Play Book Tag discussion
2025 Activities and Challenges
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Play Harder General Discussion
Erin wrote: "Love this prompt, but I need some suggestions!"Yesterday's tomorrows" - read a book written before 1990 that takes place in the 21st century."
The link should help.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...
I have a prompt: Post three to five book choices in this thread and read the first one someone else picks for you (in my Play Harder Tracking Thread) The first person who gives me a pick, I must read, but I am also asking for input on any of the series, of which these 5 books are the starting volumes. I must have put off starting them for some reason. Maybe I waited so long that my reading preferences have changed and I should just chuck them all. Save or Dump?
I need to clean out old stuff to add more to the pile!
I am not sure if this has been asked already but I could not find this question, sorry if I am repeating. I have "A book fully or partially set in the Arctic or Antarctic"
If it does not say it has to be tagged example, five times, does it matter if it does not have any tags stating Arctic or Antarcric?
I am going to need some HELP with "A book featuring a detective story from any Golden Age of Detective Fiction"If I have some on my TBR mountain, I had no clue it was related to the subject. I just got into mysteries a couple years ago and still learning.
SouthWestZippy wrote: "I am not sure if this has been asked already but I could not find this question, sorry if I am repeating. I have "A book fully or partially set in the Arctic or Antarctic"
If it does not say it ..."
No, Anita said "Unless specifically specified, there is no minimum number of tags required for a prompt."
Erin wrote: "Love this prompt, but I need some suggestions!"Yesterday's tomorrows" - read a book written before 1990 that takes place in the 21st century."
It's a brilliant prompt!
I haven't read either of these yet, but they both fit:
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick
Eon by Greg Bear
Pam wrote: "SouthWestZippy wrote: "I am not sure if this has been asked already but I could not find this question, sorry if I am repeating. I have "A book fully or partially set in the Arctic or Antarctic"
..."
Thank you very much Pam for your quick response.
Linda C wrote: "I have a prompt: Post three to five book choices in this thread and read the first one someone else picks for you (in my Play Harder Tracking Thread) The first person who gives me a pick, I must ..."
All I can say is that this year I firmly decided that Lisa Kleypas is not an author for me! Although I can also fully understand why she's so popular. I found her books well written and instantly engrossing, but they also hit just about every note that I try to avoid in historical romances these days.
I love historical romances, but they are so prone to all the tropes I find problematic, and Lisa Kleypas likes to sneak them in right when you think you've found a great book -- like the last one I tried where the first kiss happened while the love interest was literally threatening to rape her if she didn't tell him what he wanted to know. But no worries! She knew he didn't mean it (and, to be fair, he didn't) and she was already in love with him so it just turned into a really steamy kissing scene. While he continued to use rape as a threat to try to get her to tell him something he knew she didn't want to talk about. Dear god, NO.
That was Love in the Afternoon and one of the other two I tried was Book 3 in that Wallflowers series you've got listed.
PS -- If this sounds super judgey, I promise I don't begrudge anyone the ability to just go with the flow of whatever a book is selling. If anything, I envy it! I am way too persnickety for my own good :)
NancyJ wrote: "Theresa wrote: "Anita wrote: "NancyJ wrote: "Hayjay315 wrote: "Any recommendations on books that will fulfill the prompt of a book nominated for the Booker Prize that are shorter in length?"Hayja..."
Hi Nancy,
Thanks for the buddy read offer for James. I would like to, but through Trim I'm already committed to two buddy reads for January and have an intense class for my MBA. It sounds like it is a book you are excited for so I encourage you to dive in for January!
SouthWestZippy wrote: "I am going to need some HELP with "A book featuring a detective story from any Golden Age of Detective Fiction"If I have some on my TBR mountain, I had no clue it was related to the subject. I jus..."
I'm not sure about other authors, but I'm pretty sure if you plan to read anything by Agatha Christie, that should fit. :-)
SouthWestZippy wrote: "I am going to need some HELP with "A book featuring a detective story from any Golden Age of Detective Fiction"If I have some on my TBR mountain, I had no clue it was related to the subject. I jus..."
