Play Book Tag discussion
2016-19 Activities & Challenges
>
Announcing the 2019 PBT Challenges!
Amy wrote: "I somehow think Tessa, Book Concsierge is tight in there with us. Like the day before or the day after. As I have said before, I actually like this birthday for two strong reasons. I really love bei..."Thanks for thinking of me! But my birthday is at the beginning of the month. Still, we December babies need to stick together.
My father-in-law's was the 28th. My sister-in-law's is the 29th. I ALWAYS give her two books during the holidays ... one wrapped with birthday paper and a birthday card. She waits to open it until her birthday. NO combined gifts!
One of my girlfriends has a Jan 3 birthday. She always say "It's the pits. By the first week of January no one wants to shop for a present, go to a party or mail a card; and they're all on a diet so they don't want to eat any cake."
Amy wrote: "So those are my thoughts and being a December 28 baby. What do you guys think, Joi and Tessa?..."I have a tendency to add a year to my age right away with the new year, even though I'm at the end of the year. The math is just easier that way (LOL). In fact, I woke this morning and realized I REALLY am 68 now ... though I've been claiming that age for the better part of a year already.
My parents were married on New Year's Day and we always spent New Year's Eve together as a family. In fact, that New Year's when my husband bought me the red dress (for those of you wondering, you'll have to go back to the Decathalon entries in October).... Only the 2d time in my life I'd gone out on NYEve. And I was 38!
As for the year beginning ... to me, I still kinda live on a school calendar. For me the year begins in September. Don't know why. But that's how I picture it in my head as well.
NancyJ wrote: "Joanne wrote: " Silver sneakers..."
Membership comes free with my Medicare Advantage program. But I have YET to sign up. This coming year for sure .... And I DO mean the year beginning with Jan 1, 2019!
Membership comes free with my Medicare Advantage program. But I have YET to sign upDo it BC-it is such a great program!
Here it is the 21st and I've just found this thread! Whew, its been a busy few days. I do believe there were my top two choices so I'm excited. Now all l have to do is find time to get a list of 36 books together. . . I'm off to get started now.
Rebecca has been on my TBR so long I figured I needed something to push me to read it!
SO .... here I am at the beach with a bright sunny day and instead of walking the beach I am perusing my TBR lists and compiling my 36 ... and changing my mind as I look at the options nominated for the Cultural challenge ... and changing again as I look at my F2F book club lists ... and changing again because I really don't want to read THAT one ... and changing again because .....I LOVE you guys ... but .... it's winter and I'm at the beach !!!!
I have a ton of children's books in my TBR shelf, so I need to move those. But I just picked the other books that were on my TBR the longest... and avoided most of the cozy mystery series as I can be fickle about which of those I want to start. :)I'm sure I won't win any length challenges, but just excited to work on the TBR!
Book Concierge wrote: "I have a tendency to add a year to my age right away with the new year, even though I'm at the end of the year. The math is just easier that way (LOL). ."I have it so easy being born in a year that ends with 0, and at the end of the year. In 1999, I turned 9, in 2018, I'll be turning 28. Easiest math ever.
Also agreeing with the separate birthday/Christmas thing. My parents were always really good about separating my birthday from Christmas. Birthday presents were NEVER in Christmas wrapping paper. Being a Dec 27th baby has its perks though, as many times my friends are "home for the holidays"- so my birthday turns into a reunion of sorts for those of us who have moved.
Joi wrote: "Book Concierge wrote: "I have a tendency to add a year to my age right away with the new year, even though I'm at the end of the year. The math is just easier that way (LOL). ."I have it so easy ..."
Oh, nearly forgot ...my college roommate's husband's birthday is also Dec 27!
And I ALSO have a birth year ending in Zero ... definitely easy math!
Oh .. and I DID take a break for a walk on the beach with my honey.
BC and Joi, I just love you guys! Enjoy the beach! I’m driving through the mountains where reception is poor. So keeping up with my Goodreads correspondence is getting in the wY of my reading!
