Play Book Tag discussion
2020 Activities and Challenges
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PBT Decades BINGO -- Announcements and Reporting
BINGO Years Called
January 1: G—2007
January 15: N—1999
February 1: B—1975
February 15: I—1984
March 1: I—1988
March 15: G—2009
April 1: I—1989
April 15: N—1991
May 1: N—1990
May 15: G—2003
June 1: B—1971
June 15: I—1986
July 1: I—1980
July 15: B—1973
August 1: O—2010
August 15: O—2016
September 1: N—1997
September 15: N—1993
October 1: O—2012
October 15: I—1983
BONUS: G—2004
November 1: I—1985
November 15: B—1978
BONUS: B—1970
December 1: G—2000
BONUS: O—2017
December 15: O—2019
BONUS: N—1998
How to find your BINGO card:
The admins have made lovely BINGO cards for each and every one of you who has signed up and populated it with random years. We have put them all in Google Drive in the 2020 PBT BINGO file
The first tab of the file is a card guide. All of the players are listed alphabetically in the first column and then the number of your card is in the second column. You can find your unique card by scrolling through to the appropriate number!
I will officially be keeping track of reviews and BINGOs in this spreadsheet, but you can use File >> Download to get a personal copy for your computer or you can take a screenshot of your card. Or, you can simply bookmark the link and visit it online!
Take a look at your years, and get ready to play BINGO!!
Our first year is.....G—2007!!!
Check out your card and, if you have that year, plan what you may want to read for that square!
But, remember, you cannot start reading until January 1.
Forgive me if this question has already been covered. I’m just getting the lay of the land. If I happen to read a book that fits the bingo number after January 1 sometime in 2020, but before the number actually gets called, can I still use it? Or do I have to read something that fits after the number is called?
AJ is correct! You have to read the book after the year is called.
Apologies if this is obvious, but if you have two squares with the same year, do you need to read two different books to knock them both out?
Darci wrote: "Apologies if this is obvious, but if you have two squares with the same year, do you need to read two different books to knock them both out?"You should not have duplicate years. That is an admin error! I rerandomized your O column.
If anyone else has a duplicate number let us know! Making 60 BINGO cards and mistakes are bound to happen....we can rerandomize your column with the duplicate number.
Nicole R wrote: "Darci wrote: "Apologies if this is obvious, but if you have two squares with the same year, do you need to read two different books to knock them both out?"You should not have duplicate years. Th..."
No worries! Thank you!
Now that we have two Heathers....can I assume card #43 would be mine? I can go by Heather C going forward to make things easier.
Heather wrote: "Now that we have two Heathers....can I assume card #43 would be mine? I can go by Heather C going forward to make things easier."Yes, you are #43 (or, at least you are now!) and I will change the name on that to Heather C.
Also, not to be a pain, but would it be possible for you to either change your GoodReads name to Heather C or put Heather C at the top of each of your BINGO reviews? Same names get very confusing for the admins when it comes time to do the scoring!
Heather C.--I also noticed that we had a duplicate year in your O column! I rerandomized your years there so be sure to take another look if you had already started your planning!
Nicole R wrote: "would it be possible for you to either change your GoodReads name to Heather C or put Heather C at the top of each of your BINGO reviews? Same names get very confusing for the admins when it comes time to do the scoring!"No problem at all! Let's see if it worked :-)
I see how this is fun and strategic. I found a 2007 that's on my TBR that is also a Thriller (In the Woods by Tana French). But 2007 is not on my Bingo card. So I ordered it from the library and will read it if I get to it before the end of January. Otherwise it gets back to its place on the TBR and Secret Phone List.
So can more than one person get the same kind of Bingo?
Amy wrote: "I see how this is fun and strategic. I found a 2007 that's on my TBR that is also a Thriller (In the Woods by Tana French). But 2007 is not on my Bingo card. So I ordered it from the library and wi..."What, I'm not the only one being strategic with this ;) ?
Karin wrote: "So can more than one person get the same kind of Bingo?"Yep! The first person to get the specific type of BINGO gets a participation points bonus though.
Nicole R wrote: "Karin wrote: "So can more than one person get the same kind of Bingo?"Yep! The first person to get the specific type of BINGO gets a participation points bonus though."
Okay, good to know. With so many things going on at once it takes a while to get it all straight.
It takes me a bit to get it all straight too 😂We’ll all catch on together. Lol
It also takes me a bit to get it all straight. I have looked and planned so much my head hurts.
