June-July Book Pool Challenge

[Angie]

First one I'll read is Catch-22, but I'm looking forward to A Man Called Ove as well. Haven't checked what the waiting list on it is like at the library though :$ And I need to finish my current book first!

[Erica]

The Book Pool challenge has begun!

I've just read the first 20 pages of The Lonely Hearts Hotel (think it was one of Kirsten's picks) and I love it already! The world and characters have really come alive off the page - great writing. If it sounds like your kind of book I'd highly suggest getting your hands on a copy :)

Hope everyone has had a great day and is looking forward to a long weekend.

[Allie // Kitasai]

I'm going to pick up Faceless by Alyssa P. Sheinmel, it was one of my books in the pool and since I've been super busy I haven't had time to pick up any of the other ones from the pool I'm really interested in - better start with something I already own!

[Erica]

I should let everyone know what to do when you finish a book out of the book pool.

Post a message in this thread with the following info:

Number of books completed from the pool (including current book),
book cover or link, date finished and the rating you gave it

An example:

Book 3 A Man Called Ove
14 June
3 stars



Happy reading!

[Mariana]

Sharlene wrote: "I still have Mariana's copy of Catch-22. It's been a few years & I have moved home twice. Who knows which box it's in?! and I still haven't read it. You'll get it back Mariana before we're 80."

Hahaha since it wasn't a favourite of mine I'm in no hurry to get it back Sharlene!

I'm about 150 pages into The Thorn Birds and I'm really enjoying it but I keep coming across typos and grammatical errors... It'd be interesting to see if those of you who read this book come across the same ones as my version.

[Mariana]

Katrina wrote: "The Passage is one of my all time favs!!! I really loved it and have read all three in the series, the first two twice. I hope you like it. :-)"

I hope so too! I keep meaning to read it but it's such a tome of a book that I've always put it off for 'when I have time to read'. I'll make an extra effort to get to it for this challenge.

[Erica]

Mariana wrote: "Sharlene wrote: "I still have Mariana's copy of Catch-22. It's been a few years & I have moved home twice. Who knows which box it's in?! and I still haven't read it. You'll get it back Mariana befo..."

I read The Thorn Birds a few years back but don't remember noticing many typos and grammatical errors...perhaps I had a later version that was tidied up. Hopefully it's not impacting your enjoyment of it too much

[Kate]

Book 1 - The Son
4 June 2017
4 stars

[Erica]

Glad you liked your first read of the challenge Kate :)

I'll update post 2 with the tally of how many books everyone has read as we go.

[Kat]

Book 1 - If Tomorrow Comes

05 June 2017
4.5 stars - I really enjoyed it. You can tell it was written in the 80s but the story line was great and it was really easy to read. I powered through it.

[Erica]

Nice one Katrina. I've added your book to the tally.

I just finished my first book as well!

Book 1 - The Lonely Hearts Hotel
6 June
5* - Such a great story, fun characters and amazing writing.

[Katherine]

I finished by first book back on the 3rd June, the book was called The Widow by Fiona Barton & I gave it 5 starts, as it was one of those books where you wanted to keep reading as you have to know on what was going to happen

At the moment I am reading Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult & 100 pages in, I rather be at home reading than be at work as I want to know what is going to happen

[Erica]

Nice one Katherine - nothing like a good page turner that has got you hooked! Hopefully I'll get to that one later in the challenge :)

[Erica]

I flew through my second book - just couldn't put it down.

Book 2 - Broken
10 June
4* - loved the main character Skunk. Fast-paced read with some tough topics

[Kat]

Book 2 - My Name Is Memory
11 June
3 stars - This book could have been 4 or 5 stars, as it was really good.... until the ending. The ending was just so disappointing!

[Erica]

Katrina wrote: "Book 2 - My Name Is Memory
11 June
3 stars - This book could have been 4 or 5 stars, as it was really good.... until the ending. The ending was just so disappointing!
[bookcover:My..."

Oh that sucks about the ending!

[Allie // Kitasai]

Book 1 - Faceless
13 June (I'm lagging behind!)
3 Stars - wasn't amazing but a really good book about learning to love yourself again. It was a nice quick read though :)

[Erica]

Awesome Allie - it's always good when you get your first book knocked off :)

I've updated the tally and these are the standings so far:

Katrina - 2
Erica - 2
Kate M - 1
Allie - 1
Katherine - 1

Hope everyone is enjoying whatever book they're reading :)

[Allie // Kitasai]

Book 2 - If I Was Your Girl
13 June (two in a day!)
4.5 stars - I really really enjoyed this, I wanted to cry so much for Amanda and everything she went through. Only giving it 4.5 because of a few pet peeves I have in novels such as the overuse of the word said

[Erica]

You're on a role! Great review - will have to check it out.

[Craig]

Some great books there. Afraid I can't participate in this one as completely flat-tack with reading/judging for two book awards - one in New Zealand and one in Scotland. So not a lot of room to read outside of that.

