Around the Year in 52 Books discussion

We've reached the fall, and that means it's time to go back to school!

For this team challenge, you will be tackling all the major school subjects, with the goal of making all As!

Completing one prompt in each category will increase your grade by one letter. Here's how the grades are given:
Completing one prompt for the subject: F
Completing two prompts for the subject: D
Completing three prompts for the subject: C
Completing four prompts for the subject: B
Completing five prompts for the subject (plus required pencils): A

Pencils can be earned by reading 1500 pages or listening to 25 hours of audiobooks as a team.

Literature
Two Pencils
A book about books
A book featuring a student, teacher, writer or librarian
A book that is a retelling
A book that has been translated into English
A book with a title of 5 words or more

Math
Three Pencils
A book with a geometric shape on the cover
A book with more than one author
A book with over 500 pages
A book with under 200 pages
A book with multiple points of view

Science
One Pencil
A book involving nature
A book involving a person in a STEM field
A science fiction book
A book with an animal on the cover
A book with a plant on the cover

History
Two Pencils
A historical fiction book
A book published at least 50 years ago
A book featuring a real historical figure
A memoir, biography or autobiography
A book taking place during a war

Geography
One Pencil
A book set on an island
A book written by an Asian author
A book set in the southern hemisphere
A book involving travel
A book containing a weather event (storm, quake, blizzard, etc.)

The Arts
One Pencil
A play, screenplay, or book of poetry
A book featuring a protagonist who has a career in the arts
A book with all three primary colors on the cover (red, blue, yellow)
A book whose title starts with a letter in EGOT
A book containing a map or illustrations

Recess
A book featuring sports
A book featuring a hobby
A children's book (can be less than 100 pages)
A young adult book
A humorous book

THE TEAM
Captain: JennH
Captain: Kat
Liz
Shelby
Tamara
Rosalind
Rachel

THE SPREADSHEET
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/...

Hello everyone from chilly England. I've been in a major reading slump lately so looking forward to snapping out of it with a fun filled readathon.

Kat wrote: "Hello everyone from chilly England."

yes it's really cold at the moment, feels later than September already. It does mean I'm looking forward to snuggling up with some books though.

This is my first time participating so apologies if I ask stupid questions but what's the next step? Do we just put our books in the spreadsheet in the plans tab or do we have to run them by captains first?

Also, for the pencils does that only cover books that will count towards prompts or can other reading count (e.g. a book that's under 100 pages)?

Welcome to the team! Ask as many questions as you need to. Readathons are usually really fun and we're all here to read together.

The first step is to add the books you plan to read to the plans tab. You should go through the prompts and put an X for any that meet the planned book. Then when you've finished a book you can assign it to one of the prompts (usually the most difficult one it meets) and move it to the completed tab. Towards the end of the week the Captains will usually move things around if needed to fill in all the prompts. If you have any questions about a book or a prompt just let us know.

The pencil tracking page is where you keep track of your pages and/or audio hours. You can count anything you read that day so if the book is under 100 pages or you won't finish it before the end of the week it still counts towards pencils. The sheet then has formulas that turn the pages read into pencils and we can assign them to a subject when all the other prompts have been completed.

Shout if you need anything and happy reading.

thanks Kat, this is really helpful. I'll add my plans to the spreadsheet.

Hello from Ottawa, Canada! I've added five books to the Plans tab; I may be a bit optimistic, but I'll give it my best shot.
Looking forward to my first read-a-thon.

Hi Team Lions!!! I hail from the east coast in the US. It’s quite warm here. Just wanted to pop in to say hi before heading out. And unfortunately I won’t be able to check in again until later in the day tomorrow.

Just to add to what Kat (Hi Kat!) said about books, while I generally try to start new books for readathon, it doesn’t always work out that way. If you have at least 100 pages left in the book, the book can be used for the readathon prompts. I know from past readathon people have intentionally left 100 pages on their books just so they count. :)

I think it should be the same as in the past, where the readathon starts when we wake up Saturday, September 14 and ends when we go to bed, Sunday September 22. Totally works for an insomniac like me!

So happy reading everyone! And I’ll check in when I have access to a computer again tomorrow afternoon.

Ooh, Emily just clarified in the FAQs that we can get started if we’re up at midnight! I’ve never known that…

(I just feel like if you're up at midnight, you deserve to count your reading... Sincerely, a girl who is always in bed by 9 lol)

Note: For this round, as you complete subjects, you will need to add the number of pencils you're using to each subject tab. Typically putting an x is ok, but because some subjects require more pencils, I changed the formula so it will correctly count your available pencils on the pencil tab. Head to the intro thread if you have questions.

Hello from hot and dry São Paulo, Brazil. I'm thrilled to participate in this Readathon with everybody. I have some books started (with over 100 pages left). I'm going to add them to the spreadsheet now. Happy reading!

midnight here so off we go

I'm also an in bed by 9 girl so that's never been an issue for me. It does mean that I'm awake at 5am so can get plenty of reading in while it's still dark.

