BLK 2015: How Many Pages?

[Andrea]

Computer free for the next 6 days for the Magic Earth Festival but I got my totals up for March :)

[Lesley]

I'll be updating the group totals for March tomorrow night (2 April), so do your totting up. Don't forget any bonus points you might have earned.

I'll announce the bonus winners tomorrow too, so if you think you are in the running get your thinking caps on!

Thanks for getting your totals up Andrea. Have a great 6 days at the Easter Magick Earth Festival. Hope the weather stays good for you.

[Lesley]

CONGRATULATIONS to Kathleen who read the most pages in March with a total of 5370.

Kathleen gets to construct the Page Winners bonus points challenge for April around something/s specific - book with rose on cover; written by woman author; set in Egypt for example.

Post whenever you've decided Kathleen.

[Lesley]

Andrea won the Bonus Points challenge but since she's away and off-line for a week or so, we'll do her bonus points challenge next month - May.

[Lesley]

Thanks Kathleen. We've got a good selection of options to get points there! April is such a lovely month even if it does make me that little bit older each year (teehee)

I've linked it in message 2 so you can get back to the post and check out whether your book earns points.

[Andrea]

I'm back in the land of technology :)
Thanks for post-poning my challenge submission, I'll make sure I have it promptly for next month.

Hope everyone had a Fantastic Easter!

[Andrea]

As promised a VERY prompt post with my bonus points challenge :)

The month of May was once considered a bad luck month to get married. There is a poem that says "Marry in May and you'll rue the day".

* 10 Points for every book read from the Paranormal Romance Sub Genre.
* 10 Points for every book read from the Gothic/Fantasy Romance Sub Genre.
* 5 Points for every book of poetry.

[Lesley]

Ahh, what is it they say about great minds thinking alike :)
I was just about to post this reminder about making sure all your April totals are posted please. And don't forget any bonus points you have accrued too.

I'm way behind with my entries for April, but I'll get it all done by Sunday and let you know who read the most pages so gets to create that bonus.

[Lesley]

Talia read the most pages in April - 4374 - so becomes the creator of the Page Turner's Bonus. You may create Page Turner's Bonus around something/s specific - book with rose on cover; written by woman author; set in Egypt for example, and post in this thread. I will link it to message #2 for easy finding.

[Lesley]

Andrea has posted her Bonus Points challenge and I have linked it to message #2 for easy finding.

The April's Bonus Points winner was Andrea! You need to create a Bonus Points challenge again to be run in June so on with the thinking cap!

You'll be a master at this if you keep on winning :)

[Sharlene]

My April page count is 852.
Slack month...

[Lesley]

Thanks Sharlene. I've made a blue on the book pool thread by adding a participants post which means you can't update it. Make a post yourself for that and I'll delete mine. Silly of me - not thinking!

[Darkpool]

OMG! Where the heck did May go?

[Darkpool]

and Sigh, I have so many half-eaten books around at the moment. My page count looks like I've forgotten how to read, but the truth is I've forgotten how to finish the books I've started.

[Mauzi]

Darkpool (protesting GR censorship) wrote: "and Sigh, I have so many half-eaten books around at the moment. My page count looks like I've forgotten how to read, but the truth is I've forgotten how to finish the books I've started."

Lol, I know how that feels!

[Lesley]

Hi all. Just a reminder for those that haven't done so, please add your May totals for pages and bonus points. I'll tot them up tomorrow and announce the May page turner winner.

[Andrea]

Lowest count so far this year for me, thats what working six days a week does to the ol free time budget.
Romance isn't even a genre I normally get into (even though I picked the bonus round lol) but that means it's not me winning it for the third time in a row haha.


Here's the bonus round

In the Southern Hemisphere June marks the offical start of Winter! For additional chills up your spine you can read a book from....
The Horror Genre = 20 Points
The Psychological/Thriller or Suspense/Thriller Sub Genres = 20 Points
June is also Audiobook month! (Yay the APA!)
Each Audiobook = 15 Points

[Talia]

Gosh! Sorry, I never saw that I was meant to do another bonus! I was not very well late April and most of May. In fact, I think that this May has my lowest (since joining Goodreads) total ever.
I hope that you can forgive me! I'll be around a bit more over June, and hopefully the rest of the year.

[Lesley]

I've totted up the May pages and bonus and updated the group's totals for the month and year.

CONGRATULATIONS to MAUZI. She read the most pages in May (5994) AND earned the highest bonus points (50) as well, so gets to create both bonus and page turners bonus challenges for JULY.

