Play Harder General Discussion

[Theresa]

@Robin - thank you for the sympathy at losing my mother when I was 23. Truth is we had her for 7 years longer than we should have and while it was a big loss for all, we had spent dreading bad news every time the phone rang, so there was a great deal of relief as well.

When I was 16, Mom suffered heart failure, but somehow survived (rare - like unheard of at that time - she wowed the medical establishment). It was the result of damaged heart valves from having rheumatic fever as a child and also being struck by lightening when she was about 12. And surviving. Though Mom got full medical check ups every year, including chest x-rays, her heart condition was untreated, undiagnosed (as a lawyer, clearly there were medical malpractice claims for this and for her 2 children with cerebral palsey but what did farmers in rural America know about lawsuits for medical malpractice?). That led to the heart failure. But my younger sisters were very young yet and she was determined to see them to a point they would be fine -- and she spent those years preparing all of us for losing her. She also still lived a very full life though less active and she had to rest a lot and spent a lot of time in and out of hospitals.

I'm writing a lot here about Mom and my family - Christmas was her holiday and a big one in the family and still. Seems appropriate. And it helped me think around that prompt.

Oh, and if this were a prompt my sisters had to fill - they would pick books that I would like! At 16, I became an even more important figure in their lives than I was as a much older sister.

[Joy D]

I've read a few for Vietnam that I've enjoyed.

If you're looking for fiction:
Absolution by Alice McDermott
Wandering Souls by Cecile Pin
The Refugees by Viet Thanh Nguyen
On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong

This one is not set entirely in Vietnam but has a Vietnam connection (also set in Paris - you might like this one, Theresa):
The Book of Salt by Monique Truong

[Anita]

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..."

So I've been giving some thought to a "swap", and after some helpful brainstorming with a member, I think it will work like this:

1. Once a quarter, we'll do a "white elephant style" swap.
2. Everyone will get a number. Higher numbers will be better in this case.
3. Everyone submits ONE prompt they really would rather not read to me privately.
4. The first person will select a number, and they will receive a new prompt.
5. The second person may then either steal that prompt from the first person, or open a new prompt.
6. And so forth and so one until all the prompts are redistributed.
7. Each person may only hold a given prompt up to three times.

There's some risk here because conceivably you could end up with a worse prompt than the one you are trading out. But it also upholds the random nature of this activity while also keeping things a bit of a "challenge".

The first swap will happen starting on February 20th.

[Joanne]

Love this Anita!

[SouthWestZippy]

Anita 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..."

This is a great idea!

[Robin P]

Theresa, thank you for sharing about your family! I would have thought that “authorities “ would tell your family to put the older children in an institution. Maybe they did, but your parents’ faith and love led them to keep them at home. It must have been difficult for you being the strongest of all your siblings, though it undoubtedly made you the leader you are. It’s a credit to your parents that they encouraged you to leave home instead of convincing you that you needed to stay home to help out.

[Jason]

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..."

Two books off the top of my head about Vietnam

The Things They Carried
Up Country

[Theresa]

Anita 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..."

So clever and inventive! Love it!

[Theresa]

Jason 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..."

Those are great ideas. I may have read the deMille years ago but could easily reread it as I remember little.

[Theresa]

Book Concierge wrote: "Theresa - re Vietnam

A Bend in the River by Libby Fischer Hellmann

We met Libby for brunch at Gage's when we were in Chicago."

I remember our brunch in Chicago and I have this on my TBR already

[Theresa]

Jen wrote: "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 o..."

Have you read The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold? Won Bram Stoker first novel in 2002 and was a finalist for the Orange Prize.

[Theresa]

Robin P wrote: "Theresa, thank you for sharing about your family! I would have thought that “authorities “ would tell your family to put the older children in an institution. Maybe they did, but your parents’ fait..."

Don't get me started on "authorities" attempting to dictate in these situations! Rose did go away to a facility when she was 12 so far away we saw her for a few hour once a year. Johnny never did as his health steadily deteriorated and he died when he was 8. This was the mid-50s, very different times.

I am both a middle child and an eldest - my brother who is normal is 10 years older than me. He left home for college and did not return except for holidays. I was an only chilge for 4 glorious years until mt younger sister came along and ruined everything 😅. Our youngest sister came along 6 years later.

Thus I also bridged the generations - between our brother and the younger. Perhaps that's where my diplomatic side came about - all that practice.

[Rachel N.]