Kudos to whoever put Cut & Run by Alix Bosco and The Rules of Backyard Cricket by Jock Serong in the pool. Hope lots of you will give those antipodean crime tales a go.

[Erica]

We have Angie and Darkpool to thank for those selections. It's always good to have some NZ and AUS selections in the mix.

Maybe you can join in next time Craig :) Good luck with the book award reading/judging - that must be fun!

[Katherine]

book 2- nineteen minutes
date: 14 june
5 stars

a book that you can't put down as you have to know what is going to happen next

[Erica]

Jodi Picoult is always good for a fast but intense read! I've updated the tally too.

[Kat]

Hi everyone

Hope you're all enjoying your books!

Finished book 3, A Man Called Ove
Date: 15 June 17
3.5 stars - was an easy enjoyable read.

[Katherine]

Real random question, say if you pick a book from the pool & you got halfway through it & you didn't like it & you did post that you didn't like, would it go towards your final book tally?

[Erica]

Hi Katherine - only books you complete are counted in the tally.

[Kate]

Book 2: Dead to Me
Date: 17 June 2017
4 stars

[Kerry]

Book 1: Cut & Run: When the Truth is No Protection
Date: 19 Jun
4 stars

Really enjoyed this thriller

[Erica]

Book 3: Guantánamo Diary
Date: 19 June 2017
3 stars

Such a horrible experience this man went through at the hands of U.S. forces who were "fighting" terrorism with terror. Not easy subject matter.

[Ninitha (Niko)]

I'm still unsure of how this works.. so basically I finish a book and let you know? Sorry, haven't been active and hence unsure. I've completed Man called Ove.

[Erica]

yep just have a look at our posts to see what info to include. basically number of books you've completed so far, title of book you just read, rating you gave the book and the cover is optional. have a look at others' posts to see how they've done it. I'll add your book 1 to the tally when I get home and have a laptop :)

[Kat]

Book 4: The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane
Date: 20/06/17
4 stars, was a good read, very interesting. I found myself drinking more tea than usual though!

[Katherine]

Book 3 finished: dead to me by lesley pearse
Date 22/6/17
5 stars- good read had you hooked within the fist few pages

[Erica]

At a glance, Dead to Me seems to be the most read book so far. Good ratings too.

I'm almost finished my current book If I Was Your Girl. Hooked on it so far. Haven't read YA in ages. Thanks to whoever picked that one.

[Erica]

The updated tally has Katrina with the most reads so far :) Still got heaps of time though.

Katrina - 4
Katherine - 3
Erica - 3
Allie - 2
Kate M - 2
Kerry - 1
Ninitha (Niko) - 1

Hope everyone is enjoying whatever they're reading :)

[Erica]

Book 4: If I Was Your Girl by Meredith Russo
Date: 22 June 2017
5 stars

Wow powerful book.

[Kerry]

Book 2: The Betrayers by David Bezmozgis
Date: 22 Jun
4 stars

Loved this subtle novel.

[Mariana]

Book: 1 - The Thorn Birds by Colleen McCullough
Date finished: June 22
Rate: 4 stars
A bit of a saga that I had to have a break from reading, but I still found it enjoyable.

[Erica]

Nice Kerry and Mariana. I'll update the table when I'm back home this avo.
It's cool to see the different books people are picking up :)

[Carol She's So Novel꧁꧂]

Book 1
The Madwoman Upstairs
Date Finished: 24/6/17
Rating 3.5★ An amazing debut but after an excellent start went on too long & got too silly.

[Mariana]

Book: 2 - Heavenly Hirani's School of Laughing Yoga by Sarah-Kate Lynch
Date finished: 25/06/17
Rate: 3 1/2

[Erica]

I've updated the tally with your reads Carol and Mariana :)

[Darkpool]

Woohoo!!
Book 1
25/6

4 1/2 stars. Really interesting premise, explored pretty well... but the abrupt ending irked me somewhat.

[Kat]

Book 5: American War
25/06/17
2.5 stars - it was OK. I kept waiting for it to get better but it didn't really happen. Kinda disappointing as the book had lots of promise.

[Erica]

I've added those two books to the tally Darkpool and Katrina.

Pity American War wasn't so great Katrina. It's always disappointing when a book has a good premise but isn't executed well!

[Kelli]

Woohoo, finally finished my first book! (Sorry to anyone who picks up Natchez Burning, I had no idea it was almost as big as Shantaram - not something you'll finish in a day...)

Book 1: Natchez Burning
Finished: 6/25/17
5/5 - It must be impossible to dedicate any time to this book and not realize the effort is worth the result; Iles' blend of history and fiction is thrilling, disturbing, mind-boggling. This was more entertaining than a lot of similar-themed TV shows I've seen lately!

[Erica]

Haha thanks for the warning Kelli! Glad it was a good read that was worth the effort! I'll update tally tonight :)

[Ninitha (Niko)]

Do we do this every two months? Gotta be more on top of my reading challenges next time.

[Erica]

Just twice a year. Once during June-July and then over during Dec-Jan.