Romance Readers Reading Challenges discussion

The Amazing Race Team Challenge - Round 3
March 15, 2021 through May 11, 2021
It Feels Like We Are All Just Running in Place!

Team:
✓ Jodi
✓ LaurLa
✓ Lea
✓ Susan A

The Amazing Race Team Challenge - Round 3
March 15, 2021 through May 11, 2021
It Feels Like We Are All Just Running in Place!

Tracking:
Task 1 - With St. Patricks Day coming up, everyone is Irish! As a team select whether you are going to read books set in Ireland OR books with an Irish character OR books with a primarily green cover. Each teammate must read a book that fits the qualification selected, no pass for this task. 3.15.2021 - 3.20.2021
Task 2 - 11. Read 4 books in continuing series, one that has not been completely published. 3.20.2021 - 3.26.2021
Task 3 - 15. Read a minimum of 600 pages in books with an audio edition. 3.26.2021 - 3.29.2021
Task 4 - 28. Each teammate reads a book from a teammate's to-read shelf, no pass for this task. 3.29.2021 - 4.2.2021
Task 5 - 23. Each teammate reads a book that has been read by one of the RRRC moderators. No pass for this task. 4.2.2021 - 4.7.2021
Task 6 - 12. Read a book recommended to you by a teammate - no pass for this task. 4.7.2021 - 4.15.2021
Task 7 - 31. Read 6 5 books rated over 4.0. 4.15.2021 - 4.18.2021
Task 8 - 55. Read 6 5 books set in the same country outside the US, teams decide country. 4.18.2021 - 4.26.2021
Task 9 - 66. Read over 1000 850 pages in books with Mystery or Suspense as MPG. 4.26.2021 - 4.30.2021
Task 10 - 75. Read over 1000 850 pages in books that start with the same letter (no articles), teams decide letter. 4.30.2021 - 5.7.2021
Task 11 - 51. Each teammate reads a different book by the same author, no pass for this task. 5.7.2021

Information required when posting your completion/s:

Task
Book/cover link
Page numbers with source
How book qualified, with links or cover as necessary.
Date Completed.
Rating/Review.


**Remember to use the first edition Kindle page count only! If your page count comes from a Kindle edition published on the initial publication date on the editions page, it will count. If your page count comes from a Kindle edition labeled '1st edition', it will count. If your page count comes from the earliest dated English language Kindle edition, it will count. I am looking for one of those three things when confirming your books! As long the page count you list is correct, I will accept any link to the book. Ebook page count will be acceptable if no Kindle page count available. The acceptability of other page counts will be made on an individual basis.**

Please note that a rating is now required in your completion posts! A small review is also welcome. 😊

I think most of you know each other, at least a little, but feel free to introduce yourself again. Please give any relevant information, especially time zone as that helps know when it is best to communicate. 😊

Please select a team leader to help keep track of where your team is in any given task. And as necessary guide discussions for task decisions. Any teammate can report your completions though.

Remember, it is the team's responsibility to notify the host (me) if a teammate fails to complete the task in a timely manner or otherwise goes missing! I am not checking all the team threads regularly to notice and may only check when notified a task is complete.

PS - If you want to be known as anything other than Team 16, you are free to come up with a team name. 😉

Right now I have you as a team of three. If that continues, tasks will be adjusted as necessary to accommodate that there aren't four of you.

Full team now! 😊

Hi Everybody
I am Lea, I live in the suburbs of Copenhagen Denmark. So my time zone is CET, that makes me 6 hours ahead of east coast US
I live together with my husband and 2 girls (3 and 6 years)
I work as a project manager in the pharmaceutical industry, which as times keeps my quite busy
I read most my books by listening to audio books, I read mainly to relax.
I mostly read romance books, many different sub genres. But lately I have been mixing it up with some danish biographies
Looking forward to get inspired to read new books together with you

Hi Team!

I live New Jersey, EST, with husband and 3 kids. I do not work. Lots of time to read. I read mostly romance, some mystery. Not a big fan of YA or fantasy. I've been listening to a lot of audiobooks lately, but I read as well.

