TBR Challenge - May 2013: Rules & Questions

[JoLene, Mistress of the Challenge]

May TBR Challenge

** Sign ups: Participants must sign up and provide their book list before 12:00am EST May 1st, 2012. Only those who have signed up and posted their lists by April 30st 11:59pm EST will be able to participate in this challenge.

** There will be ONE opportunity to re-arrange your unread book list on May 15th. Aside from this date, book lists cannot be changed after May 1st. Choose wisely! ;)

** All points must be reported by 11:59pm EST on May 31, 2012 to be counted.

RULES:
1) Books must be at least 200 pages long. Eligibility for this is determined by the most popular edition on Goodreads. If the most popular edition is 197 pages, it will not count, even if the edition read is 215 pages.

2) The first book used for the challenge should be started on or after May 1st. Exception: Each person will be allowed 1 exception for a book that is longer than 500 pages, as long as they are not more than 1/2 way through the book on May 1.

3) Audiobooks are accepted. Page numbers are determined by most popular edition on GoodReads.

4) Re-reads are NOT permitted for this challenge.

5) There is no genre requirement for this challenge, except the Bonus tasks, which must be HF.

SCORING / HOW IT WORKS:
1) At time of sign-up, each participant will select 25 books from their own To-Read list on Goodreads. Any variation of a To-Read shelf will count, including Wishlist. There is NO genre requirement for these books.

Books will be ordered from 1-25, and their placement will determine their point value. Examples: A book in the #1 place will receive 1 point when done, a book in the #25 spot will receive 25 points, etc.

Tip: Order books that you are most likely to read in the higher value spots to earn higher scores. :)

Sign-up thread

2) Bonus Tasks for 50 points each: After you have read at least 5 books on your list, you may chose to do one or both of the bonus tasks.
2a) Choose a HF book from one of the moderators TBR lists ( Jackie, Becky or JoLene) that you have not read, and read it.

Jackie's TBR shelves:
To Read
HF-to-read

Becky’s TBR shelves:
To Read
Wishlist
To Read - Nook
To-read-owned

JoLene’s TBR shelves
Want to read
TBR-owned (can then sort to HF)

2b) Choose a HF book from one of the group’s authors. Please use the following threads.
2013 Featured Authors Sign-up OR 2012 Featured Authors Sign-ups and look at posts: 31,49, and 57.


**Bonus book choices do not need to be chosen by April 1 and these can be changed at any time. ONLY the list of 25 books from your own To-Read list need to be selected by April 1. **


3) There are several opportunities to earn Bonus Points. Bonus points will be awarded PER BOOK READ when task points are awarded. Partial task points and/or bonus points (page count, HF point, etc) will NOT be awarded if the task is unfinished. Bonus points can only be claimed when reporting the book score (so make sure to check your postings).

3a) Book Length Bonus:
Bonus points will be awarded based on the length of each book read, as follows:
200 to 300 pages = 2 bonus points
301 to 500 pages = 4 bonus points
501 to 750 pages = 6 bonus points
751 to 1,000 pages = 8 bonus points
1,000+ = 10 bonus points

3b) Historical Fiction Bonus = 5 point
WE WILL NOT AWARD HF POINTS IF IT IS NOT REPORTED.

The definition of historical fiction that our group uses is a work published at least 50 years after at least half of the events in the work. Historical fantasy, alternate history and magical realism books are not considered historical fiction for our group.
If the book has a dual story-line than 50% of the action needs to take place in the historical setting.

3c) Review Bonus = 5 points
In order to receive these points:
- You MUST link to the review in the scoring thread. If it is not directly linked, points will not be awarded. The review must be on GoodReads, not a blog post. To link to your review, click on the view hyperlink on your bookshelf and copy the URL that is displayed in the address bar.
- It must be a legitimate review as determined by scorekeeper; Good book or liked it will not be considered as a legitimate review
- Review must be done when claiming task bonus points.

