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

Use this thread for chatting during the toppler.

Only 20 mins to go until ... umm... bat... off...?
Anyway, get your reading shoes on and get ready to start!!

(I'm off to bed so I'll catch you all up in a few hours)

See you in the morning Rus! It's noon for me (well, almost) so I'm trying to figure out which book I want to start with and keep track of time.

This will be our first Toppler where Almeta and I have not been together to kick it off. I'm not feeling up to snuff, so am staying home. Will be reading: Dinosaur Planet because Colorado Rockies' mascot is a dinosaur. Looking forward to reading my first Anne McCaffrey book.

No, Rusalka. Not "bat-off." It's "first pitch."

And someone should yell, "Play ball!"

Batter's up - Let's play ball!

Woot! Time to go!! :)

In case anyone was wondering, the toppler has officially started. Enjoy!

Just taking my seat, programme (book) in hand and snacks on the go, making a start with The Mammoth Book Of Pirates first...Go Pittsburgh!

And God Goddess Said....PLAY BALL!

Cute Almeta!

My first book will be Cursed. It's a book I've wanted to read for a few years now, so I'm looking forward to it.

Goddess, Alemta! LOL! I was hoping you'd post a picture. This thread was a bit bare.

Good play, Almeta!

I'm 25 pages in to Shoeless Joe. It's a charming book, but I seem to be having trouble staying awake. I may go take a nap.

I've started Shoeless Joe.
""In April 1945, Ty Cob picked Shoeless Joe as the best left fielder of all time. A famous sports writer once called Joe's glove "the place where triples go to die.""

Oh that reminds me of Vin Scully. He is the play-by-play announcer of the Los Angles Dodgers baseball games. I grew up listening to his voice announcing the starting line-up on my cheap, little "Made in Japan" transistor radio.

I'm 15% into my first book, Love Bats Last. I thought I'd start with a baseball player as a main character.

Since I have to do laundry and some cooking today, I am also listening to the audio version of Rookie Privateer

I am reading Carrying Albert Home: The Somewhat True Story of A Man, His Wife, and Her Alligator for home run and home plate.

I ended up starting with my longer book, Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children. So far, it's been really interesting. I also picked up the audio for A Monster Calls, so I can work on laundry and prepare dinner while reading. I may actually finish both of my books this time!

I don't know if I'll finish a book since I'm at my dad's. My nephew and his family arrive later this afternoon, so I doubt I'll have much time to read. I found Elk's Run which is a graphic novel so hopefully it will be a quick read. It will be my first graphic novel.

Well so much for that idea. I downloaded the book from the library onto my iPad and the writing is so small, I can't read it. It was a nice thought while it lasted.

Back to the drawing board.

Janice, I'm not familiar with how iPads work, but on a tablet you can stretch or enlarge pictures to make them easier to read. Does that work on an iPad?

Made it halfway through my first book! Time for a little break to start preparing dinner. My eyes are starting to cross. lol

About halfway through my book, too. Been sleepy and not reading as fast as usual.

I am quarter of the way through my book. We took the kids around this morning playing Pokemon Go. It was over 90 degrees out so I had to take a nap to recover. Dinner is going in the oven and I am settling to read a bit longer.

Stepping into the batter's box, Lori Z, who's game was delayed due to life getting in the way. She'll be swinging for the fences with Bats and Bones. Let's hope she can make it home!

Going to try to hit it out of the park with my first selection Dial C For Chihuahua. Picked this one in honor of the minor league team, the El Paso Chihuahuas. Silly name for a baseball team in my opinion but very popular apparently.

I am loving Shoeless Joe. I am laughing with you, Casceil. I kept dozing off too, and finally had some coffee and a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. I am only fifty pages in. I love the baseball stuff SO much! (view spoiler)[It really threw me to find out that J. D. Salinger is the man's name in the book that Ray is going to go find and take to the baseball game. I loved the character that James Earl Jones played. I always thought his name was Thomas Mann though. (hide spoiler)]

I can't believe someone didn't yell at me about stating the wrong town and state for the Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. It is in Cooperstown, New York.

I'm about 1/3 of the way through The Strike, and hopefully will have time to finish it by the end of toppler time. It has nothing to do with baseball, but interesting so far!

Janice,
You should be able to change the font size for your book on your iPad app. What app did you download it from?

The only times I have had issues with ebook down loads is if they had been scanned. That is when the text settings don't work well or at all!

