Book Pool 2024

[Mela]

#14

Book #7 Summerhills (finished April 14)

[Carol She's So Novel꧁꧂ , She's a mod, yeah, yeah, yeah!]

Mela wrote: "#14

Book #7 Summerhills (finished April 14)"

Added for you. How did you like it, Mela?

[Mela]

Carol She's So Novel ꧁꧂ wrote: "Mela wrote: "#14

Book #7 Summerhills (finished April 14)"

How did you like it, Mela?"

More than Amberwell. A charming continuation of the stories of the Ayrton siblings.

[Susan in NC]

Oh, I did enjoy those two books! I only read Amberwell last December to be ready to read Summerhills for this pool this year, but I enjoyed both so much! I think my favorite Stevenson books so far, although I liked all of them.

[Jackie]

I read Amberwell but darned if I can remember it. This means I should read it again, I guess. I rated it 5 stars so I must have liked it!

[Susan in NC]

Your rating encouraged me to read it, so thanks for that!

[Jenn]

#9

I also read Summerhills, finishing it up on April 2. (was out of town, so just now catching up)

It is book 2 for me and I gave it 4 stars (although I'd have given 3 1/2 if possible).

I liked it for the most part, but there were a few things/characters I got frustrated with and bits where I wanted a little more. But as always with Stevenson, the delight of spending time with the characters and the setting greatly outweighed any minuses.

[Carol She's So Novel꧁꧂ , She's a mod, yeah, yeah, yeah!]

Added for you Jenn. :)

I round down - except when it is a Kiwi author. Then I round up. If you ever see me give a New Zealand book 1★ you had better believe it is bad! 😁

[Amanda]

#18

Book #2
The Dud Avocado 3 stars

[Carol She's So Novel꧁꧂ , She's a mod, yeah, yeah, yeah!]

Amanda wrote: "#18

Book #2
The Dud Avocado 3 stars"

Added for you Amanda. Was it any good?

[Amanda]

I didn't like it very much.

[Jackie]

Amanda wrote: "I didn't like it very much."

that's a shame; the premise sounded interesting but I see reviews are mixed.

[Carol She's So Novel꧁꧂ , She's a mod, yeah, yeah, yeah!]

#1 here

#3 read

Breakfast with the Nikolides 2.5★

I normally love Godden's books, so this was a big disappointment. Both main characters really repellent. Finished 18/4.

[Jenn]

Carol She's So Novel ꧁꧂ wrote: "Added for you Jenn. :)

I round down - except when it is a Kiwi author. Then I round up. If you ever see me give a New Zealand book 1★ you had better believe it is bad! 😁"

Haha, good to know. I don't think there's much logic to if I round up or down - it's probably highly dependent on my mood and not at all scientific or logical!

[Jenn]

Carol She's So Novel ꧁꧂ wrote: "#1 here

#3 read

Breakfast with the Nikolides 2.5★

I normally love Godden's books, so this was a big disappointment. Both main characters really repellent. Finished 18/4."

Oh, what a bummer!

[Jackie]

#15 and just finished (4/19) my #3 book Uncle Dynamite. I'm giving it 5 stars because, like every other book I've read by the same author, I literally laughed out loud. The Earl, AKA Uncle Fred, is such a fun character, and I listened to the audio book which was just wonderful for all the dialog.

[Carol She's So Novel꧁꧂ , She's a mod, yeah, yeah, yeah!]

Jackie wrote: "#15 and just finished (4/19) my #3 book Uncle Dynamite. I'm giving it 5 stars because, like every other book I've read by the same author, I literally laughed out loud. The Earl, AK..."

Added for you, Jackie!

[Susan in NC]

Jackie wrote: "#15 and just finished (4/19) my #3 book Uncle Dynamite. I'm giving it 5 stars because, like every other book I've read by the same author, I literally laughed out loud. The Earl, AK..."

And the narrator is delightful!

