Romance Readers Reading Challenges discussion

hey guys!!

so as the end of the year approaches (FWIW, where the heck did this year go!!) - the Mods are preparing for another fun-filled year of challenges

But, this group is only as good as you guys who participate...so we'd like some feedback!

In 2013, we'll be continuing our normal monthly challenges (Pick it for me, category, read the month); as well as others

But any feedback on challenges you enjoyed would be great? Are there any you would like to see repeated? Some you think we should get rid of? Or any other ideas?

Tell us what you think!

Ok, I'll jump in! :)

First of all, a huge thanks to all the Mods for all you do to keep the challenges coming!

I personally really enjoy the shorter challenges (monthly up to quarterly), since I tend to lose interest if they run too long (short attention span, I guess). The Monthly Challenge, PIFM, and FAC are automatic for me, and I love them all.

I also like to have at least the occasional challenge that forces me out of my rut and exposes me to books/authors/genres that I might not normally read - things like the Romance Lovers Quarterly Challenge, for example. A challenge requiring all new-to-me authors is something else along those lines that I think might be fun - there are so many wonderful authors out there that I've never bothered to check out, even though I make a point of reading at least one (and usually several) new authors every month.

The Audio Book Challenge was fun and I was glad to see that it's probably going to be repeated, but I think it can be improved by implementing some of the ideas that have been discussed in the challenge thread - shorter length, maybe just star ratings instead of reviews, etc.

As for challenges to drop, I can't imagine suggesting any - just because it's not interesting to me doesn't mean others don't love it!

I will second KarenH. Thank you to all those creative people who came up with these challenges and to the host of every challenge who gave up so much of their time and energy and to the mods who have made this group so much fun to be a part of.

Dee I have some ideas on new challenges, can I pm you once I get them sorted out.

Sure Nikita!

I love the monthly challenges, as evidenced by my obsessive participation in them. I do have to give a major shoutout to DG for the AWESOME Hearts & Tears challenge. Great hosting, execution, and encouragement all-around.

Another favorite, although it's not nearly as popular with the rabid fans (haha) as some of the other challenges is the Random challenge run by YZ. Every week is a new book. I can always find something on my TBR that can fit but at the same time, there are plenty of new authors to try. I've noticed participation has mucho decreased from its inception. I hope it doesn't go away - maybe a little mention from the mods in the monthly newsletter or something? It could use some support!

I love this group! The challenges are always fun and interesting. Thanks to all the mods and the hosts for the time and effort y'all put in to keep it going!

I agree Ty! The Random List Challenge is one of my favorites and totally genius idea by Yz! I have also found so many new books and authors that way. And I love that you can always skip a week if you don't see anything on the list you want to read that week. No pressure, I love that.

And I LOVE the Hearts and Tears challenge too. Big thank you to DG for all of her hard work! I am moving kind of slowly due to several rolls being ones!

Hmmm, I know there are many challenges I haven't gotten to yet and here you all go proving it...

I also love the shorter challenges, monthly up to quarterly. I've done a few of the longer ones but as time goes on, I usually get to a point where I just want them done! I am not really a fan of ones where we race each other or do anything more than compete with/challenge ourselves. But I really don't have to participate in everything (really, I don't), so I'm just giving my opinion. I need to take a closer look at the Hearts and Tears challenge with all of you raving about it - it just looked like too much to my fuzzy brain when I checked it out before. (Painkillers make thinking difficult and I feel like I'm living on them these days!)

I also want to thank the mods and everyone who helps with the challenges and keeping track of everything! I love the challenges and this group!

Thanks MKat :) I think we all get a lot out of this group and all our members - not the least of which are great new books and recommendations! IMHO participation is the key to life and so many members are great at jumping in and 'playing' or helping.

Thanks for the feedback everyone. It helps us balance out how we structure our challenges.

(BTW MKat - I'm still on square 16 in the H&T Tournament, although I am about to toss the dice again... We have 6 months to mosy around that game board, and the categories are pretty 'open' so you can generally find a book that you have intended to read anyway. You should give it a whirl! DG has done an absolutely fantastic job :)

I continue to be impressed with how great this group is. The challenges continually evolve and keep you interested, yet the oldies but goodies, are mainstays. I love it all! Kudos to you all!

