You'll love this one...!! A book club & more discussion

This month, you will need to read a book that has under 500 Goodreads ratings (499 people or less have given it stars and reviews). Then, after you read the book, you will need to rate it AND review it in order to be eligible for this challenge.

Books will only be eligible for this if they have less than 500 reviews as of July 1 (I know, that means J.K. Rowling's new book will probably be out by the end of the day). HOWEVER, from 1 July onwards, if you register your intention to read a book on here, and then a frenzy of reviewers knock it to 500, I will allow it. But if you look below, the lower the number of ratings, the higher the points...

When you decide what book you are reading, you will need to let us all know in a post in the challenge discussion thread. Either post in here on 1 July 2014, or the day you decide, and tell us how many ratings it has that day. This post is what we will go off for scoring as well as eligibility.

Your reporting post in the reporting thread should have your scores from below, and a link to your review. No review, no badge. Aim is to not only read a book that may be overlooked due to not many ratings, but to give the next people who look at the book some info. Community service in a way :) I don't mind if your review is two sentences long, but lets get some of the underrated books some ratings!

General Rules:

1. The book may be in any format - paperback, ebook, audiobook.
2. The book may be in any genre.
3. The book may NOT be combined with the Year Long Chunkster Challenge.
4. The book must be read between July 1 to July 31, 2014 (based on your own time zone).
5. The challenge is for one book. You may read more books if you chose, but only the highest scoring book will apply.

Number of Goodreads Ratings (before yours and as of the day you declare it as your intended read)
5 pts – less than 100
4 pts – 100-199
3 pts – 200 - 299
2 pts – 300 - 399
1 pts – 400 - 499

Genre
5 pts – Short Stories
4 pts – Sci-fi
3 pts - Biography
2 pts – Young Adult
1 pt - Thriller

Cover (on the version you read)
5 pts – Has a water lily on it
4 pts – Cover is mainly white
3 pts – The Title is in red
2 pts – The author is in blue (these three for both US Independence Day and Bastille Day)
1 pt – has stars on the cover

Author
5 pts – Has only published one book.
4 pts – Last name starts with T (name as on book)
3 pts – has another book that has over 10 000 ratings (for example Lian Hearn has one book under 500 Blossoms and Shadows which you could read, but has another with over 10 000 Across the Nightingale Floor, so you would get points)
2 pts – Born in July
1 pt – is male

Pages
5 pts - 600 - 1000 pages
4 pts - 500 - 599 pages
3 pts - 400 - 499 pages
2 pts - 300 - 399 pages
1 pts - 200 - 299 pages 

Bonus Points (count once):
5 pts – Character visits a temple/shrine/church or offers a prayer (any religion) for Tanabata, a Japanese traditional seasonal "make-a-wish" celebration
5 pts – Characters visit a lolly/sweet/candy shop/store (choose your appropriate terminology) for National Diabetes Week
1 pt per occupation (each only counts once) – Has a Veterinarian, equestrian, furrier, tanner, or pharmacist in it for St James' feast day

Wondering how to look this up on your shelves?

Well, go to the shelf you want to see the number of ratings on each book. Click on the settings link



It drops down a menu. Check the number of ratings check box and then hit the apply button



It will then apply this to your shelf and it will appear on the top row. Just click it to sort by it. You may have to click on it again to sort from lowest to highest.

Wow, this really sounds like a challenge!

I'm a bit confused about the 500 reviews: because the aim is to let the book get more written reviews, does it count if there are for example 600 star ratings and only 350 written reviews? Or do the stars AND the reviews need to be below 500? I'm expecting the latter but just want to be sure :)

No worries, I may not have been clear. Under 500 ratings.

So most people wouldn't have reviewed unless they rated, but not all ratings would come with a review.

For example I'm currently looking at The Path to the Spiders' Nests and it says under the title
stars 3.68 · rating details · 2,523 ratings · 114 reviews

So for that one we are looking at the 2,523 ratings. More than 500, not eligible.

That's clear, thanks!