I had a lovely long reply to this - it's one of my prompt ideas - and poof! off it disappeared. So here I go again.
Golden Age Detective Stories were primarily written in 1920s and 1930s, British and American, though the Japanese had 2 such periods (1930s and again in 1960s) which are now being translated mostly published by Soho Crime. The authors are mostly familiar - Sayers, Christie, Mary Roberts Rinehart, John Dickson Carr, Hammett, Chandler, and on.
Crime Reads has excellent articles about these books - which are still influencing crime fiction today especially authors like Ruth Ware and Anthony Horowitz: https://crimereads.com/?s=golden+age+...
For a good list of British and American Golden Age authors:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_...
Lastly, The British Library has been publishing crime classics from this period for years - usually those authors and books of authors that have dropped out of print and popularity - they are readily found in ebook and from libraries: https://shop.bl.uk/collections/crime-...
I have read several of these - including The Santa Klaus Murder which I loved.
Hayjay315 wrote: "NancyJ wrote: "Theresa wrote: "Anita wrote: "NancyJ wrote: "Hayjay315 wrote: "Any recommendations on books that will fulfill the prompt of a book nominated for the Booker Prize that are shorter in ..."No problem. I’m finding so many Canada books I like, I might put it off a little longer anyway. What course are you taking?
SouthWestZippy wrote: "I am not sure if this has been asked already but I could not find this question, sorry if I am repeating. I have "A book fully or partially set in the Arctic or Antarctic"
If it does not say it ..."
You don’t need the tags for Compass either (though you’d get extra points), but you would need the location to be mentioned in the description, or take a quote from the book.
I loved Migrations by Charlotte McConaghy. She has a new book coming out 3/4/25, that is set on a small island off Antarctica. Wild Dark Shore
SouthWestZippy wrote: "I am not sure if this has been asked already but I could not find this question, sorry if I am repeating. I have "A book fully or partially set in the Arctic or Antarctic"
If you are still thinking about books in the Arctic or Antartica,
The End of Drum-Time I loved this one
The Wolf in the Whale I loved this one too, but it has abuse and violence that could be triggers for some people.
I am probably going to read Swimming to Antartica for a different prompt about a female athlete.
Theresa wrote: "SouthWestZippy wrote: "I am going to need some HELP with "A book featuring a detective story from any Golden Age of Detective Fiction"If I have some on my TBR mountain, I had no clue it was relate..."
Thank you very much for your help LibraryCin and Theresa and Nancy J. I can now find a book to read with the information and list you have given me.
I am probably going to go with Agatha Christie but need to look at more list.
I read Migrations and did not care for it. Wild Dark Shore looks interesting so I am adding that one to my TBR.
Shelly wrote: "SouthWestZippy wrote: "I am not sure if this has been asked already but I could not find this question, sorry if I am repeating. I have "A book fully or partially set in the Arctic or Antarctic"
..."
Oh nice. I have the End of Drum Time on my priority list for Compass. I knew it was far north, but it didn’t click that it’s in the arctic.
For those of you looking for Arctic or Antarctic, I have a shelf called "Extreme Cold" most of which would qualify: https://www.goodreads.com/review/list...
NancyJ wrote: "Shelly wrote: "SouthWestZippy wrote: "I am not sure if this has been asked already but I could not find this question, sorry if I am repeating. I have "A book fully or partially set in the Arctic..."
Also Where'd You Go, Bernadette and How the Penguins Saved Veronica fit Antartica.
But Arctic can include Greenland, Iceland, areas of Scandinavia. There is noir, including Smilla's Sense of Snow. Greenland try This Cold Heaven: Seven Seasons in Greenland or Last Night in Nuuk.
Don't forget that Frankenstein: The 1818 Text would also fit.
Jason wrote: "Erin wrote: "Love this prompt, but I need some suggestions!"Yesterday's tomorrows" - read a book written before 1990 that takes place in the 21st century."
