The Serendipity Challenge discussion

The July Serendipity Challenge

This month we are going to do a couple of things differently. I'd like each person to post how many points they think they can earn. You can earn points by completing the 3 monthly reading tasks, reading other books, writing reviews and in other ways. I'm always looking for feedback, so let me know how this works for you.

July's tasks:
1. 10 points--For me, 2010 has been the year of the memoir. In honor of my new found love, find a memoir that interests you and read it.

2. 10 points--America's Independence Day is July 4th. To celebrate, choose a book from one of these goodread's lists.
http://www.goodreads.com/list/show/37...
http://www.goodreads.com/list/show/18... OR
http://www.goodreads.com/list/show/25...

3. 10 points--I can't wait for the new books by Suzanne Collins and Cassandra Clare that both come out in August, so I thought July would be a great month for us to reread some of our favorite books.

4. 5 points--Books over 100 pages each that don't fit any of the above categories can still earn 5 points per book.

Other ways to earn points:
1. 10 points--(This comes from the Seasonal Book Challenge) There is an age old saying...If a tree falls in the woods, and no one is there to hear it, does it make a sound? Likewise if a person reads a book and no one is there to see them...did the book ever get read? For this task you must read a book of at least 100 pages in public...at a park, or the beach, or on a plane, or a bus, or at a library...any public place will do.

2. Every time you review a book for one of the Serendipity Challenge tasks, you earn 10 points. If you're afraid to write a book review, don't be. It's a great way to help those of us who are searching for books to know if we want to try yours or not. Perhaps my next blog post will be about how to write book reviews. I'll link it here.

3. I ALMOST had a task about soccer and the World Cup, but decided it keep it at 3 tasks. An optional way to earn 10 points would be to tie the books you choose to soccer in some way.

I think I can earn 80 points.

I've got my book for the first task picked out already. (I promise I didn't pick it out until after I'd decided on the tasks!) The book is: Flyaway: How A Wild Bird Rehabber Sought Adventure and Found Her Wings by Suzie Gilbert.

I think that I will have to stick with earning about 30 points is all. The book that I am choosing for my re-read is also one that I have to read for my Business Law class in college. I am re-reading The King of Torts by John Grisham. It wasn't one of my favorites that I have read, but I will still enjoy it.
Maybe August will be higher month for me since I'll have a couple weeks off between semesters.

I'm new, so please forgive me if I ask silly questions. I'm a little confused... are the "other ways to earn points" additional tasks to complete or do you earn additional points if the book you read for one of the 4 tasks also fits for the "other points"?? For instance if I read a memoir in public, would I get 20 points? Please clarify!
Thanks!

Also, do I claim points as I go, or just at the end of the month? And can I do a task more than once for more points?

I would claim reading a memoir in public as 20 points. Then again, I'm finding that reading anything in public is close to impossible. I did read about 20 pages during swimming lessons, so I'm well on my way. Maybe if I count reading street signs... :)

Yes, you can do a task more than once for more points, at least this month. We'll have to discuss if people liked that or not before we make it an iron clad rule.

I have read a ton this month, and I really need to start posting my reviews. If I allow myself every point I earned from rereading some of my favorite books, I bet I earned over 100 points. I really went crazy with that one.

I would claim reading a memoir in public as 20 points. Then again, I'm finding that reading anything in public is close to impossible. I did read about 20 pages during swimming lessons, so I'm well on my way. Maybe if I count reading street signs... :)

Yes, you can do a task more than once for more points, at least this month. We'll have to discuss if people liked that or not before we make it an iron clad rule.

I have read a ton this month, and I really need to start posting my reviews. If I allow myself every point I earned from rereading some of my favorite books, I bet I earned over 100 points. I really went crazy with that one.

Ok, here goes...

2 - American Literature at the Movies - I read:
Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson (10pts)
Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane in public (at work on breaks & in waiting rooms) (20pts)
Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak (not sure if this counts?? less than 100 p.) (10pts)
4 - Misc. Books - I read:
M Is for Magic by Neil Gaiman (5pts)
Helter Skelter: The True Story of the Manson Murders by Vincent Bugliosi (5pts)
My Total - 50 Points

Don't think I'll finish any more before month's end.

I am almost embarrassed to admit how much I read this month. I was like a machine--I just couldn't seem to stop. My points...
1. I started Flyaway: How A Wild Bird Rehabber Sought Adventure and Found Her Wings, but I didn't get very far. I might finish it in August, but old favorites kept getting in the way. (0 pts)

I also tried to read Julie and Julia: 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen but I didn't get very far--the language was just too raunchy for me. (o pts.)

3. City of Bones(10 points)
City of Glass(10 points)
City of Ashes(10 points)
Howl's Moving Castle(10 points)
Misc. books:
Castle in the Air(5 points)
The Inside Story(5 points)
Take Two(5 points)
Take Three(5 points)

Reviews:
City of Bones, City of Ashes and City of Glass are all books in the Mortal Instruments series. I love them--mostly because of the sarcastic humor and because of Jace, one of my all time favorite characters. It's a young adult urban fantasy, and I recommend it with some reservations, even though it's one of my favorite series. It's the "young adult" that makes me leery. It's an edgy story, and it's not for everyone. Still--5 stars for all 3.

Howl's Moving Castle--A book everyone who likes YA fantasy ought to read. It's a great middle grades read too. Fantastic stuff. (5 stars!!!!!)

Take Two and Take Three--My mother in law had me read these, and I liked the characters and really empathized with their emotions but the books were hard to get into. There were too many disjointed stories. I think it would have been a stronger story if one of the books had been about the teenage characters and one book had been about the adults. It was a nice christian story. 3 stars.

60 points for books read and 30 points for book reviews puts me at 90 points for the month.

I just realized I never posted a link to my blog about how to write a book review. Here it is:

http://melaniecrousesblog.blogspot.co...

I have to say that I earned my 25 points. It was almost my goal too!
I reread The King of Torts by John Grisham which isn't my favorite of his books, but it's not a bad read either. (10 points)
I also read Percy Jackson and the Curse of the Titans. I enjoyed that one quite a bit. (5 points)
I am also counting the books that I had to read for school since it wasn't any fun reading them and I may as well get credit for them here. I read Business Law and The Economy Today. I have to admit that I didn't read them cover to cover, but I read what was assigned to read and I think that it should count. If not, I guess I can take away my 10 points for those books...

I think I only earned 10 points. I read And There Was Light: Autobiography of Jacques Lusseyran, Blind Hero of the French Resistance. I'm not sure if this is where you are supposed to post reviews but here it goes.

I really enjoyed this book and found the story to be amazing and inspiring, especially because it was a true story. The writing kept the book from being five stars though. The writing was very thick and at times the story was slow. Also, it wasn't a story in the traditional sense of opening, rising action, climax, because it is an autobiography, so the pacing was slow. Despite this I enjoyed reading it and am glad that I finished the book to the end because this man's life (actually it's just his first twenty years) was amazing and I learned a lot in reading this book.

You would like this book if you are interested in the blind, WWII, France during WWII, concentration camps, or just like inspirational stories.

Sara--writing a review earns you an extra 10 points, so you actually earned 20 this month. That's awesome.

I hope people don't think they have to earn a ton of points every month or it's just not worth it to be involved. Tons of books isn't the point of this challenge. We're going for quality over quantity here.

And Mindy--books with names like Business Law probably ought to earn more than 5 points. Blech. Good job getting that much read with your schedule.

Birish--Where The Wild Things Are totally counts. The only thing a picture book doesn't count for is the extra 5 points for random books--those have to be over 100 pages.