Romance Readers Reading Challenges discussion

February 2016 PIFM Challenge

What is the Pick-It-For-Me Challenge?

The Pick-It-For-Me Challenge (PIFM) is a reading challenge where each participant gives and receives book recommendations based on a given a set of rules. The assignment method and book selection rules change each month so it’s always new and always different.

The idea of the PIFM challenge is that you will get new-to-you books and authors selected for you as well as a push to read some books that have been lingering on your shelves. You may not be interested in the new books recommended, which is why you also get a minimum of four books from your shelf.

You only have to read ONE book to complete this challenge!

After signups are closed, your names and any extra info will go into the super secret PIFM randomizer and it will select someone for you to recommend books to and someone to give you recommendations. This list will be posted along with any specific picking rules for the month.

In order to participate you need to either HAVE YOUR PROFILE SET TO PUBLIC (preferable), or friend the person giving you recommendations. PLEASE NOTE: if you choose to keep your profile private, it is your responsibility to send a friend request to the person picking for you as soon as possible after the matchups are posted. Whether your profile is private or not, it is also very important that your profile be set to receive Private Messages (PMs) in case anyone needs to reach out to you (mods, organizer etc.)

Everything gets done in this thread so be sure to come back often!!!

Repicks:
You can ask for repicks if:
✱ The books picked for you are not yet released.
✱ If you have already read the chosen book(s) and they are on your ‘read’ shelf.
✱ If you did not receive four picks from your ‘to-read’ shelf, with at least one from your preferred shelf.

You may NOT ask for repicks because:
✱ A book is not available at your library.
✱ A genre or author you don’t enjoy.


INFORMATION NEEDED TO SIGN UP:

From these choices, which rose is your favorite?
Red, Pink or Yellow

✱✱ If you have a preferred shelf, please list it along with your pick! ✱✱

IMPORTANT DATES
Sign ups will remain open until January 23rd (9 pm US PST).
For your convenience a Time Zone Converter.

You’ll have until January 28th (9 pm US PST) to make your recommendations.

Please do not start reading your book(s) until the first of the month. You then have the entire month to read your pick(s) and give some feedback.

If you’re new please read the PIFM Guidelines and FAQ. If you have any questions that are not addressed there, please feel free to ask!

✱Please note that late sign ups will be included at the host's discretion and no one will be included after re-picks are assigned!✱

TIPS TO MAKE THE CHALLENGE ENJOYABLE FOR EVERYONE!


Pickees
✱ To help your picker understand the type of books you like or are currently reading, please make sure your ‘read’ shelf is up to date. You can create shelves for books you DNFed (Did Not Finish) or authors that don’t work for you as well as favorite books and authors. In addition, you might consider updating your profile. You can include info about your favorite books, authors, genres, themes or tropes (or themes/tropes you dislike – i.e. secret baby).
✱ Please do not specify likes/dislikes in the sign-up thread. This information will not be included in the pairings and your pickee may not see your message and does not need to rely on that information when making picks.

Pickers
✱ Please remember this is primarily a romance readers group. Thus, most, if not all, of your picks should be romance. There are various sub genres within the romance category - Contemporary, Historical, Paranormal, Romantic Suspense, Erotica, M/M, Urban Fantasy. If your pickee reads a wide variety, you could add a non-romance as a choice.
✱ Choose at least 4 new titles for your pickee. These can be brand new to them (not found on any of their shelves) or a book found on their shelves if they've never read any of the author's work previously.

A few hints to help with book selection:
✱ Check the book’s publishing date. Select "date pub" from the checkbox selections and save.
✱ Check pickee's personalized shelves, especially their exclusive shelves. A personalized shelf is one the member has created. (e.g., 'to read next', 'favorites' ‘didn’t like’)
✱ Make sure the books you choose are not on their 'read' shelf. Just because it isn't rated doesn't mean it wasn't read.
✱ Look at your pickee's 'read' shelf and see what genres they have recently read or read the most. Reviewing their ‘read’ shelf might help you in choosing something they are interested in reading right now.
✱ If your pickee reads lots of books in a genre you are not familiar with (erotic romance, GLBT, YA, etc.) Contact the Mods or the month's organizer for guidance.
✱ Include a variety of books (e.g., shorter page count, new addition to their 'to-read' shelf, an older book on their 'to-read' shelf) This variety gives your pickee options when choosing the book or books they will be reading this month. Use the sort feature within their shelves to determine date a book was added, published or read; page numbers, ratings, etc.

