The Perks Of Being A Book Addict discussion

Team Philip Marlowe

Team Members:

❅ Diana C - Captain
❅ Franziska- Co-captain
❅ Mary H
❅ Alissa
❅ Amanda A
❅ Karen
❅ Slytherpuff
❅ Sreshtha

♕ Team Spreadsheet

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Team Spreadsheet

Tracking Spreadsheet

Team Shelves:
* Diana
* Franziska
* Mary H.
* Alissa
* Amanda A.
* Karen
* Slytherpuff
* Sreshtha

It's a Crime! February Mini Challenge

This is an optional mini challenge for our UNO players. This month we are testing your detective skills

You will be given a mystery (posted below) and it is up to you to solve it. There are also three clues that you can earn to help you solve the mystery!

◈ Books can be started at any point since the start of the UNO challenge (Feb 1)
◈ Books need to be read after the start of this mini challenge on February 14, 7pm AEDST (countdown is here) and before March 1 at 7pm AEDST (Countdown to March is here)
◈ As a team, you will need to complete some tasks, and spell-it-outs that are related to the story. All of the tasks you need to complete are on your team spreadsheet.
These are:
1. Read a book with a housekeeper, maid or servant in the story
2. Read a book where the main character works in the medical field
3. Read a book tagged MPG science
4. Read a book where a murder occurs
5. Read a book tagged MPG mystery
6. Read a book based in Sweden or by a Swedish author
7. Read a book with an alliterative title
SPELL-IT-OUTS
Livingston ESQ
Attending Nurse
Forensics
For each task completed, or letter spelled out, your team will receive 10 points.

◈ BONUS 50 points: Solve our original mystery "The Corpulent Corpse"
To solve, your team must first complete all tasks and spell-it-outs on the spreadsheet. Then the captain / co-captain needs to PM the Pixie account with answers to the following questions (don't forget to include your team name!!):
- Who killed Faustus Dutton?
- How was it done?
- What was it about the killer that gave him or her away?
Your team get up to three guesses

◈ Need clues to solve the mystery?
As you complete one task in each of the first three parts (not the spell-it-outs, just the numbered task) you can request a clue from the Pixie account


◈ Books used for this mini challenge do not need to be separate books for what you are claiming for your UNO hands
◈ The usual book length rules apply
◈ Team spreadsheets will be updated with a mini challenge tab so that you can track your books and claim your points

Spell-it-out rules
For this mini-challenge, you are using the same rules that apply for UNO. So a letter needs to be the first letter in the book title, author first name or surname, character name or nickname, or setting. Articles (a/an/the) can be ignored in the book titles. For this spell-it-out, you can also use the first letter in the series name.

So put on your hats and grab those magnifying glasses and lets get started!

Story - The Corpulent Corpse
~writer unknown~

Donna Livingston, Esq., rushed into Detective Tubert’s office like a charging bull. “I know. I’m late.” She plopped herself on his torn leather chair. “Elaine Dutton was an hour late dropping the letter off at my office. Some sort of evening gown emergency… she’s a seamstress, you know.”

“Donna Livingston, I presume.”

“Gosh, I never heard that one before.” Tubert felt foolish as she pulled an envelope from her purse.

“It’s been a year since their father’s death,” said Tubert.

“Why did it take so long for this letter to surface?”

“The day Faustus Dutton died, his three kids started fighting over how to split up his autograph collection, which is probably worth about $25 million.”

Tubert whistled. “What’d he have? A posthumous Elvis?”

“A love letter from George Washington to Martha, an original Beethoven score, an alleged Shakespeare poem, a smattering of Kings and Czars… that sort of thing.”

Tubert whistled again.

“One of them wants to sell the collection immediately,” she continued, “another insists it’ll double in value if they hold onto it for a few years, and the third one doesn’t want to sell the it at all. And of course they’ve all got favorites they want to keep as mementos.

“As the executor, I’ve been trying to work out a solution ever since. In the meantime, they decided to padlock his room and give me the key for safekeeping to make sure none of them could slip anything out of the collection until matters were settled.

Yesterday, they finally came to an agreement. When we opened the room to retrieve the collection, I found this letter in his desk.”

