Play Book Tag discussion

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

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

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.

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

Happy voting! Please cast your votes by 12 pm EST on 11/22.

I could do all in a heartbeat! But picked my personal fave that is unlikely to get much support and threw points at it.

I voted. I can make any one of them work, but I have more choices in one in particular. So I hope it wins!

Yes that is unlikely, Theresa. Just did my research. Rebecca fits two of the categories, but we are all reading it now!!!!

Just voted....

I haven't looked at the list yet. It is like Schrodinger's cat....until I actually look, there is a possibility that contemporary romance is on the list....

Ugh! Please not Western!!! I hate Westerns. Well, needless to say that I threw all my points toward the other two.

Voted. All work but there is one I really don't want. I love westerns so that is not it.

Jenni Elyse wrote: "Ugh! Please not Western!!! I hate Westerns. Well, needless to say that I threw all my points toward the other two."

If Westerns is selected, I definitely have some cheesy Christmas cowboy romances that should fit. LOL. High on that list is The Last Christmas Cowboy!

cripes, my November book still has not come in-maybe I should hunt for something else

Nicole R wrote: "Jenni Elyse wrote: "Ugh! Please not Western!!! I hate Westerns. Well, needless to say that I threw all my points toward the other two."

If Westerns is selected, I definitely have some cheesy Chris..."

If Western wins, I’ll hit you up for some suggestions. Lol. I’ll take a look at this first one first, though.

I'm with you, Jenni. I don't care for westerns as a rule. But, I'd bet I could recommend a few that you would enjoy.

I voted! I do enjoy that I get to do the December tag vote every year on my birthday. One of life's small pleasures.

Jgrace wrote: "I'm with you, Jenni. I don't care for westerns as a rule. But, I'd bet I could recommend a few that you would enjoy."

I’m glad you and Nicole will have my back if Western wins. Lol.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! I hope you have a good day! Tomorrow is my husband’s birthday so it’s definitely a great time of year for a birthday.

Jgrace wrote: "I voted! I do enjoy that I get to do the December tag vote every year on my birthday. One of life's small pleasures."

Happy birthday, Judith! It would feel a little like a birthday present to me as well. Small pleasures and this is definitely a year to make small pleasures work for you.

Voted - not Westerns please! International will help me complete some of my other challenges.

@ Nicole-thought of you and the cowboys when I saw Western-LoL I actually read a Cowboy romance for polls. My daughter and I had a few "read aloud" moments and laughed til we cried. I could another one if I had too.

I know what I want won't win, but threw some points at it anyway.

Actually these are all pretty great as far as my TBR list goes, I could make any of them work. I really hated this months tag and still have not gotten or read a book for it.

Happy Birthday JGrace! Remember to dance...

Well, now that Poll Book Tally is over, I'm not inclined to vote for any of those tags, but one of them is something I want to read more of this year and the other is also a good choice. If westerns wins, well, I'll manage somehow, though, and at least it's not one I read in the double digits.

I feel like two of the December choices are sooooooo serious. I'm going to throw my points at Western, since I like a nice Cowboy Christmas story and haven't done any of the Fall Flurries yet. But I'm okay with whatever wins.

Jenni Elyse wrote: "Nicole R wrote: "Jenni Elyse wrote: "Ugh! Please not Western!!! I hate Westerns. Well, needless to say that I threw all my points toward the other two."

If Westerns is selected, I definitely have ..."

In defense of westerns... besides NicoleR's Christmas cowboy romances ... ahem, and mine! ... I bet if you checked out some of tbe books read for Poll Tally tags like Rocky Mountains, Grand Canyon, and such, you will find plenty, like the Katie Ruggles K-9 thrillers, some mystery and thriller series by CJ Box and Paul Bart. It is not all Zane Grey.

Nicole R wrote: "I haven't looked at the list yet. It is like Schrodinger's cat....until I actually look, there is a possibility that contemporary romance is on the list...."

OMG I can't get away from Schrodinger's cat. It's been mentioned in at least 4 books, including one I just read.

NancyJ wrote: "Nicole R wrote: "I haven't looked at the list yet. It is like Schrodinger's cat....until I actually look, there is a possibility that contemporary romance is on the list...."

OMG I can't get away ..."

I wonder if Schrodinger ever realized what a gift he handed to fiction writers.