Anytime :D

Sorry, me again. Am I allowed to read a Dutch book (not translated to English)?

Lol never apologise for it being you.

You definitely can. I'm actually expecting that from some of you multi-lingual peoples.

As I am planning on using this to fill my TBR list (and it's all about me :P), if you choose review in Dutch, we'd love an English translation when you report.

Cool, thanks! And sure, no problem at all :) although if the book is only available in Dutch you'd probably need a lot of patience before you can actually read it ;-)

Wow, I just did the sorting thing and I thought maybe 2 or 3 books on my tbr would fit the criteria but I actually have 38!!

I'm done spamming this thread now :) the challenges always just make me super excited!

A great challenge as always Rusalka! :D

Just a question about the scoring. When it comes to the number of Goodreads ratings (before yours), is that the number of ratings it has when we finish the book or how many it had on the day we started reading it?

Lisa wrote: "A great challenge as always Rusalka! :D

Just a question about the scoring. When it comes to the number of Goodreads ratings (before yours), is that the number of ratings it has when we finish the ..."

Fair question. Let's make it standard. 1 July or the day you decide to read it if it is after the 1st.

How about I make everyone report in this channel what they are reading for it, with how many ratings it has that day.

Original post edited. Re-read if you have read before now.

Thanks Rusalka!

I am really looking forward to this challenge!

I have a few here that fits. And they even are in english! No gophering needed this month. (What a pity!)

This is an easy challenge for us, non english speakers. I probably will be able to score any french book I read next month.
:)

I have an idea for people who can't find any books for this challenge in their TBR (I wonder if there actually are such people ;)...). On www.storycartel.com you can download, mostly new, ebooks for free in return for your review! One of the books I downloaded there is The Prediction. When you look at the author's profile: he likes to get 100 reviews by the end of this year, so you can still download his book. And I have to say: it is worth it! I rated it with 5 stars!

So I guess I won't have any trouble to find a good book for this!
Looks like fun!

Esther wrote: "I have a few here that fits. And they even are in english! No gophering needed this month. (What a pity!)

This is an easy challenge for us, non english speakers. I probably will be able to score a..."

Same for Aussie books honestly. But, where the gophering can come in this time is the points, or the lack of them.

Oh boy, I actually have 216 books on my TBR I could use for this! And a few more which are not on it... :)

I have a book on my TBR - that I actually own and have never read that only has 1 rating. How cool is that?

This is going to be fun. The first book which came to mind was a kindle freebie I got a while back Point Apocalypse but I bet I have a few others too so off to check it out now! This will be fun!

Elsbeth wrote: "Oh boy, I actually have 216 books on my TBR I could use for this! And a few more which are not on it... :)"

Oh wow... well, happy gophering!

Cherie wrote: "I have a book on my TBR - that I actually own and have never read that only has 1 rating. How cool is that?"

I have one that has 0 but I started it last year. It's my emergency book that lives at the bottom of my handbag.

Rusalka wrote: "Elsbeth wrote: "Oh boy, I actually have 216 books on my TBR I could use for this! And a few more which are not on it... :)"

Oh wow... well, happy gophering!"

Thanks :)! It will be fun!

The End is Nigh would have fit perfect. It was $1.99 yesterday back up to $6.99 today. Yes I'm too cheap to buy it now knowing it was on saleyesterday

4 A.M. Until 4 P.M. this has no reviews will probably not score much otherwise bit us what i am going to go for

I have started this book but cannot finish in time - it is not floating my boat at the moment

Travis of NNY wrote: "The End is Nigh would have fit perfect. It was $1.99 yesterday back up to $6.99 today. Yes I'm too cheap to buy it now knowing it was on saleyesterday"

(you have 86 other options :P)

I found some books in my TBR list (IN ENGLISH)
They are for the very brave ( 500 p. and up):
Michael Connelly - The Harry Bosch Collection -wich has a cover mainly in white and the author in blue
The Mammoth Book Of Extreme Science Fiction wich is SF and short stories too.
The Mammoth Book of Golden Age Science Fiction: Ten Classic Stories from the Birth of Modern Science Fiction Writing wich is SF, short stories AND under 100 ratings

I will probably read Ancient Of Days, wich is in my TBR long ago, waiting for the right challenge

Interesting selection... could be some fun! Remember you don't need to be in English.

