Athena's Reading List 2014

[Athena]

No - everyone else has a problem. We're the normal ones!

 

 

Can't wait to see them!

Thanks Laura !

 

I've just noticed, a few of the books have "D" 's on them, that must be a new category for older teenagers or something. I'm still cataloguing the books by the way, it may take a while .

[Athena]

Here's a list of the books I bought at the library sale as well as a photo. The books were 6 for 5 euro's or 1 euro per book otherwise.

 

Neil Gaiman - Coraline (I loved the film)

Lemony Snicket - Ellendige Avonturen 4: De Helse Houtzagerij(The Miserable Mill) (I quite liked the film and own book 2 in English)

Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black - De Spiderwick Chronicles 1-5: Omnibus (I did own books 2 and 4 in English but I didn't own the other three, 0.85 cents for the omnibus (in Dutch) seemed a good deal!)

Cornelia Funke - Thomas En De Laatste Draken (Drachenreiter) (I have her Inkheart series on my TBR and loved the film)

Diana Wynne Jones - De Magische Wereld van Chrestomanci 5: Het Wisselkasteel (Conrad's Fate) (I loved Howl's Moving Castle)

Diana Wynne Jones - De Magische Wereld van Chrestomanci 4: De Tovenaars Van Caprona (The Magicians of Caprona)

Diana Wynne Jones - De Magische Wereld van Chrestomanci 3: Heksenweek (Witches' Week)

Diana Wynne Jones - De Daalmark Boeken 1: De Onbekende Reiziger - (Cart and Cwidder)

Diana Wynne Jones - De Daalmark Boeken 3: De Magische Mantels - (The Spellcoats)

Diana Wynne Jones - De Daalmark Boeken 4: De Kroon Van Daalmark - (The Crown of Dalemark) (I own book 2 of this series in English, though I did see it in Dutch, I'm now wondering if I should've bought that one too so it'd look better on my shelf but oh well heh)

Marian van der Heiden - Het Rijk Van De Wolf

Dick van den Heuvel - Het Land van Anders 1: Het Raadsel Van De Kluizenaar

Leander Hanssen and Caryl Strzelecki - De Bajka Boeken 1: De Maanspiegel

Geronimo Stilton - Fantasia 2: Fantasia II: De Speurtocht Naar Het Geluk (Alla Ricerca Della Felicità)

Geronimo Stilton - Fantasia 6: Fantasia VI (Sesto Viaggio Nel Regno Della Fantasia) (these two books have such beautiful illustrations in them)

Cate Tiernan - Vuurbaken 1: Een Schaal Van Wind (A Chalice of Wind)

Cate Tiernan - Vuurbaken 2: Een Cirkel Van As (A Circle of Ashes)

Cate Tiernan - Vuurbaken 3: Een Veer Van Steen (A Feather of Stone)

Cate Tiernan - Vuurbaken 4: Een Ketting Van Water (A Necklace of Water) (I liked her Wicca series or Sweep as it's called in English (I own them in Dutch)

Luc Hanegreefs - De Vampieren 3: Galgenaas

Johan Vandevelde - Na Het Licht 1: Na Het Licht

Evert Hartman - Vechten Voor Overmorgen (I liked this when I read it when I was a teenager, now I have my own copy)

Evert Hartman - Niemand Houdt Mij Tegen: Een Avontuur In De 22ste Eeuw (I really loved this book as a teenager, now I have my own copy)

Evert Hartman - Het Bedreigde Land (I haven't read this one before, but I liked several other books by this author)

Lisa Tetzner - Levende Bezems (Die Schwarzen Brüder)

Sandi Toksvig - Hitlers Kanarie: Een Spannend Verhaal over Twee Dappere Scholieren (Hitler's Canary) (I've seen this author on TV and think she's a great person, very funny and friendly, so I thought I'd try her book)

Tonke Dragt - Verhalen Van De Tweelingbroers: Jij Ziet Er Precies Zo Uit Als Ik... (I think I read and liked this book when I was a child but I don't remember much of it.)

