Play Book Tag discussion
2016-19 Activities & Challenges
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Vote for the 2019 PBT Challenges!
Susie wrote: "Omg omg! I’m so excited!"Hahahaha! Merry early Christmas ;)
Susie wrote: "Omg omg! I’m so excited!"It's comments like this one that keep us going, Susie. Thank you.
These are truly great options! Great job admins! I love the idea of the culture piece off the bat. I did Nicole's Cultural Challenge and this year read maybe 15-20 books from different countries and that was wonderful to catalogue as I was going. Other ones seem interesting too. It will be fun to see how it all evolves.
Really great challenges Admin! I have read them twice now and still in a tizz trying to rank them! The Culture one definitely sings to me
I'm having a bit of a nostalgia moment, thinking of all the games and challenges over the years. Thanks again to all of the admins. You've added so much enjoyment to my life. Also, Nicole, I love the way you've written it up. You could be writing advertising copy!
You all make this group so rewarding. Thank you!!!
Jgrace wrote: "Also, Nicole, I love the way you've written it up. You could be writing advertising copy!."Thank you! Perhaps that can be my NEXT career! ;)
This is very difficult--I am so very torn between two of them!!! And I had to rate them from 1-6. Of course, I could have been patient and given it a lot of thought, but didn't because December is one of our Crazy Months, of which there are a surprising number, but not every month, thankfully.I'm off to sing in a student recital, beginner that I am, like a lamb to the slaughter. Kidding. I'm going to sing a fairly easy song, not classical this time, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhUAe... and will be channeling Eloise at The Plaza, Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day and Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse but NOT campy.
So exciting! Thanks to all the administrators for thinking these up. It is going to be a difficult, but ultimately selfish vote for me. :)
Just voted - any one of them would be fun! But I put my favorites up top!
I have a question before I vote. For the NFL are all the books non fiction, or just the first? All the challenges sound interesting, I'll have to give it some thought before I vote.
Lyn wrote: "I have a question before I vote. For the NFL are all the books non fiction, or just the first? All the challenges sound interesting, I'll have to give it some thought before I vote."
All of the books are nonfiction.
Happy, happy, happy!! They’re all so good
Voted. Definitely a good mix of options
OH wow, great ideas! I had a hard time with which one I wanted to put as #1. Such fun!
Lyn wrote: "I have a question before I vote. For the NFL are all the books non fiction, or just the first? All the challenges sound interesting, I'll have to give it some thought before I vote."
I wondered this too. I love to link non-fiction and fiction, especially historical fiction and fiction about a different culture. Oh well, maybe next year?
NancyJ wrote: "Lyn wrote: "I have a question before I vote. For the NFL are all the books non fiction, or just the first? All the challenges sound interesting, I'll have to give it some thought before I vote."
..."
This is an interesting idea! I will ponder it for next year's voting options . . .thank you.
Admins, you are all so creative! I appreciate the time and care you put into these yearly PBT challenge ideas. Love all of these challenge options but do have favorites and voted accordingly :)
So much FUN!! They all seem like great options! I'm not even worried about which gets picked. A couple I was planning on or have been doing anyway so I may rate those the highest. :)
I'm always impressed by how creative you guys are in thinking these up!Voted.
Wow, you guys put a lot of work into this. This is amazing. As a newbie I'm torn between the simple flexible options and the the complicated - but likely more exciting - options. I'd love to hear people's opinions based on previous years.
The TBR has a lot of points potential, but my TBR list is so long, it would take me forever to pick the top 36!
Sorry for all the questions, but ....
For the Tournament, will this take place quickly or throughout the year (to give us time to read them)? I think it would be fun to vote and guess the winners. Do we also get points for reading them, or volunteering to judge?
Jgrace wrote: ".... Also, Nicole, I love the way you've written it up. You could be writing advertising copy! ..."I agree! It's a great skill and talent!
NancyJ wrote: "For the Tournament, will this take place quickly or throughout the year (to give us time to read them)? I think it would be fun to vote and guess the winners. Do we also get points for reading them, or volunteering to judge? "This would be something that we spread out a bit, something that would be along the times allowed for the PBT Decathlon this year.
As for the points aspect, we don't have all of those details nailed down quite yet, so if you like the general concept then you will have to take a leap of faith on the scoring aspects!
