Book Loving Kiwis discussion

Our first Challenge for 2021 is here!
The reading will start in January, so you need to start selecting your books now!

If you've never played before, open the spoiler for the rules
(view spoiler)[1. When you sign up pick 3 books you want to be included in the "book pool."

2. You can pick any book released before the challenge has started and that is widely available throughout NZ. If its a book in a series - please only choose the first book in the series. Please no duplicates.

3. Once the challenge starts you will read books from the "pool."

4. At the end of the challenge (Feb 28th) whoever read the most books from the pool is the champion!

It's nice and easy, no stress challenge and a good way to start of the year. (hide spoiler)]

Let me know in the comments below if you're keen!
If you are keen, add your 3 books too, so we can get the challenge rolling.

Remember they don't have to be NZ books, but it's always appreciated.

BOOK POOL:



POST EXAMPLE:
#9 --- Your sign up number listed below
Book #1 - Spark by Racheal Craw --- the number book you've read, and its title
Read: 05/01 --- the date you finished

optional
Rating: 4 Stars --- give your rating, review and opinions

SIGN UPS

1. Claude's Bookzone - 1
2. Rita
3. Erica (Hello fellow Mod!)
4. Christmas Carol - 1
5. K.M.
6. Angie
7. Darkpool
8. Kerry
9. Carlene - 2
10. Sharlene
11. Jess - 2
12. Mariana

**edited - I had two Carlenes! NOTE: Mariana, you are now #12!

I will be keen to participate! Thanks Sharlene!

My books are:
Spark

A Necklace of Souls

The Special Ones

I’ll join but, I haven’t got the books yet! Let you know!

I can't believe it's only a month until Jan 2021!
Looking forward to spending the first few weeks of Jan reading by a pool - perfect for this challenge :)

Count me in.

My books are:

The Idea of Perfection by Kate Grenville

The Shadow King

Voices from Chernobyl: The Oral History of a Nuclear Disaster

I would love to join in!

I have two selected Potiki by Patricia Grace &
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou. I'll see how my December reading goes before I select the third!

Christmas Carol She's So Novel꧁꧂ wrote: "I would love to join in!

I have two selected Potiki by Patricia Grace &
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou. I'll see how my December reading goes before I..."

The addition of Christmas to your name made me smile. Thank you!

Thanks! I'm starting to feel festive!

Hi

Yes I'd love to join!

My books are:

Fake Baby by Amy McDaid

The Burning River by Lawrence Patchett

Piranesi by Susanna Clarke

Yes please - I'll sign up to kick off 2021.

My picks are:

1. Rosewater


2. The Once and Future Witches


3. Cutting for Stone

Yes please!

My book selections are:

1. A Song for the Stars

2. Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions

3. Tea & Treachery

My picks are from my 3 favorite New Zealand Authors! “Taken by the Sheikh”by Kris Pearson, “Seducing Summer”( The Four Seasons #1) by Serenity Woods & “Due South” Boxed Set 5 by Tracey Alvarez. I just love all of them & know I will continue their series.

Rita wrote: "My picks are from my 3 favorite New Zealand Authors! “Taken by the Sheikh”by Kris Pearson, “Seducing Summer”( The Four Seasons #1) by Serenity Woods & “Due South” Boxed Set 5 by Tracey Alvarez. I j..."

Hi Rita

The Due South boxed set comes in at 1212 pages. According to the rules (see Sharlene's message #1) we are only meant to nominate the first book in a series.

& it looks like a GR librarian has changed the name of the series to Stewart Island, so that will be doubly confusing. Could you just nominate the first book?

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2... Series
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2... First book

I'm also in:


All This by Chance by Vincent O'Sullivan
Those Who Are Loved by Victoria Hislop
Loner by Georgina Young

Sharlene- That would be “In too deep”, that’s fine with me! Thanks for catching it!

Rita wrote: "Sharlene- That would be “In too deep”, that’s fine with me! Thanks for catching it!"

Well it was me (not Sharlene) being a busybody! :)

Angie wrote: "Yes please - I'll sign up to kick off 2021.

My picks are:

The Burning Island ..."

The Burning Island is the sequel to Preservation. It can be read alone but much much better to have read Preservation first. I've read both books.

Well, thank you, then!

Kerry wrote: "Angie wrote: "Yes please - I'll sign up to kick off 2021.

My picks are:

The Burning Island ..."

The Burning Island is the sequel to Preservation. ..."

Thanks Kerry - I forgot it was the sequel to Preservation, which I've also read and enjoyed - I'll choose another :)

Thank you for continuing to do this, it's such a great way to expand your reading and try something new.

I've tried to search through my to-read list and give some books that vary but aren't too overly popular where we might not even be able to easily access them. I've only checked these are available as ebooks so if they aren't easily grabbed for some I'm sorry!

All your Twisted Secrets - Diana Urban
When The Stars Wrote Back - Trista Mateer
Unwind - Neal Shusterman

Edit: Changed my mind.

The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michele Richardson

Loving the picks. Will update the book pool when I get to a laptop. Will send out a broadcast to the whole group next week. Try and catch a few more people as workplaces wind up for the year.

Christmas Carol She's So Novel꧁꧂ wrote: "Edit: Changed my mind.

The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michele Richardson"

Ohhh - I've got this sitting beside the bed to read at the moment. I'll hold onto it so I can include it in this challenge.

Angie wrote: "I've got this sitting beside the bed to read at the moment. I'll hold onto it so I can include it in this challenge.."

Yes, I am excited about this one. Been a bit of controversy about it.