I'm new to this challenge. Has anyone played before? I was wondering if I should be looking at the tasks and preplanning books.

There are a bunch of tasks that require team cooperation/voting -- do we start looking at those tasks now, before the challenge starts?

Do we need a captain? As a newbie, I'm not the best option to captain, but if we're all new, or if no one else wants to do it. I'm willing to try it.

Checking in real quick... I’ll introduce myself a bit later, but I’m here!

Hi all - From Indiana here which is in the middle of the US but still Eastern time zone! Married, 2 grown boys and a dog! I'm a project manager in my company's marketing department and am super busy right now - we're down a person so I'm kind of doing the work of 2 people. So.... Not a good choice to captain right now, unfortunately.

I'll read most any romance sub-genre but usually avoid YA. And horror! But I'm usually good for just about anything for a challenge.

I've played before. It is good to try and plan for some of the tasks but we need to be careful since we don't know when or if the tasks will actually be called. I, for one, sometimes have a habit of forgetting I planned a book for a certain task and reading it ahead of time.

Tasks that need info from the team:

12. Read a book recommended to you by a teammate (on previous teams each team member posted their favorites (or similar) shelf and said they would recommend anything from that shelf)
53. Each teammate reads a book set in one of your teammates' home town (born in, raised in, currently live in - all work), teams decide. No pass for this task.
64. Read 6 books not set on a continent of a teammate. Space does not count - must be a real continent.
72. Read 4 books published in the decade of a teammate's birth, team decides which teammate.
91. Add up the years of the teammates' births and each teammate reads a book with that minimum number of pages. For example, teammates were born in 75, 83, 87 and 94 - each teammate reads a book at least 339 pages long. No pass for this task.
99. Each teammate lists 5 favorite books. Select books from 2 different teammates and read them.

Can we talk about expectations? How many books per week do you anticipate completing for this challenge? I generally read 7 - 10 books per week. I can be crazy competitive or completely laid back. What approach are we taking as a team?


In addition to the info LaurLa listed above, all of the tasks under the spoiler, and there are a lot of them, require team cooperation and voting. Should we start going through this list?

(view spoiler)[
1. Each player reads a book by the same author, teams decide author - no pass for this task.
9. Each player reads a book in the same series, teams decide. No pass for this task.


27. Read a minimum of 750 pages in books published in any one year prior to 2018, team picks the year.

29. Read over 750 pages in books about the same profession, teams decide which profession.
33. Read 6 books in the same sub-genre, teams decide.
49. Each teammate reads a book published in the same month and year, teams decide. No pass for this task.
50. Read 6 books set in the same location, teams decide the location.
51. Each teammate reads a different book by the same author, no pass for this task.
52. Read 6 books with the same color cover, teams decide color.

54. Read 6 books set on a beach or in the mountains, teams decide which.
55. Read 6 books set in the same country outside the US, teams decide country.
56. As a team, pick a list with over 100 romance books on it, each member reads a book from that list. No pass for this task.


70. Read a minimum of 1200 pages in books of the same sub-genre, but by different authors.
71. Pick another team and each member reads one book that was read by a member for this challenge. No pass for this task.

73. Read a minimum of 1500 pages in books by the same author, teams decide author.

75. Read over 1000 pages in books that start with the same letter (no articles), teams decide letter.
76. Read 6 books with a specific item on the cover, team selects item.
79. Read 6 books that have the same romance trope, teams decide which trope.
80. Read 4 books initially published in different decades.
82. Each teammate reads a different book from the same series.
88. Read 6 books with a boat, plane, car or motorcycle on the cover, teams decide which.
90. Each member reads a book published in sequential months, i.e. June, July, August and September 2019. Teams decide which months. No pass for this task.

