Play Book Tag discussion

Every year we select two challenges that run all year long. This year, we invited members to chime in with their ideas, and thank you so much to those of you who did that! Some of you submitted fully realized challenges and others submitted partial ideas, but in both cases, these suggestions gave the administrative new things to think about and new ideas. In some cases, we will be able to incorporate several suggestions into a given challenge. But even if you think you don't see your specific suggestion below, I can assure you - - we valued it, and it may still be used depending which challenges are selected.

I'm going to post each challenge idea below, and then you may cast your vote here:

https://forms.gle/9zeBmpgVykQHXqfS7

You will note that some of these ideas are more fleshed out than others, but please pick the concepts that appeal to you the most, and we will work on and refine the final renditions.

Please cast your vote by November 30th at noon EST.

Happy Birthday, PBT!

Help PBT celebrate its 15th birthday this year by blowing out 15 candles by year end. Each candle will represent something meaningful to PBT. The goal is to virtually blow out each candle by doing a reading task that aligns with a meaningful PBT moment or milestone. You might be selecting from one of our annual top 10 lists to blow out the candle. Or you might be reading a book from one of our administrators’ Want to Read shelves. Or you might have to choose a book from our most read tag of all time. Or you may have to read a book that fits the last tag we read at Shelfari. For each candle you snuff, you will get a number (to be determined) of participation points. Blow them all out and your name will be featured for the next five years on a special pinned post acknowledging your achievement and dedication to PBT.

Survey Says! Let’s play Family Feud PBT style

This one didn't win last year, but we added a reading component this year to see if that boosts it into the winner's circle.

1. To start the year, the admins will ask PBTers to submit answers to questions about books/reading. Here is a sample of questions which may be asked:

Favorite literary fiction book of all time?
Best Booker prize winner?
Favorite genre?
Children's book you can't forget?
First book you remember reading by yourself/
Book you most remember your parent reading to you?
Favorite movie based on a book?

2. We'll then rank the "top answers" for the board, with a certain number of answers from most popular to least popular.

3. Twice each month, 1st and 15th we will post one question to the group.

4. Wait 3 days before you post your answers, so you have time to consider your answers. After the 3 days, members may post their guesses on the official group thread! Each member only gets one guess so choose wisely!

5. The first person to guess each of the "top answers" on the board gets the points associated with it! If, after 3 days, we still have unrevealed answers, then everyone will be able to submit another guess.

6. Read a book that fits one of the top answers to win bonus points!

Pass the PBaTon

One of our members submitted this fully realized challenge idea (though I took the liberty of naming it, lol).

This team activity is a reading relay! The first player on a team kicks off reading a book that fits the January tag. Then, the next player must read a book that connects to the first book by matching a word in the title (no subtitles or articles) or author name (no initials). Books may not be repeated during the course of the challenge. Bonus points will accrue if the titles also match the tag (minimum of 10x tagged) and/or if titles are on any PBT Top Ten list.

For example:
For example: JANUARY tag ROMANCE
1st player: Julie and Romeo by Jeanne Ray
2d player: The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury (matching author name RAY)
3d player: The Art of Graphic Design by Bradbury Thompson (matching auth name BRADBURY)
4th player: The Art Forger by Barbara A. Shapiro (matching title word ART)
etc …

There will be team awards based on total number of titles read, number of different authors read (as a percentage of the total titles read by the team), and the highest percentage of books read by the team that fit the monthly tag.

Secret Tags

One of our members indicated how she really loved reading narrow tags and lamented how infrequently they were actually selected, and from that tidbit, came this concept!

We all have tags that we love to read that may never, ever appear on the top 300 list. We will have you submit your favorites to us, secretly. Shhhh! Each month, we will randomly choose one of these secret tags. If you read for this tag, either on purpose or by mistake, you can earn 5 participation points (limited to one book per member per month). The catch is, you won’t know what the tag is right away. Starting on the first Monday of the month, we will provide you with clues to the secret tag. Each member may publicly put forward one guess per clue on a dedicated thread as to what the tag might be. There will be 5 initial clues. On the 6th day, if a member guessed correctly, we will reveal the secret tag and everyone will get to read it if they want. The first member who guessed correctly gets 10 participation points. If no one has guessed, the clues will continue until someone guesses correctly.