Participants


Red
Leigh - pick it for me challenge
Diane~Firefly~ - mng picking
Ashley
Mariana - tbr
LaurLa - challenges to pick
Pam
Cecily - ebooks
Kristin - tbr owned
Suzanne
Rebecca
Shelby - current challenge to reads
Tammie - pifm
Carrie - soonish

Pink
~Melissa~ - meet n greet & feb march mng picked
Elke - on deck 4 chlges
Larissa - on deck TBR
Fran - a pifm shelf
Kait
Nancy H
Emelie
Sassafrass - read this next
Stacie - february
KarenH - cant wait to read
MountainKat - to read asap

Yellow
Danielle - books i want to read in 2016
Ty
fleurette - meet n greet picks
Jess - pifm rrrc
Tink Magoo
Lakshmi
KathyD - pick it for me
Breann - pifm pick me
Penney - pifm


Updated through msg 42

Picking Rules

Please make sure you have at least 4 books from your pickee's TBR and 4 that are new to them.

Red Rose - Representing true love: Recommend a romance or a book with red on the cover.

Deep Burgundy Rose - This rose symbolizes beauty: Recommend a book with a hottie on the cover or a book deep burgundy on the cover.

White Rose - Symbolizes innocence and purity and young love: Recommend a book with white on the cover or with an innocent character or YA.

Pink Rose - Conveys gratitude and appreciation: Recommend a new to them author or series or a book with pink on the cover.

Yellow Rose - Symbolizes joy and friendship: Recommend a book where friendship plays a large role in the story or a book with a happy character or a book with yellow on the cover.

Orange Rose - Represents enthusiasm and desire: Recommend an erotic romance or a book with a couple embracing on the cover or a book with orange on the cover.

Lavender Rose - Symbolizes love at first sight: Recommend a book from your pickee’s favorite author or favorite series or a book with lavender on the cover.

Blue Rose - Represents the unattainable: Recommend a romantic suspense or a new release or a book with blue on the cover.

Pairings

Each person picks for the person below them on the list, and the person at the bottom picks for the first in each group, so Kristin picks for Pam.

Red
✓ Pam
✓ Ashley
✓ LaurLa - challenges to pick
✓ Rebecca
✓ Diane~Firefly~ - mng picking
✓ Leigh - pick it for me challenge
✓ Mariana - tbr
✓ Shelby - current challenge to reads
✓ Cecily - ebooks
✓ Suzanne
✓ Carrie - soonish
✓ Tammie - pifm
✓ Kristin - tbr owned

Pink
✓ Sassafrass - read this next
✓ Kait
✓ Nancy H
✓ Larissa - on deck TBR
✓ Emelie
✓ Elke - on deck 4 chlges
✓ ~Melissa~ - meet n greet & feb march mng picked
✓ MountainKat - to read asap
✓ Stacie - february
✓ Fran - a pifm shelf
✓ KarenH - cant wait to read

Yellow
✓ Tink Magoo
Ty
✓ KathyD - pick it for me
✓ fleurette - meet n greet picks
✓ Danielle - books i want to read in 2016
✓ Jess - pifm rrrc
✓ Penney - pifm
✓ Lakshmi
✓ Breann - pifm pick me

✓ = picks made
updated through msg 106

Repicks
Sonal

**

Tammie
MountainKat
fleurette

**

**

I'm in. My favorite rose is yellow. Please use the following shelf:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/list...

yay! err, yellow, I guess....

Red

https://www.goodreads.com/review/list...

