Historical Fictionistas discussion

Challenge length: May 1st to May 31st

Participants may join at any time during the challenge. All points must be reported by 11:59pm PST on May 31, 2012 to be counted.

Rules:
1. Books must be at least 200 pages long. Eligibility for this is determined by the most popular edition on Goodreads. If the most popular edition is 197 pages, it will not count, even if the edition read is 215 pages.

2. Audiobooks count. Page number will be determined by the most popular edition on Goodreads.

3. Re-reads are accepted in this challenge

4. Books must be Historical Fiction if specified as HF. If no specification is made, the book can be ANY genre. Our group definition of HF is that the book must take place 50 years before the date of publication. Alternate histories, steampunk, Authorian legends, etc. do not count as HF. If you have a book in mind for the challenge, but are unsure of whether it’s HF please feel free to ask in this thread.


How this challenge works/ Scoring:

1. Match the first letter in each author’s LAST NAME to one of the letters in either the word SPRING or the word CLEANING. Books that fall under SPRING must be historical fiction. Books that fall under CLEANING can be any genre.


2. Partial points will NOT be awarded for partially read books.

3. Page points:
Bonus points will be awarded based on the length of each book read, as follows:
200 to 300 pages = 2 bonus points
301 to 500 pages = 4 bonus points
501 to 750 pages = 6 bonus points
751 to 1,000 pages = 8 bonus points
1,000+ = 10 bonus points

4. HF points:
You will receive 2 additional bonus points for every HF book read. Please be sure to list that the book is HF to make sure that the additional points are counted. WE WILL NOT AWARD HF POINTS IF IT IS NOT REPORTED.

5. Review point: Write and link to your review of the books you read for an additional 5 points.

6. Bonus Round:
Help support the GR community!
Once you have completed the SPRING portion of the challenge you are eligible to receive an additional 10 points for supporting any Goodreads Author.
Some suggested authors include some of our group author members (please check their author pages for any additional books):
Tina Boscha- River in the Sea
Zoe Saadia- At Road's End
Lavender Ironside- The Sekhmet Bed
Gordon Doherty- Strategos - Born in the Borderlands
Victoria Grossack- Jocasta: The Mother-Wife of Oedipus
Christina St. Clair- Unexpected Journey
Andrew Levkoff- The Bow of Heaven
Donna Russo Morin- The King's Agent
Joann Spears- Six of One
Holly Weiss- Crestmont
Gary Inbinder - The Flower to the Painter
Susan Spence- A Story of the West
A Dreaming Moon- Tami Lynne
Cynthia Sally Haggard- Thwarted Queen
Sherry Jones- Four Sisters, All Queens
Jeff Foltz- Birkebeiner
Diana Wilder- A Killing Among the Dead
Jan Moran- Scent of Triumph
Stephanie Dray- Lily of the Nile
Kate Quinn- Mistress of Rome
Elizabeth Chadwick- The Greatest Knight



Must be HF:
S
P
R
I
N
G

Any Genre:
C
L
E
A
N
I
N
G


Bonus Round- can only be completed once the SPRING portion of the challenge is completed:
Read any 2 books by a Goodreads author.


----------------------

Example of scoring:

Must be HF:
S
P
R
I- Iggulden, Conn - Genghis: Birth of an Empire
Page Points: 560 pgs- 6 pts
HF Points: 2 pts
Review linked here: 5 pts
Total pts: 13 pts
N
G

Any Genre:
C
L
E
A
N
I
N
G

Bonus Round: Can only be completed once the SPRING portion of the challenge is completed:
Read any 2 books by a Goodreads author.

Can we only complete this once?

Do you mean if each letter can only be completed once? If so yes. So there would be 14 books total, plus 2 bonus round books.

I'm taking a bit of a rest from challenges for a while. As of yesterday I am challenged out and have things to do and places to be sooooooo. I wish good luck to all and as I've said before, the moderators from this group do the most impressive job I've ever seen.

Have fun.

Awww, thanks Nancy.

I really mean that Jackie the two of you do an awesome job and now that I saw the new challenge I'm going to look through my shelves and.....didn't I just say that I think I overdosed on the April challenge.

Is Carolina De Robertis considered a 'D' or an 'R' for the purposes of choosing eligible books for this challenge? Thanks :)

Sue wrote: "Is Carolina De Robertis considered a 'D' or an 'R' for the purposes of choosing eligible books for this challenge? Thanks :)"

Good question! I had to check out her bio and it seems like her last name starts with a D.
http://www.carolinaderobertis.com/bio/

I have other life commitments which will keep me out of the May challenge. First, thank you for including the HF authors in the bonus challenge. Secondly, you both are so creative in making up the challenges. I hope we don't wear you out!

Jackie wrote: "Sue wrote: "Is Carolina De Robertis considered a 'D' or an 'R' for the purposes of choosing eligible books for this challenge? Thanks :)"

Good question! I had to check out her bio and it seems l..."

Thanks, Jackie!

Agreed with above comments. Love how you keep the challenges coming and they always have a unique twist. I will not participate in the May challenge as nothing I had planned to read in May fits, however, I hope that all have fun and I will still be around checking in on how the challenge is going.

Good luck to those who participate.

I will always participate on some level and my TBR list always needs spring cleaning.

Would you consider The Alchemyst to be HF?

Margaret, it looks like it would fall under fantasy.