So thinking cap on Mauzi. I'll send you a reminder nearer the time. ☺
Lesley

[Mauzi]

May was the month where I spent more time reading for fun rather than reading for uni! Thanks guys, I'll have to think about what to create as bonus challenges. :)

[Mauzi]

I went from an awesome May to a crap June! :/ Here's the bonus round options for July. Sorry about all the random trivia!

Read a book with a character/characters who are giving something up/abstaining from something i.e. booze, drugs, etc. OR read a book where the main character has a form of cancer - 20 points (in support of NZ's Dry July, a fundraiser that challenges you to go alcohol free in July to raise funds for adults with cancer)
Read a book with a female protagonist set in NZ OR a book by a NZ author who is female - 15 points (July has been a good month for Kiwi females historically - Kate Edgar became the first woman to graduate university in 1877, as well as the first woman in the British Empire to earn a BA - Yvette Williams became NZ's first female Olympic medallist by winning gold in the long jump at the Helsinki Olympics in 1952 - a women's suffrage petition was submitted to parliament in 1893 with more than 25,000 signatures)
Read a book in the dystopian genre - 15 points (according to wikipedia, 10+ countries celebrate their independence in July)
Read a YA book - 10 points (July 15 is World Youth Skills day + there are 5+ YA books in the Jun/Jul book pool)
Read a book set in space OR featuring aliens - 10 points (July 2nd is World UFO day)
Read a book with a person on the cover - 5 points (July 11 is World Population day)

[Kirsten]

Could I be cheeky & suggest that for "Read a book with a female protagonist set in NZ OR a book by a NZ author who is female - 15 points", by book might qualify? It has s female protagonist, and is by a NZ author, and a quarter of it is set in NZ, in 1860?

[Lesley]

Thanks for posting nice and early Mauzi. Helps us decide what next from the book pool :)

Just a couple of days left in June (why was I thinking there were 31 day in this month? ...) So time to begin sorting out your page and bonus totals.

[Mauzi]

Kirsten wrote: "Could I be cheeky & suggest that for "Read a book with a female protagonist set in NZ OR a book by a NZ author who is female - 15 points", by book might qualify? It has s female protagonist, and is..."

Sorry Kirsten, which book were you talking about? It looks like it may have been cut off from your original post.

[Lesley]

I've added the June totals to message #2. Collectively we read 11904 pages during June, with Talia being our champion page turner for June (4607 pages).

I managed to score 45 bonus points by reading three audio books in June, so will get to create the bonuses bonus for August, and Talia will create the most pages read bonus also for August.

[Sharlene]

Sorry I've been MIA.
Just updated May-Jul totals

[Talia]

Ok, let me know if I have gotten this wrong...
August Bonus
5 points for any book with your name in it, i.e. any character with the same name as you.
And because I'm taking a paper on this...
10 points for anything Spanish (character, author, setting/location), can have all three or more; 10 points for each one.
70 points for reading a book in Spanish

Have fun!

[Lesley]

SharleneSays wrote: "Sorry I've been MIA.
Just updated May-Jul totals"

Thanks very much Sharlene.

[Lesley]

Talia wrote: "Ok, let me know if I have gotten this wrong...
August Bonus
5 points for any book with your name in it, i.e. any character with the same name as you.
And because I'm taking a paper on this...
10 po..."

Thanks for reminding me Talia!!! Nearly forgot. I'll sort out mine and then link to our creations from message 2.

[Lesley]

More August Bonus points

1 August is World Wide Web day
**20 points for every ebook you read in August

**25 points for every audio book you listen to in August

And while our Indie authors are preparing for their book fair, we could help them out by reading some of their books along with NZ authors in general, so score another

**20 points for every NZ author you read in August.

[Lesley]

I'll tot up the July totals around 3/4 August, so add up your page totals and don't forget to include your bonus points earned. ☺

[Andrea]

Bonus points were the super crazy for me. Mauzi hit one of my 'Reading Happy Places' with the Dystopia Genre.

Updated my totals after FINALLY finding some time for the computer.

[Lesley]

Announcing the July winners -

Page Turner winner for July - Kathleen 4024 pages!
Bonus Points for winner July (by a country mile) - Andrea 160 points!

These people will create our September Bonus Challenge/s. You may do so individually or you may collaborate :):) Post your challenge/s here toward the end of August.

[Sharlene]

I don't think I'll get any bonus pts for Spanish books, but I definitely will for ebooks. I might even throw an audiobook into my pile for August :)

I've even found 2 e-versions of paperbacks I got from the library

[Talia]

Kathleen wrote: "Talia wrote: ".. August Bonus ...
10 points for anything Spanish (character, author, setting/location), can have all three or more; 10 points for each one...."

