Play Book Tag discussion
October 2023: Winter
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Announcing the Tag for October
Wow I’m really shocked. I gave winter one vote but I didn’t think it had a chance (even if I threw 10 votes at it). I couldn’t find many weird books that really fit Halloween, so it just came down to a comparison of the lists, and I own more books on the winter list. I have no problem reading about winter in October. When I go outside it will feel warmer in comparison to the book. Now I have to cancel the library holds on the weird books, and line up the winter books.
Just going by memory, I own the Snow Child, Peace like a River, Six of Crows, and Tomorrow X3 on audio, and maybe a Maeve Binchy book with winter in the title. Other possibilities include a book set in Alaska (Bright side of the world?) and the fantasy book set in Russia.
I spent some book time in Eastern Europe and Russia this year, and I’m open to more by those authors - Magda Szabo, Hrabal…, Anthony Marra).
Ah dang! I should have flung a few more participation points at ‘weird’! But I’m sure there are some weird winter books 🤣 It’s only that it’s spring here and I’m trying to forget winter. I’ll just chalk it up to climate change… Mind you, there’s heavy snow down South at the moment (on top of the flooding in one part and the wildfire problems in another) so that is unfortunately not too far off the mark …
KateNZ wrote: "Ah dang! I should have flung a few more participation points at ‘weird’! But I’m sure there are some weird winter books 🤣 It’s only that it’s spring here and I’m trying to forget winter. I’ll jus..."
There were quite a few books on both lists, mostly fantasy. There are a lot of books on the list that I read, that I do not associate with winter at all. Some span a whole year.
Yes, that all sounds like climate change to me! Fires, floods, storms, drought … crazy all around.
Most of these were on both lists - or they’re fantasy books on the winter list.
If on a Winter's Night a Traveler
American Gods
Six of Crows
The Fifth Season
Ninth House
Before the Coffee Gets Cold
This is How You Lose the Time War - this is my favorite book on the weird list.
The Night Circus
The Secret History
Moon of the Crusted Snow
Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead
Once Upon a River
The Starless Sea
The Left Hand of Darkness
I plan to read the Death of Mrs. Westaway. I believe it fits both October Fall Flurries and Winter. Also the Rewind. I own it, and its sitting in my Hallway.
YAY!!! I'm happy about this one! I'm sure I would have found something to fit, but there are a lot of winter/blizzard/storm thriller-type books that I enjoy. Not sure yet if that's what I'll read or not, but we'll see.
Ok, a few options for me: Spinning Silver / Naomi Novik (I think I'm reading this for other challenges, anyway)
The Children's Blizzard / Melanie Benjamin
Moon of the Crusted Snow / Waubgeshig Rice
Wow, I've usually predicted right but I was sure it would be Weird. Well, I'm sure I have something.
The timing of this is lousy - wish this had been the tag for December, for Fall Flurries!
The book I'm reading right now would have been great for this tag: Early Riser by Jasper Fforde. An alternate history where humans hibernate each winter.
Sue wrote: "The book I'm reading right now would have been great for this tag: Early Riser by Jasper Fforde. An alternate history where humans hibernate each winter."
He’s a really interesting writer. Weird too. Please warn us if it gives you nightmares. (The WinterVolk sound like the things in Game of Thrones.) I’m looking forward to your review.
LibraryCin wrote: "Ok, a few options for me: Spinning Silver / Naomi Novik (I think I'm reading this for other challenges, anyway)
The Children's Blizzard / Melanie Benjamin
[book:Moo..."
I remember someone read the Children’s Blizzard last year for the history group challenge. It sounds good. I might read a Novik book too for this. I read Moon of the Crusted Snow in May. It’s haunting.
I am shocked. Fully expected 'weird'. But Winter is fine and I am well supplied with options.
Theresa wrote: "I am shocked. Fully expected 'weird'. But Winter is fine and I am well supplied with options."Me, too! I expected weird to win because it seemed so appropriate to October.
It may have been the choices. It seemed like Winter had the best selection of books.
