Play Book Tag discussion
2021 Activities and Challenges
>
Announcing the 2021 PBT Challenges!
I'm new here and I'm so excited! I'm an ELA teacher and I would rather read than breathe most days! I'm looking forward to expanding my horizons and challenging myself.
Jessica wrote: "I'm new here and I'm so excited! I'm an ELA teacher and I would rather read than breathe most days! I'm looking forward to expanding my horizons and challenging myself."Welcome, Jessica! We look forward to seeing you around PBT! If you have questions on the challenges, or any aspect of PBT, please ask. You can send me or any of the admins a PM or ask in the group. We have a large, welcoming, and helpful membership!
Nicole R wrote: "Book Concierge wrote: Does our beginning need to match our end exactly?
No, your beginning does not have to match your end exactly.
When you return home, the idea is to get as close to your hometown as possible, but we recognize that not everyone will have many book options for their hometown or nearest city.
In that case, your state, another nearby city, an attraction, etc. will work."
This challenge looks like fun, great work! :)
But; it is challenging when we get home to find books with more than 5 tags if you live in a small country, like me. I live in Norway, and I just checked, zero books have my home town tagged. And even for our capital, Oslo, the options are severely limited, i.e. the only few authors known to the rest of the world are tagged only "Norway" or "Scandinavia", maybe with the exception of Jo Nesbø, which basically every Norwegian has read already. We don't have states either. So, my question, I am allowed to read a book tagged "Norway" or the Norwegian way of writing it ("Norge") instead of a city name when I get home? Otherwise; I might not have the option to participate.
Hilde wrote: "I am allowed to read a book tagged "Norway" or the Norwegian way of writing it ("Norge") instead of a city name when I get home? Otherwise; I might not have the option to participate.."For smaller countries, I think using that tag to get home would be fine. So, yes, you can use Norway is nothing with Oslo fits the bill.
I would also be fine with you using Norge since that is the name of your country in its native language!
Yeah, I have a similar problem to Hilde with Broadstone in Dorset. I've checked the shelves for my local train and airport locations and no books, but I do have options for my county!
Nicole R wrote: "For smaller countries, I think using that tag to get home would be fine. So, yes, you can use Norway is nothing with Oslo fits the bill.I would also be fine with you using Norge since that is the name of your country in its native language!.."
Superb, thank you for being flexible! :)
Nicole R wrote: "Charlotte wrote: "That leads me to the question and I think it is answered above but want to confirm... I could feasibly read different books for the challenge for Rainier, Puget Sound, Pacific Nor..."I already checked Rainier and Puget Sound and both work! Pacific Northwest doesn't but Pacific does and takes you to the Tacoma area lol!
Jen K wrote: "Nicole R wrote: "Jen K wrote: "Just curious, could I consider Washington, DC for my home book? It is my closest large city, literally 1 mile from my home, but not in my home state. Otherwise I will..."I didn't know you lived in Maryland, Jen! I think D.C. is totally reasonable for Chevy Chase (and I say that as a Baltimore resident).
Nicole R wrote: "The results are in and we have our two challenges for PBT in 2021!The runaway favorite and top vote getter is...
Fly the PBT Skies!
We had two options that were neck-and-neck for the vast major..."
Oh, happy day! Fly the Skies won!!!
The other challenge is also good, but to be honest, I can't remember if it's one of the ones I voted for since we could only vote for so many...
For the Pursue It challenge, I think there is a way to search for a word on Kindle or other devices. I don’t know how to do this and personally I think that would spoil the fun of finding the desired item by surprise. Most of the books I read are on paper but during shutdown, I finally started reading some ebooks. I just wondered how people felt about this.For the Fly the Skies challenge, it seems Australia, New Zealand, and Japan will become suddenly popular for our US folks. Maybe a good change for those who read a t.on of US books for Poll Ballot.
Book Concierge wrote: "Say I want to read a book set in Valparaiso Chile .... And there is no tag for Valparaiso ... but the book IS tagged CHILE 5+ times. Do I calculate the miles from Milwaukee to Valparaiso or Milwaukee to Chile? ..."I haven't read the answer to this yet, but was going to ask something similar. If we are calculating miles to a country, that can vary within the country.
So, to calculate exact miles for a book tagged "Chile" 5 times, where is my mile calculator based on: Calgary to... ?
Different places in Chile will be a different number of miles. Even different places along Chile's border will be different.
ETA: DISREGARD! Should have kept reading...
Found it: "The distance calculator picks a central location when you enter a country."
