Romance Readers Reading Challenges discussion
Interactive/Other Challenges
>
Meet & Greet Challenge Round 72 (Oct/Nov) - Picking
PLEASE - remember this challenge takes effort and time for members to go through your reading list.DO NOT SIGN UP unless you are prepared to participate and reciprocate with picks.
**PLEASE post IN THIS THREAD if you have been delayed** with your picks for whatever reason (we ALL understand real life getting in the way and are very happy to wait). Just let us know what is happening. (I don't have a lot of time to chase members when they are late, so I would greatly appreciate not having to do this 🥰)
I STRONGLY suggest that everyone clicks on the 'Notify me when people comment' link at the bottom of this thread so that they know when activity/commenting is happening. That way you should not miss people asking where your picks are :)
BONUS PICKSSome members like to receive more picks than from just their group. If you would like to participate in bonus picks, please note this in your sign up post. If you sign up for bonus picks, you MUST pick for every other person in the bonus picks group. This includes members who were in your original group - they will receive two sets of picks from you. Please do not recommend the same books to a member that is in both your original group and the bonus pick group - a clean set of picks is required.
Please be aware that the bonus pick group could be comprised of only a few people OR be at least the size of another full group.
Since the completion of this challenge is directly tied to the Groupings, please delay your bonus picks to other members until 7 September.
Everyone may start on their bonus picks once it hits 12.00 am in New Zealand
Local time: http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock...
(12 hours ahead of UTC/GMT)
Sign ups by FRIDAY 5 September 4.00pm EST USJane - picking shelf Rereads ✅
Elizabeth - 0 meet greet tbr Rereads ✅
*Shelby - meet and greet to read Rereads ✅
*Anja - 2025 mng challenge
*Mkat - meet n greet options Rereads ✅
*Jamie - open series Rereads ✅
*Raine - 2025 pifm
*Tink - challenge picks Rereads ✅
Julie - to read
Sassafrass - 2025 1 pifm aoc
MrsGeo - 8 2025 rr tbr
Hazel - mng selects
Herlasser - mng pickup
*Carrie - read my shelves Rereads ✅
Amber - pifm tbr
christene LL - tbr fall vibes
Diane FF - mng picking
Carmen TBST - meet greet picks
Avigail - tbr for challenges
*Wealie - 0 picking
~Melissa~ - meet n greet Rereads ✅
Ella - to read
*Christy - up next
KathyD - pick shelf audio Rereads ✅
*ConnieN - meet greet options Rereads ✅
Nadine - 2025 challenge pick shelf
HeatherMarie - up next
Grace - meet and greet Rereads ✅
LaurLa - 01 pick me please
*KarenH - meet and greet Rereads ✅
Jenner - meet n greet pick shelf Rereads ✅
Avid Reader &GG - meet and greet to pick from
Jessica - pick it for me
Chiara - meet greet challenge
R E C - meet n greet pick shelf
Adrienne - rr meet and greet
*Elizabeth N - oct nov 2025
Anissa - rr mng68 selections
Dani - meet and greet shelf
Chan - to read
RaeRae - meet and great
Jodi - meet greet shelf
-
-
Bonus pickersstart picking at 12.00am 7 September NZ time for all participants regardless of your country
Local time: http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock...
*Anja - 2025 mng challenge
*Carrie - read my shelves Rereads ✅
*Christy - up next
*ConnieN - meet greet options Rereads ✅
*Elizabeth N - oct nov 2025
*Jamie - open series Rereads ✅
*KarenH - meet and greet Rereads ✅
*Mkat - meet n greet options Rereads ✅
*Raine - 2025 pifm
*Shelby - meet and greet to read Rereads ✅
*Tink - challenge picks Rereads ✅
*Wealie - 0 picking
Groups allocatedsoon after 5 September 4.00pm EST US
Group 1
Adrienne - rr meet and greet
Anissa - rr mng68 selections
Anja - 2025 mng challenge
Avigail - tbr for challenges
Carrie - read my shelves Rereads ✅
Chiara - meet greet challenge
Elizabeth Nolly - oct nov 2025
Ella - to read
Grace - meet and greet Rereads ✅
HeatherMarie - up next
Jane - picking shelf Rereads ✅
KarenH - meet and greet Rereads ✅
LaurLa - 01 pick me please
MrsGeo - 8 2025 rr tbr
Group 2
Avid Reader &GG - meet and greet to pick from
Carmen TBST - meet greet picks
Chan - to read
christene LL - tbr fall vibes
ConnieN - meet greet options Rereads ✅
Dani - meet and greet shelf
Diane FF - mng picking
Elizabeth - 0 meet greet tbr Rereads ✅
Hazel - mng selects
KathyD - pick shelf audio Rereads ✅
Nadine - 2025 challenge pick shelf
R E C - meet n greet pick shelf
Sassafrass - 2025 1 pifm aoc
Shelby - meet and greet to read Rereads ✅
Group 3
Amber - pifm tbr
Christy - up next
Herlasser - mng pickup
Jamie - open series Rereads ✅
Jenner - meet n greet pick shelf Rereads ✅
Jessica - pick it for me
Jodi - meet greet shelf
Julie - to read
Melissa~ - meet n greet Rereads ✅
Mkat - meet n greet options Rereads ✅
RaeRae - meet and great
Raine - 2025 pifm
Tink - challenge picks Rereads ✅
Wealie - 0 picking
Remember:If you have a private profile, you MUST OPEN YOUR PROFILE for the duration of the picking. No exceptions.
