Reading with Style discussion

Here is a place for your questions for our subchallenge summer.

Note, CYOA from this season is allowed for summer even though the thread hasn't moved to the archive link yet.

All of the old questions and planning threads have been saved and are in the Archives folder. That folder is organized mostly in reverse date order with the season preceding the name of the original thread.

https://www.goodreads.com/topic/group...

Regarding repeats …

I have identified 2 subchallenges. When I have finished both of them, do the instructions mean that I can go back to the first one completed and start again?

I rarely can read as many as 30 books in a season. I can look for a third subchallenge if need be.

Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "Regarding repeats …

I have identified 2 subchallenges. When I have finished both of them, do the instructions mean that I can go back to the first one completed and start again?"

Yes!

Excellent. Thank you multiple times.

I am lookinf at Fall 2020 The power of 9

The original challenge had bonus points for eg reading in order numerical finish, or using one criteria eg publication date. Do those bonuses apply or only the finishing bonuses from the Summer 2025 challenge listing?

Original bonuses do not apply for this season, but you can choose to do tasks in whichever way you choose from the previous description ( I know many tasks had different possible routes you could take for different rewards).

It is Summer, and whilst we still like a challenge, it is a little more relaxed than other seasons

I'm considering Ocean Vuong for my 2nd sub challenge, which is a redo of: Winter 19/20 CYOA - Author Edition.

I am hoping he fits this category: '4.Read a book by an author who has published in at least 3 forms (fiction, non-fiction, poetry, play, etc)", but am unclear if essays published in journals/magazines (ie. not pub as a book) 'count' as a third format for him (he already has fiction + poetry under his belt).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ocean_V...

Should I just boldly go ahead and count Vuong? I see the book is coming for me (to the library).

Valerie wrote: "Should I just boldly go ahead and count Vuong? I see the book is coming for me (to the library)."

Yes, that will be fine.

Joanna wrote: "Valerie wrote: "Should I just boldly go ahead and count Vuong? I see the book is coming for me (to the library)."

Yes, that will be fine."

Thank you, Joanna! I am excited to read his second novel!

Hello ! To be sure this is ok, can i pick the SU 22 Bingo ? As it wasn't just a sub-challenge but covering all the tasks (and since the BINGO points are unapplicable if i understand correctly), i'm having doubts. Thanks !

Don't summer challenges work? When I was a mod, we had sub-challenge summers because they were easier for Kate and her very busy summers.

If the summer challenges don't work, I'll need to majorly revise my planning, so looking forward to the answer.

We are discussing, Bingo was different to the standard subchallenge, but I think there has been some agreement about how to make it work. Stay tuned!

Bingo was intended as a sub-challenge just like every other summer challenge when we started to have sub-challenge summers. Had Kate and I continued, Scrabble would have been a sub-challenge for the next summer.

The way I understand the instructions this summer is that we must abide by all of the rules of the original challenge except scoring and/or finisher bonuses.

Correct, original scoring and finisher bonuses do not apply.

I guess, for me personally, it would be the difference that there are 75 potential tasks in the Bingo which makes it different from the standard 10. The original scoring was in blocks of 10, but if you chose Bingo, would you only do Bingo (this would be how I played it if I chose it, because I would want to finish the Bingo board), or are you only doing 10 tasks.

This does not reflect the thoughts of the moderators en masse, but perhaps explains why there was some thinking behind it :)

So Bingo is the only sub-challenge in question? (Which *was* a sub-challenge, by the way, even if you think of it differently.)

It is the only one that there was a query on, and I queried it simply because of the different format and how it would work because it was different from the norm, there was no question about it being a subchallenge.

You may read freely, keeping in mind that you may use a square only one time. Because of library holds (or any reason) you may wish to claim more than 5 books before claiming a bingo finish.

So the original instructions say you can read freely and you don't have to claim a bingo. I can see you're saying this is restricted to 10 books, but keeping with the original rules, it isn't necessary. I don't know how you'll choose.

