You'll love this one...!! A book club & more discussion
Challenges: Year Long Main 2022
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General Discussions and Chat for 2022 Annual Challenge
Kristie wrote: "Virginia is an interesting place... I feel like I should back away slowly. lol."Lol. Who would have guessed?
Janice wrote: "Foamhenge is one of the 40 set sites, btw."Oh! Not sure how I missed that! Thanks. :) I'll have to go check that site out. Maybe I'll try to do it for badge 1.
I'm very intrigued by these road side attractions and curious what others come up with. I could of course check all the threads very often to see if there have been any additions, but then I wondered if maybe we could make a thread where everyone can post their side trips? It would be fun seeing them, and could also be inspirational to others.
Peggy wrote: "I wondered if maybe we could make a thread where everyone can post their side trips?"That's a good idea. I'd love to see what others have created and to share mine.
I already have my side trips. Looking at the links. I filtered the one to Canada to Quebec and there are 2 that made me laugh. One is 15 minutes away from my place and the other is a cow from an awesome cheese maker. And then, not on the list (why, oh why..) there is the infamous Madrid on the highway between Quebec city and Montreal. I have to put in there, It is kind of a national joke.
Lanelle wrote: "Peggy wrote: "I wondered if maybe we could make a thread where everyone can post their side trips?"That's a good idea. I'd love to see what others have created and to share mine."
That too! I think we all try to be creative and make Janice proud, it would be nice to share :)
Lanelle wrote: "Peggy wrote: "I wondered if maybe we could make a thread where everyone can post their side trips?"That's a good idea. I'd love to see what others have created and to share mine."
I think that’s a great idea too!
I set up a thread specific for Side Trips. It's in the help/discussion thread where we also post or ask for recommendations so I thought it would be a suitable place for this thread.Feel free to post what side trips you are going on.
Janice wrote: "I set up a thread specific for Side Trips. It's in the help/discussion thread where we also post or ask for recommendations so I thought it would be a suitable place for this thread.Feel free to ..."
Great idea. Thanks! this is going to be a fun thread to read.
I'm so busy collecting side trips, I forgot that I'm supposed to be gophering for books!I got "side tripped" by my "side trips".
Rusalka wrote: "Shirley wrote: "Rusalka wrote: "LOL oh wow. The Penis Owl made the cut!! I am in hysterics." Oh I feel so un-Australian. I haven't heard of nor seen this one!"
Us Canberrans have a love/hate rela..."
Yep totally should-be-censored view!
Jayme wrote: "My brother and I did a road trip several years ago and we stopped at several quirky roadside attractions. One of my favorites was the "future gravesite of Captain Kirk" from Star Trek. It's somewhe..."Future BIRTHPLACE in Riverside, Iowa
Almeta wrote: "Jayme wrote: "My brother and I did a road trip several years ago and we stopped at several quirky roadside attractions. One of my favorites was the "future gravesite of Captain Kirk" from Star Trek..."That's it!! Gravesite/birthplace rather a philosophical question lol And up the street about 30 miles is the world's largest frying pan.
OMG this will be so much fun - THANK YOU Janice!
Almeta wrote: "Jayme wrote: "My brother and I did a road trip several years ago and we stopped at several quirky roadside attractions. One of my favorites was the "future gravesite of Captain Kirk" from Star Trek..."I love that there's a bench there for you to contemplate this.
Almeta wrote: "Future BIRTHPLACE in Riverside, Iowa"Oh, this is fantastic.
I spent all weekend gophering. I love it when a task comes up and a book (sitting on my shelf) that I'm dying to read soon is a perfect fit. Like anything to do with food. I have LOTS of foodie books.On the other hand, I enjoy the challenge of coming up with unique books to fit tasks rather than settle with an obvious genre. For instance, the "boots" task. I could settle for some kind of cowboy romance, but after some serious searching, I found a fantasy cover featuring a sword-wielder wearing boots. Score!
So much fun! Thank you, Janice for all your hard work!
I am having great fun setting up the new and unique sites in this challenge while STILL trying to finish up the 2021 challenge. Thank you for ALL of your hard work!
Suzanne wrote: "I spent all weekend gophering. I love it when a task comes up and a book (sitting on my shelf) that I'm dying to read soon is a perfect fit. Like anything to do with food. I have LOTS of foodie boo..."Ummm, and the name of that book would be? I need suggestions. I found myself looking at a Nicholas Sparks book.
Awesome Janice! These challenges and sub-challenges looks really interesting. I am excited to get planning and I'll remember to read the rules too.
Janice wrote: "Suzanne wrote: "I spent all weekend gophering. I love it when a task comes up and a book (sitting on my shelf) that I'm dying to read soon is a perfect fit. Like anything to do with food. I have LO..."I am going to read
for this challenge. Not much of a romance reader. Nicholas Sparks is not a go-to.