The link should help.
https://en.wik..."
Thank you!
Pam wrote: "Erin wrote: "Love this prompt, but I need some suggestions!"Yesterday's tomorrows" - read a book written before 1990 that takes place in the 21st century."
It's a brilliant prompt!
I haven't re..."
Thank you!
I just got wind of a buddy read for James. I think that is my next IRL bookclub book, should the timing ever line up.....
Amy wrote: "I just got wind of a buddy read for James. I think that is my next IRL bookclub book, should the timing ever line up....."I’m trying to get my irl group to read it too, but I’m not sure when. Let me know when it works for you, and we’ll see who else can jump in. It might be easier when it fits the tag.
I’m worried about my irl group because our schedule is totally out of whack. We keep bumping meetings to accommodate people who can’t meet because of an emergency, surgery, chemo, Covid, etc. I love that we do this for one another, but if we take too much time off, it will be hard to get going again. Zoom helped us through Covid 19, so I hope that works again, I’d hate to lose these women.
Joy D wrote: "I just read a book I enjoyed very much about a National Park:A Walk in the Park: The True Story of a Spectacular Misadventure in the Grand Canyon
I can also recommend this fictio..."
There are also National parks in other countries which might appeal to those who like something different.
picanninny Walkabout a Story of Two Aboriginal Children
or Lost in Kakadu for example......
NancyJ wrote: "I am loving these prompts. How lucky that I got an award winner prompt. My hardest will be …
4. Re-read the first book you remember reading that you thought was an adult book (as opposed to a chi..."
Sadly I think it would probably be a Sydney Sheldon for me, very not appropriate for primary school but I'd read the school library and dad only had books on plants so I read mums. I hope I don't get this prompt as I really don't like Sydney Sheldon....see if I can think of anything else I remember just in case.
Anita wrote: "Robin P wrote: "Jen wrote: "Yay I'm so excited to ponder my options! I've got a couple on my list that I'm scratching my head on a bit...Read a book that challenges you.
Intellectually? emotional..."
Agreed! for example I find anything involving romance significantly harder than A Brief History of Time or How to Teach Quantum Physics to Your Dog. The physics ones just give me new ways to explain stuff and are not confronting, whereas romance keeps triggering me any time they say something a certain person used to say.
Pam wrote: "Will we have any swap/grab bag options this year? I have seen some prompts on other lists that I'm not sure I could complete!"Romance would be that for me.
I have 2 prompts that I could use some fellow PBT members assist with. First is Read a book about Vietnam - I do NOT want some history or other NF book except I think a travel memoir or travel essay. Also I'd read fiction for this as long as it tells something about the culture, food, people, etc. of Vietnam. - that you have a sense of it after reading whatever the fictional plot is. I'm pulling a blank and don't think I have anything in the TBR.
Second is the really hard one for me: Read a book that you think your mother would like. Why so hard? Two reasons: my mother died when I was 23, and after 7 years of illness, and she was not a reader of books. She read her women's magazines, but I don't know that she read the fiction in Redbook or Good Housekeeping. I never remember seeing her with a book. I'm sure she did at one point, but with housekeeping, helping on the farm, taking care of 4 kids ... there was no reading of books before her illness that I remember. I remember giving her a book or two in college but she never read them. She never picked up or looked at any of the books I left lying around - except of course reading childrens books to my youngest sister. My father was another story - though until he 'retired' (meaning sold the cows) from farming, I never saw him do more that read a bit of any book I left lying around. But after retirement - he was a regular if slow reader.
This was a prompt on PS some years ago and I struggled then. I'd probably swap this out if I had the chance. Does anyone have any ideas? She had plenty of interests but they never translated into reading books featurning them. Maybe I'm thinking too narrowly and should just read something featuring an interest she had or about someone she admired.