I am also surprised but I didn't have a strong preference between weird and winter.For this tag, I can recommend two of my favorite books:
The Winter Soldier
The Winter King
Winter is also a pretty broad tag and a lot of different books will fit. I'm thinking my pick for Birthday Candle February book, which I have had for months and still need to read, might fit depending on what you are picking. I'm reading one set against the background of Mardi Gras which is in February and to me is a winter event even though in New Orleans with no snow. I want to add my recommendation to The Snow Child.
For those who like Blake Crouch Snowbound is not as well know but still pretty good. Of course Ruta Sepetys has several which are amazing and would fit. Personally I'm using this tag as an excuse for more Antarctic or Everest type books since they seem to be all I can focus on this year.
Very surprised and sorry I only tossed one vote at Weird.I may pick up Burial Rites, or The Winter Sea and I also have The Wolf in the Whale. I have had Cold Mountain sitting here for years, unread, so I do have choices.
Highly recommend City of Thieves
Wow, I was not expecting Winter to win due to it being October. I will have to revisit the Winter list but really appreciate the suggestions here. Definitely need to read City of Thieves finally.
ETA: Also definitely reading my fabulous swap book, A Woman in the Polar Night. I have it with me on work travel and was thinking of starting this week but will hold for October.
Maybe now is the time to read Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone for the PBT 15th birthday celebration (it was published the year I turned 15).Otherwise, one of my favorite romance authors, Tessa Bailey, has a new Christmas book coming out in a couple of weeks, Wreck the Halls. I am going to a book signing in NYC! I say that I am going to save it for December, but I don't have that kind of will power....I will probably read it in October. lol
Nicole R wrote: "Maybe now is the time to read Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone for the PBT 15th birthday celebration (it was published the year I turned 15).Otherwise, one of my favorite romance au..."
lol willpower on books is overrated!
Theresa wrote: "Winter is also a pretty broad tag and a lot of different books will fit. I'm thinking my pick for Birthday Candle February book, which I have had for months and still need to read, might fit depend..."I’m really looking forward to the Snow Child. It’s one of those I’ve been meaning to read for years. It’s on my Subdue list already, and it will earn me 2 free rolls when I land on it. It has >100 literary fiction tags and >100 winter tags.
I am surprised. It was my choice but I still never expected it to win. I'm not sure what I'll read but I can also highly recommend The Snow Child.
Not sure what I'll read but I'll find something. I always do.Highly recommend
The Snow Child
City of Thieves
The Long Winter
Jen K wrote: "Wow, I was not expecting Winter to win due to it being October. I will have to revisit the Winter list but really appreciate the suggestions here. Definitely need to read [book:City of Thieves|19..."
City of Thieves is a good choice and your Woman in the Polar Night sounds really good.
I have quite a few possibilities to read without going into my Fall Flurries for December List. I will not manage to read all of these but it allows for my mood reading:Snow Falling on Cedars
A Quiet Life
Bury Your Dead
The Children's Blizzard
The Children's Blizzard
Where'd You Go, Bernadette
Valley Forge
Two Old Women: An Alaskan Legend of Betrayal, Courage and Survival
The Ice Princess
Raven Black
Russian Winter
The Death of Ivan Ilych
My Penguin Year: Life Among the Emperors
Ice Bound: A Doctor's Incredible Battle For Survival at the South Pole
I sorted through books I have read and came up with a list I would recommend:
Fiction
Stolen
Winter Counts
My Last Continent
White Heat
Nonfiction
Welcome to the Goddamn Ice Cube: Chasing Fear and Finding Home in the Great White North
Rowing to Latitude: Journeys Along the Arctic's Edge
The Great White Bear: A Natural and Unnatural History of the Polar Bear
The Tiger: A True Story of Vengeance and Survival
In the Land of White Death: An Epic Story of Survival in the Siberian Arctic
Nicole R wrote: "am going to a book signing in NYC! I say that I am going to save it for December, but I don't have that kind of will power..."Where? Is it at The Ripped Bodice in Brooklyn by any chance? When? We could meet at it! Unless I have meetings.
BnB- I highly recommend Two Old Women-excellent! And it is a short book, so I am sure you will be able to fit it in.
Booknblues wrote: "I have quite a few possibilities to read without going into my Fall Flurries for December List. I will not manage to read all of these but it allows for my mood reading:[book:Snow Falling on Ceda..."
