Nothing But Reading Challenges discussion

The Gods Have Spoken

The Mars the god of War has been pleased with the Gladiator Games. He has granted each gladiator a boon to be able to wish away one goal that has festered and turned sour. Gladiators wishing to use this boon must only mention their wish for a goal to be gone and speak to the gods mere mortal representatives (also known as "The Mods"... The Mortal Operations Delegation Squad).

One additional boon will be granted for each Gladiator upon the start of Round 2, Round 3 and Round 4. Additional boons may be acquired through sacrificing 3 books to the gods. Sacrificed books may not be used for attack or defense points of a gladiator. If a boon is not used it may be carried over into the next round.

All Hail Mars!

Wow what a weird goal, I'm glad to hear you found something for it...

I'm having slow time with The Exile, it's very scattered, but I will finish it because it's needed for the goal. (I'm 30% done).

FINISHED:


Chaos (Mayhem #3) by Jamie Shaw
Read: 09. Aug. 2015.
Pages: 432
Goal: None

We are a very quiet group! I hope everyone had a nice weekend.

I am almost finished with the big Melmoth the Wanderer and will finish it tomorrow.

I am likely to finish The Book of Salt tonight.

Did we find a book published on the 10th of any month yet? I have identified a couple on my TBR List of which I could pick up at least one tomorrow evening on my way home.

How is the author I book going, Sara? I have a relatively short one I can dig out if we still need it covered.

Aproov, are you enjoying your Stephanie Plum novel? Have you found the undertaker yet?

Keep on reading, we're doing just fine!

Wishing everyone a wonderful week!

I think Dragana has the 10th goal covered with The Exile. We've racked up 7 books so far while working on these current goals, so hopefully we'll be able to squeeze some of them in to our new goals. :)

Sorry I've been pretty quiet, I'm crazy busy! I'm working on a project at work that is mentally and physically draining. Even after only 4 hours of work, I'm ready for a nap! The project was supposed to be completed around April, but due to circumstances out of our control it's looking like it will go well into September. And, of course, on top of that I'm trying to fit in time to get all the last minute details squared away for the wedding.

I'm still stalled on Grey and working through Boston Jacky when I'm in the car. I also started Moon Called yesterday, I'm about 20% in but will probably finish tomorrow, it seems like it'll be a quick read once I have time to sit down to it.

Sorry for being quiet, my husband was on a business trip, so I was alone with out kid. Didn't have much time to hang out on computer, since if he is awake, he want to join too. :)

Yes, I've got that goal covered with The Exile. I'm going to finish it tonight probably.

You really have your hands full, Vicky. The project + the wedding. It's a wonder you have time to read at all. :)

I'm intrigued to hear what you will think about Moon Called, I'm thinking about reading it, but I have weird taste for uf, I either do not like them or adore them... :/

Hi, guys!
Hope you had a lovely weekend :)

I had a rather busy Sunday myself too and spent my little spare time reading for our I goal!
I finally managed to finish The Cider House Rules and I quite liked it, despite it didn't live up to my expectations. Had to force myself a bit to finish it actually -- guess 600+ pages were just too much, but I'm glad I can focus on something else now.

So here we go:
The Cider House Rules by John Irving


Date Read: 10/08/15
Pages: 621
Goal: Read a book whose author (first or last) starts with I.
Points: Attack 1 — Defense 1

Which goal do we have next? ;)
And, do you guys think we will need that boon The Mods kindly gave to us?
BTW, wishing everyone a nice week ahead and I hope we'll be able to kick a ton of other goals off before Sunday! I sadly noticed we've fallen back on the scoreboard :(

I had to force myself to finish my book too Sara, but I was too lazy to look for some other that fit the goal. And I hoped it would get better, but it was hot mess until the end.

FINISHED:

The Exile (The Fae, #1) by C.T. Adams
Read: 10. aug. 2015.
Pages: 319 (kindle ed.)
Goal: Read a book first published on the 10th of a month

I can't wait to see which goals we have next.
I hope they will be easy, so we can save that boon for the next round.

Dragana wrote: "I had to force myself to finish my book too Sara, but I was too lazy to look for some other that fit the goal. And I hoped it would get better, but it was hot mess until the end."

Don't you feel some kind of 'relieved' when you finish such books, Dragana? Because this is what happens to me, but I'm sorry when such books are written by authors so well-known and generally rather esteemed. I really need to read something more engaging now :)
And I too am so looking forward to seeing which our upcoming goals are!

I am sorry I havent been chatty much recently. Work is went crazy and I had to play along. LOL.

But I am here and amazed at the crazy reading you all are doing. You all are the best. I keep saying how glad I am to be in this team.

We have sort of fallen back on the scoreboard (how did other teams score so much so soon ? :O) but we are doing good. At the end, enjoying the challenge matters. :)

One more week and we will be then merged with someone. Kinda excited to see how that pans out.