Didn't think I was going to get any ..."

I'm glad you did!

[Lesley]

Getting your August pages up to date? Don't forget your bonus points too.

Kathleen has created a REAL challenge for bonus points to earn in September! Well done Kathleen!! I'll link this challenge in message #2.

I'll update our thread on 4 September and announce the August page turner and bonus winners then.

[Andrea]

August was a hectic month for me, pay reviews, trying to find a new house etc etc...but my totals are finally up! Not a single bonus point for once hahaha.

Here's my wee little bonus points for September. These are inspired by someone I work with, who like myself reads on his breaks. These are fabulous Anthony's favourite genres!

20 Points per Biography/Autobiography/Memoir

20 Points per Narrative Nonfiction

[Lesley]

Andrea wrote: "August was a hectic month for me, pay reviews, trying to find a new house etc etc...but my totals are finally up! Not a single bonus point for once hahaha.

Here's my wee little bonus points for Se..."

Thanks for getting it done even among all the goings on Andrea. Appreciated.

Linked from message #2.

[Sharlene]

Perfect. I'm almost finished :) YAY for bonus points!

[Lesley]

August pages are all tallied. Collectively we read a total of 18,622 pages. January still remains our best reading month.

Bonus winners in August, and therefore creators of bonus challenge/s for October, were:-

Most pages read: Kathleen with a total of 5,029

Most bonus points collected: Lesley (EG) with a total of 255

Well done Ladies!

[Mauzi]

Lol, a nice selection of options there, Kathleen!

[Deborah]

Is there a way of going back and working out pages each month? Otherwise, I can offer you my 109869 pages so far this year if it's any use? I will mark from there and join you for October.

[Deborah]

October: (view spoiler)[BLK 2015: How Many Pages?
Total pages read: 0
Total bonus points: 0

Jan:
1.
2.
3.
Feb:
Mar:
Apr:
May:
Jun:
Jul:
Aug:
Sept:
Oct: Theme related to winning: The First Man in Rome 10 points plus 1076 pages
84, Charing Cross Road 230 pages
The Gilded Chamber: A Novel of Queen Esther 10 points - Esther is stolen from her home and held in captivity - plus 384 pages
Avelynn 352 pages
Still Alice 351 pages plus 10 points for being lost somewhere
Eagle 416 pages plus 10 points for being lost away from home AND 10 points for a theme related to winning
These Things Hidden 10 points (away from home) and 337 pages
Season of the Fox 192 pages
The Silent Miaow: A Manual for Kittens, Strays, and Homeless Cats 160 pages 10 bonus points - see title!
Homecoming 304 pages plus 10 points - stranded by bad weather
Cover Her Face 250 pages
A Town Like Alice 351 pages plus 10 points - POWs
The Secret Scripture 300 pages plus 10 points - held in an asylum
Sorrow Without End 232 pages
Southern Discomfort 224 pages plus 10 points - on a political campaign
From Doon with Death 226 pages
The Physician 768 pages plus 10 points - he's away from home in Persia
The Lives of Lee Miller 216 pages
Her Father's House 390 pages plus 10 points (they ran away and lived under a new identity)
Viking's Dawn 169 pages plus 20 bonus points - fighting battles and held prisoner
Pilate's Wife 384 pages
The Canterville Ghost and Other Stories 120 pages plus 20 bonus points (ghost and twins compete to scare each other and win AND the ghost is stuck in the world and unable to die.)
Hyperbole and a Half: Unfortunate Situations, Flawed Coping Mechanisms, Mayhem, and Other Things That Happened 369 pages
The Three Mrs. Parkers 304 pages plus 10 bonus points (all 3 are stuck living with someone they don't like and two of them are away from home)
Queenmaker: A Novel of King David's Queen376 pages plus 20 points for being stole from her husband and imprisoned as David's wife
Wisdom's Daughter: A Novel of Solomon and Sheba 432 pages plus 10 points for the Queen being stuck in Judea 1000 miles from home
The Well of Loneliness 414 pages plus 10 points for being stuck in the closet!
The Bone People 450 pages plus 10 points for Kerewin being in exile from her family
The Red Tent 336 pages and any number of bonus points - lets say 40! - for being the most exiled and alienated and homeless creature that ever was written since The Women's Room! I don't think Anita Diamant likes men much :P
The Grass Crown 1132 pages plus 10 points for all the competitiveness, 10 points for all the exiling, 10 points for stalkers and assassins (30 points)
Rhett Butler's People 500 pages plus 10 points for everyone being displaced in war, 10 points for war being a win/lose situation = 20 points
The Queen's Favourites 428 pages
Flow Down Like Silver: Hypatia of Alexandria 301 pages with a 10 point bonus for the Church wanting to win and 10 for the Christian 'parabalani' - a cross between stalkers and paparazzi
Wayne Thiebaud: A Paintings Retrospective 192 pages
The Hearth and Eagle 377 pages
I Was Here 270 pages 10 points for the suicide it is about
Shooting At Loons 229 pages plus 10 points for the competing between the fishermen and the sportsmen

