Play Book Tag discussion

Here's how it works.

1. You must sign up for the swap and submit your title by April 8. The swap will begin on April 10.

2. When you sign up, you must provide the title and author of the paperback book you will be donating to me via private message.

3. Paperback books may be used or new, but should be in good condition. Please try to pick a book you know you LOVE and that you'd really enjoy sharing with a fellow PBT member.

4. Here's how the swap will work.

- The order of play will be generated at random.
- However, we will be auctioning off THREE slots. These three slots will be the next to last slot and the two slots prior to that one. Bids will be accepted from April 1-4. Slots toward the end of the order of play are very advantageous. Bidding starts at 10 participation points.
- The first person will select a number from a list of numbers that I provide. Each number is affiliated with a book title. I, then, announce which book the first person has opened.
- The second person can either steal the open title from the first person. Or, they may pick a new number and open a new book. If they steal the first person's title, then the first person has the opportunity to select a new number.
- The third person may then steal either one of the open titles, or select a new number to open.

We continue ad infinitum until all the books are opened and distributed.

5. Each person may possess a given title no more than three times total.

6. One title will come with a $25 Amazon gift certificate provided by PBT. At the end of the swap, we will announce which title includes the gift certificate.

7. You must check the status of the swap every 24 hours or assign a proxy person to do so for you so that if it is your turn, you take it in a timely fashion. I will be away on April 22 and 23 and that will be a break in the action.

8. Because of the gift certificate, this swap is only open to PBT members who are existing members as February 1st, or who are WELL known to an existing long term PBT member who is willing to vouch for you.

We love new members and will be very happy to have you participate in upcoming activities and celebrations - - many of which have prizes - - but this is a significant prize, and we really intend it for people who have been participating here and/or helped PBT become the great group it is today.

9. Book should be shipped within one week of the close of the swap.

Personal contact information must be exchanged between the two parties involved - - privately - - in order to complete the shipping of the books. Not shipping your book is grounds for being removed as a PBT member (holy smokes I seriously hope I never actually have to implement that!).

Please note that we've had very successful swaps in the past with little or no problems.

Admins may participate (but I will not as I am running it and will know all the books).

If you are an international member, please alert us and let us know if you are willing to ship your book from abroad.

If you are NOT an international member, but are unwilling or unable to ship internationally (book rate is fine), then please alert us to that.

PLEASE SIGN UP AND/OR ASK QUESTIONS BELOW.

P.S. I am also going to donate a surprise book from my stash that will accompany someone else's selected at random.

Meli is in!

Me, too!

I am in!

I was just thinking about our last swap in 2019 and how fun it was - probably because I am finally reading the book I won.

I just want to comment on something for our non-US members: I recently needed to send a book to someone in the UK. I also sometimes get books from friends in Canada. Shipping anything outside US (which has a very reasonably priced domestic media mailing rate) or to the US is expensive. At the moment the US$ is extremely strong against the British£ and I ordered directly from Waterstones online and had it shipped within the UK. Cost was thus equivalent to what the book would cost here plus shipping domestically. My Canadian friends all use Amazon to send me books.

Something to think about.

Now to check through the piles of read books for an appropriate book...

What Theresa mentions about the international shipping is on point. I don't want to exclude anyone, but it just may not be a viable option for folks to be shipping abroad or those abroad to ship here . . .

So definitely need to know if you are international.

I'm in !

Count me in!

I'm in (and willing to ship internationally)

I am in, like Theresa I need to search for the perfect book!

I am in, too! This sounds like fun!

Just sent Anita a pm with my book donation.

This was great fun the last time we did it in 2019.

I'm in! Any rules for the kind of books allowed?

I'm in! Fly home tonight and will be home April so it is perfect timing. Will PM when I look at my shelves this weekend.

annapi wrote: "I'm in! Any rules for the kind of books allowed?"

We've never had rules before, but no children's books, textbooks, or outdated non-fiction, a book in a foreign language . . .if I see a book that seems like a "red flag" I'll let the donor know, but it would only be for something pretty far out there. I think common sense and the fact that our members all know and like each other will keep the books within reason.

In fact, to help ensure high quality books, I'll give 30 participation points to the person who donated the book that is stolen the most often.

