Nothing But Reading Challenges discussion

Weird. If I follow the link that says "planning sheet" in post 5, it doesn't let me edit. But if I follow the link in post 50 it does. Maybe the wrong spreadsheet is linked in post 5? They both say TT9 Team Jason planning.

Can we use the BOMs in the May mini as well?

I am checking sorry, been away

Thanks for checking in, Joyce! Welcome!

Hi everyone

My name is Shan. I live in NW Louisiana. Married, mother of 4, full time worker in HR.

I love romance, almost any sub-genre. I also read mystery, thrillers, suspense, and biographies when the mood hits.

I am definitely a mood reader, and if I start reading something that doesn't rock my boat I will put it aside (to maybe try again later) and move on to the next.

Welcome Shan!

Mary C wrote: "Weird. If I follow the link that says "planning sheet" in post 5, it doesn't let me edit. But if I follow the link in post 50 it does. Maybe the wrong spreadsheet is linked in post 5? They both say..."

I may have copied the wrong link :/ I'll fix it tomorrow.

Stacey wrote: "Can we use the BOMs in the May mini as well?"

Yes. The BOMs are normal books :)

Hi all.

I'm Tory from Michigan. I work at a greenhouse and sell plants at local farmers markets. Very busy time of year.

I read a fairly wide range of books but tend to favour historical. Definitely a mood reader.

Welcome Joyce, Shan and Tory! It's exciting seeing our team members check in! I look forward to getting to know you all!

Tory wrote: "Hi all.

I'm Tory from Michigan. I work at a greenhouse and sell plants at local farmers markets. Very busy time of year.

I read a fairly wide range of books but tend to favour historical. Definit..."

That sounds like a nice job. I get tired of being inside all day at this time of year. ^_^

And so the waiting game begins. Reading art books with mostly pictures until the game starts.

Ha ha, I understand completely. I am itching to start, but putting long-ish books aside so I can start them later. The wait is painful though :D

Mary C wrote: "And so the waiting game begins. Reading art books with mostly pictures until the game starts."

Yes, the pile grows!!!

I was just going through our planning sheet. Never heard of a terpsichore before! I guess it's a muse that dances and sings?
Most of the photos have her falling out of her dresses! Those muses!

Shan ~A~ wrote: "Hi everyone

My name is Shan. I live in NW Louisiana. Married, mother of 4, full time worker in HR.

I love romance, almost any sub-genre. I also read mystery, thrillers, suspense, and biographies..."

Who is your favorite romance writer? I read romance here and there, and I always enjoy them!

Hi. My name is Kit/Briana and I'm from Connecticut in the states. I'm a toddler teacher and Girl Scout leader which can make some weeks incredibly hectic. I participated in TT last year and it was a lot fun so naturally I said let's do it again this year.

I primarily read fantasy, romance, and mystery/thriller. And my shelf is all good.

Can't wait to read with you all.

Melissa wrote: "Who is your favorite romance writer? I read romance here and there, and I always enjoy them!..."

So many, but the authors I read the most or have read most or all of their published work are Karen Marie Moning (although The Highlander Series is the only one really considered romance IMO), Kristen Ashley, Devney Perry, Vi Keeland, Max Monroe, Brittainy C. Cherry.

There are so many to love and not enough hours in a day.

Have you read any of the ones mentioned? Which author's have you enjoyed?

Do you want me to tell you what books I found for mini? Are we claiming/reserving tasks?
I am not big on planning, but I did some searches in my audiobooks
I found books for mask on cover, music instrument on cover, I can also do tagged tragedy, Mc writer, letter Y.
A couple others too, but these are the ones I thought might be harder to find, so let me know if I need to read for them please :)

Shan ~A~ wrote: "Melissa wrote: "Who is your favorite romance writer? I read romance here and there, and I always enjoy them!..."

So many, but the authors I read the most or have read most or all of their publishe..."

Well, I really haven't read many! I like historical romance - Beverly Jenkins and a book called Highland Treasure by Lynsay Sands and then I like Jude Devereaux. I haven't read any of the ones you mentioned, but I'll try to read one with this challenge!

Maddy wrote: "Do you want me to tell you what books I found for mini? Are we claiming/reserving tasks?
I am not big on planning, but I did some searches in my audiobooks
I found books for mask on cover, music ..."

Yes please!
You can write it here, or on the spreadsheet.
My masked book just came today :) But I'm still kind of afraid of it. No one has anything for musical instrument or MC writer or tragedy that I can see. If you put the number you think it could fit in the column labeled "mini-code," it will plop right in the mini challenge slot on that page.

What one has a musical instrument? I'm interested :)

Mary C wrote: "Hi, I'm Mary. (she/her) I'm in Massachusetts on EST. I'm also not a big fan of super long books. But I do like books in the 400-600 pg range. I read most genres but not a huge of of YA or anything ..."

Do you have a favorite nonfiction lately? I'm a big nonfiction fan too!

