Reading Challenge #7 - Tasks & Discussion

[Kristen]

Okay, here's the winter A-Z Title challenge! We'll use the same ground rules as for the other challenges:

1. The Challenge begins at 12:00 A.M. local time on January 1, 2011 and ends at 11:59 P.M. local time on March 31 2011.
2. This Challenge is just for fun, so make sure you enjoy yourself and all the books you will be reading!
3. All books must be classified as Young Adult or Juvenile Fiction, unless otherwise noted in the task. If you local library classifies the book you chose as such, then the book may be included.
4. All books must be at least 100 pages long to count for any of the tasks, unless otherwise noted in the task.
5. Re-reads count, unless otherwise noted in the task.
6. Audio books and electronic books (unabridged), such as Kindle, all count for this Challenge. Page counts will be according to the Good Reads page count.

A-Z Title Challenge:

1. Fill in each letter of the alphabet with an author's last name of a book that you've read. (For example if you read a book by J.K. Rowling, that would count for the letter R.)
2. There is no limit to how many books you read for each letter, so there is no limit to the points you can earn. The person with the most points at the end is the winner! If there’s a tie, we will look at the total pages read. There will be prizes for the person with the most points and one randomly selected recipient. :)
3. The letters Q and X can be anywhere in the author's name.

Point Value System:

1. For the first book you read for each letter, you will receive 5 points.
2. For any additional books you read for each letter, you will receive 3 points each.
3. For each book read, you may receive additional points if the book/author also meets any of the following criteria:
- The author is a Goodreads author (there will be a * next to their name). (+5)
- Author's name is the same as your name (first or last) (+5)
- Author has less than 100 fans on Goodreads (+5)
- The book is listed on our WT Top Novel list (+5)
- The book is listed on our WT Group Bookshelf (+5)
- The book is an award winner/honoree (not just nominated!) (+5)
- The book works for Kellee’s monthly challenge for January, February, or March 2011 (can't be read before that month's challenge begins, though) (+5)
- The book is a WT group read book for January, February, or March 2011 - must be read during that month(+5)
- You start or contribute to an existing discussion about the author or book (+5)
4. When reporting completion of tasks, please list the following:
- The letter of the alphabet you are completing & the title/ author of the book (with a hyperlink is super helpful!)
- Total pages of the book
- All additional criteria met for that letter
5. If you don’t claim the points from the additional criteria I will not give them to you automatically, there are too many books to check each one. You have to tell me what points your books are eligible for!

** Clarification - you can get 5 points for a Group Read read during the month it is a group read, or a WT Bookshelf if it is not during the month the group read it, not both.

***Genre Points Bonus***

The whole goal of the challenges is to get you to pick up something new and different. So, for each different genre you read, you will earn 5 points. This is only available once per genre. Only one genre can be claimed per book. (i.e. you can't claim both paranormal and romance for Twilight.) Check out our discussion boards to find some books in other genres that may fit into your A-Z!

Here's a list of the genres we'll accept for this challenge:

Action/Adventure
Classic
Dystopian/Apocalyptic/Post-Apocolyptic
Fantasy/Supernatural
Graphic Novel
Historical Fiction
Horror/Thriller/Suspense
Humor
Manga
Mystery
Nonfiction
Paranormal
Poetry
Realistic Fiction/Contemporary
Romance
Sci-Fi
Short Stories
Sports Fiction
War
Multicultural
LGBT
Religious
Folk/Fairy Tale (including retellings)

And one last thing. If you read a book by each author in the alphabet you get a bonus +50 - some incentive for trying that much harder to complete the alphabet.

I will be creating a spread sheet for this challenge like we had for the other A-Z so send me a private message with your email address if you would like a copy of it. :)

Link to WT Group Bookshelf: http://www.goodreads.com/group/bookshelf...

Link to WT Top Novel List: http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/1370...

Link to some award sites: http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/1377...

[Amy]

Yay, looking forward to this challenge. But I think I'm NOT going to create a list this time. Maybe I"ll have better luck sticking with it if I just read randomly.

[Ashley]

Yay! This is totally awesome! The last A-Z challenge we did was my favorite challenge so far! I'm excited to try it with authors now! :)

[Amy]

I'm hoping with authors it'll be easier to stick to!

[Kristen]

Alright guys, I made a spreadsheet if anyone is interested send me a message with your email address. :) Glad you guys are excited! I am too!

[Cheryl]

This will be my first challenge and I have a question. When authors have two last names which one do you go by? I am really looking forward to this challenge and I can't wait to get started!

[Kristen]

I would go by the first one. :)

[Cheryl]

Thanks, Kristen

[JennRenee]

I am excited. I have my list and so far these are the only letters I don't have -- I, Q, U, X, Z.

any suggestions or recommendations would be awersome!

[Angela Sunshine]

Jennifer wrote: "I am excited. I have my list and so far these are the only letters I don't have -- I, Q, U, X, Z.

any suggestions or recommendations would be awersome!"

Markus Zusak is awesome!

[Jennifer W, WT Moderator]

They don't have X! We're doomed!! ;)

I'll get nominations and polls up soon (uh, by the end of the year, hopefully- busy!) for February and March's on-going challenge themes. Don't forget to vote for January's though! It's #12 on the "Polls" page, scroll way down.

[Alyson (Kid Lit Frenzy)]

Yay, I'm in but not sure what I am going to read yet. Think I may work at it randomly.

[Kristen]

I think with X we'll go with as long as it's in their first or last name.

I also recommend Michelle Zink for the category Z. :)

[Amy]

Are there any authors starting with X?

