TBR Summer Challenge - 2016: Rules and Questions

[JoLene, Mistress of the Challenge]

We've had a request for another TBR challenge, and summer is just starting (at least in the Northern hemisphere) so we will have a summer theme.

Pre-planning is required for this challenge!!
This will be a 3 month challenge, but you will only be able to join at the 1st of each month.

Sign-ups Participants MUST sign up and provide a list of books prior to starting the challenge. The number of books is determined by the start date:
Starting on June 1: 50 books
Starting on July 1: 25 books
Starting on Aug 1: 15 books

There will be TWO opportunities to re-arrange your unread book list on July 1 and Aug 1. Aside from this date, the order of the book cannot be changed. Choose wisely! ;) You will also be allowed to add up to 5 new books at each "re-arrange" time.
Example thread

IMPORTANT: If the thread is locked, you should NOT edit your list.

NOTE: This is a personal challenge and meant to be a fun way to motivate you to read books that you've been thinking about for while. However, you decide the parameters of how you want to make your list, like only reading books that you own or reading books on your "wishlist". The only real requirement is to read from a pre-determined list.

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 June 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 June 1. You must be using the "progress update" feature of GoodReads to claim this.

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

4) Re-reads are NOT permitted for this challenge. (sorry, one objective is to read down your TBR).

5) There is no genre requirement for this challenge, but there is a Bonus tasks for reading HF.

SCORING / HOW IT WORKS:
1) At time of sign-up, each participant will select the books from their 'To-Read' list on Goodreads. Any variation of a To-Read shelf will count, including Wishlist. Example, I have a shelf called own-tbr which are books that own but haven't read.

Books will be ordered from 1-50 (if you are doing the 3 months, adjust when starting later), 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

NOTE: If you are a slow reader, and don't want to list 50 books, you can have a shorter list. However, if you start with 20 books, you can only play with 20 books for the whole challenge (Also, you will want to have still start your list at spot 50 if you are playing for points)

2) Bonus Tasks for 50 points each: After you have read at least 5 books on your list, once a month, you can read a book from one of the mods TBR lists. Each month you need to pick a different mod, so if you chose to read one each month, you will have read one from each of the mods.

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
To Read - ebook
To-read-owned

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

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

3) Summer theme bonuses: You can claim 5 point bonus for each of the following. You can only claim each bonus once during the challenge.
a. Read a book set in summer.
b. Read a book where the main character takes a trip.
c. Read a book with a summer scene on the cover.
d. Read a book set in a different country than where you live.
e. Read a book where one of the author's initials is in the word SUMMER.

4) 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).

4a) 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

4b) 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 the challenge.
If the book has a dual story-line than 50% of the action needs to take place in the historical setting.

4c) You can claim 2 points for each year that the book has been on your TBR. You should use the "Date Added" field on your bookshelf and you may need to add the field to your bookshelf view. The bonus is as follows, if the "Date Added" is before:
June 1, 2015: 2 points
June 1, 2014: 4 points
June 1, 2013: 6 points
June 1, 2012: 8 points
June 1, 2011: 10 points
June 1, 2010: 15 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
Date added: Jan 1, 2012: 8 pts
Total - 34 points

__________________________________________

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


Ask questions below.

[Plethora]

This sounds like an awesome idea, I'm fairly new to group so haven't seen this before. Now to scour my shelves for a nice list of 50.

[Margaret]

This sound fun. Is there a way we can add a shelf or link from our TBR shelf to dothis?

[Donna]

JoLene,

If I read all 50 books in June, do I still only do 1 mod a month for the bonus, or can I knock those out in the same month?

[Plethora]

Margaret wrote: "This sound fun. Is there a way we can add a shelf or link from our TBR shelf to dothis?"

I plan on making a shelf with them sorted in order to help me keep things straight.

[JoLene, Mistress of the Challenge]

@Margaret, you can create a shelf, but you have to do the list in a post. The reason is that there is no way to "lock" a shelf.

