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Hi all!

We had a number of challenges this year and want to see what feedback and general preferences are for going into 2020. Some of the challenges have been for the year:

> Relay Race Challenge
> Alphabet Soup Challenge
> TBR Challenge
> Around The World Challenge

Some were for shorter duration:

Month of June: Spelling Bee Challenge
Month of July: Genre Games Challenge
Month of August: Summer Vacation! travel Challenge
Three month (on going): Hogwarts Challenge

FEEDBACK TO CONSIDER
1. Which challenges did you enjoy participating in or are interested in participating in future?
2. What duration do you think would work best?
3. Are there other ideas we should consider trying?
4. We have had the TBR, ABC, Relay and Hogwarts Challenges for several years. Is it time to retire or rotate or revamp any of these out?
5. There were also several new ones this year - did any standout that we should keep?
6. How have the tracking/ scoring systems worked?

This is meant to be more general feedback though we can get into the specifics more if needed. Please remember to be respectful to other opinions!

Thanks all!

I'm participating in the TBR challenge and really need to be. But something needs to be done to keep it lively. Maybe Pick for Each Other instead of oldest?

I wanted to like the genre games but it was too brief and limited and confusing. Some months I'll read lots of SF, others I'll read Non-fiction, etc.

If I participated in relay race we'd have made our 2 million pp goal already. Well, I exaggerate... but I should've been listing my reads. Just seems sorta boring to me, another task each time I finish a book. Maybe if this one were of shorter duration it would work better. After all, it's not restricted to genre or length of book or anything. Also it would be interesting to compare month-to-month; for example do ppl read less over the famously 'hectic holiday season?'

Spelling Bee. I did participate at the beginning, but somehow lost track of it. I had to go back now to figure out how it worked out. If I'd been in better contact, and understood what the scheme was, I could have helped finish more titles I think. Maybe this would be better for a quarterly challenge, instead of only one month? I dunno.

Do you know that if a post is deleted, it breaks email notifications? That is to say, for example if someone goofs and posts in the wrong thread, and their post is removed, I won't get any reminders in my email to check in on the thread again. I know it's on me to check in via the homepage, but it's something you might want to be aware of anyway.

If the requirements for a challenge are too strict I will not participate, for example Alphabet Soup.

If the scorekeeping is too complicated, or if short / children's books don't count, I will not participate.

I prefer cooperative to competitive challenges.

TBR as a buddy read? You mean, like if a few of us all had the same book on our shelves? Hm. Well, I doubt that very many of my books are ones that are in common with other readers. But if we were to find matches, it would be fun, imo, to read particular titles with others.

Hello.

It has only been lately that I started to be active in the group and in Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ and not long that I started with challenges, so I can't say much.

But in case it helps, here it goes my opinion.

I like the TBR, it has encoraged me to read the oldest book of my list. But I think it would be better or funnier with some improvement, otherwise it's just another list there.

I like both the ideas of the Pick the Book for Each Other (among the listed in the thread. Those are supposed to be the oldest but maybe it could work with books that have been in your shelves for a long time (no strictly the oldest) or even books that you wanted to read for a long time but didn't find the moment, so one way or another, it pushes you to read books that you have had in your shelves or in your mind for a long time.

The Buddy Read is also good idea, but I think this can be done as a separate thing here: people suggesting books that they feel like reading and if somebody else wants, they read it together and discuss it in a separated thread. (I know this is not exactly a challenge)

In both cases, for the Buddy R and the Pick the Book..., there should be a time given for participants to finish the book. Maybe for the Pick the Book... it could be 3 months (so there are some freedom for people to read other things they pick or whatever). The Buddy can be monthly (maybe two months for long books).

The Relay Reading is ok to me. It's true it's not super fun, but I like cooperative challenges, so it doesn't take much time for me to update after finishing a book. I agree that maybe some stats can encourage more people to participate.

The Alphabet Soup challenge... I like it, but I don't get to do it. I am not a person to read something that I don't feel like reading, so I won't think of the title or author's initial. I started to do it, but I lost interest when I found many of the books I was reading starting with M (I don't know why, this things just happen, I guess) This challenge implies to read too many books (I wish I could read that much every year) and it's too restrictive for me to do it. So I can't say much. I like it, but it's not for me.

This has been the first time that I have been in the Hogwarts House Challenge and, although I don't have much time, I am enjoying. I am giving Cathering a hand (or trying) and being prefect of Gryffindor and I think the points system is good. But as I have said before, it's my first time in this kind of challenges and I didn't have time to get bored or find flaws.

