Aussie Readers discussion

Never done a reading challenge before?

Not new, but have a question?

This thread is for all things challenge! We'll try and post everything you need to know to enjoy your reading challenges to the fullest. Don't be afraid to ask questions which aren't addressed here! :)

So, what's a reading challenge?
They are reading tasks created by wicked minds to lure you into choosing books to read which fit into certain criteria listed by the (enabler) creator. Each of our challenges will have 'to-from' dates. We have 12 monthly challenges, 4 seasonal challenges and at least one annual challenge. We also have 4 read-a-thon challenges where as a group we all read as many pages as we can to see if we can reach a page goal.

Members who wish to join in the challenge will sign-up, post a list of books to be read and return to edit their list as they read the books with a read date and 1-5 star rating.

Members are welcome to join in any or all challenges and you can join one or more challenges at a time. It's completely up to you. Many of us do the yearly, each seasonal and most of the monthly ones at the same time.

When do I start my challenge tasks?
You cannot start books earmarked for challenges prior to the date of commencement. So if the challenge starts on the 1st June – you can’t start reading it in May – you start on June the 1st

Cross-challenge reads always allowed!
Sometimes a book will fit into more than one challenge. Go for it! Add it to as many as you can. Sometimes that can be a challenge in itself - can one book cover the three challenges?

How should I post my updates?
Once you have made your initial post in the challenge thread with your list of books – you can update your list as you read them and then either post the link to your post further down the thread, or just make a new post with your update – some wait until the end and just do one completion post – but it nice to get updates.

Bitten off a little more than you can ... read?
If you joined more challenges than you can finish, or are unable to read all the books you have selected for a challenge, No worries! Everyone will cheer you when you complete a challenge, but no one will jeer you if you can’t. There's no pressure (although you might see friendly cheerleading now and again for motivation). The challenges are purely for enjoyment, no one wants you to be so stressed that reading becomes a chore. We try and design the challenges so there are a range of goals to cover most reading paces.

Are there rules?
Well yes there are – we can’t have complete anarchy after all.

Our general challenge rules are:

**All books must be at least 125 pages long

**Re-reads are allowed (unless otherwise stated)

**If books are written by more than one author you can use either of the authors in challenges

**Short story collections and anthologies are allowed but only if you read the entire book and they meet the page limit requirement of 125

Unless they are specifically asked for as part of any challenge we will NOT accept:

**Children's books - unless they have YA or Middle Grade designator on main page
**Fan fiction
**Manga, Comic Books, Newspapers, Magazines and Graphic Novels
**cook books

A good place to check if your cover is the correct colour is here http://labs.tineye.com/color/
Just follow the instructions once you get there.

Any questions: Please feel free to post below.

I have no questions Sally but this is a great summary!

Why don't graphic novels get included? I know some can have very little text but there are also plenty that have lots of text to read. Also lots can also go over the 120pp count as well.

Laura wrote: "Why don't graphic novels get included? I know some can have very little text but there are also plenty that have lots of text to read. Also lots can also go over the 120pp count as well."

You will find that very few groups allow graphic novels in their challenges because there is a wide variety in how wordy they are. It is hard to track whether the graphic novel I read has more words than the one someone else reads. there may be only 4 pages worth of words (when compared to a non-graphic book) in a graphic book of 140 pages.

Because of this wide range - and because there have been stand up arguments in the past as to how unfair it is - the mods decided to ban them across the board for use in challenges.

As I said not just in Aussie Readers - but in many other groups who do challenges as well.

There are many people who read graphic books and love them, myself included (Asterix and Tintin) but read them for pleasure, not for challenges :)

Great summary, Sally.
And anyway, all those books that don't fit in an "official" challenge can always go into a Personal Challenge, like my own TBR challenge, or my Series Challenge!

Hi - I would like to "strike through" when I have finished a book as I see some others do but can't work out how ... can someone let me know please?

Rachael wrote: "Hi - I would like to "strike through" when I have finished a book as I see some others do but can't work out how ... can someone let me know please?"

Rachael same as if you were doing italics...as you see in the comments box before you reply something... only use an s instead of an i at start of your remark and at end.

Rachael if you go to the top of the group's page you'll see a thread with Basic Hints and tips..sorry I can't link for you as I'm on my phone. It will give you loads of help :)

Thank you Julie and Brenda

You're welcome :)

Rachael wrote: "Thank you Julie and Brenda"

Did you get it sorted Rachael?

Can someone tell me how to post my finished challenge without having to re do it all from scratch? I've tried copy and pasting the post, but it doesn't seem to work as in I'm not getting the star rating or the strike out line etc. I'm sure it's something simple I'm not doing. Grrrrrr

Sharon wrote: "Can someone tell me how to post my finished challenge without having to re do it all from scratch? I've tried copy and pasting the post, but it doesn't seem to work as in I'm not getting the star r..."


You need to be in 'edit' post when you copy, otherwise it wont pick up the strikeouts/bold etc

As Zoey said Sharon - go to your original post, click "edit" and copy the whole lot. Then go to where you want it and "post" :)

Thanks Zoey :)

Ohhh silly me. And to think I've been doing it the hard way all this time. Thanks so much Zoey and Brenda :)

Bad luck you didn't ask/learn earlier Sharon - but at least you know now!