Added it, thanks Sharon. It looks interesting.
Must the sites be read in order too so for example, Badge 1 must be Site 1, 2, 3 and 4 plus one side trip or can Badge 1 be sites in random order for example, 4, 6, 9 and 13?
You can just pick any 4 out of 40 Grainne.
Janice wrote: "Suzanne wrote: "I spent all weekend gophering. I love it when a task comes up and a book (sitting on my shelf) that I'm dying to read soon is a perfect fit. Like anything to do with food. I have LO..."Sorry - I should have listed it!
by Sarah J. Maas has a boot-wearing sword wielder on the cover:) It's the 2nd book of the series. The first book has a knife strapped to her arm - in case you're looking for that hunting implement cover!
Peggy wrote: "You can just pick any 4 out of 40 Grainne."Thank you Peggy!
Correct me if I’m wrong, but we can read a book and report it later?For example, if I read a book in January, and it’s for Badge 2, is it ok to leave the reporting until after I’ve finished Badge 1? Or is this not in the spirit of the Challenge? I will be guided by the Tour Director.
Shirley wrote: "Correct me if I’m wrong, but we can read a book and report it later?For example, if I read a book in January, and it’s for Badge 2, is it ok to leave the reporting until after I’ve finished Badge 1..."In the rules it says you can't start a book for another badge until you finish the one you're on
Oh ok. Thanks. Note to self: Read the rules😁
Ya this one will be hard for me to get used to! I usually have my reading order largely dictated by when my library holds come in! I'll have to get through the first badge quick so I have more wiggle room!
It is going to be hard. I'm so used to plugging books in for later badges, but now we need to be more methodical.
Janice wrote: "It is going to be hard. I'm so used to plugging books in for later badges, but now we need to be more methodical."Janice - did you do this because it was getting so complicated for you to track all of the books that we were reporting?
If we track our own read books and do not report them until later, after we have completed the specific badge we are currently working on, doesn't it still conform to the letter of the yearly challenge that we only can report books that we have read since the beginning of when we started the challenge? That takes you out of being the middle man, holding us to what we report and when?
I guess I was thinking along the lines of Shirley's original question too, that I could not REPORT a book for a specific task, but I could still read it and plug it into my spread sheet as read, and report it after I finished the books for the specific badge that I was reporting on.
I understand now, if this is a NO, but if it was more a reporting thing than an actual reading thing, I can see why you want to control it more.
I don't read as fast as many others in the group, so I can stick to only the books for each badge in order, but I also am listening to audiobooks and ebooks, as they become available from my library and it was nice to be able to slot them into a task, if I was able, even if I had a title "planned" for it. I am still going to "plan" books to fit all of the tasks, but if a library book becomes available sooner than I counted on, it seems a shame have to let it go by and hope it will be available when that task comes up for the current badge that I am working on.
It takes all of the fun out of gophering for books for all of the tasks and then deciding which tasks are going to be done ONLY when they fit a certain badge sequence. You might just have said, only read the sites in order for each badge sequence. You gave us 40 sites and said we can read them in any order, but now, we can only read the books for that site's tasks, if it is one that we picked for only the badge we are currently working on.
It would still give Janice A LOT of work if you could read now for badge 2 and not report, and then after finishing badge 1 you all at once report 18 books for badge 2. That wouldn't make much sense. It's actually in contrast to what's been in the rules always, to report every book as you finish and not save them up and report many at once. And it would be the same as last year, minus the reporting.Janice puts a lot of effort in these challenges and when we took over from her for a while with tracking I realized what an incredible amount of work it is, and we shared the load with 4 other moderators!! She can make this however it's most manageable for her. I like it, I always thought just being able to slot in every book you read (no matter how handy that is) makes it less challenging. And it is a challenge after all :) I like the structure and focus this gives, and not stress about all the possibilities for all the books I read.
I think we got spoiled in the last few years ;-)
Agreed Peggy. For the last couple I've been mood reading and finding a way to slot my reads into the tasks, not choosing books for the challe if you follow my logic. I've thoroughly enjoyed the last few but I'm happy to change my mindset for this one 😉
Other side - Completely ignoring the work from Janice's point of view. She's said this a whole heap, again in message 85: this challenge is going to be harder this year.
The point of a challenge is to be challenging, as Peggy says. If you only get one badge this year, AWESOME! You completed the challenge :D
I understand things like library holds, that can mess up plans. But that's also fun with reorganising and shuffling and regophering (now a word).
