BOOK POOL is back! Nov-Dec 2018

[Erica]

Darkpool wrote: "#9
Book 3 A Song of War: A Novel of Troy
Read December 19
5 brilliant stars
A "novel" idea - take a well known historical story and carve it up into 7 pieces. Each section is writte..."

Great to see lots of 5* reads!

[Ninitha (Niko)]

#13
Book #7 : Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward
Read: 20/12
Rating 🌟🌟
I just couldn’t connect with the writing. I kept hoping page after page that it would improve and I’d get into it but in the end it stirred no emotions in me. I was bored through parts and the writing seemed deliberately catered to impress. Perhaps it’s just me, cause if you look at the reviews online, everyone seems to have enjoyed it. I did not. Not even for a minute.

[Erica]

#1
Book #7 His Bloody Project: Documents Relating to the Case of Roderick Macrae
Read 21/12
4 stars

Really enjoyed this novel. Wish I'd read it over the Christmas break tho, work kept getting in the way! haha.

[Ninitha (Niko)]

#13
Book 8 - Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng
Read : 21/12
Rating 🌟🌟🌟🌟
I’m still debating if it’s a 4 star or a 5 star book. It’s tells a beautiful tale and tells it at its own pace. It’s a book without an agenda. It doesn’t try to scare you or thrill you or move you or anything like that. It simply tells you a story and let you make what you will out of it. I’m glad I read it. It’s the sort of book that will spark a lot of conversations.

[Lesley]

#10
Book #5 On the Java Ridge / Jock Serong
Read 12/23
4 stars
This is a novel, but could so easily be a work of reality. Something politicians and people in authority should read to prod their moral senses.

[Ninitha (Niko)]

#13
Book #9 - Instructions for a Heat Wave by Maggie O’Farrell
Read - 27/12
Rating 🌟🌟🌟🌟
An interesting read. It takes you on a journey involving a quirky bunch of characters, each very relatable and with plenty of faults. The story isn’t very new or even one you can define easily but it’s nonetheless one you want to keep reading. The only thing that I haven’t figured out is the need to base the story during the dreadfully parched summer. Considering it crucial enough to be the title, the context of the summer and the heat wave per say contributes very little to the story.

[Erica]

#1
Book #8 On the Java Ridge
Read 27/12
4 stars

This is a very topical novel! I'm glad I had some space today to just binge the last third of the book. Was really intense and full of drama. Great to discover a new author from across the ditch. Will check out more of his work in the future.

[Erica]

Four days left of 2018 and the Book Pool!

[Lesley]

#10
Book #6 Be Frank With Me / Julia Claiborne Johnson
Read 12/27
5 stars
Loved Frank. He made me laugh; he made me cry; he is the best child character I've read. While this felt like a light, easy read, there was such a lot going on, and I very much liked the author's style of introducing new things. Love the title too. Definitely one of my Faves in 2018.

[Erica]

Kathleen wrote: "Yay! I thought for a while that not only did I get time-lost and not put any books into the Pool, but I'd not manage to read any either. However, I have read some and am very pleased with myself. S..."

Glad you managed to read and enjoy some of the books from the Pool Kathleen :)

[Darkpool]

#9
Book 4 Sranger that fanfiction.
4 stars, thoroughly enjoyed it.

[Lesley]

I've started A Gentleman in Moscow but know I'm not going to finish in time. I don't want to rush it just to fit the time slot, so I shall enjoy at my leisure.

Thanks for organising the Book Pool again Erica. Great fun, and so good to read other's recommendations. Shall see you all in the next one!

Happy New Year to all, and hope 2019 brings all you want.

[Ninitha (Niko)]

Thanks for organizing this Book Pool, Erica! As usual, I really enjoyed it and it put me in touch with books that I wouldn’t have picked up. My two cherished reads from the pool were ‘His Bloody Murder’ and ‘Be Frank with me’. I enjoyed them both immensely and they feature prominently in my top reads of 2018. I’m currently reading Euphoria and The Ministry of Utmost Happiness but I won’t be finishing either of them tonight.

Can’t wait for the next Book Pool.

Happy New Year to all my fellow Book Dragons! Here is to a bookish 2019! ❤️❤️❤️

[Erica]

Glad you guy had fun! I read some great book as always :)

The top three readers of the Pool were:

Ninitha - 9
Erica - 8
Lesley - 6

[Erica]

Some fun stats:

31 of the 42 books from the Book Pool were read.

Circe and On the Java Ridge were the most read (each read by 4 different people)

Be Frank With Me, The Cleaner, Euphoria, The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, Stranger Than Fanfiction were the second-most read (each read by 3 different people).

The top rated of those most read books was Be Frank With Me with an average rating of 4.67*

[Carol She's So Novel꧁꧂]

Thanks for organising this Erica - glad "Frank" was a popular choice! :)