2025 Reading Challenge discussion

TEAM: GUARDIANS OF THE LIBRARY
25K Celebration Readathon

This thread is for members of the Guardians of the Library team to use however you wish in relation to the readathon. Your teammates are:
Karin (Captain), Angie (Assistant), Alyana, Avery, Shari, Snezana, Sunny, and Trisha.

Here is the link to your team’s spreadsheet, where you’ll be tracking your progress as you go.
If you have any questions about the readathon, how to interpret the prompts, how to use the spreadsheet, and so on, ask your Captain or Assistant first. If they don’t know, they can post the question(s) on the Readathon Central thread.

Happy reading! Let’s have a blast during this two-week readathon!

YOUR TASKS/PROMPTS

Here are the tasks your team will be trying to complete, some consisting of a single prompt and some consisting of two-, three-, or four prompts.

Solos (1-book prompts) 
Read a book read by a teammate for this readathon
Read a book you read in 2012
Read a book with 20, 12, 2012 or 25 in the title.
Read a book which has been translated into 25+ languages.
Read a book with at least 25 chapters or sections.
Read a book written when the author was under 25 years old.
Read a book with the word ‘silver’ in the title or with a silver cover.
Read a book published in 1996 

Duets (2-book prompts) 
Read 2 books with a scene of two or more people reading together.
Read 2 books starting with “L,” (12th letter) and "Y" (25th letter) of the alphabet.
Read 2 books in a series, one with at least 12 books and one with at least 25 books.
Read 2 books either published in 2012 or in the Best Books of 2012 listopia.
Read 2 books with over 25,000 ratings each on Goodreads.
Read 2 books with a title consisting of 25 characters minimum, excluding spaces.
Read the 12th and 25th books on your TBR list.

Trios (3-book prompts)  
Read 3 books: one you wish to read at 25 (if you’re under 25), one you read at that age, and one you'd recommend to your 25-year-old self.
Read 3 books by an author who has written for 25 or more years.
Read 3 books by an author who has written 25 or more books.
Read 3 books you shelved during the month you joined this group.

Quartets (4-book prompts) 
Read 4 books about making new friends.
Read 4 books that include a party or anniversary celebration.
Read 4 books that feature a bibliophile, bookworm, librarian, or bookshop.
Read 4 books in a series of 4 (25% of a series).
A book about making new friends.
A book with a party or anniversary celebration.
A book featuring a bibliophile, bookworm, librarian, or bookshop.
A book in a 4-book series  (25%)

Hi team, let’s start planning! :)

Trisha wrote: "Hi team, let’s start planning! :)"

Hello Team!!! :D

Trisha wrote: "Hi team, let’s start planning! :)"

Hi Trisha, do I request access for the team ss?

Alyana wrote: "Trisha wrote: "Hi team, let’s start planning! :)"

Hi Trisha, do I request access for the team ss?"

Hi Alyana, no, you should already have the access to edit. Please check!

Trisha wrote: "Alyana wrote: "Trisha wrote: "Hi team, let’s start planning! :)"

Hi Trisha, do I request access for the team ss?"

Hi Alyana, no, you should already have the access to edit. Please check!"

When I click the link for the ss above, it only says "view only" :(

Not on the team, but I did just fix that issue Alyana. You should be able to edit now

Just checked it. It's all good now. Thanks SarahKat! :-)

Hello fellow Guardians! We are just a few days away from the readathon and I could not be more excited! Looking forward to meeting you all.

Angie wrote: "Hello fellow Guardians! We are just a few days away from the readathon and I could not be more excited! Looking forward to meeting you all."

Hi Angie! Happy to meet you! :)

I do not fully understand the spreadsheet yet, please bear with me! :D

When do we start to plan the books and put it in the ss?

Hi Y'all! Looking forward to reading with ya'!

I made a copy of the prompts yesterday and fit books into some of them that I can fill with the stuff I have on hand.

Wonder if I can figure out the spreadsheet?!

The tracking sheet is understandable.

I took a look at some of the other teams planning sheets -- such variety. Anyways, I've gone ahead and filled in some stuff on the planning sheet -- the way I've seen it done on some others.

Hey all! Luckily I happen to know how the spreadsheet works, so you folks are sorted! 😛

@Sunny, you need to reserve a single column for yourself in the planning sheet and you don’t need to update book names in this sheet. Just mark an X for the prompts you’re planning to read. Book names go to the tracking sheet. Put them in regular font when you’re reading them and once you’re finished reading, bold the book name. I’ll add my details so all can have something for reference.