Reading Jeopardy

Another member came up with this idea, and we were able to figure out how to make it work for PBT. Many other members submitted cool ideas that we can incorporate into Jeopardy as categories so THANK YOU for that - - you know who you are!

Administrators will create a virtual Jeopardy style board with categories. We will randomly select a member to choose a category for the month from a choice of six categories initially (and fewer in subsequent months). The dollar amounts under that category represent reading tasks ranging from very easy ($100) to very challenging ($500). Then, each player (members can join at any time) will select a dollar amount they want to play for BEFORE the categories are revealed. $100 will be a very easy and broad read that anyone can do. $500 will be tough and may involve multiple books (max three books). Once everyone has locked in their choices, it is up to the player to read and review a book(s) that fits the selection. If the player completes it, they get the dollar amount added to their score. Forget or don’t submit the review on time, then the dollar amount is deducted. No re-reads will be allowed for this game. $50 bonuses will be awarded if your reading selection matches the tag.

So for example, let’s say the category is Award-Winning Fiction, the dollar amounts might be something like:
$100 - Read any fiction book that won any award ever
$200 - Read any fiction book that won any award in the past five years
$300 - Read any fiction book that won the Pulitzer or the National Book Award or the Booker Prize
$400 - Read award-winning fiction that was translated and won an award for the translation
$500 - Read an award-winning fiction book written in the second person AND a book that won an award and was written by a woman outside of the United States.

One dollar amount (two for double Jeopardy) on the board will have a “Daily Double”, and if a player selects that dollar amount and completes the reading task, they will receive double the money. The daily double will not be revealed until after everyone has selected their dollar amount..

The first 6 months will be regular Jeopardy. The second 6 months will have a new board and be double Jeopardy with dollar amounts ranging from $200 to $1000..

The winner is the member who clearly accrues the most dollars. If there is no clear winner, those who have tied for the win will compete in final Jeopardy where they may bet their money as to whether or not they can complete a final reading task by a specified deadline. Please note this task will take place in January, 2024.

Back to College

Many of us can remember the excitement of our college life. Here is your chance to redo it PBT style. Our course work will be reading books in tags/shelves.

Freshman year will be completing one book from either 3 or 4 core classes of English/Language Arts, Foreign Language, History/Social Science, Science/Computer Science,or Math/Statistics.

Sophomore year will include Humanities and electives. For Humanities these could include Philosophy, Religion, the Arts/Art, Music, Dance or Drama. Electives could include Physical Education (Rowing, Swimming, Walking/Hiking, Rock Climbing), Home Economics/Food Science.)

Junior year would be advanced coursework or a year abroad. A number of members gave suggestions that will be the basis for our advanced coursework i.e. reading classic with a retelling of the classic. After posting a PBT review, the “student” would write a comparative critique. Another suggested environmental studies which could include any of the following tags: Ecology, conservation, trees, extreme weather, climate change, ecosystems, habitats, water shortages, gardening, farming, rain forests, bees, carbon foot prints, ocean life, endangered animals, garbage in our oceans, pollution, toxic chemicals, clean-up solutions, practical ideas, alternative energy, alternative food sources, loss of biodiversity, GMOs, global change efforts, invasive species, underappreciated forms of life, ancient germs trapped in ice, rise of sea levels, extinction, evolution, fascinating animals, genetics, interesting cultural practices, flora and fauna, population trends, deserts, migration, food solutions.

“Student” members would read books and give an analysis of their reading. Members would submit their ideas for advanced study for approval.

Senior year the “student” will complete books for their major.
Members/Students will be designing their schedules Each book you read will count as 4 units with 12 units to complete a year and 16 to be on the Dean’s List. At the start of each year members will submit their proposed schedule.

Subdue the Shelf

Objective: Be the first one to reach the end of his or her game board.

How It Works:

Each person will design and post their own game board consisting of 100 books that they hope to read. Administrators will roll a set of virtual dice and post your randomly generated roll on PBT. Whichever book you land on, you must read. Certain rolls will give players advantages and disadvantages. The first person to the end of their game board wins a prize (or if no one reaches the end, the person who is furthest along on December 20th at noon EST will be declared the winner). Subsequent finishers receive varying levels of participation points depending on when/if they finish. There will also be a consolation prize for the person who reads the most books on their board. There will also be a special consolation prize for the person who progresses the least on their board, but has read at least 3 titles for the challenge.

