Play Book Tag discussion
June 2017: Coming of Age
>
Announcing the June tag
This one is a tough one - - I'm leaning toward reading Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet because it fits my Hitting the High Notes challenge. But I'm going to see what other people recommend before committing. I'd really love a memoir because I need some for my Climbing the PBT stairs challenge. Anyone have some good suggestions for coming of age memoirs I might like? Another book of interest to me is Marlena - - it fits and has some buzz right now.
Finally, I really like Jeffrey Eugenides so The Virgin Suicides is tempting . . .
Decisions, decisions . . .argh . . .I love this tag so really think there are too many options.
In so far as recommendations, I feel that The Nix is both current and fits. An older book I had trouble putting down was White Oleander.
This voting patters of people versus votes is becoming quite interesting. Personally, I picked coming-of-age, and only gave it one extra vote. I was tempted by suspense because so many of the books I read her the same, and that would be something I'd enjoy and a bit out of my usual genres. On the other hand, coming-of-age really helps me seriously clean off my TBR. So when faced with easy versus different, ultimately I went with easy. And that surprised me a little bit, because usually when one wrestles, one with Tend to go with the less safe choice. In any case, I am reading Americanah right now, which is classified as coming of age. But they were out of things on my TBR that match. Ready player one, revolution, the God of small things, in fact I have a list of nine books that match. It felt strange to pick anything else. I'll go back and check what the other five more, but those are the four I'm shooting for in June. Wondering what everybody else will pick to read? It feels like it's a very wide range.
Sorry. Voice texting worked terribly for me up there. Perils of phone.
Amy wrote: "Sorry. Voice texting worked terribly for me up there. Perils of phone."Ha ha, I've never tried voice texting. Interesting to see how it works. The God of Small Things is excellent, but not a fast paced read, so you'll have to see if you are in the mood. But I do recommend it.
There is always something that I can read. I think I have my pick selected. Now to just get it off the library shelf before it's checked out by someone else. :)
There's already so many books on my TBR that fit, I'm almost afraid to start reading everyone's suggestions!Books I recommend:
Girl at War by Sara Novic
The Round House by Louise Erdrich
Cat's Eye by Margaret Atwood
City of Thieves by David Benioff
My likely choices:
Red Rising by Pierce Brown
Orhan's Inheritance by Aline Ohanesian
Half a King by Joe Abercrombie
Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi
Adichie
The first two are most likely as I own them and am currently on a kick of trying to read more books I own.
How about we all just read/re-read the Harry Potter series?! No? I'm only sort of joking! Oh man so many options, so many roads to go for this tag.
I'll be looking at reading
-Harry Potter- you know, as "preparation" for going to London
-Everything, Everything- new movie out.
-Something by John Green
-The Catcher in the Rye, a classic I've been meaning to reread
Crossovers to the PBT 100 I'm looking at
Little Women
A Wrinkle in Time
The God of Small Things
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
I only have 3 years left for high notes, so I'll have to see if any of those have crossover. I think Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet like Anita mentioned is a year I haven't made it to yet.
Coming of age is one of my favorite tags and I like suspense as well, but I thought we had a tag similiar to suspense recently so chose coming of age and did put some extra votes in it, because I really didn't want the fantasy romance one. I wasn't actually voting against suspense.My more recent suggestions are:
The Last Days of Café Leila
Girl at War
A Hope More Powerful Than the Sea: One Refugee's Incredible Story of Love, Loss, and Survival
Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter
Be Frank With Me
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
Welcome to the Goddamn Ice Cube: Chasing Fear and Finding Home in the Great White North
Maybe this will push me to finally read Kite Runner!
I was ok either way, but was really hoping for suspense! Oh, well. I'll come back with options (and possibly recommendations) a bit later. f2f book club tonight.
Wow! Did a quick "tagmash" at LT for coming of age and my initials - I have sooo many options! I've also just finished a few that fit. The most likely ones are ones I'll be reading, anyway, but I might add in an extra one that's been on the tbr a long time or one for the High Notes. Back later to list some of my options.
annapi wrote: "Maybe this will push me to finally read Kite Runner!"It's an excellent choice for the tag. I hope you go for it!
Ok, instead of checking facebook before my book club, I decided to finish posting here. :-) So, books I'm reading anyway in June with the tag (at LT):
- We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves / Karen Joy Fowler (I'll probably get started on this a bit early, as the hold for the audio has already come in for me)
- Shotgun Lovesongs / Nickolas Butler
Other possibilities:
- City of Thieves / David Benioff (High Notes)
- Love Walked In / Marisa de los Santos (High Notes)
- The River / Gary Paulson
- Born a Crime / Trevor Noah
- Becoming Marie Antoinette / Juliet Grey
- Belle Epoque / Elizabeth Ross
- Cool Water / Diane Warren
And there are so many more I could do!
