Summer Challenge Update: #6

It’s time for a Summer Challenge update!  In each update, we will give an honorable mention to the reader who posts our favorite book-location pairing since time of last update. Keep reading to find out who is in the lead, what the prizes will be, and to get some ideas for your book locations.

The final day of the challenge will be September 22. In our final stretch we have two announcements: a rule change and a list of prizes. First, from this point on you will no longer need to seek approval for your books. Consider yourself automatically approved for any book from here on out. Keep in mind that your book choices will still impact prize eligibility so chose your books wisely!

There are still at least 5 people who have yet to read a book. So, if you are one of those people, we hope you still join in and don’t miss out on the chance to win a prize. Here are the prizes:

1. Most well-travelled. This prize will go to the person who has visited the most destinations. Number of pages read will also factor into the selection. The winner will get his/her choice of six books – written by an author from every continent, excluding Antarctica. A winner from the U.S. will received his or her choice of ebook or paperback books, while an international winner would be required to select all ebooks.
2. Most creative. This prize will go to the person who has shown the most creativity in finding book-destination locations.  The prize awarded will be a beautiful print of a literary map (choice of either the UK or US) and a $10 Amazon gift card. Eligibility: Must have read a minimum of 4 books.
3. True to the Spirit of the Game: Consider this to be our grand prize. This person will have selected books that best fit the spirit of this challenge. For example, for specific countries, they will have selected books that really capture the essence of traveling to that country. The winner will receive a 1 year subscription to “Just the Right Book,” a book service that is personalized for your tastes. Eligibility: Must have read a minimum of 4 books.
4. Random selection: This prize will go to a randomly selected participant. To qualify you must have read and reviewed at least one book by the end of the challenge. The winner will receive: Two books of your choice from among those reviewed for this challenge (so check the comments section to see what people have read). International readers must select ebook versions. Eligibility: Must have read at least 1 book.

Book Worm and I will select the winners of most creative and true to the spirit of the game prizes along with an impartial judge. We will each rate independently. In the event of a tie (e.g., all three of us pick different winners), the winner will go to the impartial judge’s selection. Random selection will be chosen using random.org. In the event that the same person wins multiple categories, we will allow that person to pick which prize category they want, and a new person will be selected for the other prize(s).

Here are the standings to date:

Frequent Flyers (a.k.a the scoreboard):
Nanny Ogg -27 (pages read: 7,563)
Anne Shirley – 20 (pages read: 6,104)
Ursula – 20 (pages read: 5,999)
Tracy S – 20 (pages read: 5,386)
Glo-worm – 20 (pages read: 4,934)
LibraryCin – 18 (pages read: 5,653)
Rachel Morgan – 17 (pages read: 5,093)
Maxibob-17 (pages read 4,417)
Chili -16 (pages read: 6,815)
Aarti -14 (pages read: tbd)
Jaenelle Angelline-13 (pages read: 3,982)
Nicole – 11 (pages read: 3,655)
Luna – 11 (pages read: 1,892)
Sushicat – 9 (pages read: 3,675)
Second Honeymoon – 8 (pages read: 2,385)
Jean Paget – 8 (pages read: 1,638)
Morgen -7 (pages read: 2,792)
Nia -7 (pages read: 2,387)
John -6 (pages read: 3,070)
Jo March -5 (pages read: 1,791)
Tiger Lily – 5 (pages read: 1,467)
Emily -5 (pages read: 1,308)
Becky -4 (pages read: 1,150)
Tanya -2 (pages read: 859)
Kate T – 2 (pages read: 479)
Missy Bee – 1 (pages read: 336)

Honorable mentions: Jen’s favorite location-book pairing since last update was read by Glo-worm with Sightseeing by Rattawut Lapcharoensap for Thailand. For me, this book selection is one of those selections that perfectly captures the spirit of the challenge because it really explores the country. BookWorm’s favorite location-pairing was read by Jaenelle with The Villa by Nora Roberts for Wine Country.

Friendly Reminder to participants: If you end up needing to buy any books for this challenge, please do so through our Amazon link. If you go to the store first, you can then go to other Amazon pages by clicking the “powered by Amazon” logo at the top right of the store page (under “Browse by Category). This will enable you find your own books outside the store.

Need some feeling stuck? Here are some book destination ideas:

Broadway: For this destination you can pick a book that was made into a play, a play, or a book set in the theater world. Here’s a list from Book Riot of 10 plays that were adapted from novels. Here’s a list of top 100 stage plays from Good Reads.

Thailand: Check out these two lists: 1) The Lonely Planet’s books to read before you travel to Thailand and 2) The Guardians’ Best Books on Thailand.

221 Baker Street: You could go with the obvious here and pick a Sherlock Holmes book. You could also pick any detective book. Here’s Flavorwire’s list of 50 essential mystery novels that everyone should read.