You'll love this one...!! A book club & more discussion
Challenges: Monthly
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July 2016 - Randomiser, Random, Randomiser, You're a Randomiser
My TBR is currently 3434 and I generated #1560. I chose She Wore Only White by Dörthe Binkert because it was the first one I came to and thought 'yes' when the exact number didn't do that, so didn't look any further; this seemed to me to be in the spirit of the thing! Anyway, have ordered it from the library.
Roz wrote: "You really want to know why I added any book to my growing TBR? Because I'm an idiot! It's like being in a candy store, they all look so good (at the time) then later on when I look again, I think "what the...? What's that doing there? Was I drunk when I picked that?"..."ROFL!!! I am sure others think the same thing, Roz, but no one wanted to say it. I have actually gotten a little better at not adding everything I see, but it IS hard not to. I was proud of myself the other day when I deleted 6 books. It did not make a dent in my 3k TBR shelf, but I felt better. How amazing that your book is the one I just ordered from my library today. I mean what are the odds?
I only have a measly 233 books on my TBR shelf. My random number was 12 which turned out to be The Midwife's Confession. I had completely forgotten about this book and don't really remember why I added it. I think I swiped it from a friends reading list. I figure I will give it a shot. I placed a hold on it and am next in line for it from the library. If I can't get into it, then there were a few books above it that I currently own and will keep as a backup plan.
Almeta wrote: "Oddly, on my screen the number appears, but will not allow me to sort by it. Also, there is no function "enable sorting" on my TBR. (That function appears on other shelves, but not my TBR.)..."I think you already have your sorting function turned on. Mine was the same. You just have to scroll up or down to your number by sorting in ascending or descending order, which ever gets you closest to your number. It took me a while to figure it out.
I have a teeny TBR list of 107. The random number generator gave me 102, which is The City of Falling Angels. It is one of the books I bought last weekend at a fund raiser garage sale for only 20 cents. Some of my friends have given it positive reviews, so it seems like a good choice for the challenge.
My tbr shelf has 1104 books on it. My random number was 1066, which is #3 in a series and I haven't read #2 yet, so I went with book #1053 which is A Fatal Grace which is #2 in a series I just started and is available at my library, so I'm going with it.
Tasha wrote: "I have 547 on my tbr and my random number is 47...off to gopher! "Mine too!!
That doesn't help. I want to read all 41 books...X )
TrudyAn wrote: "I have a teeny TBR list of 107. The random number generator gave me 102, which is The City of Falling Angels. It is one of the books I bought last weekend at a fund raiser garage sale ..."It's excellent!
352 is the # on my to read list..I generated # 182, which is If I Ever Get Out of Here
.Going to read #164
Allegiant so I can finish this series. Already got it from the library and waiting for Friday to roll in.
Jackie wrote: "If your to-read shelf is over 5,000 books, it is too big to sort. I had to create another exclusive folder and move some books to allow that feature to work."Thank you for explaining that. I was able to sort based on date added. It mostly was in numerical order, though a few numbers were transposed or slightly out of order.
My list is 5361, and I don't mind adding anything that sounds remotely interesting. My problem has more to do with duplicates.Anyway, I got number 4683, which is Murder in Christmas River. Unfortunately, this must have been at a time when I added a bunch of Christmas-themed books to my list (to help with other challenges). So, nearly all of my 41 books relate to Christmas. At least I have a few other books, like Holy Sh*t: A Brief History of Swearing, which sounds like fun, to choose from.
If I can find them I'm thinking of The Celtic Riddle, The African Quest, or The Etruscan Chimera. These are archeological/treasure hunting adventures around the world and the heroine has the same name as me. Very tempting!
What fun!!There are 1321 books on my to read list. Random number generated 1005. The book corresponding to this position is This Great Unknowing: Last Poems, a book of poems, only 80 pages in length.
My top contenders within the accepted range that i think i'll choose from are these, all travel books coincidentally:
The Good Girl's Guide to Getting Lost: A Memoir of Three Continents, Two Friends, and One Unexpected Adventure
All Over the Map
Paris, Paris: Journey into the City of Light
Whatever Happened to Margo?
Gipsy Moth Circles the World
I love the randomizer challenges!I have 352 books in my TBR list and my random number is 200 (doesn't look random at all!). I will come back later to check which books are available in the library and what I feel like reading.
As i forgot to put in the rules before people started gophering, no page minimum for this one. But I'm assuming people arent going to read a 15 page picture book. I trust you all know the spirit of challenges enough. So 100pp is fine this time.
