2015 Year Long Challenge - Serial Killers

[Peggy]

Pfew, thanks for some good news too Janice! :D

[Janice, Moderator]

Stephanie wrote: "Hi Janice!
With the in death series by JD Robb that I am reading, she has what are called novellas. Would those count as a book for points?"

If they are listed as .5 (8.5, 12.5) etc, they won't be counted. If they are listed as 8 or 12, they will be counted.

That's a huge series! YIKES!

[Marie Claude]

Janice wrote: "Lisa wrote: "Thanks for the answers Janice. I just need a bit of extra clarification. Are we allowed to use 2 books series, such as 'The Riyria Chronicles', for 5 points per book or do they not cou..."

Ok, thanks for the answer :) So we'll hope for a third book in 2015 for these series ;o)

[Janice, Moderator]

What I would mention about this, is remember that goodreads is flawed, and that the database is managed by people like us. So sometimes things get missed. I'd say if you have good evidence that they are a series, Janice will probably count them (but of course, we shall wait on her call).

Yeah, I debated about that when I saw Peggy's question. I decided to apply the K.I.S.S. principle (Keep It Simple Stupid) as much as possible. So, flawed or not, the Goodread's database is going to be the decider.

For what it's worth, I did look up those books on FictFact and didn't find them.

I may allow it, if the author has indicated somewhere that she intended the books as a series.... Peggy?

[Janice, Moderator]

Marie Claude wrote: "Follow-up question: Do 2-book series books count as books read, for 5 points, even though the series itself cannot count as a finished series? And do "First in a new series" when further books in the series have not been published yet count as books read?..."

No, and no.

The second question ties in with series that have future publications. We are only considering books that have been published. Say you have a first book in an intended series, but no other books have been published. In October, the 2nd book is published. It's then a two-book series.... and still doesn't qualify for the challenge.

[Janice, Moderator]

Tasha wrote: "Janice, is there a page limit to each book that we read?"

Nope! As long as it is listed as a whole number (book 1, 2, 3) and not an addon (book 0.5, 1.5, 2.5), it will be allowed.

You can all stop freaking out now that I've allowed no page limit!

[Janice, Moderator]

Peggy wrote: "Boy, this is complicated. ..."

It certainly can be. I'm hoping to KISS by stating Goodreads as our database, series as listed on the author's page, and only published books.

[Peggy]

I didn't find it on fictfact either, and it makes sense to keep things easy and stick to gr.

I'll google a bit tonight but otherwise it's no big deal. It's not as if I don't have enough series to choose from anyway ;-)

[Peggy]

I don't mean to keep going on about this and be a nag, but I went to Victoria Twead's gr page and on her list I found this: The Complete Old Fools Trilogy. Would that define it as a series?

On her website it says the following:
"Victoria’s hilarious record of their culture shock and life with the villagers is told in the Old Fools series." Next, the three books are listed (fourth will be published this year)
http://www.victoriatwead.com/

If it's still no, I'll accept!

[Sandra, Moderator]

This challenge will be awesome. Thank you very much Janice for all the time and energy you put in this!

[Peggy]

If there's a series with 3 published books, of which I read 2, and book 4 is planned for later this year, can I read book 3 for level 1, take only 5 points for it but not count it as completed and take the 30 points yet, instead saving the full points (40+5) for later in the year when book 4 is published?

[Nancy H]

Great idea for a challenge. I love it, because I have so many series going that I can't even count them all. Hoping to change that this year and get a lot of them done, or at least make some progress. My TBR stacks (and my book-filled house) thank you!

[Marie Claude]

Janice, do we have to determine the series we want to read at the beginning or can we add as we go along?

[Janice, Moderator]

Peggy wrote: "I don't mean to keep going on about this and be a nag, but I went to Victoria Twead's gr page and on her list I found this: The Complete Old Fools Trilogy. Would that define it as a..."

Good enough for me! You may count it.

[Janice, Moderator]

Peggy wrote: "If there's a series with 3 published books, of which I read 2, and book 4 is planned for later this year, can I read book 3 for level 1, take only 5 points for it but not count it as completed and ..."

That's what I call strategy! Yes, you may do that.

[Janice, Moderator]

Marie Claude wrote: "Janice, do we have to determine the series we want to read at the beginning or can we add as we go along?"

You can add as you go along.

[Tejas Janet]

Janice wrote: "Peggy wrote: "I don't mean to keep going on about this and be a nag, but I went to Victoria Twead's gr page and on her list I found this: The Complete Old Fools Trilogy. Would that ..."

