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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.

After signups are closed, I'll put your names and any extra info I’ve required into the super secret PIFM randomizer and select someone for you to choose for. This will get posted along with the rules for the month.

While you're doing your picks, someone else is doing picks for you. Once you receive them, you pick a book off the list and get reading. To complete the challenge, you only have to read 1 (one) book but many of us end up reading more because we just can't resist a list of books to read.

In order to participate you need to either HAVE YOUR PROFILE SET TO PUBLIC (preferable), or make the person who will be giving you recommendations your friend. On top of that, I strongly recommend keeping your bookshelves updated; otherwise you might end up with a recommendation that you have already read.

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

***TIPS TO MAKE THE CHALLENGE ENJOYABLE FOR EVERYONE!***

1. Check the publishing date of the book before recommending it. To check the publishing date, from your pickee's to-read or similar shelf choose shelf settings, select "date pub" from the drop down selections and save/close the menu.

2. Check pickee's personalized shelves, especially their exclusive shelves - it could be very helpful in recommending something they want to read. A personalized shelf is one that a member has labeled themselves, for example, 'to read next', 'can't wait to read', 'favorites'.

3. Look at your pickee's 'read' shelf and see what genres they have recently read the most. That might help in choosing something they are interested in reading right now.

4. Please make sure the books you choose for your pickee are not on their 'read' shelf. Just because it isn't rated doesn't mean it wasn't read. Sometimes the reader may choose not to rate a book.

5. Although Buddy Reads are no longer going to be offered as a category, if there is a recommendation that you give your pickee that you would like to read with them, please feel free to suggest a Buddy Read with them. You can PM each other and discuss it.

6. If your pickee reads lots of books in a genre you are not familiar with (erotic romance, GLBT, YA, etc.), feel free to contact either Fran, Dee, Jane or the month's organizer and they can try to point you in the right direction for recommendations.

7. If possible, try to include a shorter book, a longer book, a new addition to their 'to-read' shelf, and and older book from their 'to-read' shelf. This gives them a variety of options to choose from. You can sort the shelves by many features - ratings, date read, date added, date published, #of pages and many other items from the shelf settings as described in tip #1. And they can be sorted by ascending or descending order as well.

INFORMATION NEEDED TO SIGN UP
Please sign up in this thread with the answer to the following question:

Which of the following authors best represent the genre you’ve been enjoying the most lately?

A. Jill Shalvis/Pamela Clare (Contemporary, Romantic Suspense)
B. Lisa Kleypas/Gail Carriger (Historical, Steampunk)
C. Lara Adrian/Patricia Briggs (Paranormal, Urban Fantasy)
D. Lorelei James/Amy Lane (Erotica, M/M)


IMPORTANT DATES
Sign up will remain open through to April 27th (10 am PDT).

You’ll have until May 1st (10 AM PDT) to make your recommendations.

You then have till the end of the month to read your pick and give some feedback.

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

***Please add a new comment rather than updating a previous post or your progress will likely be missed. It is also very helpful if you add more information like "I finished another pick" or "I finished my third book for this challenge" and mention if your pick was a buddy read. Thanks!***

2013 May � Picking Rules

While most of us have our favorite genres, we don’t usually limit ourselves to only books in that genre. With that in mind, we’re looking at romance genres this month. There will be four picking rules and for each one you will pick two books � one from your pickee’s TBR or preferred shelf, and one that is new to them.
***Please note*** If your pickee has designated a preferred shelf, please try to pick at least one (and preferably more) book from that shelf. Remember that the “new to them� picks can also be on their TBR or preferred shelf - it just has to be an author, series, genre, etc. that your pickee has never read before. Also, while the rules are built around romance authors and genres, you aren’t necessarily limited to only romance titles. Keep in mind though that this is a Romance Readers group, so please try to make the majority of your picks within the romance genre.

Now, on to the rules! Remember, pick one from your pickee’s TBR and one new to them book for each rule.

1. Jill Shalvis/Pamela Clare - Recommend books that fall into the Contemporary or Romantic Suspense genres, are humorous or have an alpha hero, or have a title or author with one of the following initials: S or C.

2. Lisa Kleypas/Gail Carriger - Recommend books that fall into the Historical or Steampunk genres, have a close-knit group of family or friends, have a strong, kick-ass heroine, or have a title or author with one of the following initials: K or G.

