Romance Readers Reading Challenges discussion

FlibBityFLooB wrote: "Okay, this challenge might only appeal to me... I may have to just make it a personal challenge for 2010, but I thought I'd share it.

The idea is a version of a yearly challenge, with 1 book t..."

I like it... or you could do a quarterly challenge with reading 10 books by one author. Just incase you get so far then decide you don't like the writing style or characters etc.

another quarterly challenge could be a rainbow challenge. Read 10 books each with a different colour cover. (Similar to the paranormal romance challenge a few months back).

I like the Women we love challenge idea. Strong women need a decent man and vice versa!

Another yearly challenge that I plan to do as a personal challenge...

I never can stand to read more than serious book a month, but I wanted to try to read more classics next year like Austen, etc. I picked out 12 books with the idea that I should aim to read one classic a month next year.

I thought it could be a fun group challenge. :)

I like your idea of a personal challenge Flib, and I think I know how to make it work.

I'll put it together it and unveil it probably a couple of weeks before the year ends.

So, stand by... : )

Lindy-Lane wrote: "How do you "strike out" an item on your challenge lists?
I've been marking them as finished with the date I finished reading the item as I haven't figured out how to strike through the title that I..."

THANKS!

You're welcome.

Like the sound of your personal challenges, Flib, and Yz, looking forward to see your take on it :)

I'm toying with another challenge idea, and I need some feedback.

I'm thinking of doing either a featured author or genre of the month, beginning next year. The way I see it, is we suggest up to 10 choices, conduct a poll, see who wins, and then for that month, the challenge is to read one book from that genre or from that author. I'm leaning more towards author though. We can also skip the poll part, and I just pick the author, probably using some popular authors' list like say fantasticfiction. I like the idea of discovering new authors.

Still needs to be fine-tuned but that is the general idea.

Comments and feedback highly welcome!

I think that's a fantastic idea. People who enjoy the month's author will have the 'excuse' to indulge. Those who haven't read anything by them will get the chance to without struggling to fit it in somehow with the monthly challenge. And people who haven't enjoyed them will get to go back and give them another chance. It really works for everyone. :^D

Good point, Emily. It's going to be authors then.

I'll think I'll just run a poll to see if the group wants to nominate and vote or if they want me to pick.

Thanks for the comment.

I'm sure many would love that challenge, so go for it. However, as I don't read PNR or UF which is what a good majority of the folks here read, I doubt you'd pick any author that I'd actually read. So it won't be a challenge I'd take part in.

I like the idea, Yz!

Okay, the nerd in me has this suggestion... I just read Beyond Heaving Bosoms The Smart Guide to Romance Novels which mentions about 90 books in the romance genre. I haven't read all of them, and I wanted to form my own opinions.

I'm going to do a personal challenge to read all the books mentioned. I have made a shelf on goodreads to try to capture which books they mentioned (though I may have missed a couple)... Here is a link to the shelf http://www.goodreads.com/review/list/2505272-flibbityfloob?shelf=2010-bhb-booklist

BJ Rose mentioned some other people may want to join me in this endeavor. I didn't know if it was something others might be interested in... It emcompasses all different forms of romance, from JR Ward to Jennifer Crusie to Linda Howard to Lisa Kleypas.

Definitely not for those who aren't into romance, but I imagine it might be a bunch of interesting books to discuss... :)

How many books are there, Flib?

FlibBityFLooB wrote: "Okay, the nerd in me has this suggestion... I just read Beyond Heaving Bosoms The Smart Guide to Romance Novels which mentions about 90 books in the romance genre. I haven't read ..."

that sounds fun Flib--I have enjoyed the long term challenges I have participated in this year.

Yz wrote: "How many books are there, Flib?"

91, but I may have missed a couple in the book...

Ya'll are so creative! I really missed this thread and am looking forward to joining the challenges again.

