Nothing But Reading Challenges discussion

Me? Or any of us Mods?

you, i mean i dont mean to b rude but im new to the website and wanted to ask wat u guys r doing?

Eliz wrote: "you, i mean i dont mean to b rude but im new to the website and wanted to ask wat u guys r doing?"


Eliz, this is a thread under the Tower Teams Reading Challenges, a part of NBRC group. This is the thread for Cadet Blue, a Team where most of the members are Mods from NBRC.

These links might help you understand:

A brief explanation under our Navigating the NBRC group folder:
Tower Teams Reading Challenge.

New Rules for Round II.

Sign-up here.

Jex wrote: "For #5 we could the favorite genres of the team members. Everyone puts in their favorite genre and you have to read from that list?

For example:
Jex loves Dystopia and Lk loves Historical Fiction..."

I like that idea too :)

#6 could be locations. Read a book set in the city/state/country (any of those apply) of a team member. Or if the book turn into a movie (or tv series), the movie settings of filming place.

I remember this since The House of the Spirits and Gulliver's Travels filming sets where on Portugal and New Zealand was the chosen place for The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings.

#7 we where the initial "mod" team. Read a current BOM or a past one who always wanted to but never had the time.

The August challenge sounds really good! I especially like the genre one. :)

What does BOM stand for? Book of the month?

Emy wrote: "The August challenge sounds really good! I especially like the genre one. :)

What does BOM stand for? Book of the month?"

Yes, is the Book of the Month section.

Hello, Cadet Blue!

First off, welcome to Emy!! I hope you enjoy the Tower Teams Challenge. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask here or in a PM to myself (I'm acting as team captain but I am not officially reading books for this team)!



Loving the August Challenge ideas you've come up with! Once you have everything sorted out, I can send it to the mods for approval. I will make sure there are threads in the sister group to keep track of the August challenge. I think there is one there now but I will double check and get it set up soon.

Jex wrote: "Sorry I've been silent lately. Life got really busy. However, I finished two books!

and . The first was awesome but waaaaaa..."

Pssst...Jax, I sent you a PM about these. :)

Baroness Blue wrote: "First off, welcome to Emy!! I hope you enjoy the Tower Teams Challenge. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask here or in a PM to myself (I'm acting as team captain but I am not officially reading books for this team)!"

Thank you! :) It's nice to meet you!

Oh, just a reminder: August Challenge ideas (including details on goals and time period) are due to the mods by July 26th for review.

Also, from the mods:

In the Spell-It-Out section, for each letter read books with titles (only the first or starting word will count), series names, authors (both first or last names), character (first or last name), that begin with letters that correspond to letter of the phrase or term you choose. You may ignore the indefinite and definite articles (a, an, the, etc.)

We have a limit of 24 books for spell-it-outs.

Also, you (the team, not each individual player) must have at least one book read per category, unless the team decides to impose a required number per category.

And, books read by team members who aren't active on the forums *do* count for August.

Thanks Baroness Blue.

CADET BLUE only has 9 letters, so we're good :)

We have 9 active members so a cool thing to do would be 9 in 9 (9 books for 9 categories), however, that would total 81 books, since we only have to read 75, we would have a nice margin.

Specially because 9 different genres will be a though one :)

#8 Our team captains (the former two and the new one) love any excuse to post pictures - choose a book by its cover - a cover you like, a cover you hate, a cover that doesn't fit the content, a bright cover, etc

Sonia wrote: "#8 Our team captains (the former two and the new one) love any excuse to post pictures - choose a book by its cover - a cover you like, a cover you hate, a cover that doesn't fit the content, a bri..."



Love that challenge idea, Sonia. You are on fire. tsssssssssss! (that's a sizzle... don't judge!)

*giggles*

Yes, I'm in a roll lately. Maybe is the new job and the new team :)

Just a recap of the ideas:

All About Us In 9 Steps

#1. Our team's name is CADET BLUE, a spell-it-out step.

