2014 Year Long Challenge - Connect the Chunksters

[Janice, Moderator]

E :) wrote: "Great challenge! I'm looking forward to this!

I was wondering, to combine shorter books, do these necessarily need to be series books? i.e Could I combine two, non-series shorties by the same aut..."

Yes. That would work.

[Janice, Moderator]

Helen wrote: "So how tentative can these connections be?
I have planned for the start of next year Bleak House and [book:The Short Life and Long Times of Mrs. Beeton: The First Domestic Goddess|7462..."

Go for it!

[Janice, Moderator]

Cherie wrote: "Janice,

When I was looking for books for the Tea Cozy Challenge, I compiled a list of 16 or 17 books that I was looking at for points for the challenge. It dawned on me this morning that I could..."

That's a great idea, Cherie. I'd be afraid that I would be adding more series to my series shelf if I read a whack of firsts! I keep changing my mind about how I want to approach my own challenge. All those books I listed as examples (except for the cozies) are from my own tbr lists. I could just use them. But, I have a few of Jo Nesbo's books from the Harry Hole series to read. I also have the whole Hangman's Daughter series... decisions, decisions.

[Almeta]

I thought I had everything figured out, based on your hints, so I already had a list of big books made up from my TBR. Thought I was being clever.

Then you threw the Connection Thingy in there and everything went Topsy-Turvy. ☻

Great Challenge!

[Janice, Moderator]

Debra wrote: "I thought I had everything figured out, based on your hints, so I already had a list of big books made up from my TBR. Thought I was being clever.

Then you threw the Connection Thingy in there a..."

LOL! Thanks Debra. I did say I was being tricksy!

[Esther]

You know, the 2nd of the nesbo series (cockroaches??) is 497p. This is sooooo frustrating. Couldn't the translator have chosen longer words?

[Kirila]

Esther wrote: "You know, the 2nd of the nesbo series (cockroaches??) is 497p. This is sooooo frustrating. Couldn't the translator have chosen longer words?"

Esther, you can look for a different edition. There is one coming out this June that has 512 pages :) Cockroaches

[Esther]

Kirila wrote: "Esther wrote: "You know, the 2nd of the nesbo series (cockroaches??) is 497p. This is sooooo frustrating. Couldn't the translator have chosen longer words?"

Esther, you can look for a different e..."
That's the one available at my library. It will not stop me from reading it. Just not for this challenge. It was just one of those "really? Oh come on..." moment.

[Esther]

Kirila wrote: "Esther wrote: "You know, the 2nd of the nesbo series (cockroaches??) is 497p. This is sooooo frustrating. Couldn't the translator have chosen longer words?"

Esther, you can look for a different e..."
That's the one available at my library. It will not stop me from reading it. Just not for this challenge. It was just one of those "really? Oh come on..." moment.

[Almeta]

Janice wrote: "Debra wrote: "I thought I had everything figured out, based on your hints, so I already had a list of big books made up from my TBR. Thought I was being clever.

Then you threw the Connection Thi..."

This was actually my post!

Debra was here today and when she departed, she left her account up. I just automatically started typing and then realized I was in her account. I've since changed the comment to my account. You must have been typing right behind me.

Oh, in fact our times are exactly the same.☺

[Janice, Moderator]

Almeta wrote: "Janice wrote: "Debra wrote: "I thought I had everything figured out, based on your hints, so I already had a list of big books made up from my TBR. Thought I was being clever.

Then you threw the..."

You could have produced all kinds of mischief with Debra's account up. Hehehe!

[Marie Claude]

Esther wrote: " I discovered this morning that many of my books in my pile are between 400-500 books. Grrrr..."

I made the same discovery when I went through the books alreadt on my Kindle... and even found one that has 496 pages!!! All I could do was wondering why the d* editor had to cut those 4 pages LOL

Guess I'll combine a lot, and go through a lot of series ;o)

[Almeta]

Janice wrote: "You could have produced all kinds of mischief with Debra's account up. Hehehe!..."



Shhhh!

[Janice, Moderator]

Ooops, my lips are sealed. :)

[Almeta]

Janice wrote: "Rachel wrote: "Just so you know - the Slicky ticker seems to have transferred it's allegiance to the iPhone app - he's breezing past the 17 mark on my phone!"

Now that is interesting! Hmmm - some things work on the pc that don't work on the mobile apps and apparently vice versa.
..."

Now that is interesting. Makes me believe there could be a fix!

