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

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5OdLs...

Take me out to the ball game,
Take me out with the crowd.
Buy me some peanuts and cracker jack,
I don't care if I never get back,
Let me root, root, root for the home team,
If they don't win it's a shame.
For it's one, two, three strikes, you're out,
At the old ball game.

Yes, it’s baseball season. So it’s time to gopher for a book related to baseball. The relationship is totally open to your interpretation. Right now the Pittsburgh Pirates are playing the Milwaukee Brewers. I could read a book that takes place in Pennsylvania, one that has pirates, or one with some beer drinking. I could read a food themed book since there’s all kinds of food at baseball stadiums these days, from hot dogs to lobster rolls. There are mascots, stadium names, tailgating – be as creative as you want.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=72ScI...

Well beat the drum
And hold the phone
The sun came out today
We're born again
There's new grass on the field
Rounding third
And headed for home
It's a brown-eyed handsome man
Anyone can understand
The way I feel
Put me in coach
I'm ready to play
Today
Put me in coach
I'm ready to play
Today
Look at me
I can be
Centerfield

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qh3GU...

We like beer flat as can be
We like our dogs with mustard and relish
We got a great pitcher what's his name
Well we can't even spell it
We don't worry about the planet much
We just like to see the boys hit it deep
There's nothing like the view from the cheap seats

I am going with a couple of these:

When Rain Clouds Gather - rain delay 185
The Apothecary Rose- Pete Rose, former professional baseball player/manager 319
The Dinner Club - baseball club 276
Caught Stealing - stealing bases 240 cd
Blockade Billy - baseball player 175 cd
Murder at Fenway Park - baseball park 256 cd
A Simple Suburban Murder - baseball player 224
The Final Detail - baseball 384 cd
Pop. 1280 - pop fly ball 192
Capitol Park:: Historic Heart of Detroit - ball park 160


Money for Nothing by Donald E. Westlake
The Dead Pull Hitter by Alison Gordon
Comeback by L.L. Enger
The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach

I'll join in this time. It feels like it's been a while since I did a toppler! I have to do some searching but I think The Art of Fielding would be a good one.

Oh! I'll definitely have to gopher for this one. :) I'm in and I'll be back with my ideas.

The first book that came to mind was Love Bats Last, which I want to read for the Geocaching Challenge. I'll have to think some more for a few baseball related
(in some way) books.

baseball associated terms -
seventh inning stretch The Revenge of Seven
nine innings
catcher The Most Important Catch
three strikes Magic Strikes
home run A Long Way Home
SF Giants The Valley of the Giants
foul ball Artemis Fowl
two teams Two Sisters In Ireland
baseball diamond The King of Diamonds A Tale of Mystery and Adventure
short stop Stop the Wedding!
Colorado Rockies' mascot is a dinosaur Dinosaur Planet
center field
Star Spangled Banner
baseball cap Mr. McAllister Sets His Cap

I'm most likely going to sit this one out. Not sure what date it will be yet but from the suggested dates, I'm either away or ridiculously busy that weekend. I might still gopher on the off chance that I could fit in an audio but it seems unlikely.

Oh jeez. To the Google machine, and wracking my brains for when I played one season of softball in Yr6. Not an Australian game. Looking at the obvious first :)

I'm going to have to put on my thinking cap. Or my gopher costume.

Janice wrote: "Or my gopher costume."

Team mascot?

It may be that, Rusalka. I'm not sure I'm going to be available for the toppler.

I have read The Art of Fielding and it is a great book. I gave it five stars. But it is over 500 pages long, and this is a 24 hour toppler. Reading all of it in the time span might be tricky.

We don't do baseball in the UK, but I've played rounders!!
Seriously though.. I've seen enough on TV to know the basics. Is this a 24 hour toppler? I've never done one of those before.

We have visitors in August so I may not be able to take part on the day. I'll wait and see. As Sarah said, audio is a possibility.

Rusalka wrote: "Janice wrote: "Or my gopher costume."

Team mascot?"

Please post a photo of said gopher costume.. please!!

Yes, it's a 24 hour Toppler. It'll start at noon EDT on the Saturday that's picked, and end on Sunday EDT.

Well, shoot! I just started reading The Pitcher last night. It's a perfect toppler book at 252 pages. I'm only 13% in though, so it won't kill me to start over for the toppler, but I'm going to gopher for other options, before I decide.