It's really warm here in Vermont. It doesn't get that warm here most of the time. I'm secretly hoping it will miraculously kill off all the black flies before they get bad, but I'm not sure it works that way.... I have just eaten a big piece of Mother's Day cake, and am thinking of walking about listening to my last book before TT starts, trying to get the courage to figure out where the tomatoes will go in the garden this year...
Any other gardeners out there?
Audiobook people?

I'm also considering putting a happy mask on my masked main character of Nevernight so I'm not afraid anymore....
But that's a little weird! Oh well!

Melissa, I'm an audiobook person, but not a gardener.

I will read in any format, so when I can't read a physical book while driving or at work, I listen to audiobooks.

Me too :) I am finding that I’ll do more housework if I listen on Audio too. Do you have any narrators you like in particular? Or any audiobooks that stand out? I thought Tom Hanks read The Dutch House really well, and the book “Nothing to See Here” also had an excellent narrator.

I'm in a competition with my parents as to whether I can read more books this year than them combined. My dad won't let me count audiobooks since he says it's not really reading, so I haven't listened to any in a while. I have to be in the right mood to listen and be able to follow a story, anyway. I'm definitely a linguistic learner and not an auditory learner!

Phil Gigante, Sebastian York, Joe Arden, Jason Clarke, Shane East, Christian Fox, Jason Morgan, John Lane, Zachary Webber, etc....

Erin Mallon, Andi Ardnt, Rebecca Estrella, Jennifer Ikeda, Lucy Rivers, Savannah Peachwood, Tanya Eby, Jo Raylon, Emma Wilder, etc...

I love audio books and always have one on the go 😁

If anyone wants to read a good book with a musical instrument
Light from Uncommon Stars has a violin in it and it was really good.

Melissa wrote: "Maddy wrote: "Do you want me to tell you what books I found for mini? Are we claiming/reserving tasks?
I am not big on planning, but I did some searches in my audiobooks
I found books for mask on..."

Okay, then mark those down for me. I found several options I am not sure which one I will pick, but I will cover those tasks then :)

For music instrument - , , ,

discord series - those are ebooks though, so only if I find some extra time

These days, I only really listen to audiobooks. I enjoy crafting (knitting, cross stitch, diamond painting are the main ones) so audiobooks are a good way for me to read books while I craft.

I trying (and failing) to read some books I have on Kindle as I now have around 450 that I haven't read. Now that I have more free time, I'm hoping to actually starting finishing some of them.

My physical books are mostly packed away in the garage at my parents new house. I have the first 4 Harry Potter books with me so it is likely I will read those during the course of this challenge, but I will spread them out as I know 1-3 are fairly short books.

Maddy wrote: "Melissa wrote: "Maddy wrote: "Do you want me to tell you what books I found for mini? Are we claiming/reserving tasks?
I am not big on planning, but I did some searches in my audiobooks
I found b..."

Excellent!

I haven't read much non-ficton lately because I was in team challenges that they didn't work that great for points. Most of the non-fiction I read is true crime or music related.

Some non-fiction I really liked:

Joyce wrote: "If anyone wants to read a good book with a musical instrument
Light from Uncommon Stars has a violin in it and it was really good."

Nice! It's on my list. I read which was worth reading, and then I hadn't read many with music as a theme, but either there are more books being written with music in them, or I'm just figuring that out :)
got me started.

Keely wrote: "These days, I only really listen to audiobooks. I enjoy crafting (knitting, cross stitch, diamond painting are the main ones) so audiobooks are a good way for me to read books while I craft.

I tr..."

What is diamond painting? That sounds fascinating. You know, I have a couple of lap quilts I should have finished years ago.... maybe I'll link that goal to this challenge. They say you're supposed to attach goals to habits to achieve them....

Mary C wrote: "I haven't read much non-ficton lately because I was in team challenges that they didn't work that great for points. Most of the non-fiction I read is true crime or music related.

Some non-fiction..."

Ooooh! Thanks! I'm in a year long nonfiction challenge on the nonfiction book club page, so I'll definitely read some of these. Our group there loves true crime, so I'll recommend some as well. I'll look for them on our library's Libby for audiobooks too.
I'm trying out trivia groups lately - and reading nonfiction definitely boosts my chances of knowing the answer to a question:)

Melissa wrote: "Keely wrote: "These days, I only really listen to audiobooks. I enjoy crafting (knitting, cross stitch, diamond painting are the main ones) so audiobooks are a good way for me to read books while I..."

Diamond painting is almost like painting by numbers but you have small "diamonds", which can also be called drills or dots, instead of paint. In a kit, you get a canvas that has the pattern symbols on it and it is sticky so you simply match the different coloured diamonds to the symbols to create the picture. It's difficult to do it justice by explaining it like this so it might be easier if for you to look on Google or even Youtube to see what I mean.
They are really made from diamonds, but I think it is called that because the finished picture gives off a nice sparkle. It's a relatively low mess craft (unless you drops the little diamonds on the floor) and is easy for almost anyone to do.

Good luck finishing your quilts! I've never tried quilting before, but it's on my list of things I want to try when I have a bit more space.