Let me know if you have any questions. I am based out of Malaysia so I might not answer right away but I’ll answer when I login next.

Sunny wrote: "The tracking sheet is understandable.

I took a look at some of the other teams planning sheets -- such variety. Anyways, I've gone ahead and filled in some stuff on the planning sheet -- the way I..."

I've been looking to a lot of spreadsheets for the past few months and they are all mixed up in my head lol. Anyway, as soon as I see how the books are planned and put in the sheet, I will be able to follow :)

Trisha wrote: "Hey all! Luckily I happen to know how the spreadsheet works, so you folks are sorted! 😛

@Sunny, you need to reserve a single column for yourself in the planning sheet and you don’t need to update ..."

Okay I'll go back and fix my stuff.

So my planning is done. I see Sunny has updated her details too.

It’s nearly 1 am so I’ll call it a night. Will check-in tomorrow morning for any questions. For any urgent queries, feel free to drop your questions in the Readathon Central thread where one of the organising committee Mods will respond to you.

Go Guardians!!

Trisha wrote: "So my planning is done. I see Sunny has updated her details too.

It’s nearly 1 am so I’ll call it a night. Will check-in tomorrow morning for any questions. For any urgent queries, feel free to d..."

Thanks Trisha!

I just put my details into the spreadsheet and I think I got the hang of it now... phew!

Angie wrote: "I just put my details into the spreadsheet and I think I got the hang of it now... phew!"

You've got it 😊

Hello! Nice to meet you all!

I'm very excited to start reading, I hope we have lots of fun in the next two weeks.

I have matched books to most of the prompts and I have a few that can fit multiple prompts. So I can be very flexible with my reading. I'll mark all of the prompts I could potentially finish in the planning spreadsheet. 😊

I'm gone for the day. Will check back in tomorrow and catch up with things.

I have books for the prompts I marked.

Things will be divided up, eventually, as to who is doing which prompt exactly, right?

Sunny wrote: "I'm gone for the day. Will check back in tomorrow and catch up with things.

I have books for the prompts I marked.

Things will be divided up, eventually, as to who is doing which prompt exactly, ..."

Yes me too, I have the books ready to be checked out from the library by the time the readathon starts. :)

Snezana wrote: "Hello! Nice to meet you all!

I'm very excited to start reading, I hope we have lots of fun in the next two weeks.

I have matched books to most of the prompts and I have a few that can fit multip..."

Hi Snezana! Welcome to the team, it’s great to have you with us!

Alyana wrote: "Sunny wrote: "
I have books for the prompts I marked.

Things will be divided up, eventually, as to who is doing which pr..."

I think we needn't worry, the spreadsheet looks pretty good already. As more team members enter their books, more prompts will be covered, I'm sure.
And if we have one or two of those odd prompts that no one seems to have any books for, we can always use the "wild card" option.

Hi team! My apologies for being so late but this has been an unusual Fri and Sat.

It's great to see all of the planning that is already going on.

I love our team name :)

Could everyone mark down what category they are going to read first? That way those of us who have a number of books (Snezana, wow, you have so many already :)!) can start elsewhere :).

I have books starting with both a Y and an L, so if people who have marked that can let us know, that would be helpful. I don't know if my Y book can go anywhere else, but that's okay since I can read it before this starts if we have Y covered.

I marked books I already have here, but I'll work on finding more books from my library or Kindle Unlimited. Also, I have always liked scifi, so I will see if there is a scifi book that's not too long on my tbr for what I'd have liked at 25 even though I was back in college and not reading novels except on Christmas break. Or a spy novel, because I still loved those.

Karin wrote: "Hi team! My apologies for being so late but this has been an unusual Fri and Sat.

It's great to see all of the planning that is already going on.

I love our team name :)

Could everyone mark down..."

Hi Karin! I have the books that I marked on hold at the library but I cannot say the exact date yet. What do you suggest on how we can mark the first category that we will read first?

How about we add a " - R " once we start a book for that category? At first this is mainly important for the ones where we only need one book per category as a team. You can do that and it still will count the number on the left.

For now, an x is perfect. I'm not planning on returning anything if someone else starts a category just in case; or if I have a book that can fit more than one spot, I can just read that.