Pretty sure The Silver Linings Playbook had baseball in. I remember finding that part quite boring but it's a fun, quick read if anyone is looking for a baseball book. It might be american football though so don't shoot me if I'm wrong. Who can tell I'm not from the US?! ;-) lol

EDIT: scratch that. It's American Football.

Okay, so I found some other options, so I think I'll continue reading The Pitcher for now.

I found Bottom of the 33rd: Hope, Redemption, and Baseball's Longest Game, The Legend of Mickey Tussler and Murder at Fenway Park on my tbr pile and all about baseball.

These are baseball associated words:
Bats and Bones (baseball bats)
Cloud Nine (nine innings)
Foul Play at the Fair (foul ball)

This was a lot more difficult than I expected. Mostly because I'm not sure of what I'm in the mood to read and nothing I planned fits (that I can think of).

I started with looking for books that have to do with my home team, the Boston Red Sox. Our mascot is a green monster, which is also the name of our left field wall. Green Monster

These are my current top options:
Darkness, Take My Hand - set in Boston
Ruby Red - Red
Red Hill - Red
Masked Ball at Broxley Manor - Ball
A Monster Calls - Monster
A Girl and Her Monster - Monster
Nine's Legacy - Nine innings
The Ultimate Game - Game, obviously ;)
The Ugly Stepsister Strikes Back - Strikes

Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children (Home, as in Home Run!) - this is a planned read for the month, but probably too long for a 24-hour toppler for me.
Heir of Fire (green cover) - depends when we have the toppler. This will only work if it ends up being the 27th, as I have a buddy read of the 2nd book starting on the 19th.

There are a lot of books set in Boston. Unfortunately, many of them are too long for me to read in one day. I'm liking my options so far, but plan to gopher some more.

Kristie wrote: "...I started with looking for books that have to do with my home team, the Boston Red Sox. ..."

Faithful: Two Diehard Boston Red Sox Fans Chronicle the Historic 2004 Season, Stephen King

Almeta wrote: "Kristie wrote: "...I started with looking for books that have to do with my home team, the Boston Red Sox. ..."

[book:Faithful: Two Diehard Boston Red Sox Fans Chronicle the Historic 2004 Season|3..."

Thanks, Almeta! :) That one's a little long for a toppler for me though.

I'm adding a few more to my short list (edited above):
Nine's Legacy - Nine innings
The Ultimate Game - Game, obviously ;)
The Ugly Stepsister Strikes Back - Strikes

I think my top 3 picks at the moment are:
A Monster Calls
Masked Ball at Broxley Manor
Nine's Legacy

Oh, thank you! I can finally read Shoeless Joe This is the book that the movie, Field of Dreams was based on. I even have a book by Thomas Mann that I have never read!

I checked the stats on my list of books that I own and haven't read, for baseball related terms and came up with these players:
diamond - The Moonstone - way too long for a 24hr toppler.
home/homer - Homer's Odyssey
first - The First Phone Call from Heaven
second - The Second Mrs. Darcy
walk - The Woman Who Walked in Sunshine
run - A River Runs Through It and Other Stories
last - Every Last One
east - Reap the East Wind

I'm going for a reread of Blockade Billy and I'm stealing Lanelle's mention of Colorado Rockies' mascot being a dinosaur, so I'll also go for Dinosaur Planet.

Annerlee wrote: "Rusalka wrote: "Janice wrote: "Or my gopher costume."

Team mascot?"

Please post a photo of said gopher costume.. please!!"

Debra wrote: "I'm stealing Lanelle's mention of Colorado Rockies' mascot being a dinosaur, so I'll also go for Dinosaur Planet."

Yay!

Janice wrote: "Annerlee wrote: "Rusalka wrote: "Janice wrote: "Or my gopher costume."

Team mascot?"

Please post a photo of said gopher costume.. please!!"

"

What can I say??
The photo is so COOL!! Team mascot. YES !

I found my book. It's going to be Medicine Walk. Looking forward to the toppler!

List of books on my to read list that could work for this Toppler.