_________________________________________
Here's an example of how it will look when reported:

The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory
#15 spot - 15 points
664 pages - 6 points
HF - 5 point
Review - 5 points
Link to review: http//www.review.link.example
Total - 31 points

__________________________________________

Hope that you are able to climb your TBR pile!!

We're happy to announce that we have an awesome prize for the winner of the challenge!

Courtesy of Mulcahy Associates the May challenge winner will receive a signed and personalised paperback copy of The Painted Bridge by Wendy Wallace .

Ask questions below.

[JC]

This looks great! My question is if we pick a TBR from a mod's shelf for the 50pts now and they read it later, can we still read it if it was on their TBR when we picked it (since books are moved to the "read" shelf after reading)?

[JoLene, Mistress of the Challenge]

Yes, as long as the mods read it in May as well. You don't have to pre-pick and list your bonus books in the sign-up thread.

[JoLene, Mistress of the Challenge]

The list stays static, but you can read in any order. You should book the books that you are most likely to read in the higher scoring spots if you want to try to earn the most points.

[Sue]

Once we sign up, can we construct our list gradually throughout April (i.e. we're allowed to make changes), with the understanding that we get it finalized prior to April 30st 11:59pm EST?

[JoLene, Mistress of the Challenge]

Yes, the thread will be coked on 30 th.....you can change as many times as you would like before then.

[Debbie]

if you list a book as 20 or lower can you get the numerical points + bonus points if it is also listed on a moderator's tbr list?

[JoLene, Mistress of the Challenge]

No, the 50 point bonuses do not earn any additional "position" points.....that can earn the page, HF and review bonuses though.

[Debbie]

JoLene wrote: "No, the 50 point bonuses do not earn any additional "position" points.....that can earn the page, HF and review bonuses though."

thanks

[Sandra]

Is this challenge only for May and we're supposed to try to read 25 books in one month?

[JoLene, Mistress of the Challenge]

Yes, the challenge is only 1 month long. We do have some folks that read between 20 and 25 books in a month (not me, of course :-D)

[Jayme(theghostreader)]

Not me either :)

[Sue]

Nor me. The good thing about many of these challenges is that they are designed to indeed challenge those who can read 20-25 books in a month, but for the rest of us, we can challenge ourselves to accumulate a certain number of points based on reasonable expectation, for us, of the number of books we could read in a month (or two, depending on the duration of the particular challenge).

The tip, for this challenge, as JoLene said above, is to "Order books that you are most likely to read in the higher value spots to earn higher scores."

Another tip is to keep it fun for yourself. Don't cause yourself stress. I've personally decided to try to participate in each challenge if I can, but, there's nothing wrong with having a score that winds up in the middle of the list or even at the bottom of the list, as long as I enjoyed the process of choosing my books that would meet the criteria, and as long as I enjoyed actually reading the books themselves!

[Macarena (followed that rabbit)]

Hi,
I have a question regarding a book: 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami. Would you consider it as three books? It was originally published (Japan) in three volumes, and most of the spanish and english translations have been published in one volume. I know this edition appears as books 1-3, but I ask anyway.

[Becky, Moddess]

I would think that would count as one book, Macarena.

[Macarena (followed that rabbit)]

OK. Thanks Becky.

[Lisa]

May I use Island of the Swans as my one exception I am only about 15% through with it.

[Evan]

How do we mark/indicate our exception?

[JoLene, Mistress of the Challenge]

You can just put a star on it in your listing.

[JC]

so once our list is posted, are we not to edit at all? I'm just wondering if it's ok to edit for adding dates completed next to books as they are finished, accrued points, etc.

[JoLene, Mistress of the Challenge]

There will be a scoring thread. Your list will be frozen and then I will give you a 24 hour period on May 15th to edit it.

[Lisa]

I just noticed something with the bonus tasks, we only get one book for 50 points? Just wanted to clarify

[JoLene, Mistress of the Challenge]

@Lisa, there are 2 50 point bonus tasks -- you can chose to do just one or both.