If any of you friend me (I have reached out to those who have posted here and one reached out to me), I do have you answer a question, but it's easy to answer :)

Karin wrote: "How about we add a " - R " once we start a book for that category? At first this is mainly important for the ones where we only need one book per category as a team. You can do that and it still wi..."

Got it! I'll probably know which category I'm reading first in a couple of days. :)

Karin wrote: "Hi team! My apologies for being so late but this has been an unusual Fri and Sat.

It's great to see all of the planning that is already going on.

I love our team name :)

Could everyone mark down..."

I am so sorry if I have made a confusion, when planning I have tried to fit my books so they can fill more than one category.

So for example I can read Shadow and Bone, which can be marked for: over 25,000 ratings each on Goodreads, about making new friends, that include a party or anniversary celebration, published in 2012 or in the Best Books of 2012 listopia or silver on the cover since my copy has silver embossed letters on it

Fight Club can fill: a book published in 1996, has been translated into 25+ languages, over 25,000 ratings each on Goodreads, an author who has written for 25 or more years

Tangle of Need - an author who has written 25 or more books or one with at least 12 books in a series

One Dark Throne - books in a series of 4, book you shelved during the month you joined this group

And so on... Also I am currently reading Kushiel's Dart which had several parties in it, so I will leave last 200 pages of the book to finish when the readathon starts. That will be my first read. For the rest I'm very flexible as I said in my previous post.

Maybe we should all post our reading lists? We do have that prompt to read a book by a teammate, maybe we have some people who plan to read the same book so we can complete it without using a Wild Card?

Angie wrote: "Hi Snezana! Welcome to the team, it’s great to have you with us!."

Thank you!

Also, does anybody know if one person can complete the same prompt with two different books? And for the challenges that have multiple options like reading a book that starts with "L" and "Y" do we have to fulfil both or can we do two that start with "L"?

Hi team,
new instructions have been posted over on the Readathon Central thread on how to use the spreadsheet:

//

More detailed instructions on the spreadsheet, please?

On the Planning page:
(1) Post each book you are currently reading in a separate column as follows:
*Book title (your name) at top of the column
*Possible Fits: place a lowercase "x" in every prompt your book fits
*When you finish the book, highlight your book title/name cell as well as the prompt you selected (out of the possible fits). Any kind of highlighting is fine (like changing the cell color), but the whole team should use the same method.

On the Tracking page
*Find your name at the top of one of the columns. You will be adding your pages read/hours listened by day and any books you've finished that fits a prompt.
*When you finish a book, add the book tile in your column in the row of the appropriate prompt.
*If you finish a single-book task or read the final book for a multi-book task, please also go to the Planning page to highlight that task so your teammates will know it's been completed.

//

I'm off to bed now, but will have a look at it tomorrow.

Morning team, those last set of instructions posted in the readathon central thread are final and that’s how we are supposed to do it:

So, on the planning page, add a column for each book you’re currently reading and mark an x against all possible prompts that book would fit. This way, we know how many books are currently being read, how many prompts are being focused on and if a prompt you were reading to fulfill is already completed by another member, you know the other prompts your book fits.

Please only add books that you’re currently reading and not all your planned books. I’ve just had a look and most teams are doing things their own way which is not a problem as long as they are updating their progress correctly, but if there’s anything any of you have to suggest, let us know!

I will update the sheet with my details and you can follow on. Sorry about the confusion last night, this is our first ever readathon and we are trying to make it a pleasant experience for you all. 💗

@Sunny, I’m sorry for making you redo your updates. Looks like your approach was the best way to tackle our planning sheet. Please don’t hate me!

@Karin, the team name was my idea, I’m a guardians of the galaxy fan! Btw, can you grab a post in the Readathon Team Progress thread for our team?

@Snezana, yes, the same person can fulfil an entire task i.e. complete all prompts of a particular task. We should first try to complete different prompts, but at the end, if two of your books fit a multiple-book prompt when no one else's does, we can count both your books for that particular prompt.

Can we redo our spreadsheet now? Let us try to read books that fit multiple prompts so that each book we read counts. Once all of us have updated our 'currently reading' books, we can decide on any changes; I just had a look and noticed that the other Team Leaders are assigning specific prompts to members so that not all members read to complete the same prompts - we can do the same. Karin, since you are our Team Leader, assigning prompts should be your call.

