Nothing But Reading Challenges discussion

UNCOVER IT - A NBRC Team Challenge

Duration: Six weeks, starting May 16th - June 27th, 2014

Sign-Ups: Close May 12th, 2014. Thread is here.

As a player, you need to read at least a book a week. (Books read for this challenge need to be 160 pages or greater in length.)

The Basics:
• Each team is assigned a book to be “uncovered.” NOTE: You are NOT expected to read this book.
• Each week the teams ask a randomly selected team (their “opposing team”) one question OR they take a guess as to the identity of the other team’s book.
• Points are assigned each week based on choices made and books read (further explanation below).
• The “opposing team” changes each week (selected randomly).
• Winner is the team at the end of the 6 weeks that has the most points.

Names of past NBRC BOMs under spoiler: (view spoiler)[

FIRST ROW
1) Poison Princess, by Kresley Cole
2) Stolen: A Letter to My Captor, by Lucy Christopher
3) The Eight, by Katherine Neville
4) Good Omens, by Terry Pratchett
5) Déjà Dead, by Kathy Reichs
6) Blood Red Road, by Moira Young
7) The Restorer, by Amanda Stevens
8) The Magicians, by Lev Grossman

SECOND ROW
9) Carnival of Souls, by Melissa Marr
10) The Light Between Oceans, by M.L. Stedman
11) Unwind, by Neal Shusterman
12) Firelight, by Kristen Callihan
13) Gone Girl, by Gillian Flynn
14) The Raven Boys, by Maggie Stiefvater
15) Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore, by Robin Sloan
16) Memoirs of a Geisha, by Arthur Golden

THIRD ROW
17) The Diviners, by Libba Bray
18) The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, by Rachel Joyce
19) The Passage, by Justin Cronin
20) The Immortal Rules, by Julie Kagawa
21) When She Woke, by Hillary Jordan
22) The Dovekeepers, by Alice Hoffman
23) Dark Places, by Gillian Flynn
24) The 5th Wave, by Rick Yancey

FOURTH ROW
25) Gameboard of the Gods, by Richelle Mead
26) The Mysterious Affair at Styles, by Agatha Christie
27) Coraline, by Neil Gaiman
28) The Prophet, by Amanda Stevens
29) The Cuckoo's Calling, by Robert Galbraith
30) Etiquette & Espionage, by Gail Carriger
31) The Ocean at the End of the Lane, by Neil Gaiman
32) The Universe Versus Alex Woods, by Gavin Extence

FIFTH ROW
33) The Golem and the Jinni, by Helene Wecker
34) Kiss Me First, by Lottie Moggach
35) Next, by Michael Crichton
36) Steelheart, by Brandon Sanderson
37) The Husband's Secret, by Liane Moriarty
38) The Book of Lost Things, by John Connolly
39) Sabriel, by Garth Nix
40) Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers, by Mary Roach

SIXTH ROW
41) My Life as a White Trash Zombie, by Diana Rowland
42) InterWorld, by Neil Gaiman
43) Love Water Memory, by Jennie Shortridge
44) TimeRiders, by Alex Scarrow
45) The Handmaid's Tale, by Margaret Atwood
46) The House Girl, by Tara Conklin
47) If I Stay, by Gayle Forman
48) The Bone Season, by Samantha Shannon

(hide spoiler)]

Start of Challenge:
• Members are assigned to teams (probably 5-7 people per team including captain).
• Mods randomly assign the “uncover” book to each team.

Weekly:
• Mods will randomly determine for each team their “opposing team” for the week.
• Each team must select a genre they would give to the opposing team for a wrong guess (from the genre list used in Books Buffs’ Battleship*; each genre may only be used once by any team selecting throughout the challenge).
• Teams must ask a question of their opposing team for the week in a specified time period.
• NO SPOILER QUESTIONS (e.g. “Does the heroine die at the end?”). Please, no “open-ended” questions, only yes/no questions. In addition, you may NOT ask when it was BOM.
• Since all books have been past NBRC BOMs, there are discussion questions available for inspiration.

