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SIGN-UPS ARE CLOSED!

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.

8. Please choose at least 4 new titles for your pickee. These should be brand new to them and not found on any of their shelves. Part of the fun of this challenge is discovering new books to read, adding new titles to the ever-expanding tbr shelf. The remaining 4 titles should come from your pickee's tbr or preferred shelves.

INFORMATION NEEDED TO SIGN UP

Please sign up in this thread with the answer to the following question:

When it comes to snacking, what's your favorite guilty pleasure?
Sweet and gooey, Salty and crunchy, or a Combination of both


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

IMPORTANT DATES
Sign ups will remain open until Sept 23rd (8 pm EDT).

You’ll have until Sept 26th (8 pm EDT) to make your recommendations.
The re-picks will be assigned afterwards.

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 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 October PIFM - Picking Rules

Whether you’re partying in costume for Halloween, settling in to watch the big game, or prowling the kitchen at midnight, everyone has times when they crave certain snack foods. What’s your guilty pleasure?

Sweet and Gooey:
Chocolate Truffles �� Recommend a book with a wealthy or spoiled character, or that is set in an exotic location or somewhere you might expect to rub elbows with the rich and famous.
Ice Cream �� Recommend a book by an author that is a favorite of your pickee, or a book that is a comfort read for you.
Jellybeans �� Recommend a book with a bright, colorful cover, or an LGBT themed book.

Salty and Crunchy:
Potato Chips (betcha can’t eat just one!) �� Recommend the next book in a series that your pickee has enjoyed, or the first book in a series that you like but your pickee has never read.
Pretzels �� Recommend a book with a confusing plot, a mystery, or a character who has a twisted personality or is misunderstood.
Mixed Nuts �� Recommend a book with multiple timelines (flashbacks or time travel) or multiple storylines, or an anthology.

Combination:
Trail Mix �� Recommend a book where a significant portion of the story takes place outdoors, or that includes an animal or shifters in the storyline.
Bacon Sundae (don't knock it until you've tried it...) - Recommend a book that is outside of your pickee's comfort zone, or a genre that they rarely read.

Please remember to give at least 4 new picks and 4 picks from their to-read shelf, with at least 1 (preferably more) from their preferred shelf if listed. Thanks!

2013 October PIFM - Matchups

Please pick for the person below you. The last person in a group picks for the first person on that group. For example, in the first group, Rebecca will pick for Jojo.

�� = Picks made
�� = Pick(s) read
Updated through message #447

Sweet and Gooey:
★✔Jojo
★✔Amy J.
��Jasmin
★✔Kami
★✔Sassafrass
★✔Fran - a-pifm-shelf
★✔Brandilyn - 2013-q4-mm-gbc
��Dawn (Kat N Hat)
��Zara - rrrc-pi4m-challenge
★✔Ezinwanyi~For you, Agron
★✔Ashley
★✔Carla
★✔Gea
★✔Pam
��Runell
��Missy - above-all
��Rebecca

Salty and Crunchy:
★✔Erin
★✔Lauren
★✔Juliet - pick-it-for-me
★✔Ty
★✔~KarenH~ - cant-wait-to-read
★✔Samantha
★✔Kristi (Passion for the Page)
★✔Katie
★✔Laurla - tbr-owned
★✔Susan A - gb-q4
★✔Crystal
★✔Elizabeth
��Becky - to-read or freebie
★✔Joyce
★✔Apilif - gang-bang-to-read
★✔Breann - to-read-next
★✔MountainKat - to-read-asap
★✔beppy
★✔Shelby - gang-bang-q4-2013-picked

Combination:
��Roxy
★✔Sandy
★✔Elke - on-deck-and-4chlges
��Jessica
★✔Penney
★✔Arena
★✔Nadine - books-on-deck-to-read
★✔Nikki - must-read-soon or kindle-i-own-to-read
��Carrie
��Mistral - rrrc-pick4me or gb-pick-for-me
��Ab2y
★✔Erin
★✔Nancy H
��Nichole
★✔ilovebakedgoods (Teresa) - pick4melibrary
��Tiff
★✔Diane ~Firefly~
★✔Jaime
★✔Becca
★✔Angi - angi-kindle-books
��Heather
��Macwolf01 [Elise]
��Yz the Whyz
★✔Daffodil
★✔Victoria - pick-it-for-me
��Ruth Ann
��Dee - to-read-2013 or arcs-to-review
★✔Mary
★✔Debra
��Kimberly
★✔~Leslie~
★✔Skandia
★✔Lacy
★✔Rene
★✔Nikita

Latecomers:
★✔Suzanne
��Alexis
��Ayesha

2013 October PIFM - Where we finished:

We had 74 participants, and of those 52 (70%) reported finishing at least 1 book. Just over half of the finishers (27 of 52) finished more than one book, 15 people finished 3 or more, and our overachievers for the month were beppy and Victoria, with 8 and 10 books finished, respectively.