92. Read over 1500 pages in books set in the future or the past - teams decide.
93. As a team, pick a Romance List from GR Listopia with less than 100 books on it, each teammate reads a book from that list. No pass for this task.
94. Read 6 books published in sequential years, teams decide years.
95. As a team, select an animal. Read 8 books tagged with that animal.
96. Read a minimum of 1200 pages with the sun or the moon on the cover, teams decide which.
(hide spoiler)]

This is the list of info that needs to be posted:

Hometown and Continent:
Year joined GR
Birth month and year:
Shelf to pick from with at least 10 books:
Five Favorites

Susan A
Hometown, state or country and Continent: New Jersey, North America
Year joined GR: 2012
Birth month and year: June 71
Shelf to pick from with at least 10 books: pick from here audiobook
Five Favorites:

I looked through our shelves and found that we have these authors in common:

Julia Quinn
Tessa Dare
Lauren Blakely
Elle Kennedy
Claire Kingsley

I'm not sure I noted all of our common authors.

Susan A wrote: "Can we talk about expectations? How many books per week do you anticipate completing for this challenge? I generally read 7 - 10 books per week. I can be crazy competitive or completely laid back. ..."

I am averaging around 4 per week right now with my current job. I'd call myself medium competitive, if that's a thing!

For all the tasks you had under the spoiler, it is a lot if we try to coordinate them ahead of time. Many of them aren't hard to find things but just need a simple conversation at the time the task is called - remember, tasks are assigned randomly and we may never get some of them, so I'd hate to make choices that may never actually come up.

Others do take a bit more coordination and I like that you did the author research thing. We don't have to decide on the author now (who knows when or if we'll get that task) but it's good to see that info at the beginning.

Susan A wrote: "I looked through our shelves and found that we have these authors in common:

Julia Quinn
Tessa Dare
Lauren Blakely
Elle Kennedy
Claire Kingsley

I'm not sure I noted all of our common authors."

Surely Nora Roberts/JD Robb is common among us!

LaurLa


Hometown and Continent: Indianapolis,IN - North America
Year joined GR - 2012
Birth month and year: Feb 1969
Shelf to pick from with at least 10 books: favorites

Five Favorites: back with this later

Nope...I haven't read anything by JD Robb. If Nora Roberts was writing in the 1980s, it is possible I read something of hers while I was in high school, but for sure nothing in this century.

I do not have much luck with very popular authors and I generally avoid them.

If we have to do that task were we all have to read from the same series, I'm a hard no on Outlander and Black Dagger Brotherhood and Fifty Shades. And anything by Nicholas Sparks. Can't think of any others right now. Mostly, if I'm going to read something I'm not very interested in, it needs to be available in audiobook at hoopla. I'm opposed to buying books I'm not interested in for a challenge.


As far as the tasks go, I just noticed the other teams doing prep and assumed it was necessary.

Susan A wrote: "As far as the tasks go, I just noticed the other teams doing prep and assumed it was necessary."

Never hurts to be prepared!!

No Outlander for me or Fifty Shades either!! One is too long and not my cuppa and the other is just too... I don't even know what to say about Fifty Shades! I was never even tempted though I have enjoyed other BDSM series (Cherise Sinclair for one).

So let's throw out some series we might all be interested in...

I'm reading (or have read) these but am not saying I'm not willing to try something new!

PNR/UF
Mercy Thompson (Patricia Briggs)
Chicagoland Vampires (Chloe Neill)
Pride (Shelley Laurenston)
Anita Blake (Laurell K Hamilton)
Krewe of Hunters (Heather Graham)
Kate Daniels (Ilona Andrews)

YA Fantasy
All Souls (Deborah Harkness)

Dystopia
Beyond (Kit Rocha)

Contemp
Blackberry Island (Susan Mallery)
Boyfriend Material (Lauren Blakely)
Crossing the Line (Tessa Bailey)
Gansett Island (Marie Force)
Heartbreaker Bay (Jill Shalvis)
Escape to New Zealand (Rosalind James)
Stephanie Plum (Janet Evanovich)
Wildstone (Jill Shalvis)