@Donna, sorry, you have to stick with the rules.

[Donna]

JoLene, I'm very rule oriented...that isn't the problem. I'm just trying to understand #2 in the rules. So, I can read 40 for June, and do one mod-bonus. Then 5 for July, plus the mod bonus and then the last 5 for August. Is that correct?

[JoLene, Mistress of the Challenge]

Hum......when we've done this type of challenge, it was only for 1 month. I am expanding it so yes --- I think they way you stated it is correct. You must be a fast reader!!!

[Erica]

Cool! Thanks Jolene for setting this up :)

[Plethora]

Is there any requirement that the book must be owned?

[JoLene, Mistress of the Challenge]

There is no requirement --- but the object is that you are reading down things that you have been wanting to read. However, as someone who loves to do challenges, I know that I sometimes need to fit things in (which is why I'm letting you add 5 books each month).

[Plethora]

I was thinking it was only books you owned, but I do have plans for some upcoming reads on other projects but I don't own the books. However, I will probably keep my list to ones I own. I won't be able to finish this list of 50 in three months with the other things I'm participating in. So many choices.....

[Jayme(theghostreader)]

So if we start with 20 books, is the first book still worth 50 points?

[JoLene, Mistress of the Challenge]

@Jayme - yes, but if you start with 20 and get through them in 2 months, you can't add additional books.

[JoLene, Mistress of the Challenge]

A Bookworm Reading (Plethora) wrote: "I was thinking it was only books you owned, but I do have plans for some upcoming reads on other projects but I don't own the books. However, I will probably keep my list to ones I own. I won't be ..."

So these challenges are just for fun. The original idea of the 1 month challenge was to read down your TBR, but some people don't use GR to track books that they own.

[Jayme(theghostreader)]

JoLene wrote: "@Jayme - yes, but if you start with 20 and get through them in 2 months, you can't add additional books."

On average my I been reading about 12 books a month so can I do 25 books?

[Margaret]

Can we read the books in any order, and when we add 5 new books I guess we delete 5 from
The existing list and substitute the new ones?

[JoLene, Mistress of the Challenge]

@ Jayme, you can chose to list any number that you would like. There is no penalty for not reading any of the books. If you are reading 12 books per month, you would want to list at least 36 if you want to play for the whole 3 months. By listing 50 books, you have some flexibility for choices.

@Margaret, the way the substitution will work is that you can take off 5 books that you haven't read and substitute 5 other books. However, once you read a book, that position on the list is locked.

Example....on July 1 my list looks like this:
50. The Fifth Season - completed 8Jun16
49. The Lake House
48. Death at Wentwater Court - completed 12Jun16
47. Song of Achilles
46. The Poison Artist - completed 14Jun16

On July 1, you can substitute a book in position 49 and 47, but not for the spots that you've already read it.

[JoLene, Mistress of the Challenge]

@Joanne -- You asked if you can start early and the answer is no. It is clearly stated in the rules when to start. (There is an exception for 1 large book if you still have over 1/2 to finish).

[Becky, Moddess]

Great challenge, JoLene! 50 books in 3 months might be impossible for me, but hey, go big or go home, right? LOL Since I've got well over 400 books that I own and haven't read, this will be a OWNED TBR challenge for me, for sure. :D

[Jayme(theghostreader)]

Most of mine are owned.

[JoLene, Mistress of the Challenge]

Yeah --- we've done it for a month, but decided to that we might as well go big :-D

I think I have over 1000 kindle and audio books alone so I'm trying to do all owned books as well!

[Jayme(theghostreader)]

This is going to be alot of points. If I read all 36 books that would be
1649 points not adding HF bonuses and task bonuses.

[Margaret]

My question, there is no penalty for not reading all 50 books?

[JoLene, Mistress of the Challenge]

Margaret wrote: "My question, there is no penalty for not reading all 50 books?"

No penalty for not reading books and you can read them in any order. The amount of points for each book is determined by the pre-made list though.

