Nothing But Reading Challenges discussion

I like friends

Judith wrote: "Rules for the mini challenge can be found here: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/..."

Thanks for the link, Judith. And my thanks to you and our other Captains for not making us wait until today to have the thread up and running! That would have driven me crazy, lol.

Just to clarify - we add our books to the spreadsheet, listing how it might fit into the Mini, and a Captain actually adds the book to the Mini sheet, right?

It’s actually automated. So when you enter the mini code and reason on the book tab, the info pops up on the mini tab automatically

Judith wrote: "It’s actually automated. So when you enter the mini code and reason on the book tab, the info pops up on the mini tab automatically"

Excellent! That makes it easy.

Lexi wrote: "I added a countdown to the start to Message 11. It starts at 15 May 9pm BST London, UK. (Which happens to be 10 min before my first plane flight, so that works well).

Link here as well: https://ww..."

The mini challenge rules are out now! Nice, things are moving fast.
The exciting thing is I 'll get few extra hours, me being in the Asia!!!

Yesterday my friend gave me a book "The Road" and I was happy to have "R" in my TBR~~ And my friend couldn't understand the excitement at all.... the whole encounter was so funny!

I stockpile books with certain letters for Wheel-a-thon that NBRC typically does in the fall.

And letter/cover color combinations for UNO. I held onto a book that worked for a 7 Yellow card for 3 or so years. I wasn't going to 'waste' it. LOL

Good morning guys. I can't wait to start and see how we do.

Just in case anyone (new or repeat) is confused, we all start and end at the same time regardless of time zone. Just some people will be starting on the 15th (most of Europe, Africa, and N and S America) and some on the 16th (most of Asia and Australia), depending on time zone, so if you are in the second group, you need to wait until the 16th and whatever the official start time is for your time zone (why the countdown is helpful).

Lexi wrote: "Just in case anyone (new or repeat) is confused, we all start and end at the same time regardless of time zone. Just some people will be starting on the 15th (most of Europe, Africa, and N and S Am..."

I think it's the other way around. Asia and Australia are ahead of most of the West. So we will start couple of hours ahead. It'll not change the dates. Everyone will start on 15th just some ahead of the others. I think the countdown link will direct them precisely. So nothing to worry. One can just allow the link to give them a reminder.

No I think Lexi had it right. The challenge starts at the same time for everyone - which is on May 15, 9pm London time. So whatever time it is wherever you are, when it’s 9pm London time is when it starts for you.

So like for me, London is 6 hours ahead. When it’s 9pm there, it’s 3pm where I am. So it would start on May 15, 3pm for me.

And since Asia and Australia are ahead of London, since it starts at 9pm London time, Asia and Australia will already be May 16

Oh my bad! I mistook 9pm as 9am so that's why I got it all wrong. You are right, Lexi and Laila Jane. As it stars late in the day, the dates will change. I am sorry for creating confusion~~~

No problem, it’s always good to clarify!

Laila Jane wrote: "No problem, it’s always good to clarify!"

Glad that has been clarified, thank you Lalia for helping

Update to BOMs

I'll fix the post later today, but in case people need to request from the library, The Witch's Heart and The Book of Cold Cases won for June. You have a month to read them after the start date so all the way into July if you library has a long line.

Yay! Both nominations came from our team!!! Guaranteed DQs

Also I’ve been looking forward to reading both

My local library actually has copies of the Witch's Heart available so I may grab that when I go this weekend. The Book of Cold Cases might be a bit harder for me to get (a lot of holds), but I put holds on the physical book and ebook.

My congratulations, Captains, on having your books picked!

When nominations for July begin, what's our strategy - is it better to limit the number of nominations from our team to concentrate our votes, or should we all nominate something? Should we discuss it on the thread first?

ETA: Since Kate has volunteered to write DQs for The Travelling Cat Chronicles, we're covered, right? Or should more of us volunteer if willing?

And we can read / earn points for The Cartographers, we just have to wait until after the 15th, right?

Thanks!

We can have up to 6 entries for the DQ randomizer, so the more names (up to 6) the more chances the team has to be selected. We can switch amongst the team who is actually writing questions.