Christmas Carol She's So Novel꧁꧂ wrote: "Angie wrote: "I've got this sitting beside the bed to read at the moment. I'll hold onto it so I can include it in this challenge.."

Yes, I am excited about this one. Been a bit of controversy abo..."

I really loved this book. And it caused me to go to Google to find more out about the pack horse library programme and the Kentucky blue people. Hope you enjoy it too.

Lesley wrote: "Christmas Carol She's So Novel꧁꧂ wrote: "Angie wrote: "I've got this sitting beside the bed to read at the moment. I'll hold onto it so I can include it in this challenge.."

Yes, I am excited abou..."

I Googled the Blue people as well.

The book I am most excited about is The Once and Future Witches I read a couple of this author's short stories a couple of years ago & was absolutely enchanted by one & really liked the other.

Christmas Carol She's So Novel꧁꧂ wrote: "Lesley wrote: "Christmas Carol She's So Novel꧁꧂ wrote: "Angie wrote: "I've got this sitting beside the bed to read at the moment. I'll hold onto it so I can include it in this challenge.."

Yes, I ..."

I'm looking forward to this too. I really enjoyed The 10,000 Doors of January so I'm hoping for something equally as good.

My picks:


Kindred by Octavia E. Butler
Vicious by V. E. Schwab
The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

a happy coincidence they are all red black and white covers :)

Sharlene wrote: "My picks:

"

Oh good! I own this one! :)

Edit: Turns out I own a German language edition. A library in our area does have it though.

Hi all, this will be my first reading challenge, i look forward to joining in. These are my three selections :)


The silk house - Kayte Nunn


Impossible: My Story - Stan Walker


Inferno: A Memoir - Catherine Cho

Those look like great reads Jess, thanks for joining in!

All Your Twisted Secrets Diana Urban

When the Stars Wrote Back Trista Mateer

Unwind Neal Shusterman

Christmas Carol She's So Novel꧁꧂ wrote: "Edit: Changed my mind.

The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michele Richardson"

Such an interesting book! I really enjoyed it and yes...I googled blue people too. You will mostly get Avatar images 😁

i've managed to get spark for my first read :)

I'm keen to join! I've just bought a whole bunch of books from the op shop so I'll have a look through today to add three of them to the pool.

Kia ora Mariana
You've got until the 5th to add new books to the Pool :)

LET'S GET READING!

Hey Shar! Thanks for organising the pool again and getting the message out. Anei āku pukapuka:

1) The Great Alone, by Kristin Hannah
2) Auē, by Becky Manawatū
3) Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë

Carlene, I hope you enjoy Spark! Rachael Craw became one of my favourite authors after I read the Spark trilogy.

I've just started my first book of the pool today - The Shadow King. Enjoying so far, very readable.

Carlene, I am going to start with Spark too! Look forward to exchanging thoughts!

I've made a start on the YA . Pulled me in right away.

#9
Book #1 - Spark by Racheal Craw
Read: 05/01
Rating: 4 Stars

For a YA book, it has everything that I would expect. Angst, forbidden love, twists and turns!
There was a bit of scientific explanation behind it, nothing too deep where you might not understand but it was hard for me to follow and it felt very... chunky.
It was a good book though and I didn't realize by a New Zealand author? If I read right.

#1
Book #1 - When the stars wrote back
Read 05/01
Rating: 2 stars

My rating is merely a reflection of the fact that I have either not experienced some of the issues covered in the book or the fact that I am confident and in a good place in my life right now. I think this will be quite a powerful and helpful book for people dealing with some of the issues covered in the poetry. There is some lovely writing in there but also lots of very simple motivational quotes/phrases.

Enjoying seeing what everyone is reading. My first read was, The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek, which I enjoyed. I’m a bit conflicted about certain aspects of how racism is portrayed in it, which will probably be what affects my rating of it.

I’m currently reading Stan Walker’s book. I’m only about 30% in and all I want to do is cry, well actually I did cry. It’s a very heavy read. If anyone is thinking about reading it just a caution that it does have content that may be triggering. It’s heartbreaking.

#4
Book #1 - The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek
Read 05/01
Rating: 4★ Like Jess, I had trouble settling on a rating, but more because (view spoiler)[most of the characters are very one dimensional (hide spoiler)] & a lot was piled on at the end. Still a good read.

About to make a start with The Once and Future Witches. Hoping it's as good as The Ten Thousand Doors of January.

Thanks to the regulars posting using the usual format.

IF YOU HAVE FINISHED A BOOK IN THE POOL
please use the following format:

POST EXAMPLE:
# --- Your sign up number listed above
Book #1 - Title --- the number book you've read, and its title
Read: DD/MM --- the date you finished

optional
Rating: X Stars --- give your rating, review and opinions

See message 43 for an excellent example

#11
Book #2 - Impossible: My Story, by Stan Walker
Read: 07/01
Rating: 5 stars

This is probably one of the most powerful memoirs I’ve read. Walker speaks openly and honestly about his traumatic childhood and how he continues to overcome his internal wounds in order to heal and inspire his people. There were a couple of parts where my eyes had started to glaze over, mainly when he speaks of his music accolades, though this is more so due to my lack of interest on the topic. However, the rawness in which he speaks on some really difficult issues that are not often given a male voice to takes immense courage and is why this is a 5 star read for me.

#9
Book #2 - When The Stars Wrote Back
Read: 09/01
Rating: 3 Stars

Though not one of my favorites as I have read some other prose and poetry books that have really captured me, I still quite enjoyed this one.
Like Claude I felt like a lot was more motivational quotes and phrases.