I like the idea of the white elephant swap but I assume this is voluntary? I like all my prompts and don't want to exchange any of them.

[Anita]

Rachel N. wrote: "I like the idea of the white elephant swap but I assume this is voluntary? I like all my prompts and don't want to exchange any of them."

YES!! If you like your prompts, I would encourage you to keep them!

The swap is just for people who really have a prompt they want to switch out for one reason or other.

[Anita]

Theresa wrote: "@Robin - thank you for the sympathy at losing my mother when I was 23. Truth is we had her for 7 years longer than we should have and while it was a big loss for all, we had spent dreading bad news..."

I feel there's a wonderful memoir in here somewhere. You are a really strong person. My hat is off to you.

[Amy]

Agreed about Theresa writing a Memoir.

Love love love the idea of an elephant swap. I may in fact be done with my 12 prompts by then, but if asked today, I would swap "Read a book that challenges you." For which I wouldn't go for something completely antithetical to my beliefs. But I would go with non-fiction, because non-fiction and long are extremely challenging for me. And yet there exists a book or two on my TBR that I have been hoping a prompt would someday make me get to. If I retain this prompt, I will at some point read Notorious RBG. Or try to. Chances are, it will be my elephant swap after all...

[Book Concierge]

Amy wrote: "Agreed about Theresa writing a Memoir.

Love love love the idea of an elephant swap. I may in fact be done with my 12 prompts by then, but if asked today, I would swap "Read a book that challenges ..."

Amy ... "a book that challenges you" .... read POETRY
I think you would love any of these stories told in verse
Out of the Dust
Something Like Home
The Poet X
Before the Ever After
Inside Out & Back Again
A Time to Dance

All of these have been classified as YA or middle-school. They are VERY accessible. I seriously think you would love any one of these. Go on, Amy ... take the plunge!

[Book Concierge]

And, while I've read all these previously (some more than once), I would happily Buddy-read one with you. So, you pick, Amy ... and I'll read along with you.

[Theresa]

Book Concierge wrote: "And, while I've read all these previously (some more than once), I would happily Buddy-read one with you. So, you pick, Amy ... and I'll read along with you."

I would recommend Out of the Dust as it's the one I have read and would happily re-read it along with you and BC!

[Linda C]

I like the white elephant and already have my prompt ready to send along to Anita.

[Amy]

Okay so this is seriously funny and I will share the joke with you all. Of course! Our darling Tessa KNOWS I don't care for Verse. Like I really hate and detest it. She has been trying to get me to read all of these absolutely wonderful verse books that she feels are amazing. Every couple of months she has a new suggestion of a verse book for me. She is right. That would be the perfect answer to the challenge prompt of a book that challenges you. And she is absolutely sure I would love it. I am pretty damn sure I would not.

A third option would be poetry. That is up there with Verse and dense non-fiction/biography. But I am starting to think between Notorious RBG and Martyr, maybe I wouldn't swap this one. Maybe I wouldn't need to swap at all. I mean I could throw in the National Parks Prompt.... Since nothing is on my TBR... We shall have to see how this evolves.

[NancyJ]

Jen wrote: "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 o..."

Jen,
On the topic of inappropriate books that we don’t want to reread, I read The Happy Hooker: My Own Story when I was in middle school. It gave me some very bad advice on how to kiss, which led to a very embarrassing moment at a party. It was hard to live down. It seems hysterical to me now though. Embarrassing moment #2 was when my dad found it in my room. I had to explain that I didn’t understand most of the book at all, and he eventually believed me. I eventually realized that he found the humor in it too. He heard him laugh when he told his friends his daughter was twelve going on 21.

[Joanne]

I know there is someone here that has read Perestroika in Paris - I would like to know if the horse (or any non-human) is the narrator.

[Robin P]

Joanne wrote: "I know there is someone here that has read Perestroika in Paris - I would like to know if the horse (or any non-human) is the narrator."

It's in 3rd person but told from the point of view of the horse. There are other animals and I think their sections are told from their points of view.

[Theresa]

All - I want to thank all of you who made suggestions for Vietnam! I have set them up in my tracking - I have a section where I will list book covers for each list item that I have where I don't automatically have a book or know I will read one at some point. Not sure yet what will be read - mood will play in.

BUT in case others are looking - here's a link to where I parked all these fab suggestions: Vietnam Suggestions.

AND, to whoever suggested Catfish and Mandala: A Two-Wheeled Voyage Through the Landscape and Memory of Vietnam - it also fits my #3 - a journey etc. It will likely be read for that one!