TOTAL PAGES: 13,542 pages TOTAL BONUS POINTS: 350


Nov:
The Colour of Magic 285 pages
The Eagle and the Wolves 432 pages
Miss Julia Speaks Her Mind 288 pages
The Printmaker's Daughter 394 pages 10 points for red cover
Me Before You 369 pages 10 points for red cover
The House of Susan Lulham 194 pages
Angelique 787 pages
Miss Julia Takes Over 309 pages
Blood and Mistletoe: The History of the Druids in Britain 492 pages
Collected Poems, 1930-1993 544 pages plus 10 points (poetry from a woman)
The Best of Dorothy Parker 200 pages
The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency 233 pages
Fortune's Favorites 1093 pages
Heavenly Bodies: Cult Treasures & Spectacular Saints from the Catacombs 192 pages plus 10 points for catacomb saints
A Rose for Virtue 255 pages
Angelique and the King 479 pages
Angélique and the Sultan 416 pages
Colour 494 pages
Mad World: An Oral History of New Wave Artists and Songs That Defined the 1980s 320 pages
Natural History: A Selection 399 pages
Sword Blades and Poppy Seed 164 pages plus 10 points
A Dome of Many-Coloured Glass 80 pages plus 10 points
Selected Poems 180 pages plus 10 points
The Skystone 494 pages
A Visit from the Goon Squad 274 pages
The Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom 168 pages
A Banquet of Consequences 592 pages
Ziggyology: A Brief History Of Ziggy Stardust 352 pages
A Brief History of Life in the Middle Ages 320 pages plus 10 points for saints :)
Caesar's Women 943 pages
The Town House 349 pages
Shanghai Girls 309 pages plus 10 points for WWI
Roots: The Saga of an American Family 729 pages plus 10 for WWI&II referenced

13,129 pages and 100 bonus points


Dec:
The Middle Heart 370 pages
Anubis Speaks! A Guide to the Afterlife by the Egyptian God of the Dead 128 pages
The Secret Chord 302 pages
Hades Speaks!: A Guide to the Underworld by the Greek God of the Dead 128 pages
A Year of Ravens: A Novel of Boudica's Rebellion 483 pages
Castles, Customs, and Kings: True Tales by English Historical Fiction Authors 598 pages
The Singing Sword 384 pages
I Always Loved You 343 pages
Twelve: The King 36 pages
The Eagle's Prey 480 pages
The House at Old Vine 435 pages
A Memory of Violets: A Novel of London's Flower Sellers 432 pages
A Christmas Carol 100 pages
Career of Evil 489 pages
The Haunting of Maddy Clare 318 pages
(hide spoiler)]

[Darkpool]

Man, I totally sucked this month too. Ah well.

[Lesley]

Hey folks, I'm totally behind myself this month with this challenge, October's group read and creating a bonus round! Since Kathleen has come up with such a great, and creative, bonus points challenge for October, does anyone mind if I forgo my creation this month?

Thanks for remembering Kathleen. I will hook your challenge up to message #2. And I'll get to letting you all know the totals for September as well as the bonus winners over the weekend.

I'll add you to the participants link you up in message #2 also Deborah. Then to find your post you will just have to go there and click on your name.

[Lesley]

Deborah wrote: "Is there a way of going back and working out pages each month? Otherwise, I can offer you my 109869 pages so far this year if it's any use? I will mark from there and join you for October."

I think I'll just add your pages so far total to the group total rather than try to divvy it up month by month Deborah. And great to see you joining us with this little bit of fun and frivolity.

[Deborah]

Thank yo, EG!

[Lesley]

Mauzi is the champion page turner for September with 4598 pages turned.

Kathleen is our September bonus champion with 190 points.

Congratulations to you both!
You may put your thinking caps on for the last bonus points challenges for the year - November - either individually or combined effort is acceptable. :)

[Deborah]

My month's efforts are recorded in full (Message 111)

13,542 pages with 350 bonus points

[Darkpool]

Wow!!