Rom Suspense/Suspense/Mystery
Cold Justice (Toni Anderson)
In Death (JD Robb)
Women's Murder Club (James Patterson - not mpg romance)
Temperance Brennan (Kathy Reichs)
Jack Daniels (JA Konrath)
Lexi Graves Mysteries (Camilla Chafer)
Sarah Booth Delaney (Carolyn Haines)
Amelia Peabody (historical also - Elizabeth Peters)
Kat Holloway Mysteries (Jennifer Ashley)

Historical Rom
Girl Meets Duke (Tessa Dare)
Rokesby (Julia Quinn)

From your list, I'd pick to read, in order of preference:

Girl Meets Duke - Tessa Dare (re-read - loved this series)
Rokesby - Julia Quinn (re-read, haapy to read again)
Stephanie Plum - Janet Evanovich (new to me author)
Jack Daniels - JA Konrath (read book 1, rated 4 stars)
Heartbreaker Bay - Jill Shalvis (new series, but I have liked other books by this author)

I'd probably be happy to read or re-read almost any historical romance. I am pickier about contemporary MF romance - but sports ones are better for me. I'm less picky about contemporary MM romance. Left on my own, I almost never chose fantasy or PNR, but I don't dislike them. I do like Eve Langlais PNR books.
Not a fan of reading about teenagers, but I have read some excellent books featuring teens.

My main concern is: can I get the book for free through hoopla, KU, or audible plus - my local library wait times for ebooks is way too long for a challenge. So I'd be happy to read Temperance Brennan, but I'd have to buy it or wait 3 weeks to borrow it, so that's a no. Same for this Lauren Blakely series - I'd have to buy it.

For Lauren Blakely I can do:
Always Satisfied
Sinful Men
No Regrets
Caught Up In Love

Task 1: For EVERY TEAM!

With St. Patricks Day coming up, everyone is Irish! As a team select whether you are going to read books set in Ireland OR books with an Irish character OR books with a primarily green cover. Each teammate must read a book that fits the qualification selected, no pass for this task.

Please include the team selected qualification in your completion posts. Remember you need to include how you know your book qualifies! I need to know where to look to confirm your book, include any info or links as necessary. If choosing the primarily green cover, it needs to be over 50% green to be accepted. Don’t forget to use the first edition Kindle page count!

My vote:

1. Green cover
2. Irish character
3. Ireland setting - -I'd rather not

I have a book in mind that would work for Ireland or Irish character. I also have green covers. Whatever y’all decide I’m good with :)

Sorry for being gone the last couple days, I will try to fill out all my details later today.
I good with all 3 suggestions for task 1, but would prefer either the the green cover but will go with the majority vote:-)

My vote goes for green cover!!

so that's green cover then.

I plan to read:

I Will probably go with either
Or


I will just check with Kat before I start as Tineye say they are blue not green

Task 1 - COMPLETION
St Patrick's Day - Green Cover - team selection


The Boy with the Painful Tattoo
pages: 242
Qualification: tineye
78.2% #5fba46Green
7.3 % #050300Black
4.3 % #eaf6e5White
3.0 % #bbddafGreen
2.0 % #97ca87Green
1.9 % #406d34Green
1.7 % #549142Green
1.2 % #233d1eGreen
0.3 % #172211Black
https://labs.tineye.com/color/34d836f...

3/17/21
5 stars
I've read this book once, and this is the second time I've listened to it. I did really like this book when I read it...but listening to it, much to my surprise initially, is so much better. Narrator Kevin R. Free does an amazing job bringing the character Christopher Holmes to life. Christopher Holmes is a sarcastic and insecure man and the narrator portrays this so perfectly.


[*book:The Boy with the Painful Tattoo|23124602]

I will probably read
because it's shortish and I seem to be behind this week. Just waiting on approval from Kat.