Game Board Design Rules:

1. You must compile a numbered list of 25, 50, or 100 titles that you want to read. These should be books that you either own or can readily get your hands on quickly. If you choose to use 100 unique titles, your game board is complete. If you select 50 titles, you will repeat each title twice to create your 100 titles. If you only have 25 titles, you will repeat each title four times.

2. The order of the titles can be any order that you like.

3. You need to post your game board in the thread designed for the game.

Rules:

1. You start the game by playing the first roll you are assigned.

http://www.random.org/dice/

2. The first move is to the book number that comes up on the dice. So if you got a 7, you are on the 7th book on your list. You must read the book that you land upon.

3. When your first book is halfway completed, you may request a new roll to see what your second book will be. You may NOT start the second book until the first one is finished.

4. Special Dice Rolls

The following rolls lead to unique actions.

If you roll:

1-1: The current leader must move back 3 spaces on their game board and read the book where they have landed next.

Any combination totaling 7: You move 7 spaces and stay on that space, but you may read the book you land on OR one book forward or one book back - - your choice.

6-6: Don't like the book you will land on? You may roll again.

3-1: You get to take pick someone's next move on the board. The admins will use random.org to decide who will be moved. You get to decide which book they must move to on their game board - - backward or forward -- within a 15 book radius. So you can move your opponent up to 15 spaces back or up to 15 spaces forward to the book of your choosing.

2-1: You may use up to 3 of your participation points to move yourself ahead up to 3 spaces.

6-5: You must read a book that's on someone else's board and NOT on your own.

4-4: Receive 4 participation points for the next book you read/review.

5. If you read a book that fits the monthly tag, you will earn 3 participation points.

6. Swaps. If you cannot get a hold of a particular book, or really, really don't want to read the one you land on, you may swap it out for a book of equivalent length or longer. You have TWO swaps to use for the entire game.

7. IF your game board is not 100 unique titles, and you happen to land on a title you've already read -- you may read the book one space behind you, but you may not move your space.

Wow! Great work all! I can't wait to delve into these more before voting.

What is the deadline for the poll?

Plus I was tickled pink to see my own modest suggestions pop up here and there. ☺

Happy 15th Birthday PBT!

We didn't discuss behind the scenes, but I'm sure admins have been able to vote in previous years, so can I assume this will be the case again this year? Thank you!

Although, I love all these ideas and I have no idea how I will choose, anyway!

Theresa wrote: "Wow! Great work all! I can't wait to delve into these more before voting.

What is the deadline for the poll?

Plus I was tickled pink to see my own modest suggestions pop up here and there. ☺

Ha..."

Thank you so much, Theresa, for your kind words and great suggestions! There are multiple opportunities amongst our challenges to incorporate your ideas. Can't wait to see what people choose.

LibraryCin wrote: "We didn't discuss behind the scenes, but I'm sure admins have been able to vote in previous years, so can I assume this will be the case again this year? Thank you!

Although, I love all these idea..."

You are welcome to vote, Cindy, since I know you enjoy playing for fun. I won't since I have to administer, lol.

These all look great - it's going to be hard to pick.

As usual, they are all fabulous! Will be fun no matter what wins. I know we are supposed to keep quiet about what we are drawn to and our choices, but I have to say, since it is the 15 year anniversary, that would be a really fun challenge to do as one of them.... Just saying. I mean every single one is great, but that one is pretty specific to the moment.

Wow. I love these!

As usual, I have lots of questions. Back to College - If I read it correctly, we would each pick 12- 16 books in total. Can we get really creative in picking books for each course? I’m thinking foreign language could mean reading a book set in another country, history could be historical fiction or nonfiction, but what about math? Could it be as simple as a title with a number (Seven husbands of…,)? Or maybe a book with a character in a STEM job?

Mysteries could fit criminal justice, fantasies could be called anthropology, and science fiction could fit science, math, sociology, linguistics, or anthropology. Thrillers and essay collections might work for political science or communications. I can think of literary fiction books that would fit psychology or philosophy, as well as literature. Almost any nonfiction book could conceivably be the title of a specialized or independent study course. I’m sure others can get more creative. Am I on the right track here?