I even have a book on my iPod that I read as a back up when I don't have anything else.

Just finishing up my first book, The Mammoth Book Of Pirates, and making a start on my second, The Jaws Of Death in honour of the Tampa Bay Rays.

Think it might be time to get in my pjs though as its creeping towards 11pm here. And I think a tea is in order too...very baseball I know!

Janice wrote: "Goddess, Alemta! LOL! I ...."

Quite Right! lol!

Corrected.

At the Seventh-Inning Stretch! Time to stand up and stretch and get some ballpark refreshments!

Swing Batta Batta

I finished my book, Love Bats Last. The main character plays for the San Francisco Giants. By the end of the story he has earned the Triple Crown.

I thought that was a horse racing thing. Evidently, it's a baseball thing too. According to Wikipedia, "The term 'Triple Crown' generally refers to the batting achievement of leading a league in batting average, home runs, and runs batted in (RBI) over the same season.

I'm going to start my next book, Dinosaur Planet.

Almeta wrote: "At the Seventh-Inning Stretch! Time to stand up and stretch and get some ballpark refreshments!"

Just had a quick dinner and back at it! And thanks for the video break too!

Casceil wrote: "Janice, I'm not familiar with how iPads work, but on a tablet you can stretch or enlarge pictures to make them easier to read. Does that work on an iPad?"

You can stretch all sorts of things on the iPad like photos. But when I tried to stretch the ebook, nothing happened. I adjusted the font to large size, but it wasn't large enough. The format of the ebook on Overdrive must be finite. No worries, I found another book to read.

Oh, you downloaded a graphic novel to your iPad.

I have not tried one on my tablet. You have an iPad Mini, I think. AmyK has one too. It is the same size as my Nook Tablet. (Samsung T230), which is Android. I just downloaded Elk Run from my library, using Overdrive and I cannot read it either, even in full screen mode. The pictures are great, but the font is not adjustable either. The touch mode to pinch in or expand larger does not work for me either.

I am sure it is readable on a PC screen or the full size iPad.

You just made me check out what I have wondered about a couple of times. :0)

I found a short book available from my library downloads - The Journey Home. It met j'mom's page minimums, and it was a very quick read. Yeah! At least I was able to get a book completed for the toppler.

I'm about a quarter of the way through Shoeless Joe. I've lost count of how many times I have dozed off. It is a very strange book. Ray Kinsella has gone to get J.D. Salinger to take him to a Red Sox game. I still haven't figured out why J.D. Salinger. But then, there is a lot I have not figured out about this book. Maybe Cherie can explain it to me tomorrow.

I just finished my first book and am about 40% through my audiobook. Now I'm thinking about what ebook to choose next.

I've been out for the start of the Toppler (celebrating my neices wedding) and might fit a bit of reading in before falling asleep but my main reading will be tomorrow.

I'm starting The Salarian Desert Game as my next book.

I've made it through the first 100 pages of Shoeless Joe, and the book has picked up a lot. I'm enjoying it now. It's very much about baseball, as a sport and as a part of life growing up in the American Midwest.

Cherie wrote: "Oh, you downloaded a graphic novel to your iPad.

I have not tried one on my tablet. You have an iPad Mini, I think. AmyK has one too. It is the same size as my Nook Tablet. (Samsung T230), which ..."

I have a full size iPad, so I think you'd need a laptop or pc to view it properly.

I finished my first book! I read Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children and really enjoyed it. I'm glad I finally got around to reading it.

Finished Snow in August. Beautiful book. You don't have to love baseball to love this book, but if you do love baseball, you will enjoy this one. A five star book for me.

Morning! I've cleaned the kitchen and put the washing on, and hopefully will get a bit of reading done now before drinks this arvo and dinner later on.

I think I have decided on The Harp in the South for this one. The author is Ruth Park. Park as in ballpark. Ruth as in Babe Ruth.

Funnily enough, I mentioned it to Lexx and he went "Oh, as in Babe Ruth! ... How do I even know that?" Besides the basics on how to play (softball is big in PE classes in primary school here), apparently that is the only thing we know about baseball!

Lynn wrote: "I've been out for the start of the Toppler (celebrating my neices wedding) and might fit a bit of reading in before falling asleep but my main reading will be tomorrow."

Hope it was a lovely wedding!

Nearing the half-inning.

BATTER UP!