Play Book Tag discussion

As many of you know, at the beginning of this year's challenge, you had the chance to predict the final four authors as well as the author who would win it all.

Our final four turned out to be:

Barbara Kingsolver
Alice Hoffman
Kazuo Ishiguro
Jane Austen

As announced previously, Jane Austen was PBT's Favorite Author.

So who, of our members, made the best predictions?

Three of our members predicted the winner, but after the tie breaker, the overall champion was longtime member:

Care Burpee

Care was a very active Shelfarian, and she lives in Alaska! She didn't cast a single vote in the contest, but won nonetheless. Congratulations, Care!!! Please contact me with your email address to claim your $25 Amazon Gift Card. Care also accurately predicted that Barbara Kingsolver and Alice Hoffman would be in the final four.

Our very worthy runner ups both predicted Jane Austen as the winner. Kudos to:

Robin P and Shelly

Both very active PBT members who have contributed greatly to our community. Please PM me to confirm your email addresses for your $15 Amazon gift cards.

Honorable Mention goes to the following members who predicted at least one of the final four authors. You will each receive 5 participation points per correctly guessed author (our winners will receive these as well):

Charlotte (Hoffman)
Cora R (Ishiguro)
Joanne (Hoffman)
Lyn (Hoffman)
Nancy J (Hoffman)
Olivermagnus (Ishiguro)
Rachel N (Hoffman)
Sschwartz (Ishiguro and Austen)

Oh, and our administrator, LibraryCin also made a correct prediction (Kingsolver). But sadly no participation points for administrators, lol.

Finally, everyone who has read a Jane Austen book by the end of the year will receive 20 participation points. Please post below the name of the book you completed and a link to your review in order to receive those points. Please post your claim by January 3rd.

Just in case you were curious, our most predicted author to win was none other than J.K. Rowling. Shockingly, she was knocked out in the very first round by Lois McMaster Bujold, an author I'm embarrassed to say I had never even heard of . . .

Congratulations to all the winners! Make sure you all buy yourself a Holiday gift. Don't be like Joanne, who most lucky would have got a gift for someone else🙄

LoL Anita, I remember now that I picked Hoffman because I know how loved she is around here. I actually dropped out of the play early on, too few authors for such a picky reader as I am.

Congrats to Care and the other winners!

I'll just add that I also predicted one of the top 4 (Kingsolver). :-)

Anita wrote: "Lois McMaster Bujold, an author I'm embarrassed to say I had never even heard of . . ."

And I'd never heard of her, either.

Typically for me, I picked my choice for winners and promptly forgot which ones they were. I never voted because it seemed too complicated! Jane Austen has stood the test of time, there are definitely more movies/TV shows/books/websites about her than any of the others!

Congratulations to all! It was an interesting and fun challenge, not least because I quickly realized after it started that my guesses were way off 😅. Although I did have an author or two hang on until the drop to 4.

I still haven't recovered from the randomizer's rejection of my nominated author Charles Dickens. Just had to put that out there.

Robin P wrote: "Typically for me, I picked my choice for winners and promptly forgot which ones they were. I never voted because it seemed too complicated! Jane Austen has stood the test of time, there are definit..."

Same. I do remember that Tolkien was one.

I read Persuasion - My Review.

Congratulations Care and all the winners

I read

My Review

I read Persuasion

https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Congratulations Care, Robin and Shelly👑🏅🏆

I read Sense and Sensibility on 11/28/22

Link to Review

Congratulations to the winners!

I read Sense and Sensibility. Here's the link to my PBT Review: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Congratulations to all of the winners. I was glad I participated. I found a few new authors that I really like now.

I read Northanger Abbey
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Congrats to the winners! I didn't do any guessing and am impressed with how many named at least one of the 4 finalists for making it tehre.

I read Pride and Prejudice and posted my review on March 31
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Congrats to all those who guessed correctly! I must admit to not remembering my choices.

I read the Jane Austen's unfinished book, Sanditon, which was completed by a more modern author. Austen wrote the first half, which I loved, and the other author did not stay true to Austen's style. Here's the link to my PBT review:
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

LibraryCin wrote: "Congrats to Care and the other winners!

I'll just add that I also predicted one of the top 4 (Kingsolver). :-)"

So sorry, Cindy! I meant to include you separately, but then I got distracted. I rectified my error!! Way to go!!

Robin P wrote: " I never voted because it seemed too complicated! Jane Austen has stood the test of time, there are definit..."

I didn't realize you never voted either! I "see" you here so often that I just assumed you did.

Just goes to show that the voting really wasn't that big a factor in who won the prizes! Two of the three winners didn't even vote or influence the final selection at all.