Anita, I noticed that you said "paperback" is that because of mailing costs? I have no problem with mailing a hardcover-just wondering if hardcover is a possibility.

Yes, I just presumed paperback because of the mailing cost, but a hardcover is fine and welcome. Please denote if hardcover, and I will specify that during the swap as some people may have a preference when “stealing”.

Anita wrote: "In fact, to help ensure high quality books, I'll give 30 participation points to the person who donated the book that is stolen the most often."

Wow, that's generous!

I think I am going to struggle to find something. I think I deviate most from the tastes in this group so I will try to find something more universally loved *^_^*
I may need to peak in my hardcover stash. For some reason I feel like I will have more options there.

Oh no! I just took a bunch of books to the used bookstore that would have been perfect for this. Of course I immediately found another stack that should have gone with them, but I'm not sure if they're good fits... I'll see if I can find the archives to the last one and get a feel for what works best.

Well I read through the 2019 thread and there's no way I'm missing out on that fun!! Sign me up, please! Time to dip into the good stuff and see what I come up with... :)

I'm not sure if I can participate. The print on paperbacks is often too small for me to read, and because of that I stopped buying them years ago. I might have some old books, or maybe I could donate some giveaway books that I won.

I'm in!!

NancyJ wrote: "I'm not sure if I can participate. The print on paperbacks is often too small for me to read, and because of that I stopped buying them years ago. I might have some old books, or maybe I could dona..."

Nancy ... you only donate ONE book. I understand that this may not the be event for you if paperbacks are too difficult to read. But you can still have fun watching the back-and-forth swaps. I think one of the times we did this I just enjoyed the show from the "bleachers"

NancyJ wrote: "I'm not sure if I can participate. The print on paperbacks is often too small for me to read, and because of that I stopped buying them years ago. I might have some old books, or maybe I could dona..."

No pressure to participate! Totally understandable given paperbacks don't work for you. As BC suggested, you can just watch the situation unfurl.

Or in the alternative, if you have a book to play with/donate, then you could play and then just sell or donate the book you "win".

But ZERO pressure. These swaps always have PLENTY of participants.

NancyJ wrote: "I'm not sure if I can participate. The print on paperbacks is often too small for me to read, and because of that I stopped buying them years ago. I might have some old books, or maybe I could dona..."

Nancy, do you need large print or are you comfortable with the medium-sized print? Just curious because I noticed of the six books I'm looking at, four have the regular/smaller-sized print, but two have the medium-sized print that I prefer these days. (My eye doctor would probably say it's time for bifocals, but I'm holding out as long as possible :)

Book Concierge wrote: "NancyJ wrote: "I'm not sure if I can participate. The print on paperbacks is often too small for me to read, and because of that I stopped buying them years ago. I might have some old books, or may..."

My one and only time doing this was in 2019 and it was a blast. Just watching what was going on was more exciting than the moments your turn came. One of the things that happens is you can never predict what books will be the 'hot' swaps -- I seem to remember that Locally Laid: How We Built a Plucky, Industry-changing Egg Farm - from Scratch and Lab Girl were on fire!

Now I want to go read through that challenge thread again.

Theresa wrote: " I seem to remember that Locally Laid: How We Built a Plucky, Industry-changing Egg Farm - from Scratch and Lab Girl were on fire! ..."

That's right, we were both competing for Locally Laid and I think I ended up with it, but you read it as well in an unofficial buddy read.

I've done it a couple of times and it is always great fun.

Booknblues wrote: "Theresa wrote: " I seem to remember that Locally Laid: How We Built a Plucky, Industry-changing Egg Farm - from Scratch and Lab Girl were on fire! ..."

That's right, we were both competing for Loc..."

I added both Locally Laid and Lab Girl to my TBR and actually immediately ordered them! I had no knowledge of either of those books before the Swap. I'm now reading my win from Johanne - Kafka on the Shore - a doorstopper that I could not read then as I was reading Proust which was a multiple door-stopper. I'm loving it too - and pushing to finish by end of week though it also will fit Friendship tag.

NancyJ wrote: "I'm not sure if I can participate. The print on paperbacks is often too small for me to read, and because of that I stopped buying them years ago. I might have some old books, or maybe I could dona..."