#2. Our team's color is BLUE - read a book with a predominant blue cover.

#3. Our team's read-a-thon theme was Books in Uniform. We're going to repeat it.

#4. Our team has excellent taste in books. We're going to "steal" from each other books read during the TTRC round II.

#5. Our team reads a great variety of books. We're going to pick a book from every member favorite genre.

#6. Our team is from all around the globe. We're going to read books set in the city, state or country of a team member. Or if the book turned into a movie or tv series we can choose the place of filming.

#7. We were the initial "mod" team. Read a current BOM or a past one who always wanted to but never had the time.

#8 Our team captains (the former two and the new one) love any excuse to post pictures - choose a book by its cover - a cover you like, a cover you hate, a cover that doesn't fit the content, a bright cover, etc

So any ideas for the #9?

Before I get into ideas for #9, Sonia, two things:

First, this is NBRC's bookshelf that lists past BOMs. Then, of course, there is the "currently reading" one, too.

Second, can we open up #6 to include not only where we live now, but where we were born?

Sure Lisa Kay, loved the adition :)

Great! Now... to think about the ninth category.

Hmmm, you still have room for another spell it out...

maybe WE LOVE STEVEN would work? :D :D :D hehehehe

(or UNIFORMS ARE HOT, if you're not inclined to spell out your love for me)

*can't talk*
*too busy laughing*
*wipes tears*

**hee hee**

*still short of air*

The "if you're not inclined to spell out your love for me" was priceless.

:) Goal achieved! /flex

Oh, and he's in uniform!

WITH SCRUFF!

is that even possible?!?!?

Now that I can breathe again, we still haven't the #9.

lolol forever. I'm glad I could come back from my vacation in time for both the image of Steven dressed as a bookworm and that bicep!

8 minutes and no answer from Steven...

*chews bottom lip*

I'm worried...

*pictures Steven passed out because all the hot inside the bookworm suit*

He's probably secret reading on his cell phone at work. Give him a few more minutes and he'll be back ;)

*looks sadly at the ice bucket*

That means I won't get the chance to use it then.

Hahaha, I was at lunch. What did I miss?

Ashley Marie wrote: "He's probably secret reading on his cell phone at work. Give him a few more minutes and he'll be back ;)"

Oh, how well you know me!

The 7% Solution is about to end.
Soon, no more cupcakes for you to win.
For the last four puzzles*, we will allow.
An addition day for to figure out the how.

This series of "duplicates" and "jigsaw" puzzles will earn you four "bouncing" cupcakes when you are done.

*Puzzle numbers #97, #98, #99, & #100 - just to be clear. #97 starts here. Complete by July 20th, 4 P.M. PDT.

For #9, how about a Behind Enemy Lines where you read from an "enemy's" shelf? (Could be any team member from any opposing team and you could set the guidelines for which shelf of theirs to use). Or do you consider that to be too close to your #4?

I have an idea, but it would require looking at a lot of names-- could read books where the main character (or more, if there are a few prominent characters) shares a name with anyone in the TTC Round 2. You can see all participants listed on Team Assignments, on the "Active Teams" tab (first tab). You could set guidelines for this, too, including things like nickname allowances or varied spellings.

Captain Cupcake wrote: "Complete by July 20th, 4 P.M. PDT."

Oh good, this gives me time to rest my eyes between "Spot the Difference" and jigsaws to help CB earn some chunkster points!

Just checking in to let you guys know I finished a book. I've been feeling poorly today so devoured the last 400 or so pages of and now I just need to curl up and cry to recover from the emotional rollercoaster that man has put me through.

I think I'll read a shorter, more cheerful book before I tackle the next one.

Sorry you have been feeling poorly and then the book you chose for comfort only served to mess with your emotions!

If anyone would like to do a couple of slider puzzles for cupcakes, there are two that Cadet Blue needs to complete. Sliders and I do not get along, otherwise I would take care of them. Of course, they are not required at all, this is just a courtesy message. Slider posts linked below:

Puzzle 81

Puzzle 95

I can give them a try, but only in 6 hours or so.. unless someone decides to do them, is fine by me. I never tried any of the mini-challenges for cupcakes, so no idea how it will go :)

We also need to know everybody's favorite genres for August Challenge.