I read the David Laskin "The Children's Blizzard" years ago. Likely pre-shelfari, even. I don't think I wrote a review for it. I remember it being really good, though.
I use "winter" as a tag/shelf. A couple of mystery/thriller/horrors I'd recommend include
Dead of Winter / Darcy Coates
An Unwanted Guest / Shari Lapena
Both of those might make my favourites this year.
I also tagged "The Shining" as "winter".
Any of those could probably be used for Halloween/Fall Flurries reading, as well.
Some recommendations:The Great Alone
The Road
Beartowntrilogy
The Night Circus
Station Eleven
Legends & Lattes
I am probably going to read
Babel: An Arcane History and
This is How You Lose the Time War
I voted for winter, so am happy to read this! Just one vote.
LibraryCin wrote: "Booknblues wrote: "I have quite a few possibilities to read without going into my Fall Flurries for December List. I will not manage to read all of these but it allows for my mood reading:[book:S..."
BnB I read them both-Laskins is better
BnB - Lyn read The Children's Blizzard by Melanie Benjamin last year as part of Autodidacts' History Walk and rated it very high. Her book club read it and had a lively discussion, some members read it twice before their discussion, she said. I suspect it is a stellar read. And it has been out long enough to not have long library holds.
What makes me happy that winter tag won - and would have made me happy with weird tag is that this will easily fit fun reading. Like adventure tag was. I need some shorter lighter reading in my life right now to balance out all the heavier reading recently and work stress. I would be ecstatic if the tags for rest of year were like this.
Theresa wrote: "BnB - Lyn read The Children's Blizzard by Melanie Benjamin last year as part of Autodidacts' History Walk and rated it very high. Her book club read it and had a li..."I own both of the books, so was thinking I could do a compare and contrast this month, starting with the fictional one at the beginning of the month and moving to the nonfiction later.
Theresa wrote: "What makes me happy that winter tag won - and would have made me happy with weird tag is that this will easily fit fun reading. Lime adventure tag was. I need some shorter lighter reading in my lif..."Ditto. I have 8 jobs again in November and have a heap of online training sessions to do before then as well as my regular job.
Jen wrote: "Theresa wrote: "What makes me happy that winter tag won - and would have made me happy with weird tag is that this will easily fit fun reading. Lime adventure tag was. I need some shorter lighter r..."I hope they don’t all require a lot of prep time! When I had a lot of new material to deliver (or a challenging client) my eyes couldn’t handle additional reading. If I listened to an audio it had to be light.
Throughout my life, the difficulty of my side reading was inversely related to the difficulty of my work. When I had a boring job I read better books. When my job was tough, I read light weight books.
Shelly wrote: "Some recommendations:The Great Alone
The Road
Beartowntrilogy
The Night Circus
Station Eleven
[book:Legends & Lattes|6124..."
Those two books are very different from one another, but I loved them both. I hope you do too.
I loved the Beartown Trilogy. I’m going to want to read it all over again some day. It might be time to reread Station Eleven. (I couldn’t remember why it has winter tags. Then I pictured the very beginning, and his grocery shopping trip in the snow. I thought of it often during the pandemic when the stores ran out of toilet paper.)
Theresa wrote: "BnB - Lyn read The Children's Blizzard by Melanie Benjamin last year as part of Autodidacts' History Walk and rated it very high. Her book club read it and had a li..."I did enjoy it, as did everyone else in my book club. But then we all like Historical Fiction.
I am thinking about reading The White Cascade: The Great Northern Railway Disaster and America's Deadliest Avalanche. It will blow out my last birthday candle.
I have The Snow Child on my physical book shelf, so that's another option.
Jen K wrote: "Wow, I was not expecting Winter to win due to it being October. I will have to revisit the Winter list but really appreciate the suggestions here. Definitely need to read City of Thieves
I hope you enjoy A Woman in the Polar Night as much as I did Jen
Lyn wrote: "Jen K wrote: "Wow, I was not expecting Winter to win due to it being October. I will have to revisit the Winter list but really appreciate the suggestions here. Definitely need to read [book:City..."
I'm excited for it. I read the introduction and it was a great start. Thanks again for sharing!!