I btw have total sympathy with you on the reading/small print problem and you can imagine that's a handicap as a lawyer! I'm reading 2 paperbacks right now that seem to have ridiculously small print and the type is light. I'm also spoiled from reading ebooks where you can adjust light, background and font size right on the tablet! However, since I do needlework, I have a lot of good lighting - just have to place myself in those spots to read -- and I have a whole range of amplification with readers --needed for stitching many pieces either to see the stitching or to read the chart or both.

What's proving a bigger deterent to me these days is the arthritis in my thumb joints. I can't hold books as long as I used to. Since ebooks read on a tablet, the cover I have in it folds into a stand or something easy to grip while reading.

I'm one of those that can't read small print anymore, which is why I've pretty much completely switched over to ebooks - I can increase the font size. But I have a magnifying glass with a light that I use for sewing (it's attached to my desk), and can use it for reading too.

Theresa wrote: " Locally Laid: How We Built a Plucky, Industry-changing Egg Farm - from Scratch and Lab Girl.."

I was trying for both of these, too! And I was lucky enough to end up with "Lab Girl".

I would love to join, but I also just donated the few books I had to a book sale. I'm not sure if I have anything else, so if I join will depend if I have something to contribute.

LibraryCin wrote: "Theresa wrote: " Locally Laid: How We Built a Plucky, Industry-changing Egg Farm - from Scratch and Lab Girl.."

I was trying for both of these, too! And I was lucky enough to end up with "Lab Girl"."

Yeah I was shut out of both!

annapi wrote: "I'm one of those that can't read small print anymore, which is why I've pretty much completely switched over to ebooks - I can increase the font size. But I have a magnifying glass with a light tha..."

I favor audiobooks these days, but i often alternate with kindles with a large font. I like kindles with a black background and white letters - I can read longer before I see the spots or waves warning me of a migraine.

I have a magnifying glass in the kitchen to read labels, but I can’t use it for longer reading. I should look for one that’s designed for books.

@Pam - I’ve been resistant to bifocals too. Changing focus becomes painful, and I need them more for reading than anything else. Plus my vision changes, so I keep a couple different pairs handy. When I shopped in person, it was easy to find books I could read. Choosing books online is much harder because there is no indication of font size. I wish they’d list this info. Sometimes the book dimensions, number of pages, and audio length allow me to make educated guesses. If a book is shelved in the High school reading list section of the library, I know I won’t be able to read it.

Anyway, I’m happy to be a spectator to see what you all fight for.

Theresa wrote: "What's proving a bigger deterent to me these days is the arthritis in my thumb joints. I can't hold books as long as I used to. Since ebooks read on a tablet, the cover I have in it folds into a stand or something easy to grip while reading."

I was getting what we called "Kindle elbow" so I started using a soft lap table/stand/pillow thing that I love so much I've found myself actively avoiding the physical books on my TBR

NancyJ wrote: "I’ve been resistant to bifocals too. Changing focus becomes painful"

This is exactly what I'm worried about. And just the adjustment time in general. I've been wearing glasses for 30 years, and I notice when I have a tiny smudge on the very bottom of my lens... how am I not going to notice a whole different lens down there CONSTANTLY???

It's only in the last year or so that I now have to pull labels and things with smaller writing further away from my face to read them, so hopefully it won't actually affect my book reading for a while yet and I can keep putting off the decision

NancyJ wrote: "When I shopped in person, it was easy to find books I could read. Choosing books online is much harder because there is no indication of font size. I wish they’d list this info. Sometimes the book dimensions, number of pages, and audio length allow me to make educated guesses. If a book is shelved in the High school reading list section of the library, I know I won’t be able to read it."

That must be really frustrating! I'm surprised they haven't started listing it somehow. There is such a big difference from book to book, there really is no way to predict it. Word count to page count also helps, but that's not available most of the time either

Pam wrote: "NancyJ wrote: "I’ve been resistant to bifocals too. Changing focus becomes painful"

This is exactly what I'm worried about. And just the adjustment time in general. I've been wearing glasses for 3..."

Hi Pam,

Have you ever inquired about or considered progressive lenses? My main issue is distance, but if I wear my glasses for distance, I was unable to use my phone without removing them (or see my phone to use GPS while driving).

Progressive lenses were the answer. There's no line. They slowly change from one focus to the other. It took me a bit to get accustomed to them, but I do like them.