**Remember to check that other members can access your bookshelves and that they are not set to private for the duration of picking AND that you can receive private messages.
Refer instructions on how to make sure you receive messages.
If you haven't played for a while or new to the challenge, you are likely blocking all PMs.
BONUS picks may start 7 September 12.01 am NZ time
Time converter: http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock...
(12 hours ahead of UTC/GMT)
Brooke wrote: "Is this where we sign up? … if so here is the link to my bookshelf: https://www.goodreads.com/review/list..."
Yes - you have signed up in the correct place.
Just remember to check back here once the sign up period has closed, so you can see which group you have been allocated to :)
I'm in for regular and bonus please. :)Regular - Meet and Greet to Read
Bonus - Current Challenge to Reads
I'm in for regular picks:https://www.goodreads.com/review/list...
My picks will be on time this month. My mom is doing much better, and I am no longer her caregiver, which means I was finally able to have the surgery that I had been putting off while I cared for her. Now I need to stay off my foot for the next two months, so I shouldn't be doing anything other than catching up on my reviews and reading. 😉
I've populated the lists to here. Please let me know if I've missed you or your shelf doesn't link anymore.
Nadine Bookaholic wrote: "I'm in for regular picks:https://www.goodreads.com/review/list...
My picks will be on time this month. My mom is doing much better, and I a..."
So pleased your mother is doing well enough to cope without you Nadine! And now its 'you' time 🥰
I’m doing terribly on the Aug Sep round but it’s not going to stop me from joining again! :)Regular please
https://www.goodreads.com/review/list...
Nadine Bookaholic wrote: "I'm in for regular picks:https://www.goodreads.com/review/list...
My picks will be on time this month. My mom is doing much better, and I a..."
So glad to hear that your mom is doing better and hope you're healing well from your surgery! Staying off your feet means more reading time, right :)
~Melissa~ wrote: "Nadine Bookaholic wrote: "So glad to hear that your mom is doing better and hope you're healing well from your surgery! Staying off your feet means more reading time, right :)."Thank you. I was hoping it meant I’d be catching up on my reviews, but that hasn’t happened yet…maybe in September. 😉 But I have done more reading this month and I’ve actually been watching a ton of movies that I’ve missed over the last couple of years.
1 October - 30 November 2025
This is a challenge for the hordes of members who need help selecting their next book to read. This is basically a group Pick-It-For-Me challenge WITHOUT the new book recommendations or categories. It is a two (2) month challenge and will be repeated every two months so long as there is significant interest.
This challenge is limited to members who are 18 years or older. This is one of the very few age-restricted challenges in our group. There are many other challenges to choose from for those under 18.
Depending on the number of sign-ups for this challenge, groups will consist of 15-20 people.
DATES:
5 September 4.00PM US EST (FRIDAY) - SIGN-UPS close date! Please allow a few hours for the groups to be posted. Once the groups are posted, picking for the groups will then commence.
7 September 12am NZ - picking starts for the bonus group.
31 September - PICKING due date! Picks for all group members must be completed.
1 October - OPENING date - Start reading!
INSTRUCTIONS: Step by step
1. Each participant must create a shelf and include on that shelf books that they would like to read in the coming two months. You will need to have at least 30-40 books on this shelf and you must post the link to that shelf when you sign up. If you participated in the last MnG, you may use the same shelf with updated books.
Participants also appreciate not having too many books on that shelf - they want to select something you really want to read or be pushed to read. Try to keep the shelf under 100 books.