I thought that maybe it could be good to keep for an entire school year, as if it were a real Hogwarts competition, but on a second thoughts, I find it's going to be very long and people may get bored or discouraged if after some months they see their house losing, so I will say that challenge is good the way it is right now to me.

I haven't participated in any of the other challenges, so I can't help.

Thank you =)

I really don't like that this group has become all about challenges. It used to be about reading great books. Those who used to participate in the discussions have been driven out by the challenges.

It is sad that every group leader is from the challenge side. It is sad that a group that had wonderful discussions is no just a place where people come to play book games.

I feel like the cheerleaders have taken over.

Hi there!

Since I'm new to this group, I've only participated in the Hogwarts Challenge. So far it's been fun -- especially because it's a cooperative effort. I would consider participating again next year, if it were offered.

The TBR Challenge is something that I would participate in. I have a lot of books on some old shelves that keep getting passed on.

Not sure if I could participate in a Buddy Read. As far as the Relay Reading, this one seems fun enough for me because of its team building characteristics.

As far as book discussions go, I personally don't like to "have to" read a particular book for a particular month; and I'm not sure how else one can start a discussion on a book unless it is a group selection (which you have now -- BOTM) I must say that if the book is a group selection that I'm interested in and if I'm able to borrow the book, I would probably participate in the discussion.

Just my thoughts.

I do agree with Renee that we need to remember the original focus, to have the group reads of the widely read books that we've missed out on. I haven't been participating much in those because I don't usually like the choices (and don't have time to influence the choices). But if Renee says that the discussions aren't being effectively lead and promoted, I believe her. And I think that's a darn shame.

Since I haven't been participating I don't know what's going on, but if I were boss I'd make sure at least one mod read each book and lead the discussion, checking in a few times every week with questions cribbed from spark notes or readers' guides.

You can also encourage the person who nominated the chosen book to help lead the discussion, putting questions out there (if you don't already).

If people are nominating, seconding, voting, but not participating, something is broken somewhere! If you're not getting enough activity in the nomination threads, tell us here now and I'll make the effort to plump for books I'm willing to read (if I read a book I generally do want to talk about it quite a bit).

Cheryl wrote: "I'm participating in the TBR challenge and really need to be. But something needs to be done to keep it lively. Maybe Pick for Each Other instead of oldest?

I wanted to like the genre games but it..."

Thanks Cheryl. I like the idea of picking for each other but how would it work? I agree it needs to be more interesting and I do like the idea. I am not going to get through my five this year, but I have finished two and am glad I did.

I think the Genre Games has potential but agree that one-month was too short and what fell into what genre was murky at times and maybe not something we need debate.

I personally don’t enjoy the Relay challenge, but it seems to have good participation.

Cheryl wrote: "Spelling Bee. I did participate at the beginning, but somehow lost track of it. I had to go back now to figure out how it worked out. If I'd been in better contact, and understood what the scheme w..."

I didn’t know that about the broken notification. Thanks for the heads up.

I liked that the spelling bee one was cooperative without being a running total, but I can see how it might have been confusing. Maybe we could spell out the BOTM titles each month, tie it to that.

I enjoy the Hogwarts challenge and it is the only one I participate in. I like the team aspect and enjoy seeing other books folks are reading. I really appreciate all the hard work you guys do to make it happen.

I have participated in a number of the challenges and I guess I have lost interest in the relay challenge. I have put more effort into the Alphabet Soup Challenge (but it doesn't seem to be monitored), the TBR Challenge, the Hogwarts challenge, the around the world challenge and the Genre Games Challenge.

I think the Around the World Challenge started as a good idea but it got too complicated. I am not even sure if I am doing it right but it did get me to focus on international writers which I have enjoyed.

I appreciate that the rules changed for the Hogwarts Challenge so that the points were assigned based on number of pages of the book so you are comparing apples to apples.

I like the challenges generally. It does push me to read more.

I do like the nominations for BOTM - I participate each month and I get good ideas regarding which books to read next. I have participated in the book discussions from time to time; I enjoy reading the impressions of others. I like setting a goal for myself each year to read one of the three books each month. I often read out of sequence and then just add my comments to the discussion thread when I am done.

The group has changed since I first joined but that's ok. I join in the things I want to and feel part of the group. I think the moderators are doing a good job of trying to mix things up and keep the enthusiasm flowing. For me, when I go to this group I always get some good suggestions on books that maybe in the past I wouldn't have tried. So thanks, everyone!

Pick for each other can be simple. Put out a call for participants. Those who say "aye" specify which shelf/shelves their picker can choose from. After a couple of weeks (or less) when you have a bunch of names, shuffle them, and just make sure nobody winds up picking for themselves. It doesn't matter whether or not two people wind up picking directly for each other.