In fact I may see how far I can use these suggested books for various prompt challenges like PS and ATY.

[Jen]

Theresa wrote: "AND, to whoever suggested Catfish and Mandala: A Two-Wheeled Voyage Through the Landscape and Memory of Vietnam - it also fits my #3 - a journey etc. It will likely be read for that one!"

That was me! So glad it was helpful!

[LibraryCin]

Amy wrote: "Okay so this is seriously funny and I will share the joke with you all. Of course! Our darling Tessa KNOWS I don't care for Verse. Like I really hate and detest it. She has been trying to get me to..."

I have another recommendation for you, Amy. :-)

Mirror Mirror: A Book of Reverso Poems by Marilyn Singer.

It's fairy tales, but told in verse/poetry. BUT, you can also read it backwards and it makes sense! It's very cool,

I found this one YEARS ago when PBT was still on shelfari and read it for an early "poetry" tag. And I hate poetry, as well!

ETA: I can't remember if we have to have the 150 pages. This may not work, then, as it's also a picture book.

[Pam]

Anita wrote: "So I've been giving some thought to a "swap", and after some helpful brainstorming with a member, I think it will work like this:"

Fun!!! I love this plan. I may try to get my first list done before Feb. 20 since I wouldn't want to risk swapping out any of my current prompts :) I have my travel memoir on hold to pick up at the library tomorrow, and I'm itching to get started on this first set!

[Joi]

Catching up on all things challenges for 2025 and had a couple of questions if someone is able to help catch me up :) I trust the kindness of PBT that you'll give me grace as I haven't been on much lately :)

1) Can we "stack" challenge books. IE. I know we get bonus points for Compass if it matches the tag (Canada will be great for my first direction, which is North from Oregon). But can we ALSO triple it and use it for a Play Harder tag for a triple whammy?

2) Is tracking miles for Compass required? Or just something people are doing for their personal challenges/for fun?

3) For Play Harder- Confirming: If we finish the list of 12, the next step is to either call the game done, or request a new list of 12? I doubt I'd need more than 12, but just double checking.

Also- LOVE the idea for a white elephant swap for tags for play harder.

I have one Play Harder tag I'd love a 'hive mind' for: "Includes a road trip of at least 500 miles", how would we know or calculate the mileage of a road trip before reading the book. Looking at The Road Trip, but the most I can gauge is they're going from their home, which I'm assuming is London- to "Northern Ireland" for a wedding. Which could be anywhere from 400-600 miles. Am I overthinking this? LOL

THANK YOU ALL for your help, I'm looking forward to seeing everyone more (and reading more!) in 2025!

[NancyJ]

Joi wrote: "Catching up on all things challenges for 2025 and had a couple of questions if someone is able to help catch me up :) I trust the kindness of PBT that you'll give me grace as I haven't been on much..."

Welcome back Joi!

1- yes. If you have a Canada book that works for both Play harder and Compass you can use it for both, plus the regular monthly points. Note- for compass, your book must be set directly north of where you start (more or less). Vancouver would work for North, but Winnipeg is NE, and Montreal is East.

2- I don’t think tracking distance is required, but you might win something for having the most or fewest miles. So it’s worth noting when you can. (Some books are really hard to pin to a specific location.)

3- yes

Road trip -
If you have enough information, you can get # miles from a map app, or travelmath.com.

[MelanieJoy]

Anita 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..."

BRILLIANT!!

[MelanieJoy]

I can't find the answer to this - it's probably in there somewhere

Can you complete your list in any order or do you need to go 1-12 consecutively?

[NancyJ]

MelanieJoy wrote: "I can't find the answer to this - it's probably in there somewhere

Can you complete your list in any order or do you need to go 1-12 consecutively?"

You can complete them in any order. You can create a tracking thread in this folder and edit or update it as often as you like.

[MelanieJoy]

Thanks Nancy! I made my tracking thread.

Now to figure out which prompt can also fit the tag...

[Booknblues]

Theresa wrote: "All - I want to thank all of you who made suggestions for Vietnam! I have set them up in my tracking - I have a section where I will list book covers for each list item that I have where I don't au..."

Theresa, I'm going to post a link to my page for Vietnam. I thought Matterhorn was excellent and it is a long book, but I read it over a decade ago. I also have a couple of other 5 star books.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/list...

[Joi]

NancyJ wrote: "Road trip -
If you have enough information, you can get # miles from a map app, or travelmath.com."