[Angela Sunshine]

Not sure if there are any starting with X, but if we just have to have the letter somewhere in their first or last name, I've found a few:

Alexander Gordon Smith
Alex Sanchez
Garth Nix
Alyxandra Harvey
Alex Flinn
Sherman Alexie

[Amy]

Oh, Garth Nix is a good one. I like his writing.

[Karis]

Jennifer wrote: "I am excited. I have my list and so far these are the only letters I don't have -- I, Q, U, X, Z.

any suggestions or recommendations would be awersome!"


Gabrielle Zevin is great. I highly recommend Elsewhere. It's one of my all-time favorite YA books. The Shadow Thieves by Anne Ursu is supposed to be VERY good. My extremely picky (almost snobbish) reader friend recommended it to me awhile back. A Crooked Kind of Perfect by Linda Urban is also a very cute (and quick) read by "U" author.

I'm stuck on Q and X as well.

[Karis]

I found a couple to satisfy "X" by the same author. His name is Sulayman X and the two books are titled, Adventures of a Bird-Shit Foreigner and Bilal's Bread. I'm not sure if they are actually YA/Juvenile, but the protagonists are teens.

[Angela Sunshine]

Other authors I forgot about for the letter Z:

Sara Zarr
Jennifer Ziegler


I'm stuck for Q also. Maybe that could be another first or last one?

[Amy]

I'm hoping to get some good suggestions as others finish reading. Deciding to not do a list this time and see if that works better for me. The end of the alphabet is pretty scary though.

[Kristen]

I agree, Q will be another that it can be in the full name anywhere.

Jacqueline West is one of the authors that has a Q in her name.

[Amy]

So far we can use X or Q anywhere in the name? Correct?

[Kristen]

Yep! :) I think all the other letters are a-okie.

[Kristen]

Jennifer wrote: "I am excited. I have my list and so far these are the only letters I don't have -- I, Q, U, X, Z.

any suggestions or recommendations would be awersome!"

For I, you could try any of Eva Ibbotson's books.

[Alyson (Kid Lit Frenzy)]

I forgot to mention Food, Girls, & Other Things I Can't Have by Allen Zadoff would be a great read if someone needs a "Z" author. Book is a favorite of mine.

[Lydia]

Yeah! I'm ready to direct my YA reading. Thanks, Kirsten - I'll start preparing my list.

[Lydia]

I'm having trouble with the WT bookshelf link.

Oops! Found it on the side bar.

[Lydia]

Kristen wrote: "Okay, here's the winter A-Z Title challenge! We'll use the same ground rules as for the other challenges:

Kristen, I'm confused by one of the extra point thingies.
It says "Author has less than 100 fans on Goodreads"
Does this apply to just Goodreads' authors? If not, is there a way we can determine the number of fans an author has?

[Lydia]

Jennifer,

I can also suggest Don Inman.

[Jennifer W, WT Moderator]

Lydia,
Even if an author doesn't have their own page on goodreads, any author who has books listed on goodreads has a page, from which people can "Fan" them. For example, I just looked up Virginia Woolf, she has almost 1,000 fans, though she certainly doesn't maintain a profile on goodreads! Hope it helps!

[Amy]

Oh I'm glad someone mentioned this. When I was reading over the criteria, I didn't even see this one!

[Karis]

I need a good Y book. Any recommendations? No Jane Yolen please...

[Alyson (Kid Lit Frenzy)]

Karis wrote: "I need a good Y book. Any recommendations? No Jane Yolen please..."

You can try Lisa Yee - she does Middle Grade and YA. Her YA is Absolutely Maybe

[Amy]

What type of YA books do you like?

[Kristen]

Suzanne Young (contemporary YA), Rick Yancey (Horror YA), Brenna Yovanoff (Darker paranormal YA), Brian Yansky (sci-fi YA), or Laurence Yep (fantasy MG)

[Kristen]

I'm pumped! :) What are you guys doing for New Years Eve? I think we're staying in and reading/playing games. :)

[Lydia]

I also have Paula Yoo. You might check her books out.

[Karis]

Has Brenna Yavanoff wriiten anything besides The Replacement? I've read that and really liked it.

[[deleted user]]

I don't think I will make a list either this time but I am excited for the challenge. I signed on for the last challenge and didn't get around to any of it, really. The holiday season is brutal on my reading time.

[Kristen]

Karis wrote: "Has Brenna Yavanoff wriiten anything besides The Replacement? I've read that and really liked it."

No, I think that's her only book so far. I guess it will be a series tho.

[[deleted user]]

Here are a couple more authors I do not believe were mentioned yet:

X · Adam Rex, Alexandra Adornetto, Francisco X. Stork, and Alexandra Bullen (you can get her book free for your Kindle right now).

Q · Jacqueline Kolosov]

[Kellee]

Kristen wrote: "Suzanne Young (contemporary YA), Rick Yancey (Horror YA)..."

Rick Yancey also has an adventure series too.

[Tarryn]

Totally looking forward to this!

[Lydia]

Have completed my anticipated list of reading and can you believe? I haven't found a "T"! Isn't that weird.

Have a Happy New Year's and last day of Kwanzaa. If I can stay up, I'll read my first words after midnight! JOY TO ALL!

[Kristen]

I would highly recommend Kate Thompson for T. :)

[Kristen]

Oh if anyone still needs the spreadsheet, please send me a message with your email address so I can send that off to you.

[Maria]

This challenge sounds great! Thanks for getting it together Kristen!!

[Jennifer W, WT Moderator]

Are we posting points here or will we have a separate thread for that? Not that I have points to post just yet!

[Kristen]

I'm posting a new thread in a minute here. :)

[Jennifer W, WT Moderator]

Polls are up for February and March for the on-going challenge (which earns you an extra 5 points here). Please give us some votes. You have to scroll way down, polls 12 and 13, I think.

Thanks!