Nothing But Reading Challenges discussion

Good morning everyone :) I'm so excited for Wobble this week! My fiancé is going out of town for the weekend, so lots of reading planned for me! :D

Only 3-1/2 days to go!!! Thanks for posting your shelves, @Caroline and @June!

CountdownClock

Samantha wrote: "We're a weird couple, but I wouldn't have it any other way :)

Here's pictures of the dress!
Back (and front in mirror) view

Side view"

Absolutely beautiful!

Here's my shelf

https://www.goodreads.com/review/list...

Thanks for the shelf link @Aminko!

Good morning everyone! Only a few more days!

Good morning! GAHH!!!! I'm so ready!! We find out more details about the challenge tomorrow, right?

Yes, that's right. We should get the rules for the Battleship challenge tomorrow I believe.

I'm excited to see the board and what we need to read! Anyone else chomping at the bit?

YES!!!! I'm super stoked about seeing what to read and getting my hands on some books :D I've been watching a few BookTubers and seeing a lot of books I'd be pretty interested in :)

I'm super pumped for this! I'm planning on clearing a lot of books off of my TBR list during this challenge. Of course, knowing me, I'll probably add on as many as I clear off, lol.

Hi Team! I can't wait to get started either - just a couple more days!!!

A few things before we get crazy:

If you have a private profile, make sure you are friends with the NBRC Mod - ModProfile - otherwise they can't link your wobble shelf to our team spreadsheet. Even if you don't have a private profile you can be friends - you can never have too many, right?

Finish up those books you've been reading! Only books begun after the challenge starts will count, so you can't use anything you are reading now.

Tomorrow we'll discuss strategy, posting formats, general rules and anything else that comes up. Feel free to ask lost of questions. If you have anything you don't want to bring to the group, feel free to PM me, Chris or Andrea at any time.

Please try and check in as often as possible. I know some of you have real lives that don't revolve around Wobble (hehehe). There will be lots of moving parts in this challenge - the games change every few weeks - so we don't want you to miss anything. We'll talk more about this tomorrow.

The most important thing - HAVE FUN!!!!

Thanks for keeping us organized Sandy! I'm actually taking the day off work on Friday for the start of the challenge, haha. Don't worry, I was planning on taking a day off this week anyway, but thought it made more sense to time it with the WOBBLE than to just take of Tuesday for the sake of whatever.

I'm already planning my trip to the library on Saturday! Can't wait to see what the first challenge brings!

I'm hoping for lots of history, romance, and murder. That said, I would never have read paranormal, sci-fi or chick-lit had it not been for NBRC challenges. So, bring it on!

I'm doing something similar Rachel! I'm taking Monday off - I was supposed to get a day off soon anyway but decided to do Monday to catch up on my reading!

I've had to read zombie horror books for a different challenge and ended up really liking them. That would not have been a genre I would normally pick at all. I like how the challenges expand my reading repertoire.

I'm so relieved today! I had to take one of my dogs to the vet because I found some lumps on him. Goldens are very prone to cancer, so I was so worried! Thankfully, they are benign fatty tumors called lipomas.

As for reading, I got the Game of Thrones book from Overdrive the other day and I'm saving it til the challenge starts. I saw its really long, so I think I'll just slowly read it in between regular books for the challenge, and then hopefully when I finish it we'll be able to use it for something.

@Sandy I'm glad your pup is okay!

I love challenges because they push me to try books/genres I wouldn't have picked up left to my own devices. I'm excited to see where this challenge takes me! Excited to start reading with you guys!

I'm so excited for tomorrow!!!! I will probably have a bunch of questions, but I'm just so excited! I'm trying to read a lot of children's books that probably won't count for wobble to complete a different challenge. I am so pumped for Friday!!!!!!!

@Sandy - I'm glad that your fur baby is okay and glad to hear you got GoT on Overdrive! I'm really curious what you'll think of it. The prologue is what hooked me to the book.