It is highly, highly likely that volunteer judges for the PBTourney will receive a participation points bonus for doing so . . .I doubt readers will get points as many of us have read these titles already . . .but there may be points for especially insightful comments. And we may allow them to be bestowed out of a pool by other members.
This will absolutely be an activity carried out at a leisurely pace through the year. It has many components and each will deserve ample time, and we do want to give people a chance to read those books that they are interesting in reading before each round is completed.
I was worried about that for the option that most resembled hitting the high notes. As an avid reader, I had a hard time as I had read most of the titles are ready. But I managed to do it and it was one of my favorite challenge as ever. And it brought to me some titles I would otherwise never have read. Which includes shock on love songs, and constellation of vital phenomena, and city of Steve’s. I think that if that one where chosen it would be harder for me to find new things in there. But you know me, I’m committed to whatever it is that it evolves to be.
Amy wrote: "I was worried about that for the option that most resembled hitting the high notes. As an avid reader, I had a hard time as I had read most of the titles are ready. But I managed to do it and it wa..."Yes, it is less of a reading challenge and more of a tournament/gambling "game" where the titles are already familiar. . .we contemplated whether or not to include it in the vote as opposed to simply having it be a separate fun activity. But it's a lot of work to administer so figured keeping it in the vote makes sense to gauge interest.
It truly is more of an activity than an actual reading challenge.
Such great choices! And thank you for explaining them all so thoroughly! The NFL seems really challenging, but I like that you can do as many as you like.
oooooooo Choices!!!!!
Voted!
Thanks for the info! I love that we all have a voice in this.I think the discussion about the books in the tournament would be really interesting in itself!
The culture option is my favorite so far, as these books tend to be very memorable. I'm hoping we can define culture broadly (e.g. not just different countries). There are subcultures within the US that I'd like to explore too, based on ethnicity, race, region, or even differing abilities (e.g. the deaf culture).
Just to be clear, on the goodreads awards challenge, you don't get partial credit (one point per book), but you must read all 10 to get the 10 points. Is that correct? (Can you make substitutions for books that you already read in a particular year or category?)
Amy wrote: "I was worried about that for the option that most resembled hitting the high notes. As an avid reader, I had a hard time as I had read most of the titles are ready. But I managed to do it and it wa..."Love your auto-correct. I do know all the books you are talking about.
For the Goodreads Awards Challenge, we can be flexible and give a point per book up to a total of 10. BUT, you cannot start a potential new list until you complete the previous one. Anita, Cindy, and I did not discuss substitutions, and IF we allow them there will be strict rules on what will be allowed for a substitute. For now, I am going with no substitutions but we will discuss it and get back to you.
If we do not allow substitutions, this will likely mean you have to choose a category that you are less familiar with, causing you to sstttrrreeetttcchh out of your reading comfort zone!
WOW! I'm absolutely blown away by these challenge options. You guys have obviously put a lot of thought into all of them. Honestly, even the ones that don't win are probably going to find their way into my personal challenges, even if modified slightly. :) I'll admit, I'm more attracted to the less complicated challenges, but that's mainly because I'm trying to get back into reading more cultural and non-fiction works - both were already personal goals, so up to the top of the list they go!
I'm excited to see what wins. Thanks admins for all the hard work you put into coming up with these challenges.
So many kind words! Thank you so much. I'm so glad you are all so enthusiastic about the choices. I can't wait to see what wins . . .
I voted! Sending a big thanks to the admins for all the time and thought that goes into creating these challenges!
Such a variety of choices! I took up Nicole’s culture challenge this year and those books were such an enrichment. I had intended to continue this anyway.
I had no idea you guys did this every year it's amazing! The challenges look really interesting. When I first saw the NFL challenge I also wondered if it was just the first book that was non fiction or all of them. I actually really like that idea and might make my own personal challenge something like that.But anyway, I'm really exited! Some of the challenges are so elaborate, I'm really curious to see how this all works out. I just voted!
Nicole R wrote: " f we do not allow substitutions, this will likely mean you have to choose a category that you are less familiar with, causing you to sstttrrreeetttcchh out of your reading comfort zone! ."
Stretching is good! I had challenges this year for books outside my comfort zone, diversity themes, 3 countries, 3 centuries, and genre diversity.
Very creative ideas! Thank you ladies for all your hard work and dedication to keep this group vibrant. Voted!