Paul Kustermans - De Vergissing

Thea Beckman - De Gouden Dolk (I liked this book when I read it as a teenager and was sure I had a copy but I haven't been able to find it. I prefer the cover of this copy.)

Thea Beckman - Zwerftocht Met Korilu (I really liked this book when I read it as a child and was read from it, and now I have my own copy.)

Angela Sommer-Bodenburg - De Kleine Vampier 1: De Kleine Vampier (Der Kleine Vampir)

Angela Sommer-Bodenburg - De Kleine Vampier 5: De Kleine Vampier En De Grote Liefde (Der Kleine Vampir und die Große Liebe)

Angela Sommer-Bodenburg - De Kleine Vampier 6: De Kleine Vampier In Gevaar (Der Kleine Vampir in Gefahr) (these looked cute, like a nice little vampire story for children)

R.L. Stine - Kippenvel: Het Moerasmonster (The Werewolf of Fever Swamp) (I liked lots of other books by this author including some other Goosebumps books. I haven't read this one before, and it's funny how this slightly newer publication means they changed the name of the series on the newer books to reflect the new spelling rules in the Netherlands.)

Lonneke van Asseldonk - Zoeken Naar De Waarheid

Abbing and Van Cleeff - De Zwarte Rugzak: Zorgeloze Vakantie Wordt Levensgevaarlijke Reis... (I really liked their Struisvogelkoorts so I hope this one will be good too.)

Petra Cremers - Adres Onbekend

Petra Cremers - Detectivebureau K&K: Leila & De Bodyguards

Michael Harrison - Pandora Crimi: Taxioorlog (Facing the Dark: Road Rage or Murder?) (I read this series when I was a child and liked it, I don't know if I read this one or not.)

Cornelia Franz - Octopus: Verraad (Verrat) (I read this series when I was a teenager and liked it, I don't remember if I read this one or not.)

Iris Boter - Online!

Anke Kranendonk - Tina Supertopper 7: Ik Word Nooit Normaal (I liked this series as a teenager though I haven't read this one)

Marion van de Coolwijk - MZZL Meiden 3: MZZL Meiden On Tour

Sanne de Bakker - Geheimen Van Een Ex-heks

Sanne de Bakker - De Kleine Mozart Op Wereldreis

Annika Thor - Elfie en Anders: Rood Hart, Blauwe Vlinder (Rött Hjärta Blå Fjäril)

Annika Thor - Waarheid, Durven Of Doen (Sanning Eller Konsekvens)

Annika Thor - Elfie en Anders: Vlinders In Je Buik, Brok In Je Keel (Pirr i Magen Klump i Halsen)

Mariëtte Aerts - De Wisseltruc

Mariëtte Aerts - Heksenhei

Carry Slee - Razend (I really liked Carry Slee's books when I was a teenager, now I have my own copy of this one.)

Carry Slee - Your Choice: Lover Of Loser (I haven't read this one before but just the day before I bought another book by her in this series, they're all standalone stories though, just a similar format. The pages are actually coloured in different places so you know where to flick to).

Heide Boonen - Duivelshanden

Jacques Brooijmans - Spinsels Van Een Kater

Astrid Lindgren - Astrid Lindgren Bibliotheek 10: Pippi Langkous 1-3: Pippi Langkous, Pippi Langkous Gaat aan Boord, Pippi Langkous in Taka-Tuka-land (Pippi Långstrump, Pippi Långstrump Går Ombord, Pippi Långstrump i Söderhavet)

Astrid Lindgren - Astrid Lindgren Bibliotheek 12: De Bende Van De Witte Roos 1-3: Superdetective Blomkwist, Superdetective Blomkwist Leeft Gevaarlijk. Hier Spreekt Superdetective Blomkwist (Mästerdetectiven Blomkvist, Mästerdetectiven Blomkvist Levert Farligt, Kalle Blomkvist Och Rasmus) (I couldn't not buy these two! I'm not sure how many of the individual books I read as a child, but I have my own copies now.)

Veronica Hazelhoff - Maartje 2: Hierzo!

Veronica Hazelhoff - Maartje 3: Auww! (I was so lucky to have found these! I read them when I was a child but couldn't remember the author or the titles, just the cover. This series is extra cool because they feature a character named Gaia.)

