Play Book Tag discussion

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

https://forms.gle/1Sp4nTHSQR42guRL9

Here are the lists of books for each tag:

cultural: https://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/...
manga: https://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/...
young adult: https://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/...

Remember, you may cast up to a total of 10 participation points for your choice. Every PBT member 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 noon EST on 7/22.

I've been looking forward to this post! I'm not a huge fan of Regency although to be fair I don't think I've ever read it. And I'm excited for a new tag! I LOVE YA so that would be super easy for me if that wins.

Well, that was easy - at least for me. Voted!

This is the easiest vote ever for me. I already read a lot of YA this year, and I have a huge pile of Asian, POC, cross-cultural, and immigrant experience books patiently waiting to be read. I will also read a Manga book and a YA/Culture book if cultural wins.

Oh, and Fly the skies too.

Voted.
Pretty much what I read.

What the heck is manga? I’d it unsupportive to suggest a first limited phone glance does not look appealing?

Amy wrote: "What the heck is manga? I’d it unsupportive to suggest a first limited phone glance does not look appealing?"

OMG. You're not kidding. I think I'll have to take back my promise to read a Manga book for the cultural tag. I was thinking there would be something sweet, like My Neighbor Totoro. Man I feel old.

Added:

FYI, Manga = Japanese comic books or graphic novels which are apparently mostly for teenage boys. There are many older ones that are beautiful and gentle. I only know about them from anime movies, such as My Neighbor Totoro, which has 11 manga tags.

Voted - Interesting choices.

Voted, that was easy (definite first choice, definite last choice).

NancyJ wrote: "Amy wrote: "What the heck is manga? I’d it unsupportive to suggest a first limited phone glance does not look appealing?"

OMG. You're not kidding. And I just committed to reading a Manga book for ..."

I've never read any manga, but I have heard of younger girls liking Fruits Basket, Vol. 1 and that series.

My daughter loves Manga-has since she was a teenager-I have tried one or two books-not for me, couldn't finish them

I have enough on my TBR for either of the other two-I will tell you though, the tags since March have not been great for me, I have only read 1 book a month for the tags since then. I am trying to get through Master and Commander right now for Regency, it has been slow going...

Voted

Voted, surprised at how many young adult books I have marked 'want to read'.

Can't believe it's this time already, but I think I feel that way every month! I also can't believe I've read more than half of the list on the first page for Cultural!

Voted

Easy choice for me based on what I have in my TBR. Voted. =)

Voted

So easy! Two are good and one is something I can't abide even though one of my kids loves them. I am not into graphic novels or Manga. Even as a kid when I read comic books at my friends' houses (not allowed to have them so we'd read books) I didn't like all kinds.

If Manga wins I may just have to skip it. I have no idea why I don't care for it since it takes a lot of skill to draw that stuff well.

Amy wrote: "What the heck is manga? I’d it unsupportive to suggest a first limited phone glance does not look appealing?"

I bet your boys know what it is. I haven't had kids at home for a long time, I'm only vaguely aware of it. I loved comic books as a kid, including the superhero type but now I have so many "real" books I want to get through.

I definitely favor "cultural" but it's kind of a funny tag. It's sort of like "foreign language". All languages are foreign to someone. All of us have culture but we probably don't think of a book set in our home state/country as cultural, we think of something "exotic."

I think I have read every book on the first page of the "cultural" list!

Voted! Not a manga fan but my grandson is, so if it wins at least I'm not spending money.

Robin P wrote: "I definitely favor "cultural" but it's kind of a funny tag. It's sort of like "foreign language". All languages are foreign to someone. All of us have culture but we probably don't think of a book ..."

I know what you mean. We have many sub-cultures within the US, and immigrant stories often teach us more about our cultural values than many other American novels. I used to work on corporate culture issues, and I found that many people don't have the words to tell you what their cultural values are, unless they have another company (or country) to compare it to. The longer they are in one culture, the more they assume that 'this is the way things are everywhere.' This is why I love cross-cultural stories, we learn about two cultures by observing the misunderstandings and the different ways they do things.

I didn't finish this book, but the introductory information alone is really interesting. This was recommended by Nikki (a former group member). Maybe I'll actually finish it this time.
American Nations: A History of the Eleven Rival Regional Cultures of North America

I'm planning to read a mix of books, set in different countries, including the US. But I think I will only count books that are written by someone from the culture in question.

Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress - this lovely little "book about books" is about the Chinese cultural revolution.

HA~ you'd think my kids would know, but I doubt it because somehow I didn't manage to raise readers. At least not for the first two.