I agree with Tina 100%! I check this website as often as I check my e-mail! Thanks to the mods. You ladies are doing a great job!

I'm an addict to the updates and new postings as well, Lacy! ;)

I like the challenges here at all levels. The one thing I do is not commit to them due to time constraints. But I do keep a record of doing them. Keep up the wonderful work Mods!

I love the challenges here . RRRC has become like my 2nd home and thanks to the moderators for coming up with such wonderful ideas .
My only regret is that I joined goodreads so late and missed out so many good challenges earlier this year LOL!

Thanks Mary and Karen :)

Don't worry - there are new challenges all the time! And we could even recycle some in various formats at some point in the more distant future :)

I'm with Karen. I wish I could have jumped in on some of the earlier challenges (I'm sad I missed out on the Follow the Leader challenge) as well as starting some of the bigger challenges earlier. I hope to next year be able to participate in the Super Series challenge. I do like the smaller challenges as well, being able to do monthly/seasonal challenges when I know I won't have as much on my plate that month.

I have absolutely loved every second I have been in this group, and 2013 looks to be just as exciting. I am in love with the Hearts and Tears tournament, and I can't wait to jump in and be active in this group from the start of the year.

I have to add my thanks to all the moderators you guys all do a great job - you all put so much time and effort into everything and it is really appreciated.

I almost always take part in the monthly challnge and the PIFM and I have been working on the annual A - Z challenges since January (I'm quite obsessive so I'm making sure each book only appears on one of lists so I will have read 104 books for these challenges alone - only about 3 or 4 left on each list).

But I think the Hearts and Tears tournament has been my favourite this year.

Hiya all,
I think all of you guys are doing a great job and I really appreciate it (and if I may say, all of us around here do). I love all the challenges, though I've participated in only few, some monthly and A-Z challenges.

I have also participated in ONE PIFM and though I had fun reading what other member chose for me and I think it's a fun challenge, the biggest benefit of participating in it is doing a buddy read and meeting Elise, who has become one of my best virtual friends around here. THANK YOU for this RRRC, you sure are the BEST GR group.

I'm curious to know how everyone feels about the buddy reads in the PIFM. Thanks for your feedback about it Ananda.

Should we keep it as an optional choice the individual picker can offer or go back to how it was in the recent past with a separate category for it?

Fran wrote: "I'm curious to know how everyone feels about the buddy reads in the PIFM. Thanks for your feedback about it Ananda.

Should we keep it as an optional choice the individual picker can offer or go ba..."

I think the buddy reads are great, but I do find I much prefer being able to choose which categories to select for them rather than having specific categories assigned. It's sometimes hard to find books that I am interested in and haven't read that I think my pickee might be interested in, and that also fit the given category.

Maybe a compromise would be to make it more strongly recommended rather than just optional, but still leave the category choice open?

How weird, I'm going to disagree with Karen.... =P

I liked it the way it was before, with the separate categories for buddy reads. It never stopped me from doing one in the other categories or offering if I was doing the picks. OK, it may be all about getting more picks...

Hearts and Tears has been a lot of fun, and I really enjoyed the Count Off challenge earlier this year, although I got distracted and dropped off participating a while ago. I'm hoping to get back to that one when it picks up again at the beginning of the year.

I've got some ideas about an LGBT challenge, which I'll be talking over with one of the mods when I get my act together. In the future, challenges that encourage reading books already in the TBR (I really want to whittle it down to a more manageable level) and books that promote more discussion and interaction between members would be good. These are thoughts off the top of my head, and I'm not sure how to do those things. But I'll think about it.

Karen and Kat disagree! This very rarely happens!

Becky,

Looking forward to hearing about your LGBT challenge idea :)

Fran wrote: "Karen and Kat disagree! This very rarely happens!"

I think it might have happened once before - maybe... :D

Buddy reads are stressful. Really, that was my first thought when I joined PIFM regularly. Actually, these were more like my first thoughts:
What if I don't like the book and they do? What if we end up hating each other? What if I can't find the book? What if the other person takes FOREVER to read the book? What if the other person is an alien??