[Cherie]

Janice wrote: "Cherie wrote: "Janice,

When I was looking for books for the Tea Cozy Challenge, I compiled a list of 16 or 17 books that I was looking at for points for the challenge. It dawned on me this morni..."

I have a couple of Jo Nesbo's books to read too. The Bat is on my chair :)

[Rusalka, Moderator]

I have The Snowman on my list of possibilities.

The problem I have at the moment is that I pulled all my chunksters off my shelf on the weekend and lined them up along the corridor in the house. We are trying to work out if we can put a bookshelf or two along the wall, without anyone (ie. me) crashing into it. So the largest books we have are there as a test for the next couple of weeks.

This resulted on me having to lie on the corridor floor last night trying to work out links between the books, pushing myself up and down the corridor (wooden floors help). Lexx asked me what I was doing, and my response was "gophering". I think he thinks I'm mad.

[Esther]

Rusalka wrote: "I have The Snowman on my list of possibilities.

The problem I have at the moment is that I pulled all my chunksters off my shelf on the weekend and lined them up along the corridor ..."

Lol

[Laura]

Hehe, that's funny, Rusalka.

[Almeta]

Rusalka wrote: "This resulted on me having to lie on the corridor floor last night trying to work out links between the books, pushing myself up and down the corridor (wooden floors help). Lexx asked me what I was doing, and my response was "gophering". I think he thinks I'm mad. ..."

Keeping Acathla company?☻

[Rusalka, Moderator]

Almeta wrote: "Keeping Acathla company?☻"

Doing Acathla's job for him really. We turned him off the last 2 months as we've had the baby chicken (now called Tephra) and didn't want her to get spooked/sucked up by the robot vacuum cleaner. So I got a bit dirty.

But Tephra's nearly bigger than him now, so I may actually reset him... good thinking. See! She's huge (but still thinks she's little enough to sit on my wrist for hours).

[Brenda]

To be honest, I was a little sick to my stomach when I first read the challenge. I have avoided big books my whole life.(oh, I've read some) 400 pages or less had alway been enough for me. I prefer 200-300.

After letting it sink in for a couple of hours, I'm getting excited. Instead of finding reasons NOT to read them, I now have a reason TO read them!

Thank you Janice for the time and thought you have put into this challenge. It really is a very good one!

Let the research begin!!

[Brenda]

Whoa! Those claws look like they hurt!!

[Cherie]

If my african gray would sit with me like this, I would let her, but she gets board unless I am petting her and wants to jump off and start chewing things up. I was listening to my iPod on Saturday night and forgot about the earbud wire when I was transferring her into her night time cage. I just caught her in time, as she reached over and tried to grab the wire and snip it in half. She loves to try to chew the metal teeth off of my sweatshirts if I do not catch her in time.

[Rusalka, Moderator]

Yay Brenda. And remember (as I keep forgetting) we can combine little reads if you need a break.

They do scratch a bit (as you can see). I'm trying to get her to run around on the concrete or to go scratching outside to wear them down. But as she's still an inside chicken for a month, they will just keep growing until she's out properly. It's not too bad for me, but she loves Lexx's shoulders to sit on (mine aren't broad enough) but she slips off now and then. He's beginning to look like he's been in a fight with a cheese grater.

[Rusalka, Moderator]

Cherie wrote: "If my african gray would sit with me like this, I would let her, but she gets board unless I am petting her and wants to jump off and start chewing things up. I was listening to my iPod on Saturda..."

Sneaky little thing! I'd love a big parrot but I think the cords, wooden tables, bookshelves etc in the house would suffer. Not sure we could give it enough attention. Lexx's housemate had rabbits who loved his computer cables (only his) and would chew through them each time they were replaced. He now hates rabbits.

Still thinking about a cockatiel though...

[Brenda]

I'm going to try and stay with just the big ones. I did just start reading The Chronicals of Narnia series with my son, so I may add some of those in there if I need too. (I'm trying to make him an obsessive reader too!!)

Funny, I thought it was a chicken but I've never seen a chicken inside before... lol

[Lori Z]

What a great challenge, Janice! Thanks for all the time and effort you've obviously put in to this! I think I'm going to use this to catch up on series I've started. Now, is that enough of a link or when I switch series do I have to link between them? Just trying to plan my strategy.
Thanks!

[Rusalka, Moderator]

Brenda wrote: "Funny, I thought it was a chicken but I've never seen a chicken inside before... lol "

They live inside until they are the same size as the big girls outside. They need to be big enough to fight back with the henpecking, and this is the best option we've found. Works fine when they are tiny, but at this age and the next month, when she gets out of her box while we are not home and explores, and she, well... has the digestive function of a large chicken shall we say, a good hour after coming home is usually cleaning.

