How do you work on the challenge?

[Dee]

so true Robin...I seriously think I considered like 4 different combos (maybe 5) - before I randomly picked up a book on the new releases shelf that I ended up using

[Ty]

yeah, I had the same problem with that one, but it was more like I couldn't find the freakin' book anywhere.

[Megan]

I've decided that, starting next season, I'm going to get approval for all genre-requiring tasks. I typically don't because I trust myself to find things that will work--I mean, shouldn't genre tasks be the easiest? Either it's on the main page or not. Seems pretty straightforward to me. However, the lists seem to be doing strange things lately, and I guess my safest bet will be to get approval for all of those tasks. Especially this season since I've made mistakes and had to become extra-careful, given that I was half-completing lots of the two-book tasks early on. I ended up with pretty much every two-book task half finished before reading the second book for them.

In short, in addition to my typical strategies, I'm going to request approval for all genre-based tasks. Y'know, just in case. The Wall-o'-Shame is not a fun place to be.

[Jayme(theghostreader)]

That's a good idea.

[Angela]

Ms. Anderson, I just posted this problem in the general questions thread. I don't know why this is irritating me so much, but spending the time researching if a book fits, finding it does fit, reading it, posting it and now it is no longer suitable because it is listed as a childrens book. Luckily it is early enough in the challenge I could fit it somewhere else.

[Jenifer]

I have a question for any and all finishers of the challenge....How do you do it??? Do you read a book a day? Are you all speed readers?

I don't think I'll ever win the challenge (heck, I can barely break 200 points lol) but I am curious (and jealous) how some of you do it.

[Dee]

multiple books going at once; audiobooks in the car (even if for only a few minutes here and there) and 1.5 hour metro commute each day - plus, i have no life ;)

[Jenifer]

Dee wrote: "multiple books going at once; audiobooks in the car (even if for only a few minutes here and there) and 1.5 hour metro commute each day - plus, i have no life ;)"

Thanks, Dee! I envy you your 1.5 hour commute! The farthest I seem to drive is 20 minutes for my kid's carpool :(

[Ty]

speed reader here. and same as Dee with the audiobooks, but I only have a 20 minute commute. Thankfully, audiobook phone apps speed up the reading without sounding like chipmunks.

[Jenifer]

lol Ty. I think I'm as obsessive about my listening as I am my reading. I must read every word and I must listen at regular speed. Ugh.

[Pamela Su]

I'm quite excited as I will be participating for the first time in the Winter challenge. :D

I've been reading all the rules and I just finished checking out this thread to see people's strategies and elements they keep track of in spreadsheets.

Time management is probably obviously going to be a key component here. :( I'm not so great with that.

Don't think I can read multiple books at one time using audiobooks as a strategy. I am unable to pay attention to audiobooks. Like listening to speeches or attending interminably long meeting discussions, my attention will wander after 10 minutes. :D

So excited. :) :) :)

[Ty]

Welcome, Pamela! It's always exciting when the new tasks are posted (which is in 2 days!). Planning the reading makes all of us become a bit of obsessive fiends. :D

haha @ audiobooks "strategy". It takes me about 2 weeks to finish a 10+ hour audio, due to my limited commute. That's a pretty long commitment (to a book)! But I find that it relaxes the road rager that resides within me... so maybe it is a life-strategy. ha.

[Kristina Simon]

Ty wrote: "haha @ audiobooks "strategy". It takes me about 2 weeks to finish a 10+ hour audio, due to my limited commute. That's a pretty long commitment (to a book)! But I find that it relaxes the road rager that resides within me... so maybe it is a life-strategy. ha.."

LOL. Listening to audiobooks is a life-strategy for me, too. I don't have a commute anymore, so I only listen to my audiobooks while doing yard work and chores. My house would never get cleaned otherwise. ;-)

[Pamela Su]

No matter how sexy or soothing a voice is, when it's in speech form, I zone out fairly fast. :D

Part of my fun right now is designing the spreadsheet and trying to figure out what fancy Excel formulas I can use to auto-calculate points and # of completed tasks for me. :D

[Jenifer]

Welcome, Pamela! You are going to love being part of the challenge. I think I get the most fun at trying to plan my books for the tasks (which I almost always end up changing and I never finish...but hey, it's still fun).

I've only recently begun listening to audiobooks on my iphone. I listen in the car (when I'm alone) and I also got one of those arm bands that holds my phone so I can listen while I do dishes or make dinner sometimes. Audible has made it easier for me to "rewind" when my mind wanders.

[Pamela Su]

Ditto!

I definitely enjoy the planning part! I'm pretty sure when I actually have to read the books, I'll probably whinge, delay or end up changing my mind.