Yay! That's a series I was hoping to include as well.
: )

[Peggy]

Thanks Janice! I'm all ready for January now :)

[Sarah]

I'm glad you asked that question about waiting until the next book is published to claim the "completed" points - you score an extra 10 points doing it that way!

[Peggy]

I hope you enjoy the books Janet. I read two and they're fun quick reads :)

[Emily]

Peggy wrote: "You know you'll find lots of questions when you get back? ;-)
First of all, great challenge and I love the title! I am really looking forward to this!

I have a few questions ;-)

*Are 2-book seri..."

Lol, Peggy. I have the same two questions.

[Stephanie]

Janice wrote: "Stephanie wrote: "Hi Janice!
With the in death series by JD Robb that I am reading, she has what are called novellas. Would those count as a book for points?"

If they are listed as .5 (8.5, 12.5) ..."

It is, but I have already read up to book 34 so not too many left for me to read in the series :)

[Cherie]

Janice wrote: "There's 26 books in the Pern series. Then there is a separate 3 book series called Dragonriders of Pern (which is the link you provided). So if you want to read the Dragonriders of Pern series, you don't need to worry about the 26 book series of Pern..."

But they are all really, really good - so read them anyway! The Harper Hall books are great! You will love Master Robinton and Menolly, Peggy. ☺

[Cherie]

Tejas Janet wrote: "Janice wrote: "Peggy wrote: "I don't mean to keep going on about this and be a nag, but I went to Victoria Twead's gr page and on her list I found this: [book:The Complete Old Fools Trilogy|1923707...

I was thinking about adding it too.

[Peggy]

I will for sure try to both trilogies Cherie! And perhaps I'll read even more Pern books, I'm just happy that I don't need to read all 26 to consider it finished for the challenge ;-)

Did you read all books?

[Melissa]

Love this idea! I am always trying to figure out a way to get caught up on the series I am in the middle of. Of course, here I thought I was going to take it easy when it came to books this year...

[Gail]

Am I correct in understanding that we need to get at least 100 points for each level (along with completing a series)?

So this means we need to read a minimum of seven books for the first level if we start our series from scratch, but potentially less if we are continuing to read series we have already started.

And the very minimum possible that a person needs to do to pass this challenge is read one book, if it happens to be the tenth book of a ten-book series for which they'd already read the first nine in the previous year. Then they get 100 points right away, and complete their series. So in theory, someone could complete this entire challenge on the first of January (which would be a bit of a boring way of doing it, but still a possibility).

[Gail]

Ah, I have a question. What if it isn't a series as such, but a work that is divided into volumes, such as In Search of Lost Time or The Gulag Archipelago 1918-1956, which each have seven volumes?

[Dawn]

Gail wrote: "So in theory, someone could complete this entire challenge on the first of January (which would be a bit of a boring way of doing it, but still a possibility)...."

Well, they wouldn't be completing the entire challenge, just the first level of the challenge.

[Gail]

But you only need to complete the first level to complete the entire challenge: 'You will have completed the challenge if you have reached 100 points AND have killed off at least one series.'

[Rusalka, Moderator]

Peggy wrote: "Ahw, too bad about the Fools books! I don't think it is because it's non-fiction though, there are other non-fiction series about people migrating to other countries which do have a series name. Ju..."

Sorry Peggy. I led you astray!!

[Rusalka, Moderator]

Janice wrote: "Peggy wrote: "I don't mean to keep going on about this and be a nag, but I went to Victoria Twead's gr page and on her list I found this: The Complete Old Fools Trilogy. Would that ..."

oh. Nope. Yay!

[Rusalka, Moderator]

Setting the cats amongst the pigeons here. What happens when the person is dead.

So The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. He wrote 4, then 5. All good. Series of 5. But then after he died, someone published And Another Thing.... Which to me is a horrible money making scheme and really my world is better pretending it doesn't exist. So is it 5 books (yay) or 6?

This is very different to the Robert Jordan fiasco though, where it was very obviously planned for the next two books, and Brandon Sanderson just stepped in to facilitate.

What's you're thinking Janice?

[Rusalka, Moderator]

Gail wrote: "But you only need to complete the first level to complete the entire challenge: 'You will have completed the challenge if you have reached 100 points AND have killed off at least one series.'"

You're right Gail, but it's playing the game that's fun. If someone does that on day 1, and doesn't do anything else for 12 months, then good on them, but it's probably not very fun.

[Janice, Moderator]

Gail wrote: "But you only need to complete the first level to complete the entire challenge: 'You will have completed the challenge if you have reached 100 points AND have killed off at least one series.'"