Quick update since I'm at work. New goals are a book with an average GR rating between 4 and 5 and a book first published in August. I'm at work and only on my phone, so I can't really check our other books to see if they match, but I can update the spreadsheet if anyone sees that they fit.

Both Chaos and Unbroken are with an average rating of between 4 and 5 so we could use one of those :)
Don't know if we want to keep Unbroken for a possible goal of book starting with U (I've seen that goal rather frequently in other groups), so whatever you decide to use is fine to me!

Also, Sweetland was first first published in August! YAY!

Used Chaos and Sweetland for the two new goals.

Then two new popped up,
one of which was Read a book written by an author who was born in Europe, which I could fill in by using Finding Audrey which is by Sophie Kinsella, who is British.

Then another one pops up,
So now we have these two new ones :

- Read a book that contains the word artichokes (AGAIN !)
- Read a book that is ranked 751-1000 in bestsellers on book depository (http://www.bookdepository.com/bestsel...)

Darn artichokes! Do we want to use a boon for that one? Maybe after double checking our read books that we haven't used for goals?

The Spanish version Grey is in the 751-1000 range on that list, wonder if the mods will let it count? I'll slog through it and take one for the team! haha

@Vicky, Apoorv: I've just checked Book Depository bestsellers and I found Finding Audrey there as well ( #752 ). Maybe we could use it instead of Grey? (Don't want to push Vicky too much to read it, this was my idea).
I'm currently reading a book by an Italian author which may fit the goal for the author born in Europe. Let me know how this sounds to you, otherwise don't even consider my proposal ;)

We already used Finding Audrey, and we can't move anything around

Vicky wrote: "We already used Finding Audrey, and we can't move anything around"

Okay, nevermind. Haven't considered that!

I didn't know that goals can repeat. :/ Damn artichokes. :(

is #756 (http://www.bookdepository.com/bestsel...) and I wanted to read it for some time now. So I've got that goal covered. ;)

I spied a little at other teams and some books that contain word artichokes are:

If someone owns them or is interested to read them....

Well, look at us go today! Glad to see everyone. Looks like we got a bit done today. I will be home in about 2 hours and will take a look at what I have. I do not have access at the moment to any of the previously claimed artichoke books, but I have 2 books in which it may be mentioned.

I finished my two books and will make sure they are posted when I get home.

Found the word artichoke in the book The Accidental Tourist by Anne Tyler which was is my TBR list so I'm going to read this one next. Just checked in another group's thread and singular noun is fine too, so this goal is covered as well!

Apoorv wrote: "Two for the Dough ! Two for the Dough !
Oh my.. I know what I am reading next.. yaaaaaaaaaaaaay ! :D"

hahaha, Apoorv you know I am recommending this book!!! Lol

Sara wrote: "Found the word artichoke in the book The Accidental Tourist by Anne Tyler which was is my TBR list so I'm going to read this one next. Just checked in another group's thread and singular noun is fi..."

I've enjoyed Anne Tyler's work before, I hope you like this!

FINISHED

Melmoth the Wanderer by Charles Robert Maturin

pages: 679659
goal: none at this time
points: Attack 1; Defense 0

FINISHED

The Book of Salt by Monique Truong

pages: 272
goal: none at this time
points: Attack 0.5; Defense 0

Now that I'm not at work, a real reply for the day! lol

Dragana wrote: "I'm intrigued to hear what you will think about Moon Called, I'm thinking about reading it, but I have weird taste for uf, I either do not like them or adore them... :/"

I will definitely let you know! I'm a little more than 30% in right now and I like it but I'm not loving it, still a ways to go before I totally pass judgement though. I have the same feelings about a lot of UF books. I love The Iron Druid Chronicles and Jane Yellowrock, but even with so many glowing reviews from friends I just cant get into The Dresden Files and I couldn't get into Magic Bites.

Apoorv wrote: "(how did other teams score so much so soon ? :O)"

I know, right? I thought the same thing when I looked at the score board this morning! Some of the teams are pushing 60 books read, the only possible explanation is time travel! ;) No worries though, as you said, having fun is the most important part! :D

Sara wrote: "Maybe we could use it instead of Grey? (Don't want to push Vicky too much to read it, this was my idea).

Thanks for looking out for my well being on this one! haha Sorry if my reply earlier came across as harsh at all, I was at work and trying to sneak in responses when I could. After I sent it, I thought it sounded rude but I had to run. Not intentional! :)



I'm glad we found more artichokes! What a cray task that is, lol. I'm doing some house cleaning tonight and will be listening to Boston Jacky while I work - I am determined to get through this one and the next in the series so I can mark another series as finished!

