Book Loving Kiwis discussion

Hi all,

It's that time of year again! The Book Loving Kiwis Book Pool Challenge. We had a great turnout last year, let's do it again :)

The challenge begins on February 1st and finishes at the end of March (2 months). To claim points, please don't start your books from the pool until then.

Sign up by commenting in the thread and choose three books on your to-read pile to add to the pool. You've got until Jan 31st to do this :) You can join the Challenge after this date, but you will not be able to add books to the pool.

For anyone who hasn't joined in before, or if you just need a refresher, here are the rules:


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 available in both print and e-book form. 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 month whoever has read the most books from the pool is the champion!

Main thing is to read, have fun and maybe discover your new favourite book or author :)

This is where I'll add the books in the pool:

1. Throne of Glass
2. Once Upon a Broken Heart
3. Flawless
4. From Below
5. Sawkill Girls
6. Wicked Lovely
7. Missus
8. On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous
9. Starling House
10. Belladonna
11. Powerless
12. Funny Weather: Art in an Emergency
13. Portrait of the Artist's Wife
14. Victory City
15. A Midsummer Night’s Dream
16. The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants
17. Norse Fairy & Folk Tales
18. The Bone Tree
19. The Animals in That Country
20. The Silence of Scheherazade
21. The Sparrow
22. V2: A Novel of World War II
23. The Attack
24. The Runaway Man
25. The Midnight Library
26. Homecoming
27. A Court of Thorns and Roses
28. Shatter Me
29. Breaking Butterflies
30. Black Cross
31. Light from Uncommon Stars
32. The Postcard
33. Babel
34. The Pearl That Broke Its Shell
35. Kindred
36. Birnam Wood
37. The Yiddish Policemen's Union
38. Tigerman
39. To Steal a Moment's Time
40. Race the Sands
41. The Winter Dress
42. Wolf Hall
43. Ariadne
44. Shuggie Bain
45. Lessons in Chemistry
46. The Language of Food
47. A Woman in the Polar Night
48. The Penguin New Zealand Anthology: 50 Stories for 50 Years in Aotearoa
49. Mr. Allbones' Ferrets
50. The Girl in the Mirror
51. Eileen
52. Dragon Talk
53. Treacle Walker
54. The Road Between Us
55. Fingersmith
56. Crooked Heart

Participants and the point tally:

1. Georgia
2. Jasper
3. Carol She's So Novel -4
4. Stacey-Beth - 5
5. Erica -7
6. Zellian -4
7. Jennifer -16
8. Kerry -4
9. Angie - 1
10. Madeleine
11. Shania
12. Kathleen
13. Kerri
14. P.D.R -14
15. Bridget
16. Darkpool
17. Bronwyn -9
18. Sharlene - 1
19. Megan

Tally up to comment #199

Throne of Glass by Sarah J Maas
Once upon a broken heart by Stephanie Garber
Flawless by Elsie Silver

Erica wrote: "This is where I'll add the books in the pool:"


From Below
Sawkill Girls
Wicked Lovely

I'll just name two now, as I have a couple of library books in mind for the third one

Missus by my favourite NZ novelist, the late Ruth Park
On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong. This is poetry so let me know if this isn't allowed.

Starling house by Alice E. Harrow

The Assassin’s Blade by Sarah J. Maas

Powerless by Lauren Roberts

Thanks for joining in :)

I need to think about my picks :)

Looking forward to it! 😊

My three picks are:

- Funny Weather by Olivia Laing (non-fiction)

- Portrait of the Artist's Wife by Barbara Anderson (NZ)

- Victory City by Salman Rushdie.

A Midsummer Night's Dream - William Shakespeare
The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants - Ann Brashares
Norse Fairy And Folk Tales - James Shepherd

I'm in! Thinking about my picks!

I'm also in. Need to consider my picks too!

I've listed the books with their links in comment 2 as well as putting the cover picks (feedback from the last challenge was that the cover pics alone were hard to see on the app).

I'm keen.

Picks are:
The Bone Tree
The Animals in That Country
The Silence of Scheherazade

Thanks Erica!

My three:
The Sparrow by Tessa Duder
V2: A Novel of World War II by Robert Harris
The Attack by Catherine Jinks

Awesome. I'll add those books to the pool tonight :)

Hi Erica

I forgot the rule about having to be available as a kindle/ebook. Missus is available as an audible & other listening formats. Is it still ineligible? Park is a NZ author, even though she lived most of her adult life in Australia.

I think that's fine Carol. Given it's a NZ book it's more likely to be available at libraries (it's at Welly libs) so think it will be accessible to most

Erica wrote: "I think that's fine Carol. Given it's a NZ book it's more likely to be available at libraries (it's at Welly libs) so think it will be accessible to most"

Thank you! Park should be better known in Aotearoa than she is.

Ooooh this sounds like fun!

