25.3 - Cat's Task: Operation Clean Slate

[SRC Moderator, Moderator]

25.3 - Cat's Task: Operation Clean Slate

The attempt to clear the backlog of books we've not read is never-ending, but here's some encouragement to clear off some more!

ALL books must be new-to-you. REQUIRED: State in your post that the book(s) used are new to you.

No books with the MPG children or kids may be used. All books must have been added to your TBR by November 21.

Your book(s) must have a combined page number of at least 500 pages.

NOTE: Your To-Be-Read list may be your GR shelf, a custom GR shelf, or an off-GR list.
REQUIRED: please state what list you are using and when book was added to your personal TBR

Option One:
Read two books on your TBR that across their combined titles, contain the letters CLEAN SLATE (must find all the letters, i.e. 2 of L, E, A).
One must have been on your TBR for at least 12 months

REQUIRED: indicate in your post which book has been on your TBR for at least 12 months and when it was added.

Option Two:
Read one book on your TBR that contains the letters CLEAN SLATE in its title and subtitle (must find all the letters , i.e. 2 of L, E, A)

[Cat]

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[Cat]

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[SRC Moderator, Moderator]

This thread is now open.

[Wayne]

Thanks, Cat. It's not possible for me to complete this task, nor is it possible for anyone who has been a GR member for less than 12 months.

[Robin P]

Good point, Wayne. I don't think anyone wants to exclude new members. Cat or one of the moderators will have to respond about that.

I have a question about the categories. I call my shelf "Owned" for books I have already bought but haven't yet read, that is my backlog. So that is what I would use for this task, is that ok? I suppose some people use "Want to Read" for that purpose, but I use the shelf "Want to Read" for books I don't own but that sound interesting for the future. Others may call their backlog shelf "Old books", "ebooks", "Purchases", "Books I really mean to get to this year" or whatever. Can we just explain that?

And a different question - If I have one book of 250 pages that contains in its title all the letters of CLEAN SLATE, can I just read any other book of at least 250 pages since I have already found all the letters? (Of course the 2nd book is likely to contain at least one of those letters, so I could just divide up the letters, but I was curious anyway.)

[Cat]

Sorry, ambiguous wording. The TBR list doesn't have to be the official Goodreads shelf, but any form of TBR management you have, so the different shelves Robin suggests would work, or an explanation that your TBR is offline (eg book was bought a year ago) I'll get that clarified.

And yes, if you find a book with all the letters in that is less than the 500pages for the one book option, then your book 2 would effectively be a free choice

[Robin P]

Thanks for the speedy answer and flexible interpretation! I was amused that Tien posted a similar task at about the same time. Apparently it is on a lot of our minds to get to that backlog!

[Sandy, Moderator Emeritus]

Robin P wrote: "Thanks for the speedy answer and flexible interpretation! I was amused that Tien posted a similar task at about the same time. Apparently it is on a lot of our minds to get to that backlog!"

This is NOT the first time we've done this type of task, and we have always used the "flexible" interpretation of TBR.

[Robin P]

That's great, thanks, some of us are newer in the group and some of us are more literal than others.

[Insiyah]

Hi :)

Just to clarify, because I'm a little confused - option 2 can be one book that's 500+ as long as it has all the letters in it, right?

[Cat]

Insiyah wrote: "Hi :)

Just to clarify, because I'm a little confused - option 2 can be one book that's 500+ as long as it has all the letters in it, right?"

Yes, provided it was on your TBR on or before 21 Nov

[Kathy KS]

Kathy KS

Just verifying on option 1-- is it titles AND subtitles, or just the title?

[Cat]

Just titles, as per the default rules.

[Andy]

Do these books work for the two book option?
My Real Children 320 p. added to read list on 4/11/14 and
The Death and Life of Charlie St. Cloud added to list 3/4/14
The second book has all the requisite letters but isn't long enough for the one boom option. The first book only has one A, no S or T
Never mind, If I had read the previous questions I would see that my query was already answered.