The Cartographers won’t count for BOM points. It wouldn’t be fair to those participating “on schedule” because they would be reading the book before TT starts.

But it would count as a token. 3 tokens gets an extra BOM entry for the team.

We can discuss on the team for July. There might be a book or 2 that we are all interested in.

And if not, that’s okay too.

Judith wrote: "We can have up to 6 entries for the DQ randomizer, so the more names (up to 6) the more chances the team has to be selected. We can switch amongst the team who is actually writing questions.

The C..."

Got it. Since The Travelling Cat Chronicles is the only one for June or July I'm certain I can get my hands on, I'll go volunteer.
Thanks for clarifying - I obviously don't remember any of this from last year, lol. And I was confused by the tokens.

Who all is already participating in the discussions for The Cartographers? I'm trying to figure out if, when I get the book from the library (which is a bit uncertain), we need another participant to get us to three tokens - or six.

I put a request in for The Cartographers, but there are 18 holds and 4 copies. It looks fascinating though. I love maps. I also catalog maps at work. I have to catalog a map that I believe may be the only copy (it hasn't been previously cataloged before), but it certainly isn't as exciting as the map in that book.

Natasha wrote: "I put a request in for The Cartographers, but there are 18 holds and 4 copies. It looks fascinating though. I love maps. I also catalog maps at work. I have to catalog a map that I ..."

I'm in the same situation - I have a hold, but there's only one local copy. There's no telling when I might get it.

I have a decent chance of getting The Witch's Heart, but as of now there isn't a local copy of The Book of Cold Cases - I can't get a copy from elsewhere in the state until six months after it's been added to a library's collection. I'm going to check to see if we have it on order, but I'm not holding my breath....

Lexi wrote: " Update to BOMs

I'll fix the post later today, but in case people need to request from the library, The Witch's Heart and The Book of Cold Cases won for June. You ..."

I just finished reading The Book of Cold Cases in April and I really didn't like it. But let me checkout The Witch's Heart...

I wish people would actually return the ebooks to the library when they are finished instead of just letting the 2 weeks run out. *sigh*

For the BOMs, there are no digital copies and no physical copies in any of the library branches in my county unfortunately. I've put in a request for The Witch's Heart, but last time I did a request they didn't get the book in until several months later so I'm probably going to have to sit out on these.

Daniel wrote: "I wish people would actually return the ebooks to the library when they are finished instead of just letting the 2 weeks run out. *sigh*"

Ducks head and quietly cleans out my overdrive, libby and hoopla accounts...

Kate S wrote: "Daniel wrote: "I wish people would actually return the ebooks to the library when they are finished instead of just letting the 2 weeks run out. *sigh*"

Ducks head and quietly cleans out my overdr..."

LOL!!!

Jenn wrote: "For the BOMs, there are no digital copies and no physical copies in any of the library branches in my county unfortunately. I've put in a request for The Witch's Heart, but last tim..."

I run into that frequently as well, Jenn. I think I will be able to get this title, but there is quite a line for the Book of Cold Cases. I think it is interesting to see what titles get voted for and how popular they are locally as well as on a more global stage such as this.

When books are instantly popular - particularly when it's not a well known author - I wonder how much it has to do with good advertising/promotion vs a more grass roots 'I read it and liked it - you should, too' effect. Not that I have a problem with promotion and advertising - I don't. It's just interesting to look at the routes different books travel to popularity or obscurity.

Truitt_T wrote: "When books are instantly popular - particularly when it's not a well known author - I wonder how much it has to do with good advertising/promotion vs a more grass roots 'I read it and liked it - yo..."

Absolutely! And I wonder sometimes about what I am missing. Like whose list is everyone else seeing that strikes a nerve and causes a run for different titles.

Truitt_T wrote: "When books are instantly popular - particularly when it's not a well known author - I wonder how much it has to do with good advertising/promotion vs a more grass roots 'I read it and liked it - yo..."

I agree!

Daniel wrote: "I wish people would actually return the ebooks to the library when they are finished instead of just letting the 2 weeks run out. *sigh*"

I return mine as soon as I finish, especially if there is a wait queue.

None of the BOMs look interesting to me but will place hold in library.

