Romance Readers Reading Challenges discussion

What is the Pick-It-For-Me Challenge?


There are changes this month, please read the entire post so you don't miss anything!


The Pick-It-For-Me Challenge (PIFM) is a reading challenge where each participant gives and receives book recommendations based on a given a set of rules. The assignment method and book selection rules change each month so it’s always new and always different.

After signups are closed, I'll put your names and any extra info I’ve required into the super secret PIFM randomizer and select someone for you to choose for. This will get posted along with the rules for the month.

While you're doing your picks, someone else is doing picks for you. Once you receive them, you pick a book off the list and get reading. To complete the challenge, you only have to read 1 (one) book but many of us end up reading more because we just can't resist a list of books to read.

In order to participate you need to either HAVE YOUR PROFILE SET TO PUBLIC (preferable), or make the person who will be giving you recommendations your friend. On top of that, I strongly recommend keeping your bookshelves updated; otherwise you might end up with a recommendation that you have already read.

Everything gets done in this thread so be sure to come back often!!!


***TIPS TO MAKE THE CHALLENGE ENJOYABLE FOR EVERYONE!***

1. Check the publishing date of the book before recommending it.

2. Check pickee's exclusive shelves - could be very helpful in recommending something they want to read. An Exclusive shelf is one that a member has labeled themselves, for example, 'to read next', 'can't wait to read', 'favorites'.

3. Look at your pickee's 'read' shelf and see what genres they have recently read the most. That might help in choosing something they are interested in reading right now.

4. Please make sure the books you choose for your pickee are not on their 'read' shelf. Just because it isn't rated doesn't mean it wasn't read. Sometimes the reader may choose not to rate a book.

5. Although Buddy Reads are no longer going to be offered as a category, if there is a recommendation that you give your pickee that you would like to read with them, please feel free to suggest a Buddy Read with them. You can PM each other and discuss it.

6. If your pickee reads lots of books in a genre you are not familiar with (erotic romance, GLBT, YA, etc.), feel free to contact either Fran, Dee, Jane or the month's organizer and they can try to point you in the right direction for recommendations.

7. If possible, try to include a shorter book, a longer book, a new addition to their 'to-read' shelf, and and older book from their 'to-read' shelf. This gives them a variety of options to choose from. You can sort the shelves by many features - ratings, date read, date added, date published, #of pages and many other items. And they can be sorted by ascending or descending order as well.

8. Please limit your picks to one for each of the picking rules, it's hard I know.


INFORMATION NEEDED TO SIGN UP
Please sign up in this thread with the answer to the following question:

**Football or Baseball?**

If you need a little help to make your decision, check this out - George Carlin's Football or Baseball

IMPORTANT DATES
Sign up will remain open through to August 28th (4 pm PDT).

You’ll have until September 2nd (2 pm PDT) to make your recommendations.

You then have till the end of the month to read your pick and give some feedback.

If you’re new please read the challenge specific FAQ. If you have any questions that are not addressed there, please feel free to ask!

***Please add a new comment rather than updating a previous post or your progress will likely be missed. It is also very helpful if you add more information like "I finished another pick" or "I finished my third book for this challenge" and mention if your pick was a buddy read. Thanks!***

2012 September PIFM - Participants

Updated through message #185.

Football:
MountainKat
~KarenH~
Elke
Fran
Photojim
Suzanne
Vi
Breann
Skandia
Sallie(Shuga)
Laura
Leslie
Susan (susayq)
Cathy
Layla
Megan L
Rishika
Sandy
Jane (PS)
♥DarlingAmanda ♥(Private)
~Melissa~
Dawn (Kat N Hat)
Pollyanna
Sue
Lady Allison
Jen
Rena Reads Romance
Lexa
Dawn
Carla
Nancy
Jojo
Emily
Tiffanny
Tania
Jensine
Gisbelle(Private)
Roxy
Lisa
Gigi
Macwolf01 [Elise]
Julie
Ashley
Jodi
Melissa
Mounika
Amy J
Rachel- Goodbye Borders

Baseball:
Dee
Kate
Ty
Joyce
Brett
Ruth Ann
Penney
Carrie
D.G. ~Shameless Hussy~
Lauren
Irina
Diane ~Firefly~
Pam
Coffeentea
Kimberly
Rena
Yz the Whyz
Sassafrass
Erin
Regina
Mandy
Christina
Megan
Vicki
Daffodil
Debbie
Gea
Elizabeth
Nikki
Amanda
Isabella
Nichole
Misskim

2012 September PIFM - Picking Rules

For some of us September is the beginning of football season, for others it is the beginning of the end of baseball season. Some of us just try to ignore all of that and read. Whatever your pleasure - enjoy!