Recommendations: (I had more, but there were way too many, so I'm going just off my favourites list.)
- Joyland / Stephen King
- Testimony / Anita Shreve
- The Secret Life of CeeCee Wilkes / Diane Chamberlain
- Ready Player One / Ernest Cline
- Will Grayson, Will Grayson / John Green
- Cleopatra's Daughter / Michelle Moran
- The Hunger Games / Suzanne Collins
- Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet / Jamie Ford
My number one recommendation is Jasper Jones, a classic Australian coming of age story that I absolutely adored. I'm going to read The Interestings, and also in the list are Atonement, Love Walked In, All the Pretty Horses, Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit, Commonwealth, & Shotgun Lovesongs. So many choices!
I was surprised that I have read several for the tag and have several more possibilities. My recommendations are:Wonder
Before I Fall
Between Shades of Gray
A Great and Terrible Beauty
As for what I'll read. I have these on my list:
Eleanor & Park
Everything, Everything
We Were Liars
I'll Give You the Sun
I will be reading The Impossible Fortress. I am next up in the queue for the audio from the library so it should work out perfect!
My recommendations are as follows:Snow in August
The Tender Bar
Sleepers
The Body
Wait Till Next Year
The Coldest Night
The Museum of Extraordinary Things
Books I may read include (any of the following):
Hearts in Atlantis
The Kite Runner
The Goldfinch
All the Light We Cannot See
Cutting for Stone
A favourite of mine is The Virgin in the Garden by AS Byatt. I've been meaning to reread it, so now might be the time ... but then again you've all given me too many other great options to consider! Susie, I may take you up on Jasper Jones - it looks excellent.
I also borrowed I Am Malala: The Story of the Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban some time ago from a friend and need to read it so I can return it - I guess this fits the tag (though "coming of age" seems rather a trite label for it)
I voted for suspense, with some extra points thrown in, in order to avoid paranormal romance, lol! But I'm perfectly fine with coming of age, too.Some recommendations:
The Book Thief
Speak
The Kite Runner
Middlesex
and... do I need to mention Harry Potter? :D
I will read either To Kill a Mockingbird or The Help, since they both fit a game in another group. Any recommendations as to which one I should choose?
I've got so many to read for this tag on the first page alone, so I'm going to create an excel spreadsheet and then use a random number generator! 😂
My Number One recommendation (no surprise) is To Kill a MockingbirdI also highly recommend
Tell the Wolves I'm Home
The Book Thief
The Secret Life of Bees
Jim the Boy
I'll probably try to get to:
The Perks of Being a Wallflower
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian
Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret
Marina wrote: "I voted for suspense, with some extra points thrown in, in order to avoid paranormal romance, lol! But I'm perfectly fine with coming of age, too.Some recommendations:
[book:The Book Thief|19063..."
Both are really good, but if you haven't read To Kill a Mockingbird, I'd go with that one!!
Charlie wrote: "My recommendations are as follows:Snow in August
The Tender Bar
Sleepers
The Body
Wait Till Next Year
[book:The Coldest Night|1..."
The Tender Bar is a good one . . .
Little Women and The Goldfinch are both good options for this month! I'm thinking of reading Gods in Alabama - it's tagged as coming-of-age by a few people so I'm hoping it's suitable!
LibraryCin wrote: "Ok, instead of checking facebook before my book club, I decided to finish posting here. :-) .."I can recommend both Love Walked In and City of Thieves. One nice thing is that they are both pretty quick to read.
~*Kim*~ wrote: "I was surprised that I have read several for the tag and have several more possibilities. ..."I'll recommend Eleanor & Park from your list.
Charlie wrote: "Books I may read include (any of the following): ..."From your list I've read and enjoyed:
All the Light We Cannot See
Cutting for Stone
AJ wrote: "I have hardly read anything this month. I have been working through Pillars of the Earth but I haven't really been reading anything besides college materials otherwise. I am glad for the easier rea..."Name of the Wind is kind of long but so good that I've read others in the series too.
I think I'm going to be picking up one of the 2016 Pulitzer Prize winners: Barbarian Days. I do believe it will fit "coming of age" but can't be certain, it hasn't been sorted on to many shelves at this point. It's a memoir about a surfer/war journalist, should definitely be interesting!
Marina wrote: "I will read either To Kill a Mockingbird or The Help, since they both fit a game in another group. Any recommendations as to which one I should choose?"Though I liked The Help better, I think To Kill a Mockingbird fits "coming of age" better.
Barbara wrote: "I can recommend both Love Walked In and City of Thieves. One nice thing is that they are both pretty quick to read...."Good to know! Thanks!
Barbara wrote: "LibraryCin wrote: "Ok, instead of checking facebook before my book club, I decided to finish posting here. :-) .."I can recommend both Love Walked In and City of Thieves. One nice thing is that t..."