Theresa — yes, at The Ripped Bodice! This may not be the trip to meet up though. I am getting to Brooklyn just before the signing, the signing is sold out, and then I leave early the next morning again.
Hopefully I will be back to NYC again sometime soon though! Although, having said that, I do realize it has been 6 years since I was there last….
Lyn wrote: "Theresa wrote: "BnB - Lyn read The Children's Blizzard by Melanie Benjamin last year as part of Autodidacts' History Walk and rated it very high. Her book club read..."That one looks good Lyn, I am looking forward to your review
Booknblues wrote: "I have quite a few possibilities to read without going into my Fall Flurries for December List. I will not manage to read all of these but it allows for my mood reading:Two Old Women: An Alaskan Legend of Betrayal, Courage and Survival..."
"Two Old Women" is wonderful! Great choice for this tag. And it's indigenous so would fit fall flurries in October.
Here's another one that would fit fall flurries, as it's Hispanic Heritage Month and the author is CubanMr. Ives' Christmas by Oscar Hijuelos
NOTE: This is not the typical feel-good Christmas story. But it is a lovely, contemplative novel.
You can read My review HERE
Nicole R wrote: "Theresa — yes, at The Ripped Bodice! This may not be the trip to meet up though. I am getting to Brooklyn just before the signing, the signing is sold out, and then I leave early the next morning..."
I looked it up and saw that it was sold out. If you were getting in a little earlier we could have met in the area for a bite. I represent the coop across the street and actually need to go out there to eyeball a situation relating the building at some point in the next month or so. I would have tied them together!
BUT my client tells me the shop - which I still have not been to yet -- is lovely and busy!
Nicole - it's been years since any of us have been anywhere ... I was at a needlework and knitting shop yesterday on the UES that I have not been inside in at least 4.5 years possibly slightly longer -- and I used to stop in there every couple of months. Pandemic accounts for much.
Next time you see something at the Ripped Bodice and plan to attend, PM me.
But this time you have to give a full report after over on Kaffeeklatsch.
Book Concierge wrote: "Booknblues wrote: "I have quite a few possibilities to read without going into my Fall Flurries for December List. I will not manage to read all of these but it allows for my mood reading:T..."</i>
I echo the recommendation for [book:Two Old Women: An Alaskan Legend of Betrayal, Courage and Survival. It is very special, quite short, and I think just about all would enjoy it. DEFINITELY fits winter!
NancyJ wrote: "Jen wrote: "Theresa wrote: "What makes me happy that winter tag won - and would have made me happy with weird tag is that this will easily fit fun reading. Lime adventure tag was. I need some short..."I'm the same with my reading. If I have a lot of work I need something that doesn't require a brain cell to read.
The work is heavy brain work. As per last year I am judging the Australian Science and Engineering Fair entries for chemistry (the winners go to ISEF in the US). I am marking Y12 (uni entry) Scientific studies (can be any area of science at all and last year was mostly Ag, Exercise phys, physics and botany) and as soon as my kids have done their exams I mark Chem and psych (not my school, other schools. last year was 60 papers for sci studies, 100 for chem and 244 for psych). Then 2 days before that finishes I start moderating the marking of other schools for bio, chem and psych (last year it was about 40 schools work for the whole year). And I am still teaching 4 different subjects up to y11. I survived last year so I will survive but I won't even have half a brain cell left to read and my eyes will need a rest.
Play Book Tag
Books mentioned in this topic
The Overnight Guest (other topics)Rock Paper Scissors (other topics)
Dead of Winter (other topics)
An Unwanted Guest (other topics)
One by One (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Oscar Hijuelos (other topics)Melanie Benjamin (other topics)
Melanie Benjamin (other topics)
Melanie Benjamin (other topics)
Melanie Benjamin (other topics)
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winter
Pretty shocking! Emotions got not a single vote, so it was just head to head between weird and winter, and winter pulled out the win by a small margin.
Please share your reading plans and recommendations below.
Remember, for the regular monthly reads, the book can be shelved as "winter" on Goodreads, or be a book that is not yet shelved that way but you feel should be.
One way to find books to read for this tag is to please visit:
https://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/...
We encourage people to link to additional lists below if they find them.
Happy Reading!!!