Nothing But Reading Challenges discussion

Hi guys, I'm wanting to do the "One Shield to Rule Them All" quest to get my shield but am stumped as to what is classed as a "Smooth" book?

"The blacksmith needs some steel wool (a grey covered book) to polish the shield and smooth oil (a smooth book) to make it shine."

Any ideas or information would be great. Cheers

Richard wrote: "Hi guys, I'm wanting to do the "One Shield to Rule Them All" quest to get my shield but am stumped as to what is classed as a "Smooth" book?"

Hi Richard, for that task I read Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri. I don't know whether it may suit your fancy or not but it was a rather short read and I really enjoyed it :)

ETA: Have you already checked this list for suggestions?

I think it has to come off that list.

Hi guys again. Back for more help!!

I'm doing the Easter Bilby challenge but really struggling for ideas for the following two tasks:

•Read a book set during Spring
•Read a book where there is an Easter celebration

My go to genre's are Crime/Thriller but enjoy Sci-Fi, Fantasy and Horror also. I'm happy to read anything outside of these providing it's not too long or a romance.

Does anyone have any ideas/suggestions? Thanks in advance.

Weird question, but looking for a book where the page numbers added up equal 2. I have all the others for that quest. lol. That one is just proving difficult.

Ex. 101 pages, 110 pages, 200 pages

Richard wrote: "Hi guys again. Back for more help!!

I'm doing the Easter Bilby challenge but really struggling for ideas for the following two tasks:

•Read a book set during Spring
•Read a book where there is an..."

I re-read the Bunnicula series for a lot of these so Nighty-Nightmare was my one in Spring.

For the Easter celebration, I had Spending the Holidays with People I Want to Punch in the Throat: Yuletide Yahoos, Ho-Ho-Humblebraggers, and Other Seasonal Scourges
-- I think it was a netgalley one.

Both were quick reads though the first was the quickest.

Thanks Morgan, I've got the Bunnicula audiobook collection for the first three so that will make a dint I suppose. Still loads before I get that wasckaly wabbit though!

I did the audios too. It was a nice trip down nostalgia lane! Good luck!

I've opened up the spreadsheet so that anyone with the link can edit, since I've been so uninvolved with the Novel RPG and bad at adding recs lately. Hopefully this isn't a horrible decision!

I’m looking for a book where someone owns a rabbit in the fantasy genre please.

Stephanie wrote: "I’m looking for a book where someone owns a rabbit in the fantasy genre please."

Bunnicula!

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...

So it appears that the advantage in weapons goes to the staff because the leveling is easier (sort of).

I'm wondering if it might be possible - and I know I'm new to this game, but I don't READ series books, and leveling up a sword is going to be pretty much limited to the number of really big books there are out there.

If the idea is to level by "page length" could it be adjusted in a way that would be ---
100 - 199 pg for a level 1 sword
100 +200 = 300 pg for a level 2 sword
100 +200+300 = 600 pg for a level 3
Level 4 would be 1000 pages, ie. level three + 400 pages.

Does that make sense?

The level would get increasingly difficult, which I know is the intention, and would end up increasing the NUMBER of books that a player would need to read the further up the levels you go, but for those of us who don't read series books, the current structure is pretty self limiting.

Just an idea. I would like to "restart" my game play, but as I have been trying to set it up, I remember why I quit playing a ways back. This is the reason. There's just not a workable way for me (a non-series reader) to level up my weaponry.

I guess I'm also wondering if others are facing the same issue....

♞ Pat wrote: "So it appears that the advantage in weapons goes to the staff because the leveling is easier (sort of).

I'm wondering if it might be possible - and I know I'm new to this game, but I don't READ s..."

What you need is book glue, Pat! Check out the When Two Become One quest (under Cooking Quests). Book glue glues two books together, combining the page counts. That's the secret to growing your sword.

It does need a bunny egg, for which you need to complete the Easter Bilby quest to get your own rabbit, but I'd be happy to donate an egg whenever you're ready to complete this quest (bunny eggs only last a week, so cannot be saved for long).

Also, Duplication Potions mean that if you do read a long book, with this potion you can use it twice.

♞ Pat wrote: "So it appears that the advantage in weapons goes to the staff because the leveling is easier (sort of).

I'm wondering if it might be possible - and I know I'm new to this game, but I don't READ s..."

You're right, Pat. The sword is much more difficult to level up and the magic staff is the way to go if you want to advance quicker in the game. But that's the way it is.

I usually don't enjoy books from romance/romantic suspence/paranormal romance/urban fantasy/YA genres, i.e. the genres that are notorious for long (and long-winded) series that are extremely popular amongst the younger members of the reading challenges community.

I saw the staff challenge as the opportunity to try some of the popular books from the genres above (and discovered that no, I still don't like them) and to explore other genres. There are tons of really good mystery/historical mystery/historical fiction series, e.g. Agatha Christie's Poirot or Ellis Peters' Cadfael, Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey&Maturin. Some of the best and/or award-winning sci-fi and fantasy books are part of a series, e.g Frank Herbert's Dune, Asimov's Foundation, Octavia Butler's Earthseed, Larry Niven's Ringworld, Bujold's Chalion. I've even tried a couple of comicbook series (multiple issues collected into one volume), the genre I've never read before. I didn't like everything I read but it was fun & challenging.

You can also shop for the rest of the series books you need. You can buy or exchange series books at the marketplace much easier than chunkier standalone books.

Or you can use duplication potions (but only as your last resort - they are quite pricey).

You know the thing is once you reach level 14/15/16 of either of your weapons, you can defeat any monster the game has to offer. It means you can abandon the weapon quest for good at that point.

Sarah wrote: "What you need is book glue, Pat! Check out the When Two Become One quest (under Cooking Quests). Book glue glues two books together, combining the page counts. That's the secret to growing your sword. ..."

Awesome to know, Sarah! Thanks!