Announcing the 2025 Challenges

[Joanne]

Robin P wrote: "I don't think any of mine were genre specific, but actually I have already forgotten most of what I submitted! I belong to several challenge groups on GR, so I have an almost unlimited supply of op..."

I borrowed quite a few too, Robin.

[Theresa]

@Amy - you can suggest all year long using Anita's form.

[Book Concierge]

NancyJ wrote: "When the lists come out, there might be some requests for a “Wild card” option of some type..."

I am personally against the idea of a wild card or the option to swap out a prompt that I don't like. It's a CHALLENGE. So I expect to be challenged. Now, I might get lucky and my randomized list will be right up my alley. But I might have a prompt requiring zombies. I'll live.

I did not use a single wild card or grab bag for Steeplechase and I landed on a couple of "out of my wheelhouse" tags.

[Booknblues]

More answers to questions:
Theresa asked
3. I assume you mean the book has to be set in a location in the direction you are headed. How specific does it have to be and how much of the book needs to be set there. Example: Last Train to Istanbul is set in Istanbul, but also Paris and Marseille - while Istanbul has full scenes even chapters there, the book is at least equally set in 2 cities in France. Would it qualify for Istanbul, and equally if the direction works, for Paris and Marseille. Would a book set in Pompeii or Salerno or the countryside between?

So there is no one simple answer to this, in part it is choosing where the primary location is, but Last Train to Istanbul goes back and forth between location but essentially starts in Paris and finishes in Istanbul. Currently I'm reading a book which starts on the north shore of Lake Erie and finishes in Northern Labrador. If you can post both starting and finishing location with documentation, you could go to the starting location, but when you finish and review your book you can leave from where the book finished.

Theresa asked
4. Do you have to match tags for the location you use? This could be very difficult for may destinations and actually restrict your reading significantly.
There will be points given for tag matching locations. Obviously smaller locations won't work and those will need to be documented.
5. Will Antartica/South Pole and the North Pole be included? and will those have a broader range - i.e. Frankenstein: The 1818 Text as I recall has is partially set in the frozen ice of an explorer ship heading to the North Pole. It's not the North Pole but it is the frozen arctic waters around the north pole and far from habitation.

The North and South Pole are included, but remember that they are as far north and south as you can go. If you go beyond the north pole you begin heading south, so they are the far reaches of north and south.
My goal is to read a crime fiction book set in every place I travel to. Is that the type of personal goal you are suggesting?

Yes, I am looking forward to many interesting goals in this challenge.
Theresa asked
Theresa asked:

[Joy D]

NancyJ wrote: "Joy, I would really like to be challenged by a list of your prompts (sans explorers and extra long books). Maybe once we’ve each completed the primary game list, we might challenge one another to customized theme based lists! I want to explore some new topics and ways of thinking next year, along with environmental, psychology, social issues, family drama, etc. I already have 3 underwater fiction books on my tbr with environmental themes"

Good idea! Don't worry, I didn't put "a book over 1000 pages" on the list so if you see it there, don't blame me. :-)

[Booknblues]

Answering more questions:
Robin P wrote: "This will be challenging in some ways, in that we don't always know what all the locations of a book will be before we read it. Then there are the fictional locations, for instance an English mystery tells you it is in Kent or on the sea, but the actual town is fictional. I was very surprised to find out that Marlow in The Marlow Murder Club is a real place. I pictured it as the typical English village, but it's a sizable town. Anyway, it may take a bit of work to figure out exactly where some books are set...."

So, I think you get the location as close as you can if it fits your goal. For instance instead of a specific city just use Kent.

Or it could be that your end goal is more tuned in to countries and it is easier to just have England or the UK

Joy D asked: Are there limits of the compass directions? For example, if you are in Antarctica (assuming it is allowed), can we continue around the globe and end up in the far north, e.g. Greenland or the North Pole? I also am here to lobby for Antarctica being allowed. There are a number of countries who basically share research facilities and have scientists (and others) residing there...

The South and North pole are the farthest you can go in those directions, but of course they are allowed. From Greenland you can go North, but once you reach the north pole there is no further you can go.

Theresa said, the instructions as they stand say there is no limit in the direction you can go so I read that as technically you can loop south pole to north pole and back again as well as looping east/west and the angled ones too. I could head east back to the US west coast if I wanted -- I asked that questions during the initial presentations.