Book Concierge wrote: "Amy wrote: "I somehow think Tessa, Book Concsierge is tight in there with us. Like the day before or the day after. As I have said before, I actually like this birthday for two strong reasons. I re..."My sons share a bday on Jan 9 3 years apart. They are don't usually mind sharing a bday, but don't like it is so close to Christmas. Our oldest (who is 15) tried to tell us last year that he was ok with a combined (expensive) gift, but we told him he would regret it at his bday time.
Book Concierge wrote: "Oh .. and I DID take a break for a walk on the beach with my honey."Good for you! So Jealous........my honey and I walked in the slush and rain, because our dog made us do it......
Amy wrote: "BC and Joi, I just love you guys! Enjoy the beach! I’m driving through the mountains where reception is poor. So keeping up with my Goodreads correspondence is getting in the wY of my reading!"Where are you skiing Amy? I am living vicariously through everyone''s vacations
Dare I say Aspen? So my parents actually live there, so we spend two weeks in summer and winter there - about a month a year. It’s one of my favorite places on earth. We didn’t go last winter, as we never do in a bar mitzvah year. So it’s great to be back in this season. My nieces are coming too. So should be a great trip.
Amy wrote: "Dare I say Aspen? So my parents actually live there, so we spend two weeks in summer and winter there - about a month a year. It’s one of my favorite places on earth. We didn’t go last winter, as w..."Well enjoy! Sounds wonderful!
Amy wrote: "Dare I say Aspen? So my parents actually live there, so we spend two weeks in summer and winter there - about a month a year. It’s one of my favorite places on earth. We didn’t go last winter, as w..."My youngest sister lives in Gypsum. Has for many years. Beautiful area, one I love visiting.
Question on the trim list.. I noticed a few people have series books on the list. I have some that I'd like to get back to, but I'm afraid if I list the next one, I might read it before the number comes up. Would if be possible to list the series name on your list, and then read whichever one you're up to if the number comes up? I'm guessing the answer will be no, but I thought I'd ask.
NancyJ wrote: "Question on the trim list.. I noticed a few people have series books on the list. I have some that I'd like to get back to, but I'm afraid if I list the next one, I might read it before the number ..."I'm trying to list books that I want to read but will be ok if I don't read it this year.
So, I'm going to "play", but I likely won't post my list of 36 until after Christmas when the family has headed home and I have more time. I may have it ready and in a Word document for myself, but possibly not posted here. I figure, as an admin, I'm just playing for fun, anyway, so it likely doesn't really matter. Btw, I'm also a December baby, but at the very start of the month (1st), so lucky for me, I've never had to worry about birthday/Christmas combined.
LibraryCin wrote: "So, I'm going to "play", but I likely won't post my list of 36 until after Christmas when the family has headed home and I have more time. I may have it ready and in a Word document for myself, but..."The 1st is my sister's birthday as well.
annapi wrote: "Rebecca has been on my TBR so long I figured I needed something to push me to read it!"It looks like Rebecca might get selected as a group read in my other group, so I might be re-reading it in February, especially if it fits a tag here.
So glad you’re playing, Cindy! Can’t wait to see your list of 36.
Amy wrote: "Dare I say Aspen? So my parents actually live there, so we spend two weeks in summer and winter there - about a month a year. It’s one of my favorite places on earth. We didn’t go last winter, as w..."That sounds wonderful!!!! Have fun.
Nancy, I do not have a problem with one of the spaces being the next book in a series. Series books tend to be roughly the same length and have roughly the same tags and are the same genre, so I do not think it would give a competitive advantage to allow this. If you are somehow reading a series where each book varies radically from the previous (I cannot even think of an example of this!) then please avoid that situation.
Amy wrote: "So glad you’re playing, Cindy! Can’t wait to see your list of 36."Thanks! I have so many books on the tbr, if there's a way to help me get through it, I'll take it! LOL!
Also wanted to mention that I've just added shelves for our 2019 challenges, so for those of you who add your books read for our challenges to the group bookshelf, please do use the new shelves: trim the tbr
expanding our pbt horizons
Nicole R wrote: "Nancy, I do not have a problem with one of the spaces being the next book in a series. Series books tend to be roughly the same length and have roughly the same tags and are the same genre, so I do..."Thanks!!! Perfect.