Voted. I am fine with the other two. Interesting that at least manga wasn't as broad, and we have had a lot of broad lately. Not counting recency.

Well, I know which is the easiest for me. That's just way too easy...

And it's obvious which is the most narrow, which is even more narrow than I like (even though I often root for the narrowest).

I'm hoping for the middle one this time. :-)

... and now having read the comments, of course the easiest one will be the likely winner. Sigh...

I guess it's all a matter of perspective and age. The YA list has 100,000 books, the cultural list has 41,518, and Manga also has 100.000 books! What? The easiest one for me is the most narrow if you go by the tag lists.

I always think of goodreads as having a lot of older women, but apparently my perception is highly skewed by my choice of groups and friends.

Most people aren't saying HOW they voted, so as usual, I feel the need to identify a few crossover books to put on hold. Does anyone have recommendations for YA cultural books? Maybe a coming of age story set in another country, or a book about an immigrant teenager? I really liked A Very Large Expanse of Sea

The Prisoner of Heaven is a possibility as it's YA and Cultural, and it's a series I already started.

I noticed that a flame in the mist is listed as both ya and cultural.

NancyJ wrote: "I guess it's all a matter of perspective and age. The YA list has 100,000 books, the cultural list has 41,518, and Manga also has 100.000 books! What? The easiest one for me is the most narrow if y..."

I think that any of Elizabeth Acevedo's books would work for either! I've only read Clap When You Land, but her books are generally really well-regarded (and especially good as audiobooks).

Manga - the daughters of so many friends are passionate about manga. They would be my primary resource for recommendations.

Lot to be said about manga...short, fast reads, colorful, easy peasy.

I remember reading a couple of Harlequin romance manga years ago that a friend had. They were amusing and fun. I would not rule out manga!

Voted. Although I've read quite a few of the books under the cultural tag, there are still quite a few I haven't read yet. Manga feels like cheating even though I know it's not. Young adult is a good alternative with plenty of excellent choices. I steer away from young adult however, since I read so many during my 40 plus years of teaching middle school.
For me there's a real strong contender, one that's an acceptable alternative, and one I wouldn't touch with a ten foot pole.

Nancy, I found these 3 on both lists

Akata Witch
An Ember in the Ashes
The Wrath and the Dawn

forsanolim wrote: "NancyJ wrote: "I guess it's all a matter of perspective and age. The YA list has 100,000 books, the cultural list has 41,518, and Manga also has 100.000 books! What? The easiest one for me is the m..."

Strongly agree! I've read all 3 by Elizabeth Acevedoand they are beautifully done giving voice to Latinx girls and I would say it is a MUST to listen to the audio for the verse.

I skipped a lot of dialogue above, so I am sorry if this was covered - manga is NOT FOR TEENAGE BOYS!

Think comics... but in Japan literally everyone reads manga, every gender, age and demographic. It is extremely broad and rich media. There is every genre you can think of.

I went with cultural without looking at the list, seems like it could be pretty broad.

...Also, sorry I yelled 😂

This was a super easy vote for me!

Also, I learned something new today. I had never heard of Manga before today, now I know...

I voted without looking at any lists. Not too much at stake here, I'll be good with great options for all 3 of these :)

To Joi's point, this is probably the best line up of tags we've ever had for me personally :)

Meli wrote: "I skipped a lot of dialogue above, so I am sorry if this was covered - manga is NOT FOR TEENAGE BOYS!

Think comics... but in Japan literally everyone reads manga, every gender, age and demographi..."

I didn't know it was popular with all age groups. That's interesting.

Sorry, I think I might have said something thoughtless about teenage boys. Some of the titles and graphics seemed very violent, and my brain jumped to an old stereotype about comic books. (Some days I feel like I'm channeling my grandmother.) I do like many anime films, which are based on manga.

forsanolim wrote: ".... I think that any of Elizabeth Acevedo's books would work for either! I've only read Clap When You Land, but her books are generally really well-regarded (and especially good as audiobooks).

Jen K wrote: "... Strongly agree! I've read all 3 by Elizabeth Acevedoand they are beautifully done giving voice to Latinx girls and I would say it is a MUST to listen to the audio for the verse."

Joanne wrote: "Nancy, I found these 3 on both lists
Akata Witch
An Ember in the Ashes
The Wrath and the Dawn"

Thanks! These all sound great to me. I'll get my holds in now.

That was an easy vote!

Amy wrote: "HA~ you'd think my kids would know, but I doubt it because somehow I didn't manage to raise readers. At least not for the first two.