Seriously. stressful stuff. It's why I don't think being more restrictive by assigning specific categories to buddy reads is a Good Thing. lol, sorry MK, I have to disagree with you. :)

Other than the stress, buddy reads have added to my friends list and have provided great insight that I wouldn't have considered when reading certain books. It's always great to read another's opinion, particularly if that person is shy or is not very participatory (or in my case, hate writing reviews but don't mind ranting on end in private).

lol Ty! I have lots of those same thoughts running through my head at times

Evaine - there are going to be some new ones in 2013 - not sure about the series one yet though - we are toying with some ideas

Just want to add my thanks for all the hard work put in by the Mods to make this group so fabulous. I've enjoyed all of the monthly challenges and also the Hearts and Tears and the Lover's Quarterly.
Looking forward to whatever is on offer in 2013.

I am addicted to reading challenges! And I want to thank you all for the hard work you do putting them together every year.

Personally, I prefer the longer challenges (6 months to a year or more in duration). With my busy schedule, it's easier for me to spread my reading out within a year rather than cram it all within a month. In fact, I would enjoy seeing some open ended challenges or those where we could set our own pace and choose our own start and finish.

My favorites have been the Tournament challenges. Not that I'm racing anyone, but because they are so unique and different and really, truly fun! I look forward to these. The Hearts & Tears is really fun, but I admit my all-time favorite was the 1st one with the word relay and the copyright relay. I'd like to do something like that again.

My least favorite are the spell-it-out challenges. I certainly don't suggest getting rid of them, since they seem popular with others. I'm just sharing my likes/dislikes. :)

Thanks for the feedback Tricia and Lauren :) I'll keep in mind some more open challenges as we come across ideas...

I have now participated in two challenges (Nov and Dec monthly reading challenges, I joined GR only October), but both of them have been fun to participate. I enjoy challenges (heck, I'm quite addicted to them), and those monthly ones are maybe the best way (at least for me) to read also those books which I have neglected [and I can also get to feel that amazing success feeling (you know, that one which overtakes you after you have accomplished something important to you)]. Categories in those challenges weren't/aren't too strict, and you can choose books quite freely, which is nice.

I was just wondering, if you have had some challenge, which is connected to color or that sort of things. Like:
Dark/Black: dark atmosphere, brutality etc (this kind of things can be seen for example in some BDSM themed books)
Grey: something to do with moving between right and wrong etc
Green: some environment stuff
Light/White: Easier stuff; humour; funny; sassy heroine etc
and so on....
This just came in my mind, I was thinking maybe construct my own challenge or something. So, just wondering.

But yeah, those 2 challenges have been great, and I will participate next year too. :)

Thanks Ethel - great suggestion! Sounds like we could create a quarterly around that... I'll pass the idea to the other mods for more of a chat :)

I am addicted to these challenges. I'm really sweating getting my Super Series challenge done before the end of the year. I like the short challenges. But I really like the ones where you have to plan and research how you're going to finish them, i.e., the baby name challenge last year and the series challenge this year. I get a little obsessed with fitting the short challenges into my long challenges, etc.

Thanks for all the great challenges this year and all the hard work that the Mods put in making this site really great!

I like that sort of planning too Lynne - but I try to keep that in check, or I loose all my reading time LOL! I'm just now starting to think about which A-Z challenges I'm going to do...

We love having such great ppl to 'play' with on this site. The members make this group - we all have so much fun! And there are some great challenges coming up in 2013 - so keep your eyes peeled :)

As you've all probably noticed, I'm not much of a chatterer but I do love RRRC challenges. You Mods come up with some very creative ideas making for some unique challenges. Thanks for all you do to make this group great.

I especially like the Hearts & Tears tournament and Barbie & Ken Treasure Hunt. I usually participate in all challenges except the PIFM challenge because at any given time, I have over 100 ongoing challenges and need to fit what I read into those challenges. The PIFM is just one more book that I can't fit into my monthly reading list.

I'm looking forward to seeing what kind of challenges RRRC offers in 2013.