Nicole R wrote: "And, just a heads up that I will also post the Trim the TBR random number for January that day too. That means that if you want to be eligible for all of the points categories in January, you need to have your list of 36 posted in your personal challenge tracking thread in one week! ..."Nicole ... just to be sure .... once we have posted a list (and finalized it with all the coordination of buddy reads) that list is NOT changeable (until mid-year when we might be able to swap out some titles).
Just want to be sure I have that right.
TIMING QUESTION? Will we get the January Tag before we have to complete our TBR 36 lists and culture choices? If racism is not selected as the January tag, I would like to add Race/Color as a topic for Culture list (it could cover several countries, and the books contrasted how Americans view race and color compared to other parts of the world) If race is selected, I'll pick something else for my third spot.
My TBR list is still too long and the tag might help me to shorten my list.
if I'm interrupting vacation time I can wait until the 26th. Thanks!
NancyJ wrote: "TIMING QUESTION? Will we get the January Tag before we have to complete our TBR 36 lists and culture choices? If racism is not selected as the January tag, I would like to add Race/Color as a top..."
january tag is up-Action and Adventure
Joanne wrote: "NancyJ wrote: "TIMING QUESTION? Will we get the January Tag before we have to complete our TBR 36 lists and culture choices? If racism is not selected as the January tag, I would like to add Race..."
Awesome. Thanks!
I'm in for PBT challenge & expanding our PBT horizons
I likely wont get my 36 tbr picks posted till the 28th. I have 29 titles picked out, but didnt finish before family arrived. I will have more time again on the 28th. Im not planning to rearrange the order so im hoping the first number chosen is a lower one. 😊
Clarification of Reporting Guidelines for Expanding Our PBT Horizons ChallengeThe goal of the Expanding Your PBT Horizons Challenge is to read 12 books from other cultures throughout the year, which means you can read one a month or all 12 in January or any conceivable combination between the two. However, there are monthly culture themes added to the mix which makes for some unique reporting conflicts that the admins did not think of when posting the challenge. Thank you to Nancy for pointing it out!
The admins spoke and we tried to make this as fair and as simple as possible, so here are the three easy points to follow:
1) Each month there is a culture theme. If you choose to read for the theme—which is not mandatory—then you must read your book that fits that theme and post the review within the assigned month. You will receive 2 participation points per review and you can read more than 1 book, but each book counts toward your ultimate cap of 12 books for the year. *you can read more than 12 books if you like, but you only get points for this challenge for up to 12*
2) For books you read for the Culture Challenge that do not fit the monthly culture theme, you can do one of two things:
2a) You can post the books each month as you read them and simply label them as not fitting the monthly culture theme and stating what culture they fit. However, there are no "take backs" and once you report a book this way for 1 participation point, it counts to your total of 12 books.
2b) Alternatively, if you want to try to maximize your reads for the monthly culture theme, you can read other cultures throughout the year and wait to report them until late in December for 1 participation point each. An important point to this though is that even if you read a book in March and have been holding off on reporting it until the end of the year and then it happens to fit the December culture, you still only get 1 participation point for it because you did not read it in December.
Also, this only applies for the Culture Challenge. You should still write a review and post it in the monthly tag or nonmonthly tag folder in the month that you read it for regular PBT participation points.
I know this is a bit confusing, so let me provide an example (courtesy of Anita as we were trying to think through this!):
Jane knows she will read more than 12 culture books because she is a rock star, but only wants to post one each month, preferably in line with the theme in order to get the most participation points. So, even if Jane's read her 12 culture books by, say, June, she has only posted one review per month of the book that fits the monthly theme. However, if she posts everything she has read, then she can't go for the points associated with the theme each month for the remainder of the year and will receive lower than the maximum 24 participation points if she would read and review one book each month that fits the culture theme.
Jane's concern is that at the end of the year, perhaps she has posted 8 for the theme—one each month but has another dozen she has read and not reported—but she really is sick of reading these types of books or can't for some reason and doesn't read for the culture theme for September, October, November or December. She then wants to ensure she at LEAST gets her 12 books in by posting some she has already reviewed earlier in the year just to hit the 12.