2 historical fiction books about Vietnam which are not cheery but are told from the point of view of women, who are resilient survivors, are The Mountains Sing and Dust Child. There's plenty about the culture, especially in the first book which covers much of the 20th century. The author is of Vietnamese descent.For your mother, I think you should go ahead and read on a subject you think would interest her. Or maybe something that reminds you of her. Maybe she would not have ever read that book, but if you read it and talked to her, she would have been interested. I'm sorry you lost your mother when you were so young!
This brings up an interesting point, that prompts on Pop Sugar and other sites are created by younger (mostly white) middle class women from educated families, who assume mothers have the time and inclination to read. This could also be triggering to people who had abusive family situations, early divorces, and other traumas. That's why some schools no longer push kids to make cards for Mother's Day, it can be complicated.
The mother one would be easy for me, as my mother devoured mysteries.
For those struggling to remember the first adult book they read, or just not wanting to read that again, I also recommend being flexible. It could be a similar book/style/subject. I got the impression that our Mod is flexible on this too, and that it's fine to read "in the spirit of the prompt."
Theresa wrote: "I have 2 prompts that I could use some fellow PBT members assist with. First is Read a book about Vietnam - I do NOT want some history or other NF book except I think a travel memoir or travel es..."
What about a grandmother, aunt or other "mother figure"?
Theresa wrote: "I have 2 prompts that I could use some fellow PBT members assist with. First is Read a book about Vietnam - I do NOT want some history or other NF book except I think a travel memoir or travel es..."
I recommend A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain - Robert Olen Butler
From the blurb: lyrical and poignant collection of stories about the aftermath of the Vietnam War and its impact on the Vietnamese was acclaimed by critics across the nation and won the Pulitzer Prize in 1993.
One of my favorite collections
How about The Women by Kristen Hannah? Five star engaging read set in Vietnam.
Jen wrote: "Theresa wrote: "I have 2 prompts that I could use some fellow PBT members assist with. First is Read a book about Vietnam - I do NOT want some history or other NF book except I think a travel mem..."
Hmmm... interesting idea but definitely none blood related. I never knew my maternal grandmorther as she died before I was born. My paternal grandmother died when I was 11 after years in a nursing home with some form of dementia. Had loads of aunts but none who lived close and thus not seen regularly to have any idea what if anyting tey read.
But ... you gave me an idea ... my piano teacher was a neighbor, a farmer's wife, grandparent or even great-grandparent age. When I was a teen still taking lessons she lent me books, including introducing me to one of the Queens of Golden Age Detective Stories - Mary Roberts Rinehart. I can absolutely read one of her books in Mrs. Black's honor! Might even be time to reread The Circular Staircase which was the first she lent me.
I was blessed to be invited to the celebration of her 100th birthday. Her family organized it at the lovely senior living facility she had eenliving in for some time in Darien, CT. I drove up from NYC and it was fabulous! She lived a couple more years.
Theresa wrote: "I have 2 prompts that I could use some fellow PBT members assist with. First is Read a book about Vietnam - I do NOT want some history or other NF book except I think a travel memoir or travel es..."
For Vietnam from my TBR:
These are both supposed to be excellent graphic memoirs:
The Best We Could Do by Thi Bui
Family Style: Memories of an American from Vietnam by Thien Pham
Romance/chicklit:
Adam & Evie's Matchmaking Tour by Nora Nguyen
Maybe go really broad for the Mom prompt, like something that would be on one of those "books anyone would like" type of gift guide lists. Or maybe that type of book from the time period she was alive -- something that would have been a bestseller at that time.
An example: The House in the Cerulean Sea was talked about as that type of book when it came out, especially as a good starter book to ease people into LGBTQ+ romances/fantasy. So maybe something like that from one of your favorite genres that you might give to someone you were trying to get into reading as a tempting taster.
Or maybe a children's book/middle grade that would have been available when she was a kid.
Or maybe a Little Women type classic that is practically part of the public consciousness at this point. Something with time-tested appeal and name recognition.
Theresa wrote: "I have 2 prompts that I could use some fellow PBT members assist with. First is Read a book about Vietnam - I do NOT want some history or other NF book except I think a travel memoir or travel es..."