I'm just glad that challenges for sub-challenge summers work. I have - as usual, too many - about 40 books pencilled in for Favorites from Summer 2023. ;-)

I think I am going to use Favorites from Summer 2023 as mentioned by Elizabeth. I have selected the books and now I need to choose a task for each. Can I choose 20-point tasks from 2024 and 2025 as well as year 2023 and earlier?

Owlette wrote: "I think I am going to use Favorites from Summer 2023 as mentioned by Elizabeth. I have selected the books and now I need to choose a task for each. Can I choose 20-point tasks from 2024 and 2025 as..."

Only Subchallenges can be used , not 20 point tasks unless they are designates as a subchallenge (ie SU2024 Opening Ceremonies.)

All Subchallenges prior to this season can be found here

https://www.goodreads.com/topic/group...

Owlette wrote: "I think I am going to use Favorites from Summer 2023 as mentioned by Elizabeth. I have selected the books and now I need to choose a task for each. Can I choose 20-point tasks from 2024 and 2025 as..."

Sorry, I misunderstood ... I have just got home from work and traffic was a nightmare ... yes, you can use from any season prior to the next one.

Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "You may read freely, keeping in mind that you may use a square only one time. Because of library holds (or any reason) you may wish to claim more than 5 books before claiming a bingo finish.

So the original instructions say you can read freely and you don't have to claim a bingo. I can see you're saying this is restricted to 10 books, but keeping with the original rules, it isn't necessary. I don't know how you'll choose."

That's right, you could read freely without repeating squares, but you did have to claim a bingo to get a finisher bonus. And you could get the bingo finisher bonus after 5 books, but other subchallenges require 10 books, so we feel we need to adapt the original instructions in this case.

So yes, it will be possible to use Bingo, but we're still discussing the details. Sorry for the delay!

As far as I can see, all the other summer subchallenges require 10 books, so there's no problem with them.

Apple wrote: "Only Subchallenges can be used , not 20 point tasks unless they are designates as a subchallenge (ie SU2024 Opening Ceremonies.)"

Summer 2023: FAVORITES
Favorites
Read 10 books that fit your favorite 20-point tasks from prior seasons. You must state the season and the task (number and brief description) when posting your book claim.
NOTE: The bonuses for this challenge allowed us to repeat tasks

To Apple: Whew! Glad it is okay to use Favorites (Summer 2023) and to pick from 2024 and 2025’s 20-point tasks. I made my list and put in library requests last night. Thanks.

We posted this elsewhere, but just to make sure it's seen:

We have agreed that graphic novels will be allowed for the summer challenges, even if not allowed in the original subchallenge rules.

Lexile requirement will stay at 700 for books that are YA, JUV, or YA Assignment at the Brooklyn libraries website.

Also, on the Planning thread, I posted about some problems with a couple of plans that relied on page numbers. Please remember that (for consistency) we use the most popular printed edition for page numbers, not ebook editions or the edition that you may own.

Marie wrote: "Hello ! To be sure this is ok, can i pick the SU 22 Bingo ? As it wasn't just a sub-challenge but covering all the tasks (and since the BINGO points are unapplicable if i understand correctly), i'm..."

Okay, we have arrived at a solution, which I will also post on the 'How to Play' thread:

For SU 22 BINGO!, to make it equivalent to other subchallenges, you will need to read 10 books that fit 10 different squares on the bingo board. From your 10 squares, you must make at least one "bingo" (as defined in the first paragraph of the original instructions).

According to our Summer Subs rules, if you wanted to do another Bingo finish, you'd have to complete a different subchallenge in between. You should choose different bingo squares for each repeat.

In Pick N Mix does “author’s name begins with” refer to the author’s surname?

In Listopia Tag, are “nonfiction”and “non-fiction”the same tag or different tags?
And can we use any tag listed? For instance if I read a book off the “Best of 21st Century Non-fiction” can I use the “science” tag even if the book I read is a biography of a political figure?

