Friday, October 9, 2009

RT Book Challenge




I have officially decided to attend RT 2010 this year. For those of you who aren't aware, RT Magazine (formerly Romantic Times Magazine) holds an annual convention for readers, authors and booksellers. I went last year and had a fabulous time. This year it is in Columbus, Ohio April 28 - May 2, 2010. It just so happens that my 10th anniversary falls during the convention and I figured it was a lost cause. But wait... my very flexible and understanding husband agreed that we could celebrate our anniversary the weekend before. Whoo hooo! Is he a great guy or what?! I know - total romance hero material!

So, on with the story. I met a plethora of authors. Some of these authors I had read and others I had never even heard of (and I consider myself something of an expert on the subject of romance authors). Shame, shame on me, eh. After meeting some of the authors, who were all very nice people and had interesting backstories, I really wanted to read their books. Some of them I have been able to read and others have sat on my TBR shelf patiently, waiting for me to get to them.

To give myself an extra push I have decided to devise an RT Reading Challenge. I have seven months with which to run this challenge. The rules as I see them are this:

1. The author has to be attending RT 2010. A list of authors participating can be found here. The list is constantly being updated, so check back frequently. Also, let me know if the link stops working.

2. It has to be an author you haven't read before.

3. Pick a number to read each month. For me, my goal is to read two books a month for a total of 14 books until I attend RT in April.

Anyone else going to RT and interested in participating? Anyone, not going to RT and interested in participating? Please, anyone is welcome to join the challenge. Feel free to steal use the challenge logo on your own blogs.

What I'll do is have an open post at the beginning of each month. When you complete a book and post your review, leave a comment with the link. I'll have a link to the post in my sidebar that you can easily access at anytime during the month. I'll update the post regularly to include your review link. Sound easy enough? I hope so. This is my first time hosting a challenge :)

12 comments:

Tracy said...

Great challenge. I'm not going to RT but will be interested to see the reviews. :)

Wendy said...

I try to do this every year when the RITA nominees come out. Pull nominated books out of my TBR and get them read before RWA. And every dang year, I fail. Bad Wendy, bad!

Not going to RT, but I think this challenge sounds neat-o! As always, looking forward to the reviews.

Jill D. said...

I wish you guys would come to RT! One of these years I am going to try and make it to RWA.

Wendy, I do remember you posting about the RITA nominees. I have always wanted to do that too, but just haven't managed. It's hard to make a committment. I am going to give this challenge the ol' college try. I hope I can succeed!

Wendy said...

Jill: I do want to go to RT one of these days! I'm just waiting for them to get somewhere closer to the west coast. The last several years they've been back east or in the midwest.....

Jill D. said...

Wendy - That makes total sense. Well, when you do decide to go, you better let me know because we will have to meet up!

PS. If you ever come to Orlando/disney, let me know because I would love to meet up with you.

nath said...

Very interesting challenge, Jill. I'll have to look into it... Right now, my reading is so down ^_^; To commit to reading 2 books by new authors might be hard! but looking forward to your reviews :D

Kristie (J) said...

Dang but I wish I could afford to go to both RT and the RWA convention!! But I've been going to the second for the past few years and have plans for that one again.

Jill D. said...

Nath - You should consider coming to RT. It will be so fun and we could be roommates, LOL! (no pressure!)

Kristie - I know what you mean. I really struggled with my decision on which event to attend. In the end I decided on RT because I have no intension of ever becoming a writer. RT has more of a fan atmosphere and right now, that's what I want. Hopefully, I will go to RWA at some point. Then I can meet everyone!

Amy said...

I'm thinking of going to RT next year if I decide not to go to RWA. The main reason being that Columbus is about 90 minutes from my hometown and I could easily wrap that into a visit home next spring.

RWA was fun this year, even though I only attended the book signing. It was really neat meeting so many romance fans, other bloggers (Katie AND Wendy!), and some of my favorite authors!

Mstubbs6692 said...

Jill - So glad you are going to RT again. We will have a blast. Hopefully, you will not be as SHY this year ;)!!!! The challenge sounds good, I love to find new authors to read and I am not getting to them in my TBR pile. Mary

nath said...

Hey Jill :D Well I'm debating whether to attend RWA or RT... i definitively want to make it to one convention... so yeah, up in the air :D

Jill D. said...

Amy - If you do decide to go to RT, email me and we can make plans to meet up. I would love to get together. You should definitely think about!

Mary!!! Hey girl! I miss you and Linda. What are you reading? LOL, I will try not to be so SHY this year. Columbus won't know what hit it :)

So are you going to join in on the challenge? If you are feeling froggy and want to write a review, just email me and we can post it and have you as a guest blogger.

I read A Perfect Darkness by Jamie Rush. We got that book at the Avon signing and I just started The Madness of Lord Ian MacKenzie by Jennifer Ashley. I will have reviews soon.

Which authors are you hoping to read?

Nath - Ooh ooh, pick me, pick me. I mean RT, LOL! It would be so fun if you came and we got to meet each other. If you have any questions email me, I would love to talk you into it :)