[Tania]

#7 Book 3 The Wells of St. Mary's by R.C. Sherriff finished 22/04/24 - 4*s

I loved this one, it doesn't reach the heights of The Fortnight in September, but hardly anything ever does, however R.C. Sherriff is just such a brilluant writer and it was so nice to have another novel of his available to me.

[Carol She's So Novel꧁꧂ , She's a mod, yeah, yeah, yeah!]

Tania wrote: "#7 Book 3 The Wells of St. Mary's by R.C. Sherriff finished 22/04/24 - 4*s

I loved this one, it doesn't reach the heights of [book:The Fortnight in September|363303..."
Added for you, Tania. :)

[CindySR, Moderator]

#16
book number 6
Near Neighbors
finished 4/28

3 stars, as good as everyone said!

[Carol She's So Novel꧁꧂ , She's a mod, yeah, yeah, yeah!]

CindySR wrote: "#16
book number 6
Near Neighbors
finished 4/28

3 stars, as good as everyone said!"

Added for you, Cindy!

[Barb in Maryland]

#3 with book #4
The Covered Wagon , finished 30 April 2024.
I thoroughly enjoyed re-reading this favorite from my teenage years.
So I give it 4 stars for nostalgia's sake.
But--a warning to those who haven't read it-- oh boy, it has a lot of the flaws that come along with an older text (It was published in 1922, but stylistically it reads like something from the 1890s). I'll go into all that when I write my review.
Note: the cover is from the (falling apart) hardback I own. I read the Kindle edition of this book (which has a generic cover).

[Carol She's So Novel꧁꧂ , She's a mod, yeah, yeah, yeah!]

Barb in Maryland wrote: "#3 with book #4
The Covered Wagon, finished 30 April 2024.
I thoroughly enjoyed re-reading this favorite from my teenage years.
So I..."

Added for you Barb!

[Amanda]

#18

Book #3
Linnets and Valerians 4 stars

I really enjoyed this book. It's a very good story.

[Carol She's So Novel꧁꧂ , She's a mod, yeah, yeah, yeah!]

Amanda wrote: "#18

Book #3
Linnets and Valerians 4 stars

I really enjoyed this book. It's a very good story."

Yes, I liked this one too.

Added for you, Amanda. :)

[Cphe]

No 19

book 13 - The Dud Avocado - found it disappointing.

[Carol She's So Novel꧁꧂ , She's a mod, yeah, yeah, yeah!]

Cphe wrote: "No 19

book 13 - The Dud Avocado - found it disappointing."
Added for you Cphe - you are the second one to say that!

[Susan in NC]

Yes, definitely skipping that one - a fair few books in the pool I’ve recently read (within last couple years), or can’t get, or wouldn’t read even if I could, going by reviews and comments!

[Susan in NC]

Barb in Maryland wrote: "#3 with book #4
The Covered Wagon, finished 30 April 2024.
I thoroughly enjoyed re-reading this favorite from my teenage years.
So I..."

I read a lot of old books, kind of comes with the territory, if you’re referring to racial/gender/ethnic stereotypes. I look forward to reading your review!

[Cphe]

Carol Fiji Bound! wrote: "Cphe wrote: "No 19

book 13 - The Dud Avocado - found it disappointing."
Added for you Cphe - you are the second one to say that!"


Normally the Virago modern classics have great novels but found this one strangely disappointing. Couldn't emphasise with Sally at all.

[Carol She's So Novel꧁꧂ , She's a mod, yeah, yeah, yeah!]

OK - that one has moved to the 'only if I can get hold of free' category.

[CindySR, Moderator]

Carol Fiji Bound! wrote: "OK - that one has moved to the 'only if I can get hold of free' category."

It's here https://archive.org/details/dudavocad...
but if the Dud is a dud I don't want to read it 😆

[Susan in NC]

CindySR wrote: "Carol Fiji Bound! wrote: "OK - that one has moved to the 'only if I can get hold of free' category."

It's here https://archive.org/details/dudavocad...
but if the Dud is a dud I don't want t..."