Since the goal is simply to read 12 over the course of the year, Jane may I post 4 books in December that she read earlier in the year, and she will forfeit any bonus points associated with matching the theme even if one of the "catch up books" actually matches the theme for December. (Jane can really post "catch up books" at any point during the year, but it seems like if Jane is trying to maximize her points that she would wait until the end of the year to report the "catch up books" just in case she gets to another culture themed book).
For more discussion on this, please see: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
Nicole, I am assuming, and please correct me if I am wrong:I can read let's say 2 books on Iraq this month. I will report one on the Challenge thread, and also put it in "Other Books" thread. With my second book I can just put that in "Other Books", receive the normal 1 point AND NOT have it counted as one of my 12?
I had some days away from Goodreads and came back completely overwhelmed! So much had happened. I caught on to the cultural challenge right away but the Trim you TBR I missed the vital messages and plunged in with no idea what I was doing.:) Thanks to Amy for really helping me out. I discovered the message this morning that really explained everything. But Amy helped me get it together, while she is vacationing. My list is complete and I am excited about both challenges. Thank you, Anita and Nicole R for getting this all together. It will be a good year.
Joanne wrote: "Nicole, I am assuming, and please correct me if I am wrong:I can read let's say 2 books on Iraq this month. I will report one on the Challenge thread, and also put it in "Other Books" thread. Wit..."
Correct!
But, keep track of that book in your personal tracking thread because if you get to the end of the year and you have only read, say, 10 months that fit the culture theme, then you could use that book to round out your culture challenge reporting at the end of the year.
Make sense?
So Rachel, now you have to post your wonderful list of 36 on your challenge tracker, then Anita will randomize it for you, and then you get to read your number 19. We are reading two other books together this month at least, so now worries if Ladder to the Sky doesn’t come up. That would be miraculous as it’s a 1/36.
See, I still need your help. I totally forgot about that!
Nicole R wrote: "Joanne wrote: "Nicole, I am assuming, and please correct me if I am wrong:I can read let's say 2 books on Iraq this month. I will report one on the Challenge thread, and also put it in "Other Boo..."
yes thanks!
Rachel wrote: "See, I still need your help. I totally forgot about that!"Let me know when you've posted it, Rachel, and I'll randomize it for you!
Anita, it’s on my challenge.:)
This may be a silly question, but how do you start a “personal tracking thread”? I am interested in maybe trying the trim the TBR challenge
There is a members challenges section. You put your list in there, and then Anita will randomize it for you so you will know your number 19. Then you can match up your list with everyone else’s up until midnight tomorrow for buddy reads. Nancy seems to be on top of that, and I just have a really good memory, so that’s why I pipe in.
Hi, Kiki, the members challenges section is here: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/group...
- Click on the link I just provided.
- Above the column where it says "last activity", it says "new topic".
- Click "new topic" and set up your own personal "topic" (or thread) to keep track of your own challenges.
I hope that helps!
Kiki McPhee wrote: "This may be a silly question, but how do you start a “personal tracking thread”? I am interested in maybe trying the trim the TBR challenge"Hi Kiki!
Not a silly question at all.
Check out this folder, and you will see how our members have each set up their own special thread for tracking any reading goals they may have.
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/group...
I suggest taking a look at a few of them to get a sense of how they are setting them up and then try your own!
If you decide to try our Trim challenge, simply set up a list of 36 books. Let me know when you have your list, and I will use some software to randomize them - - then you may begin reading #19 with the rest of the gang!!
Play Book Tag
Books mentioned in this topic
The Tuscan Child (other topics)Just So Stories (other topics)
Rebecca (other topics)
The Disappearing Spoon: And Other True Tales of Madness, Love, and the History of the World from the Periodic Table of the Elements (other topics)
Authors mentioned in this topic
Rhys Bowen (other topics)Rudyard Kipling (other topics)
Sam Kean (other topics)
Welcome!! It is lots of fun and a great group!!