Yes and it will save so much time especially when it comes to the annual challenges. Well the old saying is - you learn something new everyday. I've completed that task today lol :)

LOL! You're right, we always seem to don't we!

Having many uncompleted challenges this year I'm a bit unsure if I should participate in many next year. Does anyone have any suggestions or idea to help me out? 🤔

It's so hard not to join in when they all start coming out as they are lots of fun. But I get dissapointed when I don't complete them as I know the mods put so much time into these.

Just choose the EASY/smallest part of the challenges Sharon :) For example, the Summer one I just released, you can choose Level One, which means 5 books over the three month period. That would make it easier for you. By always choosing the EASY part of a challenge, you will feel you've achieved something!

Good luck and don't stress :)

Thanks for the suggestion, Brenda. Much appreciated 😊

Sharon wrote: "Having many uncompleted challenges this year I'm a bit unsure if I should participate in many next year. Does anyone have any suggestions or idea to help me out? 🤔

It's so hard not to join in when..."

1. If you have a list of books you really want to read, then try and make them (where possible) fit the challenge. Other wise it's too easy to "wander off" & start reading them rather than your challenge books.
&
2. Double, triple & quadruple up on challenges. Books you choose for your yearly challenges, use them again for your seasonal challenges & even your monthly challenges.

For example - I have one book left I have to read this year for an annual challenge, so for our new Summer challenge, the first thing I did was find a spot to fit that one into, before I looked at anything else, then went from there.

Just a couple of suggestions that I do to help me out :)

Another thing I would suggest Sharon is to only do the Seasonal Challenges. They give you more time, and would be less books over the time frame. And if you did do the Annual, only do one, and definitely do what Zoey suggests, slotting those into the seasonal :) Sometimes I have one book which might cover 4 or 5 challenges :)

Thank you, Zoey. Really helpful suggestions. 😊

Brenda - Thank you for another great idea. I guess the big problem is I get excited when all the challenges come out that I want to do all of them. And then I want to do extra and do personal ones as well. Doing only seasonal ones and trying to slot books into multable challenges is the way to go. If only I could read as fast as you lol. 😊

Baby steps Sharon :) Don't over stretch yourself... You'll be fine if you don't put yourself under pressure :)

All good suggestions - The quarterly ones and the year ones are less stress - feel free to not do the monthly ones.

And if you do put your hand up and don't manage to finish? Really doesn't matter as we'll love you anyway ;)

Awww lol thanks Sally 😊

All true!! lol

Awww feeling the love lol. Thanks for all the suggestions it's really helped 😊

Now I'm ready for December's challenge, but I think I know what it might be. Well the theme anyway 🎅🏻🎄

Haha!! How on earth would you guess Sharon!! ;)

Sharon must be psychic - I am sure we didn't give anything away!

We'll just put it down to that I'm a pure genius 🤓🤓 LOL

lol!!!

Sharon wrote: "I guess the big problem is I get excited when all the challenges come out that I want to do all of them..."

Haha Sharon, this is me. Ooh, shiny new challenge. Every. Time. But I'm going to resist this months challenge. I think. So far. Lol.

Sally906 wrote: "
And if you do put your hand up and don't manage to finish? Really doesn't matter as we'll love you anyway ;) ."

Thanks Sally. I probably hold the record for not finishing challenges. Polish the wooden spoon.

But I bet you found a few good books along the way and that's what it's all about!

Phrynne wrote: "But I bet you found a few good books along the way and that's what it's all about!"

I certainly did Phrynne.

Sharon wrote: "Awww feeling the love lol. Thanks for all the suggestions it's really helped 😊

Now I'm ready for December's challenge, but I think I know what it might be. Well the theme anyway 🎅🏻🎄"

Not long to wait for it Sharon.

Patience Grasshopper

Sally906 wrote: "Sharon wrote: "Awww feeling the love lol. Thanks for all the suggestions it's really helped 😊

Now I'm ready for December's challenge, but I think I know what it might be. Well the theme anyway 🎅🏻🎄..."

I'm waiting patiently, Sally 🤓

Okay - it’s not far away -please put the whip away 😂😂🤶🏻🎅🏼

Are we nearly there yet?? PLEASE SALLY 🎅🏻🤶🏻🎅🏻🤶🏻🎅🏻🎄🎄

Hahahaha!!!

Sharon wrote: "Are we nearly there yet?? PLEASE SALLY 🎅🏻🤶🏻🎅🏻🤶🏻🎅🏻🎄🎄"

It’s here!!!

YAY!!!! 👏👏

Sally906 wrote: "Sharon wrote: "Awww feeling the love lol. Thanks for all the suggestions it's really helped 😊

Now I'm ready for December's challenge, but I think I know what it might be. Well the theme anyway 🎅🏻🎄..."

LOL!
Great thread, Sally! You're so smart =o)

Now I'm waiting patiently for the 2018 Annual Challenge. And of course I was suppose to be cutting back on challenges, but I just love seeing what they will be. 😊🤓

LOL!!! A bit longer Sharon ;;))

I was afraid you'd say that, Brenda. 🙁 But I'll keep waiting. It's a bit like waiting for Santa to arrive lol 🎅🏻😊

LOL! Only 8 days ;)

Awww now you're teasing me LOL. 😀😀 I don't think thats allowed. I'll have to roport you to your fellow mods. Naughty corner for you, Brenda (no books allowed in the naughty corner) 😉😉 😂😂