😁

[Tania]

#7 - book 4 Uncle Dynamite by P.G. Wodehouse, finished 9/5/24. 4*s.

Loved this one, Uncle Fred is a hoot, even if he is completely potty. It turns out this is one I haven't read before, (I can never be sure when I start them, the plots can be so similar that I think PGW himself said that sometimes he'd start writing a book and realise halfway through he'd written it before). 😀

[JohnR]

Loved this one, Uncle Fred is a hoot, even if he is completely potty. It turns out this is one I ha..."

Had not come across this part of PGW, Read synopsis, looked very good, and ordered copy. John

[Barb in Maryland]

I finally got around to writing a review for my latest book( see message 374):
The Covered Wagon
Here's a link:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Tania]

JohnR wrote: "Loved this one, Uncle Fred is a hoot, even if he is completely potty. It turns out this is one I ha..."

Had not come across this part of PGW, Read synopsis, looked very good, and ordered copy. John"

Great, I hope you enjoy it. My favourite one with Uncle Fred is Uncle Fred in the Springtime, so if you enjoy Uncle Dynamite, I'd recommend that one too.

[Carol She's So Novel꧁꧂ , She's a mod, yeah, yeah, yeah!]

I'm still thinking I might want to read the Dud Avocado, so thanks for the link, Cindy!

I'll just start updating now...

[Carol She's So Novel꧁꧂ , She's a mod, yeah, yeah, yeah!]

... & updated for you, Tania!

I'm very close to having finished one of my books, but I didn't read much while I was away.

[Susan in NC]

I hope you had a fabulous time with the sisters!

[Carol She's So Novel꧁꧂ , She's a mod, yeah, yeah, yeah!]

Susan in NC wrote: "I hope you had a fabulous time with the sisters!"

We did thanks! :)

I'll mention being on Fiji time is an expression over there & it is going to take me a day or 2 to get back on NZ & Goodreads time. :)

[Susan in NC]

I bet! ;o)

[Jackie]

#15 here with my 4th book Who Killed the Curate? which I finished 5/15 and then forgot to post about.

I rated it 5 stars but haven't (yet) written a review. I absolutely loved the main character and all the other characters as well and the mystery was fine.

The humor made me literally laugh out loud many times as Lupin completely mistakes what is going on.

ETA: link to review https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Susan in NC]

I loved that one, it was fun and funny! I guess it says a lot about class differences and town vs. rural folk at the time - poor Bright Young Thing Lady Lupin from London has no idea what the busy village parishioners are nattering on about with their committees and such!

[Carol She's So Novel꧁꧂ , She's a mod, yeah, yeah, yeah!]

Jackie wrote: "#15 here with my 4th book Who Killed the Curate? which I finished 5/15 and then forgot to post about.

I rated it 5 stars but haven't (yet) written a review. I absolutely loved the ..."

Hi Jackie

I entered this one for you, but forgot to post that I had done so.

Sorry about that.

#1 here with Book #4 The Saint Meets the Tiger
Finished 19/5. 3★ This was the first Saint book & I would recommend trying to get an edition with the introduction Charteris wrote in 1980. This book has lots of flaws, but Charteris wrote it when he was only 20 & he wasn't intending to write a series. In spite of a relatively low rating I recommend this one.

[CindySR, Moderator]

#16
book number 7
Something Light by Margery Sharp
finished 5/20

Not bad. 3 stars

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Carol She's So Novel꧁꧂ , She's a mod, yeah, yeah, yeah!]

CindySR wrote: "#16
book number 7
Something Light by Margery Sharp
finished 5/20

Not bad. 3 stars

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show..."

Added for you, Cindy!

[Jackie]

#15 here with my 5th book The Innocents which I hardly know how to talk about without spoilers. I gave it 5 stars.
my review https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Carol She's So Novel꧁꧂ , She's a mod, yeah, yeah, yeah!]

#1 Book 5 finished 22/5.
Tender Is the Night 4★

Well written book with mostly unlikeable characters. Recommended.

I've added both this read & Jackie's to our tally.