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New Challenge Idea!
I am interested in this, as long as it is in addition to the Seasonal Challenges, but not replacing them.
I never count how many pages I have read because just thinking about it takes some pleasure away. I don't mind the pages. Sometimes they are 256, 325 and sometimes 820 or even 1002 ....
I think it sounds interesting. I could never hope to compete in the seasonal challenges if they are all like the spring one. But I also don't branch out into genres I really don't like (like fantasy!) often. And I usually regret it ;) There are so many books out there I want to read, and even though I read fast I just don't have enough time to get those read.That said, I'd love a category of "pages read out loud from kid's books", since that seems to be a fair amount of my reading! I am talking Magic Treehouse, Stink, Bone, etc etc.
I don't count pages, nor the number of books. I read for content.
Definitely not replacing Cynthia's challenges! They are wonderful! I just had an idea for a different type of challenge that could be on the side.to Elizabeth (Alaska) and Jeane: The idea was not to make people rush through books to complete pages, but to challenge them to read a certain amount of different genres. Content is always important.
I've been tracking both my page count and my book count. I wouldn't mind trying something like that, but I don't know if you would get a lot of participation. I really track for my own purposes. With "Books=Points" type challenges, people can choose the type of book they want to read that suits their reading style. Cynthia has a reasonable minimum (100 pgs) to make it doable.
Having a 1000 page category goal would be difficult, as that could possibly be two or even three books just to get credit for one category goal. And then what would the time limit be for the challenge? A year?
The challenge to read books in new genres is pretty much what the group Pick-a-Shelf is all about. This month is travel, and next month is, I think, science fiction.
I don't keep track of page numbers if for no other reason then i read a lot of books on my kindle and there are no page numbers... something like this would be hard for that reason, but other than that, it is a great idea!
Mod
I am not sure if you (Kritika) are a member of Pick A Shelf, but Karen (the moderator) has a fun challenge that I participated in for round one. We have a new round beginning on May 1st. Here are the rules posted on the site: Object of the Game: To have read off the most shelves from the official list below.
Start: 00:00am local time 1 May 2009
End: 00:00pm local time 31 July 2009
1. To have read a book off a shelf, you must read a book that is found on that particular shelf. ie. to have read book off the classics shelf, you must read a book that is found on "classics" shelf. For example, Pride & Prejudice is on the top of this shelf: http://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show?shel...
2. A single book may be found on several shelves however we will only count the first 5 pages of top shelves for this book. For example, you may find Pride & Prejudice are found on the following shelves: http://www.goodreads.com/book/shelves/18... however we will only count the first 5 pages of listed shelves for this challenge (note: this is to make it easier for everybody as P&P is found on 70 pages of shelves!)
3. You don’t have to read off the shelves in any particular order of shelves.
4. The name of shelves must MATCH EXACTLY to the shelf you are trying to count. No deviations are acceptable (check the spelling off the official list below).
6. It is permissible to read a book that is found on a shelf you've already counted; just ignore those when you are tracking them.
Shelves
1001
2000s
2001
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
-
2007-reads
2008-books
2008-inventory
2008-read
2008-reads
2009-books
2009-reads
20th-century
a
abandoned
academic
action
action-adventure
adult
adult-books
adult-fiction
adult-non-fiction
adventure
africa
african-american
all
all-time-favorites
already-read
alreadyread
amazon-wishlist
american
american-history
american-lit
animals
anthology
anthologies
anthropology
architecture
art
audio
audiobook
audiobooks
audio-books
autobiography
biography
biography-memoir
biographies
book
books
bookclub
book-club
bookcrossing
bookcrossing-com
book-group
books-i-own
books-i-own-to-read
books-owned
books-read-in-2008
books-to-buy
books-to-check-out
books-we-own
borrowed
british
business
canadian
chick-lit
chicklit
childhood
childhood-books
children
children-books
childrens
children-s
children-s-books
childrens-books
childrens-picture-books
childrens-ya
children-young-adult
childhood-favorites
childrens-fiction
childrensbooks
childrens-lit
children-s-lit
children-s-literature
christian
christian-fiction
christianfiction
christianity
christmas
classic
classics
college
comedy
comic
comic-books
comics
comics-and-graphic-novels
comix
contemporary
contemporary-fiction
contemporary-romance
cookbooks
cooking
crafts
crime
crime-fiction
criticism
culture
design
didn-t-finish
did-not-finish
do-not-own
drama
e-books
ebook
ebooks
economics
england
english
erotic-romance
erotica
essays
europe
faith
family
fantasy
fantasy-sci-fi
favorite
favorite-authors
favorite-books
favorites
favourites
faves
feminism
fiction
fiction-general
film
finished
fluff
