Reading with Style discussion

Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "Summer is coming! Color me excited!"

I know! Me too! I was thinking the new season's threads when they are first posted is a bit like the trailer for movie you have been dying to see...... coming soon! :)

We are excited to see the new season. 😀

Oh My!

Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "Oh My!"

My thoughts exactly! ;)

Went to the library to return a book and sitting on the free books table was Horse. Winning!

Apple wrote: "Went to the library to return a book and sitting on the free books table was Horse. Winning!"

Nice!

Apple wrote: "Went to the library to return a book and sitting on the free books table was Horse. Winning!"

And it is a great read Apple-Enjoy!

Before the end of the season I wanted to thank the mods for a wonderful challenge. HDYGG was the the most fun challenge in my entire existence here on GR's. I had been in a terrible reading slump since late 2023, and finally I came out of it, with the help of HDYGG (and Elizabeth, who early in the season IM'd me and offered to guide me a bit! )-so thank you! I doubt I will be much of an Olympian, but I am giving it a go all the same.

Joanne wrote: "Before the end of the season I wanted to thank the mods for a wonderful challenge. HDYGG was the the most fun challenge in my entire existence here on GR's. I had been in a terrible reading slump s..."

Thank you, Joanne! I'm so glad to hear that. All credit to Anika for the HDYGG challenge :)

Squeaking in with a mega finish by giving up on reading the last two long-titled HDYGG books and shoving in two trashy romances that didn't fit anywhere else anyway.

Joanna wrote: "Squeaking in with a mega finish by giving up on reading the last two long-titled HDYGG books and shoving in two trashy romances that didn't fit anywhere else anyway."

Great strategy, Joanna!

Joanna-I cannot believe I forgot to put the title on my post -if it is not too late it was

The Conquering Tide: War in the Pacific Islands, 1942–1944 Ian W. Toll

"Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read." -Groucho Marx

Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: ""Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read." -Groucho Marx"

you made me giggle

I'm finding it interesting that so many are able to post books using Option B for the Olympic Scavenger challenge. I don't ever know what words an author is going to use in a book so I don't have any way to plan reading books this way.

Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "I'm finding it interesting that so many are able to post books using Option B for the Olympic Scavenger challenge. I don't ever know what words an author is going to use in a book so I don't have a..."

I've been moving my planned books around as I find a word that I can use for Option B. Many books set earlier than the 20th Century have horses or horse-riding. Sometimes the cover can give a clue. If the title has a word about a river or an ocean, I'll flip through the book to look for canoe, rowing, swimming, surfing, or diving. Scenes in bars often have characters talking about sports or watching them on TV. I've been enjoying this fun task!

I can see that you and others are having fun with this, I just didn't have a clue how to approach it. I have more books than I can read for the others, but I've been fascinated that most of you have been able to make posts for Option B.

I am using Rosemary's very useful method described in message two of the Olympic Scavenger thread:

"For option B (books that contain the word):
The best place I know of to search inside a book without buying or borrowing an ebook is https://openlibrary.org..."

It eliminates the guessing!

I read books for other challenges and had nowhere for them, but OpenLibrary and Google Books proved very helpful and I was able to use all of them.

Please explain how to use Open Library. I went to that site and put in a title and then clicked search inside. A lot of other titles came up. Then I put in a different search term and books I’d never heard of and would never read came up.

Obviously, I don’t know how it would help.

Elizabeth, it helps if you put in the author name as well as the title. For example "The Diviners" brings up thousands of titles starting with The Divine Comedy, but if I search for "The Diviners Margaret Laurence" or even just "The Diviners Margaret" I can see the book I want (although The Divine Comedy still comes up first!)

Then if you click on the cover image (not on "Borrow") and then on the next page click on Preview, you can search inside the book.

You probably could also do it by borrowing the book from them, but then you have to sign up with them.

Thanks, Rosemary. Clicking on the cover image is a step I'd have missed even if the right book came up.

I note that site is part of an effort to try to overturn a lawsuit which protected copyright.

I am reading a series that the author fits 10.9 Javelin Throw. When I find an option B word or an option A activity, I post it for that! I am guessing that I will eventually have to post one of the books for 10.9. But in the meantime I have a start on the Olympic Scavenger.

OK. I make up a list of books to read based on whether and which tasks they fulfill. There is no randomness. 😂

Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "OK. I make up a list of books to read based on whether and which tasks they fulfill. There is no randomness. 😂"

That is my approach as well. Particularly with a challenge like 'Olympic scavenger hunt' I didn't think my reading normally includes sporty words (except when I for the Dick Francis novels!) - so I laid them out.

I'm a slow reader, so a normal season for me is not nearly 30 books, sometimes not even 20 if I've chosen some lengthy titles. I have 2 plans for Opening Ceremonies, but I probably will read only 1 or 2 for the 2nd one.

Actually, the halfway finisher in a regular season was started for readers who might read even fewer than 20 books and so they can plan on a finisher bonus. I like to feel I can finish something and have this season targeted for one Opening Ceremonies and one Decathlon. If I have time for other things, I do have 2 books penciled in for Olympic Scavenger - a Dick Francis (!) and another mentioned in one of the threads.

Yes, the halfway finisher bonus is a good incentive. I am a fast reader, but sometimes I am interested in reading a long and hard book (eg. Mason & Dixon - which took basically a month to read). So, if I am interested in doing more than a couple tasks I pick short, easy reads for a lot of tasks. I did that for the 15s this time around.

