You'll love this one...!! A book club & more discussion

I'm in another team challenge which starts Friday. So I'm hoping to combine the tasks for that one with the Toppler. Friday I'll find out the tasks for the first week of that (= Toppler week), so then I can really gopher for something which I can use for both! So I'm really glad that we have so many different tasks and don't have to fill them all - so it will be easier to find good books!

I'm really excited about this! :D

Hopefully you won't be over run with doing two challenges Elsbeth and that you can combine books.

It sounds like many of us are well on our way to being ready! I am finding gophering for titles a lot of fun for all of the team's challenges, and have a stack of eight books ready for the toppler. That should give me more than enough choice.

Elsbeth wrote: "I'm in another team challenge which starts Friday. So I'm hoping to combine the tasks for that one with the Toppler. Friday I'll find out the tasks for the first week of that (= Toppler week), so t..."

Good challenge strategy, Elsbeth!

Kerri wrote: "I've organised as many audios as I can to fit different categories. I usually listen to one while doing my chores, then revert to reading at night. I've changed my mind on some of the books I liste..."

I'm impressed by your goal of 5 or 6 books, Kerri! You have me rethinking whether I can squeeze in more than 2 or 3. :)

Casceil wrote: "I've been ordering cheap used books through Amazon, and a have a little pile on my desk now, ready to go. I have a fantasy, a cozy, and Suspect by Robert Crais, which looks like it ..."

Cheap used books are my favourite things to spend money on. My online go-to source is ABE (with thousands of book sellers, much like Amazon), followed by Thrift Books.

The reason I mostly buy used books from Amazon is that, as an Amazon Prime member, I can often get free shipping. That usually knocks $4 off the price.

My first toppler saw my competitive streak come out. I amazed myself by reading 6 books in a week, though some people read many more than that. Do what you can TrudyAn, every little bit helps, and who knows, maybe you'll fit more in than you first thought you would. The main thing is, have fun.

My reading record was set in a toppler. I think I read 5 books that time. But I had a lot less things to do then than I do now so I know I won't get anywhere near that. As Kerri says, read what you can - we all have different commitments as well as reading at different speeds. The hole point of the toppler is to have fun. And it is funny how a team toppler can bring out the competitive side of a personality, especially when you didn't know that bit of you was there ;-)

I agree with Terry! most Topplers I read 3 or 4 books, but I once managed 5. Which is still a lot less than some, but which makes me proud! :-D
Last time I had a lot of books ready. I started in 3 before I really found one I felt like reading at that time. So I 'only' managed to read 3 that week. But At least I had fun!

I should have said, my first toppler was the Bingo one, that was a doozy.

Kerri wrote: "I should have said, my first toppler was the Bingo one, that was a doozy."

I think my record was for the bingo one too.

Oh I loved the bingo toppler. That was my first one too with my reading record of 7. That was hard to do. I am so amazed how people can read 12 or more. I do enjoy the team topplers.
I really need to do that more often too. Buy used books more. I'm only trying to buy brand new books that I know I love or have already read that I've loved. I like my uncles idea he gets a bag load of books from a charity shop, reads them all and then takes then back and gets more and it's always pretty cheap. Maybe I'll try that soon. =]

Ok, I need to put a list here and try to stick to it:
- The Air He Breathes - contemporary romance
- London 2012: What If? - sci-fi
- Ne me touche pas - fantasy
- Thief - contemporary

I have Carrie downloaded from the library but I was hoping to read books I own. It all depends on my mood come Saturday. I want something light and easy as I've read some really long books with lots of characters in recently. I'm thinking the Brandon Sanderson one and the Neil Gaiman one on my list might be safe bets - both favourite authors of mine. The first one will also get me up to speed on that series. As you can see, I'm still undecided.

I've just finished 2 books of the 3 I was reading. Still one to go (but I don't like that one as much, so it is more difficult to finish - but I need it for several challenges ;)!)...

So, I just bought myself a Kindle... and some ebooks... I think I'm hopeless...
I just bought one that has 200 pages or so, so maybe I'll read that one first...
I've just finished all the books I was reading, so I'm ready!

Ariane wrote: "So, I just bought myself a Kindle... and some ebooks... I think I'm hopeless...
I just bought one that has 200 pages or so, so maybe I'll read that one first...
I've just finished all the books I w..."

Ooh! Enjoy your kindle. New toy ;-)

I'm in the middle of a long book and there's no way I'll finish it before the toppler so I'll have to put it aside and come back to it after.