Circling back to my previous answer, I've given it some thought and amending it a bit. I don't want people circling the globe West to land 50 miles east of where they started, so I am putting a limit on the distance as half the circumference of the globe, 12,451 miles or 20,238 kilometers.

[Booknblues]

More answers:
Nancy J asked For compass, I’m curious how the timing will work. If someone takes more than two weeks to complete their first book, would they still follow the direction of the first random spin? Or would they use the most recent spin? Or would they have a choice?

So, I will do individual spinning, once a week, possibly Tuesdays, no set time.

I want members to choose books they really want to read, not just read to complete a task. If you complete 12 books for this challenge, you can consider it completed however you can continue past that point, but no more than one per week. The challenge will be completed at the end of November.

I think I answered them all and will get to work on the final rules.

[Theresa]

Thanks for your thoughtful answers, BnB! Looking forward to the final expanded rules!

[Linda]

As one of the slower readers I would be excited if I can be included in drawings. I will be happy to get through 1 list. I did surprise myself by making it through steeplechase 1 1/2 levels.

[Booknblues]

Rules:
The Compass
Did you ever want to travel the world wherever the four winds might blow you or maybe you have a more modest goal of traveling your country or state? Whatever your travel goal, you will have a chance to achieve it by reading books at Play Book Tag with our compass challenge. We will travel the world through books and using our trusty Four Winds or Anemoi Compass to guide us. It can be found here:
https://pickerwheel.com/?id=3qcAP

You can complete the challenge with 12 books, but you may certainly read more, however you may not read more than one book for the challenge each week. We wanted to create a challenge which would excite all kinds of readers and add to the enjoyment of their year in reading. We hope we have done that.

As usual the book should be 150 pages and tag match is 5 people tagging.

1. The Challenge will start on Wednesday, January 1, 2025

2. At the start of the challenge all participants will be given an individual spin and move from where they are currently located (in real life.). They will then move in the direction indicated and choose a book to read. The directions are North, Northeast, East, Southeast, South, Southwest, West, Northwest.

3. To establish location, you can match the location with 5 people tagging location, quote from the book or a blurb about the book clearly stating location. We are requesting that the setting of the book is a major portion not an incidental mention.

4. A spin for directions will be given once a week, every Wednesday at no given time. If the participant has read and reviewed a book, they may take the randomized direction to the next location.

5. To assist in determining direction, use this guideline:


North: 0 degrees or 360 degrees
North East: 45 degrees
East: 90 degrees
South East: 135 degrees
South: 180 degrees
South West: 225 degrees
West: 270 degrees
North West: 315 degrees


6. Participants will have 3 free tickets to choose the direction of their choice.

7. Moves can be made in the given direction. The furthest North is the North Pole and the furthest south is the South Pole. Directions East and West may not exceed half the circumference of the globe, 12,451 miles or 20,238 kilometers.

8. The twist to this challenge is participants set their own challenge or goal. For example: to circle the globe x number of times, to travel to 20 states, countries or provinces, to climb a number of mountains or to go any way the wind blows. Creativity with the goal will count.

9. Extra points will be given for matching the tag of the month, as well as tag for location.. Points are as follows:
1 point - per book or location
2 points - tag for location
3 points - matching tag of the month.

10. Once you have completed your 12 books, you may decide if you want to stop, continue on or create a new goal for the next 12 books.


11. Awards for completion of challenge will be:
Most creative goals.
Greatest distance traveled per 12 books.
Least distance traveled per 12 books.
Points for tag match per 12 books.
Points for the whole year of the challenge.


12. The challenge will be completed on the last day of November.

[Booknblues]

We will be setting up a new folder soon and I will start a thread for who wants to participate and what your goal will be. You can decide to participate before you have a goal. You have until January 1 to decide a goal after that if you haven't stated a goal it will be whatever way the wind blows.

[NancyJ]

If a book covers more than one location, I presume we should count the location that dominates the book (based on the description, reviews, tags, etc.). Though if a book involves a journey that follows the proper direction, the final destination might make the most sense. For example, the main character in Dinosaurs walks from New York to Arizona. This would work for someone in the east coast who gets the direction of West (or maybe southwest).

Is there a tool online to get the degrees of the direction between two locations? I imagine many will only require looking at a map, and longitude/latitude lines.