Voted. I am fine with the other two. Interesting that at least..."

My eldest is a reader of real books who also reads Manga :) I think the appeal varies.

Re: Cultural

The word culture has quite a number of meanings, and cultural does as well, although not as many.

It doesn't only mean different countries, of course, or even culture as in subculture. Cultural can also refer to the arts. Most people seem to use it re: countries or group cultures, but some use it in odd ways. I haven't looked closely to see if people use it for the arts, but I would guess that wouldn't be common in the GR community.

All of these tags work for me; I have solid possibilities for each. I have the most titles at hand under the cultural tag, then manga, then YA. The manga is actually my daughter's but I've read and enjoyed some. My daughter (artist and graphic designer) works for a manga publisher as a cover editor and she has loved manga since she read her first (Inu Yasha) as a youngster, so we are steeped in it around here.

Included on the PBT list are Howl's Moving Castle and My Neighbor Totoro, a couple of the oldies which were both made into phenomenal animated films.

ah, Karin..Manga are real books...

Kimber wrote: "All of these tags work for me; I have solid possibilities for each. I have the most titles at hand under the cultural tag, then manga, then YA. The manga is actually my daughter's but I've read and..."

How cool for your daughter! Manga led a friend's daughter into a graphic art career that she loves and is doing very well in. The art is astounding.

NancyJ wrote: "Does anyone have recommendations for YA cultural books? Maybe a coming of age story set in another country, or a book about an immigrant teenager?..."

Ha! And the first one that came to my mind is a YA graphic novel about an immigrant to Canada from Syria. So, not quite manga, but close:
Escape from Syria

Theresa wrote: "How cool for your daughter! Manga led a friend's daughter into a graphic art career that she loves and is doibg very well in. The art is astounding.."

I think manga played a big role in my daughter's love for illustration and graphic design as well! I agree with you, the artwork is amazing.

My issue is that I am really trying to read books I already own or that I know I am interested in. None of them are manga and few are YA. Those tags are both genres rather than themes, which to me is narrower. Of course Regency was the same, it just happened to work better for me. I actually like best the categories that transcend genre, such as Animals or Family Drama.

Voted!
That was an easy vote!

Robin P wrote: "My issue is that I am really trying to read books I already own or that I know I am interested in. None of them are manga and few are YA. Those tags are both genres rather than themes, which to me ..."

I always check for books on a list that are on my to read shelf, because that means I own them. I'll most likely choose one which has the one I most want to read.

In the case of this months, I know without even looking that I will find many on one of the lists, so it was an easy choice for me.

Goodreads states that "cultural" "Cultural refers to books that depict a place or time and its culture."

I found this which is quite interesting:

https://www.goodreads.com/genres/cult...

NancyJ wrote: "Meli wrote: "I skipped a lot of dialogue above, so I am sorry if this was covered - manga is NOT FOR TEENAGE BOYS!

Think comics... but in Japan literally everyone reads manga, every gender, age a..."

Think books with amazing art.
Manga has everything you can imagine - romance, horror, sci-fi, fantasy, historical fiction, dramas...

There are also manga that are focused on food and feature recipes, manga about sports, literally anything you can think of.

One of my favorites that I discovered at the Kyoto Museum of Manga is a series about a salary man (think suit-and-tie corporate guy) who looks like a typical macho man dude's bro kinda guy but he LOVES to cook and each story features a new recipe. It's called Cooking Papa.
A lot of manga like to flip gender / class stereotypes on their head. They are quite progressive.

Another one I read in college for a class was called "Adolf" which is historical fiction and it is about the lives of 2 Adolfs, one is Adolf Hitler and the other is a Japanese boy named Adolf (I forget why, since that is not a typical Japanese name) and it is from before and through WWII. It is by Osamu Tezuka who is an OG manga artist. He has another series about Buddha.

There is a manga series called Samurai Gormet, turned into a Netflix series, about a retired guy who feels lost and starts traveling around Japan to discover new places to eat and in turn begins to figure out who he is as a person with no job (even harder transition for Japanese than in the US).

The Way Of The Househusband, also turned into an animated series on Netflix, is about a yakuza boss who retires to be a househusband to support his career oriented wife. It is so freakin hilarious. I highly recommend the anime if you don't want to read the manga. I laughed so hard I cried every episode.

I am into horror, so I have a lot of horror manga by Junji Ito, he is one of the best and his stuff is very innovative and disturbing.

It looks like manga might be an unlikely candidate based on the responses I've seen here, but if it is picked I urge people to seek out manga + personal interest. There is literally something for EVERYONE.