Comments on: My Personal Rita Reading Challenge

By: Susan

Susan — Thu, 03 May 2012 23:17:35 +0000

I think I’ve read 4 total from that list. However, I don’t use lists like these to choose my reading. I browse a lot, sample, and also check out what my friends are reading. The fact that I read 4 Rita nominees is just coincidence.

However, quite a few reviews from here have made me choose books.

By: Eliza

Eliza — Thu, 03 May 2012 14:02:30 +0000

I’ve only read six of the nominees: 4 historical, 1 regency, and 1 suspense. I tend to primarily read my favorite authors’ new releases, so according to an AAR poll here some while back, I definitely fall into the cautious reader category. On the other hand, I thoroughly enjoyed the 6 books I did read.

By: Lord Rose

Lord Rose — Wed, 02 May 2012 23:11:30 +0000

This year, I’ve read most of the historicals (6/8 ) and Regencies (5/8, plus one DNF), but only one out of all the other categories.

Some of them I really enjoyed, but others were rather forgettable. (And the DNF, obviously, I didn’t like much.)

By: LinnieGayl

LinnieGayl — Wed, 02 May 2012 22:14:07 +0000

Thanks, Leigh, for providing the rules.

LeeB, you have read a lot of them.

Carrie, it does sound as if you really liked the Sarah Morgan. I may start it first.

By: Carrie

Carrie — Wed, 02 May 2012 16:36:13 +0000

I’ve only read one of the books listed above, Doukakis’s Apprentice by Sarah Morgan. I enjoyed that book enough to look up more by the author. I’ve read one book by Linda Warren that I thought was just okay, and I have one Donna Alward on my tbr pile, Honeymoon with the Rancher.

After skimming the lists from the other categories, I realize I’ve read very few of the books there, although I have 8 or 10 on my to-read list. Of the books listed I’ve only read Stranded With His Ex by Jill Sorenson (surprising depth in this short novel), Dragon Bound by Thea Harrison (wonderful!), and When Beauty Tamed the Beast by Eloisa James (also wonderful). Dark Enquiry by Deanna Raybourn was a DNF for me, but I know the book is very popular.

By: LeeB.

LeeB. — Wed, 02 May 2012 13:54:08 +0000

Okay, those smileys are supposed to be the number 8! Hmmm…..

By: LeeB.

LeeB. — Wed, 02 May 2012 13:53:28 +0000

I’ve read 25 of the nominees, with the most books read in the Contemporary Single Title Romance (5 out of 8), Historical Romance (7 out of 8) and Regency Historical Romance (5 out of 8) categories with a few others in different categories.

By: Leigh

Leigh — Wed, 02 May 2012 11:11:31 +0000

I haven’t read any but that is not unusual. I tend to be more out of step with the nominees usually only liking one or two. This results in me not making a real effort to read them.

It is not like everybook has a chance. For a book to be a finalist:

The RITA contest is limited to the first 1,200 paid entries. If entries in excess of 1,200 are received by Nov. 30, 2011, excess entries will first be returned to those who did not volunteer to judge, and second in reverse order of receipt.

Then the book must meet these requirements:

•Be a work of original fictional narrative prose in the romance genre.
•Have an original copyright date of 2011.
•Not have been previously entered.
•Be submitted in print book format, complete with copyright page, produced by the publisher, with perfect or case binding and printing on both sides of the page. Text and formatting must be identical to published version.
•Meet RWA’s definition for Eligible Novel* or Eligible Novella**
•Be in English language editions
•Meet the requirements for the category in which it was entered.
•The author must not participate financially in the production and/or distribution of the work.
Five copies of the book are required for the preliminary round.

Then the book is judged by by five fellow authors. I did find an author’s (Brenda Coulter) comments on the scoring and this is what she said:

For those unfamiliar with the workings of the contest, each book is scored by five judges who rate it from 1 to 9, with 9 being a perfect score and 1 meaning (not that RWA actually says this in its judging guidelines) that the novel was written by a moron, edited by a chimpanzee, and printed by an inebriated individual on a broken press that left out every third page. Books that score in the top ten percent of their categories–up to a maximum of eight books in each category–move on to the final round of judging.

I do always check out the winners though.