With the "L" shape Bingo (not that I'm going to get there but the question is stuck in my head so I just had to get it out there), there will be an overlap with 1 square/year - do you have to read 2 books for that overlapping square/year to claim the "L" BINGO?I've seen this done in another group so thought I'd better check
Tien wrote: "Do you have to read 2 books for that overlapping square/year to claim the "L" BINGO?"Nope! Just the one book at the hinge of the "L"
Nicole R wrote: "Tien wrote: "Do you have to read 2 books for that overlapping square/year to claim the "L" BINGO?"Nope! Just the one book at the hinge of the "L""
Fab! Thanks :D
Twinkie, Deconstructed: My Journey to Discover How the Ingredients Found in Processed Foods Are Grown, Mined (Yes, Mined), and Manipulated Into What America Eats by Steve Ettlinger 3 starsG - 2007
published 2007
Who knew that the world's largest producer of casein was New Zealand? Not me--I always thought it was made from domestic milk by products. This is one of a few new things I learned in an area where I have to admit I already knew a fair bit.
This isn't badly written, and Ettlinger ties in how and when he started this quest along with bit of history of food handling and processing. While I realize that we need minerals from the ground or sea (salt being one of them), much of this book made me happy that I tend to eat food as close to how it originally was, but then I've been doing that much of my life anyway, although not with extreme zealousness. There were a few disturbing things I hadn't realized, but why add spoilers beyond what I already have?
Big Boned by Meg Cabot: 3 starsG- 2007
Another fun installment of the Heather Wells series. Heather is a former teen pop sensation who is trying to choose a new life, working at a NY College residence hall as the admin assistant in exchange for tuition to earn a college degree. Unfortunately her residence hall is now nicknamed the death dorm due to some unfortunate events. This time her third boss in about a year is found dead due to a shot through his head. Hilarity ensues as Heather tries to juggles the aftermath of the murder, keep her students out of trouble, manage the boy she dates, used to date and the one she actually loves and solve the crime.
I truly enjoy the well formed and entertaining characters and their interactions all with a side of a murder to solve. I'm ready for the next in the series.
It was also kind of fun that I read #2 last year at the same time in the same hotel room.
Cross posting for Poll Ballot and Thriller
****Scoring Update****We only have a couple of reviews but I wanted to test out the scoring! I have updated through here :)
Okay, so by scoring you mean shading the 2007 spot? Or is it somewhere else? I see that that spot on my card has been shaded but not where the scoring is if there is any for reading one book :)
Karin wrote: "Okay, so by scoring you mean shading the 2007 spot? Or is it somewhere else? I see that that spot on my card has been shaded but not where the scoring is if there is any for reading one book :)"The shading is the recording of you reading that book. I called it scoring, but it is the same thing.
Nicole R wrote: "Karin wrote: "Okay, so by scoring you mean shading the 2007 spot? Or is it somewhere else? I see that that spot on my card has been shaded but not where the scoring is if there is any for reading o..."Great, that's what I thought it probably was, and it is scoring, IMO :)
G-2007The 47th Samurai by Stephen Hunter - 3 stars
The best thing about this book was that it satisfied three challenges at once. Overall, it was entertaining enough, a bit of a slog in some parts. The worst thing about it was the huge dollop of suspension of disbelief that I had to choke down in order to finish it. I wonder if I would have enjoyed it more if I hadn't inadvertently seen a review that warned me of the author's unbelievable contrivances beforehand. But despite the eye-rolling that hurt, I was still able to enjoy the action of this thriller.
It starts with a battle scene in WWII on Iwo Jima that pits an American marine against a Japanese captain. The story continues through their sons in the present time, when Philip Yano comes to Bob Swagger looking for his father's sword. Bob doesn't have it, but after some research he eventually finds it, and decides to surprise Philip by traveling to Japan to present the sword to him in person. This somehow embroils him in yakuza intrigue and off we go to the races.
I liked the characters and story well enough to give this three stars, but so far I am not inclined to read more about Bob or even his father Earl, who has his own series of books. This is book 4 in Bob's series, and reads well enough as a standalone. I did think the author was a bit overly manipulative of the reader's emotions - it would have served him better to be more subtle.