Melissa wrote: "It's really warm here in Vermont. It doesn't get that warm here most of the time. I'm secretly hoping it will miraculously kill off all the black flies before they get bad, but I'm not sure it work..."

I only started gardening in 2020, but really 2021 because garden centres and things were shut here during the spring and the garden was still mostly paved then. I like seeing everything start to come up again. I hope to build a sitting area and take up more of the stones to plant in the ground instead of in pots. I am trying to grow cucumbers and squash that you can dry for decoration for the first time this year.

I like how you all are planning what you read, I am better at adding it after I have read it. In case I change my mind and read something else.

@Keely 450 unread ebooks, I don't even want to know how many unread ebooks I have on my ereader. It is so easy to forget that you have them I feel, whereas physical books are right there reminding you about them.

Keely wrote: "Melissa wrote: "Keely wrote: "These days, I only really listen to audiobooks. I enjoy crafting (knitting, cross stitch, diamond painting are the main ones) so audiobooks are a good way for me to re..."

Oohhhh diamond painting! We got a small squared unicorn painting to my little one last year and we started to do it together. I loved it. Sónia offered me an adult kit for Christmas, but I haven't started it yet. It's really relaxing. Sadly I don't do audiobooks so I can't do both at the same time :( I also have a harry potter 1000pieces puzzle on my desk where I basically started the edges... And I ended up not doing more :/ I blame Uno *cough*

*buts in*

I'm currently working on two 60x90cm ones, and have a third tucked away for when I'm done with those :D

It's the easiest thing in the world to do, but I find it gives me something for my hands to do when they're hurting and I can't do card making, and it's perfect for when I'm listening to an audio book :)

I think I have a couple thousand unread kindle books. And I rarely buy Kindle books so they're all freebies. I used to check out the Top 100 Free Kindle books every day.

Keely wrote: "These days, I only really listen to audiobooks. I enjoy crafting (knitting, cross stitch, diamond painting are the main ones) so audiobooks are a good way for me to read books while I craft.

I tr..."

I love diamond painting and crochet! I haven't done either for awhile though... I'll have to spend some more time on it as it is really relaxing and a great way to keep busy while listening to audio (although I should put that time to housekeeping lol)

@Heather - that is only what I have on kindle, my library has a really good app that does ebooks and audiobooks so I have many more saved on there.

@Eni and Sammy - I also have 2 on the go around 60x90cm. One is back home in the UK and one I took to Norway with me so I can work on it here. I also like a jigsaw puzzle but I haven't found the time to do one recently. When I get my own desk, I'll probably do more of both diamond painting and puzzles as I will be able to leave them out if I want to do something else.

@Mary - That makes me feel better about my unread kindle books. My number just keeps going up as I signed up to this website that emails me daily deals and I usually scrolls through and pick any of the free ones that look interesting to me. But even if I only read about 10 books from my kindle a year, at least some of them are getting read.

I'm not even going to attempt to say how many ebooks I own between kindle, nook, apple, google, bookfunnel, etc...

Same for physical copies, since I always hit library sales, plus one of my supervisors gave me a ton many years ago.

I'll just say a lot.

And yet I'm constantly buying ebooks, physical books, and audiobooks, plus borrowing from the library instead of reading the ones I already own.

Keely wrote: "Melissa wrote: "Keely wrote: "These days, I only really listen to audiobooks. I enjoy crafting (knitting, cross stitch, diamond painting are the main ones) so audiobooks are a good way for me to re..."

Wow. They are so beautiful. It looks like you need a steady hand, and a good amount of patience. I really love some of the images they show online. Do you do the nature oriented ones? The cartoon ones?

Heather wrote: "Melissa wrote: "It's really warm here in Vermont. It doesn't get that warm here most of the time. I'm secretly hoping it will miraculously kill off all the black flies before they get bad, but I'm ..."
Oh, nice. A sitting area with a stone path sounds lovely. Squash are some of my favorite things to grow. I just love the flowers so much. They are so beautiful. I don't think they are too difficult to grow, since they take up space and you don't have to weed too much.
Are you growing the cucumbers in the ground or in containers? I didn't have much luck with them last year, but I'll probably try again this year.

Shan ~A~ wrote: "I'm not even going to attempt to say how many ebooks I own between kindle, nook, apple, google, bookfunnel, etc...

Same for physical copies, since I always hit library sales, plus one of my super..."

I hear you. Library sales - yeah, they are dangerous! I'm trying to read one I own and one I get from the library at a time, because sometimes I buy them, and then they just sit there....

Shan ~A~ wrote: "I'm not even going to attempt to say how many ebooks I own between kindle, nook, apple, google, bookfunnel, etc...

Same for physical copies, since I always hit library sales, plus one of my super..."

I listen to this podcast where the women go to their library and do a "book flight." This is where they go through the stacks and pick out as many books as they can carry, and then check them all out. Then, they decide which ones to read as they look through them. I thought this was sacrilegious, until I tried it. It was like going to an all you can eat buffet as a kid. Amazing. And they say it helps the libraries because they can document how many checkouts they have in a year for funding.