Examples & Points:
So, for example:

Team A has book #17 and team B has book #18.

Team A asks team B, “Is your main protagonist male?”
Team B replies, “Yes.”

For a “yes” answer, team A gets 5 points and gets to read a Reader’s Choice for that week for 10 points. AND if at least 45% of their team reads that same genre they get a bonus 5 points. If ALL team members read a book for the week the team gets a further 10 points = 30 points for the week.

Let’s say team D ask team A, “Was your book published before 2010?”
Team A says, “No.”

In order to get 10 points this time, team D now has to read the genre that team A pre-selected. AND, if at least 45% of their team reads that same genre, they get a bonus 5 points. If ALL team members read a book for the week the team gets a further 10 points = 25 points for the week

SPECIAL NOTE: Each week the questions asked of a team are recorded and the team that is the “opposing team” the next week sees all of the cumulative questions.

So, next week Team B draws team A as their “opposing team” and reviews the previous questions asked of team A before deciding what to ask.

Team B decides to just take a straight-out guess, asking team A, “Is your book #8?” – and they are wrong.

Team B then has to read the genre that team A had pre-selected for 10 points. AND, if at least 45% of their team reads that same genre they get a bonus 5 points. If ALL team B members read a book for the week the team gets a further 10 points = 25 points for the week.

If team B has guessed correctly, they would get 15 points automatically, and have to read a Reader’s Choice for the week for 10 points. AND, if at least 45% of their team reads that same genre, they get a bonus 5 points. If ALL team members read a book for the week, the team gets a further 10 points = 40 points for the week. Then team A is given a new book for the next week (i.e. team A is NOT “knocked out” of the challenge).

To Clarify:
Genres are based on the principles from Book Bluffs’ Battleship*. If my team chooses Horror for the “opposing team” one week (even if the “opposing team” get a “yes” answer and therefore does NOT have to read it), my team may NOT repeat that genre again as a selection in the challenge in later weeks for that “opposing team”.

Additionally, if another team has already made my team read a genre, that same genre can NOT be selected for my team again. So, there will need to be a bit of strategy from teams as to when to pull out those tougher genres.

Whatever the remaining team reads for the week is up to them and may be “banked” for future weeks to help with the 45%, especially if they get hit with a tough genre.

*Genres Used in Book Bluffs’ Battleship: - under spoiler, to save space.
(view spoiler)[

1. BA = Biography/Autobiography
2. CL = Chick Lit
3. CS = Classics
4. CO = Contemporary (generally after World War II)
5. C = Crime
6. CBS = Current Best Seller
7. FY = Fantasy
8. F = Fiction
9. HF = Historical Fiction
10. HY = History
11. H = Horror
12. HU = Humorous /Humor
13. MC = Mystery - Cozy
14. MH = Mystery – Historical
15. NA = New Adult
16. NF = Non Fiction
17. P = Paranormal
18. RC = Romance - Contemporary
19. RH = Romance - Historical
20. SF = Science Fiction
21. SI = Spirituality / Inspirational
22. S = Suspense
23. T = Thriller
24. UF = Urban Fantasy
25. YA = Young Adult

(hide spoiler)]

To help clarify points
Scenarios listed in order of maximum points available per week



Maximum points per week

40 points

How?
Team guesses book of opposing team correctly gains 15 points
Team read a book of their choice for another 10 points
45% of team read a book for another 5 points
ALL team members read a book for the week for another 10 points

--------------

Next best points scenario

30 points

How?

Team asks a question of opposing team and gets a "yes" answer gains 5 points
Team read a book of their choice for another 10 points
45% of team read a book for another 5 points
ALL team members read a book for the week for another 10 points

------------

Next best points scenario

25 points

How?

Team asks a question of opposing team and gets a "no" answer gains 0 points
Team read a book of opposing team choice genre for 10 points
45% of team read a book of opposing team choice genre for another 5 points
ALL team members read a book for the week for another 10 points

--------

Next best points scenario

25 points

How?