My primary goal is to read books that are meaningful to me. I’ll have to think about how to assess that. I want to read books that teach me something new (about a culture, world issues, history, politics, environment, etc) but I don’t need to be pedantic about it. Some of the Mrs Pollifax books definitely fit.

Other goal possibilities- cover every continent, major regions of the world, and find books from countries I haven’t read before. I might consult international awards lists, and the list of 1000 books in World Literature. I hope there is an updated list.

[Booknblues]

Sometimes you can find the degree of direction on web, but otherwise do your best with a map.
You can easily find the distance.

For a book in which you travel. You can either choose one location or choose the starting location and leave to your next spin from the final location. You would just have to note this when you request a spin and in your personal tracking.

[Theresa]

I think I finally have a handle on how to do Compass without a lot of plotting and planning. The key - whether you are a planner or a go with the wind reader like me - is to define your goal as precisely as you can - not necessarily narrowly but with some care to point you generally towards the books and thus the places you want to read for Compass, in all kinds of locations. Then when you get your spin direction, you can easily use google to find what falls in the path, letting you pick your book.

I'm starting in NYC and I've defined my goal as relating to crime fiction reading and I have lots of books set all over the world in my TBR that fit no problem. I used East as my test for first spin, and then went to Google (2 other search engines were less helpful).

I googled first countries east of NYC. It gave me first option to identify NYC latitude but even better, it gave me the option to look at what cities have same latitude as NYC, and it was a very good list! A ride around the world at the 40-degree latitude where New York City sits will have you move through cities in Spain, Italy, Turkey, and China. Madrid, Naples, Istanbul, Beijing, and New York are on the same parallel. I have crime fiction books set in most of those locations! It also takes me along Long Island should I decide to stay closer to home.

I will google each time I get a direction.

[Theresa]

@Nancy - you mention wanting read global award winners -- you can just have a list handy of international awards -- ones I have used is the Dublin Literary Award and the Booker International Award. When you get your direction, you look at a map to see what falls along the compass point, then check your lists for books in those areas. The challenge is designed to encourage deeper and slower reading I think. So if it takes a little longer to get the book, it's fine as you just need to fulfill your defined goal by year end.

[Jen]

I'm excited about the Compass game. Am I able to start it by reading a book in my location first before moving or is the move my first book?

[Sue]

Booknblues wrote: "I have a wicked cold, the first I have had since 2/20 so I haven't really updated this or refined it.

Members will need to set their goal for this challenge before starting.
The Compass
All partic..."

I have a question related to the starting point "All participants will start where they are currently located."

Is our first book set in our starting point? Or is our first book the direction we take from our starting point?

I'm thinking of reading only for places I've never visited in person, but if I'm starting in Arizona I may re-think my goal.

OR - Can I start from anywhere?

[Booknblues]

Sue wrote: "Or is our first book the direction we take from our starting point?..."

Yes to this. It answers Jen as well.
If you want to read a book in your location, you may but it will not count in the game.
The only way it would count if you read a book just a short distance from you current location and I would think that might be hard.

[NancyJ]

Sue wrote: "Booknblues wrote: "I have a wicked cold, the first I have had since 2/20 so I haven't really updated this or refined it.

Members will need to set their goal for this challenge before starting.
The..."

This is an important question. I did not think we had to read a local book first. I exhausted the local books that I’d like to read. The only way to make it work would be to define local in broader terms, to include other parts of New York State, or cross over the border to southern Ontario.

I was thinking if the compass pointed North or NW (leaving Buffalo NY) my first book would be set in Canada. NE would point me to NE Canada, Greenland or Iceland. If I traveled East, I could read a book in Boston or most of Europe. West could bring me to Minnesota, Seattle, or Beijing China.

When I googled the distance to various locations, I found Travelmath.com. it showed me a straight line that made it easy to approximate the degrees of the angle. I didn’t find a tool yet that gave me an exact number, but all the locations I tried so far were easy. Buffalo to Iceland looks like 45 degrees, which is NorthEast. Buffalo to Ireland is closer to directly East than Northeast. Sydney Australia looks exactly Southwest.

—

[Booknblues]

NancyJ wrote: "Sue wrote: "Booknblues wrote: "I have a wicked cold, the first I have had since 2/20 so I haven't really updated this or refined it.

