New to Play Book Tag?

[Ladyslott]

Welcome Eric. A male point of view is always welcome.

[Cynthia]

This looks like a great group to read the books you are eager to read, but still connect with other book lovers. I am looking forward to being part of this group!

[JoLene]

Welcome Cynthia and Eric.....
Lots of flexibility here, but also a word of warning that TBR piles may actually grow rather than shrink.

[Ellen]

Welcome Cynthia. It truly is a great group and I hope you will love it.

[Anita]

Cynthia wrote: "This looks like a great group to read the books you are eager to read, but still connect with other book lovers. I am looking forward to being part of this group!"

What a great description of us! That should be our tag line. Warmest welcome, Cynthia!

[ShazM]

I have just joined the group and I'm looking forward to joining in! I think I have time to read a strong women book before the end of April - now I just have to decide which one.....

[Amy]

This is one of those tags where a whole lot of things fit. Welcome to the Group. You’re gonna love is. We are a vibrant group and it’s both been a lot of fun, and broadened me to so many things I never would have picked up.

[ShazM]

Thanks, Amy. I read a lot of "light" stuff and I want to use this as a prompt to read new genres. I think if I read at least one book a month with more depth it'll be good for me so I'm determined to choose something out of my ordinary line.

[Amy]

You can count on me for depthful historical fiction, and for World Wars. But I have also been expanded greatly to things I never thought I would try. I made some great friends too. And so will you.

[JoLene]

Welcome Sharon. If you are looking for ideas, there is an “ “announcing” thread in the strong women folder. You may have to look back a couple pages. When the tag is announced, folks will put out recommendations and reading plans.

[ShazM]

Well that's thrown me! I had narrowed it down to A Town Like Alice or Chocolat but now I have to add The Summer Book. I've only got a week!

[Anita]

Sharon wrote: "Well that's thrown me! I had narrowed it down to A Town Like Alice or Chocolat but now I have to add The Summer Book. I've only got a week!"

I just wanted to welcome you, Sharon! Love how you are jumping right in with enthusiasm. I share your struggles with picking a book this month. I've switched several times . . .

[annapi]

Welcome, Sharon and Cynthia! Good to see you jumping right in!

[Rosie]

Hello! Very excited to be part of this group. I tend to get get a little bit stuck in a rut with reading and hope to get some inspiration and good recommendations here.

[JoLene]

Welcome Rosie.....this group can definitely help you get out of a rut. Often I see a monthly tag that I’m not so keen on and end up finding some new favorites (space opera tag comes to mind)

[annapi]

Welcome, Rosie, you'll find a lot of suggestions here to get you out of that rut for sure!

[Amy]

Oh Rosie, new worlds are about to open up for you for sure!

[Ellen]

Welcome Sharon and Rosie! I'm sure you both will enjoy this group and the myriad books you are about to add to your TBRs!

[Rosie]

Thanks all - I feel very welcome! Also intrigued by ‘Space Opera’ am off to investigate the shelves.

[Book Concierge]

Welcome, Welcome, Welcome Eric, Cynthia, Sharon and Rosie!

[Stephanie]

I have a booktube channel so maybe I can do videos on whatever subject for the month

[Anita]

Sounds like a fun idea, Stephanie! Let us know so we can post a link . . .

[Adrian]

Hello I am new. I have already read a book for impowering woman and where do we place what we want to say about them, since I am also new to good reads.

[Nicole R]

Adrian wrote: "Hello I am new. I have already read a book for impowering woman and where do we place what we want to say about them, since I am also new to good reads."

Hi Adrian, Welcome to PBT!

First of all, you should check out our FAQ, it has answers to many questions you may have.

The answer to your question in is Message 17 of that thread:

How do I write a review and "file" it in the correct folder?

You can "file" a book review for participation points using two different methods.

