Romance Readers Reading Challenges discussion
Interactive/Other Challenges
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Meet & Greet Challenge Round 73 (Dec/Jan) - 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 18 November.
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 SUNDAY 16 November 4.00pm EST US*Jane - picking shelf Rereads ✅
Julie - to read Rereads ✅
Herlasser - mng pickup
Hazel - mng selects
*SusanA - mg pick from here **diff shelf for bonus**
Kat - meet and greet
Aminko - next up 2025
MrsGeo - 8 2025 rr tbr
*Jamie (AL) - open series
R E C - meet n greet pick shelf
Elizabeth (aco) - 0 meet greet tbr
Amanda E - meet n greet
Grace - meet and greet Rereads ✅
*MKat - meet n greet options Rereads ✅
KathyD - pick shelf audio Rereads ✅
Diane FF - mng picking
*Shelby - meet and greet to read **diff shelf for bonus**
Avigail - tbr for challenges
Amber - pifm tbr
Melissa~ - holiday meet n greet Rereads ✅
*Tink - challenge picks **diff shelf for bonus** Rereads ✅
*ConnieN - meet greet options Rereads ✅
*Cheryl - meet greet
*KarenH - meet and greet Rereads ✅
Nadine - 2025 challenge pick shelf
*Christy - up next
Anissa - rr mng picking
Jenner - meet n greet pick shelf Rereads ✅
*Carrie - read my shelves Rereads ✅
RaeRae - meet and great
Jessica - pick it for me
*Jodi - meet greet shelf Rereads ✅
^Zoie - meet greet
Carmen TBST - pick for me
*Wealie - 0 picking
^Moonstone - challenge shelf
Christene LL - tbr prio
Avid Reader & GG - meet and greet to pick from
Chiara - Meet & Greet Shelf Rereads ✅
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Bonus pickersstart picking at 12.00am 18 November NZ time for all participants regardless of your country
Local time: http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock...
*Carrie - read my shelves Rereads ✅
*Cheryl - meet greet
*Christy - up next
*ConnieN - meet greet options Rereads ✅
*Jamie (AL) - open series
*Jane - picking shelf Rereads ✅
*Jodi - meet greet shelf Rereads ✅
*KarenH - meet and greet Rereads ✅
*MKat - meet n greet options Rereads ✅
*Shelby - current challenge to read **diff shelf for group**
*SusanA - bonus pick from here **diff shelf for group**
*Tink - challenge picks bonus **diff shelf for group** Rereads ✅
*Wealie - 0 picking
Groups allocatedsoon after 16 November 4.00pm EST US
Group 1
Amanda E - meet n greet
Anissa - rr mng picking
Carrie - read my shelves Rereads ✅
Cheryl - meet greet
Christene LL - tbr prio
Christy - up next
ConnieN - meet greet options Rereads ✅
Elizabeth (aco) - 0 meet greet tbr
Hazel - mng selects
Herlasser - mng pickup
Jamie (AL) - open series
Jessica - pick it for me
Kat - meet and greet
Melissa~ - holiday meet n greet Rereads ✅
Nadine - 2025 challenge pick shelf
Shelby - meet and greet to read **diff shelf for bonus**
SusanA - mg pick from here **diff shelf for bonus**
Wealie - 0 picking
^Zoie - meet greet
Group 2
Amber - pifm tbr
Aminko - next up 2025
Avid Reader & GG - meet and greet to pick from
Avigail - tbr for challenges
Carmen TBST - pick for me
Chiara - Meet & Greet Shelf Rereads ✅
Diane FF - mng picking
Grace - meet and greet Rereads ✅
Jane - picking shelf Rereads ✅
Jenner - meet n greet pick shelf Rereads ✅
Jodi - meet greet shelf Rereads ✅
Julie - to read Rereads ✅
KarenH - meet and greet Rereads ✅
KathyD - pick shelf audio Rereads ✅
MKat - meet n greet options Rereads ✅
^Moonstone - challenge shelf
MrsGeo - 8 2025 rr tbr
R E C - meet n greet pick shelf
RaeRae - meet and great
Tink - challenge picks **diff shelf for bonus** Rereads ✅
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 18 November 12.01 am NZ time
Time converter: http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock...
(12 hours ahead of UTC/GMT)
I'm in! Rereads OK. Regular picks (No bonus):To read shelf: https://www.goodreads.com/review/list...✓
hi! new here :) does the bonus pick just mean that you pick for more people or do you get more books picked for you as well? so that you have to read more than typical 5?
Amanda wrote: "hi! new here :) does the bonus pick just mean that you pick for more people or do you get more books picked for you as well? so that you have to read more than typical 5?"U pick for the bonus people and they pick for you, not everyone will pick bonus so a different list of people from ur original one.
Kat wrote: "Amanda wrote: "hi! new here :) does the bonus pick just mean that you pick for more people or do you get more books picked for you as well? so that you have to read more than typical 5?"U pick f..."
do you still just need to read 5 books total from the lists though or more?
Amanda wrote: "Kat wrote: "Amanda wrote: "hi! new here :) does the bonus pick just mean that you pick for more people or do you get more books picked for you as well? so that you have to read more than typical 5?..."Yes - its a loose arrangement in reality, since you are the only one checking completion :). Some members try to read every pick.
So basically, if you join both group and bonus, you pick for everyone in each group and they send a set of picks to you as well. You could end up with up to 20 in a group (last round was only 13 due to the number splits) and whoever signs up for bonus picks (last round was 11).
Someone from your group may also sign up for the bonus picks, in which case you pick another 3 books for them to read (different from your group picks) and they do the same.
Jane (PS) wrote: "Amanda wrote: "Kat wrote: "Amanda wrote: "hi! new here :) does the bonus pick just mean that you pick for more people or do you get more books picked for you as well? so that you have to read more ..."got it, thanks! I'm sure it'll make more sense once how I see everything is set up
Me please! 🙋🏻♀️ Regular and bonus - rereads are awesome!!Please use my meet-n-greet-options shelf - thanks!
I'm in for regular and bonus please. :)Regular - Meet and Greet to Read
Bonus - Current Challenge to Reads
I'm in for regular and bonus please. Rereads are goodRegular - Challenge Picks
Bonus - Challenge Picks Bonus
Hiya Jane. Just letting you know that I'm skipping this round. I'll be back for the Feb/Mar round.
Yes please! Regular only, holiday time will be busy enough! ;-)https://www.goodreads.com/review/list...
Chan wrote: "Hiya Jane. Just letting you know that I'm skipping this round. I'll be back for the Feb/Mar round."Thanks for letting me know Chan :)
Jane - can you add me to the bonus picks as well? I don't see my name there (msg 20 for reference on shelf)
Jamie wrote: "Jane - can you add me to the bonus picks as well? I don't see my name there (msg 20 for reference on shelf)"Will do - apologies :)
1 December 2025 - 31 January 2026
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:
16 November 4.00PM US EST (SUNDAY) - 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.
18 November 12am NZ - picking starts for the bonus group.
30 November - PICKING due date! Picks for all group members must be completed.
1 December - 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.