These all sound amazing and I’m soo excited to participate in these challenges. I have no idea how you come up with these brilliant ideas but I’m not complaining.
Looking forward to continuing to diversify my reading with these excellent choices! With other challenges I've already committed to may not be able to do both winners but am hoping to be more active in PBT next year by doing at least one of the winners!
Voted. Looking forward to seeing what we are going to do!
Nicolas wrote: "These all sound amazing and I’m soo excited to participate in these challenges. I have no idea how you come up with these brilliant ideas but I’m not complaining."Welcome to PBT, Nicolas, and thank you for your very nice compliment. We have a lot of fun brainstorming behind the scenes . . .
Barbara wrote: "Voted. Looking forward to seeing what we are going to do!"Me too! I don't think my favorites are in the lead, but I like them all so it won't be a problem.
Hayjay315 wrote: "Looking forward to continuing to diversify my reading with these excellent choices! With other challenges I've already committed to may not be able to do both winners but am hoping to be more activ..."We will love having you now matter how much or little you do! So please, do what makes sense with your reading plans. Honestly, we are just very delighted when people join us for the monthly tag reads. Everything else is a nice extra!
YAY!! You admins are so creative, loving the options!! I absolutely LOVE the Expanding our PBT Horizons!!
And I'm super happy to see Non-Fiction-Linking out there again!! I wanted that one to win last year, so we'll see what happens this year.
Excited for whatever wins- fingers crossed I'll do better than this year. Decathlon was great, but I completely failed at the Listopia.
Nicole R wrote: "If we do not allow substitutions, this will likely mean you have to choose a category that you are less familiar with, causing you to sstttrrreeetttcchh out of your reading comfort zone..."This is the key -- do you want a challenge that pushes you into genres you are not particularly fond or know little about? Or are you just looking to read what you like and are comfortable with and maybe have a few discussions with others who have read the same things?
It comes up every year when the Pop Sugar List is published -- there are those who immediately complain about not liking some of the prompts because they are genres they don't read or don't like. My answer is that first, you can usually find something you like in any genre, even one's you hate (one of my favorite books in 2018 Pop Sugar challenge was a true crime, a genre I loathe - but I found something that piqued my curiosity and it was fabulous) or know nothing about (PS 2018 - cyberpunk - I read a promising first novel by a young writer that incorporated tribal lore into his story - it was flawed but still fun).
My second answer is to bend the definitions to breaking point so that you can fit something you want to read into the challenge. Or join a buddy read - being someone who doesn't like something could lead to some amazing discussions in a buddy read. Discussion is so much more vibrant if there are a variety of opinions.
Play Book Tag
Books mentioned in this topic
Talk Nerdy to Me (other topics)Nathaniel's Nutmeg: How One Man's Courage Changed the Course of History (other topics)
Mauve: How One Man Invented a Colour That Changed the World (other topics)
Flâneuse: Women Walk the City in Paris, New York, Tokyo, Venice, and London (other topics)
The Habit: A History of the Clothing of Catholic Nuns (other topics)
More...
Every member can rank the options! The top two vote getters will be our official PBT Challenges for 2019. You will also see in the survey that, in case of a tie, you can cast up to 10 Participation Points for your #1 ranked option. Go ahead and fill that in now but if there is no tie or the tie does not include your top ranked option, then your Participation Points will not be used.
Need a reminder of how many participation points you currently have? Check it out here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/.... Please be sure that you do not cast more votes than you have.
Voting will remain open until 11:59 PM Eastern Time on Saturday, December 15th.
Questions about any of these? Feel free to ask!
Note for voting transparency: The admins will also be voting as well. And, while we do not actually accrue Participation Points, we are gifting ourselves 10 points each to be able to use on the tie-breaker. We are guessing no one will have objections to this....
Now, on to the challenges!
PBTourney ***New Challenge Option***
We have 11 years (after this one) of top 10 PBT choices (roughly 110 books). For this activity, we will kick it off with a vote to identify our 16 favorite PBT reads. Then, we will have a bracket style elimination by pitting books randomly against one another: 8 pairings in round 1, 4 pairings in round 2, and then the final round to declare the winner.