3. Lara Adrian/Patricia Briggs - Recommend books that fall into the Paranormal or Urban Fantasy genres, have a story involving military or paramilitary characters, a character with an occupation traditionally dominated by the opposite sex(ex: male nurse, female firefighter), or a title or author with one of the following initials: A or B.

4. Lorelei James/Amy Lane - Recommend books that fall into the Erotica or LGBT genres, is a western or very emotional, or has a title or author with one of the following initals: J or L.

Please read through and follow the tips in Post #1 to help insure you choose books your pickee will be excited to read.

Have fun, everyone!

2013 May PIFM � Pairings

May PIFM Challenge � Pairings

Please pick for the person below you within your group, the last person in each group picks for the first person in the same group (ex: Brittany picks for Kate).

Picks are due by May 1st at 10 AM PDT. Repicks will be assigned at that time.

� = Picks Made
Through Message #290

A. Jill Shalvis/Pamela Clare:
�Kate
�Radu
�Nikita
�Amy
�Gea
�Sandy
�Zara
�Karen
�Lacy
�Roxy
�Elizabeth
�Inge
�Jennie
�Skandia
�Vi
�Shelley
�Jojo - pick from to-read-own shelf
�Pam
Laura
�Regina
�Rebecca
�Amy J.
Brittany

B. Lisa Kleypas/Gail Carriger:
�Carla
�Carrie - pick from own shelf
�Ashley
�Macwolf01 [Elise]
�Penney
�Arena
�Irina
�Ty
�Gigi - pick from rrrc-pick4me shelf
�Dee
�Dawn (Kat N Hat)

C. Lara Adrian/Patricia Briggs:
�LethalLovely~RIP My Chemical Romance - pick from to-read, own-but-haven-t-read, or 1st-in-series-to-read shelves
�Kami
�Breann
�Diane ~Firefly~
�Joyce
�Nichole
�Sue
� Ezinwanyi~For you, Agron
�Suzanne
�Brett
�Sallie(Shuga)

D. Lorelei James/Amy Lane:
�Valerie ~Varuca~ - pick from tbr-mm shelf
�Sassafrass - pick from read-this-next shelf
�Angi
�Erin
�Jane (PS) - pick from q2gb2013 or to-read shelves
�MountainKat - pick from to-read-asap shelf
�~KarenH~ - pick from cant-wait-to-read shelf
�Paisley - pick from kindle-intervention shelf
�Mistral - pick from this shelf
�Bre
�Brandilyn - pick from this shelf
�Fran
�Katie
�Shatan
�Ruth Ann
�Tiff

Repicks:
Nancy picks for Marcela
Yz the Whyz picks for Regina
Dee picks for Nancy
Ty picks for Yz the Whyz

2013 May PIFM - the Covers!

2013 May PIFM Final Statistics

It seems like our completion rate was a little on the low side this month - we had 64 participants, and only 72% reported finishing at least one book. On the bright side though, we read 95 books, so the 46 people who did report in averaged slightly over 2 books per person :)

There were no solid favorites in either books or authors this month. We read 86 distinct titles, 9 of which were read twice, and 71 different authors, with 16 being read at least twice. No book was read more than twice, and the top author was only read 5 times (Abigail Roux, with 5 different titles read).

Thanks to everyone who participated this month!

D. Amy Lane

Use This Shelf

I almost hate to sign up early because then I have so long to wait!

but! gonna go with B! historical/steampunk

hmmm... I think I'm gonna go back to my orig favorite genre and go with
C. Lara Adrian/Patricia Briggs

Oh, that's a hard one. I've been all over the map lately but I've been on an M/M kick so I'll have to with: D

I guess I'd better sign up before I forget...I'm pretty much all over the map too, but lately it's been more D than any other single category.

Lately it has been B

B. Lisa Kleypas/Gail Carriger (Historical, Steampunk)

I'm in! And I'm a D definitely... I'm trying to read more of the other cats, but MM wins hands-down!

Preferred shelf for the TBR selections: q2gb2013 for ones I need to read soon; and to read for the less urgent books :)

Jane (PS) wrote: "I'm trying to read more of the other cats, but MM wins hands-down!"

I keep trying to read other genres too! I'm hoping next month I will if I get a little push :)

D for me!

I'll go with A! I hope I understood what this challenge about, and that this means I've signed up!

I'll go with A! I hope I understood what this challenge about, and that this means I've signed up!