Caja Cazemier - Offline

Norbert De Meyer - Tijgervlinder

Nancy Werlin - Opgesloten (Locked Inside)

Annie M.G. Schmidt; Judith Eiselin; Hans Hagen; Martha Heesen; Marjolijn Hof; Rindert Kromhout; Guus Kuijer; Benny Lindelauf; Pauline Michgelsen; Karlijn Stoffels; Toon Tellegen; Kaat Vrancken; Daan Remmerts De Vries - Een Boek Vol Beesten (I like some of these authors, the rest I don't know but I look forward to 'see' what animal stories they have written).

Ellen Tijsinger - Aurora (I've liked other books by this author.)

Simone van der Vlugt - Schuld (I've liked other books by this author.)

Dirk Weber - Kies Mij! (with a title like 'Pick Me!', how could I not be curious about this book?)

Jan de Leeuw - Vederland

Jacques Vriens - De Dikke Meester Jaap (I really like some of his other books).

Renate Ahrens; Jan de Kinder - Zwart In Je Vel (Daniel und die Suche nach dem Glück)

Hermien de Backer - ADHD?: Laat Je Niets Wijsmaken! (a book about AD(H)D, it might tell me something interesting.)

Nick Arnold - Waanzinnig om te Weten: Handig Handboek Voor Lijfbezitters (The Body Owner's Handbook)

Nick Arnold - Waanzinnig om te Weten: Je Spetterende Spijsvertering (Disgusting Digestion)

Nick Arnold - Waanzinnig om te Weten: Machtige Krachten (Fatal Forces)

Nick Arnold - Waanzinnig om te Weten: Explosieve Experimenten (Explosive Experiments) (I absolutely loved this series when I was a child. I didn't own these yet, I read two of them but not the other two as a child. They had a fifth one too but I'm positive I own it, I just haven't been able to find it yet though . It was my favourite one, about space and astronomy.)

Carien Karsten - Shoppen! - De Lust, Het Lijden En De Lol (a book about shopping.. maybe it'll help me. Though it's a little bit ironic to buy a book about shopping whilst buying lots of other books too)

Susan Nolen-Hoeksema - Piekerprinsessen: Doorbreek Je Negatieve Gedachtegang (Women Who Think Too Much: How to Break Free of Overthinking and Reclaim Your Life) (who knows, maybe it'll help me as I worry a lot)

Naoki Urasawa - 20th Century Boys 8: Volume 8 (my boyfriend picked this up, it's a manga book translated into Dutch.)

Maj Sjowall and Per Wahlöö - Sjöwall & Wahlöö 7: De Verschrikkelijke Man Uit Säffle (Den Vedervärdige Mannen Från Säffle) (it's interesting how I found two books in this series on Friday in another shop).

Loes den Hollander - Naaktportret

Renate Dorrestein - Zolang Er Leven Is

Annie Oosterbroek-Dutschun - Moeder Fenna Trilogie 1-3: De Vreemde Zoon, Geef Mij Een Antwoord, Moeder Fenna

Gerda van Wageningen - Hanna Trilogie 1-3: Hanna uit de Gorzen, De Visserszoon, Het Paradijs

 

 

I probably won't be going to the book trading evening as I just bought too many a lot of books, it's in the evening, I'll have to drive, and I'm not very assertive so I might just stand there while other people socialise. But we'll see.

 

I'm quite tired now from the past few days. I hope to be resting a bit in the next few days.

[Anna Begins]

 

I probably won't be going to the book trading evening as I just bought too many a lot of books, it's in the evening, I'll have to drive, and I'm not very assertive so I might just stand there while other people socialise. But we'll see.

 

I'm quite tired now from the past few days. I hope to be resting a bit in the next few days.

 Sounds like you had fun though!  On the RL Stine, what are the new spelling laws in the Netherlands?  I also have Coraline on my TBR, would be my first Gaiman... I have yet to see the movie.  Drive safe!

[Signor Finzione]

WOW great haul! I remember being scared to death of The Werewolf of Fever Swamp when I was a kid.