That's correct. Further to what Rusalka said, which of us serial serial readers could even deign to stop at one book? LOL!

[Gail]

Yes, exactly, Rusalka - that's why I said it would be a boring way of doing it. I was just figuring out the parameters of the challenge. Or maybe if someone couldn't commit to doing this challenge because they were doing a different one, they could do it this way and still get a badge.

[Janice, Moderator]

Gail wrote: "Ah, I have a question. What if it isn't a series as such, but a work that is divided into volumes, such as In Search of Lost Time or The Gulag Archipelago 1918-1956, which..."

It the parts are listed as a series on Goodreads, they will count. In Search of Lost Time does as does the other link you gave.

Now are these books you are considering? Or are you just hunting around, looking for obscurities to the challenge?

[Gail]

Yes, those are books I'm considering, because I have set myself a personal year-long challenge to read books from various different countries, and those are books I want to read, and they would cover France and Russia. So it would be nice if they count as series too.

BTW, the questions I ask tend to be based on real examples, and trying to see how to apply a challenge to myself, and making sure I understand the rules - I don't hunt around for obscurities for the sake of it! :-P

[Tejas Janet]

I'm also considering In Search of Lost Time beginning with volume one, Swann's Way. I'd like to give it a go but not commit to further until I see what I think after the first book. I can still earn 5 points that way, if I'm understanding correctly.

[Mariab]

I'm considering joining for this challenge... It seems to much commitment a year long challenge though...Perhaps I should give it a try and see what happens...

Q: Would the 8 Riyria world's books count as a serie (of 8 books)?,I understand the 2 Chronicles don't count alone (I think Sarah posted the same question or supposition)

[Gail]

That's my understanding too, Tejas Janet. There are quite a few series I'd like to read a book from but not necessarily the whole series.

[Janice, Moderator]

Gail wrote: "Yes, those are books I'm considering, because I have set myself a personal year-long challenge to read books from various different countries, and those are books I want to read, and they would cov..."

Perfect. I'm glad to hear that these are books that you are considering.

[Janice, Moderator]

Tejas Janet wrote: "I'm also considering In Search of Lost Time beginning with volume one, Swann's Way. I'd like to give it a go but not commit to further until I see what I think after th..."

Yes, you understand it correctly. We've always given allowance for people to change their minds and swap books out if the book doesn't appeal to them. You won't be penalized if you read the first book in a series and decide the series isn't of your liking. You will still get recognition for reading the book.

[Janice, Moderator]

Mariab wrote: "I'm considering joining for this challenge... It seems to much commitment a year long challenge though...Perhaps I should give it a try and see what happens...

Q: Would the 8 Riyria world's books ..."

There are 6 books to the Riyria Revelations, and 2 books to the Riyria Chronicles. Although they are set in the same world, they are designated on Goodreads as separate series. So you would need to read all 6 books of Revelations plus 2 other books that are in a series. Unfortunately, because Chronicles is 2 books, they can't be considered for this challenge.

This could be your challenge for the year - 8 books spread over 1 year. (You could do 9 if you do Revelations and a trilogy.) You will have to decide if that's too big of a commitment for you. I hope not, and that you join us. The more the merrier!

[AmyCynthia]

I am excited for this challenge! Thanks Janice for all of your hard work in organizing this!

[Gail]

Something I've found as looking through series I'd like to read is that sometimes books are listed as a series, but they don't all have a thing in brackets after them saying the series and what number it is. For instance, here: https://www.goodreads.com/series/5124...

These are six parts of a series, but only the third has the thing in brackets. It's imcomplete librarianship, I guess. But I just want to make sure this wouldn't stop the series counting for the challenge?

[Rusalka, Moderator]

There are a few ways to put things as series in the database. I personally don't like the brackets, and add books this way. To me it's tidier. But you can see that these are listed as a series, as under each book it states "book 1" etc.

[Rusalka, Moderator]

On that note, if people are looking, the other place to look is in the info section under the blurb. For example for Gail's example, https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1... under the edition language, it states:
"series: Maya Angelou's Autobiography #1"

[Lisa]

Mariab wrote: "I'm considering joining for this challenge... It seems to much commitment a year long challenge though...Perhaps I should give it a try and see what happens...

Q: Would the 8 Riyria world's books ..."

'The Riyria Revelations' are pretty quick reads too Mariab. They are very addictive so you may well find that you whizz through them if you do decide to join in the challenge :)

[Rebecca]

If we've read the series out of order,for example I've read everything but the second book, does it still count as finishing the series? Or would I just get five points?