The Next Best Book Club discussion
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New Challenge Idea!
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Touchy subjects will always come up on forums, and there is no reason to not be able to discuss the issues reasonably. Again, I am not trying to offend anyone, I was speaking of one specific issue and asked for clarification. There's enough ignorance in the world because two groups of people refuse to try to help the other group to understand. I still stand confused, but so be it. This topic will certainly come up again by someone else and the same arguments will be used, but no progress will be made because everyone's entirely too sensitive about it. I already stated in the very beginning that I do not personally see how YA books work in a challenge, which is not an offensive attack. No matter where one goes their reading material will always be questioned. On a book site it's nice for people to be able to discuss books. I can see that sometimes even here the discussions can be limited.Cynthia's challenge is still awesome, no need for it to go away.
Charity, from one ex-Half-Price-Books employee to another, hello! :)
Mod
I am all for open debate, but not when it gets like this. With silly nit picking and refusals to let a topic drop.
Not pointing the finger at any one person here either, merely stating in general, we as humans have a tough time with conflict and active listening (or in this case "reading") hee hee
None of the challenges are going away... no worries there.
Mod
Hee hee...
Let's just let it rest.
I think you know how I feel about the whole YA thing anyways.. Hrmph!
Lori wrote: "END RANT"your so sexy when you get mean lol... *backs out of angry women forum again*
Hey Lori,Way to end the rant! I just want to throw in my two nice cents... I don't do the challenge to even finish the challenge, I do the challenge to read more. Before I found Goodreads and TNBBC, I had read maybe 10 books in the last four years for my own pleasure (not assigned in a class) but now I am reading a ton more. I think I am at 14 for this year only. I include YA in the challenge, because for me it isn't about finishing or racking up points or whatever. I currently have 140 and I know that I won't finish the challenge.
I read YA because I relate more to the characters in it and I feel like their agendas are a lot less pushy. But then again, I am only 20 so I am a young adult (when you take young and an adult and put them together... lol, sometimes I crack myself up). Anyway, I don't read them because they're easy. Sometimes they make me cry. Sometimes they're hard to get through. Sometimes they're BORING! But I think we can all agree that those same things happen when people read General Fiction...
I think that the great thing about the Seasonal Challenge is that people can fit the types of books they enjoy into most of the tasks. For me, I would not participate if it was real adult books only. I struggle to get through a lot of classics. I don't like pushy agendas (feminism, homosexuality, stem cell research, etc.). YA pushes these agendas a lot less, and that is why I read them. I hope that I didn't offend anyone. I just don't think that anything should be banned from challenges. As soon as you ban books, you ban people, and that is just wrong.
Mod
IN any case, I say READ! JUST READ!
Exactly. Good READS. The Next Best BOOK Club. Read, already.
I have a general question about Challenges. Being a Newbie here, I'm trying to get a handle on how the Challenges are run, points tallied, etc.
1. Once the Point Tasks have been listed, do we (each of us) then list books that fit the tasks before starting the Challenge or do we list the books as we read them and fit them into the Challenge tasks?
2. This is a huge group. Who keeps track of all the points for each of us? Do we each keep track of our own points?
I'm looking forward to the next Challenge and hope to participate.....just have to figure out the logistics of it.
Petra - You can list your books either way. Lots of people just check in as they go. Cynthia is the Seasonal Challenge moderator, so she keeps track of all of the points/books read. You should keep track of your points, too, though.
I don't want to provoke any rants about YA, but consider Huckleberry Finn. Mark Twain's genius was that it has long been enjoyed by YAs (apparently mostly boys) as just a thrilling adventure story. But we all know what it also is, a true American classic for adults. The reason we read books is that they can be read on so many different levels and at so many different times in our lives and still resonate. As our Moderator said, a discussion about books should not be limited to just adults, just the way YA books should not be limited to just YAs.
I appreciate that some of you are coming in at the end of this and want to "throw some bones", but I think Lori and the rest of us would appreciate letting this one rest.
Mod
Grrrrr.....
Let's let this one die a proper death.