Baseball - From Their To-Read (or Similar Unread) Shelf:
Home Run: Recommend a book from one their favorite authors, it is sure to be a home run.

Field of Dreams: If you build it they will come... Suggest a paranormal romance, a book with time travel, or a book set in a time or place you would love to travel to.

Clean Up Hitter: To clean up their shelves, pick the next book in a series your pickee has enjoyed, especially if it is a new release or a series they seem to have forgotten.

World Series: Who are they kidding, at best it should be called the North America Series, even that is stretching it - there is only one team based out of the US in Canada. So suggest a book set outside the US.


Football - From Your Shelves or New to Them:
First and Goal: Suggest a new author or genre that you think your pickee will love.

Friday Night Lights: Pick a book that has been or will be made into a movie or TV show.

Touchdown: Recommend one of your five star reads from this year.

Super Bowl: Honestly, it isn't usually that super. The best playoff games are often before they make it all the way to the Super Bowl. But the point is the journey, so suggest a book that you loved that is in a series, either a continuation for your pickee or a new to them series you think they will love too.


***Please remember the new tips when making your picks!***
1. Check the publishing date of the book before recommending it.

2. Check pickee's exclusive shelves - could be very helpful in recommending something they want to read. An Exclusive shelf is one that a member has labeled themselves, for example, 'to read next', 'can't wait to read', 'favorites'.

3. Look at your pickee's 'read' shelf and see what genres they have recently read the most. That might help in choosing something they are interested in reading right now.

4. Please make sure the books you choose for your pickee are not on their 'read' shelf. Just because it isn't rated doesn't mean it wasn't read. Sometimes the reader may choose not to rate a book.

5. Although Buddy Reads are no longer going to be offered as a category, if there is a recommendation that you give your pickee that you would like to read with them, please feel free to suggest a Buddy Read with them. You can PM each other and discuss it.

6. If your pickee reads lots of books in a genre you are not familiar with (erotic romance, GLBT, YA, etc.), feel free to contact either Fran, Dee, Jane or the month's organizer and they can try to point you in the right direction for recommendations.

7. If possible, try to include a shorter book, a longer book, a new addition to their 'to-read' shelf, and and older book from their 'to-read' shelf. This gives them a variety of options to choose from. You can sort the shelves by many features - ratings, date read, date added, date published, #of pages and many other items. And they can be sorted by ascending or descending order as well.

8. Please limit your picks to one for each of the picking rules.

2012 September PIFM - Pairings

Hopefully all our picks will be Grand Slams or Touchdowns or GOOOOAAAAALLLLLLS!

Please pick for the person below you within your group, the last person within each group picks for the first person. So Tiffanny picks for Carla and Amanda picks for Daffodil.

Picks are due by September 2nd at 2 PM PDT. Repicks will be assigned at that time.

Updated through message #625.

✓ = Picks Made
★ = Pick(s) Read
☆ = Buddy Read

Football:
★ ★ ✓ Carla
★ ✓ Megan L
★ ★ ✓ Skandia
★ ★ ✓ Breann
★ ★ ✓ Amy J.
★ ✓ Rena Reads Romance
★ ✓ Mounika
★ ★ ✓ Cathy
★ ✓ Susan (susayq)
★ ✓ Ashley
★ ✓ Fran
✓ Layla
★ ✓ Rachel- Goodbye Borders
★ ★ Suzanne
♥DarlingAmanda ♥(Private)
★ ✓ Emily
Lisa
★ ★ ★ ✓ Melissa
★ ✓ Gigi
★ ✓ Laura
★ ✓ Sue
★ ✓ Jojo
✓ Gisbelle(Private)
★ ✓ Nancy
★ ★ ✓ Macwolf01 [Elise]
★ ☆ ★ ✓ Leslie
★ ★ ★ ✓ ~Melissa~
★ ★ ✓ Sandy
★ ✓ Jane (PS)
★ ★ ★ ★ ✓ ~KarenH~
★ ★ ✓ Lexa
★ ★ ✓ Jodi
★ ★ ★ ✓ Jensine
✓ Dawn
✓ Rishika
✓ Roxy
★ ★ ✓ MountainKat
✓ Dawn (Kat N Hat)
Jen - withdrawn
★ ✓ Pollyanna
★ ✓ Elke
★ ✓ Sallie(Shuga)
★ ✓ Tania
★ ✓ Photojim
★ ✓ Lady Allison
✓ Julie
★ ✓ Vi
★ ✓ Tiffanny