Members will need to set their goal for this challenge before s..."
Read the first book in whatever direction you are going. You are not require to read a local book. If you do it doesn't count as the first book.

[NancyJ]

Booknblues wrote: "NancyJ wrote: "Sue wrote: "Booknblues wrote: "I have a wicked cold, the first I have had since 2/20 so I haven't really updated this or refined it.

Members will need to set their goal for this cha..."

Thanks!

[NancyJ]

Booknblues wrote: "Rules:
The Compass


7. Moves can be made in the given direction. The furthest North is the North Pole and the furthest south is the South Pole. Directions East and West may not exceed half the circumference of the globe, 12,451 miles or 20,238 kilometers.

The site travelmath.com shows the distance between two locations. The picture shows if the location is to the east or west of your location.

I was looking for locations east and west of my northern US location, latitude between 42 and 43 degrees north. The circumference on this parallel is considerably smaller than if I was at the equator. I was playing around on Travelmath.com, and found that the farthest I could go directly east or west was:

Lhasa China - 7399 miles to the east of me.
Chongquin, China - 7433 to the west of me.

I could probably find locations farther away if I went a little more south or north of this latitude. (Not that I’m looking to maximize distance.).

[Booknblues]

NancyJ wrote: "Booknblues wrote: "Rules:
The Compass


7. Moves can be made in the given direction. The furthest North is the North Pole and the furthest south is the South Pole. Directions East and West may not ..."

I play https://globle-game.com/game everyday and usually the farthest distance is 10 or 11 thousand.

[NancyJ]

Jason wrote: "Ummm…be prepared for some sports prompts."

I’m prepared for a sports prompt Jason! I found Headshot on the Tournament of Books list, and it has lots of sports tags. I wouldn’t normally pick a book about female boxers, but I’m ready to give it a try. Though if Backman comes out with something new that fits, I’ll switch in a minute.

[Jen]

Jen wrote: "I'm so excited about both of these challenges; they both feel structured but with a lot of flexibility which is the perfect combo for what I am hoping for my 2025 reading year."

Agreed!

[Jen]

NancyJ wrote: "Joy D wrote: "NancyJ wrote: "As I think about the prompt ideas I’d really like to read, I worry that others might hate them. ..."

Oh, I'm sure many will dislike the ones I contribute but I don't t..."

Your reading list sounds really interesting.

[Jason]

NancyJ wrote: "Jason wrote: "Ummm…be prepared for some sports prompts."

I’m prepared for a sports prompt Jason! I found Headshot on the Tournament of Books list, and it has lots of sports tags. ..."

Backman's next book don't seem to deal with Sports. My Friends Have you read his most recent short story? The Answer Is No

I've never read a boxing book. I'm not opposed.

[Amy]

Forgive me if this is answered somewhere else. I am reading all the threads to prepare and get all the final details.

For Compass, and I am about to see if there is another thread that might answer this...... are there specific tools on the web to use to help us once we get our directions? LIke, I can easily figure out North and South and West from Boston, but if its East leaning, and eventually my compass will take me in the east direction, how do we figure out these directions to find the new country or continent or place. If there is a web tool to use, where is it located? Perhaps we can put the tool in our tracking threads so we can easily find it.

[NancyJ]

Amy wrote: "Forgive me if this is answered somewhere else. I am reading all the threads to prepare and get all the final details.

For Compass, and I am about to see if there is another thread that might answ..."

I mentioned elsewhere that I’m using travelmath.com. When you search for distance, it will also show a map with a clear line showing the direction. It has some quirks. Closing and reloading the site usually gets rid of it. There are many other sources of information that can be helpful with more remote areas.

The AI program on google is disappointing, and inconsistent. The old adage is still true: Garbage in, garbage out.

[Booknblues]

Amy wrote: "Forgive me if this is answered somewhere else. I am reading all the threads to prepare and get all the final details.

For Compass, and I am about to see if there is another thread that might answ..."

Amy, the other thing you could do is ask members for ideas at
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

[Theresa]

One thing I used as a test was googling cities on same latitude - i.e. NYC - then worked from there. I also plan to use a plastic blow up globe too - if I can find where I stashed it - or an online map of the world.

[Joy D]

I am using latitude and longitude.

[Amy]

That is really helpful, thanks….