I have box full of popular hardback title that I was about to donate. I don't actually buy many physical books anymore. I prefer audio or ebooks. But my son has twice gifted me with Book of the Month credits so I have quite a selection.

The print is larger in hardback books. I find them easier to read than paperbacks, but I miss the highlighting feature of my kindle when I read them. And they are more difficult to hold.... thumb joint arthritis. I have a nice book stand that helps, but ebooks are still easier.

So I will donate a barely used hardback. My only problem will be to decide which one.

Anita wrote: "Have you ever inquired about or considered progressive lenses?"

Oh interesting. I didn't realize that was an option. Thanks, Anita! I will definitely look into those.

On the vision discussion ....

I never have any trouble transitioning with bifocals and as Anita says, progressives are not a visible line on the lens. The main thing you need to adjust to is when going down stairs you need to look out the top part of the lens - distance - not bottom - reading. That adjusted for me quickly.

My problem is and has been for 40 years switching between contacts and glasses. I wear gas permeable contacts as they physically correct the severe astigmatisms I have in each eye. I see far better with contacts. Even though my glasses are the same prescription for distance as my contacts, distance is always blurry when wearing glasses - it's the astigmatisms. Reading is no problem switching between.

My suggestion is to try progressives. If they don't work for you then see what other options are suggested. Most opticians and optometrists are very skilled at suggesting what combo may work best for you.

Joi is in!!
How fun!

Here's who I have so far. Let me know if I missed anyone!

Amy
annapi
Book Concierge
BooknBlues
Cora
Diane MP
Jen K
Joanne
Joi
Joy D
Meli
Nicole R
Pam
Theresa

NancyJ wrote: "I like kindles with a black background and white letters - I can read longer before I see the spots or waves warning me of a migraine."

The Kindle Oasis can switch from day to night mode, where the night has a black background and white letters. You can also adjust the warmth of the page for the day mode, where the background can be a more yellow hue (like old paper) than white.

And I use an origami style case, which enables you to stand the Kindle up but is thin and fairly light compared to other cases. It's heavier than plain cases without a stand because of the magnets in it, but I've tried several styles and this is my favorite: https://www.amazon.com/Fintie-Origami...

And regarding progressive lenses, I love mine! Of course, there's not much difference for me because my presbyopia is not too bad, but I would recommend to try them as well.

Anita wrote: "Here's how it works.

1. You must sign up for the swap and submit your title by April 8. The swap will begin on April 10.


2. When you sign up, you must provide the title and author of the paperback book you will be donating to me via private message

Anita, Would like to sign up but when I try to private message you I get - Sorry, this person is not accepting messages

Sarah

Anita, can we offer a Kindle book to be purchased and sent to the recipient? Kindle has a "buy for others" option with the ability to schedule the delivery date within 45 days of purchase.

annapi wrote: "NancyJ wrote: "I like kindles with a black background and white letters - I can read longer before I see the spots or waves warning me of a migraine."

The Kindle Oasis can switch from day to night..."

Love the Finti covers! I use them on my tablets -- which is where my reading apps are. Being able to fold them to stand or even fold to give a sort of handle to curl fingers around to hold makes all the difference.

Sarah wrote: "Anita wrote: "Here's how it works.

1. You must sign up for the swap and submit your title by April 8. The swap will begin on April 10.


2. When you sign up, you must provide the title and author ..."

I guess we need to be friends first! I sent you a friend request.

annapi wrote: "Anita, can we offer a Kindle book to be purchased and sent to the recipient? Kindle has a "buy for others" option with the ability to schedule the delivery date within 45 days of purchase."

I think you could offer this as an alternative if you wish. . .but not as the only option, just because not everyone has or is comfortable with an e-reader.

I'm in! Things have been super busy for me recently so I've been reading less, but I'm really excited for this!

Anita, I'll send you my title by the 8th. To check, would it be ok to plan to send a new copy of the book I'm thinking about directly to the recipient? Almost everything I've read recently has come from the library, so I don't have many of my own books that I could offer.

forsanolim wrote: "I'm in! Things have been super busy for me recently so I've been reading less, but I'm really excited for this!

Anita, I'll send you my title by the 8th. To check, would it be ok to plan to send a..."

That's more than okay!!! Absolutely. Or you can send a used copy as well if you prefer.

I will add you to my list.