I'm pleased I have my shelves arranged as I do. My tbr only consists of books I own. My wishlist are all the books I want but haven't bought yet. Pleased it's based on tbr and not wishlist :-)
Yeah, I try and keep these tasks based on a shelf on the one that is default by Goodreads. Keeps it fairer for everyone.I am an add whatever looks interesting person as well... so I am hoping I roll something that has at least something I can source quickly. If I find a good list of Around the World reading I tend to add them all, and then try and source them when they are published in Aus/UK/US. Does mean I may end up in some black holes in my TBR.
Jackie wrote: "If your to-read shelf is over 5,000 books, it is too big to sort. I had to create another exclusive folder and move some books to allow that feature to work."I had no idea. Thanks Jackie. I do like that sometimes these challenges help us work out how Goodreads works too.
And I agree with what everyone has been doing. If you have too many books on your TBR that you can't sort them by number (over 5000), sort by date added.But I would like you to use the number first, if you can.
I must have accidently reordered my list years ago, as it's all in a weird order, which does add a little more randomness to the challenge. So just in case others have done this too, we'll do number, then date added if over 5000 books.
Mariab wrote: "That doesn't help. I want to read all 41 books...X )"
Hah! Well can't help with that one :P
Thanks for that video by the way! Okay, I'm stuck with the Britney song whenever I see the title, but I hadn't heard of Post Modern Jukebox before and it's great! I have to add it to my spotify. I love it when bands do really awesome covers. Lately I've been in love with this cover of Chaka Khan's Ain't Nobody: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=loXF7...
Rusalka wrote: "As i forgot to put in the rules before people started gophering, no page minimum for this one. But I'm assuming people arent going to read a 15 page picture book. I trust you all know the spirit of..."Umm, actually the number I selected, 237, pointed to Tales of Byzantium: A Selection of Short Stories which is less than a 100 pages long :). I think I'll probably try Three Parts Dead, though. If I have the time, that is. I love this challenge, it makes me read books that I wanted to read anyway :).
Sarah wrote: "I'm pleased I have my shelves arranged as I do. My tbr only consists of books I own. My wishlist are all the books I want but haven't bought yet. Pleased it's based on tbr and not wishlist :-)"I have my shelves arranged the same way as you, Sarah. I find it easier to keep books that I own separate from those I want to read but don't own yet.
I think you organised it in a smart way, Sarah and Lisa. I'm considering redoing my shelves, but the work... :|I have labelled books that I own with to-read-ebook and to-read-paper-book, so I can easily find my owned books. They're just not mutually exclusive shelves, and my to-read shelve contains the paper books and ebooks I own, as well as everything I want to read but don't own.
Teanka wrote: "Rusalka wrote: "As i forgot to put in the rules before people started gophering, no page minimum for this one. But I'm assuming people arent going to read a 15 page picture book. I trust you all kn..."Teanka, thats fine. There is no word limit. Read whatever you wish.
My # was 117 - so I will either read: Looking for Lovedu: Days and Nights in Africa
or
Cat's Cradle
We'll see how much time I have - maybe both :)
Mariab wrote: "That doesn't help. I want to read all 41 books...X )"
I thought exactly the same thing when I saw my 41 books. They are in my TBR after all!
A good pruning in my shelves would be a great idea. From time to time I delete books, mostly because I read bad reviews from GR friends, reconsider if I want to read them, and if the answer is no, I delete them.
I ah e an actual shelf for books I own but haven't read at home. In pretty PCD about maintaining my tbr list in some kind of order. Books that are "on deck" so to speak go in my top twenty so I can salivate about them before I get to them
Rusalka wrote: "Jackie wrote: "If your to-read shelf is over 5,000 books, it is too big to sort. I had to create another exclusive folder and move some books to allow that feature to work."I had no idea. Thanks ..."
It was not too time consuming to create an exclusive shelf to move some books over.
Well...I got number 389 and by serendipity had a book within 20 of that which I purchased in ebook format due to a sale just last week. So, I'll be reading: Altered Carbon which should be interesting. It's been a while since I've done a scifi book. Hooray.
Peggy wrote: "I think you organised it in a smart way, Sarah and Lisa. I'm considering redoing my shelves, but the work... :|I have labelled books that I own with to-read-ebook and to-read-paper-book, so I can..."
Sarah, Lisa and Peggy,
I am working on changing my shelves to reflect the ones I own as opposed to my want to read books. I spend too much money on choosing books for challenges that I do not already own-great for Amazon but not my bank account! I am also adding a page number range for those times when I need a shorter book to read if I have overcommitted myself. It does take time to do this, but I work on it while I am "watching" television.