Yes.I know.They are not for me, only recommendations for the other players

Ah I see. Sorry, missed context.
(in post last two episodes of Game of Thrones stupor)

I have a quick question about the 'last name starts with a T'. Would that be the author's real name or the pseudonym on the book I've chosen?

Good challenge, Rusalka! I've got a list of about 13 books that would qualify. Now I have to decide. Possibly with the help of the fruit machine.

How did I miss this thread? Glad you all are chattering about it - interesting and unusual challenge for July - I'm all for community service and have several books that qualify. I'm in. Thanks Rusalka.

Rusalka wrote: "Ah I see. Sorry, missed context.
(in post last two episodes of Game of Thrones stupor)"

Probably my contextualization was not so good ;-) (I warned You all, my English´s skills were -are- not socially acceptable)

This is a great challenge. :) I'm definitely in.

Great challenge, I'm also in!
:)

I have a question:

I'm thinking of reading an anthology Half in the Sun: Anthology of Mennonite Writing.
It looks like a collection of short stories all written by different people, how would I count the author points?? Use the editor as the author or count points for each separate author??

what an interesting challenge! I am in even though I have only 10 on my tbr that qualify at the moment. (But compared to some of you, I have a pretty short tbr in any case!)

Hahah, I just checked my TBR list based on the number of ratings and it seems I have almost 500 books on the list that have less than a hundred ratings, so I will have no trouble finding something suitable! Already ordered a couple of them from the library. So no need to buy anything for this challenge :-(

I'm definitely going to be reading a book that I already own so that I can tick off one of those. I too am surprised by how many books that I own also have under 500 ratings. I have narrowed it down to 3 (which is good going for me) Point Apocalypse which I mentioned in an earlier post and has been on my kindle for ages, A God in Every Stone which I won on Goodreads and I need to review anyway, or The Girl in the Road which I only just recently bought. I think I'd prefer to read the third one. I will probably wait and see what I feel like nearer the time.

I think because I put anything and everything on my tbr shelf that semi catches my eye, I have a lot that qualifies too. Some have even found their way to my Kindle, so this could be my own mini Toppler ( even tho only one will count, of course). I like the concept of this one. There a lot of under rated good books out there.

I also want to read something I own, and right now I'm leaning towards From Rum to Roots or a Dutch book with short stories: Korte geschiedenis van het bedrog: de verhalen. I'll probably go for the first, because I have it as an ebook and will be reading for this challenge while on holiday.

Hi Rusalka,

Will this count for short stories?
Tales of Australia:Great Southern Land
edited by Stephen C. Ormsby and Carol Bond

Looking for my July AtW read and I found this one on the B & N sale site for $5.00. I already had it on my TBR Australia shelf. Only has 4 ratings.

This gal I work with loves paranormal romances and has turned me on to a couple of good series. They are steamy, yet formulaic. Something I don't generally go for. Anywho, she gave me Legend of the Highland Dragon to read. Currently 179 ratings. Again, not really my thing, but why not? It fits this great challenge! lol

Both my tbr and kindle have a ton of books that qualify. I'm thinking this might be a quick one and fun too Murder in the Boughs

Travis, I'll be interested in your review of Murder in the Boughs, if you read it.

Right now, my short-list is Too Many Murders, Song of the River, and Shady Palms.

My short list could be different tomorrow. Decisions, decisions. :)

Lanelle wrote: "I have a quick question about the 'last name starts with a T'. Would that be the author's real name or the pseudonym on the book I've chosen?"

Name on the book. I will clarify in the original post

Mariab wrote: "Rusalka wrote: "Ah I see. Sorry, missed context.
(in post last two episodes of Game of Thrones stupor)"

Probably my contextualization was not so good ;-) (I warned You all, my English´s skills wer..."

No no. I just wasn't paying attention.