Play Book Tag discussion
2025 Activities and Challenges
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Play Harder General Discussion
Amy wrote: "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."Not a nonfiction reader! You wound me! 😔
And I am a non-fiction lover, Saorse. Cannot wait to see what you read!
I am using not one but TWO non-fiction books for my prompt of "a book that challenges you." I have two RBG books I have always wanted to read, and have needed a prompt for. I think she has become my remarkble person of the year....
Saorse wrote: "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...."I don't have the national park prompt but this sounds really good, anyway!
Joanne wrote: "And I am a non-fiction lover, Saorse. Cannot wait to see what you read!"I got nonfiction history as a prompt, which made me laugh. I gave my assistant carte blanche to choose any book she likes. That could turn out a little terrifying.
Amy wrote: "I am using not one but TWO non-fiction books for my prompt of "a book that challenges you." I have two RBG books I have always wanted to read, and have needed a prompt for. I think she has become m..."I love RBG! When I was looking at PhD programs, I gave serious thought to Yale’s doctorate in the history of law. However, not only are they extremely competitive to begin with, they give huge favor to first year Yale law students looking to do a dual degree. In your second year of law school, you also begin your PhD coursework. Since I already did a serious shift in gears in terms of my area of concentration between my masters and PhD, necessitating the writing of a second Master’s thesis, Yale’s program sounded a bit much for me. However, I still LOVE legal books. I have Reading the Constitution: Why I Chose Pragmatism, Not Textualism and Vision: A Memoir of Blindness and Justice on deck at the moment. What I miss most about RBG is reading her dissents. She and Justice Kagan have a body of amazing written work. They are witty and concise and cutting in just the right way (RBG definitely more so than Justice Kagan). RBG and Alito were always so entertaining to watch during arguments, too. I can definitely see why you want to read more about her.
Where do we post our Play Harder reviews?
Jason wrote: "Where do we post our Play Harder reviews?"I'm not sure if this is the only thread, but I'd appreciate you posting here:
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
Thank you! :-)
Jason wrote: "Where do we post our Play Harder reviews?"Jason - Basically as I see it, you post the full review in the normal monthly and other PBT review threads. Then you put a link to that review in your personal tracking thread and in LibraryCin's shelving thread she just linked to. I plan to follow Sue's format there - message #9. When I eventually get around to reading a book for one of my prompts. 😉
I’ve knocked off two prompts already. I love it when something on your TBR just fits what you need to.
Question for Anita/ the group: I have the Play Harder prompt "Read a book from the 2024 Play Book Tag Top Ten list." Now that the official 2024 list is out and only 5 books instead of 10, could I include the Honorable Mentions or only the 5 on the official list?
Jen K wrote: "Question for Anita/ the group: I have the Play Harder prompt "Read a book from the 2024 Play Book Tag Top Ten list." Now that the official 2024 list is out and only 5 books instead of 10, could I..."
I would count the honorable mentions too. They were all tied for 6th place.
Jen K wrote: "Question for Anita/ the group: I have the Play Harder prompt "Read a book from the 2024 Play Book Tag Top Ten list." Now that the official 2024 list is out and only 5 books instead of 10, could I..."
I have it, too, and was planning to include the honourable mentions.
I don't have that prompt but I would absolutely include them, basically any mentioned with placement at all in the official announcement.
Thanks all!! I appreciate the extra options.
I remember seeing a Time Travel prompt. If you have not read The Doomsday Book, I can recommend it. I don't have the prompt, but another challenge I need time travel for, I have a physical copy for a long time so decided it was time to read it. Picked it up as a filler book between some heavy books I have been reading. Smart, funny, and great writing.
Just wanted to mention a book I just read that qualifies as- A book related to science or technology
- Read a book by an author who is also a scientist
The Blue Machine: How the Ocean Works - Helen Czerski is a physicist and oceanographer
I read it for:
- Read a non-fiction book
It is funny that I got this prompt, since I read so many non-fictions, but I guess I shouldn't complain about an easy one. :-)
I just finished reading The Black Loch by Peter May and realized it fits one of my prompts-12. Read a book by an author whose last name could be a first name: example: Christopher ROBIN
If anyone else has this prompt they may want to give Peter May a try.
