The Reading Challenge Group discussion

Originally the brain-child of one of our members (Karen) as a mini-challenge, the Points Challenge is has now been adapted to a group wide goal for 2015! This is a fun way for us to tally up our reading each month and ultimately, help us to each read more!

Each month, a new thread will be set up for the monthly tally and discussion. We will also have monthly "team" goals for number of points earned as a group. This number is based on the average points that were earned across the October - December mini-challenge but we can adjust as we go through the year if we find the team goal too high/low based on participation.

The expectation here is that each member keeps track of his or her own score using the guideline posted in the monthly thread. A sample guideline is found below for reference. How many points can you earn each month? It's completely up to you!

Happy reading!

POINT SYSTEM GUIDELINE


Read a general book: 1 point per book
Read a "shortie" (short story, poem, play): 0.5 points per
Read a group read book: 5 points per book
Read a buddy read book: 5 points per book you read with a buddy
Read a book for the genre challenge: 3 points per book
Read a book for a mini-challenge: 3 points per book
Complete a multi-book mini-challenge: 10 extra points
Bonus** - read a "chunkster" (500 pages or more): 5 points per book

Definitions:

A GENERAL book is any book you read this month (not covered by another category).

A GROUP READ book is limited to the books nominated and chosen by the group and discussed in the Group Read folder.

A GENRE Challenge book is any book that fits the Genre of the Month.

MINI-CHALLENGE books are 3 points each. There is an additional 10 point bonus for completing a challenge that involves several books.
For example, the Holiday Challenge is a 3 pointer, because it only requires one book. Something like the Continental Challenge, however, could get you 34 points upon completion. (3 for each category, plus 10 point bonus for finishing)

So glad we are doing this as a group challenge! Are we going to have a points goal or just counting them up? :)

Me too - I love this challenge! For those members that participate, we will have a "team goal" each month and then we'll measure the progress throughout the year. For now, the team goal is going to be based on our progress over the last couple of months.

Okay cool! :)

Looking forward to it!

In addition to the "usual suspects", we'll be adding a bonus category (or maybe a couple!) for each month to help us focus on something new. More details to come...stay tuned!

Love the bonus idea!!

I frequently read short story anthologies. I'm not going to game the system by counting up the stories in the book and counting it as an 8 point book instead of a 1 point book, but should there be something mentioned in the rules about it? Also what about magazines? Science fiction, fantasy, horror - don't know if other genres do them... These are usually made up of short stories and novellas.

Hi Diane,

The 2015 challenge is starting on January 1st, 2015. Each month, a thread will be posted with that month's challenge. Members can post their progress on these monthly threads.

Please let me know if you have any other questions.

Hi Diane! I love that you're so active on the site! For our points challenge, you would only be able to count points for mini-challenges and genre/group reads for our specific group.

However, you will still get 1 point for completing each book you read outside of these categories so if you read a book for another group, you can still count it as a book read here. Does that make sense?

Which monthly challenge are you referring to? There are monthly group reads that are selected through nominations and polls mid month. These would be considered group reads.

The 2015 points challenge is almost upon us! It's hard to believe that it is already the end of the year, but it's exciting to get started on some new challenges as well. I'm excited to see how this one progresses each month!

Quick question: Say I read a book that fits into several mini-challenges - do I count 3 points per challenge or just 3 points for the book? :)

It would count as 3 points for one of the challenges, which one you put it under is your choice! Once you finish the mini-challenge, you will also get the additional points for completing (as long as it is a multi-book mini challenge)!

Okay, awesome. Thanks! :)

Do personal challenges count as mini-challenges, or are those considered general books?

Mini-challenges are counted as any of those in the mini-challenge folder. Personal challenges on their own wouldn't qualify, unless it was opened up to the rest of the group as a mini-challenge. We like to encourage all members to create challenges as well if they have something in mind. If you do have something, feel free to share it!

Question just to be sure: if I read a book for a mini-challenge that also happens to be a chunkster, do i get points for both categories or do I just pick one?

Kassandra wrote: "It would count as 3 points for one of the challenges, which one you put it under is your choice! Once you finish the mini-challenge, you will also get the additional points for completing (as long ..."

I was wondering the same thing. Maybe it would be good to say in the monthly rules that a book can only count in one place, except when it fits the bonus category. (If I'm understanding that correctly.)

Thanks for the suggestion Allison - I'll add it into the Feb thread.

Kassandra wrote: "Thanks for the suggestion Allison - I'll add it into the Feb thread."

Thanks! I think I probably could have doubled my points if I counted books in more than one category, though. Are you sure you don't want to re-think the rule? :)

Lol, I'm pretty sure we all could have but I think if we limit it, it will encourage people to read more and get out of their comfort zones a little :)

Question on the buddy reads - does any buddy read count, or only within this group?

Just within this group Allison.

Kassandra wrote: "Just within this group Allison."

That's what I thought. Just checking! :)

Another quick question! There's a place for books read for the genre challenge - what about the other challenges such as World Lit? Do those fit anywhere or are they just 'general' points?

Allison, you can count the world lit as part of genre since it's a group category.

Kassandra wrote: "Allison, you can count the world lit as part of genre since it's a group category."

Ok, thanks!