Completion Post Task 1
St Patrick's Day - Green Cover - team selection

Evvie Drake Starts Over by Linda Holmes


Pages: 287 first kindle edition
How it qualifies: cover is mainly green see above, cover pre-approved by Kat.
Date read 18mar2021
Rating and review 4,5 Stars ⭐️
This book was not at all what I expected, it was slow with not much action, but it dealt with some very serious topics in a great way. I really enjoyed it, and loved that this book includes a lot of adult conversation and no quick fixes.

Completion Post


Task: 1. Read a book with a primarily green cover
Book: Getting Schooled
Pages: 310 pp (GR kindle)
How it fits: green cover, approved by Kat
Date Read: 03.18 ★★★★

[*book:Getting Schooled|38311913]

Completed post coming up soon... sorry for the delay!! I do know this is a race- lol, sorry to slack on first task!

🏃🏼‍♀️Completion Post🏃🏼‍♀️

Task #1 With St. Patricks Day coming up, everyone is Irish! As a team select whether you are going to read books set in Ireland OR books with an Irish character OR books with a primarily green cover. Each teammate must read a book that fits the qualification selected, no pass for this task. Team selected green cover.

Book/cover link: Fangirl

Pages: 438 GR Kindle Edition

Qualification: Team selected green cover. Cover is green

Date Completed: 3/20/21

Rating: 4 stars

Jodi -- are doing the completion post? If you don't respond in the next half hour, I'll do it.

I haven’t done that before. Could you do it and then tell me how to for the future? Thank you!

Yes. I'll do it and report back.

Task 1 - St Patrick's Day - Green Cover - team selection

Lea post 28
Jodi post 34
LaurLa post 29
Susan A post 26

So there seems to be no completely standard way to do the completion post.

It needs the task info and links to the individual players completion posts. I included the covers because this was a cover task, otherwise, I would not have put them there. After you make this post, you go over to the annoucement thread and post that we are done.

See here: completion post

I would think that it is fastest if the last person to post their book does the completion post. But we didn't discuss that.

I’ll make sure I’m not last then LOL! Do you all want a team name?

I don't mind doing them, but I wouldn't want us waiting around for me to wake up and do it.

I'm not opposed to a name, but I'm not any good at thinking of them.

Just FYI - completion posts like Susan did are great, but just saying 'Team 16 has finished Task X' will get me here to check. 😊

MountainKat wrote: "Just FYI - completion posts like Susan did are great, but just saying 'Team 16 has finished Task X' will get me here to check. 😊"

You don't need the links that I did in post 35?

Here is your next task!

Task 2 - 11. Read 4 books in continuing series, one that has not been completely published.

To qualify for this task, the selected books need to be in series that are not completely published yet or are ongoing. So the second book in a trilogy where the third is coming out later this year would work or a book in a series such as In Death that is ongoing would also work. Please include in your completion post a link to the series page to show that the series is not completed yet, i.e. expected future publication date on a later book or description as a trilogy with only two books listed.

I'm going to read Mystery at the Masquerade which is book #3, and books 4 are 5 are scheduled for later this year.

I'm pretty sure this task does not require us to read from the same series.

Name options...



The Sweet (or not) Sixteens
Racing for Romance
16 Miles to Amazing

I like that first one

I’ll be reading The Next Best Bride The Summer Deal, #5, book 7 expected to publish June 2021.

LauraLa- is there another book planned in that series?

Susan A wrote: "LauraLa- is there another book planned in that series?"

Oops. Misread that. I'll choose another book.

I like first name

Completion Post Task 2

11. Read 4 books in continuing series, one that has not been completely published.

Mystery at the Masquerade by Josh Lanyon
219 pages
3/21/21
4 stars

qualification:
Secrets and Scrabble series page lists 2 more books to be published in May 2021 and June 2021

Review:
Light and easy read. Interesting main characters and secondary characters. It's more mystery than romance. I'm looking forward to the next installment.

I was kinda waiting to see what you all are reading lol? I can’t find anything I’m currently caught up on that has something coming out. I’m caught up with all my current series. Recommendations? I’m usually open to anything. I don’t love fantasy/paranormal but am open to trying anything.