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

May is "Get Caught Reading Month" to promote literacy and the joy of reading at all ages. So, we are going to CELEBRATE! in the most book-centered way possible.

This is a 5 day toppler from 12 noon ET on Thursday, May 14th until 12 noon ET on Tuesday, May 19th. We will all be working together as one team. You can find a countdown to the toppler here: https://www.timeanddate.com/countdown...

You may read ANY book that fits the page requirements IF you read in a public place and let us know where so we can add it to the list. This can be a local park, at the library, on a plane, public transport, etc. I will keep a list of all the different places we read in public. It will be interesting to see how creative we can get to grow the list.

Please note that the majority of the book should be read in public - at least 50%. You can read each book in a variety of places if you want. For example, you may read some of your book at work, some on the train while commuting, some at a park, etc and some at home, as long as the majority is not at home.

Options:
Prefer to read in private? You can still participate. Choose one of the options below. These options can also be used for more of a challenge and extra team points.

Option 1: Read a book that includes a person reading in public places in the story or has a cover with a person reading in public places.

Clarification: If using a character reading in a book, the character must do the public reading within the pages, not just be someone who would do that. For example, your character may be a librarian who reads to the children within the story, but not just a librarian.

Option 2: Read a book that you saw someone reading in public. If you see someone reading in public, let us know what book so we can add it to the list. Everyone can choose any book from the list.

Option 3: You can use photos of people reading in public that you find online or if you have photos of someone reading in public you can use those too. (ie. you have an old picture of your mom reading at the beach or a friend absorbed in a book at a party, etc) The image needs to be of a person actually reading the book in public, not just posing with the book or in a private location. Read the book they are reading in the photo.

*The books that you see others reading in public or photos still need to meet the page requirements.

Scoring
Each book is worth one or two points. Points awarded per book:
One point for reading in public
One point for reading a book that fits one of the options listed
or
Two points for reading a book that fits one of the options in public

How many points can we accumulate?

Book Rules:
1. Books must be started and finished in the specified time period to qualify.
2. You may read any format - paperback, hardcover, ebook, or audiobook.
3. Each physical book must be at least 175 pages based on the edition you are reading. Ebooks must be at least 200 pages to allow for the approximation of pages an ebook is based on. Audiobooks must be a minimum of 6 hours long.
4. Graphic novels of 350 or more pages will be accepted.

Toppler books can count toward the group theme read and/or the monthly and/or yearly challenge, if they qualify. Please remember if you are reading a book that fits the monthly theme, you must still discuss the book in the appropriate thread in order to receive that badge.

A quick request - If you are reading books for the toppler that also fit the yearly challenge, please report them as you complete them instead of saving them up until the end. This makes keeping up with the reporting easier for Janice.

If you are sharing your reads on social media, you can let us know what you are reading by adding #tbrtoppler.

Looking for additional ways to celebrate this month: https://nationaldaycalendar.com/celeb...

List of places we read:
Laundromat
Beach
Catoctin Mountain National Park
Rails to Trails walk
In the car - driving
Parking lots
On the beach
On a bar patio on the Banana River
In the garden
Walking through parks, trails, and local streets, etc
At chiro surgery
At the hospital
Doctor’s office waiting room
Drive thru shop
Fountain park bench
Public library
Apartment complex patio
Elementary school
Grocery store
On a motor coach
Train
Nail Salon
Laboratory
Hair Salon
Front porch
Urgent care clinic
Gym
Office
While birdwatching
Costco
Boat race
Indoor playground
Dentist office
Hotel balcony
Cruise ship

Books seen in public:
(note: anyone can use these books for option 2)
As Long as the Lemon Trees Grow
Getting Naked
Dungeon Crawler Carl
The Correspondent
The Housemaid
Caller Unknown
Careless People
A Boy Called Bat
Flood Tide
The Infinite Game
Before We Were Yours
Project Hail Mary
Never Lie
National Geographic Ultimate Guide to the National Parks
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue
Marble Hall Murders

Group Points:
40

Reporting:

Reporting thread for tracking is here: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Reporting thread for badges is here: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

I'm going to be peeking at the titles for every book I see people reading this week!

