Tim's comments (member since Jul 12, 2008)

Tim's comments from the Kiwi Readers group.

Nice to hear from you, Kelly (and Heather)!

Dear Rachel,

Good to hear from you. Re my books - there are 5 of them in Canty Uni library and plenty in the Christchurch library system - there are lots of "Tim Joneses", but a search on "Jones, Tim, 1959 June 15-" should find them in the catalogue.

Regards
Tim

Dear Kiwiflowa,

Hi! We aim to dispel some of the darkness and heaviness here!

Regards
Tim

It's good to get some more comments - thanks, Laura!

Has anyone else finished the book? Any thoughts?

So here's my quick thoughts on The Six Pack Three:

Marisa Maepu - '88: I enjoyed this - nicely told and the right length for the material it covered. Maybe the ending is unrealistic, but I didn't have a problem with it while I was reading it.

Sue Wootton - Virtuoso: This was very well written - my only reservation is that "the harried businessman who's alienated from his own life" is something of a stock character in New Zealand fiction. Sue Wootton is a very good poet & I think this story shows that she is a good short story writer as well.

Aroha Harris - Write Poetry: I like poetry, and I enjoyed these poems, especially "Rain Again". One of the things I like most about the Six Pack series is that they include poetry as well as prose.

Ian MacKenzie - Mirror Mirror: While it's good to see a genre story included, the scenario of this story is almost exactly the same as a prominent plot element of the first season of the TV series "Heroes". Although Ian MacKenzie has definitely got talent, this story was a miss for me.

David Geary - Gary Manawatu: This was by far my favourite story in the collection. Such a mixture of humour, art-world satire, sly political comment and verbal exuberance is all too rare in New Zealand fiction. This makes me want to read more of David Geary's work.

Kate Duignan - Swallow: Yet another in the long list of "sensitive young artist struggles with difficult family which doesn't appreciate his/her genius" stories by New Zealand authors. Katherine Mansfield did it first and best. Kate Duignan puts words together beautifully but I'd prefer a story with more oomph to end the collection.

I'll comment on the stories when I've finished the book (I'm on the David Geary story at the moment), but I do know that there have been Tongan-Samoan tensions in South Auckland for many years. (Though I only know it from the media, not always the most reliable guide.)

Well, tonight I have started reading The Six Pack Three, although I am only a few pages into the first story so far. Has anyone else started the book yet, and how are you enjoying it?

The results of our "Group Read" poll, which closed late last week, were:

Landings 2 votes
The Jigsaw Chronicles 0 votes
Whale Rider 2 votes
Mister Pip 1 votes
The Six Pack Three 5 votes

So, The Six Pack Three is the winner!

The Six Pack Three consists of five short stories and a mini-collection of poetry. It's 156 pages, so shouldn't take long to read. I suggest we aim to finish it by the 20th of March, and that people taking part can choose to either post their comments on the whole book when they've finished, or post comments on the individual stories/poems as they go.

Does that sound OK?

I noticed that with Six Pack Three - but I don't think it will stop people voting for their preferred choice - in fact, I just voted, and it worked fine.

In my co-moderator role, I have set up a poll for which book we'd like to read for our Group Read. The candidates are the five books suggested in the discussion above.

The poll closes on the 12th of Feb, and you can find it at

http://www.goodreads.com/poll/list/2092....

Well, I have The Six Pack Three but haven't read it yet, so that sounds good to me! And I've read Mister Pip already.

Most people who took part in the poll wanted to take part in a group read. Suggestions so far include The Whale Rider or a New Zealand short story collection or anthology. Are there any other suggestions? (When we have a few more suggestions, we can run another poll to vote on them!)

I like the picture!

Regards
Tim

I write fiction and poetry. I've had five books published: see the left-hand column on my blog

http://timjonesbooks.blogspot.com

for more info about each of them. Thanks for asking!

Regards
Tim

#s 15, 16: Hi, Paula! Do you actually work in a bookshop, or are you working in a different capacity for the book chain?

(Excuse the curiosity, but, as a writer, insights into how these things work are always valuable!)

Hi, Ross. Debbie, a PS to my #11 - it's possible Shanti hasn't been active recently because of the Xmas/New Year holiday, so I think I'm going to leave it for another week or so before approaching her.

Thanks, Debbie - I'll follow that up with Shanti and see what happens.

Thanks, Debbie and Renee. If being a moderator means "keeping an eye out for messages and responding to them occasionally", I'm happy to do that - but is there more involved?

I lived in Dunedin for 17 years and still get down there whenever I can - I hope you enjoy it! (Lots of good bookshops, too.)