Then the discussion continues with each person reading and reporting on what was picked for them.

Examples of FAQs:

If it turns out that the picker picks a book for me that I DNF, I ask my picker for another pick. If I get done with my book while the thread is still active because lots of people are still reading, I ask the picker for another pick. If my to-read list gets longer because other people are reporting on appealing books, well, that's a risk I'm willing to take. If there are late-comers who didn't get their names in the shuffle, the mods or volunteers can pick for them. And if they want to be a picker even though they're late, they can pick for earlier finishers (me).

This could go until everyone has read at least one TBR book, or it could be ongoing.

I forgot that I also participayed in the Genre challenge. It was fun but sometimes the genres didn't make a lot of sense. I like the simplicity of the Hogwarts challenge. I avoid complicated challenges or ones that dictate reading certain books. I read for enjoyment and participate in challenges that work with that.

I like participating in the challenges. They give me different ways to knock books off my TBR and I have found a few awesome books that I otherwise would not have grabbed. But they are mostly individual and don't have a lot of interaction between players so I can easily continue them on my own if they get nixed. I don't have any ideas of how to Improve participation between players either. Maybe setting month/quarterly challenges to go towards the overall goal? Like, "this month we are focusing on finding books for the letter X! List those books!" for the alphabet challenge, or something, I don't know. And people can choose to participate or just do their own thing with the challenge.

I had a lot of Life Happenings this year so I did not participate in the Summer ones, it sounds like maybe they were more interactive?

(Life Happenings is also why I dropped out of trying to keep up with the group reads and discussions; I needed to simplify when my reading time took a hit and my reduced personal goals were put before trying to keep up here. I'm sad to hear that the discussion participation has dropped for the group reads though. Dang it.)

The Hogwarts Challenge is super interactive, but each year it feels like it loses some of its heart or something, I don't know if I can explain. The first year, I was really pumped up about it, I felt the competition was good and I was motivated to try to read a Lot and to try to read Fast. Last year, I was really excited but it got so bogged down and there were *a lot* of frustrated participants. This year it seems to be doing better with the points system, but it feels a bit empty. Maybe that's just me; I'm not letting myself get too caught up in it because I just can't dedicate the same amount of time to reading that I could last year, and I get really competitive if I'm not careful.

I like the cooperative style and simplicity of the Relay Race. I don't mind adding my pages and seeing how far we get as a collective of participants. Those who want to add to it do, those who don't, don't. No pressure, no rules beyond "add correctly please!". It's helpful having someone double check everyone to keep the tally on track, but it is a lot of work. Marcos set it up this year to have a few people to check it, with someone different in charge of each week to break up the duties but that fell apart with him dropping out. Nell has taken over the double checking and has kept it on track. I personally am not motivated to read more because of this challenge, it's just an entertaining sideline.

I feel like I need to note that the TBR challenge is not limited to "the oldest books", it's a really open format :)

I really liked the Around the World Challenge and have found some pretty amazing books because of it. I chose a level that would let me knock off books from my TBR and also broaden my exposure a little. I most likely will not be able to finish my chosen route, but I still feel good about what I have accomplished and am glad I did it. But again, no real interactions.

Anyway, I'm just rambling along. I will be interested to see where this discussion leads and what choices are made.

I’ve been a member for a year. I joined because of the book discussion’s and stayed because of the challenges.
1.Regarding group discussions, I would prefer if we had 60 days to finish a book and discuss. Personally, I believe 30 days is too short to have a robust conversation and get involved. Also, in some months members may be able to read 2 out of 3 books and actively engage the group discussion.
2.TBR book challenge is fun because most of us have at least 5 books from we’ve never read, but always planned to read. For those members who like discussion, maybe we should include a thread with a question opened questions, Example: which book did you enjoy the most and why? Or which book did you least enjoy, and why?
3. The Alphabet Soup Challenge is my favorite because there are three options, easy, medium, and difficult. I chose difficult because I used many of the books from my Pop Sugar Challenge list or vice versa (LOL).
4. The relay race is a great group challenge and it should stay. Why, in today;s society most people choose TV or the internet over a good book. I call it the “Henry Bemis� challenge.
5. The Hogwart challenge, is missing something, I cannot put my finger in it. I believe in healthy competition. I believe this challenge is for people who love competitive sports. Few suggestions,
* Deadline to join a house
* Extra points for re-reading Harry Potter Books

The problem with reading a book over two months instead of one is that those who read early may well have forgotten details of the book by the time the rest finish it. And many of us read library books and can't keep them for two months to refer back to. I've been in other groups that tried to slow down and it does not work. We need to keep on track closer together.