A recent list about books set in libraries: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/th...

Some have covers that are compliant but others may take a little research. Good starting point at least!

This could be a lot of fun, what a cool idea Kristie! I’m an introvert so this will be a challenge, but a fun one.

Question: Do you have to read the entire book in public if you go with option one? Or just more than half?

Also do we have to be specific when we name the place, or can it be a park / place we describe without naming? Like bookstore for example, and the idea is to have a whole list of different generic places like that?

So if I understand this correctly... we are not counting the number of books read, but the number of places we read it?.
So, if I read one book I could possibly read it in 3 different places? Or do I only count one book per one place?

Yes, Laura. I'm assuming people will not be able to or want to read the entire book in public places, so the goal is the majority of the book - at least 50%.

Jayme, I'm tracking the number of places mostly just for fun to see what we can come up with, but I'm also tracking the number of books. I will clarify that in the point section that the points are per book.

So, I will keep a list of all the different places. If you read in 3 different places, I will add all three to the list. If four people say the same location, I will just add it to the list once. You can read as many books as you can in as many or as few public places as you want.

This is a challenge for me. I need quiet when I read because I get distracted too easily. I'll be listening in public and I may try a physical book as well, but I'll try to choose from the options listed in case I can't focus with people around.

No proper names for the places, just generalities like park, beach?

You can definitely add proper names for places if you want. That would be super interesting too. I won't make that a requirement because some people may want to keep their details more private than that, but I think it would be fun particularly if it's a well-known location.

Too bad the toppler isn't this week. I'm travelling and reading in public places - at the restaurant, for example. I'm also listening to audiobooks while driving. Out of curiosity, does that count as reading in public?

I have a picture of my dad reading The Book Thief but he was on the deck of our condo unit in Banff. That's not exactly public, though he was visible from the parking lot and passersby.

Does it need to be the book that person in the photo is reading? So, in the example above, The Book Thief.

I've gone back and forth with the car question. I am also a car listener. I'm going to say yes because there are many times people have caught me listening to books in the car.

Also, yes, to The Book Thief. It needs to be the book that they are reading in the photo. I'll clarify that in the rules. I'll accept that location as public since other people could see him reading there.

This will apply to people reading in public as well - if you are in your yard, on your porch, etc and other people such as neighbors or passersby can see you reading, it will be considered a public place.

Wow road and porch/yard will make this much easier but there is one place in particular that I’m hoping to make a trip to that would be cool to name!

It’ll be a lot of fun to see all the places we wind up reading.

Question: Can we start reporting publicly read books we are spotting others reading / photographs now, or do we have to wait til the toppler starts?

@ Janice I love that your dad read Book Thief!!

ETA It appears on this listopia list I just found, featuring ppl reading on cover: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/8...

Yes, The Book Thief was a great book.

Definitely start looking now and let us know so people can plan. I’ve been out and about today, but haven’t seen anyone reading yet.

I'm usually the only one I see reading in public! Currently reading This Book Made me Think of You while getting a pedicure. You can add that to the list for others!

Unfortunately, it has to be you seeing someone else, Kristi. lol That was a good try though. Otherwise, we'd all be adding books.

Anyone traveling this week should keep their eyes open for it. I see it all the time on planes, trains, etc. I'll be popping into coffee shops, cafes, and the like this week too. I just stopped for lunch, but no luck yet today.

I usually try to catch the titles and sometimes sneak a photo of the book, but I'm not above straight up asking a stranger what they're reading.

Laura wrote: "...ETA It appears on this listopia list I just found, featuring ppl reading on cover: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/8......"

Yes, I saw that also. Did take some of those suggestions.

The Book of Form and Emptiness Ruth Ozeki
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn Betty Smith
A Face in the Crowd Kerry Wilkinson
[book:Guys write for Guys read|1780294]
[[book:Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl|152519] Harriet Ann Jacobs
No Two Persons Erica Bauermeister
The Girl Who Reads on the Métro Christine Féret-Fleury
The Last Book Party Karen Dukess


A couple I really wanted to read but are not available to me, darn it! Especially Public Reading Followed by Discussion (Which wouldn't have qualified anyway, since no one actually reads!) I like the summary though, sounds humorous.