food
for-school
france
friendship
french
fun
funny
gardening
gay
gender
general-fiction
german
glbt
graphic
graphic-novel
graphic-novels
graphicnovels
guilty-pleasures
have
have-read
health
high-school
historical
historical-fiction
historicalfiction
historical-romance
home-library
how-to
humor
humour
history
holding
horror
indonesian
in-my-library
inspirational
i-own
i-own-books
i-own-it
islam
its-not-a-graphic-novel-its-a-comic
japan
japanese
juvenile
juvenile-fiction
keepers
kids
kid-books
kids-books
kindle
komik
language
lds
library
library-book
library-books
lit
literary
literary-fiction
literature
magic
manga
manga-to-read
maybe
memoir
memoirs
military
military-history
mine
modern-fiction
music
my-books
my-favorites
my-library
mystery
mysteries
mystery-suspense
mystery-thriller
mythology
nancy-pearl-s-book-lust
nature
need-to-buy
need-to-get
never-finished
nonfiction
non-fiction
not-owned
novel
novels
other
on-hold
on-my-bookshelf
on-the-shelf
own
own-it
owned
paper
paperpack
paranormal
paranormal-romance
parenting
partially-read
personal-library
philosophy
picture-book
picture-books
picturebooks
photography
plays
poetry
political
politics
programming
psychology
queer
reread
read-2008
read-2009
read-as-a-kid
read-in-2007
read-in-2008
read-in-2009
read-more-than-once
read-prior-to-2008
realistic-fiction
research
recently-read
recommended
reference
religion
religious
re-read
reviewed
romance
romantic-suspense
self-help
series
series-books
school
school-books
science
sciencefiction
science-fiction
science-fiction-fantasy
sci-fi
scifi
scifi-fantasy
sci-fi-fantasy
sf
sf-fantasy
short-stories
sociology
speculative-fiction
spiritual
spirituality
sports
stories
supernatural
suspense
tbr
teaching
technology
teen
teen-fiction
textbooks
theatre
theology
theory
thriller
thrillers
to-buy
to-get
to-read-interloan-my
to-read-interloan-sd
to-read-nonfiction
to-read-own
to-review
to-re-read
traded
travel
true-crime
uncategorized
unfinished
unread
urban-fantasy
vampires
want
want-to-buy
want-to-own
want-to-read
war
warehouse
western
wishlist
wish-list
writing
women
ya
ya-fiction
ya-lit
youngadult
young-adult
young-adult-books
young-adult-fiction
youth
There are about 25 or so of us doing it and could always use new people...
Lori, not to take anyone away from your group :) Cuz you rock!!!!
Would this be the kind of thing where if I used books for the seasonal challenge they could count for this too? If they are in the appropriate categories that is?
Yeah, that's the beauty of the Shelf Challenge, you can use any book at all. Especially early on, every book is bound to be on at least one of those shelves.
I do the shelf-a-thon challenge in Pick a Shelf too-it's a lot of fun.
I do both too!! I love challenges. I do not pick out specific books for the Shelf-a-thon, but use the books I am already ready for the Spring Challenge.
I think the page challenge is interesting though. Are we going to try it?
I am going to do it in the actual group... begins tomorrow!
What do you mean "in the actual group"? What actual group? I am confused. What are the rules???????
It is in the Pick-A-Shelf group. The rules are posted under a thread titled "Shelf-a-thon round two"...
Pick-A-Shelf sounds interesting. I might join that group too :D
Hope to see you there!! I like that group... of course TNBBC is very close to my heart!! :)
Mod
Of course it is :)
OF COURSE SUPER MOD!!!!!!!!!I heart this group :) It is an addiction... what can I say. My husband always makes fun on me and is like, whats up with Goodreads n'shit :) or oh your on GR, weird...
Kritika wrote: "Definitely not replacing Cynthia's challenges! They are wonderful! I just had an idea for a different type of challenge that could be on the side.to Elizabeth (Alaska) and Jeane: The idea was not ..."
Oh I know but just the thought of being busy with the ages and so doens't really appeal to me.
It might be more challenging if YA books were not allowed.
*GASP*Not allow YA books?? One of the coolest, most exciting genres out there?
*faints*
Unless it's a specific YA genre/shelf.YA reads a lot faster than other books, therefore it would be pretty easy to rack up points that way.
And then on a personal note, I don't find YA to be particularly "exciting". But that's neither here nor there.
Absolutely. Not here and not there. For sure.To each his or her own, I say!
But YA is super exciting because it's so fast-paced. The best part of YA for me is that it seems to be pared down to the essential kernal of the story! The best parts. I love YA, but didn't know it until a few months ago.There's nothing wrong with a fast read:)
I'm not saying YA doesn't serve its own purpose, but I think for challenges it doesn't necessarily work - primarily because there is no challenge there.
We'll have to agree to disagree on that one, El.
one thing I have noticed on GR book listings - The page number they have does not match the actual book. They (publisher?) count the non-reading pages like the reviews, ads for upcoming books or other books by the author. I don't think they should be included in the actual reading of the story itself.
I think the last book I read had 10 or 15 pages of gibberish that didn't count. LOL
El wrote: "Unless it's a specific YA genre/shelf.YA reads a lot faster than other books, therefore it would be pretty easy to rack up points that way.
And then on a personal note, I don't find YA to be part..."