- The Runaway Man by Kelley Tantau
- The Midnight Library by Matt Haig
- Homecoming by Kate Morton

A court of thrones and roses
Shatter me
Breaking butterflies

Great to see some new faces joining in! :) Welcome.

Looks like we've got 3 Sarah J Maas books in the pool so if any others. Very popular at the moment! If any are subsequently nominated I'll suggest that person picks something else. I think 3 is probably enough :) Just putting here for transparency.

Hi there,

My picks are:
- Black Cross by Greg Iles
- Light From Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki
- The Postcard by Anne Berest

Really looking forward to reading some of the books already listed. Roll on February!

Thanks Erica for organising this for us :)

Ooh I saw The Postcard at the bookstore the other week and thought it looked good.

Everyone, I've updated the participant list and book pool with everything so far. Check I've got your book picks right :)

I added The Assassin’s Blade to the pool. It’s a Sarah J Maas book. To navigate away from having multiple books from that author, I’m suggesting replacing The Assassin’s Blade with Belladonna by Adalyn Grace

Erica wrote: "Ooh I saw The Postcard at the bookstore the other week and thought it looked good.

Everyone, I've updated the participant list and book pool with everything so far. Check I've got your book picks..."

Yes, I'm very keen to read it :)

Hi Stacey-Beth, sweet I'll make the change :)

Yay! Sign me up, please! My books suggestions are:

• Birnam Wood, Eleanor Catton
• Yiddish Policemen's Union, Michael Chabon
• Tigerman, Nick Harkaway

(tried to add links, but Goodreads fighting me on that..)

Welcome back Kerri :) I've added your picks to the Book Pool.

Erica wrote: "Hi all,

It's that time of year again! The Book Loving Kiwis Book Pool Challenge. We had a great turnout last year, let's do it again :)

The challenge begins on February 1st and finishes at the en..."

Will try. Missed you all!!!

First book is not released until Feb 6th but it's a stunner. I've only read a teeny tiny bit so I hope you'll allow it as I'm dying to read all of it.
It's by my best selling historical fiction colleague in Writer's Choice G.J. Berger and is written using his mother's wonderful diaries.
https://www.amazon.com/Steal-Moments-...

bk 2 is Race the Sands
book:Race the Sands|49950349
Based, apparently , around a unique and fascinating idea.

3rd bk is
by C.J. Cherryh'd latest Foreigner series: 'Defiance'
Can't find it in the Goodreads list but then it is new.

If you rule that out Erica then could you accept 'Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows
Which is not porn but a hilarious book about finding your culture and accepting your role which I've only just received a copy after waiting a year for it!!!

Great to "see" you P.D.R!

Cheers, reading already The Erotic stories' and laughing myself silly!'

Hi P.D.R - I couldn't find the C.J book so can you pick another?

You put Erotic Stories as a back up but looks like you've already started reading it (challenge doesn't start till 1 Feb).

So will await your next choice :)

The CJ book is there (I found it yesterday) - but it is #22 in a series. From the rules;

If its a book in a series - please only choose the first book in the series.

Carol She's So Novel ꧁꧂ wrote: "The CJ book is there (I found it yesterday) - but it is #22 in a series. From the rules;

If its a book in a series - please only choose the first book in the series."

OOps! Teach me to read, sorry guys, in hospital over the New Year and still a bit wobbly!!!

Another book?

Poems of Gerard Manley Hopkins now first published : ed. with notes by Robert Bridges. 1918 Leather Bound
Don't worry you can read it online.
OR
The Winter Dress
The Winter Dress

Hi,

Wolf Hall
Ariadne
Shuggie Bain

Thanks!

P.D.R. wrote: "OOps! Teach me to read, sorry guys, in hospital over the New Year and still a bit wobbly!!!

Another book?

[book:Poems of Gerard Manley Hopkins now first published : ed. with notes by Robert Brid..."

I went with The Winter Dress P.D.R as it looks like it's also available at some libraries so might be more accessible for people :)

Welcome Bridget! I've added your books to the pool :)

If you've got your eye on some of the newer books in the book pool and want to get them out from your local library, you might wanna put them on reserve, sometimes there can be a bit of a wait :)

Hi Erica, YAY, Bookpool!!!

Yup, I'm in again. I'd like to add:
1. Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus
2. The Language of Food by Annabel Abbs
3. tba. I need to have a wee think, lol

Glad you're able to join in Darkpool :) I've added those two to the Bookpool

I can't even find most of them in my library or there's a long waiting list. So it looks like e-book versions for me.

My 3rd one is A Woman in the Polar Night by Christiane Ritter

Amazon US says it is out on Kindle on Feb 6th

Darkpool wrote: "My 3rd one is A Woman in the Polar Night by Christiane Ritter

Amazon US says it is out on Kindle on Feb 6th"

Great I might be able to afford it. The price of traditional publishers' e-books is scandalous.

I'm going bush for 4 days to do predator trapping, will make any updates when I return :)