Sandy wrote: "I'm so relieved today! I had to take one of my dogs to the vet because I found some lumps on him. Goldens are very prone to cancer, so I was so worried! Thankfully, they are benign fatty tumors cal..."

It's wonderful to hear you dog is OK Sandy.

Chris wrote: "I'm hoping for lots of history, romance, and murder. That said, I would never have read paranormal, sci-fi or chick-lit had it not been for NBRC challenges. So, bring it on!"

Only on a site for readers can you "overhear" someone say "I'm hoping for lots of murder" and find yourself thinking, "me too!"

Rachel wrote: "Chris wrote: "I'm hoping for lots of history, romance, and murder. That said, I would never have read paranormal, sci-fi or chick-lit had it not been for NBRC challenges. So, bring it on!"

Only on..."

It is amazing what we enjoy reading about that we would never want to have part of our lives. Aren't books just wonderful!

I'm so excited!!!!
Unfortunately I have a big book reading and unlikely to finish by Friday but hey. And one of the games I'm really excited about is Battleship. Most scared about Epic, seems intimidating.

Hi Team. Before things get started, here are a few things we've talked about as Captains and wanted to pass on. Sorry for the length!



General Info
- First of all – HAVE FUN!!!!
- Respect your fellow teammates. Also remember that what someone writes doesn’t always come across how they meant it (and keep this in mind when you are writing). So try not to take offense – if something sounds off you can PM the person or one of the captains for clarification.
- We want to be competitive, but not put so much pressure on people so they aren’t enjoying themselves. It’s a long challenge and real life will intrude. So communication is going to be important.
- Please check in at least every 3-4 days (more frequently is better!) Even if you haven’t finished your book, just say hi and give us an update if appropriate. Also, if there is a question about a book you've read a captain may PM you for clarification so you'll need to at least check on on GR regularly for notifications.
- As the mods let us know in the sign-ups, everyone needs to contribute one book per week – if this is going to be a problem, please let one of the captains know asap.
- If things change in your life that affects your reading time, let us know as soon as possible. Whether it’s just that you won’t be able to read as many books, or that you have to drop out of the challenge, the sooner you let us know the sooner we may be able to get an additional player to supplement or replace. If it’s just a temporary thing, let us know as well so we can better plan.
- Your suggestions are welcome! We are a team and everyone’s input is valuable. Feel free to speak up if you have ideas – you can either post in the thread or PM any of the captains.
- Every team member is important, no matter how many or how few books you read. The teams are made up of people with varying levels of books read per month, so it’s expected that not everyone can read multiple books per week.
- We have an awesome team and I know we can do well in this challenge if we work together, are flexible, have fun and keep our communication open. Read on!!!

Ahhh, WOBBLE is almost here :D

I would like to say that I'm moving cross country in July. The move itself should only take a couple of days and we should have internet fairly quickly, so I don't expect it will effect my participation here. I'll still be able to check in from my phone and update from my hubby's laptop while we're on the road. And I'm only a book a week reader, so I'll definitely still be able to get my one book in that week!

Yay - the Battleship Rules are up!

BattleshipRules

Read them over and ask any questions. Then a little later today we'll start discussing strategy. The captains have come up with some initial ideas, and I'm sure you all are strategic geniuses that will help our team be the winners!!!

Also, I forgot to ask this earlier, but can you all let me know approximately how many books a week you read? Thanks!!

Kerri wrote: "Ahhh, WOBBLE is almost here :D

I would like to say that I'm moving cross country in July. The move itself should only take a couple of days and we should have internet fairly quickly, so I don't e..."

Thanks for the update Kerri. Where are you moving to?

I usually read 3 books/week barring broken legs and Internet issues.

I'm a one book a week kinda gal. Sometimes I can read more though.

It depends on the size of the book I'm reading. I'm about a 1-2 books

Sandy wrote: "Kerri wrote: "Ahhh, WOBBLE is almost here :D

I would like to say that I'm moving cross country in July. The move itself should only take a couple of days and we should have internet fairly quickly..."