Congratulations to the winners and I'm amazed I picked even one of the final four correctly :-). I'll re-read an Austen book before the end of December. Now that it's over I can say I'm happy a lot of people enjoyed reading Agatha Christie as she was one of my nominees. I know she isn't for everyone but I did enjoy reading everyones reviews.

What’s really hilarious, is that everyone knows Alice Hoffman is my favorite author. I didn’t even pick her as an author to submit. I just thought that she wouldn’t have the wide ranging appeal. I guess I thought that it was more of a me thing and not a PBT thing. I could not believe how far she went! I actually really thought that Amor Towles, Frederick Backman would pull it out. I’m pretty sure that my final four were J. K. Rowling, Frederick, Backman, Amor Towles, and Taylor Jenkins Reid. Anyway, it was a really super fun challenge and I enjoyed running through the authors. I was so sure that I would have a sharp sense of the group. How wrong I was! Anyway, it was great fun and I’m looking for the challenges next year.

Rachel N. wrote: "Congratulations to the winners and I'm amazed I picked even one of the final four correctly :-). I'll re-read an Austen book before the end of December. Now that it's over I can say I'm happy a lot..."

I did not play along (I can barely get in my 50 books, and I don't know how you all do what you do in terms of reading - - I'm like an amateur), but I really love Agatha Christie! So glad others enjoyed being introduced to her.

Amy wrote: "What’s really hilarious, is that everyone knows? Alice Hoffman is my favorite author. I didn’t even pick her as an author to submit. I just thought that she wouldn’t have the appeal wide ranging. I..."

Lol, as an administrator, I really thought I would have a good handle on where this would go, and turns out I had NO CLUE. It's fun to be surprised though!!

I read Mansfield Park in March 2022

My Review HERE

Anita wrote: "So sorry, Cindy! I meant to include you separately, but then I got distracted. I rectified my error!! Way to go!! ..."

No worries and thank you! :-)

I didn't actually have her in the top 2, but I had her in the top 4. Of course, I don't get participation points, anyway, but it was nice to be able to "predict" (or guess!? LOL!) one of the top ones.

Congratulations to all of the winners! As for myself? 0 for 4!

Amy wrote: "What’s really hilarious, is that everyone knows Alice Hoffman is my favorite author. I didn’t even pick her as an author to submit. I just thought that she wouldn’t have the wide ranging appeal. I ..."

I think the only reason Towles didn't get farther is that he has only 3 novels out and many of us were reading for points and didn't even guess. That said, I can't remember if I ever voted against him at this point. I do know I tended to vote for Jane Austen. I am not keen on Hoffman, but she did very well!

Rachel N. wrote: "Now that it's over I can say I'm happy a lot of people enjoyed reading Agatha Christie as she was one of my nominees. I know she isn't for everyone but I did enjoy reading everyones reviews."

I lost track, but I think I went with Christie for the win. Not that Austen was surprising. I should have done a re-read ;)

I read https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/....

I read Persuasion in August. Here is my review: Persuasion by Jane Austen

I read at least four of her books this year. 80 points, right? 😁😉

Given my obvious affection, you’d think that I would have predicted her for the win! I should have known this group would prefer her to Rowling et al. My bad.

Mansfield Park
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Emma
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Lady Susan
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Pride and Prejudice
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Joy D wrote: "Congrats to all those who guessed correctly! I must admit to not remembering my choices.

I read the Jane Austen's unfinished book, Sanditon, which was completed by a more modern author. Austen wro..."

According to another book I read, Jane’s draft of that book didn’t fit her style either, and was so personal she did not want it published. I still need to read it.

I read Northanger Abbey in early December.

Link to my review: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Congratulations to the winners - Care, LibraryCin, Robin and Shelly!

Congratulations to all the winners! I totally forgot who I voted for about 1 week after the vote...

I read Northanger Abbey in May. Here is the review: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

NancyJ wrote: "Congratulations to the winners - Care, LibraryCin, Robin and Shelly!"

Oh, not me, Nancy! I only picked out 1 of the top 4 (along with a few others). :-)

NancyJ wrote: "According to another book I read, Jane’s draft of that book didn’t fit her style either, and was so personal she did not want it published. I still need to read it..."

Well, it was different for sure than her other books, but you could still tell Austen wrote the first half. It is very obvious where the other author takes over, and the quality goes way down (IMO).

Just in case a half-book of Austen and half from another author is ineligible, I also read an early effort of Austen's during the WPF challenge:
Lady Susan by Jane Austen - 3* - My Review

Congrats to all the winners! Such a fun game!

I just finished Mansfield Park. My review is here:
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Thanks for the push to reread this, even though my opinion didn't change much.