Kathleen (itpdx) wrote: "In Pick N Mix does “author’s name begins with” refer to the author’s surname?

No, it means the first letter of their full published name. This question was asked at the time and the answer was:
John Irving is J
Min Jin Lee is M
Xinran is X

In Listopia Tag, are “nonfiction”and “non-fiction”the same tag or different tags?

I guess we would accept any difference as a different tag, but many lists that qualify (minimum of 100 books and 100 voters) will have several tags, so you probably wouldn't need to use two that are so similar.

And can we use any tag listed? For instance if I read a book off the “Best of 21st Century Non-fiction” can I use the “science” tag even if the book I read is a biography of a political figure?"

Yes, if that list has the tag "science".

You may want to check the archived questions thread for Listopia Tag: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Thanks for the link! Ha! Ha! I see I asked the same questions before .

Kathleen (itpdx) wrote: "Thanks for the link! Ha! Ha! I see I asked the same questions before ."

I didn't notice that! I hope you didn't think I was making a point with that!

Seriously though, in general, the original questions thread from the Archives folder is very useful for any subchallenge. The Archives are in date order, so it's not too hard to find your way around.

No. I didn't think that. It is funny that I had the same questions again.

Thanks for the answer on BINGO ! (i didn't think it'd raise such discussions, sorry ! :D)

I have yet another question: so for FA 23 How to Play Celebration of Styles, since graphic novels are allowed, they'd fit "Not a Novel", correct ?

Marie wrote: "Thanks for the answer on BINGO ! (i didn't think it'd raise such discussions, sorry ! :D)

I have yet another question: so for FA 23 How to Play Celebration of Styles, since graphic novels are allo..."

That is correct!

I am doing Half and Half (authors initials in one half of alphabet)

Would Guy Gavriel Kay, work as the second G is in the middle, not the last name?

Sorry Joanne, not a name I am familiar with, so the question is, is Gavriel a middle name or surname?

If it is a middle name, it is ignored, if it is a multiple surname, then it won't, as per the original rules.

I am not sure, I will try to find something that answers the question. I was confused about the rule and surnames, so I just wanted to check. Thanks for the quick answer, and I will post a link if I can find the answer and it is a middle name.

Worlcat shows it as

"Kay, Guy Gavriel"

Thanks Elizabeth!

Apple, I found that Gavriel is the Hebrew name for Gabriel. Will this be enough to ignore it?

https://nameberry.com/b/boy-baby-name...

I'm no longer a mod, but we always relied on WorldCat and/or BPL and we should continue the precedent. It doesn't matter where Gavriel came from.

I don't understand, Elizabeth. If it is a middle name and not a surname, it is usable per the rules. I cannot find your reference, so could you explain the difference between showing his last name first?

WorldCat is a library that catalogs books. It alphabetizes author names, among other things. So I showed you how the name is alphabetized so that you would know which is the first name and which is the last name, which was your question.

Kay (comma) showing the last name first, then Guy Gavriel

https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=...

Gavriel can be ignored per that task. Only the first initial of the first name and the first initial of the last name are to be considered. Middle names and initials are ignored.

Perhaps the example of Mario Vargas Llosa has confused you. That author's last name is Vargas Llosa, so M and V are not in the same half of the alphabet.

Ok. thanks for that. I don't know why this one confused me so much.

Joanne wrote: "I am doing Half and Half (authors initials in one half of alphabet)

Would Guy Gavriel Kay, work as the second G is in the middle, not the last name?"

Just to confirm what Elizabeth said, as middle names can be ignored in this case unless they are part of the last name, Guy Gavriel Kay's initials are G K for purposes of the Half and Half challenge.

Yes, I messaged Joanne privately, because I was no longer comfortable with the thread.

The question was answered in essence, and I had forgotten about Worldcat to see names structure.

Can you verify that the number of ratings is at 615 right now? It is a new book and is likely to change. I have started the book.

The Fate of the Day: The War for America, Fort Ticonderoga to Charleston, 1777-1780