Challenge Corner discussion

Heck yeah! Let's make it another strong week!

Great job team!!!!

Sheepy, have you finished Song of Achilles? No worries if not, it's just been in the banked tab for a bit and there's no review linked. I want to make sure we aren't accidentally overlooking it

I will update my other reads today.

Ivelisse, I saw you liked an old review of mine. From 2014!!! I hadn't read any of my reviews from that long ago until now. It was so so funny to be reminded of what 12 year old me thought about that series

Saige wrote: "Sheepy, have you finished Song of Achilles? No worries if not, it's just been in the banked tab for a bit and there's no review linked. I want to make sure we aren't accidentally overlooking it" Hello Saige! Thank you for checking in on it! I have not finished reading it, left it halfway done after it was moved to the banked tab and I love how detailed the Banked Tab is!

Sheepy wrote: "Saige wrote: "Sheepy, have you finished Song of Achilles? No worries if not, it's just been in the banked tab for a bit and there's no review linked. I want to make sure we aren't accidentally over..."

Ok! Thanks for letting me know, lol, and no worries about finishing it

Saige wrote: "Ivelisse, I saw you liked an old review of mine. From 2014!!! I hadn't read any of my reviews from that long ago until now. It was so so funny to be reminded of what 12 year old me thought about th..."

haha I like to read reviews after I've read a book to see what others think. I don't like to before so I can go in with a clear mind.

Ivelisse wrote: "Saige wrote: "Ivelisse, I saw you liked an old review of mine. From 2014!!! I hadn't read any of my reviews from that long ago until now. It was so so funny to be reminded of what 12 year old me th..."

Yeah, I absolutely agree. I feel like if I read the reviews before I might be searching for stuff in the book that other people disliked, and that isn't really fair to the story

Vicki, I don't know if you saw Alaina's post on the review thread, but your book No One Can Know is the BOTM, so if you want to add comments to that thread then you can get the extra points!

Will do!

Awesome! Once you do, just reply to Alaina's comment on the review thread and link to the BOTM discussion

OK, for some reason I didn't realize I'd get credit for both BR and BOTM. Thanks for bringing it to my attention. :)

LOL I actually didn't do a BR for that one. Jeez, I need to get my act together!

Lol, no worries Vicki!

I got 31 pages read yesterday and that's all! Long story short, my 28 year old grandson Brandon is married to his high school sweetheart Natalie. They've been together since they were 14, married at 21 (I think) and around that time she was diagnosed with a rare kidney disease. Her kidneys got worse after she got COVID, so we've definitely been praying since at least 2019 for her to get a transplant/find a donor. She's been on dialysis for almost 2 years now and just as I was reading page 31 I got a text from her. Her coworker at her place of employment is a MATCH!! Her transplant surgery is April 17, so after that I literally could NOT focus on reading...too much excitement, tears, praise, phone calls, etc. So today is also a super busy day but I'll be reading The Frozen River. Not likely I'll get 2 done and with my schedule today I might not even finish this one. We'll see.

Also, yesterday, my daughter's car was parked at the school where she teaches and someone crashed into it. She had to have it towed and it looks a mess. So I was on the phone with her a lot too. Some days and RL kill the reading vibes! lol

Vicki wrote: "I got 31 pages read yesterday and that's all! Long story short, my 28 year old grandson Brandon is married to his high school sweetheart Natalie. They've been together since they were 14, married a..."

I'm sorry to hear about your daughter's car, but the news about the kidney match is AMAZING!! I'm so so happy for her, and your family, and I hope the surgery goes great!

Just posting an update for you all. Here is what's claimed/working on and what we need:

Theme task - Features a circus or carnival, 1 completed/posted

Saige - Water for Elephants
Sheepy - The Night Circus

Judge - Derek, completed/posted

Host - Alfonso, completed/posted

Dance #1 - Team Dance, completed/posted

w/ Lindsay (Professional dancer), completed/posted

w/ Katniss (star/book character), completed/posted

Dance #2 - Charleston, completed/posted

w/ Jenna (Professional dancer), completed/posted

w/ Aaron (star/book character), completed/posted

Dance #3 - Freestyle, completed/posted

w/ Witney (Professional dancer), completed/posted

w/ Alex (star/book character), completed/posted

Dance #4 - Rumba, completed/posted

w/ Jenna (Professional dancer), completed/posted

w/ Harry Potter (star/book character), completed/posted

**Remember you can do more than one dance per week, just know that for EACH dance you read/complete - you need a professional dancer and a star. You only need to read for a judge and a host once a week.**

Would anyone like to BR any of these?