Oh, and I vote for the Beyond Heaving Bosoms The Smart Bitches' Guide to Romance Novels challenge. I've been thinking about all those referenced titles since I read the book too. Even the incredibly awful ones! :O)

I checked the shelf where she listed all of them and I see alot of books that aren't necessarily the first in a series. So if you're like me and have to read series in order, you'll end up reading more books. :)

Bigger problem for me would be finding them all. Interesting selection of books. I checked my library's online catalog and they don't have the Beyond Heaving Bosoms guide to romance novels. Darn it. lol Of the 92 books listed, I only have 10 of them and have only read 1 so far.

Maybe we could make the Challenge to read 1-2 each month. I'm thinking reading all 90some in a year would take away from working other challenges.

Or, I know, we could have a mini-group within the group and choose 3-4 each month that everyone chooses from. Then we can read 1-4 each month and be guaranteed to have someone to discuss each title with in a dedicated thread.

Just some thoughts. :O)

I had an idea to make the A-Z challenges more difficult for next year.

Perhaps we could combine the author and title challenges and read 26 books that fit both categories? So each book would have to fill a spot on the title list and the author list. Maybe we could offer 1-2 wildcards to fill difficult spots like: Read the book at the bottom of your TBR pile or Read a new book by an author you rated 1 star, etc.

That would be a challenge! I'm just afraid it would make letters such as X and Q even more impossible... Thoughts?

That's what the wildcards would be for. But they'd have to be real doozies. *evil grin*

And it would help the challenge last a little longer. It seems that people were really flying though it this year (mine are almost done and I only read at them for about 3 months).

Melody -- hehe
The super deluxe A-Z challenge *grin*

I agree with you that 91 books is daunting. Plus, you really would want to be able to discuss them to get the benefit of the group experience. I like your idea of reading from a couple at a time. I know some of them would be harder to find (as in not available at my library) :)

Interesting list! I have read a few and own some of the rest. If we are only reading 1-4 a month we could easily do it over 2yrs instead of the year. Just a thought, we would have to read 7-8 a month to complete it next year. Which isn't too bad if the categories fit other challenges.

Melody wrote: "Maybe we could make the Challenge to read 1-2 each month. I'm thinking reading all 90some in a year would take away from working other challenges.

Or, I know, we could have a mini-group within ..."

I think this idea is workable.

You can even post in advance the schedule for what books to read for each month, and people can simply participate when they are able.

I wouldn't mind creating a folder just for this specific challenge, if you can garner enough interest.

FlibBityFLooB wrote: "Okay, the nerd in me has this suggestion... I just read Beyond Heaving Bosoms The Smart Guide to Romance Novels which mentions about 90 books in the romance genre. I haven't read ..."

I haven't even looked at the list yet, Flib, but I'm in! Off to check your list now...

Yz -- could we post a poll to see how many people might be interested in some group reads of the books in the book? That might see how much interest there is. I don't want to foist my bizarre reading interests on others. Hehehe

Bizarre, maybe, but never lonely! I count a least a half dozen of us. :O)

On a related note:
I browsed Beyond Heaving Bosoms last night and hit 125 titles when I included the first books of recommended series, classics, and the non-fiction titles referenced. With the Series challenges, those titles could make it easier to cross and some of us might enjoy the classics and non-fiction.

And we could add another 40 or so authors that were listed without a specific title recommendation as another option.

My math says 4 a month is a 3+ year commitment if we feel like going all out. Maybe you should be calling us crazy, Flib! :O)

Melody wrote: "I had an idea to make the A-Z challenges more difficult for next year.

Perhaps we could combine the author and title challenges and read 26 books that fit both categories? So each book would ha..."

I'm sorry but I just don't see how this is possible. Yes, many books will fit both challenges, but you can't expect every book to cross over when you're talking difficult letters. I don't see how short of a miracle you'll get 26 books to complete both A-Z Author and Title.

My suggestions for making it harder would be an A-Z Author list using last names only. Or first names only. And for A-Z Titles we always said "A", "An", and "The" didn't count. What if they did count? (except for "X") That way any book starting with "The" would be considered a "T". I think exceptions will always have to be made for "X" in both author and title so that any X in their name or the title counts. It's just too difficult a category to fill otherwise.