Baseball:
★ ★ ✓ Daffodil
★ ✓ Yz the Whyz
✓ D.G. ~Shameless Hussy~
✓ Mandy
★ ✓ Joyce
★ ✓ Christina
★ ✓ Penney
★ ✓ Nikki
✓ Megan
★ ✓ Brett
★ ✓ Ruth Ann
✓ Kimberly
✓ Kate
✓ Regina
★ ✓ Carrie
★ ✓ Lauren
Debbie
★ ✓ Dee
★ ✓ Diane ~Firefly~
✓ Coffeentea
★ ★ ★ ✓ Nichole
✓ Misskim
✓ Rena
★ ✓ Erin
★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆ ★ ✓ Sassafrass
★ ★ ✓ Gea
✓ Vicki
✓ Elizabeth
★ ✓ Isabella
✓ Pam
☆ ✓ Irina
★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ✓ Ty
★ ✓ Amanda

Late for the Game
★ ✓ Valerie picks for Kristi (Passion for the Page)
★ ★ ✓ Kristi (Passion for the Page) picks for Valerie

Repicks
✓ Dee picks for Emily
✓ Skandia picks for Melissa
✓ Gigi picks for Pollyanna
✓ Macwolf01 [Elise] picks for Dee

2012 September PIFM


I am awfully slow getting this posted, but life does that sometimes.

Pre-game Statistics

Of the 657 picks given, 84 titles were suggested more than once. The most popular books were:

The Help - 7 picks
Dark Lover - 5 picks
Dragon Bound - 5 picks
The Host - 5 picks
Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake - 5 picks
Outlander - 5 picks
Daughter of Smoke and Bone - 4 picks
A Discovery of Witches - 4 picks
Fifty Shades of Grey - 4 picks
The Hunger Games - 4 picks
Mystery Man - 4 picks
Naked in Death - 4 picks
Seduce Me at Sunrise - 4 picks

I think several of those titles were helped by the Movie/TV Show rule!

With those 657 picks, we had 119 authors with multiple suggestions! Here is how that shook out:

Lisa Kleypas - 19 picks, 11 different titles
J.R. Ward - 14 picks, 8 different titles
Karen Marie Moning - 13 picks, 9 different titles
Nalini Singh - 13 picks, 9 different titles
Patricia Briggs - 10 picks, 8 different titles
Diana Gabaldon - 10 picks, 4 different titles
Kristen Ashley - 8 picks, 4 different titles
J.D. Robb - 8 picks, 4 different titles
Nora Roberts - 8 picks, 7 different titles
Ilona Andrews - 7 picks, 4 different titles
Deborah Harkness - 7 picks, 2 different titles
Charlaine Harris - 7 picks, 5 different titles
Kathryn Stockett - 7 picks, 1 title

Even with both personas, Nora Roberts/J.D. Robb didn't pass Lisa Kleypas! But she did beat everyone else. I thought it was interesting to see Kathryn Stockett make the most picked author list with only one book too!

Halftime Stats:

Once again, a little late...

55% of the participants have completed the challenge and a total of 68 books have been read!

Final Results

We read a total of 94 books for the challenge this month, with 60 finishers - a completion percentage of 72%!

There were only a handful of books read more than once. My Liege of Dark Haven, Pushing the Limits, Seduce Me at Sunrise and Shadow Game were each read twice for this challenge in September. Our most read authors were Lisa Kleypas and Nalini Singh, each read six times. Kristen Ashley was read four times. Chloe Neill and Jennifer Ashley had three books read this month. There were nine other authors read twice.

I hope you all had fun last month - I know I did! Thanks for allowing me to host!

2012 September PIFM - The Books

Updated through message #625.

I'll go first - FOOTBALL!!

I like both, but Football definitely holds a special place in my heart!

I am in!! FOOTBALL BABY!!

baseball please

Question about 8. Please limit your picks to one for each of the picking rules, it's hard I know.

Is there a reason why we need to limit our picks to only one for each rule? I'd think a bigger selection to choose from would make it easier for our recommendee (pickee?) to find a book they really want to read & enjoy. I'm sorry but all I see is pluses if a recommender picks more than the allotted amount of books.

I'll answer that LL - over the last few months the mods have noticed issues with picks with lots of issues (already being read, not yet being released etc) - so we are reducing them for now to get things back to running smoothly and then we'll re-evaluate

which is why its important to read the bold guidelines - there are some specifics that should cut down on those issues (fingers crossed)

Baseball

Dee wrote: "I'll answer that LL - over the last few months the mods have noticed issues with picks with lots of issues (already being read, not yet being released etc) - so we are reducing them for now to get ..."

*Lethal nods* Thanks for answering my question, Dee. I myself have been the recipient more than a few times of picks that include books I've already read or haven't been published yet. I rarely say anything because while I've been participating in this challenge since 2010, a lot of my recommenders are newbies & I don't want to make them feel bad. I can see how the new rules could help eliminate those problems.