I see there is a prompt for book set during the ancient Roman empire. There are 2 excellent mystery series that workMedicus - Ruth Downie - 1st in series about an army doctor in Roman Britain
The Silver Pigs - Lindsey Davis - 1st in series about a down-on-his-luck private investigator
Both series have humor and make the period very real.
Joanne wrote: "I remember seeing a Time Travel prompt. If you have not read The Doomsday Book, I can recommend it. I don't have the prompt, but another challenge I need time travel for, I have a p..."It's a wonderful book! It may sound bleak, but overall it's very uplifting and very engaging. The author, Connie Willis has several other books about the time-traveling historians. Speaking of which, for a somewhat madcap take on time travel, there is always the St Mary's series by Jodi Taylor
Robin P wrote: "I see there is a prompt for book set during the ancient Roman empire. There are 2 excellent mystery series that workMedicus - Ruth Downie - 1st in series about an army d..."
Add to those the SPQR series by John Maddox Roberts - grittier crime fiction set in Ancient Rome. First in series is The King's Gambit,
I of course love the Lindsey Davis books.
Joy D wrote: "Just wanted to mention a book I just read that qualifies as- A book related to science or technology
- Read a book by an author who is also a scientist
[book:The Blue Machine: How the Ocean Works..."
This looks so good! It was a “Buy Now” for me. Bad, Saorse, buying more books.
Robin P wrote: "Joanne wrote: "I remember seeing a Time Travel prompt. If you have not read The Doomsday Book, I can recommend it. I don't have the prompt, but another challenge I need time travel ..."I only have a few St. Mary's left, so I thought I would try something not on the Tbr too long and a new to me author. Loving it so far
I have a prompt, „a book featuring a story about a grandparent.“ I am just a bit over a year into this fun grandparenting gig. I’m super blessed to live multigenerationally with my adorable granddaughter, Scout. (Yes, she is named after the main character in the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird) I would love to read a book, fiction or nonfiction, where the relationship between a grandmother and granddaughter are central to the book’s theme. Any suggestions for me?
Saorse wrote: "I have a prompt, „a book featuring a story about a grandparent.“ I am just a bit over a year into this fun grandparenting gig. I’m super blessed to live multigenerationally with my adorable grandda..."My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry is perfect
And of course GR has a shelf for Grandmothers, though you'd have to look through it as some are children's books, or about grandsons, I assume.
https://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/...
Robin P wrote: "Saorse wrote: "I have a prompt, „a book featuring a story about a grandparent.“ I am just a bit over a year into this fun grandparenting gig. I’m super blessed to live multigenerationally with my a..."I loved Fredrik Backman‘s Beartown books but have yet to read another by him. Elsa‘s story sounds perfect! I did a fair amount of browsing through a bunch of lists both on and off Goodreads just on grandparents in general and on grandmothers in particular. It made me a bit frustrated because almost everything I was finding was either for kids or not tagged anything relevant (grandparents, grandparent, grandmothers, grandmother, grandma, grandfather, etc.) at least five times. The huge majority of books are for kids. In a way, it surprises me because I know I’ve read plenty of adult books that feature a grandparent quite prominently. This one is tagged to meet the rules and sounds great! Much appreciated.
Saorse wrote: "not tagged anything relevant (grandparents, grandparent, grandmothers, grandmother, grandma, grandfather, etc.) at least five times. .."There is NO general requirement that a book have a tag that relates to the prompt. UNLESS your specific prompt includes that requirement, you do not have to worry about tags.
Another book that includes a grandmother & granddaughter - Mother-Daughter Murder Night - which is described as: "A lighthearted whodunnit about a grandmother-mother-daughter trio of amateur sleuths. Gilmore Girls , but with murder. "
Book Concierge wrote: "Saorse wrote: "not tagged anything relevant (grandparents, grandparent, grandmothers, grandmother, grandma, grandfather, etc.) at least five times. .."There is NO general requirement that a book ..."
Good to know! I was going by the usual contest rules. This is nice, because there are a couple I want to read that just don’t have a lot of reviews at all or are too new and so don’t meet the usual tag requirement.
I’ll look up the whodunnit. I don’t have many of those in general, and that’s a popular tag!
I have searched and cannot find an answer to this:Is there somewhere we are to post our finished books besides our personal tracking thread?