I think it all depends on how much your read, or how fast you read on wether you found the A-Z challenges this year difficult or not. Personally, I found them difficult enough. I started them mid-year when they came out and finished them end of November. Next year the A-Z character challenge was going to be split by gender, one list for each sex. I'm not even sure I can finish those. I don't know how to plan to read books to find characters with certain lettered names when you don't know most character names until after you read the books. I can fill in as I go but then you're left with odd letters to fill at the end.

Personally, I'd rather they were left a bit more open so we have an option as to wether you want the easy or the hard version of each challenge. If you're new to our challenges or found them challenging enough, then go for the easy version. If you completed this year's too quickly, opt for the harder version.

You're absolutely right. :O)

This was meant as an extreme challenge for those who think it would be fun to face the unknown. It may be impossible to make 26 books fit those categories, even with the help of wildcards. This challenge would be for those who are gangbusters to beat "the impossible" challenge or those who can have fun with it then bow out gracefully (and in total defeat). ;O)

FlibBityFLooB wrote: "Yz -- could we post a poll to see how many people might be interested in some group reads of the books in the book? That might see how much interest there is. I don't want to foist my bizarre re..."

Flib,

Feel free to run any kind of poll you like. If you need any assistance, just let me know.

The poll is up. :O)

OK, FlibBity, I looked at the list and I'm still in, but I noticed at least one book on the list that I will not reread - gotta have some standards! **grin** Now I'll have to read Beyond Heaving Bosoms The Smart Bitches' Guide to Romance Novels to see what they had to say about it!

FlibBityFLooB wrote: "BJ --- oooh! Which book. Not all the books in the book are looked upon favorably. :)"

I figured they were panning some (quite a few?) of the books! I'll withhold the title of that book for a while - wouldn't be surprised if it comes up again, tho *grin*

Melody wrote: "The poll is up. :O)"

Thanks Melody for putting that together. Hugs.

I love your BHB idea, Melody. Voted in the poll. I love the idea of incorporating this into some type of challenge. Count me in!

Hehehe, it was Flib's idea actually...I just attached myself to her brilliant coattails! :O)

Flib...you had a wonderful idea! I really think I need to buy this book.

Hey Yz :) The voting on Melody's poll related to reading books from Beyond Heaving Bosoms appears to have stagnated. There appears to be some level of interest...

Would it be possible to make a folder with a sticky thread where we could post what books will be read for the month?

Melody has offered to help lead discussions and select a few books each month. :)

Definitely. What do you want me to name the folder?

Yz aka Whyz wrote: "Definitely. What do you want me to name the folder?
"


Good question! How about BEYOND HEAVING BOSOMS GROUP READ MONTHLY CHALLENGE or whatever you think would work best :)

That title is a mouthful, actually. I'm open to suggestions :)

Hmm....yep that's quite a mouthful :)

Let me think. Wish Melody is online..she comes up with pretty witty titles.

Monthly Heaving Bosoms Reads?

*laugh*

Beyond Heaving Bosoms Reads?

And then put months in threads, like "December books: "

Well, I created a working folder under BHB Book Discussions. When we come up with a better one, we will just change it.

Right now, its invisible until somebody creates a discussion. I'm leaving that to you Flib or Melody to create the intro and the explanation.

Just let us know when you are done, and will make it a sticky.

Sounds like fun.

Sounds great. I dropped Melody an inbox message. I know she's the creative one and has good ideas, so I'm sure she'll come up with something clever!

Fair enough.

Looking forward to this addition to our group activities.

*blushing* Geez ladies, you're gonna embarrass me. :oP

I've been wrapping gifts all day, but I'm here intermittently and will try to come up with something "clever" for the challenge. I think Flib and I have agreed on the first month's titles at least. :O)

See we were "bad" talking you, Melody...LOL

This is yours and Flib's baby, so you are free to do what you like. Just let us know how we can help.

So Yz, I think we're going to go with Kasia's simple and descriptive "Beyond Heaving Bosoms Reads" but how do we post to an invisible thread? :O)