsheet and these are the open prompts and how many books we still have to read for them. There are planned/possible fits for almost all the prompts, but whatever we can read for the team would be great. Even if prompts get filled, the extra books can go for page points.

SINGLES
Read a book containing time travel. - 1 book
Read a book with a timepiece on the cover. - 1 book
Read a book you haven’t read since you were younger. - 1 book
Read a book set in two or more time periods. - 1 book

DOUBLES
Read 2 books set in a future decade. - 1 book
Read 2 books with a day of the week or month in the title. - 1 book
Read 2 books with a year or date in the title. - 2 books
Read 2 books published or set in the 1920s. - 1 book
Read 2 bookS published or set in the 1930s. - 2 books

TRIPLES
Read 3 books published or set in the 1940s. - 2 books
Read 3 books published or set in the 1960s. - 2 books
Read 3 books published or set in the 1970s. - 1 book
Read 3 books published or set in the 1980s. - 1 book
Read 3 books published or set in the 1990s. - 1 book

Happy reading, everyone!

Updated to message # 84

Hello, team! We're about at the midway point now. How is everyone doing, and how do you feel about the books and prompts that you have planned?

We are at 34 books read, 30 out of 50 prompts completed. We are doing awesome!

Brianna & Lorraine, I hope you are both feeling better!

I'm off to a slow start today. But I plan to at least finish the two books I am in the middle of and then see where to go from there. I was at the library and picked up a few books. And I'm off to another library in a little bit to see what else I can find. I have books but can always use some more! 😉

Happy reading!

Spreadsheet discrepancy -

I think I figured it out. Syd's latest read book is on the Tracking page but not on the Completed page. And Lorraine's Non prompt books are also not on the Completed page. I'll add the books and the numbers should now match. 😁

Yep, it's a match!

Lorraine wrote: "I am done for today as for the spreadsheet. I am actually reading two 2025 books that will either fit the 2020 prompts, if we finish everything, or will count for pages. (They are not on the planni..."

At the rate we're going, the odds are high that we'll finish the main prompts. We're 4 days into the readathon with more than half of the 50 prompts fulfilled! You can perhaps hold off on a few pages of your 2025 books, so we can count them for the bonus round? And like you said, if we don't get that far, we can still count them for pages. And speaking of pages, can you enter the pages for your non-prompt books? We get page points for those. Thanks!

Beth wrote: "I thought the yellow was set up to show tasks that had at least one book for but were not fully completed. 🤷🏼‍♀️ I had changed coloring on some header cells to black to make them more distinct from..."

That's what I thought, too. But there were yellow highlighted prompts that didn't have any books read, e.g., Read a book set in two or more time periods. So I thought it'd best to leave it alone. But I can fix those, now that I'm clear.

I'm not quite spreadsheet savvy. I'm only good for highlighting finished prompts, copying and pasting, adding columns, and cross referencing across the pages to try to make sure it's aligned. Speaking of which, I'm not sure but I think there's a discrepancy. The Completed page shows 28 completed books, and the Tracking page shows 31 books (27 books for prompts + 4 books for page points only.) I will try to cross reference to see if I can figure it out....

Good afternoon, Novel Navigators! Way to go!

I cleaned up on the spreadsheet some. Just making sure all the books were marked off on the Completed tab, so all the pages were aligned.

On the Completed page, I changed the highlighting of the completely completed prompts from green to blue to match the Planning page, and also because it stood out more than the green. The green seemed too close in shade to the existing spreadsheet green. Now at a quick glance you should be able to see which of the Singles, Doubles or Triples are completed, and which still need to be fulfilled. Let me know if you'd like me to do that and color coordinate on the Tracking page as well.

I didn't do anything with the yellow highlighted rows, as I don't totally understand it. Some had completed books and some did not, so I left it alone.

Please let me know of any errors or anything you'd like me to change back.