If International wins, I will be looking for some December Holiday stories from other countries. Maybe some Regency Holiday romances? Maybe a new mystery series?

I'm really in the mood for an Irish or British Romantic Comedy or feel good story that didn't fit any poll tags.

This is the beginning of my international list for 2020-2021. (I've barely gotten past Ireland)

Ask Again, Yes - Ireland
Case Histories - UK (also works for Bingo)
Hamnet - UK
Anxious People - Sweden
A Long Petal of the Sea - Spain
Girl, Woman, Other -UK, diverse
Apeirogon -Middle East
The Master and Margarita -Russia
P.S. I Love You - Ireland
Crazy Rich Asians - Singapore, NY, Hong Kong
Death at La Fenice - Leon, mystey series - Italy
The Bear and the Nightingale - fantasy series - Russia
Next book in the Maisie Dobbs series -UK
Shuggie Bain - Scotland
The Astonishing Color of After - Taiwan
Take a Hint, Dani Brown - UK romcom
Transcendent Kingdom Ghana - US immigrant story
The Garden of Evening Mists -Malaysia

International Holiday books?
Lady O...

WINTER books
Zuleikha
Louise Penny series set in Quebec
Bear and the Nightingale,
Swedish mystery series --- (author?)

NOV- DEC OVERLAP books
Whale RIder - Book-screen, Indigenous, international
Amadeus - Book-screen, International
Third Man - Book Screen, International

Theresa wrote: "Jenni Elyse wrote: "Nicole R wrote: "Jenni Elyse wrote: "Ugh! Please not Western!!! I hate Westerns. Well, needless to say that I threw all my points toward the other two."

If Westerns is selected..."

Thanks for the suggestion. If Western wins, I’ll take a look if I’m not in the mood for a cowboy romance story.

International Christmas

Hercule Poirot's Christmas
A Christmas Carol\
The Night Before Christmas- Gogol
The Snow Queen =Denmark
Nutcracker - Germany

The Deal of a Lifetime Backman
Bridget Jones's Diary
Last Christmas in Paris: A Novel of World War I
The Gift Ceceilia Ahern
The Christmas Sisters
Twelve Days of Christmas
Royal Holiday

There are more than "westerns" on that list-these are just a few I have on my TBR

NEWS OF THE WORLD
THE SON
REBEL OF THE SANDS
HOW MUCH OF THESE HILLS IS GOLD
HERSEY
SARAHS QUILT
TRAIL OF LIGHTNING

Jgrace wrote: "NancyJ wrote: "Nicole R wrote: "I haven't looked at the list yet. It is like Schrodinger's cat....until I actually look, there is a possibility that contemporary romance is on the list...."

OMG I ..."

You're right. Happy Birthday!

I have also seen a large number of references to the Leonard Cohen poem and quote -

“There is a crack in everything.
That's how the light gets in.”

Nicole R wrote: "I haven't looked at the list yet. It is like Schrodinger's cat....until I actually look, there is a possibility that contemporary romance is on the list...."

The cat is alive, it's just from another country! There are a lot of contemporary romance books coming out of the UK, so the International tag might be your best bet. There are a lot of regency romances, feel-good novels, mystery series, literary fiction, crime novels, war and spy stories that fit the International tag too.

I voted. I could be OK with any of the choices.

Jgrace wrote: "I voted! I do enjoy that I get to do the December tag vote every year on my birthday. One of life's small pleasures."

Happy Birthday!

Lyn wrote: "Jgrace wrote: "I voted! I do enjoy that I get to do the December tag vote every year on my birthday. One of life's small pleasures."

Happy Birthday!"

Thanks! ( to all) I've had a great day.

Jenni Elyse wrote: "Ugh! Please not Western!!! I hate Westerns. Well, needless to say that I threw all my points toward the other two."

My initial reaction would be this.... but it's the most specific (so I'm hoping for it), and I suspect I probably do have a few on my tbr, even if I don't think I do!

Jgrace wrote: "I voted! I do enjoy that I get to do the December tag vote every year on my birthday. One of life's small pleasures."

Happy happy birthday!

NancyJ wrote: "If International wins, I will be looking for some December Holiday stories from other countries. Maybe some Regency Holiday romances? Maybe a new mystery series?

I'm really in the mood for an Iris..."