But what about for instance Patricia cornwell books? I read them so fast because I am copletely in her stories...while others that are seen like faster reads for instance for me chick lit...take more time.
Jeane wrote: "But what about for instance Patricia cornwell books? I read them so fast because I am copletely in her stories...while others that are seen like faster reads for instance for me chick lit...take more time."Patricia Cornwell isn't necessarily considered a lower reading level. YA is not a genre so much as it is an age group.
When it comes to challenges - particularly something like this where they are considering points for number of pages read - reading all YA novels would be pretty easy and not particularly fair to those reading non-YA books.
I agree El, it sounds like you want to go by specific books.
I'm not attacking YA books for the sake of attacking YA books. Some of my favorites are YA books. But I would not choose to read them for any challenge because while they're wonderful works of literature, they are not challenging reads. I only question the challenge aspect of choosing YA books, not the existence of YA books in the literary world. The operative word here being "challenge".In regards to the number of pages challenge, that is exactly what I'm talking about here. For example, one person could read Twilight at 544 pages and someone else could read Jude the Obscure at 464 pages. Almost the same amount of pages, but Twilight is infinitely easier and faster to read, therefore that person has tallied more points, mostly because that person decided to take the easier route.
Obviously it doesn't matter what I think over anyone else's thoughts. The question was merely what did people think of the idea, and I gave my opinion in so far as logistics.
Fiona wrote: "El, why don't you set up a 'classics' challenge or a 'fat book challenge' or whatever if you really want a challenge like that."
Sure. Or the other option is if people want to read only YA books they could have their own YA challenge so then everyone is on the same level.
We do have a YA challenge in the YA group, and here is a link if anyone is interested:http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/1...
Couldn't resist the chance to plug! Don't throw YA books at me, Lori!
:)
Laura wrote: "We do have a YA challenge in the YA group, and here is a link if anyone is interested:http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/1...
Couldn't resist the c..."
Great, that's the place for YA readers participating in challenges!
I don't think that YA books should be banned from a challenge. Whilst not everyone likes to read YA (I personally like to read YA once in a while, but most of the time I read normal fiction) I don't think that those who do read YA should be punished for doing so.For the record, I also believe that people who don't like YA should not be jumped upon for saying so.
I think that what someone likes to read is a very personal choice. Just because someone likes to read YA, it should not mean that they cannot join in with the challenge.
I agree, and I hope my remarks weren't taken to mean I was jumping on El or anyone here. I like to play the devil's advocate, and don't think any group of books should be singled out or excluded.
Don't you think the challenges here are, for the most part, a way to challenge yourself? It's not like the stakes are very high. If one feels challenged by including a lot of YA into their challenge, should it really matter to others? For Cynthia's challenges anyway, there's generally a lot of freedom to read what you enjoy. Because of that, I just don't think restrictions such as this would be very fair.
I would have thought that all Goodreads people are people who have signed up because they like reading, they like books. The challenges are just a bit of fun around this basic enjoyment of books. To make the challenges about difficulty of book or about no. of pages or about how fast/slow a book can be read is a whole other ball game.
Kirsty wrote: "I don't think that YA books should be banned from a challenge. Whilst not everyone likes to read YA (I personally like to read YA once in a while, but most of the time I read normal fiction) I don'..."The public library in my city (and at every other library in towns I've lived in over the years) has had a summer reading challenge. It is always split into three groups: children, YA and adults. It's not "banning" or "excluding". There are options for all readers. But at the same time they are separate in order to promote reading in different age groups. Adults often don't like to participate in challenges that are being overrun by children or teenagers, particularly because they are in different reading levels. Each reader is able to participate in their age group and with similar readers. That's my point.
I appreciate that El, but what about someone that likes to read both? Does that mean they can't participate in either challenge?As others above have said, it's about challenging yourself. Ok so a little healthy competition is fine, but if someone has read a book and enjoyed it, does it really matter how quickly they read it?!
What about audio books? Do you think they should count for a challenge? If YA books are too 'easy' and fast to read, how much more so audio books?(Personally I don't read YA books or listen to audio ones, but I sell both in my bookshop, so no prejudice against them from me).
Fiona wrote: "Also, it's difficult to judge what for some is easier or harder. As Jeane said, she could power through a Patricia Cornwell so she finds them perfectly easy... compared to someone who say decided t..."Exactly. James Patterson books are adult, and some of them are 400+ pages, yet I can read one of his books in hours if I have the time to just sit and read.
Again you are all confusing genre with age group. You are also confusing my statements and implying I am saying adults shouldn't read X, Y or Z. I have merely made a point about YA books in challenges, specifically. Please don't twist my words around. I'm speaking only of an equal playing field for the participants.
I'm not twisting your words around. Goodreads is a site for people aged 13+. I don't know how old the youngest member of this group is, however if there is a group challenge, EVERYONE should be able to take part, regardless of age and regardless of whether they choose to read YA or War and Peace.
El and I (and those silent others) who believe YA is less than challenging are undoubtedly not going to change the rules here. We just hope it provides food for thought for others.
Would anyone be interested? Any other ideas?