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
Learning from experience this year where I had reading slump for months and too focused on gophering books for every task, I'll be aiming to complete 1 badge next year. Besides I found some (if not many) obstacles in the tasks. Like 2 tasks are good but 1 is out of my comfort zone and such. I may stalk others thread for suggestions but it can wait till I (almost) finish my badge and decide to keep going. The challenge is not even started and anything can happen!
Janice wrote: "Every book read is a bonus even if it doesn't fit a challenge."So true!
Janice wrote: "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 ar..."
I was just wondering that since I posted my first sidetrip and its tasks, can I still change those tasks if I need to? But I'm guessing the answer is yes, as long as I haven't read/reported for that specific task yet.
Janice wrote: "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..."
Ooh, I wish I'd been around for the Connections challenge, it sounds awsome! I loved the Links toppler that we had earlier this year.
My two cents... I Agee with Kristie.I would read a book and spend time seeing if it would fit a task... Now, I can focus on just the 15... and read... Plus I reported a lot of books for no reason because I didn't make it that far.
I think it is a great challenge Janice. Thanks for putting in (most of) the work. I am having fun making my side trips though.
I also reported a lot of books that weren’t used, Christine, and that really just makes more work for both me and Janice. I started putting reads aside for later after a while and only reporting my badge 1 reads thinking I could always report the others later (in a trickle, not all at once) if I got that far, which I didn’t. So now I’ve added work for myself by recording books that won’t even report.
Yep, same here. I reported 8 books just in case for badge 2. Just slotted them in because I could. It was only in October that I decided it was never going to happen and just started focusing on completing badge 1.
I agree, Kristie, and I did the same as far as reporting books that I didn’t end up using, just because they fit a task. Coming down to the wire, I just couldn’t read fast enough to fit any more in that would have gotten me to the next badge level. They weren’t wasted reads but they wasted my time reporting them and tracking them. I’m sorry if I made you Mods upset the way I asked the questions and I DO ABSOLUTELY appreciate everything Janice does, as well as the rest of you.
I am happy with Janice’s answers and I have no more questions about why or how we are going to do things this year. I am only going to report books as I read them and I am only going to work on the sites that I pick for Badge 1 until I am done.
All good Cherie :DWe're all working it out!
Sounds like a good strategy Cherie.
Note: this is a correction to Site 16, About.2. About: Bewitched was a tv sitcom about a housewife who was a witch and played by actress Elizabeth Montgomery. The statue shows her astride a broom and framed by a moon crescent.
Read a book in the General Paranormal Romance Genre page. Explain how you determined your book from this page. Was it on the main page, or did you follow a link from the page? If so, what link?
I had a collection of books I had previously bought on Kindle. The House Of Crimson & Clover Box Set Volumes I-IV: A House of Crimson & Clover Boxed SetThe summary “sounded” as if it might fit. I pulled up the summary and on the Main Genre Page it showed the paranormal romance category as the fourth entry. The first book in the series is The Storm and the Darkness
I wasn't upset, Cherie. Just adding my two cents to the discussion. :)
Note: There are two sites, Site 16 and 23, that require you to find your book through a specific Genre Page. I've decided that the task is more to find a book through drilling down through the genre page than it is to find a book specific to the genre, so these two tasks do not require the genre to be listed on the main book page.
After the huge reading slump I had earlier this year I'm still very moody and picky regarding my reading habits. I'm not abandoning books as much, so I guess that is a good signal, but still I've decided to go very slowly with this challenge. I think I will start with site 3, since the three books I picked for it look like something I'm in the mood to read soon. When I'm done with that site I will decide on the next one. If at some point I feel like I am my old, normal me again, I might go wild and just plan more. Readers problems... :)
Reading slumps suck. I hope you get back to you soon. :)
I'm also trying to go with the sites that have easier tasks, so that I still have several books as an option for each task. The only downside to that is that if I want to do badge 2, it will become more and more difficult.
I'm going through the tasks and plugging in books that are "no brainers". I'm not thinking or hunting. When I finish the list, I'll see what 4 sites are full and they will become my first badge.
I love how we all have our own ways and tactics of gophering :)
Peggy, by the time you start working on badge 2 you can regopher (now a word, according to Rusalka) and you might find other options you are not considering now. Let's be hopeful. :).Janice, reading slumps totally suck. Still I noticed that they affect my reading but not my book purchasing. I've bought more books this year than in the last 3 or 4 years all together!
I'm with the "plugging in no-brainers" plus "picking one site at a time" reading plan. So far I have 7 sites full and 1 side trip. That should be a good start and will keep me more focused next year.This year I was all over the place, trying to find tasks for the books I was reading when they became available or when I had the whim to read them. I marveled at the ability of some members to read so quickly and finish all (or almost all) the badges. I'm a bit jealous, but this isn't a competition. I'll just go at my own speed (slow) and see how far I can go.