 

I also used to love Cate Tiernan's Wicca series. I hope the book Coraline is as good as the film!

[Athena]

 Sounds like you had fun though!  On the RL Stine, what are the new spelling laws in the Netherlands?  I also have Coraline on my TBR, would be my first Gaiman... I have yet to see the movie.  Drive safe!

 

The word 'goosebumps' is 'kippenvel' in Dutch. In the old law (pre-1996) it was 'kippevel'. The word is a 'samenstelling', it consists of multiple individual words. 'kip' = chicken and 'vel' = skin. When you stick them together the new law stated that there should be an '-n' after 'kippe', because there exist multiple chicken. Other examples are 'champignonnensoep' (because you have multiple mushrooms in the soup), but 'zonnebloem' (sunflower), because there's only one sun. There are other exceptions of when there should be no '-n'.

 

Here is a Wiki link (in Dutch). I don't think there's an English page for it. I can explain it all to you if you want but it'd take me a while to translate it all (if you're interested though feel free to ask and I'll explain it more in depth).

 

Thanks Anna !

 

WOW great haul! I remember being scared to death of The Werewolf of Fever Swamp when I was a kid.

 

I also used to love Cate Tiernan's Wicca series. I hope the book Coraline is as good as the film!

Thanks Laura !

[Kylie]

Thanks for explaining the age groups in your cataloguing. I don't personally catalogue my books according to 'children' and 'young adult'. I just lump them all under 'young adult', which I find easier to do, even though it may not be technically correct for all books.

 

Thanks also for explaining the new spelling rules, which I was also curious about when I saw it mentioned.

 

Great haul there. I saw Coraline before I read the book, and I loved them both.

[Athena]

Thanks for explaining the age groups in your cataloguing. I don't personally catalogue my books according to 'children' and 'young adult'. I just lump them all under 'young adult', which I find easier to do, even though it may not be technically correct for all books.

 

Thanks also for explaining the new spelling rules, which I was also curious about when I saw it mentioned.

 

Great haul there. I saw Coraline before I read the book, and I loved them both.

You're welcome .

 

I think the spelling rules might've been pretty tough on most older people. In 1996 I was 11 years old so it wasn't too difficult for me to get used to the new spelling.

 

I'm glad you liked Coraline .

[Athena]

Joe Hill - Horns

 

 

Genre: Horror

Age-range: Adult

Format: Paperback

Pages: 449

Synopsis (back of the book):Merris Williams is dead, slaughtered under inexplicable circumstances, leaving her beloved boyfriend Ignatius Perrish as the only suspect. On the first anniversary of Merrin's murder, Ig spends the night drunk and doing awful things. When he wakes the next morning he has a thunderous hangover... and horns growing from his temples. Ig possesses a terrible new power to go with his terrible new look - a macabre gift he intends to use to find the monster who killed his one true love. Being good and praying for the best got him nowhere. Now it's time for revenge...

 

It's time the devil had his due...

 

My thoughts: Because it is / was October Horror Month 2014 on BCF, I decided to join the Group Read and read this book for it.

 

The story pulled me in straight away. I really wanted to keep on reading this book. The book consists of five parts, each with individual chapters. Sometimes there are flashbacks, of things that happened in the past (ie. how Ig and Merrin met). I really enjoyed reading this story. It was tense and suspenseful. I liked the characters and felt for them. It was really interesting to find out what Ig's new power was and how it worked. It's harder to talk about the book without spoiling it, there were lots of plot twists I didn't see coming!

 

One thing that bothered me about the book (why I've given it a 9 / 10 and not a 10 / 10) was the amount of American and English slang and American references. Sometimes I can guess the meaning from the context, then it's not so bad. Other times though I can't and it completely pulls me out of the story when I don't know what's going on. If this happens every once in a while, then it's not so bad, but a few times throughout the book, it happened lots within the same chapter. This made it harder for me to read and enjoy the book, because I kept being pulled out of the story. A lot of the American references were lost on me, because I didn't know the people or brand or item that was referred to.

