You'll love this one...!! A book club & more discussion

Jkmays - The six books is just about the mascots, you have to link each book with the next one regardless of where number it is i.e. the 6th book must have a link to the 7th book.

I think that's right .... Janice?

Jkmays wrote: "ok I understand that we can go on forever. But...after we have reached and completed the top level, and we keep on going, do we still plan six books at a time and have the freedom to read them in a..."

If you are in the Buzz Lightyear section, you will get a badge after you have read 6 books. The same criteria applies regarding linking and the order in which they are read. Once you have finished the 6 books, you may continue on with adding more books, you must still link the books, but you don't need to read them in sections of 6.

There may be a badge hidden out in space somewhere. One never knows till one explores the final frontier.

Ok, that's confused me now! Have I got it wrong?

Are we really reading in sections of 6 and then starting fresh? Are we not just reading books that link one after the other?
I thought the sections of 6 were about the mascots, nothing else?

::goes back to read the rules again::

Lynn wrote: "Ok, that's confused me now! Have I got it wrong?

Are we really reading in sections of 6 and then starting fresh? Are we not just reading books that link one after the other?
I thought the sectio..."

You start off with Slugs Slicks and progress through the mascots (in order) until the final one, Buzz Lightyear. Each book must link to the previous book, so that you have a continuous chain of books through all sections. Think of it as being on a highway. You travel through each town (mascot) as you drive the highway (linked chain of books). When you get to your final destination (Buzz Lightyear), you have no more towns or cities to drive through. If you end up in Fort Lauderdale, you can board the shuttle and blast off into space and read to your heart's content.

You read 6 books that are somehow linked to each other for Slick's Slugs. You can not read books from the Marchers before finishing all of the Slugs.

But:
*You can either pick 6 books for the Slugs beforehand and read those 6 in any order (so two books you read consecutively may not be linked anymore, but they are all part of that linked first group of 6 books)
*Or you can plan nothing and decide which book to read next when you're ready for a new book to read. In that case, it has to be linked to the previous one you read.

When you move over to the Marcher's, the first book of 6 has to be linked to the last one you read for the Slugs. Like in the previous example, if you thought of 6 books beforehand that were linked, you can also start with reading book 11 instead of book 7. If you don't plan your books, the seventh book you read must link to the sixth book you read.

That's how I interpreted it, please correct me if I'm wrong Janice :)

Keeping in mind the highway/town analogy - when you get to the first town (Slick's Slugs), you have 6 stops to make. They are all linked by the streets within the town, but you may make those stops in any order. When you are finished, you head on down the highway to the next town (Mickey Mouse's Marchers) and make 6 stops there.

It would be impossible to make a stop in MMM when you are still in SS.

When you get to the final destination (Buzz Lightyear) and have made your 6 stops there, you have the option to then blast out into space and read to infinity and beyond.

Ah right, I'd missed the part where you can read in whatever order within the groups of six.

Thanks for clearing that up.

You can stop banging your head against that brick wall now ;)

LOL! You're okay, and so is my head. :)

Question about abandoning, seeing I have been doing it recklessly at the moment.

Abandoning is fine, you just need to link the new book to your last completed book?

ok, I'm thinking I understand now...thanks.

And I was wondering if it's alright to read books within the first six at the same time? I know they can be read in any order, so I assume reading 2 or 3 of Slick's at once is ok?

Wanda wrote: "Okay, I am now truly having a Senior Moment--rather confused and dazed! I understand that we have to connect our books. My question is can we change the connection theme when we move from one cat..."

Thanks for the clarification.

Rusalka wrote: "Question about abandoning, seeing I have been doing it recklessly at the moment.

Abandoning is fine, you just need to link the new book to your last completed book?"

Right!

Laura wrote: "And I was wondering if it's alright to read books within the first six at the same time? I know they can be read in any order, so I assume reading 2 or 3 of Slick's at once is ok?"

Yes, you can read all 6 at once if you like and are able.

Janice wrote: "Almeta wrote: "I know! What's come over you?"

I must be sick. Does someone have a thermometer? I think I need to check if I have a fever."

You are in danger of losing Meany status!

Sarah wrote: "I recently bought The Gargoyle which I so want to read and is 499 pages. So if I want to read it for the challenge I'll have to combine it with another book. For 1 page! How selfish ..."

499 pages! That is just so wrong!

Janice wrote: " Esther suggested we do a buddy read for Cockroaches, I thought, "She has it first on her list and I have it second on mine, and I won't get to it till February..... WAIT! I can read it first." Yippee! (I hate when I have to abide by my own rules.) "

How are you all doing a buddy read on Cockroaches, when it's not expected for release in the US in English until June? Did I miss something? I've pre-ordered it from Amazon.

Debra wrote: "Janice wrote: " Esther suggested we do a buddy read for Cockroaches, I thought, "She has it first on her list and I have it second on mine, and I won't get to it till February..... WAIT! I can read..."

Is it? Janice? I am reading it in French and it was translated in 2003.

It came out in the UK at the end of November in English so I'm surprised it's not out in the US too.

Debra wrote: "How are you all doing a buddy read on Cockroaches, when it's not expected for release in the US in English until June? Did I miss something? I've pre-ordered it from Amazon. "

Has the book been released in Canada before the US? Shock! I pre-ordered it on iBooks and it arrived just the other day. I just checked Amazon.ca, and the Kindle version is also available. Hardcover is available January and paperback in June.