FINISHED
The Accidental Tourist by Anne Tyler


Date Read: 11/08/15
Pages: 320
Goal: Read a book that contains the word ARTICHOKES. "She stared, an artichoke heart raised halfway to her mouth." ( pg. 171 )
Points: Attack 0.5 — Defense 1

Vicky wrote: "I will definitely let you know! I'm a little more than 30% in right now and I like it but I'm not loving it, still a ways to go before I totally pass judgement though. I have the same feelings about a lot of UF books. I love The Iron Druid Chronicles and Jane Yellowrock, but even with so many glowing reviews from friends I just cant get into The Dresden Files and I couldn't get into Magic Bites."

Haha I love Kate Daniels series, it's one of my favorites. But I also could not get into The Dresden Files. I still have to read Iron Druid or Jane Yellowrock series though...

Great job on the artichokes Sara, you rock. Most of the teams didn't get this task yet. And we had it twice already. But I found it in one book I own, so I am ready for the next time (muhahahhahah)

I'm slowly getting into A Darker Shade of Magic so I probably won't finish it until tomorrow...

Good riddance, artichokes! Next goal is a black cover. I'm thinking Melmoth the Wanderer might work. Going to ask the mods opinon!

Kelly okayed the black cover! Our new goal is a book where characters go on a picnic. Anyone read a book with a picnic?

Anne Tyler's writing is rather smooth so that was a pretty quick read for me - and now I'm on my phone so I suppose I won't be able to properly check books with characters having picnic since I get back home later tonight. I was sure I had one on my TBR list but I can't find it anymore and I do not remember its title either :/
BTW I'm glad that we were lucky to cover the black cover goal already!
And I honesty hope we are done with vegetables, but in case we need that darn word again, Dragana is ready to rock! ;)

Found it. It was Picnic at Hanging Rock by Joan Lindsay which should work for the new goal. Anyone planned to read it by chance or has something with characters having picnic already? :)

Vicky wrote: "Kelly okayed the black cover! Our new goal is a book where characters go on a picnic. Anyone read a book with a picnic?"

In the book I have read Stirring Up Trouble characters go on a picnic. :)

That's great :)

Perfect! Our next goal is a book that takes place on an island. if don't think any of our unallocated books fit for that.

I have to accept that coming here to the thread and seeing multiple goals being knocked off the park is becoming my favorite moment of the day. :)

Started Letters from Skye by Jessica Brockmole for our new goal.

Always nice to see a few more goals knocked off in a day!

Yeah we definitely rock. :)

FINISHED
I segreti di New York: Storie, luoghi e personaggi di una metropoli by Corrado Augias


Date Read: 12/08/15
Pages: 350
Goal: None at the moment
Points: Attack 0.5 — Defense 0

FINISHED
Letters from Skye by Jessica Brockmole


Date Read: 12/08/15
Pages: 334
Goal: Read a book which has the main location (setting) as an island » Isle of Skye (Scotland).
Points: Attack 0.5 — Defense 1

This book was such a disappointment! I guess that my expectations were just too high :/

Added the goal from Letters from Skye and our new goal was Read a book with 3 I's in the title. I segreti di New York fit for that! Waiting for our next new goal now. :)

I also did some stalking of goals other teams have gotten and compiled a list of some of the goals that are more difficult to find (words in the text, character professions, items in the books, etc) and added it to the "possible goals" tab on our spreadsheet. I'm going to check some of my books for some of the other fruits and vegetables to have them on hand!

Vicky wrote: "Added the goal from Letters from Skye and our new goal was Read a book with 3 I's in the title. I segreti di New York fit for that! Waiting for our next new goal now. :)

I also did ..."

So glad that we could use the other book for a goal as well. And Vicky, you did an amazing job with those new spreadsheet tabs! :) Brilliant idea.

Thanks Sara! :)

Filled another goal: Read a book that starts with the letter I and I Was Here!

Our new goal is Read a book with a book on the cover. I have out from the library, I could start reading it tomorrow. My Wednesday/Thursday job got cancelled this week so I have some extra reading time to fill. ;)

Great job Sara & Vicky. As everyone said, I love it when I visit and the goals just melted away. I will finish my book tonight, so that will be one goal down tomorrow (at least).

If I finish it soon, maybe I will have time to squeeze in one small one until the next goal pops out. ;)

Happy reading to everyone! :)

FINISHED


A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab
Read: 12.Aug.2015
Pages: 400 (kindle ed)
Goal: Read a book that is ranked 751-1000 in bestsellers on book depository (it was on spot #756 when I started reading it, but now I can't find it :/)

Way to go, Dragana! Another goal down :)
I too have finished another book which doesn't cover any goal at the moment, but it's good for a bit of extra attack.

FINISHED
Thomas Jay by Alessandra Libutti


Date Read: 13/08/15
Pages: 293
Goal: none at the moment
Points: Attack 0.5 — Defense 0

Fantastic !
So here are our new/to-do goals:

Read a book with the main genre (listed on the first page on GR) as Crime
Read a book with the main genre (listed on the first page on GR) as New Adult

None of the books that have already read and were not claimed for any goal, fit in for these two goals.