I'm in. I like pink roses.
Please use the following shelves:
meet n greet

feb march mng picked

I am in! Pink!!

Please pick from my On deck 4 chlges

Pink :)
On deck TBR

Well, I prefer the white ones :) but count me as yellow.

meet-n-greet-picks

Red!
MNG_Picking

I'm in and I will choose......Pink!

(Private profile)

Please choose a few from my PIFM shelf- https://www.goodreads.com/review/list...

I prefer pink roses :)

red please

Pink

Im in pink roses for me

Red
tbr

I'm in again please and I'll say yellow

Yellow! No particular shelf for you to pick from!

I'm in for Red. My shelf: challenges-to-pick

In for February. Red roses please.

I'm In for Red!!! Please choose from this shelf. e-books
note: If you can, try to see if it is the earliest book in the series. Thanks! (I know this is difficult to know but I appreciate it.)

Pink Roses are my favorite! Please chose a few from my

read-this-next shelf.

Thanks!

i'm in...yellow roses...they were my mom's favorites...please use this shelf

Pink rose! Please use my february shelf

I'm in for yellow :)

Red for me! Please try to pick at least one book from this TBR/owned shelf

I'm in and I like Red Roses!

I'm in. I like RED

I'm a hopeless romantic. Definitely red. :).

I'll link my shelf when I'm home and back on my computer.

Shelf Link: Current Challenge to Reads

Red are my favorite :)
PIFM

I'm in! My actual favorite isn't among the choices, but of the ones listed I think I have to go with Pink.

Please use my cant-wait-to-read shelf...thanks!

Cecily wrote: "I'm In for Red!!! Please choose from this shelf. e-books
note: If you can, try to see if it is the earliest book in the series. Thanks! (I know this is difficult to know but I appreciate it.)"

Cecily, remember that if a book gets picked for you that is in the wrong place in the series, you can swap and read the correct book instead.

Pink or red? Red or pink? I think I'll go with Pink!

Please use my to-read-asap - thanks!

I like them all but im going with Red
Please use my Soonish shelf.

I'm in...just in the nick of time! Yellow

My shelf is short so it needn't be exclusively used...pifm

~KarenH~ wrote: "Cecily wrote: "I'm In for Red!!! Please choose from this shelf. e-books
note: If you can, try to see if it is the earliest book in the series. Thanks! (I know this is difficult to know but I apprec..."

oh okay awesome!! That helps a lot because two of my books in another PIFM not in this group were further in the series than I was. Thanks for letting me know

Pairings and Rules are posted!!

Happy picking :)

hey fleurette! here are your picks...i hope you find something you love! happy reading!

Red Rose — represents true love
Romance genre — Taking Shots (new)
Red cover — Mackenzie's Mountain (tbr)

Deep Burgundy Rose — symbolizes beauty
Hottie on the cover — Alex (new)
Hottie on the cover — Rev It Up (tbr)

White Rose — symbolizes innocence and purity and young love
YA genre — The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (new)
White cover — The Thing About the Truth (tbr)

Pink Rose — conveys gratitude and appreciation
New-to-you author/series — The Hurricane (new)
Pink cover — First Comes Marriage (tbr)

Yellow Rose — symbolizes joy and friendship
Friendship plays a large role — Lick (new)
Yellow(ish) cover — Archangel's Enigma (tbr)

Orange Rose — represents enthusiasm and desire
Erotic romance — Come Away with Me (new)
Orange cover — What Burns Within (tbr)

Lavender Rose — symbolizes love at first sight
Favorite author — Etiquette & Espionage (new)
Lavender cover — Before Sunrise (tbr)

Blue Rose — represents the unattainable
Romantic suspense — Hard as It Gets (new)
Blue cover — Cold Midnight (tbr)

Hi Stacie! I won't be able to get to your picks tonight, but I'll work on them tomorrow!

Hey Sassy!

My brain has shut down for the night and you REALLY don't want me trying to do your picks, so I'll get them up for you tomorrow! =P

Hi Nancy H! I saw you had a lot of mysteries on your TBR and I enjoy them as well. I made sure to give you lots of romance picks but I did throw in some mysteries too giving you many picks to choose from :) Enjoy and happy reading!