Team guesses book of opposing team incorrectly gains 0 points
Team read a book of opposing team choice genre for 10 points
45% of team read a book of opposing team choice genre for another 5 points
ALL team members read a book for the week for another 10 points

Reserved.

Reserved.

Questions and answers

Q. If the book by Robert Galbraith is considered a male or female author.
A: male

Q: About Banked books. If the book isn't used for the 45% can it be banked and used for that genre later?
A: yes!

Q: How do banked books work?:
A: Basically you need 45% of your team to read a certain genre each week for maximum points. So the remaining books can be "banked".
So, for example, this week you read a FY. But your team needs HF.
Your captain may then declare your FY "banked" for future use. So in a forthcoming week if you need FY you have one 'ready'. Eeach person can only have one book per week count so if you did use your banked book that week, any other book you read that week would not be able to be used that week, but it can be banked.

Q. If we used a banked book one week can we then read another book that week to bank again or are we left with not reading any book for that week. How many books can we read in a week to bank?
A. yes, if one of your banked books was used this week, then the book you do read can be banked. Only one book per week per team member can be used towards a genre

Q: If we bank a book one week does is still count that week toward our 8 books read for the whole team?
A: Yes

Q: Are there points for banked books that aren't used like in battleship? The rules don't mention it but just checking.
A: Not at this stage

Q: Can we choose a same genre again for a different team if it wasn't used on that team yet, or can each team only choose one genre once only period no matter what team.
A: yes you can. You just can't use the same genre on the same team (even if they didn't have to read it the first time)

Q. Can we ask the same question each week (provided it hasn't already been asked)?
A. provided it hasn't already been asked to that team, yes

Q. Can we choose the same genre for our free reads?
A. Yes, reader's choice is up to you. It is only the allocated genres that can only be done once

Q."Do the rules say anything about how many people have had to shelve the book as fiction? I think with battleship it was 10
A. Yes, it is the same 10+ readers

Q. What happens if my book is new or not well known, and so there are less than 10 people who have "tagged" (shelved) my book for any genre? (e.g. 7 have tagged as fiction and 1 as thriller, 4 as ARC and 8 as book club)
A. We will allow a "10%" rule.
So for that example, there are 20 users total, so provided it has been tagged as a genre more than 2 people as an uncover it genre, it would then be a valid genre (in this case, fiction)

Q. Does everyone need to read the same genre?"
A. In your team do you mean? Depends on how many points you want to go for. To get maximum points, at least 45% of your team needs to read the same genre (be it reader's choice - i.e. one your team decide on - or a genre assigned to you)

Q. What is considered as CBS genre?
A. “Current Best Seller” should be wherever you are, and can be from a variety of sources provided you can give us a link showing the list :)
For example: book depository best sellers

Q. I'm assuming that re-reads count as long as it fits the other criteria?
A. Yes, provided it has been more than 6 months since you last read it

Q. Does the question we ask have to be a yes or no response. For example, can we ask "does your book have a cover" guaranteeing a "yes" response"?
A. That question would not be allowed. All questions need to be able to have a "yes" or "no" answer. These can be verified with me and we are keeping an answer spreadsheet for those tricky questions

Q: Can I double check what dates the books need to be marked as read between for week 1?
A: For week i I'm happy to accept Friday-Friday so 16th May-23rd May inclusive.
Future weeks will be Saturday-Friday (so week 2 is Sat 24th May-Friday 30th May)

BANKED BOOKS

Between June 3 and the end of the challenge, you can use your banked books in the following ways:

➜ DOUBLES
     Match two banked books by genre to be able to take a guess at your opposing team.

➜ MASQUERADE
     Create an alliance! Match one of your banked books with the SAME book that was banked on another team. This gives BOTH teams a chance to take a guess at a team of your choice

Important Notes
★There is no limit to the number of guesses you can take each week using banked books, but each banked book can only be used once
★ Team Medico della Peste has 7 members whereas each other team has 8, so for that team only, they can use the books read each week by NBRC Ninja as a banked book (These are NBRC BOMs or BRs) for DOUBLES only
★ When matching books by genre, it may only be one of the genres listed in the rules
★ You can match books read by the same person, provided they have been allocated as 'banked'

For now i only have one question.It's about the 45%.
If a team is made of 5 members then 45% would be 2?
What if a team is made of 6 members.. the 45% would be 2 as well?
And if a team is made of 7 members, then 45% would be 3?