There's a "Big Bad Wolf Book Sale" in my city from Dec 6-15 with books going for 75%-95% discount. Just in time for the Winter challenge!

Edit: I'll probably try to get some big point tasks out of the way early but intersperse them with the lower point tasks. Can't neglect those little points either!

[Eepa *mm loving bookworm*]

The planning is the best. x) I was totally captivated last month when I started this round. There was a week where I did little else than went through my books over and over again to fit them to each task as best as I could. =D

[Donna Jo]

I wish I could drive and listen to books--my multi-tasking days seem to be over. I find listening to audio drives me fairly insane.
I DO speed read and I'm retired so I've got a lot of time on my hands, so depending on the the book I can whip through one and sometimes two a day).
I DON'T do housework, dishes, or tv. Some days I don't even get out of my jammies. Pure sloth=lots of reading time.

[Dee]

What is this housework thing you mention DJ?

[Jayme(theghostreader)]

This is my 18th seasonal challenge. I need music to motivate me to do housework. :)

[Donna Jo]

Dee wrote: "What is this housework thing you mention DJ?"

I don't know--I just know I don't do it--haven't for years. I think that is why my house is still standing--the dust bunnies are propping it up.

[Dee]

Lol ;) I use the two weeks between challenges to clean...700 PGA to go to finish ;) but in my defense full-time job, grad student and completed a half-ironman tri during this season

[Samantha McNulty]

How do I work on the challenge? Erm...

I read what a want and if it fits for a challenge, that's a bonus :)

[♞ Pat]

I put everything into an MS Excel spreadsheet, sorted from high point to low point.

I sorted my TBR list so that the titles matched my spreadsheet.

Then, because most of what I read I borrow from the library, I check my TBR list titles against my local library catalog and reserve 6-7 titles as I go. If I can't get it from my library or inter-library loan, I find a different book to match the task. When I turn in my borrowed books, I pick up whatever books have come in. Then I put the picked up titles on my in-the-cue reading list and add the next few titles to my library reserve list. I try to keep my reserve list at about 6 books - partly because that's what I can reasonable read in 2 weeks and mostly because I'm not always next in line for a title.

It's only my first time with the challenge, so I'm not sure how great my plan is, but at least it's a method that seems to be working ok for now.

The hardest thing is that I keep adding five TBR books to my self for every one that I read. The list is growing. Anybody else suffer the same way???

[Dee]

welcome to the life of an SRC addict Pat ;)

[Jayme(theghostreader)]

My SRC tbr list is up to over 700 books. It was at about 400.

[♞ Pat]

Oh, well, I don't feel so bad. I've only got 463 in my TBR shelf. But I've only been a GR member for about a week!

[Dee]

Yeah don't look at my TBR - although I can't blame SRC solely...

[Pamela Su]

Oh no, no, no, no, NO! You are all giving me heart attacks just imagining your TBRs. I refuse to look. :P

I hate having long TBRs. In fact it bugs me if it starts to reach the 200 count. :D I don't mind having old TBRs though. Got a few that's been waiting years for me to read.

I do a spreadsheet thingy too, Pat. I had a pretty simple spreadsheet my first challenge (the last one!) which I kept fine-tuning.

I'm pretty happy by how it works now, but I'll see this second time around what else I might change.

Spring 2014 spreadsheet (A snapshot of my excel file on my PC. I don't like using Google docs when I have a perfectly functional Excel!)

I don't trust my math skills so the spreadsheet is designed to automatically keep track of the tasks I completed.

I only need to put in the dates I read the book or "-" if I didn't use one of the multi-options and it will do the rest:

- give me points when the tasks are completed,
- count the number of tasks completed
- keeps track of the GRAs I claimed.

I haven't decided how I want it to keep track of the number of books I read, so that's still manually done.

I color-coded the tasks too because I sometimes forget when something
- has a genre-requirement (and it reminds me to get the genre verified before posting since genres sometimes disappear) OR
- has a page requirement (so I have to make sure my chosen book has a printed copy)

I try to go for the big point tasks first, but I learned my lesson the last round and am NOT saving my least-liked books for last. :D

[Jayme(theghostreader)]

I have over 200 physical books on my shelves that I own. I had to make a spread sheet of my physical books I owned that I have not read. It is five pages long now.

[Dee]

I used to have a whole spreadsheet like Pamela Su...now mine is simple, a column for the task number and a column to input points when I finish the task - i keep it simple

[Pamela Su]

LOL. Heck, yeah. You really don't need anything fancy to keep track of tasks.