Is everyone on the Not Fourgotten team as anxious to get started as I am? It sounds like most of us are ready to go, and our competitive streak is rekindled.

I have finished the books I was reading, downloaded an audiobook, and chosen two physical books to start. None of my qualifying short books look very appealing (which is why many have been sitting unread for years, I guess), but at least they will be quick reads. And with any luck, I will discover a hidden gem.

I'll be reading these three, and hopefully can fit in one or two more before the end date.
Classic (Harper Lee) - The Sorrows of Young Werther
Book made into movie (Pat Conroy) - No Country For Old Men
Soldier as character (Memorial Day) - The Life We Bury (audio)

Yes, TrudyAn. We're ready to go. This is the part where I've finished everything I was reading, so I am "between books," but the toppler doesn't start until tomorrow. I don't want to start anything I can't finish before the toppler, but I want something to read today. What shall I do? I suppose I could try short stories. Mumble.

Yes I'm raring to go! Still not completely decided on which books. I'll probably start with the shortest though and go from there. Oh and listen to audio in tandem.

It's good that you will be toppling soke books which hqve been on you list for a while :-) That is always satisfying.

The start time for us in the UK is 5pm. Has everyone else worked out when they'll be starting? Google has some good conversions if you do a search. We wouldn't want anyone missing out on precious reading time!

Still no sign of Carolyn and Deborah. We might be a couple people down unless they pop up last minute. I might message them tomorrow if they've not been on this evening.

Sarah wrote: "The start time for us in the UK is 5pm. Has everyone else worked out when they'll be starting? Google has some good conversions if you do a search. We wouldn't want anyone missing out on precious r..."

Start time is 9:00 am here, so I have the entire day.

For me 6 pm. An hour after I get back from work, so that is ideal! And I hope to finish my last book this evening (according to my new ereader, I still have about 2,5 reading hours ;) - my old ereader never told me that!). I got a new one for my birthday, since my old one sometimes just quit when I want to turn a page... ;( it still works, but not as good as it used to. So now I have only children's books on them, so I can read to my children when we are on vacation or just a day out.

I think I'll start with Liefdesbrieven aan de sterren (= Love Letters to the Dead) by Ava Dellaira, which is tagged contemporary and romance. And YA, so I can also use it for my other team challenge - which has started noon today. But since I'm still reading something and don't want to start something else before the Toppler, I will just start tomorrow at 6pm :D

I'm planning on reading:

The Reluctant Fundamentalist - Set in the Middle East
Jane Eyre - Classic
Insurgent - Made into a movie
The Samurai's Garden - Chinese main character
Steelheart - Fantasy book
Fire Touched - Best selling female author

and a contemporary romance, not sure which one yet though.

I probably won't get through them all, but there's a good mix of audio and paper books in this collection for me, so it could happen! I'm set to go!

I have an old and a new ereader too Elsbeth. I still use my old one mainly for reading as I don't like taking my newer, more expensive obe out and about with me. I do like reading on it though at home, mainly because it tells me how many minutes left in a chapter and of the book. it's back lit though which hurts my eyes after a while, my old one isn't which makes it easier on my eyes.

Sarah wrote: "I have an old and a new ereader too Elsbeth. I still use my old one mainly for reading as I don't like taking my newer, more expensive obe out and about with me. I do like reading on it though at h..."

My new one is back lit as well, but I can turn it off - so I only use that if I want to read in bed ;)

Kristi wrote: "I'm planning on reading:

The Reluctant Fundamentalist - Set in the Middle East
Jane Eyre - Classic
Insurgent - Made into a movie
[book:The Samurai's Garde..."

The only two books on your list that I have read are Jane Eyre and Fire Touched. Fire Touched is a much faster read.

@Kristi - I read The Reluctant Fundamentalist for the last toppler. It's a quick, easy read - perfect for a toppler. I liked it more than i thought but there were things i didn't like about it too. I rated it 3 stars i think. Steelheart is awesome - I highly recommend it and it's a quick, fun read.

I've finished my audio and will be trying to finish the current book I'm reading today. It's not really holding my interest though, so if I don't it'll end up on the DNF shelf.
Start time for me is 2 am Sunday morning, sorry, but I'll be sleeping then. I'll start with a quick audio when I get up, not sure what yet.

Start time here is 6 pm, right after I get back from work. I think I'll start with the shortest too, to give me confidence ;)
See you ladies ;)

Well here I am, 4 books read so far.