Red Rose - Representing true love: Recommend a romance or a book with red on the cover.
New - Firelight (Romance - A historical/paranormal retelling of Beauty and the Beast. A little different from what I saw on your shelf but I think you might still enjoy it.)
TBR - The Devil's Web (Red - I had to pick this one when I saw the cover for a red rose category!)



Deep Burgundy Rose - This rose symbolizes beauty: Recommend a book with a hottie on the cover or a book deep burgundy on the cover.
TBR - Happy Are the Clean of Heart (Burgundy - Not a romance but since you like mysteries I thought this would be a good recommendation)
TBR - Nice Girls Don't Bite Their Neighbors (Cover hottie - Well he has a nice back at least :P I saw you weren't crazy about #2 but maybe give the series another chance since you enjoyed the first and Molly Harper's other books)
New - Bitter Sweet Love (Cover hottie - This is a sweet novella that seems to stand alone from the rest of the series, it's all I've read so far. Jennifer L. Armentrout is a well like YA author, hope you end up liking her too!)



White Rose - Symbolizes innocence and purity and young love: Recommend a book with white on the cover or with an innocent character or YA.
TBR - Head Over Heels (White - Sounds adorable!! I recently read Be My Baby and enjoyed it a lot)
New - Heart of Gold (Innocent - The heroine is quite innocent.)
TBR - Rumors (YA - I've heard great things about this writer and the covers are sooo gorgeous)



Pink Rose - Conveys gratitude and appreciation: Recommend a new to them author or series or a book with pink on the cover.
New - Murder in the Mystery Suite (New to you series - This is one of my favorite cozy series, hope you enjoy it if you give it a go! Looks like you've enjoyed other's from this author)
New - Extreme Exposure (New to you author - Really great romantic suspense)
TBR - Dazzle (Pink - Sounds interesting and definitely pink!)



Yellow Rose - Symbolizes joy and friendship: Recommend a book where friendship plays a large role in the story or a book with a happy character or a book with yellow on the cover.
New - Divorced, Desperate and Delicious (Friendships - Really fun, cute romance. The series follows a group of friends. The style reminds me a little bit of Jennifer Crusie which it looks like you've liked.)
New - Dumplin' (Happy character - For being nicknamed Dumplin' she sounds a like a pretty happy girl! I've been hearing great things about this book and hope to read it myself soon)
TBR - Pleating for Mercy (Yellow...ish - This sounds super cute. I need to add this to my TBR)



Orange Rose - Represents enthusiasm and desire: Recommend an erotic romance or a book with a couple embracing on the cover or a book with orange on the cover.
New - Tangled (Erotic romance - I didn't see much of any erotica on your self but this one is... erotic-ish. It's a hilarious romance told from the male perspective)
TBR - If the Viscount Falls (Embrace - I haven't read anything by this author but she's been on my mental TBR for a long time)
TBR - Organize Your Corpses (Orange - That title! I love cozy titles and this made me laugh)



Lavender Rose - Symbolizes love at first sight: Recommend a book from your pickee’s favorite author or favorite series or a book with lavender on the cover.
New - Naughty Neighbor (Favorite author - I had to guess on this. You're 22 books into Stephanie Plum so I hope you at least like this author :P)
TBR - Promises in Death (Favorite series - It looks like you're reading the series in order, so swap this with #8 if you'd like -- I picked one at random. This one of my favorite series and it looks like you're enjoy it as much as I am!)
New - A Night to Surrender (Lavender cover - My favorite historical romance author! <3)



Blue Rose - Represents the unattainable: Recommend a romantic suspense or a new release or a book with blue on the cover.
New - Dying to Please (Romantic suspense - I remember this being very intense, like a suspense with just the right amount of romance to not feel silly. I enjoyed it a lot!)
TBR - Marry, Kiss, Kill (Recently released - I sorted your TBR by date published and this was one of the most recent)
New - Finnikin of the Rock (Blue - A really, really great YA story)

Hi MountainKat
Here are my picks for you - hope you find something you would like to read :)


Red Rose (tbr)-

Deep Burgundy Rose (tbr) -

White Rose (tbr) -

Pink Rose (new) - Tina Folsom -

Yellow Rose (tbr) -

Orange Rose (new) or (tbr) -

Lavender Rose (new) -

Blue Rose (new) -

♥KathyD♥ wrote: "hey fleurette! here are your picks...i hope you find something you love! happy reading!