1) From the PBT homepage, click on the folder where your review will go. For example, if I am posting a review for an stong women I read in April, then I would click on the folder "April 2018: strong women." That takes you into the folder where you will see a lot of different threads posted, starting with "Directions for Posting a Review." Then, at the top of that list on the right hand side, it says "new topic." Click that and it takes you to a place to write a review. Once you have it done and you save it, it will automatically be filed in that folder.

2) From the PBT homepage below the general information and just above where the threads all start, there is the label "Discussion Threads." Follow that over to the right and there are a few small links, one of which says "new." If you click that, then it take you to a place to write a review. BUT, if you do it this way, then below the line of the topic, you will see the label "folder" with a drop down arrow. Click that arrow and a list of all of the PBT folders will show. Simply select the folder where you want your review to go and when you save it, that is where it will be filed. The folders for each month are always at the top of that list so you can easily find them.

Remember that if you read a book that fits the monthly tag, write a review, and file it in that folder, then you get 2 participation points for each review.

If you read a book that does not fit the monthly tag, we still want to hear about it! Write your review and file it in the monthly "Other books" folder (for example, "April 2018: other books") and you will get 1 participation point per review.

Then, participation points can be used to vote for future monthly tags--more info on those in the FAQ thread as well!

[annapi]

Welcome, Adrian! Glad to see you so active right away!

[Ardene]

I have just joined and am looking forward to May, whether the theme is art or family drama.

I read three books in April that would fit the strong woman category, but I'm not going to post reviews at this late date, just list them here: My friend Sashie by Jane Duncan, The punishment she deserves by Elizabeth George, and The Miniaturist by Jessie Burton.

[Anita]

Ardene wrote: "I have just joined and am looking forward to May, whether the theme is art or family drama.

I read three books in April that would fit the strong woman category, but I'm not going to post reviews ..."

Let me be the first to welcome you, Ardene!! Thank you for sharing those titles! We are announcing our tag for May today, so hope it is one you will be excited to read with us.

[JoLene]

Welcome Ardene....
You can post any reviews up to the end of the month.....for the theme or for other books you’ve read.

[Ellen]

Welcome Adrian and Ardene! What a wonderful new bunch of readers have joined us lately!

[annapi]

Welcome, Ardene! Good to see you jumping right in!

[Hannah]

Hi everyone, Im excited to start in May!

[JoLene]

Welcome to all the new folks.

Feel free to start participating at any time. Even if you don’t have time to read a “strong women” book, you can post any reviews of other books you’ve read in April to the "April 2018: Other Books" thread. You get one participation point for every book that you review (you get a bonus participation point if it fits the theme).

Participation points are mainly used for voting for the monthly tags. So, if you read and post reviews in April, you will have some extra votes for the June voting.

[Ellen]

Welcome, Hannah! Love your enthusiasm about jumping right in!

[André Luiz]

Hi everyone!

My name is Andre, and I came here to make friends and share everything about books my passion for all life. My favorite kind of books are fantasy and adventure, but a read everything in general.

[JoLene]

Welcome André. There is a fantasy recommendation thread in the footnote folders.....feel free to add some recommendations. You will certainly read some new things with this group.

[annapi]

Welcome, Andre! There are many of us here who enjoy fantasy, I'm one of them! But you'll find this group expands your reading horizons as it did mine!

[André Luiz]

Thanks guys!

[Ellen]

Welcome Andre! You will end up adding a lot of books to your TBR very quickly.

[Gerry]

Hello group! I just joined Play Book Tag last week and am finally introducing myself. I'm a husband, father and writer (the order changes depending on circumstances and the time of day).

If I seem rather generous in my ratings of books, it's because I usually won't start one unless I'm pretty sure I'm going to enjoy it. I'm still thinking about my "Family Drama" book for May.

[Nicole R]

Welcome, Gerry! Like you, I spend more time than I probably should considering which book to read next, so it probably skews my ratings to the higher side. But planning is half the fun!

Looking forward to see what you pick for family drama!

[Sharon]

Hi, I'm Sharon and I've just joined the group. Just wanna ask, am I expected to add a book to the group shelf everytime I post a review for the monthly tag? Or I just do them separately?

