Tentative Future Plans Post!

[kalloway]

This is a post for general plans, vague plans, etc. for smaller challenges/readalongs/whatnot for the next $timeperiod.

If there's something you'd like to host, let me know in the comments and I'll add it. General theme/date if you have an idea. Or you can just up and do it, there's no need to plan in advance if suddenly you have an idea. (I'm also not a mod, none of this is official, do the thing you want to do how you want to do it!)

Or if there's something you'd like to suggest, that works too! Someone else may want to host it. (There are already a bunch of excellent ideas/requests in the comments, if you want to host something but aren't sure what!)


Upcoming readingtogether Plans

Semi-Regular, beginning December 10th Weekend - "Trainreads" (hosted by rmc28)

December 26-31 - Oldest Lingering To-Be-Read Book (hosted by kalloway)

Comments

[tamsin]

Haven't picked a time yet, but I'd like to host a challenge for books with a big focus on pictures. Something like comics/graphic novels/art books etc...

[krait]

What a great idea for a post! Thank you.

tamsin beat me to the punch; a manga/graphic novel/comic challenge was just what I was coming to the comments to suggest! There's a couple of manga/graphic novels that I can't seem to move up my to-read pile, so a challenge specifically for them would be nice.

Other ideas that would be neat:
* a rereading challenge (with any length of time in between reads, so it could be either because it's been a long time since your last reread, or you just read it and loved it so much you can't focus on anything else!)
* a 'second chance' challenge, for something you started but fell out of, or something you've bounced off of previously but think might go better a second time, etc.
* a 'related works' challenge, where you pick a number and read that many works in some way related to a thing you recently liked. Could cover anything from "I read a nonfiction book about dinosaur evolution, and now I'm going to go read ten evolution-focused articles" to "I love Elementary the show, so now I'm going to read as many published Holmes pastiches as I can find at the library," etc.
* a brand-new-to-me-author challenge, where the work you read has to be be an author you have no experience with
* a brand-new-author challenge, where the work you read has to date from the last 2 years and be the author's only published work
* a "Finish That Series" challenge, for readers who are partway through a long series and want a push to dive in and reach the end


If anyone is interested in any of these, give a shout.

[fred_mouse]

Ooh, that is a great idea. So many options. And for people who are a bit overwhelmed at where to start, there are plenty of fabulous children's picture books to pick through, or revisit and see what it is like as an adult!

[fred_mouse]

I've been flirting with the idea of a collaborative bingo challenge for a while. So, a collection of eclectic prompts (there are any number to harvest out there) and then over a period of time (say, two weeks) we see how many bingos we can achieve together. Easy mode is any finished book can tick off multiple prompts it fits; harder mode each one only counts for a single prompt. I have some ideas on how the mechanics of this might work, but I suspect they need to be user tested and then improved.

I think that some of the themes from fancake (their spreadsheet of historical themes is at https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/11fYzrIQANQdpELv4lW9iRuDr6AxEFHac-csS6fuJR9E/edit#gid=0) could be an interesting option. Not all of them will transfer well to reading more traditional fiction, but there must be enough that will.

I'd like to suggest a week with the theme 'Something new for the New Year'. Whether we set that as 1-7 January for the calendar New Year, 1-7 February for the Lunar New Year, or some other New Year that the comm values, I don't have a strong preference. I figure that people can interpret this widely, as a new author, or a newly published book, or a newly acquired book (including library books here!).

I like the idea of a mix of shorter (one week) and longer (monthly) options; I'd be perfectly happy if they overlap. Also, a mix of what I'm going to call 'personal' challenges/read alongs ("I'm going to try and read four books on Topic in the next four weeks, and I could really use some cheering along") and group challenges (such as the November challenge).

I have some other amorphous ideas at the moment; will hopefully come back and write them up when they sort themselves into coherent ideas.

[rmc28]

I do a lot of train travel at weekends (a regular Friday long round trip, two hours each way, and sometimes the same trip again on the Sat or Sun), and while I keep meaning to use the time for reading it's awfully easy to drift into scrolling social media instead.

So I'm thinking about doing a semi-regular "Trainreads" challenge: I'll post ahead of the 24/48/72 hour period in which I'll be riding trains, to set a goal for what I'll read. And then a check-in post at the end of the time.

[kalloway]

Oh, that sounds like a really good challenge! Should I add a note about it in the main post or wait til you're ready to do one?

[rmc28]

Well, there's an opportunity to do one this coming weekend so why don't I just try it out and see how it goes ...

[kalloway]

Yay! I'm game~ (I probably have to work, so my pick will be something short, but yaaaay!)

[kalloway]

I'd definitely be down for that, I have a lot of unread comics and manga right now.

[tamsin]

I'm glad you like the idea! How long are you leaving the Lingering Challenge open? I could start it once that challenge is finished. No stress though.

[kalloway]

I'll probably post a wrap-up early Saturday my-time, so go ahead whenever you'd like. ^_^