My family and I are moving to New Mexico :) I'm excited to be heading back to the Southwest!

As I said, I'm usually a one book a week gal, but I'm going to try and keep multiple books going. I can guarantee at least one/week, though. I'm gonna try out audiobooks for this road trip we're about to undergo, so I might get even more in that week!

Are you going to Kirtland? Albuquerque is a wonderful place to live, with lots to do.

Hi Everyone!

Just read the rules, I can't wait to see our grid board (will we see it?).

I read 1-2 books a day. I'm hoping to get through this Game of Thrones before we start. It's taking forever!

Chris wrote: "Are you going to Kirtland? Albuquerque is a wonderful place to live, with lots to do."

Heh, not so much. We're going to Holloman, which is out in the middle of nowhere. My husband has family there, so that's going to be nice, but we're pretty far away from most everything. Not going to lie, though, I like being out in the middle of nowhere. The only thing that is making me sad is that the closest Target and Barnes & Noble is an hour away :(

2-3 books per week

Well don't get whacked by any stray missles, lots of military installations around there. If you make good friends it will be fun and you have each other :-)

Too true! We're really close to the mountains, too, so I'm excited about that. I also have a friend that moved there with her husband, so it will be awesome to see her again. Of course, they'll be moving in January to Germany! I would love to go back overseas.

@Kerri - I've been through NM a couple of times driving cross county (gotta love (I-40!) It's beautiful! And drive time will be a great way to listen to some great audio books.

I usually read 6-7 books a week, could be more or less depending on how long they are.

Time to talk Battleship Strategy! Here are the rules to make it easier:

Each team will have its own board (see post below) where Mods have hidden ships. Your job is to find those ships and sink them by trying to guess right coordinates. There are 15 ships on the board with 5 different sizes. In general, ships can touch each other, but not overlap. We tried to make your life easier, so they can be connected only in diagonal (for example, if one ship ends in C3, other can start in D4). We tried to have them touch as little as possible, but with so many ships there is not that much space on the board.
Ships that are hidden are: 1 battleship (5), 2 cruisers (4), 3 frigates (3), 4 minesweepers (2) and 5 submarines (1) making it total of 35 squares with a ship on it (hit).


How will this work in reading challenge?
Each square on the board has specific task team needs to read. Tasks are assigned randomly, so each team has a different task for same square (there won't be peeking in other teams to see what tasks is so you can prepare).


Wobble battleship rules
- Standard wobble rules apply
- Each team can make 10 guesses on ships on Fridays and Mondays with exception of first one that I'll allow on Thursday 16th so you can start reading on time. So guesses can be made on 16th, 20th, 24th and 27th.
- Captain or cocaptain of each team will enter team's guesses into spreadsheet and get tasks
- New round of guesses can be made even if previous ones are still being read for. Time frame for finishing tasks is end of battleship.
- Team will need to read 2 books for each task to call it done and collect points for it. And that's only 2 books (see below for exception).
- Books for same task/square need to be read by different teammember .
- All books read during battleship can be used for tasks (it doesn't matter if book is read before team got task it fits).
- There are going to be couple of different ways for teams to collect points:
- by guessing right square with ship (hit)
- by page numbers of read book edition (only used books can earn points)
- by sinking whole ship
- bonus points
- Book once used can't be used for another task. There is no moving books around (in official spreadsheet) to better fit.
- Additional perk: when team sinks a ship, they will get bonus guess they can use at once or during next set of guessing

Points
To collect any and all points for specific square team needs to read 2 books for it
- hit (square with ship) = 5 points
- pages of read edition
<199 = 1 point
200-299 = 2 points
300-399 = 3 points
400-499 = 4 points
500-599 = 5 points
600-699 = 6 points
700-799 = 7 points
800-899 = 8 points
900-999 = 9 points
>1000 = 10 points
- sank ships
battleship = 5 points
cruiser = 4 points
frigate = 3 points
minesweeper = 2 points
submarine = 1 point
- bonus points - 1 point per book
- after task for hit square is done (2 books read), members that weren't
reading that task can read book to collect extra points (page numbers
still count). Maximum is 8 bonus points per hit.
- miss squares get only page number points