Red Rose — represents true love
Romance genre —

KathyD, thanks for your picks, I will definitely read some of the books you suggested. And some others I have just added to my tbr list :) Thanks!

Cecily - Here are my picks for you. :)

Red Rose
TBR - Bound by Blood
New - Dark Lover


Deep Burgundy Rose
TBR - Lick
New - Forgotten Sins


White Rose
TBR - Blindfolded Innocence
New - Everneath


Pink Rose
TBR: Crash into You
New: Daughter of the Blood


Yellow Rose
TBR: Bound
New: Born in Fire


Orange Rose
TBR: Mine to Take
New: My Fair Captain


Lavender Rose
TBR: If Only
New: Sinner's Gin


Blue Rose
TBR: Glass Sword
New: Cut & Run

Danielle
We have so many books in common that it was really hard to find something new to you. I did my best and I hope you will find a book you will like.

Red Rose - Representing true love: Recommend a romance or a book with red on the cover.

TBR: Love Irresistibly by Julie James - romance with red on the cover, you can change it to the earlier book in the series but I have read this one as a stand-alone and it wasn't a problem
NEW: Guilty Pleasures by Laurell K. Hamilton - urban fantasy consider as a classic by now with some interesting suspense part and red on the cover

Deep Burgundy Rose - This rose symbolizes beauty: Recommend a book with a hottie on the cover or a book deep burgundy on the cover.

TBR: Raziel by Kristina Douglas, Anne Stuart - PNR with a hottie on the cover
TBR: Edge of Obsession by Megan Crane - hottie on the cover

White Rose - Symbolizes innocence and purity and young love: Recommend a book with white on the cover or with an innocent character or YA.

TBR: The Unleashing by Shelly Laurenston - PNR with white on the cover
NEW: Written in Red by Anne Bishop - I really like this series, Meg is definitely innocent in many ways

Pink Rose - Conveys gratitude and appreciation: Recommend a new to them author or series or a book with pink on the cover.

TBR: The Heist by Janet Evanovich - new to you author, I absolutely loved this series
NEW: Pandora's Daughter by Iris Johansen - it seems that you haven't read anything by Iris Johansen yet, this is an interesting romantic suspense with a bit of paranormal twist

Yellow Rose - Symbolizes joy and friendship: Recommend a book where friendship plays a large role in the story or a book with a happy character or a book with yellow on the cover.

TBR: Fully Ignited by Shannon Stacey - yellow cover
NEW: Soulless by Gail Carriger - a story with some male friendship

Orange Rose - Represents enthusiasm and desire: Recommend an erotic romance or a book with a couple embracing on the cover or a book with orange on the cover.

TBR: Must Be Magic by Sydney Somers - couple embracing on the cover
NEW: Crystal Gardens by Amanda Quick - orange cover

Lavender Rose - Symbolizes love at first sight: Recommend a book from your pickee’s favorite author or favorite series or a book with lavender on the cover.

TBR: Deadly Fallout by Katie Reus - you seem to like this author and series so continue with it
NEW: Birthright by Nora Roberts - while you have read many books by J.D. Robb, you haven't read anything she has written under her other pen name Nora Roberts, this is one of my favourite by her

Blue Rose - Represents the unattainable: Recommend a romantic suspense or a new release or a book with blue on the cover.

TBR: I'm Watching You by Karen Rose - romantic suspense with a quite good storyline
NEW: Tell Me No Lies by Elizabeth Lowell - one of the older books by Lowell but still a good one