Reviews just go in your personal tracking thread. You can give Anita a link to the whole thing when you apply for a new list.If you’re not shelving the books for Play Harder yourself, it’s also helpful to drop a link to the book title into the Play Harder Shelving thread, so Cindy can see it and make sure it’s shelved. Doesn’t need a review link.
Do I have to make a personal thread to track my play harder results?Side note, when I first got my list I thought "this will be a breeze" because they all seemed like tags that would easily fit into already established reading plans. Then the new year started and I looked again. There are a couple of tough ones 🤣🤔 Like forgery or counterfeit...
Meli wrote: "Do I have to make a personal thread to track my play harder results?..."I asked this a while back. It's not necessary. I am just keeping track on my larger all-challenges personal tracking thread.
BUT, I would love for you to just pop over to the "Play Harder - SHELVING" thread, as well, so I can make sure the book gets added to our bookshelf. (I'm even doing this, though I obviously shelve my own books... that being said, every once in a while I will forget to add it, so I always double check in whatever thread or folder I am using for shelving.)
In the shelving thread, you don't need to post your review. Title and author are sufficient. But for those looking for ideas, (in addition to this discussion thread), if people are also mentioning which prompt they fit for it's another place to check.
ETA: Here is the link to the shelving thread:
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
Thank you, LibraryCin! Absolutely, I will post in the shelving thread.
I just thought if I can skip a personal tracker it will be one less place for me to remember to track :)
I am getting forgetful and lazy at my old age 🤣
Meli wrote: "Thank you, LibraryCin! Absolutely, I will post in the shelving thread.
I just thought if I can skip a personal tracker it will be one less place for me to remember to track :)
I am getting forge..."
Meli - forgery or counterfeit was my suggestion -- and I can certainly identify some mysteries, mostly dealing with art forgery - also NF. You know where to find me if you need help.
Theresa wrote: "Meli wrote: "Thank you, LibraryCin! Absolutely, I will post in the shelving thread.
I just thought if I can skip a personal tracker it will be one less place for me to remember to track :)
I am ..."
Thank you, Theresa :)
Meli wrote: "Do I have to make a personal thread to track my play harder results?Side note, when I first got my list I thought "this will be a breeze" because they all seemed like tags that would easily fit i..."
You do need one place to post your whole list so you can share it with Anita when you’re done. She won’t be checking this thread. I think it’s easiest to create your own tracking thread for Play Harder so you won’t have to hunt for titles later. I think that’s Anita’s preference too. If you’re already keeping track somewhere else, you could wait till you’re done and post the list for Anita and Cindy at the same time. The Play Harder shelving can be done at the end, since it’s not related to the monthly tag. I think that’s what I’m going to do, to save time and reduce unnecessary steps.
It might even be easier for Cindy to do the challenge shelving based on the completed lists when they’re reported. That way she can be sure she got them all.
Meli wrote: "I just thought if I can skip a personal tracker it will be one less place for me to remember to track :)..."That was exactly my thinking!
Joy did suggest putting it in my all-challenge thread with a link to the separate tracker, but I just decided to not worry about that.
ETA: I am not competing, so I don't need to worry about Anita seeing it. What Nancy said above no one mentioned to me when I asked, and I did wonder how that would work, but it doesn't really matter for me, since I'm just playing for fun.
NancyJ wrote: "It might even be easier for Cindy to do the challenge shelving based on the completed lists when they’re reported. That way she can be sure she got them all..."
Whether it's posted all at once or not, just having it all in one thread is what's easiest for me (as we have set it up this year). I will mark where I finish shelving each time I do it. (That is, I will do each one in the thread, then make a comment that I'm done to that point.)
I just re-read one of my prompts and realized that I may have misinterpreted it initially so coming here for clarification: - Read a book about the closest sports franchise to where you live. Sport of your choice.--Is this meaning a book about the sport itself that's associated with the franchise/team nearest me, or about the actual franchise itself? IOW, if the Chicago Cubs were the nearest to me, would I be looking for a book with a connection to the Chicago Cubs specifically, or just a book about baseball?
NancyJ wrote: "You do need one place to post your whole list so you can share it with Anita when you’re done. "Oh, that is a good point... I thought she was tracking as we add to the SHELVE thread, but that is just to track what books were read and shelve them?