But she still snuggles up to you/into you like a baby chicken, so it's not all bad.

[Brenda]

ewwww and awwwww. lol cute!

I wonder... Is there way way to show book page number in the list of books or do I have to just click on the book to see the page number?

[Rusalka, Moderator]

Perfect timing. Just found it.

Hit settings up the top of the list, near the search bar. Then choose "num. pages".

Be aware though this will only show the edition you have on your list.

[Brenda]

AWESOME!!! you saved my day!!!
Thank you!

[Rusalka, Moderator]

No worries! I can't believe it was that simple. I've been looking for it for hours.

[Janice, Moderator]

Rusalka wrote: "This resulted on me having to lie on the corridor floor last night trying to work out links between the books, pushing myself up and down the corridor (wooden floors help). Lexx asked me what I was doing, and my response was "gophering". I think he thinks I'm mad."

Ha! Love it!

[Janice, Moderator]

Lori Z wrote: "What a great challenge, Janice! Thanks for all the time and effort you've obviously put in to this! I think I'm going to use this to catch up on series I've started. Now, is that enough of a link o..."

Series are a great way to link. If you do finish one series and go on to another, you must link them somehow. They can be pretty obscure links. Reading the messages in this thread and everyone's individual threads can give you some ideas on ways to link.

[Sarah]

I'm hoping to complete this challenge with books I currently own rather than buying any new ones. I have so many books on my shelf and kindle now and I really must stop buying some for a while (like that's going to happen).

[Chris]

Just wondering about the shorter books. When you pair two books shorter than 500 pages do they have to be by the same author? Or can they connect in the same way the 500+ books are allowed to connected. Such as two books with red covers or two books that were published in 2013? Great idea for a challenge?

[Esther]

Sarah wrote: "I'm hoping to complete this challenge with books I currently own rather than buying any new ones. I have so many books on my shelf and kindle now and I really must stop buying some for a while (lik..."

I started this way last year, and it did mostly work. Hoping it will work better this year. Good luck.

[Peggy]

Did you also have the problem that when you thought of a cool link you really wanted to use it? I had that a couple of times, that I thought of a link that I really wanted to use, but which made it much more difficult when I needed to reorganize some books!

[Almeta]

Sarah wrote: "I'm hoping to complete this challenge with books I currently own rather than buying any new ones. .."

Good luck with that!

This was my plan at the beginning of 2013. Unfortunately YLIO! members read books that I do not own, and made me acquire different ones! :D

[Rusalka, Moderator]

Yeah, we're real jerks like that.

[Debra]

Almeta wrote: "Janice wrote: "You could have produced all kinds of mischief with Debra's account up. Hehehe!..."



Shhhh!"

I saw that!

[Debra]

Rusalka wrote: "I have The Snowman on my list of possibilities.

The problem I have at the moment is that I pulled all my chunksters off my shelf on the weekend and lined them up along the corridor ..."

Too funny, Rusalka!

[Debra]

Brenda wrote: "Whoa! Those claws look like they hurt!!"

Yeah, I see a scratch on your arm, Rus. But, I should talk. My body is riddled with claw-prints from our rambunctious kitten.

[Laura]

I have a question about pairing a chunkster with a smaller book. Lets say I read a book that is 800 pp - could I pair that with a shorter book and count that as two? Many of my chunksters are way longer than 500 pp, it seems.

ETA - Ooh and what about a book over 1000 pp. would that count as two?

[Jess :)]

Well, planning has been fun! Though I really can't help but think that everything will be in complete disarray after I'm a few books into the challenge. It's hard for me to tell what I'll feel like reading even in January... I guess this means I'll stay on my toes! :)

[Sam]

Oh I am so definitely in on this one!!!! Must find time to plan and finish my alphabets now ;-)

[Jess :)]

Another question about pairing..
if I have a novel that just misses the mark -- say it's 450 p. -- would it be legit to pair this with a novella by the same author to get to 500+?

Ty :)

[Snoozie Suzie]

Ooh yes Laura's more than 1000pages question please? I was about to ask that too.

[Anna]

Laura wrote: "I have a question about pairing a chunkster with a smaller book. Lets say I read a book that is 800 pp - could I pair that with a shorter book and count that as two? Many of my chunksters are ..."

Good question.

And awesome challenge is awesome.