Yep, I try to do an immediate return on the ebooks. For some reason I get embarrassed when I don’t. Like the next person in line is going to know 😂

Truitt_T wrote: "Who all is already participating in the discussions for The Cartographers? I'm trying to figure out if, when I get the book from the library (which is a bit uncertain), we need another participant to get us to three tokens - or six."

Tokens are generated per person, not per team. And they can be collected throughout the year, starting in Jan 2022.

Because I participate in most BOMs, I have 7 tokens to date. And the possibility of 2 extra entries so far.

I may use one for Cat Chronicles since we don't need any for June (nominators have guaranteed days). I need to check how many team entries we have.

Truitt_T wrote: "When books are instantly popular - particularly when it's not a well known author - I wonder how much it has to do with good advertising/promotion vs a more grass roots 'I read it and liked it - yo..."

I nominated it since we did The Sun Down Motel as a BOM, and it worked well. Some books are better to discuss than others.

Judith wrote: "Truitt_T wrote: "Who all is already participating in the discussions for The Cartographers? I'm trying to figure out if, when I get the book from the library (which is a bit uncertain), we need ano..."

Thanks, Judith - I obviously (once again) wasn't quite catching all the details. Clearly I should have been keeping a better eye on the BOMs all year. Now I know.

Lexi - I think those are the best possible reasons for nominating a book. I absolutely agree that not all books lend themselves well to group discussion, so your choice makes perfect sense. I was wondering about that, actually - do you pick a book you've already read so you have an idea of how the discussion will go, or just risk it? A familiar author seems like a good compromise.

I've usually nominated books I think would work well for discussion and not books that I have read before. I have nominated awful ones before, so it doesn't always work out.

Can if be the 15th already? I’m panicking trying to pick a book to read until then because I could potentially use it for a task!

I know! And still so far away it seems. I’m using the time to knock out some novellas and other shorter reads.

While looking longingly at some of my longer books I have queued up for TT. 😂🤷🏼‍♀️

The biggest problem with that is they don’t take all that long so then I just need to keep finding more. Blech.

Judith wrote: "I know! And still so far away it seems. I’m using the time to knock out some novellas and other shorter reads.

While looking longingly at some of my longer books I have queued up for TT. 😂🤷🏼‍♀️

T..."

Truth! I've decided anything under 300 pages is fair game, in part because I've still got some other challenges. Suddenly, there are all these 300+ page books that I could have read any time, that have become nigh on irresistible....

Was able to get a copy of

I am so glad I waited to read The Witch's Heart. My library has the audiobook and I have been planning on reading it for some time. Luckily, I didn't read it for UNO this year.
I am hoping there is a good deal on The Book of Cold Cases kindle book before the deadline for it finishes.🤞🏻 Sadly, none of the libraries I get my books from has it and it is much too expensive at present.

I'm on hold for at my library

I'm looking for some advice re: Backroom BOM nominations. I'd like to get an MM option in the mic. How important do you think KU availability or low purchase price is for a nominee? The book I'd most like to nominate is $4.99, not KU, and not available on hoopla. My second choice is available on KU, but not hoopla, and is $3.99 to purchase.

Any thoughts?

I mostly read ebooks only. For me, Kobo and google books are the cheapest options. There the prices are super low as compared to all the other platforms. Before shifting to ebooks, I used to buy my books from bookdepository. They are the cheapest option available.

Check them out, may be you will get a good deal!

Truitt_T wrote: "I'm looking for some advice re: Backroom BOM nominations. I'd like to get an MM option in the mic. How important do you think KU availability or low purchase price is for a nominee? The book I'd mo..."

I would say cost is a bigger factor on Backroom BOMs and the cheaper the better. Though most of the books people nominate are silly like the Dino Island books, which spur a bunch of jokes (in that case Hot Prof and bunch of related commentary).

In case people are wondering about the Backroom BOM, the discussion of nominations is here: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

But you'll need to join the Backroom NBRC Group. It's separate because you have to be at least 18 years old to join, unlike the main group.

I thought they were not doing the Backroom BOM this time.

We say that and then usually people are able to talk Cat into it.

There is one being set up for late May, book TBD