Good Morning, Team Lions! :)

I'm excited to start the read-a-thon! I recently got engaged, work full time, and have just been busy, so I've been slacking on reading lately. I think the read-a-thon is just what I need to build back some motivation. My goal is to finish 3 books that I have started but still have well over 100 pages left to read in each one.

Welcome everyone. A readathon is great to get you back on track.

I finished my first book in September! Today is the only day with nothing planned so the rest of the week will be slower. I plan to read 5 books in total this time. I usually read more but it's been difficult for me to read lately so I'm being cautious.

Great start, Kat! I'm over 60% done my first book, and hope to wrap it up by the end of the day. Go Lions!

I finished the book Howl’s Moving Castle and put it in the weather event prompt. It also works for primary colors on the cover.

Finished my first book, The Night in Question and allocated it to A book with more than one author. Am further than planned as I'm feeling pretty unwell today, so I can't do much except read/ listen.

Forgot to ask - is there a meaning behind our team names?

I finished my first book Miracle Creek by Angie Kim. It meets three different prompts math, geography and art); should I enter it into the 3 tabs?

Hey team! Today has gotten off to a great start! I love that we have people from different areas of the world! When I started doing the readathons, we seemed to be grouped according to time zones.

Welcome Rosalind and Liz to the readathon! I love the readathons and look forward to them. The mods do such an amazing job making it fun for us. I hope that you enjoy them, too. Feel free to ask any questions, everyone is always so nice!

I'm normally up really late, but I had taken the kids to see a show and of course conked out early. Early to me is a little after midnight, so I started a book, milk and honey which I have finished and have started Fugitive Telemetry.

@Shelby - Congrats on your engagement! Readathons always kickstart my reading, too!

@Kat - I hope the readathon helps with your reading. Everyone's contribution, no matter how big or small, is welcome! If you could read 5 books, that would still be brilliant! I usually lowball my numbers too bc you never know what could come up.

@Tamara - We can leave it there and change if necessary. Thanks!

@ Rosalind - Oh no, I hope you feel better. If I had to guess, I think the team names are college mascots?

@Liz - Awesome! You can pick one prompt for your book. I generally aim for the prompt with less book options but any one will do. We can always move books around later if necessary.

Now I'm off to check out the spreadsheet!

Very late check in today (it's almost 2 am for me) but I spent the day working on the newsletter for my job, which is an every-other-week project that consumes most of my day. Luckily, I always listen to an audiobook while working so at least I made some progress.

I listened to the entirety of The Prince and the Pauper by audiobook, which clocked in at 8.5 hours. I also read 54 pages of Float Plan which I had already in progress (but with well over 100 pages remaining) before the readathon started.

Too tired now to try to figure out the spreadsheet, but I'll try to get to it earlier tomorrow.

The readathon always has a theme. This time it's back to school so the teams are named after common sport team names and the prompts are related to subjects. The mods are very talented at coming up with it all.

Rachel wrote: "Very late check in today (it's almost 2 am for me) but I spent the day working on the newsletter for my job, which is an every-other-week project that consumes most of my day. Luckily, I always lis..."

Welcome, Rachel! Great to have you join us!

Good Morning, Team Lions!

I finished Fugitive Telemetry which was a quick and easy listen. I always try to store up quick and easy reads for readathons. But one of the "hardest" prompts is the 500 page one, so I thought I'd tackle that one since there aren't book options for that one now. I'll be listening to Four Hundred Souls: A Community History of African America, 1619-2019 alongside other shorter books. So it'll probably take the duration of the readathon. If anyone else gets to the prompt first, feel free.

Happy reading!

Thanks for taking on the 500-page prompt, JennH.

Rosalind, hope you're feeling a bit better.

Book #2 Heir of Uncertain Magic is now complete. It's a nice day for reading on the back patio. The warmth and sunshine is relaxing. Hope everyone is enjoying their day too.

It's Sunday evening here after a rainy day spent watching a lot of sports.

I won't finish anything today but read some more pages in a couple of books.

thanks Liz and Jenn; felt a lot better today. Won't be able to finish my book this evening but will make some more progress.

You guys are doing great! I haven’t finished any of my books yet but I’m chipping away at the pages :)

Had an unexpectedly busy day, but still managed to finish off Float Plan (142 pages read today)!

Hi all! I've fiddled with the spreadsheet and streamlined the colors somewhat. At the end of Day 2, we now have 10 books completed, at least one book in each subject, and earned 2 pencils! Awesome job, Team Lions!

@Liz and Kat, sounds you both had different but very enjoyable days today!

@Rosalind, glad you're feeling better!

@Shelby, no worries! We need those pages to go towards pencils, so chip away! :)

@Rachel, sorry you had an unexpected busy day, so it's awesome you still managed to finish another book! I see you didn't get a chance to update the spreadsheet so I helped you put in your time and your completed books. When you get a chance, you can add the books you're currently reading.