The audio for City of Thieves is marvelous.
I just read Tell the Wolves I'm Home last week and loved it.I also recommend:
Ordinary Grace
I Am the Messenger
Charlotte's Web
I Capture the Castle
The Member of the Wedding
Moloka'i
I second I Am the Messenger! Great book.
Thanks, Anita and LibraryCin! To Kill a Mockingbird comes highly recommended and I'm a bit ashamed about not having read it yet, so I'll probably go with it.
I'm going to Third Tell the Wolves I'm Home as a lovely moving Coming of Age read.
Charlie wrote: "My recommendations are as follows:Snow in August
The Tender Bar
Sleepers
The Body
Wait Till Next Year
[book:The Coldest Night|1..."
The Goldfinch and All the Light We Cannot See are in my top ten!
KateNZ wrote: "A favourite of mine is The Virgin in the Garden by AS Byatt. I've been meaning to reread it, so now might be the time ... but then again you've all given me too many other great option..."I hope you love it! It was adapted in to a stage show last year and it was fabulous. It has also been made in to a film which I hear is not so good.
I'm feeling a little bit excited for those of you who are thinking of The Goldfinch. If you are audiobook listeners, it is one of the finest I have listened to thus far.
A lot of the books that have been suggested that are also on my to-read list are books that I've already finished booo. But I think I might read either Crooked Kingdom or All the Ugly and Wonderful Things (if I can get a copy of that from the library, since it appears to be on hold by a lot of people). Or maybe I'll just continue my Harry Potter reread and use this as an opportunity to finally get through the 5th book, which is my least favorite!I recommend:
Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet
Everything I Never Told You
Six of Crows
Ready Player One
In the Time of the Butterflies
And obviously any of the Harry Potter books
Olivermagnus wrote: "I just read Tell the Wolves I'm Home last week and loved it.I also recommend:
Ordinary Grace
I Am the Messenger
Charlotte's Web
[book:I C..."
Lol, okay this is also on my TBR. Why do these decisions have to be SO HARD?
Blueberry wrote: "I might finally get to A Tree Grows in Brooklyn."I didn't even think of that one! It is definitely on TBR.
Nicole R wrote: "I will be reading The Impossible Fortress. I am next up in the queue for the audio from the library so it should work out perfect!"It's perfect for the tag.
Nicole R wrote: "Blueberry wrote: "I might finally get to A Tree Grows in Brooklyn."I didn't even think of that one! It is definitely on TBR."
My favorite book of all time. I've read it three times, as a teen, as a mom and now as a grandmother. It's been a different experience every single time.
Ladyslott wrote: "Nicole R wrote: "I will be reading The Impossible Fortress. I am next up in the queue for the audio from the library so it should work out perfect!"It's perfect for the tag."
Yes! I just got this from the library, so I'll be reading it also.
My planned reads: Beautiful Creatures
Fits the tag, plus my TBR challenge as well as a PopSugar category.
I also have these three library books, all three of them fit the tag:
The German Girl
Do Not Say We Have Nothing
Ginny Moon
My recommendations:
Born a Crime: Stories From a South African (Childhood - Recommend the audio
The Hearts of Men
The Goldfinch
Tell the Wolves I'm Home
Will Grayson, Will Grayson - Recommend the audio
The Graveyard Book - Recommend the audio
Wonder
I Capture the Castle
And my #1 recommendation:
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
Linda, I had a love/hate relationship with Beautiful Creatures. I did enjoy the first one, and I read the second one (maybe eventually the third one too?) but have never had the urge to finish the series. The general boy/girl storyline was super similar to Twilight and it eventually just annoyed me. Just a fair warning if you plan to read beyond the first one.
Oh, and the movie was not good. Lol
Play Book Tag
Books mentioned in this topic
This Boy's Life (other topics)A Monster Calls (other topics)
Tell the Wolves I'm Home (other topics)
Marcelo in the Real World (other topics)
The Boy on the Bridge (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
Carol Rifka Brunt (other topics)John Green (other topics)
Pierce Brown (other topics)
Aline Ohanesian (other topics)
Joe Abercrombie (other topics)
More...
coming of age
73 votes were cast for coming of age versus 66 for suspense. Once again though, only 18 people chose coming of age versus 26 selecting suspense. The coming of age folks used their participation points more aggressively.
Please share your reading plans and recommendations below!
Remember, for the regular monthly reads, the book can be shelved as coming of age on Goodreads, or be a book that is not yet shelved that way but you feel should be.
To find books to read for this tag, please visit:
https://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/...
or
https://www.goodreads.com/genres/comi...
Stay Tuned!!!! A new game is on the drawing board! We will be announcing it soon. The start date will be June 7th, but there's at least a couple of weeks of setup work to do, so we will need people to sign up very soon.