Personally, my strat is to have my side trip up my sleeve. I see that as my saviour. You lot locking yourselves in now is a mugs game as far as I see it
Yikes, I figured that as the side trip is my own, I could always change my travel plans if need be (as long as I haven't reported it yet). Can we, Janice?
Personally, I'm looking forward to next year's challenge for maybe the wrong reasons. I almost only read things that can fill a slot and there's lots on the tbr that never seem to make the cut. I'm only likely to get badge 1 next year so that will leave me lots of time to read things just because I want to and cover some personal goals.I'm sad I will only get to visit 1 side trip cause they are so fun to make!
I get that Vicki. Just because I can slot everything in I will, but I'm also going for max badge 2 this year and focus also on some books I want to read without any particular reason.
Cherie wrote: "Janice - did you do this because it was getting so complicated for you to track all of the books that we were reporting?.."Partly.
The other consideration is that in order to keep the annual challenge new and exciting we need to change things up from time to time. The question becomes is the challenge to get some prompts and find books to fit them? Or is it to read a book and find a prompt that it will fill? If it's the latter, I can just give you a list of 135 prompts and you can have at it. I think there is a plethora of those kinds of prompts available all over the internet.
When we started the challenges, they had to be read in order. Remember the Connection one? You were very restricted and every book had to be read in order because it connected from the preceding book to the subsequent book. This challenge allows you to read the books within the badge in any order. But the badges have to be complete before moving on. Thing of them as separate challenges, if you want.
So your strategizing is going to be different. It's going to be a challenge in itself. Maybe you'll earn 2 badges instead of 3. As Rusalka pointed out, the challenge is considered complete if you finish the first badge. Everyone reads at different speeds and has different life situations that affect how much they read. So the annual challenges were designed to accommodate everyone.
I suggest you pick 4 sites and a "side trip" and concentrate on gophering for them. When you finish the first badge, you move on to the next set and repeat the process.
Peggy wrote: "Yikes, I figured that as the side trip is my own, I could always change my travel plans if need be (as long as I haven't reported it yet). Can we, Janice?"
That's how I read it. When you report your first read for the site, it's locked in.
Until then, wibbly woobly, timey whimey shit.
Peggy wrote: "Yikes, I figured that as the side trip is my own, I could always change my travel plans if need be (as long as I haven't reported it yet). Can we, Janice?"
I'm not sure what you are asking. Maybe this will answer you... Think of each badge as a separate challenge. The first challenge/badge starts on Jan 1, 2022. Any books started prior to that date cannot be considered. Say you finish badge 1 on Feb 28. Any book started or read prior to March 1st cannot be considered for Badge 2. On so on.... How you manage your side trips within those parameters are up to you.
Rusalka wrote: "That's how I read it. When you report your first read for the site, it's locked in.Until then, wibbly woobly, timey whimey shit."
LOL! You sound like I feel. I've been awake since 2:30 this morning, and now I'm racing off to the potty. A little wibbly woobly, timey whimey shit. Literally.
Yes, wibble wobble through 5 sites all you like until you lock it in by requesting your badge.
Urgh 2.30am is going to turn anyone's stomach! Hope you feel better with some food and maybe a nap.Awesome, good to know until we request a badge things are flexible. I might read something for a site, and then a library hold comes in, and I can recalibrate it into a new side site if needed,
Until reported, there is fluidity. Of course, if you read something before you report and it no longer fits, then it is lost to 2022. But oh well. And remember we have dropped the monthly/yearly negation proviso this year.
We'll be good :D
Every book read is a bonus even if it doesn't fit a challenge.
I feel the opposite about the limits this year. I'm really happy for them. I guess more like Vicki. I end up trying to slot things in to the challenge all year and keep a record of books that I haven't used in case I can slot them in later. I ended up not even finishing badge 1 yet because I was so unfocused on specific tasks. I like that I can narrow it down focus on 15 tasks and just read whatever else I want and not worry about it fitting the challenge. I think it will help me focus on actually completing the challenge and be less work for me in the long run. Also, I often have multiple books that fit one task so if I read one early it won't really matter as there is likely another that will fit. If it's a task that I can really only find one book for and I just have to read it now, then I'd plan to use that site for my current badge.
I don't know... I like it more focused on one badge at a time and not having to keep track of what I read and what it fits for later. I think it will work well for me.
Janice wrote: "Every book read is a bonus even if it doesn't fit a challenge."Yes!
Unless it is my current read...
You'll love this one...!! A book club & more
Books mentioned in this topic
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The Picture of Dorian Gray (other topics)
Letters from Paris (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Merlinda Bobis (other topics)Merlinda Bobis (other topics)
I was thinking I might have to be more diligent in getting genres verified in case they make the switch to the stupid beta view next year where many of the genres on the main page dissappear. Can we verify a genre for a book that's for a task we aren't working on yet?