Radu wrote: "I'll go with A! I hope I understood what this challenge about, and that this means I've signed up!"

You did. Welcome to the challenge :) It's great fun!

Breann wrote: "Jane (PS) wrote: "I'm trying to read more of the other cats, but MM wins hands-down!"

I keep trying to read other genres too! I'm hoping next month I will if I get a little push :)"

Hmmmm, no promises that the picking rules will give you that much of a push...maybe some though!

I have to go with A, but mostly just contemporary romance.

~KarenH~ wrote: "Hmmmm, no promises that the picking rules will give you that much of a push...maybe some though!"

Oh I know, I was just thinking that those who sign up with PNR & UF might recommend a couple :)

But who knows!

I'm in, I try to read all different sub-genres too - as long as they fall within the romance genre! But what I read/like most lately lands me squarely as a D. In fact, I'm reading LJ now!

Can you be a square if you are a D? =P

C for me!
But if you need filler for any other group I like those too :)

Oops, forgot to say to please pick primarily from the to-read-asap shelf, thanks!

Radu wrote: "I'll go with A! I hope I understood what this challenge about, and that this means I've signed up!"

Hi Radu, I hope you enjoy it the challenge, it's very fun and SO addicting! A word of advice, you might want to try to add some more books to your Read and To Read shelves before the matchups and picking rules are posted (next Saturday). This is by no means a requirement, but someone will be picking books for you and you will have a much better chance of getting recommendations that are interesting to you if the person picking for you has a little more to go on.

Welcome to the group!

I want in this time! I was late in signing up the last time. :( I'll go with D (although not really M/M, more of erotica)! :)

added a preferred shelf

I would have to say that I have read more Contemporary lately. I will pick A.

I'm in.

Which of the following authors best represent the genre you’ve been enjoying the most lately?

A. Jill Shalvis/Pamela Clare (Contemporary, Romantic Suspense)

I'll go with A but if there aren't enough people in some other letter you could put me there, I don't mind

I'm in and its definitely B for me I have been going crazy over historical romances!

Elizabeth wrote: "I'll go with A but if there aren't enough people in some other letter you could put me there, I don't mind"

Thanks for the offer, Elizabeth! So far though, it's looking like we'll be fine - even at this early stage every group has at least 2 people in it already! :)

Please get an idea of what to pick from my "read this next shelf". THANKS!

Karen - you can put me anyway - I rotate through genres every book ;)

I'm in and C - PNR/UF

I don't mean to be a pain, but I literally change genres with every book I read so you can put me wherever you need a warm body :)

Haha - your like me Penney ;)

Dee wrote: "Karen - you can put me anyway - I rotate through genres every book ;)"

Penney wrote: "I don't mean to be a pain, but I literally change genres with every book I read so you can put me wherever you need a warm body :)"

No problem, I read them all too - I'm pretty sure I've read something from each of the genres within the last month, but I have read more m/m than any other category. I'm sure I'll be able to find a place to put you! :-)

Im in!

Karen, I'm all over the place as well. However, I'm really torn between A, B and D. I guess I'll go with B - more historical less steampunk.

I'm in I am a little bit of almost everything but I'll go with
C. Lara Adrian/Patricia Briggs (Paranormal, Urban Fantasy)
this category is my most favorite out of all the others.

I`m in. It´s kind of hard to choose between A, C and D, but I´m going for A.

I'm in!
A. Jill Shalvis/Pamela Clare (Contemporary, Romantic Suspense

I've been back and forth between A & C lately but I'll go with A

I've officially dubbed April "Crap Book Month", so I haven't been enjoying many books lately. But the ones I have liked are in C. Lara Adrian/Patricia Briggs.

I'd prefer most of my books to come from my:
TBR shelf http://www.goodreads.com/review/list/...
Own-but-haven't-read shelf http://www.goodreads.com/review/list/...
1st-in-series-to-read Shelf http://www.goodreads.com/review/list/...

I'm in!

I will say D.

(I know huge shocker,LOL, have you seen my shelves?)

I'm in and its B

How can I get in on this monthly challenge?

sign u p here Shatan - and let Karen (the organizer) know which of the 4 categories listed in post 1 that fits you the most currently

Thanks Dee!

Count me in for D. ;-)

I'm in, and I'll say a B (reading Lisa Kleypas right now, actually).

I'm in!

D (M/M) for me!

Please pick from this shelf