Play Book Tag discussion

Please vote for the tag you would most like to read for August at the following link:

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/TWLGKBT

You may click on the answer choices in the survey to see a listing of books that fit each tag.

Remember, you may cast up to a total of 10 participation points for your choice. Everyone gets one vote for free so please vote even if you don't have any participation points!

You can see how many participation points you currently have in the spreadsheet below.

Please note that if you are new to PBT, the participation points are tallied at the beginning of each month, so it is possible your name may not yet be added to the spreadsheet. Don't worry, it will be next month! In the meantime, you have one vote to cast, so please join the voting.

With all the new people, calculating the participation points is getting more challenging. We are up for the challenge, but if you think there may be an error, you are welcome to PM JoLene or myself, and we will try to get it straightened out!

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/...

Happy voting! Please cast your votes by 12 pm EST on 7/23.

Note: If no one choice receives more than 50% of the vote, people who chose the least popular choice will be asked to recast their votes for one of the remaining two options.

Eek! Very random options. An easy choice for me but I’m very interested to see how the vote goes.

Really liked two of them - As always I have fun researching in advance.

I was struggling between Poetry and Faith, but I went forPoetry eventually. Really want to read some English poetry.

Voting done

If I remember correctly, I was responsible for the poetry tag in 2008. We had a flurry of interest in Shel Silverstein and Dr. Seuss.

I could enjoy either of these tags.

Do you think Faith includes books that retell stories from the bible? (for example - the story of Jesus, or Jacob, or David - where god is almost one of the characters... so there's no question of faith as such)

Idit wrote: "I could enjoy either of these tags.

Do you think Faith includes books that retell stories from the bible? (for example - the story of Jesus, or Jacob, or David - where god is almost one of the ch..."

That makes sense to me, Idit. I don't use faith as a personal tag. I have a shelf I call faith/philosophy that I use for a broader range of books including fiction that uses conflicts of beliefs as a theme. The GoodReads shelf seems to be dominated by popular Christian nonfiction, but there are some other faiths represented and some fiction.

Voted. Went for a tag that covers multiple challenges!

Jgrace wrote: "Idit wrote: "I could enjoy either of these tags.

Do you think Faith includes books that retell stories from the bible? (for example - the story of Jesus, or Jacob, or David - where god is almost ..."

I love your definition - conflicts of belief - some of the worlds best fiction is probably hiding in this tag.

(going on a book hunt at your faith/philosophy shelf)

We are going to expand our horizons with this one.

One is in my wheelhouse and the other two are not.

Shockingly, I have three books right at my fingertips for poetry.

But for espionage, there's a lot of fascinating looking non-fiction that I certainly wouldn't mind diving into . . .

Very curious to see what you all select!!

Two of these made me go "oh please no", so I threw all my points at the other option! Crossing my fingers!

In the first 1000 titles for Faith, I had read about 3 dozen, but only 1 title was on my TBR shelf. For any additional titles I would need to search further. But have no doubt I will find several to read.

I am not a poetry reader, although my husband is and I could find titles on his bookshelves. If there are memoirs or bios of poets on the list I could more easily find a book to read.

Espionage is probably the broadest for me to work with and again my husband is a great source. He has everything by Le Carre.

So we'll see what gets picked. Voted.

Three shudders... one a little smaller. But as usual looking at the lists I find something I’d love to read for each of the tags. But definitely a stretch.

There are 1000 titles for faith that are not necessarily Christian-based. I have a for 20 titles on my TBR that I could use in a heartbeat. I had to separate them into two tiers, with a good 8-10 titles I would likely choose first. There’s also a number of good fiction novels that would absolutely apply, including those that are like historical fiction with stories to come straight from the Bible but I have an incredible team of faith at its core. I can help anyone with an alternate to Christian perspective on finding good books for this tag. But I have to tell you, and doing my research on espionage I found a good three or four books I certainly wouldn’t mind reading. Reading and spirituality is something that’s going to happen for me anyway so I don’t need a tag to do it. The only thing I would never want to happen is poetry. Because personally, and I worry that this makes me sound incredibly uncultured and unsophisticated, I just can’t stand poetry. I’ve never related to it, I’ve never liked it, it just doesn’t speak to me. I think of that tag one and I hope that it doesn’t, I would probably just go and get a poetry book of Mary Oliver, because people appreciate her so much. Maybe i’d find something else surprising. But for me, either of the other two would be a hit. And if I could I would skip dystopia all together. I’m one block away from the queen of the Tearling. My two hopes are that it goes quick and that it’s not so bad.

Amy wrote: "There are 1000 titles for faith that are not necessarily Christian-based. I have a for 20 titles on my TBR that I could use in a heartbeat. I had to separate them into two tiers, with a good 8-10 t..."