Maybe Catfish and Mandala: A Two-Wheeled Voyage Through the Landscape and Memory of Vietnam would be of interest for you for this one?
Jen wrote: "Theresa wrote: "I have 2 prompts that I could use some fellow PBT members assist with. First is Read a book about Vietnam - I do NOT want some history or other NF book except I think a travel mem..."
That's a great idea!
Theresa, with regards to Vietnam have You Don't Belong Here: How Three Women Rewrote the Story of War on my TBR and have been waiting for it at the library. I cannot vouch for it but the wait list has been a long wait,
Pam wrote: "Theresa wrote: "I have 2 prompts that I could use some fellow PBT members assist with. First is Read a book about Vietnam - I do NOT want some history or other NF book except I think a travel mem..."
I have read and loved The Best We Could Do by Thi Bui! IMHO it is overlooked and under appreciated, deserving of as many accolades as Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic which I also read and loved!
So glad to see another fan! I will take note of your other suggestions too!
Amy wrote: "How about The Women by Kristen Hannah? Five star engaging read set in Vietnam."I will look into it more but I've only liked 2 written by Kristen Hannah - one was a Christmas novella she wrote very early in her career - and a different style of book than she currently writes. The other was The Nightingale. Every other book I have read of hers -- and there were quite a few during the Favorite Author Challenge -- I have not liked at all. So I have basically written her work off.
Theresa wrote: "Jen wrote: "Theresa wrote: "I have 2 prompts that I could use some fellow PBT members assist with. First is Read a book about Vietnam - I do NOT want some history or other NF book except I think ..."
Exactly the type of relationship I was thinking of. I didn't live with parents after 11 so would struggle with this prompt too, unless I used one of mum's Sydney Sheldon ones I read in primary school (which I have no desire to reread).
Linda C wrote: "Theresa wrote: "I have 2 prompts that I could use some fellow PBT members assist with. First is Read a book about Vietnam - I do NOT want some history or other NF book except I think a travel mem..."
OH, that looks interesting! Thanks. I really like collections.
Unbelievable I thought this would be the easiest prompt on my list:"Read a book that won the Bram Stoker Award" as I read Stephen King, Stephen Jones, Jonathan Maberry, Joe Hill but nope all the ones that won I have already read. However a graphic novel might be a good idea for some light reading so any suggestions?
Robin P wrote: "2 historical fiction books about Vietnam which are not cheery but are told from the point of view of women, who are resilient survivors, are The Mountains Sing and [book:Dust Child|..."Those are great ideas! I'm going to have a lovely collection of possibilities for this and future reads I think. Which is good as I seem to have depleted any Vietnam ones from my TBR. I've been reading books about or set in Vietnam since I was a teen - which of course was when the Vietnam War was at its peak and the boys in my classes were expecting to be drafted. Draft ended during our senior years - 72/73 - and only a couple with very early in the year birthdays even had a draft number. My older brother avoided the draft by enlisting, after college deferment ended, as an engineer and ended up in Germany for 4 years driving a truck as he calls it. He was lucky.
You have all helped me think through the book mom would like and definitely out of the box! Robin made a really good point - that PS especially has prompts that are targeted for a narrow audience, one she describes very well. There are also certain other assumptions made that color the prompts - including that it is a US audience -- such as all those prompts referencing school levels.
Let me tell you a bit more about my mother - and father coincidentally. It will help put this prompt into perspective I think as it applies to someone with my background and that of many of the older PBT members - which isn't what anyone anticipates a NYC lawyer with an ivy league education to have! It's going to read like some great almost tragic story but it really has never been perceived that way, not even by my parents. For the record, I had a happy and rich childhood on the farm.
