The Seasonal Reading Challenge discussion
FALL CHALLENGE 2009
>
How are you making time for all of this reading?
date
newest »
newest »
message 51:
by
Teresa
(new)
Sep 24, 2009 04:23PM
I am finding plenty of time to read during tv time. I use it especially for the books not just moving me. I get about 6-8 pages read during commerical time.
reply
|
flag
Teresa in Ohio wrote: "I am finding plenty of time to read during tv time. I use it especially for the books not just moving me. I get about 6-8 pages read during commerical time. "
LOL - me too, Teresa. I love reading during commercials.
Esp when it's the same commercials over and over again for the same season premiere or episode that week which makes you wanna channel hop :P
*lol* It's good to know I'm in good company when it comes to reading during commericals. Sad thing is that sometimes if I'm at a good part, I'll just pause the TiVo to find a good place to stop.
Kari ♪ wrote: "*lol* It's good to know I'm in good company when it comes to reading during commericals. Sad thing is that sometimes if I'm at a good part, I'll just pause the TiVo to find a good place to stop."I can read and watch tv at the same time : )
Sometimes I can do both, but it depends a lot on what the tv show is.Come January, when I go back to school (it's been over 20 years--yikes!), I doubt I'll have all the leisure time to read as I do now. I'm trying to enjoy this and get as much in as possible. I might have time for a few books, but not sure how bad the master's program will be with assignments/writing papers and observations (going full-time).
Hello!
I have a pretty flexible schedule so I am lucky to carve out lots of reading time. Now, having said that, how are some of you all reading so dang fast?? I just saw the leader board and some people are over 600 points already!! I thought I was a fast reader and was doing pretty well, but OMgoodness, there are some super readers taking part. I can't even wrap my head around the speed with which some are reading at ~ I think we should call the Guinness Book of Records because there are some awesome speed readers going to town on this challenge and showing it who's boss! LOL!!!
Jennifer wrote: "Hello!
I have a pretty flexible schedule so I am lucky to carve out lots of reading time. Now, having said that, how are some of you all reading so dang fast?? I just saw the leader board and som..."
Hi Jennifer,
I saw your post, so I figured I'd look up the Guinness record and it is almost unbelievable. At the 3-4 pages I read in a minute I'm at 750-1000 WPM. The record holder is at 25,000 WPM (or about 100 pgs). I can't imagine there would be much retention with that, but it's the record. WOW!!!
Roseann wrote: "Jennifer wrote: "Hello!
I have a pretty flexible schedule so I am lucky to carve out lots of reading time. Now, having said that, how are some of you all reading so dang fast?? I just saw the ..."
Oh my goodness, I am not sure that I could turn that many pages a minute. And you get a page done every 15 seconds??? Wow, that is so fast. I can't even imagine that.
Roseann wrote: "The record holder is at 25,000 WPM (or about 100 pgs). I can't imagine there would be much retention with that, but it's the record. WOW!!! "As Vizzinni would say "Inconceivable!"
:)
Jaclyn wrote: "I just got laid off on Friday, and I thought that on the bright side that would mean I would have time for more reading. However, it seems to be going in the opposite direction and I now have LESS..."Hi Jaclyn:
I'm sorry to hear about your layoff. That's really no fun. I was laid off in April, so I'm right there with you friend. While I'm looking for work, I'm also trying to be kind to myself and one of the ways that I do that is to indulge my reading habit. I've found that this group has been a big help by giving me a continuing sense of community with something outside my four walls.
I agree with Katie that staying positive is a big must right now. Also, try not to be too judgemental of yourself. (One of my sins....) And maybe give yourself a little while to decompress during this transition time.
Good luck!!
Looking at the leader board, I am thinking the Winter Challenge is going to be IMPOSSIBLE!
I think so too Nicole- Maybe there could be some way to limit it to the first 5 get 25 point challenges with only two books (or even three) allowed and anyone one else who finishes will only be allowed to pick a challenge with one book that is worth 20 points. May help just a bit, especially with the challenge starting in December with the holidays and all!
I have already decided to give myself permission to bow out in winter if needed and just set my own goal and read some of the stuff I want to read!
*bangs head on wall*Must stop having a social life so have more time to read. Go away, phone! Go away, friends! Stop having parties and inviting me to them!