Another challenge, Amy? Remember, you didn't like dragons, either. First and foremost, there are always the psalms of David.
And Mary Oliver is another terrific option.

Jgrace wrote: "If I remember correctly, I was responsible for the poetry tag in 2008. We had a flurry of interest in Shel Silverstein and Dr. Seuss."

I remember that because we were in the middle of some game where the team got more points for reading the same book and the only book my team could agree on was Shel Silverstein :-).

I voted but I'd be fine with any of the three possibilities.

Remember, poetry is not just poems, but Shakespeare is poetry. Many epic tales are epic poems such as Paradise Lost, Beowulf, Canterbury Tales, The Divine Comedy, Thr Aneid, The Iliad, and the Odessey. There are many other cladsic works that are a micmxture of Poetry and Prose such as the Consolation of Philosophy.

For Amy . . .Billy Collins. https://youtu.be/H2TTvQdcHco Watch him read his own work here . . .I didnt like poetry until I became acquainted with him.

Very interesting tags-May call on you for help Amy if Faith wins out.
Love this about the group-Dystopia was something I never thought i would touch, and look at me now? Lol!!

Amy wrote: "There are 1000 titles for faith that are not necessarily Christian-based. I have a for 20 titles on my TBR that I could use in a heartbeat. I had to separate them into two tiers, with a good 8-10 t..."

I’m in the same boat regarding poetry. Though I occasionally find some that resonates, this is not the type of reading I’d want to do in a given timeframe. I could go back to Wilhelm Busch - I like his humor.

I found I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings on the list which sits on my shelf - though I don’t understand why it’s tagged poetry.

As a last resort you can read Shakespeare - not strictly speaking poetry, but written in rhyme and tagged as such.

I have never thrown so many points at a tag, just to get away from faith! I don't care which of the other two win, but I cast my vote the one I thought most likely to.

I remember that Poetry was the tag when I first joined PBT, I think it was November 2008? Do I have the month right? Or was it August? I'm getting old...

Jgrace wrote: "If I remember correctly, I was responsible for the poetry tag in 2008. We had a flurry of interest in Shel Silverstein and Dr. Seuss."

LOL! Oh, it was you who chose poetry back then!? (Was it that long ago!). I don't recall if I read Dr. Seuss, but behind the scenes before Anita posted the survey and this thread, I did mention that the last time we did poetry, I picked up Shel Silverstein! LOL! To be honest, I hadn't read him as a kid, so that was my first introduction to him.

Like a few other people have mentioned, all three of these will be a stretch for me.

annapi wrote: "I remember that Poetry was the tag when I first joined PBT, I think it was November 2008? Do I have the month right? Or was it August? I'm getting old... ..."

Ha! I went back and checked the "Past Play Book Tag Themes and poetry was:

November 2008: Poetry: 85 books read

Good memory!

Also behind the scenes, we did decide that reading about a poet (for those of us who are not fans of poetry!) might be a way to go!

In looking back at what I'd read previously for challenges where I had to do poetry, I did pick out something that I really think would be fun if it comes up again.

I'll mention another by the same author that I loved (and I am not a poetry fan), if it wins. Or maybe if it doesn't, I'll mention it anyway for anyone interested...

Faith is not really my thing, but there is some good historical fiction (as Amy mentioned) that might fit. I've found the little bit of espionage I've read isn't all that appealing for me, either, so as mentioned, any of them will be a bit of a stretch for me.

Oh wow, this will be challenging whichever one wins! I’ve flung a few points at the one closest to my comfort zone (bad girl) but either way I don’t think I’ll be taking anything off my TBR next month...

I’m with Anita on Billy Collins for poetry, though - poetry and I don’t usually mix but he is great.

I don't like re-reading for the monthly tag, so Shel Silverstein is out if poetry wins. But I don't mind reading poetry so it will be easy to pick something up. If espionage wins, I have so many Tom Clancy books to get to. Faith now.... that will take some digging to find something I can get through.

For faith I would go with Children of God - I loved The Sparrow.

Um yeah - great titles Jason and everybody, but I’m actually thinking I’d still prefer the second in the Dragon series. Good to know I can use Shakespeare, the challenge to read one I haven’t read. I didn’t research that one, I’m sure I could find something! Still feel a little embarrassed and uncivilized to admit poetry is not my thing. Maybe one of the other two will win.... I threw three votes to Faith and figured let the group decide without overwhelming strength in that direction. Now I’m sort of rooting for espionage. Two Shakespeare spy thrillers there.... Not to mention the George Washington Spy Ring and the Expats.