Start time for me btw was 0300 18th June as we are ahead in time in NZ - thus the books read. It is currently 12:10 midnight 19/06

Deborah we all start at the same time regardless of time zones. the Toppler doesn't start for another few hours. Starts noon EDT for all of us - it doesn't matter if your ahead or behind. That means 5pm here in UK, but we all start at the same time so it looks like you've jumped the gun and those 4 books won't count.

You should start at 3am on 19th - this would match all of our start times.

Rusalka who is in Australia generally has a 3 or 4am start and effectively it's the next day for her, same on finish.

Thanks Casceil for setting up the reporting thread. Not long now - less than 40 minutes now until kick off :-) Everybody ready?

And we're off! I will be starting my first book a little later. Hope you all enjoy your book choices. I want to hear about your Toppler tipples and munchies too :-) I have a nice bottle of real champagne that a friend of mine gave me to indulge in this week :-)

Yes, time for action! I'm almost finished with my book, so after diner, I'm starting the Toppler-books! Tomorrow I have nothing planned (besides spoiling my husband with a nice breakfast, since it is father's day), so I should be able to make a nice progress...

Happy reading everyone!

Oh, Deborah, too bad you read them before Toppler! You were doing really great...! I hope that doesn't put you off!

I started my first book and i'm already 20% in. I went will Skin Deep which has a character wuth an interesting mental health issue. Closest patellel would be schizophrenia but he actually doesn't fut in to any known psychiatric condition. I can't remember who the task tributes. Will check it out later. I'm enjoying pink lemonade whilst I read. Had a bit of an accident whilst opening the bottle. It's glass with a stopper lid and it's fizzy so bottled under compression. The lid shot off with a bang and i got covered in sticky lemonade. After i noticed the label mention that i should have kept my finger on the lid as i opened to avoid incident. Doh! I'm well fed - just eaten aubergine pasta bake with fredh bread :-)

Our message board is so quiet - we must all have our nose in a book! Deborah, so sorry you started early. I hope you will keep up the momentum throughout toppler week!

It is rainy here today, perfect for staying inside. I am about halfway through my shortest book, The Sorrows of Young Werther. Werther is a self-absorbed young man obsessed by a woman he can't have. I expect to finish it sometime today. I've also started listening to The Life We Bury. It's okay so far, but have listened to only a bit of it.

Good morning team, I've just gotten up and am enjoying a nice strong black cup of coffee. I'm starting with Hitler Youth: Growing Up in Hitler's Shadow which is only 176 pages and my audio today will be Broken Promises a fun paranormal cosy mystery series I really enjoy.
Sarah, sorry, but picturing your lemonade mishap made me laugh, don't you just hate when sticky drinks spill everywhere.
I hope you have a more books lined up Deborah, a shame the ones you read won't count, oh well, think of it as your pre toppler warm-up :)
Good luck everyone

I've started my book Liefdesbrieven aan de sterren (Love Letters to the Dead), so far I like it...
I'm very tired from my work day. I've been wrapping books and magazines all day and decorating them with 'best dad' stickers for fathers day ;) (I work in a bookshop). So I think I'll go to bed and read some more there. 'See' you all tomorrow!

Wow I made some serious spelling errors in my last message. Bloody phone keyboard!

We just thought you were channeling Travis, since he should be busy baling hay :)

I've started with Brownies and Broomsticks, a paranormal cozy mystery. It's the first book in a series that I have read the rest of, starting with book two. I read through the other three like popcorn, finishing all three in four or five days, so I thought I might as well go back and see what I missed by skipping the first book. Phoenix weather is definitely encouraging me to stay inside and read. It's only supposed to get to 111 degrees today, but tomorrow is expected to be in the range of 118-120. Thank goodness for air conditioning!

It is fun seeing what everyone else is reading!

I finished my first book, Goethe's The Sorrows of Young Werther, and gave it only two stars. There is only so much of an obsessive character that I can handle. I was going to read No Country For Old Men next, but abandoned it after about ten pages, as it just isn't for me. So now I am on to Waiting, which is looking much more promising. It's about 300 pages, but seems like it will be an easy read.

Good work, TrudyAn! Don't forget to report your finished reads in the reporting thread. https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

I've just done that, Casceil. I think our messages may have been posted at the same time.

I totally forgot about the toppler. I shall try and start tomoz tho and they are only short books so I should be fine to still make 2 books.