There were no big winners among authors or titles this month. We read a total of 114 books, spread over 110 different titles and 92 authors. Only 3 books were read more than once. Lisa Kleypas lead the pack among authors, with 5 books read, no other author had more than 3, and only 15 had more than 1. Only one book was read more than twice - Exclusively Yours, which was read 3 times.

Thanks to everyone who participated...I hope you all enjoyed it!

2013 October PIFM - The Covers!

I'm in again and it's sweet and gooey all the way.


Please pick from rrrc-pi4m-challenge shelf. Thanks

In...

Sweet and gooey for me :)

Please use my Q4GBC shelf

Please note: While I have read M/F in the past and do have M/F on my shelves... I don't currently read M/F.

Sweet and gooey

I'm in! Salty and crunchy for me!

Salty and crunchy

I'm in. I'm sweet and gooey. Although I know what we're talking about, my mind can't help but go to dirty places typing that! LOL

I'm in. Sweet and gooey

Please sign me up. I prefer salty and crunchy.

Sign me up! I prefer a combo of bit sweet and salty!

Please sign me up for the challenge. I'm a combo of sweet, crunchy and gooey.

I'm in , Combination of both .

I'm in and I prefer a combo of salty & sweet

I'm in Combination of both

I'm in and I prefer a combination of sweet and salty.

I'm in, and it's definitely sweet and gooey :)

Sweet and gooey

Salty and Crunchy

salty & crunchy!

combo of both...I like sweet and salty at the same time (like pretzels dipped in chocolate) ;)

please use my to-read-2013 shelf or my Arc's to review shelf

i'm in. salty&crunchy. yummmm. nacho chips!

I'm in! I'm a combo: salted caramel ice cream.

I'm in. I prefer a combination of both.

salty and crunchy!

I['m in! And a mixture of both!

(Since I'm under 18 it doesn't let me put my profile to public so I'll add the people needed!)

I'm in! It totally depends on my mood, so I'll go with combo.

I am definitely a combination of sweet and salty!

Depends on my mood, so I have to say combination of both!

I'm in and I'll have to say both!

I'm in! Combination for me too!

I'm in and both (although not usually at the same time)

sweet and gooey

Yay, not going to miss out on this in October!

Depends on my mood! Combination of both!

My Pick-for-me Shelf

I'm in and I like both!

Salty & crunchy for me and I'm adding a shelf this month :)

to-read-next

I'm In. Sweet and Gooey.

I'm all about sweet & gooey

salty

Please use this shelf to pick from: gb-q4

Never done this before, but looks interesting.. I'm in with a combination of both!

I'd like to try this! It sounds like fun. I don't have a lot of romances graded here on GoodReads, so please be aware that I'm open and eclectic. :)

I'm a combination of sweet, salty, gooey, and crunchy! Why choose?

Salty and crunchy all the way!

Anything from my to-read shelf http://www.goodreads.com/review/list/... or freebie shelf http://www.goodreads.com/review/list/... is fair game. I've got a few pre-orders on the to-read shelf, so watch out for those.

I don't read a lot of them, but if you've got suggestions for really good f/f, I'm all ears.

Karen, can I change my mind?
I would change to combination of both, too.
Somehow I missed that option, sry!

Skandia wrote: "Karen, can I change my mind?
I would change to combination of both, too.
Somehow I missed that option, sry!"

No problem, I'll change it! :D

I'm in for this! Haven't been joining for a while as I am so tied down with work and peak is over so it's back to reading all weeks!

I am definitely going for salty and crunchy~

Please use my pick it for me shelf when picking the books for me. Thanks!

I'm in....combination of both for me...
please use my books-on-deck-shelf.

my Books on Deck

I'm in ... sweet and gooey