Let the BLOB Game Begin!

Ah, Twitter, friend or foe? I haven't figured that out yet.

But one of the most fun and coolest ideas I've been privileged to egg on is the Biggest Loser of Books—otherwise known as the BLOB Game.

Was Amy (My Friend Amy) feeling at a loss because the Game On Diet was ending? Was Dawn (She Is Too Fond of Books) looking for a clever new hashtag (#BLOB)? Was Nicole (Linus's Blanket) feeling the effects of living upstairs from bookstore? Perhaps Jen (Devourer of Books) was thinking about the boxes of books she'll have to move later this year. I think Natasha (Vasilly at 1330v) was feeling sorry for her poor neglected TBR pile. Me? I just needed to get a grip.

Thus Amy proposed the BLOB Game; the rest of us pitched in with the fine tuning

The timing: The month of February.

The object: Read through the books already in your house; don't let new books through the door.

The scoring: The following points are earned for each new book in February.

• Impulse buy: 10 points
• Coercing someone into buying you gift / buying book for someone else (not): 10 points
• Snagging a book on a swap site: 5 points
• Requesting a review copy (including Shelf Awareness): 5 points
• Considered buy: 5 points
• Saying yes to a review copy (pitched): 3 points
• Checking a book out from the library (any medium): 3 points
• Winning a giveaway or contest: 3 points
  
• Entering a giveaway or contest: 1 point
  
• Unsolicited review copy and genuine gift: 0 points
  

There is only one way to neutralize a book acquisition:

• Give a book a permanent new home (gift it, donate it, send it packing): -2 points

So what happens at the end of the month? Who wins? What does she get?

Donating to charity: Each point is worth $1. At the end of the month, the player is to add up her points and then donate the equivalent money to the charity/organization of her choice. I will be giving my check (assuming I have accumulated points!) to my local library.

Who wins? She with the lowest score wins!

The prize: The losers pledge to buy the winner a drink or meal or something foodie at BEA. We'll need to give our arms and backs a break from carrying around all those new books. (I see a June BLOB Game in our future.)

Let the BLOB Game begin!

⇒ ⇒ She with the lowest score wins! ⇐ ⇐