At first I was undecided about the change in the way challenge was described (finish one badge before starting another) but after reading everyone's comments about the new tactic I think it'll be a better strategy for me. My reading may still be all over the place (I'm sometimes a mood reader), but that's okay. Like I said, it isn't a competition -- at least no with other members, only myself.
And that's my two cents.
Sandra wrote: "Janice, reading slumps totally suck. Still I noticed that they affect my reading but not my book purchasing. I've bought more books this year than in the last 3 or 4 years all together!"Oh boy, I can relate! And not just with books. I can't seem to force myself to sew these days, but I keep looking at new projects.
That's as good as an excuse as any. :)
I am doing the seasonal reading challenge in another group and it started this month. So I went through my already gophered books from that and saw which ones would fit tasks for this one and then chose the sites with the most matches for my first badge. Doing the challenge in order like this might make me actually use more books that I own so I am not at the mercy of library holds. So that's a positive!
Gophering away and found out a woman I worked with a few years ago, and just started working with again won the NSW Premier's Prize a few years ago. That's cool! Thanks Janice :D
Rusalka, that is a cool coincidence. :)
Merlinda Bobis who won the Christina Stead Prize for Fiction in 2016 for Locust Girl: A Lovesong.Haven't read any of her writing, so no idea what it's like. She's lovely though!
Rusalka wrote: "Merlinda Bobis who won the Christina Stead Prize for Fiction in 2016 for Locust Girl: A Lovesong.Haven't read any of her writing, so no idea what it's like. She's ..."
I was going to ask you for a recommendation, but you have given me a clue for something to look for anyway. ;o)
Well looks like the only one I have actually read is The Secret RiverMy list to choose from of what I own is:
The Yield
The Trauma Cleaner: One Woman's Extraordinary Life in the Business of Death, Decay, and Disaster
The Hate Race
Boy Swallows Universe
Questions of Travel
Dark Emu
Shanghai Dancing
What I would also like to read on that list that I have heard great things about:
That Deadman Dance
The Lebs
The Dictionary of Lost Words
The Boat
The White Girl
Hopefully that gives you some ideas. All of the above have won/been nominated for multiple Australian book awards.
Thanks, Rusalk.I already read Boy Swallows Universe and I can definitely recommend it!
I think I saw I Am the Messenger on one of the lists too. It was a great story too.
I will have to see what I can find from my library from your list.
Australia reads do not always make their way here ;o)
Thanks!
Cherie wrote: "I will have to see what I can find from my library from your list.Australia reads do not always make their way here ;o)
Thanks!"
I was debating whether to give you so many options. But then thought of exactly that problem, so thought more was better than a shorter list.
The Yield won the Miles Franklin last year, so may be more common at the moment.
I gave up on the 2021 - challenge, haha! 4 books is a bit to much to get my first badge. Ow, well, next year will be better :)
I refuse to give up!! lol I probably should, but no....
Just a friendly reminder, Janet, to add me to the Quick Links to Members 2022 Challenge thread. Thanks!
Suzanne wrote: "Just a friendly reminder, Janet, to add me to the Quick Links to Members 2022 Challenge thread. Thanks!"Added. Thanks for letting me know I missed it.
Hi Janice! Can you also add me to the quick links? Thanks! 😁
Man, I am so glad this challenge will be starting soon... I keep changing the sites I am going to start with. Once we get started, I think I will read a book for each site and it will be locked and I will have to work with my choices Lol.
Me too! I'll be very happy when I've got my first 4 tasks set and know what to focus on.
Christina wrote: "Man, I am so glad this challenge will be starting soon... I keep changing the sites I am going to start with..."I hear ya! I've changed my mind several times, too. I finally decided to start with Site 1 and work my way down the list :)
I am busy trying to find 2 options per tasks. Slowly, very slowly getting there. I will decide the site according to library disponibility or buddy read where the book fits.
I think I've finally decided on my first four locations. Unfortunately, when I went to swap a badge 1 site for a badge 2 site, I deleted an entire site with all my gophering! *facepalm* Well, I guess I will have to gopher for that one again. At least I've settled on the sites and I remember some of my book options that I deleted. smhUpdate: All back on track!! :)
I've made a few changes too. I'm trying not to look any more.
You'll love this one...!! A book club & more
Books mentioned in this topic
The Guncle (other topics)The Picture of Dorian Gray (other topics)
Two Can Keep a Secret (other topics)
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)
Awesome, good to know until we request a badge things are flexible. I might read something for a..."
Thinking a bit more on this... I don't have a problem with people reporting a book and then making a change. We do that now. With the 2022 challenge, those changes will only happen within the badge. So you can move a book to a different site or you can delete it and replace it with something else. You just can't move a book to a different badge.