I'm officially on maternity leave as of last Thursday. No baby yet so 've been trying to fill my time waiting by reading instead of just sitting and counting off the minutes. My phone won't stop ringing with people calling to see how I'm doing so I think I'm actually doing *less* reading than when I was working full time and commuting 2+ hours per day. LOL
Angela wrote: "I think so too Nicole- Maybe there could be some way to limit it to the first 5 get 25 point challenges with only two books (or even three) allowed and anyone one else who finishes will only be all..."I don't really like this : ( My goal to finish the challenge besides personal satsifaction is choosing a task for the next challenge. I have 3 running around in my head
Teresa in Ohio- I was just throwing an idea around. I too plan on finishing the challenge and I also know what I would like my task to be. Last time we had approx. 18 people finish the spring challenge, so the summer challenge was almost impossible to finish with so many books and tasks. I know that some people are speed readers (I actually do believe that I read fairly quickly, but 73 books in three months was vicious!). Of course all of this is up to Cynthia and just my opinion:)
Hi everyone,I know I am one of the infamous "speed readers", but I agree that the challenges should be limited. I would say the first ten finishers could get a challenge and I fully agree with the two book max. I see that many are already close to finishing this one and I fear for how many books could be in the Winter Challenge ;-)!
This is my first time to do this, so I'm sorta figuring out what by what others have posted how it kinda worked in the past. I really want to finish just to be able to say I did for my first time. But some of these 3 book things, keeps me in limbo as I rotate around library due dates and when I can access books in order to get things finished up. I've wound up just trying to get books that I know I can get from one of the two local branch libraries instead of trying to worry about getting titles that I might have to be on a long waiting list. I agree that maybe there should be a two book max except for maybe one or two of the highest point challenges.
Angela wrote: "Teresa in Ohio- I was just throwing an idea around. I too plan on finishing the challenge and I also know what I would like my task to be. Last time we had approx. 18 people finish the spring chall..."how about this? maybe we do more challenges and Cynthia would have less to think of?
We do suggestions like we do for the fall challenge and then we could choose which one to do?
The first 10 finishers get the higher point challenges and it trickles down to 5 points.
Hope I am making sense?
I quite like how the Challenges are set up right now. I do agree that too many 3-book tasks are daunting. They are interesting but time consuming. The 2-book tasks are interesting because they usually bring together two aspects of literature that are new to me (ie: the original book and a companion/retelling book task of the last challenge). It would be nice to have the 3-book tasks (because of their time consuming nature) delegated to the higher 30- and 50-point tasks only. However, some 25-pt tasks later get moved to 30-pt task, which is after the tasks are defined.
Therefore, it may be an idea to limit 3-book tasks to the tasks that do not get moved to another point catagory. These would include the 50-pt task and the 20-pt tasks. Once those are announced, they don't get shuffled around in any way. Also, this limits the number of possible 3-book tasks to a reasonable number.
Does that make sense?
As for limiting the number of tasks available per Challenge, I wouldn't want to agree to that. I'll never finish a Challenge, of that I'm pretty sure, but I think it's a marvelous achievement and anyone who finishes deserves to be able to chose a task, whether they are the first to finish or the 11th or the 21st to finish.
If we limit the # of Challenges, then some people don't get a well-deserved reward.
Also, having that large variety of tasks to choose from makes the Challenges interesting. Limiting the number of Challenges takes away from the variety.
Those sound like really good ideas regarding the challenges. And what you are suggesting, Petra, are along the lines of what I was thinking regarding 2-book/3-book challenges. I'd certainly like to see a larger variety of tasks to choose from. Definitely not meant to be criticizing what Cynthia's done, as I think this is a great group and have been loving. Just liking to see a great thing made even better :) And if there is a way to make Cynthia's job easier, I'd be all for. I am just amazed how she manages to keep up with everything, especially with working too! Kudos, Cynthia.
Petra wrote: "I quite like how the Challenges are set up right now. I do agree that too many 3-book tasks are daunting. They are interesting but time consuming. The 2-book tasks are interesting because they usua..."Yep to all your points : ) The reason I will finish the challenge is so I can make a task for the next one.
Re-reading my post, it suggests (I think) that the 20 and 50 point tasks *must* be 3-book tasks. I'm not suggesting that. Just that those who get to choose those tasks would have that option, while those who choose the 25 and 30 (and...horrors....the possible 35-pt tasks) wouldn't. They would be limited to 1- and 2-book tasks of their choosing.