[André Luiz]

Welcome Gerry and Sharon!

[JoLene]

Welcome Jerry and Sharon.
@jerry, There’s nothing wrong in being selective with your reading time. I go through phases where I do reading challenges. This will skew rating downward because I may have chosen the book to fulfill a challenge and it might not be something I would read.

@sharon, You can add the book to the group shelf when you post your review or do a couple at a time. Out librarian, LibraryCin, will also post on your behalf at the end of the month. We use the group shelf to determine stats on the number of books we read for the tag.

[Cheryl]

Sharon, thank you for asking that question.

I admit, I'm not posting reviews for every book I read, nor have I used the group bookshelf at all. I do apologize; I assumed those just helped me with my own participation points.

But I don't actually want participation points enough to work for them. If LibraryCin doesn't mind terribly shelving books at the end of the month I am very very thankful to her for doing so!

Especially this summer as we've got plans, including a cross-country move.

[Anita]

André Luiz wrote: "Hi everyone!

My name is Andre, and I came here to make friends and share everything about books my passion for all life. My favorite kind of books are fantasy and adventure, but a read everything ..."

Welcome Andre! I'm glad you've joined us. I don't read much fantasy, but I love adventure - - maybe you'll introduce me to some new titles. I look forward to seeing what you will read with us.

[Anita]

Gerry wrote: "Hello group! I just joined Play Book Tag last week and am finally introducing myself. I'm a husband, father and writer (the order changes depending on circumstances and the time of day).

If I see..."

Hi Gerry! Welcome! Are you a novelist or a journalist or some other kind of writer? It's great that you are able to discern books that you will really enjoy ahead of reading them. Wish I was better at that!

[Anita]

Sharon wrote: "Hi, I'm Sharon and I've just joined the group. Just wanna ask, am I expected to add a book to the group shelf everytime I post a review for the monthly tag? Or I just do them separately?"

Welcome Sharon!!! Our expectations here are very low. We really just want people to come and enjoy and participate at the level they feel excited about and comfortable with . . .that being said, if you shelve your own books that helps out our wonderful volunteer librarian (LibraryCin). If you don't, she will, so no worries! I, myself, am not the best about doing it.

[Anita]

Cheryl wrote: "Sharon, thank you for asking that question.

I admit, I'm not posting reviews for every book I read, nor have I used the group bookshelf at all. I do apologize; I assumed those just helped me with ..."

No worries, Cheryl! We want to encourage members to have fun and discuss books, but it's the kind of group where you can dip your toe in the water, participate at the level that's comfortable, and enjoy it at whatever level that might be.

We have members who never miss reading a month with us (love that), and members that swing by just to get recommendations.

So it sounds like you have some fun travel coming up. Enjoy it and pop in and visit as it suits you!

[LibraryCin]

Sharon wrote: "Hi, I'm Sharon and I've just joined the group. Just wanna ask, am I expected to add a book to the group shelf everytime I post a review for the monthly tag? Or I just do them separately?"

I'll also answer this, though I see JoLene did, as well. If you are so inclined, it does help me out a bit if you wanted to add your own book to the shelf. Please ask if you want/need directions on how to do so, and I can post step-by-step instructions. (That goes for anyone who wants to learn how!) You can ask here or PM me.

If you add the book to the group bookshelf, there will also be a shelf added for that tag, as well, so you can choose the specific shelf in addition to adding the book.

Thanks to anyone who wants to help out with that!

[LibraryCin]

Cheryl wrote: "Sharon, thank you for asking that question.

I admit, I'm not posting reviews for every book I read, nor have I used the group bookshelf at all. I do apologize; I assumed those just helped me with ..."

Hi, Cheryl. I go through about a week or so into the next month to add them to the group shelf. I look through the folder of reviews posted for the month's tag, so if there is not a review posted there, it won't get added, I'm afraid.

(I usually only look at the titles of the posts, so for my purposes, I guess if you have posted a topic in the folder, I won't even notice whether or not there is an actual review!!!)