My spreadsheet was created just after I had some Advanced Excel workshop at work. Overenthusiastic to try out my newly learned formulas that will NEVER be used for work. *grin*

I'm being rather lazy this round though. Staring at the planned spreadsheet and going "meh...read another book." :)

I guess I haven't learned my lesson from last round after all.

[Dee]

trust me on the advanced excel...haha! I used to use it all the time in the military - I knew all the formulas to predict how long it would take me to get from one location to the next using various speeds etc...although I couldn't remember them now if my life depending on it

[Susan A]

My first challenge, I just winged it.

My 2nd challenge, I had such a great time with my spreadheets and changed things a million times, but I put off the books I wasn't thrilled about and that was a mistake.

This current challenge, my 3rd, I read all of the books I really didn't want to read in the same week, a few weeks into the challenge. That made things much better for me. I enjoyed the challenge more once I got them out the way.


It's the planning and searching that I find the most fun. I love the creative tasks that the participants come up with. I don't read a wide variety of books so it really is challenging to find books to fit the tasks. I print out all of the books I own but have not yet read (I have a bit of a buying issue--but it's less expensive than shoes, and they don't clutter up the house!) and start to match up books to tasks.

Any book I think I'll need from the library, I'll order right away so I don't get stuck waiting on it.

[[deleted user]]

This will be my first challenge. Can you guys tell me if you try going for the bigger point tasks first ,start at the top and work your way down, or just plain r-e-a-d and fill in wherever the book fits ?

I'm also trying to decide whether to keep track online with the spreadsheets you all are mentioning, (?) sorry, I'm not much of a computer whiz ...
OR just use plain old paper and pencil and keep a running tally that way ?

Also ,do you guys all post your completed projects as you do them or all at the end ? I've noticed a lot of activity in the "Finished Items" area lately,so I wondered if lots of people wait to post them all at once ?

Any tips at all are greatly appreciated !

Thanks :)

[Dee]

i think everyone approaches it differently...this is my 12th season (I think) and i've tweaked over time

I used to do a whole spreadsheet with book titles etc - now I just use a simple points one - when I finish a book that fits, I post it and record the points

I used to post a chunk of books at once, now I do it as I go (mostly to make it easier for our mods)

I bounce around on tasks for the most part - normally, I end up either having a 5 point task to finish out the challenge or the 30 pointer...haha - this season, its a 5 point task

there will be a lot of activity until tonight - becasue this is the cut-off for the 30 point tasks; and then until the end of the month, the cut-off for the 25 point finishers

[Susan A]

Kaye --

I'm the same as Dee pretty much. Acutally, I do lots of challenges, so what I am reading for this is usually driven by a different challenge in a different group.

What you may want to ask yourself is, do you think you will finish the challenge? If you do think so, then the order you read won't matter much. But if you don't think you will, you may want to do the higher points first.

I usually post 2 task at a time because I find that any more than that is time consuming.

I love my spreadsheet, but I could do this just as well on paper.

[Fandury]

How to read depents on what you want to accomplish.

If you think you can finish, then the reading order is not as important, but I would not leave all 5 points tasks for the last, as I think it is quite frustrating if you miss only 50 points, but these amount to 10 books to still read...

If you think you will not manage to finish, but want to have as many point as possible, than starting with the highest points per books tasks is the way to go. I will probably never manage to finish a challengem so I usually start with the 20 point tasks as soon as they are posted, and stick with the 15 or 30 point task till then.

As I love to find books that fit a task, I always plan for all tasks, even so I will probably not read the 5 or 10 point tasks books.

Keeping tabs on what book to read for a task is not unimportant I think (especially for the more complex tasks) so I use a spreadsheet, but a really simple one with only the task name, the book I plan and how it fits the task requirements. As I probably will exchange some books I planed to read in the beginning, the sheet makes it easier than pen and paper to make changes, but both methods are possible.

There is also a Reading plan thread I like to use, so I always can have a quick look and GR-links to decide what I will read next.

And to make it easier for the moderators I always post a task as soon as I finish it. This makes it easier for them to check if all is correct. Also I would advice to always read the task again before posting to be sure that all requirements are included in the post.

Everything to make the labour of our hard working mods easier ;-)

[Dlmrose, Moderator Emeritus]

Fandury wrote: "Everything to make the labour of our hard working mods easier ;-) "

Dee wrote: mostly to make it easier for our mods

Thanks, Fandury! Thanks, Dee!

Reviewing a long list of tasks is harder. We click on every book link and going back-and-forth makes it easy to get lost in a long post.

And posting a long list at the end is always a bad idea

Also I would advice to always read the task again before posting to be sure that all requirements are included in the post.