[Jackie]

JoLene wrote: "Yeah --- we've done it for a month, but decided to that we might as well go big :-D

I think I have over 1000 kindle and audio books alone so I'm trying to do all owned books as well!"

Wow. I refuse to count how many unread ebooks and audios I have. lol.

I think this one will be mainly owned physical books for me. I finally worked on unpacking and cataloging all my books and well, the number of unread ones is sort of staggering.

[Gretchen, Keep your head up or the crown slips]

I am currently reading Outlander and I am less than 200 (out of 896) pages in. So as long as I don't get half way through before June 1 (which I probably won't at this rate), I can count the book for this challenge?

[JoLene, Mistress of the Challenge]

@Gretchen --- yep!

[Margaret]

Likewise I've just started London: by [author: Edward Rutherfurd

[Margaret]

It's over 1000 pages. I have therefore listed it as no 50. I assume that's ok?

[JoLene, Mistress of the Challenge]

As long as you are less than 1/2 done on June first, it can count. Please update the progress of the book on Jun 1.

I might try to start Gone with the Wind so I can do that myself!!

[Linda]

I just started A Perfect Heritage by Penny Vincenzi. It is 768 pages so will be my exception. The only problem is that it is so good, I have to slow myself down!

[JoLene, Mistress of the Challenge]

@Linda, That can be a problem :-D

[Cheryl A]

Thanks, JoLene, for the challenge! Just what I need to light a fire on my recently lackluster reading habits!

[China]

I like this challenge. Is YA books acceptable? I read historical fiction too.

[JoLene, Mistress of the Challenge]

Yes, any genre is acceptable --- you just get bonus points for historical fiction.

[Plethora]

I just remembered I was trying to work on a list for this...lol

Guess I'd better hurry up and finalize something to post.

[Becky, Moddess]

A Bookworm Reading (Plethora) wrote: "I just remembered I was trying to work on a list for this...lol

Guess I'd better hurry up and finalize something to post."

LOL you and me both! I just realized that I have about 4 stacks of books that I've purchased but haven't added to Goodreads yet. (So much for the whittling down the Owned To Read list, eh?)

So I'll be doing that tomorrow and then I'll come up with a final list.

[JoLene, Mistress of the Challenge]

I know....whittling down to 50 is hard. Also one of my weekend tasks

[Linda]

Changed my mind about my exception book (couldn't put it down!) So changed it & then re-worked most of thevrest of the list. I had forgotten how interesting it is to put it together

[Margaret]

I have a problem
I can't edit my list or add the Mod bonuses! I'm using the app on my iPhone. Tunis is going to be a problem for scoring?

[Becky, Moddess]

Have you tried visiting the site from your phone's browser instead of the app?

[JoLene, Mistress of the Challenge]

@margaret, Becky is correct. The app doesn't have full functionality, but you should be able to access the site through a browser by going to go goodreads.com.

[Plethora]

I noticed on Jackie's HF shelf is Katherine Swynford: The Story of John of Gaunt and His Scandalous Duchess, this is actually a work of Non-Fiction.

Are we able to count NF in the HF point bonus?

[JoLene, Mistress of the Challenge]

Sure -- I will allow

[Jackie]

A Bookworm Reading (Plethora) wrote: "I noticed on Jackie's HF shelf is Katherine Swynford: The Story of John of Gaunt and His Scandalous Duchess, this is actually a work of Non-Fiction.

Are we able to count NF in the H..."

I just fixed this. Thanks!

[CandyBeans]

I've been away from GR for awhile and I am so excited to come back in time for this. I loved the MAY TBR that we did a year or two ago. Thank you!

[Christina]

I am sorry I have been away for a while too. Can I still post a list today (June 1)? This looks like fun!

[JoLene, Mistress of the Challenge]

Ok, I'll let you post, but I'm locking the thread at the end of today.

[Christina]

JoLene wrote: "Ok, I'll let you post, but I'm locking the thread at the end of today."

Thank you JoLene!