I haven't decided yet if I'm going to join September's challenge. the Fall semester is in full swing and I'm already dead on my feet.

i know the feeling LL, but i'm an addict...plus, I only got this dang dissertation to worry about...lol!

Thanks for hosting this month Kat!!

I am in for Football

Thanks Dee for answering! Good Luck with your dissertation!

I hope the semester allows you to participate LL! (But I completely understand how that goes.)

oh that's too bad about only 1 pick. As the pickee, I love having multiple pics for each category and appreciate it when the picker goes the extra mile. :)

anyways, BASEBALL.

And to my potential pickee: I will be on a work trip the last week of August but can hopefully snag some laptop time to check in. I probably shouldn't even participate, but this is one of my fave challenges! Please don't think I've forgotten!

Sign me up. Football it is.

I'm in and I like football!

I'm in. Football it is. I appreciate the new rules as some pickees faced issues in the August PIFM even though it's going to be extra hard to limit myself to one.

I'm a baseball girl.

I'm in for baseball. Go Tigers!

I'm in for Football.

I am a baseball gal!!

Ok ladies, I'll try really, really hard to restrain myself and stick to one pick per category. :::Whine::: But I just want to share the LOVE :::Whine:::

Oh, I'm baseball btw :-)

I'm in, baseball.

I liked having a lot of choices too. It is hard to limit myself. I am not really a sports fan. So I will sit this one out. Maybe I will be back in October. The George Carlin skit was funny though.

I'm in. Football.

Well since it's September. FOOTBALL BABY!!!! go Colts & Broncos!!!

Why oh why do you do this to me? There is a reason that football and baseball are in different seasons...just so we don't have to choose!! (I love Carlin's skit...)

Anyhow, I'll go with baseball, being that I'm Dominican and all.

football :)

Re: the new rules. So the first point about the publication date is to make sure that people recommend stuff that has already been published? As it is now, it's not clear why we need to check the pub date. :)

I'm not sure I like the one pick per rule but the other rules look good to me, specially #3 and #7. I rarely read really long books for the challenge (I need to be in a mood to read them) but in the last few challenges I've gotten 3 or 4 choices over 600 pgs. which makes me dismiss them out of hand.

There were several book choices last month that were picked and were not published yet, so yes, in answer to your question. :)

thanks DG - we'll clarify that - mostly because people were getting recommendations for books on their shelves that weren't scheduled to be released for 3+ months at times

Thanks, Dee & MountainKat. Good luck with your dissertation, Dee!

Thanks for hosting this month - Mountain Kat and for the rules clarification. Though it will be hard to limit myself!
And I'M READY FOR SOME FOOTBALL! Geaux Saints/LSU!!! WHO DAT!

I'm in! Put me down for football cause there's nothing better than tailgating before the games :)

I know it'll be hard for some people to limit themselves to only one pick - trust me, i'm one of them!! when I first started doing the PIFM way back when (like mid 2010, I think) - it was very old skool

I'm in....put me down for Football. I grew up in Dallas Cowboy country.

I'm in! Football it is for me :)

I am in and defintely Football for me! Go Raiders!! :)

I am in! Football for me

I completely agree that pickers need to pay attention to publication dates and whether or not the book has already been read. I do not agree with limiting to one pick! Will you change this rule back if enough of us are against it?

In the meantime, FOOTBALL is my sport. Opening day is a holiday in my house! Go COWBOYS!!

Sandy wrote: "I completely agree that pickers need to pay attention to publication dates and whether or not the book has already been read. I do not agree with limiting to one pick! Will you change this rule b..."

I hope they do, I enjoy having more selection and giving the other person more of a choice. Half the fun and a challenge in it's self is making the list for others.

the group mods will discuss it, so we'll see...

Thanks for the clarification of the rules - very helpful!

Personally I'm a cricket fan so I will go with baseball!

Wow, I sure can see the potential for some real rivalries brewing among the football fans! :)

As far as the number of picks goes, I've always enjoyed both giving and receiving multiple picks, but if the simplification helps to minimize some of the problems that have been showing up, I can live with the limit, at least until we know whether or not it makes a difference.

Wow, lots of discussion while I was sleeping! I know the mods worked hard on the new tips to hopefully make the challenge go smoothly for everyone. I'm sure they are all the result of recent and repeated issues. Depending on how things go month to month, they may adjust things. The goal for everyone is a fun challenge!

Let's just look at the picking limit as an additional challenge! After checking out your pickee's shelves you have to pick the one best choice for each picking rule.

~KarenH~ wrote: "Wow, I sure can see the potential for some real rivalries brewing among the football fans! :)"

I may have to rethink my opinion of some people... LOL!!