Tubert pulled the folded page from its envelope. “To Whom It May Concern,” it began in a jagged scrawl, “In the event of my death, I, Faustus Dutton, hereby formally request a police investigation. The reason for this is simple: I know that one of my children murdered me.”

Tubert looked up. “You think this is true?”

“His kids do. They just don’t know which one of them did it, so they asked me to turn the matter over to the police.” After a year, Tubert knew the trail would be colder than an Eskimo’s sole, but the dead man’s plea intrigued him. “I guess we’ll have to exhume the body.”

Tubert lifted the heavy bronze knocker on the massive oak door and let it drop.

Donna answered. “Welcome to Dutton Manor.”

She waved him into an enormous foyer and led him into a two-story library where he found two men and a woman waiting.

“Lieutenant Tubert, allow me to introduce my clients,” she said, “Sam, Jack and Elaine.”

Tubert made the rounds to shake hands, noting that the siblings were sitting as far from each other as possible. There was no love lost in this family.

“We were so pleased that you decided to dig up the body,” said Elaine. I know Daddy’s letter was bizarre, and the police are so busy…”

“Cut the crap, Elaine.” Jack said impatiently.

“No need to get snippy,” she chided.

Sam interrupted, “Can we just get on with it?” Tubert was only too happy to.

“I called this meeting because the autopsy results came back last night and confirmed your father’s fears: he was murdered.”

The three siblings exchanged glances.

“The body was significantly decomposed,” Tubert continued, “but they were still able find evidence of succinylcholine.”

“Succi-what?” asked Donna.”It’s like a synthetic curare,” said Sam, “paralyzes the muscles. We use it in anesthesia.”

“Sam’s an ICU nurse,” explained Elaine.

“Which makes Sam the only one with access to the stuff, eh nursie?” Jack sniggered.

“It’s not a controlled substance like narcotics are,” interjected Tubert. “Someone motivated enough to commit murder wouldn’t have much trouble lifting the stuff from a hospital.”

Sam pounced on this: “Especially someone with a history of shoplifting like Jack.”

“I was a teenager, for chrissake.”

“I hate to interrupt the lovefest,” said Tubert, “but I’d like to see where your father died.”

They mounted the stairs to the fourth floor.

“This was Faustus’ bedroom,” said Donna. “It’s been locked since the police broke in except for when we came in to get the collection and found the letter.”

She took a key out of her purse and unlocked a massive padlock that sealed the room. As she swung open the door, she said “They found him in bed, on his back. It looked just like a heart attack — he had a history of angina.”

Tubert surveyed the room. It was octagonal in shape, with windows looking out in all directions, not only locked but double- bolted.

He checked for signs of tampering on the windows. He rummaged through the bedside drawers. He knelt and examined the bed, lifting the sheets to check the mattress. He looked through the dresser and the closet. He stood on a chair to check the swag lamp hanging over the bed. Nothing unusual anywhere.

Turning to examine the door, Tubert saw three arrays of splintered holes on the doorjamb.

“There used to be three deadbolts there,” explained Donna.

“The police had to use a battering ram to get in.”

“Daddy locked himself in every night,” said Elaine.

“Bastard didn’t even trust his own kids,” Jack muttered.

“He apparently had good reason,” remarked Tubert.

“What was it?” “Money. What else?” said Jack.

Elaine explained, “The Friday before he died, Daddy told us he was going to Donna’s office on Monday to give his entire autograph collection to The Smithsonian.”

“We all knew he’d been thinking about it,” added Sam, “but this was the first time he’d actually told us he was going to do it.”

Jack scowled bitterly. “Just like the old weasel to tell us before he did it so he could watch us beg for our inheritance.” “So someone tried to stop him by slipping the poison into his food that weekend?” Donna asked.

Tubert shook his head. “I’m afraid not. Succinylcholine is poorly absorbed in the intestines. Someone had to inject it. Depending on the dose, death could have occurred within seconds.”

“But that’s impossible!” said Denny. “How could someone have done that if the room was securely locked from the inside?” “That’s the question, isn’t it?” replied Tubert. “But I’m pretty sure I know who did it and how. And a simple search will prove it.”