(there is additional info and Q&A here in the third message)

So here is what we (your captains) have talked about to get started. Please, please, please - let us know if you agree, disagree, have other ideas, have additional ideas! We want to be competitive and we want to have fun doing it, so we all need to work together:

Strategy for Battleship
- We’ll want to concentrate on “hit” squares first, although all squares earn points
- Get through “hit” squares as quickly as possible so we have time to read for bonus points
- Although there are more points for longer books, getting through as many squares as possible will probably get us the most points – especially as we get closer to the end of the Battleship round.
- Although books don’t roll over to the next event, post all books and put on your shelf. As new squares are called, we’ll see if any unused books work to meet a task.
- As always, communication is key. I'm sure there will be tasks that some people won't want to read - thankfully we are diverse group of readers so hopefully we'll be able to cover most topics.

The Battleship board is posted on the first page of this thread. We thought that for the first round we'll have 5 team members pick squares and then the captains will pick the other 5 squares to make sure we're not concentrated too much in one area. For the other three rounds we'll have you guys choose the squares.

So, throw your pick out - if more than 5 people choose a square before the board is live, we'll put the guesses into a randomizer and anyone who doesn't get their pick chosen this round will have priority in the next round.

Let talk, team! What do you think?

I think that's a good strategy, since we'll get more points for hit squares. We would want to get the bonus points there, I would think.

As for a guess, I'm gonna go with E2

Hi

I read about 1 - 2 books a week. Sometimes it can be more, particularly if I'm stressed. I find the more stress in my life the more I find time to read. Hmmm maybe one is causing the other ;-)

Thanks @Kerri!

@Aminko/Amy - so what can we do to stress you out for the challenge! jk!

Sandy wrote: "Thanks @Kerri!

@Aminko/Amy - so what can we do to stress you out for the challenge! jk!"

My boss is doing a great job all on his own. I don't think I would survive any "help" :-)

I like the strategy proposed and would like to suggest G8

Thanks for posting Sandy! I read about 2 books a week but find that these challenges usually push me to read more!

I'd like to guess A9 since 9 is my favourite number and A is my first initial. Hopefully it's a hit!

Will we be posting our books in this thread as we complete them or will there be another thread for completed books?

And I'll pick B4 My friends and I always tried to stay in that cabin during summer camp. :)

@Rachel - there will be another thread for posting I believe. Once we get the spreadsheet tomorrow and see the layout, we'll go over posting formats and anything else we missed. Don't want to overwhelm everyone all at once!!!

I would have picked K9 because I love my dogs, but such are the vagaries of life :-) I gues I'll go for I 3 instead and have a glass of whine.

I'll pick H8. (Let's knock hate out in the first round. Is that too cheesy?) just missed getting my pick in...

I usually read 3-4 books a week.

As far as battle ship goes, I was reading through statistical strategies for winning the normal game today. (Yes, I'm a nerd and I love number logic puzzles! ) On this first round we have a much higher probability of a hit if we stay away from the edges. Ideally we should focus our hits away from the outside two rows/columns and spread them out in the remaining space.

Caroline wrote: "I usually read 3-4 books a week.

As far as battle ship goes, I was reading through statistical strategies for winning the normal game today. (Yes, I'm a nerd and I love number logic puzzles! ) On ..."

That's so interesting Caroline! I didn't know there were strategies for the regular game. I usually just pick the spaces around a hit that I might get and hope I get lucky.

My pick A9 is right on the outside so Sandy if you want to use a different square that's fine by me. Maybe we can use A9 next round.

Like the strategy. I usually read about 1 to 4 books a week, depending on mood, time, and rather I actually picked a book that pulls me in, instead of one that I have to force myself to get through.

My pick is G6.