I’m reading Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism now, and i think it would fit language, social sciences or maybe humanities.

Thanks for including my environmental topics in your examples. I love that I could complete my “coursework” by reading all fiction books if I wanted to, or do a deep dive into any topic.

For Jeopardy, can you give us more examples of possible categories?

I have a question about subdue the shelf (if this is the right time/place to ask questions?)

Do we each roll our own dice as we go, or is this a group activity? Do we keep on rolling as we read, or is it a set number of moves per month?

Usually I gravitate toward one or two of the possibilities every year but this time I would be happy if any one of the choices win. Great job as always, Mods!

NancyJ wrote: "Wow. I love these!

As usual, I have lots of questions. Back to College - If I read it correctly, we would each pick 12- 16 books in total. Can we get really creative in picking books for each cou..."

Nancy, the books would need to fit a tag, Foreign language is easy, because you will find plenty of books under French, Spanish, Russian, etc. Just start do a search of subjects, you will be surprised with the books you come up with.

My questions are:

*When is the deadline for voting?

*Can we vote for up to 10 points for each challenge choice or do we split our 10 points among the choices?

Thanks!

NancyJ wrote: "For Jeopardy, can you give us more examples of possible categories?"

The board isn't made up yes, but there are so many options. One might be decades where $100 is 2010-2020 and $500 is 1890-1900. Or we might do retellings where $100 would be read any retelling and $500 is a retelling of a greek myth. I'm not saying these are the categories we will use though. I'll decide if it gets voted in - - just some more examples of the types of things I'm thinking about.

Sue wrote: "I have a question about subdue the shelf (if this is the right time/place to ask questions?)

Do we each roll our own dice as we go, or is this a group activity? Do we keep on rolling as we read, o..."

So the administrators are going to be doing the dice rolling for everyone, but it is essentially and individual activity. When you achieve the halfway mark in your current book, then you can request the next dice roll.

You will keep rolling as you read.

Holly R W wrote: "My questions are:

*When is the deadline for voting?

*Can we vote for up to 10 points for each challenge choice or do we split our 10 points among the choices?

Thanks!"

Great questions! Voting must be done in November - - so let's say November 30th at noon EST.

All the points you delineate, up to 10, will go toward your first choice on the survey.

These are fabulous! It's a very difficult decision so I need some time to ponder the possibilities.

Great ideas Anita, and Mods! Thanks so much taking in all the groups comments and ideas. This group has become my home away from home, a safe place to come and be with friends.

For Subdue The Shelf: I just want to clarify I am understanding it correctly. I will list 100 books, you roll the dice and I get 6, So I read the book that is #6 on my list? Since I have a board of 100, the first 5 books are now out of the game and I can safely read them for other challenges?

oh wow, these all look great! I've got some thinking to do...

Joanne, thank you for those kind words, and you have it 99% right. The only concern is that some rolls could take you backward, but once you are 12 spaces away from a book, you can safely read it for another challenge or whatever.

Anita wrote: "Secret Tags

One of our members indicated how she really loved reading narrow tags and lamented how infrequently they were actually selected, and from that tidbit, came this concept!

We all have t..."

So, if I understand this correctly ... starting on 1st Monday of the month you post ONE CLUE PER DAY ... members get one guess per clue ... if s/o has guessed by day 6 the secret tag is revealed. If no one has guessed yet, clues continue until someone guesses.

What happens if someone guesses correctly on the first day? (Or any day before day 5?)

Anita wrote: "Joanne, thank you for those kind words, and you have it 99% right. The only concern is that some rolls could take you backward, but once you are 12 spaces away from a book, you can safely read it f..."

Wouldn't that be 15 books away ... as one of the dice rolls allows another player to potential set you back up to 15 spaces.

Book Concierge wrote: "Anita wrote: "Secret Tags

One of our members indicated how she really loved reading narrow tags and lamented how infrequently they were actually selected, and from that tidbit, came this concept!
..."

If someone guesses correctly on the first day, we will reveal ONLY TO THAT PERSON (or those people), that they have guessed the clue correctly.

If people subsequently guess the clue from days 2 to 5, we will reveal it, but again, only privately.