I rarely finish more than 10 books per season. Olympic Scavenger has been so much fun and a good motivator to keep going. I really like character tasks - doing as well as reading the posts.

For option B, I have had good luck with 1) Google books preview (even if a limited preview, it will find words in the book) and 2) downloading/opening library book .pdf and using the search feature. If no scavenger word is found, I return the book unless it is one that I really want to read and it fits another task (hasn't happened yet).

Happy summer!

Did anyone else look at the New York Times 100 Best Books of the Century list: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2...

I've read 55 of them...I'm thinking of trying to work my way through the other 45.

I was surprised to see some of the authors with more than one book on the list. Particularly Elena Ferrante - I read My Brilliant Friend and liked it okay, but not enough to want to read more. But I guess I'm a bit in the minority on that.

Joanna wrote: "Did anyone else look at the New York Times 100 Best Books of the Century list: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2...

I've read 55 of them...I'm thinking of tr..."

I wonder if there is a GR list. NYT wants me to sign in to see this article.

Edit: Yes there is:

https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/2...

Joanna wrote: "Did anyone else look at the New York Times 100 Best Books of the Century list: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2...

I've read 55 of them...I'm thinking of tr..."


I've only read 20, although there are quite a few that are on the TBR! I also noticed that there are a few repeat authors.

Joanna—55 is really impressive! I’ve read only 20 of them, with 10 TBR. The century is still young. I wonder how many of these titles will be on the final list 75 years from now.

Did something change on GR when I wasn't looking or is there a glitch this morning? On the individual book pages I looked at I don't see the publication, awards, etc information.

Yep, it's gone.

I have reported it. I was probably not the first ...

When you live in the Southern hemisphere, and the 15th is nearly over , and you can't hold in the anticipation any longer .... At least I am pretty sure how I will spend my weekend!

I am so ready for new challenges, Summer has been fun, but I am getting antsy in my reading, and it is becoming too much like hard work to make things fit any more :(

Apple wrote: "When you live in the Southern hemisphere, and the 15th is nearly over , and you can't hold in the anticipation any longer .... At least I am pretty sure how I will spend my weekend!

I am so ready..."

Even though I'm in the Northern Hemisphere I'm in the same boat! It's nice to know I'm not the only one who 'gets antsy' around this time in a RwS season.

I am reading my book for 20.10. I was concerned it would be too experimental, and therefore a slog to read, however I am really enjoying it. My worries about the book are why I've been on an Agatha Christie streak - it really is surprising how many sports references her books have.

It feels like Christmas Eve when a new season of tasks is near. I’ve really enjoyed the summer season and am amazed at the creativity and imagination of ours mods. I liked the flexibility of the tasks this summer. Sports references are everywhere and I could always easily fit in the books I wanted to read.

And......the Subchallenge is live! Check it out.....https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Also...

Go vote in the Polls: https://www.goodreads.com/poll/list/3...

The only problem with new tasks is that the planning for the new tasks distracts me from finishing up the old tasks LOL. I've had a good season this time. I finished the SCAVANGER sub-challenge, and I'm on track to finishing the OPENING CEREMONIES sub-challenge. Planning the Opening Ceremonies sub-challenge 3 months ago has enabled me to actually finish Opening Ceremonies -- time to find its older books and its around the world authors. I will run out of time before finishing DECATHALON.

Thanks to the moderators for running these challenges!

More tasks posted. Here goes another "lost" several hours while planning my reading future. LOL

(I love the planning, looking at my shelves and discovering books I haven't considered recently.)

I am spoiled for choice this season on just 2 tasks: Chemistry and Art. With the Series and Multiple styles I'll probably just load up on these. I have found trilogies whose authors have 4 elements, so combos too.

One of my original Scrabble plans included the Jumbo Studs Lonigan. It is a trilogy, so I'm breaking it into its component parts and using my other Scrabble plan.

Just so much to read for Fall!

I feel the same! For the 'thankful' poll alone I've noted 8++ books that are on my TBR! What I am most pleased about, in this initial phase of planning (both the 20s and the sub-challenge) is that I have, in my RL tower of books, 11 that work (almost 65%!). If I stick to my plan, I will be making a nice dent in the pile!

Rosemary wrote: "I am taking a break from moderating for the next couple of seasons but I will still read and post some, and I will be back as a moderator as soon as I have more time. Thank you all for making this a fun group to moderate!
"

Thank you for being there the past few seasons. I know Anika and Joanna appreciated your joining them. We all look forward to your return.

Thank you, Rosemary, for all you do for the group. I hope things go well for you during your busy time.

Definitely, a big thank you to Rosemary and the other mods. Good wishes to all of you.

Yes, I agree with all of the above! We miss you already, Rosemary - even though you aren't really gone...... ha, ha. It is nice that there is a team of 3 so that you all can step in or back as necessary.

I'll add my thanks to the mods for stepping in and continuing to run this fine challenge! Rosemary, enjoy your time, but then come back;)

Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "Rosemary wrote: "I am taking a break from moderating for the next couple of seasons but I will still read and post some, and I will be back as a moderator as soon as I have more time. Thank you all..."

Thanks for all your work! I appreciate what you have contributed as moderator for this group!