I've gone back through this entire thread and saw that early on someone (my apologies as I forgot your name) listed a few crossover books, including the one I mentioned, Huck Finn. It got me thinking about books with youthful protagonists that have a YA appeal but still crossover to adult literature. I didn't read Catcher in the Rye when I was a teenager, but read it as an adult. It still held up. I guess whatever it was in the book that appealed to younger readers still had it to reach an aging adult. I also read To Kill a Mockingbird late in adult life, and that one cleary still appeals to all ages. Some books are just timeless, I guess. Has anyone else had a similar experience of catching up to a crossover book?
Mod
Lori wrote: "Catcher in the Rye, Lord of the Flies, Of Mice and Men, those books they make you read in school... When I read them in school I didnt have the same appreciation for them at the time, though I did ..."Has anyone revisted Ethan Frome?
Jamie wrote: "Petra - You can list your books either way. Lots of people just check in as they go. Cynthia is the Seasonal Challenge moderator, so she keeps track of all of the points/books read. You should keep..."Thanks, Jamie!
Lori wrote: "So ok, did I scare everyone away, or what?I kinda like the fact that Cynthia's challenge is such a big hit, and I dont want to go challenge crazy here and diminish the greatness that is her Sea..."
I'm sorry if I upset anyone!! I really am!!!
Lori, It's YOUR group. If we are so mamby pamby we can't take a typed thrashing...well! I knew you were going to say something, I was just watching for when:)
Kritika, you did NOT upset us. You did nothing wrong. Please don't take offense at the highjacking of your thread for an ongoing debate about the merits of YA. YA lit is a kind of hot-button issue for some of us, for varying reasons, and while I love it, I can understand that others do not. My fellow YA lovers and I do tend to get our backs up a bit when we feel that YA (and by extension YA readers) are treated unfairly though. So I apologize if we in any way made you feel responsible.
Again, our debate is not something that you caused by starting the thread, so please, please don't feel that you shouldn't participate in the future because of this. :)
hello! i'm new to this group and was wondering if it's okay to post new challenge ideas in here, or if this thread was only dedicated to what you were previously discussing. don't want to start another thread if it's gonna be redundant... :)
Mod
THis thread got a little OOH, but yes, it was originally intended for coming up with challenge ideas to keep us reading like the books fiends we are.
Do you have an idea for one?
A cool one I've seen around the Internet (sorry, not sure who to credit) is "Around the World in 80 Books". The object is to read at least 80 different books set in various countries around the world. The most challenging versions require the reader to choose countries that are adjacent to one another or reachable directly across bodies of water, eventually making a virtual trek around the globe. A less challenging way to do this would be a "frequent flyer" version, where one could randomly skip around the globe, hitting countries in all the continents. Not sure what an acceptable time frame for completion would be - a year perhaps?
Mod
In order to get new challenges started, we want to make sure there is interest in it first. Then, if there was, I would ask that the member who suggested it be the challenge leader. I just don't have the time to balance them all....
:)
SO, is there any interest guys and gals?
Around the World in 80 Books sounds like fun to me. I like the "frequent flyer" version and a year to complete the challenge.
Ditto pjreads comment. It does sound like fun.
I'd be willing to give it a try!
I will be happy to lead the challenge if there is enough interest! :)
I think it is a great idea - count me in
"Yes, that does sound like alot of fun!!!"....she says, eyeing her stack of TBRs and her maxed out credit card-
I do already have a couple of countries covered...
Mod
When, and if, you are ready, send me a message and I can get a folder started for you!
I like the challenge suggestion - esp with a year to complete :)
Diane wrote: "A cool one I've seen around the Internet (sorry, not sure who to credit) is "Around the World in 80 Books". The object is to read at least 80 different books set in various countries around the wo..."Love the idea! So do we start out in our home state/country or do we start out in England (like the book)?
Glad it's not 80 books in 80 days though. heh
I'd like to take up this challenge aswell.
I kinda like the fact that Cynthia's challenge is such a big hit, and I dont want to go challenge crazy here and diminish the greatness that is her Seasonal Challenge....
So I still stand by what I suggested before, and think that additional challenges can be added to your PERSONAL challenge and monitored from there. THat way, you can read whatever you like, and your not in competition with anyone, and can do it all at your own pace, completely for your own satisfaction.
Thats just my two cents thrown into the pot.
For what its worth!