Trisha wrote: "Morning team, those last set of instructions posted in the readathon central thread are final and that’s how we are supposed to do it:

So, on the planning page, add a column for each book you’re c..."

I will put my first two books that I plan to read tomorrow. I will be joining you for The Push buddy read and that fits the first prompt right? 😊

Alyana wrote: "Trisha wrote: "Morning team, those last set of instructions posted in the readathon central thread are final and that’s how we are supposed to do it:

So, on the planning page, add a column for eac..."

Oh yes, it does! :D

Trisha wrote: "Morning team, those last set of instructions posted in the readathon central thread are final and that’s how we are supposed to do it:

So, on the planning page, add a column for each book you’re c..."

Thanks Trisha for all the info!

Since the adjustments to the planning page now make it more of a "currently reading" page, I was wondering how we might best plan ahead, so as to cover as many prompts as possible. I fear that by only entering books we are currently reading in the speadsheet as we go along, we might have a lot of doubling or we might overlook some prompts entirely.

What do you think team? What's a good method to optimize our planning, any ideas?

Maybe discuss the books we want to read and what prompts they fulfill in this thread?

Angie, how about each one of us posts 1-2 books that we are currently reading or planning to read first when the readathon time window starts, and then let’s see which prompts are being ignored entirely. We can then open a forum here and discuss who can make changes in their reading to pick up one of those ignored prompts.

This is also why I posted above asking Karin to assign prompts so that all of us don’t end up reading books that fulfil the same tasks.

I have kept quite a few books in buffer that I’ll pick up only if I have a prompt that needs attention.

Thank you Trisha for answering my question!

I have put the book I'm currently reading into the spreadsheet.

I too agree that we should have some sort of plan, at least for the start of the readathon and then we can adjust as we go along. For me the hardest prompts are the party one and two or more people reading together. You can't plan for those unless it's a reread and you know what happens in the book already.

Snezana, for the party prompt, if nothing works out, we can always read The Great Gatsby - short and full of parties.

Two or more reading together- I’m going to have a look into other teams’ threads to see if I can find a match.

Sounds good Trisha. I hope I didn't come across as "panicky", I was just wondering what a good way would be to get us organized. But I'm sure it will all fall into place once we start the readathon.

At the moment, I can't add any books to the spreadsheet as I'm currently trying to finish off some books I'm in the middle of, so I can start new ones for the readathon. But I'll write up my reading plans later today.

Angie wrote: "Sounds good Trisha. I hope I didn't come across as "panicky", I was just wondering what a good way would be to get us organized. But I'm sure it will all fall into place once we start the readathon..."

Angie, beneath my calm demeanour is hidden a severely anxious woman who wants to meet each one of you in person, sit together and decide the next steps. I really don’t want to read a book that doesn’t even get counted in the end. And you were absolutely right, we need to PLAN! I’ve already been through four of the other teams’ threads and seeing their assignments or brainstorming scares me even more!

If the books you are currently reading fit a hard prompt, I’d suggest you to hold onto your reading. Of course, only if more than 100 pages are remaining to be read. We can start books now, put them on hold and finish them during the readathon.

Well, I have potentially two books for the party prompt, so I'm sure we'll be able to find two more. 😊

I too like to plan, that's why I already chose books which can cover variety of prompts. And I like your suggestion Trisha that we post first two books we plan to read and which prompts they fit. That would be a good start.

We also have two members we haven't heard from yet, if they don't reach out in a day or two maybe Karin should send them a message to remind them about readathon. If they didn't check the thread since signing up maybe they don't know the teams are formed.

Snezana, oh dear, just realised that the party prompt is a quartet task. My bad!

The real planning will commence only after we have filled in our current books. I hope we can get to that stage asap!

Trisha wrote: "Snezana, oh dear, just realised that the party prompt is a quartet task. My bad!

The real planning will commence only after we have filled in our current books. I hope we can get to that stage asap!"

Don't worry, we got each other's back. 😉

I hope we get there soon. It seems like we're all over the globe so it's a little harder to organize everything.

I have added my first two books on the sheet, I don't want to overcommit for the books that I would like to read for the readathon. I will add more as we go along :)

Alyana wrote: "I have added my first two books on the sheet, I don't want to overcommit for the books that I would like to read for the readathon. I will add more as we go along :)"

Since we only need to update the books we are currently reading or intend to read first when the readathon starts, anything between 1-3 sounds reasonable. :)