I voted Fly the Skies as my #1. Super excited.Pursue it will be fun too, definitely sounds like a more laid back challenge- you either "track it" or you don't- with only 4 things to look out for it shouldn't take too much planning/headspace.
I think both of these lend much more flexibility in reading, and more "mood reading" for me- so I'm super happy.
Yet again, non fiction loses- haha. I feel a sense of deja vu every year when this happens.
Anita wrote: "Jen K wrote: "Nicole R wrote: "Jen K wrote: "Just curious, could I consider Washington, DC for my home book? It is my closest large city, literally 1 mile from my home, but not in my home state. Ot..."I appreciate it! I actually found one set in Rockville but DC is actually closer to my apartment. Baltimore is great!
Joi wrote: "I voted Fly the Skies as my #1. Super excited.Pursue it will be fun too, definitely sounds like a more laid back challenge- you either "track it" or you don't- with only 4 things to look out for ..."
I voted for Non-Fiction too Joi, knowing it would lose...but for FLy The Skys, non-fiction will be a number one priority!
There is nothing set in the town where I live, but that's okay, because I am going to sail off from the former big whaling centre, New Bedford, MA, even though this won't add extra miles if I head the the Pacific or something first ;). I have Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass on my tbr and he spent most of his life in New Bedford--I found it on a list of books set in New Bedford. If anyone has read this and it is not at least 50 percent there, please let me know. None of the other books I found appeal to me, but I can start my voyage from any number of places not that far away.
Hilde wrote: "Nicole R wrote: "Book Concierge wrote: Does our beginning need to match our end exactly?
No, your beginning does not have to match your end exactly.
When you return home, the idea is to get as..."
Oh, I thought for sure it would be easy to find books tagged Copenhagen where I live, since it's the capital. But nope, not even if I add Copenhagen + København (the Danish name). There is a total of 5 books tagged at least 5 times, 3 of those I have already read, 1 I'm not really interested in, and the 5th I've never heard of and the two editions I can see are both in Indonesian ... so, I also have to go with Denmark/ Danmark then.
Well, in Fly the PBT Skies, I balance out all you small hometowners as I am in New York City! Even if I decide to narrow it to Manhattan, I am spoiled for choice! But, expect next December for me to use a Christmas romance or cozy mystery set in NYC to get me Home for the Holidays! I even will be able to draw it from existing TBR.
@Charlotte - chances are really excellent for Debbie Macomber to publish a new Christmas one set in Seattle or at least Washington State in time to get you home next December!
I will have to use "Michigan" to get home, not my hometown or either of the 2 airports as both are located outside of Detroit in the suburbs. @Nicole, could I use Detroit, even though our large airport is outside of it? It is called Detroit Metropolitan ?
@Theresa, I'm not sure I would call a capital city with 1.3 million inhabitants a smalltown. But sure, compared to NYC ;D
Johanne wrote: "@Theresa, I'm not sure I would call a capital city with 1.3 million inhabitants a smalltown. But sure, compared to NYC ;D"Pfft - We have boroughs a/k/a counties larger than that - yup, smalltown! 😊
Although I suspect that if I still lived in my original hometown - Owego, New York - I'd be having to use New York State or Pennsylvania (which was only a mile from the farm) to get home again! Good thing I moved away in 1973...
Just a quick question for Fly the Skies--assuming that everything works out covid-wise, I'll be doing a cross-country move this summer. For the challenge, should I plan to "fly out" from where I'm currently living, but if I move, "fly home" to my new location?
Joanne wrote: "@Nicole, could I use Detroit, even though our large airport is outside of it? It is called Detroit Metropolitan ?"Yep! That is fine!
forsanolim wrote: "Just a quick question for Fly the Skies--assuming that everything works out covid-wise, I'll be doing a cross-country move this summer. For the challenge, should I plan to "fly out" from where I'm ..."Ooo, good question! I think you should fly home to wherever you are physically living in December -- you have to get home! :)
So leave from where you are living now, and you can return to your new hometown after a year full of exciting travels!
Nicole R wrote: "forsanolim wrote: "Just a quick question for Fly the Skies--assuming that everything works out covid-wise, I'll be doing a cross-country move this summer. For the challenge, should I plan to "fly o..."I love that! Becky - how exciting!
So for anyone who was overwhelmed in 2020, it looks like Fly the Skies is only 1 book per month and Pursue It is a maximum of 4, leaving time for other reads, less for the mods to track. I assume they will overlap, that is a book I read for Fly the Skies might have an item from Pursue It (and might also fit the monthly tag.)