[Wanda]

Where do we post

[Cheryl]

One clarification. Bonus points are for historical fiction. So, reading a book that is historical, but not fiction does not qualify for a bonus? (I have a few books on my list that are writings about historical times or people but are not fiction.)

[JoLene, Mistress of the Challenge]

@Cheryl, it needs to be fiction for the bonus.

[Cheryl]

Well, I tried!

[JoLene, Mistress of the Challenge]

@Wanda -- The scoring thread is up!

[JoLene, Mistress of the Challenge]

We're happy to announce that we have an awesome prize for the winner of the challenge!

Courtesy of Mulcahy Associates the May challenge winner will receive a signed and personalised paperback copy of The Painted Bridge by Wendy Wallace

[JC]

nice!

[Kimberly]

Yea! Motivation always kicks in the competitor in each of us.

;)

[CassieV]

JoLene wrote: "You can just put a star on it in your listing."

I didn't mark my exception, do you want me to go do that or leave the list as is? Alternately, I could make a note of it in the scoring thread if that would be better.

[JoLene, Mistress of the Challenge]

Yes, noting it in the scoring thread is fine!

[Lisa]

Do we have to read them in order...just wondering if I missed that somewhere

[JoLene, Mistress of the Challenge]

No, you can read in any order.

[Lisa]

Ok I swear this is my next to last question lol

For the HF points are we going by the groups definition of HF or if it is tagged by others as HF

[JoLene, Mistress of the Challenge]

For the challenge, we use our definition which is that the setting of the book is 50 years prior to publication. If a dual storyline at least 50% should be in the "historical" part of the story. Also note, this is the scholarly definition (meaning that I didn't make it up ;-)

[Lisa]

Jolene just so I don't have to keep continue asking

Will you accept any of these for the HF tag-

Soulless
A Conspiracy of Alchemists

They take place in a historical period but as they add elements of the supernatural I am really unsure.

[JoLene, Mistress of the Challenge]

No, historical fantasy does not earn the HF bonus.

[JC]

What should we do if we decide to abandon a book? I'm on the fence about the one I'm reading now and am thinking about moving on (The Game of Kings - anyone read it and liked it?) Is it ok to replace it on the list when we rearrange on the 15th?

[JoLene, Mistress of the Challenge]

Yes, you can replace on the 15th.
I've had both Dunnet series highly recommended to me, but I have to admit that I started both (only a chapter) and was put off......actually, one reason was the font --- it really bothered me.

[JC]

the main character's constant speaking in verse and the archaic language in general has not made for smooth reading so far. My brain keeps tripping itself up and I fear I don't really know what's happening as far as plot. I'll usually give a book 100 pages before I drop it, but I'm just going to set this one aside and start something else. Maybe I'll come back to it later.

[Linda]

Oddly enough The Game of Kings is on my list, too. It came highly recommended, but the little I have read doesn't do much for me so far. I probably will replace that one also.

[JoLene, Mistress of the Challenge]

You have roughly 24 hours to make any changes to your lists. Please go to the sign-up thread and make a new post.

You cannot change any placement of books that you have already read.

[Lisa]

When claiming a bonus task, do we add the 50 points to the other total

[JoLene, Mistress of the Challenge]

Yes, and don't forget your book bonuses (page, HF)

[Wanda]

Bonus Book

The White Queen by Philippa Gregory-50 points

This book is listed on Jackie's hf-tbr list

Total points-423

[JoLene, Mistress of the Challenge]

Wanda, you posted on the wrong thread.....

[Christina]

I am finishing up One Hundred Years of Solitude. The novel feels like it is Historical Fiction because we see the advent of the lightbulb, cinema movies, plumbing, etc. in Macondo. But there are also instances of magical realism, fantasy, and what seems like "tall tales". Is this eligible for the HF 5 point bonus?

[JoLene, Mistress of the Challenge]

@Christina --- I think that this is always considered a classic of magical realism so it does not qualify for the HF bonus --- sorry.