Eni, Karen's in control of this one, so I'll let her answer you. (She's asleep, hopefully, right now.) Great question, though.

thanks =)
no hurry though. There's plenty of time before the challenge. And i'm sure questions will start flowing soon =p

True, Eni. I'm sure they will.

That is how it went with Battleship, ❀Oo❀. No Captain was pushy or demanding.

❀ Oo ❀ wrote: "I need pushy/demanding! I've been humbled by the descriptions and have decided if I can lead the technical matters to the book engineers (aka captains), I'd like to be a good little worker bee following some queen's orders..."

Oh! Alright then, ❀Oo❀, I'll tell the powers that be to find you a Captain like that when they assign you a team. LOL!

Or maybe we should ask for volunteers? Who wants to boss ❀Oo❀ around? **hee hee**

ooooooohhhhhhhhhhhhhh =x

I have and idea.... *naughty grin*

So, if I'm reading this right, each team will have only one assigned genre per week, either a genre the other team picks(wrong answer) or reader's choice(correct answer)?

Amanda wrote: "So, if I'm reading this right, each team will have only one assigned genre per week, either a genre the other team picks(wrong answer) or reader's choice(correct answer)?"

Yes

so mhmm... is there any other chance for a team to guess what's the book? Or is it just when it's their turn to ask a question to that team?

Hi Eni,

With the 45% it is to try and keep things fair if members suddenly leave a team (unlikely in a short challenge, but does occassionally happen). So it would be 3/5, 3/6, 4/7

Yes you can only make a guess on your turn. So the strategy will play a part here if teams want to take a 'wild' guess, or wait until there is 1/2/3 etc. questions asked (remember you will see the past questions and answers asked to your 'opposing' team). You can't ask a question AND take a guess in the same week (turn).

❀ Oo ❀ wrote: "@LK
I need pushy/demanding! I've been humbled by the descriptions and have decided if I can lead the technical matters to the book engineers (aka captains), I'd like to be a good little worker bee ..."

lol!
Well basicaly if your team get a "yes" answer to their question for the week then evey team member needs to read a book (your choice of genre) for the week to get the most points.
If your team get a "no" answer then you will be given a genre that the captain will ask as many team members as possible to read (this could be any genre from the Battleship list - but each team can only be hit with one genre once through the challenge, so it isn't like you'll have to read horror for every week! ;)

I'm just wondering about an instance if none of the team members have read the assigned uncover book...what if we are asked a question and no one knows the answer? Or it's a spoiler? For example: "does a main character die at the end?" If no one has read it, how would we know? And to research the answer would be a spoiler if anyone had wanted to read it. Is there a way to keep that from happening? Am I just overthinking it?

Hey Jaclyn. Good question - I'll add something to the rules about "no spoilers". All the books have been past BOMs so there are DQs and information on them available. Having said all that , between Sonia, LK and I we have probably read all of them so if a team is stuck for an answer the captain can just check with us or the Book Ninja :)

This sounds like fun. I want in. :0)

Kim wrote: "This sounds like fun. I want in. :0)"

Great, Kim. Welcome. Sign-ups are here; you'll need to answer the three questions at the top of the thread.

So when we read from a genre can it be one of several genres listed for a book?

This rule under "Weekly" has been amended:

• NO SPOILER QUESTIONS (e.g. “Does the heroine die at the end?”). Please, no “open-ended” questions, only yes/no questions. In addition, you may NOT ask when it was BOM.

The team b guessed correctly example, the points listed added up to 35 not 40.

When the extra books are banked, can they be used for any genre tagged like in battleship?