Thank you Nancy!!
The conundrum I'm running into, is without the destinations written in the bio of the book or a review, how do you know what locations to even put into a tracker to find the miles, or that it would qualify for the 500 mile prompt.

For the book I was looking at it says "The car is soon jam-packed full of luggage and secrets, and with three hundred miles ahead of them, Dylan and Addie can't avoid confronting the very messy history of their relationship..." so I'm thinking this would not qualify, but for future books- it's hard to say what the mileage would be for a road trip without reading the book to know where they are going.

I'll just need to do some review-based digging for locations it seems when looking for that prompt :)
Thanks!

[NancyJ]

Joi wrote: "NancyJ wrote: "Road trip -
If you have enough information, you can get # miles from a map app, or travelmath.com."

Thank you Nancy!!
The conundrum I'm running into, is without the destinations wr..."

I know what you mean. I’ve been obsessively googling for information about where each book is set (and searching Ontario maps) just to find a book that is North, but not NE, NW or W. (I still don’t know where the Mary Lawson books are set. )

For your 500 mile prompt, it’s worth googling questions about your book, because the AI might find the exact blurb, review or author interview that spells it out for you. If it’s iffy, ask if there is a map in the book that shows the trip. In many travel books there are. If you can get the ebook for free, you might find exactly what you need with a keyword search.

Once you have the two locations, one of the many trip planning tools can help you to estimate the distance. The driving miles will be a lot longer than the straight line distance. A trip within a book will have side trips or detours that make it even longer,

If that book isn’t the one, there might be great listopias within Goodreads with the books you need. I always use google to find good listopias - “books about long road trips” or “books with cross country road trips.” If you add “Goodreads” you’ll get the longer lists.

Also of course, many people here will be able to list some great books rightvaway. The person who wrote the prompt especially.

[Theresa]

Booknblues wrote: "Theresa wrote: "All - I want to thank all of you who made suggestions for Vietnam! I have set them up in my tracking - I have a section where I will list book covers for each list item that I have ..."

FABULOUS! i will add a link in my personal tracking as reference. Hopefully anyone looking to read for Vietnam will visit both.

[Theresa]

Joi wrote: "Catching up on all things challenges for 2025 and had a couple of questions if someone is able to help catch me up :) I trust the kindness of PBT that you'll give me grace as I haven't been on much..."

Great to see you here, Joi! Love seeing you joining in the fun!

The prompt 'road trip of at least 500 miles" is one of mine, and the distances was such as to be sure it would be more than a quick trip done in an afternoon. However, if both to and from get counted, even a trip from NYC to Ithaca and back would count as long as both sides of trip are in book. Pretty much just using Google Maps gives you mileage sufficient to know if long enough.

But yes, you will have to do some checking to know if you are preplanning. The Road Trip will only work if the also drive back to London after the wedding in the book - a summary says the wedding is 300 miles away. No mention of whether there is a mention of driving back- even if just in an epilogue. You could PM any PBT member who read it (OM did for example and wrote a long review) and ask.

I tend to fill prompts like this just from casual reading, as I always seem to have books with a road trip in them of some kind.

[Joi]

Theresa wrote: "Great to see you here, Joi! Love seeing you joining in the fun!."

Great point- if they drive back that would count towards the mile count as well! Appreciate the insight into the prompt :)

[Book Concierge]

Joi wrote: "Road trip of at least 500 miles..."

I recently read Mrs. Nash's Ashes where the couple drive from Washington DC to Key West Florida. Is a rom-com (so don't know if that's in your wheelhouse). But Google maps tells me the driving distance is about 1200 miles.

Of course, there's always the iconic Travels with Charley: In Search of America by John Steinbeck

[Theresa]

Here are some Road Trip books over 500 miles I have read and loved:

The Lincoln Highway
Lolita
The Grapes of Wrath
The Sun Also Rises
Kafka on the Shore


Possibles - milage needs to be checked
The Unlikely Adventures of the Shergill Sisters
The Travelling Cat Chronicles

[NancyJ]

Joi, there is also a way to use your road trip in the Compass game to add the book miles to your own travel miles.