Amber wrote: "If you guys are taking about Nesbø's 'Cockroaches' (can't link in the app), the BN site says it'll be released in February in the US, rather than June."

Yes, it's Cockroaches by Jo Nesbø that we are talking about.

It's frustrating that the app won't link, isn't it?

http://www.amazon.com/Cockroaches-Sec...

Debra wrote: "499 pages! That is just so wrong!
..."

LOL! I have the same problem with two books that I want to link. Both together only add up to 499. Just wrong, wrong, wrong!

Woot!!! A challenge to join and fail!!! LOL!

Sara wrote: "Woot!!! A challenge to join and fail!!! LOL!"

LOL! You must reword that to "A challenge to join and WIN!" Just 6 books.... you can do it!

Sooo, can the connection between two books be as tenuous as "woman with covered head on the cover"? I'm getting a little desperate...

Sara wrote: "Sooo, can the connection between two books be as tenuous as "woman with covered head on the cover"? I'm getting a little desperate..."

Yes.

Can someone tell me how to add the thread, definitely up for doing this, but have never completed a challenge before.

Woo hoo! I have my 6th slug book!

Scott wrote: "Can someone tell me how to add the thread, definitely up for doing this, but have never completed a challenge before."


Scott click on the topic Challenges- year long reporting ( not fom an app but fom the website). In the top right hand side click New Topic and add your thread. Hope that helps. :)
After you do that Janice does some "magic" and you end up on the quick link thread too.

Hi Scott. At the top of this screen, on the left hand side, click the link 'Challenges: Year long reporting' and then at the next screen, click 'new topic' on the right.

Many thanks!! That worked
Picked the first two books. This is going to be fun. Thanks Janice for an awesome idea.

Looks like you got it figured out Scott. Your thread has been magically added to the "Quick Access" thread. Glad you are joining us.

Sara wrote: "Woo hoo! I have my 6th slug book!"

And it is... ?

Katherine of Aragon by Jean Plaidy. I'm going to update my list when I'm at my computer. :)

Katharine of Aragon: The Wives of Henry VIII looks good. Enjoy!

I've read Castile for Isabella and the other books in the Ferdinand and Isabella series and really enjoyed them. I love Spanish history.

I haven't read much historical fiction about the Spanish nobility. Perhaps I should rectify that some day.

Hmm. I was just thinking that basically you can count every book you read this year (except those for the ylto monthly challenge) towards this challenge, as long as you're creative with the links. Is that correct? Or is that not the intention of this challenge?

I organized my milestones, but I guess if during the year I want to read something that is not in my milestone, I could still insert it (together with another book if it does not reach 500 pages) in my current milestone, as long as it links, right?

Peggy wrote: "Hmm. I was just thinking that basically you can count every book you read this year (except those for the ylto monthly challenge) towards this challenge, as long as you're creative with the links. ..."

I guess you could approach it that way. But that is not the intention of the challenge. The intention is to read chunksters. If you don't read chunksters, then you may combine books to make them so.

I organized my milestones, but I guess if during the year I want to read something that is not in my milestone, I could still insert it (together with another book if it does not reach 500 pages) in my current milestone, as long as it links, right?

You can swap books out for different books and reorganize your lists as long as you maintain linkage.

Thanks for the clarification :) I was very excited and got my milestones all ready with chunksters, but I got a bit stressed all of a sudden, thinking that I might only be able to read huge books this year! I usually postpone reading those... So if I want to read some shorter books in between, I could always swap one of the chunksters for two (linked) shorter ones.

Peggy, I was thinking the same. I love a good chunkster, but the bad ones can sour me.

Peggy wrote: "Thanks for the clarification :) I was very excited and got my milestones all ready with chunksters, but I got a bit stressed all of a sudden, thinking that I might only be able to read huge books t..."

Phew! You had me worried there for a sec. I was hoping you weren't going to simply apply all the books you read during the year to your lists which would kind of negate it as a challenge. I should have known better. :)

I think I didn't formulate my question the way I intended it, my apologies. I didn't mean to scare you ;-)

Peggy wrote: "Hmm. I was just thinking that basically you can count every book you read this year (except those for the ylto monthly challenge) towards this challenge, as long as you're creative with the links. ..."

I was also thinking about this, but as Janice said, it would make the challenge pointless. I think I will try to stick with chunksters and the monthly reads and challenges will be my breaks :) and of course any other just because books...

Yes, I plan to do the same. I don't intend to use the monthly books for this challenge and I'll definitely read some books just because.

I'm not a member of any other groups at the moment though (which reminds me that I want to have a look at those around the world challenges, they seem fun!), so most of my reading this year will probably be for this challenge. But that's okay, isn't it?

I overdid it last year and attempted three big challenges from 3 different groups. This year, I'm restricting myself to this one - and our monthly challenges and reads of course.

Ok, I just filled up my milestones. Hopefully they won't feel like millstones! I am looking forward to the first one, but there are some intimidating sections as I get into clunker classics. I have a TON of books over 500 pages in my TBR, so I'm actually not even close to using them up with what I have listed. I snuck a couple sets of short ones in just cause the theme thing worked. I think I may have to gorge on short books in 2015, though!!!

Not very relevant yet, but Janice, what is easiest for you to keep track of completed milestones? Do you check all personal threads regularly or should we report somewhere when we completed one? And within the thread, just add dates right next to a book after completing it? Or do you just go through all the threads at the end of 2014 to see how far people got?

I read every message via the "unread topics" link, so will be tracking as people update their individual reporting threads.

People should leave a message on their threads when they have completed books and sections.