I can Dune and/or Wild Seed

Awesome! Could we maybe do Dune starting this weekend and Wild Seed next week?

This round will cover seven (7) days.

Start: January 29th at 12:00 AM (in your time zone)
End: February 4th at 11:59 PM (in your time zone)

Please check in on February 5th by 3:00 AM Eastern. (Midnight in PST)

Welcome to monster/Halloween night everyone!

This week's theme will only have two tasks, just like all the future theme's coming your way. Friendly reminder, you only need to read for ONE of these tasks. We also need THREE different people reading for this task.

Here are this week's tasks:
*Read a book from the Best Monster Books! List, OR
*Read a book from the Best Books to Read for Halloween List

Betsy, thanks so much for adding that circus book!

Just saw your message Saige… that works for me

Ivelisse wrote: "Just saw your message Saige… that works for me"

Awesome! I'll request the threads and post them here

Btw, I just got us checked in. We did 6 dances this week! Great job team

Saige wrote: "Betsy, thanks so much for adding that circus book!"

No worries!

Saige wrote: "Btw, I just got us checked in. We did 6 dances this week! Great job team"

Thanks Saige!! Awesome job, team!

I have a book that I need to read for two other things, so if nobody minds it is on the Best Books to Read for Halloween List. It has more books on it than the other list and it also has a lot of the same books. I'm adding a book from that list, but if it doesn't work for anybody else (2 others) then I'll remove it.

Thank you all for checking in!

I did a random wheel decide to see which Judge would give you extra points IF you read for them AND they gave you a 10. Today's check-in judge winner was. . . .



DEREK HOUGH!

Let's see how everyone did score-wise for EACH dance you completed.

Team Xochitl Gomez:
(view spoiler)[Dance 1: Samba
With Professional: Gleb Savchenko
And Book Character/Star: Elizabeth Bennet

Judge's Scores:

Len Goodman: 2
Carrie Ann Inaba: 6
Bruno Tonioli: 8
Julianne Hough: 8
Derek: 3

Dance 2: Foxtrot
With Professional: Lindsay Arnold
And Book Character/Star: Sherlock Holmes

Judge's Scores:

Len Goodman: 9
Carrie Ann Inaba: 3
Bruno Tonioli: 7
Julianne Hough: 4
Derek: 3

Dance 3: Freestyle
With Professional: Daniella Karagach
And Book Character/Star: Chaol Westfall

Judge's Scores:

Len Goodman: 7
Carrie Ann Inaba: 8
Bruno Tonioli: 5
Julianne Hough: 8
Derek: 9

Bonus Points Total: 90

This will be added to your next score update. You did read for Derek, but you didn't get a 10 from him, so no extra bonus points on top of this will be added. Good luck this week! (hide spoiler)]

Team Jason Mraz:
(view spoiler)[Dance 1: Team Dance
Pro Dancer 1: Lindsay Arnold
Star Dancer 1: Katniss Everdeen

Judge's Scores:

Len Goodman: 4
Carrie Ann Inaba: 8
Bruno Tonioli: 10
Julianne Hough: 1
Derek: 7

Dance 2: Charleston
Pro Dancer 2 : Jenna Johnson
Star Dancer 2: Aaron Warner

Judge's Scores:

Len Goodman: 2
Carrie Ann Inaba: 10
Bruno Tonioli: 3
Julianne Hough: 9
Derek: 3

Dance 3: Freestyle
Pro Dancer 3: Witney Carson
Star Dancer 3: Galaxy "Alex" Stern

Judge's Scores:

Len Goodman: 1
Carrie Ann Inaba: 5
Bruno Tonioli: 10
Julianne Hough: 4
Derek: 5

Dance 4: Rumba
Pro Dancer 4: Jenna Johnson
Star Dancer 4: Harry Potter

Judge's Scores:

Len Goodman: 7
Carrie Ann Inaba: 3
Bruno Tonioli: 1
Julianne Hough: 4
Derek: 6

Dance 5: Freestyle
Pro Dancer 5: Emma Slater
Star Dancer 5: Chaol Westfall

Judge's Scores:

Len Goodman: 3
Carrie Ann Inaba: 5
Bruno Tonioli: 7
Julianne Hough:7
Derek: 2

Dance 6: Jive
Pro Dancer 6: Witney Carson
Star Dancer 6: Sherlock Holmes

Judge's Scores:

Len Goodman: 4
Carrie Ann Inaba: 4
Bruno Tonioli: 3
Julianne Hough: 5
Derek: 7

Bonus Points Total: 150

This will be added to your next score update. You did read for Derek, but didn't get a 10 from him, so no extra bonus points on top of this will be added. Good luck this week! (hide spoiler)]

Team Ariana Madix:
(view spoiler)[DANCE 1:
Dance: Freestyle
Dancer: Emma Slater
Star: Iris Winnow

Judge's Scores:

Len Goodman: 10
Carrie Ann Inaba: 7
Bruno Tonioli: 8
Julianne Hough: 7
Derek: 7

DANCE 2:
Dance: Contemporary
Dancer: Danielle Karagach
Star: Galaxy "Alex" Stern

Judge's Scores:

Len Goodman: 8
Carrie Ann Inaba: 10
Bruno Tonioli: 7
Julianne Hough: 5
Derek: 10

Bonus Points Total: 79

This will be added to your next score update. You also didn't read for Derek, but you did get a 10 from him, so no extra bonus points on top of this will be added. Good luck this week! (hide spoiler)]

Ivelisse wrote: "Just saw your message Saige… that works for me"

BR for Dune: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
BR for Wild Seed: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Awesome!

I am going to start Ruthless Vows which is BOTM then I'll start Dune.

Sounds good! I'm also in the middle of a book, so no rush for us to get to Dune

Do ya'll know if I read Ruthless Vows next month, if it still counts towards a BOTM? I'm waiting to get the audio from the library but it's supposed to be a couple of weeks still.

Sorry Jamie, I'm not sure

By the way, I asked on the Q and A thread, and royalty would count for Grayson Hawthorne: MC is a billionaire. So if the MC is a king or queen who has access to a ton of money, that would count as a "billionaire" even if it isn't explicitly stated

Saige - I posted our books for the theme tasks. I feel bad that you're posting all of these books.

Also, I have an ARC that he's a billionaire so I'll be sure to include it as well. I should finish that book by the end of the week

I have no issues posting my books. I just stopped because i would wake up to them posted, lol

Please don't feel bad! I post the books when my classes are slow, it's a fun thing that sort of helps me focus by giving my hands something to do. But if it bothers you that I post them before you get a chance, I can stop

Oh it doesn't bother me one bit, I still feel bad. lol

Since the theme requires nothing other than the review, I posted it once I finished

Saige wrote: "By the way, I asked on the Q and A thread, and royalty would count for Grayson Hawthorne: MC is a billionaire. So if the MC is a king or queen who has access to a ton of money, that would count as ..."

Would an Earl with a lot of money be considered a billionaire? Times back then we’re different for money.

Ashlyn wrote: "Saige wrote: "By the way, I asked on the Q and A thread, and royalty would count for Grayson Hawthorne: MC is a billionaire. So if the MC is a king or queen who has access to a ton of money, that w..."

Maybe? You could ask on the Q and A thread, cause I don't know how specific Alaina wants to be about that

Ivelisse wrote: "Oh it doesn't bother me one bit, I still feel bad. lol

Since the theme requires nothing other than the review, I posted it once I finished"

No need to feel bad, omg! I have a lot of fun doing it

Well that makes me feel better. I do not envy you 😂

I have not been able to contribute to the challenge because of my exams but I should be able to join by next week!

No worries! I hope your exams are going well!

Saige wrote: "No worries! I hope your exams are going well!"


Thank you! Exams are going well, appreciate the good wishes!

Focus on your exams! We will be here when you're ready!

Ivelisse wrote: "Focus on your exams! We will be here when you're ready!"

Will do! and thank you! Appreciate your support 🫂

Just posting an update for you all. Here is what's claimed/working on and what we need:

Theme task - Read a book from the Best Books to Read for Halloween List, 2 completed/posted

Vicki - The Lost Village

Judge - Carrie, completed/posted

Host - Samantha, completed/posted

Dance #1 - Paso Doble, completed/posted

w/ Brandon (Professional dancer), completed/posted

w/ Katniss (star/book character), completed/posted

Dance #2 - Contemporary, completed/posted

w/ Witney (Professional dancer), completed/posted

w/ Iris (star/book character), completed/posted

Dance #3 - Foxtrot, completed/posted

w/ Daniella (Professional dancer), completed/posted

w/ Chaol (star/book character), completed/posted

Dance #4 - Merengue, completed/posted

w/ Gleb (Professional dancer), completed/posted

w/ Xander (star/book character), completed/posted

**Remember you can do more than one dance per week, just know that for EACH dance you read/complete - you need a professional dancer and a star. You only need to read for a judge and a host once a week.**