Teresa in Ohio wrote: "The reason I will finish the challenge is so I can make a task for the next one. .."Theresa, it would be fun to choose a Task. I give lots of credit to everyone who comes up with the great tasks we have. Thanks to all the Task Makers, I've read some great books that I wouldn't normally have noticed.
Petra wrote: "Teresa in Ohio wrote: "The reason I will finish the challenge is so I can make a task for the next one. .."Theresa, it would be fun to choose a Task. I give lots of credit to everyone who co..."
Agreed. And I can't wait to see what you'll come up with, Teresa.
Petra wrote: "Re-reading my post, it suggests (I think) that the 20 and 50 point tasks *must* be 3-book tasks. I'm not suggesting that. Just that those who get to choose those tasks would have that option, while..."
I didn't read it that way, but more as a choice to, that if a person wanted to, they could. Guess I knew what you meant.
I love the three book tasks! While it requires more work and PATIENCE to earn the points, they seem to be tasks that also give me a little more freedom of choice to fit in books that I can't seem to fit anywhere else. I've got lots of the 3 book tasks in progress that I'm eager to complete.
I definitely have found that with some of the 3-book tasks. Some of have them have also been more a challenge to get them to work with the system I'm working with using library books (though that does give a lot of flexiblity most of the time). And this is a challenge, and 3-books can be a challenge sometimes. I'm thinking though for those having less time, it would be nice for them to be able to have a good chance of getting finished too. I'm not saying to make it easy, of course. Again, just thinking outloud and tossing out ideas. This has definitely been very fun the way it was set up for the fall.
Lisa, I enjoy them, too, for the exact reason that you state. In this Challenge, I got to fit some books into the 3-book tasks that I couldn't get into any of the others. In no way would I want to make the Challenge "easy". Like I said, I like it the way it is. However, it is nice to toss around thoughts once in awhile to see if things can be stream-lined and to find out what people think, in general.
I think the point is not to make this easy for people (or anyone) to finish. I think it would be great if you had to read 200 books to finish - that way for the people who are faster, they still have more tasks to do. The challenge is to 'challenge' yourself to read books that you might not have otherwise, not to finish it.
I think, its not broke, let's not try to fix it.
(also, that wasnt supposed to sound jerky or anything. tone is lacking when you are forced to only read someone's thoughts) Love this challenge and hearing everyones thoughts
Nah, it's fine. It can be hard to express through this media sometimes. I always remember that and that there is a person on the other side of the computer. Very nice ones, too, here, with this group :)I wasn't saying to make it "easy" by any means and you brought up a good point of the other aspect of the challenge as challenging yourself to read books you might not otherwise read.
Making a challenge that can fit the variety of individuals doing this certainly isn't easy either. What Cynthia has done is phenonemonal and quite creative. And the last thing I'd want to see is where it would make more work for her to keep track of.
Being new, I just don't know all the ins and outs either and have just been picking up as I go through this time around. I've been lucky to have the spare time and that I'm a semi-fast reader. I guess it would just be nice if those who try so hard could have something for their efforts (in addition to the satisfaction that they read new types of books, etc.) that the faster readers do. Maybe it's also my having been involved in an online game for years (and actually having a nice break from it by reading), that I see how much of the game has focused on the end-game content for those who rush through and not enough for those who enjoy taking their time, aren't "obsessed" or other reasons for not hitting the highest level possible. I think that's the where I'm coming from in my ideas on this. Anyway, my two cents.
what would it require, if we had 3 levels and you chose where to be, Of course if you had done previous challenges or are in the top finishers you couldnt be a novice? We could have novice, intermideate, and challenging levels? I know it is all for your own accomplishments, but I want everyone to finish, oh boy would the task list be long? Or what if the top 20 finishers ( did the 20 and 30 point challenges) the next 20 finishers did 15 finishers, and so forth,
I do NOT want to step on Cynthina's toes and her challenges our awesome ( oh wait maybe her own list of 10 tasks?????) and her record keeping is out of this world with her working, I could never do it what she does,
or how about parameters for the 5, 10,15 tasks passed on what she picks for the themes????