2. Sign up by the close date, posting the link to your shelf.
3. Once sign-up closes, each person will recommend to every other person in their group THREE (3) books selected from each member's nominated shelf. Recommendations will be sent via PM (private message) - NOT in the thread.
If you have a private profile, you MUST OPEN YOUR PROFILE for the duration of the picking. No exceptions.
If you are new to the challenge, please make sure your privacy settings are set to 'anyone' being able to send you private messages. Refer below for how to do this.
4. Members choose ONE (1) book from each set of recommendations, removing that selected book from their nominated shelf (to reduce multiple selections of the same book) and placing it in another shelf to track this challenge. I would suggest that you create a second shelf for these selections for ease of tracking.
5. When picking starts the participants thread will be opened for each member to post their list of selected books.
6. Once the challenge opens on the first day of next month, mark off each book on your challenge list as it is finished, noting the date completed. Update your completion rate at the top of your list throughout the challenge - e.g. "Completed: 3/15". Please feel free to post feedback on each book in the discussion thread :) You cannot start your book until the first day of the month.
Do not repost your list in the Participants Thread - you will maintain your list in the original post.
To complete this challenge, you must read at least five (5) books from your chosen list. You may, of course, complete the full list.
There will be two threads for this challenge:
* Sign Up/Reading thread. All sign-ups, chat and questions occurs in this thread.
* Participants' Lists thread. This is only for the final book list for each participant. The participants' thread will be locked until we are ready to start picking.
You cannot start picking for your group members until groups are posted.
RULES/TIPS:
* You ONLY select books from the pickee's nominated shelf.
* You must nominate 3 books for each set of picks.
* Book nominations and selections do not need to be in any order.
* You can add/subtract books on your own picking list at any time during the sign-up and picking process. (However if a book has already been recommended during the picks prior to swapping it off your list, this recommendation stands valid.)
* If a book from a series is recommended but it is not the next book for the reader in that series and it is on your nominated shelf, please feel free to substitute the appropriate book for that recommendation.
* The 3 books recommended must be in different series or stand alone books. Your picks need to provide a variety of choice!
* You may put re-reads on your nominated picking shelf. (This means the book may already be 'read' and rated - but if it is on that shelf, these books are fair game for the pickers.)
* You must have completed picking for your group members by the picking due date.
* You may use books planned for other challenges in this challenge and vice-versa unless otherwise specified in the alternate challenge(s).
* There is NO minimum page number requirement in this challenge.
* Books may be from any romance sub-genre, but we are a romance group so please keep your books on your nominated shelf to the romance or popular fiction genres.
* Remember - if your profile is private, you will need to OPEN YOUR PROFILE FOR THE DURATION OF THE PICKING PERIOD otherwise members will not be able to access your nominated picking shelf.
* Feel free to 'friend' all the members of the group, as this will make picking much easier and faster.
* A member can ask for repicks from another member if they have already selected all three of the nominated books. For this reason, it is important that members move books off their nominated picking shelf as soon as they have made their selection.
* When providing feedback in the Reading Thread, please ensure that key plot points are hidden behind the spoiler 'tag' - <'spoiler>blah plot point blah<'/spoiler> (ignoring the apostrophes which have been inserted to show the formula).
* If you have a book that you can't finish (DNF), you are welcome to go back to the original picks from that member and select another book. You cannot ask for new picks. You may count as 'finished' a DNF book if you have read at least 50% but that book must then be marked as a 'DNF' in either your review or appropriately shelved as such on your GR bookshelf.
Our members read a variety of romance sub-genres. You do not need to have read the book that you recommend, nor do you have to have knowledge of the sub-genre that may predominate any of the shelves. How you select books from the nominated shelves is entirely up to you.
How to create a new bookshelf:
* Go to My Books
* Click on edit next to 'bookshelves' on top left
* Type in the name of your shelf and click 'Add'
* Customize the shelf as desired
How to include the link to your new bookshelf:
(Once you have your bookshelf created)
* Right click on the bookshelf hyperlink (green text that takes you to the page)
* Select 'Copy link' from the menu that appears
* In your sign up post, right click again and select 'paste'
-> the link to your bookshelf should now show in that post
How to ensure you will receive private messages:
Before the challenge starts please make sure you can receive private messages (using a computer) (aka you are accepting messages from other members):
* click on your profile (top right)
* click on the profile link
* next to your name at the top, click on the 'edit profile' link
* go to the settings tab
* scroll to Privacy and allow 'anyone' to send you messages (under 'Who can send me private messages')
Please remember:
YOU ARE NOT SIGNED UP UNTIL YOU POST A LINK TO YOUR SHELF.