G-2007A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini 5 Stars
A Thousand Splendid Suns tells the story of a country, Afghanistan, at war with various countries for a span of thirty years. First, it was fighting between various warlord factions. Next came Russia with its unsuccessful attempt to conquer the nation. Once the Russians were ousted the Taliban tried to take control of the region. Lastly, America had its share of conflict there too. But it's also a story of friendship, trust, loss and sacrifice between the two female leads with the story. Miriam, and later Laila must endure the hardship of on-going war amid the tyranny of an anachronistic, brutal paternal society.
Each woman has her own history and backstory until they are brought together under unusual circumstances. They both wind up the wives of the same abusive husband. Though in great conflict, the women form a bond of shared suffering and hardship learning to trust one another in the very worst of times. Eventually, a final hardship and self-sacrifice unite the women even beyond the grave.
I found the suffering of the women to be almost unbearable. The men in their lives, either through casual acquaintance or as part of marriage, intruded and suppressed these women at every turn.
***SCORING ANNOUNCEMENT***Scoring complete through Message 32
G-2007Aunt Dimity Goes West(Aunt Dimity Mystery, #12) – Nancy Atherton (4 stars) 1/11/20
Lori Shepherd has been suffering nightmare's since her last encounter with a mad man. Her husband feels a long stay at a Colorado mountain cabin will help, so the twins and their nanny, Annelise, head out. At first the altitude takes some getting used to but soon the boys are enjoying the outdoors and riding at a neighboring ranch. Then a reported curse attached to the cabin begins having suspicious results and Lori begins investigating. Fun story and characters.
G - 2007Still Alice - 4 stars
Alice Howland is a full professor of linguistics/psychology at Harvard. After slowly realizing that she is increasingly forgetting things--words, things on her to-do list, her way around Harvard Square--she is ultimately diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer's Disease. The book then follows Alice through some two years with the disease.
Obviously, this book was quite sad and touching, watching Alice inexorably slip and lose track of herself and the world around her. It had been on my radar for a very long time, and I do think it very much lived up to my expectations of it. Also, I have a fair bit of experience both with linguistics and with Cambridge geography, so this book particularly resonated with me in that regard.
G - 2007How Starbucks Saved My Life by Michael Gates Gill
4 Stars
Audiobook
In his fifties, Michael Gates Gill had it all: a big house in the suburbs, a loving family, and a top job at an ad agency with a six-figure salary. By the time he turned sixty, he had lost everything except his Ivy League education and his sense of entitlement. First, he was downsized at work. Next, an affair ended his twenty-year marriage. Then, he was diagnosed with a slow-growing brain tumor, prognosis undetermined. Around the same time, his girlfriend gave birth to a son. Gill had no money, no health insurance, and no prospects.
One day as Gill sat in a Manhattan Starbucks with his last affordable luxury—a latté—brooding about his misfortune and quickly dwindling list of options, a 28-year-old Starbucks manager named Crystal Thompson approached him, half joking, to offer him a job. With nothing to lose, he took it, and went from drinking coffee in a Brooks Brothers suit to serving it in a green uniform.
First of all, while I know that the author claims that this is a memoir, I put the book into the category of the almost fictional memoir as I am quite certain the author combined real people to make characters, left out less than flattering details, and intensified certain events to make his point. That being said, I have no problem with books that blend fiction with non-fiction in order to illustrate important leadership, business, or personal growth ideas. While the book wasn't an Andy Andrews masterpiece, it was enjoyable and met my criteria for a worthwhile read.
So what is my standard for a worthwhile read in the business, leadership, or self-help genre? My standard is that I want to take at least three valuable thoughts that are applicable to my life and work away from a book like this. As such, below are three thoughts that had an impact on me from How Starbucks Saved my Life.
The first thought that stuck with me was the idea that at Starbucks partners don't tell each other to do things, but rather everything is a favor. (At least if the employee is embracing the culture). This was a powerful concept to me and one that I think is highly applicable to work places, homes, classrooms, etc. The idea of having mutual respect so that we ask one another to help instead of just commanding that it be done is an idea that can create real positive momentum.
The second concept that really struck a chord was in regards to recognition. The author makes the point that recognition can be positive or negative for a business. He says in the book that recognition is great so long as everyone has the chance to earn recognition. But when employees feel like recognition is only for a chosen few it creates hostility and negative competition.
Finally, and this was not new but emphasized in a different way, Gill makes the point of how valuable it is to recognize the small jobs that must be done and also for the person doing them to not underestimate the value of doing it to the best of your ability. For Gill, that was cleaning the store when he first started. Many at that age would take offense to being put in that position, but Gill knowing he needed the job, poured himself into being the best cleaner he could be. As a result, he felt satisfaction at a job well done and he gained the respect and appreciation of the other partners. Being willing to do the lowest of jobs no matter the position we are in is vital to having a solid and effective team.