Trophy Hunt
Running with Rhinos: Stories from a Radical Conservationist
The Bat
Ready Player One
Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen
Champion

Here are some possibilities, and their baseball connection, from my TBR list:

A Long Walk to Water: Based on a True Story (128 pgs)-walk the bases
Between the World and Me (152 pgs)-World Series
Citizen: An American Lyric (169 pgs)-American Baseball Association
The Lost Garden (208 pgs)-lost games
Single, Carefree, Mellow: Stories (221 pgs)-single play
The Ninth Life of Louis Drax (240 pgs)-ninth inning
Step-Ball-Change (293 pgs)-ball
Home Schooling (300 pgs)-home run
Stolen Lives: Twenty Years in a Desert Jail (304 pgs)-stolen bases

I'll have to see which ones I can find. Has a date been announced yet?

The votes are in, and the Toppler will be from Saturday August 20th, noon EDT, until Sunday August 21st, noon EDT.

All of the moderators in this group come up with such creative challenges! I plan to read one book from the following:

Diamond: A Memoir of 100 Days by Dawn Rae Downton
The Strike by Anand Mahadevan
When You Come to a Fork in the Road, Take It!: Inspiration and Wisdom from One of Baseball's Greatest Heroes by Yogi Berra

Is there a minimum page requirement?

Oh poop. Let's go with 150. I've been sick all week and don't have a clue what I've done most of the time.

Did Rusalka pass her bug to you? Feel better soon j'mom!

Oh, that might change my plans...

I'm at a music festival the weekend of the Toppler. No reading will be done that weekend. Lots of dancing though.

I am planning to read A Monster Calls. I was also planning to try to read Nine's Legacy, but just checked and it's 144 pages! Oh well. I probably won't be able to finish two books anyway, but I'll look for another just in case. :)

Hope you are feeling better, jaxnsmom!

Possible book options:

Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game
Ready Player One - player
Running with Scissors - running bases
The Catcher in the Rye - baseball catcher
A Visit from the Goon Squad - set in San Francisco
The BFG - GIANTS!

Bryn wrote: "Possible book options:

Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game
Ready Player One - player
Running with Scissors - running bases
The Catcher in the Rye - baseball catcher
A Visit from the Goon Squad - set in San Francisco
The BFG - GIANTS! ..."

Love some of your associations!

Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game is a surprising read, whether you are badeball fan or not.

Dammit all, I better learn me some baseball...

Okay in order to make it easy for myself, I'm sticking to team names so I'm going for:

The Jaws of Death: Sharks as Predator, Man as Prey in honour of Tampa Bay Rays
The Mammoth Book Of Pirates in honour of Pittsburgh Pirates
Spitfire Women of World War II in honour of the Aberdeen Ironbirds (a delightfully named minor league team in Maryland)

As of now these are some books I am choosing from for the toppler:

Snow in August (set in NYC: in honor of NY Yankees) reviews refer to baseball themes and Jackie Robinson playing in the book

The BFG (Giants)
Frog Music (set in San Francisco: in honor of Giants)
Carrying Albert Home: The Somewhat True Story of A Man, His Wife, and Her Alligator (home plate, home run)
Everyone Brave is Forgiven (Atlanta Braves)
Margaret the First (first base)

I may read The Lost Garden. Someone in this group suggested it, and it looks like a book I would enjoy. Sadly, lost games seem to be the theme for my local team, the Arizona Diamondbacks, this summer. As of the weekend, they had won about 45 games and lost 68 this season.

We've had a little glitch with timing and real life for this toppler. jaxnsmom has been called away and won't be able to attend the toppler. Rusalka and I are going to do our best to fill in those big shoes.

I hope everyone has been gophering up a storm, because it's hump day and the slide on into the weekend is coming fast. Or should I say, we're on forth and sliding into home base!

I'll also find some knickerbockers to go with my big shoes!

Oh the visual!

Almeta wrote: "Bryn wrote: "Possible book options:

Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game
Ready Player One - player
Running with Scissors - running bases
The Catch..."

Thanks! I just tried to come up with associations to some books that I already have in case I don't get Moneyball from the library by Saturday. We shall see. I saw the movie and it was super intriguing so I'm interested to see how I feel about the book.

I am going to have to sit this one out as something has come up this weekend. I hope everyone who is taking part enjoys it :)

Bryn - I really enjoyed Ready Player One.

I am gong to read A Monster Calls (for the Green Monster that I explained above) and I'm going to at least start Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children (Home - home games, home runs). That's probably more than I can read in one day, but I'm going to try.

I've packed my book, The Long Walk: The True Story of a Trek to Freedom and my laptop. I don't know how much reading I'll do at my dad's, but will give it a go.

He lent the book to me over a year ago, so if I finish it, I can leave it there.