THE HOUSEKEEPER’S STATEMENT
“They all live here together, you know, like a bunch of
inmates at some kind of institution, fighting and swearing…. The
old man’d throw open the door every morning and come down to
the library where he’d take his coffee. Then onto the veranda for
lunch, rain or shine, and he’d sit in the rocker and fall off sleeping
during the afternoons. Supper in the dining room, then off to bed
by nine when he’d lock himself in again.”

ATTENDING NURSE’S STATEMENT
The following statement was taken from Ms. Annette
Jones, duty nurse when the victim was hospitalized for an
angioplasty two weeks before his murder.
“I wasn’t surprised that he’d have heart problems — he
weighed close to 300 lbs., and there was so much stress in that
family. I mean, his three grown children just fought all night like
little kids. The waiting room was next to the nurse’s station and
they got so loud that we couldn’t stand it. We spent the night
doing rounds instead of hanging out at the desk, just coming back
when a patient needed drugs or something. We’ve got a closet
behind the station where we keep all the drugs for surgery and
recovery.”

FROM THE FORENSICS REPORT
The fact that the victim was apparently unable to rise from
bed to summon help indicates that a large dose of the toxin was
administered. However, the body was too decomposed to
determine into which part of the body the injection was delivered.

R

Hi everyone! Welcome to team Philip Marlowe!
I’m Diana, and I will be your captain. This is my third time playing UNO and my first as a captain. I always had a blast in previous editions and surely this one will go along the same path. Hopefully I will be able to be as good as a captain as the ones I had in the past were. :)

I reserved some spots in this thread and will be back later to post all the important stuff. If you have any question just let me know.

I would love to hear from you, please just check in and introduce yourselves!

About me: I finished my PhD in Mathematics, which I absolutely loooove, and now work at one of London’s universities. I like being buried with work (when written down it does not sound good...), but when I pause, I cook and I read. I don’t have any particular favorite genres but recently I have been trying to explore new ones.

Hi! I'm Amanda and I have played in all of the UNO rounds. I live in South Carolina and work as an accountant. I read most genres and a couple of my favorites are romance and mystery/thriller. Looking forward to playing this round with all of you!

Shelf: uno-2019

Hi. I'm Karen and I've played in other team challenges but have not played UNO before. I'm really excited about playing. I live in Illinois and work part time for an insurance agency. I'm married and have 3 grown sons and 2 DILs. I also read most genres (not crazy about PNR, Sci Fi or Horror). My favorites revolve around Romance; Contemporary, Historical, Romantic Suspense, Erotica. My shelf is 1-2019-uno

Hello. I'm Slytherpuff and I'm a senior in high school. I have played UNO in other groups but not this version. 'll read pretty much anything preferably not horror or nonfiction. My shelf is https://www.goodreads.com/review/list....

Hi everyone!
I am Franziska, and I'll be the co-captain of this team! I've played several other team challenges (Cutthroat really got me into this challenge thing... maybe because we won this insane challenge..), and this is my second time being one of the captains. I've never played UNO, so I'm looking forward to it.
If you have any questions - don't hesitate to ask, Diana and I will try to answer them all :)

About me - I'm currently a PhD candidate in Economics and live in Germany. I read mostly fiction, ya and (true) crime and my favorite author is Haruki Murakami.

Hi team! What do you think, should we request a "Books read" thread in which we post completed books only? I think it will be more organized that way.

Hi Everyone! I'm Mary and this is my first time doing anything like this, but I am super excited. I work full time in Medical Billing even though my degree is in History. I have a 2 year old daughter and 3 year old son. My whole family loves reading as much as I do, so we read everything! :)

Franziska wrote: "Hi team! What do you think, should we request a "Books read" thread in which we post completed books only? I think it will be more organized that way."

In the past, a "books read" thread has not been used for this challenge. Teams either post in their team thread or a tracking spreadsheet. I prefer a spreadsheet (I'm an accountant) and it looks like Diana has already created one for our team in message 4 where all the links are listed.