Good advice! I keep a tab open with the task list and copy the title from the list when I post. I can then double-check that I have the correct option, requirement and posting requirements.

I always use a spreadsheet. My computer doesn't make addition mistakes (we see lots of math errors)
I keep a simple tally sheet, a sheet for plans (but I rarely plan) and a sheet to record my completed tasks posts with the post number, page number and task numbers- that makes it much easier to go back to a post if you need to move books around later

[Book Concierge]

Dlmrose wrote: "I always use a spreadsheet. My computer doesn't make addition mistakes (we see lots of math errors) ..."


Unless, of course, you forget to update the spreadsheet ... (*** guilty as charged ... hangs head in shame ***)

[[deleted user]]

Thanks for the responses, everyone !

Dee, wow, 12 seasons ? You must be one of the originals in the group. I never noticed to see how many years it's been going . Are there lots of you that have done this same challenge for years ?

Susan
Thanks for the tips. I doubt I'll be able to finish the entire thing . I guess I'd have to count up how many book need read for it , but I'm not fast like some people who can read a book in a few hours !

Fandury
So I'm a little bit SLOW on the uptake of this I think . Are all the players trying to rack up the highest points possible, or is it just done more or less for fun ? I think it said that some of the high-scoring people get to make up a task for the next round, isn't that right ?

Lots of stuff I need to learn about all this . :))


DlmRose
Thanks for the ideas about posting. I think I'll post a completed task as soon as it's done, that way it'll make it easier for you guys.. It must take quite some organization to pull off this whole thing !

[Dee]

Kaye - some of us supercomputing ice types (whistles innocent) push hard to finish the challenge before the cut-off's; others just do it to expand their boundaries of reading

[Sandy, Moderator Emeritus]

Kaye wrote: "Thanks for the responses, everyone !

Dee, wow, 12 seasons ? You must be one of the originals in the group. I never noticed to see how many years it's been going . Are there lots of you that have d..."

Kaye, anyone who finishes the challenge gets to create either a 25 or 30 point task for the next challenge. There are also 20 point tasks that are available for non-finishers - voting for best review, the rookie with the highest points, random draws based on reading big books or books by GR authors.............

But, if you look at the readerboard, you'll see that most people don't finish. When I started participating, I wasn't even thinking about points or finishing - I just felt that I was in a reading rut, and that having to stretch myself and read different things to fit tasks would be interesting. I think you'll have more fun if you approach it that way.

And, yes, PLEASE post as you go, or with only a few tasks at a time. I typically post after I have 3 tasks completed. I really, really HATE dealing with the long posts with umpteen tasks - especially when someone decides to do one of those posts at 11:30 PM on the last night of the challenge!

[[deleted user]]

OK, well, I think I'll just start with this first one for fun, and see how far I can get with it . This one will be an experiment to see what tasks I decide to aim for , how to keep track of them, etc .

I certainly appreciate all the tips you all have offered !

[Ty]

well crap. I've been posting all my tasks for the same points together cuz I figured it was better than jumping around (for me or the mods). will change in the future. mea culpa. -.-

[[deleted user]]

Ty wrote: "well crap. -.-"

LOL :)

[Dee]

haha Ty!

[Sandy, Moderator Emeritus]

Ty wrote: "well crap. I've been posting all my tasks for the same points together cuz I figured it was better than jumping around (for me or the mods). will change in the future. mea culpa. -.-"

Not a big deal, Ty, especially since your posts are always clear. But it really is a lot easier (for me, anyway) to deal with only a few at a time.

[♞ Pat]

Finishing the challenge amounts to roughly 5 books a week, so I try to make sure that I keep my library reserve caught up. This is my first time with this challenge, but it looks like I'm going to finish, so I'm pretty happy about that.

But there were a couple of times that I had to wait a LONG time for my library to get one of the books I'd requested in, so if you're using your local library, I'd make sure to have a big stack and a couple of back up plans in case you get down to the wire and need that last book to finish.

And I post as I go just because I like the whole "check it off my list" thing. I use a lot of white space and bold type in my posts so the mods can read them easily. They have a hard enough job without my making it harder.

Make sure to read and double read the requirements. I goofed one this time because I misunderstood the task. Better to ask for clarification than end up on the wall of shame. ((hanging head in embarrassment))

[[deleted user]]

Pat
Congrats on doing such a great job with the spring challenge !
I'll be happy to do even half as good. 5 books a week would pert near be impossible for me !
Thanks also for the heads up about library reserves . I have several books that will so far work for the tasks they have listed, but a few of them will need to be library books .That's before I've seen all the tasks yet to be added .
It sounds like lots of fun, no matter how many I can complete :)