Meli wrote: "NancyJ wrote: "You do need one place to post your whole list so you can share it with Anita when you’re done. "Oh, that is a good point... I thought she was tracking as we add to the SHELVE threa..."
Yes. I just finished my first Play Harder prompt book and shelved it to Play Harder and Canada in the group bookshelf. Then I put a note of title/author etc. in the thread. I have a separate tracking thread for PH and Compass where I not just track them both but also do some planning/posting options for some of the prompts - and that's been very handy! Once I finish my first list, I'll be able to just copy/paste it where Anita needs to see it.
Jen wrote: "I just re-read one of my prompts and realized that I may have misinterpreted it initially so coming here for clarification: - Read a book about the closest sports franchise to where you live. Sport..."It says any sport you choose, so I would start with your favorite sport if you have one. (Otherwise someone might be struggling to find a book about a minor league lacrosse team if that’s closest to them.) I might start by looking for the most popular book about a team, and hope to find one in the cities (or colleges) close to me.
This will be a lot easier for some locations than others. Teams with storied coaches, great seasons, or Olympics connections might have a lot of interesting books. Other teams might have nada, so it might be reasonable to pick a book about that sport that covers multiple teams. Good luck Jen!
Jen wrote: "I just re-read one of my prompts and realized that I may have misinterpreted it initially so coming here for clarification: - Read a book about the closest sports franchise to where you live. Sport..."Probably best if answered by the person who suggested this prompt. I'm assuming Anita will be able to put you in contact with that member.
It's definitely going to be harder to find something for the sports prompt, "closest sports franchise to where you live" for people who don't live in big cities. Once you get your answer, Jen, I would probably extrapolate to find the closest "major" league team to me because I'm pretty sure there aren't many books about lower-level franchises (e.g., lower than the equivalent of the "major" leagues in any sport). I know that books exist for ALL of the major league baseball clubs (I've looked), so baseball is always a good option.
I wonder if a fictional team would work. There are plenty of romances with baseball/football/hockey players and the state is usually named but it's not a real team.
It’s the franchise aspect of that prompt which would be hard for me. Easy enough to read about sport or about national sports teams (and in a country of 5 million people pretty much everything could be kind of said to be local, aye?!) But the only franchises are in rugby (gak), netball (snore), football (eye roll) or cricket which I love and which would be fine but I doubt there are many books about the Wellington Firebirds … or, indeed, about the less favoured local sports teams either. It would be a struggle for sure. I might be able to find a local player biography or something, perhaps.
KateNZ wrote: "It’s the franchise aspect of that prompt which would be hard for me. "And this is the part that I'm confused and need clarification on. I'm fortunate enough to live in an area with several professional sports teams nearby as an option. What I'm not understanding, I guess, is whether or not I need to be reading a book that's associated with THAT franchise, or with the sport that franchise is a part of.
As a specific example, I was initially thinking of a fictional romance about a college age hockey player because the nearest franchise to me is the San Jose Sharks NHL team. But when I re-read the prompt, I realized that maybe I'm supposed to read a book actually about the Sharks team.
Am I overcomplicating this?
Katrine, I recently became a cricket fan and know some books about the sport of cricket - mostly fiction - but none about the Wellington Firebirds unfortunately. Jen, I think the term "franchise" means it needs to be a real team, but as BC says, perhaps the suggester could weigh in. I'm sure Anita can rule on it. As a fellow baseball fan, I'm sure she will know.
Jen, I am a huge Sharks fan and would be happy to help you research it if need be!
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Thanks! I got it to work from your first set of instructions. Super helpful. I actually don’t want to prune my list. I know some of those books look a bit strange. I’m a historian. As such, I read a lot of things that are pretty “off the beaten path,” even for fun. These are books that don’t pertain directly to my field of study but caught my eye. I don’t generally tend to keep my academic books here; our library has a really great folder system on its online research portal that facilitates cross-referencing, like-sourcing, sharing with colleagues, etc., so most of my work stuff is there. Many historical works or very old works in translation are unpaged, so they show up as “0” pages. In reality, they might be anything from a booklet to a doorstopper. For the sake of the challenge, I went with that usual 150 page rule that we’ve always used. I selected from my first ten books starting from 150 on up, as my prompt was to choose one of the ten shortest books on my shelf. Appreciate the help. I’m going to play around in some of those settings and see what else I can magic up.