So far we have:

Jex: Dystopian
Lisa Kay: Historical Romance
Sonia: Urban Fantasy

We could snoop around consult your read list, but that can be misleading.

Few things:

1. Okay, team, here is some information about the cupcakes you have earned toward (potentially) future challenges and/or chunky books. I'm sketchy on some of the finer points of cupcake usage but I wanted to address each type of cupcake in one place here. As I learn (and understand) more, I will update this post and re-post it.

A) Cadet Blue has acquired 31 regular cupcakes in the June/July 7% Solution Challenge (also have 14 from May). I think these cupcakes will be redeemable in August/future challenges. I will wait until August Challenge rules are posted before I say for sure how they work, in case the mods are still working out details on that.

B) For blinkie , I don't yet know how these will work, given that each team has their own challenge and challenge rules so I will hold off explaining until the mods make decisions closer to August.

C) Finally, you have 23 bouncy cupcakes. These are redeemed for "extra credit" for chunksters (books over 450 pages/verified by word count). I will be looking over all of CB's books that have been read thus far and I will get you credit for those chunksters! What the bouncy cupcake does is add one additional book - for each bouncy cupcake - to your Team's book total for any “chunkster” read by a team-mate.

2. Page Numbers Information. This is where to go if you have questions about how many pages your ebook or audio book, etc, has. Will also be used to aid in figuring out word counts for chunksters.

3. August Challenge: Complete challenge details must be submitted to mods by July 26, 2013. I will be leaving town that day for a few days so I will not be able to submit ideas any later than July 25th. Seems like your challenge is almost ready for review so that should not be a problem. Also, I created a couple of threads in the Cadet Blue sister group for the August Challenge:
* August Challenge Tasks and Rules . Here, I will post a Table of Contents highlighting each task, and you may reserve a spot for yourself to post a reading plan, if you would like.
* Finished Books Only . As it says, this will be for the posting of finished books only, so that I have one handy place to track those.
(For anyone who is new or does not know, the 'sister group' is a place where we can keep track of challenges and things in our own Cadet Blue folder, so important things do not get lost in the discussions in this thread/group. *This* thread is our main discussion area).

Sonia, you may not be getting notified of Jessica or Sarah's favorite genres. They are not active on the forums and I'm not even sure if they read this thread. I don't know if Lindy will share hers, either. Laura and Mary are PLOA/inactive. The other acct is the mod acct.

That leaves:

Emy, do you have a favorite genre?
Lisarenee, do you have a favorite genre?

If we don't hear from everyone by July 25th, I say we just peruse shelves and figure out common themes, if you really need a genre from each team member.

So far, ideas for Task #9 for August Challenge:

For #9, how about a Behind Enemy Lines where you read from an "enemy's" shelf? (Could be any team member from any opposing team and you could set the guidelines for which shelf of theirs to use). Or do you consider that to be too close to your #4?

Could read books where the main character (or more, if there are a few prominent characters) shares a name with anyone in the TTC Round 2. You can see all participants listed on Team Assignments, on the "Active Teams" tab (first tab). You could set guidelines for this, too, including things like nickname allowances or varied spellings. (If this becomes a category, I would link to the assignments spreadsheet or even make a list! How ambitious).

Anymore ideas?? Only 5 more days to get this squared away!! :)

We can always use the "cloud" feature to figure out someone's favorite genre. That is if they 'tag' their shelves that way. Unfortunately, what with "Alice" acting up today, the GRs "cloud" feature isn't working.

P.S. Lisarenee is out of town.

My favourite genre is fantasy. :) Sorry I haven't responded sooner, I've been poorly.

Edit: Epic or brutal fantasy, to be specific. Leaning towards the more medieval kind of fantasy than the urban.