Jackie, did you know GR can display number of pages and that you can also order books based on page numbers? Just hoping you're not doing unneccesary work :)
I only have 281 books on my TBR list. (I try to exercise some restraint, really.) The number I drew was 110, which on my list is The Road from Coorain. I keep meaning to get to that, and I was able to order a used copy for about thirty-five cents over the cost of shipping. There are a number of other possibles in the 40 books above and below, including The Forgotten Garden, which I have on my Kindle from a long-ago Kindle Daily Deal. It's a tough choice.
Roz, I soooo relate to your what-the-heck reasons for adding books to your TBR. I often can't figure out WHY I added a particular book. My shelf could do with some fine-tuning!
I only have 48 books on my TBR, and the random generator gave my 47. Luckily there are at least 4 books that I already own. I'm also going to see if any audiobooks are available from the library. I like to read two books at a time this way! I'll post again when I've decided which books to actually read.
Peggy wrote: "Jackie, did you know GR can display number of pages and that you can also order books based on page numbers? Just hoping you're not doing unneccesary work :)"Peggy, I am creating shelves based on the pages numbers that GR provides; for example, 500-600, 1000+, and the ever growing 0 or unknown! However I do appreciate your comment. Even though I have sorted my total list by page numbers, I find it easier to look at them in a shelf. Crazy I know, but it works for me!
Just so I don't forget what I am planning on, I'll post here. I have 783 books on my to-read list. I rolled a 681, which landed me on #14 of a series I'm only a few books into. So I'll be reading 688 instead, Persona Non Grata.
That makes sense Jackie :) I also like to have my books ordered in several different ways :D
Peggy wrote: "I think you organised it in a smart way, Sarah and Lisa. I'm considering redoing my shelves, but the work..."I agree, Peggy. I actually created a shelf for "owned" on GR last year, but I have not gone back and applied it to my TBR list. I have a spread sheet that lists all of my books that I own - print, nook, kindle, and audio. I track author, page numbers and try to apply genre, setting, significant cover info, awards, etc notes. I ususlly check my list before I start gophering my TBR for challenges.
Sandra wrote: "A good pruning in my shelves would be a great idea. From time to time I delete books, mostly because I read bad reviews from GR friends, reconsider if I want to read them, and if the answer is no, ..."I definitely need to prune my wishlist shelf a bit. I know there are books listed on there that I no longer have any interest in reading but haven't removed yet.
That's so smart Cherie! I often (for almost every challenge ;-)) wish I had information on setting, genre, cover etc. ready. Sometimes I have no idea on how to go about gophering. But the idea of starting such a spreadsheet now for over 200 books is a bit daunting. Maybe something for the long winter evenings ;-)
Olivia wrote: "I only have 48 books on my TBR, and the random generator gave my 47. Luckily there are at least 4 books that I already own. I'm also going to see if any audiobooks are available from the library. I..."Welcome Olivia! I hope you enjoy your first challenge.
I exercise no restraint whatsoever......however, an occasional pruning happens, especially in response to poor reviews.
Teanka wrote: "Umm, actually the number I selected, 237, pointed to Tales of Byzantium: A Selection of Short Stories which is less than a 100 pages long :). I think I'll probably try Three Parts Dead, though. If I have the time, that is. I love this challenge, it makes me read books that I wanted to read anyway :). "I love Three Parts Dead and am a big fan of the series overall.
Marcus wrote: "Well...I got number 389 and by serendipity had a book within 20 of that which I purchased in ebook format due to a sale just last week. So, I'll be reading: Altered Carbon which should..."I just picked that book up as an ebook deal. There are some really good reviews of it.
Jackie wrote: " It was not too time consuming to create an exclusive shelf to move some books over"Please dont do this. It is not to use a special shelf, the challenge is to use your tbr in it's entirety.
Olivia wrote: "I only have 48 books on my TBR, and the random generator gave my 47. Luckily there are at least 4 books that I already own. I'm also going to see if any audiobooks are available from the library. I..."Welcome to the Challenges, Olivia!
This is so much fun, thanks Rusalka! I came up with No. 130 The Painted Girls. To be honest, I don't even remember adding it to my TBR but now that I rediscovered it I understand why I added it.
You'll love this one...!! A book club & more
Books mentioned in this topic
All Over the Map (other topics)Instruments of Darkness (other topics)
No Name (other topics)
Private (other topics)
End of Watch (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Justin Cronin (other topics)Barry Unsworth (other topics)
Ellis Peters (other topics)
Kristin Hannah (other topics)
John Grogan (other topics)
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You really want to know why I added any book to my growing TBR? Because I'm an idiot! It's like being in a candy store, they all look so good (at the time) then later on when I look again, I think "what the...? What's that doing there? Was I drunk when I picked that?"
I really have to eliminate some of these.