Not decided yet what to pick from this list!

Tree grows in Brooklyn was so good, Almeta. I have been meaning to read her follow up to that book for years.

Kristie wrote: "I usually try to catch the titles and sometimes sneak a photo of the book, but I'm not above straight up asking a stranger what they're reading.

..."

Are you a natural-born extrovert? I hope I’ll be that brave if I see this 😀

I was looking at my bookie bookshelves for options and came up with these books I’ve read and enjoyed - they would all work for option 1:

The Reading List by Sara Nisha Adams - a little darker than the cover and blurb make it out to be, but a fantastic read about what happens when a young librarian and an older man dealing with grief get together

The Jane Austen Society by Natalie Jenner - I can highly recommend the book but especially the audio performance read by Richard Armitage is fantastic. I could undress him with my ears lol.

Lost For Words by Stephanie Butland - again a good bit darker than cover and blurb make it out to be but a very good page turning read.

The Bookshop on the Corner by Jenny Colgan (pure escapism in the Scottish highlands)

Haven’t read but plan to:

Rewitched by Lucy Jane Wood - and this takes place in October, so I’ll be using it for October task in annual challenge.

Oh, this is so much fun! I do read my Kindle while having lunch in my office (on days I have no one to have lunch with :/)

Also, it's summer, and I love reading in cafes and parks.

Laura wrote: "...ETA It appears on this listopia list I just found, featuring ppl reading on cover: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/8......"

For anyone using this list, just remember the cover to your edition needs to be of a person reading in a public place. There are quite a few on that list that show people reading inside a home. If a person is by a window, they are still in the house. Unless you are sure it is a public place, they don't qualify.

We just had our first day of winter weather last week, it's been a really long summer. But we may sneak in this Toppler, as the weather is going back up to early 20Cs for the rest of the week so people may do the last soak up of sun before everyone heads into their houses for 3 months. We don't get too cold here compared to most of you guys, but my city very much hibernates during winter compared to the rest of the year.

But, this will be where me looking after all the buildings in the Arts Faculty will come in handy hopefully. And my office is in the middle of the English department at Uni with tutorial rooms in the corridor. I will make sure I do a lot of wandering for us on Monday.

Rus I was wondering how cold it gets there in your winter, and how comfortable it might be to spend time outdoors? Do y’all pretty much go from car to building and back, like we do in bitter January, in July for example?

Kristie, thanks for your note. Rewitched is set in London. I was hoping that with Big Ben in the background and a rather large house viewable from her window there, that if she’s reading in her window seat, hopefully that would be considered public as she should be easily seen by many there? But yeah, it can definitely be hard to tell from some covers if the person is reading in public.

I'll be on the lookout at the Banff Springs Hotel today to see if people are reading in the lobby. I'll have to be bold and ask when I see people reading on a cell phone or other device.

Laura, I think with Rewitched she could be people watching out her window, but someone would have to be peeping into her house to see her.

The seat could possibly be in a public location like the bookshop she works in, but there isn't enough in the picture to know if it's a public place. Even book shops have back rooms that are not for the public. To me, she looks like she's in private with her witch's hat, candles, pillow / blanket, and the magic coming out of her hand. I think it needs to be more obviously a public place where other people can be sharing the space.

Ok, I may read it in public then, unless the story mentions she’s in the bookshop reading. Which as you say, it probably won’t.

Janice wrote: "I'll be on the lookout at the Banff Springs Hotel today to see if people are reading in the lobby. I'll have to be bold and ask when I see people reading on a cell phone or other device."

I hope you’re having fun Janice!

Laura wrote: "Rus I was wondering how cold it gets there in your winter, and how comfortable it might be to spend time outdoors? Do y’all pretty much go from car to building and back, like we do in bitter Januar..."

Here in Canberra, our winters go from -7C (17F) to 15C (59F). But they are the extremes. We average -3C (26F) to 12C (54F). This is very different to the other major cities in Australia as we are not coastal, so our temps go a lot lower as we are in the mountains (not real mountains, and I'm not including Hobart as they are much souther than us).