 

Other than those things though, I did like the writing style. I enjoyed the way in which the story was told. A few times I was confused when there was suddenly a flashback, most of the time though it was obvious from what happened in the flashback, that it was a flashback.

 

The second half of the book went by a lot quicker for me than the first half. I got a bit more used to the slang, word use and references and enjoyed the story more.

 

I've classed this book as a horror book, but I didn't find it to be as scary as for example some other horror books. This didn't bother me in the least though as I don't like being scared. I thoroughly enjoyed the story of the book.

 

Overall then I recommend this book for people who're interested in books like this and who don't mind the slang or understand a lot of it (ie. maybe people from the US?).

 

Rating: ***** (9/10)

[Athena]

Richard Wiseman - Rip it Up

 

 

Genre: Information

Age-range: Adult

Format: Paperback

Pages: 372

Synopsis (GoodReads):Rip up this book and unleash your hidden potential.

Most self-help books encourage you to think differently: to think yourself thin, imagine a richer self or to visualize the perfect you. This is difficult, time consuming and often doesn't work. Ripping up the rule book, psychologist Richard Wiseman presents a radical new insight into your body and brain: actions are the quickest, easiest and most powerful way to instantly change how you think and feel. Drawing on a dazzling array of scientific evidence, Professor Wiseman shows how this simple idea can be used to increase motivation, overcome depression, lose weight, stop smoking and even slow ageing. So don’t just think about changing your life. Do it.

 

My thoughts: I read two books before by Richard Wiseman and quite enjoyed them, so I wanted to read the third one I owned by him.

 

This book was quite interesting. It's divided into various chapters (and divided into subchapters), encompassing a variety of subjects. Most of the research discussed is based on the As If principe that the author explains in the first chapter. It basically states that not only do emotions and thoughts lead to behaviour, behaviour also leads to changes in thoughts and emotions. A lot of researches are discussed in the book (their set up and outcomes, and backgrounds of some of the psychologists). It was all very interesting to read about.

 

One thing I liked less was that the book wants you to take out certain pages of the book (meant for this purpose) and do certain things with them (just as crumble them or write on them). I didn't want to ruin my own book so I didn't. There is a free document available online for people who own the e-book, and instead I printed this document.

 

Overall though I quite enjoyed reading this book. It contains some interesting tips that I think are worth trying.

 

Rating: **** (8/10)

[Anna Begins]

Great review of Horns- I don't know how you managed without giving away a spoiler or two  I knew when you mentioned you were reading Robert Wiseman that I'd heard the name before  You just read 59 Seconds!

[Athena]

Great review of Horns- I don't know how you managed without giving away a spoiler or two  I knew when you mentioned you were reading Robert Wiseman that I'd heard the name before  You just read 59 Seconds!

Thanks . Yes, I read that not too long ago!

[Athena]

Rainbow Rowell - Attachments

 

 

Genre: Contemporary Fiction

Age-range: Adult

Format: Paperback

Pages: 357

Synopsis (GoodReads):By day, two young women spend their hours emailing each other, discussing every aspect of their lives. By night, Lincoln, a lonely IT guy, spends his hours reading every exchange. Soon Lincoln is drawn into their lives, and finds himself falling for one of them. Lincoln decides it's time to muster the courage to follow his heart.

 

My thoughts: I wanted to read something more uplifing and easier to read after Horns by Joe Hill. I read Fangirl by this same author in August two months ago and I loved that book.

 

This book has chapters in it where the two female main characters, Beth and Jennifer, talk via email, and chapters from Lincoln's point of view. In the beginning I struggled a bit which main female character was who, found it a bit hard to tell them apart. Lincoln's chapters immediately pulled me into the story though. After a while though I got it into my head who was who and it wasn't so complicated anymore. I thought this format was a very interesting way of telling a story, different than the usual. I quite liked the writing style, though there were some references in the book I didn't understand. The book takes place for the most part in 1999. The main references I didn't get were of (famous?) people and films.

 

I really liked the three main characters, they were very interesting to read about. The side characters were good too.

 

It was interesting to read of the fear the people had for the year 2000. I remember this from when I was younger. It's not a big part of the book, but it was a part of it.