Theresa wrote: "Well, in Fly the PBT Skies, I balance out all you small hometowners as I am in New York City! Even if I decide to narrow it to Manhattan, I am spoiled for choice! But, expect next December for me..."
The challenge is the 5 tags for that. I've only read a handful of her Christmas ones, thank goodness, but have noticed that they are mostly tagged Pacific Northwest which isn't coming up on the map. On a first pass didn't see any with 5+tags under Seattle. Will be looking again though... I think the 5 tags part of the rule is going to be the hard part.
Theresa wrote: "Well, in Fly the PBT Skies, I balance out all you small hometowners as I am in New York City! Even if I decide to narrow it to Manhattan, I am spoiled for choice! But, expect next December for me..."
The challenge is the 5 tags for that. I've only read a handful of her Christmas ones, thank goodness, but have noticed that they are mostly tagged Pacific Northwest which isn't coming up on the map. On a first pass didn't see any with 5+tags under Seattle. Will be looking again though... I think the 5 tags part of the rule is going to be the hard part.
Take Twelve Days of Christmas... I read it last year, so I know it is set in downtown Seattle, but it's only been tagged Seattle 3 times... I looked for any location in the tags and there weren't any other than Seattle - 3 and Washington - 3.
I don't think Christmas in Seattle is even tagged Seattle!! (I now have the beta version of the book page and the shelves are weird)
Karin wrote: "There is nothing set in the town where I live, but that's okay, because I am going to sail off from the former big whaling centre, New Bedford, MA, even though this won't add extra miles if I head ..."@Karin, I read this earlier this year. It is quick and great read but most of it is focused on his life before he reached New Bedford. His time in MA is definitely less than 50% although he tells his story while at a conference in MA if that counts?
Charlotte wrote: "Theresa wrote: "Well, in Fly the PBT Skies, I balance out all you small hometowners as I am in New York City! Even if I decide to narrow it to Manhattan, I am spoiled for choice! But, expect next..."
Maybe there will be more tags by next December.
Karin, there are so many choices for MA. My favorite choice if I hadn't already read it would be.... Faith by Jennifer Haigh. Perfect Boston read!
Charlotte, there was a bestseller (maybe 10 years ago) that was set in Seattle and the main character goes to work at a research center in Antarctica. I'm blanking on the title right now, but it was very popular so it might have both tags. (It was about a quirky mother and daughter, the mother was an architect.)It looks like my trip back home will be to my home state of New York. I have two favorite authors from my closest city (Buffalo NY) but their books don't have enough tags. City of Light is the only decent option but I already read it. The closest big city is Toronto, Canada, but I don't think that will count - especially now because the border is closed!
Nicole R wrote: "forsanolim wrote: "Just a quick question for Fly the Skies--assuming that everything works out covid-wise, I'll be doing a cross-country move this summer. For the challenge, should I plan to "fly o..."Great, thanks!
Nancy, are you talking about Where’d You Go, Bernadette?
Nicole, I found something on goodreads that might be a supplement/alternative to the genre tags for pbt skies. It's called "places." I got to this spot by doing a google search, but I can see that it's based on the entries for Setting on the goodreads blurbs. I'm not sure (yet) how to get to it within goodreads. Most people don't think to tag books with mundane (or even interesting) locations, but authors/publishers sometimes do identify the setting when they submit the blurb. examples:
Books set in Buffalo
https://www.goodreads.com/places/1703...
Books set in Antarctica
https://www.goodreads.com/places/112-...
Books set in New Zealand
https://www.goodreads.com/places/44-n...
Books set in Amsterdam
https://www.goodreads.com/places/993-...
So far I've only been able to get to these lists by starting with a book whose setting was known. I clicked on the location listed under the book's setting. [I found some of those books by searching for listopia or other lists (which are created by readers), and looking at the setting for a few books on the list.] I believe the setting in the blurb is based on what the author or publisher reports, which may be deemed more accurate than user created lists.
I knew this book was set in Japan, but the setting shown on the blurb was more specific:
https://www.goodreads.com/places/5032...
Nicole R wrote: "Nancy, are you talking about Where’d You Go, Bernadette?"Yes, that's it! I just found it here too:
https://www.goodreads.com/places/112-...
Hilde wrote: " ... Oslo Norway..."I found these:
Books set in Oslo
https://www.goodreads.com/places/3642...
Norway
https://www.goodreads.com/places/19-n...