What I don't want is for the challenge to limited at all to only the first 20 or 30 who finish cna pick tasks,
because if I couldnt pick a task, I might not do it at all : (
Bridgit wrote: "I think the point is not to make this easy for people (or anyone) to finish. I think it would be great if you had to read 200 books to finish - that way for the people who are faster, they still ha..."see nothing wrong with your tone : ) and if not for this challenge I would not of tried books that I am/have tried so far
I think three-book tasks are fine for whatever the point amount... I mean, you would have to read five 5-point books to get the same point about as a 25-point task... it should be harder. I know that I won't finish one of these challenges, at least not while I am still in school, but I kinda like some of the three book tasks, like the noun one... it just kind of plays off of each other.
I def. agree that anyone who finishes deserves to pick a challenge because I am one who tries really hard to finish them (I have finished two:) I agree with that whoever finishes first should have the 30 point task and that a three book challenge for those would be fine. We would just have to wait to see who the top ten are first and the anyone else who finishes gets to pick a 25 point task, but I think they should be limited to 2 books. To me it is different this time around because a lot more people are participating, which means more will finish. I have loved a lot of the three book challenges that have been picked in both the past and also the ones that were picked this time around. They seem to be less limiting and allow us to read some of the books we REALLY want to read. These challenges have opened me up to a lot of books I would never have read and I love that! Again kudos to Cynthia for all she does with this challenge.
I agree with Bridgit on the not broke, don't fix it thing. It seems like Cynthia was really careful about making the 5, 10, and 15 point tasks progressively more difficult, only requiring two books for some 15 point tasks. (I thought the whole school theme for the 15 point tasks was a really creative touch.)As far as the 20-50 point challenges go, I thought the challenge writers struck a nice balance, too, though without design. We have a variety of one, two, and three book tasks, some super-flexible, some requiring a bit more research and finagling. I like the variety of these tasks and I don't really think there should limits. The ABC task, for example, wouldn't make sense as just AB, and to me that task is even more flexible (read: easier) than some of the one book tasks.
I'm not generally one to argue for the status quo...shhh, don't tell anyone. :-)
Nicole wrote: "I have already decided to give myself permission to bow out in winter if needed and just set my own goal and read some of the stuff I want to read!"Me too. I seriously need a break to get other projects done.
Diane wrote: "Nicole wrote: "I have already decided to give myself permission to bow out in winter if needed and just set my own goal and read some of the stuff I want to read!"Me too. I seriously need a br..."
Yep. I adore reading, but I do have other loves in my life. Must get back to a LITTLE more balance in my life.
I do love all of this conversation about the challenge that popped up on this post! I wonder if Cynthia has read it! I think the challenge can be whatever you make it. No one is being forced to finish!
Bridgit wrote: "The challenge is to 'challenge' yourself to read books that you might not have otherwise, not to finish it...."Well said, Bridgit. Finding books that I may never have come across is the favorite part of the Challenge, for me. The Challenge is just right, just the way it is, if this is kept in mind.
As Kathryn said, one would need to read 5 5-pt books for 25 points and yet a 25-point task is never more than 3 books. So, in a way, they are "easier" and less time-consuming in the end. It's just the psychological feeling of reading and reading and not posting for new points. :D
I hope the Challenges don't change. I like how they are set up.
I always have an audio book to listen to in my car. With two hours of driving per day, I go through a book every week or two. I also have gotten in the habit of reading 1-2 hours when I go to bed. I no longer watch television to relax. I have always been a big reader, but I used to read and then watch tv. Now it is all books, all the time!
Its my first challenge and I have to say that I'm really enjoying to read books that I would have never paid attention without this.It also give me the opportunity to push myself to read more instead of watching TV.I would not be able to complete the challenge but I have to say that I set my own goal and I'm really suprised how much extra free time I allowed to myself
last month just in reading.
Its a great challenge and it always fun to complete a task and look forward to pick another one.
I'm with you. The minute the word CHALLENGE in thrown in, I am scrambling to read even more than I normally do. I am part of three challenge groups right now. :)
I'm in grad school right now so most of my reading is concentrated in school. once in a great while I'm lucky and can count one of those books for the challenge. I don't accumulate a lot of points, but the only way I'm able to get in pleasure reading is if I do it on the subway (I live in New York). I also joined a book group here in the city which forces me to read at least one "extra" book that i'm usually able to count in the challenge.
I read all the time, before bed, while watching tv, waiting for public transportation, etc
I agree with these posts! I always thought I was a pretty speedy reader until I started noticing how many points others have! I try not to compare myself to others, due to many demands on my time, just doing the best I can and ENJOY it. But sometimes it does still feel like I'm trying to cross a busy freeway at rush hour. :D