Hi Sarah - yes we are using the same principles as Battleship so it needs to have been shelved as a genre with more than 10 GR users

Renee - you are right! I will update when I get home tonight

Yes books can be banked for any genre listed with more than 10 users in GR

Hey Oo!
No worries -
#1 ; ANY book with that genre of more than 10 users
#2 ; yes - unless you get a "yes" answer to your question and then it is readers choice. So just read any book you like for the week!
#3 ; the captain will ask the opposing team just one question. Quite a bit of strategy will need to go into this and I would envision the captain getting the team's input (as advantageous to get a "yes" answer OR team may decide to make a guess rather than ask a question)

Just to be sure.

The books we have to guess between is between the BOM books. Then a team ask a question to which the other team answers yes or no. if no they decide a genre for you to read, if yes we decide ourselves.
But if it's us who has to answer yes or no, then we get an assigned genre if we say no or we chose ourselves if we say yes, or how does that work?
Or do all teams get to ask a question every week?

The books we read then can be any book from the chosen genre as long as it has been listed by more than 10 users?

Hey Anita - you are mostly right! Each team asks a question per week and has a question asked of them each week

The genre plays a part for your team's reading only where the question you ask is answered "no". Then your team must read the genre preselected by your opposing team.
The question answered by your team impacts on the team who asked you (as above). Does that make sense?

Thanks Oo! I'm off to the movies tonight (Divergent) but I will check in again later to maintain my awesome sauce status ;)

Ohhh movie night!

Have fun Karen.

You know what that means little ones? You are stuck with crazy aunt Sonia for the next few hours

MUAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHA

@Karen.

Thank you, that helped a lot.
I think I'll join, but I also joined a team challenge in another group, so I'll have to think it over a little more, because then I'll have to read 2 books a week.

No probs Anita. I added some more clarification on points to message 2

And over to you Sonia - bed time for me :)
(movie was great btw)

Karen wrote: "No probs Anita. I added some more clarification on points to message 2

And over to you Sonia - bed time for me :)
(movie was great btw)"

Roger!

I need to see it too. But I wanted to read the book first.

Anita you can always try to just read one book per week. And try to get one book that fits both challenges. You only need 45% of the team to read a pre-selected genre (and this is only if you have a no answer to your question). The rest of the team can read whatever (so to speak).

Readers choice questions:
Does are team all have to read the same genre to get max points with readers choice?
Can we use the same genre over again for readers choice?

Hey Tina -readers choice is that your team can choose your team's genre for the week. Maximum points would be 45% of your team reading that same genre and the remaining team members all reading something for the week

@Eni - thanks for the help, I signed up, and figured I've been reading 2-3 books a week the past month anyway.

awesome sauce! =D the more people the better =D

To clarify Tina's second question. For asking a question that is given the answer no - our team will be allocated a genre to read, but we can't be allocated the same genre more than once. If the question gets a yes, we have a reader's choice. Is our team allowed to choose the same genre as our reader's choice more than once, or once a genre has been allocated/selected for our team it is used up?

Also, our team cannot be allocated the same genre more than once no matter which team we are asking the question to, but can we allocate the same genre more than once to different teams.

I can give scenarios if you're not sure what I mean.

Hi Renee - yes, your team can choose the same genre as readers choice more than once. That is the benefit of getting a yes answer :)
See .... You are a born captain ;)

This game reminds me of Guess Who where you can only ask yes/no questions and have to guess the secret identity. The characters in that game are
Alex
Alfred
Anita
Anne
Bernard
Bill
Charles
Claire
David
Eric
Frans
George
Herman
Joe
Maria
Max
Paul
Peter
Phillip
Richard
Robert
Sam
Susan
Tom
If you are looking for inspiration for team names. (Yes, I just got the game out and copied out all the names, I had to take a break from eating easter eggs) Or you could go with spy or undercover agent characters from books.

Lol Renee. I started with Guess Who and then Sonia, LK and I brain-stormed and over a week or so ended up with this challenge ;)

I'd like to play!

awesome Lisa =D

the sign up thread is here.
Don't forget to answer the questions =)

Yes, don't forget, Lisa!

A few more days! I can't wait!