I’ll happily join you in that ‘uncivilised’ corner, Amy my friend :) And re-read the dragon book too!

Maybe if poetry wins we should do another buddy read and keep each other company, lol. I’ll bring the whisky... I’m sure poetry is more approachable with a whisky glass in hand ...

I voted, first time in a long time. I threw my vote towards faith. My next book would fit this tag. Fingers crossed.

Poetry I guess doesn't have to be all sophisticated. I don't know if it will count as poetry, but Paper Towns by John Green. A Walt Whitman poem is discussed and excerpts read through the whole book. Something like that could possibly count as poetry.

KateNZ. Scotch, a cigar, and silk robe by a fireplace on a snowy evening to read poetry.

I like all of the choices. I can't make up my mind.

Sushicat, Good call on The Sparrow for faith!

Amy wrote: "Um yeah - great titles Jason and everybody, but I’m actually thinking I’d still prefer the second in the Dragon series. Good to know I can use Shakespeare, the challenge to read one I haven’t read...."

OK, I know you like fairy tales. I'm not a poetry fan myself, but the one I was going to mention made my favourites list the year I read it. It's called Mirror Mirror: A Book of Reverso Poems

It's fairy tales, but told in reversible poetry. That is, you read it one way and it's from one perspective, then read it from the bottom up, and it's the same story from another perspective! So cool! :-)

ETA: It's children's so there are also some very nice pictures to go with it. If poetry wins, I'll be reading a different book by the same author (and actually look forward to it!).

Ooh Cindy, that does sound cool!

Jgrace wrote: "If I remember correctly, I was responsible for the poetry tag in 2008. We had a flurry of interest in Shel Silverstein and Dr. Seuss."

Shel Silverstein sounds like fun.

Amy wrote: "But I have to tell you, and doing my research on espionage I found a good three or four books I certainly wouldn’t mind reading.."

I am a big fan of espionage, although I don't read as many these days, but have read a few good ones set during WWII, which I could suggest.

I have no idea what I would read in poetry, although I have a couple on my TBR..

It is going to be interesting.

And for all you poetry haters:

What happens to a dream deferred?
Does it dry up
Like a raisin in the sun?
Or fester like a sore--
And then run?
Does it stink like rotten meat?
Or crust and sugar over--
like a syrupy sweet?
Maybe it just sags
like a heavy load.
Or does it explode?

Jason wrote: "Remember, poetry is not just poems, but Shakespeare is poetry. Many epic tales are epic poems such as Paradise Lost, Beowulf, Canterbury Tales, The Divine Comedy, Thr Aneid, The Iliad, and the Odes..."

I've never read the Canterbury Tales and always wanted to, but probably wouldn't unless forced in some way..

Ellie wrote: "Two of these made me go "oh please no", so I threw all my points at the other option! Crossing my fingers!"

Me too, I have to admit.
I wonder if it's the same for both of us.

KateNZ, you’re on!

Kszr- this is a note for you. If you’re seeing this anytime soon I wanted to wish you a happy birthday. I just got off the phone with LRF, whom I’ve known my entire life from when we were girls in pigtails. She told me she met you right around the time you and I met,in the early days before we all had too many letters at the end of our names. And of course I knew that you would know each other from TST. Anyway, it’s a very good day. It’s beautiful outside. Just wanted to wish you a very happy birthday. And the book was fabulous!

I can def. recommend some great accessible poetry.
Off the top of my head, consider Love That Dog and Dark Emperor and Other Poems of the Night.

Faith, I'd have to go with something like Mindfulness for
Beginners. Or maybe The God Delusion. Sorry.

Espionage, um, I dunno, The Notorious Benedict Arnold: A True Story of Adventure, Heroism & Treachery, because I've enjoyed another book by the author.

Booknblues wrote: "And for all you poetry haters:

What happens to a dream deferred?
Does it dry up
Like a raisin in the sun?..."

Very nice! It's one of those reversible ones! Those are pretty cool! People reluctant about poetry, go read through it forward and backward! :-)

Oh, and if poetry is chosen, I will read a different one by the author who wrote "Mirror Mirror".

Well, I hope poetry wins. Here’s a link for poetry recommendations for non-poetry lovers. https://www.bustle.com/articles/11839...

I like the fact that the tags are pretty narrow this month (relative to other months) but I really hope faith doesn’t win.

KateNZ wrote: "I’ll happily join you in that ‘uncivilised’ corner, Amy my friend :) And re-read the dragon book too!

Maybe if poetry wins we should do another buddy read and keep each other company, lol. I’ll b..."

Like that idea Kate! I supply the chocolate!

Voted.....I was able to find a tag to throw my votes at. I prefer one more than the other two.