Hi everyone! I'm Sreshtha. I'm currently studying Accounting and Finance. This is my third time playing UNO.
Even though I used to read a lot during my childhood, I fell out of the habit during my teenage years. I rediscovered my love for reading fairly recently during the first year of my college. I'm still trying to explore different genres and figure out what I like. I'm looking forward to this challenge!!

Amanda A wrote: "Franziska wrote: "Hi team! What do you think, should we request a "Books read" thread in which we post completed books only? I think it will be more organized that way."

In the past, a "books read..."

OK. I was just asking because in the captain's group many people requested one (and from the other challenges I've done so far it was waaay better to enter the books from the "books read" thread to the spreadsheet than from the team thread). The tracking spread sheet was used more for reserving spots and maybe shifting a little. I'm open for everything, so just let me know what you'd prefer.

Franziska wrote: "Amanda A wrote: "Franziska wrote: "Hi team! What do you think, should we request a "Books read" thread in which we post completed books only? I think it will be more organized that way."

In the pa..."

I just noticed the books read section. The teams I have been on in the past did not use one, just the team thread or a spreadsheet. Whatever is easier for you and Diana is fine with me.

Franziska wrote: "Hi team! What do you think, should we request a "Books read" thread in which we post completed books only? I think it will be more organized that way."

I agree. I do put my books in the spreadsheet but I think it would be easier for the captains to keep track if all read books are in one thread.

Amanda A wrote: "Franziska wrote: "Amanda A wrote: "Franziska wrote: "Hi team! What do you think, should we request a "Books read" thread in which we post completed books only? I think it will be more organized tha..."

Hi everyone,
Indeed I was thinking about using a spreadsheet and our own thread to keep track of our book. I just feel that a second thread is unnecessary. Every time one of us finishes a book we can either fill in the spreadsheet or use our thread and say the book title and which numbers does it fit and why; if you choose the latter, I will copy the information into the spreadsheet myself.
I was thinking about using the spreadsheet both as a record of what has been read and as a planner which can be updated anytime. :)

That‘s fine by me, just wanted to ask the team because I always played with that section. But if that’s easier for everyone, then I am happy :)

Hi All!!! I’m Alissa and I live in the Dallas, Texas area. I think this is my third go around for UNO so I’m really excited to get my reading game up and try out our namesake. Looking forward to getting to know everyone.



I read all genres especially if someone recommends it🤓

Just checking in after some time. Is everbody ready to play? :)

Sure! Even though I won't be able to read much until the 8th. But I will make up for that after :)
I also added to the spreadsheet the books I am hoping to be able to read this month. Should we discuss the coloured books?

Discussing is always a great idea. I will have a look at the spreadsheet first and will then add how much / which books I plan to read.

Yes....so excited....I’ll probably start getting my books picked for February after the discussion of the colored cards and if we still need any that aren’t covered.

how do we break down who is reading what or so on? This is my first time but I wanted to start picking out some of my books for February this week since next week I'll be a little swamped with my husband out of town.

Mary wrote: "how do we break down who is reading what or so on? This is my first time but I wanted to start picking out some of my books for February this week since next week I'll be a little swamped with my h..."

With the exception of the coloured books, which I think we should "reserve", everybody can read anything. At the end I will shuffle everything and I am pretty sure I'll make everything fit pretty neatly. :)

I am guessing there will be a mini challenge in the middle of the month, following what happened in previous editions: in that case, since the books for the mini challenges tend to be more specific, we'll reserve the spots for those as well.

Diana wrote: "Mary wrote: "how do we break down who is reading what or so on? This is my first time but I wanted to start picking out some of my books for February this week since next week I'll be a little swam..."

Perfect! Thank you for getting back so quickly. I am super excited for this!

So, we have the following coloured cards for this month:

4 Yellow
5 Yellow
9 Yellow
1 Red
2 Red
5 Red
9 Red

Basically we're in between yellow and red cards :)

I am thinking about reading "Simon vs the Homo Sapiens agenda": it has a character named Nick, so it can fit 9 Red, if nobody else goes for that.

Mary wrote: "Diana wrote: "Mary wrote: "how do we break down who is reading what or so on? This is my first time but I wanted to start picking out some of my books for February this week since next week I'll be..."