 

I finished this book in ~1.5 days (exactly on par with my statistic! ), so it flew by pretty quickly. I wanted to keep on reading to find out what would happen.

 

Overall I really enjoyed reading this book. I didn't enjoy it as much as Fangirl but I still really enjoyed reading it.

 

Rating: ***** (9/10)

[Athena]

Thea Beckman - Wonderkinderen (re-read)

 

 

Genre: Contemporary Fiction

Age-range: Children's

Format: Hardback

Pages: 126

Synopsis (me):Tom and Wijntje are both ten years old when they get to go to a secondary school. They are both highly intelligent and skipped several classes. They are best friends. Wijntje is going to the Gymnasium (highest education for those ages), but Tom has to go to the l. t. s. (doesn't exist anymore, lower education where people learn to work with their hands to learn a worker's trade) from his parents. He is deeply unhappy there and Wijntje misses Tom. Then he makes a last desperate attempt to make his parents listen...

 

My thoughts: My brain has been feeling very foggy today and I've been having a headache so I thought I'd re-read a childhood favourite Dutch book, something that was easy to read.

 

It was great to read this book again. I only remembered some things before I started reading, but a lot of memories came back when I started to read the book. This book was written in 1984, the school system was a little bit different back then (I read the book when I was a child, so in the early 1990's), but the story is easy to understand.

 

I really identified with the two main characters when I was a child, their eagerness to learn, their intelligence, the feeling not many people understand what you mean, the not being so social, the not finding the same things interesting as most other people in your class.. I really liked the two main characters. The book is written more from Wijntje's point of view than Tom's (though some scenes from his point of view too), but I really enjoyed reading about both of them. They are such great interesting characters.

 

The side characters are interesting too. I particularly liked Wijntje's dad, he seemed like a really cool dad to have (not that mine isn't cool or anything!). He's a comic book artist, I thought this was really nice.

 

I really liked the writing style. Thea Beckman is one of my favourite authors from my childhood and teenager years, and this was one of my favourite books by her. I've read this book many times. My copy is an ex-library copy not in the best condition (this is how I bought it, I treated it properly), with some stains on some pages and such. I love the cover though, I think it's really beautiful and the children look how I imagine them.

 

Overall then I really enjoyed re-reading this book. I remembered the things I loved so much about this book.

 

Rating: ***** (10/10)

[Ruth]

 

Great review of Attachments, thanks  I'm adding this to my wish list.

Edited October 16, 2014 by Ruth

[Athena]

Great review of Attachments, thanks  I'm adding this to my wish list.

I hope you enjoy it if / when you read it !

[frankie]

Glad you enjoyed Attachments so much!  

[Athena]

Glad you enjoyed Attachments so much!

Thanks , I'm glad you enjoyed it too!

[Athena]

A. S. King - Ask the Passengers

 

 

Genre: Contemporary Fiction

Age-range: Young-Adult

Format: Paperback

Pages: 304 (excluding excerpt)

Synopsis (GoodReads):In this truly original portrayal of a girl struggling to break free of society's definitions, Printz Honor author A.S. King asks readers to question everything--and offers hope to those who will never stop seeking real love.

 

Astrid Jones desperately wants to confide in someone, but her mother's pushiness and her father's lack of interest tell her they're the last people she can trust. Instead, Astrid spends hours lying on the backyard picnic table watching airplanes fly overhead. She doesn't know the passengers inside, but they're the only people who won't judge her when she asks them her most personal questions...like what it means that she's falling in love with a girl.

 

As her secret relationship becomes more intense and her friends demand answers, Astrid has nowhere left to turn. She can't share the truth with anyone except the people she imagines flying over her at thirty thousand feet, and they don't even know she's there. But little does Astrid know just how much even the tiniest connection will affect these strangers' lives--and her own--for the better.

 

My thoughts: I've been having headaches and I've been feeling a bit foggy in my brain, so I decided to read another young-adult book. The synopsis of this one intruiged me so I decided to start reading it.

 

This was a really interesting book. The writing style immediately pulled me in. It has 44 chapters, each with a number and title. I really liked the characters in this book, particularly the main character. The book is written from her point of view and I thought her way of thinking was really interesting.