Have to agree with everyone --- love the challenges. I will probably sit this one out since thanks to all the challenges, I've read 35 of my goal of 40 books this year. I purposefully set it low so that I wouldn't try to read short books :-)
So, my goal for May is to get to some longer books on my TBR, including Gone with the Wind (never read it) and A Game of Thrones.

I can vouch for Game of Thrones. Gone With the Wind is a good movie. The book is around 1000 pages.

Also, do we have to declare a list before the May challenge?

Jayme(the ghost reader) wrote: "Also, do we have to declare a list before the May challenge?"

No list this round.

Outlander series- HF or not? Because of the time travel aspect.

Shay wrote: "Outlander series- HF or not? Because of the time travel aspect."

There's so much more time spent in the past that I consider it HF.

I have a book on my TBR list for this year (not HF) Walking Gently on the Earth: Making Faithful Choices about Food, Energy, Shelter and More by Lisa McMinn and Megan Anna Neff. Can this be used for one of the 'N's in CLEANING, for Anna Neff? What are the rules for dual authorship? Thanks!

Yes, it can Sue. If it's dual authorship you can use whichever author's name fits the challenge.

I plan on reading a book by a good reads author, Diane Chamberlain. Can I use this for the extra book as well as the the letter C in CLEANING. Can we read more than one book for the extra assignment.

Will there be a separate folder for the lists and points?

I am at work and spent the better part of the morning choosing my books. Hope this time I will finish the challenge and not get antsy about the books I'm waiting to get to.

Probably there will be a separate thread, yes. But that depends on how Jackie and I decide to do the scoring. We should probably figure that out. LOL

Regarding your other question, no. You can only use a book one time. You'd have to choose where you want to use it, for the C or the bonus.

Thanks so much. You two are the best. Ask a question and you get an answer ASAP.

Anytime! :)

Hope all is well, Becky.

Reasonably well... I'm ready for April to be over though, for sure.

Oh, I did miss part of your question, about whether you can do multiple bonus tasks... I'm not sure about that one, I'll consult with Jackie and get back to you. :)

OK about the bonus tasks - whenever you know thr answer is find with me.

I'll be opening up another thread for reporting points most likely tonight.

Nancy, the bonus task can only be done one time, after the SPRING tasks are completed.

Thanks Becky. I've made my list and will begin reading tonight at midnight. LOL. I can hardly keep my eyes open past 10 but I'm taking a nap this afternoon so I can be up at midnight.

LOL... Sounds like a plan! ;)

That's some serious dedication. LOL

I am also LOL. The older one gets the earlier they fall asleep and the earlier they wake up. It's really sad how much I have to tape on tv and watch later in the week.

I have to do that but that's because I am working.

I have mine all planned out as well. Only missing one but I am sure I will come up with it before the month is over.

Mods - if we wanted to read a book by a good reads author first and then post about it after reading the titles from SPRING, would that be alright?

Also, in the last challenge we had to declare our titles and could cahnge the order once mid month. This time do we need to post our choices and I was wondering if they can be cahmged provided they meet the same eligibility?

You can post it but you won't get points until after you complete SPRING.

And no you don't have to declare titles ahead of time so you can choose books as you go.

Great - I think after all of my questions, I'm ready to go! Only two more hours. Ha Ha!!

LOL! I better go put up that reporting points thread.

I think this is HF, but thought to doubt check The Star of Kazan. Trying to read off my tbr shelf and it works for this challenge. Thanks

I loved participating in the April Challenge, so again I'm up for the May challenge. Sitting in an internet coffee shop right now in Hopetown, Abaco, Bahamas, so I can get internet sporadically. I didn't think I'd have it again til end of May, and I was so into the Tatiana and Alexander trilogy that I loaded all three books on the Kindle and kept going with those til I finished last night. So I didn't finish Winters Tale or Prague Cemetery yet, but I'm happy with my reading for April. Seems like I can comfortably get through 6 books a month - (I tend to read long books) and if pushed I can read more.
Anyway, I'm not likely to get through all of SPRING CLEANING, but I'll get through some.
I have to spend time kayaking, snorkeling, climbing the lighthouse on Hopetown (this afternoon) too!! ;)

Question: Will Angle of Repose by Wallace Stegner count as HF or not? It was on my April list that I didn't get to, in fact it's been on my TBR list forever, time I finally read it!

I can never participate in these things, because writing books takes me about a thousand times the amount of time to read them, so I'm lucky to read half a dozen books per month. But I applaud the originality of the contests (and look, my last name begins with "G")!

Margaret wrote: "I think this is HF, but thought to doubt check The Star of Kazan. Trying to read off my tbr shelf and it works for this challenge. Thanks"

I'll accept it since most users shelved it that way, but it's hard to tell from the description.

Marji wrote: "Question: Will Angle of Repose by Wallace Stegner count as HF or not? It was on my April list that I didn't get to, in fact it's been on my TBR list forever, time I finally read it!"

I'll accept this one to as HF. And whoohoo! for joining in on the challenge. For a minute there I thought it would only be Nancy and Jayme. LOL

I'll check out Star of Kazan.
Since I read GenghisGenghis: Birth of an Empire for the April challenge, (which I highly recommend BTW), I'm at a loss for an author beginning with I.
Greg Iles doesn't write HF! edit, I was wrong, Iles does indeed write HF. Think I'll read Black CrossBlack Cross

Jackie - I am sure plenty of people will join for this challenge. Unless, they read so much last month, they're taking a break.