So am I! This is super fun :)

Here are my first few books I'll work on starting Friday :)

Nineteen Minutes - Jodi Picoult (covers 9 - Nineteen, 0-Stand Alone, or 6-Sterling)
Vision in White - Nora Roberts (covers 7 - Vision, 9- Nora, or 1-First in Series)
The Prophecy of the Stones - Flavia Bujor (covers 0 -stand alone or 1-Opal)
The Fault in Our Stars - John Green (4 - Fault, 0 - stand alone, or 3- Hazel)

:) I'll add more as I get through these to start :) I was going to add them to the spreadsheet; however, it is view only :) so excited! Already told my husband all I'll be doing during free time is reading!

I plan to finish at least these books (since most of them are buddy reads, I am quite optimistic this should work). If there will be any more books, I'll add them to the spreadsheet.

The secret history - Donna Tartt (covers 0 (stand alone), 2 - title T)
Prodigy - Marie Lu (covers 2 - second in a series)
Champion - Marie Lu (covers 3 - third in a series)
You - Caroline Kepnes (covers 1 - first in a series)
Hidden Bodies - Caroline Kepnes (covers 2 - second in a series, 3 - H title)
Hisotry is all you left me - Adam Silvera (covers 6 - S author)
The Palace Job - Patrick Weekes (covers 1 - first in a series, 2 - title T, Skip - P author)

Mary wrote: "Here are my first few books I'll work on starting Friday :)

Nineteen Minutes - Jodi Picoult (covers 9 - Nineteen, 0-Stand Alone, or 6-Sterling)
Vision in White - Nora Roberts (covers 7 - Vision, ..."

Oops! The spreadsheet should be ok now :)

Uno time and my TBR list grows like a wild weed. I am trapped between excited and scared that I won’t have enough time in my whole life to read everything I want. Please somebody tell me I’m not alone.

No, you are definitely not alone. It’s the same with my TBR-pile and I don’t know how to read everything I want and where to start. I’m excited, though! My first UNO :)

I rarely stick with a reading plan but I think I have decided on my first book for February and entered it in the spreadsheet.

I looked through my shelves and I can cover any of the color cards that are left after others have a chance to claim.

I put my first book I'm reading in the spreadsheet too.

I noticed we didn't have any thing for a 5 card so I added two more that I could probably get through quite quickly since our first hand has a five :)

I have to finish one book from January. Then, I’m reading Scythe which fits 1,

I definitely have the feeling like I won't read all the books I want but it doesn't stop me from trying🤓 or keep me from adding to my TBR list.




I'm going to add my first couple of books to the spreadsheet. I have to finish a couple today and tomorrow and then I will be on the go and add more to the spreadsheet.

I sent friend requests to be able to know if cards work for the reverse card

This is probably a silly question...on the spreadsheet where it shows our cards, can we only count books that fit for that hand during a certain time period? Or can books read apply for the entire game?

The cards we currently have are only for February and there will be new cards each month. Books read in February can be used for any hand because the hands do not have to be completed in order. The goal is to complete all February hands so we can earn maximum bonus points for completed hands.

Amanda A wrote: "The cards we currently have are only for February and there will be new cards each month. Books read in February can be used for any hand because the hands do not have to be completed in order. The..."

I couldn’t have said better. Thanks Amanda :)

So, obviously, Uno is now on! Happy readings :)

Amanda A wrote: "The cards we currently have are only for February and there will be new cards each month. Books read in February can be used for any hand because the hands do not have to be completed in order. The..."

Okay, thanks. It's my first time playing so I was kind of confused.

When we finish a book, do we need to do anything in addition to putting the read date in the spreadsheet?

Karen ♐ wrote: "When we finish a book, do we need to do anything in addition to putting the read date in the spreadsheet?"

No Karen, just filling the details of the book in the spreadsheet with the date read is all we need.

Diana wrote: "Karen ♐ wrote: "When we finish a book, do we need to do anything in addition to putting the read date in the spreadsheet?"

No Karen, just filling the details of the book in the spreadsheet with th..."

Thanks.

Can someone tell me how I can add a book to multiple shelves? I've tried everything and it just switches between my read shelf and my uno shelf and won't let me select more than one shelf.