Our difference to the northern hemisphere from all the visitors we have here in winter is our days are very very sunny with blue skies. So if you find a sheltered, wind free spot, you can get quite warm and get a lot of sun. I don't mind our winters, and as a native Canberran, I wander around most of the time in a light jumper unless it is extremely cold, bitter, windy, or wet.

Missed the point. So to your question, I spend a bit of time outside in winter. I think it's gorgeous but colder. A lot of the city hates it and hides like you describe. Great for restaurant bookings!

Rus, your public spot doesn't need to be outdoors. You could read in a library or a restaurant or other indoor public place.

Kristie, sorry I went a bit off topic, I was just curious how it was for Rus when it is the coldest it can get there, which I assume is her July.

Rus, I would be like you, if I can find a spot mid 50s in the sun, I’m good. Would prefer it to our July which is hot and humid.

Kristie wrote: "Rus, your public spot doesn't need to be outdoors. You could read in a library or a restaurant or other indoor public place."

Oh get that. Just harder to find with cooler weather, yet it is holding for the week. But that's fine, I have a mission! And as I said, I have a workplace (hopefully, if the academics are doing their job right) full of people reading.

Laura wrote: "Kristie, sorry I went a bit off topic, I was just curious how it was for Rus when it is the coldest it can get there, which I assume is her July.

Rus, I would be like you, if I can find a spot mi..."

Our coldest part of the year is end of July/all of August. Also, the queen of tangents here loves the convo

Rusalka wrote: "Laura wrote: "Kristie, sorry I went a bit off topic, I was just curious how it was for Rus when it is the coldest it can get there, which I assume is her July.

Rus, I would be like you, if I can ..."

Ooh I didn’t realize our August would be more like your January. Good to know, thanks!

Hopefully you’ll find a cozy place to read!!

Yeah, all topsy turvey!

June - July - August - September for you guys
December - January - February - March is for us

Vice versa
May - June - July - August for us
November - December - January - February is the equal for you all.

Laura wrote: "Tree grows in Brooklyn was so good, Almeta. I have been meaning to read her follow up to that book for years."

Always been on my "SHOULD" read list, because surely everyone else has! Never get around to it. Now is the time.

Kristie wrote: "...For anyone using this list, just remember the cover to your edition needs to be of a person reading in a public place. ..."

Thanks for that reminder. I think that I got carried away. lol!

Almeta wrote: "Laura wrote: "Tree grows in Brooklyn was so good, Almeta. I have been meaning to read her follow up to that book for years."

Always been on my "SHOULD" read list, because surely everyone else has!..."

Read it second time w my daughter in middle school and just as great!

Laura wrote: "JI hope you’re having fun Janice!"

The Banff Springs Hotel is beautiful. It's very luxurious, and the scenery is spectacular.

I didn't see anyone reading even though there were lots of areas to sit.

Janice wrote: "Laura wrote: "JI hope you’re having fun Janice!"

The Banff Springs Hotel is beautiful. It's very luxurious, and the scenery is spectacular.

I didn't see anyone reading even though there were lot..."

Hey Janice,
My brother is currently in Banff right now too. I'll tell him to grab a book and head outside :)
He keeps sending me the most amazing photos. I have mountain envy.

Sounds beautiful!!

The mountains are calling 😀

I'm no longer in Banff. I left this morning. That would have been fun to have run in to your brother, Jayme. Banff was busy in May. It will be insane in July.

I was out and about again today, but didn't see any readers. I've been intentionally peeking in places I've seen people reading in the past, but no luck so far.

lol, Jayme. My husband asked me if I wanted him to take a book outside so I could catch him. I think he feels bad for my unproductive searching. lol I told him it wouldn't be in the spirit of the challenge, but it did make me laugh which was really his goal.

Pretty much all of Emily Henry's books have someone reading in public on the cover. Most are at the beach. One is at a bar/restaurant and another appears to be at an airport as the characters are sitting on their suitcases but will defer to the decision makers!

She was the first author I thought of, Kristi. The very first book that came to mind was People We Meet on Vacation.