Great job, Team Lions! We are on our way to acing this semester! lol

JennH wrote: "Hi all! I've fiddled with the spreadsheet and streamlined the colors somewhat. At the end of Day 2, we now have 10 books completed, at least one book in each subject, and earned 2 pencils! Awesome ..."

Thank you! In the process of deciding what to read next...always a struggle, lol

I ended up settling on It's Elementary, and read 75 pages so far. Will have to figure out spreadsheet tomorrow sometime after work

Good morning from Ottawa. Another warm sunny day on the horizon. Just wish I didn't have to go to work.

A quick question: when logging the number of pages read, do we go by the total pages in a book's hardcover edition? I read via e-reader and the number can be much higher.

finished my second book, Amari and the Despicable Wonders, and have allocated it to taking place during a war. It's a war between magicians and other supernaturals but think it counts.

I'm a bit confused as to how the spreadsheet is calculating pencils accrued. It states we have four when the totals suggest three. Or does it combine partial amounts of pages and audio (e.g. we're slightly over two in pages and slightly under two with hours listened)? Might we need to round down at the end?

Liz- I read mostly ebooks as well. I usually just type the book into Goodreads and use the page number from the version that comes up.

Rosalind- The opening words in the GR description are "War has come" so it definitely counts. Thank you for pointing out the pencils. The formula looks okay so I'm not sure why it's doing that. I'll keep an eye on it and make sure we don't use more than we're allowed.

I had my one day of the week in the office yesterday so between the early start and awful commute home I didn't have much time for reading. I'm determined to finish my second book today as I'm not enjoying it and want it to be over.

Morning, Team Lions! Dreary overcast day here. I've had some unexpected appointments pop up these couple of days but otherwise makes for a great reading day.

@Liz - Yep, as Kat says, for this group, we go by the edition we are reading. The time that differs is when listening to audiobooks, we go by the most popular edition or the first edition that pops up with pages.

@Rosalind - Emily is brilliant with the spreadsheets (I am most definitely not!) and does indeed combine both the pages read and the audiobook hours listened to. And I agree with Kat, that Amari and the Despicable Wonders is a war book.

@Kat - The awful commute sounds terrible. Hope your book gets better or that you do get to finish your book today.

I'm reading Before Your Memory Fades and listening to So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish. Both which work for a few prompts.

Happy reading, everyone! We've got at least 2 books for each subject. Doing great, Team Lions!

Your thoughts? So I see that we have no options for the featuring sports prompt and thought I'd look at what I have in my TBR. I found this book, The Swimmers. The title and the cover, , indicate that it could work BUT based on the reviews, I'm not quite sure it's about swimming....

The description mentions recreational swimming so I'd count it.

Good afternoon. I'm halfway through the book Neil Patrick Harris: Choose Your Own Autobiography. I think I'll finish it tomorrow. I won the book Deacon King Kong. Do you think it fits in any prompt?

Kat wrote: "The description mentions recreational swimming so I'd count it."

Thanks, Kat.

Tamara wrote: "Good afternoon. I'm halfway through the book Neil Patrick Harris: Choose Your Own Autobiography. I think I'll finish it tomorrow. I won the book Deacon King Kong. Do..."

Sweet! Congrats on the win. I've heard good things about Deacon King Kong but haven't read it myself. Just at a glance it looks like it might work for multiple POVs and historical fiction.

Still working at my books.. I keep being busier than expected each day but I’m really trying my best to get through mine. I’m getting close on one so hopefully I can fill a prompt here soon..maybe tomorrow! Fingers crossed.

@Tamara From a quick glance at the description, I don’t see any remaining prompts that it could fill. I’m not familiar enough with the book and I’m sleepy, so I definitely could have missed something.

I finished my second book last night before falling asleep. It was about Shakespeare so I've put it against real historical figure.

Kat wrote: "I finished my second book last night before falling asleep. It was about Shakespeare so I've put it against real historical figure."

Hope that's the book that you were hoping to finish!

Rachel wrote: "I ended up settling on It's Elementary, and read 75 pages so far. Will have to figure out spreadsheet tomorrow sometime after work"

Hi Rachel! I've updated the spreadsheet for you. I've also marked off a few prompts that I think the book works for. Feel free to add or change anything.

Morning, Team! Another dreary day here with precip. Makes for a perfect day to curl up with a book!

Our spreadsheet now has a report card! I was going to steal the idea from another group but Emily has already done it for us! We have an A in Literature. Totally makes sense! lol

I've started The 19th Christmas that could work for a few prompts. I could start The Swimmers but I'm not quite sure yet. Feeling wishy washy about which audiobook to go with next...

Happy reading!

Had a nice day at work with a long, but comfortable, commute and some work tasks that allowed me to listen to a book at the same time so added an unexpected 4.75 hours of audio books as well as finishing book three with my eyeballs. This challenge is great for motivation.

Just noticed we got our first A in Literature!

Thank you, JennH and Shelby.
I've had a headache all day and couldn't read much, but I finished listening to Neil Patrick Harris: Choose Your Own Autobiography.

And we now have an A in history. Woohoo!

Woohoo! Go Team Lions!