We will solicit volunteer judges (3-5 per round) from our members for each round. These judges agree to read both books (if they've read them already, awesome) and write up which is their favorite and why. The winner with the majority of the judges moves on. Discussions will be open to everyone. PBT members can wager their participation points in each round. Up to 5 points in the first round (pick the right book, get 5 points, miss it, lose 5 points ) and better payoffs in subsequent rounds (2 to 1), (3 to 1).
Members can submit a choice of the 16 to be the winner, and all those who get it right will be entered in a drawing to win their choice of any of three of the 16 titles.
Want a peek at the past PBT Top Ten Lists before you decide? Visit the PBT bookshelf and you will see that Cindy has a shelf for each year ("pbt top ten 20XX") and the 2018 list will be posted after the New Year!
PBT NFL (Non-fiction Linking) ***New Challenge Option***
Pick a non-fiction book to start off this challenge, and then your next book needs to be linked to the first. Then, your third book needs to be linked to your second, etc. The links between the books do not all have to be the same and we encourage you to get creative!
A linkage could be any other person or topic referenced in the first book. Or it could be a book by the same author or with the same word in the title or written in the same year or winner of the same prize or narrated by the same person—you get the idea. A member can be as creative as they want with identifying the links, but they need to specify how each connects to the next.
You will earn Participation Points for how long your chain is! (more details on scoring will be provided if this option is selected).
Expanding Our PBT Horizons ***New Challenge Option***
Read 12 books about other cultures. Ideally, these should be written by someone who lives/has lived in that culture and provides insight into what life/society is like in a place other than in our own little bubbles. Books can be fiction or nonfiction, but the goal is to have them be a real reflection of the culture and not fantasy/dystopia (though I love those genres!).
As an added element, PBTers can nominate a culture that they would like to read. We will throw them all into the proverbial hat and will select a focus culture each month. It is not required that you read from that specific culture that month, but we encourage people to do so if they would like to have a more robust discussion around a specific culture!
Is 12 books unrealistic for you? (I know it would be for me!) Then, pick a goal that is reasonable for you.
You will receive one Participation Point per book with a cap of 12, plus a second point for each book that matches the monthly culture!
PBT's Keeping Up With the GoodRead-ians ***New Challenge Option***
Each year, PBT members are often surprised that they have not read more of the GoodReads Awards books. So, let's remedy that! The GoodReads Awards have been given for 10 years (2007-2018) and you can navigate to each of the lists through this link: https://www.goodreads.com/choiceaward... (You'll see the years listed on the left).
The goal of this is to read 10 books associated with the GoodReads Awards, and you can do this in one of two ways:
• Read each of the GoodReads Awards category winners in a single year of your choice.
• Pick a category and read the winner from each year of the GoodReads Awards.
You will earn 10 Participation Points for completing the challenge, but you can complete it more than once using different GoodReads Awards categories!
Trim the TBR ***New Twist on an Old Favorite***
Each person compiles a list of 36 books from their TBR and, each month, the admins will use the random number generator to select one book for the PBTer to read. But, we have several different points categories below, so you can be strategic with what you put on the list!
Each month, we will award points as follows. These points are cumulative so, for example, if I read a book that happens to fit the tag and it is the longest of the month then I would get 3+2+5 points for a total of 10, not to mention the 2 points I get if I post my review in the Monthly Tag folder!
• Read your book - 3 points
• Your completed book happens to fit the tag (must be tagged as such on GR) - 2 points (plus you'll get an additional 2 for posting your review in the Monthly Tag folder)
• Read the longest book among all people who completed their randomly assigned book in any given month - 5 points
• Read the most pages in any quarter (up to 3 books total and quarters are Jan-Mar, April-June, Jul-Sept, and Oct-Dec) - 25 points
• Read the most pages for the whole year (up to 12 books total) - 100 points
• Read the most books that fit a tag for the year - 25 points (totally random luck, but still fun!)
Pick-A-Year Challenge ***Revisiting an Old Favorite***
Read 12 books published in any single year of your choosing. Want to get to more new releases? 2019 is the year for year! Want to read books published the year you were born? Go with that one instead! The only guideline is that you should go by the original publication date, which can easily be found by a quick Google search. Dates of republication or dates of new formats do not count with one exception: it can be the first year it was published in your country or your language. This is totally an honor system, so go with what you think is best!
You will get one participation point per book you read for your year selected with a cap of 12 points. Finish all 12 books? Then you can move on to another year of your choosing!