Overall, this was a well-written book with solid takeaways possible.
G - 2007Bad Luck and Trouble by Lee Child
4 stars
In this book of the series, at least one member of Jack Reacher’s past elite army investigation group has been murdered and three others are missing. Even though they are all now civilians, they still have a strong bond. If something happens to one or more of them, the others will come to help. This brings Reacher and the remaining members of his team to California.
Author, Lee Child, has created a strong character in Reacher. He has few possessions, does not make plans for the future and likes mathematics. He is a person of few words, but is a strong leader. The story moves fast, with unexpected turns. It is exciting and the team runs up against many obstacles. They play by their own rules and Reacher’s army skills are needed to solve this case. Those who like thrillers and are fans of Jack Reacher will enjoy this book.
Pulling our next year! It is....N—1999
I have that ony board! off to find a book!
OOOH, it's on my board! Yay - I finally get to play! I can tell I will be procrastinating at some point today looking at my TBR for suitable books.
I've found another trifecta for this - 1999 thriller with a Poll Ballot Tally tag :)
Just be sure to check publication date elsewhere than goodreads as well. Older books tend to be inaccurate in 'first published' on GR.
oh maybe that's because I had a list viewing of my TBR books - there it said that Grapes of Wrath was first published in 2014... but when I entered the book's main page it correctly says 1939. Well this librarian is going to doublecheck her sources anyway ;)
I do not have 1999....poo!
I have a slew of books on my TBR that were published in 1999, all but 4 of them are books I already have in my personal library, and at least 2 of them are thrillers too! Now if one of those thrillers fits Poll Tally... and I'm pretty sure one of them does. One of them is also on my Trim list. I feel like I should play the lottery today, LOL.
Ha, do that Theresa!I don't have many on my TBR. Seems I have quite a few older like 80's and back to Arabian Nights and more recent ones...
I thought you said you had it Joanne! I was just about to say that if we kept up the Robin Hobb buddy read over at epic fantasy group we would get to it eventually since Liveship Traders #2 is from 1999. (I just have to read three other books to read before I am that far...)
Johanne wrote: "I thought you said you had it Joanne! I was just about to say that if we kept up the Robin Hobb buddy read over at epic fantasy group we would get to it eventually since Liveship Traders #2 is from..."I thought I had it too! My brain is fried with all the challenges running together in my head!
Play Book Tag
Books mentioned in this topic
Kitchen Confidential: 25th Anniversary Edition (other topics)The Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary (other topics)
Double, Double, Oil and Trouble: Emma Lathen (other topics)
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Kitchen Confidential: 25th Anniversary Edition (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Emma Lathen (other topics)Micah Dean Hicks (other topics)
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M.M. Kaye (other topics)
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This thread will be dedicated to announcing the year every two weeks--the full list of years can always be found in Post 2 of this thread--and this is where everyone will post their reviews of the books they read for the challenge.
When you post a review, please put very clearly at the top what year you are reading it for (e.g., N-1994) and as soon as you have BINGO be sure to SHOUT IT OUT!
A reminder of the configurations that will get you a BINGO:
You will receive the points indicated below for each one that you complete and the first person to complete each one will receive a bonus 10 points.
• traditional BINGO of a vertical, horizontal, or diagonal line (5 pts each)
• four corners of the first and last year in your B and O columns (5 pts)
• "X" of diagonal line in each direction (5 pts in addition to the 5 pts you get for each of the diagonal lines under category 1)
• "L" of the entire column of B or O in combination with all of the years along either the top or bottom of the BINGO grid (5 pts in addition to the 5pts you get for each of the regular lines under category 1. The maximum bonus for this is for 2 "L"s)
• blackout for filling in every square on the board. If no one completes a full blackout (it will require that every year announced in on your card and that you read the book!), then the person who has the most squares filled in at the end of the year will get this bonus. (20 pts in addition to all of the points you get for the above combinations)
For this one, you do not have to read a book for the year as soon as it is announced and you do not have to read every single year that is announced. You can be strategic if you like!
Need a reminder of the full set of rules? See the 2020 Challenges Announcement Thread
Where can you find your card? Check out the 2020 PBT Bingo sheet.
Still need to sign up? Do that on the Sign Up for PBT BINGO thread