My dad was born in 1909, my mom in 1920. They grew up and had young adulthoods during WWI and the Depression. It colored their approach to life. Both only had 8th grade educations and that was normal in rural America. Mom grew up on a farm, Dad grew up in town but his father worked as an engineer for the railroad - one of the crew on the trains - though his parents bought the farm I grew up on when he and his brothers were teens so that they had jobs. Mom really wanted to go to high school and become a teacher but that was never in the cards - she grew up 4th eldest of 13, and her father died when she was 13. So all the girls old enough to get a job of some kind did so to help keep food on table and roof over their heads while the boys worked the farm. Mom when she was in her early 20s got a job as a housekeeper for a doctor in Owego, NY -- about an hour away from where she grew up - or longer given vehicle speed and engineering wasn't quite what it is today. It was a live-in position. She met my father when friends took her to a Grange meeting. They courted a couple of years, married in '42. As you can see, she really did not have the background to be a reader. Also, 2 of the first 3 children my parents had - between '43 and '47 were born with cerebral palsey, adding to the care burdens at home, exacerbated by the 3rd, Jonny's health deteriorating until he died in 1956. My parents, practicing and faithful Catholics, decided not to have any more children and practiced birth control - I was an accident in 1955 but fortunately all went well, as it did for my 2 younger sisters who eventually came along. My youngest sister, born in 1966, was the only one of us benefiting from fetal monitoring, for example.
As Robin says, this is not the life where anyone has the time to read books for pleasure even if they had an inclination. But Mom did make sure to read childrens books to us and to encourage our reading from libraries. She's also the reason we all went to college and the best school we could get into. And all have careers. Mom felt strongly about education and career - because her personal dreams of that never came to fruition. Though she never understood my interest in eventually becoming a lawyer - too foreign in experience to her life I think - plus the town's lawyer was an eccentric to put it mildly.
Actually writing all this brought a memory to the surface -- Mom had a card to the public library and she took books out on things that she was working on -- refinishing furniture, caning a chair seat, how to books. Also books on early American antiques and vintage items as she would go to estate and yard sales to buy items to fix and use in the house and would research value so she didn't pay too much. Now I'm not going to read a how-to book but I could definitely find in my TBR a couple books - mysteries actually - that relate to those how to and books about collecting and valuing antiquest that I remember her borrowing and reading.
Just to tie up loose ends - it was eventually determined that Cerebral Palsey was not genetic but caused during the birthing process - and breach birth contributed. My mother tended to breach births though not all of us were. My oldest sibling, Rose, has both cerebral palsey and mental disablities. Saw her a week ago - she's now in a special needs nursing home near the farm - on a zoom and it's like looking at my father - only one of us who does! For her physical and mental disabilities, she is the happiest person and gives joy to all. Can't ask for more.
Theresa wrote: "You have all helped me think through the book mom would like and definitely out of the box! Robin made a really good point - that PS especially has prompts that are targeted for a narrow audience..."
My mum was determined we would get an education too. That's why we left home at 11, so we could go and get an English speaking education. She always wanted us to go to uni because she didn't get the chance. She finally did go at 50 though.
My massive TBR pile at home has something for all but 3 of my prompts.....yay!
My mother's (and HER mother's) favorite saying .... Educate a man, and you have educated an individual
Educate a woman, and you will have educated a family.
(Of course, they said it in Spanish...)
Theresa - re VietnamA Bend in the River by Libby Fischer Hellmann
We met Libby for brunch at Gage's when we were in Chicago.
@Jen, I’ve got the same Bram Stoker Award prompt. No suggestions for graphic novels, sorry! Horror is right outside my normal wheelhouse, so I am … er… spoilt for choice, hahahaha. If I can get hold of ‘The Green Mile’, I’ll read that one because I love the film and it’s not as likely to fuel nightmares as some of them! Failing that, I was interested in Stephen Graham Jones’ “The Only Good Indians” because it weaves in Blackfeet mythology of which I know precisely nothing. Have you read it?
For a grandmother book, I really liked ‘My Grandmother Asked Me To Tell You She’s Sorry’ by Fredrik Backman. It’s sly and sarcastic and funny as well as very moving. Backman is a bit hit or miss for me but that one was a treat
Play Book Tag
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"Yesterday's tomorrows" - read a book written before 1990 that takes place in the 21st century.