Reading with Style discussion

Please post general questions about our Winter challenge in this thread.

I apologize if this question has been answered elsewhere, but this is my first challenge with this group. Do you need to announce your intention to participate in advance somewhere or just post your completed tasks?

Welcome, Kim! We're happy to have you!

No announcement is necessary. We know sometimes things can seem a bit different here, so don't feel shy about asking about anything that isn't clear.

Thank you!

In the NotG questions thread Kim wrote: I don't see a thread for general questions, so I'll ask here. I see the Readerboard is updated through #250, and my total adds up to 340, but my records add up to 365 . I have:
10.x - 50 (M:53 & 57)
15.x - 160 (M: 111-113, 202-204, 231 & 236)
20.x - 155 (M: 23, 31, 123 & 201)
I'd rather find out now where I goofed than have to correct a dozen mistakes later. Thanks."

Can I have a count on how many awards The Underground Railroad qualifies for points for?

I am seeing 6
Pulitzer, National
Clarke, Hurston
NAIBA, Carnegie,

Is that right? Eliminating nominees, Etc....

Beth wrote: "Can I have a count on how many awards The Underground Railroad qualifies for points for?

I am seeing 6
Pulitzer, National
Clarke, Hurston
NAIBA, Carnegie,

Is that right? Eliminati..."

Scoring maxes out at 3 awards, or 15 points. Yes, that book gets the full amount.

Thank you. I missed the max out, makes sense as a rule.

Could you take a look at Hurricane Season by Fernanda Melchor and help me out on the number of prizes?

Under literary awards there seems to be one award
Internationaler Literaturpreis – Haus der Kulturen der Welt (2019)

Under the book description there are also three “awards”.

A New York Times Notable Book (2020)
A Guardian and Boston.com Best Book of 2020
A Literary Hub Favorite Book of 2020

Do any of these count as prizes for the task?

Thanks for the help!

Mary wrote: "Could you take a look at Hurricane Season by Fernanda Melchor and help me out on the number of prizes?

Under literary awards there seems to be one award
Internatio..."

It is only the "Internationaler Literaturpreis – Haus der Kulturen der Welt (2019)" that counts, but still worth 5 Prize Worthy points. The others are not true awards, but recognitions of a sort.

Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "Mary wrote: "Could you take a look at Hurricane Season by Fernanda Melchor and help me out on the number of prizes?

Under literary awards there seems to be one awa..."

Thanks! I really wasn’t sure how you would consider them!

I can't find anything in the rules or FAQ page about reading middle grade books (shelved as juvenile fiction at bpl). I just joined a new book club and will be reading three middle grade novels in February, I know they absolutely wouldn't count for bonuses because they are all between 600 and 800 lexile score, but can I use them for just task points? If not that's fine, I'm still going to read them lol.

Sarah wrote: "I can't find anything in the rules or FAQ page about reading middle grade books (shelved as juvenile fiction at bpl). I just joined a new book club and will be reading three middle grade novels in ..."

Yes, you can read any and all for the 10- and 20-pointers and receive task points, but when the Lexile score is below 800, the books are not eligible for style points.

Could someone explain on the Readerboard how the The Most Strategic Reader is determined? I see my name (Kim - 38.9, for 36 Books), but I have no idea what the 38.9 signifies. And for The Group Lead Reader does the X/Y books mean X= # that are translations, Y = # of books posted?
Thanks so much!

Kim wrote: "Could someone explain on the Readerboard how the The Most Strategic Reader is determined? I see my name (Kim - 38.9, for 36 Books), but I have no idea what the 38.9 signifies. And for The Group Lead Reader does the X/Y books mean X= # that are translations, Y = # of books posted? "

For Most Strategic, the score is your average book score for all reads, not including RwS and Mega finishes. It was intended to give an opportunity to choose a task to those readers who could read at least 5 books but who would probably not read enough to be at the top of the Readerboard. Usually those readers try to take advantage of the extra scoring opportunities - they strategize their reading.

The Group Reads is based only on the twenty 10- and 20-point tasks. Each season Kate chooses a different style for this to be based upon, thinking we all have different strengths and interests. Those who might be more interested in the books for a given style than another will get to recommend a book for others to read.

I think I'm out of luck here...but I want to make sure. I was planning on reading What Kind of Woman: Poems by Kate Baerfor a 15 point task...but when I went back to check it...the paperback version at just 98 pages came up first.
Any hope for this one?

Ed wrote: "I think I'm out of luck here...but I want to make sure. I was planning on reading What Kind of Woman: Poems by Kate Baerfor a 15 point task...but when I went back ..."

Have you used 12B yet and the Letter S? It is for page counts 75-199.

Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "Kim wrote: "Could someone explain on the Readerboard how the The Most Strategic Reader is determined? I see my name (Kim - 38.9, for 36 Books), but I have no idea what the 38.9 signifies. And for T..."

Thank you for this great explanation. I looked around various places, but couldn't find it anywhere.

Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "Ed wrote: "I think I'm out of luck here...but I want to make sure. I was planning on reading What Kind of Woman: Poems by Kate Baerfor a 15 point task...but when I..."

Thanks....no, I haven't used that....and that should work!

Prizeworthy

Frangipani House by Beryl Gilroy

Lists a prize in the author’s biography.

“It was not until 1986 that her first novel, the award-winning Frangipani House was published (Heinemann). It won a GLC Creative Writing Prize in 1982.”

See also. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beryl_G...


Will this work for prizeworthy style?

Mary wrote: "Prizeworthy

Frangipani House by Beryl Gilroy

Lists a prize in the author’s biography.

“It was not until 1986 that her first novel, the award-winning Frangipani Hou..."

No, sorry. The prize must appear on the book page.

Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "Mary wrote: "Prizeworthy

Frangipani House by Beryl Gilroy

Lists a prize in the author’s biography.

“It was not until 1986 that her first novel, the award-winning F..."

Thanks

I seem to be 10 points off in my scoring. Not that it will make any difference overall. But I think I have figured out the discrepancy. I don’t seem to have gotten 5 points for my Name of the Game books that were published before 1996. Posts 630 and 141.

For the Square Peg task, can you still get the style points for Review/translation/prize and jumbo?

Kim wrote: "For the Square Peg task, can you still get the style points for Review/translation/prize and jumbo?"

Yes!

In the grand scheme of things this isn't that important.... but I seem to be short 5 points on the Readerboard.

Kate noted a combo I had missed in post 791, maybe this wasn't entered into your scoring program?? She giveth and she taketh away!! ha, ha.....

Rosemary wrote: "Please can I check if I can claim style points for these two books:

Plats Du Jour, or Foreign Food
They Can't Ration These

Both are cookbooks, but they are old-style..."

Yes. Please remind us when you post that I acknowledged as such.