 

She sends love to the passengers on planes that fly across. Usually when she does this, there's a little snippet of one of the passengers' lives, what they're thinking about while they're on the plane just as Astrid sends her love. These mini-stories were great to read.

 

The side characters in this book were interesting too, though there were moments in the book were I thought some characters weren't acting so nicely (obviously)! I really felt for Astrid and her struggles. Her family is a bit dysfunctional, but all three of them were interesting to read about. The same goes for the other side characters, people at her school and at her part-time job.

 

Astrid takes a humanities / philosophy class at school and I really liked to read about this class as well as how philosophy is woven throughout the story. The story really makes you think, not just about homosexuality but about equality, what's "normal", about life. I really enjoyed the way this was done.

 

The book reads easily and flows very well.

 

Overall then I really enjoyed reading this book. It blew me away, I didn't expect to like it this much. I definitely recommend this book to anyone who's intruiged by the synopsis or the various themes of the book.

 

Rating: ***** (10/10)

[Athena]

I've now read 190 books and almost 50000 pages .. I never thought I'd read this much! I should be able to pass the 200 and the 50000 pages before the end of the year .

[Athena]

Berthold Gunster - Yes-But What If It All Works Out? (Ja-Maar Wat Als Alles Lukt?)

 

 

Genre: Information

Age-range: Adult

Format: Paperback

Pages: 288

Synopsis (GoodReads):Why is it that we often do not do what we really would like to do? Where does that inner voice come from that stops us from living life to the full?

 

Yes, but... I cannot do that... I am too old for that... that is the way I am... what will that cost me... not now.

 

Yes-but as an attitude towards life can hardly be called fruitful. It makes us careful, skeptical and suspicious. After all, thinking about life is something different from partaking in it. If we are not careful, we will weigh up the pros and cons so long that all opportunities will have passed us by and we will have become bystanders of our own life.

 

But there is hope. There is another attitude towards life: yes-and. In the world of yes-and there are no frontiers. Everything is possible. It is the attitude of inspirational thinkers, leaders with a global vision and exceptional artists. It seems that 'what they do' coincides effortlessly with 'who they are'.

 

The aim of this book is to change yes-but behaviour into yes-and behaviour. In ten rules Berthold Gunster explains how to make that change. 'Yes, but' will never sound the same again.

 

My thoughts: I've read two other books by this author, Omdenken and Omdenken in Relaties. The author is Dutch, but when I bought this book I didn't look at the author so it's I think my first English book written by a Dutch person translated into English. Since I read the other two books not too long ago and liked them, I wanted to read the third book I own by him, to finish it all up so to speak.

 

One of the things I immediately noticed about this book, is the format. There are sometimes bits printed in bigger front or in bold (or both) and such. It made a lot of sense and emphasized certain things. It made reading the book easier and a more pleasant experience. The book reads easily, the writing style is nice. The book consists of parts, chapters and subchapters. The ten rules take up most of the pages in the book. There are lots of quotes from people with their personal stories or examples, I quite enjoyed this.

 

I thought the book was very interesting, and it's certainly something that makes you think. I did feel that some of the tips given are a bit too abstract for me, I need some things more 'concrete'. Otherwise though it was a really interesting read, it inspires the reader.

 

There is mention of autism I think two times throughout the book (maybe three?) and I didn't always like the way it was handled (sometimes it was a quote but still). This is a minor niggle over the course of the whole book though.

 

Overall then I enjoyed reading the book. It certainly makes you think and is inspirational.

 

Rating: ***** (9/10)

[Athena]

I've now read 50000 pages .

[Signor Finzione]

I've now read 50000 pages .

 

:exc:

 

That's awesome. I probably haven't read that much in the last five years put together.

[Athena]

:exc:

 

That's awesome. I probably haven't read that much in the last five years put together.

Well, you read a lot of 800-1000 pages books so who knows . But thanks !

[Brian.]

I've now read 50000 pages .

 

 

That's amazing.

[Anna Begins]

I've now read 50000 pages .

Wow!  I wonder how much you'll end up with by the end of the year!!