You need Stephanie Laurens' Lady Osbaldestone - Regency English Village full of Christmas traditions. First is Lady Osbaldestone's Christmas Goose

I can recommend the Wallender series for a Swedish mystery series, and if you like it Book 2 would cover Latvia as well!

NancyJ wrote: "Jgrace wrote: "NancyJ wrote: "Nicole R wrote: "I haven't looked at the list yet. It is like Schrodinger's cat....until I actually look, there is a possibility that contemporary romance is on the li..."

I didn't know that one. It wasn't on the one record album my aunt passed onto me. I used to be really into free verse poetry and Leonard Cohen, but no longer have the book she gave me or the LP. When I graduated from high school I was in a new school and used one of his poems for my little blurb since I didn't really have connections there (they were all at two of my other high schools).

So of course now I am listening to that song ("Anthem") on Youtube.

Karin wrote: "NancyJ wrote: "Jgrace wrote: "NancyJ wrote: "Nicole R wrote: "I haven't looked at the list yet. It is like Schrodinger's cat....until I actually look, there is a possibility that contemporary roman..."

I'm not sure I've heard the song either, but I heard the lines (about the light getting in) so many times I googled it. I'll look for the song too. I could use some new music, especially now that I'm reading at a more relaxed pace.

Wow, international could really have a lot of options.
Westerns I don't usually read, but I would try for a challenge, however I can't see this winning. Not even close!

This group is really surprising me! I didn't think Westerns had a shot in hell - and I pray that it doesn't. But you know me, I'd find something. Maybe Nicole or Theresa would find me a 156 page cheesy cowboy christmas thing, and I'd take one for the team. What team I don't know - the book dorks conference inside me maybe?

Also not a fan of westerns, def did not vote for that one! But more impt, we need to come up with a name for Amy's new team

Fun choices, I would be equally happy with any of them but would probably have more difficultly finding time for an epic but I do love epic fantasies so I would try to get at least one in.

I threw 10 points at my preferred choice.
Hoping for something easier for December :)

HA! Shelly! My internal process should have a great name!

Shelly wrote: "Also not a fan of westerns, def did not vote for that one! But more impt, we need to come up with a name for Amy's new team"

Team Unappealing Pick? Team Not My Cup of Tea?

The key to a good cowboy romance is cover art.

Secret Phone TBR Club?

No one is talking about epic, but that doesn't mean it's not getting votes. I could use a few suggestions for planning purposes, especially if there are popular books with long wait lists. I don't like to read really long books over the holidays, but then again, this will not be a normal holiday season.

I already read a ton of westerns this year for poll ballot - for the frontier, pioneers, grand canyon, antebellum and rocky mountains tags. I even had one about an 1849 gold mining town. I'm amazed people still have any left on their tbrs. None of mine had sexy cowboys on the cover though.

Theresa wrote: "NancyJ wrote: "If International wins, I will be looking for some December Holiday stories from other countries. Maybe some Regency Holiday romances? Maybe a new mystery series?

I'm really in the m..."

Thanks for the reminder.

FYI Audible now has three of her books for FREE (for members).

https://www.audible.com/search?keywor...

If I wanted to, I could spend the whole month virtually traveling the UK via International holiday books. It would be nice to read a beach holiday book from Australia, or something from South America too.

NancyJ wrote: "No one is talking about epic, but that doesn't mean it's not getting votes. I could use a few suggestions for planning purposes, especially if there are popular books with long wait lists. I don't ..."

Have you already read The Odyssey? And Les Mis? There are a number of good ones in their that I've read that cover many genres (for example, on the second page there's a scifi classic, Hyperion, but that was only 3 stars for me.) If epic wins, I have no idea what I'll read but I will say it was my second choice in the voting.

I'm with Amy--anything but western! Although there is at least one western epic novel there that's on my tbr.

Karin wrote: "NancyJ wrote: "No one is talking about epic, but that doesn't mean it's not getting votes. I could use a few suggestions for planning purposes, especially if there are popular books with long wait ..."

OK yes - Odyssey would definitely work for Epic and I own a copy. I always put it off, but now that I've read Circe and couple other books, I have a greater interest in it.

I really liked Becky Chambers' space series, and I would love to find others like this.

I threw 10 votes at Epic. I hope it wins but I’m okay if International wins too. I threw 10 votes at it as well. Anything but Western.