Bergen
https://www.goodreads.com/places/4351...
mare and romsdal?
https://www.goodreads.com/places/5026...
scandinavia
https://www.goodreads.com/places/4438...
Joi wrote: "Yet again, non fiction loses- haha. I feel a sense of deja vu every year when this happens. ..."Agreed. It's always my #1 choice, but obviously not enough other people feel the same.
NancyJ wrote: "Most people don't think to tag books with mundane (or even interesting) locations, ..."Oh, I almost always tag with locations. Not necessarily a city, but usually a province, state, and/or country.
LibraryCin wrote: "NancyJ wrote: "Most people don't think to tag books with mundane (or even interesting) locations, ..."Oh, I almost always tag with locations. Not necessarily a city, but usually a province, state..."
Ha! I knew someone here would speak up about that! People in this group (and others like us) are more diligent in tagging books than "most people."
LibraryCin wrote: "Joi wrote: "Yet again, non fiction loses- haha. I feel a sense of deja vu every year when this happens. ..."Agreed. It's always my #1 choice, but obviously not enough other people feel the same."
I voted for it! It might have been my #1 choice if it were an individual challenge.
NancyJ wrote: "LibraryCin wrote: "Joi wrote: "Yet again, non fiction loses- haha. I feel a sense of deja vu every year when this happens. ..."Agreed. It's always my #1 choice, but obviously not enough other peo..."
I voted for nonfiction too, even though I read mostly fiction.
Hmm, since these challenges aren’t as all-consuming as Poll Ballot, maybe some of us could set up some kind of buddy project? Books could still tie into challenges. Lots of nonfiction is set around the world.
Robin P wrote: "NancyJ wrote: "LibraryCin wrote: "Joi wrote: "Yet again, non fiction loses- haha. I feel a sense of deja vu every year when this happens. ..."Agreed. It's always my #1 choice, but obviously not e..."
Good point. I've been looking at fiction for this challenge, but you're right. In one of our 2019 challenges, we all read books from the same country each month (picked at random from a long list of nominations). About half the books I read were non-fiction.
There is an abundance of books set in Copenhagen, but people obviously don't tag them with it.
One out of two is good, but if I couldn’t get my first choice (big books), I’m glad these two won. I’m grateful for all the questions.
I’d like to participate in both challenges. I may utterly fail but I’m going to try.
Johanne wrote: "Oh, I thought for sure it would be easy to find books tagged Copenhagen where I live, since it's the capital. But nope, not even if I add Copenhagen + København (the Danish name). There is a total of 5 books tagged at least 5 times, 3 of those I have already read, 1 I'm not really interested in, and the 5th I've never heard of and the two editions I can see are both in Indonesian ... so, I also have to go with Denmark/ Danmark then..."Apparently, people are much more fond of using the tag Scandinavia than København/(Copenhagen), Stockholm or Oslo ;)
I never use them myself either, so can't really say anything on that. Not even country is used on my part as a tag for anything I read.
I don't tag books with places either. Maybe it's time to remedy that.
NancyJ wrote: "Hilde wrote: " ... Oslo Norway..."I found these:
Books set in Oslo
https://www.goodreads.com/places/3642...
Norway
https://www.goodreads.com/places/19-n...
Bergen
https://www.goodreads.com/p..."
Thanks, Nancy! And wow, good job on that Møre and Romsdal tag, you almost got it, lol ;) I love Edvard Hoem which is from the area, he is one of my favorite (current living) authors. But none of his books have more than 5 tags which I haven't already read.
The sad thing is that very few of these are tagged 5 times or more with these tags. My original hometown is Tromsø, which is up in the north (2 hours flight from Oslo), I currently live in Oslo, have lived 6 years in Bergen, so could potentially use all of those - but books with 5 tags or more are severely limited. But now that I know I can use Norway/Norge as a tag, it should be more doable :)
Play Book Tag
Books mentioned in this topic
Still Life with Bread Crumbs (other topics)Shotgun Lovesongs (other topics)
Under This Unbroken Sky (other topics)
All Our Shimmering Skies (other topics)
The Outlander (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
Edvard Hoem (other topics)Debbie Macomber (other topics)
Does our beginning need to match our end exactly?
No, your beginning does not have to match your end exactly.
When you start, use your hometown or, if the distance calculator has trouble with that, then use the closest big city. This is just to get a nice starting place for everyone that is consistent -- it is where you actually live!
When you return home, the idea is to get as close to your hometown as possible, but we recognize that not everyone will have many book options for their hometown or nearest city.
In that case, your state, another nearby city, an attraction, etc. will work.