I only joined this group a month ago. I liked the premise of the group and the BOTM selections, because I was / am hoping for good participation in the discussion threads.

I've only joined one challenge so far - the Hogwarts cup - and that was due to someone's invitation to do so. I like the collaborative aspect of it and that we're not limited to what we can read in order to participate.

Like many others perhaps, I'm postponing joining more challenges until 2020 arrives since had I joined so late in the year. Having said that, though, I am reluctant to join anything which requires a very detailed set of rules because then my reading choices will feel too limited or I will have to spend more time studying the rules than in finding something that's well-rated and that I would want to read regardless of the challenge. Reading is supposed to be fun!

I also want to say thank you for all the time that you've put in to organize and moderate this group. Thank you, it is much appreciated!

I joined for the BOTM reading originally. I was very active in discussions the previous 2 years but this year I was determined to focus mainly on my personal TBR so I have not read along. I will eventually get back in.

Hogwarts Cup - I love it. My main suggestion is that Potterworld books should count for more points. Not sure about how much but at least +.5. I also agree that we could find some ways to keep interest piqued but not complicate it.

I also joined for the BOTM reading and that aspect remains crucial to my participation. I really appreciate having particular titles suggested and some of my favourite reads in the last couple of years have come from this group whereas I probably would never have thought to choose them on my own. I often read the books out of order, though, and don't necessarily join the discussion while it's active but if I feel strongly about a book, I'll go and read old posts.

Last year I joined and liked the Hogwarts challenge, although I thought the rules did not exactly promote fair play. This year I didn't feel like joining, and I have never felt eager to join the Relay race. I like the Alphabet Soup challenge (which I find quite difficult) and the TBR challenge, but it was Around the World in Books that I was a particularly fond of initially. I felt that challenge owed a lot of its appeal to Marcos' personal passion and somehow fizzled out when he was not active any more.

I joined this group a few years ago, mainly for the monthly book choices/discussions. Sometimes I’m so overloaded, I don’t manage to participate in the discussions in a timely way, and if the book is popular, it can be hard to get at the right time from the library (where I get most of my books) The discussions are always open though, so I try to weigh in on books when I can. The only challenges I’ve participated in are the TBR challenge and the Hogwarts House Cup, and our new Around the World challenge. I enjoy these challenges, but I’m not really drawn to do more, though they seem popular with others.

I think we should definitely keep the monthly reads and discussions.

I’m thankful to all the moderators for doing such a great job keeping things running smoothly!

I was thinking- what if we change TBR revival a bit to make it more interesting- I would hate to see it retired.
If we call it Spring cleaning challenge or something and make it 3 months long challenge (sort of like Hogwarths) –i.e. during march, april and may- and the challenge is to read as much books from our TBR shelf during those three months –we could count points as we did in recent challenges (250 pages equals 1 point) –I guess it would be individual challenge because I have no idea how to make it team challenge –maybe we could work on idea- that is if anyone else likes this idea...

I also like spelling bee challenge because it is easy going but it also makes you try to find the title by it`s first letter and maybe read something you otherwise wouldn`t.

I agree with Monique when she says:
„it was Around the World in Books that I was a particularly fond of initially. I felt that challenge owed a lot of its appeal to Marcos' personal passion and somehow fizzled out when he was not active any more.�

I like the whole process of picking BOTM and then, if I`m interested in book, reading BOTM discussion but generally -I like reading books, and rearly have need to talk about them- so I don`t participate in discussions.

The Relay Race Challenge is the only one that I've participated in in this group. I joined this group for the catch-up book reads though I'm usually catching up here as well - reading or finishing books after the month they were chosen. Still I am pulling books from my TBR stack and reading them.

The Relay Race Challenge is easy to participate in because you are posting any book that you have read. And it's interesting to see what other members are reading. But it is an orphaned challenge. The mod who set it up and the mod who ran it have both stopped participating in the group. I started checking the numbers to help out and ended up being the only one doing it. At times that is an awkward position for a non-mod. If the challenge continues in 2020 at least one of the mods needs to monitor it. The challenge is a passive one which is why it's easy to do. It could become more active with periodic check-ins or comments but that's not how it was set up and the mods may not be interested in doing that.

I enjoy this group because it gets me to read books I would have never otherwise read. I don't participate in the discussions because I am such a slow reader and barely get through the books by the end of the month. I do participate in the Relay Race and Hogwarts challenges because you add books as you finish them and don't have a timeline. In the past I have done the Alphabet challenge but I never get it finished so I didn't this year.