[Joy D]

Joi, if you have any desire to read non-fiction, there are many books whose titles will tell you they go 500 miles or more. For example, I can highly recommend:
- Out of Istanbul: A Journey of Discovery along the Silk Road by Bernard Ollivier (on foot across Turkey!)
- Walking the Nile by Levison Wood (the entire length of the river, except for war-torn South Sudan)
- Walking the Himalayas by Levison Wood
- A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail by Bill Bryson
- The Oregon Trail: A New American Journey by Rinker Buck
- Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail by Cheryl Strayed
- The River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt's Darkest Journey by Candice Millard
- River of Darkness: Francisco Orellana's Legendary Voyage of Death and Discovery Down the Amazon by Buddy Levy
Tracks: One Woman's Journey Across 1,700 Miles of Australian Outback by Robyn Davidson
- A Pilgrimage to Eternity: From Canterbury to Rome in Search of a Faith by Timothy Egan
- Lands of Lost Borders: Out of Bounds on the Silk Road by Kate Harris
- The Sun Is a Compass: A 4,000-Mile Journey into the Alaskan Wilds by Caroline Van Hemert

I've got too many to list them all, so anyone interested, feel free to PM me with specific regions you may be looking for or take a look at my Travel shelf:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/list...

[Theresa]

If you like historical romance and mystery set in Regency and Victorian Eras, I can provide a list.

Want to mention that this year's Popsugar Challenge has a roadtrip prompt. The GR group Ultimate Popsugarasa healp thread.

[Charlie]

Joy D wrote: "Joi, if you have any desire to read non-fiction, there are many books whose titles will tell you they go 500 miles or more. For example, I can highly recommend:
- Out of Istanbul: A Journey o..."</i>

This is a great list of recommendations and I absolutely second [book:A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail.

[Saorsa]

Question: can I cross reference a Goodreads tag with just the books on my shelf even if I didn’t give the book that tag? For example: one of my prompts is to read one of the ten shortest books on my shelf. This is excruciatingly specific. Is there a way to get Goodreads to actually list all the books on my shelf from shortest to longest? If so, that rocks, both for this prompt and for the chunky challenge. Even if I can do that, I’d still love an answer to my first question. For example, say you need a novella but don’t habitually tag your books as such. Is there a way to bring up the books on your shelf that others have tagged as a novella?

[Saorsa]

I noticed a couple people talking about National Parks. We have some amazing ones here in Alaska, and I’m happy to recommend books if anyone is interested. In general, I have two slightly more oblique books — also Alaskan in theme — I thought I’d recommend on the topic. Obviously, if there is an Alaska prompt, these would work there, too.

John Muir and the Ice That Started a Fire: How A Visionary And The Glaciers Of Alaska Changed America is about as close as you can get to the genesis of our National Parks movement. The book is about Muir’s time in Alaska, how even back then from summer to summer he saw the glaciers melting. This was the beginning of Muir’s passion for advocating for conservation and setting aside protected lands. I have written this book into curricula for both high school and university students. It is a fairly short, very fast read that is universally loved by my students. The author, Kim Heacox, also wrote The Only Kayak: A Journey Into The Heart Of Alaska, which won’t work for the National Parks prompt, but is, I think, one of the most elegiac books about Alaska ever written [edited: tagged National Parks by more than five people —highly recommend this one!]

Pilgrim's Wilderness: A True Story of Faith and Madness on the Alaska Frontier This might not come front of mind as a book about National Parks, but it definitely is. The book grew out of a series of articles Tom Kizzia wrote for the Anchorage Daily News about land access rights in Wrangell St. Elias National Park between the Hale Family and the National Park Service. During his reporting, as the family began to trust Kizzia, he began to realize that there were things going on out on that homestead far worse than bulldozing a road.

[NancyJ]

Saorse wrote: "Question: can I cross reference a Goodreads tag with just the books on my shelf even if I didn’t give the book that tag? For example: one of my prompts is to read one of the ten shortest books on m..."

Yes it’s fairly easy to do.
1. Go to My Books
2. Click on Want to Read (upper left). (Or any other shelf you’d like to sort).
3. You’ll see a list of books with a few columns. Click on “Num Pages” 1-2 times to resort the list.

Added
It doesn’t look like you have a setting for Num pages, so look up slightly and to the right for “Settings,” and click on “Num pages” to add it. Save settings.

When I tried it on your list, there were several books that weren’t numbered at all. I think you can just ignore them. You have many books under 150 pages, which is normally required for challenges. You could check with Anita, but I think it’s falr to assume that rule is waived in this case.

I think it would be reasonable to do some pruning first to delete books you know you’ll NEVER want to read.

[Amy]

I have a National Park Prompt! I collected a couple of things for it. i am definitely not a non-fiction reader... But I have a couple of things that just might fit.