So those who guess the clue before the 6th day get a little head start.

All of these are so creative!

Anita wrote: "Book Concierge wrote: "Anita wrote: "Secret Tags

If someone guesses correctly on the first day, we will reveal ONLY TO THAT PERSON (or those people), that they have guessed the clue correctly. ..."

Oh, So people can guess the same tag as someone else guessed?

Book Concierge wrote: "Anita wrote: "Book Concierge wrote: "Anita wrote: "Secret Tags

If someone guesses correctly on the first day, we will reveal ONLY TO THAT PERSON (or those people), that they have guessed the clue ..."

Yes, you are making your own best guess (and can learn from the guesses of others).

Huge thanks to the mods and those who submitted suggestions! The options look really fun and I'm excited to see which will win to play next year.

Re: Subdue the Shelf

Question re : 2. The order of the titles can be any order that you like.

SO if I name only 50 books, the books in #51-100 can be in a different order than in spaces #1-50?

Example of what I mean, using only five titles to fill 10 spaces:
1. To Kill a Mockingbird
2. Crime and Punishment
3. Tess of the D’Urbervilles
4. Frankenstein
5. Anne of Green Gables
6. Tess of the D’Urbervilles
7. Anne of Green Gables
8. Crime and Punishment
9. To Kill a Mockingbird
10. Frankenstein

I repeated all five titles, but in a different order than originally

Subdue the shelf is number 1 and family Fued is # 2 . All the choices look fun so it is definitely a win win no matter what.

Questions about Jeopardy:
- For Jeopardy, will all 6 categories chosen by the Admins be revealed to everyone before the randomly selected member chooses one of them?
- Will we know the selected category before deciding how much to bet (but not the requirement for each dollar amount).

Book Concierge wrote: "Re: Subdue the Shelf

Question re : 2. The order of the titles can be any order that you like.

SO if I name only 50 books, the books in #51-100 can be in a different order than in spaces #1-50?
..."

That's fine to do.

Joy D wrote: "Questions about Jeopardy:
- For Jeopardy, will all 6 categories chosen by the Admins be revealed to everyone before the randomly selected member chooses one of them?
- Will we know the selected ca..."

Yes, the categories will all be revealed for the first board in January. And then the second board categories would be revealed in July.

And yes, you will know the category before you pick the dollar amount you want to play for.

so much creativity! You all are amazing.

Anita wrote: "And yes, you will know the category before you pick the dollar amount you want to play for..."

???

From the description originally posted in message # 6, above ...
Then, each player (members can join at any time) will select a dollar amount they want to play for BEFORE the categories are revealed.

BC, I think it means "before the reading requirement to earn the dollar amount" is revealed (i.e., each "square" in the column underneath the category).

Yes, Joy is correct, but I didn't phrase that very well, lol. The categories will be revealed, but the reading tasks under the dollar amounts will not be until after the dollar amounts are selected.

Will attempt to phrase it more clearly tomorrow.

Please note we really are just voting for concepts. We will provide detailed and more specific rules once our two favorite concepts are selected.

Like on Jeopardy - you say you want the $500 clue before you know what the question is.

Exactly, Robin!!!

Thanks so much, Nicole! Members really helped us generate ideas.

15 years! Thank you admins, especially Anita. I think you had the original idea for this group on Shelfari. The Secret Tag challenge reminds me of how tags were revealed each month on Shelfari. I'd almost forgotten about that.

I'm wearing my 'I Voted' sticker.

Booknblues wrote: "NancyJ wrote: "Wow. I love these!

As usual, I have lots of questions. Back to College - If I read it correctly, we would each pick 12- 16 books in total. Can we get really creative in picking boo..."

OK, that makes sense. I was thinking Math would be challenging, but there are 20000 choices for the math tag, including The Housekeeper and the Professor and The Unseen World.

Small Things Like These has religion tags.

I just wanted to tell everyone that I voted for happy Birthday PBT. One because I really love special milestones like that and two, because I think the challenge itself sounds super fun. I won't say the other two, and I think they are all fun and wonderful. And I always have a good time with them. But if I could put in a special plug for that one, I'm doing it....

Brilliant ideas all round, and so many different things to choose from. Thanks so much, mod team!